Chapter 33: The Group

“Hoh, it was the Rainana Church that asked you to unleash the monsters?”

“…… Yes, to be precise, I was in charge of purchasing and bringing in the goods. I checked the backbone of the request and found out that it was the Church of Rainana. After I negotiate and acquire the monsters from other countries and bring them in using transference, the church plans to strengthen them and release them by some means when the time is ready.”

The tortured negotiator’s mind is broken, so the conversation goes smoothly.

(In the original story, the negotiator was the main culprit, but was the church the mastermind? Probably using the saint’s skills to enhance or in some way manipulate the monsters. The target is probably me, Absolute. Or someone from the Ark family faction. But Christina died too, so I don’t know yet. For now, let’s just assume that the Ark faction has been wiped out.)

The monsters are already in the hands of the church, and there is no time to spare before the expedition. Even if I tried to stop them, it would be impossible to persuade with the Ark family, which has little influence, since the only evidence we have is the testimony of the negotiator.

Absolute thought of a strategy to deal with the saint and the church.

“Negotiator, how far along are you with this plan at this stage?”

“My job is to purchase and bring in the monsters by transference to the designated place, so I don’t know any more than that. I think they have probably already moved the monsters to another location and reinforced them. When it is released, the church will probably have a similar means of transfer.”

(A large number of reinforced monsters will attack me and those of the Ark family faction, possibly causing damage to other families as well. Originally, if the negotiator wasn’t caught, I was going to destroy the monsters alone and protect my faction alone in the worst case scenario. The Ark family’s power wasn’t available yet, and I didn’t know if it would actually happen.The evidence is weak with just this guy’s testimony. The church has a high level of security, so if we start looking into it now, we won’t make it in time. We’ll have to do something on the day.)

The Ark family is the head of the dark organization in the country of Rainana, but Absolute, who is not yet the head of the family, is not yet able to use this power. Therefore, he has to get through this by his own power alone.

Even if he were to consult with them about this matter, Absolute trusts his father and those under his control, but he doesn’t trust others. His father is too close to the king, and those under his control are still not trustworthy because they have betrayed him in some of their original stories. The king is in a position to cut off the Ark family at any time, and he is the least trustworthy because he is soft on Michael, his enemy.

If he turns in the negotiator, he might be able to persuade his father’s Villain, but in that case, the negotiator will die. Absolute’s goal is to protect the original Absolute and his current pride by winning and surviving in case he has to fight against his country and the hero. The Negotiator skill is rare, so it will definitely be useful for Absolute in the future.

I wanted to get it no matter what.

“You sowed the seeds, after all. You’re going to have to stick with me until the end. Negotiator.”

(If I can get a negotiator, I can protect the Ark faction and harass the church. I’ll have to pay back the debt I owed you from my time…Saint Eliza.”)

Absolute moved to fight the Church’s malice.

A few days have passed since the defeat of Gileus, and Absolute has classes at the school as usual.

During morning HR, his homeroom teacher, Teach, tells them about the details of the field exercise.

“The first-year students will be doing a field exercise next week. You will form groups within your class and hunt monsters in a forest inhabited by monsters located in the southern part of Rainana. The deadline is three days. Your performance will be determined by the rank and number of magical stones dropped by the monsters you hunt. Points will naturally be deducted if the number of monsters hunted is low or if there is conflict between students, but don’t overdo it. Everyone should be well prepared. I don’t think there will be any, but don’t let that happen and come to the day of the event unarmed.”

The field exercise is part of the classes at Rainana Royal Academy. The students form groups within their classes and spend three days in a forest inhabited by monsters, defeating them.

The grades are determined by the number of magical stones and ranks of the monsters defeated, but in the original story, this outdoor exercise is an event that results in many casualties. The reason for this is that the number of monsters is abnormally large and their strength is greater than expected. The students weren’t able to cope with a sudden emergency situation during the exercise to gain experience in combat, and many students lost their lives. It’s a very dangerous event.

After the explanation from Teach, the next step was to announce the groups. Groups were basically made up of students from the same faction.

In consideration of the students who don’t want to show their hands to other factions, groups are made up of students from the same faction, regardless of the number of students in the group.

“Before we start announcing the groups, there is one thing that is certain.: His Highness Michael will be paired with Tristan Kako, and Princess Leone will be paired with Absolute Ark.”

Princess Leone raises a question.

“Teach-sensei, can you tell us the reason for this?”

“Princess Leone, if something were to happen to you, it would be a problem for the Rainana nation, and because of that, the decision to not allow only royalty to take this class did not come up at the meeting. Therefore, we discussed having the two most capable students in this class follow the royal family. This is also to protect you, Princess Leone. Will you agree to this?”

“I understand. I am sorry for being selfish without considering my position.”

Princess Leone was satisfied for the moment and withdrew from the discussion.

After that, group assignments proceeded smoothly for each faction.

1) The King’s faction group including Michael and Tristan

2) The church group led by the saint

3) Girls’ group led by Alicia

4) Nobleman faction group led by Christina

5) Ark faction feat. Princess Leone group

These five groups were decided upon because they were to be solidified by those who were from the same faction.

After the presentations, the groups were divided into groups for discussion.

Absolute meets with the Ark faction consisting of Cruel-san, Oriana, and Mist in Class A, along with Princess Leone, to discuss the creation of the groups.

“Well, this is the first time I’m talking to you, Princess Leone. My name is Absolute Ark. And these are the members of our faction, Lady Cruel, Oriana, and Mist. You don’t have to worry about the combat aspect.”

“My name is Lady Cruel. We are honored to be in the same group, Princess Leone.”

“Oriana Festa…Right same with lady.”

Oriana greets at her own pace.

“Hi, I’m Mist Browser, and surprisingly I feel exactly the same with both of them, word for word. Nice to meet you.”

Mist tries to make light of the greeting.

“…… No, you two should at least think about how you greet each other.”

Lady Cruel is annoyed by the unenthusiastic self-introduction.

And Princess Leone is watching the exchange with a smile on her face.

“I’m Leone Suiroku. I am not good at magic, but I am confident with swords. Let’s work together.”

Princess Leone greets everyone amiably.

(As expected of royalty. Even just by her greeting. she gives us a sense of dignity. I wish our royalty could learn from her.)

“Now that we’ve said hello, Princess Leone…”

“Eh!? What is it?”

The princess is frightened when she is approached by Absolute.

(I didn’t think she was so scared that her mask would come off. I’m used to people being scared of me, but it always manages to cut my heart out.)

Absolute tries not to mind and goes on with his words.

“I’m sorry, but there are some things I need you to promise me when I take care of you. First, you must follow my instructions. Second, you must never be alone. Third, I will place one of my maids by your side. She will be your shield in case of emergency, and she is quite skilled. I’m sorry, but if you don’t abide by this, you will be removed from my group. We don’t want to be held responsible because of you.”

(Dealing with monsters and taking care of the princess…. This is getting troublesome. In the original story, Princess Leone was in the group of the hero, but since there was no hero, she probably ended up in my place by process of elimination.)

Princess Leone looks like she wants to say something, but she answers without making eye contact, perhaps afraid of Absolute.

“Of course I will accept those three conditions since it will be in the form of being allowed to visit Ark-san’s group. But the government policy requires us to have my personal maid, so please keep that in mind.”

“I don’t mind.”

(At any rate, I succeeded in getting Maria into this group. With Maria in the group, they can survive without me in the worst case scenario, since I have to look after Chris and the others in B class, and I don’t care how much strength we have).

“So, Absolute-sama, what is your plan for this exercise? Do you want to go for the top by a landslide? I will risk my life to hunt big game for you, Absolute-sama. Of course, Oriana has the same opinion, too.”

“If Absolute insists, I’ll hunt every last one of them.”

Oriana, isn’t against Lady Cruel who is willing to put her body on the line.

“…Well, but I’m not going to work that hard this time. The reason is that the exercise lasts for three days. So we will conserve our strength at the beginning. Princess Leone and Lady Cruel have never trained outdoors for an extended period of time, have they? Let’s spend time getting used to the environment first. The monsters are secondary.”

(They will have to fight with the monsters released by the church during the exercise anyway. so let’s allow the ladies to rest just in case.)

“Absolute-sama, how sweet of you to think of me…. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I will do my best to get used to the environment as soon as possible.”

“Ark-san. I’m sorry, I’m afraid I’ve dragged you down. I will do my best.”

Lady Cruel and Princess Leone, mistakenly believing that Absolute’s policy was for their benefit, are getting back into the swing of things.

Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them that they didn’t want to hear.

“Good morning, Absolute-kun. Would you like to join our group?”

It was Christina who called out to them. She was staring at me with her usual winning appearance.

“How about it? If you team up with me, Absolute-kun, I’m sure we’ll be able to top this exercise.”

“You again…. My group has no intention of teaming up with anyone. Besides, you are Michael’s fiancée, aren’t you? Go ahead and work with Michael.”

(Looking at Michael, he’s making a big face at me.)

“No, no, I’m a candidate. We used to talk about it, but now I have no intention to do so. Please don’t misunderstand me. Well, I didn’t think you would team up with us because I’m sure you have your own circumstances. Then why don’t we have a competition? Why don’t we compete on the number of monsters hunted?”

Christina is trying to compete with Absolute in any way she can. Absolute was fed up with being asked to compete with her.

“Whenever you feel like it.”

“Absolute, you’re just saying that and won’t take me seriously. I’m sad to say that I can’t use Bowser-kun as a shield to get by.”

Christina intentionally cried a lie. Absolute is looking at her with a somewhat sad look on his face.

(This may be the last time I talk to Christina. To be honest, her magic skills are pretty strong, and I don’t think there’s any danger if we work as a group, but why did she lose her life in the original story? Would teaming up with her save lives? No. In that case, the monsters would attack Christina’s group as well. No, let’s not think about it. I’m sorry Christina, but the priority is to defeat the monsters released by the church. It would be most unfavorable to leave it unattended. There is a high probability that they will attack me and those under my command. I am evil, I am not on the side of justice. I can’t save them all.)

Absolute doesn’t like Christina, but he doesn’t want her to die.

If Christina was in danger in front of him, he would probably save her, even if he didn’t want to. But he couldn’t afford to care about Christina, because he didn’t know for what reason she would die.

“Christina Zen.”

Absolute called her name.

Christina looked at Absolute when her name was called. Her eyes were somewhat expectant.

Absolute’s sense of guilt increased when he saw the innocence in Christina’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

The words of apology escape Absolute’s mouth. She doesn’t understand that he said those words because he can’t save her, who may be dying in the future.

“This is unlike you. What’s the matter with you?”

“Sorry, I’m a busy man. If you want someone to play with, I’ll lend you Mist.”

He changes the subject to cover his earlier apology.

(I said something out of character. If I could annihilate all the monsters, Christina might be saved, too. It is not yet decided that she will die. Let’s not be pessimistic.)

Mist is surprised at the sudden nomination.

“Absolute-sama ………… please don’t do this to me.”

“I’m sorry, Bowser, but I really want to compete with Absolute-kun.”

“Stop making it sound like I got dumped!”

The meeting ended without any further developments. The only thing left to do now was to get ready for the activity.

When I returned to the mansion, the negotiator was being overworked by Maria and Ur. In exchange for not taking his life, he was contracted to serve as the legs of Absolute from now on. Of course, in order to prevent the negotiator from running away from the Ark family using hostility or transference, he is bound by contract magic in his actions and words so that he will always return to Absolute.

Incidentally, the negotiator is now cleaning the weeds in the garden of the mansion with Ur. Since the negotiator was mainly active in other countries, his face is unknown to the Ark family. He decided to make the most of it and put him in the mansion as a new slave and servant.

“Don’t be a messy cleaner, newcomer! So, just do a good job of cleaning.”

“I understand Ur-chan, but please don’t say such cruel things. It makes me sad.”

While listening to Ur’s sermon, Ur noticed Absolute and came close to Absolute’s side.

“Welcome back master. This guy is very convenient. He can transfer back and forth between the mansion and the academy, and he learns his work very quickly.”

Ur, perhaps happy to have a junior colleague of her own, was actively teaching the negotiator her trade.

“Ur, can I borrow this man for a while?”

Absolute and the negotiator enter a soundproofed room. The room had been built to protect from Ur’s hearing, which had previously been compromised. The room itself is enchanted to prevent sound from escaping.

“Ark-sama, can’t you do something about my treatment? My day job is not to be a servant, but a negotiator… Can you give me a break from cleaning all day long? My back is killing me.”

“I’m sure you’ll do whatever it takes. You did anything depending on the money, right? Then, don’t complain and do as you are told. Don’t think that evil can choose a job. I’m going to go stock up now, so hurry up and transfer.”

“You’re seriously the devil.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I am evil, and I will crush my enemies without mercy. Let’s go.”

Absolute left the mansion by transfer with the negotiator to prepare for the exercise.

Next week, a tumultuous field exercise will begin.

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