Monsters (?) in the Sky
It was six oclock in the morning.
The ti to begin the days work.
While getting ready to go out, Haka suddenly counted the days.
"Today is the eightieth day"
Three months was supposed to be the limit, so there wasnt much ti left by now.
Soon, theyd return.
Hm?
Haka felt a little embarrassed seeing his own reflection in the mirror.
He was laughing. Him. The indifferent character who always wore the sa smile in public, but never smiled when he was alone.
""
He couldnt deny his own anticipation. Clearly his heart was moving a bit differently than usual.
Then,
That gent would definitely check up on my howork.'
The requests hed made before he left slowly ca to mind.
First, the role of the cuckoo.
To skilfully mix lies with truth, and constantly announce the news of the adventure team.
Second, organizational restructuring.
To integrate all the organizations hed been involved in, including the Windrider Gang', and lay a foundation for the future strength of the Squatjaw Adventurers.
Third, spreading rumours about the goblins.
To tell the Leo Adventurers a little bit about the concept and other information about the goblins.
"Hmm."
To be honest, he couldn't say that he'd fully completed everything.
One had been done perfectly, one only on occasion, and a third had been left to gather dust for a long ti.
The reason why things had happened this way was also simple. One needed to be dealt with ticulously, the other had to be done step by step, and he hadnt found a good opportunity to implent the third yet.
But Haka was confident. Hed accomplished a good portion of his duties.
At that mont,
Ding Dong.
A ringing sound could be heard.
The sound that signalled the start of the day.
Haka stopped ruminating and went out the door.
Creak.
As soon as he opened the door,
"Hey, Boss. Did you have a good nights sleep?"
Thirnut, one of his subordinates, dressed in a suit, greeted him with a bowed head.
And the hundreds of personnel lined up behind him also bowed in unison.
"Hope youve had a restful night!"
The second task which Haka had perford perfectly was organizational restructuring'.
Two bandit groups including the Windrider Gang, a mafia group, three assassin organizations, two secret intelligence organizations, and so on. In less than three months, hed integrated sixteen organizations into one.
The reason hed gone with the mafia style during the process of unification was just because Haka thought they looked the cleanest. Also, he wondered if that gent would find this the most familiar.
"Is there any news?"
"Yes, Boss. Theres one."
"Tell ."
"The Poison Mists has declared that itll participate in this war."
" The Poison Mists?"
The Poison Mists was an assassination organization thatd been making a na recently. It was famous for its brutal thods, mainly using poison, that didnt even leave corpses behind.
"Hmm, these friends really arent lacking in courage."
"But therere rumours that their quest success rate is around ninety-eight percent"
Haka looked at his subordinate whod just said that.
The man couldn't stand that silent stare and quickly bowed his head.
"The really scary ones dont bother to make up those kinds of numbers. Who have they hunted? Were there any famous people among their targets?"
"There were a few governnt officials of Westland, the mayor of Brindisi, and also so bandits"
"And how does that compare against, say, the Kingslayer?"
" Theres no comparison."
The Kingslayer.
An assassin whod survived even after assassinating a king from Eastland, he was evaluated as the highest level among those whod declared that theyd catch the monster'.
"Of course, for a hundred billion gold its worth it to at least make an attempt. Also, if the quest succeeds, their reputation will skyrocket."
So far, the number of assassins whod declared their intention to join the monster hunt was about a hundred. Even leaving aside the Kingslayer, at least twenty of them were famously talented.
Besides, about half of these people were leaders of their own organizations. Hence nobody could calculate exactly how many assassins would rush towards him' in the end.
Then,
"Then, should we stop spreading rumours about the Poison Mists for now?"
The subordinate again asked a stupid question.
Haka gave him another look.
Just how did this idiot end up being his adjutant?
Although, of course, he didn't frown or anything. Instead he just gave a brief smile.
"No, just keep at what youre doing. If the rumours no longer match their level, tack sothing else on to make it more sensational. How about this? Spread the word that the Poison Mists and the Soramites have united to pursue the monster."
"The Soramites? But they don't get along with the Poison Mists much"
"So this is an opportunity for them to improve their relationship. The Poison Mists should welco this too."
Not long after the organizational restructuring had finished, Haka had started a proper attempt at his task as the cuckoo.
To reproduce the news of the Squatjaw Adventurers.
But no matter how many lies he mixed in, a certain number of actual facts had to be there as the base. Yet the Information Guild didnt have any suitable news for him no matter how many tis he nagged them.
At best, theyd gone to Eastland, had t and gotten entangled with with the princess of a small kingdom, and had stayed in a country called the Skull Empire for a while. That was it.
Haka himself was very busy, and there hadn't been any appropriate news to spin into a tale about goblins, so hed forgotten about it.
"Isn't this is this related to the person you were talking about, Boss?"
The news of him' had beco famous all over the Leeches Cradle.
[Assassination Request Express]
Target: The Squatjaw AdventurersReward: 100 Billion GoldDeadline: Unlimited
An express-grade request with a hefty reward.
But what was even more surprising was the deadline, unlimited'.
There were only two cases where such a ti limit could be attached to such a remuneration.
Either it was an enemy who couldnt be allowed to live under the sa sky, or it was a ssage that another monster' that no one could hunt had appeared.
After paying a fairly expensive information fee, Haka had found out the identity of the client. It was a famous assassination organization from Eastland.
The fact that an assassination organization had put up a quest in their own line of work, naturally ant that this was the latter case.
From then on, Haka had been able to perform the cuckoo role' once in a while. Because the organizational integration had been ongoing, hed assigned the task to a few subordinates, and above all, fresh news had started pouring in.
However, the third and last task, goblin rumours', was different.
Haka hadnt touched it even once in these last three months.
The reason wasnt anything complex either. Hed simply been too busy, and it just didn't seem so important.
In fact, this was the bit that made him a little puzzled. Hed been so serious about goblins in the past!
Every ti he t soone new, hed co up with a riddle and try to find a point of contact with the goblins. How many hoops had he jumped through just to catch a glimpse of a goblin?
At that ti, thered been no rational reason to be obsessed with such an act. Hed simply thought that this was his identity'.
Even though hed been a part of dozens of organizations, hed never had a sense of belonging to any of them. Those had been simply relationships of convenience that could be scattered into dust at any ti. Because hed only thought of the goblins' as his ho.
Looking back now well, his behaviour had been ridiculous.
In fact, it wouldnt have been much different with the goblins either. After all, to them, hed be a human being and nothing more than a stranger at that.
All this was because he still rembered the little kindness hed received as a child.
Well, theres no denying that they were good guys.'
Of course, it was still a precious mory, but his identity no longer revolved around it.
That was why he could now smile so comfortably. Because hed finally found a place to rest his heart.
Even if it wasnt his identity there were people whom he wanted to share the future with.
And they were coming.
"The Poison Mists and the Soramite Band Then well spread it like that."
"Oh, and one more thing. I almost forgot sothing important. Make sure you stick to this exact wording"
That ten days later, a monster would arrive here at Westland.
Nanma Port.
As I sat on a bench by the harbour, I glanced over the rows upon rows of seafaring vessels.
White Rain Destination: Brindisi
Iron Mary Destination: Sonoka
Black Wales Destination: Gibrante
"Hmm."
I couldn't help but worry.
Depending on the ride I chose, the ti and location of the battle for Ramirezs Treasure' would change.
Brindisi (Southern) The starting point of the Ramirez Scramble.
Sonoka (Central) The point where the treasure changes hands for the first ti.
Gibrante (Northern) The site of the biggest battle.
My thoughts were running in circles.
Where should I go to get the most attention?
Where would my hand of cards have the maximum impact?
It would be nice to be able to follow the arc from start to finish, starting in the south, but honestly, that wasn't possible. How would I control a hundred goblins for so long?
These bastards were good for the initial impact, but that was where my involvent ended. The author could figure out the rest on his own.
What should I do'
I revisited the arc of Scramble for Ramirezs Treasure' again in my mory.
Ramirezs Treasure.
It was an artefact called the Mirror of the Soul'.
An ancient artifact that showed the secret one most wanted to hide', of the object reflected in the mirrors surface.
Nurous characters would appear in this arc, so of whom would even turn into nad characters whod last beyond the King's Road. It was an incredibly long arc in which rice cakes would be sprinkled everywhere and Chekovs guns would be left at every roadside, but its core plotline was very simple.
A thief brings this Ramirezs Treasure' to Brindisi, the southern city of Westland, while being pursued.Rumour spreads that a precious treasure without an owner has drifted to Westland.Bastards of every stripe co running.The chase between the escapees and the pursuers begins.From south, to the centre, to the north.The treasure changes hands several tis.Fights, fights, and more fights.The process keeps repeating, the mirror gets broken during the battle, and the incident cos to a vague conclusion.
Simply put, if I took the high-speed ship bound for Brindisi, I could start right from the first stage.
For the fourth stage, I could head for Sonoka at the centre, and for the sixth, I could go to Gibrante in the north.
Since the duration of the voyage was the sa at ten days for all three routes, I didnt have to worry much about the precise timings.
Therefore, as long as I had a good plan and a detailed strategy, I could start.
There were three options, but I started with rejecting one for now.
Starting in Brindisi in the south was going to be problematic. If this were a ga about simply snatching the treasure, it wouldve been one thing, but this scramble battle wasnt like that.
If I acted like everyone else, if I stole the treasure and tried to hide it, Id definitely be sanctioned by the preceding plot and suffer an explosive penalty.
Even if the other guys were doing a treasure hunt, I had to play a different ga by my loneso.
In other words, I had to sohow follow the overarching plot developnt, yet find room for my own activities, while avoiding the sanctions of the preceding plot.
After excluding the south, only the central and the northern regions were left, but the choice between them wasnt easy.
The central area would let concentrate on the big picture, and Id have space to prepare a trick or two, but the scale of the incident would be unsatisfactory. Releasing the goblins there probably wouldnt have as big an impact.
The northern area was the place where the nad would appear in large numbers, and large-scale battles would take place. Wed even get to see the science-based weapons of Northland for the first ti.
But the con was that my appearance would have to be delayed a bit.
Also, it niggled at a little that I couldn't predict whatd happen once the goblins popped up at the site of a large-scale battle. Impact was one thing, but these guys weren't adversaries, and they werent going to join in the fight head-on.
Id definitely piss the author off because itd disturb the future plot, but other than that I had no idea whatd happen.
"Huff"
I was back to square one.
If Id only had a little ti to prepare, I wouldve preferred the south'
While my worries were getting deeper and deeper
Suddenly,
"What the?!"
"Look over there!"
"Look at the sky!"
Murmurs started up all around.
The sky?
When I heard that and looked up, I saw a strange creature flying in the sky. No, two.
What is that a griffin?'
An animal with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion.
It was impossible to be sure because the figure had the sun at its back, but the silhouette was definitely similar.
But, of course,
"That doesnt make any sense so what is it? So mutant bird?"
It couldn't be. There was still a long stretch to cross in the story before a griffin could appear.
In fact, mythical animals like griffins didnt exist in nature here in the world of Adventure King. The sa went for harpies, manticores, sirens, etc.
Of course, only in nature'.
Those beasts would appear in front of Leo and party in one of the three arcs covering Northland.
A chanized manticore, a griffin with a chemical weapon, and a harpy with steel wings.
In one word, chiras'.
There was no way a chira would appear at this point, so of course there was no way that was a griffin.
Just then,
"I-, its diving!"
"Dodge!"
"Its a monster!"
One of the monsters began to descend downwards.
And its destination was none other than
" Huff."
Yes, .
First, I took a quick look around. Just in case one of the goblins was playing so strange prank.
But nobody stood out as suspicious.
Is this really an attack?'
Well, then Id just have to grab them and do the interrogation myself.
While I was preparing to et the monster diving down from the sky
"Squatjaw!"
Huh?
Sobody called .
"Look over here! That's right! Squatjaw!"
The owner of the voice was a monster.
A monster was calling . It was a very familiar voice, too.
"Huh?"
So, once I looked more closely,
"Coocoo?"
It was Coocoo in his hawk form. Not only that, he also had sothing hanging from his claws.
And hanging there was
Without any mistake
" Nero?"
It was a black panther.
Crash-!
I scratched my head.
I couldnt make head or tails of this situation.
Several questions ca to mind at the sa ti.
Why were these guys here?
Could it be that Coocoo had followed ?
Then why now?
And why was that cat tagging along?
Although I was very curious
I couldn't clarify any of my questions.
"Ugh! Why did you leave behind!"
Because the other monster flying in the sky had followed these guys and flown towards .
Crash.
And then,
"Whats going on, Coocoo! Is that that Squatjaw guy you told about? He doesn't look very strong, does he?"
When I saw it', I was astonished.
The identity of the newly arrived monster was a human. More specifically, a woman.
As soon as she landed on the ground, she threw off her cloak, drenched in sweat and so kind of unidentifiable green liquid, like an animal shedding its wings.
The sll wasnt easy on the nose either.
"Ugh"
But my surprise didnt stem from rely that.
The reason I was so shocked at the sight was because her face was very familiar to .
The eighth guide of the Huntington Bandits.
Whose arrival was the signal to start the Ramirez Scramble.
And the character whod later beco the fifth mber of the Leo Adventurers.
Tanya.
Currently, she was the thief hiding the Treasure of Ramirez' in her arms.
Editor's Notes:
None for this chapter.
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