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"This was your doing?" Fubuki asked, examining the corpses.
The spears of light had destroyed both the creatures' brains and the control chips embedded inside.
Lickers were nothing compared to the monsters she'd faced before—creatures a thousand times stronger—but conjuring weapons of pure light was no ordinary feat.
"This doesn't feel like magic," she murmured. "More like... some unique energy construct. Is that how magic works in this world?"
Frieren tapped one of the glowing spears gently with her staff. "Can I take it back for research?"
"It won't last long. But if you want, I can make you another before we return," Rosen said. He knew her kind of curiosity—Frieren had spent centuries buried in grimoires, chasing knowledge.
"You're generous. I'll hold you to that—don't back out when it's time to leave," she replied calmly.
Rosen smiled faintly.
"I can't shake the feeling… this energy feels familiar somehow."
Among the three girls, Gabriel rubbed her chin as she studied the two spears of light.
She was sure she had felt this kind of energy before, but no matter how hard she tried, the memory refused to surface.
Still, after living in the human world for a while, she knew obsessing over it would only give her a headache. Better to spend that time playing a few rounds of games.
"No wonder you said in the group chat that you weren't just some ordinary guy. Didn't expect you were hiding something like this."
Gabriel recovered her usual expression quickly, impressed at how deeply Rosen had kept his secrets.
But when she thought about it, she realized almost nobody in the chat group was a "normal" person anyway.
Well… except maybe Saeko Busujima.
"If I really had anything left to hide, I wouldn't have shown up tonight."
Rosen shrugged casually.
But inside, he was a little surprised at the reaction from the Tree of Life.
Apparently, most of the members here already met the requirements to be converted into his followers.
Not that he showed it on his face.
For an ordinary human, becoming a servant of the gods was the kind of opportunity you couldn't say no to. But for heroines from different worlds, each with their own powers, the deal wasn't so simple. Sure, it came with benefits, but having to obey Rosen in everything? That was enough to make many hesitate.
Unless, of course, they desperately needed help—or had already grown very fond of him.
Bringing it up now would be way too abrupt.
Might as well take this time to observe the locals of this world a little more.
Looking around at their group of nine, Rosen realized that for now only Saeko Busujima, Shizuka Marikawa, and Rika Minami met the requirements to be transformed.
The other six—including Saya Takagi and the police officer Asami Nakaoka—weren't there yet.
Still, aside from Saeko, both "airheaded beauty" Shizuka and tan-skinned Rika seemed like good prospects.
Especially Shizuka—her clear but clueless eyes screamed gullible. Rosen figured he could trick her a dozen times in one night if he wanted.
"Saeko… what's going on here?"
Rika Minami finally spoke, her expression both shocked and conflicted.
The fall of Tokonosu into a city of the dead had been shocking enough, but now these "supernatural types" were suddenly showing up like they'd stepped straight out of a manga panel.
So what the hell was going on with the world?
She hadn't watched anime since she started working. Was this really what the new generation was into now?
The other women were thinking along the same lines—except Shizuka, who just looked at Rosen and the others with sparkling eyes, full of admiration.
"They're friends I made. I asked them to come help."
Saeko explained simply.
She wasn't sure how else to introduce them, but that answer would do.
"Seriously? This is getting way too ridiculous. What is this, are we living inside a manga now?"
Saya muttered under her breath.
"Saeko, where exactly did you meet friends like these?"
Because look at Frieren—her outfit already screamed cosplay, but those pointed ears were twitching on their own. That was no costume.
She was a real elf.
If Saeko could meet people like that, then maybe they could too, right?
"You don't need to worry. We're only here to complete our mission. We won't hurt you."
Gabriel spoke gently, trying to ease their unease.
"And one more thing—the zombie virus didn't come from us. The ones responsible are Umbrella. Those creatures you saw earlier were sent by them."
At that, Rosen let his eyes fall on the silent Rika.
Her expression twitched in surprise—how the hell did he know what she'd been thinking?
"No need for mind-reading. It's written all over your face."
Rosen chuckled.
"..."
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