"I have a favor to ask of you."

The goddess, who took the form of a woman, spoke with a voice that was reverent enough to make everyone bow their heads. After all, who would dare raise their gaze while the Creator, the Mother of All, was speaking?

Listening to this, I turned to Edel.

"…Isn't that a bit too glorified?"

"No way! All the kids who meet my true form react like that!"

"Hmm…."

…Why did I feel skeptical?

No matter how I looked at her, this goddess seemed to be missing a screw or two.

"You're the weird one!"

…Anyway, the goddess, standing before her creations, bestowed upon them her divine power—the power to purify, returning anything corrupted back to its original form.

"If you had such a power, couldn’t you just do it yourself?"

"Being a god means there’s no end to the work, you know. I'm constantly busy just monitoring the system to make sure everything's running smoothly and warding off any invaders."

"But you failed to stop them, didn't you?"

"…Are you going to keep that up?"

"Sorry. Go on."

The goddess bestowed her power upon them, along with a sacred mission. This mission was to purify the corrupted mana and return it to the world—a noble task.

To be granted divine power, to be tasked with sustaining the world itself… The creations shed tears of gratitude, vowing to fulfill their mission. For tens, hundreds… perhaps even over a thousand years, they remained in place, faithfully carrying out their duty.

Then one day, they noticed something troubling: the power granted to them by the goddess was weakening. What was once potent enough to purify any corruption gradually dwindled until they couldn’t even purify a speck of dust. Eventually, it vanished from within them altogether.

They were bewildered. But above all, they were filled with despair.

"They think they lost their power because of their own failures."

They believed the goddess withdrew her power because they had neglected their duty.

But in truth, it was different.

As Edel fought against the dimensional beasts, she became overwhelmed, her power waning more and more. The power of purification was originally Edel’s. The strength of the Clan of Purifiers was directly connected to Edel; as her power weakened, so did the power she bestowed upon them, until it vanished entirely.

Busy fending off relentless attacks, Edel only realized this fact later.

"I feel sorry for them. Because of my inadequacy, they had to suffer…."

Raxia, the place where corrupted mana accumulated, began to be overtaken by miasma after the purification power disappeared. Ordinary beings would not have survived. But the Clan of Purifiers was different.

Created to purify corrupted mana and having wielded the power of purification for so long, their bodies slowly adapted to resist the miasma. Their hair and eyes turned black as the miasma seeped in, while their skin paled, and pitch-black horns grew from their heads. These black horns allowed them to better control the miasma, enabling them to survive in Raxia despite its heavy contamination.

But as time passed, the miasma thickened, and more members of the clan struggled to endure it. Even within the Clan of Purifiers, there were differences in strength, and those born after the loss of purification power were more vulnerable than the previous generations.

The combination of weakened bodies and intensifying miasma meant that, if things continued, the clan would be wiped out. Thus, the Clan of Purifiers made a decision.

"Edel, please forgive us for abandoning our mission."

Leaving behind those who could still endure and those who would rather die than forsake their duty, they boarded ships. They set out across the sea, toward a land where they could live.

And that led to—

"A war broke out, didn’t it?"

That was the cause of the First Race War and the subsequent Second Race War.

Hearing the full story from Edel, I still found it hard to understand.

Was a mission really more important than one’s life?

"I told you, you're the odd one. These beings were created by my hands, so they instinctively feel reverence toward me."

"…I don’t get it."

Maybe it was like the feeling of a parent. Thinking of Garid, I cringed as the image of my biological parents followed.

Understanding my reaction, Edel nodded with a knowing smile.

"It's natural that you don’t understand—it’s an instinct of the soul. Anyway, I think I’ve explained enough for you to understand the situation, right?"

"For now. So, what exactly do you want from me?"

"It's simple."

She unclasped her hands, releasing a fluttering divine energy that flowed from her fingertips.

"Free them."

Free them from the heavy shackles of their mission.

"Couldn’t you just do it yourself?"

"If I could, I would have done it already. Unfortunately, my strength has weakened too much to influence Raxia. Besides, if I intervened directly, it could worsen things or alert certain enemies."

"…How useless."

"Yes, yes, I apologize for being a useless goddess~ So I hope the capable Kana-chan would help out this poor, useless me~?"

"…Kana-chan? What’s with that?"

"It’s popular on Earth lately. Isn’t it cute?"

"Ew."

"…."

Edel’s face fell instantly.

 

"Kana?"

"Oh, yeah."

Thinking about the conversation with Edel, I was jolted back to reality by Daeun’s voice calling my name.

Edel calling me "Kana-chan"… The memory was disturbing, even now.

"So, should we call them demons, or… the Clan of Purifiers?"

"Call them whatever’s easier…."

"Ah, okay. Then, is their wish to return to Raxia and fulfill their original mission?"

"Well… For me, yes…."

"For you?" Daeun and I both looked at Artisha with questions.

"Nowadays, the younger generation doesn’t care much about duty… Some even resent Edel-sama… Who knows where things are headed…."

Tsk.

Artisha clicked her tongue. Starting with "kids these days," she smoothly transitioned to lamenting the state of the world.

"Getting a strangely familiar vibe from her…."

"…What? Why?"

"Oh, nothing! I definitely didn’t think she was like Kana!"

Daeun, who had been glancing at me nervously, jumped at my words. Right. As if she hadn’t thought that. She deserved a penalty for that baseless accusation and added insincerity.

"Ugh!"

Daeun let out a weird shriek and "died" dramatically. Artisha glanced at her fallen form without much interest.

"If not for this broken horn, I’d have stayed in Raxia myself…."

Her horns were the organs that allowed demons to withstand miasma. While one side remained intact, it also meant she couldn’t withstand Raxia's dense miasma.

"But… A human helping fulfill our wish… How peculiar."

Artisha said as she sipped her tea.

"Kana-sama isn’t just any human."

"Humans are humans. How could she be different…."

"She met Edel-sama directly and received her request."

"Edel-sama? She asked this little one for help?"

"Yes, it’s true."

"…."

…Little one.

Well, I could understand that reaction. My appearance did make me look younger than my age, so I forgave her for the "little one" comment. What I was about to say was definitely not because I took offense at being called that.

"What, don’t believe me, old hag?"

"…Old hag?"

"Oh, sorry. It slipped out."

"…Impolite little one…."

"I didn’t get much in the way of family manners growing up."

"Gah! She used her finishing move!"

Daeun, who had somehow revived, clapped her hands over her mouth.

"…."

Artisha seemed momentarily speechless at my half-joking, half-serious response.

It wasn’t something that embarrassed me, so I wasn’t bothered. Why would I feel ashamed?

"It’s normal for someone young, I suppose…."

Artisha backed down, a bead of sweat trickling down her pale forehead.

"Th-that aside, Kana! Calling someone as young as her an old hag! You didn’t actually see her that way, right? Huh, could it be the reason you never called her ‘sister’…!"

"Absolutely not."

I yanked Daeun back from her flights of fancy.

"Demons have much longer lifespans than humans. They age very slowly."

So even if they looked young, they weren’t necessarily so. Although it wouldn’t hurt to check.

"Like Kana?"

"Mm?"

"Kana, you look younger than your actual age too."

"…Yeah. Like me."

Even with one horn broken, her aura was impressive. I could guess that in her prime, she was among the strongest of the demons. According to Edel, there was a limit to how strong Celia’s beings could become, demons included. So Artisha must have invested a great deal of time reaching her level.

My guess seemed spot-on, as Artisha looked indignant.

With Artisha backing down, the tension dissipated.

"…Shall we make peace?"

"Sure…."

Artisha and I exchanged looks and nodded at the same time.

"It’s hard to believe, but I’ll trust you…."

"You’ll help us?"

"I’ll hear you out first…."

We hadn’t specified what help we needed, so accepting right away would’ve been rash.

With Artisha’s response, Daeun, who had half-risen, sat back down, scratching her head.

"Our needs are twofold."

"Twofold…?"

"A ship to reach Raxia. And a captain who knows the route and can navigate."

We could find our way within Raxia somehow. Asking someone who fled because they couldn’t bear the miasma would be unreasonable.

"I can arrange that… There are plenty of ships, and I can steer the ship myself…."

"Artisha, personally?"

"You don’t want me to?"

"No, not at all… It’s just… As a lord, it’s surprising you know how to steer a ship."

"I’m not the kind of lord you’re imagining. They just call me that for lack of a better title…."

"I see…. But are you sure you can leave?"

"Finding someone capable of withstanding the miasma near Raxia would be hard enough…."

Finding someone who could navigate as well would be even harder.

Artisha stretched and yawned widely.

"Then, can we count on you—"

"Ah, but not right now…."

"…Huh?"

Her words brought our smooth conversation to a halt. Tilting my head, I waited for Artisha to explain as she slowly began to speak.