Volume 3 Chapter 29 Horace's Principles of Action
Robert disappeared, and for a moment, calm returned.
That's how it should be.
But... there's a hint of tension on Horace's face.
"Master, something feels off..."
"...you feel it?"
"It's like he's on edge, or maybe even drunk!"
The setting is the lobby of the Hero's mansion.
Gathered there are Horace and his 6 disciples.
Ulrika pointed it out, and Cindy added to it; it was just their 'sense'.
Yet, it seems their intuition wasn't far off.
"Do you all understand my principle of action?"
"Your principle of action, Master... you're basically loyal to your plan, right?"
"There's a reckless part to it~. So, wanting to do something, or disliking something, those are the premises~."
"Well, that impression is mostly on point."
Horace pondered for a moment at Rangella and Ulrika's words... as if choosing his words carefully...
"I know one truth."
"Truth?"
"Yeah. In this world, when something kills something else, the 'immaterial force' that the killed thing had doesn't return to this world."
"What exactly is this 'immaterial force'?"
"A representative example would be the 'core of magic' within our bodies."
"Indeed, that's certainly 'power'."
"That unreturned force goes somewhere. And it's... absorbed as divine power by the system created by the Five Divine Gods."
"...the Five Divine Gods are involved here."
Information about the Five Divine Gods mostly comes from 'myths' that happened 2000 years ago, preserved in literature and the like; there isn't much accurate information.
Of course, to the Theocracy Nation, they're a lifeline of authority, and challenging this often leads to trouble.
"The one I particularly dislike among the Five Divine Gods is the God of Provision, Alzent. The god who controls 'provision', the very person who drove a wedge into the world 2000 years ago."
"Food for the god Alzent..."
"Killing something and taking its life. Turning it into food──what does that even mean? What happens to the ones we take? That's what this god controls."
"Hard to picture it, honestly, Master."
"He's the one who drove the first stake 2 thousand years ago. To put it simple: monsters dropping coins after dying──back then, stuff like that just didn't happen."
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. Back then, it wasn't coins... it was these 'mana stones', I guess. Shiny crystals packed with power. And if a monster was born up here, you'd just be left with its corpse when it died."
"But after the meaning of 'food' got rewritten, monsters started leaving coins behind, then just crumbling away."
"Yeah. But... if you really think about why the stake was planted, it feels like the gods are saying: 'Every living thing is just their livestock.' That idea──can't say I like it."
Horace took a heavy breath, slow and tired.
"Felt like that wasn't the only thing bothering you~."
"Of course, that's not all, Ulrika. I'm always looked up to the adventurers from a hundred years ago──the Eudynes."
"I'd heard the stories somewhere. Supposedly, they were first to really make sense of the whole 'Golem Master' thing..."
"Yeah, Rangella. Wrote their own biography, even. I've got a copy stashed away."
"But in the end, I heard they became Court Adventurers, and the country fell apart just a few years later..."
"That's true. Wouldn't want to follow their example there. Still, my admiration for Eudynes──it's real."
He respects them, but he's not obsessed.
That's why he keeps them as a cautionary tale.
Horace balances things out his own way.
"Eudynes even invented a technique──turning humans into monsters using special gems."
"...Wait, that sounds like──"
"Yeah. Just like how the pastor became Zeth Halcon. Or how Silvio's own daughter ended up as a demon lord."
"Why create something like that in the first place...?"
"I didn't know all the details. But it's true Eudynes used that technique for whatever they wanted. The biography says everything──their reasons, their feelings. Seeing that legacy twisted now... it just pissed him off."
That's what it comes down to.
"It had been 15 years since the Demon Lord appeared. The world was ruined, and the fight still wasn't over. That was the simple truth."
"The fact was undeniable. I had created the Deus Ex Machina ── a tool built to defeat that so-called god. It was always going to be a long battle. Yet, lately, that far-off day seemed to crawl closer. If anyone called me drunk, well, they were probably right."
Horace turned his back on the 6 others.
For now, at least, he clearly had no intention of saying any more.
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