GalaxyTL
* * *
“……………………”
In an endlessly white space, a pale green, fluffy soft-looking sofa was placed. Seated on that sofa were the golden-haired beauty and the twisted horn-bearing handsome man – the Holy Goddess Laintorlie and the Evil God Baharia. They silently gazed at the thin panel before them.
On that panel was a video… a pre-recorded, unedited recording of the hero Torch Fenoben’s exploits being displayed.
“……………………”
While watching that video, the two gods remained utterly silent.
…It wasn’t always like this.
The two had finished their work early and gathered, originally intending to munch on the large batch of croquettes (or croquette-like things) Laintorlie had fried and flirtatiously enjoy the video together.
The currently airing 【Story of the Red-Haired Hero】 broadcast did have the “incident where the wise owl Forluowl, who was supposed to be part of the main cast in the early portions, somehow ended up dead without anyone noticing” hiccup. However, the story had been progressing stably recently with viewership numbers rising quite well.
Isekai broadcasts were something the two gods enjoyed doing in the first place, so they took no issue with minor editing work or video confirmations now that one of their works was gaining popularity.
This video confirmation should have been the same.
They had been cheerfully watching the video together, feeding each other the croquettes (or croquette-like things) amiably while discussing things like which scenes to cut for better story pacing.
And yet, here they were now – silent.
A heavy atmosphere flowed as the two wordlessly watched the video with blank expressions.
“……….”
Once the video progressed to a good stopping point, Laintorlie pressed the remote’s button to turn off the video panel’s power. She then covered her face with both hands, shoulders drooping as she muttered:
“……Why did it turn out like this…?”
Baharia gently stroked Laintorlie’s head to comfort her, but even his expression was tense.
* * *
So why were these two gods so dejected? It was because the content of the video they had just confirmed deviated completely from the scenario they had planned.
“……Let’s organize the information. Organize it.”
Baharia’s words marked the start of their review session.
“……So, according to the original scenario plan, this episode was supposed to have the hero coincidentally visit a town that gets attacked by the Demon Lord’s Army, causing great damage, right?”
“Yes, the ‘destiny confirmation’ beforehand had it turning out that way. With the Demon Lord’s main force being the same dark magic wolves that destroyed the hero’s village, the hero would have to face off against not just monsters, but the lingering wounds in his heart too… It was supposed to be a rather heavy scenario.”
“And with the villain role of… Deogandai, was it? His ploy was supposed to go perfectly, resulting in quite a few casualties, right?”
“That’s right. But……”
It did not turn out that way.
Deogandai’s setups of the parasitic mushrooms, mad tadpoles, and the eastern gate’s dark magic wolves and huge red boar all failed to trigger, allowing the hero’s party to prevail over Deogandai virtually unscathed.
“That final battle against Deogandai was… fairly entertaining in itself, I suppose.”
“When he got cornered, awakening after awakening… I almost wanted to interject ‘Hey, are you the main character here?!'”
“I never expected the Deogandai we thought was just a minor boss would transform all the way to a fifth form…”
“How are we supposed to handle the final boss battle… How many transformations are we going to give him…”
Deogandai did try his hardest.
He really gave it his absolute all.
But the lone battle against such overwhelming numbers was simply too difficult in the end for Deogandai, a mere middle-ranked commander.
The difference in forces was too starkly one-sided.
“Oh, and what about Deogandai being teleported away somewhere before the final blow?”
“Ah, that… Well, it seems his assistant subordinate Longinus did a good job. She must have been monitoring the situation and managed to teleport him away at the very last second before he could be killed.”
Baharia fiddled with a small handheld device he took from his pocket to confirm that.
“So he’s alive then… Why didn’t you save him sooner?”
“……Who knows. There may have been circumstances behind it that even I’m unaware of. Not that I care either way.”
Letting out a sigh, Baharia munched on the now cold croquettes (or croquette-like things).
They remained crispy even after cooling, with the sweet potato inside still sweet and the coarse breadcrumbs aromatic.
Delicious.
“But more importantly… What are we going to do about the Liheid Fortress City episode? Think we can edit it decently?”
Laintorlie draped herself over Baharia’s shoulder with slightly teary eyes as she asked.
Baharia gently embraced her shoulder.
“Some unnaturalness may remain no matter what, but we have no choice but to make it work somehow. There are no redos in life. Which is why reshootings are impossible for isekai broadcasts.”
Blunt yet undeniably gentle in tone, Baharia explained to Laintorlie:
“Don’t worry, leave it to me… I’m the Evil God. Fudging things, twisting them, deceiving – that’s more my specialty than yours, the Holy Goddess. Though I’ll still lose to the Fraud Deity! Fufufu, it seems the editing prowess I once boasted as the best in the heavenly realm is about to be put to the test!”
“Baharin…!”
Laintorlie was utterly smitten, tightly hugging Baharia as he mischievously laughed.
Feeling her warmth, Baharia tenderly stroked Laintorlie’s head.
Incidentally, their hands were quite greasy from the croquettes (or croquette-like things), but neither of them really minded.
Gods can be easygoing sometimes.
* * *
Some time later, Laintorlie and Baharia began discussing the future progression of 【The Story of the Red-Haired Hero】 while sipping tea.
Destiny is something that rarely changes drastically, but it can transform greatly from even the slightest triggers.
The issue in the Liheid Fortress City case was that while destiny had been rewritten significantly, derailing the original scenario, the two gods had failed to notice due to neglecting the confirmation process.
If they had noticed the change in destiny beforehand, they could have made adjustments behind the scenes like moving apostles or issuing divine oracles to Chiron, allowing them to continue the story through an alternate scenario.
This was a major issue they needed to reflect on.
Hence this re-evaluation session.
What path would the hero Torch Fenoben walk from now on?
The two gods performed a “destiny confirmation” once more.
……The result revealed a startling fact!
“Tezonkania no longer exists anywhere…!?”
Their voices overlapped in shock.
Displaying the “destiny confirmation” result on the video panel through special means revealed the future sight of Torch’s party wandering helplessly across a plain, unable to find their target Tezonkania.
“Wait, why? Why is Tezonkania gone!?”
Laintorlie clutched her head in confusion.
Tezonkania was the entity Torch’s party had been searching for – a special medicine needed to cure the silver dragon Herensia of her illness.
“……If it’s gone, it’s gone. Since the turtle creature itself has vanished, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Even the composed Baharia furrowed his brows as he bluntly stated that.
Tezonkania was a special ore generated on the bodies of a mutated variant of the Tezonka Turtle species living in the Enokorogu Great Prairie east of the demon realm Ranrananga Mountain Range.
The mutated Tezonka Turtles were confirmed to have only one such special individual remaining, meaning only that individual could produce Tezonkania.
Yet that individual had vanished at some point.
No, “vanished” wasn’t quite accurate – it was likely killed by something.
Baharia operated the video panel to display the current state of the world.
Checking the spring that used to be the mutated Tezonka Turtle’s territory revealed only the shattered remains of its shell left behind.
Proof that some entity had overcome the turtle’s formidable defenses to slay and hunt it.
“That turtle was supposed to be quite long-lived with a lot of power accumulated, right…?”
“Yes…”
“So something defeated that ferocious turtle before the hero could arrive…? But what…?”
“Who knows…”
The two gods tilted their heads simultaneously.
“……No use pondering what we can’t figure out. Let’s change our mindset, Lain. We don’t have time to waste on unanswerable questions. What is the hero’s party doing currently?”
“Umm… Oh, they’ve just departed from Liheid! All their acquaintances like the margrave, chief, and adventurers saw them off as they set out for the Enokorogu Great Prairie!”
“But the hero’s group has already obtained information that Tezonkania exists in the prairie, right?”
“Yeah. The legends about Tezonkania were passed down in a village near the prairie… There was a trio of bearded old adventurer men from that village who happened to be in Liheid, and it came up during their victory celebration, leading to this.”
“I see… Since the flow is already set for them heading to the prairie, forcibly issuing a divine oracle to change their course would seem unnatural at this point, wouldn’t it?”
“Hey Baharin… The ore still stuck to the remaining turtle shell, that’s not Tezonkania either? If they just harvest that, we could skip the turtle boss battle but…”
“No, that won’t work. Tezonkania gradually loses its power if not constantly bathed in that turtle’s magic aura. While soaking it in water after harvesting could prevent that for a time… it’s too late now. The ore left on that shell can no longer be called Tezonkania, nor will it have the power to save the silver dragon Herensia.”
“……………………”
A heavy silence followed.
With their intended Tezonkania gone, no matter how they struggled, the original scenario was a complete loss.
They had no choice but to prepare a new scenario.
“……Let’s have Chiron learn a 【Divine Covenant Magic】. A healing magic that borrows my… the Holy Goddess’s power.”
Laintorlie resolutely told Baharia that while raising her face to meet her beloved Evil God’s gaze directly.
【Divine Covenant Magic】 refers to a special magic that directly borrows a god’s power and can only be used by humans acknowledged by that god.
For example, the 【Thousand Breads】 previously used by the boy Prough is also defined as a 【Divine Covenant Magic】 borrowing the Harvest God’s power.
“……Are you sure about this? According to the plans, having Chiron learn 【Divine Covenant Magic】 was still quite far off. Won’t this disrupt the combat balance?”
“It’ll be fine. I’ll put limitations on it. Chiron can only use the 【Divine Covenant Magic】 once for now. If she wants to use it repeatedly, she’ll need much more training, that kind of thing!”
“Hmm… However, the hero’s party has already departed for the Enokorogu Great Prairie. It will seem unnatural if there’s no clear causal link between them heading there and Chiron’s acquisition of 【Divine Covenant Magic】.”
“……Let’s go with this scenario! ‘After their struggles, the hero’s party finally found the spring that was the mutated Tezonka Turtle’s territory! But it was already too late, the crucial turtle itself had died, leaving only its shell behind!'”
“Hmm.”
“‘Despairing, the hero’s party was enveloped in gloom! But then, a miracle occurred!'”
“Hmm.”
“‘A wondrous light enveloped Chiron, combining the heroes’ kind feelings for their draconic friend, the mystical natural power of the great prairie, and also… umm, perhaps the lingering resentment of the dead turtle or something like that!'”
“Is there really a need to mix in the turtle’s resentment there?”
“‘As a result, Chiron gained the 【Divine Covenant Magic】, albeit with limitations on its use! Alright, now they can save the silver dragon Herensia! Overjoyed, the hero’s party left the Enokorogu Great Prairie behind and set out for Sykanedone’s Tower! The end!'”
“Hmm……”
Stroking his chin in thought, Baharia considered Laintorlie’s proposal.
“Will it work out smoothly, I wonder…”
In response to Baharia’s musing, Laintorlie suddenly embraced him, stealing his lips with hers!
The surprised Evil God’s eyes flew open wide!
To him, the Holy Goddess declared:
“Make it work smoothly!!”
It was an unreasonable demand.
“……Understood. I’ll make it work smoothly!!”
However, Baharia could never refuse when his beloved Laintorlie requested anything of him so adorably!
He immediately agreed despite the impossible task!
The folly of one lovestruck!
Thus, the two gods’ discussions continued.
Various points were debated back and forth extensively.
And yet.
The Holy Goddess and Evil God were so preoccupied with making their new scenario’s details align properly that they overlooked the crucial issue.
What had slain the mutated Tezonka Turtle?
Why did Deogandai’s schemes fail to trigger?
Speaking of which, just what was that mysterious girl chasing the dark magic wolves…?
If they had properly addressed these interlinked underlying questions at this time, the two gods would have avoided immense future regret.
—
Author’s note: This marks the end of Arc 9.
It was an arc focused on the impromptu minor boss Deogandai, but I hope you enjoyed it.
Since the previous arc had a rather surreal progression, I tried to make this one more straightforward and easy to follow in its flow.
It was also somewhat of a comedy or gag arc.
I hope I could make you laugh at least a little.
After being quite silly this arc, I’m considering a story with a different tone for the next one.
I wonder if I can pull it off properly.
To all readers, thank you so much for the bookmarks, star ratings, and impressions!
I’m always truly delighted to receive them!
I’m such a fortunate person (tears of joy).
While this probably isn’t a very prominent work, I do intend to keep updating at my own pace going forward, so I appreciate you staying along for the journey.
I humbly ask for your continued support.
Arc 10 is currently in preparation.
I’ll upload it once ready, so please wait a little while longer.