Going back to the entrance of the Tainted Land was rather uneventful. If anything, it was far too calm for me to think it was okay, so I couldn’t help but frown as I approached the exit. Victoria, David, and Nicole didn’t seem to notice how odd that was, judging from how they still seemed to be trying as hard as usual—save for Nicole, who appeared to be a little bit too confident in the way she handled things, like giving room for Dark Beasts to act. But, as long as nobody was in danger, I could ignore her antics.

“Is it me or was it a little too easy on the way back?” she asked, apparently thinking the same thing as me.

“Was it? I’ve found this whole trip to be extremely tiring myself… Maybe you’re just that strong,” David replied, and I could see from the bags under his eyes that he wasn’t lying.

Same as Victoria, who appeared to be just as haggard as David, with the same bags under her eyes and her hair in a complete mess. Nicole didn't look too different from usual, which might just be from the experience she’s gathered.

“Hmm… maybe it really is just me…” she said with a finger on her chin.

I refused to point out that the Tainted Land was indeed different, since I didn’t want to say something that I wasn’t completely sure about, so we quietly made our way back to the entrance.

David and Victoria were the first ones to leave, followed soon after by me and Nicole. Usually, there wasn’t anything to be concerned about when stepping outside, as the only people we would see would be a handful of other explorers that were getting ready to go in, but this time, I came face to face with someone I didn’t expect—even if he worked here.

“Bobby!” Nicole exclaimed, skipping a couple of steps to be close to him. He forced a smile and simply raised his hand while she got closer. “What are you doing out here? Are you on a break or something?”

“Ah… No, it’s nothing of the sort. I’m indeed working, and…” He replied, then turning a glance at me with his red eyes. “This is part of it.”

So there really was something that he needed to discuss. I immediately got the message that he gave me with that glance and nodded. “Do you wish to talk about it?”

“Yes, sorry for catching you right as you leave the Red Zone, but… it’s kinda important,” he said, an apologetic tone of voice as he spoke.

“I’ll come with you,” Nicole said, taking a step to the side to go to his office, but Bo’guth extended his hand to stop her, causing her to look with surprise at him.

“Sorry… it’s something private with Althea—besides, I think you should go ahead and take a rest,” he said, removing his large claw-like hand from Nicole’s path.

Nicole looked up to him with a narrow-eyed glare, suspicious about what he wanted, and eventually asking, “You’re not planning to get my Althy in trouble, are you?”

“What?” Bo’guth exclaimed. “W-well…” he trailed off, looking at me for a moment, before turning to look back down to Nicole. “I-I hope not…”

“Hm…” Nicole continued to glare for a moment with her hands on her hips, before smirking and chuckling. “Hehe, I’m just kidding.” She turned to look at me. “Well, then I guess I’ll see you later.”

“And I guess it’s the same for us,” David said, taking a step to stand next to Nicole, with Victoria following after.

“Bye,” Victoria simply said while giving a short wave of her hand and leaving with the other two.

I responded with a small wave of my own and watched them as they talked among each other until they were out of my sight. It was then that I turned to look at Bo’guth, who was slightly fidgeting on his spot.

“Well then, shall we go to your office?” I asked, pointing with my head in the room’s direction.

“Yes, that would be better,” Bo’guth quickly replied and started making his way there.

His steps were wider than usual, and he seemed to be hurrying to his office, so I matched his speed, turning quick on my step, and passing by the few other clerks that just quickly looked at me as if wanting to greet, but refusing to do so once they noticed the hurried steps that both me and Bo’guth were taking.

As such, it didn’t take long for us to reach his office, where Miss Gaos was still working since the time that Asteora came here. She looked at me for a moment with the same cordial look that she used, and then went back to work on her computer. I wondered if Bo’guth was going to ask her to leave so we could talk in private, but he closed the door of his office behind him once we stepped inside, and made his way to his desk; either not caring about Miss Gaos, or not noticing that she was still here.

“I thought you wanted to talk in private,” I said, giving a short glance at Miss Gaos.

“No, no, it’s fine. She knows what I needed to talk about and was, in fact, the one that pushed me to go get you,” Bo’guth said as he sat on his large chair.

“Well then?” I asked, making my way to one of the couches and sitting on it as I grabbed an apple for the tray he usually had here.

“Ehem…” he cleared his throat and just stared at me for a moment. I looked back, wondering what it was that he needed to talk about that he would be in such an awkward position, since even when his daughter was kidnapped, he didn’t look this uncomfortable talking to me.

Time passed for a while longer, so I raised an eyebrow, hoping that it would prompt him to speak, until eventually, I heard Miss Gaos shifting on her chair. “Director, please get to it.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Right,” he replied and took a deep breath before looking seriously at me. “Can you please stop coming to the Red Zone?”

“Huh?” I asked back, surprised by such a request. “What is the reason for that?”

He sighed and shook his head. “I was suspicious of something for a while now, but it was confirmed when you left on that trip for a few months… and… I have to say that you’re messing with the Red Zone.”

“What do you mean that ‘I’m messing with the Red Zone’,” I asked back with a frown.

“Here,” he replied, moving his computer’s large screen so I could see what he wanted to show me.

It was a graph with different numbers, lines, and colors, but I couldn’t quite understand what it meant, since it was something I was never taught about nor was interested in, so I just waited for him to continue.

“This here is the results of both revenue and production from the Magic Red Zone,” he said, pointing a finger at the line. “Over here”—he placed his finger on the higher part of the line—“was before you came to this place; this world, if you will, but…” his finger traced the line as it went down. “Once you started coming here more and more, the amount of Magic Stones and the quality that we’re getting out of them have been going down… I dismissed it as just a fluctuation of the Zone… until you went on your trip, and the Zone stabilized once more—even if it didn’t go back up, at least it’s not going down anymore.”

“Ah, I see,” I replied with a nod. “I was afraid that I might’ve been ruining the Tainted Land as well.”

“Oh, you’re aware of it?” Bo’guth asked with a frown. “Then… I don’t want to accuse you of anything, but… is there a reason for why you’re doing that?”

I shook my head and took a bite out of the apple. “It’s not my intention. I simply absorb part of the power of anything that I kill inside, and the more I do, the easier it is to kill the stronger things… I could even completely destroy the Tainted Land if I wanted to by taking the core—”

Bo’guth quickly stood up from his chair. “Please don’t!”

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to do so at the moment, but… I’m finding myself in need for more power; and quickly,” I said, putting aside the apple while keeping my eyes on it.

“Is… is there a reason?” Bo’guth said, slowly sitting back down.

I nodded. “Yes. There’s a new Hero of the Holy Gods.”

Bo’guth looked at me, stunned for a moment, before bursting into laughter. “Come on, Althea! I know that Nicole says that you say really funny stuff, but that’s just too much, especially in such a serious conversation! How can there be another Holy Hero if there’s no Holy Gods in this world? You yourself said there weren’t.”

“Yes… and I was sure of that as well, until I met this girl a few days ago… Not only did she carry Holy Power, but she could hear the voice of the Goddess—I could hear Her voice once more,” I said, giving a serious look to Bo’guth, who was trying to contain the laughter, seemingly deciding if he should believe what I said or not.

After a moment, the smile on his face froze. “Are you really serious? You’re not joking?” I slowly nodded and his smile completely faded. “What are you planning to do…? If you need to absorb the Red Zone then… even if it costs me my job, you can go ahead and take it. This is much more important than money or results.”

“I must admit that it’s a tempting offer, but I don’t believe I’m currently in need of going to that point. I don’t want to cause damage trying to do ‘what is right’ like I did in my previous life,” I replied with a shake of my head and taking another bite out of the apple.

“Heheh…” Bo’guth chuckled, nodding his head. “It’s nice that you’re taking me into consideration. But from the sounds of it, you’ll have to fight this new Hero… or do you think that this person will listen to reason?”

I considered his words for a moment, and the memories of my encounter with that girl flashed through my mind. The way that she looked at me; how she immediately agreed to whatever little thing the Goddess said at the time; and the fact that she could tap into Holy Power and even ask for more from the Goddess at any moment… They were all things that were not too different from how it was for me.

“I’m afraid that she might be just as I was in the past… That she might not stop until everything is said and done…” I said with a downcast look. “I’ve been thinking of ways of severing her connection to the Holy Gods, but I just can’t come up with a solution that doesn’t involve just killing the girl—which is something that I don’t want to do, because it might send this world into oblivion; just like I did with ours…”

Bo’guth chuckled. “There’s still some of that relentless personality of yours there…”

I looked at him with a questioning expression. “What does that mean?”

“You’re not afraid of killing her, but afraid of what might happen if you do.”

I looked down again and considered his words. I couldn’t deny it. I’ve been a killer almost all my life, and just now in this world, I just went on a killing tour; finishing off everyone that I deemed as bad, or evil. There was still the consolation I gave myself that this time I wasn’t blindly following someone else’s orders, and that I was acting based on the information that I had… but still, some of the bias I had from my past remained.

“I think you’re right,” I said, then looked up to see beyond the window of his office, to some of the sunlight entering the building’s lobby. “It seems to be my destiny.”

“Couldn’t you leave it up to someone else to do this?”

“Who else is going to be strong enough to face her?” I said, turning my view to his red eyes. “You might’ve heard how an A+ ranked fighter died on the other side of the world. It was her doing.”

“Oh… so she’s really strong… not just starting off as a new Hero…” Bo’guth said, clicking his tongue afterwards. “I don’t really know what to say about this… but listen, if you don’t want to take this Magic Red Zone’s power, then I can point you out to other ones to gather power, though, you’ll have to travel for a bit, again.”

“I’d appreciate it, but… I’d be more interested in finding a way to cut the Holy Gods away from the girl,” I replied with a forced smile.

“Hm… a complicated task…” Bo’guth said with a serious expression. “But I can’t offer you more than what I’ve already said. Maybe if you were to ask your old master, The Embodiment of Magic, she might be able to do something about it?”

“She’s busy dealing with The Dragons, so nobody’s been able to talk to her,” I said, but still shook my head. “And even if I were to ask her, she’s already taught me everything there is to know about magic… well, as far as she’s claimed that is… I still have a hard time trusting her—as I’ve already told you before.”

“I see…” Bo’guth said, followed by a moment of silence in which I a took a bite out of the apple, leaving only the bits and pieces that people don’t generally eat—something that Asteora doesn’t do, as she eats almost the full fruits.

“This is an issue that I’ll have to deal with. You don’t have to worry about it,” I said standing up from the place I was sitting. “And don’t worry about me absorbing more of the Tainted Land. I’ll find another way to gather power. This is not the only way.”

“Very well,” Bo’guth said, standing as well. “But once more, if it is needed, then don’t hesitate to take it.” With a nod, I turned to leave, only to be stopped by Bo’guth exclaiming, causing me to look at him once more. “By the way, if you could pay Mirlaneth and Igladith a visit, it would be great. Miri in particular has been asking about you, and I think she’d be happy to see you once more.”

I had gotten somewhat used to his… demonic daughter… and I felt like it could be a good idea. Maybe even Nicole might be happy to join me, so with a nod, I turned to leave the office, while still wondering about how I was going to deal with the new Hero of the Holy Gods.