The Golden Palace.

　It certainly doesn't look like that. And in terms of shape, it's just like a 'convex'.
　While looking at the image that Bastet and the others brought back on my phone, I gave a small cluck of my tongue. It's still troublesome.

''Is there an evil god in this one?''

　Yumina murmurs as she peers at the images.

''According to the Hanakoi sisters, probably. On that meteor rain day, this one fell into Isengard and scattered the 'divine Demon Poison' all over Isengard along with the other poisonous needles. So that we couldn't get close to it. As long as it's in this state, I hear it hasn't woken up yet, but...
''I wonder if these golden skeletons are still 'soul-eating' people........ It's different from the ones we've seen before. It's a mutant species.

　Lean ponders as he runs his hand over his chin.
　The mutants eat the souls of humans with strong negative emotions and send their spiritual energy to the evil gods. Humans whose souls have been eaten become crystal skeletons, or crystal zombies, and attack people even more.
　The crystal skeleton has turned into gold. This must mean that they have become a mutant species after all.
　Most of the people left in Isengard could be assumed to have had their souls eaten. The corpses that Bastet and the others saw will eventually turn into crystal skeletons and become a mutant species.

''What are these people doing?　I see you're just hanging out and wandering around.
'I think the golden skeleton is like a soldier.... I think they're guarding this palace. The 'divine Demon Poison' makes us inaccessible, but it doesn't have any effect on ordinary humans.

　While answering Soo's question, I was glad that I didn't send a so-called mercenary army of adventurers who had nothing to do with me. This is indeed dangerous.

''If the capital city is like this, there will be a lot of people running away from Isengard, won't there?

　Just as Yumina said, more and more people are fleeing from Eisengard to the neighboring countries of the Raze Armed Kingdom, the Strain Kingdom and the Galdio Empire.
　Eisengard's capital, Eisenburg, is located in the south, so the north isn't so much in turmoil. However, people fleeing from the south are crossing the sea into the north.
　Some northerners, hearing about the situation in the south, were afraid and fled to other countries.
　And many of those who flee are rich.
　Even Rase, Strain, and Gardio can't take in refugees with impunity.
　They have to have money to survive, and rich nobles would accept towns and villages, but poor people can't.
　Even if they crossed over to another country, they would either die of starvation or lose themselves to bandits and the like. Then it would still be better to stay in Isengard.
　If it gets worse, all sorts of bad things will happen....

''What is Uncle Kosuke's method of countermeasures against the divine Demon Poison?''
You seem to be making some progress, but...

　In fact, I gave my uncle Kosuke the stones and soil contaminated by the divine magic poison that Bastet and the others brought back. I heard they're going to test them, but I wonder if they're safe.
　When I held the stone contaminated by the divine and demonic poison, a tremendous feeling of disgust and numbness swept over my body.
　It's not enough to make you fall over, but if I had to compare it to something else, it's a horrible sensation, like sticking your hand into a human brain, like holding the rotten guts of an animal in your hand. Anyway, it was creepy.
　Since even I am like this, it must be even more damaging to my uncle Kosuke, who is a pure god.
　I was a little worried, so I walked over to my uncle Kosuke's research facility that was recently built on the east side of the castle. The research facility is a plastic house made of a thin film of monsters.
　Inside the plastic house are several saplings planted, each one with a tag with some kind of symbol or number written on it.
　In front of one sapling at the back was my uncle Kosuke.

'Hello, Fuyao-kun.'
"Hello, my king.

　At his uncle Kosuke's feet was the black dog, Anubis, who had returned from Isengard.

''Why is Anubis here?''
"Helping out.
''It's tough for me to handle a stone contaminated with divine and demonic poison.

　I knew it.
　There's a sapling about thirty centimeters tall at Uncle Kosuke's feet. I wonder if this is what is used to purify the divine and demonic poison?

Fuyao-kun, you know about photosynthesis, don't you?
'What?　Yes. Let's see, using the energy of light, plants and other things take in water and carbon dioxide to produce organic matter and oxygen...?
''Well, in a nutshell, yes. This sapling has a similar ability.... that is, it has a filter-like ability to take in the divine Demonic Poison of the earth and spit it out as a harmless magic element.

　Oh!　That's certainly a cleansing capability. So, you can turn the contaminated land back on!

'There are still problems, by the way........ Mr. Anubis, I'll ask you again.
"Copy that.

　When Uncle Kosuke stepped back a little from the spot, Anubis activated the [Storage] on his collar and a fist-sized stone flew out. The stone rolled right next to the sapling.
　It can be seen from here. That stone is a stone tainted with divine Demonic Poison. Just looking at it makes me feel nauseous.

''Take a good look at it with your 'divine eye'.

　Just as my uncle Kosuke said, I released my 'divine eye' and observed the stone and the sapling.
　I could see something like a cloudy aura on the stone, but it gradually faded from above.
　Instead, he could see that the sapling next to it was gradually storing a cloudy aura inside from below. Perhaps this is taking in the stone's divine magic poison. Eventually, something sparkling is released from the sapling's leaves into the atmosphere. Is that.........magic element?　The divine Demon Poison was converted into a harmless magic element?

''Isn't that amazing!　If we plant this in Isengard...!
No, look closely. Look at that sapling.
'What?　Ah.....

　The sapling is wilting. There was still a divine demonic poison inside it. After a while, the sapling completely withered away, and a murky aura began to rise again from the ground where it had been growing.

''It's useless unless you can completely convert the divine Demonic Poison into demonic elements. If it's not done well, the divine Demonic Poison could condense. It's still a work in progress.''

　Anubis dug into the contaminated soil and stored it in the [Storage] of the collar again, along with the dead saplings.
　When I held the first stone that had been contaminated by the divine Demonic Poison, I felt nothing. The divine Demon Poison here seems to be completely out of it.

''This tree, can you complete it?''
'You can, I suppose. With God's help, it can be done in an instant, but there's nothing that can't be done with human power as well. But it will take time.

　If Uncle Kosuke used his original power, it would only take a moment. However, now that he has turned into a human being, it seems that we have no choice but to repeat the trial and error process.
　We have to make use of the power of the spirits and the facilities of the 'Alchemy Building' to somehow create a complete sapling and purify Isengard.

''It will be a bother, but I'd appreciate your help.
'No, no. It may be impertinent, but it's quite fun to experiment with different things and grow them. I couldn't have this kind of fun in the God Realm, you know. I will gladly do it for you. Leave it to me.

　Uncle Kosuke nodded with his usual soft smile. This is a lot of work........ Normally, this is one of the many worlds for the gods, and a world that has been left out of the hands of the World God, it's only natural to leave it alone. Thank goodness for that.
　While I was chatting with my uncle Kosuke for a while about cleansing saplings and crops, my phone in my bosom told me an incoming call. The King of Belfast is written on the screen. Oro?
　I don't think Prince Yamato is proud of me again..... I know he's happy to hear that he's turned over in bed for the first time or that he's crawling, but to be honest, he's become a bit annoying lately.... But that doesn't mean I can't answer it, does it?

'Yes, hello.'
'Oh, Fuyu-dono. I'm sorry, but you must come to the castle in Belfast at once. I've found something strange.
Strange?
'You'll know it when you see it. Perhaps this ... anyway, I hope you'll come soon.'

　What is it?　It doesn't sound like we're in danger....
　I'm not sure, but let's hurry to Belfast Castle anyway.
　[Gate] and transitioned to the courtyard of the self-serving Belfast Castle.
　His Majesty the King's brother and Sue's father, Duke Ortlinde, with several knights, greeted me.

''What in the world happened?''
'No, it's not so much what happened, but how did that thing get here?　That's what I'm talking about.

　The Duke of Ortlinde explains as we walk around.
　Alephis, the royal capital, where Belfast Castle is located, is surrounded by the castle town to the east, west and south, and Lake Palette to the north.
　Lake Palette is the source of water for the capital, but it is off limits to visitors. The lake behind the castle is the property of the royal family.
　The other day, a demonic shark beast called 'unicorn shark' wandered into the lake. I heard that this happens once every few years.
　They didn't want the lake to be ruined, so they sent out a boat to defeat the shark. In the process, a valuable horn broke off from the unicorn shark and it sank to the bottom of the water.
　As a waste of time, one of the knights, who said he was good at diving, dived into the lake....

So that's what he found. I didn't expect to find such a thing sinking in Palette Lake.
What the hell did you find?
I know it when I see it.

　With that, Duke Ortlinde opened the door that was at the back of the castle.
　It was a door that led to the north of the castle, and when he went out front, he could see a view of the beautiful Lake Palette with its sparkling water surface.
　I could see several people gathered on the banks of that lake. His Majesty the King is there too.

''Oh, Winter Night Lord!　Over here!

　His Majesty the King beckons to me.
　As I approached the crowd, I realized what "it" was lying on the ground and quickened my steps. Hey, hey, that's...!

I never thought I'd find you here...

　While my mouth is parched, I squeeze out a voice.
　The "it" lying at my feet is about the size of a child, in the shape of a person, but it is not a person - it is a golem.
　Its appearance reminds me of the characteristics of certain golems I've encountered in the past.
　He crouched down and raised the golem's chin to see that it had that mark on its neck. Yes, the 'crown' mark.

'No doubt. This is ... a white 'crown'.

　I'm sure it's because his appearance is also very similar to the "Noir" that Norn has and the "Rouge" that Nia has. It's a thin, dirty color, though, and it's hard to call it white.

''I knew it. But why is such a thing in our country, and in the lake behind the castle...?
I don't know. But it's possible that the Black and White crowns were the ones that repelled the Freys' attack on the Kingdom of Belfast a thousand years ago. Perhaps it was the 'Black' and 'White' crowns that stopped functioning at that time.

　Pictographs by the Arcana tribe that were found in the underground ruins of the old royal capital of Belfast. The 'Black and White Knight' that it represented is most likely this guy and Noir.
　Anyway, let's see if we can activate it, huh?
　I put my hand on Golem's chest and let the magic flow.

'Open.'

　The sound of air leaking out with a bash causes the people around me to take a step back. Even if you're not that freaked out.
　In the open chest, there was still a softball-sized glass-like (or more accurately, a lump of gel) vessel, and furthermore, inside it, the G-Cube, the heart of the green phosphorescent golem, was slowly turning.
　The moment I slipped my fingers into the glassy gel to get the G-Cube out, and touched it, it happened.

'Non-conformist contact. Dormant mode Nicki, R sequence begins. Self-defense system activated.''
"Nah.

　With that mechanical voice, a bright white light instantly stole our vision.




The

interchangeable

interchangeable

interchangeable



M...?
What?
What's the matter?　Are you both silent all of a sudden?'

　I noticed that my uncle Kosuke and Anubis were in front of me.
　Looking around, I realized that I was in my uncle Kosuke's plastic house. I had a fist-sized stone in my hand. Is this the stone that was contaminated by the divine and demonic poison...?
　What is it?　What happened?　Did I ... get forced into a transference?

"Hmm. "Alteration"? Oh, well, Fuyao-kun. Please calm down.
'What?　Yes, sir.

　"Altered"?　What do you mean?　Does Uncle Kosuke know what happened?
　Why am I here?　What happened to the white 'crown'?
　My head is full of questions and I can't get my thoughts in order. Anyway, as Uncle Kosuke said, let's settle down for a moment.

''The 'facts' have just been rewritten by someone. Do you have any idea what happened?
Well, I don't know, maybe...

　I told my uncle Kosuke about what happened just now. Maybe it's because I was in a bit of a panic, I couldn't explain it well, but I managed to tell him everything and asked him to explain.

'I see. I'm almost certain that this is what that 'white' crown did.
What the hell happened?
Well, to put it simply, it didn't happen.
'Never happened'?

　What does that mean? What does it mean that it has been deleted?