Chapter 40: The Whispers of the Demon (Chen Mo)

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According to incomplete statistics, during the Twelve Talismans arc, Valon suffered losses of nearly 650 million dollars while helping Shendu collect the talismans. And that was nothing compared with what happened during the Eight Demons arc that followed. Shendu squandered nearly all of Valon’s fortune, leaving him penniless and destitute, until he was ultimately forced to make a living as a bus driver.

But things were different now.

[Valon: [Image] With this much gold, I’ll have enough to become one of the richest men in the world!]

[Lu Mingfei: Yeah. Even if you crashed one plane and capsized one ship every episode, just like in the original story, you still wouldn’t end up as badly off as you did at the end, right?]

[Valon: Impossible. Absolutely impossible!]

[Valon: To be perfectly honest, I’ve decided to wash my hands of evil and turn over a new leaf.]

[Valon: Once I’ve gathered all twelve talismans for Chen Mo, seized those strange magical artifacts, and obtained the masks of the Shadowkhan Legion, I’ll collect Chen Mo’s payment in gold and quit working for the Dark Hand. Then I’ll take my men and spend our days lying at home, counting money!]

[Kaguya Houraisan: My, my, what an enviable retirement.]

[Emiya Shirou: Um, Miss Kaguya, aren’t you already a princess who never has to worry about money?]

Ignoring the group member who was already preparing to enjoy a life of idle retirement, Chen Mo continued speaking.

[Chen Mo: All right, let’s see…]

[Aqua: Holy crap, Chen Mo, are you really that rich? I thought you were just bluffing.]

[Aqua: @Chen Mo]

[Aqua: Big shot! Please take care of me!]

…Hadn’t I seen these exact words just a few days ago?

[Chen Mo: No way. Didn’t we agree earlier that I’d give you a hypnotic device, so you could hypnotize yourself and Kazuma into becoming star slaves and work off your debt?]

[Aqua: …B-but…]

[Aqua: If I had this much money, I could pay off the debt all at once. I wouldn’t need to go out and work, and I could drink as much sparkling wine as I wanted…]

[Chen Mo: That’s a mistaken way of looking at it, Aqua. A very mistaken way.]

Chen Mo tried earnestly to dissuade her.

[Chen Mo: Don’t you want Kazuma to obey you, love you, devote himself to you, respect you, worship you, and admire you—the greatest archpriest in the world? Don’t you want him to swear his life to you, the master of banquets, goddess of the Axis Order, and goddess of water?]

[Aqua: Guh…]

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Chen Mo’s speech left Aqua thoroughly bewildered, and she fell into hesitation for a moment.

As for why Chen Mo was so determined to give Aqua the hypnotic device…it was mainly because he genuinely wanted to see what kind of story would unfold when Aqua’s luck interacted with the hypnotic device, and then collided with Kazuma Sato’s luck.

[Kurumi Tokisaki: My, my, Mr. Chen Mo really is enthusiastic about hypnosis… What a lovely hobby you have~]

[Chen Mo: It is genuinely useful.]

Chen Mo admitted it without the slightest embarrassment.

[Lu Mingfei: Somehow, that sounds like the whisper of a demon…]

[Chen Mo: Then are you sure you don’t want a hypnotic device? It won’t let you run wild in your world, but you could use it on some of your classmates.]

Lu Mingfei fell silent.

[Chen Mo: Or how about this? Aqua, you could hypnotize ordinary people, have them work for you, and then make them join the Axis Order. You could increase the number of your followers and crush the Eris Order completely. What do you say?]

[Aqua: R-really?!]

Aqua’s eyes immediately lit up.

As a goddess, Aqua actually cared a great deal about the number of her followers. She was also jealous of her junior, Eris, and of Eris’s status and following in the other world.

That was why she had never abandoned her efforts to recruit members for the Axis Order. In private, she had even tried to convince Kazuma and the others to join. Every night, she would secretly sneak into Kazuma’s room and whisper into his ear:

“You must join the Axis Order. Then you can obtain supreme salvation.”

She had been trying to brainwash him…but it had been completely ineffective.

But if she had this—if she had this…

Aqua sank into deep conflict.

[Kaguya Houraisan: That really is the whisper of a demon. Even a goddess has fallen…]

[Chen Mo: I have no intention of strengthening my demonic bloodline for now… Hmm, speaking of which, have I forgotten something? Other than giving each of you a present, I mean.]

[Emiya Shirou: It should be the stories from the worlds of the other group members. You said earlier that you’d send them over once you returned to the Main God Space.]

[Chen Mo: Oh, right. I forgot.]

Chen Mo slapped his forehead, rose from the floor, and glanced at the Main God. Then he turned and walked toward the row of doors behind him. He found an unclaimed door, grasped the handle, and pushed it open.

Beyond the door was a familiar sight—the room from his memories, his own bedroom…

After a moment, Chen Mo suppressed his melancholy, dropped into the chair before his computer desk, and began searching for the manga and novels connected to several of his group members.

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Volume 19 of *KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!*, Volume 22 of *Date A Live*, *The Dragon Raja* Volumes 1 through 5 plus *Dragon Raja: Reboot*, the latter half of *A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality* plus *A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: The Immortal Realm Arc*, the anime and games of the *Fate* series, the games, novels, manga, and guidebooks of the *Touhou Project* series…

To protect the privacy of the group members, he sent all the later novel and manga content to them privately, one by one. If they wanted to share their own stories, they could post them in the group themselves.

[Han Li: Many thanks. I shall take my leave for a while.]

[Kurumi Tokisaki: I need to study my story as well…]

[Lu Mingfei: I’d like to see just how much of a “tragedy” my story really is!]

[Emiya Shirou: I…I really need to read mine?]

[Chen Mo: It’s up to you. You could always read it during your downtime. It might be a good way to relax.]

[Kaguya Houraisan: There’s so much material on my side.]

[Chen Mo: Lu Mingfei’s story seems to be set around 2010, while the material on my side goes all the way up to 2024. Of course there’s more.]

[Kaguya Houraisan: All right, I’m finished.]

[Kaguya Houraisan: So many interesting things happened in Gensokyo… I wonder if I should go out and take a look around myself someday~]

[Chen Mo: ?]

Oh, right. Her ability was apparently “Eternity and the Instant.” Compressing the immense amount of time required to play, read, and study the games, novels, and manga of the Touhou series into a mere instant was the specialty of this princess of the moon.

Come to think of it…

Chen Mo sat in the room and pondered for a moment. Then, with a thoughtful expression, he left the room and returned to the Main God Plaza. He dropped down beneath the Main God’s orb of light.

The chat group gradually quieted down. Most of its members cared deeply about the stories of their own futures and had eagerly begun reading.

They were confirming the future of their original worlds, then using that knowledge to make new plans and create even better futures.

In that case, he needed to make some proper plans for himself as well.

“Cultivation…” Chen Mo murmured. He closed his eyes and immersed his consciousness in the Main God’s vast exchange list.

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