Chapter 434 – Small Meeting

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“Zemetas, Adomos, you can go back to the Spirit World now.”

“Affirmative! I shall master the usage of this new “Light Glowing in Darkness” mantle in the Spirit World!”

“Your Excellencyyy, please don’t pay attention to Zematas alone! I would like you to take a look at me as well!” Adomos demanded with a powerful and grave tone.

In the next instant, red smoke gushed through the layered mechanisms layered in his living ribcage. His entire body was clad in a crimson-shining cloud of smoke before a red-glowing mantle manifested on his back.

It was the same sort of mantle as that of Zemetas. Which means that they’re influencing each other, I guess.

The two Burning Knights positioned them on my sides while Lisana and Helme were harmoniously floating up in the sky behind us. Coupled with Helme’s water splashing and the Baroque music of Lisana’s snails and slugs, this whole setup created a stern atmosphere as if the temperature around us had suddenly plummeted.

…To be honest, the Burning Knights are way too cool.

I felt an instinctive urge to actually lower my head at them.

“…So you got such a mantle as well, Adomos? Is that a new armor piece? Or a skill?”

“Yes, I have obtained it as well. It is “Light Glowing in Crimson”!”

“Very well, Your Excellency! I will be off!”

“I shall excuse myself as well!”

“Nn, nyaooo,” meowed Rollo――now back in her cat form――sadly after having played around by tapping their skulls earlier.

“Sure.”

Following my consent, the Dark Hell Bone Knight ring on my finger glowed faintly before Adomos and Zemetas vanished while engulfed in their own smoke.

Lisana and Helme waved their hands at the two knights. The alliance members, on the other hand, watched the knights vanish while being dumbfounded. Dogal took it rather normally, but Azol looked quite tense. Lynn’s expression remained mostly unperturbed by this chain of events.

After all of them calmed down a bit (thanks to Rollo messing around a bit), I let my eyes wander and announced, “…Okay, let’s have a little chat.”

Checking the area for a good place, I discovered an oblong root protruding out of the ground. Assuming that place to be suited, I aimed at that root and focused on <Tree of the Evil King>.

Arm-sized trees grew out of my fingertips, slowly extending towards the spot I had targeted. After the fragments of the sword spirits had vanished, the roots had transformed, and I used that to my advantage.

Feeling like a conductor, I created plenty of long, simple benches and tables in an instant. At once, it drew the spectators to voice their admiration.

I guess they don’t get the opportunity to watch wooden benches pop up instantly like that overly often. But, I’m pretty sure folks with skills allowing them to manipulate trees shouldn’t be too uncommon. And as proof for my belief, some of the people around me watched on without being overly astonished either.

“Wood creation, huh…?”

“He’s a man with lots of skills.”

“The skill itself is quite common, but the mana contained in the wood is another matter altogether.”

Male and female alliance members, who seemed to be connected to intelligence in their alliance, commented on my display of skill.

Without minding any of that, I urged them to sit down with words and eyes. And then I also told Helme, who had landed on the ground, and Higlia, “You guys, please sit down over here as well.”

“Okay, it’s time for a break then, I suppose.”

“I got it.”

Both women sat down on a bench as if competing with each other. Daon-san, Ryokline, and the other wolfmen followed suit.

“Alright, I will take a seat as well then,” said Lisana while releasing a nice scent.

She lightly hit her palm with her fan. As the fan folded on her palm, it created a satisfying pang. The small slugs and snails that formed the fan turned into mana particles and dispersed into the atmosphere.

Next Lisana accelerated the mana in her upper body a bit. The two, big, black hands stretched out to the front and began to move. Their way of movement was thick and heavy.

As I watched their motions, I spotted how the Wave Gourd, which had become something like Lisana’s lower body, also moved along. Each time the gourd struck the ground, it created a hole in the soil. The sight of the heavy gourd leaping forward like some frog looked rather funny.

And Lisana was cute for appearing somewhat frantic. She used her voluptuous upper body like a spring as she moved up next to Higlia.

Higlia’s silver hair stood on end each time the earth trembled from Lisana’s movements.

Once everyone gathered and sat down, Rollo also came along. Meowing, she jumped on the table and walked along its surface as if taking a stroll.

As everyone was whispering amongst each other, I also stepped up to the meeting place and declared, “Okay, let’s get started with the meeting then. We’re going to share information.”

While stroking my partner’s small head, I introduced my bloodkin. I also passed the word to Higlia as representative of the ancient wolfmen.

And thus we kept talking about all sorts of things to remove all the misunderstandings between us. The alliance told us about the strife surrounding the guild’s mystery book and 【Guilty Crown】 which has been based in the town of Alze for a long time.

They taught us that the Holy Guild Alliance’s name was related to their job of headhunting bounties. The headquarters of their organization is located near the southwestern Mt. Ylson. It sounds like their headquarters is also close to the small mountain castle’s 【Trade City Denim】. That’s already outside the territory of Seven Florseil Kingdoms. In the past the country of Ylson existed in that area. Between the southern Seven Florseil Kingdoms and the western Radford Empire. It seems like people took refuge there from the old capital Gande.

I heard it’s a region still plagued by harsh and devastating wars.

Then we had a short break. Helme used that opportunity to exhibit her dance while releasing water sprays. I supported her by scattering water from life magic at her feet.

“Hehe, thank you, Your Excellency.”

Helme discharged water from her own feet, adding to my water, while smalling. And then she froze that newly created lake, just to skate on it while being accompanied by the Baroque music coming from Lisana’s snails and slugs. Jodi also joined in by releasing white moth into the sky while dancing and brandishing her scythe.

Quite amazing…I must admit. Helme danced while singing. Jodi also used her dazzling voice to sing alongside Helme. And in the end, the slugs and snails even stopped their Baroque song as if to follow Helme and Jody’s example on this.

Right afterwards, the two performed a vigorous dance exhibition which was rewarded by everyone cheering at them frantically. I was deeply moved by their performance, too. It drew me into naturally clapping my hands.

Or rather, everyone, including the alliance members, was applauding.

Afterwards, the break came to an end with a small tale abound with Helme’s wit, causing the whole area to be awash with laughter. Azol seemed to enjoy this whole side show as well since she naturally adopted a pose.

When everyone had calmed down again, I decided to show the alliance members my <Granted Seal of Light>.

However, this triggered the following reactions:

“He’s of noble descent, seeing how he possesses a magic symbol?”

“It’s different from the mark of the holy seal.”

“Is it possibly a design as it’s said to be recorded in the Holy Scriptures?”

“I already suspected him to be a magic symbol possessor.”

“With his strength, it only makes sense.”

“Yeah, Shuuya-san handles his spear like a fierce god who exceeds the magic puppet Ylson. I’m sure he’d be able to contend as an Eight Divine Spear King Ranker. I think he should participate in the Eight Martial Arts King Tournament.”

“In addition to his magic spearmanship and the ranged magic, his handling of the shining sword, which got the better of Dogal the Fifth Buster, was outstanding too.”

Even as they looked at my crest, they reacted as if registering it as nothing more than another ability.

Well, I guess that’s only understandable, though. Light God Lulodis isn’t an absolute existence for them. The alliance members worship the God of Order Orimil. Although both gods are on the side of Divine Domain Seuros, it doesn’t automatically mean that they’re believing in Lulodis. Besides, it’d run counter with a holy church based on monotheism.

That’s also why they shouldn’t know, much less even try to find out, about the holy scriptures as long as they aren’t curious about them. Then again, that sage geezer of the War God Faith knew about the scriptures.

In the first place, we’re in the Southern Mahaheim region. This area has a civilization centered around polytheism.

Afterwards, we talked about trade withe Cydale. But it seemed like the alliance members didn’t have the authority to make such business decisions.

“However, currently the number of roads in the Sea of Trees is extremely limited. And even just securing those very few roads already proves to be extremely difficult. I think it’ll be difficult to do trade under such circumstances.”

Azol, Lynn, and Dogal told me something in that direction.

Well, it does make sense. Even if we start trading, no road leads to Cydale. As such, it’d mostly be about reckless companies coming forward because they know the potential of earning huge profits. And it seemed like the decision whether trade would be possible rested on the official procedures after informing the lord.

I asked them about the town of Alze.

“Alze lies in the southernmost part of the Sea of Trees. Its lord is called Earl Hege Zen Tonilain-sama. Currently his daughter Frederique-sama is serving as deputy lord.”

I remember having heard the name of Tonilain from Fran. But, keeping that information to myself, I decided to ask them about adventurers.”

“Are there many adventurers over there?”

“Right now, you will find more at Benrack near Pelneet.”

The population doesn’t sound to be all that large.

“What sorts of requests can you get at the guild besides monster subjugations?”

“There are all kinds of different requests, such as scouting the unexplored parts of the Sea of Trees, helping with the fishing of Alze Salmons up the Heim River, helping knight orders, working as guard at martial arts tournaments, taking care of cockfights, deciphering coded ancient writings, collecting all sorts of raw materials, escorting caravans, and so on.”

I guess adventurer guilds are the same everywhere you go. There’s a bounty of requests. And even though many adventurers have gathered at Benrack, Alze seems to also have many people.

“Is there an abundance of Sea of Trees requests as well? At least it sounds like there are bodyguarding requests.”

“Yes. The caravans heading to the Phenimul Village have to cross the forest. It’s the most challenging route…”

Figures. There’s all sorts of dangers such as orcs, goblins, ancient gods, and so on. The humans probably also have requests to subjugate ancient wolfmen and former adventurers who have become bandits.

But, caravans, huh…? If you use a Heim River branch…

“If there exists a Heim branch, I’d think it’d be possible to safely transport goods with a ship…even if it might become a bigger detour…”

“Some use that method, too. But, It’s difficult to navigate ships because of the shallow river basin. That’s why the number of transport vessels and maritime companies is rather low.”

I see. It’s a branch of the Heim River, so fewer companies do business there, eh? In such a case, it’s actually a great chance to do some profitable business.

“So you say a considerable number of maritime routes exist.”

“Yes, but some folks also throw their weight around, using the difficulty to steer ships upstream amidst all the shallows to their advantage.”

Azol’s tone had changed a bit. Her words sounded somewhat biting now.

“Who are those folks?” I asked.

“…We don’t really want to talk about that company…,” Dogal pointed out with an awkward look on his face.

“Right…the image of Guilty Crown…”

Dogal and Azol exchanged a look, nodding at each other. They both seemed like they didn’t want to talk about it.

Seeing those two, Lynn sighed.

“Both of you, you’re way too desperate to only show your nice parts to Shuuya-san!”

“Really? I’d like to hear the story, if you don’t mind. Lynn…could you tell me a bit about that company in question?” I urged her to continue with the topic after politely bowing my head.

“Sure. Publicly, that company runs a small, specialized transport business. But, you see…their real business is something else altogether. They’re “Jacks of all trades” possessing close ties to all sorts of organizations, including dark guilds.”

“Jacks of all trades, huh? I think you’ll find such people in every settlement, though.”

Hearing my words, Lynn nodded several times.

“You’re not wrong about that. But, this small company is anything but normal, you see?”

“You mean they’re shady?”

“Yeah. They’re as shady as you could suspect, but their personnel is superb. And they own a small ship clad in silver mana. Especially that ship exceeds everything in shadiness as it’s an unprecedented, special magic ship.”

A special magic ship clad in silver mana, huh?

Come to think of it, Mel mentioned a dispute with pirates over a silver boat.

Without probing any further, I asked, “Those “Jacks of all trades” are strong enough to give your alliance a hard time?”

“…Rather than giving us a hard time, they’ve been always running away…”

“So they’re quick at escaping? Going by the term you use for them, I suppose they are kind of like handymen.”

Upon my question, Azol answered in Lynn’s stead, “That’s correct. I hear they accept all sorts of requests, regardless of scale. I guess you can call them Alze’s underside…”

“Jacks of all trades” and underside, huh? Putting it together…they cover everything from abductions to murder? That would truly make them sound like underworld folks.

“…You said their members are excellent, but if they’re pirates, does that mean they’re fishmen?”

“They possess the strength of fishmen, but they look like humans. The name of their captain is Ray Jack. She’s a remarkable swordswoman. Her alias is Ray the Sea Dragon Slasher. In the past, she used to be Captain of the Azura Pirates’ Sixth Crew or something like that,” Azola explained to me.

“I don’t know those Azura Pirates, but if she’s a former captain of theirs, she must be strong, right?”

“Yes, her individual prowess is quite something. She possesses enough strength to handle Seal Busters. Just once we managed to corner them by using the terrain, but in the end they managed to escape.”

Azol clamped down on her wrench weapon. Dogal nodded and spoke up.”

“…Ray the Sea Dragon Slasher…the Azura Pirates, to whom she belonged, are one of the twelve greater pirates possessing a “Great Pirating License.” I hear they’re one of the best pirate crews on the Lodelia Ocean. Because of that, Ray’s comrades are strong as well.”

“Figures.”

“And the company led by Ray seems to have deep connections with Oseberia and Zamalia on top of several thief guilds…not only are they strong when you try to catch them, but they’re also fast at escaping…”

Azol and Dogal looked vexed when talking about this, but they also seemed like they must have given up on this.

“Hooh,” I curtly commented before lighting a magic cigarette.

Still pirates…it seems like it’d be a bad idea to bring up the Blood Moon Sea Star Alliance here. Right now, it might be better to not show my dark guild face too much. It’ll be okay for me to bring it up when it becomes necessary during negotiations.

But, since I was a bit curious, I asked a bit more about the Azura Pirates.

“……Do you know the name of the top…the leader or captain…of the Azura Pirates?”

“Left Don Garsh. Also known as Four-Armed Hero Left. He’s got a bounty on him.”

Left? Left-handed? His name totally sounds like that of a mafia don. And he also got a price on his head.

“So you can get a sizable amount of money if you catch that Left?”

“Yes, if you catch him…that is,” Azol answered quietly.

“Are they such a big pirate crew?”

“Rather, catching him normally will be impossible. They’re a greater pirate crew who have obtained official permission from the huge Pirate State Lodelia.”

I’ve heard about the Lodelia Ocean, but it’s my first time to learn that it’s also a country’s name.

“Right, the Great Pirating License. It’s the country’s approval of pirates even attacking the ships of other countries.”

Maybe Dogal, Azol, and Lynn have some fateful connection with Ray… At least it sounds like they’ve investigated quite a bit about Ray’s background.

“No foreign country would be happy about this.”

“Yes. The bounty exceeds a platinum coin, but…it’s a story of the seas beyond the east and south.”

Lynn nodded deeply at Azol’s words and stood up from her chair. She touched the surface of the cloth bag at her waist with her fingers. In response, the cloth started to shine in rainbow colors.

We focused on that rainbow light, but she didn’t overly mind it. While adopting a pose as if offering a silent prayer, she said, “…Just as Azol said, the ocean is wide. The Lodelia Ocean is also called Heim Sea, but that’s because it’s connected to the southern ocean. And the fishman countries and the Illusionary City of Sepiton, a city inhabited by mermaids, are also connected to that ocean.”

A city with the name of Sea God Sepiton attached to it; I guess it’s the hometown of Shana.

“I’ve heard a bit about the southern ocean.”

Speaking of oceans…there’s the place where I retrieved the Parades Mirror of the 16th facet. It was inside a shipwreck.

Lynn answered, “Yes, the ocean. Beyond that endless stretch of water also lies the continent with the Arzen Dynasty’s civilization. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard about an extraordinary ocean existing beyond that continent…”

Does Lynn hail from the south? Somehow, she sounds filled with emotions.

apparently interested in her, Helme stared at Lynn.

“Lynn, do you know a lot about the south?”

“Yep. You’ve heard the name of Adventurer Minister Fluide, haven’t you?”

“I don’t want to boast, but I actually saw him from close-by. I think it was during a banquet in Hekatrail.”

“Eh? You met Gramps?”

Eh? Gramps? So she was his granddaughter?

Oh shit, although it’s the outcome of a battle…I stabbed the chest of a celebrity’s granddaughter…it’s good that I saved her.

And then Azol’s eyes flew wide open, “Shuuya-san, you meeting him at a banquet in Hekatrail means you’re acquainted with that marquess?”

“Yep. I guess it’d be faster to show you this first.”

I took out the ring which the magic gold artisan employed by House Chardonnay crafted for me while using the belly button of the Evil Dragon King, and showed it to Azol, Dogal, and Lynn.

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