People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 487 "Lady": Am I the only one among the Fools? Is there anyone who is actually doing the work?

Meanwhile, on the other side of Inazuma, there is Narukami Island.

Unaware that a new resistance force had emerged on the distant island of Haiqi from this day forward,

Faced with the changes brought about by the Thunder God's activity, the "Friends of Winter," who single-handedly shaped the current state of the nation, are communicating under the cover of night.

"The intensity of the war on the Shonenju is gradually decreasing. After the Tenryo magistrate was unable to delay the attack, the resistance's decline became more and more obvious, and defeat was only a matter of time."

In front of the long table covered with projections,

As the only executive officer and head of Operation Inazuma to attend in person,
The "lady" seated at the head of the table spoke in an icy tone, recalling everything her "colleagues" had done in name for the Empress's cause, her anger barely contained.

"Oh? So what?"

"Rosalyn, did you contact us in such a grand manner just to say this? Ha, I don't remember you being a compassionate philanthropist."

Slightly shaking the test tube in his hand, the "Doctor," wearing a pointed mask, spoke in a cold tone, seemingly busy with something else and not interested in the topic being discussed.

"."

The atmosphere turned cold as he noticed the woman's gaze growing increasingly hostile, a chilling intensity that even hinted at a hint of fire beneath its icy surface.

After all, they couldn't afford to let the most diligent of all the executives get into trouble, leaving no one to do the work. Dotore, who hadn't wanted to speak anymore, shook his head and finally stopped his experiment.
"—Eleventh Seat, I remember that after you were knocked unconscious, you've been training near the battlefield recently. Do you have any clues about the problem our Eighth Seat mentioned?"

Turning around, he posed the question to the participant with the fewest seats and least seniority on the field.
Knowing that no matter who spoke, they wouldn't get any good results, and were happy to find someone to take the blame for them, everyone turned their attention to the young man who had just arrived.

"Huh? Me? I just got here and you want me to speak? Seriously?"

It's unclear what they talked about before, but I vaguely overheard the lady and the doctor seemingly discussing the war on the Kannazuka side.
D'Artagnan, who arrived a little late, blinked in confusion, wondering how the topic had turned to her.

"Phew, whatever. I've never really understood your logic in choosing topics. Is there really anything to say about this? Are you all idiots?"

"Whether it's the battlefield or a battle, it's all the same to me. The most crucial factor is simply the strength of both sides."

From the very beginning, the shogunate's army overwhelmingly defeated the rebels in sheer strength; the weak were destined for annihilation—wasn't that the only logical outcome?

Hearing such a question, which even Tok could figure out, come from his colleagues with such seriousness, and completely disbelieving that there was any value in answering it, his tone carried a hint of incredulity:

—He wasn't allowed to go to the battlefield to fight, so he was bored and could only search for the legendary mechanical puppet near Kannazuka.

His mind wasn't on the Shogunate army or the rebels at all; all he wanted to do now was train and then find his "arch-rival" and "best friend" for a rematch, to reclaim the dignity that belonged to an executor through a fair and square contest.

"."

He played it safe, completely failing to grasp the woman's underlying purpose in asking the question, and even mocked everyone present.

Faced with the outstanding performance of their eleven seats, "Rich Man" and "Doctor" exchanged a glance, and even "Servant," who had remained silent, shook his head.

"—You guys. Ha, I knew it!"

"The Queen's ideal is the noblest and purest thing in the world. How can you arrogant fools who only have your own minds understand its greatness?"

I've experienced that feeling more than once—there seem to be many people, but once the work starts, you're inexplicably the only one working diligently.

Rosalind was genuinely furious with her colleagues, and her tone carried a hint of sarcasm:

"Hmph, since you don't care about the Empress's plans, I'll just be frank."

"The war at Kannazuka is crucial to the entire plan; no one can remain indifferent."

Whether it's Dotole, your experimental base, or Pantalone, your money-making scheme,
Everything you care about only makes sense in the current situation of internal strife in Inazuma.

“If we continue to let things go unchecked, once the situation has completely stabilized and the gods have turned their attention elsewhere, all of your ‘plans’ will be buried with you.”

She realized these guys weren't stupid; they were just playing dumb, hoping she would continue working as hard as before.
Having had enough, Rosalyn decided to bring the issue to the forefront, hoping these lazy bums who only take the benefits would take action.

"."

"Pantarone, your Northern Bank must have hired quite a few lifelong slaves lately, hasn't it?"

"Instead of just enjoying your wealth, why don't you go to Inazuma yourself and see for yourself, and lend a hand to our eighth seat?"

Turning his head slightly, he noticed that the "rich man" beside him was looking at him. Before the other party could speak, Dotole decided to strike first.

???

"—Ha, let me through?"

"—Dottore, you haven't forgotten how much the Northern Bank lost in order to store your crystallized bone marrow, have you?!"

"Considering our friendship as colleagues, how about I reduce the loss by 10% and deduct it from your experiment funding?"

Upon discovering that Dotole intended to renege on his promise after receiving the research funding, Pantalone, with his long black hair and monocle, sneered and retaliated without hesitation:
"—And if we have to talk about it, why don't you come over here?"

"Why go to all the trouble of having someone else supervise the construction of the test site in Inazuma? Could it be that the previous slicing losses were too severe, so they dare not show their faces?"

This isn't a formal meeting at the winter solstice, so there's absolutely no sense of camaraderie when people are mocking each other.

Despite suffering several losses, he remained arrogant and disdainful of Totore. Pantalone seized the opportunity to mock him mercilessly.

"Don't dare to show your face? Ha, then who was it that said they wanted to show the 'God of Authoritarianism' the power of 'finance'?"

"If my observation is correct, your Northern Bank and so-called rules are now being rejected even by ordinary scholars in the Order of the Church."

Hearing the blatant slander that he was "too afraid to step forward," Dotole finally stopped focusing on the test tube in his hand and decisively turned around to retaliate.
They're both executives, and they have quite a bit of dirt on each other.

If Pantalone could slander him, he naturally wouldn't be too polite.

"."

After a brief silence, the others present had never seen these two react so strongly.
Although they both claimed the other was slandering them, judging from their behavior, it's highly likely...
He shook his head, not intending to engage in such a pointless argument.

The white-haired woman, who had been sitting quietly to the side the whole time, rose from her seat and looked calmly at the "lady" at the head of the table:
“I’m not interested in the arguments here. In fact, Inatsume’s work has nothing to do with our ‘Horsefire House’.”

"Rosalyn, if there are no other important matters, I will take my leave now. As the person in charge of Operation Inazuma, you can handle everything here on your own."

Their relationship wasn't too bad in private; at least the children liked this eccentric aunt who always gave them gifts, and that was part of the reason for their attendance.
Out of politeness, Arecino gave a brief notification before leaving, her figure flickering slightly, indicating she was about to disconnect. "...Inazuma has some of your men. If you don't want to get involved, are you planning to take them back with you?"

Rosalind, seated above, tilted her head slightly.
Although his tone remained cold, the aggression in it was not as intense as when he was talking to the others.

"No, they are remnants of the previous generation of 'servants,' and they don't entirely obey my instructions. I have no intention of interfering with their choices."

"Since they don't agree with my ideas and want to join other executives here, just treat them as normal Fools soldiers to be deployed."

If you don't agree with the rules of the "family," then you are naturally not a member of the "family."
With a wave of her hand, which was corrupted by the Crimson Moon Curse, Arecino handed over ownership of the team.

After one person left, the somewhat chaotic scene gradually calmed down.

It was perfectly clear that stopping the internal strife in Inazuma would not benefit anyone.
Not wanting to waste any more time exchanging barbs with Dotole, Pantalone offered his own solution first:
"The resistance is suffering from a shortage of supplies and its army is inadequately equipped. As aid to these 'righteous men,' I can provide them with the necessary war materials."

"However, although the Northern Bank is located all over the place, I am just a businessman. The issue of combat power still needs to be resolved by you, such as the secret research of one of the executives here."

Dottore: “.”

"I have basically completed my research on Inazuma, and the remaining projects are not very attractive to me."

"But now that the preliminary research has yielded results, I can hand over the 'Evil Eye Factory,' which is now functioning normally, to one of you here."

"Although the demonic power in the crystallized bone marrow is too sparse and the negative effects of the obtained evil eye are a bit severe, since the weak are eager to seize victory from the hands of the strong, such a small price can naturally be ignored."

With a wave of his hand, Dotoré chose to hand over the research project, which was no longer of much value, confident that it could play a significant role in the current situation.

"Yes, I will take over."

"As for the price, being able to become a stepping stone for the Empress's great cause is already a great honor for those insignificant characters whose names will not even be remembered."

Finally, I received some support from these so-called "colleagues".
Rosalind, who was wholeheartedly working for the Empress's cause, nodded in satisfaction and asked for no more.

"Since they both contributed, I think I can go to the battlefield and help."

"—Heh, you go and be in charge of guarding the factory, or escorting the supplies we deliver to the rebels, whatever you do, don't cause any trouble."

He glanced at the eleventh seat next to him, whose mind was solely focused on battle.
He was knocked unconscious shortly after arriving. Rosalyn felt that as long as he wouldn't be thrown back into jail, that would be enough to save her trouble.

Young Master: "."

There are no more battles to fight? Am I supposed to keep searching for those legendary, strange things?

After some haggling, he finally obtained the support he deserved from his colleagues.

Although in reality only one person is working diligently, it's much better for these guys to be able to play some role than to completely disappear.

"The gods have become active again, and the Heavenly Order has recently given us reminders and warnings."

Most of the shops in Inazuma Castle have temporarily closed down. Although based on previous interactions, Inazuma's dull Thunder God is not a threat, it's still best to be cautious.

"Then we just need to wait until the infiltration of the Heavenly Commander and the Imperial Commander is deeper, or until the scale of the internal strife expands to the point that even a god cannot do anything about it."
Therefore, whether it's stealing the Heart of God or using it to make a deal with the gods, this plan is unlikely to fail as it has in the past.

After discussing the support, the final step was simply to coordinate the follow-up actions.

However, when the topic of the Heart of God came up, even though Winter's strategy remained unchanged, the others, apart from Rosalind, clearly didn't take it seriously:

"—Ha, now that things have come to this, what's the point of looking for something like this?"

Could it be that our Commander-in-Chief has another ingenious alternative, or is he confident he can snatch the remaining Hearts of God back from that troublesome deity?

"Even if we actually brought this thing back, aside from satisfying some guy's research desires, it probably wouldn't have much value, right?"

It would be better to help me control the flow of Mora in various countries; at least that would bring more tangible influence.

They had received concrete information that several Hearts of God had been taken, but their commander-in-chief had not changed his original plan.

Pantalone adjusted his monocle, his tone clearly showing disdain.

"Her Majesty the Queen has her own reasons. As executives, you have no need to make excuses for your incompetence."

Having never questioned the Queen's plan, Rosalyn's gaze toward the "rich man" gradually turned dangerous after hearing such disrespectful remarks.

"Ha, are you going to abandon the original plan with your so-called 'finance'? Or why don't you demonstrate how you can use that power to fight against some god who appeared out of nowhere?"

Even if the number of God's Hearts collected is small, it is still a collection.
If the other party truly arrived at Winter's End with six Hearts of God, then even if they wanted to gain the title of "collaborator," relying on only one Heart of God would be utterly laughable.

It's unclear whether this is a genuine belief or simply a way to mock the wealthy.
Dotole offered a rare explanation of his speculations about the actions of the chief magistrate.

He waved his hand, no longer intending to waste time arguing with the other party, and his figure gradually blurred.

"Hmph, you too."

"—Crack"

???

Just as a new round of mockery was about to begin, a mechanical beetle used for emergency communication suddenly flew in front of everyone with a slight sound.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as the only physical participant took the secret letter.
Under the curious gazes of the remaining executives, the woman slowly read out the intelligence report, which was considered "extremely urgent":

"Latest report: The multiple obstruction plan has failed, and the God of Thunder is about to leave."

The likely reason given was, "Want some dessert?"

Dotole: ?

Pantalone: ​​?

He blinked, puzzled, feeling like he was reading some kind of prank. He then carefully checked the coded messages and deciphered content of the letter several more times.
Confirmed that there were no problems.

Having previously considered countless possibilities that might lead Thor to leave, the executives present fell silent upon hearing the reason that he "wanted to eat dessert."

(End of this chapter)