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At that time, in the kingdom…
”There he goes, Toa-sama.”
”Seems so, Heim.”
Silently watching the ship leave was Toa, one of the Grand Festival of Sorcery’s management committee’s directors. Her expression was tinged with regret for some reason.
”Even so, that ship… this is the first time I’ve seen a ship sailing without sails like that.”
”Ahaha! Me too. On top of that is that ridiculous attack power. In fact, it’s all very interesting.”
”Certainly. And also, to have enough armour to defend against a blow from that sea dragon… and also that weapon…”
With a finger like a Shirauo on her chin, Toa began to contemplate. Not even battleships possessed on a national level had similar armouring capable of defending against a blow from a sea dragon. [TL: Shirauo explanation, as well as others, at the end of the chapter]
Even with defensive magic, it’s impossible for an ordinary magician to defend against it. To make matters worse, the magicians on board as escorts were all considered to be quite skillful, yet the sea dragon’s arrival caused their faces to become pale.
Same goes for the weapons fired from the ship. I’ve never seen something like that before, and it even made use of lightning. In the first place, the magic itself that is used to manipulate lightning is considered to be advanced grade magic, and for it to be powerful enough to defeat a sea dragon of that magnitude, it can be said to be of grand sorcerer class, which is higher than sorcerer class.
However, it was easily done with strange equipment.
”For that reason, I’d thought he came from the Carcel Kingdom.”
The high level of Carcel Kingdom’s technological prowess is spreading not only throughout the continent, but even the whole world. This is the reason it has been selected as the venue for the Grand Festival of Sorcery this time.
The Grand Festival of Sorcery is also known as a place to demonstrate high-level sorcery techniques. In many cases, the main focus is on sorcerers and grand sorcerers presenting powerful magic, yet, the Carcel Kingdom has gained attention due to its high level of technology that utilises magic.
Toa is also looking forward to experiencing that technological prowess firsthand.
”If you’re curious, shall I investigate it?”
”That’d be good. But foremost, we’re committee member’s here for the Grand Festival of Sorcery. Because of that, I ask that you only do so if there’s free time to do so.”
”Ahaha! Of course. But then again, one can always just make free time for things.”
The corners of Heim’s mouth lifted into a grin full of implications. It showed that he could be relied on for this, though Toa hoped he wouldn’t do anything too reckless.
”Now then, let’s continue sailing.”
”Hm. All of you! Sharp to starbooaaaard! Push on towards Carcel Kingdoooooom!”
◇◆◇
”Still no word from the pirates?”
”Seems so. But don’t worry, those guys will easily sink Wirk’s shabby boat and such. Sinking architect! That’s the predetermined course.”
”Hm, well, true. Besides, they say no news is good news.”
The king was convinced when he heard that. Whether it was the king or the Minister of Construction, they both made light of various things about Wirk which they were mistaken about.
”Ha! Was that a shake just now?”
”Uhh, now that you mention it. It shook a bit, didn’t it?
”Recently, it’s happened quite often.”
”Indeed… well, such things happen.”
Little by little, tremors were increasingly felt in the royal capital. Wirk had given firm warnings regarding this, but neither the king nor the ministers would listen. It is the same now.
They likely think it’ll stop anyway soon.
”By the way, Your Majesty. As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of building a new royal stadium.”
”What? You’re saying you want to make the stadium anew?”
”Indeed, Your Majesty.”
When the talk about the pirates was over, Dowal, the Minister of CConstruction, made this proposal to the Carcel king. He said that he wanted to make a new venue for the Grand Festival of Sorcery’s magic competitions.
”But why now? There is the original stadium.”
The king asked, seeming puzzled. It’s true that there’s a stadium in the royal capital built by magic architects.
”But, Your Majesty. That stadium was created by the magic architecture of the incompetent, conceited Wirk. Thinking back on it now, it’s a very shady thing, and it’s actually a bad omen to leave alone something that that exiled fool had a hand in. It would be good to completely demolish the old one to make way for a new stadium.”
”Hmm, certainly…”
”Besides, though it’s not my intention to accept that man’s nonsense without questioning it, it’s true that a considerable amount of time has passed since that stadium has been made. We’d very likely become the laughingstock of the other countries if we were to use that kind of old fashioned thing for the Grand Festival of Sorcery.”
Dowal uses his eloquent and skilled words to persuade the king. The king, on the other hand, also held concerns regarding the bad legacy which the exiled Wirk left behind.
”However, it will be held next year. Is there enough time?”
”No problem. Just now, my chosen architect came to this place, may he enter?”
”Oh. You’re very light on your feet, huh. Splendid. Very well then, I’ll hear what he has to say.”
”Then I’ll do so promptly.”
Then Dowal brought a single architect before the king.
”I give my thanks for this meeting, zamasu. This Me~ is the magnificent architect Zamasu Zamasu.”
”Zamasu Zamasu?”
”Zamasu Zamasu.”
The king frowned at the peculiar introduction. He turned toward Dowal with a look that said “And is he really alright?”.
”This Zamasu is a man who claims to be a world-class architect.”
”Is that so?”
”To tell you the truth, it’s no exaggeration to say this Me~ worked on that well-known famous Leaning Tower of Pizza, Palace of the Dragon King and Lapita Castle, zamasu.”
”What! You worked on those!”
The king was quite surprised. Certainly, the Palace of the Dragon King and the Leaning Tower of Pizza are quite famous buildings. However, these are extremely ancient ruins, and it is hard to believe that Zamasu worked on them. Not to mention, Lapita is a fabled castle in the sky, which no one even knows if it really exists or not. In other words, there was a problem before he even claimed to have worked on it, yet he was apparently convincing.
”There will be no problem if you leave it to this Me~, zamasu. I have already designed a new stadium to replace that stale, dilapidated stadium, zamasu.”
”What, already!”
”Yes. Zamasu, may we have a look?”
”Of course, zamasu.”
Then the minister called in soldiers, who unfolded an image of the new kingdom stadium that Zamasu prepared.
”O-, oh, is it this? So, what in the world is this thing?”
”Boldly! Nature and harmony, zamasu!”
”Nature and harmony?”
As the king tilted his head to the side slightly, Zamasu proudly explained.
”This time’s special feature, is that it’s all made of wood!”
”What, made of wood!?”
The king stood up with a shocked expression and shouted.
”You’re saying you can make a stadium of this degree with some dumb wood?”
”If it is this Me~, then with leeway, zamasu.”
”Hmm…”
The king took his seat with a squeak, and folded his arms.
”However, why bother with wood?”
”It is in order to appeal to the world.”
The minister Dowal replied. The king’s eyes went round.
”Appeal?”
”Yes. The Grand Festival of Sorcery attracts a wide variety of races from around the world. Among those that come would of course be the elves from that nature-loving continent. Races such as them prefer materials taken straight from nature as opposed to stone and iron. Hence this! The elves will certainly be delighted with this!”
”Indeed. As expected of you, Dowal! All right, you’re hired, so get started right away!”
”Yes! As you wish!”
Thus as he bowed before the king who’s mood had been improved, Dowal secretly chuckled to himself…
[TL: Now, I’m going to go ahead and say that this is going to get long, but most of it isn’t all that necessary. It’s mostly just small nuances or details I’ve picked up on in this chapter which I’d like to clarify.
First is Toa’s name. Toa (トア)　means door in Japanese, so that’s another one to add to the list of pun names.
Secondly is the metaphor used to describe her fingers. A Shirauo is a white, thin fish. The Japanese Wikipedia page even said that there’s a possibility that the fish is likened to the fingers of a noble, due to the frail, unblemished appearance. Our author seems to agree with that.
Thirdly, our new character, Zamasu Zamasu. You didn’t read wrong the first time, that really is his name. He always ends his sentences in “zamasu”, and has an archaic manner of speech. However, I feel like the way he speaks is a bit jumbled, maybe because he’s pushing himself to speak so peculiarly? In any case, for this reason, some of his sentences sound a little odd. Maybe some of you noticed, but in one of his lines, I deliberately left in the tautology, as that is how it was written. He also refers to himself by saying “ミ~”, which can be both interpretted as saying “myself”, as well as the english “me”. So that I didn’t miss either possibility, I used “this Me~”, capitalising the “M” for extra peculiarity.
Fourth, the names “Leaning Tower of Pizza” and “Lapita” are wrong. The author most likely did this on purpose, “Lapita” to avoid copyright issues, and “Pizza” just for laughs. I could have translated it as “Piza”, but where’s the fun in that?
And lastly, something that comes from both this chapter and the last. When Wirk refers to the sea monster he fought, he calls it a long neck dragon, while Toa and company call it a sea dragon. These are the literal translations I just wrote. Wirk’s “long neck dragon” actually translates as plesiosaurus, as you have seen in the previous chapters, though in order to explain, I needed to give you the direct translation here. My hunch is that Wirk doesn’t actually see the sea monster as much of a threat. He treats it like it’s some dinosaur, and also calls it how he sees it, i.e. a dragon with a long neck. However, Toa and Heim call it a sea dragon, a name which clearly shows that it should be something to be feared. This shows just how little Wirk actually understands of the outside world’s perspective on things.
I’m actually glad the author put the extra effort into these small details, even if it meant more work for me.]