Chapter 309: The birth of a new Guider and the approaching overwhelming battle
Chapter 309: The birth of a new Guider and the approaching overwhelming battle
Zadiris was deeply, deeply troubled.
“The correct choice is clear. The most suitable answer has been apparent since the beginning… It is apparent, but…”
Having left the Job-changing room, her small shoulders fell and she let out a deep sigh.
As Vandalieu and the others suspected, her current Job had already reached Level 100. However, only a single Job was available for her to select, and she had been putting off her Job change because she did not want to acquire that Job.
She had been desperately hoping that there might be a way for her to acquire a different Job.
She knew that there was no point in praying to the gods.
The gods who ruled over Statuses granted the blessings of Statuses to every single being in this world – even monsters and Undead – but did not receive any prayers from any of them.
Thus, Zadiris had tried various things to solve the problem on her own – increasing the Levels of her Skills such as ‘No-Attribute Magic,’ secretly learning about ‘Spiritual Magic,’ chasing Rank 3 monsters around while swinging weapons in an attempt to learn physical combat…
That was how she had spent her past few days, but her efforts were unfruitful, and only one Job remained available for her to select.
“It is meaningless unless I take the time to increase the Levels of my Skills or acquire new ones. I would likely be able to improve my Skill Levels or learn new Skills within a few months, as long as they are not things that I am incredibly inept at, but… I am hesitant to do such a selfish thing.”
After meeting Vandalieu, Zadiris had increased her Rank numerous times and acquired numerous Jobs. The combined bonuses to her Skills were far beyond ordinary.
Though she would still struggle to increase the Levels of her awakened superior Skills such as ‘Light Princess Magic,’ she could likely acquire a new magic-related Skill, even a highly-specialized one like ‘Spiritual Magic,’ within a month.
That was precisely why she was hesitant to remain so persistent about acquiring a Job other than the one available to her. It was clear that changing Jobs before putting effort into training would make it easier for the Levels of her Skills to increase.
And ever since they received the terrible news of the champion Bellwood being resurrected by the ‘Blue-flamed Sword’ Heinz, Vandalieu had been working hard at Leveling, and his other companions were serious about becoming stronger as well.
Could Zadiris continue being so selfish when everyone else was working so hard?
“If I had to guess, this Job likely provides high increases to my Attribute Values, and it will certainly allow me to acquire new Skills. And it will also allow me to strengthen allies under certain conditions… It is unlikely to cause me to acquire Skills that are actually harmful or hinder my future Job changes.”
The more she thought about it, this Job was one that she shouldn’t hesitate to take, especially given that there were no other available choices. She would have gladly changed to this Job long ago, if it weren’t for one thing.
In this world, it would be considered a rare and special Job.
“… No, I should consult the boy or Kanako first!”
Still unable to come to a decision, Zadiris decided to put it off once more and turned around to walk away from the Job-changing room.
But when she did, she found herself face-to-face with Vandalieu and a beaming Kanako.
“What a coincidence. Now then, we might as well start with the consultation right now,” Vandalieu said.
“What Van said. Go ahead and tell us everything that’s in your heart and on your mind!” said Kanako.
“H-how long have you been there?!” Zadiris demanded.
“Umm, we got here just as you said, ‘No, I should consult the boy or Kanako first.’ I used ‘Silence’ to muffle our footsteps so that you wouldn’t notice us and run away,” said Vandalieu.
“He was moving so smoothly and silently that I would’ve thought he was a ghost if I weren’t standing right next to him,” said Kanako.
Zadiris had run away from Kanako the previous day, so Vandalieu had taken steps to ensure that this wouldn’t happen again.
Taken aback, Zadiris turned around, but Vigaro and Basdia were standing on the other side of the corridor – her escape route was blocked.
“I-I’m surrounded?!” Zadiris cried.
“Zadiris, give it up. You’ll never be able to escape from our encirclement!” said Vigaro.
“Vigaro, we’re trying to get her to tell us about her worries, not demanding that she surrender,” Basdia reminded him. “But Mother, you’re just as aware as we are that worrying on your own won’t solve your problems, right?”
Zadiris gave an unhappy groan. “It seems I have no choice. If possible, I was hoping that you would not notice my worries and I would be able to approach you more casually.”
“That’s impossible,” everyone said in unison.
Zadiris groaned again before confessing her worries. “The truth is… my current Job has reached Level 100, but there is only one Job available for me to select as my next Job.”
“I see. So, you only see a Job that’s named something like ‘True Princess,’ or ‘Magical Master Princess?’” said Kanako.
“Kanako, I think even Mother wouldn’t get Jobs like that… ‘True Princess’ would just be an ordinary princess, wouldn’t it?” said Basdia.
“Kanako’s guesses are not so far off the mark,” said Zadiris. “The truth is, this Job is called ‘Princess Guider’…”
“Princess… Guider?!”
Everyone was shocked. Even Gufadgarn, who was hidden in the space behind Vandalieu, was so shocked that she emerged and made herself visible.
“Are you sure it’s ‘Princess Guider?’” said Basdia. “This isn’t a joke, is it? You didn’t misread it? You weren’t just dreaming?”
“How should I put this… It’s really stuck to you, to the point that I’m starting to wonder if it really is a curse,” said Kanako.
Though Basdia and Kanako were both astounded and bewildered, Vigaro was impressed.
“A Guider! That’s incredible, Zadiris!” he said. “Let’s tell everyone right away! Everyone will celebrate the coming of a new Guider, the third after Vandalieu and Kanako!”
“Curses! That is precisely why I was so worried about it!” Zadiris shouted with her head in her hands, having expected that everyone would react this way.
Indeed, the coming of someone with a Guider-type Job was an event to be celebrated. It was not the coming of one hero, but of multiple – the Guider themselves and their close companions.
Heroes were highly valued in the societies of this world, whose inhabitants were forced to coexist with the Devil’s Nests and Dungeons in their own nations.
But Zadiris didn’t want to become famous as a Princess Guider, nor did she want her name to be engraved in history, so she didn’t want anyone to celebrate this occasion.
“I did consider changing Jobs quietly without telling anyone, but… if the ‘Princess Guider’ Job really is a Guider Job, then it will have a great effect on others as well, not just myself. So I knew that it would certainly be discovered eventually,” Zadiris said.
“I think you’re right,” Vandalieu agreed. “There are some people who have acquired ‘Princess’ and ‘Magical Girl’ Jobs, but once you become a Guider, it wouldn’t be strange for their numbers to double.”
“Up to this point, all of them were those belonging to the Demon Empire of Vidal, but if you become a Guider, I believe that princesses and magical girls may emerge from among those who are being taught lessons in the Alcrem Duchy,” said Gufadgarn.
“I knew it,” Zadiris said dejectedly. “But why has a silly Job like ‘Princess Guider’ appeared? I have been told a little about Guiders. They require a unique culture and ideas, do they not? So why ‘princess’…?”
For a Guider Job to become available to someone, it was considered necessary for that person to have original ideologies that had never previously existed, and spread those ideologies and a culture based on them. The champions, Vandalieu, and Kanako had awakened to Guider Jobs because they had come from another world – they possessed ideologies and cultures that were new to this world and spread them to this world’s people.
But Zadiris was someone who was purely from the world of Lambda.
Of course, the inhabitants of this world could have unique ideologies as well, and there were historical records of some such individuals acquiring Guider Jobs. But Zadiris had no recollection of having a unique ideology or trying to spread it.
“Could it be that I am misunderstanding something? Or perhaps the Status gods have made some kind of mistake? But given the Jobs that the boy has acquired in the past, perhaps they are making fools of us,” said Zadiris, beginning to suspect that this was a prank by the gods.
“That is rather difficult to deny, but… I don’t think it’s so strange that ‘Princess Guider’ appeared as a Job for you, Zadiris. And I’m being completely serious, of course,” said Vandalieu.
Zadiris was surprised by this. “Do you really mean that, boy?”
“Yes. First of all, you’re even more passionate about propagating Jobs and race titles with ‘Magical Girl’ and ‘Princess’ than Kanako is. Kanako is passionate about propagating culture in a broad sense – song, dance, the idol genre… but regarding magical girls and princesses, she’s not as passionate as you,” said Vandalieu.
“Now that you mention it… Zadiris is more passionate than me when it comes to popularizing transformation equipment,” said Kanako. “She’s always persuading you to make transformation equipment for all kinds of people, too. Come to think of it, Zadiris is the one who suggested that you make toy versions of transformation equipment, isn’t she?”
“And when the children in Morksi ask her about magical girls, she explains magical girls to them patiently, every time. She even does choreographed transformations for them and shows them her magic,” said Basdia, chiming in.
“Ah! I wasn’t there, but I remember hearing that she once got into a debate with someone from the Mages’ Guild who argued that we’re ‘mage girls,’ not ‘magical girls.’ That person walked away a fan of magical girls!” Kanako added.
“I didn’t follow you into Morksi, so I didn’t know anything about this, but… after hearing you two talk, I can tell that Zadiris was the most proactive and passionate about telling people what ‘princesses’ and ‘magical girls’ are,” said Vigaro with a serious nod.
“Wha – ?! Wait, Vigaro! You are making a grave misunderstanding!” Zadiris said hastily, unhappy with everyone’s agreement that it would be fitting for her to become a Princess Guider. “Everything that Kanako and Basdia said is true! I remember these things as well! But I did all of that so that the idea of me being a ‘Magical Girl’ would not be firmly established, and so that I could escape from having ‘Princess’ in my Jobs and race title! It cannot be possible for someone with such dishonest motives to be acknowledged as a Guider!” she argued, her fists clenched.
But the two other Guiders who were present disagreed with her.
“No, I don’t see why it shouldn’t be possible,” said Kanako.
“I also think it’s possible,” said Vandalieu. “I don’t know what criteria the Status gods use to issue Jobs. When I asked Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic, he said that he doesn’t know anything beyond that they take ‘the qualities of the person’ into account. But I don’t think they place so much importance in the person’s motives. If they did, then I wouldn’t have become a Guider either, since my motivations are to make myself happy and exact vengeance on my enemies.”
“I’m just doing what I want to do, too. It just so happened that the Jobs I acquired and the Skills I gained and awakened are unexpectedly useful in battle as well,” said Kanako. “I don’t think you need to worry so much about why a Guider Job has become available for you.”
“Mmm… So that is how it is. But after I become a ‘Princess Guider,’ will it not become impossible for me to avoid acquiring Jobs or race titles with ‘Princess’ in the future?” Zadiris said.
“I can’t answer that question, but I don’t think ‘Princess Guider’ will be the cause of that happening,” said Vandalieu.
Zadiris gave him a displeased look, aware of what he was implying: ‘That won’t change whether you become a ‘Princess Guider’ or not, will it?’
“Although you are always helping me greatly, I had forgotten that we do not think quite alike, boy,” she said.
“I’ve always thought that ‘Princess’ is cute and your Jobs and race titles themselves are excellent. But I respect your opinions and you have my support, Zadiris,” said Vandalieu.
“Agh, this is the type of relationship that is furthest from mutual understanding. Our opinions never directly clash against one another, so we end up with small discrepancies and disagreements,” Zadiris lamented.
“Well, leaving Van’s opinions aside… After you become a ‘Princess Guider,’ if your worries come true, you can just have Van deal with it, can’t you?” said Kanako.
“Have me deal with it? I can’t make contact with the gods who rule over Jobs, either,” said Vandalieu.
If he could, he would have asked them to do something about the dreadful-sounding Jobs in the Job History section of his Status… or perhaps not. After he acquired them, they had turned out to be considerably useful Jobs, after all.
“That is right. If this was a problem that the boy could solve, I would have had him solve it long ago,” said Zadiris.
“No, that’s not what I mean… You could simply have him take you as his bride, couldn’t you?” Kanako pointed out.
Her nonchalant bombshell shocked Vandalieu and Zadiris. But Basdia and Vigaro seemed to think that this was a reasonable opinion.
“You’re right. A princess who’s married isn’t a princess; she’s a queen or an empress. If you’re a queen or empress, nobody’s going to care about what your Status looks like,” said Vigaro.
“And it’s possible that your race title and Jobs might actually change to Queen or Empress,” Basdia agreed. “It’s a good idea, isn’t it? I’m sure Van will be fine with it now, too.”
“Wait, Basdia. I understand that things will probably turn out that way in the future, but why now?” Vandalieu asked.
“You’re the one who told us, ‘Wait ten more years,’ back when we’d only just met. About ten years have passed now,” Basdia replied.
“… Ah, I can’t deny it, because I do remember saying that. But didn’t I say ‘about ten years,’ rather than ‘ten more years?’”
“‘About ten years’ means that now is fine, right?”
“Past me, why didn’t you say, ‘wait until I’m an adult’…?”
A distant look appeared in Vandalieu’s eyes as he stared off into space.
On top of that, Zadiris had recovered from her shock and was receptive to Kanako’s suggestion.
“I see, so that is an option as well,” she murmured.
“Come to think of it, even if Zadiris agrees, are you and Basdia fine with it?” Vigaro asked Kanako.
“I don’t mind,” said Kanako. “Polygamy is accepted in Van’s nation, and the order of marriage probably won’t make a lot of difference. A jeweled palanquin is a jeweled palanquin, no matter what order we get in.”
“I’m not worried about the order, either. Jadal hasn’t grown up yet, anyway,” said Basdia.
Neither Kanako, the one who had made the suggestion, nor Basdia were against it. Basdia had always been this way, but Vandalieu was a little surprised to hear Kanako speaking so honestly about this topic for the first time.
“I’m happy that you feel that way, but polygamy is problematic in the cultures of Earth and Origin, isn’t it? You don’t have to force yourself,” Vandalieu said.
“So, you’re not bothered by being called a jeweled palanquin,” Kanako remarked. “Don’t worry. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Besides, you’re the ruler of a nation, rich, the master of a concert venue that can fly anywhere and assemble itself on its own, the maker of transformation equipment, and you support my activities as an idol. The only man I’ll ever meet who can offer all of that is you, Van. Any mother-in-law-related problems will be resolved easily given that it’s Darcia-san, and I can leave the overly-formal national-event-related duties to others. I will never give this up – I’ll use whatever methods I deem necessary to have you take me as your bride.”
This explanation of Kanako’s was not entirely honest. After all, she would be able to receive Vandalieu’s support even if they weren’t bound by marriage.
In fact, Kanako had already been receiving Vandalieu’s support up until this point. It was true that Vandalieu was benefiting from Kanako’s activities, but Kanako hadn’t made any advance payments for his support, nor had she actually promised him any benefits. Of course, they were not lovers, and she wasn’t paying him with physical services.
Kanako knew that Vandalieu was kind enough to offer that kind of support to anyone he considered his family without asking for anything in return, and that he already considered her as family.
The fact that she wanted a relationship with him despite this… That was how it was.
“Thank you for your passionate proposal. But as for my reply, please wait until I’ve done something about Heinz and Bellwood,” said Vandalieu.
Of course, he remained unaware of Kanako’s inner feelings.
“Of course, I don’t mind waiting. That’s a serious problem for my own future too, after all,” said Kanako.
“Yes, I am not asking you to take me as your wife right now. I am talking about a scenario where my Jobs and race title still have ‘Princess’ in them after I become a ‘Princess Guider,’” said Zadiris. “Now that we have resolved this issue, I suppose I shall go and change Jobs.”
In a bright mood now, Zadiris entered the Job-changing room, and the third Guider of the Demon Empire of Vidal was born.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm of Rodcorte, the god of reincarnation, Rodcorte was groaning with his arms crossed.
“So, Peria joined Vida’s side. I expected that, but even the sealed Botin…”
To Rodcorte, the Goddess of Water and Knowledge Peria choosing to side with Vida’s faction was like something he had a bad feeling about coming true.
Peria had supposedly been slumbering in order to recover from the damage she had suffered at the hands of the Demon King Guduranis. But Ricklent and Zuruwarn, who had fallen into a slumber for the same reason, had already awakened.
Perhaps that could be explained by a difference in how much damage they had suffered, but it was also possible that Peria was actually already awake. If that was the case, then the reason she was pretending to still be slumbering was… because she had chosen Vida rather than Alda, wasn’t it?
“If you knew that, then shouldn’t you have warned them?” said Aran, one of the reincarnated individuals who had become Rodcorte’s familiar spirits.
But there was no way Rodcorte could have done that. First of all, this suspicion of Rodcorte’s had no proof. And there was no relationship of trust between Rodcorte and Alda.
Rodcorte could imagine how it would have ended if he, a god that Alda distrusted, were to warn Alda that a goddess he trusted would betray him.
“The problem is that even Botin has joined Vida’s side. With this, Alda is isolated among the great gods, and Vandalieu and his allies are able to gain the divine protections of the great gods on his side,” Rodcorte said.
Vandalieu and his allies were powerful enough as it was, and yet they were only growing stronger, while the humans who worshiped the gods of Alda’s forces had lost an opportunity to gain more divine protections. And it was uncertain as to what would become of the Elves and Dwarves who worshiped these gods.
“But Bellwood has been resurrected. According to Alda, his mind is crippled, but I do not care about what is happening inside his head. The question is whether we can use him to fight or not,” Rodcorte muttered.
“No, you have to take that into account, don’t you? His mind is crippled, right?” said Aran.
“It matters not. I’m sure Bellwood’s guardian will do something about it,” Rodcorte said.
Just as Alda did not trust the reincarnated individuals, Rodcorte did not trust the humans of Lambda. He considered Bellwood as nothing more than a crowd puller that Alda used to gain worshipers and maintain his power.
“The bigger problem is Kanako Tsuchiya, who has awakened to become a Guider. I must eliminate her and Vandalieu at all costs, but… what to do…” Rodcorte murmured.
“There’s nothing to be done, is there?” said Aran. “Or are you going to send a Divine Message to Asagi saying, ‘Kill Kanako!’”
“That’s almost certain to fail. Even if you succeed in convincing Asagi to try, I don’t think he would be able to pull it off… not with the strength that he and the others have now,” said Kouya.
Ignoring Aran and Kouya, Rodcorte fell silent and began thinking.
I must calm myself. What I must do has not changed. I will cooperate with Alda to erase Vandalieu. In the process, it should also be possible to erase Kanako, who has become a Guider. Even if she manages to escape, without Vandalieu behind her, I’m sure she cannot achieve anything great. As for Peria, Botin, and the other gods on Vida’s side, I can just leave them to Alda.
Coming to this conclusion, Rodcorte managed to calm himself down.
In the end, it was just an ordinary Guider… one that was likely more suited for performing arts than battle. It was unlikely that this made a big difference to Alda.
Or so Rodcorte thought, but he remained oblivious to the fact that Kanako had acquired the ‘Champion’ Title, and that there was yet another Guider… one that was very compatible with Kanako’s Artistic Path.
The ‘Knight of Roaring Flames’ Bravatiyu and the ‘Knight of a Thousand Blades’ Baldiria couldn’t hide their tension as they cast their gaze towards the northern end of the Boundary Mountain Range that was visible to the south.
They had become a part of the army gathered by Rudel Sauron to retake the former Scylla territory, which was currently marching forward.
In addition to the soldiers of the Sauron Duchy’s regular army, which had been reorganized to restore its former strength, there were the elite troops sent by Duke Lucas Hartner, who was known as a capable military leader, as well as other forces sent from the Farzon Duchy, the Birgitt Duchy, and from Orbaume Central. They were also joined by skilled mercenaries and adventurers of A-class and B-class.
Their numbers had been kept low in order to avoid provoking the Amid Empire, but there were still ten thousand people, and their combined fighting strength was likely equal to a million ordinary soldiers.
Bravatiyu and Baldiria had been informed of who they would be fighting against.
What was about to take place was a battle against just three individuals, plus a few others. A battle between just them, and ten thousand men with the combined strength of a million.
“Baldiria, we are reaching the next part of this farce, and… we must play our role successfully there, too. In order to do that…” said Bravatiyu.
“Of course, I can sacrifice an arm or two,” said Baldiria.
Three enemies plus a few others stood in the way of the army that wished to retake the former Scylla territory.
Borkus, the ‘Grim Reaper of the Former Scylla Territory.’
Bone Man, who was likely the most powerful Skeleton in the world.
Knochen, the ‘All Bone Palace.’
Finally, the ‘few others’ were the Demon King Familiars that accompanied them. Incidentally, Vandalieu himself intended to come if necessary.
A force of just three and a few others, that not even hundreds of millions… not even trillions of ordinary soldiers had any hope of defeating.
“… Now then, let’s put on a good show of losing!” Bravatiyu said quietly to Baldiria and his subordinates who had been sent from the Alcrem Duchy.