In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 20

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Color Illustrations

  Character Profiles

  Map of the World

  Chapter I: A Tale of Ice and Fire

  Chapter II: The Pantheon

  Chapter III: Shadow of Nokia

  Interlude: Ceremonial Preparations

  Afterword

  About J-Novel Club

  Copyright

  Chapter I: A Tale of Ice and Fire

  I didn’t really want to deal with this if I could avoid it, but I had no real choice.

  I headed to the knight barracks, then down the stairs to the recently constructed underground portion. I slowly walked down the spiral staircase until I came to a stone corridor. Eventually, I made it to a small room where two knights stood on duty.

  One was working on some documents at their desk, while the other was doing push-ups. I recognized their faces. They were two of the demi-humans who had participated in the knight exams a while back. The man doing the paperwork was a wardog beastman, while the woman doing the push-ups was a lioness. If I recalled right, they were called Dingo and Ashley.

  “G-Grand Duke!”

  “Ah, Your Highness?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about formalities. I’m just dropping in.”

  The dog-headed man stood to attention, while the lion-eared woman fell mid-pushup out of shock. I stopped them from saluting me as I sauntered over to the next room, the jail cell.

  “I’ll just be heading in.”

  “Of course! Here’s the key!”

  Dingo handed me the large cell key that had been hanging up on the wall. I smiled politely at the duo, then opened the thick iron door. Behind the door was the castle dungeon. There were archways to the left and right of me, leading down hallways to a series of sturdy iron cages. The bars were all infused with magic, and the barriers placed around the cells were as powerful as my [Prison] magic.

  A particular woman was waiting for me in one of these cells, hidden in the depths. There was a tatami mat laid atop a stone-crafted bed in the corner of her cell, with some bedding on top of that. In a little alcove on the wall sat a leylightstone, which we used as an alternative light source to candles. It shone inside a small cup of water. A pair of glasses sat next to the cup.

  In the back of this special cell was a curtained-off area with a shower and toilet facilities. This was certainly a luxurious cell, all things considered. I felt it only fair, given that it was inescapable. Even if the bars were cut or the stone walls were dug through, the magic surrounding this place would prevent anyone from ever getting out.

  In the corner of the room sat a purple Gollem encased in ice. My [Eternal Coffin] spell wouldn’t wear off until I released it, after all.

  “Hey. You sleeping?”

  “Hm...? I’m not sleeping... But... A-Ah?! That voice! Tou?!”

  Luna jumped up, flinging the blanket off her body. Her hair looked scraggly, but her complexion was fine enough.

  “You don’t look bad, given you’ve been in here a few days.”

  “Hmmmmph! You’re so mean for keeping me here, Tou... A big meanie...”

  “Hey, c’mon now. What other prisons give you a toilet, three square meals a day, and a shower?”

  Other places just gave you a jar to do your business in; this was a pretty nice dungeon, all things considered. It was true that she was basically confined to this one space, though.

  Either way, I wanted to get my purpose here over with.

  “Now then, you’re charged with breaking and entering into a royal castle, as well as attempted assassination on royalty.”

  “I did attack, but I don’t remember— Ohhh... That means you’re really a royal, Tou?” Luna reached out for her glasses, the two lenses shining softly as she put them back on.

  “Not just me. Those two you attacked, remember? They’re my relatives, so they’re royalty as well.”

  “Ohhh! Those crazy strong ladies! Were they your sisters?!”

  Luna’s motions became erratic. She hopped up and charged over to the iron bars, clasping them tightly in her hands. I took a few steps back.

  “One of them was. The other was my cousin.”

  “Ohhh! Amazing! Amaaazing! I didn’t get to do much at all, and Viola got beaten right away! I bet those girls could kill me really easily!”

  Luna’s body writhed and shivered as she grinned wide and softly fondled herself. Her breathing grew heavier. She really was an irredeemable pervert... It was pretty awful to watch.

  “...I don’t really get it, but like... Do you want to die?”

  “Mm... I think so! If I can die, I think it’d be fun to give it a go. I don’t really understand. I didn’t wanna die in the past, I know that much. Nia once said that if I keep using Viola’s power, the more things’ll go bad for me, and stuff. And then, in the end, Viola’s gonna kill me, too.”

  ...Wait, she knows that her sanity’s getting sapped? So, what... Is she hoping that she’ll either get killed by Viola or that someone’ll be able to kill her before it goes too far?

  “It’s all your fault, Tou... I thought you’d finally be able to kill me, but you’re being so lazy about it! You limp-dicked bastard, you!”

  “...Please don’t call me that.”

  “It’s scary when you’re gonna die, isn’t it? I’ve felt it lots and lots and lots. Whenever I feel the pain and the fear, real pleasure comes out after that feeling... So then all the cutting, the stabbing, the slicing... All that good stuff going into me? It hurts so good... Ahhh, I love it. I love how good it hurts! It’s kind of like my body telling me I’m alive... That’s why it’s so good.”

  Huh... So the only way she feels alive is by having pain inflicted on her. But each time she does that, her mind breaks down further and it actually brings her closer to the brink of death...

  There was no hope for her. Chrom Ranchesse, creator of the crown Gollems, created an entire system of incredible powers. Of course, they all required you to pay a price for them. It was almost like making a contract with a devil. You gain incredible strength, but something’s robbed in return.

  In Luna’s case, she had eternal life... But even if she could live forever, it didn’t matter if her sanity was the price she had to pay. Plus, her ability was automatic. Even if she didn’t want to use the crown’s ability, it would trigger and regenerate her body whenever she got hurt. Her sanity would be sapped away at the same time, too. Even though she was the Gollem’s master, it was pretty sketchy that it forced her to use its power no matter what. She got a pretty raw deal out of it.

  “Anyway... I thought I’d be super-duper happy if you killed me, Tou... But now there are those girls, and they’re sooo strong, too! This is a little annoying, you know? Who should I have kill me now...?”

  “None of us. I have no intention of killing you.”

  Bastet told me that she helped protect the puretree in Isengard, but that wasn’t enough to cancel out her crimes. She definitely needed some form of punishment.

  “Huh? Then what are you doing down here...? My, I guess this is one of the perils of relying on a virgi—”

  “Enough.”

  Goddamn, she has no tact at all! Still, after that talk I had with Elluka after the crown’s compensation, I want to address what we can do about Luna’s.

  Usually, you could cancel it out by just trashing the Gollem, but Viola had rapid regeneration... That meant it would be pretty hard to bust. It wouldn’t be impossible if I used my divinity, but it would still be a bit much...

  “If I told you I could totally obliterate Viola, how would you feel about that? Keep in mind it’d stop your mind from slipping any further.”

  “You’d obliterate her? Hmm... I don’t know... Viola’s a nice little one, I think. Actually, Viola’s super gentle with me... The little cutie brings me food when I’m hungry, and carries me when I’m sleepy. Viola never asked to be born the way she was, either... If you ask me, the real monster is Viola’s creator.”

  Heh, the creator... He already paid the ultimate price, his memories, after Albus ran wild in the past... In the end, I suppose he got what was coming to him.

  If Luna didn’t want me to trash Viola, then I had to try plan B. I used a divinity-infused [Teleport] to warp into the prison cell. Typically, that kind of spell would be repelled by the barrier, but that didn’t stop me. I’d certainly become an unusual creature... Though I’d been one for a long time at this point.

  “Whuh?!”

  Luna jumped up in shock, but I ignored her and walked over to Viola, still trapped inside the icy coffin. I undid the spell, partially, and the ice thawed down enough to reveal Viola’s head and shoulders. “Beep.” Viola struggled to escape the ice, but it couldn’t do anything with its arms and legs trapped.

  “Viola. I’m going to take away the parts of you that make you a crown Gollem. I hope you don’t hate me for this, but it’s for the greater good.”

  I touched Viola’s head and cast [Analyze] on her. I couldn’t understand the intricacies, but I could sense the rudimentary functions like power flow. I also sensed the magical pathway that linked Viola to Luna, which was effectively the pathway that created Viola’s functions... Given that knowledge, I couldn’t fully erase it. But I could still do the next best thing.

  “[Cracking].”

  I used a Null spell that helped me modify magical programming. It was originally used t
o tweak magical artifacts. It wasn’t actually that useful, though. I couldn’t turn a fire staff into a lightning staff, for example. What I could do was make the fireball smaller or bigger, or just prevent the fireball from coming out at all.

  I used the spell to meddle with Viola’s insides, cutting off all access to her automatic regeneration ability and effectively removing her status as a Crown Gollem.

  “There we go. Viola’s no longer a crown, just a really powerful Gollem.”

  “No way...”

  “Yes way. Here, try jabbing yourself with this.”

  I took out a small sewing needle from my [Storage], and passed it over to Luna. Luna shakily held it up, removed her glasses, and immediately thrust the needlepoint toward her eyeball.

  “Whoa, stop! Are you stupid?! Don’t stab yourself in the goddamn eye!”

  “Hm? Why not? It’s just my eye.”

  “I meant for you to just prick your finger!”

  This girl was an honest-to-god nutbag. I didn’t trust her not to maim herself, so I snatched the needle back and gently pricked her fingertip. A small drop of blood pooled on her skin. She wiped it away, but more blood pooled out. The wound wasn’t healing.

  “You... You really disabled it?”

  “Try asking Viola to heal it. Trust me.”

  “Oh? Um... Viola, sweetie? Can you heal this?”

  “Beep.”

  Viola channeled magic energy through to Luna. I had disabled the regeneration ability, but in the process, I’d effectively created a new Gollem skill that a Legacy Gollem might have held. Basically, it was just regular regeneration, and it wasn’t automated. The little needle prick wound closed up in an instant.

  “So... what does this mean?”

  “It means Viola is now a regular Gollem with healing abilities. It won’t be able to heal anything fatal, though.”

  Luna wouldn’t be able to survive the gruesome injuries she’d been sustaining up until now. If she had her stomach gouged open again, or anything else like that, she’d absolutely die.

  “And now I need to cap off your punishment. [Guilty Curse].”

  I reached out and planted a curse upon Luna. I couldn’t just let her go unpunished, after all.

  “You won’t be able to derive pleasure from pain anymore.”

  “Huh?!”

  “Let me show you. Luna... Thank you for protecting the puretree, it meant a lot to me.”

  “Nh... Whhah?! M-Mmfh?! A-Ah, wh-what was that sensation just now? It was like a shiver up my spine!”

  Luna’s cheeks flushed a deep red as she wrapped her arms around her own body.

  Ugh... I’ll never get used to her gross behavior...

  “It’s pretty simple, really. This is the punishment I’ve imposed on you. You’ll gain pleasure from the gratitude of others.”

  In a sense, I made her more normal, but I probably just made her weirder. Then again, the world was full of people who took a lot of pleasure from things others might not find all that enjoyable. Either way, this curse converted general appreciation and happiness from others into direct physical pleasure that would ripple across Luna’s body.

  Most people felt some measure of happiness by helping others. Helping other people often served as a validating action for people, and helped with giving people a feeling of fulfillment and purpose. The curse I placed on Luna effectively gave her that validation... in the form of pleasurable sensations.

  “H-Hey, Tou! D-Do it again... Thank me again!”

  “Yeah, sure. Thank you, Luna.”

  “...Huh?”

  “Those words were empty, Luna. It won’t trigger anything if there’s no feeling behind it.”

  “Aww...”

  I ignored Luna as she fussed and pouted, and freed Viola from the ice.

  “But I don’t know how to get people to thank me, Touuuu... Who do I have to kill?”

  “Nobody! Why’s that your first assumption?! Just go help people in need!”

  Ugh, this isn’t good. I don’t want her doing bad things... I guess if she’s hired as an assassin, she could kill tons and tons of people just so her employer would thank her... Better add another stipulation to the curse that prevents her from committing murder... I’ll make sure it adds exceptions for combat or self-defense situations, though.

  Luna had clearly never been thanked in her entire life, so I needed to teach her the best way to earn gratitude.

  I summoned a [Gate] connected to Brunhild’s main school and dragged Luna there along with her Gollem. There were a bunch of kids playing nearby.

  “Oh! Grand Duuke!” “Wowie! Gwand Duke!”

  The kids cheered in joy as they stampeded toward us. It seemed like the purple Gollem was attracting their attention the most.

  “Hey, Tou! What is this place?!”

  “It’s my castle town’s main school. The kids are planting flowers today, I think.”

  Principal Fiana, along with Mr. Mittens, walked over from the main school building.

  “Meow nice to see you, Grand Duke.”

  “Oh my, what brings you here?”

  The two of them smiled as they greeted us. They were carrying small gloves and little trowels, seemingly in preparation for the flower planting.

  “I’ve brought a helper with me. She has a Gollem with her, too.”

  “Oh my, what a pleasure to meet you. You’re here to help us? Thank you so much.”

  “Nh— Aah?!”

  Fiana’s words of gratitude caused spasms of pleasure to ripple through Luna’s body.

  “Is she alright...?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. Her name’s Luna, and she’s just a little shy. Don’t worry if she seems a little jumpy.”

  “Ah, I see. It’s nice to have you here, Miss Luna.”

  “Y-Y-Yes, good...” Luna breathed heavily as she spoke. I wondered if she was actually okay, since it seemed like her body still wasn’t used to this new kind of pleasure.

  “Hey, Miss Luna! Come get the trowels with us! Over here!”

  “This way!”

  “Huh? No, I—”

  A group of little girls grabbed Luna by her hands and dragged her off. Viola hurried after them, a worried expression on its face. Frankly, I could use Earth magic to plant all kinds of flowers and make a lovely little flower bed, but Fiana was trying to teach the kids the value of hard work and co-operation, so I refrained. I decided to join in the old-fashioned way.

  A few hours later, we had a lovely little flower bed on the school grounds. Well, lovely by the standards of inexperienced kids, but it definitely had charm.

  “We did it...”

  “Beep.”

  Luna and Viola were just following instructions, but along the way, they started taking more initiative and worked alongside the kids. I was surprised to see a little smile on Luna’s face, even if she hadn’t noticed it.

  A little girl with a mud-caked face walked toward Luna. “Thanks shooo much!”

  “Nnnh?!”

  Luna started twitching and shivering, right on cue.

  “C-Could you say that again...?”

  “Thanks!”

  “A-Auuuh!”

  “Are you okay?”

  The girl seemed confused by Luna’s sudden writhing and gasping.

  “Thanks to you, too, Viola!”

  “Beep.”

  Luna swiveled around, shuddering hard and rubbing her thighs together as she shambled towards me.

  “T-Touuu... Thish ish baaahd... Nnnh... It feels shhooo good... Mmh... My heart’s pitter-pattering... I-It feels better than scooping out a man’s eyes, ahhhn... It feels better than being impaled by spears! Ohhh, it’s too much... I’m gonna start leaking...”

  “Heh. Does it make you feel alive?”

  “It really does... Ahh... I never felt this before... I-I’m gonna get hooked on it... You’re so cruel, Tou... So bad...”

  I mean, it is meant to be a punishment... But I don’t really buy that it’s cruel given how much you’re grinning. Honestly, the way your eyes are rolling back is terrifying, and the fact that you’re drooling makes me wanna get the hell outta here.

  The pleasure was maybe a little bit too intense for her... I sighed quietly, wondering if I’d made a mistake, as Fiana and a few more children came towards us.

  “Alright, class. Let’s thank the grand duke and Miss Luna for all their help.”

  “Ah— Wait, Fiana! You shouldn’t—”

  “Grand Duke, Miss Luna, thank you for all your help!”