—A room in a run-down mansion located in the general student residential district of Lemuria.
Asta and Deimos opened the door and stepped inside.
"Did the plan proceed as arranged?"
I asked about the status of the centerpiece of this operation.
"Since a spell formula had already been woven into that pitiful sacrifice known as Ramiel, failure was impossible."
Asta replied as if stating the obvious, but—
"No, no, Master, what are you saying?! Merely summoning that Ares to this land is outrageous enough, but forcibly altering his body and soul was a truly miraculous feat! It succeeded purely because it was you, Master!"
Deimos vehemently protested.
Previously, after witnessing Asta cast magic, Deimos had begged me to put in a good word for him. I subsequently ordered Asta to take him on as an apprentice. While Asta had initially seemed reluctant, he turned out to be surprisingly attentive, teaching him magic with meticulous care.
"Do not loudly shower me with praise over something so minor in front of Master, lest you bring utter embarrassment upon me. To Master, a feat like this is nothing more than child's play."
He probably meant it from the bottom of his heart. Looking thoroughly displeased, Asta cautioned Deimos regarding his words of praise.
"M-My apologies!"
In a fluster, Deimos bowed his head deeply to both Asta and me.
"No, even I couldn't summon and alter an otherworldly creature. Deimos's point is entirely valid, so just accept the compliment with grace."
When I had Satori read Miss Ramiel's mind, it turned out her superior was an exceedingly cringe-inducing otherworldly creature who called himself a god. On top of that, he apparently went by the name Ares, just like the Holy God of War. Given his delusional obsession with governing this world of Lemuria as a deity, he might indeed be an otherworldly entity capable of accessing this realm.
Asta had made it sound simple, but interdimensional transit was involved. When you stopped to think about it, it truly deserved to be called a miracle. The magical development of Ramiel's world was likely at a formidable level. In that case, to the inhabitants of this world, a higher-dimensional being capable of exerting dominion here would indeed be equivalent to a god. It was essentially like introducing fire to a primitive civilization, so perhaps the title 'Holy God of War' wasn't entirely off the mark after all.
"Given Master's sheer absurdity, should you set your mind to it, you would easily accomplish it through methods even I could never conceive."
Asta had a tendency to treat me like some sort of mythical beast capable of anything, but at the end of the day, I was just a swordsman. There were things I could do, and things I couldn't. Feats of this nature clearly belonged to the latter. Even if I denied it, he would stubbornly refuse to budge, as always. Best to just move the conversation forward.
"Even so, I really didn't expect him to sacrifice himself..."
The one named Ares was apparently the leader of the faction that had previously targeted Lumine's life through the Central Church. He seemed to harbor a deep grudge against Beelzebub, whom I had sent to deliver a warning on my orders.
He had tried to harm someone dear to me, and I show no mercy whatsoever to those who oppose me. That was why I had initially planned to eradicate his entire faction down to the roots.
However, if Ramiel's memories were accurate, Ares had never ordered Lumine's assassination. In fact, he had explicitly forbidden that kind of meddling. In other words, his subordinates had acted out of line.
On top of that, the fellow apparently cared deeply for his followers, going so far as to embed a soul-exchange spell linked to Ramiel at the cost of his own safety.
"Bub's intimidation should have driven home Master's dreadfulness to him. If he possessed the resolve to sacrifice himself, he should never have picked a fight with Master—the very incarnation of evil—in the first place."
As usual, he spoke without a shred of restraint. Surely 'incarnation of evil' was going a bit too far.
"He's certainly irredeemably foolish and completely unfit to be a commander. But I don't dislike an idiot like that."
"Do you truly intend to have this Ares fellow attend the academy in the city of monkeys?"
"Yeah. Inexperienced though he may be, he picked a fight with me head-on. I might as well play along with him to the bitter end."
"This Ares fellow is the grandchild of Deus, the strongest in the Heavenly Army. This affair will undoubtedly cause an irreconcilable rift with the Heavenly Army—is Master truly fine with that?"
Asta pressed the point with a grave expression. Honestly, first the Evil Army, and now the Heavenly Army? I had to admire how far his delusions went.
"I couldn't care less. Ares seems to be something of a mastermind behind the Central Church. If we're going to suppress an organization, starting at the head is the way to go. Besides, they were the ones who meddled in the first place. If they pick a fight with me over this, I'll simply crush this so-called Heavenly Army to dust."
According to information from Mujina, an information broker residing in the royal capital of the Holy Amelia Kingdom, there was a troublesome monster in the Central Church who had cast aside his humanity called the archbishop, and backing him was this otherworldly creature named Ares. If so, using Ares to keep the Central Church in check would be the course of action with the least friction.
Well, that was merely the official justification; my true motive was simply that I had developed a bit of curiosity toward this foolish fellow named Ares.
"To speak of the Heavenly Army as if it were a cheap promotional prize attached to an organization of monkeys... You are truly beyond sanity."
Asta shook his head from side to side in sheer exasperation.
Clearing my throat loudly, I spoke up.
"So, Headmaster Chloe, will the admission of Ares and his attendant into Ouboro Academy be approved?"
Turning toward Chloe, the headmaster, I asked straight to the point.
"I have made all the arrangements according to Lord Kai's instructions, so please rest assured. However..."
Chloe nodded firmly in response, but swallowed her remaining words.
"What is it? Is there something you wish to say?"
"Could this Ares possibly be... that Holy God of War Ares?"
Hmm. How should I answer that? Even if I explained Ares to her, she likely wouldn't understand. Therefore—
"Do not worry. Right now, he possesses no significant power. Isn't that right, Asta?"
I decided to gloss over it.
"Through my spell formula, his very existence has been altered down to the level of an ordinary student here."
Deciding from Asta's usual listless response that there was no falsehood in our words, Chloe let out a massive sigh of relief. With an exhausted expression, she said,
"Lord Kai, you truly are a terrifying Great One."
She earnestly voiced such an awful, scandalous assessment.
"Naturally. There is no dread god comparable to Master anywhere else. Therefore, you must never make the foolish mistake of angering him."
At Asta's blunt warning, the color rapidly drained from Chloe's face.
"O-Of course! There is no fool among my companions who would dare defy you!"
She declared with utter desperation in her eyes. Dammit, Asta, why say such unnecessary things?! Still, Asta's point wasn't entirely wrong. Whoever it might be, should someone thoroughly disgust me, I fully intended to present them with premier ruin.
"Then all is well. It seems the plan is progressing smoothly, and I thank you. Keep up the good work moving forward."
After tossing out a brief line of acknowledgment to everyone, I leaned forward.
"Now then, let's hammer out the specifics."
And with that, I brought up the next topic.