Bart's Perspective "What on earth is going on..."
I sat slumped at my desk in the conference room.
While the Demon King was away on his expedition, an unprecedented situation had arisen.
No wonder I felt like slumping.
"Even if you ask me what's going on, what do you expect me to say?"
Sanatia let out a sigh that was equal parts exasperation and bewilderment at my attitude, then shrugged her shoulders.
The other corps commanders had gathered here as well, though many had either been killed in the Great War or were accompanying the Demon King on his expedition.
Including myself, only four of us were present.
Sanatia, Commander of the Second Army.
The topic at hand, naturally, was the words that had suddenly rung out—something called a World Quest.
What did it mean to either slay the Evil God or cooperate with it?
For that matter, what even was a World Quest?
Nothing like this had ever happened in the long history of the Demon race.
"...Let me hear everyone's opinions."
Even as I remained hunched over, I somehow managed to squeeze those words out.
"Even if you say 'opinions,' we have far too little information. We don't have the faintest idea what's going on, so no amount of discussion is going to produce an answer," Sanatia said, voicing what everyone was thinking.
She was absolutely right.
『World Quest activated. To prevent the destruction of the world, either thwart the Evil God's plot to offer humanity as a sacrifice, or cooperate.』
These words had suddenly come ringing out, but frankly, we had no idea what they meant.
As far as we could tell, every member of the Demon race had heard them.
Of course, we hadn't taken statements from every single demon, so it was possible this was only occurring around this Demon King's castle.
It could also be that demons had heard it but humans hadn't.
But there was no way to verify that right now.
And even if we could, I wasn't sure it would actually move us forward.
More importantly—what was this Evil God?
Whether we were supposed to stop it or cooperate with it, how were we supposed to do either?
This message alone told us absolutely nothing.
We were drowning in things we didn't know, and I hadn't the faintest clue what the right course of action was.
The Demon King might have known something, but...
For something like this to happen while the Demon King was away—terrible timing.
"Even if we don't understand it, we still have to do something. The public is in a state of panic."
Even I didn't understand what was going on. The common people were just as clueless and confused.
Quite a few of them were gripped by anxiety, and it was no wonder—the content of this so-called World Quest was deeply unsettling.
The Great War against the Human race had only just ended, and now this.
At worst, people's pent-up frustration could erupt into violence, driven by fear.
Between the forced conscription and the war itself, resentment toward the government already ran deep.
The only thing that had kept a lid on it was the people's absolute terror of the Demon King.
And now, with the Demon King absent, the slightest spark could set everything off.
To prevent that, the government had to issue some kind of announcement regarding the World Quest.
"But even if you say that, we don't know anything either! We can't just go out there and spout nonsense. And we certainly can't stand up and say, 'We have absolutely no idea!'"
"...That's true."
That kind of thing could be the spark that set off the explosion. People would say the government was incompetent.
Then again, we genuinely didn't know anything, so maybe they'd be right.
"...Kogou, do you have anything?"
"Wha—!? Uh... Sorry. I don't really get the complicated stuff..."
I hadn't had high expectations, and sure enough, Kogou had no bright ideas.
"Dalrad?"
"Hmm. In peacetime, we'd normally defer to the Demon King's orders on something like this, but that's not exactly an option right now."
Dalrad crossed his arms and frowned in thought.
Dalrad was a staunch Demon King supremacist, but putting that aside, he was accomplished in both strategy and combat.
Even he couldn't make an instant judgment on this.
Then again, neither could I.
"Still, as Barty-dono says, we can't simply do nothing. For the time being, we should publicly announce that an investigation is underway and instruct everyone not to cause an uproar."
"...That's the most practical approach."
It was nothing more than a stalling tactic, but it would at least project the appearance that something was being done.
I doubted it would suppress all discontent, but it should help to some degree.
"We could also increase patrols throughout the city and maintain a heightened state of alert."
"But if we deploy too many soldiers on patrol, wouldn't that stir people up instead?"
"Good point. ...Actually, let's have the soldiers conduct door-to-door interviews under the pretense of an investigation. We need to confirm whether every person actually heard those words."
"That's true. And it would naturally increase the number of soldiers in the streets without it looking suspicious."
"Right. And while they're at it, they can convey that an investigation is currently in progress."
Thanks to the solution Dalrad had proposed, a tentative course of action was taking shape.
It wouldn't solve the root problem, but it should be enough to keep the streets from descending into chaos.
"I'll leave execution of the city measures to the Second Army. Is that acceptable?"
"Understood."
"That takes care of the immediate area, but what about the other towns?"
"I'd like to address those as well, but we're short on manpower. The best we can manage is to dispatch one messenger on horseback to each town."
"Hmm. Then the Fifth Army will take on that task."
"Much appreciated."
Everything was falling into place with surprising speed.
Before the meeting started, I hadn't had the faintest idea what to do, but at least we'd established an immediate plan of action.
...Though one of the four of us had contributed essentially nothing and was just sitting there like a decorative fixture.
"The real problem is that we have absolutely no idea what this World Quest actually is."
"Yes."
Most likely, it was a divine revelation from God.
If that was the case, its importance was immeasurable.
We couldn't just leave it unaddressed because we didn't understand it.
"Ugh. What are we supposed to do..."
I couldn't help but sigh and mutter in frustration.
That was when it happened.
『World Quest Sequence 1. Initiating installation of the Taboo on all of humanity.』
"...Wha—!? Gah—! Ugh—!"
Once again, words that came ringing out of nowhere.
Before I could even process their meaning, a piercing headache struck me down. I collapsed forward onto the desk.
It felt as though someone had poured boiling water directly into my brain. Unable to bear the excruciating discomfort, I lost consciousness.
What a kind God, so generous as to gently reveal the truth to those who knew nothing at all.