SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 179

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 179: The Giant’s Legacy (3)

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The place the light led to was as serene as the light itself.

A place like a snow-white inner quilt had been spread out all the way to the horizon.

There, someone else had already arrived.

“Oh?”

“Hmm.”

Our eyes met.

The other person smiled faintly with a mouth shaped like a cat's.

"Welcome, King of Death. Right on the dot, ten days as promised. Nothing is more reliable than a young man who keeps his word."

The Countess, holder of the Tower's gold coin and leader of the Merchants Union, was already there.

Dressed in traditional Indian attire, the Countess, despite her immense wealth, wore a plain single-colored sari. However, the fan she held was ornately decorated, perhaps as a counterbalance to her simple attire.

"Thank you. Oh, how are the Fairy Tribe children doing?"

"My, don’t even get me started. They’ve become utterly shameless since I last saw them!"

The Countess fanned herself. Gold-leaf arabesques glittered as the fan swayed.

"I diligently taught them about money management, given their lack of financial sense. Can't live on leaves alone, right? But then, those kids got so addicted to handling money that now they assess everything based on profitability. It’s the end times!"

"......."

The fate of the Elves is indeed peculiar.

Before my regression, they were a bloodthirsty warrior race under the rule of the Flame Emperor. Now, under the Countess's guidance, they've evolved into cunning money-grubbers.

Like parent, like child.

"They’re faithfully following the Countess's teachings, aren't they?"

"Come now. What do you take me for? I merely regard money as water, as a great body of water. It should fall as rain, flow as a river, and receive all things as the sea."

"In other words, you spend money like water."

"Oh my, correct. Can't even show off in front of the King of Death."

The Countess chuckled behind her fan.

"By the way, when are the others coming? Everyone’s getting a bit lax with their timeliness these days."

Huh.

"Weren't you always on good terms?"

"We were merely cordial, not close. Long ago we made a great fuss about being best friends and sworn sisters, but things became considerably colder after the Great Purge. We only grew close again after you arrived."

"Heh."

"Of course, some have always been close."

Sisters, huh?

'It's been quite a journey.'

I'm pretty confident about my relationship with my fellow Hunters, but I'm still in the dark about their pasts. The Heretic Inquisitor, Bambolina's childhood, I only recently became privy to.

"Oh, right."

Speaking of the Heretic Inquisitor reminded me of something.

"I heard the Paladin is seeing someone. Do you happen to know who?"

"Hmm? Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. The Paladin almost always wears her helmet. I was wondering if she wears it even on dates…"

"Impossible."

The Countess laughed as if amused.

"You might not know, but the Paladin is very particular about her hair care. When she takes off her helmet, it's magnificent."

"Really?"

"Certainly. It ripples like rice stalks steeped in sunlight. As for why the Paladin wears a helmet in the first place..."

Pop!

Just then, a comical sound interrupted our conversation. The Countess and I turned our heads simultaneously.

"Sorry, sorry! Got a bit held up with Tower-related stuff."

The Constellation [The Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages] appeared, hugging a pillow. She seemed busy for some reason. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Phew…"

"Let's see. Oh, cleared up to the 33rd floor. Have you two finished your chat?"

"Chat? We were just waiting for the others."

"Eh?"

The Princess looked puzzled.

"Why wait? The others are waiting for you."

"What?"

"Oh... Ah. Sorry. I've been negligent in explaining. It’s been so long since I've been in charge of a stage, I keep forgetting things. Really. Ever since I fell from the heavens and became a Constellation, my intelligence has been nerfed. Almost to the level of my main body in Zuraqua...."

What's she talking about?

Receiving our bewildered glances, the Princess flicked her fingers.

[The Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages announces the dropout of the 33rd floor stage.]

I turned to the Countess, who also looked back at me in surprise. No dropouts this stage, right? We all got through nicely, didn’t we?

The Princess spoke up.

"If you completely abandon your bid for hegemony, or decline so far that you can never contend for hegemony again, you're eliminated. Simple, right? The Mountain Snail Tribe did that on the 32nd floor. And this 33rd floor…."

The Tower's voice echoed.

[The Countess has been eliminated on the 33rd floor.]

My eyes widened in shock. The Countess's mouth hung open.

The Tower reiterated as if hammering in a final nail.

[Announcing once again.]

[The Countess has been eliminated on the 33rd floor.]

"Wait just a minute! That makes no sense!"

The Countess protested.

She was so flustered that even cat ears popped out of her head.

"Why am I eliminated!?"

"Umm, the Fairy Tribe gave up on hegemony. Since you were in charge of them, it's an automatic dropout. I know you might resent it, but I have to follow the rules too. Sorry."

"That's absurd! Throughout this stage, the Fairy Tribe was quiet! They didn’t actively participate in the war, nor did they deplete their forces significantly. How could I possibly drop out!?"

"Well, about that…. Ugh, it's tedious! Just see for yourself."

Boing.

That ridiculous sound effect accompanied the appearance of a projection in the air. Are these sound effects also chosen by the Constellation? If so, that's utterly absurd.

-Hmm.

In the projection, several members of the Fairy Tribe were gathered. True to their Elf nature, all had elongated ears.

-The Earth Spirit Tribe has become a monster.

-Heard legends, but a real monster? Beyond imagination.

The Elf elders murmured, twitching their long ears.

-Thought the general was lying to avoid responsibility, but it wasn’t a lie.

-Do you have spies in the expeditionary force? You traitor.

-Who doesn't plant spies? What if our own generals suddenly turn on us? I know you all have spies too. Drop the pretense.

-That’s true.

-Indeed.

-We can’t blindly trust our kin. Our trust is too precious, our existence too valuable.

-Cute rascals. In our camp, commanders didn't engage in warfare but reveled in espionage. No wonder the holy expedition failed.

Hmm.

This wasn't the noble dialogue I expected from Elves....

-What to do? The funds invested in organizing the multi-race alliance are a pity.

-We intended to enslave the Mountain Snail Tribe to break even.

-It's not about breaking even. The very fact that the Earth Spirit Tribe has risen as hegemon is the problem. After investing centuries into controlling the Gill-Fin Tribe, some random ruffians wreaked havoc. We need to reassess our grand strategy.

Wait.

I looked at the Countess in confusion.

"Merchant Union leader… you didn't…?"

The Countess seemed just as baffled.

"I just taught the kids a bit about money, that's all."

"More like money madness. How did you teach them to grow up as schemers…?"

"I didn’t mean to! I told you, the kids grew up weird! No, more importantly, this is a racial secret. Why are you showing it to the King of Death so casually!?"

The Countess lashed out at the Princess.

This was unexpected.

While I was nurturing the Earth Spirit Tribe with a pure heart, the Countess, behind the scenes, was aiming for an economic victory. If I hadn't seen this footage, I wouldn't have known until clearing the 40th floor.

'Wait, didn't I also move according to the Countess's advice?'

At the time the Earth Spirit Tribe clashed with the multi-race alliance, the Countess advised me to [Negotiate in a direction beneficial to all tribes]. Following that advice, I entered Uburka's dream.

In other words.

"You were planning to rake in all the profits from trade by yourself... When and how did you take control of the Gill-Fin Tribe too? That's downright uncanny."

"Damn it. We didn't control them; we helped each other. The Gill-Fin Tribe lives in the water, so building trading ships is difficult for them, isn't it? The Fairy Tribe, on the other hand, lives in forests and is expert at working with wood..."

"Oh my. You mean the Elves made ships for the Gill-Fin Tribe to trade salt?"

"More like lent them."

The Countess groaned.

"All trading ships driven by the Gill-Fin Tribe are owned by the Fairy Tribe. They pay a ship rental fee every time they come and go. Ships rented from the Fairy Tribe can only dock at ports operated by the Fairy Tribe...."

"How could you do that?"

"Docking at Fairy Tribe's ports gets a 30% discount on the ship fee. Plus, free repair services...."

"Wow."

"And although the Gill-Fin Tribe can swim through the waterways, they cannot actually deliver salt to towns and cities on land. The Fairy Tribe handled that part."

"Riding Elf ships, using Elf ports, you'd naturally use Elf carriages. As the Gill-Fin Tribe diligently produces salt and transports it to the port… the Elves play with distribution margins in the middle? The more the Gill-Fin Tribe works, the more money the Elves make for free?"

"Exactly."

I was astounded.

What a ruthless business strategy.

"Sang-Ryun leader, really… truly… you’re something else."

"To make big money, you need to control the platform!"

The Countess heated up.

"I just taught the kids the obvious truth about life. Moreover, I don't appreciate that look from someone who raised children to be muscle-brained goblins!"

"No. I just wanted them to be strong so they wouldn't get beaten up anywhere. Pure intentions."

"Your purity froze to death and shriveled into a mummy. Then I merely taught my children a little truth about the world so they wouldn't have to work themselves to the bone!"

"A child needs some hardship to grow properly!"

"Ha. Hardship just makes life harder, what nonsense!"

"Because of parents like the Sang-Ryun leader, today's children have narrow minds!"

"Because of parents like the King of Death, today's kids are mentally ill!"

"Wow, what a miser."

"And you're the one to talk, with a name like Kim Gong-Ja."

"What's wrong with Kim Gong-Ja?"

"Isn’t it full of scholar-like qualities?"

"This is crazy."

As we bickered, the Princess commented.

"You two are kinda funny.... It reminds me of my mother…."

Amidst this debate over parenting philosophy, the hologram projection continued.

-Let's direct the alliance's blade towards the Earth Spirit Tribe next.

-No, the cost-effectiveness is too poor. The Mountain Snail Tribe had a holy land, but what does the Earth Spirit Tribe have? What's the point of conquering a settlement filled with mud?

-Mud is said to be good for the skin....

-Get prettier, cutie. Not interested.

-Surrender.

The Elf elders blinked.

-Surrender. We can't win, and there's nothing to gain from winning. Pouring money in is pointless, and gaining anything is futile. No matter what we do, we'll lose money. It's a bust. We should cut our losses and fold now.

-You're crazy? To give up?

-I mean we should set up shop somewhere new.

An Elf elder spoke.

-Let’s become a vassal to the Earth Spirit Tribe. In return, ask for protection.

-Vassal?

-Protection?

-All ships and ports we own will fall under the Earth Spirit Tribe. The whole continent is terrified of the Earth Spirit Tribe. Sailing and trading under the Earth Spirit Tribe's flag will be much safer. We'll be the first to offer vassalage and they'll be pleased. The more they like us, the more they'll trust us. We can almost freely use the Earth Spirit Tribe's name and power. We'll be borrowing the tiger's authority.

The elders pondered.

-So you're saying we should bow our heads before we're forced to...

-If we have to bow our heads anyway, the earlier and cheaper we do it, the more valuable the gesture becomes.

-It hurts our pride.

-What we lose in pride, we'll gain back in money. As long as we make money, right?

-True.

-We'll pay tribute to the Earth Spirit Tribe annually. If we say it's 10% of our profits, they'll be happy.

-10%? Isn't that too high?

-In reality, we can give them only 1% and lie that it's 10%. It'll be fine. There isn't a single fool in our tribe who can't keep two sets of books.

-Also true.

I've never heard of Elves using double bookkeeping, but it seemed like common sense to them.

The elders simply concluded.

-Yeah. Surrender.

-Just becoming a vassal, no big deal.

-What does the Earth Spirit Tribe like? Mud? Will they like mud mixed with gold?

-Under what pretense should we surrender?

-From what spies say, they're incredibly stupid. Just pathetically beg, 'We are enamored by your magnificent muscles, and wish to cling to your bulging land. We have some money, but where do we have muscles like yours?'

-Really? Are they that stupid?

-The very existence of such an ignorant tribe is astonishing, but the more ignorant they are, the easier it will be for us to sink our straws into them. Let us simply thank the heavens.

-Thank you, mighty cat.

-Thank you.

-Today, under the guardian's protection, we milk the fools.

-As today, so tomorrow, let us make money for nothing and keep our straws sunk deep into the workers. Through ship taxes, land taxes, logistics taxes, distribution taxes, warehouse taxes, and every other name imaginable, let us extract every last drop of profit. Thank you.

The elders drew something in the air. It appeared to be the Fairy Tribe's own sacred sign. Their simultaneous bowing was quite solemn.

"......."

I was silent.

"......."

The Countess couldn't help but be silent too.

"Yep. So, they surrendered."

The Princess grinned.

"They genuinely had no interest whatsoever in hegemony. They said making money was enough to make them happy. They want to live off the Earth Spirit Tribe forever and rake in easy profits... Hmm. Since they voluntarily abandoned hegemony, I treated them as eliminated. Any questions?"

"I have a complaint!"

"Sorry. Not accepting complaints."

[The Countess fails to clear the stage.]

[The Countess is eliminated from the stage!]

"It's unfair!!"

The Countess's figure blurred.

She was probably being transferred to the 1st floor.

"This makes no sense! I merely taught them how to live the easy life, so why would that make them abandon hegemony? Power! Power is the final destination of wealth, so why!?"

"The Fairy Tribe has always been less greedy. Once they learned the joy of making money, they no longer needed anything else. Maybe they just wanted to suckle honey like you said."

"King of Death!"

The Countess reached out to me.

"Help me! Protest with me! I can't accept this kind of elimination!"

Hmm.

Ummm.

"Sorry, Countess. But honestly, it seems like you made your own grave. Definitely not because you called me a scholar, just saying…."

"No!"

The Countess screamed and vanished in light.

Her desperate scream echoed for a while.

Whoosh-.

Next moment, the Sword Saint, Black Dragon Master, Viper, and Paladin were summoned.

The Black Dragon Master looked around.