Chapter 155: Propaganda

I noticed that Seiya was writing something on a straw paper in the distance. He always did things normally no matter what happened. I was sure that he was planning the next strategy.

I was crying while making Rosalie’s grave with Celseus. It was a rather simple way to build a grave, but Celseus pierced a large sword into the ground after we buried Rosalie’s corpse with the fresh soil. The sword gave a rather dignified look on Rosalie’s grave.

「How about we make a grave for Chaos Makina right next to her…*sobs*?」

「You’re right. That would make Rosalie happy.」

Surprisingly, Celseus did not complain and kept helping me. This time Celseus was kinder and more likable than Seiya.

My tears finally subsided after crying so much. Did I cry this hard before? I was devastated when Kiri died…No, actually, I cried a lot before that when Seiya shattered, as a price for using the Celestial-Prison Gate…Now that I thought about it, I cried all the time, didn’t I? That’s right. I was such a crybaby even when I was little.

While we prepared the soil with our hands, I thought about the time when I was born in the Gods’ realm. As a child, I was much weaker than I was now, and the gods who were born around at the same time bullied me.

—

「Uahhhhhhhhhhh!! 」

I returned to the temple in a hurry, and Aria followed me immediately.

「What’s wrong, Lista!?」

「Ugh! Everyone says that my healing ability is useless! *sobs* I can’t even cure a tiny scratch! Nothing works for me, and now, I even have a runny nose! Uahhhhhhh!」

「First…First, let’s do something about the runny nose…」

Aria gently wiped my face with a handkerchief.

「It’s all right. Your healing power will increase as you grow up. Besides, if you ask Lady Isister to invoke Order, I’m sure your power will rise even more…」

「But, but! Everyone is saying that I am not a goddess!」

Aria wiped my tears away, but I cried again. After crying for a while, I rubbed my eyes and raised my face. I saw that Aria was smiling.

「Listen, Lista. Do you know what the most important thing is for a goddess?」

「A strong divine power that is second to none…Am I right?」

Then, Aria shook her head slowly.

「No. That’s wrong. The most important thing for a goddess is…」

—

「Hey, Lista. It’s been five minutes.」

Seiya’s voice brought my consciousness back to reality.

「Wait…Wait a little longer!」

「It’s going to be a problem if the enemy attacks. Hurry up.」

「Mash can’t come here because of Egzation’s side effect, right? So, we’re okay for now.」

「Even if Mash can’t come right now doesn’t mean that he won’t send his subordinates. We don’t know what could happen if we stay here. Hurry up.」

Celseus and I worked hard and managed to bury them quickly. When I was out of breath, Seiya murmured with a seemingly boring face.

「You know what, we could’ve bring Rosalie’s body with us and let the people of Igle town bury her.」

「No way! I’m sure that Rosalie wanted to be by her side!」

Seiya took a deep breath. After that, I remained silent. Then, I changed topics afterwards.

「Okay, I’m going to summon the portal to Igle now! By the way, are you sure that you don’t want to go to the Underworld first?」

「I have no need to practice in the Underworld right now. I’ve found a safe and reliable way to defeat the Dragon King.」

It was rare for Seiya to go to the next battle without training. It seemed that he was confident about defeating Mash…Either way, I still had a very bad feeling about Rosalie’s death.

—

After leaving the town square, Seiya stared at me with a serious look on his face.

「Lista. I understand that you and I have different views towards the twisted worlds. But, there are boundaries to what each one of us can do. Therefore, don’t complain about what I do. I must find the quickest and best way to save this twisted world.」

Seiya spoke to me one more time about the importance of the saving quests of the twisted worlds, however, in a gentler tone than usual.

「…I…I understand. 」

When I nodded, Seiya directed Celseus to gather the people of this town at the town square. Some of them were relevant officials of the demon-human alliance.

「What is wrong? 」

「The hero has an announcement to make. 」

「Hmm? Lady Rosalie isn’t with them. 」

Hundreds of townspeople, including women and children, gathered at the town square. Everyone looked confused. However, when Seiya cleared his throat, everyone soothed down as if it were the calm after the storm. Seiya spoke with an unusual sense of tone.

「Rosalie has…She has perished during the battle with the Dragon Mother…」

After a moment of silence…

「It…It can’t be! 」

「Lady Rosalie has…! 」

「No way!! 」

The townspeople shouted heartbreakingly. Seiya also held his eyes with his hand.

…What!? Don’t tell me that he regrets the fact that Rosalie was sacrificed!?

「Rosalie lost her life, but she desperately fought against the Dragon Mother. She truly deserved to be called the daughter of the Warlord Emperor.」

Seiya spoke with a painful-looking face to the townspeople. He continued to speak.

「But, Rosalie is dead now. That’s an indisputable fact.」

Some of the townspeople broke down in tears. In an awkward silence, Seiya spoke quietly to everyone.

「The God Dragon King Mash Dragonite is extremely powerful. Now that Rosalie is dead, I cannot beat God Dragon King by myself. I need everyone’s help.」

EH!? Seiya asked the townspeople for their cooperation!!

Both Celseus and I looked at each other with surprise. After that, Seiya said clearly.

「Is there anyone here who is willing to take Rosalie’s will and fight alongside me to save the world?」

The youth who had gathered started to buzz upon hearing the hero’s speech.

「Let…Let’s save the world…! 」

「We’re going to take Lady Rosalie’s will…! 」

Suddenly, some of the young men jumped right in front of Seiya.

「Please use me!! I will gladly give my life for this cause!! 」

「I will clear Lady Rosalie’s remorse!! 」

「Is that so? Yeah, yeah. 」

Seiya nodded with satisfaction. Then, he raised a dignified voice to the people.

「Listen everyone. I am not the only hero. Those who are not afraid to lose their lives and stand up against the Dragon King…All of them are heroes.」

「We…We are…! 」

「Heroes…! 」

Loud cheers raised from everybody in the town square! And… I was terrified from the bottom of my heart in front of these enthusiastic-looking people!

Wro…Wrong! He didn’t regret anything! He was instigating the townspeople by saying things they wanted to hear!

I couldn’t stand this anymore, so I rushed to Seiya, and whispered in his ear.

「Don’t tell me that you are trying to make the townspeople fight against Mash!?」

「I have to avoid a direct battle against Mash with the Egzation as much as possible.」

「Avoid, you say…So, how on earth are you going to defeat Mash?」

「First, I will release the barrier of Igle and invite Mash into this town. After that, I’ll make sure to re-establish the barrier in order to separate him from his subordinates.」

「If…If you do that, the people of Igle town will be killed!」

Seiya’s face was like, “what’s wrong with that”.

「I need a Rosalie like replacement shield so that I can kill Mash safely. In other words, I need the “wall of meat”. And that comes from this large number of people.」

「That’s what a villain does, not a hero!!」

「These people are the phantom inhabitants of a phantom world. I don’t care if they live or die. By the way, Lista. I warned you. I don’t want you to complain about what I do.」

「But…But, I can’t just ignore it!!」

Seiya passed through me and looked attentively at the people. The young men were talking to each other with excitement and confident faces.

「We are…heroes…! 」

「We will help save the world! 」

「I will use my hands to kill my father’s enemy, the despicable dragons!」

The people were in a state of exaltation after they heard Seiya’s powerful words. But, of course, few of them hesitated.

「I don’t think I’m a hero…There’s no way a normal human can fight against the dragons…」

Seiya gently spoke to the timid young man whom had doubts about it.

「What is your name? 」

「I’m Jamie. I used to own a fruit shop in Edna town.」

「Okay. Then, Jamie. You will be the first hero.」

「Am…Am I going to be this town’s first…hero!?」

「Correct. 」

「OHHH! 」. The people roared high. Jamie, who was having doubts, looked visibly flustered as it astounded him.

「I…I’m so happy!! 」

「Great. Hero Jamie. I want you to defeat splendidly the Dragon King.」

「I will do my best even if I die!! 」

In addition, Seiya spoke to the men gathered nearby.

「What is your name? 」

「My name is Melvin! 」

「Great. Hero No. 2. 」

「Tha…Thank you so much, I am pleased! 」

「I…I am Tonio! 」

「I’m Joe! 」

「Yeah. Both of you are heroes. 」

「Awesomeeeeee!! 」

With this scheme, Seiya made the people of Igle town heroes, one after another. However, when he exceeded several dozen new heroes, he mumbled in a low and frustrating voice.

「…This is getting messy. 」

Then, Seiya pointed to the townspeople who stood in a line.

「From the far right up to the far left; everyone is a hero.」

Seiya began selling this hero stuff bargain to the people!! This was getting too ridiculous!!

Someone suddenly pushed through the men and jumped in front of Seiya when he named every man a hero. The one who appeared was Nina, the girl with pigtails. I noticed that she had tears in her eyes.

「Me…Me too…Is there anything I can do to honor the deceased Lady Rosalie!?」

「Hmm. You have a good heart. Of course, there are things women can do too.」

「Please tell me what you want me to do!! 」

「Nina. I will give you the power of a hero. 」

Then, Seiya held Nina’s body and touched her lips, eh…WHATTTTTTT!?

I was appalled! Nina was in shock as well!

「He…He…Hero? 」

「Now you have gained the strength to be as strong as a robust man has.」

Nina, who was holding her lips in ecstasy, muttered as if she suddenly noticed something.

「It…It’s true! I feel a kind of mysterious power running through my body!」

The men watching the scene talked to each other.

「It…It looked like a kiss to me, but…apparently not.」

「Don’t be stupid! The hero wouldn’t do such a lewd thing! He gave her his sacred power!」

Then, suddenly, many women rushed to Seiya one after another.

「Hero! Give me your power!」

「Me too! 」

「Please, kiss meeeeeeeeeee!!」

Everyone from young girls to middle-aged women were waiting in front of Seiya. Watching the procession of an idol autograph session, Celseus and I began shaking.

「He…Hey, Celseus…! That was a kiss, right…!」

「Yeah, no mistake about it! It’s the Infect Lover!」

「Se…Seiya!! Wait a second!! Come here for a moment!!」

We took Seiya out of that crazy procession and asked him a question.

「Was that kiss just now the kiss of death that you gave Rosalie before!?」

「Of course, it is…Ah, but don’t need to worry. I am just doing the preparation before the crucial time comes. It will not activate until I give a signal.」

「I’m not worried about that! It’s something else that worries me…」

「Are you worried about the conditions of Infect Lover? Don’t worry. All infected people are working together to become a single Infect Lover. In other words, if they all work hard and hit Mash 66 times over, the power will manifest itself.」

「I told you, that’s not what I was saying!」

「Hmm. Are you worried that ordinary people won’t be able to approach Mash? It should be fine. The whole thing is impossible, but I can make a few people transparent, you know. Of course, more than half will die before approaching Mash. However, the probability of making 66 attacks on Mash is not zero.」

Celseus and I were both speechless. This…This hero was no good…He was even trying to make women walls of meat! He was the lowest!

After that, I felt particularly annoyed when I saw Seiya kissing an unspecified number of women.

After the kissing procession was over, the women, who did not even know that they were infected with a curse, blushed their cheeks as if they were in a dream.

「Amazing! I feel like my strength is springing up!!」

「Me too!! There’s something overflowing inside of my body!!」

…No!! That “overflowing thing” was the germs from the cursed kiss!!

I couldn’t even scream at them. After contaminating the women with Infect Lover, Seiya faced the crowd of people one more time.

「Everyone, listen carefully. The God Dragon King is extremely powerful. To be honest, there might be some sacrifices along the way.」

Everyone who became heroes nodded calmly upon hearing Seiya’s words. But, all of a sudden, Seiya pushed my back.

「What!? 」

The people gazed at me with piercing eyes. Eh, EH!! What the hell was he trying to do!?

「But, this person is the goddess of salvation. We have the protection of the goddess.」

When Seiya lifted me up, the crowd of people shouted 「Ohh! 」. Seiya continued talking while pointing at me.

「Look. The doctrine of the Holy Angel cannot be compared with the appearance of a true goddess.」

「Now…Now that the hero mentions it, that goddess sure is beautiful…!」

「She is truly the goddess from heaven!!」

…Uhhh…!

I felt puzzled. Then, Seiya pointed to Celseus.

「We have also a bonus, which is the protection of the Swordsman God.」

「Are you including me too!?」

Celseus shouted in confusion, but the people cheered high. Seiya continued with this speech.

「There is nothing to fear because we have the protection of the two pillars of God. Even if you die in battle, you will surely go to heaven. In fact, life begins after death.」

「What…“Life beings after death”…? I don’t understand the meaning at all…but, somehow, I can feel hope now!」

「Me too! I am no longer afraid to die!」

I couldn’t swallow this situation, and whispered in Celseus’ ear.

「Is…Isn’t this becoming a dangerous religion?」

「Certainly! I think Seiya plans to counter the doctrine of the Holy Angel with this way…!」

Seiya solemnly declared the following words in front of the brainwashed townspeople.

「The Holy War against the God Dragon King will be held the next day.」

…Ehhhhhhh!! To…Tomorrow!?

Celseus also seemed to be surprised. He approached Seiya and asked.

「Ah, excuse me, Seiya. Isn’t tomorrow too early? Don’t you need to train the people of this town first?」

「I usually do it in a careful way, but this crowd of people have no growth whatsoever. It’s okay if they stand in front of Mash and become a wall of meat. The main purpose is to assassinate Mash by taking advantage of these confusing people. In a worst-case scenario, I’ll make the Meteor Strike fall in this town in order to fully defeat Mash.」

After bluntly telling ridiculous and terrible things to answer Celseus’ questions, Seiya glanced at the people with cold eyes.

「They just have to be meat dolls that move accordingly to my commands. Therefore, I must assemble them now so that they form a proper platoon for war.」

After saying those words, Seiya made the townspeople practice how to walk and line up for about an hour. Seiya raised his voice to the people who have learned the disciplined arrangement.

「Okay. That’s all for today. Let’s finish with “this” statement in a count of three…one, two, three, now.」

When he signaled, the townspeople shouted tremendously high.

「PERFECTLY READY!!」

「You told the people of this town to say your decisive lineeeeeeeee!?」

Even my frustration was swept away by the whirlpool of enthusiasm coming from the local people.

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So…so…many meat shields…. Seiya has become quite the savage hero.

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