Chapter 87
A fact that I noticed – only after I made the submission! Today’s already Sat.u.r.day!
So this time alone, the submission is on the weekend, I will not be submitting on Monday .
I’ve done it now… orz
(Author note end)
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(TLN: So the first half of the chapter is pretty much entirely Ruphas talking to the audience, it’s slightly different from the “narrator” narrating which is technically still from Ruphas’s POV but not italicised . Having said that, I don’t want to italicise the whole part so… . Yeah, please read with that in mind . – Also… pa.s.sages in this chapter doesn’t connect too well… just saying…)
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“We are sorry . ”
Looking at the three idiots – Aigokeros, Scorpius, and Karkinos – grovelling on the ground in front of me, I felt like holding my head in anguish . [2]
Where should I even begin… although… it probably would not be that long of a story .
Hmmm, I suppose I could backtrack and start my explanation from when I was trying to find [Archer] with Scorpius .
Well, not that there was any significant substance to the tale . After all, although it was very pathetic, we were unable to find any clues in the end .
Anyways, as we were thinking that we should regroup with everyone, water came flowing down the mountain . That’s all there is to it .
Until this point, everything was fine . Well, actually, it’s not fine at all, but honestly speaking, something of that degree can be easily handled so it’s no big deal .
Simply creating a wall with alchemy would solve the problem, or one could even blow it away with the wind pressure created by trying to punch it .
Well, you know, it was that . Do you remember when I was having a fight with the Demon King-san and my punch missed and hit thin air, causing the nearby sea to split? It’s putting that to practical use .
The problem began when Aigokeros started consuming the surrounding mana to create a giant illusion in order to try and erase the water .
Additionally, Aries turning giant was also a bad idea .
Scorpius, after she saw that, started burning with a compet.i.tive spirit for some reason and turned giant for no reason, and at the same time, Karkinos who was in the forest also turned giant .
As for the reason why they purposefully turned giant, when I asked them, this was the answer I received:
“Oh, I was just going with the flow . ”
When I heard this, I smacked Karkinos down strongly .
So this was why Draupnir was currently facing a catastrophic disaster where a giant crab, scorpion, goat, and sheep showed up, requiring me to quickly go to the place in a hurry and scold this bunch of idiots .
But yeah, really, what am I even supposed to do about this? Aren’t all the beastkin inhabitants of Draupnir completely terrified out of their minds right now?
Aigokeros, you even changed the weather for no good reason . Even though it was such fine weather before, now it’s blanketed by bleak darkness .
Although this is an irrelevant fact, the Moon attribute arcane magic called [Moonlit Night] was a skill that flipped the day and night setting back in the game . [3]
X-Gate Online was a game with an in-game clock which was linked with that of reality . Within the game, time was split into six categories: namely, dawn, morning, afternoon, evening, night, and late night . The time within the game determined the brightness of the game’s graphics as well as the events and types of magical beasts that appeared .
Alternatively, it was the same type of magical beast, but the place where they sp.a.w.ned changed .
For example, those magical beasts who were very active during the day time might go to sleep at night under the setting . In those cases, even if the players tried their best to find the monster in the gra.s.sland or forests, it would be impossible to find them, however, it might be possible to encounter them if the players ventured inside a cave .
And while I am explaining this, I should mention that those monsters were typically asleep at the commencement of the battle, so there was this neat merit of being able to defeat them quite easily during the in-game night time .
Additionally, there was a race from the players’ side that was also affected by this time belt .
Yes… . It’s the n.o.bles of the night—the [Vampires] .
They were an incredibly extreme bunch of players who were ridiculously strong during the in-game night, however, their statuses were negatively affected during the morning and afternoon . And of course, just as a matter of course, there were complai… requests quickly made by the players asking the developers to “do something about these terrible specs . ”
And naturally, it was quite a reasonable request . Even if the avatars they played were vampires, the players themselves were not vampires .
Regarding this point though, there were those with the opinion that it was the players’ fault for choosing the vampire race in the first place . However, even for the players who only had time to play during the in-game night time, this was a troublesome feature .
Anyways, the option that developers were forced to take was to provide an update patch which included arcane magic and items which could flip day and night time .
As one would expect, of course, the global in-game time itself did not change . [4]
If something like that were to happen, countless players would be experiencing constant changes between day and night and they would not even know if it was in-game day or night anymore, causing ma.s.s confusion . Not to mention the load on the server would also be tremendous if something like that were to happen .
Long story short, it did not actually flip day and night . It essentially just changed the effects the players could obtain from the time mechanics .
For example, if the skill were to be used during the day time, the monsters which fundamentally only appeared during the in-game night time would be more likely to appear in the vicinity . Or if they were vampires, they would not suffer any negative effects .
– Although…… This little thing called the “knowledge of the game” had not been very reliable recently .
Even as I was recounting this, I was thinking: Isn’t this quite weird?
After all, you know… . ? Is this even fine…? This messed up feature of a game .
… . Oh, the conversation side-tracked . It was a bad habit of mine to start thinking about a needless thing for a long time once I started pondering on something .
In any event, it was originally arcane magic that would not have actually changed the day and night, however, such common sense from back in the game did not apply in this world, after all .
Aigokeros had actually changed this world’s time to night time . The sky was enveloped by creepy darkness as if the world was about to end .
Or moooorrrrreeee like… it’s that thing, you know . Like, what the h.e.l.l is actually happening with the stars and rotation of the planet in this world?
If day and night were swapped in an instant, that meant that the planet just spun around at an incredible speed . Shouldn’t the sudden change in the speed of the spin be incredibly bad… Seriously, think about it logically for a moment .
To begin with, the rotation of the planet was governed by the law of inertia and I would have thought that once the speed was changed, it would stay in the changed state . [5]
Taking the Earth, for example, it was believed that back in the day, each day was only five hours long, but because the speed of rotation slowly decreased over time, the day is currently 24 hours long .
So in the distant future, it’s hypothesised that the length of the day might further increase… oh, I derailed again .
Well, but yeah, it’s definitely that . Yeah, really, in this world, the Law-of-Physics-san really is not doing its job at all .
Since even me who’s quite dumb could figure it out, there were many funny parts . As I expected of a fantasy genre .
Oh yea, I apologise . At the start, I said, “It probably would not be that long of a story,” but that was a lie . It actually ended up being quite long .
“You guys are a bunch of people that really can’t be helped… anyways, Libra . Why is it that even you are lowering your head?”
I questioned Libra as I was trying to reposition the robe which had shifted due to the wind .
The ones I was scolding currently were the three idiots who had turned big and not Libra .
However, for some reason, she also lowered her head . I was baffled by this action .
“No, I just thought it would be more picturesque if I did this . This can serve as a demonstration for the onlooking Hero and his comrades over there and show the might of Master at the same time . ”
“Wha!?”
As I was informed of this by Libra, I became fl.u.s.tered and looked into the distance .
She’s right . They’re really there, the Hero and his group . They’re looking this way whilst somewhat showing a terrified expression, oi .
I’m totally an invader here right now . You could only see this as a bunch of enemy characters that suddenly showed up in front of the Hero and his companions .
Because that idiot Aigokeros spewed some useless thing before, the beastkin clearly became scared . My image just became even worse than before .
Hmmmm… . What should I do about this… . “I’m not an enemy, I’m not scary . ” – Even if I said something like that, I suppose it won’t be that persuasive .
“Nnnn?”
As I was thinking about things like that, I noticed a strange thing .
No, although it was not really an abnormal act, if one were to take an objective view, his “actions” would definitely be considered strange .
For some reason, from within the Hero’s group, a young man who looked like the hero started walking towards our direction .
What is it? Could it be that he’s intending to challenge me here and now?
Young man, I’m sorry, but that’s not courage, that’s recklessness . Even if you are the Hero, with merely 30 levels or so, I don’t really feel like I would be losing .
Well, I guess I’ll have a look at what he’s going to do . Even if he really did come swinging at me, with the difference in our abilities, there’s absolutely no problem at all anyways .
When that happens, I guess I’ll just sweep him away and knock him out lightly .
*
My heartbeats are so loud and noisy .
My hands are drenched with sweat and I’m short of breath even though I haven’t done anything yet .
After forcing through his allies who were trying to stop him, Sei came to stand before the overlord who, along with the Demon King, was called the great evil of Midgard, Ruphas Mafahl and her subordinates .
Fortunately for him, he was able to understand that at this current moment, the Supreme Ruler did not have any intention to kill .
This was because he knew that his head would not still be on top of his shoulders if she had the intention to do so .
In all honesty, Sei was terrified of Ruphas’s sudden appearance before him .
Nevertheless, even though he was scared senseless, it had already reached a point where he could no longer back down .
However, what barely held him together was his realisation that he had come here to gather information about the Supreme Ruler’s whereabouts… in other words, to meet with her .
Exactly, did he not say it to Megrez? Didn’t that Wisdom King not teach him?
That Ruphas Mafahl was not the enemy .
So then… so then, don’t run away . If we run away, we can’t reconcile with each other .
If we don’t take the first step, nothing is ever going to change .
“……… Ruphas Mafahl… . . –san, right?”
“Hmm . Looks like I’ve already been found out . Then I guess there’s no point in hiding my face anymore . ”
Sei asked Ruphas the question as if he was squeezing something and without any delay, she answered and took off the robe which was hiding her face .
When she did, her golden hair flowed down and showed a countenance which wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say was drop-dead gorgeous .
Her appearance… yes, if it was just her appearance, it was just a truly beautiful lady .
Something delicate, heart-warming, and someone that any man would want to protect .
However, the reason one would not be made to think in this way was because of the aura which belonged to the strong that she emanated .
Her appearance and her presence did not match with each other .
It was as if he was merely made to see an illusion of a beautiful lady, but it felt like he was, in fact, facing a giant monster which was even bigger than the giant devil . This was his perception of what he was seeing .
It was because he had rashly, incompletely, and half-heartedly became strong that he was able to clearly understand things much better than the last time . He was made to understand .
This was the Supreme Ruler . This was level 1000 . This was the highest pinnacle of strength in Midgard .
Again, he was able to definitively confirm that the decision of Laevateinn, which had decided to summon Sei himself for the purpose of defeating the Supreme Ruler, was erroneous from its very foundation .
To fight against something like this was not a decision that a person of sound mind could have reached .
Even a.s.suming that it was not him that was summoned but the entirety of the j.a.pan Self-Defense Forces that was fully armed, he wondered whether there would be a chance of victory… No, it was impossible . He could not imagine a scenario where they would be able to win .
This woman possessed a power which soared far above any single military might on Earth and that was only at the level of considering her whimsical acts of violence .
He did not even know if a nuclear weapon would be able to kill her or not…
The person who could take on the whole world was the individual called Ruphas Mafahl – this was not a metaphor .
Additionally, even her subordinates, the Tyrannical Ways 12 Heavenly Stars, were gathering back under her . She was definitely returning to her peak state . [6]
… . . I’m so glad that the person which was called over… . . was me .
He seriously thought in this way at this point . He was glad it was him that was summoned over to this world .
It was good that it was him, a cowardly individual who was unfit to be the hero .
If it was someone else… if it was an individual which possessed the “courage” to fight against Ruphas, in other words, a true and proper Hero as defined by this world, then this world would definitely be finished . They would have definitely been plunging straight into the future where they had no means of avoiding destruction .
The G.o.ddess, the demon race, and the Supreme Ruler . There was no way that the humanoids would be able to survive after turning those three factions into enemies at the same time .
That summoning might have been a major failure, however, looking at the outcome, the failure was a good thing .
For the current world of Midgard, a hero who would valiantly challenge the great evils of the current Midgard must not be called over .
Well, talking from an overly expectant perspective, rather than me, it would have been better to call someone that’s smarter, calmer, able to judge the situation clearly, and can negotiate well with others… calling over someone like that was probably better for them .
Sei thought in this way . Looking objectively, he was probably someone that fit in the category of ‘better’ .
Not the worst but not the best . He wanted to believe he was not an individual that should not have been called, but he was also not someone that should have been called .
In any event, the fact was, the person that was called over was him .
In that case, he had to do things that only he could do .
The people of this world would never have been able to think in that way – to make amends and come to an understanding with Ruphas Mafahl .
He understood that he had the obligation to do so .
“Child of another world . It is fine even if you do not stiffen up that much . To be able to stand before me alone like this, you have promise . ”
“!”
Sei unconsciously gulped .
He couldn’t help but be surprised after hearing the initial words of “Child of another world” that came out of Ruphas’s mouth .
He could not understand why, but his ident.i.ty and background was already suddenly discovered .
As he expected, he absolutely could not see the depths of her .
“Now then, what is it? You came here because you had something to talk about, did you not? Ask me anything you want . Currently, I’m in a pleasant mood . For most things, I shall answer you like a fool . ”
Ruphas showed a faint and bewitching smile .
Was she testing him or were these her true feelings?
Whichever it was, he had gained the permission to ask a question .
In that case, he thought he should do so before she changed her mind .
“Th, then, allow me to take you up on your kind offer…”
Gulp – he gulped down his spit and frantically pieced together the contents of the question in his head .
Just constructing it alone was no good . He also had to predict what would happen after he asked the question . He absolutely had to avoid a route where the question he asked would result in her displeasure, which would lead to his eventual death .
However, asking nothing but a safe question would not result in him gaining any important information nor result in any progress .
So think carefully .
The only weapon that he could use was his badly wired brain that he possessed .
There were no other weapons that would have any effect on Ruphas .
He must not forget… about the fact that the beautiful lady that was in front of him had the ability to turn a person into meat paste on a whim .
“Then, firstly… my lady and your group, in relation to this country, what exactly are your intentions?”
Now then, from now is where the real deal is .
Sei told himself that as he decided to walk the tightrope where it would not be strange for him to fall at any time, alone .