........Change of plans.
　The original plan would have been to look at the homework I had given to Dia and Tart today.

'Will I get a call on time?'

Bill Nor, a city with many earthquakes, had instructed his agents there to make sure to contact him on time. Even if there was no progress.
　There was no telling when the backup system of the communication network would be cut off, and there was a chance that an agent would be killed.
　If we made it compulsory to contact them on time, they would know that nothing had been done and that something unusual had happened.

'If it were true, I would have liked to get more information before we moved.

It's especially painful that we didn't get any information from Meena, the snake demon race.
　In the Holy Land, I have obtained a minimum amount of information from Aram Karla. Originally, there were only eight demon clans, of which four species were known to exist, and there were only four remaining.
　Even with the information we currently know, we can identify them to a certain extent.
　However, it's only at the level of lore and vague. ........Meena would have been able to provide more definite information.

We don't know if it's a coincidence that Meena couldn't be found, or if she didn't intend to pass on the information intentionally.
　If we asked her to give us information and she refused, we would have a corner to stand on. That may be why they are avoiding contact with us.
　We have too little information to make that decision.

"...so there are two moves I can make?

One, keep gathering information and don't move until you decide that you can win.
　Two, head to Birnor now and look for the demon tribe.
　There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
　If we continue gathering information, we can increase our chances of winning. However, the [Fruit of Life] might be completed before we can gather information, and the demon tribe might escape.
　On the contrary, the advantage of heading to Birnall right now is that we can definitely interfere with the completion of the [Fruit of Life], but it's terribly dangerous to challenge the enemy without knowing it.

''Then we'll have to make a compromise.

I will head there immediately.
　However, even if there are demons in the area, you won't be able to attack them immediately.
　We'll gather information while watching the situation.
　It would be the best thing to do.

◇

After eating breakfast, he quickly ordered Tart and Dia to get ready for their journey.
　The two of them looked surprised, then nodded and prepared their respective equipment.
　Tart is equipped with the magic spear I made instead of the usual three-part folding spear, and Dia carefully maintained her pistol.
　As soon as we were ready, we took to the skies with our hang gliders.

''You don't know what kind of demon race you're going to be this time, do you?
Yeah, so I'll scout first. The two of you will hide at a distance.
''Yes, that kind of thing is Rougu-sama's specialty. I hope the demon race is weak this time.''

As usual, Tart is able to fly by himself, so he uses a communicator to communicate.
　The reason why I'm on my own this time is because it's the least likely to be noticed, but also because it's easier to escape when the time comes.
　The fact that the demon tribe will find you does not mean that you will fight. If there is no chance of victory, they will also consider running away.

''Before we're weak or not, it's not like we were determined to be demons in the first place... I hope we struck out.

I wish for that from the bottom of my heart.
　For example, the lion demon tribe I fought the other day. If I had fought that thing without any prior information at all, I might not have been able to win.
　I finally picked up a win by getting information in advance and making thorough preparations.
　Although Meena had said that lion was the strongest in the demon race, but that didn't mean that the other demon races were weak.

''Well, it's about time. We passed through the city of Baruya earlier.''
Yeah, I should be able to see it by now.

Focusing the magic in Touahade's eyes, he strengthened his vision.
　And then he was immensely disappointed.
　Yes, there was a city........but it was no longer what I could call a city.

''It's terrible. Why is that?''
This is a lie. The city is sinking.

Dia is right, the city is sinking, and that's the only way to describe it.
　A devastation that can only be described as such, a huge city inhabited by thousands of people has fallen into an entire pit.
　A deep, deep hole. After all, not even the largest tower in the city has emerged from the hole.
　A jokingly deep hole dug over a hundred meters deep, as far as I could see from the air.

Judging by the damage to the building, it fell in an instant.
　Probably all the inhabitants died instantly.
　What an atrocity.

It could have been avoided if this had been made known sooner.
'There's no point in saying those things. We couldn't have prevented it, but let's be glad we did notice it.
Yeah.

Because of the communications network, we decided to focus on it and mandated regular communication.
　If we hadn't done so, we wouldn't have been able to get information out of this city and our initial response would have been delayed by several days.
　When that didn't happen, it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened.

◇

I landed the hang glider and headed for the pile of debris that was only me first, a billnol, and slowly descended into the giant hole by manipulating the wind.
　........It smells terrible.
　It hasn't decomposed yet, but the contents of crushed human beings are scattered all over the place.

For the inhabitants, the least they could do was to die instantly.
　We walked with no sign of them and no sound.
　But even so, the risk of being noticed is high.
　Most of the creatures that live underground are highly sensitive to vibrations.
　Even without making a sound, they cannot hide their vibrations as they walk through the hole, and they may be able to sense the shaking that travels through the ground.
　In the meantime, I'm forming a cushion with the wind to guard against it, but it's comforting.

''I see, so this is what it means to make a [Fruit of Life]. ........To eat the soul itself is ridiculous.''

Touahade's eyes can even observe souls when their power is increased to the limit.
　Normally, when a person dies, the soul returns to the heavens, and according to the goddess, it is bleached and then inhabited into a new vessel.
　My reincarnation is one where I dare not do that bleaching, leaving behind knowledge and experience.
　But here, all of my souls were not allowed to return to heaven by being tethered to the earth, and were gradually dissolved and poured somewhere else.

''You were mistaken when you were a helmeted bug.

At that time, I judged that they were sucking the nutrients and magic power from the human body in order to make 【Fruit of Life】.
　It's true that this is what the helmet polish demon tribe was aiming for, but it wasn't to make the "Fruit of Life".

What they use for the [Fruit of Life] are souls, and that guy is simply recycling the excess to increase the number of tree monsters.

And then we realize again how harmful the demons are to humans, no, to the world.
　Normally, even if they die, their souls still turn. In other words, the number of souls does not decrease.
　However, souls that were melted and processed like this could never be reincarnated again.
　The number of souls existing in the world was decreasing rapidly. The goddesses go to the trouble of reusing them, so it's not something that can be created so easily.

''Maybe that's why it's necessary for the resurrection of the Demon King.

Magic power is the power generated by the soul, the power of the soul itself is stronger than the soul itself, the power condensed by using up thousands of souls would be unimaginable.
　That is the reason why the Demon King has absolute strength.
　.........Oh, I see, that's how it is.
　Thinking up to this point, I've arrived at one hypothesis.
　About the true nature of the brave man's power.
　There had been hints at the edge of the demon race's words in the past.

''That can't be a human.''
It does not exist.
"I can't fight those things.

Even from the demon race, the heroes are different, that doesn't simply mean strength, but the fundamentals of existence were different.
　In other words, we and the demon race are only creatures with one soul in the end, but the heroes are essentially the same as the demon king, a being born from the compression of thousands of souls.

If that's the case, it's understandable that the goddesses can only produce one person in a single era. If we continue to create such beings, souls will be depleted from the world.
　All the previous answers in my brain would be connected to each other. The more I think about it, the more the hypothesis seems to be correct.

'Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker.

A high-pitched laugh forcibly interrupts my thoughts.
　It's an unpleasant sound.
　What's this?

He's still alive in my nest. Wonder, wonder, wonder, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, but no, I won't let him go.

An overwhelming amount of magical power and miasma overflowed out of the air, which is unique to the demon race.
　Countless pink slippery tentacles emerge from the ground. Each and every one of them is thicker and longer than me.
　The sweat glands of such tentacles open and spit out a pink mist, filling the hole.
　.........That fog, no matter what I think of it, it's bad, if I inhale it, it's instantly over.

''We have to get to the surface first.

Gathering information is important, but our priority is to survive.
　Let's prepare for a move on the ground as soon as possible while we deal with this fog.
　........Change of plans.
　The original plan would have been to look at the homework I had given to Dia and Tart today.

'Will I get a call on time?'

Bill Nor, a city with many earthquakes, had instructed his agents there to make sure to contact him on time. Even if there was no progress.
　There was no telling when the backup system of the communication network would be cut off, and there was a chance that an agent would be killed.
　If we made it compulsory to contact them on time, they would know that nothing had been done and that something unusual had happened.

'If it were true, I would have liked to get more information before we moved.

It's especially painful that we didn't get any information from Meena, the snake demon race.
　In the Holy Land, I have obtained a minimum amount of information from Aram Karla. Originally, there were only eight demon clans, of which four species were known to exist, and there were only four remaining.
　Even with the information we currently know, we can identify them to a certain extent.
　However, it's only at the level of lore and vague. ........Meena would have been able to provide more definite information.

We don't know if it's a coincidence that Meena couldn't be found, or if she didn't intend to pass on the information intentionally.
　If we asked her to give us information and she refused, we would have a corner to stand on. That may be why they are avoiding contact with us.
　We have too little information to make that decision.

"...so there are two moves I can make?

One, keep gathering information and don't move until you decide that you can win.
　Two, head to Birnor now and look for the demon tribe.
　There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
　If we continue gathering information, we can increase our chances of winning. However, the [Fruit of Life] might be completed before we can gather information, and the demon tribe might escape.
　On the contrary, the advantage of heading to Birnall right now is that we can definitely interfere with the completion of the [Fruit of Life], but it's terribly dangerous to challenge the enemy without knowing it.

''Then we'll have to make a compromise.

I will head there immediately.
　However, even if there are demons in the area, you won't be able to attack them immediately.
　We'll gather information while watching the situation.
　It would be the best thing to do.

◇

After eating breakfast, he quickly ordered Tart and Dia to get ready for their journey.
　The two of them looked surprised, then nodded and prepared their respective equipment.
　Tart is equipped with the magic spear I made instead of the usual three-part folding spear, and Dia carefully maintained her pistol.
　As soon as we were ready, we took to the skies with our hang gliders.

''You don't know what kind of demon race you're going to be this time, do you?
Yeah, so I'll scout first. The two of you will hide at a distance.
''Yes, that kind of thing is Rougu-sama's specialty. I hope the demon race is weak this time.''

As usual, Tart is able to fly by himself, so he uses a communicator to communicate.
　The reason why I'm on my own this time is because it's the least likely to be noticed, but also because it's easier to escape when the time comes.
　The fact that the demon tribe will find you does not mean that you will fight. If there is no chance of victory, they will also consider running away.

''Before we're weak or not, it's not like we were determined to be demons in the first place... I hope we struck out.

I wish for that from the bottom of my heart.
　For example, the lion demon tribe I fought the other day. If I had fought that thing without any prior information at all, I might not have been able to win.
　I finally picked up a win by getting information in advance and making thorough preparations.
　Although Meena had said that lion was the strongest in the demon race, but that didn't mean that the other demon races were weak.

''Well, it's about time. We passed through the city of Baruya earlier.''
Yeah, I should be able to see it by now.

Focusing the magic in Touahade's eyes, he strengthened his vision.
　And then he was immensely disappointed.
　Yes, there was a city........but it was no longer what I could call a city.

''It's terrible. Why is that?''
This is a lie. The city is sinking.

Dia is right, the city is sinking, and that's the only way to describe it.
　A devastation that can only be described as such, a huge city inhabited by thousands of people has fallen into an entire pit.
　A deep, deep hole. After all, not even the largest tower in the city has emerged from the hole.
　A jokingly deep hole dug over a hundred meters deep, as far as I could see from the air.

Judging by the damage to the building, it fell in an instant.
　Probably all the inhabitants died instantly.
　What an atrocity.

It could have been avoided if this had been made known sooner.
'There's no point in saying those things. We couldn't have prevented it, but let's be glad we did notice it.
Yeah.

Because of the communications network, we decided to focus on it and mandated regular communication.
　If we hadn't done so, we wouldn't have been able to get information out of this city and our initial response would have been delayed by several days.
　When that didn't happen, it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened.

◇

I landed the hang glider and headed for the pile of debris that was only me first, a billnol, and slowly descended into the giant hole by manipulating the wind.
　........It smells terrible.
　It hasn't decomposed yet, but the contents of crushed human beings are scattered all over the place.

For the inhabitants, the least they could do was to die instantly.
　We walked with no sign of them and no sound.
　But even so, the risk of being noticed is high.
　Most of the creatures that live underground are highly sensitive to vibrations.
　Even without making a sound, they cannot hide their vibrations as they walk through the hole, and they may be able to sense the shaking that travels through the ground.
　In the meantime, I'm forming a cushion with the wind to guard against it, but it's comforting.

''I see, so this is what it means to make a [Fruit of Life]. ........To eat the soul itself is ridiculous.''

Touahade's eyes can even observe souls when their power is increased to the limit.
　Normally, when a person dies, the soul returns to the heavens, and according to the goddess, it is bleached and then inhabited into a new vessel.
　My reincarnation is one where I dare not do that bleaching, leaving behind knowledge and experience.
　But here, all of my souls were not allowed to return to heaven by being tethered to the earth, and were gradually dissolved and poured somewhere else.

''You were mistaken when you were a helmeted bug.

At that time, I judged that they were sucking the nutrients and magic power from the human body in order to make 【Fruit of Life】.
　It's true that this is what the helmet polish demon tribe was aiming for, but it wasn't to make the "Fruit of Life".

What they use for the [Fruit of Life] are souls, and that guy is simply recycling the excess to increase the number of tree monsters.

And then we realize again how harmful the demons are to humans, no, to the world.
　Normally, even if they die, their souls still turn. In other words, the number of souls does not decrease.
　However, souls that were melted and processed like this could never be reincarnated again.
　The number of souls existing in the world was decreasing rapidly. The goddesses go to the trouble of reusing them, so it's not something that can be created so easily.

''Maybe that's why it's necessary for the resurrection of the Demon King.

Magic power is the power generated by the soul, the power of the soul itself is stronger than the soul itself, the power condensed by using up thousands of souls would be unimaginable.
　That is the reason why the Demon King has absolute strength.
　.........Oh, I see, that's how it is.
　Thinking up to this point, I've arrived at one hypothesis.
　About the true nature of the brave man's power.
　There had been hints at the edge of the demon race's words in the past.

''That can't be a human.''
It does not exist.
"I can't fight those things.

Even from the demon race, the heroes are different, that doesn't simply mean strength, but the fundamentals of existence were different.
　In other words, we and the demon race are only creatures with one soul in the end, but the heroes are essentially the same as the demon king, a being born from the compression of thousands of souls.

If that's the case, it's understandable that the goddesses can only produce one person in a single era. If we continue to create such beings, souls will be depleted from the world.
　All the previous answers in my brain would be connected to each other. The more I think about it, the more the hypothesis seems to be correct.

'Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker Ker.

A high-pitched laugh forcibly interrupts my thoughts.
　It's an unpleasant sound.
　What's this?

He's still alive in my nest. Wonder, wonder, wonder, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive, but no, I won't let him go.

An overwhelming amount of magical power and miasma overflowed out of the air, which is unique to the demon race.
　Countless pink slippery tentacles emerge from the ground. Each and every one of them is thicker and longer than me.
　The sweat glands of such tentacles open and spit out a pink mist, filling the hole.
　.........That fog, no matter what I think of it, it's bad, if I inhale it, it's instantly over.

''We have to get to the surface first.

Gathering information is important, but our priority is to survive.
　Let's prepare for a move on the ground as soon as possible while we deal with this fog.