Siduri had been feeling quite good these past few minutes.
The Great Temple had been repaired.
The outsiders had been captured.
The compensation had been paid.
Everything was so easy. Compared to the workload caused by all the strange orders the king had issued over the past few days, she truly had it easy now.
“How long has it been since I last enjoyed wine here at my leisure?”
Siduri held a golden goblet, gazing out over the Sumerian plain and the clear blue sky as she sipped the fine wine within. It was an honor only she possessed.
“The king’s wine is still as good as ever. It really brings back memories of those days spent brewing.”
Siduri allowed herself a little wistfulness, savoring this hard-won leisure and the fine wine on her tongue.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I last saw the king drink.”
The last time had been at the assembly. In the past, the king had clearly loved drinking so much.
“What exactly caused tha… eh?”
CLANG.
Her goblet fell to the ground, but Siduri had no attention to spare for it.
She rubbed her eyes, then looked up at the sky again.
Had the sky… collapsed?
…
“I see. So this is Gilgamesh’s main method of combat.”
Altair looked at Artoria with gratitude.
“Combined with Kiyama’s information, we can roughly estimate Gilgamesh’s strength.”
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji also offered his opinion. “This is the Age of Gods, and Gilgamesh is still alive. In terms of strength, he may be even stronger.”
“To be fair, objectively speaking, as a totally neutral bystander—yeah, pretty much.”
Shalltear made her presence known, then immediately asked a question.
“So what now? Where are we going next? Uruk?”
“That would be unwise.”
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji shook his head.
“Although we can most likely defeat Gilgamesh, rushing straight into the enemy’s headquarters would still be far too poorly considered.”
Harumi Kiyama listened from the side, several times barely holding herself back from cutting in.
Aren’t you clearly here to save the world? Why are you acting like Gilgamesh is the chief culprit threatening it?
“Because he really could be the chief culprit.”
“Huh?!”
Harumi Kiyama was startled by the voice that suddenly sounded beside her.
A hooded figure of indeterminate gender, speaking in a neutral voice, was standing next to her.
Harumi Kiyama steadied herself.
“The chief culprit… what do you mean? No, how did you know what I was thinking?”
“I’ll answer the first question first. It’s a matter of how you think about completing the mission.”
Doctor walked alongside her at the back of the group.
“We’ve already learned some information in advance about this mission’s enemy: Ramesses II, the Lostbelt King. We also more or less know what he wants to do.”
“What does he want to do?”
“Transfer the humans from the Lostbelt world. Simply put, immigrate them onto this planet.”
“Wh… what?”
“We don’t understand the exact principle, but we do know he needs the humans of this world in order to perform the transfer. So completing the mission is very simple.”
“How would you complete it?”
Harumi Kiyama unconsciously tightened her fists. Doctor spoke slowly, with a hint of amusement in that voice.
“Just kill all the humans in this world. How does that angle for completing the mission sound?”
“…Are you joking?”
“Yes. I’m joking.”
Harumi Kiyama moved a little farther away from Doctor. She did not want to keep talking to them.
Born in modern society, she could not accept that sort of joke—especially when she was not certain whether this group was capable of carrying out such an insane idea.
No… no matter how I look at it, several people in this group don’t seem like Guardians at all.
Whoosh… whoosh…
A wind blew down from above.
The group stopped and looked up.
“Why did the cloud layer suddenly drop?” Altair asked in confusion.
“No… that’s not the cloud layer.”
As if answering her words, the cloud layer gradually split open, revealing the temple ruins within.
“Wait! What is going on?!”
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The temple hit the ground.
…
Siduri wore garments reserved only for grand festivals, her expression solemn as she stood atop Uruk’s city wall and looked toward the distant ground as it was struck again and again.
That was where the temples had fallen.
“Have all residents outside the city been recalled?”
“They have all returned, High Priestess.”
“Good.”
Siduri looked at the priestesses behind her and made a gesture. The priestesses answered with gestures of their own, signaling that they could begin.
As these magi of the Age of Gods began weaving the magic circle required for the Magecraft, a translucent film rose from the ground, gradually covering all of Uruk in a semicircle.
The instant the formation was completed, violent winds slammed into the barrier and were perfectly sealed off outside Uruk.
Sensing the strength of the wind, the priestesses all asked Siduri in confusion.
“High Priestess, why do we need to activate the highest-level barrier against a storm of this degree?”
Siduri carefully observed the sky while answering their question.
“Because we don’t know whether the sky will keep falling.”
Yes, she was deeply worried.
Not only about the visible disaster, but about the unprecedented fact that the sky had collapsed.
What kind of joke was this?!
She had not lived a short life, but she had never seen such a sight. Right now… right now, calming the people was the most important task.
“High Priestess.”
A guard used an address that would only be spoken at such a solemn moment.
“The unrest inside Uruk has already been calmed, but everyone has fallen into panic. They’re all wondering whether something has gone wrong with the divine realm.”
“I see. Keep them stable for now. If the king still does not return, I will go down and reassure them myself.”
Siduri sighed softly and turned her gaze toward the Great Temple at the center of the city.
“My king, where have you gone?”
Her duties obligated her to protect Uruk, but only the king could truly calm the people. If she did it in his place, it would inevitably give those with ill intentions something to talk about.
In this age, when the issuing of decrees and the direction of affairs relied almost entirely on prestige and divine sanction, that was a difficult line for a subject to cross.
There was no task or responsibility she could not undertake—except anything that might shake the king’s majesty. That remained true even when the king had become brutal.
However… if the king truly did not return in time, then she would have no choice but to settle the matter properly, then step down after the work was done.
For the king…
“High Priestess, look!”
Siduri raised her head. A piece of wreckage roughly the same size as Uruk’s central Great Temple was falling.
Oh.
“Now I don’t need to think about whether I should do it anymore, my king.”
Siduri murmured, taking out Durandal.
“After this strike, I will probably die.”
The holy sword gradually began to shine. She intended to pour all of her magical energy into it. If she added the magical energy wrung out by exhausting her own life force, she would probably be able to smash this piece of wreckage into fragments.
She calculated it in her heart, without once considering retreat.
“Sylvie, from now on, you are the High Priestess.”
She gave those instructions to the girl behind her.
This is a fan translation of 我要往王之财宝里再加点东西 by 海绵宝宝宝宝 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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