After the morning's fellowship, Shinji sends Freri back who seems to
be in a satisfied mood, and collects his thoughts alone. Although he wanted to
obtain Iren's magic power, he knew that if he followed Freri's suggestion, he
would end up in a lot of trouble.
（If the
aftereffects of Iren's disease are resolved, then the question will be how, and
who cured her. More than that, the knowledge of how magic power is released is
not good）
It is common
knowledge that the release of magic power inside the body is determined by
one's natural talent. No matter how much one uses magic, no matter how much one
trains, the maximum amount of magic power released remains the same. For this
reason, the phrase "natural talent" has been considered common
knowledge.
Indeed, it can be said to be an innate talent. The amount of the
tiny holes that release magic power is determined at birth.
（There is no
way that the magic guild would keep quiet if I made this knowledge public.
Being involved with the magic guild means that the possibility of being
involved with my birth family increases dramatically. I don't want to be
noticeable, and I don't want any troublesome conflicts. In the first place, I'm
too ashamed to reveal knowledge that I didn't discover by myself...）
Thanks to Freri, Shinji is now aware of the existence of magic pores
in his body, but he feels that he never would have noticed them if she hadn't
told him. He would like to do some research on the magic pores, and he would
like to fulfill Freri's wish that she taught him this knowledge, but he cannot
behave so brazenly.
He assumes various scenarios, but comes to the conclusion that the
matter is too big for him to handle.
『No matter
how much I think about it, it's useless. The method of using a cure is
impossible』
『Muu...』
『I'm sorry
that Freri suggested this, but... No matter how it turns out, it'll result in
someone finding out what we're up to』
Treating Iren's aftereffects is an unprecedented event and will make
him stand out. Furthermore, it's obvious that Iren will resume her adventuring
activities after the treatment, and the fact that the aftereffects are gone
will become public knowledge. If this happened, it is easy to imagine that
various people would come to Shinji, such as pressure from the nobles who are
suffering from the aftereffects or from the Magic Guild.
If he attracted attention, there is a possibility that some secret
would be revealed. Whether it is the fact that Freri is a half-succubus, the
fact that he can cast a lewd crest, or the fact that he is an Apostle of the
Goddess... there are too many secrets that Shinji cannot or does not want to
reveal.
『I thought it
was a good idea. All right, I give up』
『Sorry,
Freri. I'll make it up to you somehow』
『Hmm. Okay』
Despite her disappointment, Freri accepted Shinji's words quietly.
She still wanted to make Shinji's magic taste better, and she still missed the
pleasure of watching a woman fall. But it would be meaningless if Shinji's
secret is exposed and they could not be together.
If Shinji says it is impossible after considering it, Freri will
obey his words. As a childhood friend, she has full confidence in Shinji's
decision. He even promised to make it up to her, so she has nothing to complain
about.
『Well, that's
it for this conversation. I'm going to have breakfast with Renka and the
others. After that, I'm going to the archive room to read the report, just like
the other day. Maybe Freri can help too』
『Hmm. No
problem. Just call me before you start』
『Okay. Then
I'll see you later』
Thus, Shinji decided to give up on the idea of touching Iren using
the treatment as a shield.
**a
◇ ◇ ◇
On the other dimension, there is a being watching Shinji and his
friends. It's Goddess Arian, who watches them from her temple in the so-called
God Realm, a world where gods can exist with no restraint on their power.
「You are very
careful, Apostle Shinji」
Goddess Arian's voice sounded very happy as she muttered to herself.
The reason why the voice is the only way to judge her as a Goddess is because her
figure in the Divine Realm is a shining white sphere. This figure is the most
energy-saving one. However, she is interrupted by a rumbling sound.
This is one of various ways in which Goddess Arian protects herself.
The most externally sensitive among various spell called <Alert>.
The effect of this spell is simple: it tells the user when a foreign
object enters the spell's area of effect. Because of its simplicity, the spell
has a wide range of effects, and thanks to the power of the goddess Arian, the
scale of these effects has grown tremendously. It is nearly impossible to
approach the temple of Goddess Arian without being detected by this spell.
「...Really,
without warning again」
As Goddess Arian's <Alert> reacts, there is a presence that
Goddess Arian knows, the same annoying goddess who sent a succubus to Shinji
and the others' world a while ago.
「You should
be leading your own world in a better direction before messing with others...
That's why you're destroying the world you control」
The reason why she reaches out to Goddess Arian at every turn is
that she has destroyed one of the worlds that she is in charge of due to her
lack of control. This would naturally lead to a loss of faith and a decrease in
her power as a god.
A proper Goddess would take care of the remaining worlds and make up
for her failure over time, but in her madness, this Goddess came up with the
idea of taking over the worlds controlled by other Gods.
She is a very annoying goddess who is trying to weaken the power of
Goddess Arian.
「It looks
like I'll be busy for a while again...」
Goddess Arian muttered and went outside the temple to intercept the
goddess. That's why she didn't notice. She did not realize that the succubus
from the outside world that the hostile Goddess had once sent was still lurking
in the world under Goddess Arian's control.
The succubus who was cut down by Alvin had lied when she said that
the main body of the succubus was in the outside world. In fact, the main body
of the succubus in hiding in Alvin's world, waiting for the right moment. She
is waiting for the time when the Goddess, her Lord, will strike again.
