Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: The Iron-Blooded EmpressDoes Not Budge
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Right after the Rabbit Squad brought back the reason Anima had emerged outside.
Countless knights packed their belongings to return to their posts.
"It's really a shame. We could have surpassed that puppet this time…"
"Indeed. Still, we had a good time these past few days."
"Hahaha! Sir Knight, come visit again next time!"
"I'll make sure to come back on my next leave, so wait for me!"
The adventurers, hero parties, and raiding teams who'd challenged the dungeon together saw the departing knights off warmly.
"I thought knights were these super scary people."
"Hahaha… Turns out knights are human too."
"Right? But they surprisingly get along great with us. Is it just my imagination?"
"Maybe everyone ends up like that once they go in there?"
Even knight captains of the highest order couldn't reach Balak alone due to the sheer difficulty, forcing a sense of camaraderie to bloom.
Of course, some tried taking shortcuts in the middle…
"How dare you use a shortcut!"
"""Huh?"""
KABOOOM!
Naturally, they were obliterated by Balak's full-force punch without even putting up a fight.
And so, everyone parted ways, looking forward to future encounters.
With the intelligence brought by the Rabbit Squad, the world finally regained its stability.
"So that Balak sent the puppet to gather intelligence from outside the dungeon."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And the puppet's strength is enough to fight Beren?"
"Th-that's ri─"
"Sigh…"
The empress's head grew complicated at the thought of Anima, who could hold her own against the strongest person she knew.
But what she had to do was already decided.
She soon made her decision.
"Henceforth, all attacks on that puppet are forbidden."
"…Just attacks?"
"The gods' oracle forbade attacks, but said nothing about pursuit or tailing. Continue monitoring the puppet's movements."
"Then we shall dispatch special intelligence agents."
Thus, the path of hardship opened for the special agents who would have to shadow Anima, and this agenda concluded smoothly.
Now it was time for the next item.
Soon, beings resembling humans began entering the conference hall.
*******************
Who would be the most envious of the Rabbit Squad—those human powerhouses—bringing back all sorts of loot from the dungeon?
The elves and dwarves, of course.
And even when these other races asked the Rabbit Squad for favors—
"No, just sell all the coins to us!"
"We'll craft divine weapons for you!"
"What nonsense is that?"
"I have no coins to sell you."
"It's better to give the elixirs we bought there to our juniors."
Would the Rabbit Squad, slaving away to give something to their pathetic juniors, listen to that?
Moreover, after securing retirement funds with coins, they cut off all trade.
Even!
"L-let us touch it too!!"
"Please!!"
"This is a golem core brought back by our subordinates. What gives you the right to claim ownership?"
"Hah, no shame as artisans?"
Faced with an aggregate of tremendous technology—even the core of a centaur golem—the scouting parties realized they couldn't achieve their goals with brute force.
So they immediately called for backup from home.
And so, envoys from the elves and dwarves arrived at the imperial palace to renegotiate with the Altria Empire.
What, then, were their demands?
"We wish to station our regular army in the Abyss Pit."
"With our strongest warriors, no less!"
"……."
Just like the Rabbit Squad, they wanted to station their race's powerhouses in the Abyss Pit.
The empress, seeing proposals that would bring massive gains to the empire, gave an immediate answer as if there was no need to hear more.
"Forbidden."
"What?!"
"Huh?!"
Would Empress Eilen, thought mad, turn the Abyss Pit into a communal toy for all races?
Right now, the Abyss Pit was like a mine pouring out vast jewels and gold thanks to Balak.
No—its value was even greater!
With such a crazy jackpot on her own land, how could she let other bastards waltz in…?
"Heh heh heh… We lay our eggs here, steal your land, and take the gold, jewels, and treasures you mine, right?"
"Huh?"
It was no different from that absurd scenario—why would the empress agree?!
And right now, the empire held absolute dominance.
The Abyss Pit lay deep within Altria Empire territory.
Steal it through war?
They'd have to wage full-scale war with Altria and seize half its land.
But the elves and dwarves were on the brink of their race's darkest era?
Even allying for war wouldn't help; an inescapable abyss of despair would follow.
Knowing the elves and dwarves were like toothless, diseased beasts, the empress didn't budge no matter what conditions they offered.
After confirming the empress's stance of "Your race is none of my concern" wouldn't break, the other races were itching to hurl harsh words, but…
With their race's future at stake, they weren't the type to back down.
They immediately sought help from the church forces that served the gods.
But even with the priests' mediation, the empress didn't move.
"Didn't you agree to separation of church and state because of the crap the Papal Court pulled in the past? So why is the Papal Court meddling in imperial affairs now?"
"Th-that's…"
"Moreover, forbidding attacks on the puppet Anima was following the gods' oracle, not a favor to the Papal Court. And this is a matter directly tied to the empire's gains. It's not for you to interfere."
Even when Lumien came to the palace personally…
"Can't it be done somehow?"
"Would it?"
"Sigh… With such massive interests at stake, it's impossible."
She was the Iron-Blooded Empress, Eilen, through and through.
So how could they sway her heart?
S-seduce her with a man?!
No way! The empress was already smitten with Beren. In other words, an extreme pure-love type!
Or treasures?
But with the Abyss Pit showering supreme treasures, she wouldn't twitch!
Bribe the princes and princesses below?
Forty years ago, after the great war ended, Eilen bore Beren's child.
That meant the princes and princesses were at least thirty!
And the moment they were swayed, they'd fall out of favor with the empress, who'd honed her absolute power for forty years—no way she'd move.
Soon, with every method blocked, the other races despaired.
Ah, no!
There was one last method!
There was one being who could move her heart!
"Quickly find the empress's consort!"
"Damn it… Where the hell is he!"
Ah, yes!
If Beren, lying beside Empress Eilen in bed!
'Dear, can't it be done?'
—that would do it!
Moreover, Beren's foolishly kind nature made it obvious he'd grant their request.
But the empress knew well that she'd crumble if Beren whispered in bed.
So she ramped up pressure on the imperial intelligence under the palace to block other races from approaching her husband, accelerating the search for Beren in Altria.
*********************
While the outside world was in uproar searching for the consort.
The Abyss Pit was booming.
"Big brother, the newcomers are pretty strong."
"Word of little brother's words must have spread outside for sure."
What an enormous flow of people.
Even if so many entering the mini-dungeons was a concern, golden spirits that gave massive rewards when caught!
Who could resist that!
"But little bro, have you adapted to the revamped mini-dungeon yet?"
"I've fully adapted. And now, not just young nature spirits, but mature ones are coming too."
"What's that mean?"
"I'll explain!"
As if Zephira had returned from the spirit realm, green winds swirled.
Her explanation was a bit odd.
"Mid-tier spirits are invading the playground of low-tier spirits."
"Hahaha…"
"Probably the mature nature spirits got interested in Sky Island too."
Like middle schoolers barging into an elementary playground and taking it over?
This is bad…
"N-no, that's not it! I've limited it to one or two per Sky Island!"
"So they're volunteering as bosses for each Sky Island?"
"Exactly!"
Sky Island gained new content unintentionally?
Wait… Then the mini-dungeon must be facing the situation I predicted.
I checked the inside via the video magic tool.
'Th-that's a mid-tier spirit?!'
'No way, did mid-tier spirits mix in when Sky Island reopened?!'
'How are we supposed to beat that!'
As expected…
They were newbies barely handling the kids.
No way they could attack spirit packs mixed with mid-tiers!
This needed fixing.
"Zephira, it's true only one or two mid-tier spirits roam each Sky Island, right?"
"Yeah!"
"That needs changing."
"Huh? How then…"
"When entering the mini-dungeon, there's the first Sky Island, right? Don't place mid-tiers on that one or nearby islands."
Level scaling is essential in games.
Imagine placing mobs they can't even touch right at the start.
Ugh… Newbies would ragequit immediately.
What's the simplest, most efficient way to adjust in an RPG?
Place stronger mobs farther from the starting point.
"In short, separate the absolute beginner zone and beginner zone."
"Ah, so the unskilled play with our kids inside, and the skilled ones play with them on the outskirts?"
"Exactly."
"What a great adjustment! But big bro, how do you know all this?"
"I have my ways."
Zephira vanished briefly after understanding, and mid-tier spirits began moving to the mini-dungeon outskirts.
"Now the mini-dungeon interior is somewhat normalized."
"But more are trying to stake claims there."
"Can't be helped. Little bro, wouldn't you want to live in a place like that?"
"Honestly, if I didn't know the internal situation, I'd want to live there forever."
Sky diving!
Cute spirits!
A landscape that punches through the heart!
And ruins to top it off!
A collection of romantic masterpieces, impossible not to covet for players or NPCs alike.
"So I'm counting on you, fifth bro."
"Don't worry, big bro! I'll guard it with my life!"
"Good, reliable as ever."
Without Orek, running the mini-dungeon would be tough.
Now just confirm the ocean content works well.
It seems newbies entering the mini-dungeon found the path downward.