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Last Embryo Volume 1 Chapter 8 Part 2

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Editor: Weasalopes

After being brought into a separate room, Homura told Porol about everything that happened from the moment of the start of the Game all the way to when Suzuka moved them away from the battlefield where they left Ayato behind, and also about their previous encounter with the Minotaur in the outside world, but when he reached the part about how they have been transported to Little Garden, Porol took off his glasses and gave him a suspicious look.

「As much as I want to believe it, I’m having a distinctly difficult time believing that a Celestial Beast could travel between worlds like that.」

「And how do you expect me to respond to that, huh? I know even less about it then you do.」

「Well, I guess that’s true. But I have to say, based on what you have told me, the situation right now might be even worse than when you previously encountered 『The Bull of Heaven』. But now that we cannot contact any of the 『Floor Masters』, I guess we will all be stuck in here for a while, so hopefully the 『Bull of Heaven』 will disappear after causing enough destruction in the area. In the meantime…」

「No, waiting it out might also turn out to be pretty bad in its own right. You see, back in my home world, the typhoon associated with that thing is spreading around a deadly virus that’s affecting not only humans and animals, but plants as well, so there’s no telling if that Great Tree of yours won’t get affected by it as well.」

Hearing Homura’s report, Porol’s brows knitted into a single line, but he didn’t say anything to that and simply shrugged his arms. Could it be that he has ran out of options to propose?

「Well, if it happens then it happens, and when it happens, we will deal with that. For now, we have no other choice but to keep the inhabitants of he Underwood safe and ask for help from another Community. Those are our only options right now. What about you? What will you guys do?」

「I… there’s… there is someone who I have to meet no matter what.」

He looked at Porol with calm and peaceful eyes, the eyes of someone who was both determined and resigned himself to his fate. Porol wanted to ask him what exactly did he mean by that, but before he got the chance to do that, the door to the room they were talking in were flung open.

「Excuse me, b-but is P-P-Porol in here?!」

Porol’s cat-eared sister, Carol Gundark came barging into the room, opening the door with a loud bang. Both Porol and Homura looked at her with question marks flying above their heads, thinking what matter might have been so urgent for her to behave in such a way.

Hearing her noisy voice, Porol sighed regretfully and gave har a glance filled with disappointment.

「Carol, do I really have to remind you that now that you have become an adult cat you should make sure to act like one at all times? Also, while we are here on official Community business, be sure to call me Boss, you hear me? Boss. B, O, S, S, and calm down a bit, being all hysteric won’t help you with anything. So, what is this all about? Did the 『Bull of Heaven』 resumed his rampage? Or perhaps he started acting suspiciously?」

「No, it’s something even more important! L-L-L-Look at this! At this!」

And she handed him an envelope. It was made from an extravagantly high-quality parchment, and had an elaborate yet elegant seal. Just one look at it was enough for anyone to guess that the sender must have been someone from the upper echelons of Little Garden’s society, maybe even someone belonging to its equivalent of nobility or royalty? Even someone like Homura, who didn’t bother all that much with writing and sending written letters it the age of digital communication, it was clear as t=day that whoever sent this letter here was undoubtedly someone important, so the two Beastman in front of him most likely already guessed who was the sender just by looking at the envelope once, and he was right on the mark with his guess, because when Porol goth his hands on the envelope, he became shocked very quickly, because he recognized the emblem engraved upon the envelope’s seal.

「T-The golden seal…. Why? Why did a letter from Queen Halloween arrived now of all times?! What does she want with us when we are in the middle of a serious crisis here?! Please, for the love of all that is holy in this world, please, don’t let it be her trying to push some unreasonable demands on us again!」

「H-How am I supposed to know that! A-Anyway, just read what the letter is saying already!」

Carol handed the letter to Porol with her tail standing on edge the entire time. Porol took out a small knife and opened the envelope in such a way as to not damage its seal. Normally such letters should be opened by breaking the seal, but maybe here in Little Garden not damaging the Community emblem embedded on a letter’s seal was also a part of the etiquette, or perhaps a sign of respect towards Queen Halloween herself?

Taking the letter out of the envelope, Porol began to read its contents out loud with a timid voice.

「It is my wish to inform you about Taurus and the situation regarding it, therefore I cordially invite Mr. Saigo Homura to join me in the audience room before the day bathes itself in crimson light.」

「Is… is she for real?!」

Homura’s cloudy face brightened up in an instant. Talk about fate smiling down upon him. Queen Halloween was exactly the person he had to talk to no matter what, but for Porol, she was the one person he didn’t want to contact at all if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

「Before the day bathes itself in crimson light, right? So she probably meant to come see her before sunset… oi oi oi, that means we don’t have that much tome left at all!」

「Oh shit, really?! Is that audience room that far from here?」

「No not at all. It is one of the facilities here inside of the Great Tree built for the purpose of pleasuring the Queen in whatever way she might desire it at the moment, but that is not the problem here. The biggest problem for you, the one that might result in you not meeting the Queen at all despite her invitation is…」

Porol looked at Homura with disgust, and he had every right to do so. As an aftereffect of all the chaos that Homura has been through since yesterday, both his hair and clothes were a complete mess, and the fact that he was still drenched from all the rain and water didn’t help him either.

Correctly interpreting the meaning behind his condescending gaze, Homura looked at his own clothes and tilted his head to the side.

「So… kind of a dumb question here, but I guess my current getup is not best suited for an audience with someone as important as the Queen?」

「You bet your ass it isn’t! If you try to go see Queen Halloween in those dirty rags, then she will kill you, your ancestors and your descendants three generations onward!」

「S-She’s that dangerous of a person? Wow.」

「Well, yeah, but it’s also common sense that one should be dressed appropriately to the occasion if they are going to speak with the Floor Master. That being said… Carol, get a uniform ready for him. You can bring one of my spare ones, since our bodies should be roughly the same size.」

「Understood! On the double!」

She answered with a bow and a sway of her tail. Then, Porol turned towards Homura again.

「Follow me, Mr. Homura, and listen carefully. Go take a bath and fix your appearance, and do it fast if you don’t want to die.」

「Oh how grateful I am for this opportunity. Are the bathing facilities also here in the Great Tree?」

「Yes, the bathhouse is located near the audience room so its not that far at all, but we have to hurry, we are out of time!」

Homura wondered why he was repeating that one phrase so many times, so he decided to inquire about it further.

「Do we really have to take her words so seriously even though she was the one who asked for the impossible?」

「Are you a braindead idiot? Of course we do! If you want to negotiate something with her, then you have to be prepared to put your life on the line and always be ready to rise up to her expectations, no matter how ridiculous they might be! She is the kind of person who can fuss about every minor detail, and those who were dumb enough to get themselves to be disliked by her are getting annihilated without a trace with the rest of their Communities on the very next day, and that is a well-known fact! Besides, the only reason this Great Tree is the only d=safe place in the Underwood now is because we presented it to her as tribute, and she granted it the Gift of her protection, so we have no choice but to fulfill her every whim if we want to keep it that way, capiche?!」

「So that’s how it is, huh?」

Homura nodded affirmatively. If they have really ran out of time, then it also meant that this was not the right moment and the right place to be asking questions. Slapping his cheeks with both his hands at once, Homura began the preparations for his next move.