We plan to release ME3 next week, if all goes according to plan.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the release. If you have any suggestions/requests for what to work on, feel free to leave a comment or contact us through Twitter/Discord/Email.
Any feedback is appreciated.
-Gsimenas
Credits
Raws: CelestTranslation: Gsimenas
Editing: Gsimenas, emil
Proofreading: JengKay
Translation (choice/nuance) comments:
- The Dark Territory in Underworld has two names. One is in katakana English (i.e. ダークテリトリー), the other is in actual Japanese (暗黒界, literally "darkness world/realm"). For better distinction between the two names, I translate 暗黒界 as "The Land of Darkness".
- Corsche speaks in humble (kenjougo) tone, so I tried making her sound more (excessively) formal and polite.
- New character names: Hatoa is just a regular old romanisation of the original ハトア, because I couldn't come up with anything fancy for that; Vizec was ビセク (Biseku) in the original text and this spelling was just the first thing that came to my mind.
- I decided to omit/localise honorifics used with titles (e.g., Supreme Priest-san and Supreme Priest-sama), unless the titles were used to call out to the person themselves, because it doesn't sound awfully good when the person is not part of the conversation themselves. Though I couldn't come up with how to deal with -dono in that case, so I left it as is.
Markup explanation:
- Itallics mark text that was written in katakana English (I only highlighted the cases where the author uses both English and actual Japanese equivalents for the same thing, or when I needed to emphasise that an English word is used there).
- Courier font indicates that the original word was written in kana for emphasis (when such a word usually isn't written in kana)
- In some instances, the original text used furigana. In cases where the furigana wasn't exact match for the underlying text (usually when the author uses furigana to translate or describe foreign words in Japanese), I maintained the furigana format. Furigana text should be read as follows: Japanese translation/description of what the term/name means (e.g. cat fairy race - "Cait Sith" is what was actually said in text, while "cat fairy race" is just a brief description of what Cait Sith are to help differentiate between the different fairies).
- Single quotation marks (') are quotes that weren't in the original text but were added for the convenience of English speakers to mark implied quotations. I used it mostly to separate Kirito's internal monologue from his narration, as well as mark sound effects and so on. Actual dialogue lines or quotations (with 「」 punctuation marks) within a narration line are indicated with the usual double (") quotation marks.
2
By the time we returned back to Central Capital Centoria via using Cardinal's teleport gate once more, Solus had already begun to set beyond the western empire.The grooms employed at the Dragon Landing Field on the thirtieth floor of the Central Cathedral were undoubtedly shocked to their core by the turn of events. After all, there had only been two dragons, Yukiori and Amayori, to set off on this journey, yet they had multiplied to three by the time of their return. If that wasn't enough on its own, the third one was carrying a Dark Knight donned in imposing full-body armour on its back.
Luckily, however, the grooms in leather overalls didn't devolve into a state of panic when the jet-black Miokake landed, instead escorting it to a free waiting room without issue. Still maintaining her calm on the surface level, Knight Lipia Zancale also jumped off its saddle and said her thanks to the grooms, before approaching Eugeo and me. Looking around her surroundings, she said the following with a sigh.
"I had believed the Obsidia Castle in the Land of Darkness was surely the largest structure in the world…… yet this tower certainly doesn't fall behind in terms of height. How high is it?"
"It is said to be five hundred mer high……"
Upon Eugeo giving her this answer, Lipia gently shook her head to the sides.
"Oh my…… While Obsidia Castle may be about the same size, it had actually been constructed by carving a natural rocky mountain to serve as a castle, you see. I can't even begin to imagine what method was used to stack the stones used to construct a building as high as five hundred mer."
"It is not like they were stacked by the hand of man."
This response had come from Alice, who had been remunerating Amayori at a waiting room. Walking over to us, she pointed to the walls and pillars in our surroundings with her right hand.
"The marble the Central Cathedral was moulded from had all been erected into place with Sacred Arts by the Supreme Priest. The marble is endowed with limitless Life and priority; not even the greatest storm raging outside the tower can so much as make it budge in the slightest."
Although Alice's tone contained a slight note of bragging, Lipia didn't erupt into a feud with her this time.
"Oh my……using the arts for a structure this enormous, hmm. The Supreme Priest-dono's power appears to exceed all rumours about her circulating in the Land of Darkness…… yet to think that her appearance was……"
At that point, her words came to a halt as she turned her head towards the interior of the Landing Field. Eugeo and I, as well as Alice, shifted our gazes there as well.
At a waiting booth a short distance away, Administrator herself was brushing the tip of Yukiori's nose affectionately. Although she was usually clad in an aura so intimidating that just being in her presence would make you feel cold sweat dripping out, this moment with her dragon was the only time she truly did look like a simple girl, as her appearance would suggest.
Cardinal had mentioned that Administrator had once been a regular old girl named Quinella. However, at some point, she had noticed a way to increase her System Control Authority——or if I were to rephrase that, an efficient way to level up that no one before her had ever noticed, which led to changing Quinella's life forever. In order to sate the infinite craving for control that her Fluctlight had inherited from her parents, Quinella continuously and single-mindedly sought for even greater power, eventually turning into a demi-god who never grew old in the slightest——.
Yet perhaps there was just the slightest sliver of Quinella's pure-hearted self, back from when she was but a girl, still inside her even now. Could it be that only during times when she was in contact with Yukiori did that part of her come to surface……
Perhaps having sensed our gazes, Administrator glanced at us, returning to her usual transcendent expression as she said the following.
"Dark Knight, I've already grown weary today, so I'll hear you out tomorrow. Kirito, Eugeo, escort her to the floor you live in. If you ask Corsche the cleaner, she should find you a room the knight could use."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
Once we shouted out our response in sync, the Supreme Priest placed her hand on Yukiori's nose one last time, before muttering "Sleep well"——or at least that's what my hunch thinks she said. Yukiori responded with a quiet "Fururu…….", left its booth and took off from the northern aperture. It was probably moving back to the dragon stable on the western side of the Cathedral, where it would fall into a long sleep once more in its exclusive bedroom at the depths of the stable.
Having seen off her dragon, Administrator walked over to the stairs leading to the upper floors without sparing a single glance at us anymore——or so I had expected her to do, but going against my expectations, she turned around just before she could disappear out of sight, and gazed at me as she said the following.
"Kirito, Eugeo, be sure to have those cakes you promised done for tomorrow's discussion. If you were to forget to do so, I'll turn you into vases."
"We shall not disappoint you!"
As soon as she heard my reply, this time she really did place her feet on the stairs and rose up to the top with such light steps that you would think gravity didn't apply to her, before disappearing from our sight.
'Ha-pheeew', after heaving out a sigh, I was suddenly struck by a thought: isn't this the first time the Supreme Priest called us by our actual names, rather than by numbers? However, I had no clue whether being turned into a vase counted as an upgrade or downgrade in status.
Even Lipia Zancale's unexpected presence on the twenty-eighth floor with us didn't faze Corsche the cleaner enough to produce even the slightest change in her expression. Upon hearing what was going on, she instantly nodded and answered, "In that case, I do believe Room 2809 would fit your needs."
Room 2809 was the room opposite to Room 2808, the room that was assigned to Eugeo and me, though its layout was a little different, as it appeared to only have a single bedroom. Lipia's head wavering the slightest bit while Corsche was providing details on meals and bathing was probably just a sign that the knight had crossed the breaking point for her drowsiness, rather than an issue with her health per se. While we did have a huge stockpile of questions to ask her, starting with 'what in the world led to her being chased around by Minions' and 'what was that order from her lord all about', it appeared that said questions would have to wait till tomorrow's tea party.
"……Noted and acknowledged. Thanks, Corsche."
Having said her thanks as her eyes blinked for the umpteenth time, Lipia also gave Eugeo and me a slight bow.
"I am indebted for your care as well, boys."
"Oh no…… we haven't really done much of anything……"
"Why, you have shown care for my Miokake, have you not? You have my gratitude for that."
The instant she made that statement, Lipia's upper body swayed. Noticing this, Eugeo spoke out with concern.
"I would recommend giving your body some rest as soon as possible."
"……Allow me to take you up on that. If you'll excuse me."
Once the Dark Knight responded with her eyelids half-closed and entered Room 2809 with unsteady steps, Corsche quietly shut the door. Turning around and looking up at us, she whispered out the following with a serious look.
"This is my first time seeing a personage from the Land of Darkness, yet she was no different from a resident of the Human Empire whatsoever."
"You've got a point……"
Nodding, Eugeo continued his train of thought with a reflective tone.
"……Ever since I was a child, I've always been told that the humans of the Land of Darkness are just a bunch of barbarians more horrifying than even the goblins or orcs, though it turns out neither their appearance nor language is any different from ours. In which case, why……"
'Is there any need for war' was probably how my partner was going to finish that thought.
He's right, there's actually no need for war. According to Cardinal, the oncoming invasion by the Dark Territory Army was just a 《Final Load Test》 that the staff from Rath, the ones who created this world, had come up with to set the stage for Artificial Fluctlights being forced to evolve, after all. If any of the staff members were to just adjust some parameters to transform the barren Land of Darkness into a land as fertile as the one in the Human Empire, that alone would be more than enough to eliminate any cause for war.
But a waiting game won't make it come to pass, nor can I make it happen with my will. Even if I were to manage to establish contact with the real world, for argument's sake, Rath might actually log me out, but they wouldn't put the Final Load Test to a halt. What's more, Underworld's timescale is accelerated hundreds, or possibly even over a thousand times compared to the real world, so by the time I wake up in the real world and gain the ability to take action on that side, the war against the Dark Territory will have already begun, probably resulting in a great many lives——possibly including even Eugeo, lost in the process.
As I pondered on such things standing still, Eugeo gave a light slap on my back.
"Come on, Kirito, let's get back to our room. We've gotta get some cakes made by the end of the night."
"Oh yeah…… right."
As I nodded, Corsche directed a barely-visible curious look at me.
"Cakes? Do you two gentlemen make cakes?
"We've got orders from the Supreme Priest, y'see…… Oh, right, you haven't eaten any of our cakes, right, Corsche."
In response to my words, the childish-looking——though her true age has yet to be confirmed——cleaner nodded in silence. Although her expressions were indistinct as always, I did get the feeling that I caught a sign of a sliver of curiosity behind it. After exchanging a look with Eugeo, I once again posed a question to Corsche.
"When will you be done with your work?"
"At six o'clock."
"In that case, could you come to the Great Dining Room at around eight? I'd like to ask for your help with taste-testing some cakes."
Just then, Corsche sunk into thought for a few moments, before opening her mouth in an unusually-fidgety manner.
"Umm…… would you mind if I brought my friends along as well?"
"F-friends? Who are they……?"
"Hatoa, the supervisor of floors twenty-four to twenty-six, as well as Vizec, the supervisor of floors thirty-one to thirty-three."
"…………I see."
I exchanged a glance with Eugeo once more. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it would be physically impossible for Corsche to go 'round cleaning the entirety of the enormous Central Cathedral all on her own. Apparently, it seems that one cleaner was assigned three floors each, though considering the area of a single floor, each floor might as well get its own cleaner.
In my stead, Eugeo nodded with a smile.
"Of course it's all good. The cakes Kirito makes are quite big, so even the three of you won't be able to finish it off on your own."
Just then, a minusculely faint smile found its way on on Corsche's face as she gave a deep bow of her head.
"Thank you very much, Kirito-sama, Eugeo-sama. In that case, I shall take the liberty of paying a visit to the Great Dining Room at eight o'clock."
"Right-o. 'Kay then, see you later."
"All right. I shall be returning to my work."
Upon making that statement, Corsche withdrew further down the corridor with a broom in hand. It probably wasn't just my imagination that there was now a slight bit of a spring to her steps compared to before.
The instant we returned to Room 2808, Eugeo and I did a grand 'ol stretch in sync.
"Mmmh…… ——This sure was an eventful day, huh, Kirito."
At my partner's words, I nodded in approval.
"No kidding. Who would have thought we'd be going all the way to the Great Eastern Gate riding on a dragon……"
"Not to mention that you were sitting behind the Esteemed Supreme Priest, Kirito."
"It was super nerve-wracking, I'll have you know."
After responding as such, I recalled what Eugeo was doing while riding on Amayori's back.
"That reminds me, what were you talking to Alice about during your flight?"
Although I had only brought up the question with the intention of poking fun at the guy a little bit, my partner responded in a gloomy tone, his eyelashes having gone down a bit.
"……As a matter of fact, I did try bringing up quite a few stories from Rulid Village, figuring that it might jog Alice's memories of the old days even the slightest bit. Though…… all she did was throw in an interjection or two now and then in wonder, as if listening to stories about a land she had never once visited before……"
"Oh…… I see. Did you bring up her sister…… Selka too?"
Upon my enquiry, Eugeo gently shook his head.
"Uh-uh…… I couldn't bring myself to do so. If even hearing Selka's name were to fail to draw out any sort of reaction from her……I'd be forced to accept that Alice's memories have been utterly wiped out, regardless of how I loathe to admit it, or so I felt."
Placing my right hand on Eugeo's back as he hung his head, I guided him further into the living room. After unfastening his Blue Rose Sword from his belt and then seating him on the sofa, I hung the sword on the wall rack along with mine.
Once I got back and sat down beside him, Eugeo finally began talking bit by bit.
"Throughout the day, my impression of the Esteemed Supreme Priest changed slightly. Till now, all I felt was fear, but seeing how awfully caring she was with Yukiori and how she saved Lipia-san's dragon too, I did get the sense that she might have a nice side to her too…… ——Though."
Atop his lap, he clenched his hands.
"Though, it is an undeniable fact that she was the one who wiped out Alice's memories and turned her into an Integrity Knight. And that's not all…… she even froze the Life of the Elevating Operator and a great many more people, and even has them work for eternity. That is far too cruel. How should I view…… her as a person, I'm not really……"
Having stopped his thought there, Eugeo covered his face with his hands.
As I gently wrapped my arm around my partner's shoulder, I came to realise once more that I harboured the exact same impression of Supreme Priest Administrator myself. The imbalance between the heart of stone that allowed her to see all people aside from her as mere pawns, and the humanness that seeps out of her at times. Of course, I'm probably not free from duality in my nature myself, but Administrator takes it to an extreme.
As I lightly patted his not-too-muscular yet nonetheless well-built shoulders while reminiscing on today's events——
"About that."
This remark came neither from me, nor from Eugeo either.
Jumping off the collar of my outfit and landing on the table was a black spider, measly five millimetres in size. It was Cardinal's familiar, Charlotte.
The spider whose existence I always find myself forgetting about for some reason, despite her constantly lurking somewhere on my clothes or head, continued her thought in a slightly husky feminine voice.
"I myself got a little curious about this, so I'll be returning to Cardinal-sama's side for a time."
"Wha? You got curious…… you mean, about Administrator?"
"That's right. I'll be back by nightfall."
Upon saying this, the spider hopped down to the floor, disappearing from sight in a flash.
The Great Library Room that Cardinal resided in existed inside the Central Cathedral yet was spatially cut off from it; even Administrator herself cannot enter it unless invited. Although I was curious about how Charlotte would return to the Library Room, it was no longer possible to go after her by now. Giving up on that thought, I shook Eugeo's shoulder as he continued absent-mindedly staring at the table.
"Come on, let's go for a dip in the bath. The head chef pops will get mad at us if we don't wash off the dirt before heading to the kitchen."
"……Oh yeah, you've got a point."
Nodding, Eugeo slapped his own knees as if giving himself some strength, before standing up with great energy. Right afterward, the evening five o'clock bell rang out. There was one hour until the Grand Bath switched over to lady's time.
Ordinarily, even among Integrity Knights Proper, only those who'd become high-ranked knights bestowed with dragons and Divine Objects of their own could use the Grand Bath on the ninetieth floor. Specifically, the regulation concerning this stated that 『Only high-ranked knights may enter the eightieth floor of the Central Cathedral and beyond; however, knights, monks, and other personnel granted special duties are exempt from this rule』. Basically, it meant that apprentice knights and low-ranked knights couldn't enter the ninetieth floor and so couldn't use the Grand Bath either as a result; that's how the logic worked.
Turning that logic on its head, we were given permission by Administrator herself to pass through floors eightieth to ninety-fifth in order to fulfil our duty of supplying cakes for the regularly-held tea parties at the 《Morningstar Lookout》 on the ninety-fifth floor. As a matter of course, that also included the ninetieth floor that housed the Grand Bath, thus we'd be permitted to step into the bath as long it was gentlemen's bathing time. ——When Eugeo first heard this interpretation of mine, he gave me a truly sceptical look, though it seems even he was unable to defy the glamour of a bath so wide that you could even go for some crawl-swimming inside of it if you felt like it.
The problem was that the elevating disk that runs between floors fiftieth and eightieth ends its service at six o'clock. Of course, if you were to consider the fact that the Elevating Operator has to manage it all by herself since morning, even six o'clock is far too long of a service time, though that doesn't change the fact that going all the way up and down between floors twenty-eighth and ninetieth solely via the stairs is way too exhausting. Hence, if we felt like hitching a ride on the Elevating Disk even on our way back as well, we had to get out of the bath no later than five-fifty. It takes at least twenty minutes to reach the Grand Bath from our own room even when we do use the Elevating Disk, thus we'd only have a little less than thirty minutes of actual bathing time if we headed out now.
"Let's hurry it up, Eugeo!"
Upon my shout, my partner finally responded with a "Yeah, yeah" in his usual tone.
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