Chapter 290: Interlude – In the middle of the night
Translator Note: Hey guys, Reigokai here!
Sorry for the delay on Tsuki ga Michi, but I wanted to accumulate the chapters. Though it looks like the author hasn’t released yet, so I will probably be concentrating on World Reformation until Tsuki releases more.
Just keep an eye on the [Next Scheduled Chapter] widget.
Also, as customary of the beginning of the month, I thank all the patrons in patreon! ???? I appreciate the support!
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
The Osakabe household that has been ruling over Kannaoi for a long time, and there has been worries that they have been shouldering for that same amount of time.
-For example; Yaso-Katsui’s Grand Labyrinth.
It existed way before the Osakabe household, got a name for itself, and it was an unexplored labyrinth that was older than even the city of Kannaoi.
It was said to be the place where a Superior Dragon lives, and at times, it would spit out a crazy amount of mamonos that would bring forth heavy damage to the settlements.
But in peaceful times, because of the adventurers that the labyrinth attracts, it becomes a big blessing. It was like an abundant large river that isn’t rare when it overflows.
Even when it is dangerous, people still find worth in gathering there after all.
Learning how to utilize it well will be a subject that the city of Kannaoi will probably be racking their brains about for a long time.
-For example; the military department known as the Ikusabe household.
In the past, they were only one, but at some point in time, they fought, competed, and now, even the word hate feels like a lukewarm word to describe their antagonistic relationship.
Their names changed, the lands they governed over were separated, and the master they worked under also changed.
At present, the core of the territory is the Osakabe household, but the master the military family serves under and the treatment they receive is better.
In general, the military family possesses more power.
Of course, this isn’t a situation that the Osakabe would like.
-For example; the bloodline of the main household.
Most of the current people of Kannaoi had weaker bodies than that of the general populace.
Even if they raise a family head with care, it is rare for them to live long. To the point that there was a time when they thought this was the work of a curse from some antagonistic power.
That answer has not been found even to this current day.
At any rate, if they were to try to maintain their bloodline to a certain degree of thickness, it makes it that much easier for the child to be born with a weak body.
It was the biggest dilemma of the Osakabe household.
But for some reason, there would be many in the group of people with thick blood that were talented, and there were many who would be revered to as a lord by many.
And so, magic, medicine, and the many experiments to better the constitution of the body were serious matters that the people that serve the Osakabe household couldn’t ignore.
Ironically, to this current day, the one who possesses the best healing properties in Lorel Union is the Osakabe household.
Even though they can’t save themselves, others ask them for salvation; it was already comical in their eyes.
In that history of the Osakabe household shouldering this complicated circumstances, there’s the vassals that have been serving them for generations.
The Kougetsu and Shougetsu brothers also originate from a military family and serve their master.
The older brother Kougetsu received training for the gifted as a warrior and a tactician in his homeland, and protected the household straightforwardly.
The younger brother, Shougetsu, after experiencing being an adventurer and travelling around the world, he supported the household from the shadows as a stealth corps member.
In time, the younger brother would learn all about the conflict between the households and the sad circumstances behind it, and would retire into being the protegee of a princess at a place that was faraway from the center of this conflict.
On the other hand, his older brother stayed at this center…and decided on reformation.
No, what was in his heart was not something that would so gentle as to call reformation.
Revolution or maybe rebellion would be words that would be more accurate.
“With this, things should progress faster. Now that we know the Kuzunoha Company that Sairitz invited surpasses my forecast by so much, it makes it questionable just how much that fox of a woman knows about the situation. The speed in which the plan of Haruka progresses is not enough.”
In the room of Kougetsu, unable to obtain any decent sleep, Kougetsu was measuring the effectiveness of the moves he made in order to make adjustments.
In the scenario that was in his head, there’s the woman that wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the one who holds the most authority in Lorel, Sairitz.
A resident of the political world that possesses power fitting to be called Empress.
This woman, that still has the card of marriage remaining, was being glared by all the people in the domestic affairs and diplomatic area of Naoi.
And the move she made was the Kuzunoha Company.
On the other hand, the move of Kougetsu was the Empire’s hero, Tomoki, and the brave woman of Osakabe, Haruka.
But those cards of his are not functioning in the way he wishes to.
Leaving aside if the scenario of everything functioning properly actually leading to success, this was creating impatience in Kougetsu. On top of that, the achievements of the Kuzunoha Company in the labyrinth, and them meeting with Osakabe Iroha.
The deciding move to reform Kannaoi and the Osakabe household, he couldn’t manage to reach that point for some reason.
Even though it is so close.
He has remained in obscurity for so long for the sake of that.
Enlarging the power that gathers under Haruka, the immense power of the charm ability of the Empire’s hero that has joined into his playing cards, and also, the existence of Sairitz and the Kuzunoha Company.
Until now, he has been careful and calm, without hurrying no matter what.
Kougetsu, who has been advancing his plans at a decent pace, made one move hurriedly.
In order to move Iroha’s mother -Haruka- a bit faster, an action that was solely for the sake of speeding up the whole of his plan was made.
But that was…a mistake.
Kougetsu understood the mysterious area of the Grand Labyrinth called Alternative Floor, and yet, the Kuzunoha Company proceeded their exploration at breakneck speed, and he was scared of Sairitz’ shadow that stood at their back, which made him hurry.
Even though he is not a religious person, he had gone to the Kishimo temple that he has already grown used to going to, and in that underground where Haruka and a number of her vassals were, he whispered them something.
“The Kuzunoha Company -especially their representative Raidou- seems to be mutual enemies of the Empire hero, Iwahashi Tomoki”, is what he said.
Kougetsu’s miscalculation was just one thing.
He completely underestimated the power of those words. He thought that those words would serve as a trigger. He was expecting it to become an ingredient to make the preliminary battle shorter. He thought it would simply be like putting coal into the fire.
But in truth, it was heavily different.
Those words were a bomb in itself.
Without the requirement of a preliminary battle, those explosive words of his would create a grand explosion.
Only a few days left until its effectiveness becomes a movement.
If it were just that, it would actually be as he wished.
But just by learning that Raidou was an enemy of Tomoki, even the Shadowless tried to kill Raidou the moment they found him.
The moves of the charmed people was something that easily surpassed the imagination of Kougetsu.
But here, there’s one more misfortune.
The woman called Haruka is considered a top-class warrior even when looking back at the history of the Osakabe household. And that power of will is also on the level of a Brave.
That’s why she didn’t become a simple puppet of Tomoki, and was still able to act as a leader.
Her maddened love and her tenacious will had fused into the worst combination.
It was as if she had no lingering feelings towards the man she loved and her own daughter, and was devoted to following her desire of acting for the sake of Tomoki.
She knows about ethics and common sense, but she doesn’t feel worth; all of her decision standards are based on her love to a man she has never met before.
If it is for his sake, she has no problems with doing things that are not allowed to do in society –that is the current Haruka.
Kougetsu has been evaluating the power of the charm all this time, and still hasn’t evaluated the woman called Haruka.
With the piling of this small doubts, a misfortunate coincidence occurred.
Kougetsu will learn in the worst possible way that the woman known as Haruka that he had seen as an ideal hero was nowhere to be found anymore.
“Kougetsu-sama!!”
“What?! You are being noisy!” (Kougetsu)
“Forgive my rudeness, but this is an emergency!! We have received a report from the patrol!! A mysterious group is trying to do a night raid at the Chihiro-Manrai Restaurant!”
“…What? What…did you just say?” (Kougetsu)
“A night raid at Chihiro-Manrai Restaurant!! We have formed a suppression team and are on the way, but the enemy is powerful!! Moreover, this may not be information that has been 100% confirmed, but there are people that said they saw the figure of the missing Haruka-sama there too!!”
“…Impossible.” (Kougetsu)
Kougetsu unconsciously stepped back.
The surprise of the man after hearing about Haruka, the anger of allowing the attackers to the center area where the Chihiro-Manrai restaurant is; these supposed factors made it seem like the stepping back of Kougetsu was a natural reaction, but the truth was different.
He finally understood the mistake in the move he made.
He didn’t understand just what kind of meaning it held for the charmed people to learn about an enemy of Tomoki.
And he didn’t understand just how they would act when they had obtained plenty enough fighting power.
Haruka, who is not simply a fighting puppet but a person that can investigate on her own and is able to make flexible decisions in a sense. After investigating the information of the actual Raidou and Tomoki, she had begun preparations with a face of wrath.
It is true that the Chihiro-Manrai restaurant is a facility that possesses high security and defenses, but the preparations of theirs had already surpassed that.
This wasn’t an attack; this was practically a war.
Forming groups of skilled adventurers, warriors, and stealth corps, and on top of that, having Haruka take the command position herself.
“We are currently putting the confirmation of the situation as our top priority!! The customers that are staying there have already begun evacuating with the guidance of the hotel personnel, and the defense unit has already been dispatched! We should cooperate with the unit and make a pincer attack to settle the situation and…”
This was too soon.
This isn’t how it should have been.
They have not suppressed the information line at all.
At this rate, information that a large scale fight has occurred in Kannaoi will spread in the blink of an eye.
There’s already no way to stop it at this late of a stage.
Now that it has come to this, Sairitz can use this battle and call it an insurrection, and declare doubts on their political management, letting her use that as an excuse to put official troops or a military family in Kannaoi.
Thinking of the worst, the future that they use the confusion to take away Kannaoi from the Osakabe household to give it to a military family is also possible.
Against an opponent that they would normally not want to show a single opening against, they have shown a completely conspicuous opening, and hence, a fatal mistake.
The fall of the Osakabe household.
Whichever it is, they are all things that Kougetsu doesn’t wish for.
He wishes for a strong and accomplished Osakabe household after all.
He wants to make Kannaoi which is the place that the Osakabe household rules over to be the number one most flourishing city in Lorel.
To the point that he would use the descendants of a family lineage that has lost themselves to their grief of their body.
“Haruka…you bastard. Don’t joke around. Are you telling me that in order to kill the enemy of a foreign country’s hero, you don’t care about what will happen to the city you have been born in and your household?” (Kougetsu)
“Kougetsu-sama?”
“…I will be going too. How is the evacuation state at the surroundings of the Chihiro-Manrai restaurant?! Send a messenger!! Try your best to reduce the casualties to the residents as much as possible! If it is the units that are permanently staying in that hotel, just them alone should be able to fight decently. We will be prioritizing the protection of the citizens!!” (Kougetsu)
“Yes, sir!!”
“I won’t let you do it. I definitely won’t accept a conclusion like this! Haruka, what’s the point of you moving on Sairitz interest?!” (Kougetsu)
After the person reporting had left, Kougetsu shouted as he hurriedly proceeded with the preparations.
He was completely dismayed.
As if his own pawns had turned onto himself; they are creating scenarios that are working in the favor of his opponent.
A countermeasure against it has still not appeared in his mind.
But he absolutely cannot ignore it.
The trump card that he has been hiding has been exposed, and the charm power will probably be discovered as well.
Even so, there’s no way he can give up.
He has been living for the sake of creating a strong Osakabe after all.
The Kannaoi citizens will be killed by the military of Kannaoi.
That is a scenario that cannot be forgiven.
Because the military is an existence that is supposed to protect the citizens after all.
Devoting himself to plot scheming for a long time, Kougetsu had also been estranged from swinging a sword in battle.
And now, he will be taking the sword after all this time.
Ironically, it is in order to protect the citizens of Kannaoi from the result of his own plans.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
“A battle in Kannaoi, you say?”
Sairitz, who heard of this report in Naoi, had stopped reading her documents and lifted her head.
“Yes. They are apparently doing a night raid at Chihiro-Manrai Restaurant. The troops of the Osakabe household have been dispatched and are cooperating with the defense unit of the hotel.”
The one reporting this had an attire that was easy to tell that this middle-aged man was a stealth corps member.
Surprisingly, they had a grasp of the information of a faraway place at practically real-time.
They must have quite the surveillance in that city, or maybe this is the result of excelling information gathering skills.
This time, it was the former.
The information gathering skills of Lorel are indeed growing by the year, though it may be a different story if it were a neighboring settlement, but the more the distance, the lower the accuracy of the information is.
Then, why did they have such surveillance prepared?
It is not because they felt a strange atmosphere from Kannaoi, or because the Osakabe household was showing strange movements, nor was it because the Empire was interfering in a suspicious manner.
It is because there’s a guest that Sairitz had invited herself staying there.
“I see. No matter how it rolls, it won’t change the fact that this will serve in our favor.” (Sairitz)
If it were the usual, Sairitz would be having a wide smile in the face of this overwhelming luck, but she still maintained her calm expression.
“Yes.”
“And, what about them?” (Sairitz)
“A few of them have gone to the labyrinth since morning, and it seems like a number of their personnel are in standby at the hotel. We still haven’t grasped the information on the inside, but we do know that the hotel personnel is evacuating the people.”
“Marito, make gathering information of them as the highest priority. Also, contact the site. Do your best to provide them support. No matter what they ask of us, don’t refuse. I will do something about it, so accept anything. Understood?” (Sairitz)
“I will contact them as soon as possible. How should we move after?” (Marito)
“…No need to.” (Sairitz)
“Hah?”
“We do nothing. Only in the case where the Kuzunoha Company requests for our help will we do our all to execute anything. Right…if there’s extra hands, help out in the evacuation and rescue of the citizens.” (Sairitz)
“…Uhm, I know this may be me overstepping my bounds but…can I ask what we will be doing regarding the way we will deal with the Osakabe?” (Marito)
An unbelievable chance has fallen in front of them.
It should be completely impossible to not do anything.
Thinking this, Marito mixed slight self-interest as he urged an answer from his master.
This may be an opportunity to finally reach a conclusion to the long history between the military family and the Osakabe household, so it can’t be helped that he would lose a bit of his composure.
“Didn’t I say we won’t be doing anything? Marito, it is not like I don’t know about the antagonism between your military family and them, but…hold it down. Right now in that city, there’s the tails of a dragon and a tiger that we can’t step on. Listen well. If we were to step into this matter thoughtlessly…all the military family will be wiped out, you know.” (Sairitz)
“Y-You jest.” (Marito)
“I am as serious as I can be. Because of the encounter between Iroha and the Kuzunoha Company, the situation has changed into an abnormally delicate and dangerous matter. The representative Raidou-sama, who is staying there, is the one that is working as the teacher of your son, Izumo, at Rotsgard.” (Sairitz)
“……”
“By the time you meet him again, that child should have definitely become stronger than you. Raidou is the kind of man that possesses that much achievements to even accomplish something like that as a teacher in his spare time. That’s why, don’t place your personal feelings in this occasion and just watch over it. This is an important test case.” (Sairitz)
“I admit the matter with Izumo. He is several steps better than me. But I am not planning on being overcome for at least 10 to 15 years though… I understand. If it is okay, can I hear about the meaning of the words ‘test case’?” (Marito)
“Just how will they react when attacked directly? Just how will Raidou-sama see the approaching danger to his comrades, and how will he move? In Rotsgard, there was that big of an incident, and yet, it looked as if he viewed it as not his problem after all. That’s what I meant.” (Sairitz)
“Thank you very much. Well then, we will be doing our job as eyes, if there’s spare hand, we will rescue and assist the citizens, and in the case that the Kuzunoha Company requests our help, we will do our all to fulfill it.” (Marito)
“Then, step out. Also, there’s no need to hold back regarding this matter. Come report to me whenever.” (Sairitz)
“Understood. Well then, I will be excusing myself.” (Marito)
Marito’s figure disappears.
The only one that remained was Sairitz who had a complicated expression in her face.
The reason for that expression was because she has been unable to process the many changes since the time she invited them to her country.
“A perfume that possesses the charm power, the inside fight of the Osakabe household, the many testimonies of people that say have witnessed the Adventurers of Origin: Aznoval, Rokuya, Ginebia, Haku Mokuren. The representative of the Kuzunoha Company and a temporary teacher at Rotsgard Academy, Raidou. To think he would be such a potent medicine.” (Sairitz)
It would have been fine if they were to just do something about the problematic group of mercenaries that were carefreely shut deep underground in Lorel without minding about political influence.
The existence of Picnic Rosegarden may be popular inside the country, but in terms of the outside, they have a side that is slightly difficult to handle.
For Sairitz, they are an existence that she would prefer if they were to enter the control of the country, or just disappear.
If they were to be lend for the war between Aion and Tsige, their name won’t be heard in a bad light by the foreign countries royalties, nobles, and merchants for a while.
Of course, she made this proposition to the Rembrandt Company with the premise that they will provide plenty enough fighting strength to have an active participation in Tsige. Sadly, it was obviously not a proposition that was purely out of goodwill.
But the Kuzunoha Company easily surpassed the expectations of Sairitz, and have made big accomplishments that they didn’t even mean to.
In the end, the diplomatic negotiations and the domestic affairs’ undercover moves she was planning on proceeding with had been stopped almost completely.
Thinking about what would have happened if this were in the city of Naoi, and it involved her and the Priestess, the heart of Sairitz felt slight pity towards Kannaoi and the Osakabe household.
But because of the many new tasks that were piling up like a mountain due to this, all that pity had dispersed without lasting even a few minutes though.
“Now then, I wonder what kind of conclusion it will bring about. The dirty plan of the Empire, the darkness of Kannaoi, and they have also dug out the legends of Lorel splendidly. Really, if possible, I would have wanted to enjoy this story as a spectator.” (Sairitz)
With half expectations and half fear, the Empress of Lorel didn’t take off her tired expression as she extended her hand to the remaining documents.