Chapter 47 - side story

Side Story Chapter 8: Meanwhile, in the western region of the continent

One of the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped Hihiryushukaka, Ternecia, had been defeated by an adventurer.

This was big news that was enough to shake the world.

However, the greatest effect of this news was not on the surface of society, but on a society of individuals who squirmed in the darkness, a society that was difficult to even call an underworld.

The Vampires who worshipped Barurushapeh, the Evil God of Foreign Writings, stirred.

After the Pure-breed Vampire who was their leader was defeated by the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped Hihiryushukaka, they left the Bahn Gaia continent and had survived up until now by remaining hidden.

However, they had spent a long time gathering strength. Now, they had decided that Ternecia's death, the disappearance of one of their bitter enemies, was a good opportunity to restore their status.

It would be particularly convenient to establish a position in the Hartner Duchy of the Orbaume Kingdom and a part of the Amid Empire, where an empty space had opened with Ternecia's death.

But the Five-colored Blades were working in the Orbaume Kingdom, led by the new S-class adventurer Heinz.

With that being the case, the Vampires made moves into Kalahad, a maritime vassal nation of the Amid Empire to its south.

But the Storm of Tyranny, the party led by Schneider, the only S-class adventurer in the western region of the continent, was working there. However, they hadn't performed any major deeds recently. And the party was led by someone who, despite being an S-class adventurer, was a depraved man who had a weakness for money, alcohol and, most of all, women. The Vampires thought that if they crushed each member individually, they could be victorious.

After finding out that one of the Storm of Tyranny's members was Zod… the Pure-breed Vampire Zorcodrio, they felt certain that they could win.

Guon, the leader of the Vampires, had heard from his previous master that Zorcodrio had once been defeated in ancient times.

According to that story, Zorcodrio was the man with the least talent in magic and combat among the Pure-breed Vampires.

According to that story, even during the battle between Alda and Vida, Zorcodrio had been the first one to fall at the frontlines.

It was said that there were around a hundred Pure-breed Vampires. With a hundred of them, naturally, some of them would turn out to be failures. Zorcodrio was one of those failures, the weakest Pure-breed Vampire.

Guon decided that this was the case after remembering his former master's words.

He decided that the first step of ruling the darkness of the Bahn Gaia continent would be to make a casualty of this Pure-breed Vampire, even if he was a failure, in order to show his power and the power of his followers.

The Storm of Tyranny cooperated with Guon's plans almost too quickly, separating themselves from one another. Guon himself, along with his elite subordinates, surrounded Zorcodrio and attacked.

"How frail…"

Several Vampire corpses littered the plain, which lay in waste as if a storm or hurricane had swept through.

"I-impossible. The elite Vampires that I raised myself, i-in a single instant… They were all at least of count status, Rank 10 and above!" Guon shouted. He was standing stock-still in the middle of the plain, simply shuddering at the monster of muscle before him.

Barely a minute ago, there had been a slim, gentleman-like person between the prime of his life and middle-age standing there.

But now there was a monster covered in steel-like muscles.

"Hmm, you are still young, but have your eyes aged too much?" asked Zod, who now looked like a completely different organism, never mind a different person. "I broke the ones you raised in a matter of seconds. Now then, it is your turn next."

It seemed that Guon still hadn't accepted reality. "Do not fool yourself! There is no chance that I, Guon-sama, who serves the Evil God of Foreign Writings, would be defeated by one such as you!"

Guon, who had reached the status of Vampire Emperor, used the Chant Revocation skill to cast fire, wind and earth-attribute attacks in rapid succession.

Zod brushed all of these aside with his overwhelming physical strength. He swung his arm swiftly to extinguish the flames, and the blade of air and spear made of minerals simply bounced off his pectoral muscles and abdominal muscles.

"The one who is fooling himself is you, you rotten youngster!"

Zod closed the distance between himself and Guon in a single instant, the ground crushed and broken beneath his feet.

During the moment where the defensive spell that Guon had cast in reflex was broken, he realized the true meaning of his former Pure-breed Vampire master's words.

Zod had the least talent in magic and combat among the Pure-breed Vampires, but he made up for that with overwhelming physical strength.

During the battle between Alda and Vida, he fought further at the front and more fiercely than anyone else with this physical strength, and after enduring more attacks than anyone else, he was the first to fall.

"Take this! Violent Burst Lightning!"

As Zod began vibrating at such high speeds that his body began to blur, bolts of lightning erupted furiously from him.

Guon's Mythril armor, which was supposed to withstand even the magic of master mages, was pierced by that lightning and his heart was incinerated. He crumbled and fell, along with his ambitions.

Zod, who was releasing an acrid, ionic-smelling stench, made sure that Guon had stopped moving and then exhaled.

"Fushururu*… Just like the electric eels that inhabit Earth that have lightning coursing through their bodies without using Mana, this was my Muscle Technique's move that produces lightning with nothing but the vibration of my muscles. This is the power of science that was passed down by Solder, the champion chosen by Peria, the goddess of water and knowledge."

"No, that's not completely science," said Lissana, who was standing there before Zod knew it. "Solder would cry if she heard that; she didn't deal with macho men well, either."

"Fuoh?! Lissana-dono, how rude of me," said Zod, hastily restoring his appearance.

He wore clothes that were Magic Items that could be restored by channeling Mana through them, no matter how badly they were torn, allowing him to return to his true muscular appearance at any time without hesitation.

"What about Schneider-dono and the others?" he asked.

"They've already finished and are heading back," said Lissana. "Unlike your situation, we couldn't resolve it by just hitting them a few times, so it was a little troublesome, though."

The Vampires had tried to persuade Schneider with a female slave's tears. Dolton, the spiritual mage with a mohawk who was concealing the fact that he was a Dark Elf, had been challenged to a drinking contest while the Dwarf dancer Merdin had been challenged to a dancing contest. Lissana had been busy making preparations for their next job with the Guild Master of the Adventurers' Guild.

It seemed that Guon and his followers had used methods other than battle against everyone but Zod. They had been unexpectedly wise.

"I see. However, it seems that I have caused trouble for everyone," said Zod.

"It's not really your fault, is it, Zod?" said Lissana.

"But this incident was caused by my brethren, even if they have strayed from the path," Zod continued as he gathered and buried the corpses of Guon and his subordinates.

In modern society, Guon and his subordinates were monsters who worshipped an evil god, but Zod remembered the times when the Pure-breed Vampire who was Guon's parent was a believer of Vida. They had been comrades in arms in the battle against the Demon King, Zod's brethren who had felt the goddess's kindness and become Vampires alongside him.

As they showed no signs of reforming, Zod hadn't been able to allow them to escape, but he wanted to at least bury them as a final act of compassion.

"If you're going to talk like that, then they're children of my old companion, too." Lissana, who was the incarnation of Jurizanapipe, had fought for Vida against Alda alongside Zod before he was sealed, as well as Guon's master.

Zod had been defeated a hundred thousand years ago and sealed until recently, while Lissana had used the Demon King's circle of transmigration system to be reborn.

Ternecia and Guon's master had been defeated but managed to survive. However, in the end, they had fallen as low as to become hounds for wicked gods.

"Well, I'm sure those people had struggles of their own," said Lissana.

"There is no telling what would have become of us if we had taken one wrong step as well," Zod agreed.

The two of them, who were now in a somewhat dreary mood, completed the graves with blank gravestones and turned around to go back to the city.

"Ouch!" Lissana suddenly raised a hand to her head.

"What is the matter, Lissana-dono!"

Was it an enemy attack?! Zod began pumping up the muscles in his body once more.

"No, it's not an enemy," Lissana said, frowning. "This is a Divine Message. That Ricklent, why did he push himself so hard? And feeling like I have a hangover when I haven't had anything to drink is the worst, too."

Gubamon, who had finished moving his prized collection to a base that Ternecia hadn't known about, let out a heavy, weary sigh.

"Good grief, that half-Vampire youngster… he torments us to no end."

After those events - after Vandalieu vanished into the Dungeon from Ternecia's hideout, Gubamon and Birkyne had entered the Dungeon to kill him together.

However, the Dungeon had been nothing more than a single floor with few rooms, and Vandalieu was nowhere to be found in any of them.

There were rare cases where the stairway leading to the next floor was cleverly hidden, so he and Birkyne searched for a while in case this was one of those Dungeons, but such a trick wasn't present in this Dungeon, either.

It was likely that Vandalieu had used time-attribute magic or a Magic Item to teleport away from the Dungeon. After coming to this conclusion, Gubamon and Birkyne had been left with no choice but to leave the Dungeon behind.

And then they moved their bases with great haste. Ternecia had died, but Gubamon and Birkyne knew that Vandalieu seemed to be a Spiritualist. There was no guarantee that Ternecia's spirit wouldn't sell them out to Vandalieu.

… They had accompanied Ternecia for over a hundred thousand years, but they had been the ones to try to betray that person who had been their companion since the age of the gods, so it was difficult to imagine that she would try and keep them safe now.

"Curses, what are we to do now! Even if I cooperate with Birkyne… Hah! Wait. Can… can I trust him?"

Birkyne was a sworn friend of a hundred thousand years, who worshipped the same evil god. However, was it not he who had suggested to Gubamon the plan of turning Ternecia, another such sworn friend, into his puppet?

And now that he had failed, who was to say that he would not try to do the same thing to Gubamon?

"Birkyne said that if he and I join forces, we can kill that youngster. Join forces… Could it be that that rascal intends to turn me into his puppet next?"

It was possibly Gubamon's turn to be the target of what they had attempted to do to Ternecia.

And so, the cooperative system between the Pure-breed Vampires who worshipped Hihiryushukaka, the Evil God of Joyful Life, began to crumble.

Marshukzarl von Bellwood Amid, the Emperor of the Amid Empire who had just finished his various daily duties, was surprised to hear this report, although the expression on his beautiful half-Elf face didn't change.

The surprise he felt might have been greater than that he had felt when he heard the news of the expedition army of six thousand returning as Undead.

"That is not a metaphorical expression, is it?" he asked.

"No," said the head of the Amid Empire's secret intelligence. "According to the spies, the Hartner Duchy's castle has physically tilted over."

"I see…"

Now that the Amid Empire had occupied the Sauron Duchy, new lands had become adjacent to the Empire, and the Hartner Duchy was one of them. The movements of the Hartner Duchy were important affairs for the Empire.

Thus, he had been increasing the number of hidden agents in the duchy for a while, but the report that the castle had physically tilted over was difficult to believe.

If it were a fort adjacent to a Devil's Nest, it could have been explained, but it was unheard of for a castle in the safest place, the capital city of a nation, to tilt over.

At the very least, it was a historically unusual event.

The report continued. "Also, it seems that the Guild Master of Nineland's Mages' Guild, Kinarp, turned out to be working with Pure-breed Vampires."

"That is interesting information, but how did you find this out?" asked Marshukzarl. "I do not believe this is something that can be discovered by secret agents alone."

"That is… For some unknown reason, he and his subordinates took the proof to consulates from other duchies and confessed everything," said the head of intelligence.

"… This is getting more and more difficult to believe," said Marshukzarl, pressing a hand to his forehead. But he had heard this information confirmed by numerous sources, so it didn't seem to be false information or an untrue rumor. "Get your hands on the information that the Guild Master confessed, immediately. Continuing on from last time, this is our chance to squeeze out the pus. As for the incident of the castle tilting over… Leave it be for now. We will make the successful beggars take measures before they make too much noise."

The Amid Empire had defeated and occupied the Sauron Duchy, but it wasn't as if they hadn't expended anything to do so. Of course, the Empire couldn't simply kill all of the Sauron Duchy's inhabitants, so magistrates needed to be sent to cities and village chiefs needed to be replaced in order to rule the people while keeping them suppressed.

But the inhabitants of the duchy that had long fought on the front lines against the Empire wouldn't wag their tails so easily. More time was needed to discipline them. There were already reports that the surviving knights and soldiers were forming a resistance; if the Empire let its guard down, the carpet would be swept from under its feet.

If the Empire were to try and invade the Hartner Duchy in such a state, the extended supply lines and understaffed military bases within the Sauron Duchy would be exposed to the resistance.

And even if it were possible to assault the Hartner Duchy and occupy it, the surface area adjacent to the rest of the Orbaume Kingdom's duchies would only increase.

The men of the Mirg shield-nation excelled in defensive battles, but even if they were positioned there, it wasn't as if forts and sturdy walls would simply grow out of nowhere, so they would not be able to defend everywhere at once.

In other words, the moment the Amid Empire took this opportunity to invade the Hartner Duchy, it would be defeated no matter how things played out.

A few with a keen strategic eye would be able to realize this, but there were some noblemen who had failed to achieve anything in the previous war, whose eyes were clouded by their envy for the ones who gained new lands and higher court ranks… though some of them had poor eyes to begin with.

"I will take your concerns into account," said the head of intelligence.

"Don't pay any attention to them," said Marshukzarl. "People are always a mixture of the good and the bad. For every great person, there are ten more fools mixed in with them."

And it was the duty of the ones in higher positions to use those people well. Marshukzarl had the head of intelligence leave and quickly summoned the marshal, general affairs minister and the finance minister one after another to hear their reports and give them orders.

After that, there were reports of the numerous incidents that had occurred in the Hartner Duchy, but although Marshukzarl was interested in them, he was not surprised.

Even when he heard that a Dungeon had appeared near a city and caused a large monster rampage, or when he heard that Vida's religion was unexpectedly spreading in the farming villages.

The sudden appearance of a Dungeon was something like a natural disaster, and now that the Hartner Duchy had become the frontline in the battle against the Amid Empire, he didn't consider it unusual that Vida's religion was spreading in an act of resistance.

While it was valuable information, it was also amusement for the busy Marshukzarl. It was similar to reading a weekly magazine on Earth.

However, when the intelligence agency reported yet another piece of information that should have ended in mere amusement, Marshukzarl raised his eyebrows.

"Is that true?" he asked.

The report he had heard was that the Ghouls of the Devil's Nests in the Hartner Duchy could no longer be hunted. The high-ranking intelligence worker was surprised at being asked this question in return, but he quickly nodded.

I've been had, Marshukzarl thought as he scowled.

"To think that he would move so quickly, and on that side of the mountain range… Tell all of our hidden agents to investigate everything they can about the Dhampir by the name of Vandalieu, no matter how trivial," he ordered.

Around a month afterwards, Marshukzarl's hidden agents reported that the slave-run mine in the Hartner Duchy had collapsed, that a Dhampir named Vandalieu had been treated as a saint in the cultivation villages that had been visited during the investigation, and that Vandalieu had appeared in the Adventurers' Guild in the city of Niarki.

Marshukzarl couldn't completely read Vandalieu's intents and motives, but he was certain that Vandalieu had been involved in all of the incidents that had occurred in the Hartner Duchy.

He informed all of his hidden agents stationed at places adjacent to the Boundary Mountain Range of Vandalieu's name and appearance, and ordered them to keep an eye out for him… By the time that order reached them, the cultivation villages had already mysteriously disappeared and it was announced that Lord Lucas's Red Wolf Knights' Order had sacrificed themselves to defeat dangerous monsters.

Incidentally, later on, Marshukzarl let out a grand sigh upon hearing that Heinz had exterminated the Pure-breed Vampire Ternecia, been promoted to S-class and reached the status honorary nobleman.

"Without knowing where the rest of her body went, he crushed her head without hesitation. And there are still two heads left. And though honorary, he is an earl. Both he and Vandalieu are troublesome."

Schneider, who had been sleeping on his stomach with mountains of dried herbs stacked in mounds on his back and set on fire, raised an eyebrow as Lissana returned and spoke to him.

"A Divine Message from Ricklent? Were you a goddess of the time attribute?" Schneider asked her.

Normally, Divine Messages were things that gods sent to their believers or followers. Lissana herself had once explained to Schneider that this pattern didn't originate from simple hierarchical relationships, but because Divine Messages needed to utilize a mental connection between the target and the god.

"No," said Lissana. "Things are strangely different from when I was on the Demon King's side, but I'm now a goddess of the life attribute. So Ricklent has no connection to me, but… despite being reincarnated, I am still a goddess, so it's possible for him to communicate with me through a Divine Message."

Ricklent had really pushed himself; he felt pain as great as if his bones were being gouged out; even Lissana had experienced a violent headache that would have caused a normal person to lose consciousness out of shock.

"Sho, what'sh it 'bout?" Dolton's speech had become inarticulate as a result of his drinking contest.

"He's asking, 'so, what's it about?'" said Merdin, translating for him.

"He said he wants me to pass a message onto Zantark," said Lissana.

"Zantark? Not Zanta-san or Uncle Zazatak, but Zantark-sama? Isn't that a god?!" Merdin exclaimed.

"Merdin, why are you so surprised? The Lissana-chan in front of your eyes is a goddess, too, you know?" Dolton pointed out.

"I don't want to be told that by a drunken Elf," said Merdin. "In fact, Zantark-sama, whom us Dwarves worship as our god-ancestor, is on a different level, isn't he?"

"Well, you're right, but you know. But it was that god of war who fought head-on against Bellwood and the other champions," said Lissana.

"It was a defensive battle for me," Zod added.

Zantark, who had fused with evil gods, had participated in the battle between Vida and Alda, standing on the side of Vida against Farmaun Gold, the champion that he had chosen himself.

But this knowledge hadn't remained in the legends and myths of human society. It was a piece of historical truth that Schneider and his party had learned from Lissana and Zod.

"But we don't know where he went after that, do we? How are we supposed to pass on this message?" Schneider asked.

"That is… 'In a place where my eyes cannot see,'" said Lissana.

"What'sh dat shupposed ter mean?" asked Dolton.

"He said, 'What's that supposed to mean?'" said Merdin, translating.

While everyone fell into deep thought, Schneider instinctively came to an understanding of what those words meant.

"In other words, it's somewhere there's no Mages' Guilds that worship Ricklent, a city… country… continent. Alright, shall we go to the Dark Continent?"

And so began the Storm of Tyranny's next adventure.

"By the way, what are you doing?"

"Oh, this is called moxibustion. It's a therapy that was written in old books -"

"No, I know that. I know that, but I'm asking why you're doing something like that."

"Well, I was getting the feeling that I get tired easily these days. I wanted to test it out."

"You… you have the All Attributes Resistance skill, so what effect are you expecting moxibustion to have on you, exactly?"

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Side Story Chapter 9: Everyday life in Talosheim

The final Goblin Barbarian fell with an ear-piercing shriek.

"… We won," whispered Kasim, after making sure that the enemy was no longer moving and that there were no more enemies.

"Yeah, we won. With just us," said Fester.

"Against four of them at once, too," Zeno added.

The three adventurers inhaled, full of emotion. And then they screamed.

"WE DID IT!"

"WE DID IT! WE DID IT WITH JUST THE THREE OF UUUUS!"

"Alright… but let's be quiet. We're still in a Dungeon, after all."

"That's right…"

"Zeno, you're always calm, huh."

"What would you do with a Scout that isn't calm?"

The three of them calmed down and quickly checked whether the Goblin Barbarian corpses had any Magic Stones or not before proceeding.

After returning from Garan's Valley to the surface, Kasim and his friends looked at their thin metal plates that resembled Guild Cards while carrying the Magic Stones and materials back.

"These Dungeon Cards are pretty handy, huh."

Vandalieu had inspected the Magic Item in the cultivation village's branch of the Adventurers' Guild that inputted information into Guild Cards, and reconstructed the machine left in Talosheim's Adventurers' Guild to issue these.

These cards, which were made of Dark Copper, Vandalieu's blood and the blood of the owners, had the function of allowing their owners to teleport within Dungeons, with some conditions.

"Apparently Vandalieu wanted to make it so that we can teleport between Dungeons, but this is convenient enough."

"The cards only allow teleportation to the entrance of floors that the card's owner has reached before, but I suppose that's normal."

"That's not normal. Using either the devices that were created by first-rate Alchemists that are installed in certain Dungeons or climbing all of the stairs, is the normal way to move around."

Dungeons were nests for dangerous monsters, but at the same time, they were treasure-houses of resources. However, in order to use those resources, most Dungeons required adventurers to carry them out on their backs. Unless one had an Item Box or one of its inferior counterparts (which were still rare and valuable), had a companion capable of using space-attribute magic or the Dungeon's layout allowed carriages or wagons to be brought inside, only what could be carried out by hand could be taken out of the Dungeon.

And considering that monsters could attack on the way, one could not carry as much as physically possible.

But these Dungeon Cards made things quite a lot easier. If one reached the target floor once, they would be able to teleport, not needing to spend any stamina getting there next time.

In addition, by reaching the stairs, one could return to the surface in an instant. Of course, at no time or stamina cost.

Depending on what needed to be done, it was even possible to simply hunt monsters near the stairs, return to the stairs when enough materials were gathered, return to the surface, leave the materials there and go back into the Dungeon.

"Dungeons are on another level after all. Strong monsters come out endlessly, so we can earn tons of Experience Points."

"Yeah. The most we had around the cultivation village was Rank 2 monsters."

This was the reason that the existence of Dungeons was important to amateur adventurers like Kasim and his friends. They could encounter monsters more frequently than in ordinary Devil's Nests; the Dungeons were treasure troves of Experience Points as long as they had the ability to defeat the monsters.

"We would have found it difficult to reach the bottom floor of Garan's Valley if we were just as we'd been when we lived in the cultivation village, though," said Zeno.

They had defeated a group of Goblin Barbarians without suffering any injuries. Though their abilities had indeed grown, the main reasons were because their Attribute Values had increased explosively under the effects of Vandalieu's Strengthen Followers skill and because their equipment had improved significantly.

Because they were Vandalieu's friends, Kasim and his party had… not received any special, high-power equipment. Their weapons and armor had started showing their age in the battle against the Red Wolves Knights' Order, so they had simply borrowed the cheapest of the commonly-used beginner's equipment in Talosheim.

… That cheap beginner's equipment was still far more powerful than the poor-quality items they had equipped themselves with before, however.

"That's true," Kasim agreed, looking at the Adamantite shield and armor he was equipped with now. "I might have been injured if I was using my old shield and armor."

His new equipment was far superior in defensive ability to the cast-bronze shield and armor that had been made by pouring molten metal into molds, and even slightly lighter

"Yeah, that jii-san would have been really mad if we told him we wanted cast-metal items," said Fester. "He'd say, 'I only make forged arms!'"

Fester's sword was another item forged by Datara. It was a cheap item, so it was far less sharp and solid than the products that Datara put all of his effort into.

However, if Fester were to call it a "cheap item" in the Adventurers' Guild in the city of Niarki, the adventurers of the same age would disagree, simply assuming that Fester was a rich person.

"Ah, Tarea-san and the others… They're good people, but everyone's sense is a little off," said Zeno.

His equipment had been plainly upgraded as well. He had been handed down "leftover" items that intermediate-level adventurers would use habitually.

Talosheim was isolated from the outside world, so external economics and information had no influence here. One step outside the city would expose one to Rank 3 monsters… Ferocious Raptors with sharp fangs and claws, and monsters more powerful than them. Being able to survive in such an environment was considered a minimum requirement.

Thus, there was no point in creating the kind of cheap items that were commonly used in normal cities.

"Well, it's not all good things."

"That's true."

The three adventurers entered the former ruins of the Adventurers' Guild, which had been completely renovated into a trading post with a sign hanging down.

The inside was exactly the same as a real Adventurers' Guild.

"A purchase, is it? That's five thousand Lunas."

"An exchange for a mayonnaise, ketchup and Ent syrup set?"

"Excuse me, we're sold out of cream."

The only difference was, perhaps, that rewards could be paid in products other than money.

"They're sold out of cream?" said Kasim.

"The wasabi mayonnaise hasn't come in yet?" asked Fester.

The two of them seemed sad.

"You guys… We decided that we'd be paid in money today, didn't we?" said Zeno, lightly poking them in the back of their heads.

The currency known as the Luna circulated in Talosheim, but there were still not many different kinds of stores. Thus, there were still many who traded in goods rather than money.

"Oh yeah," said Fester, cheering up again. He gave a bright smile as he got in line and called out to the girl at the counter. "Lina, we're back!"

"Welcome to the trading post," said Lina. "Are you here to be paid? Or for a trade?"

"Oi, Lina, it's me," said Fester.

"Are you here to be paid? Or for a trade?" Lina repeated.

"Oi, Lina?"

The receptionist at the counter, Lina, who had been an irregular employee at the Seventh Cultivation Village's Adventurers' Guild, gave a businesslike smile to her lover, Fester. But her smile was gradually growing stiffer and stiffer.

"Lina?"

"I'm trying to tell you, I'm working now!" she shouted. "I'm glad you're not injured, I was worried, I love you! If you're satisfied with that, hurry and hand over your materials and choose whether you want money or goods in payment!"

"Okay!" Fester hastily put the materials he was carrying onto the counter. Kasim and Zeno gestured to Lina in apology behind him.

Incidentally, this was how things normally went for Fester and Lina. She already had a firm control over him, but that was probably perfectly fine for Fester.

"Only Magic Stones other than the proof of extermination, huh? Ah, you did it, didn't you? You achieved your goal of defeating Goblin Barbarians with just the three of you," said Lina. "Okay, this comes out to five hundred Lunas in total."

"Five hundred Lunas, huh…" Fester murmured.

"Eh, it's not like I appraised it for lower because I'm angry, but… Those are the market prices," said Lina.

The extermination rewards and Magic Stones of the monsters that Kasim's party had hunted would have been worth over two thousand Baums at an Adventurers' Guild in the Hartner Duchy.

However, they were only worth five hundred Lunas in Talosheim.

This was because there were quality Undead Titan and Ghoul explorers (They were not registered at the Adventurers' Guild but were doing essentially the same thing, so this term suddenly started to be used), and because the frequency of encountering monsters in Talosheim's surroundings and Dungeons was high. And Vandalieu's existence was the reason for those.

Rank 4 monsters appeared frequently, and over two thousand explorers hunted them habitually. Thus, it was only inevitable that the reward for exterminating monsters was lower than the outside world.

In addition, the entire city's Magic Items were powered by Vandalieu's strange Mana, so the demand for Magic Stones was lower than in the outside world as well.

Until the people of the cultivation villages came, most of Talosheim's citizens had possessed fighting abilities on the level of Class adventurers, but this meant that if one wanted to make a living as an explorer, they needed to be able to fight at least as well as a Class adventurer.

"It's quite harsh here, huh," said Kasim.

"Well, we just need to endure until we grow stronger," said Fester. "Let's do our best."

"You're right. Our levels have actually increased, too," said Zeno.

"Please do your best," said Lina. "I don't mind being a working couple, but I don't intend to support Fester on my own."

After receiving their payment, Kasim and his party arranged plans to eat together with Lina once her working hours were over and then left the trading post.

Having a light snack of food from the carts, they headed for a bathhouse in order to wash away the sweat they had worked up in the Dungeon.

"… A little while ago, I said it was harsh, but if you asked me to go back outside of this place, I'd refuse," said Kasim.

"Me too," Fester agreed immediately.

"I'd definitely refuse as well," said Zeno.

Their half-eaten food from the cart was still in their hands.

Kasim had a hot dog, while Fester and Zeno had hamburgers.

With a single bite, their mouths would be filled with meat juice and sauce, they would feel the pleasant texture of lettuce and chopped onions against their teeth and the soft, fluffy bread absorbed all of it perfectly, not remaining inside their mouths for very long. Once all of that was swallowed, they would want a second mouthful.

These were being sold for five Lunas each. And they were not being sold by a well-known chef running a hidden food stall, but a normal stall that attracted explorers going in and out of the trading post. The one making them was a former villager of the cultivation villages, just like Kasim and his friends.

"How much would you have to pay to eat something this delicious in the city of Niarki, I wonder?" said Kasim.

"Hmm… White bread, meat, fresh vegetables and sauce… about ten Baums?"

"There was that time our instructor treated us to fried Orc meat, remember? That was about ten Baums, apparently."

"And this bread is clearly softer than the bread they sell in the city, too."

"So about twenty Baums?"

The three of them looked down at the snacks in their hands again.

Hot dogs, lengths of meat called sausages that had been created through unknown technology, sandwiched in fluffy bread. Hamburgers that were so full of meat juice that it was difficult to imagine they were simply made of minced meat shaped into patties, along with the onions, lettuce and ketchup to give it an incredible texture.

Such food was only five Lunas. The different currencies weren't worth exactly the same, but… the food that could be purchased in the city of Niarki for five Baums was -

"Umm, sandwiches with brown bread and dried meat. With an unidentified sauce."

"Dried vegetables and bean sauce. With a few pieces of meat in there, if you're lucky."

"A large helping of mixed rice."

The last item that Zeno mentioned, mixed rice, was something made when the stall owner stir-fried whatever ingredients he had acquired cheaply on that day with southern rice. The ingredients could be meat or fish depending on the day, so even when buying it from the same stall, they could be a hit or a miss.

The selling point was its quantity and cheap price.

Rather than having the feasts in their hands turn into that kind of food, it was perhaps best to accept small changes with a laugh.

"By the way, why are these called hot dogs?"

"Isn't it because they're made of Hell Hound meat?"

"��� Is Hell Hound meat edible?"

"No, isn't it just because that was the name used for it in the other world? Just like taiyaki and Cuban sandwiches."

Following this conversation, the three finished their snacks and entered the bathhouse. Incidentally, the number of non-Titan citizens had increased, so there were human-sized baths as well. Undead Titans sometimes decided to use them for half-body baths, however.

"We've come to take a dip, Father-in-law-san," said Fester.

"I've told you, it's too early to be calling me that!" shouted the former Oyaji of the jack-of-all-trades store, Lina's father.

In Talosheim, that had no interactions with other cities and where all citizens had been provided houses, there was no need for inns. Vandalieu had offered him a civil official position, but the Oyaji had turned him down, saying that official work didn't suit him, so he was now working in this bathhouse.

It seemed that he intended to save money and have another business up and running by the time Talosheim began doing trade with other cities.

The three adventurers paid the entrance fee, took off their clothes and entered the baths. Incidentally, this bathhouse was gender-segregated. Mixed-gender bathhouses were places for meetings between men and women, so Fester wouldn't go to those.

"Fuuh… Baths are great, huh?" said Kasim, and the other two quickly agreed.

The three of them had never had baths with hot water before coming to Talosheim. There hadn't been any convenient hot springs in the Sauron Duchy or in the cultivation villages, and they hadn't been able to afford to heat up large quantities of water.

In modern-day Japan on Earth, people would heat water freely, but in Lambda, one couldn't heat water without gathering firewood, using expensive Magic Items or learning fire-attribute magic.

Even if they wanted to use firewood, wood didn't burn easily unless it was dried first. This would take time and effort; it wasn't something that could be done every day just to have a bath.

But hot baths could be easily had in Talosheim for a cheap price. More recently, the boilers had been powered by Flame Ghosts rather than fuel, so it was gentle on the environment as well. The Ghosts could receive a considerable salary just for remaining still, so it was apparently a popular part-time job.

"And soap is cheap, too. I once saw a bar of soap in the city of Niarki on sale for a hundred Baums, but they're only three Lunas here."

"They're made from monster fat, if I recall?"

"The cheapest ones are. The ones made from fruit are more expensive, but they smell better. Girls are happy when they get them as presents."

Suddenly, a Ghoul man called out to the three of them with a voice that sounded like a growl.

"Ah, Bodan-san. Hello," said Fester.

It seemed that the Ghoul named Bodan was an explorer like Kasim and his friends, and they had seen each other before.

"… Fester, I'm Baden," said the Ghoul.

"Eh? Ah, I'm sorry!"

While Fester had indeed seen him before, it seemed that he had mistaken him for another Ghoul. But this probably couldn't be helped. Ghoul men had the faces of lions that were largely different in structure from human faces, so they were difficult to tell apart unless one was used to seeing them.

It was even more difficult in the bathhouses, where they were completely nude.

"By the way, Baden-san, please tell us more about this soap!" said Kasim.

"How much is it worth?!" asked Zeno.

Kasim and Zeno, who experienced the loneliness of being single every day, were now engrossed in the conversation, so Baden didn't really seem to mind having been mistaken for someone else.

Around the time Kasim and Zeno came to the conclusion that the honey soap that had started being sold recently might be a good item to give as presents, despite not having anyone to give presents to, Baden got out of the bath and left.

Other than Baden, there were also Anubises, Black Goblins, Orcuses and Undead Titans washing their sweat away in this bathhouse (although one particular group among these didn't sweat at all).

Everyone from the cultivation villages had been surprised when they first moved to Talosheim, but they soon became accustomed to it. There was a sense of unity provided by the Strengthen Followers skill, but there was also the fact that conversation with these races went surprisingly well.

There had even been an event to encourage interaction between the old inhabitants and the new ones. The biggest trouble that had occurred was a fight breaking out; there weren't any fierce hostilities developing.

Perhaps it was a good thing that the cultivation villages had been a mish-mash of refugees of multiple races.

And there was a single line that satisfied everyone when it came to their strange neighbors: "Everyone is normal compared to Vandalieu."

Vandalieu himself would probably have been unhappy to hear this, however.

"But there are some parts about him that are just like a normal child, right?"

"Yeah, it's easy to tell what he's thinking."

If Pablo Marton had heard these words while he was still alive, he would have questioned their sanity, but Kasim and his friends were completely serious.

Vandalieu was expressionless and his voice was flat-toned, but if one looked at places other than his face, it was unexpectedly easy to tell what he was thinking. He expressed emotions such as disturbance and surprise through his arms and legs, as well as his hair that had recently become able to move freely.

He was probably using parts of his body other than his face to express his emotions because he was aware that his own expression and voice never changed.

When he was nervous, he would stop expressing any emotion at all, so that in itself was easy to understand.

Kasim and his friends had realized this since they were still living in the cultivation village, so it was likely natural for them to treat Vandalieu normally.

If Vandalieu were to hear this, he would quite be shocked upon objectively realizing that his mental age had regressed, however.

Vandalieu was almost eight years old. Including the time that he had spent on Earth and in Origin, he was in his mid-forties, approaching late middle-age.

"And it seems that he gets depressed when people call him scary or 'Monstrosity,'" said Kasim. "Let's make sure we don't act scared of him."

"Kasim, weren't you the one who screamed after unexpectedly meeting Vandalieu in a bathhouse the other day?" Zeno pointed out.

"No, that was… It can't be helped, right?! You guys were scared as well!"

One time, while Kasim was submerged in the bath, Vandalieu, who had actually entered the bath earlier with his head submerged (having not learned from last time), had silently risen up right next to Kasim. He had apparently had his eyes closed while submerged and simply come up to breathe, but it was still surprising for Kasim nonetheless.

Kasim couldn't be blamed for saying that his reaction couldn't be helped.

"Well, I suppose you're right. I didn't notice him either, even though I have the Detect Presence skill…" Remembering this memory that hurt his pride as a Scout, Zeno began to feel depressed.

"Either way, let's make sure we don't say anything like, 'scary,' about him."

"You're right."

And so the three of them decided on how they would treat their friend, who was also the king of Talosheim.

It was now dusk, and the sunlight reflected by the mercury mirrors had weakened.

The three of them, who were heading towards the place where they had agreed to meet Lina, had their interest drawn by a crowd that had gathered near where they were passing by.

Over a dozen children were playing on a playground that had been built on a space of open ground.

Kasim and his friends were accustomed to seeing this. On Earth, the sight of healthy children playing on the typical sandboxes, slides, jungle gyms and iron bars might bring a smile to one's face.

However, the same could not be said for the sight of a group of children all with the same face playing on a playground, moving silently without letting out a single laugh, looking as empty as dolls.

"Scary…" Kasim and his friends whispered.

At the same time, Vandalieu noticed them. "Oh, what a coincidence."

At that moment, the outlines of the countless Vandalieus faded and gathered together at the one physical Vandalieu.

Fortunately, it seemed that he hadn't heard what Kasim and his friends had whispered.

"Umm, what were you doing?" Kasim asked.

"I built a park for people to relax and children to play at, so I was just testing whether there were any problems with the play equipment I installed," Vandalieu replied.

Talosheim had never had a park to begin with, so it seemed that Vandalieu had said, "I'm just going to move these a little to the side," dismantled and rebuilt the buildings in their new locations and used the newly-made space to build a park.

And he had apparently been testing the playground equipment he had made by changing the shapes of materials using Golem Transmutation himself.

"A park, huh… Are there places like this in big cities?" Zeno asked.

"Who knows? There weren't any in Nineland. But it's convenient to have places like this," said Vandalieu.

"So that's how it is."

Kasim and the others couldn't really understand the reason for making the effort of building a park or see its value, but Vandalieu had simply thought, "It would be nice to have one," so he couldn't really give a detailed explanation, either.

Parks had all kinds of benefits, being places where children could play within their parents' sight, where the parents could interact with each other and where various recreational activities could be held.

"So, have you finished inspecting it?" Fester asked.

"Yes," said Vandalieu.

"Then how about having an early dinner with us? We're going to go and meet Lina now," said Fester.

"If you don't mind eating at the royal castle," Vandalieu replied. "I'm planning to use my new cookware to try and make new dishes today."

"Are you serious?! Lucky us!" Kasim exclaimed.

"So, what are you making?" Zeno asked.

"Curry and naan."

"Eh? Curry and what?"

"I'm making naan."

It seemed that Vandalieu had built a tandoori oven and was intending to make Indian curry before Eastern curry.

"I said I would make it when Fester and Lina got married," Vandalieu explained. "By the way, we've almost finished completing the first stage of information gathering, so the Cream Expedition is going to start in earnest. What are you three planning to do?"

"Ah, that. Lizardmen, huh… We still want to train ourselves more."

Discussing the new dish that Vandalieu was planning to make and the upcoming expedition, the four of them smiled as they headed to the place where they were meeting Lina.

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Chapter Appendix 4: Explanation of races that have appeared

This is an explanation of the races of Lambda that have made an appearance. There are some that have already been explained as monsters, but they will be explained as races of people here.

The definition of people in Lambda

These are separated into three major different ways of thinking.

First, for the gods like Alda whose objective is the annihilation of Vida's races, Alda fundamentalists and anti-Vida advocates, Vida's races are not people. Only three races, the humans, Elves and Dwarves, classify as people. (That is why Alda said that Lambda's total population is less than 100,000,000, but in reality, including Vida's races, the population is over 100,000,000.)

Next, for Alda's peaceful faction, the neutral gods, their believers and most normal people, so to speak, in addition to the above races, Vida's races that don't have monster ancestors, such as Dark Elves, Titans and Beast-people, classify as people.

The largest number of people use this definition compared to the other two.

The last is the inclusion of races that have monster ancestors, such as Vampires.

This definition is least used. Because there are those such as Vampires who work for evil gods, very few consider all races to be people, even if they are believers of Vida.

Half-breeds

Other than half-Elves and Dhampirs, the Statuses of children born to parents of different races usually display the race of one of the parents' races.

However, in many cases, the special racial traits of the parents manifest on the body. A human man born between a human and a Dwarf would have good vision in the dark and grow a plentiful beard, possessing exceptional physical strength and an affinity for the earth and fire attributes. A Titan born between an Elf and a Titan would have a large body easily surpassing 2.5 meters in height, but their ears would be pointed and they would possess the qualities for spiritual magic from birth. There are other similar examples.

Although these aren't reflected in skills or Attribute Values, sometimes there are cases where scales grow on the body or feathers grow on the arms.

Lifespans can differ on a case-by-case basis, but they can be roughly estimated by averaging the expected lifespans of the parents.

Also, there are cases where children born to parents of the same race are born with special characteristics of other races, or even born as an individual of a different race altogether. In the past, the mother's faithfulness was questioned in such cases, or sometimes this was called the prank or even a blessing of a god, but this is now known to be a result of atavism.

The above examples do not include half-breeds with monsters such as Goblins and Orcs.

Humans

The equivalent of humans on Earth or in Origin.

They have the lowest base Attribute Values among any race, but at the same time, they are the race that is thriving the most. The reason for that is said to be that the extent of their freedom is great; there are no Jobs that are suited or ill-suited for humans as a race.

There are all kinds of humans; there are some with low aptitude with magic while others have great aptitude for magic; there are some with affinity for only one attribute while others have an affinity for all attributes (with the exception of the death attribute).

As if to demonstrate the humans' extent of freedom, if one separates heroes that appear in legends and myths by race, there are more human heroes than heroes of the other races. But on the other hand, there are many ordinary people who would struggle to fight a single Goblin.

Their life expectancy is around fifty to sixty years, but because infants of breast-feeding age often die of disease and such, once humans safely pass that age, they can even live for over eighty years.

Also, those who have experienced multiple Jobs and increased their Attribute Values age slower; there were some human adventurers in the past who actively worked for over a hundred years.

In many nations, humans are treated as adults starting from the age of fifteen.

There are no sub-races, but there are ethnicities with white, yellow or black skin color.

Humans can generally create offspring with almost any other race.

Elves

The race born between Shizarion, the god of wind and art, and Peria, the goddess of water and knowledge. They are known to have long, pointed ears and exceptional physical appearances.

As their ancestral roots lie in Shizarion and Peria, they have great Agility and Intelligence, but they are often physically weaker than humans.

There are many Elves who possess an affinity for the wind and water elements from birth, and few possess an affinity for the attributes that are poorly compatible with these attributes, the earth and fire attributes.

They possess the Dark Vision skill from birth. Also, though this does not apply for all Elves, many acquire the Spiritual Magic skill, so they are sometimes called the friends of the spirits.

Their lifespans are as long as five hundred years; they age at the same pace as humans until their teenage years, and after that, they grow into adults at a rate of one physical year of age every several human years. When they are treated as adults varies based on the nation and clan, but they are generally regarded as adults from around fifty to sixty years of age. In cases where they are raised in human cities, they are treated as adults from age fifteen despite looking very young.

Sometimes Elf children are seen in towns giving orders to adults in a self-important manner, but they are simply Elves in their thirties giving orders to newcomers who are over a decade younger than them.

Because they have long lifespans, their sense of time is looser than that of humans; they are often gentle in nature. There are also more than a few who use their long lifespans to earn Experience Points over a long period of time to reach B-class or A-class… if they survive that long.

As adventurers, they are suited to being mages or using their speed to be lightly-equipped warriors or scouts.

As civilians, many Elves are artists or scholars.

In the past, there were large-scale villages of tens of thousands of Elves, though they were very different from human nations.

Elf villages are mostly located in forests or on lakes, and there are even nomadic tribes that build fleets of ships and sail as they live their lives.

The fact that they are vegetarians and do not eat meat is a mere rumor; they treat both meat and vegetables as blessings of nature and eat both equally.

When living in human nations, they are almost never in positions where they need to succeed noble families and such. Even those with occupations often retire after working for a few decades. Because their lifespans are long, even if they are noblemen, the nations that they live in will either be destroyed before their own lives end, divide into multiple nations or be merged with other nations, so there is no stability. Also, the Elves have historically learned that if they maintain their social statuses for too long, dissatisfaction grows in those of races with shorter lifespans.

Some Elves are disgusted by Dark Elves, treating them as corrupted Elves, but there is a myth telling of how after Shizarion was destroyed and Peria entered a slumber, Vida protected the ancestors of the Elves. Thus, there are also Elves with a deep belief in Vida, and those Elves are friendly towards Vida's races, especially the Dark Elves, whom they welcome as brothers and sisters who have received the goddess's blessings.

There is no consistent philosophy of love among the Elf race; there is a wide variety of Elves, ranging from those who are sociable and court members of the opposite sex even after only meeting them once, to others who thoroughly get to know potential partners before making a decision. It is said that this is because Elves either inherit the nature of Shizarion, who had many romantic interests, or that of Peria, who was more discreet.

Also, it seems that many Elves believe that finding each person's different beauty and charm regardless of their appearance is a part of love… though this is likely not insignificantly due to the fact that all Elves have beautiful appearances.

But Elves often become deeply attached to the partners that they have decided upon. A certain human mage left behind the words, "If an Elf truly falls in love with you, you will be dragged around for your whole life, so give up on them."

Also, Dwarves are the only race that Elves cannot directly create offspring with. Due to this, the racial relations between Elves and Dwarves once became complicated.

Perhaps because of that incident, there are quite a number of Elves who enjoy playing with fire by having relations with Dwarves.

Dwarves

A race with ancestral roots in Zantark, the god of fire and destruction, and Botin, mother of the earth and goddess of craftsmanship. Even after reaching adulthood, their height only reaches the chests of humans. Dwarf men are known for growing plentiful beards once they become adults, while women maintain the appearances of young girls despite being adults (with large individual differences in figures).

Perhaps because their ancestral roots lie in Zantark and Botin, while they have exceptional Strength, Stamina and Vitality, their Agility and Intelligence are a little lower than that of humans.

Many Dwarves have an affinity for the fire and earth attributes, but there are few who possess an affinity for the opposite attributes, the wind and water attributes.

Also, Dwarves possess the Dark Vision skill from birth.

Their lifespans are around two hundred years. They develop at the same pace as humans, and once they reach the adult age of fifteen, their aging becomes very slow. They remain healthy until the age of one hundred and eighty, but after that, they often age rapidly.

They have longer lifespans than humans, but they are often picky about time and stubborn in personality. But they are not short-tempered; they enjoy training or raising things to the point that they make these their life goals. Also, they are a race that enjoys alcohol more than relations between men and women, to the point that it is often said that if one wants to marry a Dwarf girl, they should send alcohol to her father or defeat him in a drinking contest.

As adventurers, they are suited to being shield-bearers and frontline fighters, and not suited to being mages or scouts. Also, many Dwarves are religious, so there are cases where they become priests.

As civilians, they are often blacksmiths, stonemasons, potters, leatherworkers, arms smiths or chefs, and there are many who set their sights on farming as well. It is often said that when choosing a craftsman, an Elf craftsman would be best for aesthetics, while a Dwarf craftsman would be best for performance.

Although society praises the skill of some of these craftsmen, there are almost none who become noblemen and such. Other than cases where a Dwarf accepts a court rank in order to protect the rights and homes of his brethren, most of them are honorary noblemen, nobles in name only.

Other than the Workers' Guild, most Guild branches have at least one Dwarf among the medium to high-ranking leaders.

There are no races that the Dwarves consider enemies, and although they frequently quarrel with Elves due to their differing views, they do not hate them.

They do not hold anything against Vida's races, either. However, they laugh off the fact that Dwarves were the only race that Vida did not mate with to create a new race, saying that the Dwarven men of the past must have drank her under the table. They warn young Dwarf boys, saying that they should learn from their ancestors' example and not become the kind of men who would assault drunken women.

… However, it seems that they do not mind vigorously deepening their bonds with moderately drunk members of the opposite sex who have not passed out.

The Dwarves' perception of love is such that the men are not domineering husbands that demand that their wives follow their requests, but husbands who want their wives to keep them under control. This is thought to be the influence of Zantark's words of, "Men should fight and work outside while their wives protect the homes."

This is why Dwarf men like strong-minded, firm women. Also, it seems that they find voluptuous women more charming than dainty ones.

Dwarf women think of men as one of the raw materials that they need to temper; it seems that they are attracted to men who they feel are worth the effort of strengthening. Thus, although Dwarf couples do quarrel, this is often a whip of love from the wife.

Also, an important feature that all Dwarf men should have to charm Dwarf women is their beards.

However, more recently, there are many among the youngest generation of Dwarves that do not fall under the above descriptions. There is an emotional play about a Dwarf woman reforming a hopeless human man who was loved by everyone. This play was actually the story of the beginning of the romance between the playwright's parents.

Dark Elves

A race born between Vida, the goddess of life and love, and a young Elf who was serving her.

Their appearance is exactly the same as that of Elves other than their dark skin; they are sometimes referred to as "suntanned Elves." Also, old books say that Dark Elves have more sensual figures than Elves due to being descendants of a goddess who also rules over abundance and prosperity. However, in later years, the 'Extraordinary and Odd' Dario Dan, who was renowned as both a mage and as an artist, gathered a thousand Elves and a thousand Dark Elves to cooperate in an investigation, through which he determined that this rumor is not true.

Like Elves, Dark Elves possess the qualities for using magic, but they also possess exceptional physical qualities such as Vitality and Strength. In other words, they have high overall Attribute Values; there are no areas in which they are inferior to humans.

They can possess an affinity for any attribute, and like Elves, there are many who awaken to Spiritual Magic.

They possess the Dark Vision and Magic Resistance skills from birth.

They have long lifespans of a thousand years. Excluding the Vampires, who do not age at all, Dark Elves have the longest lifespan as a race. (There are some among the Drakonids and Majin) who live longer than a thousand years, but they do not have longer average lifespans as a race; there are just large individual differences.)

Dark Elves age at the same pace as humans up to their teenage years, and after that, they age at a rate of one physical year of age every several human years, and at a certain stage, their growth (aging) stops. There are individual differences in when this period occurs; it can occur as early as the mid-teenage years or as late as the early thirties.

But unlike Elves, once their growth stops, they maintain this appearance for the rest of their lives, so it is possible for elderly individuals who have lived for nine hundred years to have the appearance of boys or girls in their mid-teenage years.

The mental ages of Dark Elves are strongly influenced by how old they appear to be. Perhaps due to this, they do not have a custom of respecting their elders unconditionally. They will always be treated as immature until they develop appropriate knowledge, skills and personalities.

But many Dark Elves respect those who show themselves to be mature, so they are also a race that is easy to get along with.

Because they have longer lifespans than Elves, many Dark Elves have somewhat carefree personalities. Some live as adventurers or as civilians, but with their sense of time, they consider these things to be "training," "studying abroad" or "a bit of a long journey." There are almost none who intend to spend their entire lives in human society… because most nations are likely to be destroyed or divide before they reach the ends of their lifespans.

But there are no Jobs as adventurers that they are particularly suited for, and they can use their long lifespans to learn all kinds of occupations as civilians.

Historically, Dark Elves have kept their distance except from Elves who believe in Vida, but they are not hostile as a race. However, many Dark Elves hate the very sight of priests of Alda.

Dark Elves' perception of marriage is peculiar and quite uninhibited. Because they have long lifespans, so even if they swear to love each other for eternity, arguments and affairs can happen if they spend hundreds of years together, so most Dark Elves make an oath to give each other "one hundred years of love." If they wish to remain a couple after those one hundred years pass, they repeat their oath for another hundred years in front of a statue of the goddess. Repeating this practice is marriage for the Dark Elves.

If they have changed their minds, they can simply divorce on the spot, so it is said that Dark Elves are the race that spills the least blood over romantic complications.

Titans

The race born between Vida, the goddess of life and love, and the Sun Giant Talos, who served the Colossus god Zerno. They were the first race to be created by Vida.

They have light-brown, sun-kissed skin. They are a race of large individuals; once they reach adulthood, men are over 2.7 meters tall while women are over 2.5m tall.

Other than the color of their skin and their size, they are no different from humans. There is a well-known comedy where a nobleman has his heart captivated by a healthy, beautiful girl with light-brown skin depicted in a painting and goes to confess to her, only to find that she is a Titan girl who is larger than him.

For their Attribute Values, they have excellent Vitality and Stamina, as well as Strength. However, they have poor Agility, Intelligence and Mana.

They have poor qualities for magic, and most only possess an affinity for a single attribute. This attribute is often the life attribute.

They possess the Augmented Muscular Strength and Augmented Stamina skills from birth, and it is easy for them to acquire each race's resistance skills.

They have lifespans of around three hundred years; they age at the same pace as humans until they are around fifteen, and after that, their aging slows down, maintaining a physical age of someone in their twenties or thirties until they are around two hundred and fifty years old. After that, they begin aging rapidly. Because they age similarly to Dwarves, people have long wondered whether the two races are somehow related.

Many Titans have honest personalities and do not care about small details, but when they are angry, they are unmanageable. Also, they tend to prefer clothes that expose much of their skin. This is because Titans as a race believe that their bodies are beautiful things that they should be proud of. In fact, their sturdy, beautiful, well-proportioned bodies captivate those who behold them… though there have always been many women who dislike Titan men, saying that their muscles are unpleasant.

As adventurers, they are suited for being shield-bearers or powerful fighters who wield heavy weapons. However, parties made of only Titans sometimes do not have a shield-bearer at all. This is because there is no reason to become a shield-bearer if the entire party is sturdy.

As civilians, many Titans have occupations that require physical strength, such as farmers, miners and stonemasons.

Perhaps due to this, few Titans have high social positions. This is likely related to the fact that no nations made primarily of Titans have existed ever since Talosheim, a nation in the southern region of the Bahn Gaia continent, was destroyed two hundred years ago.

Although the Titans are not hostile to any races as a whole, there are more than a few who believe that the Amid Empire and its vassal nations that attacked the nation of the Titans are a common enemy of all Titans.

However, they hold disgust for the Hill Giants and Forest Giants, who are the descendants of the Colossi who joined the Demon King and became monsters in the age of myths, for defiling the bloodline of their great ancestors. Those who slay them are praised as worthy warriors.

In contrast, they worship the true Colossi, including Talos who maintained his divinity.

Their views on love are uninhibited and both men and women place an importance on strength and sturdiness, but they also admire those who have things like knowledge and a sense of art that they don't possess themselves. They are also sometimes easily won over when they are treated with soft kindness and gracefulness.

It is said that there is a sub-race of Titans with white fur living in icy mountains and other cold regions of the Dark Continent, the continent that has become one enormous Devil's Nest.

Beast-people

The races created when Vida mated with the beast-kings who served Ganpaplio, the beast-god who was destroyed by the Demon King.

Because there are multiple beast-king parents, beast-people can differ in appearance, but they generally all have the ears and tails of beasts. Each race has different features, such as fur growing on the backs of their hands and their shins or horns growing on their heads.

Their Attribute Values also differ depending on their parent beast-king. However, most races have poor qualities for magic while having excellent Vitality, Strength, Agility and Stamina.

There are only mammalian races of Beast-people, and Beast-person races of boars, horses and aquatic mammals do not exist. This is because in Lambda, reptilians are descendants of the subordinates of Marduke, the Dragon-emperor god.

There are no races of bird, horse or aquatic-mammalian Beast-people; this is explained by the fact that the beast-kings of those races were either destroyed by the Demon King, while some joined the evil gods, so the children born between them and the goddess became Harpies and Centaurs.

There are no boar Beast-people because the boar beast-king joined the Demon King and became the ancestor of the Orcs; this is also recorded in the myths. However, this incident is not often spoken of.

Incidentally, there are no Beast-people of domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, or pigs.

In the Status, Beast-people's races are displayed as, "XX-type Beast-person." Wolf Beast-people are displayed as "Wolf-type Beast-person," while wildcat Beast-people are displayed as "Wildcat-type Beast-person."

The skills that Beast-people possess from birth depend on what kind of Beast-people they are. However, most Beast-people possess the Dark Vision skill. Also, carnivorous Beast-people have fangs and claws, while herbivorous Beast-people have horns.

Within ten years, they grow to the equivalent of fifteen years in human age, and after that, they live until they are a hundred and fifty to two hundred years old. The speed of their aging is extraordinarily slow.

Also, children born between parents of different races of Beast-people are born as a Beast-person of one of the parents' races. There are no cases of things like Beast-people with wildcat tails and a wolf's tail.

However, such children can grow fangs and horns; there have been confirmed cases of things such as bear-type Beast-people with horns. Also, when using the Beast Transformation skill, which will be mentioned later, some of their parents' physical features can appear.

These are not the limits of half-breeds that Beast-people can create; children can be born with pointed Elf ears and fox tails.

Their diets depend on what kind of Beast-people they are, but carnivorous Beast-people are not completely unable to eat food that isn't meat, and likewise, even herbivorous Beast-people can eat meat.

As Adventurers, they are suited to being scouts or frontline fighters, and they tend to prefer being unarmed fighters using their claws and horns, or having roles that fight with light equipment. Also, they can gain skills such as Beast Transformation, a skill that turns them temporarily into half-beast half-human creatures, and acquire race-specific Jobs such as Beast Warrior.

Perhaps because they worship the beast-kings, there are some with a Job called 'Shaman,' which is a separate Job from the Priest Job.

Incidentally, unlike most Beast-people, fox-type, tanuki-type and goat-type Beast-people have qualities suited to magic, so many of them become mages.

They don't have any inclinations to any specific occupations as civilians. They work in all kinds of areas.

In societal terms, they are the same as humans, but other than in the Birkett Duchy in the Orbaume Kingdom, few Beast-people hold high-ranking positions in nations.

There are no races that Beast-men are hostile towards as a race, but they truly detest those who speak ill of the pride of their kind. It is not uncommon for people to be challenged to duels to the death over wolf-type Beast-people being called Kobolds and buffalo-type Beast-people being called Minotaurs.

They have all kinds of views on love and marriage; when members of a single race are all gathered together and living in the same place, they can have monogamy, polygamy or no marriage system at all, depending on the race. The thing that they have in common is that the husbands act important while it is actually the wives that hold authority in the household. But in important situations, the husband's opinions take priority.

When they live in villages and cities, they use the systems of those villages and cities.

Also, for Beast-people, love equals marriage; creating children is the basis of it. The criteria for loving someone is whether one wants to make children with them or not.

Thus, adult relations are not desirable.

Incidentally, Beast-people have certain periods where they want to leave offspring behind, which vary depending on their race. They can still create children outside of these periods, but things are rather plain when doing so.

It is not an insult to make fun of this as being a mating season for the Beast-people, but one should be prepared to receive a comeback of, "Well, your people mate all year round."

Ghouls

The general public believes that Ghouls are a special race of Undead. Though even many Ghouls themselves do not know this, they are a race descended from the younger of the twins, whose genders are unknown, born to Vida and the Undead champion Zakkart.

There are no remaining records of Ghouls in the myths, so it seems that their ancestor was completely uninvolved in the later battle between Alda and Vida, but it is unknown whether they distanced themselves from the battle on their own or were allowed to escape.

Ghouls, both men and women, have gray-brown skin, but the women look exactly like beautiful human women except for their yellow pupils and claws. In contrast, the men have the heads of lions and arms so long that the backs of their hands reach the ground when they are standing upright.

Ghoul men and women differ in their qualities as much as in their appearances; the men are physically superior but have poor qualities for magic, while women are physically inferior to men but possess good qualities for magic.

Their lifespans are around three hundred years; the men age at the same pace as humans until the age of fifteen and then begin aging slowly after reaching adulthood. Women grow and age at the same pace as humans until they become pregnant (even if they do not have a successful childbirth), and once they become pregnant, their physical age becomes fixed.

Ghouls possess the Dark Vision, Superhuman Strength, Pain Resistance and Venom Secretion skills from birth; their claws that secrete paralyzing venom, become fearsome weapons when swung with their powerful arms.

They are vulgar and unsociable in nature, but their sense of unity as a race is strong; in times of emergency, they put their differences aside to cooperate with other tribes and villages. Also, it is possible for members of another race of Vida to make exchanges that are civil to a certain extent with tribes that are aware that Ghouls are a race of Vida.

Also, for a later-mentioned reason, villages that are in trouble may willingly welcome members of other races.

As there are no nations that treat Ghouls as people, they cannot become adventurers, but they live their lives while setting their roles based on their gender, so even in battle, men are often at the front while women are at the back.

There are no Ghoul civilians. One could make a far-fetched argument that Ghouls captured and traded as slaves, or tamed specimens, could be considered civilians.

Because they live like aboriginals in Devil's Nests, they are thought of as a race of monsters, but they live like this because their reproduction capability is low; they cannot produce offspring outside Devil's Nests.

This is why Ghouls have no concept of marriage, and it is ordinary for them to do everything they can to produce offspring. It seems that there are cases where strong individuals monopolize members of the other sex, but these are rare cases.

For their diets, they prefer meat and even use human meat as food. For this reason, they are called corpse-eating demons, but the Ghouls would argue that humans take materials from their corpses as well.

It could be said that they are hostile to every other race. Also, it seems that some have complexes when it comes to Vampires.

Ghouls can conduct a ritual to transform human, Elf or Dwarf women into Ghouls. As their lack of fertility is a serious problem, when their female numbers drop too low for whatever reason, they sometimes turn female adventurers and such that they capture into Ghouls.

When they capture male adventurers, if they are lucky, they might be able to survive by nodding their heads to the advances of Ghoul women.

Note!

Much of the above does not apply to the Ghouls of Talosheim.

Vampires

The race descended from the older of the twins, whose genders are unknown, born to Vida and the Undead champion Zakkart. Within the race, they are divided into Pure-breed Vampires, Noble-born Vampires and Subordinate Vampires.

Their appearances are mostly the same as the races they originally were, such as humans, Elves and Dwarves, but their pupils are crimson and they possess long fangs.

They are generally regarded not as people but monsters, beings that oppose the gods. In human society, they are targets to be exterminated. But they have spread their roots in the underworld, and there are many examples in the past of clergymen loudly advocating for Vampire extermination while actually being spies for the Vampires.

Pure-breed Vampires, Noble-born Vampires and Subordinate Vampires all have no lifespans; they are ageless. The moment they become Vampires, their aging stops.

From the moment they become Vampires, they acquire the Superhuman Strength, Dark Vision, Bloodsucking, Rapid Regeneration and Status Effect Resistance skills, but they become critically weak to sunlight and silver.

It is said that the likely explanation for the Vampires being weak to sunlight is that their very existence angers Alda, who rules over light.

Their weakness to silver is explained by the fact that Undead have always been weak against silver, and this weakness has been inherited by Vampires, who descended from the Undead Zakkart.

Many Vampires have pompous personalities, treating races with short lifespans with arrogance. Many of them are cunning, cruel, ruthless and inhuman.

However, this is because many of the currently-existing Vampires worship the evil gods who are the remnants of the Demon King's army; this is not the case for the Vampires who still worship Vida… In fact, virtuous Vampires are seen from time to time.

Details of Pure-breed Vampires are unknown as they are beings that even legends are unworthy of speaking of them; they are mythical beings. However, Noble-born Vampires excel in all Attribute Values and they are able to fly. Normal people do not stand a chance against even the most inexperienced Noble-born Vampires.

Subordinate Vampires have dramatically increased Strength, Agility, Stamina and Vitality (Even if they were originally frail children, they are capable of having frontal fist-fights against bears). However, their qualities when it comes to magic does not change from before they become Vampires.

There are no Vampire civilians, but they do not lose the skills that they possessed before becoming Vampires, so they can carry out their lives in human society as long as they are not exposed to sunlight.

Also, because they are ageless, Vampires who have spent long years and months improving themselves diligently are more fearsome than Dragons.

Vampires enjoy sucking the blood of others, but they can also consume normal food. However, if they go long periods without ingesting blood, their health deteriorates and it is said that they eventually die. However, it seems that monster or animal blood is sufficient for them to maintain themselves, so there are almost no cases where a Vampire has actually died from this.

It is said that they like the fresh blood of virgins, but their preferences vary from individual to individual, and in the past, there have even been Vampires who prefer the blood of middle-aged men who smoke tobacco… According to them, the bitterness in the blood becomes addictive.

Vampires increase their population by giving their own blood to members of other races… humans, elves and dwarves, in order to transform them into Vampires. Pure-breed Vampires and Noble-born Vampires are capable of creating other Noble-born Vampires or Subordinate Vampires, while Subordinate Vampires generally cannot turn others into Vampires.

Perhaps for this reason, those who become Vampires experience a decline in their sexual desire, which is replaced by a desire to suck blood. However, it does not disappear completely, so Dhampirs, half-breeds created with other races, are seen from time to time.

However, it is difficult to imagine that this mode of life is what Vida wanted for the Vampire race that she created. In fact, it is possible for Vampires to leave offspring behind in the same way as any other living creature.

Given this fact, Vida's believers insist that Vida wanted to add something more to the Vampires, of which only the Vampire founder and the Pure-breed Vampires existed at the time, but before she could, she was defeated by Alda, the god of law and fate, and the champion Bellwood.

Incidentally, the Vampire transformation ritual is possible for members of Vida's other races, but the side effects are so drastic that it apparently only succeeds for one in ten individuals.

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