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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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“How is the heroes’ training progressing, Pope Gilmore?”
“By the grace of the gods, it’s going smoothly, Your Majesty.”
“Strange. What you’re saying and what I’m saying clearly seem to be the same. Yet our assessments appear vastly different.”
The man with a lion-like countenance set down his silver fork and spoke while lifting an exquisitely crafted crystal glass.
Having swallowed his meat in an undignified manner, King Gadel of the Nadium Kingdom glared at Pope Gilmore, who wore a hollow expression with fierce eyes.
While the fragrant smell of well-prepared food wafted from the large table befitting a royal feast, the atmosphere filling the room was, in contrast, deadly.
“For these so-called heroes, mentioned in some corner of an old-fashioned tale about those staff things or whatever, not only are we providing precious knights who originally existed solely to serve me, but we’re also sparing no expense in supporting them.”
“How could this be anything but wise? Thanks to Your Majesty’s devout and wise royal judgment, I can feel peace drawing closer to this Elysium.”
“Drawing closer, you say.”
King Gadel spoke while exhaling through his nose.
“It’s been two weeks since the heroes were summoned. From what I’ve heard, there are still some among them who can’t even kill goblins on their own. Even aspiring village knight apprentices wouldn’t find goblins difficult.”
He spoke while glaring at Pope Gilmore, not even glancing at the well-prepared food.
“These heroes. Are they truly useful pawns? This isn’t charity. Though Nadium may have more leeway than other countries due to its distance from the ‘boundary,’ we’re not wealthy enough to waste limited resources on parasites who can’t earn their keep. When we accepted your Holy Kingdom’s request and prepared expensive summoning arrays and various arrangements, remember that while part of it was to show respect to the gods of the pantheon, Pope Gilmore, the largest part was to secure influence over the heroes. I am the king responsible for Nadium’s people.”
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. Until now, the heroes have simply not mentally adapted to Elysium. Even the most lacking among them have growth rates incomparable to ordinary people. You know this, don’t you? How strong those with special vocations like sages and saints can become compared to ordinary beings.”
“…Even the finest sword becomes worse than a kitchen knife if its wielder’s spirit is weak. How can we trust those who mostly show weakness in taking the life of mere goblins? The ‘boundary’ I experienced as crown prince was a treacherous place incomparable to mere goblins or the monsters, dungeons, and towers that appear near Nadium. There were plenty of talented individuals across the continent then. Among them were many who boasted of their exceptional talents and potential, but most of such people disappeared after about ten days.”
King Gadel’s eyes seemed to recall the distant past as he swirled his glass containing an amber-colored liquid.
“You speak of the 6th War.”
“Hmph. They say you’ve been alive since the 4th?”
“I think of it with sadness. That someone as incompetent as myself still continues this stubborn life, while those who shone so brilliantly laid their bodies in that hideously defiled land.”
“We seem to be getting off track. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“You mean that even if they appear capable on the surface, can they actually utilize those abilities in real combat?”
“I’m glad you understand quickly. That land is not kind enough to permit those with weak souls. And from past to present, it’s getting worse by the day. It’s been 20 years since I experienced the ‘boundary.’ It must be even worse now than it was then. My predecessor and I haven’t spent all this time and resources just to raise jesters suitable only for ceremonies.”
At King Gadel’s words, Pope Gilmore closed his eyes and stroked his beard while chuckling.
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. Unlike this Elysium, the heroes’ homeland of Japan is a peaceful place without war.”
“Isn’t it still a place where humans live?”
“I hear that even the heroes previously summoned here initially struggled to adapt.”
“Wasn’t that when the entire continent was in its most chaotic period of war between gods and foreign gods?”
“That’s true, of course. But according to their records, all those who live in the country called Japan are a virtuous people who think of others before themselves, cherish life, and don’t treat even enemies carelessly.”
“…Truly carefree creatures.”
“But doesn’t that just mean their country is that peaceful? Surely Your Majesty will someday make Nadium into such a paradise like Japan.”
“That’s enough flattery.”
“Huh huh. Though this old man believes Your Majesty truly can make Nadium that way someday…”
“According to you, aren’t these heroes people who have lived in such a carefree place? That makes me even more uneasy. Can people steeped in peace drive a blade into the heart of foreign gods through battles rife with blood and death?”
“Their potential is beyond doubt, and as I mentioned earlier, the Japanese are extremely altruistic people. They will never turn their backs on the difficulties facing Elysium.”
At Pope Gilmore’s words, King Gadel downed the amber liquid he had been swirling in his glass and spoke.
“I hope those words aren’t false. I pray the efforts of my predecessor and myself weren’t meaningless.”
“You will not be disappointed.”
“…What is the next training schedule for the heroes?”
“About that…”
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“Party unit combat?”
“Yes, that’s what they say.”
I spoke while chewing on some jerky I’d gotten as a snack.
While there was historically accurate jerky like the kind that appears in fantasy novels – hard as rock and well-preserved – this jerky was properly seasoned and appropriately tender, suitable as a modern drinking snack.
“That… like what Kid-nim does every morning…?”
Luna looked at me with an anxious expression.
“Well, probably something like that?”
“Ugh-.”
She immediately made a disgusted face.
That was understandable. Luna had been curious about my daily training and had participated once in the tank position.
The result was she went down in 3 minutes.
The knights showed no mercy just because she was a woman, and from the first minute she started rolling miserably on the ground. By around three minutes, her stamina was completely depleted and she was totally groggy.
She was so exhausted in that short time that she could barely even drink water.
But Luna wasn’t the only one.
As we got closer over the week, the faces of others who saw my morning training weren’t very bright either.
Except for just one person.
“Oh! That sounds good!”
Nogi’s eyes lit up as if excited.
“Competition! Are we going against other parties too? Us, [Tempest], [Golden Apple]! I’m excited to see which party is the strongest!”
The parties Nogi mentioned were the three most prominent among the current top parties.
Our [Happy Ending], centered around me and Luna, including the Japanese lunch kid who was already estimated to be S-rank.
[Tempest], centered around the S-rank Saito, with good balance including two A-ranks and a priest.
[Golden Apple], centered around another S-rank woman called Shoenji.
“We’re probably the strongest, right? We have Kudo-kun, and Luna-nim and Kid-nim too.”
“Saito’s side has one S-rank and two A-ranks though? And Shoenji’s side isn’t weak either. We can’t be sure.”
“Come on, even among A-ranks there are differences in level. Kid-nim is a priest but still went pow-bam! and subdued the samurai back then.”
At Saginoya’s words, Nogi made swooshing sound effects with his mouth while mimicking strange gestures.
Nogi was talking about the pretty-faced delinquent, but the quietly sitting Japanese lunch kid flinched.
Yeah, you came at me with a samurai sword and got owned.
As an S-rank at that.
Our eyes met by chance.
His blank gaze filled with hostility.
Seeing that somehow… somehow… made me want to tease him.
As if possessed, I moved next to him and whispered quietly in his ear.
‘You lost with your samurai sword. Weakling.’
‘!!’
He flinched as if his ear was ticklish, then after hearing my words completely, his face turned bright red as he lowered his voice as much as possible and got angry.
‘…Fight me… again…!’
‘Nope~ Not gonna~ You’re terrible at it.’
‘…You!’
As he was about to explode with rage, bulging his eyes, I stuck the remaining piece of jerky in his mouth and moved to Luna’s side.
Whether because he wanted to look good in front of Luna or not, he was extremely gentle in front of her.
Unable to do anything, he just glared at me with his reddened face.
Yet he didn’t spit out the jerky and ate it well.
In front, Nogi was chattering with Saginoya and Hirao about which party was the best.
But there wasn’t much point in discussing that now.
“By the way, there’s no need to worry about which party is strongest for this training?”
“Huh? Why?”
Nogi stopped writing the rankings on the ground, which included unnamed parties besides [Tempest] and [Golden Apple], and turned his head.
…It seems that making tier lists and rankings is instinctive for men in any country.
“Since this is training, I heard the instructors will be deciding the teams.”
“Why!?”
Nogi made a shocked face and dropped the stick he had been using to write on the ground.
“It’s training, right? If we make parties as we originally decided, except for a few parties, it wouldn’t be proper training. I think they’ll match the balance when making parties.”
“Ah…”
Everyone except Nogi nodded with expressions that seemed to understand.
If the current top parties were to face parties that barely qualified as such, classified as loser groups, there was no way it could become a proper match or training from the start.
Two weeks was enough time for gaps to start gradually forming between users.
“They say we’ll have practice matches with these arranged teams, and later they’ll hold a tournament. I heard there will be rewards for users and teams that show outstanding results.”
Though it seemed a bit harsh to have ranking systems starting from tutorial rewards, it wasn’t a bad thing for me.
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MC’s a dum@ss.