CH 345

Ballistic Revenge 2

“Ah~……”

Sabine-chan became the chief strategist.

Well, she’s certainly a tough one……

“For now, let’s read the direct appeal letter carefully and consider it.

I just received it, checked the address and sender, and only skimmed the contents once.

It’s a wooden plank, and the letters are messy, so I couldn’t read it very well…” (Mitsuha)

The writer was probably not accustomed to writing on wooden planks, and there was also the problem of writing tools.

I can read and write well the scriptures of this country, but this is something else.

It’s just like being able to read and write Japanese is a different matter than being able to read corrugated characters, hastily written with a brush.

Well, I guess if I talk to the person who wrote this letter, I may be able to read and write it…

“But why did they go to the trouble of sending it in a wooden plank? Even in the countryside, there’s paper available, isn’t there? Well, it may not be so cheap, but it’s not so expensive that you can’t afford it…

It would be difficult to write on a wooden letter, and it would be bulky to deliver, so it would be rather expensive…” (Mitsuha)

When I ask that question…

“Ah, that’s because the method of direct appeal was decided a long time ago, and the rule that ‘submissions must be made in wooden planks’ is still valid.

Direct appeals are so distasteful to the nobility that no one thinks of revising the rules to make them more convenient. It’s the higher-ups who decide such things.

And the populace is also afraid that it might be revised so that it will be more difficult to appeal directly, so they don’t dare voice it.” (Sabine)

“I see……” (Mitsuha)

We all have our reasons for things.

I understand it quite well…

“…So, can you read these broken characters?” (Mitsuha)

“Sure. They make me learn how to read anything, even a petition written by a commoner who can’t read or write well.” (Sabine)

Sasu-sabi!

……Err, wait?

If Sabine-chan can read this handwriting, I can acquire the ability to read and write while talking to Sabine-chan, so shouldn’t I be able to read it too?

Why can’t I read this then?

After all, was it because “reading and writing” and “the ability to read broken characters” are two different things?

Damn, what a pain…

******

“I did it!” (Sabine)

Oh, Sabine-chan successfully deciphered the wooden plank!

“…As expected, it’s a direct appeal, a petition.

No, I mean, since it was written on a wooden plank, it only means one thing, but…

And the contents are; complaints about the high tax rate by the evil magistrate, the summons of good-looking young girls, and the purge of those who dare oppose. Well, that’s the three main points of this direct appeal.” (Sabine)

“Uwa~a, I knew it…” (Mitsuha)

“And of course, this is a direct appeal to be sent to the lord of one’s own domain. The fact that it came to you, Oneesama, means……” (Sabine)

“Means what?” (Mitsuha)

“It means somebody put in some ‘extra wisdom’, I guess.

Since it’s not for the Viscount Yamano, but the divine messenger, “Hime Miko of Thunder”, then there’s a high probability that the appeal will be received, and the moment you know about this, you won’t be able to ignore it…….” (Sabine)

“Ah~……”

Certainly, it’s just like what Sabine-chan said when she first saw this letter.

They got me……

******

“…So, what are you going to do, Oneesama?” (Sabine)

Sabine-chan asked me about that but……

“Regarding whether I’ll do it or not… If I receive something like this and ignore it, it will affect my reputation as the ‘Divine Messenger, Hime Miko of Thunder’, not to mention me as the head of the Viscount family……

Let’s keep it a secret…” (Mitsuha)

“Yeah, that’s the thing, if there’s no movement from you, Oneesama, rumors like ‘Hime Miko-sama seems to have received a letter of appeal’ might circulate out of nowhere…” (Sabine)

“”…………””

“And in that case, the investigation advantage of ‘the other side does not know that I have received a direct appeal and is acting on it’, will be lost.

Furthermore, the whole country will be made to realize, ‘Oh, I can send a direct appeal to Hime Miko-sama!’ And thus, you will be flooded with wooden planks…

……You will be used as a stepping stone!” (Sabine)

Indeed. It’s truly the definition of ‘they got me’……

But perhaps the person who made the direct appeal and the person who added some ideas are not bad people.

This was just the most reliable means they could take.

They were prepared to lay down their life for everyone else, they wanted to choose a method with as much certainty as possible.

…It’s quite obvious, isn’t it?…

And for me, who might receive many direct appeals in the future, this is just ‘one among many’, but for them, this is one big gamble to save their friends…

“So, Sabine-chan, what is your suggestion as the chief strategist?” (Mitsuha)

“Right, for the time being, keep it a secret from anyone other than those you can absolutely trust so that it won’t be spread that they made a direct appeal to you, Oneesama.

Next, getting this matter out of the way quickly.

…And after it’s done, spread information to both the side that made the direct appeal and the side that was being sued, “only this time”, “the next time you make a direct appeal, I’ll just destroy the territory because it’s too troublesome”, to prevent it from happening again.” (Sabine)

Hmmm, I guess that’s the only way…

However, Sabine-chan, as our typical strategist, is both cute and devious!

……Little cute black strategist, you say? Shut up!

******

“This is Esnor County…”

……And so, here we are a few days later.

In the territory where the sender of that direct appeal, or rather the complainant… Anyway, the one who asked me for help, is in this territory.

“You didn’t have to be in such a hurry, you know……” (Sabine)

And Sabine-chan is not in a very good mood.

No, I didn’t mean to bring you, not at all!

But I couldn’t turn her down when she told me what I would do without my strategist, and ‘Oneesama, I’m worried about what you would do if you’re alone’…

As expected, I can’t bring Colette-chan to this operation that requires stomach fortitude.

So, I’m keeping it a secret from Colette-chan.

Of course, the king as well…

If I told them that, they would definitely stop me!

Sabine-chan was expecting to travel with me in the camper, Big Lorry, but since we moved in a blink of an eye via teleportation, she was in a bad mood.

I’ve scanned this continent and the new continent by flying over them with the help of a certain country’s air force and navy aircraft quite a bit, so I can get to almost any location immediately.

Oh, I also flew to various other continents.

It’s not like I’ve been flying around the world the whole time.

……Yeah, “Around the World in 8 Hours”.

I’m sorry, Verne-sensei!

I realized that even if I had never been there, I could teleport as long as the location could be seen from the altitude and that if I was over nothing, I could teleport based on information such as “how many degrees and miles from where I was just now”, rather than the landmark of the destination itself.

Well, it takes a few extra seconds to specify the location compared to using coordinates and aerial view. Besides, there are various troublesome things on the ground.

Things like appearing in private houses, crowded places, mountains and lakes, and so on…

Also, spare me the thought of getting “stuck in a stone”…

No, of course, there’s a safety mechanism to avoid that, in such cases, the transition will be performed continuously until I arrive at the second-best candidate or back at the starting point…

The reason why it’s not immediately to the starting point is that if I’m transferring to avoid a crisis, I may die as soon as I return to where I’m escaping from.

Over the past few days, I’ve done a lot of research on Count Esnor’s territory.

There are a lot of things going on about the territory and the Count’s family…

The governing side didn’t know that a direct letter of appeal was sent to me.

And those who are appealing to me would have thought that I would come much later, considering the distance from here to the royal capital.

So we can operate without being known to both parties.

And of course, Sabine-chan and I are dressed as normal commoners. I’m also wearing a blonde wig and colored contacts.

Alright, let’s get going!

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Author’s Note:

Notice. (^^)/

Monday, September 26, in the November issue of Kodansha’s “Monthly Shonen Sirius”, will feature an interview with me on the occasion of the anime adaptation of “I will save 80,000 gold coins in another world to prepare for my old age”.

If you don’t mind, please read it. (^^)/

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