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Chapter 431: Cooperation, and the Naked Kings.

The sensation of the sand beneath his body when he woke up in the morning notified the

Dauburn king of his current circumstances. It seems that the whole chain of events in the previous day wasn’t a dream, as expected.

As he tried to stand up with his weary body, tired out from all that running yesterday, a metallic clang together with a weird sensation on his right foot promoted him to look down.

“What is this…”

His right foot was enclosed by a shackle, with a 50cm-long chain extending out from it. And at the other end of that chain was the king of Zadonia, who’s still asleep on the sand.

When he stretched his right leg to raise the chains, he saw that the other end of the fetters was connected to the Zadonia king’s left leg.

“Nu…?”

The sleeping Zadonia king slowly woke up due to his left leg being pulled, looked up and frowned when he saw the Dauburn king standing besides him, then turned his eyes downwards and saw the shackle bound onto his left leg.

The Zadonia king slowly stood up and turned towards the Dauburn king with a scary look.

“You bastard, what are you doing!?”

“Like hell I have any idea!”

They grasped each other’s collars and yelled at one another. Of course, they aren’t actually stupid enough to think the other person here did this. They just wanted a target to vent their anger on.

“You mean I have to stick with you 24/7 from now on!? That makes me want to puke!”

“Those are my words! Jump into the sea and drown yourself or something if you don’t want it!”

“How about you do it!?”

After a bout of childish arguments, they started grappling with each other again.

The moment the Dauburn king managed to mount the Zadonia king and sent a fist towards the latter’s face, strangely, the former was the one who was blown away.

“Gube!?”

The Zadonia king didn’t know what was going on and stood stupefied for a while, but seeing the Dauburn king rolling around next to his feet, perhaps feeling that it’s a chance, he used his un-fettered right leg to kick the fallen man in the gut.

“Gufu!?”

The instant the kick landed, the Zadonia king was the one who fell down while holding his belly. A pain much like someone had actually kicked him assaulted his own stomach.

“Guuooo…”

Looking at the crouched-over Zadonia king, the Dauburn king’s head conjured a terrible hypothesis. While thinking that it can’t be, he nevertheless tried to kick the fallen Zadonia king’s back, only for his own back to be struck with pain like it’s been kicked, and he fell face first onto the sand.

“Ugege…”

With that, he’s now convinced. He doesn’t know why it’s happening, but the damage he inflicted on the Zadonia king is coming back to himself.

The Dauburn king raised his hand to stop the Zadonia king, who’s trying to attack him again after seeing him on the ground.

“Stop it! If you attack me, it’ll come back to yourself as well!”

“Drop your nonsense, you—buge!?”

The moment the Zadonia king’s sweeping kick landed on the Dauburn king’s neck, he who is the attacker instead fell down sideways.

“Fool. nd I had kindly told you about it too.”

“Guooo… Just what is going on…!”

“I don’t know exactly, but it must be the work of that brat. If I hit you, the pain will come back to me. Conversely, if you hit me, the pain will also go back to you. Damn him and his weird magics…!”

The Dauburn king tried touching and patting his cheeks. He can feel them. It seems that the other side can’t feel these.

Does the sensation get sent over only if it hurts beyond a certain degree? Thinking that, he gripped his hand into a fist and swung it towards his own face.

With a *gaan* that resounded in his skull, an intense pain struck his cheeks. When he looked ahead, the Zadonia king was also clutching his face and groaning.

“Y-y-you bastard! What’re you doing all of a sudden!”

“Calm down. It’s just a bit of an experiment. So it seems like the pain also goes to the other side if I hit myself—it hurts!?” sharp pain ran across the Dauburn king’s right arm. When he looked in front, the Zadonia king was pinching his own right arm with all his strength.

“So the pain really does get transmitted. No, rather, this is more like our senses of pain are shared, isn’t—Bufuh!?” sudden pain, the kind felt when being struck, visited the Zadonia king’s right cheek. The

Dauburn king had slapped his own right cheek.

“What are you doing!?”

“Shut up! How dare you do that to me earlier!”

“You’re the one who started it!”

They grabbed each other’s collars and swung their fists at each other again, but they both stopped inches before their hits connected. Afterwards, through an unknown thought process, they somehow both struck themselves in the face with their own fists.

““Gaha!?””

The pain from hitting themselves and the pain transmitted from the other person; the two of them were assaulted by double the normal amount of pain.

They fell down onto the sands, but immediately stood up again, and after glaring at each other for a while, they swung their fists at themselves once more.

“This guy! This guy!”

“This idiot! Stupid bastard!”

Two men punching themselves on the sands; such was the surreal scene the morning sun shone on this morning.

“… Touya-kun, are they even stupider than monkeys?”

“Please wait a moment. This is beyond even my expectations.”

I held my head as I replied to the professor’s completely-astounded voice.

I’ve chained the two of them together to force them to cooperate, but if they turned to hurting, or even killing each other, then it wouldn’t have any meaning.

That’s why I casted a “curse” on them which makes them share their pain perception. If they try to hurt each other, then that would come back to themselves. If one of them killed the other, they themselves might die from that as well. If I made them think that way, then they might become more cautions and prudent in their actions, was what I thought.

Who would’ve thought that they would just start swinging at themselves.

“In the first place, why are these two hitting themselves anyway? If it’s like this, then hitting the opponent directly would be the same thing, wouldn’t it?”

Just like what the professor said, they’d hurt if they hit themselves, and they’d still hurt if they hit each other since the pain would come back to them. In the end, it’s all the same… Ah, could it be because if they try to hit each other, the receiver can try to dodge it? If they punch themselves, the damage would 100% be sent to their opponent without fail.

They surprisingly thought about it… Is what I would definitely not think if I look at the two of them right now…

While looking at the two old men reflected in the monitor who are still hitting themselves, I heaved a sigh.

“Haah, haah, haah…”

“Zeeh, zeeh, zeeh…”

Unable to endure the pain running through their bodies, the two of them lied down spread- eagled on top of the sands, glaring at the scorching sun above them with hazy eyes.

As they lied there, the pain in their bodies disappeared. It’s actually recovery magic Touya casted stealthily, but the two of them would never notice.

Loud rumbles came out of the two’s stomachs. They havn’t eaten anything since quite a while ago. If they don’t eat something soon, they’re going to start starving to death.

They slowly raised their bodies, and stood up.

“Guess I’ll go catch some fish in the sea or something…”

“Guess I’ll go look for nuts in the forest or something…”

They muttered to themselves, before glaring at each other and then turning their heads away with a *fun*.

And just like that, with their backs to each other, the Dauburn king headed towards the sea while the Zadonia king headed towards the forest, before they both fell down headfirst into the sand. The fetters chaining their legs together jangled as it grew taut.

“What are you doing—!”

“Those are my words—!”

They yelled at each other while banging their heads together with a *Gaan*.

“Bastard, just how much do you like getting in my way…!”

“How about you! In the first place, do you think it’s that easy to catch fish in the sea!?”

“Fuun, this is why you guys from a country with frozen rivers year-round are no-good. Since I was a kid, I’ve been catching fish with a harpoon in the oasis’ river. With my prowess, a fish or two…”

“A harpoon? Then pray tell, where do you see a harpoon here!?”

The Dauburn king couldn’t reply to the Zadonia king, and closed his mouth with a “Mugu”. No matter how hard you look, there’s nothing around here that looks like a harpoon.

“With no harpoon, no rod, no hook, how are you going to catch fish? With your hands? Can you catch swimming fish with your bare hands!?”

“Gununu…!”

As expected, there’s no way the Dauburn king had ever tried to catch fish with his bare hands.

Just like the Zadonia king said, he can’t catch anything with a lack of tools. His opponent is in the right this time.

The Dauburn king twisted his face in frustration. Seeing that, the Zadonia king launched further attacks against him.

“In the first place, how are you going to eat the fish you caught even if you do catch some?

Just munch on it like that? It’s not easy to start a fire, you know. Instead of wasting your time on those, finding nuts and fruits, plants that grow naturally in the wild is far more efficient and easier to do. This is why you guys from a country in scorching heat year-round are no-good, your heads are boiled from all that heat…”

“Gununununu…! Having said that, it’s not as if you can find things you can eat just by going into the forest, you know! In the first place, can you even tell what can be eaten and what cannot!?”

This time, it was the Zadonia king who closed his mouth with a “Ugu”, unable to retort. There’sno way he, who is royalty, could do something like that. Since his food were all prepared by the cooks, he doesn’t even know what a lot of the ingredients look like before they’re cooked.

Fruits and such would be fine, though.

However, the same is actually true for the Dauburn king as well. He doesn’t know most of them too. They’re both sheltered kings.

“I’m surprised you have the gall to suggest something like heading into the forest like that. You might poison yourself if you mess up, you know. I wouldn’t mind a bit if you died, but please spare me from getting dragged along with you due to the brat’s magic.”

“If it’s nuts or fruits then I can identify them somewhat! We wouldn’t know how it would turn out if we don’t go, would we! Or would you rather starve to death here!?”

“What did you say, you…!”

Guuuuuuuu……

The sounds of two stomachs ringing, his own and his opponent’s, reached the Dauburn king’s ears as he tried to retort.

Shutting up, the two of them turned their faces away from each other with a *fun* and, while staying that way, walked into the forest with their steps in perfect sync.

“There’s no mistake. That’s a Pasimo fruit.”

“Yeah, it is a Pasimo fruit. I’ve eaten some imported from lent before.”

Walking inside the forest, the two of them looked up towards that which they’ve finally found after a long time. Red fruits were hanging off large tree branches. Pasimo is a fruit that can be found mostly anywhere. Although, as expected, they aren’t able to grow in the extreme heat of Dauburn or the freezing cold of Zadonia.

Those Pasimo fruits glimmered in the light and looked truly delicious. However, they were too tall to be picked alone.

“Should we throw stones at it?”

“Don’t be stupid. You think we can hit those small fruits from here? And even if we do, they might not fall just from that, you know.”

“If not, then…”

The two of them stared at the easy-to-climb looking huge tree in front of them, then turned to look at the fetters binding their feet together.

Normally, it’s a tree that even children should be able to climb somehow. However, when their feet are chained up like this, the difficulty spikes up several degrees.

“We can only do it.”

“Umu.”

Gugyuuuu… Together with that loud rumbling of their stomachs that’s as if it’s proclaiming its hunger, the two of them headed towards the Pasimo tree. This is the first collaborative activity between the two of them, but the persons themselves doesn’t seem to have noticed.

Putting their feet into hollows on the sides of the sturdy-looking trunk, and reaching up with their hands, they climbed up the tree. Somehow, they can’t feel the heaviness of the chains connecting their feet, so it doesn’t get in the way. Only with regards to the “weight” part, though.

“Uoo!?”

“Guwa!?”

The Dauburn king’s feet slipped, and he fell from the tree. Of course, the Zadonia king, who’s connected to the former by a chain, also fell down with him. Double the usual damage from the fall assaulted the two due to the curse.

“Be more careful! Can’t you look at where your foot is going!?”

“Shut it! I know!”

While complaining to each other, the two of them immediately grabbed back onto the tree trunk.

“There. Put your foot over there.”

“Come over here for a bit. That side is dangerous.”

While talking to each other like that, they slowly climbed up the tree. And finally, they arrived at a branch on which there are Pasimo fruits.

The branch bent downwards under the weight of the two, and began making creaking noises.

Two grown men are on top of it, after all. It’s no wonder.

“Oi wait, we should go at this more cautiously.”

“I know. Stop complaining over there…”

The moment the Dauburn king stretched his hand out towards a Pasimo fruit, the branch under them broke with a snap, and fell to the ground together with the two of them.

The two of them were writhing in agony for a while due to falling from a height around that of a two-story building. However, their eyes were on the four Pasimo fruits that fell down together with the branch, which are right in front of them.

They grabbed one with a hand each, used their clothes to wipe the dirt off, and immediately bit into one with the skin still on. After a crunchy biting texture was felt, a fresh sweetness spread out on top of their tongues.

“Delicious…”

“Umu…”

After that, they continued eating the fruits in silence, and went through the four Pasimo fruits within moments.

The fact that they felt it was very delicious was probably in large part due to their hunger.

When they looked up, more of the same fruits could be seen glistening on the tree branches above.

“It’s not enough.”

“Right.”

The two of them stood up, and once again headed towards the Pasimo tree.

“As expected, they cooperated for that, huh.”

“If not, there’d have been no meaning for us to transplant a Pasimo tree there. I’ll have to regenerate the branch later as well, too.”

While watching the two kings struggle on the monitor, the professor and I heaved a sigh. It sure took us a long time to get here. Things might’ve gone better if we had more understanding of the situation.

While staring at “that”, placed on top of a desk within the second lab of Babylon’s [Laboratory], I scratched my head.

On top of the desk, there’s a 30cm tall and 40cm wide box placed there, inside which a miniature of an island could be seen. It’s more of a diorama rather than a miniature, though.

This is, in fact, the island the two kings are on currently. It’s a simulated world created through a combination of space-time magic and barrier magic.

It’s an artifact similar to the [Warehouse], and there was a time when I was imprisoned inside it by everyone else. That time sure was tough…

Of course, its safety has been confirmed, and nothing dangerous was put inside.

It’s our wish for the two of them to become friends with each other without any obstructions, so.

“What about the princes?”

“No problem. Things on that end are proceeding well. To begin with, it was only the king and a part of the older nobles who wanted the war to continue, after all. The people’s support is leaning heavily towards the princes.”

Currently, due to the kings of Dauburn and Zadonia being missing, Prince Akim and Prince

Frost are acting as stand-ins.

The kings being missing is the only thing they know, and the people have been told that the kings are suffering from illness. Of course, I’ve told the truth to the two princes. I thought that they might show repulsion because it’s something like me having their parents in the palm of my hand, but to my surprise, they accepted the information pretty easily.

Alent’s Holy King, who was also present, even said something like it’s natural to forsake a king who does not work for his people, even if they’re tied by blood; that’s scary, to be honest.

They might’ve made the call that, at worst, even if something happened to the kings, they wouldn’t really be troubled… No, let’s say that came from their faith in me. That is a more constructive view, no doubt.

The two princes immediately called off hostilities with the neighboring country, and started peace talks. Complaints came from the old nobles who were preparing to fight, but due to various factors including the princes having a hold of their weaknesses, they were forced to shut up quickly.

It seems like the princes have actually been doing investigations on their own since a long time back, and it turned out that the old nobles have been doing things like skimming off a portion of the defense budget allocated to them and taking in some of the supplies sent to them in preparation for war, basically fattening themselves up every time conflict broke out between the two countries. The fact that the old nobles did not seek war simple because they hated the other country were exposed.

So that means the only people who fought due to that reason was the kings themselves…

A naked king, so to speak… It’s tragic, in a way. I should be careful too.

- Pixel