But I didn't expect you to show up at Restia.

　Sandra's second capital, Astal, had only been gone for ten days. The next place where the Skeleton Frays appeared was Merica, a town in the south of the knight kingdom of Restia.
　I heard that the lord of Merica was squeezing a rather harsh tax from the people of the territory, taking advantage of its distance from the royal capital of Restia. Naturally, some of the little guys tried to play along with it, and others cried out for it. Even though it wasn't as bad as Astal, it was definitely full of the 'negative emotions' that I expected.
　As a result, the town of Merica became a skeletal flay, with all of its inhabitants having their souls eaten away. Or, more accurately, by zombies with crystal bones. In our case, the flesh was burned away.
　These zombies were defeated by adventurers from a nearby town and the rushing Knights of Restia.
　The Skeletal Flames themselves are not that strong. However, the population of one town being turned into zombies is quite a threat. If I'm not good at it, the next town might be attacked by these zombies as well.
　After that, neither the adventurers nor the members of Restia's knights seemed to have any abnormalities, so it's still not likely to be a pathogen that could be infected.
　'Something' is eating their souls. Perhaps the thing that should be called the 'larval body of an evil god'.
　Moreover, this thing, like Fraise, seems to have come from a rift in the dimension, attacked humans, and then returned to the rift in the dimension. Maybe there is a 'shake back' like the dominant species, but this time it's the opposite that's troublesome.
　With the sensing plate (tablet), only lower-grade, mid-grade, and higher-grade flames can predict the appearance of these items. At the very least, if the evil gods were working together with the lower level flames, they could have discovered it.
　It's so frustrating. I'm not going to be able to find them, I'm going to beat them to a pulp.

'Fuyao-sama. Fuyao-sama, do you have wrinkles between your eyebrows?
'What? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just a little annoyed.

　I was sitting in a room in the castle, thinking, when Hilda, sitting in front of me, smiled and called out to me.
　In order to calm my mind, I poured the already cold and lukewarm tea at once.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world. The best way to deal with it is to goggle....
'What? What? It's....
'Hey there, erotic maid. Don't listen to that bullshit.

　Hilda's face was red when Sheska blew something in her ear. I can usually tell what kind of thing he blew in, so if I don't deny it here, I'll get in trouble later on.
　Hilda trusts people too much, both in a good way and a bad way. You could say she's gullible. In a sword fight, she won't fall for a feint or anything like that, but she often falls for lies that even a child wouldn't be fooled by.
　Even discounting her position as a naive princess, it's hard to deny that she's been raised with a sword as her sole focus. My grandfather is such an eloquent old man, but that side is completely clear.
　Well, Else and Yae are similar in that respect. It's not that I'm not interested in it. It's not that they don't seem to be interested in it, but that's a relief.
　I wonder if those evil thoughts are sublimated when you do martial arts. A sound mind is inherent in a sound body.
　There are times when wizard schools like Linse, Lean, and Umina are bold in their actions.
　Thinking about that, I open my mouth to Hilda, whose face is still red.

'I was just thinking about the incident in Restia.
''Oh.... Your brother was a little depressed too. If only he had realized the corruption of the Merica Lords earlier.......
No matter how good a king you are, you can't know all the land. That's just the way it is.

　That said, for a country as big as Restia, but as a small duchy like Brunhild, we want to make sure that we can see every inch of it.
　A country is only as good as the people it protects. The people are not there to protect the country.
　In our country, though, if something happens, such as patrol knights, secret knights, and Nantaro's cat squad, they can reach my ears immediately.

"So what do you want to do about 'Merica town?
I heard from my brother on the phone.......they're rebuilding it.....or rather, the buildings are still intact, and they're looking for people to move in. However, it is a town with a large number of zombie outbreaks, so.... It's not going to be easy.

　Well, I guess so. Even if you are told to live in the town where the zombies lived. You can't help but be under the impression that it's a cursed land.
　A cursed land, or a graveyard, or a poisonous swamp. And it's a place that's inseparable from the zombies.
　After all, it's a place where dead souls can't easily reach Buddhahood. As it is, the soul takes root in the body and becomes a zombie. But even if the soul is eaten by a soul eater, it's still a zombie.
　Well, I wonder if zombies and skeletons are the same thing after all? It's just that it may or may not have meat on it. Maybe it's the difference, but I feel like the skeleton moves faster than the skeleton. Well, it's still not much faster.

I can understand why you're scared, though.
I just hope it doesn't spread and attract more soul-eaters to the area.

　Mmm. Is it possible for that to happen........ I can't help but think about Sheska's words.
　'Fear' is one of the easiest 'negative emotions'. When an incident like this happens over and over again, people become anxious. The anxiety eventually leads to new fears. This "negative emotion" attracts "soul-eaters" or "evil spirits".......this is a negative deflationary spiral.
　In order to break this vicious cycle, we must strike at the root of that evil. In order to do so, we have to catch the tail of the 'evil god' at all costs....

''Fuyou-sama, your eyebrows again...''
Oh.

　I wonder if it's because I'm apparently getting behind, or if I'm getting easily irritated. I feel bad as if I'm being harassed in a persistent way that I can't see. I feel like I'm being insidiously bullied.

'Ha........maybe I should have a change of scenery....
It's just a random invitation to get f*cked up and do something naughty.
Oh, really?
Don't believe it because more than 90% of what the man says is a lie.

　I can't believe it. I'm under a lot of stress.






"Lord
Red ball. What's up?

　As I was walking down the corridor, a red ball came flapping its wings. He held out his left arm and made it stay. It's not very heavy, as it's only about the size of a small parrot right now.

'We have received word from the subordinates who were sent to the island. It seems that they managed to get in, but...''
What's going on?
Yes. I hear there's a whole island full of giant beasts.
What?

　Is it full of giant beasts? That's again.... I thought it might have evolved differently, but I didn't expect that one.

'Do people live here?'
It seems that they live in a number of bounded areas that no giant beasts can enter, divided into different settlements. It's like a city-state. There are four of them, each with a north-south, east-west and north-south orientation. In the central area of the island, there is a temple-like structure built.

　There are people here? Moreover, if each city has its own warding, this means that the "Time Sage" that Dr. Wells said is getting more and more involved.

"Warding off magic power?
No, I thought the sky was for spreading magic and the sea was for guiding our course.

　I see. A warding that spreads the magic power of the magic tool "artifacts" to stop their supply and mislead the direction of the ship. Is that why the amphibian crashed and the ship misjudged its course?
　So that means I can open the Gate. With my magic level, it doesn't matter if it's slightly diffused.
　It turns out there's a mysterious island. It's inhabited. Now, what should we do with it?
　It's an otherworldly Galapagos that has evolved in a special way, and is full of giant beasts.
　It's definitely a strange island. I'm curious about it. However, I'm not sure if it's right to interfere.
　There is a possibility that the people of this island do not know the outside world at all. They may not approve of us visiting them.

"Well, what to do...

　An ambitious king would say, "Conquest! I'm expanding my territory! And would they attack? Or would they establish diplomatic relations and encourage trade? Like Admiral Perry, who arrived with the black ships.
　Well, the way I remember that timeline is "I don't like(18) it (5), Mr. Perry". Hmm. I don't like it.
　Probably, I alone, "I'm the king of the foreign country. Let's make diplomatic relations", I won't be taken seriously. If it is bad, I might be thought as a suspicious person and killed.
　I need to make the other side think that there's a great guy here, or that we have to listen to him properly, or they won't even come to the discussion table.
　Let's get a hundred or so pieces of frame gear and go.
　That's something that would be just like Perry-san........ I don't mean to threaten him, but there's nothing we can do unless he listens to us.
　And I'm not sure if it's a good idea for us to make the decision on our own. If we were to trade in terms of position, it would be around Hannock, Elfrau, and Paloof. Xenoas won't be interested in interacting with them.
　I don't think Hannock, Elfrau, and Paloof have much to do with us.
　Hanok has a relationship with Emperor Regulus, Elfrau has a relationship with Guildmaster Lelisha, and Paloof has a relationship with the neighboring country, King Linie.
　What do you think about forcing our country to open up when there's no benefit to our country? It's a bit of a no-brainer.

It's just a matter of time. Continue with the reconnaissance. Find out what kind of culture and society they are building. Safety first, of course.
I'll be there.

　It would be helpful if there was some magic left behind by the "Sage of Time" or something like that. Apparently, he was skilled at creating wards, so by any chance.... By any chance........wasn't he the one who restored the world's wards?
　If that's the case, then there might be some of that secret method left behind.
　It might end up being completely empty, but if there's even the slightest possibility, there's no reason not to proceed.
　If it's necessary to save the world, there's no reason to waste it.
　Secretly, I made up my mind to do so and started walking down the corridor again.