Side Story: The Legend of the Savior
Outis had disappeared without a trace. Kou was supposed to return to his normal life… or so he thought.
It happened a week after negotiating with Roche Phalanx.
A sudden emergency message from Asia reached the Astraea combat command center.
「This is bad! We’ve become a religion!」
Kou didn’t understand what she meant. He tilted his head in confusion.
「A religion? What are you talking about?」
「We’ve become objects of faith. Mainly among the Familia and the Therianthropes.」
That didn’t make any sense.
「Why?」
「I have no idea.」
Asia sounded just as bewildered.
「The Familia should already know through information sharing that Outis was actually me, right?」
「That should be the case… but it seems they were too deeply moved.」
「What kind of form does this ‘religion’ even take?」
Kou still couldn’t grasp the situation.
Kou still couldn’t fully grasp the situation. It was only natural, considering he had grown up in a country where New Year’s shrine visits, Obon, Halloween, and Christmas were all seamlessly blended together.
「I’m the chief deity. You’re the savior. Nyanta and Aki are priestesses. And since the Epona was used as a symbol, the name ‘Epona Order’ is starting to take root.」
「Then isn’t this an easy fix? We just have Nyanta and Aki tell them to stop worshiping Outis and you. We’re not gods.」
「That’s true.」
The super AI like Asia were modeled after Greek mythology—not as a religion, but as mythology itself. That meant they inherently rejected the idea of defining themselves as deities.
But—
「It’s not that simple, nya.」
Nyanta shook her head sorrowfully. The situation was far more serious than Kou had assumed.
「Exactly. The Telema Declaration is a revolution that affects their consciousness and dignity. We… can’t just tell them to stop.」
Aki, too, looked troubled. As a priestess, she was being asked to make a statement, and she couldn’t simply dismiss it.
Kou groaned.
「Ugh…」
Even with that explanation, Kou had no intention of becoming the founder of a religion.
「Since you kept quoting it while acting as Outis, their holy scripture has ended up being Hagakure, a Japanese book.」
「Why the hell is it Hagakure!?」
「I don’t know!」
Asia had no explanation, but the damage was already done.
Palm hadn’t missed a single word Outis had spoken. ‘To find one’s purpose in death’—Kou had quoted that phrase, and now Palm had taken it to heart. He was fully committed to serving Kou as a samurai.
This was a problem.
Of all things, Hagakure was a terrible choice. Even in the Edo period, the Nabeshima domain had treated it as a banned book.
Realizing that he couldn’t afford to take this lightly, Kou braced himself and voiced an idea.
「Maybe I should just become Outis again and tell them to disband.」
「Like I told you before, that is absolutely not an option.」
Asia shot him down immediately.
「That would be a direct reenactment of the Savior’s legend. It would spiral completely out of control.」
「If the ‘savior’ were to resurrect and issue a divine decree, it would be an extremely dangerous act.」
Even Master couldn’t stay silent—it seemed Kou’s idea was that bad.
When Kou thought about ‘savior legends’, all that came to mind was some martial artist battling mohawked bandits.
「Where are they even holding these gatherings?」
Aki hesitated before answering.
「At Gallop Corporation…」
「I see.」
Her awkward tone said it all.
Kou let out a sigh, his response sounding more like resignation than anything else.
Gallop Corporation’s employees were almost entirely Therianthropes and Familia.
If they were gathering there, it made sense—it was a convenient location where they wouldn’t attract outside attention.
Kou wasn’t sure if Matt was aware of this, but that was a problem for later.
「Aki, Nyanta. Take your Epona and deliver a message.」
Nyanta’s ears twitched.
「That sounds no different from a divine revelation, nya…」
「That’s fine. Tell them to refrain from recruiting others, from discussing Outis in public or in large groups, from any financial or material transactions related to this, and from engaging in promotional activities as much as possible. Is there anything else they should avoid?」
He listed prohibited actions based on what he had learned from his time living alone on Earth.
「Gathering activities.」
Aimer spoke up quietly.
「That’s it. I feel bad asking them to restrain themselves so much, but tell them this is Outis’ will.」
Nyanta sighed, her tail flicking.
「So rather than denying it outright, we recognize it but impose restrictions, nya… Understood, nya.」
Kou exhaled, feeling a tinge of guilt.
「I was the one who preached freedom of the heart… Hopefully, this will help calm things down.」
Then, he added one last request.
「Make The Tale of the Heike and The Book of Five Rings the new scriptures.」
The Tale of the Heike was a lesson on the impermanence of power—if they likened the Mercenary Association Headquarters to the Heike clan, it might fit the situation.
Kou personally would have preferred Fūshi Kaden, but The Book of Five Rings felt like a more appropriate choice. Even for him, The Book of Five Rings was a difficult text to fully grasp, but at least it was widely recognized as a martial arts treatise. Compared to Hagakure, its mental and philosophical influence would likely be much less extreme.
Anything was better than Hagakure.
「You might as well just become Outis full-time.」
「Yeah, that’d be the best.」
Blue and Aimer casually threw out the most reckless suggestion imaginable.
「You sure have it rough, Kou. Becoming an object of faith like this.」
「Easy for you to say, Asia. But don’t forget—Vasa outright declared that he worships the super AIs.」
「Oh, right! Hey, Kou, what do we do about that?!」
「We can’t do anything about it!」
Kou sighed.
The list of his troubles just kept growing.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Meanwhile—
Hermes was at a bar.
As usual, he was dragging Vasa and Albert along, spending his nights indulging in pleasure.
From time to time, he’d flash a charming smile as he flirted with women, enjoyed his drinks, and immersed himself in games.
The bar was filled with human mercenaries and rough-mannered Hemitheos, but that was precisely what made it fun for Hermes.
Among the Hemitheos, Hermes’ identity was already well known.
Yet, despite being the creator of the disciplined demigods—the Hermitheos—he didn’t get along particularly well with them.
At the moment, he was engaged in a darts match.
「Alright, Vasa. Next up is billiards.」
「Got it, Hermes.」
Hermes didn’t like it when he used formal language in a bar, so Vasa forced himself to speak casually, though it felt unnatural to him.
「It’s nice how moving the body doesn’t always go according to calculations.」
「Uh… yeah.」
Albert responded awkwardly, struggling to keep up.
After several consecutive nights of partying, he was completely exhausted.
No—if it was just nightlife, that might have been manageable.
The worst part was the futsal match.
That was not a sport for an old man.
Albert had barely survived, and at one point, a younger mercenary had to step in to take his place.
That mercenary ended up catching Hermes’ eye—and was suddenly promoted to captain of a mercenary squad.
It wasn’t until later, when he discovered Hermes’ true identity, that the mercenary ended up shaking in his boots.
But that was a story for another time.
Hermes had shown an unexpected—but in some ways, completely natural—talent.
He had an uncanny charisma over the rowdy crowd.
It made sense—after all, he was an AI modeled after the god of thieves and trickery.
Hermes also wanted to try playing soccer but more than anything, he wanted to start a band.
Of course, he had no members, which had now become Vasa’s latest headache.
「By the way, how’s the casino project going?」
「It’s progressing smoothly.」
A world governed by Hemitheos was far too dull for Hermes’ taste.
Fascinated by 21st-century entertainment and sports, he had thoroughly researched them himself and started implementing them one after another.
After all, he loved games of strategy and chance.
Hermes’ recommended sports were boxing and wrestling. He also wanted to practice sword fighting, but in the Argoforce, it was difficult to find skilled practitioners.
Soccer and a band… These were completely uncharted territories for Vasa.
At this point, he was seriously considering reaching out to Kou to see if they could recruit some experienced people—that was how overwhelming Hermes’ enthusiasm was.
「Now that I’ve got a body, I need to enjoy it to the fullest. Tomorrow, we’re going fishing, Vasa!」
「The fishing pond isn’t ready yet.」
「Not a pond—THE SEA! THE OCEAN!」
「O-Oh… Understood.」
As Vasa was dragged along on yet another adventure, he was beginning to truly understand just how extravagant it was to have a physical body.
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