-----
After the slaughter of the Vampires and other Demon Gods, dealing with Eustace, evolving, and changing Jobs, Ervas and Veronica took it easy for some time, mostly enjoying their everyday lives within Seashore.
Today, the two split souls had gone into Willian Bertrand's manor, mostly because it has been around two weeks since they came back to Seashore, and they had barely met him.
Because they brainwashed so many corrupt aristocrats and freed every slave possible, there were several changes in the economy that William noticed, alongside the abolition of slivery in the entire town, many of these brainwashed aristocrats allied with the split souls and the split souls had to take over the economy of the place, making it their monopoly.
Today was also the day the fourth All-Purpose Mega Store was going to be set in Seashore… All-Purpose Mega Stores were an invention of the split souls, which sold a variety of items, from normal to magical.
There was fresh bread, packed meat that took a week to rot due to Veronica's Death Magic manipulating it aging, potions, equipment, hygiene items, and more… All of that also being incredibly cheap, even the poorest person in the red-light district was able to buy a kilogram of bread and even a piece of meat with just a few copper coins…
This was a complete revolution, it made the entire people of Seashore suddenly begin to… enjoy life better. As food was not a problem anymore, many of the usual problems of poverty and even robbery ceased a lot.
Although they were still present, they had become very rare, and even more as the split souls did not only offered cheap items and food, but they also offered jobs with interchangeable hours and nice pay.
More of these markets meant that more people would be able to find jobs below the split souls' company…
"You two… had really just taken over the entire place, haven't you? I am honestly baffled… In just… about three or four months, you've done things I could have never been able to do," sighed Willian.
"Well, it is all about how generous you are! Nothing too hard," said Veronica.
"It also helps that you're god-like beings too!" said Willian, as he cleaned the sweat from his forehead.
"Haha, yeah…" chuckled Veronica.
"It doesn't bother us to help people in need, so perhaps we are not really Gods, as we are closer to the people than them," said Ervas.
Indeed, Willian already knew the whole ordeal or just part of it. The split souls had already done a magic contract using divine runes for him to never spit the truth, of course, so they were now relaxed with him, as he spoke about how extraordinary they were.
"I guess so… Well, things had turned for the better at the end. Most of the corrupt aristocrats had been "reformed" and well… I've never seen this town in such prosperity as it is now. So, what's your plan now?" asked Willian, while sipping some tea.
"We are going to explore the Demon Continent," said Ervas.
"I see, so- GEH?! The demon continent?!" asked Willian.
"Well yeah, that's quite an obvious move. We have to get there and find my mother," said Ervas.
"And we'll clean it up from the mobs, mostly the remnants of the Demon God-King, and then we'll heal the Gods and make more allies in the way," said Veronica.
"After that, we'll come back here and… Well, that's spoilers, for now, that's it, pretty much," said Ervas.
"I see… Well, what will happen here? And about… Bestellen's Empire…" said Willian.
"Ah, don't worry about that, we will also stay here too," said Veronica.
"Yeah, don't worry. We were thinking of putting the whole Seashore inside our Divine Realm, but that might be too impactful for the people yet, for now, we have to continue spreading our names and making them believe in our strength and leadership," said Ervas.
"So that's why you're requesting to become High Nobles and also to… take over the nation as new rulers? Well, you already brainwashed that idiot that sent you Vampires, so I guess it is within your grasp, right?" asked Willian.
"More or less, but we don't want to force things, we'll take our time," said Ervas.
"Yeah. Not everything is about brainwashing. If we simply do it for everything, we'll slowly lose whatever is left of our humanity and there won't be anything but an empty husk… Despite everything we do, we still have a bottom line and a goal in mind… Going too much over the tyrannical route will only lead to our doom one way or another," said Veronica.
"I feel bad when I brainwash people that don't deserve it… So I won't do it with Seashore's people… It is better to win them with merit and actions," said Ervas.
"You two are quite particular… But that's for the best. You're quite not really villains, but you are not true heroes either… I guess you two are the definition of gray," said Willian.
"The definition of gray? What kind of definition is that?" asked Veronica.
"Both of you are not either good or bad, but there is also a strong and kind heart within you. The thing is, the methods you use would be questionable and most of the time said to be used by the villains… But I suppose it doesn't matter whatever I think or not at the end, right?" sighed Willian.
"I see… And it is important to us. You're our friend after all. Before we even got this strong, you welcomed us and all- I know it might have been due to the money, but still," said Ervas.
"Yeah, not many aristocrats would have done what you did, they would have most likely tried to trick us or something… But you did a lot for us," said Veronica.
"Hmm… Indeed, it was more like just the money at that time, but I do believe I've also changed my perspective about you two. If you really want to change the world… I might be able to believe in you," said Willian with a gentle smile.
-----