Chapter 251

Illegal Dumping (1)

The revolution in Eldorado had shaken the entire world.

Under the leadership of the Hero, Asella, the victorious revolutionaries began carrying out a variety of reforms.

Their first task was to purge Pope Louis II and the numerous corrupt forces surrounding him.

The task itself was easy, but it took quite a while for one simple reason.

"Good heavens. Practically the entire upper echelon belonged to the Pope’s faction. If we’d left things as they were..."

"At least we’re fixing it now."

Louis II’s faction was simply far too extensive.

With only slight exaggeration, it would not be wrong to say that the majority of Eldorado’s upper class had been corrupt.

Every last one of them had been eating away at the nation, so dealing with them was bound to be difficult.

"How many ledgers are there? Just how much were they embezzling?"

"We found an artifact that isn’t listed in any of these ledgers!"

"Th-this appears to be an item containing adamantium."

"Good grief. This is military equipment. It was even made by dwarves."

Asella tightly closed her eyes at the seemingly endless evidence of corruption.

She, Reina, and all the officials who had been expelled and subsequently reinstated had to throw themselves into the work.

Still, most of the reinstated officials were exceptionally capable, so they managed to finish relatively quickly.

"If we recover everything these bastards devoured, we should be able to sustain Eldorado’s economy for quite some time."

"Were the officials managing those assets part of the Pope’s faction too?"

"Yes. They were even more thorough than the others. We had quite a difficult time uncovering the assets they concealed."

In Eldorado, the Papacy effectively served as the government.

They had been able to commit such corruption because they had seized complete control of that institution.

If anyone showed signs of exposing them, they were immediately purged and transferred elsewhere.

As I thought, we need to separate the Papacy from the government. It will take a long time, though.

Eldorado was still Eldorado.

The time had not yet come to give it a new name.

Only after purging every faction that had been gnawing away at the Holy Nation’s roots could the country finally be reborn.

"How many people have been definitively convicted so far?"

"Ten, including the Pope, have committed crimes warranting death. Twenty-one deserve lengthy sentences, while the remaining thirty-two face lesser punishments."

"If we include those whose charges have yet to be confirmed, the total will exceed one hundred at the very least."

"Haah..."

The situation was enough to make her sigh.

The corruption had been far too severe.

Given her way, Asella would have expelled every last one of them into the Forest of Four Seasons. However, Eldorado was currently being held together through the tireless efforts of a handful of people.

If she expelled all the implicated officials at once, the government would become completely paralyzed.

After deliberating over the issue again and again, Asella quietly spoke.

"We’ll proceed according to plan for now. The criminals will be transported to the Forest of Four Seasons tomorrow."

And so, the transportation of the criminals began.

News that the criminals were being sent into the Forest of Four Seasons spread far and wide.

Perhaps because they had eaten away at Eldorado’s very foundations and had even begun treating its citizens as enemies, they received a truly spectacular send-off.

"Get the hell out of our country!"

"You’re a disgrace to the nation!"

"How dare you utter Lady Ares’s name after everything you’ve done?!"

The streets were packed with people.

Fortunately, the paladins deployed in anticipation of this response held back the crowds.

The citizens initially expressed displeasure when the paladins stopped them, but they soon complied with their instructions.

Although trust in the military had already hit rock bottom, these paladins were acting under Asella’s orders.

"I am innocent! Lady Ares will never forgive this!"

Of course, some people still had not come to their senses.

One of them was Pope Louis II.

Whether he truly believed his own words or was merely searching for any remaining followers was unclear.

Either way, the sight of him clutching the bars of the prisoner wagon and shouting was nauseating.

"That bastard! Hey! Does anyone have something we can throw?!"

"Stones are dangerous, but I have tomatoes."

"Give them to me! How much do you want?!"

"I’ll take eggs!"

Thanks to Louis’s provocation, a terrifying barrage soon followed.

Tomatoes, eggs, and assorted vegetables flew through the air.

The cardinals and military commanders imprisoned alongside Louis suffered as collateral damage.

They were already being cursed merely for sitting there, and now Louis was making matters even worse. They wanted nothing more than to drag him away.

"It’s all over..."

"The Forest of Four Seasons... In a place like that..."

"O God..."

But with the horrifying punishment of forced exile into the Forest of Four Seasons awaiting them, they lacked even the strength to complain.

Some of them thought they would rather be hanged.

At least then, their corpses might remain intact.

Being sent into the Forest of Four Seasons was a punishment worse than death.

They would not even leave corpses behind. It was no different from throwing them to wild beasts as food.

There was nothing remotely honorable about such a death.

"If only they hadn’t put blindfolds on us, we might have been able to do something..."

"At least they didn’t gouge out our eyes. We should be grateful for that much."

Blindfolding them to prevent access to the Gallery was an added precaution.

Considering the severity of their crimes, no one would have objected even if their eyes had been gouged out, but Asella had prevented that.

She had said that they should at least be able to see clearly what punishment they were receiving.

Their future was impossibly bleak, but in its own way, it was a merciful decision.

And so the convoy left Eldorado and began traveling toward the Forest of Four Seasons.

"Will everything finally be over once we dispose of that garbage?"

"There’s still a lot left to do."

"I wonder when we’ll finally get to rest."

Asella and Reina rode not in one of the prisoner wagons, but in an ordinary carriage at the front of the convoy.

Even at their fastest pace, reaching the Forest of Four Seasons would take half a day.

If she spent that time browsing the Gallery, the hours would pass in the blink of an eye.

I wonder what Grylls is doing.

Asella immediately accessed the Gallery.

She had been so busy recently that she had failed to fulfill her duties as the head moderator.

Nevertheless, the deputy moderator—the Heavenly Demon—had continued working diligently.

Asella decided that she should first thank the Heavenly Demon for all her work.

[DontAbandonTheHero: Deputy Mod! I haven’t been logging in very often lately, so thank you for working so hard! I think I’ll be able to log in more frequently from now on!]

[Heavenly Demon: Pay it no mind. This woman has plenty of time.]

Asella smiled at the immediate response.

The Heavenly Demon really was a kind person.

Most people would have been annoyed, yet she had answered with such generosity.

Asella wondered if there was anything she could do for her.

[DontAbandonTheHero: Is there a particular feature you would like? I think I could unlock one for you!]

[Heavenly Demon: Is it possible to enable location tracking?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: Ah...! That one is a little...! I’m sorry!]

Anything but location tracking.

That feature had far too much potential for abuse.

Furthermore, suspicions were growing that the deputy moderator Heavenly Demon might actually be the real Heavenly Demon.

She is already somewhere within the Demonic Cult, after all.

Asella had once checked the Heavenly Demon’s location out of curiosity.

The result had pointed directly to the Demonic Cult.

Naturally, Asella couldn’t help but become suspicious.

Even if she isn’t actually the Heavenly Demon, location tracking still has far too much potential for abuse.

It wasn’t that she thought the Heavenly Demon was a bad person.

There was simply always a chance that something could go wrong.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Demon didn’t seem particularly bothered and let the matter pass.

[Heavenly Demon: Very well. This woman shall consider it at her leisure.]

[DontAbandonTheHero: Thank you!]

Now that her conversation with the Heavenly Demon was over, Grylls was next.

With an even brighter smile than before, Asella immediately sent him a message.

[DontAbandonTheHero: Hello, Mr. Grylls! Have you been doing well?]

[Wild Grylls: I’ve been doing fine. Did something happen?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: We’re going to exile the criminals into the Forest of Four Seasons soon!]

[Wild Grylls: Ah. I heard the news.]

Grylls already knew that she was the Hero.

Even so, their conversations remained no different from before.

He was in the Forest of Four Seasons anyway.

Moreover, Asella herself still didn’t feel that much had changed.

I wonder what he thinks of the Hero.

She had only just entertained that thought when another message arrived from Grylls.

[Wild Grylls: By the way, the Forest of Four Seasons isn’t a landfill. ;;]

[DontAbandonTheHero: Ah! You don’t have to worry about that! In a way, they can be recycled!]

[Wild Grylls: Couldn’t you just avoid dumping garbage here in the first place? We need to protect nature.]

[DontAbandonTheHero: They’ll make excellent fertilizer!]

[Wild Grylls: ;;]

"Hehe."

"Why are you smiling like that? Did you find something amusing?"

Perhaps because Asella was grinning like an idiot, Reina, who sat across from her, chuckled.

She probably assumed Asella had found something funny on the Gallery.

But Asella now had a secret she couldn’t share, so her face inevitably grew slightly warm.

She felt embarrassed for no particular reason.

She would have to be more careful from now on.

[DontAbandonTheHero: If you’re worried, I can take a few precautions before sending them!]

[Wild Grylls: What kind of precautions?]

[DontAbandonTheHero: We could gouge out their eyes and sever the tendons in their hands!]

[Wild Grylls: Just send them as they are. ;; Reaching this place will already be difficult enough. Even Ludwig would have died without my support.]

...

Grylls was right.

According to what she had heard, Ludwig had received a Mithricon sword.

Reina had told her about the sword’s effects.

It increased its wielder’s mana efficiency severalfold.

Even within the Forest of Four Seasons, where mana could not normally be used, it enabled its wielder to use aura to a certain extent.

Without that...

Entering the forest would effectively be the same as going in completely defenseless.

Their chances of survival would approach zero.

Moreover, Louis and the other criminals were wearing mana suppressors around their necks.

Her remarks about dumping garbage on Grylls had been half in jest.

In reality, she was simply sending them there to die.

I mustn’t inconvenience my benefactor.

The convoy finally arrived at the entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons.

The moment they heard that they had arrived, Asella and Reina climbed out of their carriage.

"Wow. I can’t believe I’m seeing this twice."

"It’s beautiful."

The entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons was as beautiful as Reina had said.

The entrance shimmered like an aurora, with several different environments mingling beyond it.

Asella exclaimed in wonder at the phenomenon, which could be explained by neither magic nor science.

She could understand why so many explorers had been drawn into the Forest of Four Seasons.

"Hero, all the prisoners have disembarked."

"Ah, yes."

Asella had been staring endlessly at the entrance when a knight delivered his report.

Clearing her throat, she turned around.

The prisoners stood waiting for their punishment, blindfolded and covered from head to toe in all manner of filth.

A month ago—no, even a fortnight ago—they could never have dreamed that they would end up like this.

But those who committed crimes had to receive the punishment they deserved.

Asella quietly spoke.

"Remove their blindfolds."

At her command, Reina and the other paladins removed the prisoners’ blindfolds.

Perhaps because they had not seen light for several days, they struggled to open their eyes.

Once their eyes gradually adjusted, they blinked and looked ahead.

"Ah..."

"The Forest of..."

"O God..."

The moment they opened their eyes, they saw the entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons beyond Asella.

"...Four Seasons..."

Despair began settling over their faces.

Several of them collapsed to the ground.

"Do you finally understand the gravity of your crimes?"

Asella addressed their wretched figures in a stern voice.

These were the people who had undermined Eldorado’s very foundations.

What they had done was no different from overthrowing the nation.

She felt no sympathy for them.

How many people had suffered because of them?

Several people, including Ludwig, had even been expelled into the Forest of Four Seasons.

Ludwig had survived thanks to Grylls’s support, but the others had not.

Now it was their turn to receive the same treatment.

Asella spoke in a detached voice.

"Do you believe you have been wronged? If you truly do, then you need only find the distinguished individuals living within the Forest of Four Seasons. Whether they will welcome you is another matter."

"Do you have any final words?"

Of course they didn’t.

Their spirits had already been broken, leaving them incapable of even forming proper responses.

There was only one exception.

Louis.

"Lady Ares will never condone this! You are a traitor!"

"I see. Next?"

Asella casually ignored Louis’s desperate outburst.

She didn’t consider it worthy of a response.

Louis naturally continued shouting, but the paladins immediately restrained him.

"Are we removing their mana suppressors?"

"No."

Asella answered firmly.

Removing their blindfolds and restraints was already an act of generosity.

Anything handed out too freely eventually became cheap.

Mercy was no different.

Asella might act like a pushover on the Gallery, but she was entirely different in reality.

"Give the prisoners their allotted supplies."

The paladins obediently followed her orders.

Louis berated them as he watched, but it was pointless.

"If you continue making noise, I will tear out your tongue."

"Y-you bastard...!"

The paladin’s threat finally silenced Louis.

The paladins then handed each prisoner a small bundle.

The prisoners were curious about what the bundles contained, but Asella spoke first.

"Enter the Forest of Four Seasons before opening them. They do not contain much, but you will find the items useful."

"W-what is inside?"

"I cannot tell you. I will only say that they contain Lady Ares’s mercy."

"Now, then..."

Asella tilted her head toward the entrance.

The paladins immediately acted.

Shing—

Asella and the paladins drew their swords and pointed them at the prisoners.

They then gradually herded them toward the entrance.

It looked as though they were forcing a herd of animals into a pen.

Offended by treatment that showed no regard whatsoever for their human rights, the prisoners shouted furiously.

"D-do you have no respect for us as human beings?!"

"How dare you treat us like animals?! You wretches truly—!"

Driven into a rage, Louis pointed at them and began to shout.

Slash!

Without uttering a word, Asella severed the Pope’s wrist.

Her sword had moved too quickly to be seen, and no one seemed to understand what had happened at first.

Thud!

A moment later, the cleanly severed hand fell to the ground.

She had acted without the slightest hesitation.

Even Louis stopped breathing as he stared at his missing hand.

A fear greater than the pain of losing his wrist washed over him.

"At the very least, I am treating you as living beings. You never extended the same courtesy to others."

"Ah... Ahhh..."

"This is Lady Ares’s final act of mercy. If you resist any further..."

With a deadly expression unlike anything she had shown before, Asella delivered her final warning.

"I will assume that you wish to be treated not as people, animals, or even living beings—but as garbage."

She was already treating them like garbage, but a tiny shred of respect still remained.

In the end, the prisoners had no choice but to enter the Forest of Four Seasons with bloodless faces.

Louis hurriedly retrieved his severed hand from the ground and rushed inside after them.

Soon, every last prisoner disappeared.

The parasites that had been eating away at Eldorado were finally gone.

Asella sheathed the Holy Sword, whose blade was not even stained with blood, and spoke.

"Good work, everyone. Let’s return."

She had worn a terrifying expression only moments before, yet now she was smiling brightly.

The paladins followed her instructions with conflicted expressions.

There is still so much work to do. I’ll be busy again for quite some time.

After climbing into the carriage, Asella sighed and accessed the Gallery.

She assumed that nothing could have happened in such a short time.

[Heavenly Demon Punch! Heavenly Demon Punch! Heavenly Demon Punch!]

[The Heavenly Demon has spoken: The vicious bastards of the Blood Cult have all been exterminated!]

[Long live the Heavenly Demon! May ten thousand demons be blessed! Long live the Heavenly Demon! May ten thousand demons be blessed!]

She had been wrong.

Asella blinked before checking the trending posts.

One post had accumulated a staggering number of recommendations.

Its count continued climbing every time she refreshed the page, so its contents must have been exceptionally sensational.

[Heavenly Demon (Not the Deputy Mod) vs. Blood Cult]

The title itself was simple.

That only made her even more curious.

With a puzzled expression, Asella opened the post.

Title: Heavenly Demon (Not the Deputy Mod) vs. Blood Cult

(Video of the Heavenly Demon exterminating the remnants of the Blood Cult)

(Video of the Heavenly Demon massacring the remnants of the Blood Cult)

(Video of the Heavenly Demon toying with the remnants of the Blood Cult)

(Photograph of the Heavenly Demon holding one of the Blood Cult remnants by the throat)

(Various other photographs)

The Blood Cult bastards got wiped out, lmaooo. This is the power of the Heavenly Demon!

└ Wow. They couldn’t do a thing against her.

└ Was the Heavenly Demon always that strong, or was the Blood Cult just weak?

└ Obviously, the Heavenly Demon is strong. She’s fighting them like they’re little children.

└ Those Blood Cult bastards picked a fight for no reason, lmao.

└ Did she actually kill all of them? It looked like a few entered the Forest of Four Seasons.

└ Even if they were only remnants, there were at least thirty of them.

└ Their attacks aren’t doing anything to her. ;;

└ Who would win if the Heavenly Demon fought Ash?

└ SwordMaster: Ash would obviously win.

└ What about the Hero?

└ SwordMaster: I’m not sure about the Hero. She is still young, so wouldn’t it be difficult for her?

└ Wild Grylls: Ah, stop illegally dumping garbage here—

└ It isn’t illegal dumping if the garbage walks in on its own, lmaooo.

└ Exactly, lol. It’s not illegal dumping. It’s automatic dumping.

└ More garbage will be arriving soon, so make sure to welcome it.

└ Wild Grylls: I’m removing all the signposts right now. Eldorado has already been illegally dumping garbage here too.

└ Oh, right. There’s Eldorado’s garbage too.

└ If things go well, won’t the two groups run into each other inside?

└ Food waste versus general waste. Fight!

└ Damn, that’s way too harsh—but it’s also true, which makes it even more ridiculous, lmaooo.

└ Battle of the Garbage, lol.

└ Either way, they’ll all become fertilizer eventually~

Apparently, Asella’s group wasn’t the only one illegally dumping garbage.

She turned and looked back toward the entrance to the Forest of Four Seasons.

Should we have to pay a fine for illegally dumping garbage?

It was the last remnant of her conscience as the Hero.