Book 4: Chapter 20
Book 4: Chapter 20
** Underground City Urume Head Family **
The other building with lookouts that Reiji found, the luxurious one, boasted the largest size in the underground city.
That doesn’t mean that it has a majestic appearance, however. It has an octagonal base of 5-storeys, and many various-shaped buildings stacked on top like lego blocks.
At the center of it was the residence of the Urume Head Family. The “City Council” consisting of 10 members decides the rules of the Underground City. And the family that has served as the council chairman for generations is the Urume family. So you can see their importance in this city.
Although the light outdoors had been switched off, the inside of the residence was lit up with dazzling lights. Intricately cut glass reflected the light of the magic lamp brilliantly. The interior was as luxurious as the light design, but the furniture colour and design was too mismatched.
For example, an ethnic display shelf was placed on a chic argyle-patterned carpet, and a steel table was placed next to it. The reason is that these were handed down from generation to generation, and they were all ones plundered during the war periods.
「I heard that the patrol unit was defeated, but you didn’t write it in your report it seems?」
Sarume, the current head of the Urume head family, said.
Unlike the urban residents who wear simple clothes, she wore a super frilly one-piece dress you hardly see even on a dress-up doll. The jeweled rings fitted on each of her fingers on both hands almost looked like brass knuckles.
The problem is her physique. The wine-filled goblet she held was a goblet that can hold 1 liter, but that goblet looks like pine glass in comparison to her body size. Her cushioned steel chair – a chair that was carried by three people on each side – was creaking every time she stirred. She has long, wavy, blonde hair, but perhaps due to her long-overeating habits, her hair had lost all shine and gloss. And she has slightly lost weight due to the present troubles worrying her. That is the Council Chairman of the Underground City, Lady Sarume.
「I apologize. I assumed it wasn’t important enough to report to you, Sarume-sama.」
With a solidly built body, a man who looked like a military officer by all means, bowed down his head. From his swept-back gray hair, a single lock of hair hung straight down around his eyes. His attitude seemed polite, but felt somewhat rude in intent.
「I decide if something is important or not! Not you!」
Sarume barked in response, as her pimple-filled cheeks shook. The man raised back his body and silently closed his eyes to reign in his dissatisfaction. His deeply carved face housed red eyes, which is characteristic of underground humans, but the outer corners have slight wrinkles. He is probably in his 40s.
Sarume, who glared at him with her snake-like eyes, gulped down the wine from her goblet. Underground humans live in a highly safe environment underground but cannot grow grapes in return. The wine produced at the few vineyards outside the city is a valuable item. However, at the Urume Head Family, these valuable items are consumed like water.
「I apologize again. I will change the level of information I report from now on.」
「Marshal… That’s not what I’m saying.」
Sarume clearly meant “send me more information”, but since she is contradicting herself–
「I apologize.」
The man has no choice but to say that. Even if the man in question is the chief executive officer of the army, the “Marshal”, he adheres to the top-down hierarchy of the underground city. The woman in front of him is at the top of the hierarchy, so when she says anything at all, he can only answer “Yes!”, “It will be done!”, or “That is great!”.
A black crow turning white in the underground city is a common occurrence, and this woman, who has never learned a single thing about military affairs since she was born, has reformed the army 21 times, 6 of which was a major organizational change.
The Marshal has remained a marshal up until now only because his father is one of the city council members. However, who knows what would have happened if Sarume strongly rejected that idea—that is how absolute the will of the Urume Head Family is.
「Clean up that rotten wax-filled ear and listen properly. What I’m talking about is… the idiot who said he was going to seize that airship. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had to re-investigate that airship, and the patrol unit you sent out wouldn’t have lost either, right?」
「…………」
「I’m asking you a question!」
The goblet flew with tremendous force, brushing the Marshal’s left ear and crashing into the wall behind him. The spilled wine stained his uniform.
「…Yes, that’s right.」
「Then, you know what to do next, don’t you?」
「Yes.」
「Then go. The reason why you were appointed marshal is for such cases.」
When Sarume stood up from the chair, four beautiful underground men came out from nowhere.
「Sarume-chan, are you done with your work?」
「Let’s have some fun over there.」
「I want a little pocket money…」
「Hey, you’ve been asking for money nonstop.」
They surrounded the grinning Sarume and disappeared into the adjacent room.
「…………」
The marshal took a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiped his uniform, and left the room. The maids waiting in the corridor took turns and started cleaning the room—no one called out to the marshal nor took notice of his stained clothes. No, they noticed it, but ignored it.
(It’s not clothes that was stained, it’s pride.)
The marshal didn’t even sigh.
Sarume was too in contempt of the fact that the patrol unit had lost. The marshal hid the report because he didn’t want it to be emphasized, and was aggravated that there was someone who secretly informed Sarume about it. Even leaving that aside, the patrol unit being defeated is a terrible thing.
For the underground humans, this city is a secret base that protects them from foreign enemies. But if this place gets found out, it will be a matter of life and death. After all, their escape routes are limited.
(That’s why I only allow skilled people into the patrol force.)
Perhaps because of the long peace of this city, there were many lazy people. Lazy and blockhead people made up the majority of the population. Even so, the marshal picked the most skilled persons to become his direct subordinates.
And those prized subordinates were the ones who lost. According to their report, it seems that their opponent was just one guy.
(Sarume should know that too, but she’s trying to use this defeat for political reasons instead of shoring up the army.)
Sarume’s command to the Marshal was a simple one: “Attack the council member who proposed to send a patrol unit.”
There are 10 council members, but the Urume faction and the non-Urume factions are in opposition. The Urume Head Family holds extremely strong political power, but they are not allowed to make arbitrary decisions.
Sarume seems to be planning to whittle down the opposition faction as much as possible using this incident as the reason.
(Did we become so inward thinking as a result of being separated decades away from war… I thought that the dragonewt airship would be a good impetus.)
An unusually strong “status quo bias” hung in the underground city.
However, the Marshal was not okay with this situation. He wanted to change it.
That is why he was conducting a lot of trial and error. Even while being disturbed by Sarume.
「Welcome back, Marsh– What happened to your uniform!」
「Ah, it’s that orc again, isn’t it?」
「Stop it. Who knows where that orc’s spies are lurking.」the marshal said.
「You’re saying orc too, though?」
The orc, obviously, is Sarume.
The Marshal’s subordinates remained at the military headquarters until late at night, finishing up on work. The Marshal, who has hired motivated and talented men and women of all ages, was relieved to come here.
「So, what about today’s report? What happened to the front with the Dark Elves?」the marshal urged for a report.
「It seems that they are indeed holding down the place where the skill orb is produced. A head-on collision might be inevitable.」a female soldier answered.
「I see…」
The Marshal grit his teeth.
After repeated “trial and error”, what he found was skill orbs.
He discovered a large number of skill orbs that were said to be found only in dungeons.
However, the dark elves appeared in that place, and sporadic skirmishes have taken place.
Sarume doesn’t know this yet.