Chapter 146
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Of course, problematic individuals aren’t limited to magical nobility.
Many are adventurers who use their clan names as leverage or come from prestigious noble families. In such cases, the responsibility for supervising these troublemakers is delegated to the coordinators of their respective organizations.
However, it’s not realistic to expect everyone to return to the front lines without complaint in such a short time.
The latter group mentioned earlier—adventurers from noble families—prove to be just as difficult to manage as the pure nobility magical families like Ambitious who adhere to strict aristocratic principles.
Unfortunately, the total number of these challenging personnel exceeds one hundred. After much deliberation, Purume and the others in charge of the Virtuous front decide to assign trusted individuals as overseers for these problematic members to keep them in line.
Even then, those who slip through the cracks end up under Purume’s care, resulting in the creation of an unusually large party of thirty people.
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A cumbersome thirty-person party.
Or rather, given its size, it’s no longer just a party but more accurately a small unit.
Leading this group to continue exploring and eliminating Fog as before isn’t impossible, but it’s extremely difficult and inefficient.
Many understand this, but they don’t question Purume about it.
Purume is the top member of the Greeneyes Guild, which has long protected the area around the royal capital from the Mirror Dungeon. They realize that she must have some plan in mind, even without explicitly stating it.
And their assumption is correct.
Purume has already recognized that the balance is tipping significantly.
The rate of Fog proliferation reported far exceeds expectations. Data also shows two instances where Fog began to multiply rapidly. She anticipates that if this timing occurs once or twice more, the balance will easily collapse.
This prediction isn’t wrong; in fact, it’s quite accurate.
The timing of Fog’s rapid multiplication coincides with when the Sealed Dungeons manifested in Noble transferred large amounts of their power to Virtuous. More precisely, the first instance was when Yamada destroyed the Modified Crystal Doll, and the second was when Omi destroyed the Modified Angel.
Even without knowing these facts, Purume understands that all the Virtuous front can do is hold out until Omi, Ichiro, and the others who entered the Sealed Dungeon in Noble manage to destroy the Sealed Dungeon—or rather, the Sealed Domain.
And so, she resolves to make use of this thirty-person party for the large-scale Fog invasion that will surely come tomorrow, the day after, or sometime soon.
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The next day, the sixth day.
Early that morning.
Purume wakes up the troublemakers she had gathered in one place the previous day and forcibly takes them to the guild’s training hall.
「Klein, you’re certainly strong. But there’s always someone stronger if you look up. Of course, I’m one of them. So—」
Purume addresses Klein, who lies at her feet.
「If you have any complaints, wait until you surpass me, will you?」
Her words aren’t directed at Klein alone.
The members of her party gathered there understand this and turn pale.
Klein, who had eagerly accepted Purume’s challenge to a duel, is now battered all over, whimpering at Purume’s words filled with killing intent.
「No response, huh? Then, let’s continue.」
Purume’s killing intent isn’t fake. Klein’s instincts tell him this. In fact, Purume no longer cares if he dies. He was a particularly dangerous element, and his death would serve as an example to the remaining personnel.
「I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll do as you say! Please forgive me!」
The pitiful Klein prostrates himself in apology.
However, Purume looks up at the sky.
「Ah, no, actually you don’t need to apologize anymore.」
「Huh?」 Klein lets out a nasal sound.
「I’ve been getting pretty irritated for a while now.」
Mana builds up around Purume.
Although the personnel gathered here are capable individuals in their own right, they tremble speechlessly in the face of Purume’s overwhelming power.
「To boost everyone’s morale, I’ve decided you’ll have to suffer an unfortunate accident. So you don’t need to apologize anymore.」
Her mana, known as Blue Flame, flickers blue.
Someone tries to flee the training hall, following their survival instinct.
「I’ll kill you if you run.」
Purume throws these words filled with killing intent at them.
Blue Flame rises to cover the door.
「I’ll kill you no matter what. I’ll definitely kill you. If you still want to run, don’t think you’ll be able to sleep soundly from now on.」
At her genuine threat, some fall to their knees, while others scream.
「Klein, you were saying something earlier, weren’t you? Something about Ambitious?」
Klein desperately shakes his head, fluids flowing from every orifice on his face as he stammers, 「N-no, that’s not true!」
「’Are you going to make an enemy of Ambitious?’ was it? My Blue Flame won’t leave even bones behind, so no one will know.」
Blue Flame appears in Purume’s left eye.
「And if by chance it’s found out and becomes troublesome, I’ll just burn Ambitious and all their relatives to ashes.」
「S-sorry, sorry, who, who’s, I-I…」
Klein envisions his own death.
The extreme fear makes him lose strength in his lower body. He feels the warm sensation of wetting himself but feels no shame at all.
「P-please, n-no…」
More than anything, the approaching—
「Just kidding.」
Purume dispels her mana and smiles at the group.
「This was just a demonstration with the first person. Above all, he apologized sincerely from the bottom of his heart.」
Several people in the group look relieved.
「You there, the one who looks relieved.」
Purume points at a female adventurer.
「You’re next.」
The designated female adventurer declares, 「Do you know who my father is?! You think you can get away with this?!」 but Purume glances at her and mutters, 「Is that your way of saying hello? Then I guess I should greet you too,」 before calling out to Klein.
「Bring her over here.」
Klein nods his head violently up and down like a ventriloquist’s dummy placed on a massage chair, stammering, 「Y-y-yes, y-yes!」
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For swordsmen with swords, for mages with magic, Purume demonstrates her abilities to all the personnel entrusted to her.
Klein, who was particularly targeted, is dragged out in front of Purume not just once or twice, but multiple times.
Although they were initially defiant, by the time noon comes around, everyone has become Purume’s friend.
They eagerly listen to her instructions and, above all, make following them their highest priority. Among them, Klein has become her best friend. Now, he’s willing to bet his life for Purume.
After everyone becomes friendly and takes a short break, it happens. As expected, a report comes in about Fog-saturated areas, along with a request for large-scale reinforcements.
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