After assigning administrative tasks to the Pharaoh, some free time opened up.
With this newfound ease, Besk was able to pay attention to the affairs within the Academy, and thanks to that, preparations were proceeding smoothly…
“Where did the Pharaoh go?”
“He’s resting.”
The one actually handling the administrative duties from his seat was someone else.
A woman wearing a golden hawk mask.
She was dressed in the attire from the Pharaoh’s empire and answered with a stiff demeanor while flipping through piles of paper.
Documents were quickly stamped with ‘approved’ marks from her hands.
That must have been directly ordered by the Pharaoh as well.
When I asked that, she shook her head.
“That’s originally my job, after all.”
“Hmm…”
‘Serrek.’
A powerful figure known as the Pharaoh’s left hand, he was once deeply involved in all intermediary trade, so much so that the saying among the kingdoms was, “To win the Pharaoh’s favor, first win Serrek’s favor.”
“Of course, he lost his life to the demon race.”
The Pharaoh, who valued relationships with humans, was likely influenced by her during that chaos.
“Speaking of which, it’s been a while. Did the Pharaoh summon you directly?”
“Yes. Under the Pharaoh’s power, I was able to awaken once again.”
“How long will it last?”
“It’s not very long. But I can endure it for the working hours.”
Serrek was an entity whose soul had been half-destroyed by the demon race.
The Pharaoh managed to bind her soul to his own, just as I did, but summoning her was a challenge by itself.
After all, even the Pharaoh had lost his physical body and was living as a statue—what about Serrek?
“……”
Her body was entirely made of sand.
“May I say something?”
“It’s fine. I prefer it this way.”
“I don’t think that’s the case.”
Due to the characteristics of the Space of Despair, summoning souls should be impossible.
It was the first time she had awakened, after all.
Wouldn’t it seem unfair to make her work right after waking up from thousands of years of slumber?
As I said that, the hawk mask trembled slightly.
“…I never expected Lady Lily to say that.”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, never mind. Anyway, I’ve taken care of all the administrative issues. If any more problems arise, the Emperor will handle them.”
“But seriously, you two are really nothing?”
“……”
There were definitely rumors about something going on between the two.
There was a lot of talk.
But the Pharaoh and Serrek both didn’t give a definite answer.
The Pharaoh had quite a few wives and concubines at that time, but Serrek wasn’t one of them.
Tap, tap.
She finished gathering the papers and pushed them to one side.
“It’s not like there’s anything going on. And.”
“And?”
“…Even if there is, it would just be my misunderstanding.”
Even if she claimed to be the only one summoned after thousands of years, pushing aside the numerous others around the Pharaoh.
This too would just be a misunderstanding.
“…Ugh, this is frustrating.”
I left the Pharaoh’s office.
■
“It’s nothing between us.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because it’s nothing.”
The statue, ready for completion, was being surveyed by the Pharaoh wearing a golden mask.
The auditorium of the academy was finally finished.
Soon enough, the students would start to trickle in one by one.
“I don’t know what you heard from Serrek, but I only asked for the usual administrative work. It’s what I normally do, so what—”
“Asked?”
“…I commanded.”
The golden mask trembled slightly.
Seeing this makes it evident that they are indeed quite similar.
“By the way, when are we going to conquer the desert?”
“Once things stabilize a bit. I’ve been putting a lot of effort into the academy, and I can’t just jump into it all of a sudden, can I?”
“Why not just postpone teaching those rookie kids?”
“No way. Every second counts.”
With the new year arriving, there were less than four months until the Kraken would show up again.
It was essential to raise the overall level of the users by then.
“Is that octopus really going to try to kill everyone?”
“It wouldn’t be impossible. It’ll be dangerous if it comes out.”
“Hm… But what does it matter? This place isn’t even next to the sea.”
Even if the Kraken is powerful, its strength is limited to the ocean.
On land, the Kraken doesn’t wield much power.
“Coming from someone who created the desert with a mere stomp, that’s pretty rich.”
“…Creating the sea, huh. That’s quite infuriating.”
The Pharaoh openly displayed his displeasure.
For the Emperor of the Desert, the sea was an unnecessary element.
Naturally, it was something that should be rejected, and the same would go for the Kraken.
“Indeed, I must stop it.”
“I don’t really care about anything.”
“Lasty.”
The neatly dressed Lasty stepped onto the podium.
Today’s outfit leaned more towards that of a professor rather than a princess.
“You still look young, though.”
“Isn’t it cute?”
“Because it’s young.”
“Among us, you’re the oldest—”
Crack!
The Power of Blood melds the statue and the floor into one.
“Quiet.”
“…That’s pretty lame.”
“Have you two been messing around for thousands of years?”
“We haven’t been playing.”
“That bloodsucker just slept. It hasn’t been awake for even 300 years.”
So basically, it means the Pharaoh spent thousands of years staring blankly alone.
“…Should I ease the use of your soul?”
“Now of all times?”
“Then we could play with Serrek a bit more. It’s easier to use power in the Space of Despair than here.”
“Better not let it loose.”
Hmm.
I observe the Pharaoh closely.
Lasty nods and looks closely at the Pharaoh too.
“Doesn’t it seem like he’s embarrassed?”
“I’ve sometimes heard the Pharaoh mumbling about Serrek… Serrek…”
“Oh my.”
“Really?”
“When did that happen?”
“Did it really happen?”
“Yeah. I think he thought I was asleep. He was causing quite a ruckus.”
“Whoa.”
“…These damn things.”
The Pharaoh’s golden mask trembles like boiling steam, stirring up a sandstorm.
Ah, I just cleaned here.
“Hey, why are you stirring up sand here?”
“Right? Do you know how hard it is for the person who cleans this place?”
“…Damn. When will the other guys come in?”
The Pharaoh walks with heavy steps and sits against the wall.
He seems pretty sulky.
‘Other monsters…’
“Should we gather them one by one again?”
“It wouldn’t hurt. But I don’t know if they’re alive.”
“For now, one is here.”
The hammer I obtained, the crab monster Karabus, which resides in the Red Devourer.
Now that the restrictions of the Blue-Red Stone have nearly worn off, I could awaken it and materialize it right now if I wanted to.
However…
“I don’t think we should summon it now.”
“I think so too, sis. It would surely act out since it’s probably found someone to rely on.”
“I can hear everything.”
That’s true, but there’s a fundamental reason we can’t summon Karabus.
Karabus hails from the sea, specifically the ‘abyss.’
In a situation where the Kraken is on the verge of awakening, Karabus’s presence could become a liability.
“That crab is such a fickle little thing, it might just turn against the Kraken.”
“That’s true.”
“Plus, you really don’t like it.”
The monsters I’ve captured fall into three categories.
One consists of monsters with their own backstories.
Like Myeosin, who had to choose the fate of the tortured Lasty and her kind.
This case doesn’t dislike me much; rather, it even likes me in some ways.
I don’t dislike it; in fact, I even like certain aspects of it.
“That’s true.”
“Right?”
“Yeah, so can you stop being so formal now?”
The second group is the monsters that rampaged due to specific triggers.
They’re like the Pharaoh, who lost his empire and is trying to reclaim past glory.
They dislike me, but to some extent, they do agree with or understand my thoughts.
“I don’t agree, though. I don’t understand either.”
And the last one.
“I told you I don’t agree!”
Just mindless monsters running amok.
They’re the ones who were beaten up by the Demon or Celestial races, then took their anger out on humans at the retaliation castle.
They hold bad feelings towards me.
They don’t just ‘dislike’ me like the Pharaoh; they outright hate me as a whole.
“Still, at least Karabus is a gentleman compared to them.”
“…Huh? That idiot is a gentleman?”
Lasty showed a puzzled reaction, but it’s true.
“Among them, there were monsters that actively kill, right?”
“Ah, those trash.”
They go beyond just the retaliation castle and use all sorts of means to wipe everything out.
I wish they would try those plans on the Celestials or Demons, but they’re smart enough to never try and only prey on weak races like humans.
They can really be considered low-quality monsters.
“…So when are those rookie punks coming?”
The Pharaoh clutched his mask as if he was getting a headache.
While chatting, it seems like time is almost up.
“I’ll start calling them one by one now.”
“I’m a little excited.”
“I’m not.”
“Lasty.”
“Why?”
“What happened to Candy Star?”
I thought she was going to get checked out.
When I checked earlier since there was still time, it didn’t seem like she was touched at all.
Lasty shook her head while going “aaah~.”
“She tried about three times or so, and thinking there was no answer, she gave up. I think we need to call her later separately.”
“She gave up?”
“Yeah. Actually, Yena was the one making a bigger fuss.”
Candy Star… no, Choco gave up.
That’s a bit of an unexpected result.
Given Choco’s personality, I didn’t think she’d give up so quickly.
Did something happen?
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