CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 47: THE APPEARANCE OF THE DAGGER

Art requires money, and without money, art might produce a Van Gogh or Picasso, but ultimately, there are far more nameless, sorrowful strugglers barely known by others and without a legacy in history; mere digits in the great number of the population.

Just like the vast majority of people, they live in obscurity, unable to gain lasting fame or infamy.

Of course, that’s the situation on Earth. In this world, art needs even more money because only with money can art avoid quickly becoming a haven for evil and chaos—at least not that quickly.

Malin was very pessimistic about this because he had discovered that among the evil gods, there seemed to be one connected to art.

Its name could not be mentioned, for in this world, tainted by subspace, uttering the name of a disaster-level evil god without protection would instantly connect oneself to that god’s "broadcast channel."

Twenty-four hours of non-stop mental contamination would drive anyone mad, unless they were equipped with a constant mechanical mind—at least usually, but it was not enough, mechanized intellect could not prevent physical transformation into different kind. Take Cain Dodge, for example, who Malin had seen at the Church on his first visit; he had accidentally glanced at a native evil god and was nearly beyond saving.

Even so, that was considered quite formidable—normally, having one’s wits about them after directly facing an evil god was a privilege of a Child of the Plane.

Under normal circumstances, dying with dignity was extravagant enough, so Malin thought if there was indeed an issue with Julian Gungel’s daughter, it was likely related to that unmentionable evil god.

With a love for art and beauty, Malin felt there was no need to specify which of the four peddlers it could be—it definitely cherished art and beauty too, but its standards of beauty are contorted into a chaotic form in the eyes of normal people.

Therefore, if things were as Malin suspected, the art school was probably doomed, and Mrs. Gungel, who had lived longer with Mr. Gungel’s daughter, was likely more severely contaminated, perhaps even fully transformed.

An infection source and a receiver could be dealt with, at least easier than a dormitory. If the contamination had already spread within the academy, then the dorm would be a real den of dragons and tigers, where around each corner, dozens of different kind might welcome you, scrambling to take some small part from you.

Considering this, Malin loaded his revolver, then looked over at the arena—the wave of different kind had been eradicated, the Punishers were finishing off those not quite dead, and several Paladins were stacking the corpses, planning to burn them promptly.

In general, flames were always the best solution to contamination.

"Your Excellency, we need to clean up the academy, please entrust this task to us," said the Justice Maiden, approaching Malin. She had shielded him several times during the fight, and Malin knew she was acting out her creed, the Justice Maiden must stand at the forefront against evil,

but it was too risky, and Malin didn’t like her risking her life for him, so he kept pushing her back.

After pushing her away and ripping apart a different kind, he threw the corpse in front of her and yelled, "I don’t need a girl like you to sacrifice yourself for me."

Malin thought she would be angered, but to his surprise, that seemed to have attracted the girl’s favor... although Malin didn’t think he had done anything remarkable.

Regardless, Malin didn’t think he was so desolate as to need such a young lady to block anything for him.

"No problem," Malin had to leave. The Bishop from the War God Guild had entrusted his Apprentice to Malin, and no matter what, he needed to get them back—even if they were dead.

Malin would have to retrieve their remains from the guts of different kind.

"It’s no problem; the Paladin uncles will follow me, part of the Church’s Punishers are on their way. Concerning you, with the academy in such a state, Mr. Gungel’s daughter and her mother are likely beyond saving. They must have fallen and become dogs of chaos..." The girl looked at Malin: "Mr. Malin, can you Purify them? I am a woman, and they are women too, I don’t want their thoughts and consciousness to be twisted, to become eternal victims and dogs of chaos... So, you must kill them, allowing their souls to be freed from that pitiable vessel, even though their souls are already contaminated by chaos, at least the holy Spiritual Energy can ignite their souls, smoothing out all pain and distortion."

"I will Purify their bodies and souls together... I swear," Malin reached out, ruffling the Half-human girl’s head. Unlike little leopard Maya and little lamb Lillim, Matilda’s ears were pointy and large. At first, Malin thought she was younger than he was, only to find out later that she was already an adult, just small-looking because she was a Zarda Big-eared Fox.

.........

"Why do I feel like your Justice Maiden is just a step away from offering herself to him?" On a rooftop far down the street, the conversation between the white-haired elder and the white-bearded elder continued.

"What’s wrong with that? Her father and mother sacrificed themselves for the Church when she was young, dying to save thousands of innocents in that incident. Our Church would never let her be the Justice Maiden forever anyways; in two years, we will find an opportunity to move her from that position. If she falls for this boy, that would be wonderful, leaving her fated celibate position for love, the entire Church will rejoice."

"But the boy is from the harvest goddesses’ Church."

"He’s Gaiate’s child, destined not to be a member of the Goddess of Harvest Church, and Matilda can guide him to become the hand of justice."

"Are you so sure?"

"Yes, I can see the longing for justice and righteousness in his eyes."

.........

The carriage stopped in front of the mansion’s gate, and Sara jumped down, hauling the half-human out from inside the carriage.

"What a beautiful house; I’m quite envious," Ganmu, the wolf girl on the roof of the carriage, leaped down and exclaimed at the sight of the grand mansion.

"I think it’s still not as good as Sara’s house," Boboka remarked as he hopped off the carriage, appreciating the mansion before him.

Following him, the dwarf laughed, turned his head and took a quick glance at Sara: "Dear Boboka, it seems you’ve already done your own investigation."

The half-human in Sara’s hands laughed like a quail and was then tossed to the ground by Sara.

"Alright, everyone, let’s start getting our equipment in order."

The elf who had crawled out of the carriage came to the left side of the vehicle and opened a chest, as her companions gathered around to freely select their gear and items.

"I still prefer shotguns. Considering the situation inside the mansion, I’ll need a sawed-off shotgun," Boboka said as he pulled out a double-barreled shotgun from another opened chest and took a bag of shells from the elf girl’s hands.

"Speaking of which, do you guys think this mansion will be particularly dangerous?" the half-human pulled out two revolvers from the weapons chest and then grabbed a crossbow: "I think this place is very dangerous, you have to trust me."

"Half-humans are known for their luck, but you might be wrong this time. If my understanding is correct, this family has just had a pitiful brush with Chaos," the dwarf said while pulling out the gun with the thickest barrel from the chest.

Ganmu fetched a short-barreled lever-action rifle from the chest: "Anyway, there’s only a hapless widow and orphans inside. If they’re fine, then let’s allow them to live, but if they’re in trouble, for our own survival, we must take them out."

"I don’t want to see things get out of hand either, but as the Thanan say, life is full of disappointments," Sara said as she pulled out another heavy shotgun from the chest: "I love these big guys, heavy and solid, and once the ammo is gone, they make a good bludgeon."

"Haha, typical Sara!" the half-human laughed aloud.

Equipped with their gear and items, the group passed through the gate, and as they approached the mansion, Boboka began to assign tasks.

"Assume the worst-case scenario: there might be one source of infection and one affected within the mansion. Anvil, old rule: after I provide you with spiritual protection, you’ll be the first to rush in and secure the hall, establishing the defense there. I’ll follow right behind you," Boboka stood in front of the dwarf,

"Understood, that’s the old rule," the dwarf nodded, indicating he understood.

"Futaba, you follow little Carter; he and Milani need your protection."

The elf smiled and nodded, taking a position behind the half-human. A tiny animal scurried out from the half-human’s messy fur, squeaking as if responding to Boboka’s call.

"What about me?" Sara was curious about her role, and Boboka patted her arm: "You’ll cover our rear. If things become impossible, you’ll have to turn around at once and bash out an escape route for us by any means necessary, or else we’ll all die in there."

"...I understand, I’ll be careful," Sara nodded vigorously.

"Speaking of which, Sara, you’re the one among us who’s been on the fewest missions. Are you scared?" the dwarf turned to ask Sara.

"To say I’m not scared would be a lie. I’m very afraid because I might die, especially since I just went through that," Sara said, chuckling and sighing deeply: "But now I feel that when people die, it’s like a lamp going out. If I die, it’s not much, but my father and mother would lose me, and I also have a little brother and two sisters, who would be very saddened by my death... I don’t want to upset them."

As she spoke, the smile on Sara’s face gradually cooled.

"It makes you think, why do mortals suffer and get hurt innocently... Why can’t those monsters be the ones to die," Ganmu lamented, standing beside Sara.

"Well said, if we encounter different kind monsters, we have to kill them," Boboka said with a smile.

Sara looked at her companions and at Boboka, whom she adored.

O deity, if mortals must die someday,

I hope that I can grow old and die with my beloved.