“...”

Kim Hyun-Sung was more surprised than me, and he looked at me with confusion on his face. He had summoned Chanelia Hermes to commission her for a bag, but she suddenly asked my help while talking about dimensions and whatever, so I was sure this was pretty shocking news to him.

I was shocked as well, so it would be strange if Kim Hyun-Sung weren't shocked.

“

Wheeew…

”

Chanelia Hermes was attempting to deduce our reactions. I was sure she didn’t want to tell us like this, but it was undeniable that Kim Hyun-Sung was the one who had made her descend.

She had never imagined that things would turn out like this, but she was probably trying to find the right time to tell me. She probably thought about bringing it up right before she was done making the bag, as we'd be closer to each other by then.

Or perhaps she was going to bring it up once she was sure that I was satisfied with her work.

‘She’s pretty lucky as well.’

If there really were a problem in the dimension that Chanelia Hermes was managing, then she was lucky to get summoned here. Just as she was thinking about making contact with us, Kim Hyun-Sung somehow decided to summon her.

‘I’m sure there are issues.’

An explanation was unnecessary, as I understood what was going on. I knew why her dimension needed the God of Sacrifice and Revival's intervention.

‘It’s because there’s a lot of restrictions up there.’

Our continent had gone through a similar issue before, but it happened before the God of Sacrifice and Revival and the God of Sunset appeared.

I recalled Benigoa feeling the same way as her.

She had asked them for help, but they hadn't listened to her and often left the issue alone until it got really serious. Benigoa had to keep going back and forth with the management agency without having a clear solution, and she couldn’t do her work properly due to the regulations and the necessary approvals.

Personally, I felt like the higher-ups were no different from a typical corrupt and dysfunctional bureaucracy.

‘Since the higher-ups aren't helping her, she has no one else to turn to.’

We were independent, so we were her only choice.

“I would like to hear the details,” I said.

“A-Actually, I would like to talk about the bag first, God of Sacrifice and Revival,” Chanelia requested.

“Sure. For now, Mr. Ki-Young—”

‘You be quiet.’

“Can you stay quiet for now, Mr. Hyun-Sung?” I interrupted with a cold and chilling voice.

“...”

“...”

My voice was so cold that Chanelia became tense, and Kim Hyun-Sung looked like he was walking on eggshells around me.

“I don’t want to talk about the bag right now. Of course, I like your work, and I enjoy collecting your bags, but… how can I talk about something else when you've approached me with a different intention?” I questioned.

“I-I really didn’t have any other intentions, God of Sacrifice and Revival. I was accidentally summoned here. Although we tried to contact you, it wasn’t our intention to ask for your help like this,” Chanelia answered.

“And now I know,” I said.

“I have nothing to say, but I swear on my name, God of Sacrifice and Revival. I have no intentions of deceiving or insulting you. The contract was also written in a way that would be more beneficial to you. I don't want to put you in debt or pressure you,” Chanelia added.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

“It’s true, God of Sacrifice and Revival,” Chanelia said.

‘She

does

look pretty desperate.’

I was sure they were in an urgent situation.

‘It’s probably on the verge of getting even worse.’

“I’ll listen for now.

Ah!

I’ll be charging you a separate consultation fee,” I told her.

“Pardon?”

“There are fees for any consultation before accepting the commission. If you could just sign the contract…” I trailed off.

“

Ah…

right. I understand,” Chanelia said.

After signing the contract, things settled down a bit, and she finally started talking.

“I’ll formally introduce myself again. I’m Chanelia Hermes, the Goddess of Leatherworking. I am currently working with the administrator of Rohen in the 88th dimension. I have been commissioned for—”

“You don’t need to go into that much detail,” I interrupted her.

“

Ah

, right. So… the 88th dimension is currently in the worst-case scenario both internally and externally. In short, the Continent of Rohen is close to the destruction of its dimension to the otherworldly beings and demons constantly coming out from the rift,” Chanelia explained.

“...”

“The senior administrators have left to seal the rift, a few demon lords opened a dimensional gate, and three monarchs are staying on the continent at the moment. The lower-ranking demons are committing evil deeds to stay on the continent. The continent is turning into a hellish place,” Chanelia added.

‘Sounds pretty serious. Looks like there are rifts everywhere.’

I was really glad that Guardian Metel had sealed our rift.

I had no idea just how bad an unsealed rift was, but the fact that three demon lords were staying on the continent meant serious trouble.

‘It means demons like Belial are already there.’

They had to be extremists, and if they were like Belial, who was difficult to communicate with, the situation would only get worse. The goal of demon lords with attitudes in stark contrast to Belial wasn't to control the humans.

They were the type to kill the goose capable of laying golden eggs, so I could assume that they weren't going to communicate at all. If they were typical demons who wanted humans to fear them, then…

‘That place has to be like hell right now.’

“What about the higher-ups?” I asked.

“They’re just worried that Rohen will become a conflict zone. They sent an official letter to the demons, urging them to recall the demon lords in Rohen. They’re currently negotiating, but we don’t know when they’ll be done with the negotiations,” Chanelia replied.

“If you had to guess… how long do you think it will take?” I asked.

“About a hundred years,” Chanelia answered.

The continent would be destroyed by then.

“Hasn’t it become a conflict zone the moment the demon lords were summoned?” I asked.

“The higher-ups are worried about an all-out war. Since they’re negotiating with the demons, they believe Rohen will be returned to them in a hundred years, and they’re not wrong. If war erupts and Rohen really transforms into a conflict zone, the continent will rot for a thousand—no, more than ten thousand years,” Chanelia replied.

“...”

“But we can't wait for them to finish their negotiations. The continent is already collapsing. Most importantly, I can't ignore the painful voices of my followers living on the continent,” Chanelia added.

“...”

“We need a solution,” Chanelia said.

“...”

“The gods managing Rohen has to resolve the ongoing situation, not the higher-ups."

‘That’s true.’

“It's hard, but we need to overcome it,” she said.

‘Right.’

“We considered many things. We tested the possibility of sending myself, a warrior, or another god to descend and quell the chaos, but those weren't the answers that we wanted,” Chanelia informed me.

‘I can’t give you an answer either.’

"A-and that was when I heard about the story of Goddess Benigoa's continent. The story depicted the rise of a human being and how the continent overcame its hardships on its own instead of relying on the higher-ups.

"The story about how you drove out the demon lords and got rid of the Outer Gods. It's a story about those who earned the titles they deserved, and it's a story about how one individual became the symbol of the continent through their sacrifice and revival.

"Upon hearing that, we gathered more information and decided to use this continent as a role model for Rohen," Chanelia explained.

It made sense. If one wanted to solve a problem, it was a good idea to look around first to see if anyone else had overcome one's problem. It was probably more convenient for her to do things, as it was her home ground.

“Of course, it wasn’t easy to get access, but thanks to Goddess Benigoa’s grace, I was able to get some information. I was able to acquire more information about the incidents and stories that made this continent what it is today,” Chanelia informed me.

She met up with Benigoa and talked about this? I felt like I could imagine Benigoa being arrogant and showing off to her, but I set that thought aside for now, as I was interested in Chanelia Hermes’ story.

“We decided to take in the humans who have been abandoned in other dimensions,” Chanelia said.

“And we provided them with special abilities and items. We laid down a foundation that would allow them to become even stronger. We provided them with as much care and support as possible.

"At that time, the continent was so corrupt that it was basically in the worst state, but when the demonic lords started fighting over territory, I was able to buy some time. In some ways… it was great, but…” Chanelia paused.

“...”

“A huge variety of unexpected variables popped up. There are so many of them that I can’t list all of them right now…” Chanelia continued.

“Did the humans create their own groups and fight each other?” I asked.

“...”

“Yes,” Chanelia answered.

“And some of them probably sided with the demons,” I added.

“That’s correct,” Chanelia said.

“Some of them probably got into conflict with the denizens of Rohen… I’ll probably have to hear the details, but if the situation is at its worst, I can think of several possible incidents. What percentage of the continent isn't under the demon lords' influence?” I asked.

“We’re protecting only 42.1% of the continent. The demon lords' influence isn't that great at the moment, but…” Chanelia paused.

‘If they’ve been summoned, they won’t be able to wander on their own.’

It was the same for Belial. Maintaining their form alone was expensive. If a demon lord wanted to use their power to expand their territory, it'd shorten their time on the continent by an equal amount.

To stay longer, leaving it to the people was the wisest choice.

“

Ah

, so you want me to fix that mistake,” I said.

“That’s not what I wanted to ask you, God of Sacrifice and Revival,” she said.

“...”

“I-I’ll tell you the rest of the story I was telling you earlier. We started looking for the reason behind the repeated failures. We tried to see what made our continent different from this place,” Chanelia continued.

“Okay.”

“We came to a few conclusions, but in the end, we were able to find the closest answer,” Chanelia added.

“...”

“It was the existence of a regressor. The regressor was the focal point,” she revealed.

“?”

“After many sacrifices, we decided to turn one hero into a regressor, and we were able to execute that plan in the end, so I want to ask you—”

Bam!

“D-Don’t make me laugh!” Kim Hyun-Sung screamed.

I turned and saw Kim Hyun-Sung breathing heavily with bloodshot eyes.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

'What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting up?'

“Don’t make me laugh, damn it!” Kim Hyun-Sung shouted again.

I saw malice in his eyes, and I got worried that perhaps he had eaten something bad.