Chapter 1200: Handling the Bodies

Fran and the half-insectkin returned to the village, welcomed by a large crowd.

Despite Fran’s intense rampage, no one seemed to fear her; instead, everyone was genuinely concerned.

That might have to do with them having witnessed the Red Knights’ battles up close. All of them knew what the strong looked like, and accepted it.

「…Ugh.」

「It’s okay! You don’t have to talk!」

「You really saved us! Thank you!」

「Onee-chan! Are you okay?」

The villagers expressed their gratitude with sincere faces. No one was lying. Well, except for one, the kid who said, “I already knew she was strong! I-I wasn’t worried at all!” That was a lie, albeit a heart-warming one.

The village men carried Fran to a room, and the women tended to her.

They placed wet towels on her forehead, wiped away her sweat, and fanned fresh air into her room.

Fran had fallen asleep, and everyone watched over her with gentle eyes.

「Zzz…」

「To think someone so young saved our village…」

「Thank you so much…」

「But the village is…」

「The elders are discussing abandoning the place.」

The women’s conversation was indeed a treasure trove of information. I learned that the village elders were planning to evacuate everyone, but it seems they couldn’t find a route.

We defeated the forces invading from the west, but that direction was partially blocked by the blackened land left by Maleficent. The only remaining routes on that side require climbing steep mountains.

There were also enemies approaching from the east. We don’t know if they’re working for the East Conquest Duke or not, but they’re clearly not allies.

The south side was even more mountainous than the west, making it impossible for ordinary people to pass through.

Which leaves the north as the only option. The villagers planned to seek help in the capital. But is that safe? Given that the East Conquest Duke was slaughtering innocents with impunity, who can say how cooperative the central government will be? Maybe they would protect the villagers from the East Conquest Duke’s treacherous activities, but they may just as likely back the duke instead.

Bladehawk spoke as if his actions benefited Raydoss as a whole, but he was clearly insane. There’s no telling how trustworthy those words were.

From our point of view, the safest option would be to head west and seek asylum in Kranzel. However, pushing the villagers through such an arduous journey is easier said than done.

Either way, we can’t escort the villagers until Fran can move. The problem is, we don’t know how long it will take. Fran is currently in a coma with a massive amount of fatigue.

『Worst case scenario. Urushi and my body double can escort the villagers through the west route.』

（Woof.）

No clue how the half-insectkin will respond, but I’m sure Fran will decide to help the villagers. I don’t think she would ever consider abandoning them.

I discussed the issue with Urushi for about 30 minutes.

Fran was still asleep, but her sleeping face looked peaceful.

This was caused by extreme fatigue, so there didn’t seem to be any painful aftereffects. I’ve been healing her in secret the entire time too.

Fran shouldn’t be in any more danger now. I’d love to stay here and watch over her, but there’s other things that need to be done.

『Urushi, take care of Fran for me.』

（Woof.）

After leaving Fran to Urushi, I cloaked myself and left the village.

『Now then, guess I’ll store all the corpses.』

I wanted to dispose of the superhuman soldiers’ corpses scattered around the village. If left unattended, they could rot and turn into a source of disease, or start attracting magical beasts.

Furthermore, Raydoss frequently dabbles in necromancy. I don’t want to imagine the possibility of them getting resurrected as an undead army we have to fight again.

The corpses had lost all their mana, probably due to the strange phenomenon of mana flowing out of defeated soldiers to their allies. However, they would still pose a significant threat even if turned into low-level zombies.

I morphed my body into steel threads, absorbing the remaining magic stones as I stored the bodies one by one in my dimensional storage. I honestly have no clue how to dispose of them, but storage is good enough for now. Maybe I can push them off on Jean later?

I was cleaning up the battlefield for a while, when my body started shining.

『This is…』

《Temporary name Master’s self-evolution points have reached the limit. Activating the new system “Apostle of Chaos”. Some systems will be temporarily silenced until the switch is complete…》

Huh? What do you mean by “limit”? Hey, Announcer-san? There was no response to any of my questions.

However, it seems someone else was going to answer me. I found myself in white space before I knew it. The usual place.

『God?』

「Bingo. Aw, you’re used it to now, so I don’t get to see you surprised anymore.」

As expected, it was the descent of a god. The ever-exotic beauty, the Goddess of Chaos.

『This has happened so many times since my reincarnation that I’ve lost count.』

「Well, whatever. You know why I’m here, right? Oh, that’s a rhetorical question, you don’t have to answer. You’ll find out soon enough anyway.」

『O-Oh, okay.』

Oh boy, she’s as carefree as ever.

「I suppose I should congratulate you for reaching the limit of self-evolution, which means absorbing additional magic stones won’t have any effect. Fenrir’s soul was supposed to be fully healed at this point, but there’s no helping it due to the various irregularities.」

『Ah, I see.』

My Self-Evolution is currently at Rank 20. By continuously absorbing magic stones at that rank, it seems I’ve reached the cap for points. Guess it’s somewhat like capping out at 99999 EXP in an RPG?

「That’s why I’ve prepared a new system for you. The system up until now was aimed at healing Fenrir, but from now on, it’s a system aimed at your growth and stability, Master.」

『Wow! Thank you!』

She mentioned something about that last time, but it seems she really prepared a new growth system! This will let me continue helping Fran!

「However, this system requires you to become stronger on your own, without Fenrir’s assistance. This means you’ll have to work harder than before. I hope you can handle that.」

『I’ll work as hard as I have to if I can become stronger.』

「Yeah, that’s the spirit! Keep entertaining me as my apostle from now on, okay?」

Huh? Apostle? Well, I guess I’m something like an apostle since I have her blessing?

「You can check the system for yourself when you wake up.」

『Y-Yes, I will.』

「There may be a few issues, so let me give you one piece of advice. All gods are gods, no more, no less. Make sure you never forget that.」

『?』

Upon leaving behind the ominous words delivered in a cheerful tone, the Goddess of Chaos disappeared along with her usual catchphrase.

「I bid you a pleasant chaos.」

『Eh? What issues? Goddess?! What’s that supposed to mean?!』