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In a room inside the main palace, key members of the Fifty Bells Union were reunited around a low table.
The leader of the entire Union, Kagura aka Uzume was there, together with the strategist and commanding officers of the main platoons, the leaders of the multicolor troops, supervising representatives, and two Hidden members. An urgent meeting had been organized to talk about the information Mira had brought to them.
Mira herself was waiting in a separate room though. Kagura trusted her entirely, and she worked directly under King Solomon, but it would still take some time to explain who she was to the other members.
While she waited, Mira went from being puzzled at the sight of a traditional Japanese style toilet, tasted Japanese confectionery after what felt like ages, all while chatting with Acadry. She told Mira more details of the time Nyanmaru’s master spent with Kagura, and how she had no way of refusing to name the Shikigami 「Nyanmaru」. Acadry also mentioned that the large eagle shikigami with scarlet wings that carried her to meet Mira was called 「Piyonoshin」 for a similar reason. With a sigh, she added in a murmur 「I really respect her, but still…」 with a distant look on her eyes.
Mira had no idea what to add to the conversation, so all she did was nod in agreement.
Some time later, a man came into the room to call Mira into the conference room.
The room was very similar to the one Kagura had been in earlier. The only notable difference was the low table that was shaped like a square. The leaders sat around it, their appearances befitting of the architectural style, and when Mira entered the room, they all looked at her. Mira felt a bit bewildered at first, but Kagura beckoned at her saying 「Over here」 while waving her hand.
As Mira moved through the room, so did all the gazes on her. Kagura kept pressing her to come closer, making Mira sit at her side.
「This girl is the envoy from Arkite that delivered the information I just relayed to you all. And as most of you are aware of already, she’s also the person who helped capture that member of Chimera Clauzen.」
「I’m Mira.」
After Uzume’s introduction, Mira simply named herself.
Voices of admiration came out from those present, mostly after Uzume mentioned how she was the one who helped capture Chimera Clauzen’s member. News of that had spread quickly throughout the entire Fifty Bells Union and everyone praised her great deed. After all, the raids on Chimera Clauzen bases occurring that very moment were thanks to her. With that benefactor in front of them, everyone present was itching to know just how strong she was.
「Not only that, but she’s also the pupil of Danbulf, one of the Nine Wisemen.」
When Uzume added that, everyone fell silent. But that was only for a short moment, one of Uzume’s assistants that knew she was Kagura decided to believe what she said.
「I’ve heard of many phony pupils in the past… But if Uzume says it’s true, then I’ll believe her. As long as she helps take down Chimera.」
An aging man sitting closest to Uzume, with a moustache that Mira liked, approved of Uzume’s claim. Hearing that, the rest of the members also agreed with him and looked at Mira with admiration.
After showering her with appreciation, they began introducing themselves.
「I’m Mizar, the commanding officer of the Bellerophon platoon.」
「I’m Alioth, strategist of the same platoon.」
Both of them were part of the Bellerophon platoon, the commanding officer Mizar wore plain leather armor. He appeared to be in his forties, his wrinkles starting to become obvious on his brow as he looked straight at Mira.
Alioth was the same man that had spoken earlier saying that he trusted Mira was telling the truth. He wore a plain robe, while his lustrous silver hair was combed back.
「I’ve heard about you, apparently you helped the Silver platoon quite a bit. I’m Kongou, leader of all the multicolor platoons.」
He had dark skin and was almost twice as big as the rest of them, he was part of the Gardia tribe. His white hair was cut short, while his stubble covered half of his face like a faint coat of snow. He smiled cheerfully as his small eyes followed Mira.
「I’m Cophin. You could say I’m something like an ambassador in charge of listening to all the countries.」
Cophin waved as he introduced himself. He wore the regular clothes of that world, pants and a shirt, though he also added a coat on top. He looked the youngest out of everyone in the room, with exception of Mira, but his actual age was hard to tell given that he was an elf with a long lifespan.
「I’m Hebi of the Hidden.」
「Sasori of the same.」
The two Hidden members wore clothes that could pass off as any random adventurer in the streets. Hebi had a white robe, while Sasori wore a breastplate made of insect husks. Both of them were girls, Hebi had long black hair and a piercing stare, while Sasori was part of the Meou tribe and had a bob cut pink colored hair and a friendly smile.
「Well, I think that concludes the introductions. Let’s go back on topic.」
When everyone had calmed down, Uzume resumed the meeting. Her voice rang completely different from what a cute young girl’s would, catching everyone’s attention and focusing it back on Chimera Clauzen.
「About the three dungeons mentioned earlier. Let’s send a few elite troops to them as well.」
Mira’s information had already been passed on to them, so they called Mira so she could listen to their plans regarding that.
「That was valuable information, indeed. If we succeed in capturing one of their higher-ups, they’ll begin counterattacking as well. But on the topic of that information, I believe it would be best to investigate a bit more? From what you said, it’s still a guess that they might be targeting the Spirit King. It might be some form of trap to lure us somewhere.」
Mizar voiced his doubt. That Chimera Clauzen was targeting the Spirit King was only the conclusion came upon after investigating their movements, so he was afraid their guess would be completely off the mark and they would fall into a very well planned trap.
His point was valid, so all the varied faces surrounding the low table fell into pensive silence, only their breaths audible. But Alioth voiced another theory.
「I can see what you’re trying to get at, but everything we found out ourselves also supports that theory.」
The strategist of the Bellerophon platoon, Alioth. He was the brains of the Fifty Bells Union and one of the few that knew Uzume’s true identity. He had earned an immense amount of trust from the other members, so when he said that, everyone’s eyes focused on him. Even Mira looked at him, curious to know what he was going to say.
「Well Alioth, tell us what you know.」
「So…」
Uzume urged him on, so he took out a folded paper from his pocket and spread it on the table. When unfolded, the paper was larger than his both arms outstretched, and on it was drawn a map of the entire continent, with multiple marks all over it.
「As you’re all aware, we’re currently launching surprise attacks on all of Chimera’s bases, and we’re gathering a large amount of new documents and information from them. The marks on the map represent those places. We already found more than fifty of them, and the number just keeps growing. Following their usual trends, Chimera is quick on their foot, so even after raiding all these bases we’ve only captured a low number of people. However, this still represents a loss in their power. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it’ll only be a matter of time before we capture all of them.」
「That much is true. It’s not much, but the attacks on Spirits are starting to decrease in number. But on the other hand, the members of my platoon keep crying about not having time to even catch a breath!」
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