Otherworld TRPG Game Master

204 – Analysis of the Goddess -1

The analytical skills of Evil God-chan are equal to or greater than mine. Even reduced to 7%, her insights through long experience and intuition are intact. She could somewhat see through mine and Pingballez’s poker faces.

So for Yuna, whose expressions and emotions are synced like Bluetooth, it was easy to read her like flipping over a palm.

With just a few questions and observing Yuna’s expressions, Evil God-chan had grasped the context and arrived at the truth.

The truth that I once set the continent ablaze as a woman of influence, and had even enticed the Great Northern Duke.

The result was…

“Puhahahahahaha──!!”

“Stop it.”

“Huh, uhuh, ahahahahahahak──!! Heehee⋯⋯!”

“Stop laughing, you jerk!!”

It was a roaring laughter that lasted for a full 10 minutes. This damn guy.

Evil God-chan laughed without a care, even as I threw a fit of rage and embarrassment. Rolling around clutching his stomach, it seemed like this would add ten years to Evil God-chan’s life. They say laughter extends your life, right?

On the contrary, mine must have been shortened. I’m so mad I could die.

As I chewed on my handkerchief, expressing my anger like a noble lady, Pingballez merely patted my shoulder and spoke up.

“Why so sudden? You were so confident about your ability to charm men. You even seemed a bit proud of it?”

“She gets mad, not amused, when teased. You’re fine. Anything you do is fun and I like it.”

“…That’s troublesome. I can’t just accept such words out of the blue. Next time, please give me a warning.”

What did I say that requires a warning?

Still giggling from the lingering laughter, Evil God-chan wiped the tear drops from the corner of her eyes and leaned in close to me.

“So, what about it?”

“What about what.”

“No… I was asking if you still have feelings for the Great Northern Duke. His daughter, who once mingled with the man, has appeared before you. Are you jealous?”

“It wasn’t that kind of relationship, and I was friends with ‘Daisy’, and I’m a man, and whether she’s really his kin is still up in the air, you know?”

That’s because, the reason ‘Daisy’ stopped seeing me was because the Great Northern Duke got engaged.

From what I heard, he wasn’t divorced, so he must have started a family around that time.

How could there be a daughter like this?

Akshin-chan laughed again, asking if the nickname ‘Daisy’ for the Northern Duke was made because she couldn’t remember names, and how could someone’s nickname be a flower.

I seriously considered casting a curse on Akshin-chan.

Yuna, who knew me from those days, joined the conversation. When I was a newbie in illusion magic, I had many shortcomings, and she often helped me with hologram maintenance and stabilization.

So Yuna also knows about the Northern Duke. She pondered for a moment, then tilted her head slightly, floating a question mark in the air.

“That’s right, it doesn’t match up with the timeline, does it?”

“Yes. That young lady looks to be at least fifteen years old. When did I create the Heart?”

“It was in the year 445 of the Lion calendar. The Heart graduated and ceased activities in the year 448.”

“Now it’s the year 453, so even if ‘Daisy’ got married and had a child right on schedule, it would be 8 years. It’s hard to call it a discrepancy when the time difference is double.”

There’s something here.

This contradiction would be easily resolved if that young lady was impersonating the Northern Duke’s lineage. But I don’t think that’s the case.

The connection between the Northern Duke ‘Daisy’ and this young lady is clear. Her sky-blue hair is undeniable proof of the Northern lineage, and she has passed several question-and-answer verifications. For example.

Questions about internal information I heard from ‘Daisy’, or whether the mahogany bookshelf made in his mansion, which one could only know by living there for a long time, still exists.

The young lady chose all the correct answers. She even overcame the trick questions. So this unfortunate girl, kidnapped by a mad holy knight, is indeed a member of the Northern Duke’s family.

Then where does this time discrepancy of at least 8 years originate from?

Could it simply be that she’s the type whose secondary s*xual characteristics developed very early?

Or maybe, it’s related to the reason she came all the way here with only two attendants.

However, despite all these questions, it’s not important. As a friend of ‘Daisy’, I intend to honor the loyalty of meeting his daughter. That’s all.

I have no intention of helping to the extent of giving up a family trip. It’s just a matter of convenience.

If she wishes, I’ll drop her off at a nearby city, give her a little travel money, and that’s the end of it. Otherwise, we’ll have to contact the Northern Duke’s family while we have the patient in custody.

While I was focused on the individual in front of me, Yuna seemed to be looking at something broader. She murmured.

“What’s happening with the Northern Duke’s family, I wonder…”

“Master of the Tower, does something seem suspicious to you?”

“Uh-huh. Do you remember the think tank that Irid gathered?”

I remember. How much I loathed the lazy approach to materials. The members also had their own distinct features. A magician from the Red Tower, the stormy Princess Elaine, and.

“The former Archbishop, now military chaplain Julius… he introduced himself. It’s the surname of the Northern Duke’s family, and he’s probably a brother of the Northern Duke himself.”

That’s right. There was also a Julius there.

I had dismissed it as someone with a similar name, but now that I think about it, could he have been from the same family?

In the past, I was completely isolated from the outside world and devoted to research, so I didn’t understand the weight of the title of Archbishop. But now, with various experiences under my belt, it’s different.

The Goddess is a mighty being. The Divine Order, which almost monopolizes the divine power granted by such a being, is surely in the hands of the Archbishop.

For a moment, I had grasped that position.

So, the current situation of the Northern Duke’s family is:

1. ‘Daisy’ is still the Northern Duke.

2. His brother, once a cardinal, has been dismissed from the clergy.

3. His eldest daughter is in a strange time zone, and for some reason, she’s far away from the Northern territories.

Listing the information gathered so far, there’s definitely a sense of eerie unrest. As his long-time friend, I couldn’t help but worry. ‘Daisy’, what are you going through?

Though I’ve abandoned the appearance of a Heart, I believe there’s still friendship between him and me. We were friends.

Once I’ve dealt with the urgent matters at hand, maybe I’ll casually check in…

“Why, are you dying of concern for an ex-boyfriend you dumped?”

“You’re not up to it. I’ll show you the destructive power of joint techniques.”

“Tha-aaah──!!”

I mercilessly applied an amplified armbar to the evil spirit-chan.

Was it shockingly unexpected? The young lady asked Pingballez in a voice filled with wonder about the situation.

“Is, is that even allowed…?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Lady Erbasillion. That girl is not what she seems. She’s a being close to a captured demon, so be cautious… and do you happen to like women?”

“What?”

“Hey Pingballez! If you’re going to charm the lady, charm me too! Are you neglecting me…?!”

And so, time passed.

—

We decided to rest in this village for a while. The young lady was quite weakened, and we had things to investigate here as well.

So, we postponed talking with the young lady for a bit.

We split into two groups again. Yuna and Yuri took on the role of feeding the young lady and boosting her condition.

And Evil Spirit-chan and I took on the role of exploring the village.

Feeling the traces of the queen from the fallen holy knight, there might be a sinister altar or magic circle hidden somewhere in this village. If you’re going to remove weeds, you have to pull them out by the roots.

“Is this the place?”

“It seems like it.”

Click. Evil Spirit-chan and my steps halted simultaneously.

The scent of the queen was pulsating strongly. I kicked open the door with my foot and entered. Evil Spirit-chan followed behind me.

It seemed like a building used by the holy knights, but the interior had been crudely converted to resemble a chapel. There, a podium was visible in the distance, and atop it, a glass bottle was preciously placed.

As soon as she saw the glass bottle, Evil Spirit-chan dashed out hastily.

“…I’ll get it, so wait, Mima!”

“? wait.”

Why didn’t I get asked not to do this? This isn’t like me. It’s suspicious.

Just then, I flicked my finger to send a signal to the long-distance trigger. Whirr, whirr, whirr! The dozens of wires that had been stretched from the wicked queen’s forehead to my entire body wrapped around me in an instant.

Quickly, I bound my entire body. The wicked queen, who was running away, was also bound and fell to the ground.

“Ah!”

“What are you going to do again? Just stay still, I’ll finish the inspection.”

I opened the glass container and looked inside. Even a glance reveals that the information is correct, but since the wicked queen is suspicious, I’ll inspect a little more.

I carefully examined the color. No color.

“Ah, don’t do it! Don’t look!”

I can smell it. I can sense the wicked queen’s unique, wicked information. But it seems to be mixed with something impure.

If I taste it, I’ll definitely know for sure.

“Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it──!!”

The wicked queen’s face turned red and she trembled with rage, but I stopped moving my hand, which was holding the vial. And then I quickly turned my head around.

The wicked queen’s information. At the time of the final battle, I thought I had completely erased everything using the “minus” technique. But some of it remained, and if the wicked queen had devoured it like a pig, then…

When I realized that I had forgotten myself, I got angry and ran wildly, accidentally triggering the long-distance trigger.

If the wicked queen had let out the information as a result of the information dump to suppress the wickedness, then…

The wicked queen had eaten the remaining information. She was keeping it a secret, but if she didn’t say anything and just kept her mouth shut, she would get scolded by me. So, she had to explain it herself. If she was hiding something…

Everything was connected.

“… Ah, Ah, Ah…”

“… Ah, Ah, Ah…”

The atmosphere became tense. I slowly turned my head to look down at the wicked queen. She had a worried expression, as if she was thinking, “I hope I didn’t forget to hide my test paper.”

When I was playing with my birthday cake, I had a mischievous smile on my face, but now I was dripping with sweat and trembling. When our eyes met, I felt a chill.

Even her eyebrows were slanted, as if she was trying to pretend she didn’t know what was going on, but her nervousness was palpable.

I smiled warmly, like a saint. “Did you do it?”

“… Ah, Ah, Ah!!”

Ugh. The wicked queen’s body was trembling uncontrollably.

I laughed loudly. The meaning of that smile was clear to the wicked queen, who seemed to understand it.

“No, no, no, hey, hey! Don’t do it!”

“Ughhh──.”

“Whatever you’re planning, just don’t! I swear, I could kill you in your sleep⋯⋯.”

“──Guys!! Evil Spirit-chan has drawn a map on her blanket at her age!! And the fanatics are worshipping that blanket!!”

“Hey──!!”

Clutching the glass bottle to my chest, I dashed out of the building, screaming at the top of my lungs for the whole world to hear. I had to share this joyous news with Pingballez and Yuna as well.

As Evil Spirit-chan was fully restrained, she couldn’t catch up to my free-limbed speed, and even if she did, there was no way to silence me.

“How could you live so long and still disgrace the blanket.”

“⋯⋯I’ll kill you, you won’t die comfortably, you crazy sorcerer!”

“It seems the otherworldly water attribute map maker isn’t scared.”

“aaah!!”

Seeing Evil Spirit-chan’s face turn almost as red as a tomato from the humiliation play, I didn’t need any side dishes. Even munching on hardtack tasted sweet.

The young lady’s expression grew stranger by the minute⋯⋯.

With that, today’s score between Evil Spirit-chan and me was 1 to 1. A draw.

—

In the present, after the incident of Evil Spirit-chan’s map creation. I became aware of the fact that the “Succubus Queen’s Information” she leaked exists somewhere in the world.

Since she testified that she leaked it about a week ago in the Elmest territory, it couldn’t have spread too far. It’s highly likely it’s still circulating within the territory.

It was supposed to be a journey to keep a promise made between Evil Spirit-chan and the boy.

But an unintended side quest had emerged. To collect the Queen’s information along the way. It didn’t seem like it would be a difficult task.

“Exclusive tracking magic complete.”

“⋯⋯You monster.”

Now that I’ve created the tracker.

Thud, thud. Pingballez was pulling the carriage. I sat on the coachman’s seat, fanning her, while the young lady watched wide-eyed from inside the carriage as a person pulled it.

This is the way straight to Elmest territory.

As I glanced at the passing forest path, a thought occurred to me, and I scribbled in a notebook.

The Queen was impersonating a goddess and manipulating the paladins. I don’t think there’s only one ‘corrupt religious person’ among the paladins. There must be a few more.

And I believe there’s a high probability that they possess the “Queen’s Information.” So this short journey will likely involve cracking the heads of the corrupted folks of the Goddess Church.

A minor opportunity.

They could serve as test subjects for my research on the goddess.

At the top of the notebook page, I wrote “Goddess Analysis.” Then, leaving a line space, I pressed down hard and wrote the number 1. I recorded the fact I had just realized.

The knight succumbed to the queen’s seduction, indulged in lust, and even if he killed or kidnapped the innocent to sell them, divine power was granted. No divine punishment would descend.

The rulers governing the nation are required to exclude emotions. Thus, it’s not strange to say that there is winter in the heart of one who rules the world.

The heavens and the earth are unkind, treating all beings as if they were mere straws for dogs.

In short.

1. The goddess does not distinguish between good and evil. Or, she has set the weight of good and evil extremely low.