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Last Embryo Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 3

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

「That being said, it still looks like it is at least five times larger than the entirety of the Japanese Archipelago.」

「Oh maaaaan! Searching through all of that is going to be a real pain in the butt!」

「Could not have said that better myself. We are only going to have two weeks to complete this Gift Game, so our best option for now will be to narrow down the potential search area so that we could limit the amount of walking we would have to do as much as possible. . . oh, would you look at that! Looks like the map itself is going to give us a helping hand with that. See, all of the major regions on the entire continent have been signed with their respective names.」

Homura spread out the second piece of paper next to the first one on the table and inspected all of the letters and symbols on the map with the intention of copying all of the names on a separate paper so that they could use this 「cheat sheet」 separately from the map itself. You might be wondering 「why go to such lengths if you already have all of that on one paper?」 Well, it is because the ones responsible for putting that map on the Geass Roll were gods who possess sensibilities entirely different from those of humans, so there is no telling when they might decide that the map has been around for long enough that everybody remembered its contents so they decide to remove it. Granted, they probably would not have done that without a warning first, but the possibility was definitely still there, so it would not hurt them to be prepared for this unlikely event if it does come around. Better safe than sorry, right?

「All right Suzuka, I copied the shape of the map, so go ahead and read the names of all the regions so I can put them there as well.」

「Roger that, Bro!」

Suzuka quickly responded to Homura’s request by picking up the map and reading the names on it out loud.

「Maze of Santorini」 in the east.

「Cowman’s Ranch」 in the north.

「Orichalcum Mine」 to the south.

And 「Heracles’ Stone Pillars」 in the west.

There are also some other regions that had their names put on the map, but these four have been written in especially big letters, meaning that they have to be especially important. While Homura and Suzuka were busy reading and copying the contents of the map, Arjuna approached Asterios and asked him:

「I am afraid that I will not be of any use in figuring out the mystery of this Lost Continent during this Gift Game. I can already tell that the culture of this civilization is much different from my own, and let us not forget that as the member of Kshatriya caste I am first and foremost a fighter and a soldier, not an intellectual. Therefore, I will devote myself completely to fending off any enemies we might come across, so I want you to focus on protecting those two.」

「While I do not have anything against doing that. . . do you really intend to fight all alone?」

Arjuna nodded his head without hesitation, indicating that he saw no problems with dividing their roles in their party in such a way. Asterios thought the he could fulfill this role just as well, since aside from being a prince he was also supposed to be trained as a warrior, and he also had his 『Proto Keraunos』 for a weapon, but thinking about Arjuna’s reputation from the 「Mahabarata」 maybe leaving it all to him will not be such a bad idea after all. . . but when he remembered the result of all the Exhibition Gift Games held onboard of the Giant Spirit Train on their way to Atlantis, he could not stop himself from laughing and asking:

「You say that you are fine with fighting alone, but are you not actually a useless klutz instead of a great hero?」

It might have been a rude thing to say right in Arjuna’s face, but he was only doing that to confirm or dispel his own doubts. Arjuna frowned his brows and grimaced, wanting to say something back to that. . . but their battle record was a battle record, and it was definitely not looking too hot, that much was a fact. So instead of trying to mouth of to Asterios, he turned towards Homura and asked him with a visibly annoyed voice:

「You are both fine with that, right, Homura, Suzuka? So if we happen to stumble into an encounter where it will be impossible to avoid fighting, just leave everything to me.」

「’Kay, no problems here! Rather, it will be very helpful.」

「Okay, it is decided then. The moment the things start looking dicey, Homura and I will run away like hell, so I will be counting on you to take care of all the dangers that might be thrown at us. That, and I also cannot wait to see what you will be capable of in real battle, Arjuna!」

Suzuka declared that happily while giving Arjuna a big thumbs up. He had to admit that having those two put so much trust in him felt rather. . . good.

He was definitely surprised at how easily they have come to accept him, especially after he fought against his father, Indra, who was on their side during the 『Minotaur – The Throne in Labyrinth –』 Gift Game, but apparently they cared more about his reputation as one of the strongest warriors of the Indian mythology rather than his personal conflicts within his family.

It worked just fine for him, since that position of his was not something that he obtained without even trying, simply by virtue of being the son of one of the most important gods in the Indian mythology, but rather with his own hard work and numerous achievements on the battlefield. When the battle begins, the only person in their current group capable of fighting on equal ground with him would be that Ayato girl. . . no, there was actually someone else who could probably do that.

「Homura. To my understanding, there was one more woman who arrived with you when you were summoned here this time. Who was she, exactly?」

「One more woman. . . ?」

「I think he is talking about Miss Uesugi? Supposedly she is one of Tokuteru’s co-workers in the company that he owns.」

Mikado Tokuteru. . . it was evident that he was not a normal human, but rather some kind of divinity holder or someone extremely close to someone like that, as it was hinted by Uesugi when they tried him for embezzling the money from the orphanage’s bank account. . . so maybe he was actually some kinda high ranking Buddhist official since someone like Uesugi Kenshin, also known as Echigo’s God of War and the Avatar of Bishamonten was his co-worker? Whatever the case with him might be, it would be nice if they could also count him as an asset to their cause, but they won’t be able to do that until they will be able to determine how useful can he actually be.

「Thinking about it now, we have a Queen’s Knight, a Divinity holder and one f the strongest warriors from the entire Indian mythology on our side. . . so is our camp not pretty strong, actually?」

「Y-Yeah, now that you mention it, it totally is like that! Wow, does that mean that we have a legitimate change of achieving victory in this contest?! Because is so, then let us aim for it! It is first place for us or bust!」

Next to Suzuka, Arjuna smiled wryly. He understood why she was getting all fired up, but was that really something to be getting that anxious about?

「That reminds me. . .  does our Community have a name?」

「A name?」

「Yes. It is a long-established tradition that all the officially-formed groups in Little Garden, in other words, Communities, need to have their own 『Name』 and a 『Flag』. 『Queen Halloween』 is both the name of your 『Sponsor』 and the name of her Community, but it has nothing to do with you, since she did not take you in as official members, right? If that is the case, then maybe you should come up with the name now, if only to avoid any potential inconveniences?」

Since that was the first time that someone has ever mentioned this particular issue to them, Homura and Suzuka could only look at each other in confusion.