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nProofreader: Xemul

n“So, the commission failed. I’m sorry, Commander.”

nLoren reported to Yuri, sounding not very apologetic.

nIt was the morning of the day after they had escaped from the mountain, arrived at the town they had come from, and rested for the night. Loren, accompanied by Lapis and Gula, had gone to the military facility where Yuri was waiting for him, told the soldiers there Yuri’s name and asked for a meeting. And when they were shown into the room, those were his first words.

nAfter explaining what had happened, he reported their failure so brazenly that Lapis and Gula, whom he had brought with him, looked at Loren flabbergasted.

nYuri, who received the report, did not get angry or show any sign of disappointment, but simply responded with a few words.

n“You’ve worked hard.”

nYuri did not make any further inquiries, but invited them to sit down at the table across from him.

n“You seem awfully indifferent.”

nLapis looked at the General with suspicion and said, but Yuri gently shook his head as he watched them taking their seats.

n“As I said, it’s something only Loren could have done. If he went and failed, it would have been the same for anyone else. I don’t blame you.”

n“What on earth was that place anyway? It wasn’t an ordinary place, was it?”

nThinking that demanding explanations would be more effective than asking questions, Lapis asked in a somewhat harsh tone. Yuri stared at her for a while, then gently shrugged and replied, tone unchanged.

n“Well, I forgot.”

n“Do you expect me to be satisfied with that answer?”

n“Well, even if you say so, forgot means forgot.”

nYuri’s gaze shifted from Lapis to Loren as he replied in a playful manner.

nYuri’s tone of voice remained unchanged as he told Loren, who was silently watching the exchange between the two.

n“I may remember sooner or later. I will tell you if I do.”

n“Understood. It’s all right.”

n“Is it really?”

nLapis seemed to be somewhat displeased. Loren placed his hand on her head as if to placate her and whispered.

n“I’m not sure I can get him to talk about something he doesn’t want to.”

n“Some pain might loosen his tongue, don’t you think? Shock might make you remember something you’ve forgotten.”

nLapis said such disturbing words with a coy face, and Loren and Yuri’s expressions simultaneously twitched.

nIt was understandable that Loren’s face would twitch because he knew that there was nothing, he could do to stop Lapis if she wanted to do so, but Yuri should not have known this. Gula, wondering why his face was twitching, asked with a searching expression and tone.

n“You’re a General of the Empire, aren’t you? If Lapis-chan wanted to use force, wouldn’t you be able to stop her?”

n“That may be so. Though I can’t think of anything I can do to stop Loren, who is working with that priest, if he wants to do so.”

nGula understood Yuri’s concern.

nYuri was indeed a General, and if he were to raise his voice, an avalanche of soldiers outside the room would immediately enter the room. However, the number of people who could be in the room was limited by the indoor space. Gula thought that it would be difficult to hold Loren in check with that number of people, as Yuri feared.

n“But it’s disappointing. I thought that magic item would help us resist the power of the flames.”

n“It can’t be helped. At least Pride has been neutralized for the time being.”

nYuri let out a sigh, and Loren responded.

nGula asked Loren what she had been wondering.

n“What the hell did you do when we ran away?”

n“I appraised the transfer of ownership, then used the tool.”

nIt was Lapis who answered on Loren’s behalf.

nGula, who did not understand the words, wanted a more detailed explanation, so Lapis began to explain, holding up her index finger and wagging it from side to side.

n“That falchion was not an item that could be used by anyone. It was the kind of magical tool that only the owner was allowed to use. At that point, the ownership of the sword and the right to use it belonged to Loren, who had pulled it out.”

nHowever, Loren did not have the knowledge to appraise the use of magical tools. Even Shayna, who possessed the power of the King of Death, did not have the knowledge to use unknown magic tools on the spot.

nSo, Loren transferred his respective rights on the spot by handing the falchion directly to Lapis.

n“So, while Loren and Pride were talking, I appraised the falchion and figured out how to use it.”

n“Wait a minute. Didn’t you say you were going to give that sword to Pride before we escaped?”

n“I declared that I would give it to him as soon as we left the cave, so I still had the rights to it even after I had stabbed it into the ground. All I had to do was move to the exit and release the power contained in the sword before we left the cave.”

nAs a result, the cave was enclosed in ice. No one knew what happened to Pride, but it would not be easy to get out.

n“It’d be nice if he was caught in the ice.”

n“Nah, that would be a wishful thinking, but it’ll probably take him a lot of work to get out.”

nAccording to Gula, Pride’s authority allowed him to exert a power superior to his opponent as long as he looked down on that person.

nHowever, there should be only Pride in that place now, and the authority that could be used by looking down on others would not be available. As a result, whether caught in the ice or not, the Evil God of Pride had to use only his own power to get out, and that much power was not enough to threaten both Gula and Luxuria.

n“Even if we can’t keep him locked up forever, it might buy us some time.”

n“Surprisingly, it might not be that easy to get out.”

nLapis muttered that it was not necessary to consider this as a crisis for the time being, and Yuri inquired:

n“What do you mean?”

n“I just remembered something. That place is a little bit special, and not easy to get in or out of. And if you used the sword’s power to seal it with ice, it would be a pretty powerful seal.”

nLapis was about to ask for more details, but before she could open her mouth, Loren gently stopped her.

nYuri had said earlier that he might remember something. Loren believed that it meant aside from this bit of information, he had ‘forgotten’ everything else, and it would be futile to continue questioning him. Lapis believed that he should be hounded for answers, but she obediently complied with Loren.

n“But even if that matter is solved, it’s not going to make things any better. The immediate crisis at hand is the existence of a being called Wrath, who wields fires.”

nThe Evil God of Pride might have been a threat, but from Yuri’s point of view, he was still an existence outside of his consideration. It was not a bad thing that he was neutralized for a while, but the threat of Wrath was not something that they could manage after losing the means to counter it.

n“Is there any other measure? Since you’re the leader, don’t you have anything else?”

n“Not that there is no other option, but it’s not something that can be done immediately. The longer it takes, the more damage we suffer, and we can’t stall forever.”

nThe situation had already progressed to the point where the Empire’s force and the Kingdom’s force were about to meet face to face.

nIt had not developed into a full-scale confrontation was due to Yuri’s efforts to buy time, but no matter how talented Yuri was as a general, he could not delay the already-developing military conflict indefinitely.

n“The next best strategy, and one that requires little time to implement, would be to distribute water and ice scrolls to the army’s magic practitioners and launch a simultaneous offensive strike at the same time Wrath appears. If the timing is off, the effect will be weak, and above all, there is no proof that this will work.”

nThe Evil God of Wrath was indeed a powerful entity, but she was also an individual.

nIt was extremely difficult to predict where and when this individual would appear on a battlefield, where the Empire’s and Kingdom’s armies were tangled. If the Imperial Army made a wrong guess, they could suffer fatal damage. But even if they made a right guess, they might have to launch an attack on their own allies.

n“Individuals that can rival an army is just a headache.”

n“I have a suggestion.”

nAs Yuri placed a hand on his forehead and let out a sigh, Gula raised her hand and said.

n“There is something that can be prepared in a relatively short time. Once put to work, it can probably suppress the power of Wrath, with little or no casualties. Wanna hear it?”

n“Doesn’t that sound like a pipedream?”

n“It’s a risky move in its own way, but it does exist. If you want to hear about it, I can tell you under certain conditions.”

nYuri, who had been staring at Gula for a while as if he was trying to figure out what he should do, finally answered in a tone of voice and air that seemed to direct to no one in particular.

n“Is it money?”

n“Nah, I can’t eat the money. I’m at a place so far away from home and so cold, and I’m starving, and my body and soul are freezing.”

n“Hmm.”

nAs Gula spoke in a deliberate tone, Yuri removed his hand from his forehead, rubbed his chin with his finger and hummed.

nBut his hesitation was short-lived.

nYuri, perhaps having made up his mind quickly, lightly slammed his hands on the table and leaned forward.

n“Alright. I promise you the best lodging and meals I can provide. But I’ll hear your information first.”

n“You won’t take that back after hearing my information, will you? And how about for three people?”

nGula smiled wickedly at Yuri, who had accepted the deal, and held up three fingers of his right hand.

nLoren thought that they shouldn’t be involved in the reward for the information that Gula was providing, but he stayed silent, thinking that if you were given something, you should take it.

nBoth Loren and Lapis were aware of the lack of Luxuria in the deal, but neither of them had the slightest intention of pointing it out.

n“For three, alright? All the best. So, what is this measure?”

n“Well, actually, it’s…”

nYuri accepted Gula’s request and immediately demanded information. In response, Gula began to explain her countermeasures against Wrath, but the idea was so outrageous that Loren, who was listening nearby, doubted whether it was really possible.

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