Kujonin

Author: Hanabokuro

—

Suppressing my tears of regret as I refused the invitation to the brothel, I headed towards the church ruins on the hill.

"O-i! Go-d, are you here-?"

We reached the front of the church that was mostly ruins like that.

Crumble crumble, tumbletumble, crumble

From beneath the crumbling bricks, G.o.d stuck his hand out and came out.

"Huh? Mister Komuro, you're with two people I'm not acquainted with, aren't you. Hm? These lads are dragons, huh?"

When G.o.d said so, for some reason the two dragons knelt down on one knee, their heads low.

"What are you two doing?"

"It's G.o.d's presence."(Red)

"We cannot get any closer than this." (Black)

With their eyes closed, the two of them aren't moving at all.

"Well, each and every person sees me in a different way, after all."

Looks like G.o.d's used to it.

"Is that how it is? Well, that's fine. I came to give a preliminary report, but the Earth Spirit is completely black."

"A, is that so?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure what kind of management he's supposed to be doing, but if we let him go on this trajectory, then it will become the greatest environmental destruction of the century. As for the explanation…"

I included the story about the Adel Sea from my previous world and showed G.o.d on the map as I made my report.

G.o.d also floated the miniature of the world over his hand, confirming the facts.

"And so, the plantation is using magic stone powder in the soul, and the people are being turned into ghouls because of it; I was thinking, like this, it would really be impossible to give a good explanation for things. Just in case, I'm having my company employees investigating other reasons for the lake's water level for confirmation."

"Good, good. I'm very thankful. I've understood the situation. Then, I should quickly fire him."

"A, please wait just a bit on that. It's about what will happen to the Hero after he loses the spirit's blessing."

"Oh, so you were thinking about that?"

"Well, it's that, see. Just for confirmation, even if the Earth Hero loses the blessing, he can still use earth magic, right?"

"Of course. When he is no longer a hero, the might behind his magic might fall, but he would retain the skills that he spent great efforts to learn."

"Hearing that, I'm relieved. Actually, I have several ideas, but …"

I explained the after-care I was thinking about to G.o.d.

"I see; an otherworlder is truly interesting. I think the first plan is fine."

It's the plan that Seth and Merumo supported.

"However, in the far future it might become a big problem, is it fine?"

"Un, even so, it's amusing, so isn't it fine?" (G.o.d)

"Then there's a need to meet a lot of people in order to progress the plan … G.o.d-sama, is there something like a teleportation method you could teach me?"

"A~, right now, because the spirits of time and s.p.a.ce are maintaining the barrier around the equator, it would be difficult."

"Eeh-!?"

"Well, isn't it alright if you ride on the backs of your friends? It would fine with you, right?"

When G.o.d asked Black Dragon, who was still on one knee, Black Dragon responded with a short, "At your will."

"With that settled, shall I give you my temporary blessing?"

"G.o.d's blessing? A, come to think of it, is there a reason t.i.tles don't stick with me?"

"That's because it would be troublesome if a spirit found you. If Mister Komuro receives a t.i.tle, the greatest calamity would happen, and spirits and demons' eyes would be on you and be very troublesome."

G.o.d said it as if it was the biggest pain in the a.s.s he could think of.

"Is that how it is. Then I don't need a blessing. I've been able to get by this far without a t.i.tle. If there's a time when I find it necessary, I'll say so and be under your care. That said, is there a way to contact you even if I don't come to the church here?"

"Well, it's fine to go to any church anywhere."

When G.o.d told me this shocking matter, I thought, "This b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"Wouldn't it be better if you had told me such a vital piece of information earlier?"

"Aa, did I not tell you? My bad."

"If that's the case, I'll hand over this communication bag, and if there's a need, I will contact you."

"Ooh-? What is this?"

"With this, if you pour in magic power like this, you can contact me even if I'm far away."

"Ooh-! So it's a magic tool that uses a magic circle. I need to tell Evil G.o.d about this, too."

"Aa, come to think of it, how is it going on that side? With Evil G.o.d-sama."

"He's having a hyper-slimy sumo festival. That idiot, he increased the slimes way too much…"

After that, it became 10 minutes of G.o.d making fun of Evil G.o.d.

It seems Evil G.o.d's just been all about the slimes in the southern hemisphere's continents, so he hasn't touched the world tree or the dungeon yet.

"Aaa~Aah. Evil G.o.d's such an idiot. But when I fire the spirit it might become a demon… will we be able to count on Evil G.o.d to deal with it?"

"Eh, wait, what do you mean?"

"Like I said, I'll be firing the spirit, right? It might be furious with me, right? So it would become a demon, right?"

"Is that how it works?"

"That's how it works -, it'll have resentment~. Yeah, I really should have Evil G.o.d pick it up. Alright then, Mister Komuro, you've contacted me with great timing. Because I'll go fire the Earth Spirit."

So saying, G.o.d disappeared towards the sky, saying, "Hey, you slimy idiot-"

Whatever they say, they're relations.h.i.+p is actually pretty good, isn't it? Those G.o.ds.

Anyway, the report to G.o.d is done.

And now, it's the next steps.

There's a ton of stuff I have to do.

A~, won't someone come and switch places with me?

When I looked around, the dragons are still down on one knee, with their heads down.

"How long are you going to do that!?"

Black Dragon and Red Dragon,

"H! Where did G.o.d-sama go?"

"He already left. We're also going back to town! I have to meet a lot of important people from now on."

I quickly descended the hill.

"Please wait a moment~" (Red)

"What will we do about our names when we meet people? If we go with Black Dragon and Red Dragon, we'll be found out as dragons immediately, right?" (Black)

"Naoki~, give us names." (Red)

"Cool ones, please." (Black)

How the heck would I know? What a pain. Even though it would be fine if they named themselves. Alright then … let's see.

"Then, Red Dragon is Red C Ard, and Black Dragon-san is Kuro Z Okudake."

"What's with that?" (Red)

"Those are so random!" When they said that,

"There's a middle name. Isn't it cool?"

I said.

" "Umu, it's cool." "

Like that, the two seem to be satisfied.

There's no way I can tell them that I went with soccer(football)'s red card and an air freshener as the origins. In the first place, Black Dragon's name is the one for toilets. Well, it's all about how it sounds.

"Anyway, we need to hurry back to town-"

"Ou, we're going now, G.o.dfather." (black)

He means G.o.dfather, as in a person who gave him his name, huh?

"Am I the only one who thinks Black Dragon-san sounds like a mafia member heading out when he says that?" (naoki)

"You are the only one." (red)

"What's a mafia?" (black)

While having that completely pointless conversation, we headed to the governmental office.

The employees welcomed us as we entered the governmental office.

Banter like, "It's the hero of the desert," came at me.

Red Dragon said, "You have quite a good moniker."

Let's stop talking about names!

"Naoki-san, what can we do for you today?"

The receptionist Onee-san asked.

"Is Riddle-san in?"

"He is. Do you have a … you don't have a reservation, right? Well, it's Naoki-san, so he should see you immediately."

The Onee-san asked an employee about Riddle's location, then turned back around to face us.

"Riddle-san is in the bas.e.m.e.nt, so please go see him."

"Aa, got it."

I headed towards the room in the bas.e.m.e.nt. I didn't want to deal with Black Dragon hitting on the employees with, "You seem quite capable. Won't you come to my island?" so I just left him. Red Dragon will probably stop him.

In the bas.e.m.e.nt room, the short Riddle was at a desk, writing something on parchment.

"h.e.l.lo."

"Oo-! Sir Naoki. Are you hear about the reward? … Oh wait, is it about the matter Miss Ayl was talking about before?"

It really helps that the discussion moves quickly with a smart person.

"Yeah, I came to consult you about a matter with the Hero. Sorry, you were in the middle of writing something."

"No, of course not. I was just thinking about conveying a little about the future of the previous locusthopper extermination matter."

A great person really is different. He won't end up doing things like slimy sumo.

"You might have already heard from Ayl, but let me explain once again."

So saying, I unfurled the map and explained for the second time today.

I just didn't talk about receiving a request from G.o.d or firing the spirits.

"I see. So you intend to destroy the plantation?"

"That's right."

Riddle sat back heavily in his seat, tapping his chin as he began to think.

"Right now, the Hero's plantation seems to be greatly profiting HillLake … if you destroy it, then…"

"It would inevitably become chaotic, ne."

"It would cause heavy losses to the merchants and the royals. And more importantly, if that is conveyed to the northern country across the border… it might be quite bad."

If a country you had been thinking about going to war with suddenly became weakened, it would be natural to start fighting in that timing.

"Yeah, and so, I intend to do so with as little leakage of information as possible, but … people's mouths are like unblockable pa.s.sages. I'm thinking that if we can control the flow of information for a few days, then I can act within that time."

"I suppose. Is there no other way than to crush the plantation?"

"Yeah. The villagers are already being harmed. However, I want to save the Earth Hero and the people around him, including the villagers."

"You already seem to be thinking of something."

"Yeah. However, before I begin to explain, I'd like to ask, is there something like a centralized government for the Alliance?"

"Naturally there is. There's a place where all the countries in the Alliance send their representatives once every two years."

Riddle point at a spot on the unfurled map.

It was a place northeast of Floura, just south of Gnomefield, so it was quite close.

It's closer to the center of the Ruginia Alliance than I thought, to make it easier for the countries' representatives to gather, perhaps. If it's here, then it might work?

I discussed the plan with Riddle.

"This is another surprising thing, but …" "Yes, about this …" like that, Riddle poked at my plans flaws and I gave my explanations about how I was going to deal with it.

"However, this is a great matter that is going to get the entire Alliance involved."

"Yeah, I know."

"There's probably going to be quarreling over interests. As for hiding it, this is definitely not going to remain hidden. However, it's highly possible that the central government will give their approval. Nn, Mr Naoki, just exactly how does your brain work?"

Riddle lightly scratched his face.

"It's normal."

"How is it normal? Just when I think you're drunkenly dancing in the middle of town, you come bringing an issue that involves the central government. Haa… however, someone like you will produce a change in our era."

So I really was dancing around that night. I found out from an unexpected source.

"And, luck might just be on your side."

"Luck?"

"Aa, in actuality, right now, there's someone with an extreme amount of say in the central government staying in Floura."

Riddle got up off his chair, said, "Follow me," and began to ascend the stairs.

The receptionist on the first floor said,

"Are you going out?"

And Riddle-san told her,

"Un. I'm going to meet Margeret-san."

I don't know who Margeret-san is, but as all the employees became very tense, it seems to be quite an important person.

When I pulled the persistent Black Dragon-san and Red Dragon along, Riddle asked, "Are these new employees?"

"Contractors."

Is how I answered him.

"Because they're quite capable." (naoki)

"Umu, they have quite fearless appearances."

The two who were being praised said, "This dwarf has very sharp eyes," and the like.

We walked through town with Riddle leading us.

The people in town greeted Riddle and I amicably, and offered us their best vegetables the fish they caught.

Looking at the always gluttonous dragons,

'Is it okay if I receive it?"

When I asked Riddle,

"Aa, I don't mind."

He laughed.

After walking for a while, we arrived at a mansion I had seen before.

It's Floura's largest residence.

It's the one with the warehouse I had cleaned around the time I first founded the company.

So you mean, that rich lady was a high-ranking person?

When we opened the gate and knocked on the door, the Granny who had the cold before came out.

"Oh my, State Minister Blacks … and the cleaning company? Aa, I see! Thank you very much for the previous time. Thanks to you, I've become better.

And Granny pressed a hand to her chest.

"Oh no, I didn't do much."

"What? Are you acquainted?"

"Yeah, we kind of came to clean the warehouse before."

When I explained to Riddle,

"What is it? Granny. Guests?"

"Yes, Margaret-san. State Minister Blacks, and the one who came from the cleaning company previously have come to see you."

"Oh? Welcome. What good timing. I had just received some good tea and was just thinking about drinking it, you see? Please, come in."

Margaret said and guided us inside.

When the dragons, carrying food ingredients, entered,

"Oh? Are those gifts? Or perhaps your stomachs are empty? Granny, bring these ingredients to the kitchen and make food for them."

Margaret gave out instructions.

'Understood. … Aa, they look a little heavy. Would you mind bringing them this way?"

"Umu. If you're going to make food, then I will bring them to wherever you wish." (red)

"Young lady. I've been wanting to eat something called meuniere, is it possible?"

"Oh? Young lady, he said… eheheh."

Compared to Black Dragon-san, all humans are younger than him, so all females are "Young ladies," no matter what.

Granny and the dragons headed to the kitchen, and Margaret guided Riddle and me to the terrace.

"It's been a while, State Minister Black."

Margaret smiled warmly at Riddle.

"It has been a while, Margaret-sama."

"Stop with the '-sama.' And thank you for before. Thanks to you, Granny's much better."

Margaret turned to face me and gave her thanks.

"Oh no, it was for work, after all."

"We were acquainted from before, but I think it would be better to reintroduce ourselves."

"A, that's true. I'm Naoki Komuro. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I reflexively bowed.

"I'm Margaret Floura."

"Floura!?"

Isn't that the name of the town!?

When I became surprised,

"Hahaha. This town was named after her achievements."

Riddle explained.

"Oh, you. It's just that the town previously had an ominous name, so the king changed it."

"You see, she is a woman who partic.i.p.ated in the very first meeting when the Ruginia Alliance's central government was first established. And also, right now, most of the officials of the central government were her students."

"-!! … Seriously?"

"It's true, fufufu. It's just that my students happened to be capable people."

She wasn't just some rich lady.

(just 1 this time) Switching the 3rd rotation to 2 pharmacists versus 1 exterminator.

… What a movie that would be.

The second rotation is still 2 exterminator to 1 pharmacist for now>