Chinuavi
As I was enjoying a quiet mont inside the boss room of the Skeleton House
It was as if ti had suddenly slowed down, and the world beca quiet.
And afterwards,
[Adventure King serialization resud]
[Chapter 9 The Destomb Mafia (1)]
[Belongs to the realm of the ongoing chapter]
[Enigmatic Squatjaw is the subject of character evaluation in this chapter]
Finally, a new chapter had started.
I took a sip of coffee and stared at the ssage on the hologram window.
Although the chapter had started, Leo and his party were not yet in the city. The chapter begins with a scene on the road leading to the city.
It's the start of a long arc, but there's nothing special about the scene. Leo's party face off so mafiosi who are mbers of Death~'[1], one of Destomb's many mafia organizations. Naturally, from that point onwards Leo and his party co under the notice of the mafia. And so, the story unfolds.
From there, it's a very simple series of events.
One organization attacks Leo's group. As soon as it's dismantled, news spreads to the next organization, who now take over and continue attacking. Once they are destroyed, the news reaches the Mafia Coalition. Then the Coalition's frontline combatants attack. Once they're demolished
Until the Black Shadow picks up the baton, it's just repetitive, pieceal dismantling of the entire Mafia Coalition.
Moreover, the chapters aren't clearly divided either, so it's difficult to even know where Chapter 9 ends and Chapter 10 starts. It's like a single level to go through both chapters.
This is why I'm treating this storyline as one single arc.
" If you ask why I say it's not any fun "
The reason why the storyline that could have been plenty exciting actually passed by without the slightest bit of tension, is very simple.
Because the mafia is weak.
They have nothing to show off other than so one-off extras'.
If they had been enemies with enough capability to instil tension in Leo and the rest, I would have rembered a different impression of them. Because the mafia had enough potential to be great plot material beyond just being a stepping stone to reach the Black Shadow.
And so, that was my goal for this chapter.
Elevating the mafia to beco more interesting and valuable enemies for the protagonist and his party. In turn, that would lead to a rise in my value as the Black Curtain, the dark secret hiding behind the mafia.
My top priority for achieving this was, naturally, the conservation of our strength. However low the ability of an extra, even they can be strong in numbers. In addition, to realize my strategy, I needed as many mafioso as possible.
To summarize, we had to avoid aninglessly spending our strength by randomly attacking Leo and his party.
The problem was
[Warning!]
[Intention to violate plausibility has been detected]
[Acts are prohibited by preceding plot]
[Silence is enforced for 30 seconds as a cumulative penalty]
I couldn't just move around the mafia at will.
In fact, the first thing I tried was to call in the mafia organization slated to first encounter Leo and the team.
Because it would be much more effective and intimidating to surround them in force after they entered the city, instead of a aningless skirmish even before they ca in.
But a warning ssage flew in imdiately.
There was nothing I could do unless I at least tried to satisfy the plotline already laid down in advance and the author's intended plans.
"Hmmm"
Well, that didn't an I was all out of moves.
I looked back at the Seven Rings' standing next to .
"Are you ready?"
"Sir, everything you ordered "
"Let confirm one last ti. We aren't going out to fight, instead we have to avoid conflict as much as possible. Because our purpose is just to throw a lure."
"Yes, yes."
This Seven Rings' guy was quite a diligent student, to say the least. Even though I hadn't had much ti to educate (?) him, he'd already beco an obedient kid. Given a month or two, he might be ready to die with just one word from ?
It was just last night that I brought him back to the Skeleton House, and put the ring back on the fat boss.
"And you've told the fat guy to gather all the organizations in the Coalition here today?"
"Yes."
It was hard to say if the purpose of this chapter was to show the fighting prowess of Leo and his party. Were that the case, the mafia would've been set with higher stats from the start, or at least the plot wouldn't have called for them to make those separate, small attacks.
In my opinion, all of this was just to heat up the atmosphere before the coming grand battle. It's just that a rather high number of extras was spent to do that.
In other words, the tension' mattered more than the battle'.
As long as the sense of tension remained high, it didn't matter if the contents differed a bit here and there.
So, the order I gave to the mafia was to observe'.
Show up, but don't take action.
Observe, but don't collide.
Of course, I had no idea if my order would be obeyed in full. If the author was dead set on pushing his own plot, my orders notwithstanding, there would be a fight.
However, as long as he realized that my intended developnt wasn't that different from the one he'd originally envisioned, and the effect wasn't bad either, the writer shouldn't impose any special restrictions on my strategy.
The author isn't so stupid kid'
And it was much better for the author if I could make the mafia put on a strong front. Because of the terrible evaluation the readers originally had of this chapter.
From what I rembered, the author got horribly insulted by the readers, saying he'd just added so aningless filler, until the focus of the narrative finally changed to the Black Shadow.
To be honest, I wanted to holler to the sky until he heard . I'm going to pump the story full of excitent, so just listen to .
Then,
"Did the atmosphere change suddenly?"
Haka, who had been watching from a corner, spoke quietly.
"Did you notice?"
"All of a sudden, you looked into the air and started muttering to yourself, and then you imdiately reconfird the orders. You can't miss all that as long as your eyes still work."
This guy he'd been pretending to be indifferent, all the while peeping and staring at in secret.
Hmmmm.
I had to stop habitually staring at the hologram.
"I think they'll arrive soon. Those guys."
"How do you know? Was there a report?"
"Maybe just a feeling?"
""
"Sothing like that. Rather, are they coming?"
After forming our temporary alliance, I'd only made a single request of Haka.
To call in the Black Shadow Squad[2]. Before the mafia side was completely crushed.
"I've already made a request for support But I cant just take you completely at your word"
"Looks like you didn't do it properly. Please request once again right away. Because I'm in a hurry."
" Dont order around."
"Im sorry, but Im asking you to fulfil your promise, not giving you an order. Weren't we supposed to be allies? If I ask you sothing, you have to listen to it properly. And those guys are really strong. Far from what the mafia here can handle. Maybe even against the Black Shadow headquarters the result won't be certain."
Hearing that, Haka let out a short laugh.
"I made you a promise, so Ill keep it, but youre underestimating the Black Shadow too much."
"I'm not. If you don't believe , go see for yourself. And not just a quick peek, go check it out properly."
Haka seed to think it over for a while.
"I'll go."
He quickly left the room.
"Hoo"
Done. Now that even this guy had been sent out, I was mostly finished dealing with the author's plotline. In the original, it was this chapter where Haka first saw Leo. Of course, it was just a sneak peek.
Anyway, all that was left now was to wait for that guy, who'd get surprised seeing Leo in action, to call in the Black Shadow Squad.
"How long will it take"
Assuming that Haka sent out a red telegram' announcing an ergency, the ETA of the Black Shadow Squad should be one to two days.
Until then, there was nothing for to do. Other than to periodically issue orders to retreat.
It was only after the chapter finally started, that I finally got so free ti, for a day or so.
But this ti was sothing I desperately needed.
I hurriedly prepared to leave.
Then,
"Oh, I almost forgot. Isn't that a Coalition mber called El Viego? Call that guy in. I have sothing to tell him."
"El Viego?"
"Yeah, hes a forr mafioso from Goldam City."
"All right."
"I'm going out for a while. If you even think about trying anything, you're dead. Understand?"
"I understand."
I left the boss room straightaway.
Now it was ti to go et a precious figure.
A hotel suite in downtown Destomb.
I was listening to the conversation from outside the door.
"Back in the day, old man Yellow-Grass-in-the-Rain[3] told sothing. If you want to know soone new, try the three worldly qualities[4] before you talk to them. Three worldly qualities. Have you ever heard of it?"
"Three worldly qualities?"
"Yes."
"What is that?"
"Its a way of interpreting the world. It's also a kind of ga."
A black question mark seed to appear on Cocoa's face.
What kind of bullshit is this? Seed to be her thoughts.
Because of her own past experience, no doubt.
The goblins spoke very ostentatiously, and there had even been rumours that the author used complex words without knowing what they ant. So, it was better to just keep nodding vaguely than try to understand them.
"For example, sothing like this. Let describe you in three qualities. Ummm furtive, nosy, tawdry. How's that?"
"Nonsense. Those three words have nothing to do with . I am a cute, sweet, pretty girl."
"That is of course true. Those three are your interpretation. And the three kinds I ntioned are my own interpretation."
"Your interpretation is wrong."
"Rightness or wrongness is hard to impose on three worldly qualities. Its usually wrapped up in ambiguity."
""
This seed like a good ti to intervene.
I opened the door and went in.
"Got nothing to say, I see."
"Squatjaw! This guy's weird!"
"You're just too young to understand. Heh."
I looked at the cunning little goblin, who simply looked back at with a calm smile.
This guy's na was Chinuavi. Famous in the goblins' den for being gentle.
And among the goblins, the expression gentle' indicated a great anomaly', a different species'.
"You are the one who has a purpose for ."
"Huh? ? Wasn't she the one to trick you into coming all the way here?"
"It is true that the little lady over there offered so tea with her, but I did not follow because of her charm."
"That's a lie. I saw you drool over my legs."
"As you might be able to guess, thats not true."
"Okay, then why did you follow ?"
"It's a bit embarrassing to be asked that. I had no choice but to follow. Because the little lady was looking for and even calling out to again and again. Besides, looking at the situation, the person who actually had so business with was sobody else. It was sothing I'd never even considered possible so I couldnt contain my curiosity."
As Chinuavi finished speaking, his bright green eyes t mine. As if he was trying to pierce through my innermost heart.
In fact, his words and actions were quite natural.
Once Cocoa found him, she called him out. He must have found this outrageous. Because this would've been impossible for any ordinary human being. To be honest, I hadn't even thought that Cocoa could bring him back so quickly.
And when he actually had a conversation with her, he found out that soone had ordered her to contact him. This would have been even more bizarre. As if soone had noticed his own difference'. Also, that soone was behind this unusual little kid.
Maybe he thought I even knew who he really was. So, no matter the reason, he had to follow.
"Can you satisfy my curiosity?"
"Yeah, sure. It's nothing difficult."
The goblin looked quite startled at my words.
"Oh? Really? Then I won't humbly decline"
"Wait, wait. Ah, but it's not free."
I hurriedly stopped him. The greedy goblin.
" Then?"
"Well, you see. I also want sothing from you."
" What do you want?"
"You'll understand if you listen. So, shall we make a bet with what we want as the stake?"
And the mont I uttered those words,
"Bet What kind of a bet are you talking about?"
Chinuavi's eyes glead with interest.
His pupils looked red with excitent. The eyes of a gambler, really excited about a bet.
Now that I've co this far can I win?'
When the goblins appeared in the work, the author used this expression.
A race of crazy, problem gamblers. Whatever the ga, they'd fight for a week straight in order to win. Innocent bad boys who beco crueller than anybody else in front of a bet.
They were monsters against whom no human, even the invincible Siana who'd never lost a ga, could guarantee victory.
I cald my heart and steadied my trembling breath.
I had no choice but to try.
Editor's Notes:
[1] (des, lit. death) is also a homonym of the Japanese desu', and can be used either way. So, the translation here is a compromise between the two. Just to note, these characters are also present in the na Destomb, aning you're supposed to interpret as death-tomb. See Namu Wiki.
[2] (lit. main unit) can an the main army unit or one for a special task. Translating as Black Shadow Squad.
[3] (pronounced Hwanggaechobi') is being translated as Yellow-Grass-in-the-Rain. In contrast, Chinuavi () remain unchanged. Mostly goblin nas will stay as they're pronounced unless very unwieldy, like this particular example.
[4] (lit. worldly three kinds). ans kind/sort/type, where each kind is distinguished based on so quality or characteristic.
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