(This, this place is?)
Calgurio suddenly couldn’t recall what he had been do up till now.
A silver-haired shoujo who looked around 10 years, angelic smile on her face seemed to be working on something.
Looking around, his fallen comrade――whom he was uncertain, but probably Krishna――had the girl’s hand raised over them, and from her palm a rainbow colored light imbuded into them.
After a while, that person――who was Krishna after all――opened his eyes, and their gaze met.
However, he seemed as confused as he was when he had just awakened, and couldn’t comprehend the situation.
The silver haired girl didn’t notice Calgurio and Krishna waking up, and continued on repeatedly with her work.
部屋に集められていた100名程に対し同じ作業を終えた時、ようやく満足そうに頷くと此方を向いた。
When she had completed her work on about 100 individuals in the room, satisfied, she nodded her head and faced Calgurio.
“Yo, you’re awake now? How do you feel? Can you recall your name?”
The girl spoke with a casual tone.
However, no discomfort was felt.
The shoujo’s lovely appearance was one reason, the other being the girl’s presence that quenched any rebellious thought against her.
The perplexed Calgurio looked at his comrades,
「あれ？ 失敗したか？ 術式は完璧だったハズなんだけどな……」
“Huh? Was it a failure? I was certain the ritual was a perfect success……”
The shoujo had a troubled expression on her face.
Apparently, they were subjected to some sort of ritual, but their bodies didn’t feel abnormal.
If he must say something, he couldn’t seem to muster any strength.
After confirming this, suddenly, he recalled they had invaded tempest and are currently at war.
“Whe, where’s the demon? What happened to that red haired demon? Have we survived?”
Shouted Calgurio.
With this statement, the others had finally regained their memories, and realized the abnormality of the current situation.
Certainly, Calgurio and co should have been slain by the Demon Diablo.
Calgurio remembered how all his attacks were in vain, and the demon Diablo with his hands like a sword, pierced and crushed his heart.
That was why Calgurio his situation of being alive.
“Oh, did you remember? Do you remember your name?”
While nodding in reply,
“My name is Calgurio.
Corps captain of the Empire Armored Corps, I was entrusted as the supreme command of this operation.
Since the contents of said operation is classified, I can’t explain about it here, please forgive me.
Besides that, are you the one who saved us?”
He asked going with the flow.
To be able to save them from such a situation, it’s impossible unless she wields great power.
That demon, or more precisely someone with the strength of the lord of demons.
TN note: 悪魔の王 translates into King of Demons, but since 魔王 means Demon Lord, so I used lord instead of king.
その悪魔を前にして自分達を救出可能となると、風の噂に聞く”勇者”しか心当たりが無い。
To be able to save them from such a situations, it could only be the rumored “hero” and no one else.
帝国近衛のNo.1～10ならば可能かも知れないが、一人で出来るかと問われれば疑問が残る。
It might be possible if it’s the Empire’s royal guard No.1~10, but whether they could do it alone was questionable.
Besides, if it was a royal guard he would have recognized her, and Calgurio had no reason to keep it as a secret.
Someone who he didn’t know, she was too strong to be someone unheard of.
“Hm? Operation or whatever, we’re the ones who annihilated your army you know?
Since it looks like you misunderstood something I’ll give you an explanation, you’re all already dead.
Or rather, didn’t every soldier in the army died?
Maybe some of you may have survived, but lets talk about that later.
But since it looks like you perfectly retained your memory, the ritual was a success.
Now, lets start again.
Nice to meet you, My name is Rimuru, Demon Lord Rimuru.
I’m the king of this country, best regards to you lot!
Now then, I’ll tell you this again, but I’m the one who resurrected you all.
As for further details, we’ll explain to you bit by bit later.”
Calgurio who couldn’t comprehend the words spoke simply gawked.
The words reached his brain, their meanings understood; Calgurio widened his eyes to their limits, and stared at the shoujo before him.
This shoujo is Rimuru.
Someone they thought of as a obstacle, the enemy they must eliminate.
A member of the current Octagram, Rimuru herself.
This Shoujo is!?
Resurrected, was it? Who? We were?!
Shock and turmoil, then fear filled his heart.
Calgurio wasn’t the only one; everyone who was revived had the exact same reaction.
It would appear some time is needed until the chaos settles down.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Casting a side-glance at the confused Calgurio and co, I had exited the test.
天幕の中の100名は、ディアブロが殺した者達で、この軍団の総司令官及び参謀達だった。
The 100 individuals, those slain by Diablo, are the corp’s supreme commander and his advisors.
So to speak, the ones with the highest authority in this invasion.
I had methodically tried out a resurrection method, and the effects were perfect.
Of course, this is in order for them to take responsibility.
And so, there’s a heavy barrier lockdown around the tent, and it is under Souei’s surveillance.
It’s impossible to escape.
Well, even if I called it a resurrection, it is only a temporary one.
There is no reason for me to return the souls I have taken.
They were the one who attacked us, so their death was them reaping what they sown
However, for various reasons I’ve decided to perform the resurrection ritual.
This ritual, only grants someone a temporary life.
After the incident of Shion’s death, Wisdom King Raphael had been smoothly analyzing the soul.
クレイマンから奪った”聖霊の宝玉”は、原材料は人間の魂から出来ていた。
The raw materials of the “Soul Jewel” taken from Clayman are human souls.
エネルギー量に換算し、人間1万人分の魂に相当する。
In terms of energy, it’s equivalent to 10,000 human souls.
However, this strength carries with it a time limit, and could burn off strength to provide amplify strength for an instant.
事実、智慧之王の解析では、人間100名分程の魂を融合し、瞬間出力を高める事が出来るようにしただけの宝珠だったのだ。
In fact, according to Wisdom King Raphael’s analysys, 100 human souls could be fused to make a Jewel that could increase strength for an instant.
Comparing it to its name it wasn’t that great an item.
It’s probably similar to doping, however I think relying on such a thing would not fare well in the future, so I simply decomposed it into souls.
And since we would simply revert the process, the souls were used in research.
Not limited to humans, all souls have quality and quantity.
Quality aside, the souls of plants and animals contain very little energy.
Compared with that, a human’s soul contains an immense amount of energy.
It was confirmed that everyone would have the same equal amount of energy.
And to actually utilize the energy of the souls? This was referred to as, soul force.
The information engraved onto the soul, would become the origin of its powers.
Then, does the energy directly engrave the information onto the soul, that’s not it.
First, there’s the ego, wrapped around in the core.
This, is where all the information is engraved on.
And so in conclusion the crystalized energy encases the core and becomes the soul.
The Possession Jewel was developed in order to project the core.
TN Note: read chapter 119, cheers to Lion san for remember what it’s called.
The core has no energy. However the ego does.
Without the soul force skills couldn’t be activated, but it’s possible for the ego to operate.
And the possession jewel is used to substitute the soul’s energy with Magical essence.
However, it’s undeniable there would be limits due to the difference in the quality of energy. Since in the end it’s simply used as a toy in the dungeon thus there are no problems.
In the end what I wanted to say is, even if the skills are engraved onto the core, if there’s no soul force it couldn’t be used, that’s about it.
This time, the possession jewel is used to resurrect Calgurio.
The soul was reaped, the core taken out, and moved into the jewel.
宝珠を創るのは簡単だが、エネルギーには各人から抜き取った”魂の力”の百分の一以下の少量を流用している。
Making the jewel was simple, it requires less than 1% of the soul force’s energy.
In actuality, I don’t really lose anything, just a bit of labor cost.
regenerating the flesh of the dead with magic, then embedding the jewel into them.
And finally transferring the core.
It sounds simple, but without Wisdom King Raphael’s overwhelming calculation abilities this task couldn’t possibly be undertaken.
Specifying an individual alone is already a difficult task, but to also match their genetic code to the soul data, and identify that individual instantly, it was so well done I should call Raphael -sensei instead.
With this method, it was possible to restore the flesh, and after using the jewel the resurrection would be a success.
However, that doesn’t mean this method is flawless.
Firstly, the individual is weakened greatly.
Naturally, it’s because I’ve snatched the entirety of their soul force.
It would be impossible to use skills form now on, and if they’re unlucky their magic usage would also be affected.
However, since any physical training results or experience is still retained, so as long as they aren’t dependent on their skills it would not be a problem.
Then, the second problem.
Something I can’t do anything about.
If their corpse isn’t around anymore, they couldn’t be resurrected.
It’s to be expected.
I’m not an omnipotent god.
Without the physical record, it it’s impossible to create something for the soul data out of nothing without anything to base on.
There are also cases of them being put into dolls, but is it worth the cost?
To begin with, I don’t have a sufficient amount of dolls; I don’t any obligation to do so, nor do I see any benefits in doing so.
Unfortunately, they can only blame their bad luck and give up.
Even if only a portion of their flesh remained it’s still possible to reconstruct it with magic――The reason resurrection magic couldn’t be used is because their soul couldn’t be reproduced――Even so, there are those whose didn’t have any remains at all.
ウルティマの”破滅の炎”で完全焼失した者や、テスタロッサの”死の祝福”により遺伝情報を完全破壊された者達だ。
There are those who were perfectly combusted by Ultima’s “Nuclear flame” and those whose genetic code was completely destroyed by Testarossa’s “Death strike”
And then, there are those whose soul simply accepted death due to fear and despair.
Against these, I who have means of spiritual healing could do nothing about.
結局、蘇生不可能だった者達は、全員で20数万名余にも上った。
In the end, those who cannot be resurrected, number over 200,000.
94万名の内、20万名が死亡。
Of the 940,000 individuals, 200,000 died.
However, they were suppose to be completely annihilated, so when you compare the numbers you could say they were luck to have so few deaths.
In truth, I thought that Testa had truly went overboard, but I haven’t gave any instructions to avoid damaging their flesh.
The reason is a simple one.
If they were overly focused on this and end up getting injured for that, then it would be meaningless.
To me my retainers are what’s most important, comparing them to some unrelated stranger, I would choose to protect my retainers without hesitation.
Above all, to do something like having a compassionate heart towards invading enemy soldiers, I don’t want to be a virtuous saint with a field of flowers for brains.
TN Note: probably meaning being nice to everyone, like those protagonists in crappy animus.
And so, even though there are some that couldn’t be resurrected, that’s besides the point.
無いのだが……俺が平和な国である日本での感性のままだからか、亡くなった方に対しては何とも言えない気持ちになった。
That’s probably not it but……Since I still retained the sensitiveness of someone in a peaceful country like Japan, I held an unspeakable feeling in regards to someone’s death.
I simply aren’t used to saying I did nothing wrong yet.
I think praying to the souls of the deceased would be simple hypocrisy.
Even so, From now on and unto the future I will not forgive anyone who dares invade my territory, and have them experience complete fear.
After performing the ritual on Calgurio and co, the effects are confirmed.
Confirming that no problems are present, a wide scale casting was planned.
迷宮入り口周辺の開けた場所に、凡そ70万名もの遺体が並べられていた。
In an open area around the vicinity of the dungeon are about 700,000 corpse laid side by side.
After the war had ended, Gerudo had recovered them.
The victims of the first battle, has also been transferred and recovered.
The bodies laid down here, are all victims of this battle.
Wide scale ritual: Sacred・Birthday activate.
Calgurio and co who were previously questioned looked out the tent, and widened their eyes in shock.
He looked as if he had been constantly widening his eyes.
TN Note: not entirely sure what the author meant, I guess he/she meant Calgurio and co looked as if their eyes had been continuously widened without rest due to how frequently they do so?
Well, that’s not something I would know about.
I’m just trying to end this quickly.
全ての遺体に、複製した宝珠を埋め込んでいく。
All of the bodies already had a replicated possession jewel embedded into them.
As for the recovery of the corpses, thanks to Adalman using holy magic at full throttle, they were restored to a perfect state.
Recently, due to everyone playing an active role they were unfortunately lacking sleep.
As for the undead type Adalman, he has no need no sleep.
Thanks to that, he had finished embedding the possession jewel into each and every perfectly recovered corpse.
Following up, what was performed isn’t the 〈Soul recall arcane〉, but rather 〈Soul Grant arcane〉.
TN Note:〈授魂の秘術〉, Gave up after 5 minutes on the dictionary. So big shout out to Alfha san who worked with Lion san.
Unlike the restoration of the soul, the energy consumption isn’t as high.
There’s a high amount of calculation required for each individual, but the one doing it is Wisdom King Raphael.
I leave everything to you Raphael Sensei.
If it were me I wouldn’t be able to do it, it’s some strange complicated ritual after all.
But, to Calgurio and co and were looking at me, it would probably appear as if I handled it by my lonesome.
Before I noticed they started prostrating, began forming some gesture as if they were worshipping something.
Wait a sec, if you start doing this I’m going to feel uncomfortable you know?
だが、術式が終了するまでは苦情を言う事も出来ない。
However, I didn’t voice out my complaints until the ritual ended.
そんなこんなで一昼夜、居心地の悪い中で70万名近くの〈授魂の秘術〉を行使したのだった。
And so with that uncomfortable feel, for one day and one night, I’ve performed the 〈Arcane soul grant〉 onto about 700,000 people.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
On the next day, meals were served to the resurrected.
There was a mass panic right after the resurrection, that’s not exactly it but it wasn’t far from it.
TN Note: it was kinda confusing to interpret this one.
Vegetables and meat were braised in a big pot; it was a stew that had a unique taste.
Ingredients were piled up like a mountain, it was amiable.
After the chaos had settled, the soldiers who had recognized reality had received a bowl of soup that filled them with an hard-to-describe warmth and moved their hearts.
The tension in the air had dissipated, and they had forgotten the hunger of their stomachs.
They had already been killed once by the subordinates of the demon lord, they had confirmed and understood this.
However, they are now alive.
魔王は”仮初の命”と言っていた。
The demon lord had called it a “temporary life”.
Feel at ease. If you wish to lead a normal life, you would feel no inconvenience.
You could fall in love and start a family, even have kids.
However, taking any actions that would be a demerit to tempest would be restricted!
宝珠に刻み込んだ”呪”によって、二度と敵対行動は取れなくしている。
A “curse’ has been casted into the jewel, preventing them from ever taking hostile actions ever again.
They’ve seem to have acknowledged this.
After everyone has resurrected, and the chaos had subsided, I’ve informed them of this.
だが、そんな”呪”など必要ないだろう、そうカリギュリオは確信していた。
However, such a “cursed” is probably unneeded, Calgurio looked convinced.
TN Note: Of course it’s unneeded, they’re practically worshipping you now you silver-haired loli-god.
Nobody would want to take such foolhardy actions twice.
When Veldora caused a great disaster several hundred years ago, the results were fear being spread around.
But, with a whole city razed, and every resident annihilated, it’s compared to a calamity that man could possibly manipulate.
And so what about it? There were horrifying tales, but nobody ever doubted their chances of defeat.
Alternatively, if there were a large number of survivors, the rumors of how this land could never be invaded would spread even further.
In that regard, it would definitely happen this time.
That is because they have been revived after experiencing death once.
Not in the hands of god, but a demon lord.
The foolish them, had the feeling they had experienced a growth.
No, to begin with was she really a demon lord?
Calgurio couldn’t help but pondered over this question.
Overnight, Krishna and the othesr had changed their target of worship to the demon lord.
Since he was the one who started worshipping the demon lord first, so he can’t really complain about it.
魔王が言う、”仮初の命”だが……
The demon lord said a “temporary life”, but……
In reality, there aren’t any problems.
True, since abilities could no longer be used, and using magic has become laborious.
However, his well-trained body still responded to his will.
Their bodies would age, they would soon meet their end, they were allowed to life.
Everyone was so thankful and in awe, no one held any hostility towards the Demon Lord Rimuru.
However, there’s another problem.
Should they return to the empire, the opinions were split.
there were some that said they should return once first.
There were also some that said they should simply relocate to tempest.
This has led to clashing opinions.
The underlying reason for both sides were understandable. Those with families in the empire would naturally opt to return.
However, if they simply returned irresponsibly, they would invoke the Demon Lord’s displeasure.
Since they had received mercy, they should comply to the demon lord’s demands.
Right when Calgurio wondered what to do, he received a call from the Demon Lord.
When he was called, he saw several advisors alongside the Demon Lord.
Calgurio presented an humble attitude,
“Do relax yourself. I’ve came to consult about something with you today.”
Saying such, the Demon Lord Rimuru, the lovely shoujo had made an evil smile.
To conclude the talk, The Demon Lord’s orders, were she couldn’t allow their return just yet.
There were conditions attached to this of course.
Currently, the Empire and Tempest were at war.
Since the war hasn’t ceased, acts of battle would still continue.
Since they didn’t write any wartime treaties, the concept of prisoners of war didn’t exist. Since the demon lord was the one who resurrected them, they didn’t think of rebelling.
Let alone that, the war is currently ongoing.
Under these circumstances, they couldn’t release them, Calgurio was pretty convinced about this.
Even if Calgurio and co couldn’t directly attack the demon lord, they could still possibly be mobilized as backline supports.
And so, until the war has ended, they are ordered to live in Tempest.
I then told them this,
30万名分までなら賄えるが、70万名分ともなると他国から購入する必要がある。
“The food doesn’t come for free.
We could cover meals for 300,000 people, but if it’s 700,000 we’re going to need to import from other countries.
And so, pay for your food bills with labor!”
And that’s how it is.
As one can see this was reasonable.
General Gerudo was introduced, and under his supervision they would begin constructions.
何でも、30万人以上が生活出来る工業都市を建設するのだとか。
The plan is for them to build an industrial city that could house over 300,000 residents.
Since mining for iron ores and such and then transporting it to the capital is inefficient, we’re ordered them to build a city at the foot of the mine.
The honest straightforward General Gerudo easily accepted.
“If anything, if anyone wants to live here after the war then you better work hard on the town.
You all seem greedy, that’s just what I need.
Why don’t you mass produce cars in the industrial city, focus on functionality and development and make a lot of profit!”
Looking at the smiling demon lord, Calgurio realized he had no right to decline.
He couldn’t quite understand what was said to him, but he understood she held expectations for him.
His heart felt elevated, but also slightly puzzled.
He wasn’t dissatisfied, however this meeting wasn’t something thought of on a whim, it was a mysterious feeling of watching monsters obey by their own free will.
Build a town!
Following this order, the laying of rails began.
Gerudo showing was smiling at the great timing since he was just short on manpower.
Since he had led a corps and thus was proficient at assigning roles? It could be simplified as such.
What’s with this country?
This came to mind for a second, however since this was something disrespectful to the Demon lord so he hastily casted aside his thoughts.
Soon, Calgurio would be worked so hard he had no time to think of complaints, although it would appear the person in question hasn’t realized this yet.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Just as Calgurio had left, Diablo had entered.
“Preparations are proceeding as planned, my master.”
と話しかけるディアブロに頷き返す。
A nod was returned to Diablo’s words.
Once it witnessed the total annihilation of the empire’s forces, a frightened mouse scampered back.
And so, the empire’s armies are completely razed――in every sense of the word――would be the thought.
Krishna had came and confessed that the emperor had tried to contact him with an emergency line, and I left it to Diablo.
The corpse of the women called Miranda wasn’t discovered; no doubt she’s the mouse, Yuuki’s spy.
It’s likely she’s one of Cerberus’s head.
It’s also likely that Calgurio didn’t realize Miranda’s thought guidance.
Using tricks like that of a fraudster, she simulated his avarice nature, it would seem Calgurio himself wasn’t even aware.
そのミランダも、カリギュリオの敗北を予見し、大急ぎで逃げ出したのだが……監視していたディアブロには筒抜けであった。
That Miranda had probably foresaw Calgurio’s defeat and escaped…… And Diablo who was in charge of surveillance had oversaw this.
And at the outskirts, there is Souei who is responsible for surveillance there, so in the end there’s no escape.
She was probably trying to report intelligence to the emperor and Yuuki, and thus had escaped.
If this information could bring about peace then that would be great.
However, if they continue this war, we would crush them completely.
Especially Yuuki, if he escapes then things are going to get messy.
If we will reconcile with the empire, then we’re definitely demanding custody of Yuuki.
The war’s still ongoing. And let’s hit them as hard as we can while we still can.
This defensive war is our complete victory.
We’ve managed to convince Calgurio with a plausible explanation like food expenses and threatened him a bit; the actual damage we’ve taken is minimal.
Thanks to the large amount of recovery potion pasted, certainly there are only memories of pain.
Other damages include a part of the forest being logged.
But we’re managed to attain 1 god class equipment, and 3 sets of legendary class equipment.
まして、魂を94万名分手に入れたのだ。
Not to mention the souls of 940,000 individuals I now have.
As said previously it’s our complete victory.
I’m still thinking about which one of my subordinates to evolve, but I plan to announce it in a near-future announcement as a reward.
Of course, only among my retainers.
The war isn’t over yet.
海路上を通り、飛行船部隊が300隻移動しているのを把握していた。
I had already confirmed that there is an airship platoon of 300 vessels headed here from the sea.
We can’t be careless here.
We shouldn’t be excessively happy about a single victory, but rewards and punishments are still necessary.
Even though I don’t think their loyalty to me would waver even after awakening as a demon lord, nevertheless I would want to experiment this
After that we’ll head off to crush their air forces above the seas.
Next time, it’s our turn.