Kujonin

Kujonin
Author: Hanabokuro
—

The boy made to go outside from the pa.s.sageway.
"H-ey! Come give me a hand!"
I called out to the boy from behind him.
"Eh!?"
The boy"s eyes widened and he turned to face me, pointing his finger in the direction of the plantation with smoke rising from it.
"It will be fine! Hero-sama will handle it somehow! Rather than that, the residents" lives are more important. If it"s Hero-sama, he"d say to save the people in the village, right?"
The boy looked down, his hands grasping the hem of his clothes tightly.
"It seems that Pastor Romeo had caught onto something. Won"t you look for materials on ghoul disease with me? We haven"t made it so everyone"s safe yet, after all."
I took the boy by the hand and went through the pa.s.sageway towards the annex like that.
Even though the boy was fl.u.s.tered, he followed me.
That was dangerous. It would have been unbearable if the boy had gone over to Garcisan and recovered his magic power for him.
I head to Pastor Romeo"s room, separate from where the Sisters are fl.u.s.teredly moving.
The door wasn"t locked, so I was easily able to enter.
Like before, the room can"t be called "clean" by any means.
Used like memos, a lot of poor-quality paper had acc.u.mulated on top of the desk and bed, and magic stones were scattered on the ground.
"Can you read?"
When I asked the boy, the boy nodded his head.
"Look for the recently written memos. It seems that he had found the source of the ghoul disease before he died."
At my words the boy sucked in his breath and searched through the scattered memos.

I hunted through the middle of the desk, and the boy searched frantically through the fallen memos on the bed and the floor.
What I"m looking for isn"t the memos, it"s the notebook.
Fishing through the memos on the desk, I found the notebook wrapped in string.
Untying the string and flipping through the pages, I found the sentence I was looking for.
""Sister Clarence"s headache seems to have calmed down, but I wonder if the disease is cured." I found it! Here it is!"
I read the notebook out loud.
Sweat began to run down the boy"s face, and he looked up at me.
""At noon, a person called Naoki came visiting, bringing a letter from Cynthia. In the middle of telling him my theory, I felt that it was necessary to do a dissection. Maybe because I met with someone, my headache disappeared. … Sister Clarence became a ghoul. It"s extremely unfortunate. And then, I finally committed taboo. It seems that Mr Naoki already knew the truth. Just what kind of person is he?" I"m just an exterminator, though."
I said as I showed the boy a smile.
The boy was grasping the edge of his clothes so tightly his hands turned white.
"Rather than that, I wonder if Pastor Romeo knew that he himself was suffering from ghoul disease? "Mr. Naoki has already taken actions and spread masks around. It"s effective if my hypothesis is correct. He even said he had begun to develop medicine. He left the village to me before he finished making the medicine. I must explain things to the villagers. I must tell Garcisan and have him stop using magic stone powder immediately. I have no time, but I"m not sleepy.""
If the mandrain pesticide had been used then, we might have been able to save him.
I"m regretting it.
""Even if I explain it to Garcisan, it seems he won"t stop using the magic stone powder. He said if he doesn"t draw the magic circle, he won"t be able to stop the wind from causing greater damage. He won"t take caution even when I tell him it"s the cause of ghoul disease. He said the childrens" headaches are already cured. Even with Mr Naoki"s subordinates cooperating with me, the villagers just won"t come to get treated. … While I was sorting through my data, I realized it. People suffering from ghoul disease will suffer a headache from mana insufficiency before turning into a ghoul, but right before they turn into a ghoul, they will have several days where the headache is gone and they don"t eat but seem to be stable … I … several days ago I haven"t been sleeping or even eating anything… what about the children? …" Here"s where the notebook stops. You should have seen it, right? Were the children eating?"
While staring into empty s.p.a.ce, the boy shook his head side to side.

When I looked out the window, the southern sky was flaming red.
At some point, the sounds of the Hero and the dragons fighting outside had disappeared.
["Naoki! The Hero"s treatment is done!"]
I heard Ayl"s voice from the communication bag in my breast pocket.
"Roger. Tell the dragons to keep it up."
["OK!"]
I shut off the communication bag.

"Dragons!? You! Who are you!?"
The boy screamed.
"I will return that exact question back to you. You didn"t receive any treatment from Ayl and Velsa, right? You don"t seem to have a headache. If you"ve entered a stable period, then we have to hurry and treat you right now."
So saying, I took out the mandrain agent I received from Velsa and approached the boy.
"Stop!"
The boy knocked the mandrain agent out of my hand, scattering the contents.
A few drops of the red mandrain agent landed on the boy"s arm.

Sizzle

White smoke rose from the boy"s arm, the skin melted, and a transparent membrane appeared underneath.
"How strange. This mandrain agent only steals magic power away. It doesn"t have the ability to melt an arm. As long as you aren"t something that uses magic power to make your body. Right? Earth Spirit?"
The boy who"s the Earth Spirit leapt backwards and fled out of the room through the door.
While scattering white smoke in the hallway, the Earth Spirit ran towards the pa.s.sageway.
"Eh!? What!? Why"s he running away? There"s no point, right!?"
Even though I was confused for a second, I chased after the Earth Spirit at full speed.
Even if he runs, it"s not like his sins will disappear and G.o.d won"t be able to find him, right?
"It"s pointless even if you run!"
Just running away is pointless, but on the other hand, it"s that G.o.d so… I can"t erase that thought.
"Stop! If you don"t stop I"ll…"
Hm~ I don"t have anything to shoot with, though!
What the, when did I become a policeman!? Dammit-! This spirit is stupidly fast!
I took out the wooden plank from when I was riding Red Dragon"s back that can produce a gust of wind and loaded it with magic power.
"Uwohey!"
Blasting off, I was somehow able to catch the Earth Spirit that had gone outside through the pa.s.sageway.
It"s the cemetery here.

"Look! Just how many people were sacrifices to the plantation!?"
I spread out my arm towards the graveyard, and the Earth Spirit seems to have heard me, saying,
"How would you understand!?"
My words stopped the Earth Spirit and he turned to face me.
His face was covered in wrinkles like an old dwarf, and there was no trace of the boy"s face.
"I can"t understand! Stealing away water from the lake and calmly making a cotton field even though the villagers are turning into ghouls, how can I understand!? As long as only the one you"ve given blessings to is happy, then it"s fine? Or did you not realize that the children of the Hero you"ve given your blessing to are becoming ghouls?"
The Earth Spirit gave me a look filled with rage, and while spewing white smoke, he flew up.
The smoke stretched all the way over to the sky over the plantation.
"Dammit-! The h.e.l.l you think - you"re doing!?"
I leapt onto the roof of the annex and jumped towards the direction the smoke was going.

Right now, there are two dragons burning the cotton field at the plantation.
Garcisan is lying on the ground on a hill in the dead center of the burnt plantation, and Ayl was there, waving her hand in my direction.
The white smoke soared high into the sky.
"Ayl-!! Run - away-!!!!"
I poured magic power into the communication bag and yelled into it.
The white smoke went crashing down onto the hill.
Ayl"s eyes widened and fled as if rolling down the hill.
I poured even more magic power than ever into the communication bag, calling out to a different person.

The Earth Spirit stood next to Garcisan, gently stroking his head.
"Haa, haa, the Hero ain"t dead, right? Satisfied?"
Did he just want to see Garcisan one last time?
It would have been nice if that was the case.
"Great efforts must always be rewarded."
The Spirit opened its mouth and spoke.
What? What"s with that idealistic speech?
Aah, I see. For the Spirit, a Hero is their ideal.
"News to me. There are all sorts of efforts that go unrewarded, right?"
"I watched Garcia"s 20 years of effort."
"It"s not like he was doing it to show it off to you, right?
Whether in exterminating or cleaning, it"s not like I was doing it to be praised.
That"s just like returning from negative to zero. It doesn"t produce anything useful.
I also never thought about it as putting in effort. It"s work, after all.
"5 years ago his effort finally bore fruit. Do you think you have the right to take it from him?"
"I"m saying his efforts are going in the wrong direction, right? Isn"t correcting his mistaken efforts the task of the spirit? What are you going to do if Adel Lake"s water level falls like this? If the plantation continues like this, what will happen to the villagers in Gnomefield? If you recognized his efforts, then recognize Pastor Romeo"s efforts."
So saying, I showed him Pastor Romeo"s notebook that I brought with me."
"If you compare that person"s efforts to Garcia"s, then"
"Is there something like "big effort" or "small effort"?"
"It seems like nothing I say will work. Then it can"t be helped."
So saying, the Earth Spirit sank his body into the ground.

The entire hill began to sway.
"What the? Oioioioi!"
I seized Garcia"s clothes and rolled all the way to the bottom of the hill.

"GUOOOOOOO!!"
Looking upwards, a giant human-shaped golem opened its large mouth and roared.
"That"s a foul, isn"t it!?"
The dragons are flying around the golem"s head, but they look awfully small in comparison.
I spread out a defensive barrier magic circle.
The fist the golem swung down lightly destroyed my magic circle.
I threw the unconscious Garcisan towards the wind-breaking trees" forest.
Ayl was waiting in the direction I threw him.
The moment I saw Ayl receive him, the Earth Spirit swung down at me.
I guarded with my arms, and both of my arms were broken.
Next, I was looking at the sky, wondering why I wasn"t dead.
It"s probably due to my level and the defenses of my coverall, definitely.
My legs were buried up to the hilt in the ground.
I"ll definitely die if I take another one.
I sucked air into my lungs with all my might.
"Oh Earth Spirit! You have destroyed the area you were in charge of, ignored the changing of the villagers into monsters, and still you will prioritize the Hero"s efforts!?"
"The efforts of a good human must be recognized! That is this world"s law!"
The Earth Spirit opened his giant mouth and made his declaration.
Swatting the dragons flying around him, he raised a fist.
"Hey G.o.d. Did you hear that?"
I said to the communication bag in my breast pocket.
["Aah, Mr. Komuro. It was a perfect confession. It"s alright, there is no such law in this world! The Earth Spirit is fired!"]
All of a sudden, the giant golem lost its power and crumbled, falling to the ground in pieces.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You were G.o.d"s servant!? d.a.m.n you, G.o.d!! I won"t forgive you! I won"t forgive yoooooou!!"
The fallen pieces of dirt seemed to rewind and the golem was revived, turning black.
"I"ll kill you, and if I destroy the village, everything will return to how it was! I can revive the plantation however many times I need to! This time, I"ll partic.i.p.ate! So tremble in the face of death! G.o.d"s servant!!"
The face of the giant golem came close, all the way up to my nose.
The jet black golem spread out both its arms. If he continues like this and claps his hands together, I"ll be crushed flat from both sides.
Both my arms are broken and I can"t use them.
I also don"t have my defensive barrier up.
My legs are buried and I can"t pull them out.
"G.o.d-sama, I"m kind of in a bit of trouble."
["Huh? He already demonized? That"s a bit fast!"]
"No, don"t just say, "that"s a bit fast!""

"DIIIIE!"
The giant black palms closed the distance from both sides.
"Waitwaitwait! You"re kidding, right?! You"re kidding! AAAAAA! … Ah?"
I thought that was it, but there was no impact.

Pomf

In exchange, a sudden gust  of wind came from the front.
When I opened one eye to look, Evil G.o.d had struck the black golem"s head to the ground.
"Nyahahahah! You called and I answered, it"s me, the Evil G.o.d!"
"Evil G.o.d?"
I lowered my broken arms and, with both legs still buried in the ground, I spoke to Evil G.o.d.
"Mr Komuro, what"s with that weird appearance? It"s way to avant-garde as always, na. The current area won"t be able to keep up with you, Mr Komuro."
"Anyway, you"ve saved me. Thank you very much. Evil G.o.d."
"Naah, well, this is a new demon, huh… it"s big. Well, whatever. What was he before?"
So Evil G.o.d came over without hearing about anything.
"He was the Earth Spirit."
"I see. Then lets have him tend to the world tree. Alright, that"s what I"ll do. By the way, Mr Komuro, this magic tool called the communication bag, it"s super useful! Like seriously, as good as the s.p.a.ce spirits! With this, I can even contact you from the southern hemisphere."
Evil G.o.d approached me, showing me a communication bag.
It"s not something I made, it looks like something G.o.d made.
"This looks like a communication bag made by G.o.d."
"Eh? What? This isn"t a magic tool made by Mr Komuro?"
"If that"s the case, do you want me to make one? It"s just, right now, both my arms are broken and I can"t do anything…"
"Eh? Mr. Komuro, both arms are broken!? Gyahahaha! What is this-! This is so- funny! How will you wipe your a.s.s!? What kind of gag is this!? So dumb, way too dumb~~~"
Evil G.o.d found something about it funny, and began to laugh hysterically.
"By the way, both of my legs are buried in the ground and I can"t move, so…"
"Hee~hehehe~!! Stop~ please stop~~~ are you trying to kill me with laugher~~~~!!!"
Evil G.o.d began to roll around in laughter.

"Ugu, gugugu."
The golem that was slapped to the ground lifted up its head after recovering its consciousness.
"You, just who are you? Not just G.o.d but even Evil G.o.d … you can"t be the Demon Lord?"
"I"m not a Hero or a Demon Lord. You can"t even say I"m a good person or a bad person. I"m a member of an extermination company. We take requests. Our after care is perfect. Don"t worry about Garcisan, who is no longer a Hero. I"ve already found work for him."
"What did you say!?"

["President, this is the church! For now, we"ve cured everyone here!"]
Seth"s voice came from the communication bag.
"Roger. If that"s the case, go upriver of the waterway and dam up the water. So that the water flows into the lake. Merumo! Secure people to dig wells! People who can use earth magic are fine. Try asking the Hero"s children, too."
[ [ " "OK-ssu!" " ] ]

"Just what are you, no, what are all of you!? What was your trade? Extermination company?"
A frustrated, deep voice reverberated from the golem"s large mouth
"Our company"s just a group. A group of people. We in the extermination business know just how terrifying a group(swarm) can be. Don"t underestimate people who do business! What you"ve destroyed, we can immediately build back!"
Except for human lives!
"Ku ku ku, you"re a scary guy."

"Ah - did I laugh! That was close - I really thought I was going to die from laughter-! Then, Mr Komuro, see ya later. I have great hopes for your next gag. Yo-!"
So saying, Evil G.o.d easily lifted the black golem and threw him into the sky, towards the south.
The golem flew off at an unbelievable speed and vanished into the southern sky.
"If you run into any troubles, contact me."
"Eh? You"ll contact me?"
"Yeah, I don"t want any more slimy sumo. See ya."
With a "Yaa!" the Evil G.o.d flew off into the southern sky with about the same speed as the golem.

"Haa, it"s over."
Manipulating my magic power, I poured magic power into the communication bag.
"Ayl, sorry. I need your help."
["O,ou. Got it. Are you alright?"]
"Why don"t you come ask my a.s.s if it"s alright? If I"m like this any longer, I won"t be able to wipe my a.s.s."
["G,got it."]
"Huury, okay? Hurry."
["Y,yeah."]
"Not good! What am I going to do? I"ve been like this for so long, all sorts of places super- hurt! What do I do, it"s leaking!"

Did not expect that actual deus ex machina.
Nice to see OP mc that isn"t basically a deity. >