Volume 5 Chapter 4.5

Volume 5 Chapter 4.5

Translator: Reflet

「I’ve certainly seen this before, but in organizations like schools or companies, any parties directly involved making any sort of move risks the situation blowing up, and yet staying on the outskirts and speaking up is never good either.」

「That’s right. Well, this time around it seems like it’ll end after it turns into a conflict between cliques, ‘n at worst we pull Lime ‘n the others outta there if it seems like they’re gettin’ turned into leaders, so when the goin’ gets tough we have a super easy plan, thank goodness.」

「Maybe it’s fine for us, but isn’t it going to be a different story for the headmaster who has to deal with the aftermath?」

「Still, that’s part of their objective so we gotta have ‘em clear that one up. In the first place, outsiders like us ain’t obligated to stick around with the school’s reform or the factional disputes ‘n push it all on little girls who ain’t even ten years old. We ain’t got the duty nor the responsibility.」

Hiroshi said something quite irresponsible, but no one bothered to counter him, since inexperienced outsiders sticking around till the chaos dissipated not only was practically useless, but in fact could probably lead to more unnecessary chaos. They really couldn’t say that sticking around longer was worth it if it meant pushing a burden on Lime, but then again, if they took Lime out right now then it was doubtful anyone would allow Azuma Workshop to have authority or the right to say anything as outsiders.

In the end, other than Hiroshi’s claim that they could afford to slightly sully their reputation for being irresponsible, there were basically no other preventive measures open to them. Even if their reputation got a scratch on it, it was doubtful that the three western kingdoms would care in the slightest, plus Azuma Workshop’s technology and influence was not so small that the higherups of other countries would oppose them simply based off one thing like this.

In other words, this so-called damage to Hiroshi and the others was really lacking.

「Well, Makoto-san’s side of things is fine as is, so how about you, Bro?」

「Well, I’m not sure what to say…Sadly, I only organized some folklore at best.」

「Oh, and what kind would that be?」

「Let’s see…three instances where players were definitely here. One of said incidents is a different item from what we couldn’t find in the Farlane archives. I also got ahold of one about a shut-in mage who probably had the most influence, and then a player who seems to have been sent over here along with him, and some pieces of evidence.」

「Ohhh, I see.」

Tatsuya summarized what he had found after over a half a year of searching. Picking up this info from such a bountiful collection of documents on these incidents that players possibly caused was something he couldn’t quite make progress on by himself.

「Well, either way, the number of people is set in stone and I got a rough understanding of the folklore.」

「How many people were there total?」

「Precisely 20 people including us. Markt, who we found recently, counts as one, and then three or four others that are established. The other seven, I am currently trying to substantiate. Then again, this is over a span of a thousand years, so it’s taking time to make progress, as you’d expect.」

Hearing about this gap of over a thousand years, Hiroshi and the others gaped in amazement. A thousand years was not the kind of scope you could dismiss as a time difference.

「To think we came that far apart is just rough mate……」

「Seriously. To think we all managed to gather here within half a year.」

「I’m unsure if we should be thankful for that miracle or grumble about being thrown over here in the first place. So difficult to choose.」

Not a single person countered Tatsuya and Haruna’s comments regarding over a thousand years passing.

「So there you have it. It’ll take a bit longer.」

「Ok. Also, Bro, are ya lookin’ into the divine beast-related stuff?」

「I did do a light skim in the regular section, but not only are there not enough examples, there are way too many documents. In fact, there wasn’t any uniformity with the appearance and abilities of the divine beasts, not even from what I investigated in the regular section. So even with proper searching, I’ll have you know the data’s incredibly sketchy.」

「That right. Then I guess we gotta wait for that.」

「At least that’s what I figured. Well, Hiro, I’ll be getting your help tomorrow, so I’m sure the info on the players will be gathered soon enough. After that, it should be fine, right?」

「Yup.」

Once again, no one seemed to have any objections to Tatsuya’s decision. This conversation had determined their course of action for the next day.

「Then once we eat dinner, how ‘bout you make a boat, Haruna-san?」

「Okay. How long should it take?」

「Well, we got all the materials, just gotta process ‘em, so I think it’ll end after a week of gradual work little by little.」

「Mm, okay. I’ll do my best.」

Despite tomorrow being opening day, Hiroshi and the others had an odd composure to them.

At the same time, in a certain room.

「Ugh, they’re such a vexing bunch……!」

The head chef in Rufeus Academy’s cafeteria spat out spitefully. His hands were gripping the account book from the last few days.

「Can we not just eliminate them like we’ve always done!?」

With an awful look on his face, the head chef called to the other unpleasant-looking man, who shook his head.

「Unfortunately, there appears to be a lot of people watching us this time. If we try anything before they begin business, I can easily see the garrison leaping over here.」

「Damn it! I’m seriously pissed!」

When he heard that response, the head chef took his anger out on the table as he ranted.

「Could we at least stop them from selling their breads at the school store?」

Briefly clamoring his egotistical rhetoric, the head chef finally calmed down and asked another man who had a slightly tidy appearance; the airs of an official.

「No, that’s probably impossible. Unfortunately, there was already plenty of demand for the bread, so unless food poisoning or something related occurs, I doubt there will be any self-imposed control over the sales.」

「Then what if we drug the bread?」

「That’s also difficult. The current system for bread selling is taking it out after an order is placed, and the delivery of goods is in sealed, anti-rot bags. Most importantly, that man in question made a suggestion to not only wrap each bread individually and seal them, but also has made them in a way that you can know immediately if one of them is not sealed, so any outer tampering will immediately be clear.」

「Can we apply pressure to the bread shop?」

「For the same reason we can’t try anything with the school store, I think it will be difficult.」

「How seriously annoying this is!」

Hearing that they already had a firm preventive measure in place, the head chef spat out with hatred enough to kill someone.