In a Different World with a Smartphone Chapter 427: Post-processing, and Schraffs Journey.

The damage caused by the variants, which have appeared in various countries around the world, were suppressed below catastrophic levels, but were nevertheless still quite serious. In particular, it takes a lot of time to clean up destroyed buildings.

In these cases, the Dwarf-made civil engineering-use magic automaton [Dverg] were really active. While a failure in manipulating Frame Gears would result in huge damage being done to the surroundings easily, so pilots are required to undergo training in Frame Units before theyre allowed to board the actual thing, Dverg pilots can learn how to pilot them on the fly without large consequences. Not to mention the fact that theyre easier to control, too.

Plus, unlike the Frame Gears, theres no limit on the purchases of Dvergs; due to those reasons, a huge number of orders for Dvergs from various countries found themselves delivered into the hands of Olba-sans Strand Company, which is the sole business entrusted with handling Dverg purchases by the dwarves.

Apparently, having already predicted something like this, Olba-san had prepared a large number of mass-produced Dvergs beforehand, but the number of orders that came to him was even more than he anticipated.

Well, well, Im really not sure if I should be happy or sad about this. Its a complicated set of feelings.

Such was Olba-sans words, but judging by the way his whitish fox ears and tails moved about, Id say hes making a killing.

I guess with this, Dvergs might appear in the capsule toy series one day, huh.

Of course, in the Reverse Worldthe western continent, it was the large-sized Factory golems that hogged the spotlight.

I, who had come to Babylons [Hangar] today, was looking over the Frame Gears lined up inside.

I guess we wont have to use these guys anymore, huh.

Mm, that might not be the case, you know.

Right as I was getting a bit sentimental, Professor Babylon appeared with an electronic cigarette in her mouth and dragging her long white coat behind her.

What do you mean?

I made this in order to explain that.

The professor took out transparent notebook-sized thin boards. There are two of them with round dots of varying size painted onto both, one using red paint and the other using blue paint.

At a glance, they look like glass panels with irregular polka dot patterns. What are these?

This one is our world, and this one is the world Elka-kun and Fenrir came from. Eh, well, they honestly dont really matter either way. Think of the colored dots as a magic particle distribution chart. And if we overlap the two

The professor placed the two boards over each other. Once that happened, the panels showed four distinct regions: red areas, blue areas, transparent areas, and purple areas. So what does this Ah.

Exactly. The purple regions would be areas where magic particles have built up excessively. Basically, a magic particle reservoir. Theres a lot more of those in the world now that two worlds have become one.

Behemoths

Behemoths. The results of normal monsters living in areas with an unnatural amount of magic power, i.e. one of those reservoirs, and showing irregular growth, turning into a giant version of themselves.

Normally, those reservoirs only occur inside dense forests, deep undersea, or near the peak of steep mountains; in those cases, the behemoths born there wouldnt come into contact with people except for very rare cases, so theres not much of a problem.

However, if even one behemoth appeared close to a human settlement, the damage caused would be horrendous.

Palerius Island, once known as the Island of No Return, was an island filled with behemoths, and the inhabitants used giant walls to prevent their attacks.

Looking at the map, it seems that those reservoirs have now appeared all over the place.

Well, this doesnt mean behemoths will start appearing today or tomorrow, though. For the reservoirs that were there before the worlds merged, there would already be behemoths there, and it would take at least a few years for new behemoths to be born from the newly- created reservoirs. Theres also the behemoths killing each other to consider, too. We just need to check and weed them out from time to time, and itll be fine.

While it may sound obvious, a magic particle reservoir wont dry up from producing a single behemoth. In cases where multiple behemoths are born in one area, its very likely that they would be from the same species, so cases like territorial disputes between them would happen frequently, leading to the behemoths killing each other early on. As a result, the number of behemoths in that region would decrease. Although, it can also be said that the surviving behemoths are the stronger ones.

So youre saying itd be good for us to make it so that we can sortie at a moments notice, huh.

Right. Plus, that world barrier thing you talked about hasnt been repaired yet, right? Theres no guarantee that invaders from other worlds like the Phrases wont appear again.

Dont say something bad like that.

Apparently, with my current power as a god, its not impossible to fix it; however, I was cautioned by my sisters that if I mess up, it might actually lead to something even worse than now.

Since the incident this time had something to do with an evil god, the gods apparently deemed it OK for them to repair the barrier. Until now, there hasnt been a god that oversaw this world

so nothing could be done, but I was technically acknowledged by the World God-sama as one earlier, so.

So basically, I cant fix it myself, but it wont be a problem for me to ask other gods to please fix it for me.

The issue here would be the fact that among the gods I know, none of them seem like they can fix the barrier

Moroha nee-san, Karina nee-san and Takeru ojii would be out of the question. Karen nee-san and Suika are probably no-go as well. That would leave me with Kousuke ojii and Sousuke nii- san, but as expected, repairing the world barrier is outside their specialties.

In the first place, lower-ranked gods are so-called specialists of the thing they represent. In other words, most of them are useless at everything besides their specialties.

World God-sama said that hell send a suitable person over before long, but Please, let it be someone thats actually normal.

After I came back from Babylon, I received a call on my smartphone. Nn? The [Black Cat]s Silhouette-san? I wonder what she wants from me.

Apparently theres something she wants to discuss with me; as such, I came to the [Black Cat]s headquarters, Strain Kingdoms commercial hub, Cantarre.

The location is the entertainment district of this city, which is the second largest in the country behind only the capital. The [Black Cat]s headquarter building, the [Moonlight Parlor] is here.

Since its noon, theres no neon lights, but it still looks as showy as ever Well, its a brothel, so it cant be helped, I guess.

I wonder what does she want-degozarou ka?

I dont think its anything suspicious, but

On my sides, the swordswoman duo of Yae and Hilda were firmly attached to my arms.

Given the location, a household rule had been made which mandates one of the fiances to accompany me whenever I come here.

Its true that whenever I come here, I get the feeling that Im doing something I shouldnt. This place is full of elements that makes me nervous after all, like the smell, or the atmosphere. And from time to time a half-naked onee-san would appear down the hallway too

The burly-looking man who stood guard outside the entrance lowered his head deeply towards me. I dont know what to feel about the fact that the brothel security knows the face of a countrys king by memory

I should ask Silhouette-san to meet up at a different place next time. If rumors that I often frequent brothels came out, Im gonna cry, seriously. Although, that is also part of the reason why Yae and Hilda are with me this time, so.

As usual, once we reached the topmost floor where Silhouette-sans private room is at, a black cat and black panther came out to welcome us.

While the black panther has a collar around his neck with a medallion hanging from it, hes not a pet, but Silhouette-sans summoned beast. A beast that can control lightning, a [Lightning Panther].

This way, Your Majesty the Sovereign.

The Lightning Panther (I think his name was Shade?) guided us into the room. As Shade belongs to the type of summoned beast that can speak, he can communicate with people other than his master, Silhouette-san.

Deep inside the room, Silhouette-san was pouring tea by herself.

Welcome. Ara, todays girls are different from the ones you brought last time, eh. How spirited.

As Silhouette-san smiled, Yae and Hilda quivered slightly. Please dont tease them too much, Im the one who has to follow up on them later, you know.

I sat down on a couch as asked, had some of her tea, and immediately went on with the conversation.

Actually, I was thinking of having [Black Cat] operate in other countries, you see.

Other countries Arent you guys onto that stage already?

Aah, not here Not in the western continent; I meant your countries. We want to expand into the eastern continent, so to speak.

In fact, speaking of the number of people moving between the two continents, those going from west to east are overwhelmingly more than those going the other direction. As for the reason why, first, compared to people travelling from the eastern continent who mainly rode ships (high-speed ships with magicians on-board to cast wind-attribute magic to propel them), people travelling from the western continent had access to flying vessels in addition to ships.

Second, and this is only my speculation: between the easts magic culture and the wests magitech culture, while the western continents population had curiosity towards the unknown knowledge of magic, the eastern continents population is only cautious of the wests magitech capabilities. Things like golems are basically the same thing as artifacts from ancient civilizations to them, too.

In conclusion, while the western hemisphere actively sought further interaction, the eastern hemisphere is still hesitant on that topic.

And Silhouette-sans following that trend and wishing to spread her influence into the east as well, huh.

So you want to open brothels in the eastern continent?

Right, and some legitimate inns as well. Since we technically run a business, our structures somewhat complicated, you see. So we want you to speak on our behalf to the tops of the countries there for a bit. Since I really dont want someone like Zavit to mess with us again.

Zavit? Ah, that guy who was one of the top executives of the [Black Cat]s predecessor, [Papillon], and who was constantly harassing Silhouette-san in order to make her part of his forces, wasnt he.

I saw him once after that in Holy Kingdom Alents holy capital Alen, didnt I. He was trying to take over an orphanages lands, but he ran away the instant he saw me.

Its true that getting involved with those kind of underground society-type would be problematic. And brothels are obvious targets for them in the first place, too. Theres probably going to be plenty of fools who would come out and ask them to become part of their organization, or something like that.

Anything in particular?

If possible, Id like to obtain the countrys approval. While it wouldnt be an issue for the inns, I do feel the brothels will pose a challenge, though.

Mm, thats true. Ive heard that some brothels serve as bases for other illegal activities like loan sharks or human trafficking; in the latter case, the brothels themselves use women they abducted from other places. Although, since Silhouette-sans brothels are high-end establishments, if I have to say it, the girls working here are higher in standing than the customers they serve. If a customer causes any problems, hed be banned from entry immediately.

To be honest, talks about building a brothel in Brunhild has also come up from time to time, you see Its a necessary evil; theres the argument that sexual offenses would occur less if a brothels in the town, or something like that.

What should I do with this.

I do agree that the inns should have no problems. The brothels will have to depend on the countries themselves, though. Itd be an instant out in a country like the Ramissh Theocracy, for one.

Well, well handle that part ourselves somehow. And, heres the most important part.

Areh? So getting acknowledged by the countries isnt her actual request? The main part hasnt come up yet?

Since we were originally part of [Papillon], we still have connections with the black market they organized. We actually found something interesting there a while ago, you see.

Silhouette-san took out an old-looking book made with parchment, and placed it on the table. And not just an old-looking book; it looks hella old, like itll fall apart any time.

Its a book called Schraffs Journey. It contains the autobiography of a man called Schraff Sykes, who once served as a priest in Dauburn. Inside this, the reason behind Flame Nation Dauburn and Ice Nation Zadonias conflict is recorded, you see.

Eh? So you know the reason why those two countries have been fighting?

Flame Nation Dauburn and Ice Nation Zadonia, two countries which have been bitter enemies for a long time, without even knowing exactly why is it they antagonized each other in the first place. Is that reason inside this book?

In short, they both believe the sacrifice they offered to their gods were stolen by the other side. When, in fact, they werent stolen at all.

So the tribute I heard about earlier was a living sacrifice, huh.

According to the records of Priest Schraff, long ago, the nation of Dauburn was told by the god of fire they worshipped (its probably a spirit in reality) to offer up the son of the king as a sacrifice. However, the king at that time didnt want to hand his son over, and lied to the god, saying that his son was snatched away by Zadonia, and thus trying to make it so that the sacrifice doesnt have to happen.

So he blamed the other country on the fact that he cant offer up the sacrifice?

He must have thought that once the god heard that his offering was snatched away by another country, its wrath would fall onto Zadonia in Dauburns place, I suppose. However, coincidentally at that time, Zadonias god of ice also asked for the kings child to be sacrificed to it. And their misfortunes truly began when Zadonias king took the exact same action as Dauburns king did.

They probably never thought that the other country would do the exact same thing, huh. So they both pretended that the other side took away their prince, or princess, and tried to dodge the sacrifice. This is, quite stupid, isnt it.

In the end, the gods anger fell onto themselves; Dauburn became a land of scorching heat, and Zadonia became a land of freezing cold, and the gods then abandoned those lands. Of course, the truth was only known to a small part of the top brass on each side. Theres no way they can expose their kings selfishness like that, can they. Schraff, who was a priest belonging to Dauburn, was quite troubled over this, apparently. Hes watched the two countries fight for dozens of years because of the kings lies, after all. Him writing this book probably also came from the fact that keeping silent was too much of a pressure on his conscience, I bet.

The common citizens believe that the other country is responsible for bringing the wrath of god upon themselves, and have hated and fought against each other for hundreds of years because of that. Its no wonder the priest is troubled so much over this.

Actually, whats with asking the countries for live sacrifices in the first place? Im probably not going to get anything clear out of asking the current flame and ice spirits, but I guess I should try it out just in case.

The most problematic part would be how the two countries no longer care about the reason anymore, I suppose. This Schraffs Journey was found in an old Holy Spirit Church in the Holy Kingdom. The contents were written in ancient Holy Spirit language in order to hide them, and theres basically no one who can read that in this age. I think not even the royal family would know about it. (Note: a reminder that in Holy Kingdom Alent, they worship spirits, which they call Holy Spirits. The two words are extremely similar in Japanese, with the same pronunciation and only a single kanjis difference.)

Well, it is a secret diary. Youd obviously write it in obscure characters, since you dont want people to read it. Although, if he had written it in an easier-to-understand language, maybe the conflict between the two countries wouldve ended earlier. That would also lead to his own execution, though.

But, why did a book like this pop up only now?

Weve had the book itself for quite a while, to be exact. We just had zero progress on the deciphering. However, a perfect chance for it came by just a while ago, you see.

Eh? Ah So its that

Seeing Silhouette-san smile meaningfully, I immediately realized why she was able to read this book.

The Mochizuki Touya app. With that, she can use the translation magic [Reading] too. Theres a list of usable magic in the apps guide, so.

The apps service period has run out long ago, but I guess she managed to squeeze that in. Actually, I think the other monarchs probably did something with their apps too

And, what do you want Touya-dono to do regarding those two countries-degozaru ka?

Id like you, the one known as the Mediator, to stop the conflict between the two. Among the girls that the [Moonlight Parlor] takes in, a lot of them come from Dauburn or Zadonia. The children starve all the time, and find it tough to even continue living; and even if they survive long enough, they end up getting sent out to fight stupid wars. And for the reason behind those wars to be something like this; thats not something I can forgive, you know.

True If even the kings no longer know about the true reason, then this is nothing more than a tragedy

Hilda had a sad face on. Shes royalty too. She must have her own thoughts regarding this situation.

As a monarch myself, it isnt exactly commendable for me to interfere in a conflict between two other countries. And as the worlds manager, as long as it wont lead to the destruction of the world, it might be better to let things flow as they had.

However, this world is slated to become a resort world for the gods. The case can be made that having countries inside such a world fight between each other is questionable.

World God-sama had told me to work hard, so that when this world finally reaches the end of its lifespan, I can say with pride that it was a good world. That means I shouldnt ignore this conflict just because its not something I have to deal with.

I understand. Ill try all that I can. At a minimum, I should be able to release the curse of heat and frost placed on those lands by the spirits.

As expected of Touya-dono!

Thank goodness Itll be alright now!

Both Yae and Hilda broke into smiles. No, uh, arent you girls celebrating way too early?

The problem would be whether the kings of the two nations would believe this Schraffs Journey Itll basically equal to me asking them to admit their own countries, as well as their ancestors folly.

Its not stupid to try to refuse offering their gods a sacrifice. Rather, it would be a courageous act to stand up against their gods (or what they think are gods).

However, because they were afraid of the gods retribution, they shifted the blame onto the other country, and in the end suffered the curse due to their own cowardice. And furthermore, they hid the truth and continued spinning the false tale that the other country was responsible for their plight; thats nothing if not foolish.

At that point, theres nothing more they can do but keep pushing at each other in a mudslinging match of a war. In fact, thats exactly what they did, for the past several hundred years

For now, I should go and talk with the spirits of flame and ice again. In the worst case, if the two of them descends into the world themselves, we should be able to manage something. They were the gods (fake) the two countries had worshipped in the past, after all.

Itd help me a lot too, for you to do that. However Im a bit uneasy; the kings of those two countries seriously hate each other, you see. They meet each other every time the two countries sign an armistice, but they would start cursing each other out every single time, and it always becomes a mess, apparently.

The heck, are they kids? Now Im uneasy too. Hmm, maybe abduct the two of them and let them have a fistfight for as long as they want?

The older generation often find it harder to change the way they think; in which case, it might be better to bring this talk to the princes/princesses of both sides.

Now then. Time to do some work befitting my title as the Mediator, and stop this stupid conflict between the two countries. First stop, the Spirit Realm.

We bid farewell to Silhouette-san, and left the [Moonlight Parlor].

-Pixel