Akatsuki Translations

Breakfast was over, dessert was finished, and thus the enjoyable breakfast time had concluded.

“Alright. Let’s start the morning meeting, dammit.” -Ur

『You’re startin’ off with some foul language there. I get how you feel though. 』-Rock

And so began the not-so-fun strategy meeting.

The members of the 【Walkers】 and Jain took their seats at Ur’s large table. Rabin herself, who had brought the extremely troublesome information, had quickly escaped, saying, “It looks like a pain, so I’m out.”

Jain had a face that looked like he really wanted to punch him. Ur agreed.

“There’s no use lamenting, so let’s start with an update on the current situation first.” -Ur

Pulling himself together, he began by organizing the information up to the present situation.

“The other day, Uuga successfully defeated the 【Blood Emperor Rose】. With this, all the requests for performance tests on Uuga from the Gradol side have been cleared.” -Ur

“You were also able to complete the report, right? How did Gradol react?”

“They were a bit taken aback, but overall it was a positive reaction.” -Ur

Originally, the 【Blood Emperor Rose】was stationed in the gap between the trade routes of Lust and Proudia. In order to trade, it was necessary to go out of the way to avoid the territory of the 【Blood Emperor Rose】. With this subjugation, it can be said that the safety of the trade route has been considerably secured.

And not only the Blood Emperor Rose, but Uuga had been defeating one after another of the many supergiant-class monsters that existed around Gradol. There was no way they could not acknowledge this.

『Well, we were able to demonstrate Uuga’s usefulness. 』-Rock

“And as a result of that, a Shinra is coming. Three days from now.” -Ur

“If a Shinra is coming, then the Sun Knights are coming too, right? What a pain.” -Jain

Jain frowned slightly and turned his gaze to Echelle.

“Hey, ‘former’ Sun Knight-dono. Haven’t you heard anything about that?” -Jain

Echelle, who had taken a leave of absence from the Sun Knights due to the recent disturbance, turned to Jain’s question.

“I was always an outsider among the Sun Knights in the first place, so even when I quit, I didn’t get much information.” -Echelle

“I… see.” -Jain

Even Jain, who had previously hurled words of contempt at Echelle, fell silent at the bold declaration of being a loner. Recently, while Echelle had been unstable at times, she had truly cut herself off from things.

“In the first place, with the Uuga incident, most of the Sun Knights, who were Aesula’s private soldiers, turned into slimes, so they’re in a big mess over there and probably don’t have time.” -Echelle

“Ah, I guess you’re right… Looking back, the damage is unbelievable.” -Jain

Was it just that the people involved with the Caraleigh clan were like that, or did the heretics who caused this accurately target them? Many of the victims who turned into slimes in Gradol held important positions in Gradol.

It was only natural that the confusion had not subsided even after two months had passed.

Jain’s face turned bitter again at the sheer nastiness of the heretics who had orchestrated this.

“Thanks to that, the satellite cities that were under construction in multiple locations have also stopped. It seems they’ve been shifted to fill the vacancies in Gradol’s personnel.” -Ur

“The damage is going to be unbelievable…” -Jain

“And in inverse proportion, Uuga’s value rises. They won’t be ignored.” -Ur

The potential value that Uuga holds is immeasurable.

In the first place, the funds obtained from the previous Blood Emperor Rose subjugation, combined with the magic stone portion, amount to 250 gold coins. An amount that an individual could never easily accumulate even over the course of several years was obtained in an instant.

Since it was Gradol itself that put up this reward, it’s not such a simple story, but even in just the aspect of “combat power,” Uuga harbors a terrifying power.

And currently, Ur and the others hold the authority for Uuga.

To be precise, it lies with Echelle, who usurped control of Uuga from Aesula.

“Originally, Echelle was supposed to manage Uuga, right?” -Lynne

Echelle nodded slightly with a troubled look on her face at Lynne’s question.

“At the time of the satellite city, that was the case.” -Echelle

“Is it different now?” -Lynne

“Even if it’s the same, the sovereign right to manage the satellite city lies with the Gradol side in the first place. I was only entrusted with the management, and depending on their decision, it’s possible for the governing rights to be confiscated.” -Echelle

『…Then why aren’t they doing that? 』-Rock

Rock tapped his own skull, looking puzzled.

『If I were the next ruler, I’d confiscate governing rights immediately from a bunch of nobodies and from the surviving members of the former royal family who were toyed with by them. 』-Rock

“Toyed with…” -Echelle

“Well, that’s true, but choose your words more carefully, Bones.” -Ur

Rock laughed with a clatter.

“There are probably various reasons, but the reason they don’t do it right away is likely that.” -Lynne

Lynne pointed to Echelle’s right hand. To be precise, it was the master’s seal engraved on the inside of her right hand, the【Control Formula】 of the 【Dragon-Devoured Uuga. 】.

『But can’t that be taken away? Given time, even without the mirror spirit. 』-Rock

“It’s possible, but originally, forcibly taking a familiar from its rightful master is a pretty drastic method, you know? Especially if the master is still alive.” -Lynne

Even if they used the proper confiscation magic, there was a good chance of failure. If by some chance a strange failure were to occur, there’s no telling what would happen to the fearsome familiar Uuga. Precisely because Ur and the others had demonstrated its power, it was unlikely that the Gradol side would take such forceful measures.

“If it’s a handover done with the consent of both parties, it would be a little smoother, but even then, it’s not something that can be changed so easily. That’s why I think they’ll try to increase the number of 【Control Formulas】 that can manage it, but… even that…” -Lynne

“If there are too many, management will become difficult. Gradol probably won’t try to make too many either.” -Shizuku

It’s not like all the people connected to the Caraleigh clan were villains, and those who weren’t were good people. There’s no clear distinction like that. Gradol was originally a place where corruption was rampant.

The Control Formula must be thoroughly managed and kept as a treasure that must not be taken by anyone. It would be foolish to carelessly increase the number of things that need to be protected.

“Echelle-sama is currently loyal to the Gradol side. And right now, Echelle-sama is physically distant from Gradol as well. As a result, unnecessary troubles are being suppressed. They probably don’t want to change this situation much.” -Shizuku

“At the very least, the new Shinra of Gradol is moving in the direction of preparing their own Control Formula to manage. I think this will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.” -Lynne

Gradol’s exhaustion and confusion, the characteristics of the Control Formula, and the very location where Echelle is currently located… various factors overlap to make up the present situation. Everyone was aware of this.

“I think that’s about it for checking the current situation of Gradol and Uuga. Well, anyway, since the Shinra is coming in three days, we have to prepare for that, but…” -Ur

At that point, Ur took out letters from his pocket. They were the two troublesome pieces of news that Rabin had brought in.

One was a letter from a【Seven Heavens】member other than Diz.

The other letter was from the undying land of 【Sloth】 in the northern part of the Isralia continent.

The two letters from completely different places, however, had one thing in common in their contents. Namely,

“They say they want to visit together with these two forces on the same day that Gradol is visiting.” -Ur

『Oh…』-Rock

Rock nodded at Ur’s explanation. And then he said,

『Isn’t that suuuuuper troublesome? 』-Rock

“Ah, yeah. Alright, let’s start discussing these two forces, dammit.” -Ur

Ur declared the continuation of the meeting while cursing as if to rouse himself.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

“First, the visit of 【Heavenly Demon】 Greylei. To be precise, it seems that the 【Strike Force】 of the Envy Knights will be coming as their representative.” -Ur

“? Why is the 【City of Sin, Envy Knights】 coming as a messenger for the Seven Heavens?” -Echelle

Echelle tilted her head.

The basic role of the knights is to maintain public order in the city and defend against monsters. The specific roles they play vary flexibly depending on each city-state and region, but that basic premise doesn’t change. It was indeed strange for the knights to come all the way to Gradol of another country.

“…………” -Lynne

“…Lynne?” -Ur

Just then, Lynne beside Echelle had an expression she had never seen before. With her mouth twisted, her eyebrows raised, her entire face was expressing disgust all too clearly.

“Lynne-sama, do you know something about them?” -Shizuku

“I hate these guys.” -Lynne

“It seems you are familiar with them. Then please explain.” -Shizuku

It’s unclear if the conversation was coherent, but prompted by Shizuku, Lynne ended up explaining. Lynne looked displeased, as if she didn’t even want to put it into words, but after a while, she opened her mouth as if she had given up.

“Anyone involved in magical research knows about them. They’re the notorious 【Pillager Unit】.” -Lynne

“That sounds way too ominous.” -Ur

“Basically, they’re the private army of the【Heavenly Demon】, Greylei, within the Envy Knights. They’re a group of bandits who fly around various countries in Isralia, snatching up anything of magical value. They use the authority of the 【Seven Heavens】 as a shield, so they’re far worse than thieves.” -Lynne

They turned out to be a far more dangerous bunch than their name suggested.

“Did they also run rampant in the magical powerhouse of Lust? Those people.” -Shizuku

“They tried to strip the White Witch’s secret arts by the roots. And they even had the nerve to say the White King Formation is ‘outdated and unusable, but it’ll serve as reference material.’ I will absolutely fucking massacre them.” -Lynne

“Lynne-sama. Let’s pour you another cup of tea.” -Shizuku

Shizuku quickly poured tea for Lynne, whose face was visibly turning bright red as she continued her explanation, to calm her down. Lynne gulped down the tea in one go.

“The letter roughly stated that they plan to visit as representatives of the 【Seven Heavens】 for the purpose of world preservation, to investigate the performance of 【Dragon-Devoured Uuga】 and to verify the management capabilities of its administrator.” -Ur

“Well, there’s no doubt that their goal is to investigate Uuga, or to take control of it.” -Lynne

“But, even though they’ve added all sorts of extra stuff, this place is still officially a satellite city-state of Gradol, right? How do they plan to take something like that?” -Jain

“Who knows. But when they do it, they’ll do anything. They once snatched away a spirit bird that was worshipped as the incarnation of a spirit in some satellite city, saying it was a ‘dangerous monster.’” -Lynne

“That’s way too messed up.” -Jain

It was clear that they were a group who might even go as far as seizing Uuga if the situation called for it.

“However, they can’t just take it without question, and the ones they should be negotiating with are Gradol, not us. I think we have no choice but to leave it to them to some extent.” -Lynne

“Has the Gradol side agreed to their visit?” -Shizuku

“Seems so. They apparently agreed to the meeting in three days as well. I guess they don’t have the right to refuse.” -Ur

With Gradol’s significant weakening and their reliance on Diz of the 【Seven Heavens】 for help, their influence had greatly increased. They probably couldn’t refuse a request from the same 【Seven Heavens】.

If that’s the case, Echelle growled.

“Then, is it okay for us to do nothing?” -Echelle

“They might ignore Gradol and directly target you, so be careful.” -Lynne

“…Will they really do something that forceful?” -Echelle

To Echelle’s slightly frightened voice, Lynne nodded mercilessly.

“As things stand now, if they can just get their hands on you, they can gain full authority over Uuga. In that case, they might kidnap you, move Uuga out of Gradol’s territory, and then make up some excuse later using the Seven Heavens’ authority. They’re a group that might just do that. If you let your guard down, you’ll be snatched away.” -Lynne

“Scary.” -Echelle

“They may have crashed the meeting in three days with the intention of monopolizing it if possible before more control seals are added.” -Lynne

“Really scary.” -Echelle

Echelle shuddered and grabbed Ur’s arm.

Lynne’s way of speaking was intimidating, but he didn’t feel like reproaching her. It sounded like an unreasonable way of doing things, but it wouldn’t be strange at all if they actually did something that forceful. 【Uuga】 held that much value.

And there was no doubt that they were the kind of people who would do such things without hesitation.

Ur also kept in mind that just because they belonged to the same 【Seven Heavens】 as Diz, it didn’t mean they could be let their guard down around them at all.

“While we’ll leave the negotiations to Gradol, we’ll make sure not to let our guard down on our end. Especially Echelle, don’t wander around alone. Got it?” -Ur

“I’ll stick with Ur all the time.” -Echelle

“…Yeah, well, that’s fine.” -Ur

If she clung too much, it seemed like it would invite new problems, so he decided to be cautious about that. While they were a troublesome group, there wasn’t much Ur and the others could do on their end. They decided on a policy of simply not letting their guard down.

“Then, let’s move on to the next topic. The other new visitors, from the 【Ruptured Realm, Sloth】… does anyone here know about them?” -Shizuku

Shizuku asked. However, Lynne, who had the most knowledge among them, tilted her head in puzzlement.

“The【City of Sin, Sloth】 was supposed to have been destroyed 100 years ago, right? I think I’ve heard of it…” -Lynne

“I don’t know much about it either. I’ve heard of the 【Wasteland of the Undead】 in the Sloth region, though.” -Echelle

Following Lynne, Echelle also shook her head. He also looked at Rock, but of course, he raised both hands in surrender with a clatter. Shizuku also shook her head, unfortunately.

The only one who had the biggest reaction the moment this letter arrived was Jain, who had a very grim look on his face.

“Jain.” -Ur

“It’s a pain in the ass to die for. Since yer a Nameless, you know about it too, right Ur?” -Jain

“I only know rumors too. Do your best. I’ll get you some rare plant seeds next time.” -Ur

It took a while to appease him.

He calmed down after agreeing to help out with his home garden work for a whole day next time.

EDIT: Drillrealm changed to Ruptured Realm