Hello, ITalkToSky here.
This chapter will be a little bit of a cooldown from the previous chapter. So far, the plot is sticking very closely to the original. Akiba was in chaos and was pacified just in the same way. I believe this part is very much a necessity. Deal with the enemy within before the enemy without. With the first being dealt with reasonably, it is time the Scarlets start making big moves.
Since 2020, this idea has been in works and refined. There were a lot of unexpected change and addition, but I believe that the time is right to finally put this arc into motion.
As I mention, this is a prelude, but if you are aware of the historical implication of the name of this arc, it might clue you in on what will be happening.
Enjoy.
Discord invite code: nSMHjar
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"Shi-Shiroe, look at that?"
"…"
"…"
"There is no time to be surprised, let's take a closer look."
"Y-yeah, let's."
Shiroe's lanky frame wobbled like willow in the wind. No strength was found in his body when Naotsugu shoved him along. His soul had seemingly left his body halfway.
"Just look at it. Look at its beauty, its glory."
"Right. Yeah, that is…um, impressive." The second victim muttered.
"Michitaka, can't you be more interested than that. Where is that spirit? You are looking at the culmination of men's passion…Apart from, of course, panties."
A shadow flash from his left and passed by. As the blur slowed down to perceivable speed, a shocked look was firmly printed in its place.
"Y-you dodged?"
"Are you listening, Akatsuki. Mech speaks to all men on a spiritual level."
"Completely ignored?!" The little ninja sounded completely scandalized at this point.
Naotsugu tackled the other two men and dragged them forward, caring very little about their state. His mind was utterly consumed by the demonstration piece at the Kappa's corner. The sticks of roasted chicken, which he was singing praise to earlier, remained forgotten in his hand.
Not to say that the other two men were not also completely stunned by the display. Shiroe was utterly gobsmacked and Michitaka was still stuck on the loading screen.
If one asked Akatsuki, she would have thought of it as a party trick, but an impressive one, nonetheless. It reminded her of the more elaborate trinket that the robotic clubs in her university cooked up. She was not sure what was the big deal. If she had to name one though, what was the big deal was how the pervert managed to dodge her kick.
"Please leave some space. Please don't push each other."
A few children patrolled the cordoned line with trouble face. The audience leaned over the line as they possibly could. Their sheer enthusiasm made the little girls shrank in their spot.
The four pressed as close as they possibly can. Akatsuki exploited her nemesis's shoulder to get a better view from above. Michitaka, a burly man of considerable height, got a good eyeful and was already muttering holy binary to the machine god.
"And behold, this is the pinnacle of steam engineering of our guild!" One of the blue hair children stepped forward to address the crowd. "The Hisoutensoku Mk. 27"
If any other Gensokyo's denizen was there to retort, there was some dangerous implication that the abomination had been attempted at for at least 27 times.
"Just the arm." One of the girls operating the valve controls behind hollered.
"Shush, we gotta start somewhere." The girl raised her wrench threatening at the girl behind, who only shrugged in response. "Now, I will demonstrate just what this baby can do even with just one arm."
"That was awesome!"
"You keep repeating that. I am sick of it."
Naotsugu doubled back to Akatsuki. "But wasn't that awesome? How can they do all that with just steam?"
"What was so impressive about that?" Akatsuki huffed. "They only got it to crush boulder and swing the sword around a bit."
"Oi, midget, you don't get anything. If it can swing a sword, it can do anything."
"Um…that articulation and finger dexterity is already approaching human."
"Milord, is it really that impressive? I remember those were already quite commonplace back then."
"It is, but they managed to replicate that here…and with steam pistons to boot."
Shiroe adjusted his glass, a trademarked gesture of his. Frankly, the level of sophistry that just the mechanical arm shock words out of his mind. He was an engineering graduate student, so he knew a thing or two about robotics and that thing, while clunky and not autonomous, was better than most.
"When put that way, it does sound more impressive. Is this what people call steampunk?"
"Ah, steampunk mech!" Naotsugu's body contorted strangely.
"He is gone." Akatsuki commented wryly before glancing at her lord.
"But damn, just how the hell did they manage that when we only just got a steam engine working? Aren't we just a joke in comparison?"
"A joke might be a bit too…far." Shiroe's unspoken "but" was deafening.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have announced our steam engine prototype so proudly. Kuh, the shame!"
Shiroe looked to Akatsuki, who merely shook her head. "We couldn't have known that they managed something like that. We have no way of knowing what they are doing in that mansion."
"Ah, if I have known…is it too late at this point to rope them into that project?"
"I don't know."
"We should have invited them. But who would have known that theirs were already this mature? I thought it was just a prototype."
Pride played a part in the reason that the three major mercantile guilds, and only them, joined hands to create the prototype steam engine. In the business world, those who could not innovate died and the Scarlets were well ahead of the curve on that front. They thought they could even up the odds a little by matching their hallmark achievement with their own.
At least they did not decide to rub in the face of Scarlets when they announced the engine, so there was no serious bad blood. However, it would still be awkward to invite the one they sidelined in the beginning to join in.
"Hmm, milord, but is it really their work?"
"What do you mean, Akatsuki?"
"From the way milord put it, they have created something sophisticated enough to rival what we have achieved in 21st century within this backward condition. No matter how you dice it, isn't that a bit too…"
"Unbelievable?"
"Yes. They may have time to conduct their research since day one, but still…"
"Hmm, now that you mentioned it. That does sound hard to believe. It is more plausible if they found this somewhere as a part of unknown addition from the Homesteading the Noosphere"
"…And pass it on as their own work…" Akatsuki muttered.
"Are you sure of that?" Naotsugu leaned over. "It might not be much coming from me, but…like…don't you think the design is somewhat jarring with Elder Tale? Call it gut feeling, but I don't think that is the case unless they discover some completely new dungeon from the new expansion, since none of the existing ones have the matching theme."
"It is possible they did."
"Well, that is true…" Naotsugu chewed on his chicken skewer with difficult expressions, not fully convinced.
"I am still on the fence on this. Hard to believe, but the way those kiddos dealt with the machines was frantic, but they at least knew what they were doing. Besides," Michitaka swept his arm at the plaza. "They have a knack for building things."
Unlike the steam contraption, those with half the mind to look would remember how the guild busied themselves over this and the result showed.
Michitaka thought the Scarlets could rightfully claim that they had built a small new district all on their own. It was like a late-medieval estate was lifted right off the textbook and pasted right over the Akiba sprawling metropolitan. Giant mansion, large plaza flanked by timber and stone three-story buildings, and somewhat questionable conceptually but aesthetically pleasing Shinto Shrine, it still baffled his mind how they set all these up so quickly.
"Right, they do, but what are they going to do with all these buildings? Their Association only take up one in that corner, yeah?"
"Apparently, they are not even sure about what to do with those. But they may be interested in renting it out, perhaps for shops and such."
"Well, that is funny. But I can understand that they don't want to build just one building and ruin the symmetry and that." Michitaka snickered at Shiroe's answer. "But back on topic, can you perhaps…like…be the mediator?"
Shiroe stumbled on his feet. "A mediator? Me? With them?"
"Yeah, if not you then who? You seem to have a lot of connections everywhere. Can't you just pull the string here and there and help us out here?"
"I think I am the last person you should ask. Do I have to remind you of the meeting and how much we clashed? And that one of the big names in Scarlets does not really hold me in high regards?"
"Oh yeah, Nyanta told me about it. He put a big ass wrench in your plan and tried to tear you down, didn't he?"
Shiroe sighed. "Frankly, it doesn't matter if that was the only issue."
"What do you mean?"
"He raised a lot of good points. What I did might raise a lot of questions about my motivation."
"There is no way that is the case. Milord was only trying to help. Why can't he see that?"
"To ask to be trusted by a complete stranger after I picked up a forbidden weapon, that is a bit too much to ask." Shiroe chuckled self-depreciatingly. "But trust can be built. It just needs a bit more finesse when we started on the wrong foot. The problem is not there."
"Then where is it?"
"It is their political stance that is problematic. Michitaka, how would you quickly summarize the impression of their stance?"
"You put me on the spot. Hmm, let's see…They are a big fan of stronger government. That's for sure." Michitaka scratched the back of his head. "They are really asking the council to shoulder a lot of responsibilities in managing the city. But I don't think this is the part you are talking about."
"No," Shiroe confirmed.
"Figured, because I quite like those ideas of some regulations as long as we distribute the burden from those duties fairly."
As someone from a business background and used to leading people as a section chief, a degree of structure and discipline was necessary for a functional workplace and society. Michitaka thought so after sobering up to the reality that this was no longer a game. He had a clue, but it did not quite hit him straight in the face until the meeting.
"Well, how do I say it without being too harsh?" Michitaka crossed his armed. "Ah whatever, I will give it bluntly. The Scarlets are…paranoid and combative. I mean. I get it. Even I am shocked to find myself surrounded by unfriendly faces. But they took it a step further and want to come out swinging."
"They are assuming that conflict is inevitable."
"Yeah, like that." Michitaka sighed deeply. "If the intel they gave us is rock solid, then that is probably the case. The other guy was willing to go as far as to completely destroy a city and we are just lucky they didn't look our way first, then there is no other choice but to fight. But I am still not completely sold, but I can't just dismiss it. And there is no way to confirm. Do you understand?"
Shiroe remained passive, but ever so slightly averted his eyes. Michitaka remained oblivious in his attempt to explain his doubts.
"We get the idea, Michitaka-san." Shiroe raised his hand to stop the hulk of a man from ranting off further. "So, do you think that such a guild will be open to cooperation?"
"Are you suggesting that they see us as an enemy too?"
"No, I wouldn't go as far as to say that. However, considering that you are looking to branch off to the Landers, they might be reluctant to work on a project that might eventually end up in their hands."
"Oi oi, we are being treated totally as security risk, aren't we?" Michitaka raised his voice.
"Maybe, or maybe not. Their attitude is quite ambiguous these days. We don't get to see them apart from during official meetings and they usually disappear right after."
"What a pain… Well, hopefully we can catch one of their movers and shakers here. They can't organize all this and not show their faces at least once…perhaps I could even talk to that little kiddo over there." Michitaka referred to the blue haired mechanics back at the display booth. "Wait a minute, then why are they openly displaying their…what was it called…Hisou-something-something?"
"Maybe they are trying to show it off, like flexing on their rival."
"That's possible. There is not much to glean from the device, except that it is impressive."
"You have to give it to them though. That is an impressive flex...Damn, maybe we really shouldn't have tried to one up them like that."
"On the upside, you might not be the only one they are trying to intimidate."
"What do you mean, Shiroe?"
"You should have noticed them around. The Scarlets brought it up briefly, didn't they?"
"Oh, them huh...scuttling about like rats." Michitaka glanced around like a hawk. "Yeah, I can see how that might get them sweating."
As the sun slipped beneath the tallest skyscraper, the true splendor of the Reitaisai was displayed. Paper lanterns hung from the overhead wire bathed the venue in warm fuzzy glow. The combined aesthetic of traditional food stands with striking banners and people milling about brought a few to tears. If one replaced the colorful fantasy clothing with Yukata, it would be as if this was any other night festival in Japan. It was a scene that so many never knew they missed.
From the atmosphere alone, the party was only starting. Gaggles of girls skipped about, giggling as they went between stalls. Not only just food, but the Scarlets also put up some trinkets and handmade crafts by the fairies up for sale. A bit limited perhaps but the breath of fresh air was appreciated.
In the middle of all this, few began to notice a strange happening. Unnoticeable at first, the thin sheet of fog blanketed the area and gradually thickened.
More and more people began to notice. Hush whispers spread throughout the crowd as they turned around, confused. The gentle outline of the lamp overhead blurred into indistinct yellow orbs. The fog grew to the point that the attendee could barely see their feet.
Before panic broke out, however, the thick blanket was swept aside as if blown out by a storm, though both the Landers and Adventurers only felt a slight breeze.
Turning as one toward the source of the gust, they found that the previously empty platform in the center of the plaza was occupied by many wooden barrels, stacked tall. Each was wrapped with a straw mat, inlaid with a red decorative pattern, and two letters for "Scarlet Devil."
In the middle of it all were two figures, one small and one tall.
"Before all else, I wish to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your attendance and bid you welcome to the merriment tonight. It is my, Remilia Scarlet, and my guild's greatest pleasure to be the host to the first ever Hakurei Shrine Grand Festival (Reitaisai)."
There was a pause. Remilia took a gander at the gathered crowd. After seemingly sure that her awaited applause would not come, she took it all in stride and continued her prepared speech. Perhaps, her entrance was quite unexpected, she thought.
"We hope that these delicacies we have prepared specially for this day will be able to bring some measure of comfort to the denizens of this city."
Her voice swelled with pride as she glanced at the maid next to her. Sakuya handled all the preparations of almost all the foodstuffs. At least that way, the Fairies could be relied upon to cook something decent from what she gave them. Furthermore, the finale in front of her was also her maid's handiwork.
The surprise from her entrance started to wane. Remilia noted as more Adventurers stopped gawking and were actually listening to what she was trying to say. Those further out moved closer toward the stage. She enjoyed this bit of attention, though it somewhat irked her that some viewed her as an interesting exhibit of sorts.
"As everyone has felt so deeply, the Catastrophe left us with a wound that is difficult to heal. All of you have been ripped from the ones you love, from the simple comfort, from the lives that you have arduously carved out for yourself. Some of you may have despaired, like nothing in this world mattered anymore. Some of you may have made a regrettable choice in your moment of weakness."
Remilia raised her tiny first and strained her voice to its limit. Her refined features were shaped into a determined and haughty look. Her scarlet pupils shone with energy.
"Then let the merriment of this festival and the familiar taste of home be the first to wash away all your sorrow. Let tonight be the first milestone and a declaration for the future that a new day has dawned in Akiba."
Her voice built up in tension as her gestures grew more animated. Unknowingly, her lisp began to rear its head.
"That from tonight on, we Adventurers stood together as one against uncertain future, tall and unbowed. Come what may for we shall bravely face it hand in hand!"
Her voice peaked at the end of her lines, yet no applause came. They still seemed somewhat stunned at the suddenness of all this, but at least they could at least throw her some bone, she thought vexingly. Remilia huffed, displeased, but still had another line to finish.
Remilia reached out to her attendant. In silence, Sakuya handed over a small wooden mallet, decorated with simple knots of ropes.
"But for now, let's us lose ourselves in the excitement for we have arrived at the climax of tonight!"
Remilia drew back the mallet exaggeratingly above her head before swinging it down on the barrel. The lid snapped in half with a satisfying crack.
Kagami-biraki (lid opening) is a very traditional celebratory ceremony in Japan, in which a sake barrel is broken open with a wooden mallet. The sake inside is then served to all the guests attending, symbolizing sharing of harmony and good fortune. It is a very popular way to celebrate or commemorate a joyful event both in personal and professional setting.
Removing the cracked lid, Sakuya dutifully drew up the clear sake into a small cup and presented it to her mistress. Raising it high for all to see, Remilia finished, "as the host for tonight, I hope you do not mind the first toast going to me. Ahem, To the new dawn of Akiba! Cheers!"
Rather than a rambunctious cheer she was expecting, one man cried out from the crowd. "Serious! Is that real sake?"
"That's rude of you. Do you think I," Remilia pointed haughtily at herself, "will ever serve my guess some…glorified water? Now line up unless you don't want it."
Oh, they wanted some alright. So much so that the lines of fairy maids that came up to distribute the liquor got swamped in seconds by the veritable tide of men.
"Sakuya…"
"Yes, milady."
"Is my speech that bad?"
"I do not believe so, milady. Their minds are, I am afraid, preoccupied with something else."
"Ah, this hits the spot!"
Not expressed as outwardly as her friend, Alice nodded gently at the familiar flavor. The gentle flagrance and mellow aftertaste brought up all sort of mellow feelings in her heart. There was a slight difference compared to the batch of Gensokyo Sake preserved in the mansion, but those were reserved for truly special occasion. It was already a wonder that Sakuya got close to replicating it with just her time dilation spell.
Alice took a long sip of her wooden cup, sparring a glance at her other friend. "Spare me the sour face Patchouli, a night like this doesn't come often after all."
"Um" was all Patchouli said while nibbling away at the grilled fish.
The trio made way around the festival, drinking in the atmosphere. Even without the familiar faces and striking personalities, the likes of Reimu, Yukari, and gluttonous Yuyuko, the cheerful and unrestrained mood was in the air.
Good food, good drink, good company, this was the break they deserved after weeks of monotonous grind. The sense of accomplishment was fulfilling, but they missed the simpler comfort of life.
Unfortunately, this night was not completely cut-back and relax moment for them.
The Scarlet Devil Mansion had garnered a reputation for enigmatic secrecy. People hardly caught sight of them in the city. Their guild members were sequestered inside their private zone, inaccessible to anyone. When they go out, most of the time, they were too busy to afford more than a simple greeting. In official meetings that were few and far between, only one of their numbers was seen at a time and left soon after. Very rarely could they be seen by common people.
This was no to say that the Scarlets completely neglected everyone else, given that their Adventurer Association system depended on lower-level players. Wooden boxes were placed to accept any written comments or suggestions.
If the situation was so dire, an individual could request a personal meeting with one of the higher-ranking members in the guild, but those were far from guaranteed. Only a tiny fraction of these were granted, that some sarcastically referred to this as being granted an audience.
"Good evening, Maryelle -san, Henrietta-san."
"Oh, good evening, Alice-sama, and Marisa-sama, too."
"It's great to see both of you here."
It was decided that the unenviable task of attending the Round Table Alliance meeting be rotated among their core members. More than once, either together or separately, both Maryelle and Henrietta got to see the two magicians.
"Told you many times to drop -sama. I am just a garden-variety magician."
"My apology."
Saying that, Marisa never got Henrietta to drop the honorific. When pressed, she said something incomprehensible like role-playing or such to the magician. Alice on the other hand, had no problem and was content to bet who would give in first.
"And who is this young lady here?"
"Patchouli."
"It is the first time we meet. I am Henrietta, a pleasure to make acquaintance."
"Nice to meet you. I am Marielle, guildmaster of the Crescent Moon."
Maryelle greeted sweetly, but the girl in purple had nothing else to say. Her expression said that she would rather be anywhere else but in front of a ball of energy like Maryelle. The elf bounded closer and bent down slightly to meet her gaze. It was very brief, but she nodded at the sight of the limpid clear eyes of the magician.
"Ne, Henrietta, don't you think she is a bit similar to Akatsuki-chan?"
"Hmm?"
"Ha…I would find the little shinobi girl to be much easier read than her."
"Is that so?" Maryelle pressed her finger against her lips, pondering. But before long, she gave up and bounced to the blonds. "Well, let's leave that matter for later. Ne, Alice…"
"…Yes?"
"Do you…do you"
Alice unconsciously took a step back in the face of the strange pressure emitted elf. Maryelle crept closer until she grasped the smaller girl by the shoulders.
"Do you have any more booze?!"
"B-booze?"
"Yes, booze! It is cruel that we all get only a cup. Do you know how long it has been since any of us had a lick of alcohol? Just a cup after all that, it is true cruel." Maryelle cried a river of blood, a fan of theatric this one. "So cruel, it's inhumane, utterly inhuman."
Alice turned to Henrietta. "I am academically curious what will happen if I give her more."
"It will depend on how much…but from that look you are giving me, I implore that you restrain your curiosity."
"Umeko, you meanie. Don't listen to her."
"M-Maryelle, you know you are not supposed to call me that."
"Bleh, Umeko, Umeko, Umekoo."
With every time her real name was uttered, Umeko or Henrietta writhed in torment. Her body contorted in such a way that even the unrelated Marisa could feel her pain.
Alice felt she had enough of the chaos and mayhem. In a brief flash of light, a tall glass bottle appeared from her inventory, which she then proceeded to pour into the guildmaster's cup, then her friends'. Before she got the chance to regret that decision however, the magician felt eyes from all over focusing on her. It was a gross miscalculation for her to even think that Maryelle was the only liquor-starved soul around.
"I hope you did not find our hospitality lacking."
"By no means! I am afraid that this will spoil me even."
"That's great. We busted out hips to get all these ready!"
"Thank you, I am sure that Remilia would be happy to hear it too."
"She did, I met with her just a few minutes ago. Ah, she is an adorable little thing."
That comment made Alice scratched her head. Remilia certainly looked adorable. Her mannerism at times served mostly to amplify that. Though, Alice herself would refrain from to describe such ancient vampire as cute.
"Ah, I wonder what kind of clothes would suit her. Would you be averse to lending her to us for a while?"
"I…"
For the first time, Alice felt a strange sense of competition. She was the one in charge of the attire for this mansion and it felt as if her authority was being tested. Alice leveled back a sweet smile.
"That will be up to Remi."
"By all means, please put in the good world."
"You are welcome to try, ze. If you think your workmanship is up to par with Alice's standard."
"Oh of course, I would not settle for nothing short of perfection. Remilia-chan deserves nothing less after all." Henrietta melted briefly into her phantasy before phasing back in with a question. "Hm? Marisa-sama, is Alice-sama perhaps holding seamstress subclass?"
The "no" was stuck in Marisa's through when Alice sent her a warning look. "Something along that line, she prepares and maintains our wardrobe. Remilia is very picky, so you better wow her with your choice, if you can ze."
"And please do not ever refer to her as Remilia-chan, especially inside her own home. It won't end well. At the very least she might ban you from her premise permanently."
"That would be most problematic."
"Now, as much as I would like to continue our chat a little longer, I still have to make my round of greetings. Please enjoy the rest of the evening."
Henrietta bowed to bid her goodbye, but Maryelle quickly latched onto Alice. With wry smile, the magician handed off her bottle of Sake off to the gleeful guildmaster. As they made their way out of earshot of the two Crescent Moon members, Patchouli spoke up.
"Do you dislike the elf?"
"Oh, what gave that impression Patchouli?"
"…"
Marisa leaned in from the side. "There is no way that is the case, right, Alice?"
"No, I am just feeling a bit mischievous."
Alice was a little curious just how much of that bottle could Maryelle drink in den of thirsty wolves. Hopefully, nothing too untoward would happen, or else she would have to step in to clean the mess.
"Oh, bunny missus! Long time no see."
"Good evening to you, Isaac-san. I trust that you have been well."
"Drop the stuffiness, will you? But yeah, it is as usual, a bit slow going through. At least until today. You sure know how to throw a house party."
"I bet you say that everywhere there is booze."
Rezarick quipped from the side. Far from repentant, Isaac laughed uproariously. As a matter of course, good booze was the centerpiece of any merriment. And after weeks going dry, any alcohol tasted heavenly.
"Normally, you can bet your ass on that. But more importantly, little bunny," Isaac inched in closer, conspiratorially. "So how far along until it is done?"
"How far along what?"
"The Gundam thing you got going on."
"The what?"
"Whatever you call that thing, it is still Gundam." Isaac gestured vaguely at the Kappa demonstration stall, which was already packed away. "So, how far along is it?"
"Oh, that thing...I don't know. Probably won't be finished for a long time." Reisen noticed the look of abject horror from Isaac, and unexpectedly from Rezarick too, like her very words were sacrilege to all they deemed holy. "It is taking too much steel to build and..."
"How much?"
"How much what?"
"Steel, we will get you that steel. Finish it! No matter the cost!"
Isaac's yell sobered up his adjutant in an instant. There went again the impulsive nature of his guildmaster. Anything concerning the Scarlets leaned toward the extraordinary side. Good business partners but their request was probably not something to be taken lightly.
"I do not think that you have the time to be sidetracked. Aren't you busy trying to reach level 100?"
"That means nothing to a man's romance!"
"5,000 tons."
"Five thou-…come again?"
Reisen rolled her eyes. "We need at least 5,000 tons of steel before we can even entertain the thought of a side project."
"Five thousand what?!"
Isaac was cut off by his adjutant who roughly shoved him to the side. "You are right that would be unmanageable for us. What do you need that amount of steel for anyway? Perhaps, you are considering the same project that the merchant guilds are?"
"What gave it away?" Reisen shrugged at the deadpanned look from Rezarick, alternating between her and the previous location of Nitori's tent. "But yes, the plan is already in the work to construct out own steamship to extend our trade reach."
"Have you consider talking to the merchant guilds? They would be happy to let you join in with what you can bring to the table?"
"After spurning us? Not a chance. While I would personally entertain the thought, it seems that the lack of invitation offended our guildmaster quite a bit."
"Ah, is that so. Then, I wish you luck. If there is something we can help, within reason, we can discuss at later date." Rezarick gave her a sympathetic nod. Reisen appeared to understand that such a move would hamstring their effort quite a bit. As impressive as they were, it was utterly impossible for the Scarlets to measure up to the raw number of over 2,500 members of Marine Organization, let alone in addition of the other two major guilds. But alas, pride got in the way.
"Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment." Reisen bowed politely as Rezarick began to drag his wayward guildmaster away, afraid he would throw a tantrum.
00000
And there it is.
While this chapter is not action packed by any means, I hope that I get to touch up on the character interaction, rather than just move on from one plot point to another.
So, the Scarlet is building a steamship and I hinted last chapter about Thalassocracy. Hmm…
And Nanshin-ron is translated as "Southern Expansion Doctrine." Hm…
As a disclaimer, I am in no way endorsing what the Imperial Japan did, but I believe that it would be a good reference as to the direction that the Scarlet Devil Mansion will be moving toward.