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Chapter 122.1: Arnak, The Golden Capital
◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki
The Queen of Lions, Sekhmetra. The God of Light Harsesh’s aunt and the God of Hades Ushas’ little sister. She is the queen of every single existing sphinx as well as the true ruler of Gypseal.
And, this true ruler of Arnak, the golden capital, was currently looking down at us from her throne. She sat there, wearing many golden ornaments inlaid with beautiful gems. The pressure I felt from her felt like a combination of the presence of both a human and a lion.
「Well then, it seems everyone is now present. It’s time for you to tell me the reason for your visit.」
Sekhmetra raised her cane and pointed it toward us. The golden cane in her hand had its top carved in the shape of a lion’s heart, the other end had two-pronged tips. This is what they called a Was scepter. [TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Was-sceptre]
The name meant rule and power, it was the symbol of authority.
「Sorry, Sekhmetra, this visit isn’t for me or for any business I have. The only reason we’re here is to meet Bruhl.」
Ishtar looked around at the Gods who sat in this room.
「Uhm, what business do you have with my sworn friend, Bruhl? Bruhl, you may step forward.」
A woman then stepped forward as Sekhmetra gave her order. She looked like a normal human woman at a glance. However, just beneath her dress, one could see a long and thick scorpion tail coming out of it. She was the Goddess revered by the Scorpion race of Selket Kingdom, Bruhl. Upon a closer look, her real form resembled that of Giltar.
「What kind of business do you have with me?」
Bruhl stepped forward, looking at us with a dubious look on her face.
「The truth is, Reiji’s comrade and Thors got poisoned by your big brother. Fana says that she needs your poison to make an antidote. Can you lend us your poison?」
「That dumbass brother… And you need my poison.」
Bruhl pondered for a while as she caressed her tail.
「Please, Bruhl-san. I hear that you’ve parted ways with your brother. That’s why you shouldn’t feel reserved on behalf of your brother. Will you share your poison with us?」
I asked Bruhl.
「Black haired sage, Chiyuki is it? You’re right that I parted ways with my brother. But I have no obligation to lend you my poison.」
Bruhl shook her head.
「Please Bruhl, can you at least consider this matter first?」
Ishtar stepped forward, begging with upturned eyes. At the same time, the male beastman God raised a cheer. Unfortunately, though, Bruhl was a Goddess. That kind of move didn’t work on her, her expression was unperturbed.
「Please Bruhl! My comrade is in danger! Please save her!!」
Reiji looked at Bruhl with a serious look on his face.
Wait a minute? Did her unperturbed face twitch for a moment just now?
「Well, I’m not a heartless person. I think we should leave the decision to our leader.」
Bruhl then looked at Sekhmetra as if she wanted to avoid Reiji’s gaze.
Bruhl might be attracted to Reiji’s appearance.
And since she said “Leader” it means that the relationship between Bruhl and Sekhmetra wasn’t that of master and servant.
Everyone in this place looked at Sekhmetra.
「I see you made a wise choice, Bruhl. Well, my decision is negative. It was the deed of her brother, and she’s not acquainted with your comrade either. Zuto is also the one who hurt my big brother. I feel no obligation to help you.」
Sekhmetra spoke with a smile as she looked down at us, enjoying our predicament.
Zuto was another name for Thors, the Elios God. Come to think of it, Thors was treated as an evil God in Gypseal. That’s why Sekhmetra felt no obligation to save him. I had thought that it was a simple matter when Ishtar told me about this story but…
That turned out to be our biggest stumbling block.
「Please, Queen of Lions!! Please accept our request!!」
Reiji asked Sekhmetra with a serious face just like when he asked Bruhl. But, she didn’t seem to be moved by his plea. Reiji might not be her type.
「This is starting to get repetitive, Hero of Light. You’re literally asking us to help you for free.」
Sekhmetra shook her head in disappointment. Her remark and smile held a profound meaning.
「I see, in short, it’ll be another story if we do something for you in return isn’t it, Sekhmetra?」
「Fufufu, indeed, Ishtar. As expected of my rival. The truth is, Gypseal is currently facing a rather troublesome situation. That’s why I want you guys to solve this problem for us.」
Sekhmetra pointed her Was cane to us again. She was grinning ear to ear. Maybe it was her plan from the very beginning to ask us to solve this problem.
「What kind of problem is it?」
Ishtar asked in confusion.
「Well, you know about the pyramid that protects Gypseal, right?」
「I don’t know… Do you know anything about this, Chiyuki?」
Reiji looked at me.
「I know, Reiji-kun. You’re talking about the pyramid barrier that protects Gypseal right, Your Majesty?」
If my memory serves me right, there should be around a hundred or so pyramids of various sizes spread all across Gypseal. Those pyramids generate magical power and cover the entirety of Gypseal within a giant barrier. In short, all of Gypseal is akin to Labrys’ labyrinth.
The God of Gypseal has the advantage of fighting in their home ground when they fight here. And it’s not a confined place like the labyrinth; Gypseal might be the only place in this world that is protected by that massive barrier.
「As expected of the black-haired sage, the alias isn’t wasted on you. It’s just as you say, the golden pyramid is made by my beloved Heibos. Isdes and Harsesh mass-produced my husband’s creation and completed a massive barrier that covered the entirety of Gypseal.」
Sekhmetra told us about the origin of the pyramid with a proud look on her face. Her husband was none other than the blacksmith God of Elios, Heibos. In short, both siblings have a strong connection with Elios. It seems there’s a huge temple for Heibos in the Putaha Kingdom of Gypseal, whose citizens are mostly dwarves.
Sekhmetra must be really proud of the pyramid made by her own husband.
「I see. So what happened to that pyramid?」
Sekhmetra’s face clouded when Reiji asked that question. What happened to her?
「The truth is, one of those pyramids… Got snatched by the Snake of Apophis just recently.」
Ishtar raised a startled voice the moment she heard those words.
「Hah, what do you mean, Sekhmetra? How can you allow such an important structure to be snatched just like that? What will become of the barrier?」
「It’s exactly as I say, Ishtar. To be exact, the thing that got snatched is the inside of the pyramid and it turned into an area of Apophis. It began when those snakes became more and more active lately, resulting in Harsesh and Isdes talking about creating a new pyramid. Unfortunately, the new pyramid got snatched before it was completed.」
Sekhmetra spoke while looking at Harsesh. Harsesh, who stood a little away from her, paled the moment the queen looked in his direction. He was probably the supervisor of the hijacked pyramid.
「That guy used the magical power inside the pyramid that was only 90% complete to create a hole in Gypseal’s barrier. That’s why the strength of the barrier protecting Gypseal is weaker than usual. Thanks to that, those damned snakes are free to cause so many incidents in Gypseal, which is resulting in never-ending headaches for us.」
I see, so that was the reason why Dahark could appear in Gypseal.
「That’s why I want you guys to retrieve the hijacked pyramid for us. Or destroy it altogether if you judge that retrieving it is impossible. We can talk about the transaction with Bruhl after that.」
Sekhmetra then raised the Was scepter as she spoke the last half of her sentence.
I see when we met Maat, the queen was already aware that we had come to ask her for something. Thus she came up with the plan to force the job of retrieving the hijacked pyramid to us. And the reason Bruhl entrusted the decision to Sekhmetra was that she was fully aware of her superior’s plan.
We were literally in the palm of their hands!!
Their request was actually a really troublesome one on top of that. [TL: Serves you right!]
In short, we ended up getting caught up in the conflict between Apophis and Gypseal.
「I understand!! Leave it to us!!」
Reiji replied as if it was a natural choice.
We had no choice, we had to accept this request to save Shirone.