Chapter 224

"Offering blessings to this wonderful world?" Her expression was very helpless, but he looked very serious.

This guy actually thinks the word "wonderful" can describe this place. Living here long enough will make you realize this is hell, a place abandoned by God. There's no hope here, only a sliver of luck.

“Yes, and I also have the incredible skill of Sbria’o.” Ghost Duke propped his head up and looked at her: “Although compared to you, I’m still too weak.”

"I don't think so. There are certain conditions for me to activate my ability, but I still don't know if you have any such conditions."

"Restrictions? Shouldn't I ask around?" Ghost Duke looked at her with some curiosity: "Never mind if you don't want to tell me."

"It's simple, all you need is love." She said with a smile, "I can only use my abilities if I truly love the person I'm trying to restore."

"Hey, that doesn't sound difficult," Ghost Duke said, looking at her. "Isn't it just about what your definition of love is?"

"Oh? This is the first time you've commented like this." She tilted her head and looked at him. "In order to be able to use this ability, it took me a long time to make myself believe that all the misfortunes and disasters in the world are love."

“That is love, the great love of God.” Ghost Duke seemed to find it difficult to understand: “The conditions for its activation are really simple.”

"God's great love?" The benevolent man was bewildered by this term, frowning as he looked at him: "What is your definition of love?"

“All views with subjective bias are love,” Ghost Duke said, tilting his head as he looked at her. “And as for this misfortune, it is God’s love. Because it is fair.”

Is fairness a form of prejudice?

“Fairness itself is a prejudice.” Ghost Duke tilted his head and looked at her, saying, “You want fairness, but that itself is just a personal prejudice. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all God’s prejudices, because change is God’s great love.”

The benevolent one was stunned, looked at him and asked, "Then, is there such a thing as not loving?"

“Observation itself,” Ghost Duke said casually. “Observation without any thought is lovelessness. But very few people can do that.”

The air was silent for a moment, then the benevolent one suddenly laughed, a very happy laugh.

“Strange fellow, interesting theory,” she said softly. “But I do admit you’re right.”

"Hey? I'm just kidding, don't believe me." Ghost Duke said hesitantly, "You seem really free today."

"Because I've already finished what I needed to do, I'm not busy at all." She looked at Ghost Duke and said, "Now I'm interested in hiring people. Are you interested in following me? You don't need to do anything difficult. Just spend your days talking, chatting, and having fun with me."

"Become a comedian? The kind who's responsible for making people laugh?" Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment: "Do you want to be a clown?"

“I don’t know what you mean, but your understanding seems to be wrong… I just can’t find anyone I can really connect with, and I want to find someone I can have a proper conversation with.” She said softly, “If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I did something really awful to your friend. If you could, you probably would have killed me by now, right?”

"A cute girl can do whatever she wants. In the eyes of a hardcore otaku, being pretty means you can do whatever you want." Ghost Duke shrugged, indicating that he was fine with it: "Besides, friends? Sorry, maybe I consider them friends, but I really don't know if they actually consider this good-for-nothing my friend."

So you agree?

“No problem at all, but I’m not as useless as you think. I’ll cook you something delicious when I have time. If I have enough ingredients, I guarantee my cooking skills will satisfy you.” Ghost Duke looked at her stunned expression: “In my spare time, I still cook some food with my family. I can’t guarantee it will be very good, but it will definitely surprise you in this world.”

......

"What is this called?" The benevolent man looked at the food on the plate and used a silver fork to scrape the white food.

“Dumplings,” Ghost Duke said, looking at the remaining dough beside him. “I can make glutinous rice balls and knife-cut noodles from that. Don’t let my thin appearance fool you, I’m confident when it comes to eating.”

The benevolent man ate the so-called dumplings in small bites, his expression very strange.

The texture is unlike anything I've ever tasted before; the way it feels when you bite into it is unexpectedly unfamiliar.

This guy ordered a pot, some noodles, and some stuffing ingredients, and made the dish in front of him.

"Sauerkraut dumplings are the best," Ghost Duke said casually. "But I really can't make them. And I don't see any vinegar here either. It's a real shame that this world is missing those two things."

"If you know how to make it, I'll help you find the ingredients."

"No thanks, my cooking skills are limited to making dumplings." Ghost Duke sat opposite him, looking at the chopsticks in his hand: "Wow, pure silver cutlery. I've always liked this style, and I saved up my allowance for a long time to buy myself a set."

"Please speak in a way I can understand." The Benevolent One looked helplessly at the Ghost Duke in front of him, watching him curiously look around.

He was dressed in a monk's robe, thus formally joining the church and registering as a servant of the Benevolent.

"I just glanced at your servants, and it seems there aren't any men here," Ghost Duke said casually, resting his head on his hand. "Is it because you're not hiring? I remember there were quite a few men here, the guards at the gate, and many knights. Even though this place is spacious, most of the people maintaining it are monks."

“Indeed, I don’t really like being with men.” The benevolent one didn’t give any particular reason: “You’re a special case; I don’t dislike you.”

"Huh? Does this mean my luck with women has turned?" Ghost Duke said happily, "Good luck, good luck. As long as you keep trying to survive, good things are bound to happen."

"You're really weird," she said helplessly, tilting her head to look at him. "This thing called dumplings is delicious, thank you."

“At least that means I’m useful.” Ghost Duke rested his head on his hand. “In our original country, everyone would gather together to eat dumplings during the New Year. Everyone in the family would help. I was very unwilling at the time because it took up my time playing games.”

“There are too many words in what you’ve said that I don’t understand,” the Benevolent One said after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m starting to believe that you really did come here from another time and space.”

"Really? So you never really believed before? But that's good, at least there are still people who believe me now." Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment, looked at the guy sitting in front of him, and sighed helplessly.

“You don’t seem happy.” She hesitated for a moment before saying, “At least today, I haven’t done anything too harsh on you.”

"That's true, but are you sure you want me to use this room?" Ghost Duke looked at the place that could now be called a palace.

The area has expanded to an unusual size, and it even has a dedicated library.

"What we have no shortage of is living space. This is for the inspectors."

"The Inspector? Who is that?"

“He’s dead, don’t worry about him. He died in the battle against the Demon God. This room is empty now, and someone has been cleaning it. This is where you’ll live.” She looked at him and said, “Of course, you’ll have to move out of here once that guy is chosen. But even so, there are still plenty of empty rooms. So, in your mission, simply tidying up the mess you’ve made is also an important task.”

“I understand the reasoning.” Ghost Duke looked at a guy standing in the corner. It was a girl in a nun’s habit, standing there like a statue.

"That? It's a low-level, commandable thing. Its brain seems severely damaged, but nothing in my domain will die." The Benevolent One glanced at her: "Because it will obey anyone's orders, just let it clean. It's practically a moving corpse."

"I remember your ability is to directly heal all damage to a person, right? Can't you cure that?" Ghost Duke said while eating dumplings. "Or do you not want to cure it?"

“There will always be unexpected events. When my will falters, unexpected events will occur.” The Benevolent One looked at Ghost Duke and said, “I’ve wanted to ask you this since earlier. The thing in your hand looks really strange. Why did you ask me to make something like this for you?”

"These are tableware, things we often use back home." Ghost Duke was too lazy to explain further, picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks and ate it, feeling so moved he almost cried.

He never imagined he would be able to eat dumplings with chopsticks again. He had also read many novels about time travel. People who travel through time always have a strong interest in restoring the food and systems of their original world.

If I could, I'd want to live like that too. To be a lord, using my knowledge from this other world to make a living, earning lots of money, and living a happy life every day.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. He's not the protagonist. There are plenty of people who could be the protagonist, but he's definitely not one of them. Nobody wants to watch an adventure of a useless person. As a shut-in, he really can't do anything except talk a good game.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and a somewhat thin man stood in the doorway, staring blankly at Ghost Duke sitting there.

“Ren’ai, this is the first time I’ve known you’re interested in men.” He looked at the guy sitting there and said, “But now’s not your time for entertainment. Your men are here to see you, they’re at the door right now. They say they have something to discuss with you.”

"Let me guess, is it that high priest? I don't have a good impression of him. Although he's a high-ranking priest, he's clearly a professional at making trouble." The Benevolent One said somewhat displeasedly, then pushed the dumplings on his plate in front of Ghost Duke: "Help me get rid of them."

“I’d be delighted,” Ghost Duke said, watching her leave the room with the Immortal.

Once the door is closed, the place is as quiet as a prison cell.

"How should I address you?" Ghost Duke looked at the girl standing in the corner. She stood there like a puppet, not like she wanted to eat, nor did she seem to have any vitality.

No one answered him; it was as if the guy was dead.

Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment, then silently ate his dumplings.

In fact, in the realm of compassion, there is no need to eat; any pain will be healed, even hunger.

It will only leave behind pain, while you yourself will remain at your best, never aging or dying. And so it will continue, day after day, perhaps until the end of time.

Maybe the guy I'm following this time will stay with me for a long time. He's a pervert, a bastard. But at least he's a cute, adorable girl, and he'll live a very, very long time.

He pinched his own body, hesitating.

He got up, walked over, and looked closely at the girl who reached his chest.

"Could you stand somewhere else? Standing here makes it look like I'm abusing you," Ghost Duke said hesitantly, partly out of fear of having such a guy standing in the corner.

"Where should I go?" she asked softly, her voice sounding perfectly natural and pleasant.

"I heard you can clean?" Ghost Duke asked hesitantly, as this guy seemed to function similarly to a robot vacuum cleaner.

As expected, if we can't use technology, we can only consider manpower, even though oppressing a cute and adorable girl's labor makes him feel like a bastard.

But I really am a jerk, and cleaning is obviously too difficult for me.

Then he actually watched as this guy started tidying up the room, tidying up just like a normal person.

It seems that it can still think, but it has lost the ability to make its own judgments.

Ghost Duke looked at her back and thought, "This guy has completely lost his ability to handle things on his own, but he still has all the basic skills."

Suddenly, a strange thought popped into my head.

Perhaps, I could also order her to do some not-so-good things?

But the thought vanished as quickly as it appeared; almost instantly, Ghost Duke banished it from his mind.

Actually, it still longs to be a human being, so it tries to act and conduct itself according to human standards. Although most people think it is a monster, that is not a reason to give up on itself.

The obedient girl walked past him, and Ghost Duke patted her head. She didn't even pause before continuing to walk away.

This is the only way I can express my gratitude, though I don't know if she actually thinks it's a good thing.

Okay, now that I seem to have risen from the trough to the peak, why not take a good look at my new place?