Side Story: Fran and Kune 01

Two months had passed since our battle with the Evil God Fragments.

「Look, the ocean!」

「Woof!」

『I guess we’re pretty far north. The waves here look way more intense than Bulbora.』

Once again, we had returned to the Kingdom of Raydoss. Well, I suppose they won’t be a “kingdom” for very long.

The details had yet to be decided, but Raydoss as a country was going to be dismantled.

The divine punishment was probably the main factor behind that decision. No one wanted to keep around the country responsible for misusing the Evil God Fragments. Some sort of international conference was held, and the dismantling of Raydoss passed with unanimous approval, even from Kareid, the King of Raydoss.

Apparently, even the people of Raydoss preferred to cut their losses rather than desperately clinging onto their old government. That way would probably get them foreign aid faster.

Just goes to show how dire the situation in the Raydoss had become. Their food production was especially bad. Much of the farmland was concentrated in the east and the south. With all of that devastated, they had barely anything left to harvest.

Approximately 70% of nation’s territory had been reduced to a barren wasteland. It would be no exaggeration to call them utterly annihilated. They stood literally no chance of recovering on their own.

Most of the surviving regions will be managed with support from neighboring countries like Kranzel, Belioth, and Phyllius. However, where and how much territory will be ceded has yet to be determined.

That said, some things had already been decided. First and foremost, the re-establishment of the Adventurers Guild.

The guild had already sent advanced teams to the surviving towns, setting the groundwork for makeshift branches. Such quick footwork would be unthinkable for a large nation. As expected of the organization in charge of the generally impatient adventurers. They move quickly from decision to action.

Northern Raydoss, which maintained much of its military force, has also begun accepting adventurers. The relationship between Raydoss and the adventurers has nowhere to go but up.

「Black Lightning Princess-dono! We’ve been waiting for you!」

「Are you from the guild?」

「Yes. I am Cotton, and I have been assigned as the manager of this branch.」

As we walked through the port towards the guild branch, a man ran up to greet us.

Apparently, he couldn’t wait to meet us.

「Nn. I’m Fran. This is Urushi. And this sword is Master.」

「Woof!」

『Nice to meet you.』

Hearing my voice via telepathy apparently gave Cotton a delight.

「Oh! So you’re the rumored Intelligence Weapon!」

Well, I suppose I am a divine sword as well as an Intelligence Weapon. Now that everyone knows me, my popularity is immense.

In fact, I’ve been bombarded with so many people trying to talk to me, that I had to draw the line at replying to only fellow adventurers.

The scholars and researchers got especially annoying. They kept asking detailed questions forever and ever, and a lot of them acted all high and mighty.

Oh, but I guess drunken adventurers were probably equally annoying. I had to hold back on smacking them since they weren’t acting out of spite.

Lately, I’ve taken to pretending to be asleep with the excuse of “conserving energy”.

「Let’s go to the branch for now. I’ll give you more details about the request there.」

「Nn. Got it.」

「North Conquest Duke-dono will be sending an associate as well. She may be a bit unusual, but do not worry about her character.」

「?」

That’s essentially saying, “she’s not a bad person, so please bear with it if she does something to bother you”, right? Who could it be…?

Well, I suppose many consider Fran as a bit violent. He probably just wanted to avoid her getting into a conflict with an important figure from this area.

In that case, you’d generally want to give the request to someone more fitting, but that’s actually quite difficult. They would need to find someone with no political background, a good relationship with Kranzel, outstanding combat skills, and finally, well-known in Raydoss.

Considering those factors, Fran was easily the best adventurer to dispatch to Raydoss.

I can also understand why the guild has to be so cautious about the North Conquest Duke and his affiliates.

A country that has weakened itself to this point would normally be torn apart by its neighbors. However, Raydoss has yet to face complete destruction.

Why do the neighboring countries refrain from invading the vulnerable Raydoss? Because of the might of Northern Raydoss.

The Northern Knights displayed their strength in the battle against the Evil God Fragments, and they were clearly stronger than any of the other knight orders.

Perhaps the Demon Knights of Phyllius would be stronger in terms of individual combat prowess, and Kranzel knights had the advantage in numbers. But when you consider both quality and quantity, the Northern Knights had no match.

Moreover, the North Conquest Duke didn’t bring all of the knights under his command. Apparently, he has another elite unit called the Northern Punishment Knights, who are tasked with maintaining internal security and conducting criminal investigations.

Northern Raydoss was also home to the survivors of the Red Knights like Sibylla, as well as Kareid, who still has a divine sword. In terms of military strength alone, they’re already comparable to a large nation.

As a side note, there doesn’t seem to be any talk of seizing Kareid’s divine sword. Apparently, the reasoning is that the gods decide who owns the divine swords, so mere mortals should not interfere.

Unlike Alpha and Berserk, which are owned by their countries, Chariot seems to be tied to lineage.

Essentially, it is a possession of the royal family. I thought there might be talks of seizing it as compensation for war damages, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I guess the threat of divine punishment is just that frightening.

「Who is this “associate”?」

「She is a young lady. Oh, and I believe she is a black cat, the same race as you.」

「Really?」

That tidbit got Fran interested. After all, her lifelong goal was to lift the curse on the black cat race.

For that, we would need the assistance of many powerful black cats. If this person works for the North Conquest Duke, she must be pretty strong.

「I’m looking forward to meeting her.」

「Woof!」

Hopefully she’s a nice girl and not a weirdo――No, I won’t ask for that much! Just please be someone who gets along with Fran!

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