Akatsuki Translations

The morning of Griffin Gran Sousan, former attendant of the City of Sin, Gradol and current priest apprentice, starts early. He rises with the ascent of the great Sun God and begins his training for the day. He has to.

And it goes on and on. It’s already noon. Even though the Sun God is high in the sky, he continues to train.

“Wh-why am I doing this…!?” -Griffin

Griffin’s life in the City of Sin, Gradol was truly elegant, free, and depraved. Born as the fourth son of the Sousan family, he fully enjoyed his privileged position and threw all responsibilities onto his older brothers.

He woke up whenever he wanted, and ate whenever he wanted. He drank alcohol from the morning, devoured meat soaked in plenty of oil, took naps, and ate again. It was the epitome of gluttony.

Even after being thoroughly troubled by his family’s treatment and smoothly driven away to Uuga, which was short on personnel during its construction, as a priest’s aid, his lifestyle remained unchanged. The problem was that his family, who had achievements as the Gran, had the power to allow his gluttony.

They wielded their power to accomplish the waste of transporting large amounts of food all the way from Gradol.

Yes, even after being kicked out of his family, he was stubbornly, persistently indulging himself, or so he should have been.

“Hurry up and run, you lump of fat.” -Kalkara

In the midst of running, verbal abuse from behind hits his back. No, it literally hits him. Small pebbles created by the blessing of the 【Stone Spirit】 smack into him every time he tries to slack off.

“Hii… hii… Ka-Kalkara…! Stop it, Kalkara!!” -Griffin

Unable to endure it, he looks back with a sweaty face. But what awaited him there was a demon-like gaze.

“Huh? What did you just say?” -Kalkara

“ In-instructor Kalkara…!!” -Griffin

His indulgent and happy life changed completely.

Due to the changes in Uuga, the rampage of the Caraleigh family, and the hands of Instructor Kalkara, the sole priest who had endured since the construction of Uuga.

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A while after the Uuga incident, most of the attendants in the temporary city returned to Gradol.

In truth, not a single attendant wanted to remain in Uuga. Life in the temporary city was inconvenient, and after the upheaval in Uuga, the attendants were physically and mentally exhausted.

On top of that, not many could accept the situation of living on top of a huge, mysterious familiar.

So why did some remain, you ask? It’s because those who remained had nowhere to return to.

Those who were originally disliked by their families and sent away to work on the construction of Uuga.

Those who couldn’t return to Gradol due to the trauma of being hurt by the Sun Knights during the Uuga upheaval.

Those who lost their homes to return to in the first place due to the slime incident.

And so on, but in most cases, it wasn’t that they “wanted to stay in Uuga,” but rather that they “couldn’t stay in Gradol.” In the end, about 20 attendants ended up staying in Uuga. They were to be protected in Uuga along with the Nameless people who were similarly caught up in the previous turmoil and couldn’t move.

Now, as for them, of course, as long as they are alive, they will consume something.

A place to sleep is also necessary, of course. Many of the remaining attendants recognized that it should naturally be provided to them, but needless to say, both resources and land are limited. Especially in this unique place called Uuga.

Those who do not work shall not eat.

The Nameless people who were similarly protected are working hard to “repay the favor of being helped,” yet these attendants are not made to do anything, are allowed to eat and sleep, and on top of that, even complain about the food they are given. It’s far too unhealthy.

Echelle ordered them to work. She tried to order them.

However, making the attendants work was also a difficult task.

At first, their original role of offering prayers to the spirits had no use. Before Uuga’s completion, it was used for construction, but now that Uuga is complete, there is currently nothing that requires using the spirits’ power by boosting it with the attendants’ prayers. For repairing damaged buildings, magic or the prayers of Kalkara, who is a priest, are sufficient.

So, they tried to assign them miscellaneous tasks like the Nameless people, but this was out of the question. There were hardly any who would take the initiative in transporting supplies from Gradol, repairing the city areas damaged in the battle with the Slime King, cleaning, cooking food, and so on. Even when instructed, they wouldn’t move properly. They quickly gave up. They only hindered the Nameless people.

―― No matter how much of a privileged class they are, this is terrible.

Those were the words of Lynne, who had held an official position in Lust.

It was probably true that during the Uuga upheaval, only those who were not worth keeping alive were gathered to be silenced. Most of the attendants were either weak, selfish, or lacking in willpower.

When Echelle was at her wit’s end about what to do with these troublesome people and was thinking of making them do even the simplest chores that children could do, Shizuku made a suggestion.

―― Couldn’t the attendants become priests?

If there was no work they could do as attendants, make them capable of doing more.

The idea was to shift from assigning them short-term and simple tasks to long-term human resource development.

It wasn’t a bad idea. In the first place, most of them were from families with respectable official positions. In other words, they had deep connections with the spirits. So why didn’t they become priests and instead settled for being attendants? It was because they either refused the training to become priests, failed the training, or were not desired by those around them.

However, they had the aptitude.

If they received the blessings of the spirits, they could wield power to a minimum extent with their own prayers, even if they didn’t gather prayers from the residents. If all 20 attendants who were currently useless became priests, it would at least be much better than now.

But then a new problem would arise.

Even if they had the aptitude, the training to become a priest was even more rigorous than hard labor. They needed an instructor who could kick the unmotivated attendants into gear. And the one who was chosen for that was–

―― If that is what Echelle-sama wishes, I will do it.”

It was Kalkara.

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“Now, run! Kick the ground with your own feet, breathe in and out, and feel the world!” -Kalkara

Kalkara’s guidance was terrifyingly Spartan.

Using the power of rocks, she drove out the attendants who had been holed up in their homes, chased them all around, and made them run no matter what. Of course, some complained–or rather, most of the attendants hurled abusive language at her, but within seconds, they were all silenced by the priest’s power.

The attendants, who were instantly made aware of the hierarchy, ran and ran, regardless of gender or age. Kalkara had explained beforehand that it was a shortcut to feeling the circulation of the spirits’ power, in other words, the world’s power, but for the attendants who had been lazy, it was hellish training.

――…It reminds me of the adventurers’ training center. Priests and adventurers should be polar opposites, though.

Ur, who had been training separately from the attendants since morning, muttered such things while looking at the attendants whose faces were a mess of sweat, snot, and tears, but no one had the leeway to listen to such things.

They ran and ran and ran, and after collapsing, they repeated prayers to the gods and spirits in that state. By praying when exhausted, they could truly experience the connection with the spirits, but of course, at first, no one had such leeway. Some even protested to Kalkara, ―――― but,

―― If you can’t receive blessings, then it’s another lap. We’ll do it until you receive them.

Soon, screams, despair, and desperate prayers became a familiar sight in Uuga.

Such hellish training has continued to this day.

The attendants run and repeat prayers again today. There were no dropouts. Kalkara did not allow anyone to drop out. Even if they wanted to escape, they had nowhere to run.

“In the first place, I heard that Uuga is not suitable for handling the power of spirits. Isn’t it meaningless?” -Griffin

“It only means that there is a risk that the faith of the city residents will weaken and the efficiency of receiving prayers from them will deteriorate. In the first place, there are no city residents in Uuga now.” -Kalkara

Griffin voiced a protest, though it was unclear where he had heard that from, but Kalkara dismissed it. Kalkara had also been informed about that matter by Echelle later, but there was no change in the policy of training Griffin and the others.

“If the priest himself offers prayers from the bottom of his heart, he can wield power with those prayers.” -Kalkara

What was discussed during the Heavenly Demon’s Trial was merely pointing out the difficulty of transferring magical power from the city residents and accumulating it in the temple. It is precisely because priests can draw unlimited magical power from the magic tank called the Temple that they can wield overwhelming power.

That power cannot be wielded in Uuga. Certainly, that is a problem, but there is no issue with wielding it using the prayers of the priests themselves as fuel.

“In the first place, this training is to somehow make use of you people who can’t even wield that minimum power and are useless, so hurry up and pray. Receive the blessings of the spirits. At least be useful to Echelle-sama for your meals.” -Kalkara

“Ugh.” -Griffin

Flicked by a flying pebble, Griffin fell silent.

“Besides, your official position is the third-rank, Gran, so please put in a little more effort. Your closeness to the spirits is incomparable to mine.” -Kalkara

“If you think of me as a Gran, show me more respect!!” -Griffin

“Respect for a man who leeched off his parents, indulged in gluttony, and was abandoned even by his parents and siblings???” -Kalkara

“Guoheeeaaa!!” -Griffin

Griffin let out a cry of agony and died.

“Ka-Kalkara-sama, Griffin-sama is quite traumatized, so please have mercy.”

The youngest girl among the attendants comforted Griffin, who was face-down on the ground, crying.

Even though the girl, who was the most diligent among the attendants and had been driven out of her family home as an illegitimate child, was far more pitiable and deserving of sympathy, it was somehow sad to see an adult being comforted by her.

It seemed that even for this man, who had done whatever he wanted, being thought of as “better off dead” by his family had taken a toll on him.

“If you regret it enough to be traumatized, then do your best from here on out, even if it’s just one step at a time. You can’t change the past, but you still have choices for your life ahead.” -Kalkara

Those words, unusually for her, contained a hint of sympathy, but he didn’t notice. The sight of him crying and being comforted by a young girl as he stood up made it unclear who was the adult.

“Thank you for your hard work today as well!”

“Ah, Dakkan. Sorry for the trouble every time.” -Kalkara

Dakkan, a Nameless dwarf who had settled in Uuga to assist with construction work, just like the attendants, approached them. In his hand were cups and a water jug.

Lately, his daily offerings to the attendants had become a routine.

“No, it’s fine. We’re being allowed to live in a place like this. We’re the ones who should be grateful!” -Dakkan

Dakkan laughed. For him and his Nameless companions, a place to sleep without paying for lodging was an exceptional treatment. Even if Uuga itself was an unprecedented, massive, and unidentifiable familiar, many accepted it.

They were currently handling various miscellaneous tasks necessary for operating Uuga. Those with cooking skills opened a cafeteria and even prepared meals for the residents of Uuga, including the attendants.

Compared to the attendants who were a gathering of misfits, the Nameless people were all capable, whether it was Echelle’s luck or keen eye in gathering them. In any case, it was often helpful.

“It’s cold water brewed with koroko flowers! It’s slightly sweet, has a nice scent, and will refresh you!” -Dakkan

“Wh-who would accept charity from a Nameless!” -Griffin

“Griffin-sama says he doesn’t want it, so everyone else, please help yourselves. Let’s express our gratitude to Dakkan, the earth, and the spirits.” -Kalkara

“Wait, wait, wait!!! I didn’t say I wouldn’t accept it!!!” -Griffin

This exchange was also repeated and becoming a daily occurrence.

“…Oh?” -Kalkara

However, that day was different.

It wasn’t that the attendants or Dakkan were acting strange.

『――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――』

There was a strange sound. Moreover, it wasn’t from the surroundings–

『――――――――――……aaaaaaaaaＡＡＡＡＡＡＡ！！！！』

It was coming from directly above.

“Wha!?” -Kalkara

“Whoa!?” -Dakkan

“Eek!?” -Griffin

The moment they noticed, writhing black and purple sandworms fell from the cloudless blue sky.

『ＧＡＡＡＡＢＵＧＹＡＡ！！！？』

Over a dozen of them, each exceeding 2 meters in length, were blocked by the barrier deployed far above where Kalkara and the others were. Some of the sandworms even had their bodies burst from the impact of the fall, scattering on top of the barrier. It was a hellish sight.

“Wh-wh-whaaaaaaaaaaat!?” -Griffin

Griffin’s scream was noisy, but Kalkara could understand his surprise.

Uuga had the ability to conceal itself from monsters, but it didn’t have the ability to completely hide from them. It couldn’t completely prevent attacks from monsters. That’s why barriers were deployed.

However, as expected, they hadn’t anticipated monsters falling from the sky. Moreover,

“Th-there’s still more coming!?”

The girl let out a scream-like voice. In the sky, countless shadows could be seen following the sandworms from earlier. If all of those were monsters, it would be terrifying.

Uuga’s barrier had a reasonable strength, but it didn’t have measures to prevent the impact of a large number of monsters falling from high in the sky. The barrier would likely reach its limit midway. It would allow some monsters to fall and invade.

“R-run! Let’s run, Kalkara! Quickly!!” -Griffin

Griffin was desperately shouting. Certainly, what he was saying made sense. If Echelle were here, Kalkara would have prioritized evacuating her. However,

“–This might be just be good timing.” -Kalkara

“Huh!?” -Griffin

Echelle wasn’t here. And this was also a good opportunity.

“The simplest and fastest way to gain a connection with the spirits is through a life-or-death situation. By desperately seeking a connection with the spirits from the bottom of your heart, you can borrow the power of the spirits that have a high affinity with you.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!!” -Griffin

“Anyway, with this situation, all of Uuga is in danger. Then, isn’t now the time to fulfill the role of noble blood?” -Kalkara

“No, no, no, no, no, no!!” -Griffin

“Everyone, split into groups of five, keep your distance, form a circular formation, and pray as if your life depends on it! Now is the time to break free from just eating for free and become true warriors!!” -Kalkara

“I don’t remember trying to become a warrior, ahhh!?” -Griffin

With the second sound of falling, the barrier shattered.

The monsters’ attack, which could truly be called a natural disaster, had begun.