Sumida Shiro… The man known in Origin as the 'Druid' Joseph Smith, thought his eyes were healthy. Indeed, his physical examination hadn't shown any problems, and his eyesight was good.
He also thought that his mind had been recovering rapidly lately. He would still have nightmares, find it difficult to sleep, and experience flashbacks, visual hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations, but they had become noticeably less frequent since this year began.
His counsellor wouldn't declare him as having recovered, perhaps because of his description of the dreams he had been having in place of his nightmares. Still, he believed that he was on the road to recovery.
He was welcomed into the house of the Amemiya family, whom he hadn't seen in a while.
"It's been a while, Joseph. I'm glad you came," said Hiroto.
"Sumida-sensei… I shouldn't be calling you that, should I. Joseph-kun, thank you so much," said Narumi.
Joseph hadn't seen the pair for over half a year, but they didn't seem to have changed much.
"N-nice to meet you, Joseph-san! My name is Amemiya Hiroshi!" said their eldest son, using Joseph's first name despite it being the first time they had met.
"Hey! You should be calling him Smith-san, shouldn't you?" Narumi said, gently scolding him.
"No, don't worry about it. Boys should be bright and cheerful," said Joseph.
Narumi and Hiroshi looked like a very ordinary mother and son.
And then there was the daughter in Narumi's arms, the one-year-old Mei… If Joseph recalled correctly, she would turn two years old in another two months or so. Narumi's husband Hiroto stood to her right, looking at his wife and daughter, and to her left was… a mysterious figure.
From a distance, it simply looked like a person wearing a cloak and a creepy-looking mask. But Joseph was looking at it from only about a meter away, and he could tell that the four eyes on its face and the mouth that stretched from ear to ear were real.
"Meh-kun, say hello," it said.
"I'm, Meh. I'm one!" Mei said.
"Good girl, Mei, greeting Mr. Smith like that. You did so well," Narumi said proudly.
"Yes, you did very well, Meh-kun," said the mysterious figure.
That thing… it resembles the mysterious being in my dreams, the one that calms me, holds me close, and guides me! Joseph realized.
The mysterious figure… Banda, looked familiar to him. That was because Joseph had met Vandalieu in his dreams, and Vandalieu had given him a piece of his soul.
Banda was also made of a part of Vandalieu's soul; it was only natural that Joseph felt a sense of closeness to him.
But why can I see it? I am currently awake. This isn't a dream… No, is it a hallucination?!
Joseph's intuition was not sharp enough to immediately realize what Banda was and accept what he was seeing; he was a logically-thinking person.
"We'll be counting on you to protect the children for the next three days," said Hiroto. "There are bodyguards as well, and there's the backup of the army and the police, but…"
"Yeah, I know. The enemy might be the Eighth Guidance, right? I won't let my guard down," said Joseph.
Although he was agitated by Banda's presence, he was well-trained enough to suppress his mental discomposure and keep observing Banda while continuing his conversation with the Amemiyas.
"It seems that everyone from the Eighth Guidance really were very strong," Banda said to himself.
Because Joseph wasn't reacting to Banda's presence, Banda was under the assumption that Joseph couldn't see him, just like every other person, including the 'Titan' Iwao.
Vandalieu, the person Banda originated from, had plenty of experience in battle, but the military also conducted intelligence-gathering, and he had not received any training in that.
Amemiya and the others can't see him or hear his voice? In other words… I must be hallucinating after all, Joseph decided.
As the Amemiyas couldn't see Banda, Joseph assumed that Banda was a hallucination.
And so began three strange days of Joseph and Banda living in the same house.
However, the misunderstanding between Banda and Joseph was resolved on the first day.
As Joseph watched Hiroshi study, Banda came over and started whispering in Hiroshi's ear, teaching him how to solve the arithmetic problems. The moment Hiroshi heard Banda's explanation, he began solving the problems, and Joseph realized that Banda was not a hallucination that only he could see and hear.
"So, you can see me," said Banda. "That is surprising… Anyway, Hiroshi, if you remember this formula, you'll be able to solve those problems, so let's try that."
"Banda, now's not the time for that!" said Hiroshi. "Mister, you can see Banda?! That's amazing! I can only see Banda when he shows himself to me!"
Y-yeah. Could it be that you're someone's ability? Do the Amemiyas know about you?" asked the surprised Joseph.
Banda shook his head. "No, I'm not something that was created by the ability of one of the Bravers. And the only ones who know about me are Amemiya Mei, also known as Meh-kun, and Hiroshi. We're keeping it a secret from their parents."
"Then why are you in this house?! It must be the Eighth Guidance after all…!"
"No, that's not the case. I'm just a split entity of my main body that was bound to Meh-kun. My objective is for Meh-kun to grow up to be healthy and happy. That's all."
"Main body?! Banda, you never told me that!" Hiroshi exclaimed. "And does that mean you don't care about me?!"
"Of course I care about you. You're family to Meh-kun. Meh-kun's happiness can't be achieved without the happiness of her beloved older brother," Banda told him.
Joseph looked like he wanted to interject, but Banda held up a hand to tell him to wait and let him finish.
"If I put it that way, when you grow a little older, you might think that you only matter because you're Mei's older brother, and I don't care about you as a person, but that would be very incorrect," Banda continued. "People are put in various positions from the moment they are born, and these follow them for their entire lives. You are the eldest son of Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi, and Meh-kun's older brother, and these facts will not change until you die. Try to grow your mind to be able to accept that without denying it or becoming cynical or bitter about it."
"Umm… Well, I kind of get what you're trying to say. Probably," said Hiroshi, looking quite confused.
"That's good," said Banda, patting his head with one of his four hands before turning back to Joseph. "Sorry to keep you waiting. If possible, I would like for you to listen to what I have to say."
"… Yes. I have no objection to you continuing to speak. There are a few things that I have come to understand," said Joseph.
While Banda was talking to Hiroshi, Joseph had remembered something – Banda's voice was the same voice that he had heard in his dreams.
He had also reached the conclusion that when Hiroshi and Mei were kidnapped, Banda was the one who had slaughtered the kidnappers.
Their corpses had been in a state that made it difficult to think that their murder had been the doing of any human; it wasn't strange to think that their murderer was an inhuman being.
"But there's something that I want to say first," Joseph said.
remembered something – Banda's voice was the same voice that he had heard in his dreams.
He had also reached the conclusion that when Hiroshi and Mei were kidnapped, Banda was the one who had slaughtered the kidnappers.
Their corpses had been in a state that made it difficult to think that their murder had been the doing of any human; it wasn't strange to think that their murderer was an inhuman being.
"But there's something that I want to say first," Joseph said.
"Joseph-san, I know Banda's appearance is… that, but he's a good guy! He really is!" said Hiroshi, standing between Joseph and Banda.
There was something that Joseph needed to say, for Hiroshi's sake as well.
"Thank you, Hiroshi," said Banda. "What is the thing you wanted to say, Smith-san?"
"Then I shall say it… Your words just now, they were too argumentative. I know you wanted to explain things in detail, but don't you think it's also important to directly express what you feel?" said Joseph.
"I see. You're right," Banda agreed. "Hiroshi, I love you. Would you like to touch my tentacles?" he said, immediately accepting Joseph's advice and embracing Hiroshi from behind while extending his tentacles.
"Aaaah! Stop it!" Hiroshi shouted, surprised and embarrassed, batting Banda's tentacles away.
Unlike his younger sister, it seemed that he did not like wriggling things.
"Wriggle wriggle," said a small, happy voice.
Mei, who had woken up from her nap, was trotting her way over to Banda.
Seeing this, Joseph understood that Banda was not a threat to those who did not wish to harm the children.
Having finished his study, Hiroshi began his secret training… his no-attribute magic training, and while Mei took another nap, Banda and Joseph shared further conversations.
The other bodyguards were patrolling outside the room where the children were, and they couldn't hear Banda's voice in the first place. Joseph had told them that the commotion earlier was just the children playing around.
Unlike them, Joseph could see and hear Banda, and the theory was established that this was because of his ability, 'Druid.'
Ordinarily, it was an ability that manipulated plants, but perhaps because its power was similar to life-attribute magic, Joseph was able to see the auras of living things.
It was likely that this allowed him to see Banda as a part of Mei's aura, as he was a part of her soul.
Banda had also whispered in Joseph's ear, telling him about the situation in Origin that he had heard about from Kanako and the others.
"To think that things have turned out this way… It's difficult to believe that Rikudou was pulling the strings behind the incident with the Eighth Guidance in the Hexagon in the Federal States," Joseph whispered back. "No, wait, it's not difficult to believe at all."
Banda had needed to explain the situation to Joseph in order to have him keep quiet about his existence, and because he wanted Joseph to be wary of Rikudou.
However, Banda had not told Joseph of Lambda and his true identity. Explaining Lambda's existence would be an overload of information, and he didn't know if Joseph would believe him. And if he revealed his true identity to Joseph, it was possible that Joseph would become suspicious of him for his relationship with the Eighth Guidance and his conflict with the Bravers.
"However, you have no reason to lie to me. And if Rikudou is controlling the mind of 'Metamorph' and manipulating her, then his alibis are worthless. He can use 'Metamorph' as a body double while existing in another place at the same time, after all," Joseph said, still whispering. "I shall believe you on this, and I shall believe that you are what you say you are."
What Banda described was astonishing, and Joseph suspected that he wasn't telling him everything, but he decided to accept it as the truth.
Incidentally, Joseph and Banda were continuing their conversation in whispers because rare alarm systems fitted with sensors that could detect death-attribute Mana had been installed inside the Amemiya residence as a security measure against possible intrusion by remnants of the Eighth Guidance. Thus, Banda was currently unable to cancel the sound of his voice with death-attribute magic.
"… I know it's strange coming from me, but are you sure you are alright with believing me? There's no proof that I'm not a part of the Eighth Guidance, you know?" said Banda.
"Well, that is true, but… if I were to begin suspecting you, then there would be no end to it. And if you were a part of the Eighth Guidance, you wouldn't try to help me… and even if Mei-chan is very attached to you, I don't think Hiroshi-kun would take such a liking to you if you were," said Joseph, watching Hiroshi use 'Telekinesis' to stack building blocks to practice controlling his magic.
The existence of no-attribute magic had not been observed in this world, so there were no sensors that could detect no-attribute Mana. Thus, Hiroshi was free to practice as much as he wanted.
"But then, you must be the 'Undead' who has returned to this world from the afterlife," said Joseph, guessing at Banda's identity. "If that's the case, why would you help me? Although I was not present at that time… Even so, I am not someone you should be considering your ally."
Joseph was partially correct, but Banda did not correct him or deny it.
"It's just a coincidence. It's not like I introduced myself in your dreams, is it?" Banda said as he stretched out a tentacle.
"You did not, but… you have not told the Amemiyas of this?"
"Do you think I could?"
"It would be difficult. Perhaps it might be safe if Narumi-san knew, but it would be dangerous to reveal it to Hiroto. He described the death attribute to his companions as a forbidden power that should not exist. There is no telling what he would do if he were to learn about you… about Mei-chan."
Joseph considered Amemiya Hiroto to be a virtuous individual. Mentally, Amemiya appeared far stronger and more stable than Joseph. But it was difficult to imagine that he would remain a good father to his daughter if he were to learn that she possessed death-attribute Mana.
be able to meet them. Until then, let's maintain the current situation and keep an eye on things. Please don't do anything reckless," said Banda.
"We don't have any other choice, do we…?" said Joseph.
If Joseph were to do something risky and was captured by Rikudou as a result, and Banda's existence became known, Mei would be in danger.
And Banda didn't intend to use Joseph as a disposable pawn. That wasn't why Vandalieu had given Joseph a piece of his own soul, after all.
Just then, Hiroshi came over, having finished his 'Telekinesis' exercise.
"Banda, I've stacked all the blocks," he said quietly, knowing that Banda would be nearby.
Indeed, there was now a castle made of building blocks where Hiroto had been practicing.
"Well done. You're quicker to learn than I am, Hiroshi," said Banda.
"R-really?" said Hiroshi, blushing a little.
"Yes, you are," said Banda. "Well then, shall we try building a pyramid with playing cards next?"
Hiroshi's expression changed completely. "That's really hard! Isn't there an easier exercise to do?"
"Well, if I'm honest, I think it is difficult even for an adult. But I think you'll become able to do it. And once you do, I'll teach you the next spell," said Banda.
"Mmm, alright," Hiroshi said reluctantly. "But make sure you give me some of your Mana."
"Yes, of course," said Banda.
Despite his reluctant expression, Hiroshi wasn't all that unhappy, and he put away Mei's building blocks and began trying to build a card pyramid.
"To think that you can share your Mana with others… There seems to be considerable depth to no-attribute magic," Joseph remarked.
"Well, it's a matter of practice and the amount of Mana you have. It seems that Hiroshi has a talent for it," said Banda. "Ah, it's snack time soon, so can you please feed the jelly in the fridge to Meh-kun?"
"… I almost forgot. I am not only the children's bodyguard, but their babysitter," Joseph sighed.
Meanwhile, in his Divine Realm, Rodcorte was just about to return Edgar's soul to Alda and his allies, having finished his treatment.
"This task would ordinarily take one year, and I have completed it in less than half a year. I am sure they will have nothing to complain about," Rodcorte murmured to himself.
He had used fine pieces of the Demon King's soul – which would perhaps be better described as soul dust – but even so, Rodcorte did not believe that Alda had any right to complain.
Edgar's soul had been wounded, and there had been damage not only to his memories and Skills, but his personality as well. Rodcorte had put it back together along with the fragments of the soul of Luke, a heroic spirit of the God of Judgment Niltark, to restore it.
This had been an exceedingly difficult task even for Rodcorte, a god who ruled over reincarnation and was an expert on souls.
In order to carry this task out within less than a year, he had been forced to use the extreme method of adding the Demon King's soul dust.
Machida Aran had insisted that Rodcorte should be honest and inform Alda that he had used the Demon King's soul dust, but Rodcorte had ignored him.
The Demon King's soul dust consisted of vestiges of meaningless memories and emotions, things that even the Demon King Guduranis himself would consider to be worthless. It was completely impossible that the soul dust would take over the core of Edgar's soul.
He might be confused by unfamiliar memories, and his personality may be affected to some degree, but Luke's soul should have a far greater effect on him than that. And if I tell Alda and his gods that I have used the Demon King's soul dust, they will be pointlessly wary of Edgar, which will hinder them in their task of defeating Vandalieu. Thus, my decision to hide it from Alda is correct, Rodcorte thought, justifying his actions to himself.
Next, he went to check on the reincarnated individuals in both worlds.
He had been receiving information every day on Lambda from records of its humans and updates from Alda and his gods. He was aware that Vandalieu was continuing to guide people as he pleased, thanks to the error alert sounds made by his circle of transmigration system.
Recently, Endou Kouya and Shimada Izumi had been dealing with these errors quickly, so the alert sounds had been stopping soon after they began.
"The soul Vandalieu destroyed this time was one of the remnants of the Demon King's army, I see. How troublesome," Rodcorte muttered to himself.
Monsters that served as the servants of evil gods were under the jurisdiction of the Demon King's circle of transmigration system, so no matter how many of their souls were broken, it meant nothing to Rodcorte. The same was true for the souls of the evil gods that commanded the monsters.
To begin with, even Rodcorte wasn't knowledgeable about where the souls of gods went. It was possible that there was a being on an even greater scale than gods like Rodcorte who managed the souls of gods, who was currently being troubled by Vandalieu's recent actions.
But even if that were the case, it had nothing to do with Rodcorte and his familiar spirits. Even after the destruction of the souls of gods that had served Guduranis and the souls of Lambda's gods, no such superior being had revealed itself.
Leaving such delusions aside, Rodcorte checked on recent news from Lambda and sighed as he learned of the current situation in the Alcrem Duchy.
"With this, not only does the strength of Vandalieu and Vida's forces increase, but the strength of Alda's forces will be reduced. To think that Vandalieu would be stealing not only believers, but gods as well. How lenient of Alda and his servants. The moment they knew Zerzoregin still existed, they should have attacked and destroyed him along with the city of Alcrem and Borgadon," he lamented.
If the gods of Alda's forces had done that, the gods of Vida's faction would not have gained new worshippers, and they would not have gained a bridge to human society that was even greater than the city of Morksi. A million lives would have been lost in the process, but all Rodcorte would have needed to do was recover their souls before they could be used by Vandalieu.
There was even a promising individual who had been appointed as the Pope of the Great Church in the Amid Empire, so they could have even had the Amid Empire invade Orbaume without any problems.
"No, Vandalieu and his allies would escape using teleportation. If he did that, then it would be a waste of strength to take direct action upon the world and destroy a large city. I suppose they did not want to be at a disadvantage in the battle that would follow. I see," Rodcorte muttered, coming to his own biased conclusions.
Next, he checked Asagi and his companions in the Birgitt Duchy, Mao and Gotouta who had left the Bahn Gaia continent, and finally, the 'Urðr' Kei Mackenzie.
"She should be five years old, soon. I had her reincarnate as a fetus that should have been a stillbirth, so she should have developed more than if I had reincarnated her as a newly-fertilized zygote. Still, it seems that her memories have not yet returned. I suppose I will keep an eye on her for another few months or perhaps half a year."
After that, he shifted his gaze towards the reincarnated individuals in Origin. He started with the 'Avalon' Rikudou Hijiri and his companions. Though it was extremely unlikely, it would be problematic if their research had succeeded in achieving immortality.
"For now, it doesn't seem that there are any signs of that. Then, Amemiya Hiroto and the others…"
Rodcorte was hoping that Amemiya Hiroto would defeat Rikudou and stop his research on the death attribute, but Rodcorte couldn't see any change to his situation.
As for the other reincarnated individuals –
"What is this?!" Rodcorte shouted suddenly upon seeing the memories of the 'Druid' Joseph.
In his memories, Rodcorte saw Banda.
"Impossible. This must be a piece of Vandalieu's soul, a split entity. Why is it in this world… How, and for what purpose?!"
Dumbfounded, Rodcorte hastily checked the memories of the other humans in his system, but they did not give him any answers to his questions.
He tried to search the records from Joseph, who had spoken to Banda directly, as well as Hiroshi and Mei, but the images and sounds of Joseph and Hiroshi's records were obscured by noise, and Rodcorte couldn't make out any fine details. As for Mei, he couldn't see any records from her whatsoever.
"They are being guided, in Origin? A world where no circle of transmigration system exists but mine, a world with no Statuses or Skills? Even if the God of Origin is working with Vandalieu, is such a thing even possible?"
Rodcorte was bewildered, as he had believed the Status System to be active only in Lambda, but he sensed the truth – Mei, Hiroshi, and Joseph had been partially guided.
No, as Rodcorte had just said to himself, his circle of transmigration system was the only one in Origin, so it was possible that they had simply become stuck in his system. If they were moved to the world of Lambda, it was likely that they would be incorporated into Vida's circle of transmigration system.
How in the world had such a situation occurred?
"Is it the guidance of Zuruwarn? And as for Vandalieu implanting a part of his own soul in Amemiya Hiroto's daughter… Is it to gather information on the reincarnated individuals while staying close to Amemiya Hiroto, slowly take over his daughter's body, and devour the souls of the reincarnated individuals before they are reincarnated? … No, perhaps he intends to invade Origin, for when Lambda is destroyed," Rodcorte murmured.
If Lambda were a country, then the battle between the gods of Alda's forces and the gods of Vida's faction, which was led by Vandalieu, would be a civil war. Both sides needed to win at all costs, but if they went too far, the world of Lambda would be destroyed.
Even if Vandalieu were to be victorious, if many of the gods of Alda's forces were destroyed, it would become impossible to maintain Lambda's existence, and it would be destroyed before long.
Was Vandalieu planning for this event by sending a split entity of himself to Origin as an insurance plan? In an emergency, would he open a Teleportation Gate between the two worlds and invade Origin, just as the Demon King Guduranis had invaded Lambda in the distant past?
No, there were very few monsters and Undead in Origin and no Status System; its military forces would be defeated by Vandalieu and his allies with ease. Perhaps he would invade Origin before the decisive battle against Alda and his forces.
They suspected that the majority of humanity in Origin were people that Vandalieu didn't care about.
"But he's not the kind of person who doesn't mind killing people just because he doesn't care about them," said Machida.
"Yeah. He doesn't consider nothing to be a negative," Kouya agreed.
Vandalieu wouldn't kill people without a good reason, even if he wasn't acquainted with them and had no connection to them at all. If he did have a good reason to kill someone, he would do it without hesitation, and that was something that set him apart from the average Japanese person from Earth, but at the very least, it was unlikely that he would do what Rodcorte was worried that he would do.
In fact, he was capable of doing what Rodcorte feared in Lambda rather than Origin. He could turn its inhabitants into Undead, charm them, and make them worship the gods of Vida's faction.
He hadn't done that, so it was unlikely that he would do it in Origin.
doesn't intend to begin a decisive battle against Alda anytime soon," said Kouya.
Aran nodded in agreement. "Probably not. Personally, I don't think Vandalieu will begin a decisive battle at all. He'll have people convert from worshipping the gods of Alda's forces to worshipping gods of Vida faction, like he did in the Alcrem Duchy, then invade the Amid Empire when the time is right. With that, he'll flip the power balance between Alda's forces and Vida's faction. I'm sure Alda's lot will make a move before then, but… setting things on the world's surface rather than invading their Divine Realms gives Vandalieu the advantage."
"… Then I suppose that means that we still have some time," said Izumi. "Aran, Kouya, have you gotten used to the operation and maintenance of the system?"
"If it's just making it work, yeah. I've started getting used to the errors, but… it's hard to apply the theory," said Aran.
"Same here," said Kouya. "To do things perfectly, I'll need another few years."
With that, the three familiar spirits nodded and agreed to carry on doing things as they had been, and returned to assisting the circle of transmigration system.