chapter 26
026. Extremes
After finishing my errands at the guild, I returned to the slums.
Looking at the unchanging, shabby appearance of the streets of the slums, the guild I had just been in looked dazzling.
It seems that volunteer activities such as helping the less fortunate do not exist in this world.
As a temporary guild master, I was able to join in as part of the guild’s activities, but it was difficult for me to step forward because I didn’t know how the world viewed the gap between the rich and the poor.
What is the gap between rich and poor in the duel world in the first place?
Does a person’s status change depending on the number of rare cards they have?
I burst out laughing when I imagined the robber asking me to hand over a card instead of money.
“Has anything pleasant happened?”
“No. “I couldn’t help but laugh as I imagined something so absurd.”
“What is that?”
“It’s not something big enough to tell you every single thing.”
“You are the third.”
When he didn’t tell me what he was imagining, Finesse pouted his mouth as if he was sulking.
She always behaved elegantly, but when she and I were alone together, she acted like a child.
After meeting her, especially Lilith, the frequency of her acting foolishly has increased these days, perhaps because of her influence.
“Let’s not sulk over trivial matters and go back and have something to eat. “I’m hungry.”
“For the first time in a while, I need to show off my skills.”
With the help of the guild staff, we obtained abundant food ingredients.
I have asked Liris for requests so far, but the quality of the ingredients has been poor, perhaps due to deep-rooted discrimination.
The ingredients obtained this time were satisfyingly greasy and fresh.
She doesn’t particularly blame Lilith, but her treatment is very extreme.
Looking at this, rather than helping the underprivileged, it seems like we should start with a campaign to ban discrimination against demons.
“Master, you are back!”
“Oh, you probably neglected your training while I was away, right?”
“Just like you said, I drew 1,000 times and had a mock duel the whole time with the cards my teacher provided!”
“You were doing well on your own.”
As soon as I arrived in front of the shack, a demon girl came out the door and greeted me brightly.
Seeing a bright child shyly hugging my body and reporting that he diligently participated in training made me seriously reconsider the movement to ban discrimination against demons.
Even the devil has such a pure and cute side, so how can he persecute him like that?
Good and evil, angels and devils, order and chaos, etc. We should not necessarily view the world through dichotomy.
“Master? “Aren’t you going to come in?”
“I’m going in now.”
Even if you look at it in black and white terms, the only thing that is good is the winner and loser of the duel.
At least I think so.
***
After a sumptuous dinner.
While digesting food and taking a short break, Finesse told Liris a long story about what happened today.
Like a mother telling a fairy tale to her young daughter.
But the story Finesse told was like a fairy tale, with a lot of glorification of me, the main character.
She tried to argue, saying that the leap was too severe, but when she saw Lilith listening with sparkling eyes, she lost her mind.
I did not want to become an adult who destroys the innocence of a child.
“In that way, the master used his overwhelming skills to achieve victory and made everyone present his subordinates!”
“Master, you are amazing! Not only did he survive the 1v5 battle alone, but he even won… !!”
Unfortunately, that has never happened.
No matter what country it is, 1v5 is impossible. Why is it 1v5 in a duel that was supposed to be 1v1 in the first place?
I’ve heard of 2-on-2 tag duels, but 1-on-5 was unprecedented.
I’ve heard that there is a world where you can enter a duel with a penalty, but at least in this world there is no such thing.
Intruding into a sacred duel where 1-on-1 real-sword combat is the basis is like freezing to death.
No matter how much of a penalty there is, if you invade and use a lot of area destruction magic cards and then pass the turn, the game will be ruined.
1 Vs. 1 Is the true joy of a duel, but 1 vs. 5 Was nonsense.
I will have to teach Lilith proper common sense later.
“Lilith, would you like to come here for a moment?”
“Yes! “What’s going on?”
“Take this.”
In addition to the ingredients, I handed Lilith one of the things I brought from the guild.
It was one of the magic tools created by grinding Oriha all day long.
Fortunately, it is small enough to fit in Lilith’s palm, so there doesn’t seem to be any problem in using it.
“What is this?”
“Magic tools. “With this, you can contact me even if you are far away.”
“Ah, a magic tool? “I can’t accept something that valuable!”
Lilith stretches out her hand to return it.
But I pushed her outstretched hand into her palm.
“If you give it to me, just say thank you and accept it graciously.”
“But… !”
“Sweet! “You know I don’t like saying the same thing twice, right?”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Yes.”
Is the value of magic tools that high?
Liris continued to look at the magic tool in a state of bewilderment.
I thought it was a world where they didn’t care about anything other than cards, but it was surprising.
“Master, is it possible to contact you no matter how far away this magic tool is?”
“Well? I’m not sure about the communication range because I didn’t ask. “But you can probably contact me no matter where you are within the village.”
“Is it really okay to give something so precious to someone like me?”
“Miss Lilith. “Any more than that would be rude to the master, so please refrain from doing so.”
“I’m sorry… !”
Before I could say anything, Finesse was next to her and urged Lilith.
A stern warning is given, saying that refusal in succession can cause discomfort to others.
If I was Lilith’s duel teacher, Finesse was her life teacher.
A word from Finesse, who always said the right thing, gave Lilith direction.
I feel like my position is becoming somewhat shabby.
In any case, it would be more helpful in life to give flesh and bone advice rather than dueling.
“… ….”
Isn’t it?
In this world, dueling may be much more important than advice.
This is a world of duel omnipotence, where when a difficult situation arises, you can solve it through dueling.
Is common sense really necessary in a world where addiction to poison can be solved through dueling, food, clothing, and shelter can be solved through dueling, and even finding a partner can be solved through dueling?
Later, I became afraid that my pregnancy might be decided by a duel.
If you win the duel, the implantation is successful, if you lose, the implantation is a failure.
If that were the case, I couldn’t help but say that it was truly a crazy world.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm, it looks like I still don’t know much. “I have no choice but to show you an example myself.”
I thought the discipline was over, but suddenly Finesse came striding towards me.
Then he bowed his waist and asked for my understanding.
“Master, I’m sorry, but may I ask for your cooperation for a moment?”
“Okay.”
“Thank you! Then, without hesitation… ♡”
Finesse gently came between my legs, which were in the lotus position, and leaned against his body.
As she was scratching her head at Finesse’s completely unexpected actions, she went one step further.
She turned her body and sat horizontally, as if lying down, and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck.
In that state, she tried to kiss my cheek while giving strength to her arm, so it was too much of a joke.
I blocked Finesse’s lips with my palm and pushed her away. But she didn’t give up and thrust into her face again.
Why on earth are you doing this?
I stayed quiet because he wanted my cooperation, but he started asking for excessive skinship from earlier.
Did I eat something wrong for dinner?
As I held her doubts, her cold voice pierced my ears.
“Master.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m teaching Miss Lilith that it’s rude to refuse too much, but it’s troublesome if the master shows up like this, right?”
As soon as I heard Finesse whispering in my ear, I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide.
Did you intend to do this from the beginning?
For some reason, it seemed like Finesse had an invisible fox tail.
***
A quiet basement with red candles burning.
A young man dressed in fine armor walked to the confessional asking for forgiveness from the God of Justice.
He had an expression on his face as if he had committed high treason, and he knelt before the stone statue of Miner enshrined underground and offered a brief prayer.
He looked like a person who had come to confess, but contrary to expectations, his prayer was very short.
“I have to turn everything back even now…” .”
He got up from his seat and slowly entered the confessional.
The confessional is so narrow that only one person can fit in.
The young man did not sit down in the provided seat, but carefully touched the wall of the confessional.
Then suddenly the wall of the confessional split to the left and right, and a staircase leading down to the basement appeared in front of him.
The young man slowly walked down the stone steps, holding up the lantern placed inside the confessional.
Tap, step, step.
The sound of his footsteps rang out along with the chilling wind.
A spooky atmosphere was created so that it would not be surprising if a ghost appeared at any moment.
The young man moved forward bravely.
But perhaps he was also nervous, and a ray of sweat ran down his cheek.
After a long time, the young man finally entered a certain space.
A space with bright red surroundings and full of incomprehensible writings.
The young man walked into a room that looked like something a cultist would use to worship the devil.
Soon, a magic circle caught his eye at the end of his gaze.
The magic circle of the six-mangseong castle drawn with blood that does not know whether it is animal or human.
It was extremely disturbing, but the young man didn’t care and tried to touch the magic circle.
But… ….
“I never imagined that you would betray me right before the holy war.”
“Wow… !!”
Before he even touched the magic circle, a masked man appeared behind the young man.
If you were being followed, you should have heard footsteps or a sign of presence.
However, the young man did not feel anything until the masked man spoke directly to him.
“I entrusted this work to you, believing that you would understand me, so why are you betraying me right before the holy war?”
“Executor, no matter how I think about it, this is wrong.”
“What is wrong?”
“As the Executor said, if evil threatens us, it is right that we must stop it. But to forcibly bring in evil and wage a holy war is an unprecedented method!”
“That’s such a strange thing to say. No matter the method, there is no change in the fact that evil must be eliminated for Miner’s sake.”
“Executor, even if I think about it, I don’t think the cause you’re talking about is directed at Miner.”
“Does someone who is just an apostle dare to try to see through my thoughts?”
“Otherwise, how could you think of sacrificing a demon girl living in the village to summon demons!!”
The Demon World was clearly a world of child-rearing.
A lawless zone where demons who seek only power eat each other.
But even the devils had pride that would never change.
When their own people are brutally killed by a race other than their own, demons do not hesitate to go to war with them.
That was the only affection between demons, and the greatest respect they could give as members of their own race.
In other words, if it is revealed that humans killed the devil, they will not tolerate it and declare war on the human world.
This was a historically revealed fact, so no race other than angels killed demons carelessly.
“This is not it. My definition is that the current temple is wrong. Executor, please reconsider… !”
“Ha… ! hahahaha… !! hahahahaha!!”
The sound of maniacal laughter echoed beyond the mask.
The enforcer of justice burst into laughter, pressing his mask with one hand as if he could not bear it any longer.
Everyone knew the meaning of that laughter.
Derision, regret, and disappointment. At the executor’s sneer, which combined all these emotions, the young man took out a card.
“As an apostle who knows nothing but peaceful days, there is nothing I cannot say to the executioner.”
“Do you really have to do this?”
“Whoa…” ! Okay, let’s duel! If I lose, I will accept your opinion and abolish the plan. I will resign from my position as executive officer and take my own life. But if you lose…….”
“… ….”
“You should die holding the truth.”
There was a time when he tried to kill the devil, even killing his beloved apostle, in order to wage a holy war.
However, the devil, who realized his plan, chose to commit suicide before he could be executed, and the holy war never took place.
It was a shameful failure, but I will definitely not fail this time.
The executioner’s eyes burned red with a mixture of madness and determination.
“”Dual!!””