Goddess Descent (5): The Tiger's Name
It was right as I struggled to hide my worry about my wives joining the fight. A soldier came sprinting toward Minerva, gasping for breath.
"Lord! My lord!!"
"I told you not to call me lord when we're out in public... Hoo, fine. What is it?"
"G-giants! Those hideous giants are rampaging through the eastern gate district! It looks like they got agitated after some people chased the ones that broke into the buildings and attacked them!"
The moment Minerva heard the report, her lips twitched. I would have bet every last one of Audrey's thief gadgets that she was swallowing a string of curses.
'Fuck.'
Because I was thinking the exact same thing.
'What kind of brain-dead moron went and pulled that shit?'
Tsk. I clicked my tongue in irritation.
To the Yotun from another world, sunlight wasn't a lethal poison. It was just something they hated with a passion. The one I fought before had avoided coming out under the sun because it would put him at a disadvantage. Their affinity gave us bonus damage, but even Veronica's magic with her unique staff couldn't one-shot them. It was a toxin, sure, but nowhere near the level of a fatal poison. For a Yotun, a sunny spot was probably the equivalent of a human stepping into a field of shit. Disgusting to even imagine, but still better than dying. That kind of place.
If I explained it that way, it was easy to understand. Imagine guys who were living perfectly fine in their own world suddenly getting summoned to another dimension, only to find out the place is a massive shit field. Of course they'd throw a tantrum and avoid it. I'd do the same. Guaranteed by someone who's actually been summoned to another world.
But it seemed some glory-hunting idiot had provoked those stubborn bastards who were holding their ground, and now everything had gone to hell.
The even more infuriating part was that the nobles, upon hearing the news, immediately started thinking about running away.
We could only frown. There was no way the soldiers here would have poked the asses of those giants that made you feel sick just looking at them. So in the end, it had to be the nobles who'd caused this mess. I hated lumping them all together, but weren't these guys nobles too? I couldn't forgive them for shitting all over the place and then trying to bolt.
"...Dismuke. Could I borrow your ear for a moment?"
I called over the man who remained as Selena's representative and sent him a one-way telepathic message using the Ansuz rune. Dismuke, who had been staring at the nobles with open contempt for only caring about saving their own skins, listened to my suggestion and nodded.
"I'll return shortly."
I watched him walk briskly toward Selena, then turned my attention to the fallen Yotun corpse on the ground. Was I trying to farm its hide? As if. There wasn't time for that. Since I'd probably have to fight this thing's ball-sack buddies again, I figured I should examine its weaknesses.
Last time, I never imagined we'd end up fighting them again—especially not dozens of them swarming out at once.
Slash—!!
While roughly digging through its organs and hide, I transformed my bracelet into a spear and sliced open its innards. At that, one of the nobles—who had been completely uninterested in combat preparations and was instead discussing with his subordinates how to get the hell home—picked a fight.
"Ha! How utterly noisy! It seems a lowly commoner who fills his belly with the blood of others doesn't even understand the virtue of silence!"
The noble with the punchable face strode toward me arrogantly. Was he actually trying to start a fight with me?
"General Minerva is personally directing the entire operation, and yet not only can you not assist with unassigned tasks, you dare interfere── Huurgh?!"
He had the kind of face that looked like it had been crafted from a lifetime of making shitty expressions at others. He frowned at the sound of meat being cut, then caught sight of the Beast Regression mana clinging to my spear blade and gasped in horror.
The other nobles shouted as if sharing his shock.
"A-Aura!"
Wow, even the nobles were impressed. I secretly smirked and flicked the blood from my spear.
"My apologies. This one was weaker than the last one I caught, so I was running a quick test to gauge individual differences."
"Th-the last one you caught?"
"This leather armor is made from its kin."
My answer drew gasps of admiration from the nobles behind us. In a world where iron was garbage-tier material, powerful monsters were the ingredients for high-grade armor. Having witnessed the Yotun's strength and toughness, they would understand exactly how defensive this armor was.
"...You couldn't distinguish the difference in strength while hunting?" Minerva asked a rather sharp question.
The noble who had come to pick a fight took the opportunity to slink away. I shook my head.
"I only just returned from stepping out. This one was caught by my colleagues."
"...They subjugated that monster without the one who wields Aura?"
"It's possible. Adventurers tend to form teams with those of similar caliber, after all..."
Just as I'd hoped, speculation about my identity began spreading among the nobles. Aura was the exclusive territory of Mithril Class and above. Unless someone was a combat race like the Ulster people—basically super saiyans—using Aura normally meant reaching the pinnacle of martial mastery. It was only natural they'd be shocked that some stranger was throwing it around.
'Though what I'm using is fake Aura.'
By the time the rumor that I was something like "the hidden ace hired by the Hermeion Guild leader" had begun to spread, Dismuke returned.
"Lord Nord, a message from the young lady! Please take charge of resolving the situation as our guild leader's representative!"
"...Me?"
I feigned surprise and played innocent, even though I was the one who had asked her for the role in the first place.
'That was fast. Guess Selena knows how urgent this is too.'
Well, there wasn't anyone else we could trust right now.
I turned toward Dismuke. I could feel every noble staring daggers at the back of my head, like beasts sizing up an opponent's strength. I steadfastly endured their gazes and spoke.
"Are you certain that's wise? Entrusting command to a ruffian like myself?"
"What are you saying! Aren't you the very Lord Nord who brought our young lady back to this world after she nearly died in another realm? The guild leader will surely trust you with this. After all, there's a proper place for everything."
Dismuke had read my mind like a ghost and boosted Nord's reputation. It was a bit exaggerated, but perfect. As expected, not just anyone could be the butler of a wealthy house. My thanks, again and again.
I grinned. Wasn't the national rule of bragging or deception to pretend you didn't know anything while showing off? Act like 'Is this any good? Is this amazing?'
"Hmmm..."
"Surviving another world? Indeed, if he's a warrior who wields Aura..."
The nobles' eyes shifted from looking at a 'fucking idiot commoner bastard' to regarding a warrior with both skill and accomplishments. To deal with nobles who valued form over substance, you needed a certain level of 'status.' I was covering that with skill and connections.
'This is why you have to maintain your network.'
But why was it that the people I contacted every time something happened in my life were completely useless, while people I'd only met briefly offered help? Life really was impossible to fully understand.
"...Nord. Yes, Nord. I remember now," Minerva said, stroking her chin. "A Kitai person with a Germanic name defeated a black mage affiliated with Immortalis in Britannia. It was quite a distinctive piece of news, so it stuck with me."
"I-Immortalis, you say?"
"That group of black mages?"
Even nobles who didn't know much about the world recognized those notoriously infamous bastards. Their uniform reactions were almost funny.
'But how does this lady know about that?'
I was momentarily flustered but quickly regained my composure. That incident had been a large-scale raid event far beyond the level of a noob like me, and enough time had passed since then for the seasons to change. There was no reason the news couldn't have reached Romania across the sea.
I secretly wet my lips and said, "Yes. In that sense, please be cautious. If my guess is correct, the mastermind behind this incident may be a black mage from Immortalis—the same organization as the one I defeated."
"What?!"
"You scoundrel! Can you take responsibility for those words?!"
Why the fuck would I take responsibility, you idiots?
Inside, I hurled every insult I could think of at them, but on the surface I smiled kindly. Of course, behind that smile a cold sweat poured down like a waterfall. Anyone could see these guys were morons, but in a class society, status was king. It wouldn't do me any good to get on their bad side. Wasn't the entire reason I'd ended up building a harem the pressure from nobles in the first place? Whether then or now, the shadow of nobility had always been a massive dark cloud over my life.
"I'll say it again: this is only my speculation. However, the problem won't end here. No matter who caused the incident──"
I almost said they wouldn't go this far just to hide the theft of the auction item, but I hurriedly shut my mouth. That was information the adventurer and archaeologist Nord shouldn't know. It was top-secret with neither reason nor method for him to discover.
'Fuck. Watch your mouth, Kang Bukho.'
I scolded myself. It was true my head worked a little better than most, but there was still a limit to how many things I could process at once. If I was distracted by other thoughts, verbal slips were inevitable.
"──No matter who caused this, they wouldn't be satisfied with simply pouring bizarre monsters from the sky, would they?"
The nobles closed their mouths in agreement. Minerva spoke on their behalf.
"Your words are a hundred times correct. But what of it?"
She half-closed her eyes, as if listening to the sounds of battle echoing from afar.
"My husband has taken the elite soldiers of our territory to the barracks. The soldiers of Renapolis will be evacuating the citizens and coordinating the situation, but if this is merely idle chatter, it's a tremendous waste of time."
Husband, huh. He probably wasn't as young as she looked—maybe in his forties or fifties? A seasoned pro-noble like that would be able to command soldiers from another territory. Especially since Lucregens was a neighboring domain.
"This is not idle chatter. If this is merely a precursor or preparation, it means we must exercise extreme caution. This battle could very well become a preliminary skirmish upon which the fate of the nation depends."
I laid out the main point. Most nobles wore expressions that said it wasn't their problem, but a few quick-witted ones hardened their faces. Minerva was among the quick-witted.
"I see. For example, if those giants keep pouring out endlessly, every nearby territory would be completely devastated."
The few idiots who had remained carefree finally realized this was their problem too. Their faces turned deathly pale. But seventy percent of the nobles still pretended it had nothing to do with them.
'...Ah, fuck. Have those thick-skulled bastards still not figured out what this means?'
They call themselves nobles but their comprehension is dogshit. Even normal people would understand. Weren't nobles supposed to be good at grasping the true meaning behind words? Should I just spell it out since I might get marked anyway?
I was agonizing over that choice when one of the nobles opened his mouth.
"Everyone. We must all join forces and fight together."
"I'm sorry. My son is still young. If something were to happen to me, the territory would be in danger."
An old man who was clearly over sixty spouted nonsense. By his age, his son would already have children of his own, yet he was making up a pathetic excuse to run away. But the noble who spoke was probably from a neighboring territory, because he unleashed the ultimate self-destruct technique—as if to say he wouldn't die alone.
"The army from another world has invaded His Imperial Majesty's lands. Isn't it the duty of us nobles to stand at the forefront and fight before our homeland falls into crisis?"
Loyalty to the emperor under suspicion VS fighting monsters from another world! Damn, what a perfect golden balance. Of course I could admire it because it wasn't my problem, but the nobles were jumping around like they were doing somersaults.
"N-no, is that how the words are being interpreted?!"
"An army, you say! An army! Watch your tongue!"
At his words, all the nobles finally made shit-faced expressions and rolled their eyes. They had finally realized the gravity of the situation.
'Makes sense. Romania is an absolute monarchy, after all.'
I felt things were going well and chuckled inwardly. A feudal nation like Britannia was essentially a country created when landlords gathered and colluded, saying 'Starting today, we're the Britannia Alliance!' So even the king couldn't interfere in internal affairs without justification. Think about it. Just because I own ten apartments doesn't mean I can tell other apartment owners to lower or raise their maintenance fees.
'But Romania is different.'
The Holy Empire of Romania was an absolute monarchy—the emperor's nation. A country that had subordinated all territory under the imperial family through conquest wars and the like. So nominally, all land in Romania belonged to the emperor.
In other words, the lords were ultimately just nobles who had pledged loyalty or surrendered to the emperor and been granted the right to govern territories, or their descendants. Hadn't Minerva said the same thing to us when we were doing our thief act last time? "Having been entrusted with governance by His Imperial Majesty~"
'Of course, taking back what was given is something only a son of a bitch would do, and no one swears loyalty to a son of a bitch.'
That's why the emperor wouldn't oppress the lords without reason. But this incident provided more than enough grounds to tighten the screws.
What if they ran away now and the situation escalated massively? Later, if the emperor asked, "Why did you run away at that time?" Simply losing their territories would be lucky. It would be better than a purge. Don't like it? Too bad. Refusing would lead to the entire family being wiped out, three generations exterminated.
The king of a feudal nation had no right to get angry if the neighbor's apartment caught fire and ask why you didn't help. But the Romanian emperor could absolutely question why you, as the manager, simply watched as a fire broke out in his apartment. If they had all run together, they might have been able to make excuses.
'But I bet the lords around here would rather play dead in someone else's territory than run full-time Yotun defense in their own fiefs?'
Your territory is far away so you're just going to run? The damaged lords will be furious and snitch to the emperor: "Those bastards are traitors!" Hehe.
That was the equivalent of a general at the scene of a war breaking out and pulling a pants-run. What crazy supreme commander would forgive that?
'To make the rabbit work, you have to borrow the tiger's name.'
The snitch switch is ON. Khehehehe. This is what gaslighting looks like. Taste a little bit of 21st-century deadly false dilemma.
"Ugh... I-I will participate."
"For the country! Yes, of course!"
In the end, our snitches agonized between getting fucked now versus getting insanely fucked later and chose the former.
Dismuke, who had been watching the process, spoke with deep emotion.
"Truly magnificent. With just a few words, you──"
Tap.
I struck Dismuke's chest without even looking at him. The somewhat excited butler quickly shut his mouth. He probably wanted to compliment me for manipulating them with my silver tongue, but sorry, I'll just take the sentiment. Compliments might be the lubricant of communication, but there were too many ears listening here. And those ears performed above average.
In a place like this, it was best to refrain from words that could be used against you.
"We should seek cooperation from the Janus Church," Minerva said, then began outlining the actual operation. The plan she had devised as representative was nearly identical to what we had in mind, so I only provided information about Signatio's presence and the Yotun's weaknesses.
"Finding this Signatio must be our top priority!"
"That's right! The Punitive Executor of the Janus Church! He's the perfect talent for closing the gate to another world!"
When a noble with fire under his feet made a fuss, Minerva answered indifferently.
"If he doesn't stand against the heretic's actions in the face of this crisis, he wouldn't have become a punitive executor in the first place. We should follow him before it's too late."
Ah, so basically, 'If he was a crazy religious maniac, he would have already rushed to the lord's mansion.' She really beats around the bush. No wonder being a noble is hard work.
"To prepare for any contingency, let's request cooperation from the Janus Church and move immediately. We've already spent too much time in a situation where every second counts."
As she said that, Minerva glanced at me as she passed.
"...It wasn't entirely a loss, though."
Fuck. It seems the lady noticed I deliberately chattered on to manipulate the nobles. Whatever. She realized it was helpful, so it should be fine.
"Has the personnel assignment been completed? Then let's depart."
With Minerva's words as the signal, we set out for battle.