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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 380 Part 2

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 380: Side story 3: Rampaging Madness At the End of Edo Period ~ The Enemy of My Enemy Is Also My Enemy ~ Part 2

「Sorry, but no way. This won’t do, this will absolutely not do, Sanraku! I have a whole lot of Divine Punishments that I am dying to try out on you, you have no idea how much! …… And we are going to do each and every single one of them, take our time and go slow until I’m fully satisfied!」

………….

…………

「So, how about you come down from there, Sanraku? I mean, I’m totally up for the challenge, but I won’t lie, if you were so kind as to make my job a little easier for me, that would be really great……」

「How about no!? Improvisational collision!!」

「Fine, so I see you want to do this the hard way…… Fisherman’s Divine Punishment!」

In the next moment, the two swordsmen that were throwing their swords at Sanraku changed their target and started to rain down their blades on Kyogoku instead. From the look of things, this must have been their strategy from the very start.

「Say wha……!?」

「Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! You utter fool! Don’t you know!? This is the dawn of the Tokugawa Shogunate! At the time, fishermen like us would always seek out additional ways of making profit, especially if it could be done by virtue of robbing third party lone wolves such as yourself!」

「Well, and since the occasion happened to present itself to us, we have decided to make a jump at it and make the best of it!」

「Oi, why are you pulling the golden fishing rod here!? Weren’t we going to leave the golden fishing rod only for special occasions?」

「This here is the “Golden Oni” a reward for counter-stopping the even “Black Ships”! And this here is the “Koukasasu”, a reward for the other first-come-first-served event! I see, Looks like I have been missing out on quite a few things here.」

「Shut the fuck up! Go away! Go away!」

「Could it be that the festival venue is right this way!?」

「Geh!? Todoroki Go Kart!?」

During the ending days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the concept of unity was something that you would hardly even come by. Alliences were formed only to be broken the very next day, and back-stabbings and betrayal were a common occurrence.

And with more and more people joining the fray as they saw fit, the balance of power on the battlefield was rapidly changing, so it was also not uncommon for allies switching sides in the heat of battle, and former enemies becoming temporary allies just so that they would hope to gain something out of it. Of course, there was no guarantee that in five seconds the whole process would not be repeated all over again, but that’s the joys and thrills of the battlefield for you.

That’s just how the world in the ending days of the Tokugawa Shogunate is. The only things that you can have a complete trust is your skills and the weapons that you are holding in your hands. …… As well as your ability to deliver some Divine Punishment onto your enemies.

That is why I would most probably never be able to fully understand the way in which Kyogoku’s thought processes tend to work.

「「「DIVINE PUNISHMENT!!!」」」

「–––––– Wha」

That is why,

Why the hell am I the only one who is being targeted here? I mean, I’m the only one who is not out there to get my ass!

Because, isn’t that only natural?

All of the ronins gathered here at the end of the Edo Period started to laugh unfirmly, as if someone gave them a cue to start.

No way.

No way, there is just no way……

Even in the face of certain death, there is not even a single thread of malice to be felt here?

The players gathered behind Kyogoku’s back were all grinning with their teeth laid bare, just like a pack of wild animals getting close onto their pray.

「Listen here, Kyo-Timate…… I’m going to tell you something rather important, so clean those ears and listen.」

「Huh!?」

When it comes to the rules of playing this game, they are very simple, to not say that they are simplistic, even: it is only a given that if you have accumulated a whole bunch of points to your name, you are going to be the most probable player to be targeted by others, next.

「Hiding your own score is a basic skill needed for survival in this neck of the woods. A boss monster with the promise of great loot or a simple mob with most common drop on its ass…… Which one would you like to take down if you were given a choice?」

The act of hiding one’s score is the kind of a deterrence. Maybe the one you are trying to take out has a first place? Maybe they are somewhere in the middle? Or maybe they have no points to them at all? Not knowing such things is the essential part of risk taking in any form of Battle Royal.

When it comes to events like this, big names are without much meaning. In events like this, the only thing that matters is the final score. Because of that, some people are going to conserve their strength until the very end, and some people will lay in hiding until they manage to spot a specific player that they have been targeting.

Are they at the front? Or maybe at the back? When? Where? Why? How? What? All those things are something one must consider at all times. So if Kyogoku was rushing forward like that, she must have realized that there would be those who would want to take her out and take her spoils all for themselves.

In other words, the spirits of the dead who follow the players who killed them are the dead indicator of that particular player’s score. It is always visible and it might as well be a sign pointing towards you as a high value target.

Apparently Kyogoku has no idea of this. She must think that the spirits of the dead are only there to inconvenience her and nothing more. Or she knows about this, but does not care. She may not also realize that people tend to blow those things way out of proportion, which would put an even greater hit mark on her back as a result.

「And that is exactly why…… I have to step in here for a moment!」

However, the blades aiming at Kyogoku’s body do not manage to reach their mark. I have little to no clue just how many times Kyogoku was met with betrayal while playing this game, but for me it was something close to the everyday occurrence. Therefore, the moves that my body just made were so familiar and well-developed that I almost did all of them without sparing a single thought towards them.

「There they are! Both of them……!」

「Close in on them! Don’t let them escape!」

「Divine Punishment! We shall send Divine Punishment onto you!」

At the same time, noticing the commotion here, many more player began to converge on this location, hoping to destroy the player who was deemed as a high potential threat. However, right about now people started doing what they do best, and some player wanted to use the occasion to backstab their allies, and a regular war eventually broke out here. This was our cue to take our leave.

「Oi, Kyo-Timate, let’s get the hell out of here.」

「Eh? Ah, San……」

「Alright, I’ll take that as yes. Now, we are going to make a run for it before anyone manages to understand what exactly is going on here……」

While making that proposition to Kyogoku, Sanraku turned towards the ghosts behind her back and started to show them so rather strange hand signs.

First he pointed at his sword. Then he made a ring with his thumb and forefinger. The he made a sign that looked like some number. Then he made a sign that seemed to be pointing towards the sky. And apparently that was more than enough for him to be able to reach some sort of a conclusion with the ghostly players. As a result, all the ghosts showed him a thumbs up and scattered who knows where

「Eh? Say what now? What was that all about? Eh?」

「…… This here is the very first event that I have recommended you take a part in, right? That is exactly why I am going to take responsibility for it and give you a very special lecture about just what you can expect out of it. Now, why don’t you have a seat over here so that we may start?」

「Ah? Oh, y-yeah, right…… On it……」

After that was all said and done, Kyogoku would then descend into the deepest crevices of the abyss of the dawn of the Edo Period. However, this is a completely different story that is best saved to tell some another time……