The Vanished Corruption

Alice had actually really wanted to simply agree, let Klein believe that the one about to perish was the Goddess, and then admire his shocked expression when the loss truly occurred—but she couldn't.

As a symbol of Fate in a sense, Alice knew that at certain times, she couldn't talk nonsense. For example, right now. If she allowed Klein to keep this misunderstanding, it would be almost no different from declaring war on the Goddess.

So she denied it bluntly:

"What are you thinking? How could it be the Goddess? Even if the God of Death died, nothing would happen to Her!

"What I mean is... don't worry about it. The Goddess was behind this."

Klein relaxed considerably, then immediately frowned and hesitated. "...The Goddess was behind this?"

Alice blinked lightly. Klein seemed to realize something and tentatively opened his mouth:

"Then, the war outside... Loen's situation, and the Goddess choosing not to answer prayers... Is the Goddess showing weakness to the enemy?"

Alice blinked again.

Once he recognized the culprit, some matters were no longer difficult. Klein looked westward, his expression dark and unreadable. Alice leaned closer to him and said:

"If you feel dissatisfied with the Goddess sacrificing Her own believers, I can only tell you that before I knew the truth, I had emotions similar to yours.

"But... uh, it doesn't seem appropriate for me to tell you the situation now? This is, after all... Hmm, wait until you see the outcome before deciding whether to hate the Goddess.

"As for now, what you need to do is rest properly."

Alice's words calmed Klein down. He glanced at Alice, a trace of suspicion appearing in his eyes.

Klein did not persist in investigating the reason. Since Alice had said he would know the outcome, he believed that