Side Chapter 65: The system’s maintenance and management is barely kept running

Endou Kouya, Machida Aran, and Shimada Izumi continued their work, forcing themselves to ignore the warning sounds ringing around them.

“These things are so loud that I’m scared that Alda might hear them,” said Aran.

“No matter how loud they are, he won’t pay them any attention. I explained to him that they’re just errors… noises that are made whenever a person is turned into an Undead, Demon, or one of Vida’s races,” said Kouya.

Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system continued to function even without Rodcorte directly operating it. However, whenever problems occurred, they required attention depending on their severity, and it was Rodcorte’s three familiar spirits who were currently dealing with them.

Rodcorte, the one who would normally be supervising the system’s operation, was currently lying on the floor in the middle of his Divine Realm, unable to do anything, as he had been impaled by a countless number of stakes.

These were no ordinary stakes; they were Alda’s Stakes of Law. Rodcorte’s total power as a god was greater than Alda’s, but by having become recognized as a god of the world of Lambda, Alda’s divine authority as the god of law had full effect on him. Thus, Rodcorte had been unable to escape this fate.

No matter how much his power as a god surpassed Alda’s, Rodcorte had no experience or divinity related to combat. To give an analogy, there was no guarantee that the richest person in the world with a vast amount of wealth and influence would be able to defeat an opponent in a deathmatch in a ring.

And Rodcorte had let his guard down, thinking that Alda would make no attempt to impale Rodcorte with the Stakes of Law as long as he remained unaware that Rodcorte had become a god of the world of Lambda.

Rodcorte had forgotten the simple fact that gods were beings who could become angry and lose control when infuriated.

In any case, Rodcorte was unable to move or speak in his current state. It was completely impossible for him to exercise his power as a god… Jarodipus, the Evil God of Sinful Chains, had managed the impossible feat of wielding some of his power despite being in a similar state, but that was only because he had possessed the immense mental fortitude to endure the violent pain and long imprisonment that he had been subjected to. It was almost certainly impossible for Rodcorte to do the same.

“Alda isn’t in this Divine Realm anymore,” said Izumi. “He took the remaining sealed fragments of Guduranis’s soul and went back to his own Divine Realm. The only thing he left behind was a familiar spirit to keep an eye on Rodcorte.”

Alda had stationed one of his own familiar spirits here to watch over Rodcorte. Thus, Rodcorte was unable to watch what his familiar spirits – Izumi, Aran, and Kouya – were doing. The three of them were also unable to approach Rodcorte… though they had no reason to.

“What Alda is most wary of is probably us trying to help Rodcorte… That’s apparently what humans who ascended to become familiar spirits would normally do,” said Kouya.

“Familiar spirits like that were worshipers of their gods while they were still mortal, after all,” said Aran. “They’re completely different from us in every way.”

Kouya, Aran, and Izumi were not worshipers of Rodcorte. It seemed that Alda and his subordinates did not understand this… That was how unfathomable it was to them that Rodcorte had decided to make people who could betray him at any moment his familiar spirits.

“It’s convenient for us, though, since we can carry out our work without being watched,” Izumi said. “But I wonder what he plans to do, leaving the system entirely in our hands? Thinking long-term, I think he should be having someone learn skills related to the system while he still can.”

Rodcorte was untrustworthy. Even after riddling Rodcorte with stakes after losing control from pure rage, Alda had come to that conclusion and refrained from removing the stakes. Even if Vandalieu was defeated, it was difficult to imagine that Rodcorte could be trusted with the circle of transmigration system after that. And Izumi, Kouya, and Aran were Rodcorte’s familiar spirits – not beings that Alda and his subordinates could trust.

And Alda intended to be victorious in the battle against Vandalieu… the battle against Vida. With that being the case, it was necessary for Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system to continue functioning after the battle.

It would be a bad idea to try to take over the circle of transmigration system created by Vida or the Demon King. Vida’s system was managed by Vida, the very goddess Alda was trying to defeat, and the Demon King’s system was specialized in the reincarnation of monsters, and there was no telling what kind of state it was in now. It wasn’t clear as to whether it could even be operated by Alda at all.

And Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system carried out reincarnation in more worlds than just Lambda. If that were to stop, the gods of the other worlds would likely invade in order to free Rodcorte. The existence of their worlds would be at stake, so they would have no other choice.

That had not happened because the circle of transmigration system was continuing to function without any problems. Thus, the gods of the other worlds were unaware of Rodcorte’s current situation.

They were completely dependent on Rodcorte to carry out this vital task, and one might think that this was a problem, but they probably were not bothered by it because no problems had actually occurred so far.

And Rodcorte himself had kept his distance from the other worlds in order to avoid being mentioned in the mythology of those worlds, becoming affected by that, and causing problems with his maintenance and management of the system. The gods of the other worlds were doing nothing more than respecting his wishes… though one could also say that this was because they did not hold Rodcorte in high regard.

In any case, it was necessary for Alda to continue using Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system in the future as well. Thus, it was necessary for him to train human resources (god resources?*), and yet he was doing nothing, and Izumi found this to be suspicious.

Is Alda planning to recruit us into his own faction? I don’t even know if it’s possible for a god to turn familiar spirits of another god into his own familiar spirits, though, Izumi thought.

Kouya smiled wryly. “I think Alda isn’t having his other familiar spirits or subordinate gods learn the necessary skills because it’s currently not possible,” he said, giving his own thoughts on the situation.

“Not possible?” Izumi repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Then why don’t you try explaining what you’re doing right now, Izumi?” said Aran.

“Huh? That’s easy,” Izumi said, doing as Aran told her to and starting a quick explanation of the system’s maintenance. “We’re currently ■■■ the circle of transmigration system’s ■■■ – HUH?!”

Mid-sentence, her explanation had transformed into words… no, thoughts, that were unintelligible. Surprised, Izumi tried rephrasing several times, but no matter how many times she tried, she could not put it into words.

“See? I noticed it recently too. We can’t explain it,” said Aran. “Since we’re Rodcorte’s familiar spirits, we understand what you’re saying, but it seems to be completely incomprehensible for other people, gods, and familiar spirits.”

“Even gods and familiar spirits?” said Izumi.

“I think things regarding reincarnation are impossible to understand for anyone other than gods related to reincarnation… Gods whose divinity is related to it, and their subordinates. Rikudou tried questioning Rodcorte about reincarnation before, but Moriya and the others who were with him didn’t seem to understand Rodcorte’s answers. Rikudou did understand, but even when he explained it to them, they couldn’t understand it. It’s the same as a layman not understanding an explanation on a difficult topic from an expert,” said Kouya.

Gods were not omnipotent… Or at the very least, the gods of the world of Lambda weren’t. Each had their own area of specialization, and they carried out a role based in that specialization. That was their base nature.

Zuruwarn, the God of Space and Creation, could not manage the light attribute. And although he was not entirely incapable in close-quarters combat, he was far weaker in that aspect than Zantark, The War-god of Fire and Destruction, to the point that the two could not even be compared.

Botin, Mother of the Earth and Goddess of Craftsmanship, could not manage the wind attribute. And although she had some techniques and knowledge related to magic, the difference between her and Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic, was like the difference between an apprentice and a great mage.

It was likely possible for a god to learn something outside their area of expertise as knowledge. But it was perhaps impossible for a god to improve their skill in it to a level where it could be considered a god’s work.

Humans could learn things too, but that did not mean that they could perform the same feats as geniuses in that field. This was true for gods as well… No, perhaps the difference between gods was even greater because they were gods.

“Well then, that makes it even clearer that there’s not a lot of options,” said Izumi.

“He likely intends to spend several centuries to solve the problem,” said Zuruwarn, peeking into Rodcorte’s Divine Realm to join the conversation. “Gods can leave anything for later unless it is something that is extremely unexpected. If he spreads a plausible story and many of his worshipers believe it, it is possible for Alda or one of his subordinate gods to become a ‘God of Reincarnation.’”

“Even on Earth, there are gods who changed over time, like a god who later became the devil, and a god of fruit who later became a god of snacks. You’re telling me it’s the same as that?” Izumi asked.

“Yes, yes, it’s probably something like that. Alda was originally a god of the light attribute, but he has also gained divinity as a god of life, and I think he could do the same with reincarnation as well,” said Zuruwarn.

Alda was already managing the life attribute, something that had originally been outside his area of expertise. That was because he had been worshiped as the God of Law and Fate*, but… even now, a hundred thousand years later, he was still struggling with it. If he stretched himself thin to try to master the circle of transmigration system in addition to that, it was possible that he would overwork himself and end up making some fatal mistake.

“That is why I think that he likely intends to fabricate a story regarding reincarnation or take a suitable worshiper and turn him into a god to create a subordinate god to be in charge of it. Though that is only if Alda’s thinking is as rational as I believe it to be,” Zuruwarn said. “I suspect that he will only be making further requests of you after all of that is done.”

“I see. So then, what should we do with Da?” asked Izumi.

The ‘Sahadeva’ Da Long, the only survivor (?) among Rikudou’s subordinates, still existed in this Divine Realm. Unable to bear Rikudou Hijiri’s second defeat – and the complete annihilation of his soul – he had lost consciousness and was now unresponsive to any external stimuli, so Izumi and the others had simply let him be.

“Hmm, you could just leave him there, couldn’t you? It isn’t like we have any reason to make any effort to help him, nor do we have one to go out of our way to destroy him, either,” said Zuruwarn.

He had heard a brief explanation of who Da was, but he had no interest in him. If he posed a threat to Vandalieu, there was the choice to bring his soul to Vandalieu for devouring, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Alda had taken the soul fragments of Guduranis that Rodcorte had kept, and they were no longer in this Divine Realm. Thus, even if Da were to come back to his senses and decide on avenging Rikudou Hijiri, there was no danger of him losing his mind and taking Guduranis’s soul fragments out of here to release them.

To begin with, even if he were to come back to his senses, he was incapable of leaving Rodcorte’s Divine Realm on his own. And even if he did, he would immediately become a spirit… not even a Ghost, just a completely powerless being.

Even if he stayed in this Divine Realm and plotted to interfere with Aran and the others’ operation of the circle of transmigration system, he was a mere human soul; he could not defeat Aran and the others, who were familiar spirits. That wasn’t necessarily true for individuals with cheat-like abilities, but fortunately, Da’s ‘Sahadeva’ was an ability with no offensive power.

Alda and his allies also considered Da to be nothing more than a surviving subordinate of the detestable Rikudou, so it was unlikely that he would be used by them as a spy.

“You’re right. Let’s leave him alone, then,” said Aran.

“Yes. We don’t have time to deal with him, anyway,” said Izumi.

They had no desire to go out of their way to help Da, as he was a traitor. They were slightly hesitant to hand him over to Vandalieu in his current state, but that was about it.

Even Vandalieu would be troubled if they were to offer Da to him… He devoured souls in order to destroy dangerous enemies; he did not devour them in order to acquire Skills.

“More importantly, are there no problems with the circle of transmigration system? I would like to avoid the gods of other worlds banding together to attack us,” said Zuruwarn.

“As these alarms are warning us, it’s full of problems. I’m sure it’s because Vandalieu is guiding a huge number of people in Orbaume, dragging them into Vida’s circle of transmigration system,” said Kouya. “But we’ll manage.”

Vandalieu’s guidance was capable of transferring souls from Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system to Vida’s. Each time this occurred, it created an error in Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system, but the system was exceptionally robust, and continued to function without being affected by moderate volumes of errors like this.

Since before Vandalieu existed, humans had been transferred to Vida’s circle of transmigration system when they were transformed into members of Vida’s races such as Vampires. The robustness of the system was there to help deal with things like that.

However, that robustness hadn’t been built with the scenario of tens, hundreds of thousands of souls being transferred in a single day. That was why Kouya and the others had devoted all of their time to the system.

But looking at it another way, it was a problem that could be dealt with by the familiar spirits devoting themselves to addressing it.

Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system included not only humans, but plants as well. The familiar spirits were making use of this fact, taking souls that were destined to become plants or bugs in their next lives and using them to replace the ones that had been transferred to Vida’s system.

It was nothing more than a band-aid fix to buy time, but the world losing several hundreds of thousands of insects and plants, which there were a countless number of, was unlikely to cause any major problems.

Even if spirits were to enter their soulless bodies, they would be powerless to do much, as they were still just insects and plants.

Plants were unable to move, and insects were creatures that acted on instinct alone, many of which had short lifespans. It was possible that they might try to turn into monsters in order to commit evil deeds, but… even with a conscious mind, it was not so easy for an ordinary plant to become a monster. Such a thing would only be possible somewhere near Vandalieu.

Incidentally, the souls of Moriya and the other reincarnated individuals hadn’t been designated a destination for their next life in Lambda, so no major errors had been caused by their destruction. But Vandalieu’s destruction of the soul of Edgar, one of the Five-colored Blades, had caused a serious problem. However, it was just a single soul, and Aran and the others were becoming more proficient in handling the circle of transmigration system, so they had already dealt with it.

“I’m more worried about what’s happening with Vida’s circle of transmigration system. Is it still functioning properly after receiving tens of thousands of souls all in one go…?” Kouya wondered.

“Even I do not know the answer to that question. Vida’s creation of the system came after I fell into my slumber. But, well, I’m almost certain that Vida’s system does not include animals and plants, so perhaps it has more room to work with because of that,” said Zuruwarn.

There were problems that could be considered flaws in Vida’s circle of transmigration system, such as the Ghouls’ low birth rate and how difficult natural pregnancies were for Vampires. These problems occurred, but even Vida, the one who was supposed to be managing the system, didn’t know what state it was in, as she was currently unable to return to her own Divine Realm.

Thus, Zuruwarn decided not to bother putting any effort into thinking about those problems.

Problems could be occurring, but telling Vandalieu to stop guiding people was impossible. There was nothing to be done about it.

“In any case, I came here to make sure the circle of transmigration will be fine. After all, if it seemed like it wouldn’t be fine, I would have had to make an extremely hard effort to do something about it,” said Zuruwarn.

The ‘extremely hard effort’ that Zuruwarn was referring to was going to the other worlds whose reincarnation was managed by Rodcorte’s system and explaining the situation… in other words, a pilgrimage of apologies.

He would have to travel to other worlds and convince gods he had never met, with no proof, that he would do something about the problems that were occurring, and ask them to simply put up with them for now.

If he did this, it was possible that the gods of other worlds would become enraged and attack him, so he very much wished to avoid doing this. However, he also wished to avoid a three-way battle – gods of other worlds versus Alda versus Vandalieu.

“We’ll be able to manage reincarnation, including reincarnation in other worlds, if it’s just souls being transferred to Vida’s circle of transmigration system we have to worry about – whether it’s a thousand souls or a hundred million. As long as we continue to cover the problems up and carry out our maintenance, since there’s still time before the next generation comes,” said Kouya.

In other words, they’d keep the system running, even if it was just barely.

“But if Vandalieu destroys tens or hundreds of thousands of souls in a single moment, the system might temporarily stop working entirely,” added Aran.

“Given Vandalieu’s past actions, I don’t think that kind of thing will happen. No more reincarnated individuals will be reincarnated in Lambda, either. But just in case, could you please tell him that when he devours human souls, he should keep it to just a few at a time?” said Izumi.

“Hmm… Very well. I shall tell him that,” said Zuruwarn.

He wished to avoid telling Vandalieu about the circle of transmigration system if possible – it would be problematic if Vandalieu knowing about it were to affect the battle against Alda and his allies.

And to begin with, it had been decided that Rodcorte’s circle of transmigration system was to be kept a secret from humans. One purpose of that rule was to prevent humans from achieving the feat of carrying out reincarnation on their own and becoming gods without being worshiped by anyone, like Rikudou Hijiri had done. But even if that weren’t the case, it would be bad for it to become known that everyone, from the most righteous saint to the most despicable fiend, might be reincarnated as a weed or an insect in their next life.

Of course, when people were reincarnated, they lost all of their memories, knowledge, and skills. Thus, someone being reincarnated was equivalent to becoming an entirely different being in their next life. However, possibly becoming a weed or bug was a notion that was more likely to linger in people’s minds.

There was no afterlife, no heaven, no hell. Unless one were to become worshiped by the people and become a god, or ascend to become a familiar spirit or heroic spirit of a god they worshiped, there was no way for someone to preserve their consciousness after death.

Nothing good would come from this knowledge spreading among humans.

But, well, Vandalieu is already a demigod, so perhaps it would be fine to tell him as long as I tell him to keep his mouth shut about it? Zuruwarn wondered, considering making Vandalieu an exception to the rule as he left Rodcorte’s Divine Realm.

Aran and the others had been too busy to use the circle of transmigration system to see what Alda’s worshipers were up to because they were prioritizing the maintenance work on the system.

Besides, Zuruwarn could broadly guess the current situation, so it wasn’t a problem even if they couldn’t offer him any information.

Meanwhile, Aran and the others didn’t even have the time to see Zuruwarn off. Like they said, they were just barely keeping the system running. Of course, Orbaume had a finite population, so the number of people guided by Vandalieu each day was dropping as time passed.

“Once we’ve finished implementing the current measures, I’ll get to preparing for when the people of the Jahan Duchy are transferred to Vida’s system. We’re dealing with the power of a live concert performed by three Guiders, including Kanako, and the influence it will have on the worshipers of Alda is an unknown variable, after all. And Vandalieu will probably be with them, too,” said Aran.

“Then I’ll handle the spirits drifting around in other duchies. Vandalieu will probably be interacting with the other duchies more from now on, and the spirits will be charmed by him just by him drawing close… Thankfully, there haven’t been any large-scale wars lately, so there aren’t too many wandering spirits around,” said Izumi.

“… I’m sure we won’t see a massive drop in the number of ordinary bugs and plants in Lambda, but it does make me worried,” said Kouya. “But we need to prepare even farther ahead. We have no choice but to do as much as we can while Rodcorte is still unable to act. It’s a good thing we became beings that don’t feel physical fatigue.”