But then again — setting aside the fact that the True Creator couldn't even leave the Forsaken Land of the Gods, if he somehow found a way to extract Him, the Seven Gods would descend in force and obliterate Him within moments.
What if the True Creator was left out of the equation entirely?
The Aurora Order also had at their disposal a Sequence 1 Great Serpent, a Sequence 2 Elder of Profanity, and a handful of Sequence 3 and 4 demigods. The question was — if this mob of assorted monstrosities all converged on Backlund to challenge the Loen king, what would the Evernight Goddess make of it?
Oh — and he'd almost forgotten. There was also the Feysac Patriarch to consider.
At this stage in the story, the Feysac Patriarch and the True Creator were still archenemies. If the Feysac Patriarch saw the Aurora Order massing to oppose the Loen king and decided to make the opposite call from the original story — that would be a catastrophe of a different kind entirely.
"Stop thinking so far ahead," Bernadette interrupted his thoughts. "Right now there are two priorities: first, confirm whether any of this is actually true; second, determine how far along the process has gotten."
"As for the rest — we'll find solutions as they come."
There will be solutions.
The following afternoon, a handsome visitor arrived in Tingen.
He stepped off the train and made his way to a charming villa with a garden. From a distance, he could already see a young woman seated on a garden bench. She wore a wide-brimmed hat, had a clear, smooth forehead, and golden hair that fell softly around her. She was still and lovely.
She sat quietly with her fingers resting gently on her slightly rounded belly, her expression shifting — a small smile one moment, a shadow of melancholy the next, then a glow of something tender and maternal.
Mr. Z identified her immediately. Even at a distance, before he'd drawn close, he could already sense the presence emanating from the child within her.
"Would you like to find the father of your child?"
Megose's reverie was broken by a gentle voice. She looked up, confused, to find that a very beautiful man had appeared before her seemingly from nowhere. His expression was kind, but his eyes burned with a feverish intensity.
She asked, puzzled, "I'm sorry — what did you say?"
"Would you like to find the father of your child?"
Mr. Z repeated the words, and added, "I can help you."
Megose's face flooded at once with desperate hope. She rose to her feet quickly. "Truly, sir?"
"Of course."
He bowed slightly and extended his hand. "Please come with me."
In the countryside outside Tingen, in a house with a dark red chimney, a diary lay spread open on a writing desk. The Quill of Alzuhod was happily scratching away.
"...What had been developing according to Ince Zangwill's expectations has once again shifted in an unknown direction. Mr. Z of the Aurora Order, who should have been orchestrating the descent event from outside Tingen, has abruptly appeared in the city itself.
He has gone directly and purposefully to Megose, who carries the god-child, with the intention of moving her out of Tingen — a divine revelation from the deity the Aurora Order worships. Both Megose's own wishes and the instinct of the child within her incline toward leaving with Mr. Z.
But Megose is the most critical component of all of Ince Zangwill's plans. If she leaves Tingen, it can be considered that his plan has..."
Before the quill could finish the last word, a pale hand closed around it, and the entire passage was firmly crossed out.
Ince Zangwill considered for a moment, then continued writing below: "...The deceived Megose, halfway through her journey, suddenly realises that the man before her is not being sincere. He has no intention of taking her to find the child's father — his aim is to harm her child!
And so she chooses to flee.
Of course, a mere ordinary woman like Megose could never escape from a Secrets Suppliant under normal circumstances. But she happens to run into... thin air?
Yes. This is truly beyond comprehension. Megose has fled to a patch of thin air and is calling out to it for help, and, implausibly, that patch of thin air has actually managed to frighten Mr. Z away.
It must be said that Ince Zangwill's luck is truly quite good. Although he has no idea what just happened, at least Megose has not left Tingen — which means his plan has not yet failed.
The only unknown is what that thin air is, and what effect it will have on his plans going forward."
The hand holding the quill tightened and tightened. Ince Zangwill's expression grew heavier and heavier, and in the depth of his one eye, his pupil swam with furious, bewildered dread.
"Why — why does everyone come to oppose me? I only want to advance to demigod. I only want to prove myself. Why does everyone have to get in my way?!"
He swept everything off the writing desk with one violent motion. Everything crashed to the floor — everything except the quill, which remained standing perfectly straight.
After a long moment, Ince Zangwill crouched down and quietly picked the quill back up.
At that same moment, on a street in Tingen.
Megose sat on the ground, white-faced and breathless, looking repeatedly back over her shoulder in the direction Mr. Z had fled. Melissa crouched beside her, asking carefully, "Are you... are you all right?"
She'd had quite a fright herself, honestly. She'd been walking along perfectly normally when this young woman had come sprinting out of nowhere and all but hurled herself down in front of Melissa, sitting on the pavement as if daring someone to accuse her of staging a fall. Melissa had immediately thrown up both hands and backed away, gesturing at the surrounding bystanders — I didn't touch her, I swear.
Megose still hadn't said a word. Melissa glanced sideways at the tall figure beside her and asked, "Teacher — what happened here?"
The woman in the black dress, with something like starlight woven into the fabric, said quietly, "Nothing more than another mother and child abandoned by an irresponsible man."
"Oh."
Melissa felt a wave of sympathy — what a shame, she thought. Such a pretty girl. She'd been thinking it might be nice to introduce her to Klein, but then — she already had a child. Klein would probably mind, wouldn't he?
"Come along."
The woman Melissa called "Teacher" stepped forward at an unhurried pace.
"Yes~"
Melissa hesitated, but her natural kindness won out. She reached down and helped Megose to her feet. "Take care of yourself."
Then she hurried after her teacher.
After standing there for a moment in a daze, Megose felt some instinct from the child within stir and call toward something ahead. She struggled upright, and after a brief, wrestling pause — began limping along behind Melissa's retreating figure.
Melissa looked back. "Teacher, she's following us."
"Don't worry about it."
The woman in the black dress said it calmly, and reached into her pocket, drawing out a small pendant — crystal-clear and luminous. "Oh — I just remembered, I've never given you a gift. Here, this trinket is yours."
"This is..."
Melissa looked surprised. "A mystical item? This is far too precious—!"
"If you don't want it, give it back."
Faced with her teacher's extended palm, Melissa clutched the pendant to her chest without a second's hesitation, then looked up with a bright smile. "Thank you, Teacher!"
To be continued…
Guys do support me on Patreon!
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus