The Sin of Sloth.
One of the five Sins, and if you didn’t want to make it your enemy, it was also one of the few characters you didn’t have to antagonize.
Born lazy by nature.
It wouldn’t move without someone’s command.
Even at the moment of death, its only final words were “annoying……”
Such a Sin of Sloth was sprawled out down below.
It seemed like it didn’t want to die, as it chewed on something like a cactus while staring up at the sky.
But as soon as it saw Evan, it muttered, “God?”
Was it seriously injured somewhere?
It looked too intact for that.
No sign of blood either.
Just in case, Evan slightly activated his analysis eye, but aside from sand and miscellaneous mineral substances, nothing else showed up.
If there was blood, there should be at least some trace of liquid.
“…Lapis. Do you know that person?”
“Huh?”
Come to think of it, did Lapis know she was a Sin? Yeah, she did. If she didn’t know at all, she’d be an idiot.
But for Lapis, who usually paid no attention to complete strangers, to show such a reaction?
Could the Sins recognize each other?
The way they fought to the death when they met in the future—was it not just because they crossed paths, but because they recognized each other as fellow Sins?
Could the Sins recognize one another?
Somehow, Lapis and Frey had seemed somewhat close.
“Ah…… Um……”
As Evan’s gaze narrowed gradually, Lapis subtly averted her eyes.
“Th-that…… It’s just that you saving someone who was about to die buried in the sand is so cool! Yeah! That’s all it is!”
“You usually have no interest in others, do you?”
“……It’s your imagination! I have so much interest in others!”
Lapis waved her arms wildly, trying to dispel the misunderstanding.
“E-Evan. How about we save the person first? Yeah?”
As if aware her words lacked conviction, Lapis hugged one of his arms tightly and sent him a sparkling gaze.
Evan looked down at her for a moment, then turned his head.
He almost laughed.
If he laughed suddenly, who knew what misunderstanding he’d invite.
Her reaction is cuter than I thought.
It was kind of like…
The feeling of watching a rabbit?
Even her attitude, like a little sister begging him not to say anything, made it impossible not to find her cute.
A killer rabbit was still a rabbit, after all.
Though if it went down the wrong path, it would just tear into human flesh without hesitation.
If she recognized it as a Sin, well……
It might not be so bad?
Lapis is reformed enough as it is.
Better than back when she dismembered and killed humans.
He could at least offer some help to encourage her to live kindly, right?
“…No. 5. Bring that one over.”
No. 5 nodded.
Thud!
Without particularly checking the drop, it jumped straight down to the underground.
No. 5 hoisted the Sloth’s body like luggage. The Sloth, as if even resisting was too much hassle, hung limply over No. 5’s right shoulder.
No. 5 leaped back up in one big bound.
Evan first checked the Sloth’s condition.
No immediate visible issues.
At most, a nutrient deficiency?
If seen in the outside world, people might cry child abuse or something, but that was by modern standards.
This one was a Sin, after all.
Basically not human.
Excluding that unique chimera case, anyway.
This wasn’t a problem.
It wouldn’t die from a little nutrient shortage.
Its body was just small.
Even in the future, its size had been notably diminutive.
Its method of killing enemies wasn’t direct tearing because that was annoying.
It spread its desire outward instead.
Those influenced by the Sloth’s power found everything annoying.
Not just eating or bodily functions—of course, over time, even breathing became annoying, and they’d stop it themselves.
Really glad I didn’t encounter it in the future……
The oddity was that in its youth, it didn’t use its power at all.
Probably because using power was annoying?
Later, the power grew too immense, spreading uncontrollably unless restrained.
And restraining it was annoying, so it just stayed put.
Still, it had been one of the easier opponents to avoid.
It didn’t move, so you just had to steer clear of the area.
Except now, that wasn’t an option!
“Hungry.”
“Are you hungry?”
Evan first stuck some available jerky into its mouth.
The Sloth made an annoyed face but chewed diligently anyway.
Then, as if it liked it, its eyes widened like “hm?”
The chewing speed subtly quickened.
Was this really the Sloth?
The one who wouldn’t even bother because it was annoying.
Even while lying down, it skillfully chewed through all the jerky without choking, then looked at Evan and asked in a puzzled voice.
“God?”
“No.”
Evan replied sternly.
Who was he turning into a god?
No need to get branded a heretic and die.
“Then?”
“I am Evan Alkart.”
“Evan…… Alkart.”
Oh.
This was the first time he’d seen it say more than five syllables.
Usually just “hungry,” “annoying,” that sort of thing.
“Hup!”
Lapis stepped forward from behind. With a strangely triumphant expression, she said, “This is Evan! I’m Lapis!”
“Evan? Lapis?”
“Yeah! Let’s get along from now on! I’ll give you some of my vegetables!”
Lapis giving away vegetables?
Had she fallen in love or something?
“Hm…… Hmm…… This is too big…… Eat this!”
“Stick this on whose nose?”
Maybe not.
After pondering, she tore off a tiny piece of vegetable.
He’d thought she was looking out for a fellow Sin, but that looked closer to torture.
“Ptoo.”
“You—you! How could you do that to a vegetable! Evan! That guy threw away my vegetable! Let’s just leave him?!”
“Calm down.”
What if her eyes flipped and she killed him?
Evan barely soothed Lapis.
She hid behind his body, poking only her head out to glare intently at the Sloth.
It was the kind of intensity that suggested she’d fire lasers from her eyes if she could.
“Annoying. No, not annoying? Weird……”
The Sloth was still sprawled out, muttering incomprehensible words.
No helping it.
For now, Evan tossed a few more food items to the Sloth.
The curious part was that as soon as he stepped back briefly to grab things, it stopped eating.
But the moment the distance closed again, it resumed.
Does the laziness only vanish near me?
Did that even make sense?
“Th-that one. Doesn’t know its place, just eating…… Auu…… Evan. Buy me more vegetables……”
“…I’ll buy you more. So calm down.”
Please.
If your eyes flip, we’ll all die here.
Evan somehow managed to calm her.
He focused solely on feeding it for a while.
It ate better than expected.
Food costs were going to be a fortune later, weren’t they?
“What’s your name?”
“Pig…… ritia?”
Pig?
PIG?
Pig?
…Given how much it ate, it kind of fit.
It was baffling how much fit into that skinny body.
“Cough.”
In the midst of eating heartily, Pigritia pounded its chest as if frustrated.
The slight frown suggested it felt stuffed.
Aegis, who had woken up at some point, gave it a dumbfounded look.
“You—did you really make this hole with a single transmutation?”
“Yes? Yes.”
“You really want to come with me to claim the elder position?”
“I’m fine. It doesn’t seem that impressive.”
“Who else is going to do it if not you?”
Aegis was way too much of a fan.
Muttering that she really wasn’t, Aegis approached Pigritia and patted its back.
“Ugh, ugh……!”
“This kid seems choked?”
“Eat slowly.”
“Hungry.”
“Eat slowly! You think Evan’s words are a joke?!”
“Annoying…… Don’t stop……”
Kyaaaa!
Lapis, furious over the discarded vegetable, turned vicious!
Evan waited for it to digest. Pigritia’s eating had slowed, perhaps because its belly was filling up.
“Pigritia. Why were you underground?”
“Hmm……”
Pigritia spoke in a sluggish tone.
“Below…… Hidden people blew up this whole village……”
“Blew up?”
“Corpses…… Killed and buried randomly…… Sucked out vitality to make mummies……”
Killed and buried?
Sucked vitality to make mummies?
Hey.
No way.
Not the ones I know, right?
“Lots of corpses…… And kids not dead yet…… Still there…… Underground paths…… More below……”
“Uh……”
“……You know a lot, huh? So why didn’t you stop them?”
“Annoying……”
Evan ignored the “annoying.”
It was common for the Sloth to overlook such things because they were annoying.
The issue was…
This sounds like black mages.
Was it really okay to go down there?
Since they’d saved the kid, maybe just leave?
Evan pondered seriously.
But the pondering had to stop.
“There…… Lots of shiny herbs……”
“Herbs?”
“Yeah… Glowing letters too……”
“Rune stones?”
Aegis muttered in surprise.
“Stones imbued with mana? Those are hard to come by.”
“Aegis. Are those… used for engraving magic?”
“Huh? Yeah. More efficient than parchment.”
Damn.
Rune stones down there?
Those seem perfect for making magic golems.
He couldn’t back out now, could he?
Really.
He wanted to turn back so badly.
Intensely wanted to go home.
But he hated himself for being unable to step away in the face of a reward……
After agonizing, Evan finally decided.
“Let’s go down.”
This was an unavoidable choice.
“We’ll head below and grab some rune stones.”
“As expected of Evan.”
Aegis patted his shoulder.
“You’re going to save the people, right? I knew it.”
…?
No.
He’d said he was going for the rune stones?
Underground beneath the underground.
The black mages had hidden themselves thoroughly.
They were called cowards.
Unlike those who boasted they wouldn’t catch the eye of purity, they hid while cautiously monitoring and watching it.
Even so, they couldn’t conceal their evil nature, and they’d evaporated an entire village.
That was for a single purpose.
Unlike the evil god worshippers, what they sought was endless knowledge.
Obtaining wicked knowledge beyond human reach was their goal and destiny.
Thus, what they aimed to summon was demons.
Hell.
The underworld of this realm.
A place with nine heavens where all demons lurked.
It was said that a certain black mage had gathered all sinners and the departed to create it, and after completing the ascension ritual to become a god, the black mage left hell behind and vanished entirely.
Afterward, hell became the domain where the sinful dead and demons prowled.
It served as a residence for demons, but more fundamentally, it was a prison confining them.
Teeming with demons eager to crawl up at any moment.
Summoning such beings to acquire forbidden knowledge was the black mages’ objective.
To that end, they’d sacrificed countless lives.
Now, all that remained was the success of the summoning ritual.
“I’ll take the lead.”
A black mage who had reached the 7th hierarchy stepped forward.
It was the moment he clasped his hands and began the incantation.
Tap, patter.
Sand began falling from the ceiling above.
They looked up.
Gazing at the ceiling.
A subtle emotion began to frost their faces.
It was unmistakably fear.
“…Huh?”
It had clearly been a ceiling.
But now?
Sunlight was streaming down.
At some point, the ceiling had vanished, and the sky was opening.
They saw the figure looking down with hands clasped.
Black hair, golden eyes gleaming beneath.
They recalled the fear etched deep into their bones.
Cabaro Alkart.
Master of the black market.
The monster with black hair and golden eyes who, upon confirming the black mages had crossed the line, had beheaded their leader and driven them out.
No way, he came in person……?
Despair clouded the black mage’s face.
Should they flee now?
But it was already too late.
They’d offered all manner of sacrifices.
Not just corpses, but thriftily gathered vitality as well.
If they retreated, there’d be no next time.
So, they had to succeed now!
“Come forth! O Demon of Victory!”
Clap!
The moment he slammed his hands together forcefully, negative mana erupted like a shockwave.
“Oooooh!”
On the altar, the demon rose to its feet.
The Demon of Victory.
Another name by which it was known: Undefeated.
It permitted not a single defeat and boasted infamous renown even in hell.
It wasn’t the knowledgeable type, but at least sufficient to escape the current crisis!
The Demon of Victory scanned the surroundings, then moved its feet.
Toward Cabaro—no, the man who resembled him exactly.
Was it attacking directly?
In the moment of anticipation.
Swish.
The Undefeated Demon beckoned with its finger.
As if to say, come at me.
……While standing behind Evan’s back.
Facing the black mages.
Evan turned around with an incredulous expression.
You, what are you doing?
I just realized, the reason that Evan’s sense of his own level is lower than reality is because he learned alchemy from an old book, back when there were many more alchemists than in the current period.