The Helra Ducal Territory, attacked by the Evil God Cult, had become a land shrouded in death. Meaning, the corpses on that land had started to move as if alive once more.
What was once known as the most prosperous duchy in the south was now an eerie territory filled with deathly energy and countless corpses.
A land saturated with death.
Even though it had turned into such a territory overnight, its residents somehow managed to adapt.
“Hey, here they come.”
“Calmly stab. They get faster when they’re close, so stay alert.”
The residents, armed with spears, wandered around the city and cautiously approached any corpses they found. Their task was to dispose of the remaining corpses within the city. They had made a contract with the Duke to receive a considerable amount of silver for each corpse they handled.
The act of thrusting spears into their own brothers, sisters, parents, children, friends, or lovers. From the perspective of modern people, this would be an unforgivable tragedy, but for those in the medieval era, it fell just within the limits of tolerance.
The ethical standards of medieval people were far harsher than what modern people could imagine. For just a few coins, they could overlook the death of their own kin—or even personally stab them with spears.
Thrust!
After finishing the grim task of turning their once-zombified acquaintances back into lifeless corpses, one resident stared at the body rolling on the ground with a hole in its head, lost in memories.
“Ah, this one… I wanted to bang her because she had huge breasts…”
“If you touch a corpse and catch a venereal disease, your head will roll. You know how sensitive Lord Hela is, right? I heard this whole mess with the city happened because of venereal diseases.”
“But, what am I supposed to do when I feel horny?”
“Just grope her boobs and jerk off or something.”
As befitting medieval residents who had endured unreasonable times, they adapted to this situation all too easily.
The ones who couldn’t adapt to this situation were ironically those who perpetuated such absurdities.
Namely, the nobles who ruled the city.
***
“The Evil God Cult must be eradicated! Right now!”
The southern noble, Baron Jardak, spoke passionately, but the other nobles responded with indifferent expressions. It wasn’t because he was a subordinate of Duke Hela, who had suffered losses from this incident.
His words were valid. No one present would deny that the Evil God Cult needed to be punished.
However, there was a common question among them:
Who? How?
“What if we provoke them and end up in the same situation?”
The Evil God Cult was like cockroaches or sewer rats—always lurking unseen.
Attempts to exterminate them had been ongoing but always ended in failure. That alone proved the cult’s tenacity and vitality.
Defeating them was an urgent mission, but if it were that easy, it wouldn’t have been such a daunting challenge in the first place.
Ultimately, the meeting went in circles.
“If only we sought help from the Holy Kingdom…”
“Before that, we should prioritize supporting the refugees from the Helra Duchy…”
“I already said eradicating the Evil God Cult comes first!”
Izuna Hela, attending in place of the shocked and secluded Duke, felt intense disgust toward everyone present.
She loathed their inability to offer any real solutions or their deliberate continuation of pointless theoretical discussions.
Of course, she also felt that same disgust toward herself. She was no exception.
“Technology always provides new breakthroughs.”
At that moment, a man with green hair—who no one remembered joining the meeting—spoke up. Izuna, staring blankly at him, was shocked when she saw the name floating above his head.
“Merlin”
The Merlin she knew was the Empire’s greatest sorcerer and the leader of the Imperial Magic Corps.
Everyone waited silently, wondering if this was indeed *that* Merlin.
“Let’s punish the Evil God Cult. That’s our top priority.”
“…Lord Merlin. As I said earlier, if it were possible…”
“I’ll say it again. Technology will provide a new breakthrough.”
“Do you mean there’s technology to identify members of the Evil God Cult?”
“Yes.”
Merlin smirked as he answered, leaving everyone present utterly astonished.
What made the Evil God Cult so terrifying? The fact that, until they revealed themselves, there were very few ways to uncover their identities.
Only someone like a Virgin Saintess wielding True Silver Rozario or a Pope-level priest pouring out immense divine power could expose them.
Even then, these methods required direct contact, limiting their use to testing only those in critical positions where the Evil God Cult must never gain influence.
The fact that not a single person in this room had undergone such testing demonstrated how difficult it was to root out the Evil God Cult.
“If such technology exists, why didn’t you reveal it sooner? What have you been doing?”
“It’s a recent development…”
“If it had been developed just a little faster, this disaster could’ve been avoided…”
“Minister.”
In the next moment, the air froze. Though the temperature hadn’t physically dropped, everyone present felt the chill.
Merlin, casually glancing at the minister who tried to pin responsibility on him, opened his mouth.
“Bark at me properly. Don’t mistake my polite tone for equality.”
“…Yes.”
“—Why is the atmosphere like this? Weren’t we having a good discussion?”
Clapping his hands with a grin, Merlin continued his explanation.
“In truth, it’s not my invention. It’s the work of an Academy student.”
“A student from the Academy…?”
“That’s impressive…”
“First, there was that Aura Master student, and now this…”
The nobles and ministers gasped in admiration. Honestly, they thought the Emperor was wasting money and resources on the Academy, but unexpected results were starting to emerge.
If even one such achievement came out every ten years, the Academy would be considered a successful policy.
And now, it was producing absurd results as if it had pulled together all the luck for the next hundred years.
“It’s a device created by Sera, the second-ranked student in the Academy’s magic department.”
“Sera?”
When Izuna heard the name “Sera” from Merlin, she subtly raised her head to look at him.
It was a name she recognized. How could she not? After all…
Kim Sera was a reincarnator from another world.
An existence capable of achieving impossible results using methods incomprehensible to this world’s residents.
A player who utilized status windows and game systems better than anyone else.
If she was involved, she might not only find the Evil God Cult but also discover a way to appease the countless vengeful spirits of the dead.
A way to save the tens of thousands of residents dragged away by that evil god.
***
“Where would such a thing exist?”
Sera glared at Kail as if telling him to stop spouting nonsense.
“Is it impossible?”
“Of course it is! Asking me to create a tool to find the Evil God Cult or forgotten worshippers… Do you think I’m some kind of cheat program or trainer? What nonsense are you talking about…”
“But didn’t you create a magical device to identify the Evil God Cult?”
Kail blurted out information he had recently heard from Bellion. Upon hearing this, Sera gaped in disbelief, wondering where he had gotten such an idea.
“I specifically asked you to keep that hidden! How did you find out?”
“From Bellion.”
“Oh, the prince… Well, the royal family might know… But why do *you* know about it…?”
“What’s wrong with me knowing?”
“If you know, it practically means the entire empire knows, you idiot!”
Sera shouted, and Kail looked down at her with a puzzled expression, wondering why she was so upset.
After huffing and puffing for a while, she scratched her head and sighed deeply.
“The item to find the Evil God Cult existed in the game.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s an item unlocked in the second year. I didn’t make it with my own abilities; I used the game system, so I don’t even fully understand the principle behind it.”
Sera was a player who brought the game system itself into this world. To others, her achievements seemed extraordinary, but she herself harbored significant dissatisfaction with her abilities.
“This ability is so inconvenient! I’m supposedly a four-star magician, yet I can’t even convert a one-star spell formula. Why? Because of the game system!”
Her magical prowess was entirely dependent on the system’s adjustments. In essence, her abilities were tied to the system.
If the system allowed it, anything was possible, but if it didn’t, even simple tasks became impossible for her.
In the game, this wasn’t an issue. The system defined the game’s limitations, so what was impossible for players was also impossible for NPCs.
But now, in reality, things were different.
“Yuri has already published ten papers! I haven’t written a single one! At this rate, I won’t even graduate!”
“You’re still only a second-year student, aren’t you?”
“That’s what I’m saying! Even if I start writing my thesis now, it won’t be enough! You blockhead!”
“How can you call me a blockhead when you can’t even use magic without the system’s help…”
“Aaaargh!”
Fixing the system’s flaws was simple in theory: she just needed to hone her skills to use magic without relying on the system.
But after a year of perfect adaptation to the system, she no longer knew how to cast magic without it.
Like a modern person who had used smartphones their entire life and couldn’t tell time without one, she had become utterly dependent on the system to perform even the simplest spells.
In short, she truly was a blockhead.
“Pfft.”
“Don’t laugh!”
More than Kail did.
