324 Art. 317. Science and the World




 It looks like Merus is finally going to tell me why he can't talk.
 From the look on Merus' face, Aren could tell that this was going to be more than a word or two.

Then I will destroy the pagans and hexenbiests in Theomenia first. You agree with that, right, Dogora?

"Oh.

 The reason why Dogora can't activate extra skills is very curious.
 It's about a friend from my boyhood in the village of Krena.
 It's important, no doubt, but there are some things that must take precedence.
 We must destroy the monster beasts that roam here in Theomenia.

 We must eradicate these monsters, return the city to normal, and return the people who took refuge in Neal to their normal lives.
 That's as far as Aren and the others have come to save the Elmal Kingdom.
 You will complete what you, and no one else, have decided to do to the end.

 I don't think so, but there may be people in the city who are desperately hiding underneath the building.
 If there are lives to be saved, let's save them.

 Allen and his team will split up and start hunting the monsters.
 Make sure to bring out the spirit A summoner that can pass through the walls of the building as well.

 It was the largest city in Elmar, but in the evening there were no magical beasts from the church capital Theomenia.

 Allen and his friends ride Merle's Tam-Tam to the city of Neil.
 The summons remain where they are, warding off the magical beasts in Theomenia with gold and silver beans and eradicating the magical beasts around the city.
 If you do that, the rebirth of the church city of Theomenia will be quick.

......

 Inside Tam-Tam's cockpit, on the way to the city of Neil, Dogora is waiting silently for Merus to open his mouth.
 Merle also changes to autopilot and sits down in the circle with Allen and his friends.

'This is about why I don't want to talk about it. This is something even Rosen doesn't know.

Spirit God too.

 The former first angel Merus, who calls off the spirit god Rosen, who came to be a god at the age of 5,000 years old, is said to have lived about 100,000 years.

Yes. That's right. Elmea, the creator, tells the newly arrived gods the reason, but does not tell them why. I'm sure the spirit god himself doesn't know why there's so much he can't tell you.

"I didn't know that.

'But we're still going to listen to it, aren't we? Let's just say it's not a very pleasant story.

I don't mind.

 Allen replies as he watches Rosen, the spirit god, being patted on the back by Sophie.

'I see. ....... I've said this before, but the gods value harmony. You know what I mean when I say that this harmony is very difficult to achieve? 'Doesn't Lord Allen know of a world out of harmony in a previous life?

"Hmmm, harmony. You mean like there's no king, there's anarchy, or the gold is worthless or something like that?

 In a previous life, Allen recalled a world that was out of harmony and rephrased it into words that can be understood in this world.
 He recalls from his previous life and speaks of a country that was out of balance, a country where pirates ran amok because of anarchy and hyperinflation, a country where you need wads of money for a bottle of milk, and so on.

 Allen's friends have been listening all along.
 Even in the academy, I've learned in class about the importance of a unified global currency, in a country where the royal family has been overthrown in civil war and the military is gaining strength, and I'm wondering if that's what it's all about.

Sure. But isn't that a country and not the world? And the world is in worse shape when it's out of harmony.

 Allen compared it to a story that even this world can understand, but apparently it's even worse.
 In addition, Allen picks up one answer based on his memories of previous lives.

(Oh, I don't know if it's a cheat like the multiplication bug or if real money trading is rampant or something like that.

 For Allen, who had been playing the game for a long time, there was a more understandable situation.

 Seared into Allen's memory was a bug called the "multiplication bug" that was discovered in a game he had enjoyed playing for a long time.
 In a previous life, a player discovered a bug that allowed him to create an infinite number of items in an online game he had played for the first time.
 Because it was done under certain conditions and allowed you to multiply anything, the value of valuable items plummeted and the distribution company was forced to deal with it.
 Not only those who participated in the multiplication, but also those who traded the multiplied valuables were dealt with severely, including freezing their accounts.
 Although the system was fixed and the "multiplication bug" was no longer possible, the distributors could not immediately erase the multiplied items, and the market continued to be confused.

 Only Allen was convinced, so he appealed to everyone with his eyes to put it into words.

For example, a world where bugs were discovered and everyone abused them. Or a world where cheats were rampant.

"A bug or a cheat. I remember something like that in Mister Allen's memory. Well, that's pretty close.

 Merus has set up the characteristics of the summoner based on Allen's memories.
 So Allen is already aware that Merus is reading Allen's memories.

So, to prevent such information from leaking out, he is controlling all information, even from the newly arrived gods.

(Well, it wouldn't be a perfect world . . and there will be some settings that you've been forced to put together to keep the world together.)

 There was no perfect game in Allen that could not have been bug or cheating in a previous life, so it makes sense in a world where glitches and logic can be exploited.
 I've been dealing with regulations and freezing the accounts of those who use bugs.

Yes, we've done that. But there is no such thing as total control. And so we've made it this far, changing the rules over and over again.

 Merus says that many times very bad situations happened, like all the children were born brave, or they changed the target's talent.

(Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Many times. That's why you're always acting like a stranger to us.

 Although it's only been 4 months or so since I started summoning him, I thought for some reason that Merus was being hard-hearted towards Allen, or rather his friends.
 He is a bit of a stranger, but sometimes he shows his true colors, such as a disgruntled expression when I let him help me with something.


 This is the original Merus, and now it is the expression he has made, as his friends, as well as Allen, recognize.

"Change the truth. What happened to that out of harmony and out of control world?

 Allen's friends will be slow to notice.

"Of course we destroyed it. Harmony is broken, and I doubt that we can call it prosperous, but it's a world with its own people.

""What?"

"Oh no, the gods would do such a thing: ......

 Sophie, who believes in the Spirit God, is most shocked.

"......

 To Sophie's words, Merus replies silently.

"Maybe the gods won't get their hands dirty. Isn't that what you're saying? Melus

(That's why the expression is so stiff, right? (That's why you don't want to be in front of the priests of the Elmere Church, right?

 There was a reason why they didn't want me to summon them in front of the priests besides being a stranger.

"Huh? Then who is ......

 I was just about to finish when Cecil understood.

He said, "Get your hands dirty. He said this is also salvation. I, or the angels who act on behalf of the gods, have been destroying a world where harmony is broken. The number of humans the demon king has killed in the past few decades is almost too small to bear. It's been about 100,000 years since I was created, and there have been a few in between.

(The Demon King has destroyed four countries in the last 50 years or so and fought a war every year or so. Is that enough to make you look pretty?)

 In Allen, the Demon King and his Demon King's army had already killed tens of millions of people.
 How many were so many that they looked cute.

 Long before the Ghiamut empire was born, the Church of Elmea had existed.
 I don't know who built the church, but Allen wonders if the gods' demonstration of their power is part of the reason for the awe as well as the faith.

So I have to tell you.

But we're going to defeat the Demon King. Why do you hide it so well?

 The world is suffering under the threat of the Devil King. Sophie appeals to you to help out in some small way.

Even if the event that started it is trivial, eventually it will turn around and arrive at a reason. There will always be people who abuse that reason. This is the cycle.

 Something even seems to blame himself for being helpless.
 Merus goes on to say more.

 The first ones to see sense and lose control are the few.
 But power and honor are human desires, and these things will explode all at once.
 Even if a so-called wise man has a monopoly on information and never speaks of it, he can leave his proof of life in the form of a book for posterity.

Some professions read other people's minds, even if they don't say anything.

 Allen felt as though Merus was wary of the astrologer Temi.

 A few times in 100,000 years would mean that the world would have fallen once every few thousand years.
 With odds like that, he realized, the event itself would have been very small.

Yes. And, to preface this story about Dogora not being able to use extra skills, that's close to the truth. I mean, if you still want to hear it?

 But do you still listen?

......

 Dogora says nothing.
 Friends also look at Allen

"Well. If you don't know that, you're not going to save the world from the demon king. Keep talking.

"Okay. So, let's talk. It's going to be about the Eight Heroes Project: ......

 With the words "The Eight Heroic Plan", Merus began to speak.