" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: Narrator/Voice-off

Your POV:

Celestina: Fight me, you say... hey Vanir, with this, you won't get in my way anymore, right ? I can take this as a contract, right ?

Vanir: Indeed, we have made a contract. Worry not, we devils absolutely will not break a contract. Now, dear associate.

"I'll be fine, don't worry. The puppetry of gratitude... Quite a nasty little trick, don't you think ?"

Celestina: ... So you knew ?

"A Goddess' power is proportional to the number and faith of followers, so there's no way Regina, with only a handful, could grant any wishes. However, you... All the adventurers that got under your control are those you helped, those who feel gratitude towards you... Those who feel indebted to you."

Celestina: Tch. So this is why you brought me all the way here, you fucker ? Hoping you could get Vanir's help to fight me ? Tough luck, I snatched the contract before you !

"Fufu... Really, a most delusional one."

Celestina: What's so funny ?!

"i don't know. Thinking that I would cower in fear behind Vanir... or that I even need someone's help to reduce you to smoldering ashes~. After all, once I demolish you, the puppets will regain their free wills, won't they ?"

Celestina: Gh... But are you ready to wager your own life, and everybody else's in this town for that ?!

Vanir: About that, dear associate, may I have your attention on today's series, the "useless Potions series" that this worthless shopkeeper bought in the past.

"i'm kind of in the middle of something right about now, Vanir. And you just said they were useless, didn't you ?"

Vanir: for instance, this is the Stats Up Potion (Changed). It's made from a regular stats up potion, and is more effective than its regular counterparts.

"Doesn't it raise one stat while lowering another ? What effect does this one have ?"

Vanir: Your strength will increase tremendously, but in return, your intelligence will decrease.

"... By what order of magnitude ?"

Vanir: It would definitely end up lower than your goddess of toilets'.

"... ... Don't tempt me into making her drink it."

Vanir: Then what about these ? The first part of Forbidden Potions Series ! This potion will allow you to draw the ire of monsters for the rest of your life when you drink it ! Perfect for earning experience points ! Or this one that'll raise your magic power in exchange for killing your hair follicles ! Or this one that'll reduce your magic to zero but raise your levels by leaps and bounds ! Or this potion that attracts the opposite sex but make you smell like a goblin ? Or this level reset potion that's perfect for masochists who would wish to relieve their harsh training ?

"All of these are defective products... And I'd advise keeping the monster-attracting, and level reset ones away from darkness, she'd be way too eager to buy them..."

Vanir: Well, what about this potion that cures the puppet status effect ?

Celestina: What ?!

Vanir: Oh, that seems to have caught your interest. This is a potion that cures the unique status ailment "Puppet". That said, that's a very rare status effect that no extant monster can inflict. As far as Moi is aware, the only one that can inflict it right now is a minor dark Goddess...

Celestina: Don't refer to Regina-sama as a minor Dark Goddess !

"... ... So the puppet status is considered an 'Ailment' ?"

Vanir: Correct.

"So that means a high-level priest could potentially dispel it ?"

Vanir: That's right.

"And the number of bottles of these you have available is... ?"

Vanir: two thousands !

"Iiiinteresting~"

Celestina: ... Didn't you make a contract not to get in my way, Vanir ?

Vanir: Fuhahahaha, the all-seeing devil so declares ! Even if these potions fall into this man's hands, they will not get in your way ! Now, the Forbidden potion series, and that Puppet curing potion I just gave you is a free service ! Now, here comes the main event ! How much are you willing to pay for a case of those potions over there ?

"I'll consider it. But for now, I think I have something else to take care of. Oh, and about that, I received that special order already. Now, back to business... How do you want this to go ?"

Celestina: ... *Sigh* Oh, fine, I give up on this town. Truth be told, I underestimated you. I should've come at you with full force right from the start.

"You biggest mistake was trying to take people from this city hostage with that curse thing. That really pissed me off. But, I guess you're in luck, I don't really like to spill blood just for the sake of it. However, i'm still an opponent to the Demon King, I hope you understand that."

Celestina: Yes, yes, I get it. I'll tell the demon King Satou Kazuma isn't interested, and that neither nor this town is worthy of his attention, so there's no need to worry so much about them. And I'll leave this town too. that'll be fine, right ?

"... Well, if anything, I can praise that you know when to stop pushing forward. You might be on the weak side of generals, but that only means I would have less trouble to dispose of you. Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you brought with you ?"

Celestina: Well, I didn't have it easy either. Though I don't really care about any of it now... *Sigh*, i'm not looking forward to this... this might be the end of your part in this, but I still need to report to the Demon King afterwards. So if you value your friends and this city not being targeted, I'd recommend you stay put for a little bit.

Celestina: ... We had the name Satou Kazuma on check, but there was also a vague rumor about that summoner guy that we should watch out for, so the orders for that were clear, either convince you to join us, or kill you... Well, I'll tell you something; the truth is, I wasn't exactly looking forward to clashing with you either. i'll forget about those nasty rumors you spread about me in this town, so you forget a bunch of things too, alright ?

"... Whatever, just get the hell out of here. And release these guys from your control too. You better remember, the moment you step foot in this town again, I won't be so lenient, you'll be vaporized on sight."

Celestina: yeah, yeah, I get it. With this, this town won't be targeted by the Demon King's army anymore. Oh, one more thing, Satou and your other companion. She was called Megumin, wasn't she ? There was a pretty large bounty on their heads, so I'll get rid of that too.

"... She'd probably be happy to know there's a bounty on her head... And for some reason, I feel like I should get used to that as well..."

Celestina: ... You know, you could be a little more thankful to me, right ?

"Yeah, yeah, thank you or whatever. But that still doesn't answer why you stayed here, or what you were trying to do with this beginner town... hng... ?"

Celestina: ... You finally said it.

"Said what... Head... numb... Hazy..."

Celestina: My, my, you really are something. You already figured out how my power works, right ? You might be the first one to get this close to figuring out the true form of my power.

"... You little..."

Celestina: You wanted to know what i'm planning in a town of beginners like this, right ? There, there, I'll tell you all about it, so be thankful to me, okay ? You asked, so of course I'll answer; I listened to your request, so you'll owe me for this, right ?

"... ... ..."

Celestina: The truth is, the army will dispatch a division to this town not to long in the future. But, well, this town is the town furthest away from the front lines. There's no way we can march an entire army all over the country to this town. Thus, only a small amount of units are scheduled to be sent here through Teleport. But, well, for a town of beginners, that is more than enough. Do you know the fallen angel, Duke ? He went missing around this town a while ago.

"... ... !"

Celestina: It looks like you do. Could it be that you took care of him too ? Well, we received a message from him before he disappeared, warning us that Kazuma wasn't the real threat in this town. Ah, don't get the wrong idea. This town has been a target for quite some time. Even before the Generals started disappearing and high bounty targets started getting taken out.

"... And w- why's th- that ?"

Celestina: Because this is the town of fledgling adventurers. Because this is the town of beginnings. I might be a Demon King's General, but I'm still a human. I even used to be an adventurer, you know ? And of course, when I first started as an adventurer, I was directed to this town. Everyone picked up their first quest here. This is the town of beginners, Axel. The weakest monsters all over the world are purposely cultivated and given a breeding population here. A town specifically meant to raise newbie adventurers. Then, what would happen if this place were to be destroyed ? Goblins might be known as a staple training target, but even their rusty blades are dangerous to newbie adventurers fresh out of the gates. Giant frogs can be taken down as long as you get enough people on your side, and the only place where they breed is here. If this town didn't exist, exactly where would newbie adventurers go to train ?

"... S- So... T- To cut the p- problem to th- the root..."

Celestina: Stop forcing these words, my answers will just make the process faster. Do you get it ? Apart from a few exceptions like the Crimson Demons with their mysterious training method, all famous adventurers had their start in this very town. They raise their levels here before setting off towards other towns. Unless they have some special reason, most adventurers will stay in this town until they gain quite a few levels under their belt. And those people will eventually end up facing off against us.

Celestina: You said it yourself, didn't you ? You and Kazuma are the last of these weirdly-named people that showed up, so if this town disappears too, the recruitment of adventurers will cease entirely... You know of the strongest of the Demon King's Generals? The Demon King's daughter? She's currently planning a large scale attack on the fortresses along the frontline and the capital. That will surely cause significant casualties amongst the adventurers... And, if those guys who are desperately holding the line and awaiting new reinforcements were to hear that the training ground of new adventurers, the town of Axel is destroyed...

"... Kuh... You... Bitch..."

Celestina: yes, take a knee, O mighty protector of Axel. I guess you're nearing your limit. This power isn't a curse. No matter what kind of person you are, there's no way you can resist it. Especially not a man like you. But don't worry. If I give you an order you really hate, you'll still be able to resist. It might cause you great pain, though. But it's you we are talking about. I'm sure you won't simply lay back and submit to being my puppet... Now, let me enjoy finding out exactly how much you will resist my orders...! Hahahahaha !

"... Yes... Please, let's just find out how long you can hold out before you crumble into dust. I'm just dying to truly make you pay off the debt you owe to that entire town !"