Translator: Mii
Editor: Weasalopes
「I am truly indebted to all of you regarding this matter.」
When the whole team came to the workshop with exhausted faces, the king unexpectedly showed up to apologize to them. The five Japanese people couldn’t decline other people’s apologies in a public place, so they only glanced at each other unconsciously while making a wry smile.
It wasn’t until the two-week yarn-making season had come to an end, the autumn season had started its transition to winter, and the castle’s personnel affairs and all the important court documents had been settled, that the king could finally show his face in the workshop. Hiroshi and his friends were salvaging the workshop in the middle of the previous week, and even though they were keeping contact with Aearis, they could only meet directly with the royal castle’s representatives after about ten days.
「So the castle already doin’ alright?」
「There are still piles of work to do, but I am told to go away and take a break. Not only from my sons, but the prime minister at the great chamberlain, and even the leader of the Imperial Guards are saying the same thing to me. All of them are really too much.」
「Ya have worked hard. How ’bout I prescribe ya with herb tea to help with sleepin’ and yer exhaustion?」
「Please. If possible, can you make something that won’t become unappetizing even when it has gotten cold?」
「’Kay.」
Hiroshi nods in understanding with a strained laugh after hearing the tired king’s request.
「Then, what happened in there afta’ that?」
While Haruna is distributing the spring tea to everyone, Hiroshi continues his talk. They have prepared a lot of things since they came back, but they can’t find any information regarding that matter. Hiroshi keeps making fried bean curd while he improves his skill in curry bread that Haruna says will sell well for around a month (or maybe because it is for a month), making the customer and the stalls nearby lose their composure. Mio is also helping both of them, and they are very busy to the extent that they start to feel dizzy.
Meanwhile, the bored Tatsuya and Makoto act together as adventurers, but the low-rank adventurers only have a little information at most. They had noticed that there had been a rapid decline in request for suppression groups these days.
Even so, the three people in charge of cooking agreed to take a break, and everyone decided to have a day off too. That’s why today the whole team is present at the workshop. Plus, the king’s arrival was not entirely unexpected. Aearin contacted them last night and asked when would everyone be available. But they didn’t think that the king would come today.
「For now, the situation is still a work in process, but I can assure you that cleaning the castle’s interior is almost finished.」
「Inside castle, eh…」
「The inspection related to the other side’s domain is still in process as expected. Anyway, it looks like it is common knowledge for the feudal lords on the other side to become weird when all of you are accepted in the castle. But for the current situation, charging the feudal lords now will only create disorder…」
The king makes a face full of bitterness while answering Haruna’s question, and munches the fried dough cake served with the tea to calm himself.
「To put it bluntly, we tried to investigate it, but we only got some worthless information. For it to become one of the pillars of the opposition since the previous generation, it is seriously no joke.」
「Since the previous generation? Then the plan has been going on for more than thirty years, huh…」
「There are some traces of people that have been affiliated with the other side since approximately forty years ago. It began at the time of my coronation and the large-scale opposition commenced about fifteen years ago, when I begin to build up the royal court’s strength.」
「That was really a long way to do something…」
「Seriously though.」
Tatsuya and the king felt a grudging respect for the very long term plan that was one step away from conclusion. Even so, even though the internal political situation is in turmoil, there will always be a moderate level of support for the political administration rather than for the monster’s invasion, especially for a big country with a stable military and economic strength. That’s why it should take a long time to break such a country.
This is a man of strong military prowess that reorganized the country that was entangled with complicated problems from the last generation, even though he was even younger than Layotte at the time he was crowned. The greatest problem in the forty years of his reign was the imbalance of the law as an overreaction to the abuses of the prior reign. Without it, the situation wouldn’t be this complicated in the first place, so it is only natural that they couldn’t obtain the popular support to overthrow the royalty in a coup.
Moreover, the other side have worn down resistance when they are in the process of seizing the majority of the top positions in the kingdom’s bureaucracy, and the next step is only to overthrow the royalty. They only have to cause a big action, but they waste their plans on these trivial chances, and that’s why it must be intolerable for them.
「In any case, although it is good that they only dealt a recoverable blow to the military strength, a good many civil officials have been removed due to their involvement, making my head hurt. I can reinstate them slowly within half a year, but I will lose some of the decent people. The people on our side are obedient, and they are more inclined to cooperate positively.」
As for this case, although there are no options to be lenient in this case, to do such a rapid cleanup is very problematic. The ideal solution is to get rid of the infection at a speed faster than the corruption can spread, but with limited human resources, they have to adjust the number of people that can’t be used within an acceptable range. Even so, the cases where this has gone well historically are practically nil.
The history of humanity is filled with the accumulation of grand-scale changes due to shock and doctrine, both the good and bad.
「It will be troubling if they complain about us…」
「That’s right. We don’t know what to say about the territory or diplomacy, and to be honest, this is already outside our area of expertise…」
Haruna agrees with a bitter smile towards Mio’s retort mixed with bafflement since the gossip and complaints about them will be a better subject rather than letting the information continue afterwards. In fact, this is the kind of story that the adventurers want.
「Yeah, sorry.」
Although the other side had a completely different intent that undermined the Royal House, there would be complaints about the similarity of methods by the ordinary people. The king nods his head honestly after hearing those two retorts.
「For now, the disposal of the people who have been manipulated is over. We also succeeded in lowering the hurdle required for legal reform in this case. This time, we revised some systems that could only be made possible by the members of the rebellion being caught red-handed. After that, we only have to hold onto our reins and wait for it to settle down.」
The biggest gain in this case would have been the change of the system, which is almost impossible to do, since any minor changes cannot be done without agreement from all of the military officers, civilians and nobles. Even a single vote in opposition would prevent it, but with a few exceptions, if there are two-thirds of the head division in Urs territory and its directly control areas, and another two-thirds of the feudal lords of the Farlane residing in the Farlane area who agree with the revision, then it is possible to do so. By all rights, they want to take control of the majority degree, but to go that far immediately will be difficult. In the first place, it is impossible to do so without these circumstances.
The system evaded the political stagnation properly, but even though there were major flaws for the noble and royal criminals, they just make some sufficient action towards it, and the civil and military parts are using the customary procedures without any change. The previous generation devoted most of its reign to improvements to the economy and civilians’ life, while trying to limit the influence of influential people for better and worse.
Even with diplomacy, they can’t just establish a new law without negotiation which will take a long time. The adjusting of the laws will focus on legal interpretation, so they will not anger the other countries as well. Even though the king is weak inside the kingdom, in foreign relations he is valued as a capable person.
「How will you deal with the manipulated people?」
「Considering the degree of the incitement, they are discharged, or demoted. Since their actions were manipulated by Oria, I won’t make execution their punishment. I think secluding them in the northern monastery for training is sufficient.」
Hiroshi and his friends doesn’t say anything to that, whether because of kindness or delicacy of the punishment. Nonetheless, when they think of the things they are guilty for, it becomes hard to cover up for someone.
「How about the assassin?」
「Sorry, I’m not aware of that detail. Layotte is the one in charge of it, so you can ask him about that.」
For the king with many responsibilities, surely the disposal of a mere assassin is something he won’t specifically ask about.
「But then if you think about it, the effort of the other side is unexpectedly orthodox, you know.」
「You can say it like that.」
「But they should have used that will-power for something else, though.」
「If they can think of doing’ that, then they won’t worship an evil god in the first place.」
Everyone can’t help but agree while making a wry smile at the king’s words. After all, the people on the other side are drunk with ambition. That’s why, unless one is in a good environment, they can only blame it to their bad luck and trick other people to feel the same bad luck like them.
「The problem is the identification of those involved. Even for Barold, everyone thought he was an ordinary person that just looked pretty suspicious before this incident. Plus, aside from the landless nobles, the feudal lords on that side manage their own territory with their best effort, making identifying them very difficult. 」
「That’s right. I did think that he looked very shady, but I couldn’t feel any miasma from him at first.」
Even for Barold who is a leading member of the Evil God’s religious organization, when they are first influenced by it, they will start to stack up miasma in their body, and start to feel changes, like doing weird things, and having a change in temper.
They could have Haruna sing a song directly towards the suspected people, but other people will start to perceive that method as suspicious. There’s also that trouble for that method.
「Thanks to your help, our country was able to prevent their plan. But, I’m not sure about other countries’ condition.」
「You mean, there are the worst possibility that one or two countries have fallen into their hands, huh……」
「We tried to investigate more about it as much as possible, but there are also some very faraway countries. For the results to arrive, I hope it will be around one month later.」
「Ya mean, we hafta wait for a month even if we are leavin’ Urs?」
The king only shakes his head in response to Hiroshi’s words, making the whole team’s expressions turn puzzled.
「Next month, most places will start to snow. If you’re going to travel by land, the northern route already passed its usable period, and the east and west route will also start to become very hard to travel after half a month later. Well, if you’re going by caravan, I’m sure that you know that you have to take a detour……」
「In short, we have to stay in Urs until the winter is over?」
「Yeah. And then, moving out in the middle of winter will take a lot of time. Especially if there is snow blowing down, you have to take a break every three days. With that, waiting in this town for three months will not make a difference in the end.」
Hiroshi and his party who didn’t consider the weather only notices the problem after having it pointed out by the king.
「I see, then we will do as you say.」
「In addition, there will be Urs’ New Year Festival in two months. In this city, it is quite a big festival. Even if you go as ordinary people or the saviours of this country, I will be very happy to welcome you.」
Urs is more focused towards industry rather than agriculture, and there is nothing like an autumn harvest festival there. It’s not that they are completely not celebrated, but each district usually have their own organization (almost like a neighbourhood council) that have their own schedule for events, and like Japanese Bon Odori or summer festival, so the local festival is bustling in its own way.
The festival in the district where Hiroshi and his team reside in happened while they were going to the hot springs, so they were unable to participate in the festival food stall. The other district harvest festival also ended while they were in the middle of the jumbled problem in the castle, so they were unable to see even one of the harvest festivals.
In addition, the neighbouring villages and towns celebrate harvest festivals even more grand than New Year Festival. There are a lot of Urs people participating in the New Year Festival, but for Urs’ satellite cities and the surrounding villages that dedicates their land in agriculture, it is more important to celebrate the harvest festival and show their gratitude to the motherland rather than celebrating the new year.
By the way, the reason why Farlane’s new year is celebrated at the same time as the northern hemisphere mid-winter is because the starting point of the calendar is adjusted to the Declaration of the King of Nations when the country was founded. After celebrating the harvest festival, the king starts making a small-scale system in the country, and after the country has a sufficient function to stand alone, he makes the declaration of country. The time lag is approximately two months, so this becomes the season where everything will be very cold (like the midwinter in earth).
「Well, letsa roll with it then.」
「Uh huh.」
Hearing Hiroshi’s reply, the king nods. Tatsuya who is watching the situation suddenly asks a question.
「Your Highness, is it okay for you not to put a leash on those two people?」
「How should you put a leash on them?」
Tatsuya answered Haruna’s question bluntly right after she asked it.
「Neither the money nor status is necessary, and the court is not suitable for securing personal security. When handing over a woman gives nothing but an adverse effect, what do you mean with ‘how to put a leash’?」
「Uhh, you’re right……」
「Well, because it’s like that, I won’t stop them to leave themselves. I don’t have the view that I have to take someone in using whatever ways I can, you know.」
Towards the composed declaration from the king, the Japanese team can only give a smile.
「That’s right, if this succeeds, then it will be alright, but……」
The king looks like he wants to say something, and look mysteriously at Hiroshi.
「It will be helpful if you can stock and leave something at the workshop later on, even groceries related stuff is alright. If you like, I can also deploy someone to help you to do it.」
「I know you will say that, but do you have to take it that far?」
「Uh huh. Instant noodles might be too intense, but at least I want someone to be able to make the curry roux, ah, Elena and Aearis also said so. Also, we can manage making mayonnaise, but soy sauce and bonito looks pretty difficult. You may say it’s my greed, but I want to propagate the recipe and make preparations to make them in large quantity.」
The reply for Makoto’s retort and question, you can say that they’re pretty absurd.
「……Well, I will try to do something with the curry roux. Actually, Merizza also asked me the same thing, the recipes for it is scattered everywhere, and only the measurement work for the ingredients is in quite a bottleneck. 」
「I see. What about the other seasoning?」
「I’ll collect them and make it possible to produce them on a certain scale during the winter. If it spreads here and there, then we can eat a lot of delicious things too.」
「Then I’ll leave it to you」
After saying that, the king gnaws on the fried dough cake and says that the weight has left his shoulders. After that, all of them receive a souvenir and see him off with a smiling face, then they look at each other wondering what’s up with that.
「Hiroshi. We just promised him without discussing it first, but can we fulfil it?」
「I’mma quite busy with the preparation for pigeonholin’, but Merizza also asked us ’bout it, so it can’t be helped. Honestly, I wanna avoid it personally, but since Mio is helpin’ too I think we can do it. 」
「Why so?」
「When Brother and Mio were caught by the thief, do ya know that there are other people imprisoned there?」
Hiroshi ask with a tone more like confirmation than interrogation towards Makoto. Everyone nods.
「Two of them have no place to go back, so they was taken care by Merizza, but it looks like they are told to use this workshop as they like.」
「Then, why do you want to avoid it personally?」
「Well, ya know that both of them are women.」
With that one sentence, Haruna and the others understand the situation completely. It must be hard for Hiroshi to teach women. Haruna is his classmate with the same fate as him, and Mio acts like a man most of the time, so they are the exceptions. If the two women can’t put a distance properly like Haruna, then it will be severe in a lot of meanings.
「Anyway, if it’s just makin’ curry roux and soy sauce, then Mio can do it, right?」
「Un. Maybe, even Haru-nee can do it, yeah?」
「I’m okay with curry powder, but I don’t have confidence in making the soy sauce…」
With that, they find the method for it. When things are looking better for them, Tatsuya concludes.
「No matter what we choose, we also can’t just leave this place for a long time, if they can be trusted then shouldn’t we just leave it to them?」
「That’s right. I also agree.」
「If everyone agrees, then tomorrow I will go talk to Merizza.」
Following the agreement, everyone nods at Hiroshi’s word, and for now they decide to prepare to receive new people. The moment they decide their base in Farlane, that place will be the most important facility for Farlane.
「By the way, Hiroshi」
After preparing the acceptance for the new people tomorrow, Makoto calls Hiroshi like he just remembered something.
「What?」
「What will you do about the weapon?」
「Ah~、I forgot ’bout that」
Makoto is shocked with Hiroshi’s reply. His Pole Axe was completely shattered when he use extra skill, and he wasn’t able to fix or even recover the material.
「How about you use the Cerberus Fang?」
「Impossible! There’s no way I’ll use long sword!」
Hiroshi quickly rejected Makoto’s proposal. Cerberus Fang comes from the demonized corpse of the Cerberus. Needless to say, it is something they obtained when they defeat Barold the other day.
「Rather, why is it here?」
「When I collected the things in the temporary warehouse before, Julius was mixing all the things randomly in there.」
「No, if ya realized it, please tell him!」
Hiroshi can only retort after hearing Haruna’s reason. Cerberus Fang is the most powerful of all the current weapons they have in terms of performance, but unfortunately their team has no one that can use it and it can only stay as a treasure. Since it was originally acquired in the battle at the royal palace, shouldn’t the ownership be given to the kingdom?
「His Highness said that no one wants to use it since it is cursed, so he gave it to us.」
「But, he can just give it to Elle and purify it, right?」
「Isn’t it more troubling than just dispose it?」
This is certainly a difficult thing to dispose of, but they’re too easy-going to give such a thing to Hiroshi team. In the first place, they only took fifty silk balls to make into yarn, and most of the other things were given to Hiroshi team. The people in Farlane might not be able to manufacture it as well as Mio’s, but even if it’s not a half, they should at least take care of thirty percent of it.
「But then, even if it’s here, it will only take up space.」
「Makoto, don’t ya use long sword?」
「It’s not like I have never used it before, but I prefer using a katana.」
「Large sword ‘n katana is a pretty weird combination…」
Hiroshi makes quite a strange expression when he hears Makoto’s reply. Makoto smiles at his expression, and explains the reason.
「At first, or maybe I should say, the moment I got a splendid katana, my main weapon was katana. But……」
According to Makoto, the game did not have more powerful katanas than high-quality products. In fact, the katanas that were on the market other than the ones that production players made earlier were basically only those that were sold by NPCs on the outskirts, or high-quality rare drops. After all, the equivalent of the so-called magic sword has not been found.
Makoto trained with the long sword until he mastered the highest-class skills, since according to the adjacent law of nature longsword has strong skills and well-balanced in a lot of status. But, with the limit on the weapon’s performance that can’t be crossed, he changes into ōdachi with superior firepower.
「Then, isn’t it better for ya to make katana?」
「Nn~, I can’t say it for sure right now. It’s been two years since I last used a katana.」
「If there are materials for that, then I’ll try makin’ ōdachi and katana. If it’s better for you to use katana, then I can just give the ōdachi to Yuu. 」
「Before that, please make your own weapon.」
Makoto reminds Hiroshi who is about to do unnecessary things with unfeeling voice.
「By the way, what about the technique you used that time? Can you use it? 」
「The name that came to my mind for that technique is Titanic Roar. It might be useful, but it’s too early for me to judge it for now.」
「Haa?」
「I know how to use it, but I dunno how to activate it……」
The day after Hiroshi woke up, he borrowed a spare pole ax and tried to activate it over and over again, but no matter what he did, he cannot reproduce the same feeling like when he activated it last time. There is no doubt that there are something that is missing, like how his condition right now is not exhausted at all. It looks like even though he got the procedure right, he can’t use it without fulfilling a certain condition.
「Maybe, there are somethin’ missin’.」
「I see. It’s not that easy to use as I expected, huh……」
「Ya can say it like that.」
Indeed, it seems like Hiroshi’s battle ability won’t just improve that easily.
「Well, let’s just put that super great firepower thing aside for now. I’m already quite hungry, so let’s eat for now, yeah?」
「Ah, right. Then let’s make dinner.」
「What is the menu for today?」
「How about shoyu ramen with Wyvern soup as the base and gyoza?」
They answered to Haruna’s proposal with faces full of smiles.
「Then, since we are going to leave this country after winter is over, let’s decide our clear purpose and route for now」
After enjoying the ramen, Haruna proposed eating the sweet potato tofu as dessert. By the way, let’s not think too much about the ingredients used to make the tofu.
「You’re right. This place is quite different from the Grand Quest we are familiar with. I think it’s better for us to forget the information and common sense in the game.」
「Is that so?」
「Yeah. at least in the middle of the second chapter, there should be no serious trouble in any country.」
「There are also none towards the middle of chapter four. And then, at that point in time, the evil gods in the religious organization are just supporting roles, and they also don’t have any direct connection to the story.」
After hearing Tatsuya and Makoto’s explanation, they can’t help but raise their voice.
「Honestly, even if the current situation is in the story of Grand Quest, I have no idea where we are right now.」
「Well, we are also missing the information from the middle of the fourth chapter, so we should just ignore that information.」
「If that’ true, is there something that brother specifically thinks about?」
「First of all, we should aim for Rufeus to gather information.」
Everyone immediately understand the meaning of Tatsuya’s proposal and nod their head.
「They have big library, yeah?」
「Yes, and if we can enter the forbidden section of the library, I feel like we can advance considerably.」
「I’m not blaming anyone, but it will be a drawback to pick up something unnecessary again, okay?」
Haruna turns her gaze around after hearing Tatsuya’s retorts.
“If that’s only the reason, there’s no accomplishment.”
Leaving aside Haruna who is still gazing around nervously, Mio indifferently points out something unusual.
“Yeah, if we just go to Rupheus directly, it’s pretty pointless.”
“To just pass through other countries in vain, there will certainly be no accomplishment.”
Tatsuya and Shingo agree with Mio’s argument. Haruna who stops listening for a while then suddenly proposes something she just think of.
“If so, then let’s just pass around all the temples at the countries and regions that we pass through.”
“And the reason is?”
“I’m sure of it this time. This god must have something to do with this problem.”
“…Thank you for your very persuasive opinion.”
Tatsuya agrees at Haruna’s earnest persuasive declaration. Certainly, this matter cannot be absolutely irrelevant.
“Then, what kind of route should we go to?”
“Should we enter Rupheus through Forre and Midas from the north, or through Darl and Midas from the south?”
“Brother, there is also a route from Darl, Midas, Forre to Warren, and then we can enter Rupheus, instead of going straight to Rupheus.”
The group discuss with each other while looking at the rough map.
“Ah, that’s right.”
After looking at the various lines showing the highway, Hiroshi looks like he remembered something. There is a large forest that extends from the foot of the Great Reeds Peak over the border of Farlane and Darl. The road extends further to the south, and it turns into a tropical rain forest on the way. Hiroshi points the center of the big sacred mountain in the edge of the forest, and starts to say something astonishing.
“According to the story of the game, there should be an elf settlement with a temple of the gods of the forest here.”
“So there is an elf settlement near such a civilized area, huh…”
“Yeah, but then, things might be different from what is in the game.”
Everyone can’t help but give a strained laugh at what Hiroshi said. They understand it fully well after all the things happening in Farlane.
“Well, let’s just decide about that after we have gathered some information. Since we will leave after the winter is just over, the northern route will have many places that are hard to pass, so I think it would be better for us to go with the southern route.”
“Yes, and it looks like it’s easier to gather food on the way with the southern route.”
Haruna agrees with Tatsuya’s decision. There are also no objection from the other members.
“Since the route has been decided, as an experience with long-distance travel rehearsal, how ’bout we take some request to escort people around?”
“Yeah. It is better to have a rehearsal.”
“Then, I will start to prepare carriages or other means of transportation around.”
“We’re unexpectedly busy, especially for Hiro.”
“R’lly. We should have started preparin’ at the winter since the beginning.”
Haruna and Mio nod at Hiroshi’s words. Although their workload is not as many as Hiroshi’s, both of them are also busy preparing the consumables and a lot of other things.
“First of all, let’s do our best starting tomorrow”
The Japanese people’s expression looks better after decided their goal and action they will take.
“Farlane’s Barold has failed.”
“……Really?”
“A delay in plan is inevitable…”
In the darkness that no one knows, several men are talking secretly. Everyone there has a very thin presence, and even if someone has already met with them, that person won’t be able to remember their characteristic at all.
“How about the other Barold?”
“Darl’s Barold was eliminated last year by the hands of bandits. Now, we are sending a new Barold here. Forret’s Barold seems to be struggling with dwarves’ value system.”
“The only good thing is Waldis’ Barold.”
The group with indistinct appearance talks with each other in a flat voice. According to the contents of their conversations, it seems like Barold is the code name of the leader of the execution unit, but considering the situation of the Barold in Farlane, there is some possibility that he is an individual named Barold. Actually, he might not even know about the existence of this group.
“It is unexpected that Farlane’s Barold has failed completely, though. What actually happened?”
“It seems that people who came from the unknown continent have destroyed all of Farlane’s faction.”
When the words ‘unknown continent’ came out, the atmosphere in the group become provoking.
“Those people again, eh?”
“But their lifespan is only of a mere person. All of their actions will end up in vain after fifty years, and we can try again after fifty years, and if necessary, even a hundred years or two hundred years.”
“As long as there is holy spirit in this world, our Lord will be immortal. If our Lord is immortal, we will be immortal too.”
“But, there is no reason to leave them alone.”
“There’s no need to poke out the snake from the bush, but it would be nice to welcome them warmly when they cross our limits.”
With those words, the darkness snarls.
“What should we do with Farlane?”
“We can’t do anything about it since the failure happened in a very flashy way. We should just fill the surroundings with holy spirit.”
“I understand. Then, I will turn my assistance to another Barold. For the sake of filling the world with holy spirit.”
“Yes, to fill the world with holy spirit.”
At the same time, all the signs of activity completely disappears, and the place is filled with complete darkness.
Translator: Mii
Editor: Weasalopes
「I am truly indebted to all of you regarding this matter.」
When the whole team came to the workshop with exhausted faces, the king unexpectedly showed up to apologize to them. The five Japanese people couldn’t decline other people’s apologies in a public place, so they only glanced at each other unconsciously while making a wry smile.
It wasn’t until the two-week yarn-making season had come to an end, the autumn season had started its transition to winter, and the castle’s personnel affairs and all the important court documents had been settled, that the king could finally show his face in the workshop. Hiroshi and his friends were salvaging the workshop in the middle of the previous week, and even though they were keeping contact with Aearis, they could only meet directly with the royal castle’s representatives after about ten days.
「So the castle already doin’ alright?」
「There are still piles of work to do, but I am told to go away and take a break. Not only from my sons, but the prime minister at the great chamberlain, and even the leader of the Imperial Guards are saying the same thing to me. All of them are really too much.」
「Ya have worked hard. How ’bout I prescribe ya with herb tea to help with sleepin’ and yer exhaustion?」
「Please. If possible, can you make something that won’t become unappetizing even when it has gotten cold?」
「’Kay.」
Hiroshi nods in understanding with a strained laugh after hearing the tired king’s request.
「Then, what happened in there afta’ that?」
While Haruna is distributing the spring tea to everyone, Hiroshi continues his talk. They have prepared a lot of things since they came back, but they can’t find any information regarding that matter. Hiroshi keeps making fried bean curd while he improves his skill in curry bread that Haruna says will sell well for around a month (or maybe because it is for a month), making the customer and the stalls nearby lose their composure. Mio is also helping both of them, and they are very busy to the extent that they start to feel dizzy.
Meanwhile, the bored Tatsuya and Makoto act together as adventurers, but the low-rank adventurers only have a little information at most. They had noticed that there had been a rapid decline in request for suppression groups these days.
Even so, the three people in charge of cooking agreed to take a break, and everyone decided to have a day off too. That’s why today the whole team is present at the workshop. Plus, the king’s arrival was not entirely unexpected. Aearin contacted them last night and asked when would everyone be available. But they didn’t think that the king would come today.
「For now, the situation is still a work in process, but I can assure you that cleaning the castle’s interior is almost finished.」
「Inside castle, eh…」
「The inspection related to the other side’s domain is still in process as expected. Anyway, it looks like it is common knowledge for the feudal lords on the other side to become weird when all of you are accepted in the castle. But for the current situation, charging the feudal lords now will only create disorder…」
The king makes a face full of bitterness while answering Haruna’s question, and munches the fried dough cake served with the tea to calm himself.
「To put it bluntly, we tried to investigate it, but we only got some worthless information. For it to become one of the pillars of the opposition since the previous generation, it is seriously no joke.」
「Since the previous generation? Then the plan has been going on for more than thirty years, huh…」
「There are some traces of people that have been affiliated with the other side since approximately forty years ago. It began at the time of my coronation and the large-scale opposition commenced about fifteen years ago, when I begin to build up the royal court’s strength.」
「That was really a long way to do something…」
「Seriously though.」
Tatsuya and the king felt a grudging respect for the very long term plan that was one step away from conclusion. Even so, even though the internal political situation is in turmoil, there will always be a moderate level of support for the political administration rather than for the monster’s invasion, especially for a big country with a stable military and economic strength. That’s why it should take a long time to break such a country.
This is a man of strong military prowess that reorganized the country that was entangled with complicated problems from the last generation, even though he was even younger than Layotte at the time he was crowned. The greatest problem in the forty years of his reign was the imbalance of the law as an overreaction to the abuses of the prior reign. Without it, the situation wouldn’t be this complicated in the first place, so it is only natural that they couldn’t obtain the popular support to overthrow the royalty in a coup.
Moreover, the other side have worn down resistance when they are in the process of seizing the majority of the top positions in the kingdom’s bureaucracy, and the next step is only to overthrow the royalty. They only have to cause a big action, but they waste their plans on these trivial chances, and that’s why it must be intolerable for them.
「In any case, although it is good that they only dealt a recoverable blow to the military strength, a good many civil officials have been removed due to their involvement, making my head hurt. I can reinstate them slowly within half a year, but I will lose some of the decent people. The people on our side are obedient, and they are more inclined to cooperate positively.」
As for this case, although there are no options to be lenient in this case, to do such a rapid cleanup is very problematic. The ideal solution is to get rid of the infection at a speed faster than the corruption can spread, but with limited human resources, they have to adjust the number of people that can’t be used within an acceptable range. Even so, the cases where this has gone well historically are practically nil.
The history of humanity is filled with the accumulation of grand-scale changes due to shock and doctrine, both the good and bad.
「It will be troubling if they complain about us…」
「That’s right. We don’t know what to say about the territory or diplomacy, and to be honest, this is already outside our area of expertise…」
Haruna agrees with a bitter smile towards Mio’s retort mixed with bafflement since the gossip and complaints about them will be a better subject rather than letting the information continue afterwards. In fact, this is the kind of story that the adventurers want.
「Yeah, sorry.」
Although the other side had a completely different intent that undermined the Royal House, there would be complaints about the similarity of methods by the ordinary people. The king nods his head honestly after hearing those two retorts.
「For now, the disposal of the people who have been manipulated is over. We also succeeded in lowering the hurdle required for legal reform in this case. This time, we revised some systems that could only be made possible by the members of the rebellion being caught red-handed. After that, we only have to hold onto our reins and wait for it to settle down.」
The biggest gain in this case would have been the change of the system, which is almost impossible to do, since any minor changes cannot be done without agreement from all of the military officers, civilians and nobles. Even a single vote in opposition would prevent it, but with a few exceptions, if there are two-thirds of the head division in Urs territory and its directly control areas, and another two-thirds of the feudal lords of the Farlane residing in the Farlane area who agree with the revision, then it is possible to do so. By all rights, they want to take control of the majority degree, but to go that far immediately will be difficult. In the first place, it is impossible to do so without these circumstances.
The system evaded the political stagnation properly, but even though there were major flaws for the noble and royal criminals, they just make some sufficient action towards it, and the civil and military parts are using the customary procedures without any change. The previous generation devoted most of its reign to improvements to the economy and civilians’ life, while trying to limit the influence of influential people for better and worse.
Even with diplomacy, they can’t just establish a new law without negotiation which will take a long time. The adjusting of the laws will focus on legal interpretation, so they will not anger the other countries as well. Even though the king is weak inside the kingdom, in foreign relations he is valued as a capable person.
「How will you deal with the manipulated people?」
「Considering the degree of the incitement, they are discharged, or demoted. Since their actions were manipulated by Oria, I won’t make execution their punishment. I think secluding them in the northern monastery for training is sufficient.」
Hiroshi and his friends doesn’t say anything to that, whether because of kindness or delicacy of the punishment. Nonetheless, when they think of the things they are guilty for, it becomes hard to cover up for someone.
「How about the assassin?」
「Sorry, I’m not aware of that detail. Layotte is the one in charge of it, so you can ask him about that.」
For the king with many responsibilities, surely the disposal of a mere assassin is something he won’t specifically ask about.
「But then if you think about it, the effort of the other side is unexpectedly orthodox, you know.」
「You can say it like that.」
「But they should have used that will-power for something else, though.」
「If they can think of doing’ that, then they won’t worship an evil god in the first place.」
Everyone can’t help but agree while making a wry smile at the king’s words. After all, the people on the other side are drunk with ambition. That’s why, unless one is in a good environment, they can only blame it to their bad luck and trick other people to feel the same bad luck like them.
「The problem is the identification of those involved. Even for Barold, everyone thought he was an ordinary person that just looked pretty suspicious before this incident. Plus, aside from the landless nobles, the feudal lords on that side manage their own territory with their best effort, making identifying them very difficult. 」
「That’s right. I did think that he looked very shady, but I couldn’t feel any miasma from him at first.」
Even for Barold who is a leading member of the Evil God’s religious organization, when they are first influenced by it, they will start to stack up miasma in their body, and start to feel changes, like doing weird things, and having a change in temper.
They could have Haruna sing a song directly towards the suspected people, but other people will start to perceive that method as suspicious. There’s also that trouble for that method.
「Thanks to your help, our country was able to prevent their plan. But, I’m not sure about other countries’ condition.」
「You mean, there are the worst possibility that one or two countries have fallen into their hands, huh……」
「We tried to investigate more about it as much as possible, but there are also some very faraway countries. For the results to arrive, I hope it will be around one month later.」
「Ya mean, we hafta wait for a month even if we are leavin’ Urs?」
The king only shakes his head in response to Hiroshi’s words, making the whole team’s expressions turn puzzled.
「Next month, most places will start to snow. If you’re going to travel by land, the northern route already passed its usable period, and the east and west route will also start to become very hard to travel after half a month later. Well, if you’re going by caravan, I’m sure that you know that you have to take a detour……」
「In short, we have to stay in Urs until the winter is over?」
「Yeah. And then, moving out in the middle of winter will take a lot of time. Especially if there is snow blowing down, you have to take a break every three days. With that, waiting in this town for three months will not make a difference in the end.」
Hiroshi and his party who didn’t consider the weather only notices the problem after having it pointed out by the king.
「I see, then we will do as you say.」
「In addition, there will be Urs’ New Year Festival in two months. In this city, it is quite a big festival. Even if you go as ordinary people or the saviours of this country, I will be very happy to welcome you.」
Urs is more focused towards industry rather than agriculture, and there is nothing like an autumn harvest festival there. It’s not that they are completely not celebrated, but each district usually have their own organization (almost like a neighbourhood council) that have their own schedule for events, and like Japanese Bon Odori or summer festival, so the local festival is bustling in its own way.
The festival in the district where Hiroshi and his team reside in happened while they were going to the hot springs, so they were unable to participate in the festival food stall. The other district harvest festival also ended while they were in the middle of the jumbled problem in the castle, so they were unable to see even one of the harvest festivals.
In addition, the neighbouring villages and towns celebrate harvest festivals even more grand than New Year Festival. There are a lot of Urs people participating in the New Year Festival, but for Urs’ satellite cities and the surrounding villages that dedicates their land in agriculture, it is more important to celebrate the harvest festival and show their gratitude to the motherland rather than celebrating the new year.
By the way, the reason why Farlane’s new year is celebrated at the same time as the northern hemisphere mid-winter is because the starting point of the calendar is adjusted to the Declaration of the King of Nations when the country was founded. After celebrating the harvest festival, the king starts making a small-scale system in the country, and after the country has a sufficient function to stand alone, he makes the declaration of country. The time lag is approximately two months, so this becomes the season where everything will be very cold (like the midwinter in earth).
「Well, letsa roll with it then.」
「Uh huh.」
Hearing Hiroshi’s reply, the king nods. Tatsuya who is watching the situation suddenly asks a question.
「Your Highness, is it okay for you not to put a leash on those two people?」
「How should you put a leash on them?」
Tatsuya answered Haruna’s question bluntly right after she asked it.
「Neither the money nor status is necessary, and the court is not suitable for securing personal security. When handing over a woman gives nothing but an adverse effect, what do you mean with ‘how to put a leash’?」
「Uhh, you’re right……」
「Well, because it’s like that, I won’t stop them to leave themselves. I don’t have the view that I have to take someone in using whatever ways I can, you know.」
Towards the composed declaration from the king, the Japanese team can only give a smile.
「That’s right, if this succeeds, then it will be alright, but……」
The king looks like he wants to say something, and look mysteriously at Hiroshi.
「It will be helpful if you can stock and leave something at the workshop later on, even groceries related stuff is alright. If you like, I can also deploy someone to help you to do it.」
「I know you will say that, but do you have to take it that far?」
「Uh huh. Instant noodles might be too intense, but at least I want someone to be able to make the curry roux, ah, Elena and Aearis also said so. Also, we can manage making mayonnaise, but soy sauce and bonito looks pretty difficult. You may say it’s my greed, but I want to propagate the recipe and make preparations to make them in large quantity.」
The reply for Makoto’s retort and question, you can say that they’re pretty absurd.
「……Well, I will try to do something with the curry roux. Actually, Merizza also asked me the same thing, the recipes for it is scattered everywhere, and only the measurement work for the ingredients is in quite a bottleneck. 」
「I see. What about the other seasoning?」
「I’ll collect them and make it possible to produce them on a certain scale during the winter. If it spreads here and there, then we can eat a lot of delicious things too.」
「Then I’ll leave it to you」
After saying that, the king gnaws on the fried dough cake and says that the weight has left his shoulders. After that, all of them receive a souvenir and see him off with a smiling face, then they look at each other wondering what’s up with that.
「Hiroshi. We just promised him without discussing it first, but can we fulfil it?」
「I’mma quite busy with the preparation for pigeonholin’, but Merizza also asked us ’bout it, so it can’t be helped. Honestly, I wanna avoid it personally, but since Mio is helpin’ too I think we can do it. 」
「Why so?」
「When Brother and Mio were caught by the thief, do ya know that there are other people imprisoned there?」
Hiroshi ask with a tone more like confirmation than interrogation towards Makoto. Everyone nods.
「Two of them have no place to go back, so they was taken care by Merizza, but it looks like they are told to use this workshop as they like.」
「Then, why do you want to avoid it personally?」
「Well, ya know that both of them are women.」
With that one sentence, Haruna and the others understand the situation completely. It must be hard for Hiroshi to teach women. Haruna is his classmate with the same fate as him, and Mio acts like a man most of the time, so they are the exceptions. If the two women can’t put a distance properly like Haruna, then it will be severe in a lot of meanings.
「Anyway, if it’s just makin’ curry roux and soy sauce, then Mio can do it, right?」
「Un. Maybe, even Haru-nee can do it, yeah?」
「I’m okay with curry powder, but I don’t have confidence in making the soy sauce…」
With that, they find the method for it. When things are looking better for them, Tatsuya concludes.
「No matter what we choose, we also can’t just leave this place for a long time, if they can be trusted then shouldn’t we just leave it to them?」
「That’s right. I also agree.」
「If everyone agrees, then tomorrow I will go talk to Merizza.」
Following the agreement, everyone nods at Hiroshi’s word, and for now they decide to prepare to receive new people. The moment they decide their base in Farlane, that place will be the most important facility for Farlane.
「By the way, Hiroshi」
After preparing the acceptance for the new people tomorrow, Makoto calls Hiroshi like he just remembered something.
「What?」
「What will you do about the weapon?」
「Ah~、I forgot ’bout that」
Makoto is shocked with Hiroshi’s reply. His Pole Axe was completely shattered when he use extra skill, and he wasn’t able to fix or even recover the material.
「How about you use the Cerberus Fang?」
「Impossible! There’s no way I’ll use long sword!」
Hiroshi quickly rejected Makoto’s proposal. Cerberus Fang comes from the demonized corpse of the Cerberus. Needless to say, it is something they obtained when they defeat Barold the other day.
「Rather, why is it here?」
「When I collected the things in the temporary warehouse before, Julius was mixing all the things randomly in there.」
「No, if ya realized it, please tell him!」
Hiroshi can only retort after hearing Haruna’s reason. Cerberus Fang is the most powerful of all the current weapons they have in terms of performance, but unfortunately their team has no one that can use it and it can only stay as a treasure. Since it was originally acquired in the battle at the royal palace, shouldn’t the ownership be given to the kingdom?
「His Highness said that no one wants to use it since it is cursed, so he gave it to us.」
「But, he can just give it to Elle and purify it, right?」
「Isn’t it more troubling than just dispose it?」
This is certainly a difficult thing to dispose of, but they’re too easy-going to give such a thing to Hiroshi team. In the first place, they only took fifty silk balls to make into yarn, and most of the other things were given to Hiroshi team. The people in Farlane might not be able to manufacture it as well as Mio’s, but even if it’s not a half, they should at least take care of thirty percent of it.
「But then, even if it’s here, it will only take up space.」
「Makoto, don’t ya use long sword?」
「It’s not like I have never used it before, but I prefer using a katana.」
「Large sword ‘n katana is a pretty weird combination…」
Hiroshi makes quite a strange expression when he hears Makoto’s reply. Makoto smiles at his expression, and explains the reason.
「At first, or maybe I should say, the moment I got a splendid katana, my main weapon was katana. But……」
According to Makoto, the game did not have more powerful katanas than high-quality products. In fact, the katanas that were on the market other than the ones that production players made earlier were basically only those that were sold by NPCs on the outskirts, or high-quality rare drops. After all, the equivalent of the so-called magic sword has not been found.
Makoto trained with the long sword until he mastered the highest-class skills, since according to the adjacent law of nature longsword has strong skills and well-balanced in a lot of status. But, with the limit on the weapon’s performance that can’t be crossed, he changes into ōdachi with superior firepower.
「Then, isn’t it better for ya to make katana?」
「Nn~, I can’t say it for sure right now. It’s been two years since I last used a katana.」
「If there are materials for that, then I’ll try makin’ ōdachi and katana. If it’s better for you to use katana, then I can just give the ōdachi to Yuu. 」
「Before that, please make your own weapon.」
Makoto reminds Hiroshi who is about to do unnecessary things with unfeeling voice.
「By the way, what about the technique you used that time? Can you use it? 」
「The name that came to my mind for that technique is Titanic Roar. It might be useful, but it’s too early for me to judge it for now.」
「Haa?」
「I know how to use it, but I dunno how to activate it……」
The day after Hiroshi woke up, he borrowed a spare pole ax and tried to activate it over and over again, but no matter what he did, he cannot reproduce the same feeling like when he activated it last time. There is no doubt that there are something that is missing, like how his condition right now is not exhausted at all. It looks like even though he got the procedure right, he can’t use it without fulfilling a certain condition.
「Maybe, there are somethin’ missin’.」
「I see. It’s not that easy to use as I expected, huh……」
「Ya can say it like that.」
Indeed, it seems like Hiroshi’s battle ability won’t just improve that easily.
「Well, let’s just put that super great firepower thing aside for now. I’m already quite hungry, so let’s eat for now, yeah?」
「Ah, right. Then let’s make dinner.」
「What is the menu for today?」
「How about shoyu ramen with Wyvern soup as the base and gyoza?」
They answered to Haruna’s proposal with faces full of smiles.
「Then, since we are going to leave this country after winter is over, let’s decide our clear purpose and route for now」
After enjoying the ramen, Haruna proposed eating the sweet potato tofu as dessert. By the way, let’s not think too much about the ingredients used to make the tofu.
「You’re right. This place is quite different from the Grand Quest we are familiar with. I think it’s better for us to forget the information and common sense in the game.」
「Is that so?」
「Yeah. at least in the middle of the second chapter, there should be no serious trouble in any country.」
「There are also none towards the middle of chapter four. And then, at that point in time, the evil gods in the religious organization are just supporting roles, and they also don’t have any direct connection to the story.」
After hearing Tatsuya and Makoto’s explanation, they can’t help but raise their voice.
「Honestly, even if the current situation is in the story of Grand Quest, I have no idea where we are right now.」
「Well, we are also missing the information from the middle of the fourth chapter, so we should just ignore that information.」
「If that’ true, is there something that brother specifically thinks about?」
「First of all, we should aim for Rufeus to gather information.」
Everyone immediately understand the meaning of Tatsuya’s proposal and nod their head.
「They have big library, yeah?」
「Yes, and if we can enter the forbidden section of the library, I feel like we can advance considerably.」
「I’m not blaming anyone, but it will be a drawback to pick up something unnecessary again, okay?」
Haruna turns her gaze around after hearing Tatsuya’s retorts.
“If that’s only the reason, there’s no accomplishment.”
Leaving aside Haruna who is still gazing around nervously, Mio indifferently points out something unusual.
“Yeah, if we just go to Rupheus directly, it’s pretty pointless.”
“To just pass through other countries in vain, there will certainly be no accomplishment.”
Tatsuya and Shingo agree with Mio’s argument. Haruna who stops listening for a while then suddenly proposes something she just think of.
“If so, then let’s just pass around all the temples at the countries and regions that we pass through.”
“And the reason is?”
“I’m sure of it this time. This god must have something to do with this problem.”
“…Thank you for your very persuasive opinion.”
Tatsuya agrees at Haruna’s earnest persuasive declaration. Certainly, this matter cannot be absolutely irrelevant.
“Then, what kind of route should we go to?”
“Should we enter Rupheus through Forre and Midas from the north, or through Darl and Midas from the south?”
“Brother, there is also a route from Darl, Midas, Forre to Warren, and then we can enter Rupheus, instead of going straight to Rupheus.”
The group discuss with each other while looking at the rough map.
“Ah, that’s right.”
After looking at the various lines showing the highway, Hiroshi looks like he remembered something. There is a large forest that extends from the foot of the Great Reeds Peak over the border of Farlane and Darl. The road extends further to the south, and it turns into a tropical rain forest on the way. Hiroshi points the center of the big sacred mountain in the edge of the forest, and starts to say something astonishing.
“According to the story of the game, there should be an elf settlement with a temple of the gods of the forest here.”
“So there is an elf settlement near such a civilized area, huh…”
“Yeah, but then, things might be different from what is in the game.”
Everyone can’t help but give a strained laugh at what Hiroshi said. They understand it fully well after all the things happening in Farlane.
“Well, let’s just decide about that after we have gathered some information. Since we will leave after the winter is just over, the northern route will have many places that are hard to pass, so I think it would be better for us to go with the southern route.”
“Yes, and it looks like it’s easier to gather food on the way with the southern route.”
Haruna agrees with Tatsuya’s decision. There are also no objection from the other members.
“Since the route has been decided, as an experience with long-distance travel rehearsal, how ’bout we take some request to escort people around?”
“Yeah. It is better to have a rehearsal.”
“Then, I will start to prepare carriages or other means of transportation around.”
“We’re unexpectedly busy, especially for Hiro.”
“R’lly. We should have started preparin’ at the winter since the beginning.”
Haruna and Mio nod at Hiroshi’s words. Although their workload is not as many as Hiroshi’s, both of them are also busy preparing the consumables and a lot of other things.
“First of all, let’s do our best starting tomorrow”
The Japanese people’s expression looks better after decided their goal and action they will take.
“Farlane’s Barold has failed.”
“……Really?”
“A delay in plan is inevitable…”
In the darkness that no one knows, several men are talking secretly. Everyone there has a very thin presence, and even if someone has already met with them, that person won’t be able to remember their characteristic at all.
“How about the other Barold?”
“Darl’s Barold was eliminated last year by the hands of bandits. Now, we are sending a new Barold here. Forret’s Barold seems to be struggling with dwarves’ value system.”
“The only good thing is Waldis’ Barold.”
The group with indistinct appearance talks with each other in a flat voice. According to the contents of their conversations, it seems like Barold is the code name of the leader of the execution unit, but considering the situation of the Barold in Farlane, there is some possibility that he is an individual named Barold. Actually, he might not even know about the existence of this group.
“It is unexpected that Farlane’s Barold has failed completely, though. What actually happened?”
“It seems that people who came from the unknown continent have destroyed all of Farlane’s faction.”
When the words ‘unknown continent’ came out, the atmosphere in the group become provoking.
“Those people again, eh?”
“But their lifespan is only of a mere person. All of their actions will end up in vain after fifty years, and we can try again after fifty years, and if necessary, even a hundred years or two hundred years.”
“As long as there is holy spirit in this world, our Lord will be immortal. If our Lord is immortal, we will be immortal too.”
“But, there is no reason to leave them alone.”
“There’s no need to poke out the snake from the bush, but it would be nice to welcome them warmly when they cross our limits.”
With those words, the darkness snarls.
“What should we do with Farlane?”
“We can’t do anything about it since the failure happened in a very flashy way. We should just fill the surroundings with holy spirit.”
“I understand. Then, I will turn my assistance to another Barold. For the sake of filling the world with holy spirit.”
“Yes, to fill the world with holy spirit.”
At the same time, all the signs of activity completely disappears, and the place is filled with complete darkness.
