Through the newspapers, every citizen in the Empire came to know of the birth of new Heroes(Subjugator of Lords).
Excluding the Regalia, there were three clans that had succeeded in subjugating a Lord in the current Empire. We, Wild Tempest, had joined their ranks.
The news that a clan that had been created only a mere few months ago had subjugated a Lord was a shock to not just the Seeker profession, but the entire Empire.
To begin with, Wild Tempest had always been on everyone’s lips ever since its creation. It was born from the merger between Blue Beyond and Sky Winged Knights, which were parties that had already garnered a lot of attention. We proved that Hugo Coppelius, who was a death row convict, had been falsely accused and made him an ally as well. There was also the achievement of capturing the criminals responsible for blowing up the prison.
For those reasons, while Wild Tempest was an emerging clan, we attracted more attention from the public than any other clan. Thanks to that, we were able to earn the trust of investors and the raising of funds progressed. We would likely be able to acquire the 80 billion Fil needed to build an airship before long.
Of course, I was the one who had plotted for things to turn out this way.
And this time, we had finally succeeded in subjugating a Lord. That was something that everyone acknowledged as a great achievement and we were also able to earn an enormous reward of seven billion Fil.
We, who had the achievements, financial strength and was a hot topic, were now regarded as the leading major clan after the Regalia. In other words, that also meant that we were the leading candidate to become a new Regalia.
On the other hand, those that regarded our success as a problem started to appear. Of particular concern to them was the matter of why the Seeker Guild had given us the subjugation request even though we didn’t have enough fighting strength to defeat a Lord.
This matter that they had pointed out was controversial, and the Seeker Guild’s management policies got slammed mercilessly by experts for being problematic. Their argument was that the Guild might have disregarded the strength of the clan and had selected us only because of the degree of attention that we had garnered.
However, since we had actually succeeded in the subjugation, the general public wasn’t swayed by such concerns. Even if they argued with the benefit of hindsight, it was a fact that we had succeeded in the subjugation. If anything, the public even approved of the Guild’s actions.
Of course, if we had failed the subjugation, the Guild Leader would likely have lost his head. Unlike for lower-ranked Beasts, failing the subjugation of a Lord would absolutely not be tolerated. Not just the clan that took the request, but the Guild would also bear a large part of the responsibility.
At the press conference, the Guild Leader eloquently insisted that their judgment was correct, but he must have felt more dead than alive inside. I wondered what kind of magic trick old man Harold had used to make him approve giving the request to us. I was half amazed, and half grateful.
At any rate, we had succeeded in subjugating a Lord. We were extremely busy every day with responding to interviews from newspaper reporters, attending celebration parties held by investors, and playing the role of big-shots at corporate events. Being put on a pedestal as heroes was no bed of roses.
Half a month of days like that followed. After we had finished showing our faces at all of the events that we needed to, in order to heal our exhausted minds and bodies, I decided to hold a party with only our clan members to thank everyone for their contributions.
「Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Until today, it must have been rough」
The venue was my lodgings, the Stardrop Inn. We had just returned from participating in an investor’s party, so my allies and I were still in formal attire. The men were in tuxedos and the lone woman among us, Alma, was in a dress. I had reserved it for our use today, so there were no customers other than us in the restaurant.
「As the clan master, I would like to thank everyone once more for the successful subjugation of the Lord. Regardless of the fact that there was a hopeless difference in strength between us and the enemy, thank you for believing in and fighting together with me. Thank you all very much」
My allies had their eyes fixed on me as I made a toast. Alma, Kouga, Leon and Hugo were all listening intently with serious looks on their faces.
「Alma and Kouga, thank you both for fulfilling the attacking role, which is the most dangerous. From the bottom of my heart, I respect that fearless courage that both of you possess」
At my words, Alma smiled, and Kouga scratched his nose shyly.
「Hugo, excellent job supporting us from behind. Without you, we wouldn't have been able to fight the Lord in the first place. It was thanks to you that everyone was able to bring out their full strength」
The tactics used to subjugate Noble Blood were all dependent on Hugo's Skills. The person who played the most essential role in that battle was unmistakably Hugo.
However, the person in question responded with a nod instead of joy. Given that personality of his, he was probably thinking that he had only done what was natural. He was a man who was stoic in every respect.
「Finally, Leon. The one who dealt the finishing blow to the Lord was Kouga, but it was your abilities that created the opportunity for him to do so. Also, when my instructions were lacking, you covered for me, didn’t you? That was a masterful manner of fighting that’s worthy of the title of sub-master」
When we were fighting Noble Blood, I was constantly directing my allies using the predictions that I made. However, as could be expected, due to the time lag when conveying my instructions, there were many times when the situation became precarious. Leon was the one who had covered for me during those times. The ability to fight both at the front and in the back, the ability to support us through healing and deploying barriers, the ability to judge the battle situation based on his experience of having served as the leader of Sky Winged Knights; he had fully utilized all of these to support my command.
「And, congratulations on ranking up. This is a natural result, given your talent as well as your contributions. I’m looking forward to seeing you play an even more active part in future」
Leon nodded strongly. He still looked just like a simple and honest young man, but he was exuding a quiet confidence that came from the incredible strength within him.
After that battle, a pattern had appeared to let Leon know that it was possible for him to rank up. Through the desperate battle with Lord, a new possibility——the door of A Rank had opened. After ranking up from Knight to『Paladin』, Leon's abilities had improved significantly compared to when he was a B Rank.
「It was a desperate battle that we wouldn’t have won if any one of us was missing. There are those who say that it was a miracle that we had won. That is a fact. But so long as I’m the clan master, I’ll let them see us perform miracles again and again. No one can match us——Wild Tempest. We’ll seize the title of the strongest!」
After declaring that, I held up a glass mug filled with ale.
「Cheers to our limitless glory!」
「Cheers!」
Our ale mugs came together above the table. The refreshing clink of glass on glass signaled the start of a long and joyous night.
†
†
「What does it feel like to become an A Rank?」
As we were chatting pleasantly over delicious food and ale, a tipsy Kouga asked Leon. Leon laughed lightly and answered with an ale mug in one hand.
「It's not that much different from when I became a B Rank. Of course, my abilities have improved significantly, but I suppose there's nothing that I can point to as being special」
「Even if you say that, A Ranks are said to surpass the realms of humanity, right? Isn’t there……a feeling like you’ve surpassed the limits of a human?」
「For me……there’s nothing like that, I guess. It’s nothing more than feeling constantly filled with power. Well, I haven't fought since I ranked up, so maybe it simply hasn’t hit me yet. What about you, Hugo? Did you have some sort of special feeling?」
Hugo shook his head when Leon drew him into the conversation.
「No, there was nothing for me as well. All that happened was that my abilities improved」
「What? That’s so disappointing」
Kouga leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.
「What did you imagine it was like?」
When I asked, Kouga answered with a toothy smile.
「Well, since the realm of humanity is surpassed, I was expecting that one would achieve enlightenment. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you learned the truth of the universe or something?」
「Are you an idiot?」
Alma sighed deeply before I could retort.
「Even if they’re said to have surpassed the realms of humanity, people are people. It’s not as though people change just from breaking out of their own shells. To not even know that, Kouga is really a fool」
At Alma's harsh words, Kouga wrinkled his brow.
「You don’t have dreams, do you? That's why Noel doesn’t take you seriously. How about learning to be more sensible?」
「Huh? Sensible? The only person that I don’t want to hear that from is the flea-brained Kouga. In the first place, Noel and I share a deep bond from the previous life. Noel is simply a tsundere. It's clear that he likes his sister more than anyone else. Isn’t that right, Noel?」
「Don't drag me into your warped delusions」
What do you mean the previous life? It’s the first I’ve heard of such a setting.
When I pushed away Alma, who had tried to hug me, Kouga held his belly and laughed.
「Gyahahaha, you got dumped. Lame!」
「Die」
Alma threw a fork at Kouga, who was roaring with laughter.
「Hey, that’s dangerous!」
Kouga dodged it by the skin of his teeth. The fork quivered after getting stuck in the wall behind him. Had Kouga been a little late to avoid it, the fork would probably have stuck into his forehead.
「What are you doing!? Violence is prohibited! Prohibited!」
「How strange. The fork flew out by itself」
「As if I would believe such nonsense!」
「Noel, this is delicious. Here, ah~~」
「Hey, listen to me!」
Alma ignored Kouga, whose face had turned bright red in anger, and tried to feed me my own food. When I turned away from the proffered fork, Mary, the owner's daughter, came in holding a tray with both hands.
「Thank you for waiting~. Here’s more food~」
The new dishes were neatly laid out on the table. This party had just begun. I was still planning to order much more food and ale.
「Isn’t it admirable that the creature is working properly? So different from Kouga, the slacker」*
「Wawawa, please stop rubbing my head!」
Alma had grabbed Mary's head with both hands and was rubbing it vigorously. I don't know what kind of heartstring she had tugged, but Alma really liked Mary and had been showing her affection in the form of harassment.
Mary, who had shaken off Alma’s hands forcibly, puffed out her cheeks in anger. Then, she approached me and whispered softly.
「Noel, psst, Noel, by the way, what about that promise?」
「That promise, you say? What was it again?」
「Did you forget about it!? Didn’t you promise me that I could do as I liked with Kouga and Leon? I've been waiting the entire time!」
「Hmm? ……Aaah! That one! I remembered!」
Certainly, I did remember making a promise like that. It was a promise to let Mary use Kouga and Leon as models for her indecent pictures.
「About that, do I have to keep my word after all?」
「You have to! You promised, didn’t you!?」
「Even if you say that, it pains my heart to let you do as you like to my precious allies, you see…… I mean, you're going to make them get naked and then entangle them together, aren’t you?」
「Yup, I’m going to entangle them together. Mercilessly. What about it?」
「Hmm……」
I groaned with my arms crossed. She said that she would be merciless, so I could easily imagine the tragedy that would occur.
「Look, as expected, that promise is――」
「If the two of them are no good, then Noel is also――」
「Kouga, Leon, can I have a minute of your time?」
When I called their names, the two of them, who were drinking ale while chatting, looked at me.
「What is it?」「Is something the matter?」
「This Mary here has a talent for drawing, you see? She's looking for models for her figure drawings. So, if it’s alright with the two of you, can you guys be her models?」
「Huh, me?」「Me?」
I nodded to the two of them, who had tilted their heads.
「Yeah, please. She's the daughter of the owner of this inn, who has been taking good care of me, so I want to help her out」
「Mary says please too! By all means, please let me draw pictures of the two of you!」
When Mary also asked them, the two of them looked at each other and then smiled.
「I don't mind. It's the request of a cute girl. I can't say no to her face」
「I'm okay with it too. However, since it'll be my first time being a model, please don’t be too hard on me」
When the two of them agreed, Mary jumped for joy.
「Yay~! Thank you very much! I'm so happy!」
Mary, with that child-like joy, was innocence itself. Kouga and Leon also looked glad to have made a child happy. However, just because there was no malicious intent, it didn’t mean that no one would be hurt. I didn't miss the unspeakable light of madness dwelling in the depths of Mary’s eyes.
「Noel, the pictures of the creature are the gross kind, aren’t they?」
It appeared that Alma knew about Mary’s other face. When I nodded, she put the most evil expression that I had ever seen on her face and snickered.
「Serves you right, Kouga」
This girl really has a bad personality. Her nature is completely corrupted.
「Ah, umm, if it's alright with you, can you be my model too, Hugo?」
What a brazen brat. Mary wasn't satisfied with just Kouga and Leon, and was trying to prey on Hugo. However, Hugo was unmoved and shook his head.
「I dislike such things. I'm sorry, Miss」
「I, I see......」
He had spoken in a quiet but authoritative tone. That guy Hugo, he realized that nothing good was going to come of it, didn’t he? As expected from a veteran who had survived many battles. His ability to sense danger was different from those two.
「Hey, Noel. You’ve got a visitor」
When I turned back at that voice, I saw Gaston, the owner, standing there. He was a bald and hardy man, as well as Mary's father. He was wearing an apron and was holding a ladle in his right hand.
「What? A visitor at a time like this?」
「Apparently, she’s a Seeker Guild staff. She gave her name as Marion Jenkins. It's a beautiful blonde-haired lady」
*Most people would have forgotten by now, but Alma calls Mary a bizarre creature the first time she saw her in chapter 18. I guess the name stuck. No prizes for guessing why a rotten women likes a rotten girl. XD Also, in that line, she actually describes Kouga as a “wage thief”, for which there is no direct equivalent in English, but I think you can sort of understand that it means a person who collects a wage but doesn’t do anything or does as little work as possible. Closest would be malingerer or shirker, I suppose, but they’re such uncommon words that I didn’t want to use them. Thus, slacker, something everyone understands and calls the above mentioned type of person.
Noel has been acting tsundere for a while now, but it’s been some time since he was called out for it, isn’t it? Did you see the speed in which he threw Kouga and Leon to the wolves though, once Mary turned her target to him lol?
Sorry for the split, another very long chapter… Seriously, author must have gotten addicted to writing super long chapters after that huge side story chapter… even though his chapter length management had been spot on for the first 2 parts…. Anyways, Marion has come to visit. After a whole lot of funny and ridiculous stuff, for what reason did Marion come and what’s going to happen next? Stay tuned for the rest of the feast!
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