From all the information I could gather: the Wandering God is a being that lives in a symbiotic relationship with mortals. Then the only logical step would be to disrupt that.

  The purple planet had unfortunately not been anything special compared to other planets I had come across. Countless rotations around its star had I studied this System and understood all its rules. Raising my focus toward the planet, I did what my kind does best: manipulate. Once you knew all the rules, knowing loopholes was all that was necessary to bring down the System.

  By my will, I looked on as a Void appeared on the planet, then another, then another. When the planet had too many Voids to manage, I looked on as it collapsed in on itself. What was left was but a cloud of dust.

  "There." For the young ones it would have been impossible to notice, but I am one of the oldest of the ineffable. I sensed a gaze. It was far too weak to pinpoint, but it had to be the Wandering God.

  "I wonder how many planets it will take before they intervene?"

  - [Error]

  Tom braced himself for the pain, but instead of hitting him the bullet stopped in mid air. Then, as if the world suddenly remembered the bullet existed, it fell on the floor.

  "Lisa."

  The secretary laid down her gun and bowed. "Greetings, lady Alice."

  "It is Commander Alice. And you do not need to spy on him for my sake; he has my trust. I will not have you ignore my orders, or he will hear about this. Is that understood?"

  The secretary brazenly rolled her eyes. "My apologies." Then she left, stomping down the stairs.

  That had caught Tom off guard. He hadn't expected to see a gun here. Wasn't rule number one in an isekai not to invent destructive weapons that can cause a giant war? But it was probably natural that someone would have slipped up eventually, being a world that takes in a lot of otherworlders and all.

  Forget that, he almost died! "Why did she try to murder me for?"

  The Commander walked in wearing expensive-looking golden armor and didn't look much different from the roll call. "Don't take it to heart. She can be somewhat … overprotective."

  That was another level of overprotective, but for what? The secretary didn't even seem that respectful to her. "Guess I can overlook it, for now." He was for sure holding a grudge though.

  She gestured towards the chairs in front of the desk. "Why don't we talk? You came earlier than I thought. I wouldn’t have minded if you took more time to rest."

  So, Instructor Olga really did tell him to go early on purpose. How kind of her.

  Tom didn’t know what to greet the Commander properly, so he awkwardly nodded and smiled. He went to sit on a chair, and when the Commander had taken her seat his curiosity took hold of him. "What is that giant hole?"

  "Straight to the point I see. I admire that. Although, this wouldn’t be a question a nobleman would have asked." She smirked. "There isn’t much to say: it is a giant hole. People call it the Void, and it is a natural geographical phenomenon."

  How was a giant hole in the planet something natural? This world was really strange. "Then why are we even here so close to the Void?"

  "That is because recently the church has ordered the eradication of all demons, and that is why a campaign was launched by the king, lest the church gets its own ideas and creates a private military. Demon horns are also valuable, and … there are other more complex reasons as well." She looked like she was contemplating something. "For the common folk, the high priest also revealed that the existence of the Void is due to demons."

  "The Void is due to the demons?" Tom repeated. "That makes no sense. Having the Void makes it harder to invade since the only border is the New Forest. And if they actually are the cause behind it, isn’t it more evident that they more likely want to be left alone?"

  She nodded. "I am impressed. Normally people would just ignore that fact, yet you are different. I guess it’s the intuition of an otherworlder."

  Did she say otherworlder? "Wait, how did you know that? Not that I am proving your assumption or anything."

  "Because I saw you. At first, I thought you were another drunk noble. However, you exited a certain building. The building a previous otherworlder came through. The Hero we call him."

  Finally he had someone who knew he was an otherworlder. But this Hero — might as well gather information now that he was exposed. "Yeah, I heard he went rogue and is killing all other otherworlders." Tom hesitated. "Do you think I am in danger?"

  The Commander shook her head. "As long as you don’t show yourself as a direct threat then you should be safe. Vice-Commander Zev also made sure to … send a message. As far as people know, the Hero has been inactive as of late. That is precisely why the demons and the church decided to test out the waters, since he does not allow any wars in his domain around the Void."

  "But shouldn’t that be good then? No war is the best for everyone."

  She smiled. "That is a nice idea, but the Hero also does not allow 'unnecessary mingling' with other nations without his approval. What he deems 'unnecessary mingling' is anyone's guess, but that the kingdom desperately needs more trade is a fact. I assumed the same goes for the demons. A war breaking out would not be the ideal situation for both parties. And the deaths caused by the last expedition are no doubt going to increase tensions."

  Tom was still confused about what this Hero was after. Why waste a perfect second life as a Hero of all things?

  "I thought you may have come to help us all, or perhaps you were as dangerous as the previous Hero. Yet you are … "

  "Average?"

  She nodded. "You said it, not me. Impersonating a noble is punished by death. But, if you are of use to me, I may look the other way."

  "What do you want me to do?" Tom asked, reluctantly. Forcing Tom to be her slave would not be very waifu of her to do. Actually, in some cases it would, but Tom didn’t feel like going down that route.

  "I want you to somehow stop the approaching war with the demons. Being diplomatic or slaying the demon king by yourself, any way will do."

  So the generic isekai adventure. "And where do I start?"

  She shook her head. "I am not sure yet. You must have some useful abilities, so why don’t you just lay low and train for now? I will assign Zev to assist you. He is my closest confidant and already knows about your identity. Then you can do what you otherworlders do best: change the world."

  Tom looked at her. "Well, I don’t exactly have a choice, do I?"

  "I am glad you are in agreement. Now, could you please tell me what happened during the expedition?"

  Tom did as she asked and explained how he came across Trash in the ruins. She listened intently at everything he had to say.

  "The 50th aura sword," she repeated. "No wonder we haven’t been able to enter the ruins, it must have only been compatible with an observer." She whispered something else, deep in thought, then shook her head. "As a representative of the king, I Commander Alice Richardson congratulate you. It seems you have also received an appropriate sheath for the sword. Those are hard to come by."

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Tom looked at the sheath Hiro had given him. Was it really that rare? Looked like one needed a special sheath for a stupid sword like Trash.

  He felt a hum. "Hey, I have the feeling you’re insulting me right now."

  Alice curiously eyed Trash. "It speaks? Intriguing. But you will need to keep that a secret. Conscious blades are extremely rare so some foolish researcher would pay a fortune to have it stolen from you."

  Trash hummed. "Hopefully they would be more interesting than this weirdo."

  Tom rolled his eyes at the comment. "Trash is what I called him. You can probably understand why."

  "Tar’ash? That is the name of an old god of knowledge from the south-eastern human kingdom Aleria. A fitting choice."

  Wait, that was not his intention.

  "Oh," Trash hummed with newfound courage. "Fate is truly on my side. I will need to come up with some fitting catchphrases to be deserving of this name."

  A catchphrase. Really? This sword was something. But honestly, he probably should think of some catchphrases of his own. He refused to be outshined by his sword.

  Alice cleared her throat. "Let’s move on. What happened after that?"

  "Inside the ruins, I managed to defeat an error beast by myself." He stopped for a moment expecting some praise, but continued on when she didn’t say anything. "I got attacked by 3 error beasts, Commander. Then something appeared. The people from my squadron say I saw someone called the Night Witch." He thought she would be shocked by the revelation, but her expression stayed the same.

  "What was the Night Witch like? There are very few sightings of her."

  Tom pondered. This world was starting to get confusing. First, he thought it was simple, with the humans against the demon king. But he did not know where to place this Night Witch. Although, he did feel something. "I'm not sure. It was a scary sight, however … This may be strange to hear, but it was beautiful. I think she saved me."

  Tom expected screams of blasphemy, yet the commander looked ... smug?

  Wait a second. Tom had completely forgotten that he was in this stupid world. If he had to go with the most cliché answer: was she the Night Witch in secret?

  He tried feeling her aura. It was less powerful yet similar to the one he had felt from the witch. An amalgamation of shades of purple with what looked like colorful stars peeking through the aura. Seriously? A saintess, a beastkin prince, a demon spy, a trashy sword, and a literal super-powerful witch. Did it have to be that obvious? Not that knowing all of this information has proved helpful so far.

  "By the way, what even is an error beast?"

  She redeemed her composure. "Error beasts are creatures that reside in areas around the Void. Nobody properly understands how they come to be, but the most accepted explanation is that the Void affects normal animals and merges them together in grotesque ways. Usually our scouts alert the expedition teams in advance of their location, but they usually migrate towards the demon's side this time of the year … I have no idea why they have suddenly gotten so active all of the sudden. Even the demons have a hard time controlling those beasts." She sighed. "I will have to arrange a new scouting team and rewrite the map of their migration patterns."

  So those error beasts were kind of like the goblins and ogres of an isekai. Spicing things up with something new was nice, but he honestly preferred the generic isekai monsters.

  "That Night Witch managed to kill 3 error beasts easily, she must be truly powerful." It was best to be in her good graces for his adventure to go smoothly, so he figured giving her an ego boost would do.

  "The Night Witch is indeed one of the strongest witches." She nodded approvingly at him. "Well, I am glad you are okay. There isn’t more to be said from me, just know that I will be observing your training. Feel free to call me Alice; it would fit better with the identity you are using."

  Alice couldn’t hide her smile from Tom complimenting the Night Witch, so he worried that he had fueled her ego too much. But she had saved his life, so she deserved it.

  She put her hand on her chest. "Dear otherworlder, I look forward to seeing how you will change this world. I will put my trust in you, because everyone deserves a second chance."

  Tom looked her right in the eyes. "Don't worry. I will do my best."

  ***

  "You need to use more force!" Trash hummed.

  Tom grunted. "I am trying, but this hole is too small. Why the space is this wall so sturdy?"

  Alice had high expectations of what he was going to accomplish here, and frankly Tom didn't like it. He never signed up to end a war, just a power fantasy, and for the sake of his EPIC ADVENTURE he has to get on the OP-isekai protagonist route asap. He tried to push himself through once more, but he really was stuck. "This throws a wrench in my plan of going rogue and joining the adventurers guild."

  Someone sighed. "You are making a horrible attempt at trying to escape here. You know the nearest settlement to the south is days away, right? If you wanted to escape you would have been more successful escaping to the east."

  "Hiro? What are you doing here?"

  "A fellow soldier told me my weird roommate was stuck in a wall screaming at himself."

  "Weird—? Anyway, could you help me get out of here first?"

  "I'll help, boss," said Mark, and pulled out Tom by the legs.

  Finally out of that predicament, Tom looked around to realize that his entire squadron was there. "You guys didn't all have to come to my aid, you know? It is embarrassing."

  Sierra snorted. "What is embarrassing is you getting stuck in a wall."

  "And getting us all in trouble for that matter," Hiro added. "If someone flees the camp, the entire squadron of that person has the responsibility of bringing them back."

  So fleeing this camp wasn't going to be easy. Fart, he should have known better than listening to Trash's spur of the moment suggestion. "What a shame. Are you really certain that there is no way to get out of enlistment? Can't I join the adventurers guild or something?"

  "I have never heard of this adventurers guild, although the alchemist guild and others I have," Ilona said. "But about dodging the draft, there is no other way. You could apply to work in the capital since the king is always looking for new observers, but I doubt he would let the son of a Duke dodge the draft a second time."

  No adventurers guild? Tom moped. "Guess I am stuck here. Alice said she would let Zev train me, so perhaps I could get stronger that way?" And then he could flee before Alice made him do something tiring.

  "Wait. So you're saying the Commander allowed you to be personally tutored by Vice-Commander Zev?" Mark asked.

  "Yes." Tom couldn’t exactly tell them it was because he was an otherworlder, but he didn’t exactly mind the misunderstanding that Alice was impressed by his talent. "Is it that big of a deal?"

  "You’re being personally trained by the Vice-Commander! Of course it is. Even though many nobles pestered him to train them, he didn’t train anyone. Even Hiro, who is undoubtedly the best swordsman among us, was refused by the Vice-Commander." Mark explained.

  "That was because he said he was too unfamiliar with my combat style to train me," Hiro rebuked. But he did seem a bit impressed by Tom.

  Ilona muttered to herself. "Maybe Tom is secretly the Vice-Commanders son. Oh, and don’t forget his romantic relationship with the Commander."

  "Don’t be stupid little crusader. The Vice-Commander is way too old to be his father. It probably has something to do with the aura blade he retrieved," Sierra suggested.

  "Oh, did I speak my mind aloud again? Wait, stop calling me a little crusader, I am a sai… I mean priestess! I am beginning to think you are doing this on purpose." Ilona complained.

  "No fart," Sierre replied.

  The cussing filter in this world was so childish that her response made him giggle.

  Ilona gasped and gripped her staff. "You little —."

  "Stop fighting," Tom said, doing his best to stop laughing. "Ilona, what did you mean by my relationship with the Commander?"

  That seemed to surprise everyone. "Oh, you don’t remember … She’s your betrothed," Ilona explained.

  "I guess you are filth in more ways than one," Sierra said.

  Mark shook his head. "How could you forget? Being engaged is an important decision that you should uphold. To have to be with someone for the rest of your life is an important promise."

  Hiro didn’t say anything, but Tom noticed him looking away as if trying to remember something.

  "This was why she told me to call her Alice", Tom realized. It also explains how she quickly knew he was an imposter. He never cared much for relationships back home, and he wasn’t going to start here. At least this engagement would be a good excuse to ask her questions when he needed to.

  "Alice said I would get a reward for finding the aura sword," Tom said. "Let me treat you all to a meal later."

  "He’s using her first name, how romantic." Ilona gushed.

  "I know," Mark said.

  Hiro sighed. "I’m pretty sure he’s breaking military protocol and is supposed to get reprimanded, but … whatever."

  Sierra just rolled her eyes.

  "They were not romantic at all," Trash hummed. "It must be because of their boring personalities if you ask me."

  "Wait, who said that?" Ilona asked, confused.

  "Oh no, someone is calling for me. Gotta go!" Tom hurriedly said, before running away. "What the hell Trash, why did you talk?"

  "They were all making fun of you, I couldn’t be left out of that." Trash hummed. "Please tell me I managed to embarrass you. I did, didn’t I? Farting space, I’m an amazing sword."

  Hopefully, Zev could help him get stronger so that he could finally ditch this dumb sword.

  ***

  The goblin Nim slowly opened the door. The Founder was crouching down, admiring a flower. From the outset she looked nothing more than an innocent little girl, but Nim knew better than to underestimate the founder of the error cult. "Someone told me you wish to speak with me?"

  She didn't bother turning to look at him. He preferred it that way. Looking at her … he wasn't quite used to it yet.

  "Another otherworlder has appeared in the Shiravesti Outpost," she said.

  His eyes widened. "Another one in the camp? If you want me to go catch the feral, I would gladly—."

  "No," she interrupted. "This one is different. A contender."

  "An observer? Becoming an observer the moment they arrive in this world; that otherworlder was either the luckiest or the unluckiest person in the universe."

  She plucked the flower in front of her. "Indeed. A shame they will break from The Madness the moment Rachel finds them. However, the corpse she wouldn't care to take, no?"

  "That — this is the perfect opportunity to one up the Hero and his goons! I see what you called me here for. There is a preacher who is back from the United Port Cities. I will send him there to retrieve the corpse." He hesitated. "This is not related, but I have also received intel that Tomassio Rossi has arrived at the camp, or Shiravesti Outpost as you prefer it. If he truly made it back from his trip to the South, especially as the son of a Duke, he would be the perfect new recruit."