When Yuichiro woke up the next morning, several craftsmen had already gathered downstairs. The sturdy craftsmen looked up with a slightly nervous look on their faces at Yuichiro and Temeraire as they both descended the stairs.
“Good morning, Goddess-sama,” Giselle started the conversation. Instead of the armor that Yuichiro saw him wear a few hours ago, Giselle was dressed in layers of pale wisteria-colored veils. Yuichiro stretched his arms over his head, stretching his back while giving a short nod. The craftsmen exchanged quiet murmurs as they looked at each other. They had probably heard that the goddess was a man beforehand, but when they saw Yuichiro, they couldn’t believe it was a middle-aged man goddess.
Yuichiro took his time observing the craftsmen. The craftsmen immediately looked embarrassed and averted their gaze. Only one person, however, looked him straight in the eyes. The individual was a young man with a fresh, youthful appearance. His pure white hair was tied in a single knot at the back of his neck, similar to a sparrow’s tail. He also wore a bandana around his brow to keep his hair out of his eyes.
“As you have wished, I have assembled a group of men who are skilled in steelmaking. They are among the best in Am Abbey.”
Yuichiro nodded his head in agreement to Giselle’s introduction. When he looked at the young craftsman who was staring at him, the young man stepped forward. “This is the first time we’ve met, Goddess-sama. My name is Kandara Nao. I’m the chief of the Steel Guild in Am Abbey,” his voice sounded low and clear. Once Kandara stopped speaking, he stared at Yuichiro again, as if waiting for a reaction. Afterward, Yuichiro asked, returning that gaze, “Should I call you Kandara? Or Nao?”
“Please address me as Kandara.”
“You are quite a young man for a chief.”
“My late father was my predecessor. He was dubbed the ironmaster of Am Abbey.”
“I see. Are you confident in your skills?”
Kandara’s mouth snickered momentarily at Yuichiro’s extremely offensive question. The smile on Kandara’s face was quite aggressive, which didn’t suit his youthful appearance. “My skills surpass those of my father’s,” he responded.
Yuichiro liked him. Yuichiro’s lips curved into a smile unconsciously. “Very good. “Let’s get down to business,” he said as he placed the AK47 he was carrying on his shoulder on the desk. At that moment, Kandara and the other craftsmen leaned forward to examine the strange object.
“All I’m asking is that you mass produce a gun like this one, or something similar.”
“This… Is it from Goddess-sama’s world?”
“Yes. Is it possible?”
Kandara’s lips curled in thought in response to Yuichiro’s direct question. He looked at the AK47 as if it were a foe of his parents.
“First of all, allow me to grasp the gun’s structure. May I touch it?”
Yuichiro nodded back, and Kandara carefully touched the AK47.
“The firepower is…”
“It’s a piston powered by compressed gas,” Yuichiro replied without hesitation, adding, “It has a load capacity of 30 rounds.”
“30 rounds!” Kandara exclaimed in surprise. The craftsmen around him were astounded as well. Kandara then muttered in a gravelly voice that can neither be described as frustration nor fear, “The maximum number of rounds in the gun we are currently making is only five.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“—That’s not enough,” Yuichiro interjected, then added, “We absolutely need to strengthen our weapons in order to defeat the enemy. If we are losing in terms of rapid fire, shooting speed, and number of weapons, we must overwhelm them in terms of performance. Kandara, do you understand what I want?”
Kandara averted his gaze for a moment from Yuichiro, who slightly cocked his head. His face was filled with trepidation. Silence ensued. In the next moment, one of the craftsmen broke the silence with a trembling voice, “If we make such a thing in large quantities, this country will…” his words cut off midway. All of the craftsmen fixed their gaze on Yuichiro as if he were a monster.
Yuichiro laughed, and a faint smile lingered on his lips. He had intended to ask them, ‘So, what’s wrong with it?’ In general, he didn’t care what happened to this country or the rest of the world as a result of the weapon he brought from his own world. It didn’t matter if the new weapon killed tens of thousands or hundreds of millions of people. It didn’t matter to him whether or not the world’s history had changed.
After a while, Kandara slowly opened his mouth, “When we previously developed a new type of gun, our distant predecessor was called ‘Azel’ by the common people.”
“?” Yuichiro tilted his head and Temeraire, who was standing quietly diagonally behind him, casually added ‘It means ‘the unforgivable’.”
Kandara threw a downcasted gaze and spoke in a hushes voice, “If I make this weapon, I’ll be called as ‘Azel’ as well.”
“Are you afraid?”
“—No,” Kandara’s answer came unexpectedly. The young man repeatedly saying ‘no’ clearly and raised his head. A pair of blazing eyes were fixated on Yuichiro. “Whether I’m Azel or not, it’s an honor to be able to contribute to the salvation of this country. For the sake of my country and Goddess-sama, I will do everything in my power,” Kandara said before kneeling and prostrating. Despite their bewilderment, the craftsmen followed Kandara’s lead and knelt down as well. Yuichiro, on the other hand, quietly squinted his eyes as he gazed down at Kandara’s whorl.
“I’ll entrust this gun to you. Keep me informed of your progress.”
“I understand.”
“From now on, I’ll kill anyone who sells the weapons and information to the enemy.”
The craftsmen’s shoulders jolted briefly in response to the explicit threat. Giselle, who had been silent until then, raised one hand calmly and said, “Regarding that, I will take full responsibility and supervise them.” Yuichiro then cast a glance at Giselle. Even though what he was saying was extremely disturbing, the man was as bewitchingly beautiful as ever.
“Very well. I hope you will live up to my expectations.”
As Yuichiro concluded his speech, Kandara suddenly looked up. His cheeks were somehow tinged red.
“May I ask you for a favor?”
“What?”
“I would like to touch the hand of Goddess-sama.”
Yuichiro immediately lost his composure, wondering what Kandara was going to say. Later, he threw out one hand despite Temeraire’s piercing gaze on his back. Kandara encircled Yuichiro’s hands in his own as if he were touching something delicate. The back of Yuichiro’s neck twitched as he felt Kandara’s fingers brush against his calloused digits.
“It’s rough,” Kandara said quietly, chuckling. The young man traced Yuichiro’s hand with his fingertips before looking up at him with feverish eyes.
“How many people have Goddess-sama killed so far?” There was not a hint of malice in Kandara’s voice. In fact, the voice was filled with admiration. Nevertheless, Yuichiro felt upset, even if only for a moment. He fought the urge to shake Kandara’s hand.
Yuichiro scowled at him, “What’s the use of counting them?” spitting out remarks.
“What you are about to create will kill far more people than I will. Rejoice, Kandara Nao, you will undoubtedly go down in history as the rare ‘Azel’.” Kandara was unfazed by Yuichiro’s spiteful remark. On the contrary, his eyes were ablaze with even more passion.
“If I am with the Goddess-sama, I am willing to be eternally cursed as ‘Azel’.”
Yuichiro recognized the look of ecstasy in the man’s eyes. It was the same expression as the man who had prostrated himself before Yuichiro in the castle and worshiped him with blind devotion.
[We, who come from the light, couldn’t help but be infatuated with darkness]
Yuichiro suddenly recalled these words. Just as his fingertips were about to tremble faintly, Temeraire grabbed him by his wrists. He was pulled and forcibly separated from both of Kandara’s hands.
“Yuichiro-sama, Goat is calling for you.”
Temeraire had grabbed him by his shoulders and led him out of the room. As they both walked away, Kandara’s voice echoed from behind him.
“I will surely live up to your expectations, Goddess-sama,” the voice echoed and was imbued with muted madness, stirring Yuichiro’s doubts.
[What the hell was I trying to accomplish in this world?]
Outside of the room, Goat and Tyet were both waiting for him. Yuichiro noticed a medium-sized bird perching on Tyet’s arm. The bird’s feathers and beak were greyish white with bright blue eyes.
“A bird,” Yuichiro unexpectedly blurted out like an amazed kindergartener.
“This is a messenger tool resembling a bird kept by Tyet.”
“A fake breasted goshawk?”
When Goat called out “Tyet,” the man stroked the bird’s beak a few times with his index finger. With a snap, the bird immediately opened its beak.
“Am Wallace, enemy attacked at first dawn. Currently under siege. King Noah has gone missing.”
Yuichiro’s body jerked back in surprise at the sight of the bird fluently speaking human language. However, as he comprehended the significance of these words, exasperation welled up from the pit of his stomach. Tyet hurriedly stroked the bird’s beak again while stretching his arm to control the bird that was still talking. The bird’s voice soon died away.
“Is the royal capital under attack?”
“It appears so.”
Yuichiro gave piercing look to Goat’s carefree response. Goat, however, was unbothered and continued in a leisurely tone, “What do you want to do?”
“It’s obvious. We go back.”
“The enemy appears to number more than 50,000 people. In comparison, we only have about 20,000 soldiers against them.”
“So what? Are you telling me to run away?” Yuichiro’s mouth corners twisted menacingly. He then locked his gaze on Goat’s face and pressed his index finger against his chest, saying, “If I run away now, my money will be gone.”
In truth, Yuichiro did not care even if the city was taken hostage or if Noah died, however, he could not bear the thought that everything he had worked for up until now was going to be for free. Ultimately, he was a mercenary. Fighting for money was his job.
Goat snickered as he heard Yuichiro’s vulgar remark. It was a mocking, pity, and sympathetic smile.
“Earlier, I’ve dispatched a messenger bird to the frontier army to request troops. Although they’ll arrive slightly later than us, they will be of some help.”
“If you don’t mind, please use my private troop as well.”
When Yuichiro turned around, he noticed Giselle standing at the door. “Please take as many of the weapons in this city as you need as well,” the man said, a soft smile on his face.
“Then, gunpowder,” Yuichiro muttered quietly, adding, “Have your private soldiers carry as much gunpowder as they can find.”
Giselle’s eyes rounded in amazement at Yuichiro’s instruction for a moment, but then silently bowed his head, “As Goddess-sama commands,” and strode away, most likely to give instructions to his private soldiers. Yuichiro brought his face near Goat’s ear after watching the man’s back as he walked away, whispering, “Can that man be trusted?”
“As of now, I’m not sure. Let’s leave Marcos behind as a watchdog. Marcos is the most trustworthy man I have ever met.”
Yuichiro nodded in response to Goat’s words. He took one look around and said to those around him, “Let’s run.”
Translator’s Notes
I forgot to insert this as t/n pop-up in the chapter, but this is just my personal interpretation behind the name, ‘Azel’. Although the meaning behind Azel is noble in Hebrew, and, in the Old Testament, Azel/Azal referred to a place, in the east of Jerusalem. In contrast, if the word Azel is derived from the word Azazel, it refers to a demon, an evil spirit, or a fallen angel (a.k.a angel of death). Not sure if the original author intended this name to be double-meaning, but it seems fitting in this chapter. While the new weapon is considered a massacre tool for some people, it can also offer salvation for the people of Jeweld who are currently fighting their enemies.
Ccskjs, kbeiv ibnf ab tfjg sbeg mbwwfcar yfibk!
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i hope Giselle is not the enemy.
thanks for the chapter!
This may be late or not received but here is what I have gathered. Each of the characters that have been mentioned ARE historical. Like you said, having two double meanings. Beelzebub, Azel, Marcos, the list goes on for each of the cast. Even Mana is historical. If interested in learning about your t/n here (or if mentioned elsewhere sorry) DO look these up!! -from a history/mythology lorehound.