Once separated from the mirror, returned with Astaroth to the mansion.

　Carlisle's mansion, a richly furnished living room.
　I sit down in a chair and take a breath, but I notice that Astaroth is still standing in front of me.
　The freed Astaroth exudes the divinity of a goddess, but his movements look like a maid, just like Amelia and her friends.

Astaroth, sit down.
"No.

　She shook her head slowly but without hesitation.

"I have no seat in the presence of the Lord.
I don't think you need to be so humble.
A little gratitude . I want to repay you for giving me an oasis, albeit a temporary one, in the midst of my still-everlasting suffering.

　When I heard Astaroth's story, it hit me.
　I know of one person who was in almost the same situation.

　A former demon, the angel Azazel.

　Just as Azazel has been forced to suffer through nine reincarnations of the devil, so too must Astaroth.
　Thanks to me for stopping it. So I guess that's it.

　....... ...

"Astaroth.
"What is it, Lord?
"What can Astaroth, who has returned to God, do?　To my knowledge, Astaroth is a former fertility goddess.
That is correct, Your Majesty. That's right, I have the power to lead you to a good harvest.
"Can we have a good harvest in our territory, the territory of the Alexander League. It's a pretty big area.
"It's nothing out of the ordinary, sir.

　Astaroth answered immediately.

"Let each village build a cave to worship me. Let them build a cave to worship me, and I will give them my fertility.
Okay, I'll have it made up right away. I'm sorry to make you work so quickly, I just got better.
No, if I could be of any use to you, even if it would crush me.
Thank you.

　Smiling and with a slight blush on his face, Astaroth went to his father.
　I came to consult with him about building a cave to worship the goddess of fertility in every rural village in the territory.

　I knew she was the type of person who wanted to do something for me.

　Unless someone else is in trouble, I want to do what I want to do.
　That's what I thought.

　　　　　☆

　As the months passed and the quadrennial Alec Cup was over .

　Father and father-in-law, Horsen and Miller.
　All four of the noblemen's estates were enjoying the greatest harvest ever.

'Mmm!　That's what Alec is all about.

　As I was reading the harvest report with my father in his office in the mansion, he nodded with satisfaction and pride.

Look, every village has recorded the best harvest ever, the best ever.
"It's all thanks to Astaroth.
"No way, sir.

　In attendance, Astaroth, standing behind me in the posture of a secretary or maid, humbled himself as usual.
　By the way, the majesty or divinity of the goddess is still intact.
　I'm fine because I'm on my back, but I found it a little funny that my father would occasionally squint at me like he was glaring at me.

　Despite his godliness, Astaroth's tone and demeanor were very reserved.

I was only following the Lord's orders. It was all to the Lord's credit.
Mmmmmm. God follows the angels. It's hardly a surprise, but I'm very pleased.

　No, be surprised, Father.
　I don't think it's fair to dismiss what normally sounds like a boastful story about a son following God as "not surprising.
　But that's the way it's usually driven, father.
　Maybe it doesn't matter now.

Huh?
"What's up, Alec?
"Only here ...... this village is not more awesome than the others.
"Hmm?　It's probably medium, like this one.
"The amount of harvest is so . But year over year, it's ......
"Mmm, it's true. This is triple the previous year's figure while the rest of them are only about 1.5 times as large.
"You didn't increase the acreage of the field ......
Not increasing.

　I looked at the numbers and craned my neck with my father to see what he meant.

"It's the ...... purge, isn't it?

　The father suddenly blurted out something outrageous.
　That's the most dangerous thing I've ever heard my father say.

"Wait a minute, father. What's the purge?
This is a trick . Hearing a good harvest all around, they must be cheating to sesame to Alec.


It's not a given--
"Look at this.

　My father took a stone from his pocket.
　It's as big as a grown man's palm.

What's this?
A meteor--no, a meteorite. A gift from a farming community. ......

　Father, turning over the stone, there was my name engraved on it, "Alexander Carlyle".

How did I get my name?
A naturally occurring groove in this meteorite. It just so happens to be named after Alec, and it was presented to me as a good omen.
"How could that happen?
Alec is the world's greatest son, no, a man. You can do great things in normal life, but a lie like this is a disgrace to the achievement, and that's why I won't tolerate it.

　My father was unusually angry with me, even though this was related to me.

By the way, that village is ......
"I had the mayor removed from office with a severe scolding. No harm was done.

　Phew. .......
　I was relieved that your father took the rational course of action.

I was relieved that your father took reasonable measures-- "Any further action will give Alec a bad name!

　--And it seems that he was quite emotional about the decision.

But this is unacceptable, for if this gets out and spreads to the rest of us, we'll eventually have a bad time. So...

　Purge!　And the father stopped the words before he could speak again, the words that would become words.
　I know what you're saying, but the purge is going too far.

Wait, father, I'll go over the situation.
"Alec?
Yes, let me handle this one.
...... Hmmm, yeah. The truth will come out in a flash when Alec gets there. Okay, it's up to you, Alec.
"Yes.

　For now, the "purge" has been stopped.

　　　　　.

　Flew to the village of Goral, which, with instantaneous magic, was prominently bountiful.
　I've brought Astaroth with me. I thought that since it was a bumper crop, she would know if there was a cheat.

"Great, a great crop.

　That was my first impression as I flew in.
　The fields are overflowing with crops, the people are cheerful, their houses and clothes and everything else is new, and you can see at a glance how rich they are.
　Farmers, especially, have no income until the harvest, and when they receive their income from the harvest, they spend all their money at once.
　A good economy is more clearly proportional to the harvest than other industries.

The economy is much better than other industries, so it seems that the harvest is as good as the numbers say, but why?
"...... oh
"What's up Astaroth, I have some ideas.
...... Yes, I remembered that these caves are the only ones in the territory that are built differently.
"Different from the others?

　What a difference.
　It reminds me of a village I visited a few days ago.
　The hovels there are ordinary hovels enshrining a stone statue of Astaroth.
　All the halls in the other villages are pretty much the same, with a few differences in size, but they all worship Astaroth.

　Unlike them, the only difference is their construction.

I wonder what it's like.
"There it is, my Lord.

　There was a scaffold to which Astaroth pointed.
　First of all, even from a distance, it was roughly twice as large as the others.

Is that because it's so big?
"No.

　It's not.
　Well, since I'll remember as soon as Astaroth arrived, you'll know when you get inside.

　I took Astaroth and went to the cave.
　I stood in front of the cave and peered in - to my surprise.

Is that ...... me?
"Yes, my Lord and I.
Do you mean I'm worshipping you too?　Moreover, this arrangement: ...... looks like I'm the main one and Astaroth is the follower.
That's right. That describes my relationship with the Lord very well. So I remember going all out to give you more blessings than usual.
"...... I see.

　I chuckled a bit.
　If he says it's an exciting arrangement, I can see why it would be twice or even three times as effective as any other.

　I got the situation.
　There was no cheating, that's a relief.

　But.

This stone statue of me, it seems like I am a god too: ......

　A stone statue of a human being and a stone statue of the god to be worshipped are different in construction.
　I, with Astaroth in my presence, am the work of a god.
　The statue is gorgeous and divine even though it is a stone statue.



　King of the gods.
　I'm reminded of a phrase from a myth.

"It is appropriate, my Lord," he said.
I see.

　So says Astaroth. She was just like the fathers.
　The goddess Astaroth, a devotee of the Aleksandar religion. She smelled perverse.

"Ah!　It's the Vice-Emperor!
"There's also a goddess.
"Thankfully, thank you. ......

　While we were standing in front of the woods, some villagers noticed us and began to worship not only Astaroth, but me as well.
　Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe they worship me more.

　Maybe it wasn't my imagination.

　I was raised to be a mortal goddess with a fertility goddess.
　I still felt like a god-king.

　An SSS-ranked reincarnation.
　Apparently, if I chose to be reincarnated as a human, I would still be a god.