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A week passed after Chimera Clauzen’s defeat, and things had already changed dramatically.

First, all the remaining Chimera Clauzen members in Sentopolly were caught and handed over to the church’s custody. There were people from all veins of life, from adventurers to politicians. They were all dutifully interrogated, and then the information was passed on through the Union so that the remaining forces of the Fifty Bells could be filled in throughout the continent.

The Fifty Bells troops were publicly known as the Guardian Angel Troops. They wanted the Fifty Bells to remain as a charity organization in the eyes of the public. The main issue was that a large portion of state workers in Sentopolly had been arrested, leaving many offices with a huge deficit of personnel. Even if the others were part of Chimera Clauzen, they had still fulfilled their duties properly.

Because of that, those workers who were at the bottom of Chimera Clauzen’s ladder, or were only marginally connected to them, were allowed to stay in office to train the new hires. But they had to wear a tracking necklace provided by the Fifty Bells at all times, their wages were the minimum possible, and they had no free days, creating some rather unfavorable working conditions. Then again, if the church took them, they would be subjected to forced labor for many years, or given the death penalty. So the majority accepted those horrible working conditions, since at least they would be doing something they were used to.

Isaac, Sentopolly’s former minister of foreign trade, also worked under those conditions. It was hard to trust him with his old position however, so instead he was in charge of imparting the diplomatic knowledge he obtained onto the newer talent. Whether because of his nature, or the abilities he nurtured over time, he seemed resolute to leave his past with Chimera Clauzen behind, forming new connections and working earnestly.

Jamal, the former assassin from Chimera Clauzen, also chose to work under those conditions, and of all things chose to help hunt the remaining members from Chimera Clauzen.

His past employment seemed perfect for that, since he was always in charge of making sure traitors vanished quietly in the darkness. In a way, he was a professional when it came to tracking Chimera Clauzen members. He was putting those skills at full display now, showing great results in the Fifty Bells.

Once all traces of Chimera Clauzen were eradicated, Jamal was going to become part of Sentopolly’s defense forces. It was going to take some time, but Alioth was doing his best. Time was all Sentopolly needed to return to normality.

Over in Roseline things were rather similar. Having an enormous corporation like Melville’s vanish overnight caused quite an uproar.

All stores and merchants that made business with Melville were investigated. Proof of their connection with Chimera Clauzen was found in around half of them, and they were arrested. It seemed Chimera Clauzen had woven its roots quite deep into Roseline, just like in Sentopolly.

Roseline was a key trading hub in the western side of the Ark Continent, so that caused many disruptions in the supply chain.

Eabates emerged as the clean and innocent counterpart to Melville, and the owner Ulysses was soon touted as Roseline’s hope. Just a few weeks later he was welcomed to sit on the throne as Duke of Roseline.

The very same day he began working hard and tirelessly. The chaos in the trading lines quickly calmed down, and Roseline soon regained its position as trading hub. All of that was thanks to his preparation beforehand, since he anticipated he would need to solve such a crisis once Chimera Clauzen fell.

He knew of Chimera Clauzen’s wide reach, Melville’s connection to them, and how many key politicians and merchants would disappear once they were taken care of. He had time to consider the chaos that would ensue, so he had thought of contingency plans, and even had secret talks with Solomon about it.

Because of his swift and effective action, Ulysses gained the trust of all the people and merchants living in Roseline. Once things went back to normal, he began work on strengthening the country as a trading hub. An alliance with Arkite was also signed publicly, and direct trading routes established. The reasons for the alliance were kept somewhat ambiguous, simply stating that Arkite had been a key player in taking care of the commotion.

The commotion in Roseline was quickly taken care of that way. There were still many small issues here and there, but they were not large enough to be disruptive. So given enough time, Roseline would also go back to normal.

As for Johann and his family, who owned a mansion in Roseline, and his assistant Mylenne, they remained in the Fifty Bells’ headquarters for a while longer.

The first reason for that was research. Albatinus led a group of many skilled alchemists there, which were joined by Johann. Even though Chimera Clauzen had been taken down, the black mist stones that powered their strengths were still shrouded in mystery. Albatinus had gained a keen interest in them as well, so he refused to let go of Johann, who knew the most about them. According to those who knew Albatinus, Johann was not going to be free until Albatinus’ curiosity was satiated enough.

The other reason for their prolonged stay was Anne, Johann’s daughter. She had fallen in love with the location and construction of the headquarters, and refused to leave. Though such a reaction was somewhat natural, as she had spent the last few years of her life shut inside a small room.

When the people in the headquarters heard of her story, they all began taking care of her, making sure she would live happily from then on. They took her on walks around the Fifty Bells’ city or out in the Forest of Four Seasons nearly every day.

Johann was busy with Albatinus every day, and would go home completely exhausted, but Albatinus had concocted a special medicine for him so that the next day he would wake up full of energy for another day of hard work.

Mylenne followed Johann everywhere as his assistant, and felt like her life was full again, a new fun discovery to annotate every day. Her skill as an alchemist also kept improving every day.

Johann’s wife Angelique also had a peaceful life, watching her family enjoy themselves. She had grown up as the daughter of a farmer, so she would often also help in the fields. People there claimed she had improved the quality of their crops greatly as well. Maybe because she was married to an alchemist, she loved experimenting with various compositions of fertilizer, which recently had started giving rather positive results.

The Fifty Bells’ main objective had been accomplished, but it was going to continue existing for quite a while longer.

All of the Fifty Bells’ elite Hidden members had joined Sasori and Hebi in Roseline, where they captured Chimera Clauzen’s members one after another every day thanks to their ties to Melville. Sasori always complained that while it was fun, she also had to work every day.

Hebi was also busy interrogating their prisoners every day. If she happened to lose her focus, the prisoners always shuddered.

Once things were taken care of in Roseline, half of the Hidden joined the church in cleaning the other countries in the continent. Through their investigation they found out that a portion of Chimera Clauzen’s research had leaked out. Now they had to both hunt down every last member, while also getting rid of any leaked technology, so spirits would never be put in harm again.

Sasori and Hebi were in the half that joined the church, where they traveled with the cross-border legislator across the west of the Ark Continent. They were pursuing the traces of the leaked information, making sure to get rid of everything they found.

Some places of the Ark Continent did not have many churches, so the cross-border legislator would help get the group in most places, and since the continent was so large, Sasori and the other Hidden would help searching.

「You’re going to the Ark Continent? There’s a lot of strong monsters over there, take care of yourselves.」
「Mm, don’t worry. I feel like we’ve gotten really strong after fighting together for so long, and Uzume gave us permission to go there as well.」
「I concur. We’ve learned.」

Mira was currently in the underground prison below the church. She was looking at the many prisoners that seemed to overflow from the cells as she spoke with Sasori and Hebi. 「Still, I think it’ll be some time before we actually leave」 said Sasori with a sigh.

Mira had gone to Roseline to meet with them and get an update on the situation, and she understood why it would take some time considering the current times.

Then Mira gave them an unusually potent medicine, saying it was a farewell gift. It was known as Starlife Water, which could bring someone back from the brink of death. The two girls became flustered the moment they heard that name, but Mira just said, 「I’m just too worried for you two」 which convinced them to accept the items with a smile.

「Well, good riddance then.」
「You too, Mira.」
「Good bye.」

After seeing the other Hidden Members, Mira gave Sasori and Hebi her gift, they promised to meet again one day, and after a short exchange Mira left for her next destination.