In the outskirts of a city at the border of the former Divine Empire of Sydnia, there lied the ruins of a decaying church.
On the place where the altar should have been in this decayed church, a clump of meat enveloped by black miasma was enshrined.
If you look at that clump of meat closely, you can see faces, arms, legs, and other parts of people push to the surface and disappear, crying our their resentment.
The fragment sourced from the Evil Spirit that the ex-priests of the Light God Faith had brought back was growing well by feeding on so many lives.
What happens when this fragment matures is unknown even to the ex-priests that are giving it souls and meat.
These ex-priests were no longer of sound mind. They don’t know what the consequences of their actions would be, but they weren’t even in the state of mind to question the oddity of this.
The clump of meat continued its screams of resentment, gathering miasma, absorbing all sorts of dense negative energies like malice, grudges, envy, jealousy.
Former priests gazed at it from a distance.
「Soon we will run out of money to buy criminal slaves. What should we do?」
「……what, that’s simple. Let’s circulate rumors that there’s treasures hidden in this church. We wouldn’t have a problem with food for a while.」
「Kukuku, I see. Those greedy bastards would be good food.」
「That would suffice for the time being. Let’s secure some money.」
「Right. Our Goddess is a great eater, after all.」
「No doubt.」
Even after the ex-priests who could no longer make sound judgments left, the clump of meat continued to pulsate ominously.
The ex-priests didn’t notice.
The remote city where the decaying church stood, its citizens were moving away from it.
Because of the miasma-shrouded fragment, the normal people were experiencing anxious just being there, and the flow of citizens leaving the city couldn’t be stopped, as though they were instinctually avoided it.
In fact, the area surrounding the church in particular looked like a ghost town.
Perhaps because the miasma had already encroached in their brains, the ex-priests were unaware of a fact that seemingly anyone else would.
The fragment gathering envy, malice, jealousy, greed, and all sorts of negative energies was accumulating precisely because there were citizens there. It would have been ironic to the ex-priests if the growth of the fragment slowed as the commoners left and lessened.
◇
A luxurious mansion stood over a vast plot of land in an area close to the Royal Palace of Valkyra Kingdom. That alone meant that the owner of this place was no ordinary person.
As a matter of fact, this mansion was the residence of the cousin of this nation’s King Lobos.
Gadget von Valkyra
He was the head of this nation’s dukedom.
The only characteristics that tie Gadget by blood to the extolled wise King Lobos was the color of their hair and eyes, as his caliber was incomparable since it couldn’t be said that he excelled in intelligence and prowess.
Nonetheless, this man held a strong sense of rivalry towards Lobos.
Gadget had no doubt that if he had become the king, he would be able to make this nation more prosperous than Lobos had.
Gadget was aware of the dizzying advancements of Valkyra Kingdom these recent years.
The core of it having to do with Lobos’ friendship with a commoner.
Gadget had looked into the commoner, and his achievements were exemplary.
The popularization of the Purifier MDs, the sudden appearance of the Fortress City Wedgefort in the Savage Lands, the inviolable sacred grounds known as the Sanctuary that appeared on the western edge of the Savage Lands.
Gadget thought, if he could utilize this commoner, wouldn’t it be possible for this nation to unify the entire continent?
Yet Lobos was being more considerate than necessary towards this commoner.
Why not exploit him?
Why doesn’t he seize the Sanctuary?
「And that Lobos is happy about cherry trees?」
「It is a new species of cherry that can’t be found without going to the mountain, so Her Majesty the Queen and the workers of the Castle also seemed pleased.」
「Hmph, how trivial. He used the nation’s coffers for such trifle things.」
「King Lobos seemed to have paid out of his own pockets.」
「Tch……」
Gadget clicked his tongue. If Lobos had used the national treasury for it, Gadget could have pursued him.
「……look for someone who has a beautiful daughter from distant relatives.」
「……a knight or baronet, yes?」
「Fuh, so you know. Send in someone who can take his breath away. That commoner’s money, knowledge, and the Sanctuary will be mine.」
Gadget seriously thought he could do it. And those around him dared not deny him. Then Gadget grew more and more foolish.
In the outskirts of a city at the border of the former Divine Empire of Sydnia, there lied the ruins of a decaying church.
On the place where the altar should have been in this decayed church, a clump of meat enveloped by black miasma was enshrined.
If you look at that clump of meat closely, you can see faces, arms, legs, and other parts of people push to the surface and disappear, crying our their resentment.
The fragment sourced from the Evil Spirit that the ex-priests of the Light God Faith had brought back was growing well by feeding on so many lives.
What happens when this fragment matures is unknown even to the ex-priests that are giving it souls and meat.
These ex-priests were no longer of sound mind. They don’t know what the consequences of their actions would be, but they weren’t even in the state of mind to question the oddity of this.
The clump of meat continued its screams of resentment, gathering miasma, absorbing all sorts of dense negative energies like malice, grudges, envy, jealousy.
Former priests gazed at it from a distance.
「Soon we will run out of money to buy criminal slaves. What should we do?」
「……what, that’s simple. Let’s circulate rumors that there’s treasures hidden in this church. We wouldn’t have a problem with food for a while.」
「Kukuku, I see. Those greedy bastards would be good food.」
「That would suffice for the time being. Let’s secure some money.」
「Right. Our Goddess is a great eater, after all.」
「No doubt.」
Even after the ex-priests who could no longer make sound judgments left, the clump of meat continued to pulsate ominously.
The ex-priests didn’t notice.
The remote city where the decaying church stood, its citizens were moving away from it.
Because of the miasma-shrouded fragment, the normal people were experiencing anxious just being there, and the flow of citizens leaving the city couldn’t be stopped, as though they were instinctually avoided it.
In fact, the area surrounding the church in particular looked like a ghost town.
Perhaps because the miasma had already encroached in their brains, the ex-priests were unaware of a fact that seemingly anyone else would.
The fragment gathering envy, malice, jealousy, greed, and all sorts of negative energies was accumulating precisely because there were citizens there. It would have been ironic to the ex-priests if the growth of the fragment slowed as the commoners left and lessened.
◇
A luxurious mansion stood over a vast plot of land in an area close to the Royal Palace of Valkyra Kingdom. That alone meant that the owner of this place was no ordinary person.
As a matter of fact, this mansion was the residence of the cousin of this nation’s King Lobos.
Gadget von Valkyra
He was the head of this nation’s dukedom.
The only characteristics that tie Gadget by blood to the extolled wise King Lobos was the color of their hair and eyes, as his caliber was incomparable since it couldn’t be said that he excelled in intelligence and prowess.
Nonetheless, this man held a strong sense of rivalry towards Lobos.
Gadget had no doubt that if he had become the king, he would be able to make this nation more prosperous than Lobos had.
Gadget was aware of the dizzying advancements of Valkyra Kingdom these recent years.
The core of it having to do with Lobos’ friendship with a commoner.
Gadget had looked into the commoner, and his achievements were exemplary.
The popularization of the Purifier MDs, the sudden appearance of the Fortress City Wedgefort in the Savage Lands, the inviolable sacred grounds known as the Sanctuary that appeared on the western edge of the Savage Lands.
Gadget thought, if he could utilize this commoner, wouldn’t it be possible for this nation to unify the entire continent?
Yet Lobos was being more considerate than necessary towards this commoner.
Why not exploit him?
Why doesn’t he seize the Sanctuary?
「And that Lobos is happy about cherry trees?」
「It is a new species of cherry that can’t be found without going to the mountain, so Her Majesty the Queen and the workers of the Castle also seemed pleased.」
「Hmph, how trivial. He used the nation’s coffers for such trifle things.」
「King Lobos seemed to have paid out of his own pockets.」
「Tch……」
Gadget clicked his tongue. If Lobos had used the national treasury for it, Gadget could have pursued him.
「……look for someone who has a beautiful daughter from distant relatives.」
「……a knight or baronet, yes?」
「Fuh, so you know. Send in someone who can take his breath away. That commoner’s money, knowledge, and the Sanctuary will be mine.」
Gadget seriously thought he could do it. And those around him dared not deny him. Then Gadget grew more and more foolish.
