I’m an Appraiser, But What the Heck is a [Divine Eye]? ~I Want to Live Freely as the World’s Best Beginner Class~ - Episode 164: An Unexpected Survival Life 32

Episode 164: An Unexpected Survival Life 32  

Once the commotion over our return had settled, I turned to Alicia to bring up something I wanted to discuss.  

“Hey, Alicia. I wanted to talk about something from the responses you sent through the Mail Bird.”  

“Is it about Taiku Moriya, by any chance?”  

“Yeah.”  

It seemed Alicia had been curious about Moriya as well since she brought up his name immediately.  

“I confirmed it with Leyreina-san, too. Moriya’s the one who gave us the contracted beasts. And apparently, he’s been alive for hundreds of years due to being immortal.”  

“Hundreds of years?”  

“Yeah. He said he’s lived so long he’s lost track of exactly how many years. But it’s definitely over a century. Back when Moriya was summoned, contracted beasts were considered part of everyday life.”  

Alicia folded her arms, thinking it over. But she soon shook her head.  

“…I’m sorry. I’ve never come across any records mentioning magical beasts being a part of human life.”  

“I see. Well, we can leave that to Leyreina-san for now. What I wanted to ask is about Moriya being labeled as a villain—or a demon, to be precise.”  

I succinctly explained that Moriya was like us, someone summoned from another world. His mindset wasn’t malicious or evil; in fact, he leaned more toward being a good person.  

Honestly, if he were truly a demon, he wouldn’t have cooperated in opening up or investigating the Forest of Demons. And if betrayal were involved, he would’ve been the victim, not the one doing it. Of course, it’s possible the information surrounding him has been deliberately manipulated.  

“From what you’ve told me, it seems unlikely that Taiku Moriya is a demon.”  

“It’s not ‘unlikely’. He isn’t a demon.”  

“Um, Maki-sama?”  

As I was trying to convince Alicia, Leyreina-san interrupted from the side.  

“What’s up?”  

“Well, it’s only natural that Alicia-sama is struggling to reconcile this. After all…”  

“After all?”  

“Not just Alicia-sama, but likely everyone raised in the Adelreed Kingdom has been taught since childhood that Taiku Moriya is a demon.”  

“…….Seriously?”  

According to Leyreina-san, Moriya’s name appears in the kingdom’s children’s tales, where he’s depicted as a demon—a figure of fear meant to terrify children.  

………Really? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use broader, generic examples like ghosts or ogres, instead of pinning everything on a single individual with a proper name?  

“I remember my mother reading those stories to me when I was little. Though now, I’m just a nuisance to everyone,” 

Leyreina-san added abruptly, her mood turning uncharacteristically negative.  

I gave her an awkward smile. 

“No, no, Leyreina-sama, that’s not what I meant. I simply saw it written there in the books.”

“…Is that so?”

However, Alisha’s reaction was something I didn’t expect.

…Wait. Now that I think about it, the relationship between Moriya and Alicia might be a bit problematic. Her ancestors were summoned from another world and ruled over Granzawall, didn’t they?  

There’s a low chance, but what if her ancestors were involved in betraying Moriya? Even if they weren’t the ones directly responsible, they could’ve supported those who were.  

“Ah… I should’ve asked Moriya if there was anyone named Yamato among his allies.”  

“What’s wrong, Maki-san?”  

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. So, Alicia, you weren’t told those stories growing up?”  

Deciding to shelve the topic for now and maybe send Moriya a Mailbird later, I redirected the conversation.  

“No, I wasn’t. In fact, I was the one who asked my father and mother what kind of person the Taiku Moriya in the stories was supposed to be. But neither of them spoke of him in a particularly negative light.”  

“That can’t be. In the Adelreed Kingdom, the tales portraying Taiku Moriya as a demon are supposed to be the norm.”  

“…….What’s going on here?”  

I thought about it for a moment. If I couldn’t figure it out, maybe I could just use Appraisal. While I couldn’t Appraise Moriya directly, I should be able to uncover the origins of the stories.  

“Analyze: The Origin of The Children’s Tales Portraying Taiku Moriya as a Demon.”  

I activated the Appraisal. And as expected, the results aligned with what I feared.  

“…Just as I thought.”  

“What is it?”  

“Let us see too!”  

“Sure,” 

I said, opening up the display for Alicia and Leyreina-san to read.  

What was written there was—  

“”…A fairy tale created to make people believe the false report that the hero of that time was betrayed by Taiku Moriya!?””

Seriously. The lengths people will go to for their schemes….. It’s all just so dirty.