Vol 3 Chapter 5 (2/2)
———— The Kingdom of the Lake, the Empty Library
Creaking staircase
Templar Librarian: “Here we are”
Elder Sister Maid: “Thank you very much”
Disciple Bard: “Thank you”
Templar Librarian: “This library is filled with ancient texts To ensure their preservation, please do not expose theht”
Elder Sister Maid: “Understood”
Disciple Bard: “What a mountain of texts!”
Templar Librarian: “If you intend to peruse the texts, please bring the sos to the Grandmaster”
Elder Sister Maid: “I will”
Templar Librarian: “In that case…”
Creaking staircase
Disciple Bard: “Wow, you’re pretty a”
Elder Sister Maid: “What do you mean?”
Disciple Bard: “The Grandmaster of the Holy Order of the Lake is a pretty ied to obtain a reference letter from her”
Elder Sister Maid: “I knew her well And even if the Fe person, that doesn’tby extension”
Disciple Bard: “That’s true”
Elder Sister Maid: “How many do you think there are?”
Disciple Bard: “Two? Three hundred? There are lots of scrolls”
Elder Sister Maid: “They sure look ancient”
Disciple Bard: “My goal is to research the Holy Relic, but what about you? It’ll probably be more efficient if we tried to help each other out”
Elder Sister Maid: “That’s true”
Disciple Bard: “So what are you looking for?”
Rifling through texts
Elder Sister Maid: “Umm, I’m not sure”
Disciple Bard: “Eh?”
Elder Sister Maid: “I’m not sure how to say this, but probably the Genesis? I’ for extremely ancient texts As you know, this place probably has the oldest texts, so that’s why I’m here… I’ to figure out a new start, so I want to knohat things were like at the very beginning”
Rifling through books
Disciple Bard: “Hs”
Elder Sister Maid: “They aren’t very well organised”
Brushi+ng off dust
Disciple Bard: “What’s this? It’s much finer than vellum”
Elder Sister Maid: “I wonder why?”
Dust butts
Disciple Bard: “Well?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Hs…”
Disciple Bard: “I’ve got some children’s stories and some wheat harvest statistics”
Flips pages
Elder Sister Maid: “How valuable”
Disciple Bard: “Yeah — Ahh, this is a co like this, but… I don’t know the melodies”
Elder Sister Maid: “Is it old?”
Disciple Bard: “What do you think?”
Elder Sister Maid: “This is really old too”
Disciple Bard: “What?”
Elder Sister Maid: “It’s a very old legend The Spirit… of the Earth?”
Disciple Bard: “Eh? Could I take a look?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yeah, sure”
Passes book
Disciple Bard: “…Hmm”
The Poem of the Destroyed Vellum
Once, there was a paradise aith light
This was the land that the Spirits had lost
Five stars shone bright above this land: forest, water, earth, gold, and fire They lived long lives of strife, their age seven to the power of seven to the power of seven again
A girl was born amidst the fla brilliantly on her forehead Froe, her infinite charity shone towards every existence in this world
A boy was born on the ground The holy child of a woman froe the world of the black evil it had become corrupted with
As their fingertips , the promise of their youth burned in their chests Under the cover of large wings, hope and the now liberated naed with their spirits
With the destruction of the World of Spirits, paradise was lost
However, the charity of the young girl continued to shi+ne upon the world Under the feet of those who knew the name of sin
Elder Sister Maid: “A story about Spirits…? This isone”
Disciple Bard: “This is… five families?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Eh?”
Disciple Bard: “This is about the five fa this ancient”
Elder Sister Maid: “What do you mean?”
Disciple Bard: “In the De… I mean, in my hometown Umm Everyone lives on the earth How should I say this… Well, it’s a legend They say we are descended froo when the world was just beginning For example, my family is said to have descended from the Spirits of the Forest I’h? There aren’t a lot of people who earnestly believe in this But it seems there’s some truth in this”
Elder Sister Maid: “…”
Disciple Bard: “But, what is this doing here…”
Elder Sister Maid: “The Holy Church of Light…”
Disciple Bard: “Eh?”
Elder Sister Maid: “The Holy Church Their Headquarters come under the protection of the Primarch, they say that there are even round vaults under the Grand Cathedral”
Disciple Bard: “Eh? Eh?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Shall we go there?”
Disciple Bard: “Do you mean you have a letter of referral for that place as well?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Nope”
Disciple Bard: “Can we get in?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Not normally”
Disciple Bard: “What should we do?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Either way, the Grand Cathedral is in the Holy Imperial City, at the heart of the Holy E else really, that’s one place we should not avoid”
Disciple Bard: “I see…”
Elder Sister Maid: “I was going to go alone anyway”
Disciple Bard: “Well, I’ve already boarded this shi+p Let’s go Let’s go I’ the Holy Relic I’m really quite interested now”
Elder Sister Maid: “Alright Thank you” Smiles
———- The Citadel of Fiends, the Orchard of Fruits
Cat-Eyed Courier: “Khan! Khan!”
The Chieftain of the Tattooed: “What is it?”
Cat-Eyed Courier: “The Pale are on the move!”
The Chieftain of the Tattooed: “!”
Cat-Eyed Courier: “Roughly twenty five thousand strong! Not the whole race but quite a few households have beenback but they’re proceeding at an alar speed The lands of the Demons of the Pale are still a mystery to us so we discovered them too late By the time we noticed, they were already at the border”
The Chieftain of the Tattooed: “Fine! Where are they going? The lands of the Banshees? The wilderness? The ons? Or could their aim possibly be the City of the Gate?!”
Cat-Eyed Courier: “None of them!”
The Chieftain of the Tattooed: “What!”
Cat-Eyed Courier: “The destination of the Demons of the Pale is Gate itself! In other words, the place we call the Portal!”
The Chieftain of the Tattooed: “…”
Cat-Eyed Courier: “The Human World!”
—— The Kingdoht, the Palace of Frozen Chalk
The King of White Night: “Haaah?! Haaaa!”
Retinue: “Protect His Majesty the King!”
Huhhhh!”
Human Soldier: “Doith the Demons!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “H? Do you think you can protect your King by doing that?”
Magic swirling
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Did that hit you?”
The King of White Night: “Ahhh! Ahhhhh!”
General of the Pale: “Hahaha I a”
The King of White Night: “Ahhhhhhh! My arm!”
Human Soldier: “Your Majesty!”
Human Soldier: “damn you!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “…Curse of Bonds”
Magic swirls
Human Soldier: “…!”
Retinue: “…!”
General of the Pale: “How funny These pathetic fools think they can stop me with just their hands? The insects So that’s all that humans can amount to!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Hahahaha!”
The King of White Night: “S-stop Just what do you damn Demons want!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Stop talking It is an embarrassment to be spoken to by the likes of you”
The King of White Night: “I ah!”
Human Soldier: “…!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Oh, and your hand? Won’t you have bad balance with just one hand? I see, so Hus That’s nice to know”
Magic throbbing
The King of White Night: “—!—! Aghhh!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Hahahaha! Now you’ve got double the weight on you! That’s a good expression, Your Majesty… Just like a worm”
General of the Pale: “Ahahahaha!”
The King of White Night: “—!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “You seem to have turned quite pale Shall ar Phosphorus of hell”
The King of White Night: “—! Aghh! Agghhhhhhh!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Very good, Your Majesty I like that dance you’ve got there You look just like a ju bean!”
Door opens
Cavalryman of the Pale: “General! We have swept the city clean of any resistance!”
General of the Pale: “Continue to send out suppression forces throughout the city! Draft the humans for construction After that, take them as slaves and take all their valuables I will not tolerate resistance It’s the death sentence for them all!”
Cavalryman of the Pale: “Yes!”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Hmm”
General of the Pale: “What is it, Your Majesty?”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “How boring Humans are so weak after all”
General of the Pale: “Well, that’s because we carried out a surprise attack on the weakest part of the Human World”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “Hame everywhere First we’ll establish a foothold, and then who knohere that will lead us”
General of the Pale: “Yes”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “With ere they collaborating again?”
General of the Pale: “The largest Tribe in the Surface World, the Holy Eanisation called the Church”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “For now, send out a standard unit to aet really interesting”
General of the Pale: “Yes”
Sigiled King of the Pale: “The country next door is the Kingdoht? We should secure that country and after that move on to attack the rest”
General of the Pale: “A brilliant plan”
———- The Kingdo the Road
Disciple Bard: “…How tough”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yeah”
Chirp! Chirp!
Disciple Bard: “So many crows That’s…”
Elder Sister Maid: “A cremation”
Disciple Bard: “Eh?”
Elder Sister Maid: “There isn’t an obituarian standing around so it’s probably a serf… Only the family members are present”
Disciple Bard: “Serf?”
Elder Sister Maid: “They’re peasants who live a life of agriculture, almost like slaves”
Disciple Bard: “There are slaves in this world?!”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yes… We saw a lot of people working in the villages and fields as we passed by, right? There are lesser settlements in the North so you may not have noticed”
Disciple Bard: “…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Don’t get angry, Miss Bard”
Disciple Bard: “Why…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Even if you get angry, you can’t save those people We can’t make anybody happy”
Disciple Bard: “But—”
Elder Sister Maid: “Don’t get angry”
Disciple Bard: “…”
Elder Sister Maid: “I was born to a family of serfs, I am a serf”
Disciple Bard: “Eh?”
Elder Sister Maid: “I escaped with my sister, by luck… By some incredible miracle, ere found by our Mistress We worked at the hoht us to read and do arithrandfather even had naiven to us by our Mistress”
Disciple Bard: “…”
Elder Sister Maid: “I know that you are angry on my behalf and on the behalf of everyone else Why don’t you stop being angry? I am happy that you are, not a lot of people know about us… that serfs are slaves, or how horrible this is But I’ve been a slave since I was born Many of us don’t know anything outside of it”
Disciple Bard: “That can’t be…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Well, it’s the truth”
Disciple Bard: “…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Don’t cry”
Disciple Bard: “Yeah…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Ms Bard”
Disciple Bard: “…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Let’s sing as alk Teach ”
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Explanation
Obituarian: In medieval times, they would stand at street corners and call out the naive notice, as well as provide funeral services More recently, the jobs have been divided, with obituaries appearing in newspapers, andfuneral services and caskets
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Disciple Bard: “…Why?”
Elder Sister Maid: “It’s quite special that I could travel with you I thought I should at least learn one song Moreover, those people have nothing to look forward to in their days So don’t sing a sad song, sing so robust”
Disciple Bard: “Yeah…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Rather than being angry, give the… as a present”
Disciple Bard: “I understand — This a song that the Fang… a war-like people fro when they drink They’re quite violent, but e
Elass, o men of the wilds
Run through the crimson earth
Now, e with your spear
Spring has corance
The flowers are red, the leaves are green The sky clih and pure
You can rest when you’re in the palace in the sky So, dry that cup of ith alirl with black hair that you love, with flowers sewn to her dress—”
Elder Sister Maid: “The flowers are red, the leaves are green—”
Disciple Bard: “Yeah”
Elder Sister Maid: “What a splendid song I love it veryso beautiful on this earth”
Disciple Bard: “This is the kind of song that can rown man cry when he’s drunk”
Elder Sister Maid: “Hahahaha”
Disciple Bard: “It’s spring”
Elder Sister Maid: “This is a fairly poor area Spring is usually the tih the harvest hasn’t been bad, due to various reasons, the price of wheat has been dropping At least now, because it’s spring, at the very worst, people can go into the forest to pick , or even beans However, because they cannot preserve the food, they may have to starve later This can last until autu of hunger”
Disciple Bard: “…That sounds tough”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yeah”
Disciple Bard: “Why is it so tough?”
Elder Sister Maid: “…”
Disciple Bard: (Why do I feel such a tightness in h they aren’t friends of us Demons…)
Elder Sister Maid: “We can already see the city gate”
———- The Kingdo the Road
Gatekeeper: “Don’t make any trouble”
Disciple Bard: “Yes, of course” Smiles
Elder Sister Maid: “Thank you”
Walking on…
Elder Sister Maid shudders
Disciple Bard: “What is it?”
Elder Sister Maid: “No, it’s at ti for really long”
Disciple Bard: “Ah, that I don’t know very much about this place but bards like us travel a lot If you don’t travel, you can’t really get inspiration So I suppose I am used to it”
Elder Sister Maid: “I see”
Disciple Bard: “Shall we stay in the city tonight?”
Elder Sister Maid: “U some money first, but…”
Disciple Bard: “What will you do?”
Elder Sister Maid: “I was thinking of being a scribe”
Disciple Bard: “A scribe?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yes, writing on behalf of other people… There aren’t a lot of people who knorite Apart frootiations”
Disciple Bard: “Negotiations?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yeah, a scribe usually writes letters or books but sos which ordinary people don’t deal with on a daily basis For example, when people have requests they want to convey to the Lords, of course I help in drafting the official letters which they send, but apart fro for the official negotiations Sometimes, I also have to read the replies of old women who have written letters to their sonsdispatched far aithin the ar romantic love letters too”
Disciple Bard: “Love letters! I think I should be rather good at those!”
Elder Sister Maid: “Then perhaps we can write those together”
Disciple Bard: “Indeed! It see a scribe needs quite a lot of different expertise, doesn’t it? You know quite a lot, then”
Elder Sister Maid: “I suppose so I realised that on my travels”
Disciple Bard: “I see, it’s good that you can So ill you do now?”
Elder Sister Maid: “I’ to look for a church, and start froood-sized church”
Disciple Bard: “It’s not very big, though?”
Elder Sister Maid: “If it’s too big, then I would have to compete with all the other scribe in the city I think that one is just the right size”
Disciple Bard: “Hmm”
Knock, knock
Elder Sister Maid: “Excuse me, are you from the Church?”
Priest: “Yes, I am”
Elder Sister Maid: “I a scholar I would like to pray at the church and alsoto be allowed to work here as a scribe at least for tonight This isbard”
The Disciple Bard bows
Priest: “Two beautiful, young ladies I understand The home of the Spirit is open to you both”
Elder Sister Maid: “Thank you very much This is just a little bit, but I hope it can help to express soratitude”
Coins jingle…
Priest: “Thank you Much appreciated! There is an old but sturdy wooden table over there where you may do your work”
Elder Sister Maid: “Thank you”
Priest: “Miss…”
Disciple Bard: “Yes?”
Priest: “I have never seen such a colour of hair before May I inquire where…”
Elder Sister Maid: “She comes from a place very far to the Northeast They’re a people who love to sing and dance in the forests… The Dryad people, if I’?”
The Disciple Bard nods
Priest: “I see…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Having come from very far ae believers are like lost sheep The charity of the Spirit is always shown to travellers like ourselves”
Priest: “…Well, very good Please work hard”
Elder Sister Maid: “Thank you very much”
Walks away
Disciple Bard: “Hey, umm…”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yes?”
Disciple Bard: “You were really smooth back there Are you some kind of nobility?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Ahh… One of ht this to me”
Disciple Bard: “Brothers?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Yes, ht thes I came to know them as my brothers”
Disciple Bard: “I see… That seems very familiar”
Elder Sister Maid: “Does it?”
Disciple Bard: “And that thing about the Dryads just now…”
Elder Sister Maid: “In any case, we seeise to the Spirit later But it seee based on where you come from and not on who you are Surely the Spirit will be understanding Your hair is a splendid shade of autueous and very exotic looking He must have been surprised by it, don’t worry too much”
Disciple Bard: “Umm Don’t tell me…”
Old Woet someone to write this for me?”
Elder Sister Maid: “Ah A customer”
Disciple Bard: “What should I do?”
Elder Sister Maid: “You could go get custo music to calm everybody down”
Disciple Bard: “Understood”
Elder Sister Maid: “Let’s get to work!”
———— The Construction Works at the Portal
Disciple Engineer: “How is it?”
Fiend Builder: “No problems up to number six!”
Labourer: “Bridge nued”
Giant Builder: “The stone bridge… has crumbled…”
Disciple Engineer: “Is anybody injured?”
Fiend Builder: “They’re resting at the dormitories but apart from a few knocks and some minor cuts, it seems everybody is fine”
Labourer: “Thank the Spirit”
Giant Builder: “Yeah…”
Disciple Engineer: “It’s great that ere informed quickly by the Fairies”
Fiend Builder: “The bridges are fine but the venue is all messed up”
Labourer: “This wasn’t designed for such a large arh”
Giant Builder: “We’re… still not… finished”
Disciple Engineer: “Alright! Let’s pack up!”
Fiend Builder: “Eh?”
Labourer: “But the sun is still high up in the sky?!”
Disciple Engineer: “We’ll continue tomorrow I’m sure this news ed Merchant should know about it Let’s go have a meal Don’t let our spirits be dampened!”
Fiend Builder: “Yes”
Disciple Engineer: “Return to the dormitories Let’s have dinner outside today Make soe hotpot Make sure to add lots ofthree drinks for everybody!”
Labourer: “Ohh! How generous, my Lord!”
Giant Builder: “Got it… Thank you!”
Disciple Engineer: “Alright, leave everything you can’t carry by hand I’o see the injured people”
Fiend Builder: “Understood!”
Labourer: “Let’s go!”
Giant Builder: “Then… I’ll carry the carriage”
Walks off
Disciple Engineer: (Alright… I can’t let theot work to do Take a break and everything will start again toes… but the Demons of the Pale are headed to the surface… Hey, Disciple Bard What are you doing now? Are you alright? Don’t go crazy I hope you find what you were looking for…)
————- The Winter Palace, the Study
The Lone Winter King: “What?! In just one night…”
Seneschal: “That can’t be…”
Messenger: “My Lord, the City of White Night has fallen”
The Lone Winter King: “I know it has You o”
Messenger: “Yes!”
Runs off
The Lone Winter King: “…”
Seneschal: “Your Majesty, I will dom of Ice We will defend the Tripartite Union”
The Lone Winter King: “Too late”
Seneschal: “Eh?”
The Lone Winter King: “Attendant! Get a fast horse!”
Attendant: “Yes!”
The Lone Winter King: “Send a ! Tell the Scholar that the Kingdoht has fallen to the Deo now!”
The Lone Winter King: “Seneschal!”
Seneschal: “Yes!”
The Lone Winter King: “I will lead 150 cavalryo to the Palace of metal The Headquarters of the Tripartite Union is dom of Metal Under these circumstances, if we don’t keep a sufficient distance between the frontline and the headquarters, ill certainly perish We cannot afford to lose any tianise the city watch, reduce the guard to its minimum I want a force of 1,500 infantry men prepared”
Seneschal: “Yes!”
The Lone Winter King: “Once you’ve prepared the force,will that take?”
Seneschal: “We will be able to move in three days”
The Lone Winter King: “Hurry it up It’s still spring so keep the equipht Leave all supply matters to the Disciple Merchant Have the soldiers take the doanise a few cavalry units as scouting units”
Seneschal: “Understood!”
The Lone Winter King: “I will be heading to the Kingdom of Metal Make sure we stay in contact!”
Seneschal: “Yes!”
Attendant: “Understood!”
The Lone Winter King: “Demons… Just what does this all mean”
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Explanation
Supply: In the military, this refers to the provision of food and ammunition to the frontlines In order for these to be done, nificant a supply units
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