Mythos Reboot

Chapter 19

Veronica blushed while changing Wayne's clothes, her clumsy movements clearly showing it was her first time. Her rough handling would surely have woken Wayne if he weren't already conscious.

Clothes-changing inevitably involved some… friction. When Veronica saw something indescribable, she turned away in disgust.

Then peeked back at it again.

Ugly, but intriguing!

On either side, Monica kept her eyes tightly shut the whole time, while William covered hers with hands whose wide-spread fingers made the gesture completely ineffective.

After leaving the Gate of Truth, Wayne collapsed from exhaustion, accidentally achieving the feat of pinning three beauties beneath him.

Little did he know, Veronica was the first to wake up.

The Gate of Truth devoured the town, leaving behind a desolate wasteland—scorched earth from raging fires everywhere, extending to the surrounding woods, a scene of utter devastation.

The space overlapping with the town was sacrificed by Mike to the Gate of Truth, allowing the real world to return to normal. The timeline reset to that fateful night fifty years ago, with the restoration beginning from that very evening.

Veronica woke William and Monica, and the trio found spare clothes in the trunk, using a bedsheet to wrap Wayne up as well.

Later, they took Wayne to the barn behind the church. After resting overnight, they searched the town and found clean clothes for him.

The three couldn’t understand why they emerged unscathed after passing through the Gate of Truth, but seeing Wayne in a deep slumber, they guessed it had something to do with him.

They could wait for Wayne to wake up and dress himself, but leaving their savior exposed was hardly appropriate. Besides, who knew when he’d wake up？ They had to quickly get him dressed to preserve his dignity.

But who would help Wayne change clothes？ That was the question!

The problem wasn't about who would do it, but having an audience—especially a close girlfriend. If handled poorly, being branded a "little pervert" by said girlfriend could become lifelong blackmail material.

William talked big but chickened out at the last moment.

No one volunteered, so they needed a fair excuse. Veronica suggested rock-paper-scissors, since William had notoriously bad luck with it.

Veronica lost.

Drenched in sweat, Veronica finished changing Wayne's clothes and stumbled downstairs to wash her hands. Her hands were dirty, her eyes were dirty, the images wouldn't fade—even her heart felt tainted. She was unclean now.

She *hated* rock-paper-scissors!

Moments later, a deafening crash echoed from the church—no telling which wall had met its doom.

Jolted by the noise, Wayne immediately sat upright, pressing a hand to his throbbing head as his gaze slowly focused on William and Monica.

“Wayne, you're awake!”

“Who… are you？”

The two girls were stunningly beautiful, with figures suggesting no lack of nutrition—clearly no strangers to milk. Judging by their complexion, they were around Veronica's age: top-tier magical girls.

Wayne had a rough idea of who they were, but he still found it unbelievable. While marveling at how bizarre the curse was, he felt relieved that he hadn't transformed into a magical girl or a dog.

“Let's get acquainted! I'm Welly—let's be friends!”

William—no, Welly—winked and patted Wayne on the shoulder, delivering almost the exact same line as their first meeting. Noticing Wayne's stunned expression, she flashed a mischievous, triumphant grin.

This was the exact reaction she'd been waiting for.

“No, William—”

Wayne let out a despairing cry. After surviving life-and-death situations together, he had resolved to bond with his bro, only for said bro to vanish and be replaced by a stunning yet possibly dangerous magical girl.

Damn it, could he still casually sling an arm around her shoulders now？

Could he？!

“Veronica Landor.”

“Welly Watson.”

“Chris Letty.”

“Hold on, let me butt in—why is your name so drastically different？”

Wayne couldn't help but complain. Veronica was still Veronica, and William had morphed into Welly—at least those names shared some phonetic resemblance. But why did Monica break the pattern and switch entirely to Chris？

And the changes are way too drastic!

What's with those exaggerated pectorals—could these be the little bells he kept dreaming about？ If so, is it too late to flick them now？

Wayne lamented not acting decisively earlier, missing his chance to gleefully flick those bells, while suddenly realizing—it wasn't a dream after all; he really had been surrounded by three long-haired beauties.

Now the question is: whose 'plump, perky, and delightfully springy' texture from the dream was it exactly？

Wayne opened his mouth but wisely refrained from asking. With the curse already lifted, if these three decided to force themselves on him, no amount of screaming would help.

He'd ask when their power levels were more balanced—no rush then!

……

Owing to his life-saving favor, the trio now treated Wayne as one of their own, dropping all previous secrecy. They revealed their true names and gave proper self-introductions.

Veronica wasn’t some dream-chasing noblewoman from abroad but a local of Lundun, attending Lundun Evanston Women's College alongside Vili and Chris.

Veronica and Vili were roommates, while Chris, a year older, was their graduate-student senior.

Evanston Women's College appears to be an ordinary university on the surface, unrelated to magic. In reality, its internal division specifically offers courses teaching magic, cultivating large numbers of high-quality devotees for the three goddesses of Nature, Sun, and Moon.

Veronica and Vili are nearing graduation, and their final assessment involves eliminating a stronghold of death cultists. Due to the formidable enemy forces, they were permitted to invite a senior student for assistance.

Veronica invited Chris, this senior who had always been very caring toward her and was someone she admired as a role model.

With the three joining forces, they could easily complete the graduation assessment—barring any unforeseen circumstances.

But as fate would have it, after eliminating the stronghold, the three were cursed by an agent of death, reduced to the wretched state Wayne first saw them in.

Given their outstanding academic performance, they could have easily defended against the curse. Take Vili as an example—her magic could have helped Wayne avoid the curse's effects.

But that day, they all overthought things.

Chris was invited to assist. Since this wasn't her graduation assessment, she only played a supporting role and didn't intervene directly, fully trusting in her juniors' abilities. She had even prepared defenses against any potential curses.

After all, this was common sense!

Veronica assumed Vivi would take action, while Vivi thought Veronica would handle it, and then…

In short, since Vivi couldn't defeat Veronica, she became the primary scapegoat for this incident.

Chris held considerable prestige at the academy and was highly respected by younger students, making her a prominent figure. Veronica wasn't far behind either—whether in terms of physique, appearance, family background, or academic achievements, she had always been one of the academy's most talked-about personalities.

Unwilling to return to the academy in such a disheveled state and seek their mentor's help to lift the curse—which would result in a poor graduation score—they couldn't bear the embarrassment. After discussing, they decided to find another Death Cultist stronghold instead.

As long as they kept quiet and returned to the academy before the graduation assessment deadline, no one would ever know they'd made such a rookie mistake.

Searching high and low, they ended up walking through the night to Wayne's Detective Agency.

The trio treated Wayne as a mere passerby, casually fabricating an excuse to gloss over their origins. And thus, the gears of fate began to turn…

As for the name "Monica," Chris provided an explanation: there was indeed a cat by that name, also black with golden eyes, which belonged to Veronica's household. They had simply borrowed it for convenience.

While listening, Wayne nodded, grateful that fate had delivered three magical girls to him. Otherwise, he would have been the one walking night roads searching for mages. Perhaps he might have still opened the Book of Avarice, but the process certainly wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

Who knows—he might have ended up as Death Goddess's loyal lapdog!

“By the way, where did these clothes come from？ Who changed me？”

"It was me!" Willie raised her hand.

“Shut up, no… yes, it was her.”

Veronica was about to scold her when she realized this worked fine—Wayne had been sleeping like a log and wouldn't know anyway. Might as well let Willie take the credit.

————

The town of Cafono continued its story fifty years later. The ruins after the great fire left scorched earth everywhere, with only the church grounds remaining intact.

But after last night's battle, Veronica had torn most of it down, leaving it nearly as ruined as the rest.

Wayne cleaned up the battlefield, sifting through the wreckage, trying to squeeze out the last bits of value from the corpses.

Wait—can dealings between humans and spirits even be called corpse-looting？

This is called rational resource redistribution.

After Wayne's relentless efforts, he successfully located the priest's library and spent the better part of a day uncovering three trophies.

One white glove.

The priest's Bible.

The Nelson Family Handbook - Fisher Nelson Manuscript.

The white glove is adorned with a black inverted triangle, serving as a magic artifact for Death Cult followers. It requires no incantations—simply channel magic power to activate, making it highly practical in combat.

The Bible records the priest's understanding of divine magic, along with several highly practical spells. Aside from being somewhat outdated, it's nearly flawless.

Moreover, its value lies not in the divine magic but in the Bible itself—it's a casting artifact with potent suppression effects against spectral creatures.

Like ghosts!

Wayne doesn't even need to do anything; simply holding this Bible makes ghosts avoid him. If he's feeling proactive, he could chase ghosts around at night.

The most precious item is undoubtedly the Nelson Family Handbook, authored by Fisher Nelson, an ancestor of the Nelson family. Supplemented by later generations, this book is perfect for a beginner like Wayne.

The opening section documents the Nelson family's creed.

No creed at all!

Nelson family members view faith as transactional. They respect deities but pledge no loyalty. The manuscript details their interpretation of divinity.

Some summarized insights struck Wayne with sudden clarity, as if finding kindred spirits, while others left him only partially comprehending.

Gods have no concept of good or evil - for every radiant light, there exists equally profound darkness. Every deity possesses dual aspects.

Take the Goddess of Death for example: death represents eternal tranquility yet also cold indifference and terror. She embodies both benevolence and malevolence, depending on mortal interpretation.

Power itself holds no moral alignment. If it appears to, that power already has an owner - weigh carefully before wielding it.

Faith brings conviction, but religion breeds ignorance. Never consort with zealots - they're all madmen.

The grass is always greener on the other side (especially regarding wives).

Wayne: (？？？)

Something strange seems to have slipped in here.

Beyond the introductory Nelson family maxims lies their history as notorious turncoats - a chronicle of their "flexible devotion" to countless deities.

Due to their chaotic beliefs, the Nelsons never mastered advanced magic. Yet their extensive collection contains numerous spells suitable for beginners - perfect for Wayne's current level.

“The drop rates are amazing!”

Wayne treated it like sacred treasure. Upon reaching the final pages, he discovered a peculiar marking.

“The Free Mages Alliance…”