Chapter 46 (1/2)

[Max! Smith Jr. and Eula need your help!]

Max stared at the words in his vision with a vacant expression. He went through the list of herbs in his mind, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out which ones were Smith Jr. and Eula. Maybe they were the names of the alcohol brewing in his cellar. Then again, they could also be the names of some of the spirit beasts that were being reared. Before Max could ask for confirmation, a portal opened up in front of him, and on the other side, there was a hellish scene of screaming people and fire raining down. Max covered his eyes and turned around. “I like this world way, way better, thank you very much.”

[Max! An immortal is attacking the Flame Dragon Empire!]

“Flame Dragon Empire?” Max tilted his head. “Where is that?”

[That’s the empire you’re a citizen of!]

“Oh…,” Max said slowly while nodding his head. A long, long time ago, he was part of a civilization, wasn’t he? But that was a million years ago when he was still a mortal. He had lived there for such a short amount of time that it was basically a rounding error, and he had completely forgotten about it. “So, what about it?”

[You have to defeat the immortal attacking the empire—for justice!]

Max scratched his head. Everything he did, they seemed to be for justice. Raising spirit herbs—for justice. Raising spirit animals—for justice. Brewing alcohol—for justice. He had seen the phrase so often that it lost its meaning to him. The world he was in, it was nice and peaceful. The food was great. He didn’t want for anything. In short, it was paradise. The world that was behind him, through the portal, it was hell. Who in their right mind would give up paradise for hell? Besides, the justice words—as he called them—seemed to be forgetting something. “I have no combat experience. If I fight another immortal, I’ll die.”

[How can you say you’ll lose before even trying? That’s not the thought process of a warrior of justice! The warrior of justice acts before he thinks, punches before he speaks, and picks himself up after defeat!]

Max exhaled through his nose, completely unperturbed by the justice words. “I think you’ve made a mistake,” he said. “I’m a gardener of justice, not a warrior.”

[Even a gardener can become a warrior in times of desperation!]

“I’m not feeling very desperate though….”

[Max! You’re going to go through that portal and fight that immortal, or I’m kicking you out of this place!]

“A change of scenery would be nice,” Max said and scratched his chin. Despite his age, he still looked like a young man, clear of facial hair. “I’m sure I’ll be fine wherever I go.”

[This is what happens when you raise users without any hardship. They start rebelling when you give them difficult tasks.]

[Shut up! How many immortals have you even raised, huh? What does a snack god know about rearing users?]

[This snack god is richer than your whole alliance! How much money have you raised, hmm? Exactly!]

[All you do is mooch off of Vremya!]

[If Vremya didn’t fund you, would Max even be an immortal right now? Is it even okay for justice to have hypocrisy?]

[I was just pointing out facts! I never said I raised Max by myself. I just said you haven’t raised any immortal users.]

Max blinked. He already knew there were multiple sets of words in existence, but this was the first time he had seen them blatantly arguing. Where exactly were they located? Did they reside in his head? He wondered about it, but quickly dismissed the thought. He already knew he wasn’t the brightest person, and many unexplained things happened around him all the time. One more event wasn’t worth breaking his mind over. Max turned around, ignoring the squabbling in his vision. The portal to the Flame Dragon Empire was still wide open. It looked exactly as he remembered it. Then again, he barely remembered it at all, so he wasn’t sure if his memory was changing to fit the scene or if the scene really resembled his memories.