People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 530 Lin Feng: Want the truth? Then we'll steal a bit of Gustott's Abyssal Power from Nata.
Inazuma Castle, castle tower, second-floor office.

"."

As night fell, the vast building fell completely silent.

In this special area specifically responsible for "assisting" the gods in handling government affairs,
Aside from the scratching of pens and paper, if we examine it from an emotional perspective, a lingering, dark resentment can be faintly discerned in front of the door of each brightly lit room.

The officials in charge of the Heavenly Territory were purged, and the administrative matters they had previously concealed or ignored were uncovered one by one.
In addition, the various adjustments made recently in response to the Abyss invasion have unsurprisingly resulted in a mountain of documents piled up on the desk.

To make matters worse, after the residents of Umijima moved to Narukami Island,

The brief honeymoon period quickly passed, and faced with various conflicts raised by the troublemakers on both sides, the already overwhelming workload increased again, reaching a point of despair.

"."

After several days of continuous work, conflicts of varying sizes, both within the military and among civilians, have been erupting one after another.
Including a certain pink-haired fox, everyone had an expression of being out of their body when they left the castle tower.

It's understandable that residents from different regions have significant differences in lifestyle and beliefs, and complete integration takes time.
But in times of peace, a little conflict is one thing, but right now the entire Inazuma region is at a critical juncture of life and death, and these troublemakers who are stirring up conflict are clearly not quite aware of the situation.

"."

He shook his head, certain that if he didn't deal with the stubborn elements on both sides soon, his once fluffy and smooth fox tail would become bald like a kappa's head.
In the past two days, they chose to turn a blind eye to the "competitions" between the two armies, and even secretly guided the people of both sides to pay close attention to them.

On the surface, the divine child, who "did not react in time and failed to stop this bad trend in time," arrived at the gate of the Heart Sea.
Sensing the resentment in the room, he knew that the adorable little guy from Haizhi Island probably had quite a few problems that he needed to deal with.

"Hmph, Yae no Kami, is this the result you expected?"

"The antagonistic sentiment between the two sides within the military is constantly increasing, and even the results of previous battles are being discussed repeatedly."

"Although the competition between Umijima Island and the Shogunate is currently still centered on comparing achievements in eliminating monsters, the speed and efficiency of monster hunting have temporarily increased."

"Unrestricted competition undoubtedly increases the risk of failure and demise significantly."

Even from the perspective of the relationship between the residents of both sides, as a member of the divine family, you couldn't possibly have been unaware of how much of an obstacle this would pose to future integration.

I was completely exhausted, and I didn't know how I had managed to keep going.
If it weren't for the illusion that eating those special desserts every day greatly reduced her fatigue, she wouldn't even have the energy to question the person in front of her right now.

It took several beats of delay for them to learn of the current conflict between the Shogunate samurai and the warriors of Umijima within the army.
Both sides already had a squad of about 500 foot soldiers each, who thought the other's strength was not worth mentioning and secretly mocked each other.

The best time to deal with the situation was completely missed, and by the time it was discovered, a new round of disputes had even arisen among the public due to their focus on the outcome of the battle.

When she discovered that the number of extremists in these two groups of foot soldiers had reached a terrifying level, it was as if they had attracted all sorts of destabilizing factors.

He immediately realized that such a personnel composition could only have appeared after special screening, and Xin Hai had reason to believe that this was something that Yae no Kōji had planned in advance.

"."

"Tsk, couldn't it be that I was so exhausted that I accidentally sent the message to the wrong person?"

"I even shared some of the desserts I stole from Aying with you, little one, and you still don't trust me at all."

"Waaah, this really makes me so sad."

He tentatively put on an innocent expression, while mentioning the favor he had previously done for Ah Ying's dessert shop.
Shaking her pink fox ears, Yae no Miko selectively ignored the blank expression on the purple-haired otaku girl's face.

???

"Huh? The desserts you distributed to everyone last time were stolen from the gods?! You're such a divine servant!"

"No, don't change the subject!"

"—The current workload is indeed very heavy, and oversights in administrative matters can certainly be explained."

However, the organization of these personnel was too deliberate. Even if you had conducted prior investigations with the Shogunate army on Umijima Island, it would have been impossible to "coincidentally" group them into the same foot soldier unit.

Upon hearing the news, I was momentarily stunned, finding it hard to believe the source of those desserts.
After all, the current human-god shrine maiden could be considered a divine servant when the Great God was still alive, so this "stealing of offerings" is undoubtedly a huge shock.

But one thing is one thing, and no matter how innocent and pitiful the fox may appear, it must have anticipated the current situation.

Even he himself might not be able to understand the soldiers' thoughts so clearly, let alone find them all and assign them to a foot soldier unit.
The purity of these two teams was so high that Xin Hai even suspected that the Yae no Kamiko in front of him had some kind of mind-reading ability.

"."

"Sigh, they really don't care about old friendships."

"Even with such a busy schedule, you still managed to investigate so thoroughly. Sometimes, being too perceptive isn't always a plus for girls."

He sighed softly, certain that this little guy wasn't so easily fooled.

The Yae no Miko, who was being looked at with a skeptical gaze, shook her head, giving a very rare positive response:

"Fine, since you've asked, little one, denying it again probably won't have any effect."

"I admit that I interfered with their current team composition, but I didn't do much else. Deliberately provoking conflict? Rather, I've been suppressing them as much as possible."

"Besides, the purpose of this formation is very simple. Little one, you must understand the benefits of managing unstable elements together, right?"

"Just like you said, people don't wear their thoughts on their sleeves, so I put a lot of effort into getting a reliable list."

"But the timing is too special now, and doing this would be extremely risky."

"Both teams consist of the most extreme members, totaling over a thousand uncontrollable soldiers. Their vicious competition could lead to a serious disaster."

"Furthermore, the residents' focus was originally on both humans and monsters, a rare instance of a united front against a common enemy."
Now that they openly compete or even oppose each other, the public is easily tempted to blindly support their own side, thus igniting a new round of conflict.

He directly stated his deepest concerns and refuted the words spoken to Yae no Miko.
Given the mixed population of the two areas, the number of soldiers in the two foot soldiers units was indeed small; only a small, most radical group of soldiers would likely be selected. However, a number of over a thousand was by no means negligible.

Even disregarding the negative impact on public opinion, Xin Hai is very worried that the collapse of the defense line will begin here if the pressure of monster invasions becomes too great.
"Heh, little guy, don't you know that perfectly well?"

"After bringing them together, at least for now, only these two foot soldiers are seriously opposed to each other. After some guidance, the other teams can be trusted."

"Having encountered so many potentially dangerous individuals, you can guess how much effort I've put into keeping them the way they are."

“I have gathered not only the army of Umijima, but also the extremists within the shogunate, whom I treat equally.”

"Imagine if we really dispersed them into other units, and let these people incite soldiers who weren't initially very firm in their stance."

When a catastrophic problem actually occurs, will the relationship between the residents of the two places improve or worsen during the crisis?

She was simply loyal to her own god; to the divine child, there was no difference between the shogunate and the people of Umijima.
Now that such an unprecedented opportunity has presented itself, what she needs to do is help Aying eliminate a hidden danger that has been buried in Inazuma for a long time.

The current situation can, to some extent, be seen as a preview of a real crisis to come.
All those clandestine maneuvers only resulted in this outcome. If they had allowed Haizhi Island to retain military command from the beginning, and hadn't tried to integrate the residents of the two areas, they would have been in a much better position.

The divine child was certain that, in the end, it would probably have been better if these armies had never existed in the first place.

"."

"The history of hostility between the two sides is too long, and further resolving the contradictions will take time; indeed, at present..."

Although I really wanted to refute it, this was the only answer I could give in the end.
It is clearly recognized that accepting the resistance army into Narugami Island is more harmful than beneficial, since their fighting strength is negligible to the gods, and they are merely "protected" in the face of a truly powerful enemy.

However, the antagonism previously instigated by the Fools was too stubborn, making it extremely difficult to resolve the hostility between the two sides.

Furthermore, after arriving at Narukami Island and confirming that the gods would not wield their swords against the people, some extremists became even bolder.
"—Then how about we just maintain the status quo?"

"Since this group of people has never accepted the other side and is a potential threat to the collapse of the defenses, it would be better to prepare for contingencies from the beginning and expose the problems as early as possible."

“Aying clears out the high-danger monsters in the surrounding area every day. As far as the number of monsters is concerned, there is no great threat. Even if something goes wrong during their operation, there is at least a chance to adjust.”

"Only facts can change stubborn ideas; suppression will only backfire."

"As for other options, perhaps you, little one, are actually quite different from what you seem, possessing the courage to solve everything once and for all?"

The loudest voice is not necessarily the strongest, and the most stubborn and hostile to each other are not necessarily the true elites fighting against monsters.

Their tactical awareness doesn't match their current arrogance and confidence. For this group of guys who are unaware of their current situation, problems are bound to arise sooner or later.

Only those who underestimate everything and fail to recognize the current situation would persist in internal strife at such a time.

Since that's the case, let these guys who think monsters are irrelevant in the face of victory or defeat experience for themselves what exactly Aying has done to help.

"A one-time solution? Sorry, I can't do that."

"I will try my best to defuse their hostility, but I will also remind them not to accept tasks beyond their capabilities."

It is clear that there is a very "simple" way to deal with these stubborn elements: make them disappear completely.

If the shogunate's soldiers had not been selected and grouped together equally, Shinkai would have highly suspected that the divine child before him intended to send them to their deaths.

In other words, an existence like the Abyss cannot be controlled by humans, and the deployment routes are screened by herself and Goro. Otherwise, she would probably have gone on strike in the next few days to be on full alert in the military camp.
"That's the situation. There's no need to wipe them all out. A strength similar to a real medium-sized abyss invasion would suffice."

"Aying has been working too hard lately. The monsters she's let slip through are practically useless, which is why they've been focusing on fighting amongst themselves."

North of the castle tower, in the town, is Fuchigami Confectionery.

Arriving at this place where no one would suspect them, the pink-haired fox openly plotted, completely betraying the shogunate and the rebel army.

She had paid a heavy price—providing a fox fur scarf after everything was over—to get the list, and she had absolutely no liking for these troublesome guys.

Thinking about all the preparations I've made recently...

If she hadn't stolen a dessert from Aying, even as a divine being, she probably would have wanted to sleep forever.

"So, you went to all this trouble to stir up public attention just so that supporters on both sides could witness a bloody defeat?"

"There's no need to worry about the strength. For a real Abyss invasion, I'll find a friendly friend to borrow some Abyss power."

He wasn't worried about losing money by creating too many monsters. For the sake of realism, he had already planned to remotely open a portal to the void and steal some of Gustot's abyssal power from Nata.

Taking a sip of tea, Lin Feng thought of the gift he had promised to bring for Naxida, and he was now eagerly anticipating the fox fur scarf that the Divine Child would knit by hand.

Speaking of which, isn't there one thing missing?
Never mind, I'll wait until next time.
Son of God:? ? ?
Suddenly, I sensed a chill in the surroundings, like being caught in a sudden gust of cold wind during shedding season.

She cautiously looked around, and finding nothing unusual, she twitched her ears, but ultimately decided to get down to business first:
"Extreme ideologies are more likely to attract public attention. These two foot soldier teams are now the focus of attention, and many people are curious about the outcome of their match."

"And because of the abrupt end of the previous conflict between the rebels and the shogunate, even people who originally had no competitive spirit are now being drawn into it."

"But no matter who wins or loses, it will not be conducive to the current harmony. I don't want any result, nor do I care who is stronger."

“I will give them more opportunities to act, and then draw public attention to them.”

"—Finally, when they are at their most captivating, I would like to trouble you to make them leave the stage cleanly and temporarily, so that the shared fear can help everyone wake up from this pointless confrontation."

They painstakingly steered the direct armed conflict into a contest mediated by the killing of monsters, but such suppression ultimately has its limits.

Seeing the hostility between the two sides escalate with the verbal conflict, the Divine Child felt that in such an atmosphere, a "lose-lose" outcome was far more convincing than a victory for either side.

(End of this chapter)