Chapter 396: Unexpected Audience ③ (1/2)

Alpine and Birgit were at the center of the round arena. They are standing at a special venue used for events and there’s a red carpet laid out there.

The two parties look like they don’t know where they are.

There’s those talking in a low voice, the audience seats are full, and they can feel a large amount of presences outside too.

They were obviously being directed unrestrained gazes as if they are being treated like a show.

It is obvious that this wasn’t a relaxing situation for them.

“There’s no hyumans to a shocking degree. The Mist Town… I see, it is a deeply interesting, fun…and scary place.” (Toa)

“If they were to so choose to, they could wipe us out here without a doubt. In the first place, with Tomoe-dono and Mio-dono here, there’s already nothing we can do. Kahahaha.” (Ranina)

“I see you in a different light now, Hazal. You can do it when the situation requires it. Our eyes weren’t wrong.” (Louisa)

“My true feelings are that I don’t know what’s happening here at all though. That Levi is originally really strong even on her own. We won mostly by luck.” (Hazal)

Alpine seemed to be slightly more calm.

The leader and hyuman Toa who was looking at the audience seats amazed; the dwarf Ranina who is responding while laughing as if she had given up; and the elf Louisa who is nudging playfully the only man Hazal with her elbow.

Despite them already feeling that hyumans are on the overwhelming minority in this place, they are not feeling like they are on the Away side.

Them being a mixed party of hyumans and demi-humans might be the reason for their composure here.

On the other hand, Birgit is a party that’s formed solely of hyumans.

Even if they have stayed for long in the Mist Town, they have obviously not experienced a situation like this where they are surrounded by this many demi-humans, and they understand that they are opponents that their own ability wouldn’t be too effective.

Thinking about the possibilities of what could happen, it is natural for them to react in this way.

At the side of Alpine there’s the elder dwarf Beren, at the side of Birgit there’s the gorgon Lacy; but these two are also terribly nervous.

“A lord that can rule over these many powerful people. Just what kind of person will they be…? I feel like running, but at the same time I want to see them quickly… This is quite the mysterious feeling, isn’t it, Akos?” (Bir)

“Don’t speak nonsense here. The only thing in my mind here is running away as soon as possible. Bir, you really have several screws loose.” (Akos)

“There’s that many neptunes? No, it is not like all the residents are here, so there’s even more? Maybe there’s actually a ruler of the sea that’s even stronger than that Tuna? What’s with that? I-I’m getting excited.” (Git)

“What are you mumbling about, Git? Your voice and body are trembling. I understand you being scared, but show a bit more backbone. If we can’t do anything about it anyways, it is best for you to push your chest out and be yourself. Give up skillfully.” (Ranai)

Bir, Akos, Git, and Ranai.

From within them, only Ranai was the one that was standing there with a different mindset than the other 3.

She is an adventurer, but her point of view is unusual and vast.

As a woman, as a hyuman, and as a living being.

She has understood a variety of things instinctively from standing here.

After considering several options, she has perceived that there’s the need for the approval of the other party in order to return alive.

Greed, emotions, their experiences until now, their ability, and even their beauty; they hold no meaning here.

She has learned that there’s places where those don’t connect to worth.

She could also accept the fact about hearing the name of Tomoe and Mio when they were on the way here.

There’s nothing strange about adventurers of unprecedented level to be the ones who have climbed to the top in this environment.

About the Kuzunoha Company too.

If it is the company that has that many unmatched masters, they should be able to obtain the goods that Tsige wants at a low price and still profit from it.

“There’s too much of a difference. Right, there’s way too much difference in every sense of the word. With this, adults and even infants…” (Ranai)

“What’s the matter, Ranai?” (Bir)

“…No, it is nothing, Bir. We can only do what we can. It suddenly reminded me of the times when I had just recently become an adventurer and ignored everything. I just felt my chest deflate in this situation.” (Ranai)

“Your chest is deflating to a chopping board? Then what would happen to Git? Hey, Ranai, you should think about the atmosphere of the place before speaking.” (Bir)

“Bir, in a sense, you have a personality that really fits a leader.” (Ranai)

“What’s with that all of a sudden?” (Bir)

“Yeah, die.” (Ranai)

“?!”

“Right, he should die.” (Git)

“?!?!”

Git muttered from the other direction.

“The atmosphere grew lighter, but shouldn’t you turn to stone?” (Lacy)

“?!?!?!” (Bir)

For some reason, even Lacy hit him with harsh words and a cold gaze.

Bir sought help, but Akos wasn’t meeting his gaze.

It seems like he was now convinced that there was something wrong in his head for hearing wrongly to such a skilled extent.

By the way, Ranai is bountiful even within average standards, and Git is the really slender type.

Lacy is more bountiful than Ranai, and in the words of Akos, she has the ideal proportions.

“I don’t understand.” (Bir)

At the time when Bir was tilting his head at something that everyone aside from him understood…

“Silence!”

A clear and beautiful voice resonated in the arena.

““!!””

“From here on, the Lord-sama, Tomoe-sama, Mio-sama, Shiki-sama, and Tamaki-sama will take stage! It is unfortunate that Waka-sama is not present, but the high rankers that have reached the top ranks of the arena through daily training and all the other high contributors will have the honor of being in their presence!”

‘Oooooh!’, cheers of excitement that could shake one’s blood resonated.

Bir thought that this honor this female orc spoke of was such an amazing thing that even the ‘Silence’ that was asked of at first has been forgotten.

“Extol them! And…envy them plenty, rouse yourself, and aim for it!”

Toa was impressed by the words of the orc she had first met.

She was implicitly saying to not drag yourself down with envy, but to study yourself and grow further from it.

And the audience was raising honest cheers and giving honest reactions to her words.

There’s no organization that doesn’t scheme and strategize, but at the very least, their combatants are training daily to an ideal extent -those cheers stated this clearly.

There’s cheers and most likely stamping.

There was excitement to an unnatural extent in the arena, and it continued increasing.

And then, at the time when Alpine and Birgit were about to make wry smiles thinking this excitement won’t be calming down…

“Be silent for a short while more.”

A calm voice that may be amplified with magic but was by no means a loud voice or a shout resonated in the venue.

The same female orc of before.

But it was a calm voice that had something fearsome in it that wasn’t magic power or a Skill.

The girl that was at a long distance from the adventurers had a lovely smile.

“Ema is on the verge of snapping.” (Beren)

“She is one step from snapping. Scary.” (Lacy)

Beren and Lacy’s whispers.

For the adventurers, it is rare to see the two with cold sweat, and for some reason, they could agree with that sentiment.

That’s how much impact that voice had.

Just as expected, the venue went silent in an instant, and they were simply waiting for her next words.

“Thanks. I most likely won’t be able to calm down the excitement that comes after, so I won’t ask for the impossible. But at the very least, be silent at the time when receiving them. Alpine.”

““?!””

Having her gaze directed at them suddenly, Toa and her group get increasingly nervous.

“And Birgit.”

““?!””

“Beren from the 8th District, and Lacy from the 3rd District will be introducing both parties to the Lord.” (Ema)

Beren and Lacy kneeled and lowered their heads to the orc that they called Ema.

It goes without saying that this was a gesture of affirmation.

“The Lord has told me that there’s no need to bother about formalities. However, me and everyone here expect respectful manners from you all.” (Ema)

Ema had switched her business smile to a friendly one as she said this to Alpine and Birgit.

But Toa, Bir, and the others could tell that those eyes were definitely not smiling as they nod in agreement from the bottom of their hearts.

Even though they shouldn’t be able to properly confirm her expression, everyone was sure of this.

At the front, at around the center area where no one is sitting, Ema withdraws to the side.

All the adventurers thought that the people they were talking about would be coming from the passage at the back of her.

They weren’t wrong.

They did add an extra gimmick to it though.

From the passage all the way to where Toa and the others were waiting had changed to stairs, and then a crimson red carpet flew out, spreading all the way to where the two parties were at.

They could still somewhat accept the fact that a part of the arena changed, but it wasn’t to the point that they could accept it silently.

A part of the audience, the dwarves, seem to be relieved. If Toa and Bir were calm, they would have noticed this, but because they were on their tip-toes here, they didn’t even notice Beren who was slightly in that state too.

“They have come out… If I remember correctly…that’s called a *Juuki*… I see, so it goes all the way here.”

“The degree of completion here is way too different though. I may have stepped into the path of the warrior, but I am still a dwarf, and that’s what I would call the crystallization of a technique that I can’t even step into its shadow.”

“Tomoe-san and Mio-san, huh. I think I have seen the other man before… If I remember correctly, his name was Shiki? I think I have seen him a number of times in the store.”

“The other ones are all people I have seen for the first time. A humanoid woman, a big fish, and an orc, huh. If Levi had been there at least, it would have relaxed me a bit though. Haha…”

The Alpine members were letting out sighs of admiration at the people that were showing up one after the other that must be at the summit of the Mist Town, and spoke in a low voice.

If this were a battlefield, the king wouldn’t be showing up, but he or she was walking at the front.

Tomoe, Mio, and Shiki were familiar faces for Alpine.

And there’s one unfamiliar woman and two inhuman warriors.

But the faces of Tomoe and Mio were serious faces that not even Toa has seen once on them, and they were completely different people from their usual self.

“I feel a lot less magic power than I thought. When encountering an incredibly powerful being, the people who have strong detection ability would barf at their mere presence, but it looks like the two are okay.” (Bir)

“Is it an original Juuki? He is clearly a dangerous one. There’s also Tomoe-san and Mio-san. This is already…” (Akos)

“You must be happy being such an idiot, Bir-kun. A Juuki can seal the wearer’s magic power completely, you know? By wearing that, we can’t properly feel just how much abnormal magic power they have. Do you know about ‘the tip of the iceberg’? You don’t, right, Bir-kun? You must be living in a really blissful world, haaah~.” (Git)

“Thanks to that, we are not barfing though. Noble and overwhelming…eh? No, there’s one more. What’s with that incredibly small…fairy?” (Ranai)

Birgit was being overwhelmed as they observed the wearer of the strange Juuki who is most likely the lord, and the people following after them.

Ranai, who holds the special eyes that can see lifeforce, must have activated a Skill, she noticed one other person that the others didn’t.

“You are wrong, hyuman woman! I am the Lord that rules over the Al-Emera!”

“?! Eh, Lord?” (Ranai)

Ranai was confused at the fairy-looking being that had appeared in front of her.

She was saying that the Lord wasn’t the person that has their whole body protected by that Juuki.

The next instant, that fairy disappeared from in front of Ranai and wind brushed her face, and then, she was held inside the right arm of the womn at the back of Shiki and lied limply there.

At some point in time, the girl had a whip in her left hand.

“Refrain from skits. You are in the presence of the Lord.” (Tomoe)

Tomoe speaks.

No matter if it is anger, amazement, or even happiness or nervousness; they can’t tell the expression of the Lord because they are wearing a mask that covers their full face.

They stopped a few steps from them.

A moderate distance.

Then, Shiki whispered something.

A chair that was way too big for one person gradually rose from the ground, and then, the one who was wearing the juuki sat there as if it were natural.

Tomoe and the others stood at both sides, and Alpine and Birgit followed the same steps as Beren and Lacy; they went on their knees and lowered their heads.

Beren exchanged looks with Lacy at the side, and then raised his head.

“Lord, I present to you the Tsige adventurers that have overcome two gates at the 8th District: Toa, Ranina, Louisa, and Hazal. The Alpine party that stands at the summit of the aforementioned city.” (Beren)

Being urged by Beren, Toa and her group introduce themselves in order.

It is hard to call it having manners and etiquette, but they properly had respect in their greetings.

When they finished, the Lord gave a big nod.

After that, Lacy stood up and raised her head.

“Lord, I present to you the leading party of the 3rd District! Bir, Akos, Git, and Ranai. They are adventurers of Tsige, and work under the name of Birgit! They accepted our request of the Moon Grizzly that we reported about and suppressed it!” (Lacy)

Different from Beren, Lacy was introducing them with quite the excitement.

But there was a clear difference from Alpine in the first words. Birgit’s group showed vexed expressions from this.

However, after being prompted to, they began to introduce themselves with Bir being the first one. Since they had Alpine as their reference, they managed to finish their introductions safely.

After they finished, the Lord gave a big nod at them as well.

“Then…the one called Hazal.”

“! Y-Yes?!” (Hazal)

“Can you please call out the demonic beast that you showed at the battle of before?”

“Ah, uhm…actually, it was the first time I met with it at that fight… It disappeared somewhere in the confusion of battle.” (Hazal)

“…Fumu.”

Hazal was completely nervous.

Everyone from Alpine assent to what he said.

The Lord looked at Tomoe and Mio, and they both shook their heads as if they didn’t know.

“There’s irregulars like that too?”

“? Uhm…” (Hazal)

“No, just talking to myself here. Then, that means it one-sidedly took a liking to you, and then went into hiding?”

“Hiding…?” (Hazal)

Hazal doesn’t seem to understand.

The Lord seemed to be troubled by this and touched their temples.

“Can’t be helped. This will make things faster.”

‘Eh?’, Hazal ended up taking his gaze off the strange Lord and looked at his left.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar sound was made really close to him.

A crack was there.

◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆◇◇◆◆

Here I was thinking I was letting out a pointlessly masculine handsome voice, but isn’t this the voice of Onihei-sama?

That Tomoe…and here I was wondering why the helmet wasn’t a japanese general helmet, but to think she would jam her hobby here.

The voice of the famous actor Nakamura that is both masculine and alluring coming from myself feels so off.

Now then, I am facing Alpine and Birgit.

They finished introducing themselves, so I tried asking about the demonic beast Hazal summoned and then continued on.

Tomoe and Mio were interested in it as well after all.

But the response that came back was that it was his first time and he didn’t understand it well.