ZAP – Chapter 118: Thus, support

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TLN: Two chapters today! Make sure you didn’t miss the previous one~.

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“Hey, Eugy-kun, what will happen from here on?” (Sumire)

“Who knows… It seems like there will be a talk at the Federation Congress though.” (Eugene)

The day after the subjugation expedition of Vepar was interrupted.

Sumire and I said this while looking at the sea.

The waves are high despite the wind not being strong.

There’s no sight of sea birds and only the sound of the waves rang.

We are currently at the harbor of the Gold Country.

The number of ships on the sea are less than a third compared to a few days ago.

The reason goes without saying. It is because the Darkness Dragon has appeared.

The merchant ships that were normally coming and going have left almost in its entirety.

“Sara-chan is late.” (Sumire)

“She is apparently reporting this to Caldia with transmission magic, but…they are most likely telling her to withdraw from the Blue Waters Federation.” (Eugene)

“No way! But…makes sense.” (Sumire)

There’s no point in the upcoming Holy Maiden Sara staying in the Blue Waters Federation that’s being exposed to the threat of the Great Demonic Beast.

Sara is apparently also the one who received the call from Caldia about Glasya Labolas approaching.

You could say she has performed her duty.

*Kyuoooooooooon*

I hear a strange sound like that of a cry from afar.

“This is the voice of that kaiju, right?” (Sumire)

“Yeah. It is apparently…just sleeping though.” (Eugene)

“So its breathing alone is already this loud, huh…” (Sumire)

The Darkness Dragon moves slowly.

Does it need quite a lot of energy to move that giant body, or is it simply indolence?

Only the creepy cry echoed even though there should be a lot of distance.

It is unnerving.

At that moment, I felt a presence approaching.

I was spoken to before I could turn around.

“Heya, Eugene, Sumire-chan.”

It was Claude.

The one by his side is…if I remember correctly, the royalty of the Gold Country, Princess Tifania Crystal.

“Good day, Legendary Heroes of the Lykeion Magic Academy, Eugene-san and Sumire-san.” (Tifania)

“Princess Tifania, nice to meet you.” (Eugene)

I don’t know the etiquette of the Federation, so I followed the one of the imperial army and went on one knee.

Sumire hurriedly copied me.

But the one who was flustered by our attitude was Princess Tifania.

“There’s no need to be so formal! Please talk to me as if you were talking to Claude…” (Tifania)

“That’s…” (Eugene)

I didn’t know if I should do exactly as she says.

“It is okay, Eugene, Sumire-chan. Tifa said she wants to get along with you two.” (Claude)

“I see.” (Eugene)

I decided to comply.

I make my tone the same as normal.

“Is it okay to not participate in the strategy meeting, Claude?” (Eugene)

I asked this.

“I will be participating in the strategy meeting itself, but…” (Claude)

I saw the troubled expression of Claude and understood.

Claude is a student of the Lykeion Magic Academy, but he is also a dragon knight from the Dragon Country.

Also, he is a soldier of the federation army.

Dragon knights are a core of the federation army, and Claude is an elite of the dragon knight units, so there’s no way he wouldn’t be called to the meeting.

“So the Blue Waters Federation won’t be fighting the Darkness Dragon.” (Eugene)

“Eh?!” (Sumire)

Sumire raised her voice in surprise.

But I was certain my guess was right after seeing the faces of Claude and Princess Tifania.

“Looks like we can’t hide it from the descendant of the Imperial Sword, Eugene-sama.” (Tifania)

“But why? The 2nd party has returned safely, and the 1st party is also on standby, right?” (Eugene)

I asked Princess Tifania.

We were planning on subjugating Vepar to begin with.

I doubt they are not ready.

“It would be faster to look over here rather than answering with words. We had Orianne-sama see the future for the route of the Darkness Dragon. This is the map.” (Tifania)

“Is it okay to show this to us?” (Eugene)

“It is. There were no casualties in the 2nd party thanks to you being at the forefront of the decoy ship. You are a benefactor of the Blue Waters Federation.” (Tifania)

She said that, so Sumire and I looked at the map of the Blue Waters Federation that has a red line drawn.

The red line is probably the estimated route of the Darkness Dragon.

And then, there are x-marks on the islands that are overlapped on the red line.

Sumire and I don’t know much about the geography of the Blue Waters Federation, but…

“Eugy-kun, isn’t this bad?” (Sumire)

“It is predicted that a third of the Federation’s islands will suffer from this…” (Eugene)

The scale of the harm is far bigger than I imagined.

(Why are they choosing not to fight with this much harm caused…?) (Eugene)

That thought must have shown in my face, Claude spoke.

“You might not be able to tell by just looking at the map, but the countries that will suffer harm from the Darkness Dragon are not chief countries of the Blue Waters Federation. All of them are remote countries, so they are apprehensive about fighting the Darkness Dragon.” (Claude)

“The federation army is composed mostly of those chief countries after all. There aren’t many who are voicing their desire to sacrifice their forces to save those remote countries…” (Tifania)

Claude and Princess Tifania had clouded expressions.

“That’s…horrible.” (Sumire)

“That said, you should be able to evacuate them if you know the places that will be affected, right?” (Eugene)

Claude nodded when I said this.

“Of course. The federation army has already begun evacuating the residents of the countries that will be harmed by the Darkness Dragon. The Gold Country is also in the middle of preparing a camping ground that can accept thousands of refugees.” (Claude)

“But there’s a limit of ships that can be used, so…the progress of the evacuation is not looking good. The people of remote countries normally live without leaving their island, so they don’t have enough ships to begin with. It would be great if we had a large amount of Flying Ships though. But because there’s not enough fuel and personnel, the Federation doesn’t have many Flying Ships…” (Tifania)

“Not even half of the people will be able to evacuate by the time the Darkness Dragon arrives…” (Claude)

Claude and Princess Tifania speak, mortified.

It would be great if I could help out here, but I can’t think of anything.

That’s when…

“Aah, so you were here!”

Someone ran towards us.

Long black hair and the uniform of the Lykeion Magic Academy.

“Sara-chan, what’s the matter?” (Sumire)

“Sumire-chan, I have finished my call with headquarters and will be sharing the information with the Federation Congress. More importantly, big trouble!” (Sara)

“Did something happen?” (Eugene)

“Listen, the Grave of the Seas has been swallowed by the Darkness Dragon!” (Sara)

““““Eh?””””

The 4 people including me asked back.

The Grave of the Seas is the deserted island that the black mermaids were using as their nest.

It is the place Claude and I headed to just yesterday.

(The Darkness Dragon…swallowed it?) (Eugene)

“There’s been stories of the Darkness Dragon about…it being an ‘Island Eater’. Legends say that it eats small islands whole when hungry. To think that was true…” (Tifania)

Princess Tifania has a pale face.

“Tifa, only the island that was full of black mermaids was swallowed. There were no people of the Blue Waters Federation.” (Claude)

“Yeah…but it is possible you would have been eaten as well if you were one day late.” (Tifania)

“It is okay. We would run away on wyvern before that happens, Tifa.” (Claude)

“Right. If it is Claude…” (Tifania)

Claude showed a forced smile to calm the princess.

That said, he calls her Tifa, huh.

This princess is the fiancee of Claude, isn’t she?

According to Soran and Leonhart, I heard that she had issues with her personality, but there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her.

She is a kind princess that worries about her people.

“Hey, Sara-chan, what are you going to do now?” (Sumire)

“Hmm, depends on Eugene, I guess. I have been ordered to retreat by headquarters, but I ignored them!” (Sara)

“…Is that okay?” (Sumire)

“The Destiny Oracle-sama took my side, so…it is probably okay.” (Sara)

I hear the conversation of Sumire and Sara.

Princess Tifania joined that.

“Upcoming Holy Maiden, Sara-sama!” (Tifania)

“Y-Yes, what may it be, Princess?” (Sara)

Sara fixed her posture.

“Do you think we can…obtain support from the Holy Union?” (Tifania)

“About that…we can’t spare much forces because we have to keep an eye on Raum and also for defense… The nest of the Darkness Bird is extremely close to the holy capital of Arsham after all.” (Sara)

“Right…” (Tifania)

Princess Tifania groaned at the words of Sara.

Sumire seemed like she wanted to say something, but didn’t say anything in the end.

An outsider can’t speak out regarding the policies of other countries.

“Tifa, you have also requested the help of the Empire, right?” (Claude)

Claude placed a hand on the shoulder of Princess Tifania to comfort her.

“Yes…but they said they don’t have many people available because of the aftermath of Haagenti. Who knows how many people they will send to us. Also, they are surely going to ask for quite the sum as payment… Uhm…I have a request, Eugene-san.” (Tifania)

Princess Tifania faced this way.

I can imagine what she is going to say next.

“The Empire’s first reinforcement team should be arriving tomorrow. In the case there are way too few or they request for an outrageous pay, can you please talk it out with them?” (Tifania)

She looks up at me like a puppy.

This looked a bit fake.

(Well, I do understand how she feels though…) (Eugene)

“I do want to cooperate with you, Princess Tifania, but I doubt I will be of help. My words don’t have weight within the imperial army, and my peerage is the lowest which is baron. The one coming to the Federation will most likely be a captain of the Golden Knights or higher, so I doubt they will rethink just because of my words when it comes to a negotiation…” (Eugene)

In the off-chance Pops comes, I might be able to talk it out, but it is not possible for the Imperial Sword to leave the side of His Majesty.

That goes the same for the Sword Hero Edward-sama. I doubt he would come for the sake of another country.

The possible one would be the 1st prince Ashton or someone in that vein.

He is a commander-in-chief of the imperial army, and excels at negotiations.

And there’s a high chance he will have a captain of the Golden Knights accompany him.

(I feel like I will end up having to do something…) (Eugene)

The Empire is utilitarian.

They mercilessly squeeze you out when you are weakened.

“I will try to talk to them at least…” (Eugene)

“Please do, Eugene-sama!” (Tifania)

“Princess Tifania?!” (Eugene)

To think the princess would lower her head.

“I-I get it! I don’t know who will come, but I will cooperate as much as possible.” (Eugene)

I said this.

I ended up saying that.

(She got your word.) (Eri)

I heard the mutter of Eri.

(Eri?) (Eugene)

(Aaah.) (Eri)

(Was that bad?) (Eugene)

I asked, but got no response.

I felt a bit uneasy as that day ended peacefully.

◇Next Day◇

Sumire, Sara, and I were called to the congress building.

The place is almost at the very center of the Golden Country.

It is a giant white building.

It even looks like a giant temple of the Goddess Church from afar.

The city is noisy.

The reason is clear.

A battalion of Flying Ships enough to cover the sky.

The Flying Ships have the crest of a red sword.

Flying Ships of the Grandflare Empire.

(It is a bigger scale than I thought. A whole division.) (Eugene)

They probably decided to squeeze out every single G they can by providing all they can offer instead of being stingy.

We arrived at the congress building while I was thinking about this.

The dignitaries of the Federation are already present.

It seems like the one responsible for the reinforcement unit of the Empire has come too.

(Just who…?) (Eugene)

If it is Prince Ashton, should I give up negotiation and go for pleading?

Someone is being surrounded at the center of the congress building.

When I peeked there, the person in question looked at me.

“Hm?” (Sumire)

The one who said that was Sumire.

“No way…” (Sara)

I also felt the same way as Sara.

(I thought that was the least possible outcome though…) (Eugene)

“Eugy!”

The one running this way was a female knight with long blonde hair and pure white light armor.

What’s engraved on the armor is a lion with golden wings. It is proof of the strongest force in the Empire, the Heaven Knights.

That said, her position is far heavier than that of a Heaven Knight right now though.

“It has been a while…wait, not really.” (Eugene)

“I have wanted to see you—!”

The one who hugged me was the next to succeed the throne, the next Empress, Airi Arius Grandflare.

She is by no means someone who should come to a dangerous location where the Darkness Dragon is approaching.

■Comment Response:

>Gla-chan: ‘I am hungry’ ……….In the middle of moving through the ocean………

>Gla-chan: ‘Eat a whole lot of fishies~’ ……Nom nom time…… Nom nom (along with the explosive dolls)…… Boom…

>Gla-chan: ‘My mouth is tingly~’ Scream. Lol. I thought that’s maybe how it went.

-So cute.

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