Turf War – Side Story

Hello everyone! Tilea is back with more misunderstandings and a new translator! Ayumi here, not-native extraordinaire, from Kyoto, and i hereby announce an increase in the release rate – Stay tuned!

Tell me in the comments if anything feels or sounds weird.


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Side Story: The Diary of Ortissio’s Struggles

Ortissio wakes up early, when the morning sun ascends, around the time when the roosters start crowing. At five, he is out of bed.

The first thing he does after washing his morning face is training.

Going to the gravity room C, he performs his daily muscle-strengthening exercises.

The gravity there is thirty times stronger, making this room the third most arduous of the Underground Empire.

If it was his call, he would have gone to the one with the strongest to do some hard training. That, if he had not been chased away from it by his liege Camilla along with a “A hundred times gravity is impossible for the likes of you.”

It cannot be help, let’s challenge it once again when stronger’, he thought before entering the gravity room C. As he felt an enormous strain being put on his body, he started his exercise routine, performing push-ups, abs and squats, sweat pouring of his body as twere a flood.

Wrapping up his muscle exercises, he proceeded to magic training, devoting himself to expanding his mana capacity by single-mindedly repeating cycles of depletion and contraction.

Manipulating mana while being subject to such a strong gravity is no easy task. Still, as a commandant of the prestigious Evil God Army, he never lets out a moan.

It was only an hour later that he put an end to his training, leaving behind him a puddle of sweat.

Although short, this routine was ever so intense; with each passing day, he felt acutely his skills improving. This kind of results would have been unimaginable back in the Demon King Army’s days. That too was thanks to the revolutionary training program developed by his lords Camilla and Tilea Sama.

“Division commander Ortissio, here is a towel.”

“Aye”, he answered, accepting the piece of cloth from his subordinate and wiping the sweat off his body. If only he had more time, he would have gone straight to take a bath, but his hectic schedule would not allow it.

His clothes back on, he tasked his subordinate with cleaning the gravity room before leaving the place. Work hard, eat hard.

And so at six thirty comes breakfast.

The food prepared by his subordinates was waiting for his arrival at the dining hall – today’s menu is… Milk, fish, cheese and shrimps.

To wit, a Kalshium Menu made of all sorts of colourful ingredients.

For the petty body improvement of the likes of me, how generous Tilea sama is to prepare such a meal!’ he thought, full of gratitude. ‘Ah, how blessed I am – Not to the other members, but a special meal made only for me! Let’s dig in right away.’

First is some milk, a blessing to his sore throat after training, that he drank in one gulp from the barrel. That done, he dug in the hundred or so small fishes and five kilos of cheese, his chewing reverberating through the dining hall.

The sight of him sending a pint of the carbonated drink “Kohla” down his throat completed this baroque picture.

An essential drink, they say, for any self-respecting martial artist: after some milk, a “Kohla”. As one would expect, his stomach was about to burst. But with that, he shall become stronger! And thus, drank it all in one go.

At eight o’clock begins the prisoners’ interrogation.

All individuals captured by the Evil God Army end up shackled in the depths of the underground empire. Insolent fools that dared go against the Evil God Army! For that sin, they are thrown out in the room the farthest from Tilea Sama’s quarters.

As he approached the cells, he could hear the sound of a whip being lashed. It seemed that the fools that had yet to surrender to the Evil God Army were in the middle of being interrogated by his subordinates.

“Division commander Ortissio!,” saluted his most trusted subordinate, Gil, realizing his arrival.

“Did he finally spit It out?”

“No, he seems to be quite the obstinate one you see…”

The name of the one the troop commander Gil was interrogating was Chaka, a former officer under the Demon King Army’s general Kira.

Their general defeated by Camilla, Kira’s subordinates were massacred by the troops under the command of Nielsen, only leaving a few big names such as Chaka who ended up captured and subjected to torture.

Seeing him not breaking even after a year of incessant ill-treat, Ortissio had started to want him by all means in his second division.

“Hey Chaka. It’s been a year already, stop being so stubborn will you!”

“ Haah, haah… – Pu!” he spat, his eyes full of hate. ‘Hoo, is that how it is. Well that is exactly the kind of spirit I judged befitting of my second division after all,’ thought Ortissio before calling out to the man in front of him.

“Listen Chaka. Now is the age of the Evil God Army. The Demon King Army is history you know, how foolish is it to stay loyal to these relics.”

“Guh, nghn… Only death awaits traitors! Sooner or later, the Demon King will bestow revenge for Kira Sama!”

“Hm-pf, there is nothing to fear of from the likes of the Demon King, as long as Tilea Sama is gracing us with her presence.”

“Ha! What can a mere wench――”

“What impudeeeence…!”

“Kuh-!”

Upon hearing his liege being badmouthed, Ortissio went and took a swing at him without even thinking of it. ‘Damn. If i had killed him accidentally all the troubles up until now would have come to naught,’ bemoaned Ortissio.

‘For these few months, I tried every possible means to take him over. Yet, far from swinging to their side, that guy became stiff all the more. What should I do now?’

‘If he doesn’t surrender and holds onto his grudge, that guy is nothing more than an enemy and thus should be disposed of right?’ Ortissio wavered as he received a report from one of his spies that just came in. Lending him an ear, he could not help but let out a contented smile.

“Ah what a shame, Chika!”

“Uggh, uggh…. What did…?”

“He, it seems that we’ve found Kira’s only child”

“Wha-?!”

As Kira’s troops failed in subjugating Camilla Sama, Ortissio knew that the few survivors could never return to the Demon King Army. He thus dispatched some of his subordinates as spies to investigate their whereabouts, though he did not expect much from his second division (which was not the intelligence unit after all).

‘What unexpected luck! I finally found it, your Achilles’ heel!’ he thought before railing:

“Chika, at this rate, if you still refuse to bend, we will have no choice but to eradicate every single survivor you know?”

“Kuh- “

“Chika, at this rate, we just need to eliminate Kira’s successor, and his will shall fade out from history, like a shadow, you know? Only leaving to posterity the name of a reckless fool.”

“You, you bastard!”

“That’s my final warning. Surrender! And swear loyalty to our lord Tilea. You just have to work for the Evil God Army, and his descendant lives.”

“…”

“Is that so. Well that’s extermination for the survivors then. May Kira’s revenge be never exacted, and vani —”

“W-Wait! Al, alright, I’ll submit.”

“For real?”

“Aye. However, you must promise me. That you shan’t take the life of the young lord.”

“Sure.”

‘Ha! Did you see that? My efforts of the past few months were worth it, definitely! With that the forces of the second division will be greatly strengthened. And for getting an enemy to come over to our side, I will win the favour of our lord Tilea, great!’

And so, at ten o’clock comes the inspection of the food reserves.

Ortissio betook himself to food storage of the Underground Empire. There are hoardedthe various ingredients that the second division gathered during their expeditions. To keep them fresh and from rotting their group was mobilizing every possible means.

In particular, the apparatus designed by Tilea, the Flidje, was nothing short of amazing. By releasing water magic, it would freeze and thus preserve the ingredients.

“Is everything going well?” he asked his subordinate in charge of the place.

“Yes! Nothing to report.”

“Great. Do not let them rot! Our lord Tilea demands fresh ingredients.”

“You may leave it to us. As we are using the slaves at full capacity to maintain the Flidje temperature between two and ten degrees.”

‘Our Lord Tilea is infatuated with fresh ingredients, just after riches. Above all, her expression of happiness when we acquire rare ingredients is a blessing in itself. It is meaningless if they end up rotting,’ thought Ortissio, relieved by his subordinates’ report.

“Slaves are disposables, treat them as such and keep the system in perfect working order all day long.”

“By your will.”

‘The slaves’ water magic is weak. But if one makes up the number, keeping indefinitely frozen foods constantly stored at 0°F or below becomes possible. That these worthless scums could prove themselves useful was quite the surprise.’

At eleven thirty starts the war council of the Evil God Army.

As he was heading to the regular meeting, his steps resounded through the corridor.

“Division commander, we compiled the reports for today’s meeting,” his aide walking by his side said.

“Good work. Today’s council was about the results of the expeditions towards Chilge and the seasonal budget report, right.”

“As you say. I think we achieved everything that could be as of now”

“Still, we did not attain the predetermined objectives did we?”

“To our deepest regret that is indeed the case but –“

“Damn Chief of Staff! Always giving us damn unreasonable workloads!” roared Ortissio, as the smug face of an ikemen elf went through his mind.

“Would the commandants bestow mercy upon us, I hope…”

“Don’t. We’re speaking about him. He’ll probably relentlessly throw snide accusations at me as usual…”

“I shall sympathize with you from the bottom of my heart my lord.” his subordinate commiserated with him, full of pity, knowing too well the storm of cries and oaths that awaited his superior in that room. Ortissio always felt so melancholic at this hour of the day, and his steps towards the council room naturally became heavier.

Still, time does not wait for anyone- biting the bullet, he entered the council room, only to be welcomed by needle-like cold looks from Camilla Sama and General Commander Nielsen.

“You’re late, Ortissio”, ostentatiously disparaged that damn Chief of Staff.

“I beg for your forgiveness,” he offered an excuse. You bastard, whose fault do you think it is. I would not be If your unreasonable instructions did not force us to take some time to compile today’s reports, he wanted to say among with lots of other vindications, which he kept to himself.

Getting over the humiliation, he reported how the looting expedition ended in not meeting its preposterously high objectives.

“Ahem. The expedition towards Chilge attained most of its predetermined goals. Powerful noble houses were destroyed, only leaving some post-war clean-up to do. However, as anyone could understand at a glance, the plunder quota was, as one may expect… Still my second division―!”

“Enough!” interrupted Camilla.

“Y-Yes, my lord.”

“Ortissio, I shall now mete out punishment to you, who failed to act according to our directions,” Camilla hissed without an ounce of compassion.

“E, err, but! I beg your pardon but, on this matter, would not the point at issue be the unreasonable directives given by the Chief of Staff?!”

“Ortissio, stop looking for excuses. The directives were decided ahead of time- how is it reasonable to complain about it at this point?”

“I cannot agree with you more. Not only he barely procured enough funds, but he also keeps gathering furnishing of poor quality unbefitting of our Lord’s above. To the extent that I being to question his loyalty,” Dryas rubbed it in.

Following Camilla’s comment, the other commanders then started to thunderingly rain invectives to Ortissio. That damn Chief of Staff in particular, as if holding a grudge since the Fiend Liquidation Mission, was relentlessly taking the council in a bad direction.

‘God dammit, where does all this flak come from! Cannot they understand! Everyone has in mind the days of the Demon Metropolis Benz and won’t stop comparing today to back then! But the items that you come across nowadays are way behind in both quality and quantity – What are you saying I should have done!’ Ortissio, on the verge of screaming, kept his grievance to himself with great difficulty

“Ortissio, under normal circumstances such an incompetent person would have already been executed by now… However as unfortunate as that may be is we lack personnel at the moment. I shall remit your sins, but you shall as punishment gather an additional ten percent of funds.”

“Y, Yes my lord.”

‘And now the fund objective is raised by another ten percent… Even though it was already such a heavy workload… Even loan sharks and profiteers would be more humane you know!’

“And also, Ortissio, your second division’s quarters shall be moved further north, to block C”

“W-What? May, may I ask why…?” he gulped, realizing that it would mean getting even farther from the headquarters, namely Tilea Sama’s bedroom – and that alone would betray a low standing in his lord’s trust.

“You and your troops were originally too close from Tilea Sama, and there is no way I could allow untrustworthy fools to stay by our lord’s side you see.”

“B-, But, w-, why… There is none that think more highly of Tilea Sama that me!”

“He, none you say. That is to say more than me too?! How impudent of youuu!” she bellowed.

‘Hey I did it again. With each comment I dare make, it seems that I dig myself into a deeper hole. And that’s only because Camilla Sama, general commander Nelsen and the other commanders lend an ear to that damn Chief of Staff’s opinions. Isn’t someone, anyone, on my side?’

His eyes briefly met with Edim’s.

‘Ohh, now that I think of it, we are comrades who worked up together during the Fiend Liquidation Mission. She is only a half breed, but beggars cannot be choosers right?’ he realized, before sending her eye signals, asking for protective fire. Howbeit, she averted her head with a click.

‘Da-damn you, you mere half breed…’

A while later, as the council was coming to an end its final phase and Ortissio his final breath, an even more shocking statement took him aback.

“Finally, I shall announce personnel changes. Chaka get in.”

“Yes, my lord. My name is Chaka, former commander serving under Kira of the Demon King Army. As of today, I shall join the Evil God Army’s fourth division.”

“Wha-!??”, Ortissio raised his voice before realizing it.

‘Wh-why? This guy is an outstanding talent that I was trying to get over since ages! And it is none other than my second division that found his weakness, Kira’s descendant’s whereabouts, after gathering intel for weeks! I cannot accept this. That’s the only thing that I shall not along with!’

“Sir Chief of Staff. My second division had its eyes on that person since a long time ago. With all due respect, waltzing away with him seems a bit…”

“Ortissio, since when are you our human resources manager? Putting the right person in the right falls within the Staff Officer’s competence.”

“S, Still…”

“Back out. The only thing you have to do is to devote yourself to me.”

“K-kuh, un-understood”

‘You bastaaards! Damn it, damn it all! Too many tears in my eye, fuck, what’s even happening anymore, I can’t see clear no more.’

Leaving the council, Ortissio suddenly started running around aimlessly. He did expect that he would have to go through some logic-defying council, but today’s meeting was horrible. His heart felt like it was falling apart.

“Oh, Or! What are you doing here running? It’s time did you forget?”

“Ti-Tilea Sama!”

‘That’s right. So many things happened that I blacked out for a moment. Yes, today, my lord made time for a conversation with my unworthy self, today was Cown-Selling Day! ‘

And like today’s suffering never existed to begin with, Ortissio obediently followed his lord Tilea Sama in high spirits. On their way that damn Chief of Staff called out to them, but stopped in his tracks, fallbergasted, upon hearing that hey had a Cown-Selling Session.

‘Ha! Serves you right! ‘

He who always had a smug look on his face could only see them off with a jealous expression.

1h00 p.m. : “Cown-Selling

Simply speaking, “Cown-Selling” is a system where one’s Lord lends an ear to his subordinates’ worries and offers them solutions and advice.

‘How generous can she be, creating this system only for my unworthy self,’ was thinking Ortissio when Tilea called out to him.

“Or, you don’t have to be so nervous. Please sit, relax and let’s talk,” said Tilea while getting some tea ready.

“At your will! It is my humble pleasure.”

“Well, today we’ll begin with a short questionnaire. Answer without holding anything back alright?”

“Yes, my lord”

“First are a few questions. Answer with “Applies fully”, “Applies to a point”, “I can’t really say” or “Does not apply” okay?”

“Understood.”

Seeing how Tilea Sama then took out a pen sheet of paper and sheet, ‘hmm is this some kind of exam? I shall then take myself to the task with all my might,’ thought Ortissio.

“Question 1: Do you wake up suddenly at night?”

“Applies fully!”

“… O, okay… “

‘That is the first question of Tilea Sama’s questionnaire, the answer obviously is affirmative. One does not even have to think about it. It would be arrant nonsense for a self-respecting warrior to sleep like a top. What if bandits attack in the middle of the night? One should be prepared for war at all times. ‘

“Question 2: Do you meditate on your death? Or do you think often about dying? “

“Applies fully!”

“… O, okay… “

‘That is a question from my lord! There shall be none to answer by the negative! My life is Tilea Sama’s, and my heart desire is to die for her ambitions of world domination!’

Then followed a few other questions about death, sleep, concentration and depression, to which Ortissio believed he answered perfectly.

‘As befitting of Tilea Sama’s right hand and loyal aide, hmm!’

“I got it Or, let’s meet three times a week for counseling from now on, okay?…”

“As your wish, my lord! It is my humble pleasure! I feel like I am about to ascend to the heavens!” he exclaimed with joy.

‘Good gracious, i will get to spend more time with my lord? As I thought, Tilea Sama must have felt my unswerving loyalty overflowing and was moved by it.’

‘However, what in the heavens did my lord mean by Emdiai when she mumbled “He is in good spirits today uh, what if it is MDI…”? ‘

‘Well, the frequency of the Cown-Selling Sessions will increase too, it is probably a compliment. ‘

“And well, Or you… probably have a lot of stress and things to say right?”

“H-how could I possibly be dissatisfied with anything! … ”

“Or, you don’t have to act all tough you know~. I won’t tell anyone about it, you can trust me so… tell me what’s wrong!”

‘My lord really has an all seeing eye! Ah, how could I possibly go against this benevolent gaze,’ Ortissio marveled for a moment. He knew all too well that It was a conduct unbecoming of a proper subordinate. Still, he could not repress it any longer. Without even thinking about it, he let out what happened during the council and the pent-up resentment he contained during the day.

“Y-yes you see, it’s all be-because Dryas …”

“Y-yes, Dryas always… Boo hoo, sniff, you, you know!”

“Al-always here stealing the, the credit for my feats, and there that, that youngster too, and that is not all!… Ev-everyone, everyone is…”

“There there. I’ll tell them to stop, so don’t brood over it, okay?”

ティレアとオルティッシオ


TL Note: One comment one prayer for poor Ortissio 

MDI: Manic-depressive illness


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Debt Girl – 09

The Ninth Chapter – Ten Gold Coins

Note: This is the actual translation! The part about Este not tlcing was actually true, though. Blameste!!! As for updates…. dunno about how frequently I’ll be updating but it’ll depend on interest, probably. kthxbye

Swinging on the last carriage of the night, Bernard returned home.

Even though he hadn’t been able to organize his thoughts, Eric came to report on the day’s happenings.

That, because the tiling on the roof had deteriorated completely, they would need to be re-covered. The ceiling boards and flooring of the attic were in a similar state.

“What, the ceiling has to be repaired too?”

“It seems like bugs had been living there.”

Looking at the quote, he unconsciously clicked his tongue  .

“And then, about the materials for the roof–“

While the repairs could be done with the same terra cotta tiles, they were told that if they wanted the tiles painted, it would cost extra.

“It seems, the roof tiles are originally brown and painted blue afterward.”

“Is that so.”

The circumstances surrounding the original color were that the then-wife of the Orlellian House wished to construct a house like one that would appear in a fairy tale. And thus, a house with white walls and a blue roof was completed.

“And as such, if the tiles were to be painted in the same blue hue, it would amount to approximately this.”

“Hm?”

The quote for the extra charge was handed over by Eric. Astonished at the amount, Bernard’s eyes opened wide.

“Wha’s this!”

“It seems that the materials for producing blue paint are expensive.”

“We don’t need to paint them!”

“But it seems that if painted, the roof tiles last a bit longer.”

“… No, for now, it’s fine.”

“Understood.”

At present, they were barely scraping by with just the repair expenses. If he became interested in adding color to the roof tiles, he decided he’d paint it himself.

The next thing that was reported was Agnes’ doctor’s bill. It was less than he had expected.

“Oi, what about the hush money for the doctor?”

“We called a doctor who is an acquaintance of Dominic. His mouth is sealed.”

“Is that so…”

He said that her fever had gone down compared to the morning, she had no appetite, and she had been laying in bed.

He thought that today’s happenings (in regard to Agnes) were nothing in particular to talk about or listen to.

“Even so, it’s awful, all of this is.”

The repair expenses totaled to ten gold coins.

It was how much Bernard earned in two months of work as a knight.

He said that due to the roof’s strange shape, they had to order special tiles to match it, and so, the price skyrocketed.

“It seems that, if negotiated, the payment can be made in installments.”

“Just pay it all off at once.”

“Understood.”

After seeing Eric off from the room, he let out a deep sigh.

While he had his monthly allowance from his parents, that mostly disappeared after paying the servants’ wages.

He hardened his determination after thinking there was nothing to do but to get by somehow.

 ◇◇◇

To refresh himself before dinner, Bernard headed toward the bathroom.

On the way, he stopped in front of the guest room that Agnes was resting in.

He was in a state of uncontrollable curiosity/interest about what she was really like.

He thought that, even if it was just the reason that she glared at him five years ago, he wanted to know.

However, he hesitated, questioning if it was okay to enter the room of an unmarried woman. But, he was the lord of the estate, and Agnes was his employee. He realized that there was nothing improper about it.

Luckily, there was no sign of anyone being about.

Thinking that it would be fine if he quickly asked her and left, he opened the door.

The living room was pitch black. Relying on the moonlight that shone in through the window, he headed toward the bedroom.

Just in case, he knocked on the door, but there was no response.

Because he had thought about overstaying as well, he just decided to enter.

The bedroom was lit only by a hand-lantern placed next to the bed. The area was dim and faint.

“… Hey”

This time, he had tried calling out to her in front of the door, but even here, there was no answer.

Thinking that he could not back out after coming this far, he rapidly walked up to the bed with big strides.

He thought that even if he had to wake her up, he would ask about what happened five years ago.

The face that was illuminated by the lamplight was dim, framed with pallor, and covered in sweat.

Her sleeping face appeared to be in pain.

“Agnes Le Verges.”

In a low voice, he called her name.

Though he had thought that she would not be roused by such a small voice, Agnes opened her eyes slightly.

Though he had defiantly barged into the room, when their eyes met, he was startled, and his chest started pounding.

He started to feel as if he were doing something bad.

From her glance, he tried to discern how she felt.

In the quiet room, they had only met eyes for an instant before Agnes let out a surprised exclamation.

“–Aah, Mother”

“Hah!?”

“I’ve been thinking about how I had wanted to see you all this time”

Agnes held her shivering, frail hand out from the futon.

Bernard was looking down at this scene with incredulous eyes.

“Mo, ther…”

“No, I’m not your mother.”

Even as he pointed out this misunderstanding, he gripped Agnes’ wrist and roughly put her hand back inside the futon.

When he looked at her face more closely, he realized that her eyes were drowsier than usual and that her consciousness was fuzzy.

He had heard that Agnes’ mother had passed away in her infancy.

Once he spotted tears forming in the corners of her eyes, he felt a little pity.

“… I-I apologize.”

“?”

He peered into Agnes’s face to see if she had yet to regain consciousness.

But, what she would say next was completely beyond expectations.

“–Mother.”

Bernard, upon hearing this, became dumbfounded on the spot.

Agnes continued to speak.

“I can’t go there yet.”

“Don’t die, don’t die!”

To her delirious speech, he quipped back at her.

“You, just, go to sleep!!”

While he had said that, Agnes’ speech didn’t end there.

“Once I have returned my favor to Orlellian-sama, I’ll head th–“

“I-I’m telling ya, don’t die yet!”

After ordering, “listen, sleep,” he brought up the futon that was at her chest and pulled it up to her shoulders before leaving the bedroom.

After making sure nobody was in the hallway, he left Agnes’ room behind.

Entering the bathroom, he started to think about Agnes’ mystery which was only increasingly growing deeper.

As to what the favor that she owed him was. He combed through his memories, but he came up with nothing.

Covering his head in hot water, he briskly washed his hair and body and submerged himself in the bathtub.

–It’s useless, I dunno.

For now, he put off Agnes’ questioning to a later date.

The next day, he was informed by Giselle of Agnes’ condition, and that she was on her way to a steady recovery.

While the person in question had stated that she was ready to work, just in case, she was ordered to rest a little longer.

“Master, is that okay with you?”

“Aah, just do as you will”

“Thank you.”

“Though, with the repairman coming to start repairs on the roof and attic, it’s not going to be a very restful environment.”

“Well, that can’t be helped, huh.”

He instructed Giselle to properly care for Agnes.

As the time for the carriage to come drew near, Bernard left the house.

 ◇◇◇

In the morning, Lazarre came by to say his thanks.

“Sorry for making you do something so tiresome yesterday.”

Because Agnes hadn’t come around to the orphanage, it seemed as if she weren’t there.

Bernard wavered, wondering if he should talk about Agnes here. But, in that space of that moment, Lazarre left the office room, stating he had to go to a meeting.

While he was feeling impatient about having lost the chance to speak, someone came to visit.

When the door opened, he was a little surprised to see someone he knew.

–Ernesto Barthélemon.

A member of the elite guards to the second prince, he was the second son of a marquess.

He remembered him as a person who would chase after the coattails of women on duty, the worst, the lowest, a bastard.

The last time they had met was three years ago, at the place the tea party hosted by the second prince took place.

To Bernard, who was making a surprised face, Ernesto greeted him as if they had met for the first time.

He had probably forgotten about the events that had occurred three years ago.

“Yo yo, morning–“

“Ah!!”

There, Bernard remembered.

That, three years ago, there was an incident where he had met Agnes in the rose garden by chance, and that he had helped her run away from Ernesto, who was chasing after her.

He felt refreshed, feeling that the mystery of the favor and thanks she had talked about was solved.

“Hey you, suddenly letting out a loud voice like that, you surprised me!”

“Aa, I’m sorry.”

In response to his behavior being pointed out, he returned to his senses.

He informed Ernesto of the absence of the commanding officer, but he was told that the stand-in commanding officer, Bernard, would fare perfectly fine.

Ernesto sat down on the offered bench with a flump.

“So, the task at hand is?”

“Ahh, I was thinking that I wanted someone to search for someone for me.”

A single sheet of paper was placed on top of the desk.

“–?”

What was there was some kind of picture that was drawn of something that couldn’t be distinguished between male or female. On the top of the paper was written, “To anyone who saw this woman, ten gold coins.”

“This is–?”

“It’s a portrait of Agnes Le Verges. I drew it of course.”

“Hah?”

While holding the picture further out in Bernard’s direction, he haughitly asked if Bernard wouldn’t search for her.

“It’s a wonderful task that even has a monetary reward. Consider it an honor.”

“Nah, or rather, who is this order coming from?”

“From me.”

He thought this was unbelievable.

Why the “3rd Special Assault corps” would have no choice but to carry out a private mission.

“If you found Agnes Le Verges, what would you do?”

“Ahh, I was thinking that I would shut away the pitiful girl, y’know.”

Shutting her away meant that he would make her his lover. Bernard looked at Ernesto with a hard-to-believe expression.

“I cannot accept a private mission that has no approval from a superior.”

“Normally, huh.”

He brushed it aside with a calm demeanor, stating that was the purpose of the ten gold coin reward.

“The thrill of the danger of ushering in the daughter of the Le Verges House that bought displeasure over the King, you know?”

That was a statement that pierced through even Bernard, himself.

It wasn’t something that should be done so casually.

“I’m telling you, that’s why there’s a ten gold reward.”

“A reward as well as hush money, is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s it. If she were to be hiding in the basement of the house, there’s no way she’d be seen.”

Furthermore, Ernesto said he had heard some welcome news. It was something that he had gained the right to say because he was a member of the imperial guards.

“If you find Agnes Le Verges for me, on top of the ten gold coins, I’ll support you in a meeting for promotions.”

However, he wanted Bernard to take caution to not spread this information widely. He was told to keep the number of people he told within five, even in his unit. While gazing at him from above, Ernesto declared that.

“If the rumor spreads, I’ll be in trouble, so. Ahh, right.”

Ernesto produced a gold-embedded leather bag from his purse/handbag/pocket.

“This is?”

“It’s hush money for keeping quiet about this mission.”

“…”

With Ernesto still in front of him, Bernard let out a deep sigh.

Letting Ernesto know that he would be entrusting all information related to this situation to his commanding officer, he requested that Ernesto please leave.

“Well, I’m relying on you.”

“…”

Without responding, he silently closed the door.

Character Introduction:

Bernard Orlellian

20 years-old, brown hair, brown eyes, height: 183 cm

The fifth son of a rural aristocrat. A young man who lives in a mansion in the outskirts of the royal capital.

Has a blunt personality. Can’t go against his servant who is his former wet nurse, Giselle.

His monthly salary is five gold coins (50,000 yen)

 

Agnes Le Verges

19 years-old, blonde hair, blue eyes, height: 163cm

The only daughter of the renowned Le Verges family, which fell into ruin.

Quiet and well-behaved personality.

 

The Servant Family

Giselle Balzac

48 years-old, blonde hair, blue eyes, height: 173cm

Bernard’s former wet nurse. Has a realistic view as a servant. An attractive old lady with blonde hair and blue eyes (MILF)

Candid personality.

 

Dominic Balzac

51 years-old, black hair, black eyes, height: 190cm

Giselle’s husband. Gardener. A man large like a bear.

Taciturn personality.

 

Eric Balzac

27 years-old, black hair, blue eyes, height: 179cm

Giselle’s eldest son. Butler.

While he displays an amiable expression, he has an indifferent/candid/frank? personality.

 

Clarisse Balzac

24 years-old, black hair, blue eyes, height: 163cm

Giselle’s eldest daughter. Left the house two months ago after getting married.

Lives in the royal capital.

 

Aaron/Aren Balzac

20 years-old, black hair, blue eyes, height: 178cm

Gizelle’s second son. Cook. A candid personality that takes after his mother’s. The closest to Bernard.

 

Carol Balzac

14 years-old, black hair, blue eyes, height: 153cm

Giselle’s second daughter. Twins with Celia.

Is learning how to becoming a servant by watching while attending school in the royal capital.

 

Celia Balzac

14 years-old, black hair, blue eyes, height: 153cm

Giselle’s third daughter. Twins with Carol.

Is learning how to becoming a servant by watching while attending school in the royal capital.

 

Knight Company Officials

Jibril Noailles

20 years-old, ash-colored hair, green eyes, height: 173cm

Bernard’s former colleague. Child/baby-faced.

Talkative personality.

 

Lazarre Shillay

35 years-old, brown hair, black eyes, height: 180cm

Bernard’s superior. Commanding officer of the 3rd special assault forces.

Very passionate, but unrelenting during training.

 

Ernesto Baltemon

23 years-old, blonde hair, green eyes, height: 177cm

Member of the Second Prince’s Imperial Forces. Second son of the family of a marquess.

A light personality that loves girls.

 

 

 


<Previous Chapter | Debt Girl | Next Chapter>

 

April Fools GIRL – 09

The ninth story gold coin ten pieces

Note: I translated this over a year ago, and Este never tlcd. Blameste /s. More news about upcoming translations coming soon in Este’s newest Reika chapter!

Edit: It’s a few hours too early to be saying this here but I’m tired and want to go to sleep, so… This was an April Fool’s joke. The chapter posted was straight up Google tl. Real translation will be posted in a moment.

She is swayed by a carriage on the last flight, and Bernard comes home.

Even though I haven’t cleaned up in my head, I will report that Eric was in the day today.

The roof tiles seem to be totally deteriorated, and it needs to be replaced.The roof of the attic and the floor of the ground are similar.

“What’s it going to replace the ceiling?”

“It seems that insects have come”

Look at the quote, and I slammed involuntarily.

“After, it is the material of the roof-“

the same Baked earthterracotta It was supposed to be replaced with a manufactured one, but it is said that it will cost money separately when applying paint.

“Originally, that tile was brown and seems to have been painted blue later”

“Is that so”

I wanted to create a house where the inner family of the Orlelian family at the time appeared in a fairy tale, and there was a background that a white roof had a roof with a blue roof.

“So if you paint in a similar shade of blue, it will look like this”

“Hmm?”

Additional quotes will be handed over by Eric. Bernard took his eyes off that amount.

“What’s up!”

“Blue paint seems expensive.”

“You do not need to paint!”

“If you paint, it seems that the tiles will last longer”

“… No, for now, right now”

“I understand.”

As it is only repair cost and at present, coloring is decided to be done if you feel like it.

Anise’s medical expenses reported next were lower than expected.

“Hey, what happened to the doctor?”

“I called a doctor who I knew Dominic.

“Really……”

My fever has dropped from the morning but I have no appetite and I still say she is still thin.

I thought it would not be possible to hear a story for today.

“Even so bad, this is”

Repair costs are a total of ten gold coins.

It was two months of the knight’s salary of Bernard.

The roof has changed shape, and it is said that the price has swelled to order special tiles that fit it.

“It seems that you can also pay in installments by consulting”

“In a single payment”

“I understand.”

Seeing Eric go out of the room, he exudes a deep sigh.

There is also support money from my parents every month, but it almost disappears with the salary of the employee.

I decided that I had to do something about it.

◇ ◇ ◇

I went to the bathroom to refresh before dinner.

On the way, we stop in front of the customers who are absent.

I was unbearable because I was worried about her true figure.

I would like to know just because I hated Bernard five years ago.

However, it is insisted that it is a good thing to enter a single woman room.However, I am the owner of a house, and anise is an employee. I realized that there was no inconvenience.

Fortunately, there is no sign of people around.

I think I should hear it and go out and open the door.

The living room was dark. Head to the bedroom, relying on the moonlight coming in through the window.

At first, I knocked on the door, but there was no reply.

I wondered if I would stay for a long time, so I decided to enter without permission.

The bedroom had only the corner lights on the side of the bed. It is dimly dim space.

“……Hey”

This time I tried to speak from the front of the door, but there was no reply here either.

I think that I can not return it as it is, and I will walk to the bed in a large crotch.

Even if I woke up, I wanted to ask about five years ago.

The face illuminated by the light was white and sweat sweaty on the forehead.

The sleeping face also looks painful.

“Anys Reverge”

Call your name in a low voice.

Even though she thought she would not wake up with such a small voice, Agnes opened her eyes slightly.

I came back into the room, but if I met my eyes, my heart pounded.

I felt like I was doing a bad thing.

Emotions do not come from her eyes.

In a quiet room, I was staring at each other for a while, but a word of surprise comes out from Agnes.

“-Oh, mother”

“What?”

“I always wanted to meet you,”

Agnes offers a hand that shakes weakly from inside the futon.

Bernard looked down with the unbelievable eyes.

“mother……”

“No, I’m not your mother”

Bernard points out his misunderstanding but grabs the wrists of Agnes, and stumbles into the futon with a rough hand.

If you look at her face nearby, your eyes will be more than usual and you will be conscious ambiguousAmbiguous It turned out that it was.

Anese’s mother had heard that she had already died when she was young.

MothFollow There are tears in my eyes and I feel sorry for something.

“… I’m sorry too”

“?”

I glanced at the face of Anisesu as if consciousness had returned.

But the next one was unexpected.

“–mother”

Bernard, who heard it, is likely to be angry at the spot.

The words of Agnes continue.

“I can’t go there yet”

“It’s ugly, it’s ugly!”

I made a plunge against the rumor.

“You are already sleeping!”

Having said that, the story of Agnes was not over yet.

“I’m sorry for Orléans, then-

“Oh, so, it’s getting ugly!”

Commanding “Sleek because I’m fine,” raising the futon on the chest to the shoulder, Bernard leaves the bedroom.

I checked that no one was in the hallway and left the room in Agnes.

Think about the increasingly deepening Anise’s mystery while taking a bath.

What is the benefit to Bernard? I tried to trace back my memory, but I have no idea at all.

I put hot water over my head, washed my hair and my body and soaked in the bath.

— No, I don’t know.

For the time being, the pursuit of Agnes was postponed.

The next day, it was reported that the condition of Agnes was getting better from Gisir.

He said that he was willing to work, but just in case, I ordered to leave it still.

“My husband, are you all right?”

“Oh, love it”

“Thank you”

“Since the roof and attic repair work will start from today, it will not be in a restful environment.”

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

Direct Jizil to take care of it.

Bernard came out of the house as the horse-drawn hour was approaching.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the morning, Lazare comes and says thank you.

“I was tired of being tired yesterday”

It seemed that she thought she wasn’t at the orphanage because Agnes did not come.

Bernard gets lost wondering what to say about Agnes here. But in the meantime, Lazar went out of the office saying he would go to a meeting.

Someone is visiting while being desperate to miss the opportunity to say.

When I opened the door, I was a little surprised as I saw it.

— Ernesto Barteremon.

The second son of the second prince and the second son of the family.

I remember that it is the worst worst bastard to chase a woman’s ass while on duty.

The last time I met was three years ago, the venue for the tea ceremony hosted by the second prince.

Ernesto greets you for the first time to meet Bernard, who shows his astonished face.

Perhaps I’ve forgotten about what happened three years ago.

“Hey, good morning-“

“Ah!!”

So, Bernard remembers.

Three years ago I met with Anes by chance in Gion, and I had escaped from Ernest, who was chasing after him.

The mystery was solved and it was clear whether her favor and thankfulness were the thing.

“You are surprised that you made a loud voice suddenly!”

“Oh, I was sorry.”

Return to me in response to an indication.

I announced the absence of the captain, but I say that it is okay to be the vice captain, Bernard.

Ernesto sit in the recommended chaise longue.

“So, what is the business?”

“Oh, I just wanted to find someone.”

A piece of paper is presented on the desk.

“-?”

There was a picture of something indistinguishable between men and women. At the top of the paper is written, “10 gold coins for those who find her.”

“this is–?”

“It is a picture of Agnes Reverge. I wrote it.”

“What?”

She also says in a prudent manner whether she could find her while presenting the paper to Bernard.

“It’s a wonderful mission to get paid. I think I should honor.”

“No, no, where is this from?”

“I am”

I thought it was impossible.

Why does the “Special Assault Third Unit” have to carry out the individual task?

“What do you do to find Agnes Reverge?”

“Oh, I think I’ll try to lock up her pretty girl.”

Containing means making a lover. Bernard saw Ernest with an unbelievable face.

“I can not take personal tasks without permission from above”

“Ordinary”

It is said that it is a reward of ten gold coins for that purpose in a calm manner.

“Are you aware of the dangers of bringing in the daughters of the Reverge family who are buying immoral from your Majesty?”

It was a word that pierced Bernard himself.

Feeling light lineOffensive It is not good.

“That’s why there are ten gold coins.”

“Is it a reward and a cessation fee?”

“Yes, she will not find her if she hides in the basement of the house.”

In addition, Ernesto says that he has information that he likes. It was that he had the right to say personnel in the guards.

“If you find me anies reverge, let’s push in 10 gold coins at the promotion conference.”

However, I am careful not to spread the story much. Even in the same unit, he said in a glance from above that he should talk to no more than five people.

“If the rumor spreads, I will be troubled. Oh, yes.”

Ernesto took out a bag of money from the pocket.

“this is?”

“It’s a humble fee to carry out the task.”

“……”

Exhale a deep sigh in front of the person.

In this case, I decided to leave it to the captain and hope that he would leave Ernest.

“Oh, I asked.”

“……”

I silently closed the door without replying.

Character introduction

Bernard Orlérian

20 years old, brown hair · eyes, height · 183

Five nobles in the countryside. A young man living in a residence on the outskirts of the capital city.

A stupid character. It can not go against the former nanny’s servant Gizil.

The monthly salary is five gold coins (500,000 yen).

Agnes Reverge

19 years old, blonde, blue eyes, height, 163

It was the only daughter of the Revelge family, but it has fallen.

A modest and modest personality.

Servant family

Gilles Balzac

48 years old, blonde, blue eyes, height, 173

Bernard’s original nanny. Current service head. Beautiful Mature Woman with Blonde Eyes.

It is a character that is sober.

Dominique Balzac

51 years old, black hair, black eyes, height: 190

Jill’s husband. Gardener. A big man like a bear.

Silent character.

Eric Balzac

27 years old, dark hair, blue eyes, height: 179

Gisir’s eldest son. Butler.

She has an amiable expression, but her personality is light night.

Clarice Balzac

24 years old, black hair, blue eyes, height · 163

Gisir’s eldest daughter. I got married and left home two months ago.

I live in the capital city.

Allen Balzac

20 years old, black hair, blue eyes, height · 178

Jill’s second son. Cook.

A character resembling a mother. I have the best relationship with Bernard.

Carol Balzac

14 years old, black hair, blue eyes, height · 153

Jizzir’s second girl. Celia is a twin.

While going to a school in the capital city, he is practicing a servant.

Celia Balzac

14 years old, black hair, blue eyes, height · 153

Jill’s third girl. Carol and twins.

While going to a school in the capital city, he is practicing a servant.

Knights official

Gibrill Noeil

20 years old, gray hair, green eyes, height · 173

Former colleague of Bernard. Baby face.

A humble personality.

Lazare Sillier

35 years old, brown hair / black eyes, height / 180

Bernard’s boss. Captain of the Special Assault Third Unit.

It has a strong personality, but it is difficult during training.

Ernesto Bartemon

23 years old, blonde, green eyes, height, 177

Guard of the second prince, member. The second son of a family.

She loves women and has a light personality..

 


<Previous Chapter | Debt Girl | Next Chapter>

35 – Event Conclusion

No. 08’s legacy, the final magic stone, had elevated me to a higher rank of existence.

The same thing happened when I assimilated No. 17’s magic stone. I skipped the rank-up process entirely, while still gaining the appropriate magic power.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 4000/4000] 1760↑
[Total Combat Power: 4400/4400] 1936↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption> <Materialization>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Human Form (Wonderful)] [Specialist Packer]

…well, let’s leave the nitpicking for next time. Basically, I gained a ton of magic and combat power.

However, the most drastic change came from the new power I gained from No. 08: [Materialization].

Before, my human form was just a paper-thin, weightless veneer. Now, I had gained real flesh and blood, crafted from matter of this world.

My body handled a bit differently from before. To be honest, I thought a body with actual substance and weight was easier to use. I curled and flexed my fingers, trying to get a feel for my new self.

“…Sherry? Is that you?” I heard Weed calling from somewhere, bewilderment in his voice.

I grew up again. I looked around 13 now, about 150 centimeters tall. Ten centimeters taller than when I first got these clothes, which meant my navel would peek out from below the hem of my blouse whenever I moved, and my knee-length skirt was pretty much a miniskirt now.

Kids this age grew up so quickly, they could gain an adult’s face in just a single year. Isaac, staring at me in amazement, came back to himself as he heard Weed’s utterance. Just as he was about to speak…

 

*clang!*

My dagger flew into the head of a spider in a corner of my view, discouraging whatever it was about to do. The iron blade sank half-way into its shell and broke off.

So just normal iron wouldn’t be able to stand up to the spider’s carapace or my current power, then.

Now, I only needed to create a bit of mist in order to gain a full view of the surroundings. I continued examining myself, while still keeping watch on the carapace-spiders.

The spiders had been watching me, too, noticing my change. But not any more; they began to move. I responded with a quiet step forward.

Just as I passed by Isaac, mouth still agape and standing stock-still, I spoke.

“…my name’s Shedy. Not Sherry.”

“Eh…” He jolted in another bout of surprise.

 

I leaped, my step blasting away a patch of grassland and bringing me to point-blank range with a spider in an instant. The vigilant spiders immediately scattered and began firing magical bullets from all sides.

Mist burst out from me, weaving itself into a cloak to hide me from sight. Its winding tendrils wrapped around my target.

The range and thickness of my mist had improved by leaps and bounds. Once the mist cleared, the spider under me was nothing more than a frozen statue, wasting away as grains of light.

 

Two spiders instantly began shooting again, while two other slid around me, swiping their claws in a pincer attack.

I stretched my cloak of mist into a thin fog, sapping heat from the surroundings.

Everything moving needed energy, whether they were living beings, machinery, or avatars. And where there was kinetic energy, there was heat. Not like I particularly understood how it worked, anyway.

Their movements rapidly dulled. I latched onto one of them, freezing the shell whole and shattering it with my claws. I drained it dry of magic.

 

The three remaining spiders decided to abandon close-quarters combat. They tried to escape the mist, their guns still firing to suppress me.

But I didn’t actually need the chilly mist to slow them down. My speed was doubled with the explosive boost in combat power I gained.

The magical rock bullets now looked no faster than lobbed basketballs. I just needed a light hop to the left, then to the right… oh hey, I think I could catch those.

So I did. Thankfully they weren’t shooting fireballs instead. I grabbed a boulder in mid-air and put all my strength into a return throw. It didn’t even come close to hitting any of them, but the sight was still enough to shock a spider into a moment of indecision. I clung to it, freezing, stabbing, draining its magic.

The moment my target was down, the other two suddenly stopped moving. They restarted a short while later, but this time, their movements were strangely mechanical.

What happened? Did they changed to using AI controllers? I didn’t quite get their intentions. If all they wanted was just a simple, indiscriminate massacre, then an AI would probably work just fine. But using soldiers with predictable attack patterns against me? They wouldn’t even be worth worrying about.

I baited them out, dodged their attacks, then froze them directly with both my hands. The last two spiders died without much fanfare.

 

“…phew.”

The spiders weren’t much of a problem. If anything, they caused more trouble to Isaac’s group than to me.

Most of the participants were dead, and the rest were beaten within an inch of their lives. I supposed that to them, their planned event couldn’t have gone any worse.

I sent them a glance. Several players shook off their shock and readied their weapons when they noticed my gaze. Isaac and Weed looked like they wanted to say something. Sandrea, who used to be such a chatterbox when we were talking about the magic stone, was now glaring at me in silence. She seemed frustrated.

…well, whatever. Not like I needed to be friends with them, anyway. And it’d be better off for them if they stayed away from scary monsters, too.

If anything, I was more curious about the secret beta testers. Why were they here?

Had the corporation discovered the link between me and my real-life body? If so, then my allotted time was rapidly running out.

 

Twelve days of borrowed time left.

This deadline must still hold true. I won’t give up. Not ever.

I left the players behind me and headed toward my final target: the World Tree.

 

“…I swear, I’m going to make her call me Sally next time we meet!”

 

…she was still going on about that? No way, not in a million years.

 

***

 

One day, on a popular video sharing website, a certain video was uploaded by players of World of Yggdrasia, the VRMMORPG that was still in beta. It immediately blew up.

A rabbit beastman girl who looked about 13 years of age. The value of the in-game bounty for her capture was equivalent to fifty million real-life dollars.

Fluffy snow-white hair, vivid-red eyes, adorably drooping rabbit ears, and a cute face to boot. It didn’t take long for the video to hit a million views.

 

Footage showing the black spiders were cut out of the site immediately after uploading, for some reason, but the scenes of her battle against the players were intact. The viewers weren’t scared by her ruthless cruelty; if anything, it only caused her popularity to skyrocket. Both the beta players and the people waiting for the official release worldwide were infatuated with her. They called her the ‘Fluffy Bunny’.

Another video uploaded by a player named Weed with the title “Collection of Glares and Roasts” also gained a huge amount of views. More and more people expressed a desire to be insulted by the bunny. Even a rumor was born, that one would be blessed with good luck if one ever met her in-game. Some were already discussing fan-made figurines.

 

The only one unaware was the rabbit herself.

 

***

 

“…hah. Hahahah, AAAAHAHAH! Man, what the hell is this?! They were experimental, sure, but wiped out by just a single girl?!” Deputy Director Brian cackled, his eyes on the monitor.

His laugh turned Audrey’s stomach. Still, she spoke. “…D-Deputy Director?”

Even she could not have predicted this outcome. The avatars might have been experimental models, but they already had proven themselves to possess power equivalent to that of modern light tanks. The girl certainly had some trouble in the beginning, yet once she acquired the magic stone, she dealt with five of the experimental models in an instant.

The few drones currently chasing after her had already been shot down. Her whereabouts was unknown.

 

“The last two avatars got the data, right? Begin upgrading the militarized monster avatars with that right now! Throw versatility out the door, we just need to hunt the rabbit. Oh man, I can’t wait to dissect that girl!” Brian ordered, sounding extremely upbeat.

Then his twisted grin turned to Audrey.

“Audrey, you’re the best secretary ever! I could kiss you just for finding that wonderful tester for us! Alright, I’ve got another job for you. Go check on the vital signs of No. 13 in the collection facility. We’ll be cornering the rabbit soon, so if the girl showed any reactions at all, tell me immediately. I’ll dissect her myself!”

“…understood.”

Audrey thought she caught a glimpse of insanity within his eyes. Still, she bowed, looking like the model subordinate.

 

Just a few days later, development of the militarized monster avatars specialized for the rabbit was done. Their designation was MO-03-B. Fifty soldiers of the Army were participating in Operation: Rabbit Season.


Author’s Note: Wow, Shedy is so popular (snickers)

The fan-made figurines are ⅕ sized. Only 50 will be made, priced at $100 each.


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Kenkyo Kenjitsu: The Reika-sama Chronicles 228

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Hey guys! Fujima Sakura desu!

This is actually the 11th day of the 14 days of the Arousing Imouto Scanlations anniversary celebrations!

Let’s take a moment to think back to one of our earlier works.

Back then we weren’t as large a group, and went by Inyuu scans, but most of our key members have remained, and I think you can see that it carries our DNA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 








































Este: I really did translate and type-set this. Go back and re-read it with this in mind, but this time take a shot whenever the term ‘KAGEYOWSI’ appears.


Coorururu…

I opened my eyes to the sounds of pigeons──

Apparently after being stopped by the barrier of roses on my balcony, they took nest in my stomach instead. To give them their punishment I quickly changed and headed for food.

Today was looking to be a fine day.

Breakfast had been yummy, too. In the morning you just had to have rice!

*

*

At Zui’ran, here and there you could spot the inhabitants of the Fulfilling Romance village making themselves known. It was still early in the morning and yet I could already see their members strutting about.

These I-Have-Experience villagers, these I-Suddenly-Got-A-Lover villagers, all absolutely unbelievable!

Ever since the class trip I was feeling a sense of crisis from the sudden depopulation of the Forever Alone village. Perhaps I ought to introduce the Gonin Gumi system so that we would all police each other…

As the village chief I couldn’t tolerate any more deserters. A severe warning was required here.

Ah!? Those two over there were holding hands and gazing at each other! What an indecent…!

Wait, don’t tell me that Zui’ran allowed relationships!? I had to find out.

Where was my student handbook!?

“Ah-, Kisshouin-san. Good morning. I was just looking for you.”

I was in the middle of peering into the dark swamp of hatred that was my heart when Class Rep called out to me.

“Good morning, Class Rep. Did you need me?”

“Mmn, could I talk to you for just a bit?”

“Of course.”

Class Rep took my sleeve and led me into a corner. He began to talk in a hushed voice.

“The truth is, during the free hours of our class trip I went around with Honda-san and the others.”

“…I see. I do recall you telling me at the British Museum. A cruise of the Seine river, was it?”

“You remembered? Mhm. We went on a cruise together. I had such a good time… When we were getting on it was a little rocky, so I, I lent Honda-san my hand and…”

Flushed with happiness, he continued recounting his experience to me.

To think there was another new member of the Fulfilling Romance village… I had to do something about my village’s depopulation problem, and soon.

“I see. So you enjoyed holding her hand. You have come to report to me your ulterior motives, then?”

“Ehh!? I-I didn’t have any ulterior motives! I wasn’t thinking like that at all, Kisshouin-san!”

“Hmmm~”

I wonder about that. Did he really not intend that?

After all, those boats had had handrails. Handrails that I had held myself while I was cruising alone.

“Well?”

“Ummm, Kisshouin-san, it feels like you’re kind of in a bad mood… I mean, it’s fine if I’m wrong but… Ah, anyway, since Nonose-san was feeling cold, Iwamuro-kun lent his jacket to her. I think they had a good atmosphere going on.”

“Ohhh~?”

For warmth, I had been forced to huddle up Ayame-chan and the other girls like a bunch of hamsters though? My, friendship between girls is a beautiful thing!

“I had actually wanted to put a padlock on the Pont des Arts with her, but I was too embarrassed to ask. I just thought it would be nice if we could do that one day… Ah! This is a secret, okay!?”

The Pont des Arts is a pedestrian bridge which crosses the River Seine, linking the Institut de France and the Louvre. Since late 2008, tourists have taken to attaching padlocks (love locks) with their first names written or engraved on them to the railing or the grate on the side of the bridge, then throwing the key into the Seine river below, as a romantic gesture.

In other words, it would be nice if they could go to Paris together, one day. That’s quite the proposal, Class Rep.

And although he didn’t get to place a padlock on lover’s bridge, he went on to tell me that he did throw two coins into the Trevi Fountain to spend his life with his love though. I see, I see.

Incidentally I threw two coins in as well. Not that I had a love yet! Ha ha!

They had even promised to go hang out once we were back in Japan, the four of them. My, that sounds like so much fun. I simply must recommend that they go on a boat tour of Inokashira Park.

What are my intentions, you ask? Goodness, I meant nothing malicious by it.

It is said that, if you ride the boats on Inokashira Park's pond with a girlfriend, you will surely break up soon.
It is said that, if you ride the boats on Inokashira Park’s pond with a girlfriend, you will surely break up soon.

Class Rep, may you be sacrificed to appease this dark swamp of hatred──

The sacrificial maiden, knowing nothing of my thoughts, continued to smile as he talked to me. Pitiful thing.

“And so to thank you, Iwamuro-kun and I… Ah, look, it’s Iwamuro-kun. Heeey~ Iwamuro-kuuun!”

To thank me? What was this about?

Iwamuro-kun noticed Class Rep’s waving from down the hallway and took large strides towards us. Good morning.

“Iwamuro-kun, I was just telling Kisshouin-san about our time on the trip. Anyway, how about we give her the present we got her?”

“Good idea.”

From his bag, Class Rep produced a bundle in adorable wrapping.

“This is a thank you from the two of us,” Class Rep explained. “For always being there to give us advice.”

“Thank you, Master,” Iwamuro-kun nodded.

“…”

Oh my god.

I was ashamed of myself. I can’t believe my jealousy had made me wish for something so cruel to happen to such good people.

I wasn’t qualified to be a God of Fulfilling Romance.

Uuuu… Thank goodness I hadn’t recommended Inokashira Park yet…

“Thank you. I am overwhelmed,” I said, hugging the present close.

“We got you oil and hair treatment products from France. It’s our way of wishing that your locks of fortune will always stay beautiful. Iwamuro-kun was the one who picked it, actually,” explained Class Rep.

“I really admire your hair, Master. I just hope you’ll like it…”

As expected of the kind of maiden who was into beauty care. Even his choice of presents was maidenly and thoughtful.

Even though his hair was cut short, it was lustrous and glossy. I could see the effort he put in every day to take care of it. As his teacher in beauty care, it made me proud to see.

It was thanks to the generosity of these two that I managed to, just a little, find it in my heart to forgive the members of the Fulfilling Romance Village.

*

*

After school I went to give the kids their souvenirs. That was how I found myself heading to the Petit Salon with presents in both hands.

While I was on my way I received a number of text messages from Kaburagi but I ignored them all.

I had zero interest in subjecting myself to his gushing over his Roman date with Wakaba-chan.

Keh! Before the prospect of a date with the Petit’s soothing angels, his little stories were no better than trash!

As I opened the door I was met with Mao-chan who was nothing but smiles.

“Reika-oneesama, gokigen’yoh!”

“Gokigen’yoh, Mao-chan.”

Upon entering the room I was greeted one by one by smiling children. So cute. I was already relaxing~

Distributing the souvenirs──chocolates, and french jelly they call pâte de fruit──was met with a cute cheer from the children. ‘Reika-oneesama! Reika-oneesama!’ I was thus surrounded by bundles of adoring children.

My, my, I’m not going anywhere, so please don’t fight over me like that~

Haah, how I wish a time slip could make me these childrens’ classmate… I was born a little too early.

If I had been their classmates then just imagine what a fulfilling life I’d be leading right now.

This was a false paradise…

“Good afternoon, Reika-oneesan.”

“Yukino-kun!”

And here came the boy who would have been the prince charming of that time slip scenario! Aah… I was really born too soon.

After I was done handing out the treats, I was ushered out of the ring of children towards the sofa.

Sitting next to me was Yukino-kun. In front of me was Mao-chan and Yuuri-kun.

“Well then, it is time for your souvenirs,” I said.

Besides the sweets from earlier, for these three I also had foreign picture books and coloured pencils. The pencils that I bought were supposedly world-reknowned, and were even used in the colouring for famous picture books. You could use them to produce lovely soft colours.

The faces of my adorable little friends blossomed into smiles.

“Also Mao-chan, could I trouble you to hand this to Ichinokura-sama?”

I had been treated to meals by her uncle countless times, so for him I got cheese, black tea, as well as a glass cat paperweight since I thought of his pet cat Alice.

Maybe this was a bit much for Mao-chan to bring home, but she was going by car so it was fine, right?

“I understand. I’ll pass it to Haruto-niisama, right? Oh, that reminds me, Reika-oneesama. Listen to this. Actually, while you were overseas I wanted to thank Akimi-san for her cooking lessons so I got Haruto-niisama to bring the two of us to eat!” she beamed.

“Eh? Really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes. I’m sorry for not speaking to you first. But the two of us just happened to both be free that day, so…”

“Well, I hardly mind, but… Anyhow, did you enjoy yourself then?”

“Uhuhu. I asked Haruto-niisama to pick somewhere wonderful for us, and it turned out that the food was delicious and Akimi-san seemed to enjoy it too. See, the two of them both love eating, right? They seemed to have a lot to talk about, so I was thinking that maybe just the two of them could go next time~”

“My…”

Oh my god.

Without my knowledge, the adorable Mao-chan had transformed into a cunning matchmaker aunty!

Without a doubt, this was her way of trying to get rid of Erika-san and replace her with Akimi-san, wasn’t it…?

Yuuri-kun who was oblivious to her hidden motives simply smiled and said, “That’s great to hear, Mao.”

Why were boys so…? No, of course. It was better that they didn’t realise. They’d live happier that way…

While this was happening, Yukino-kun was enraptured by the Mother Goose collection.

Hmm hmm, what’s this you’re reading~?

Mmn. Yukino-kun, how about we read something more pleasant? You might not be able to fall asleep at night, you know?

The four of us spent the next while chatting, comparing the souvenir books, or talking about my trip. It was only interrupted when I heard the door opening to the squeals of the girls. Together we turned to the source of the commotion and… Geh!

“Oh? It’s Niisama.”

In the middle of the uproar was Yukino’s brother, Enjou, as well as Emperor Kaburagi. What had he even come to the Petit Salon for?

“Niisama, what are you guys doing here?” Yukino-kun asked blankly. The two of them had walked over to us.

Enjou gave a helpless smile as Kaburagi stood with his arms crossed.

“Masaya over here has business with Kisshouin-san.”

Eh-? Business with me?

I had an incredibly bad feeling about this…

Kaburagi nodded grimly and turned to me with a frown.

“You. I’ve sent you so many messages already, and you still haven’t noticed? Honestly, you’re hopeless. I had to come all the way myself.”

“…”

…I knew it.

Since I didn’t reply, he decided to come in person? What a born stalker…

The Natural-Born Stalker Kaburagi.

That’d make for a good ring name if he ever got into pro wrestling, actually.

“My sincere apologies,” I said to Natural-Born Stalker. “My phone was in my bag and I had not thought to check.”

It was a reasonable explanation.

I looked to up find Enjou smirking at me. Tsk.

The two interlopers took the opportunity to join us at the table.

“Yukino, what are you reading?”

“Reika-oneesan gave it to me. It’s a souvenir from her trip,” he replied.

“From Kisshouin-san? I see. Thank you for going out of your way for my brother,” Enjou said.

“Not at all. It was but a trifle, so please do not mind it,” I replied politely.

From the side, Kaburagi peered at it in curiosity. “What’s it about?”

“It’s Mother Goose’s collection,” answered Yukino.

“Mother Goose? Ah, right, we’ve got that in my family’s library too,” Kaburagi mused. “Come to think of it, the talk about rhymes reminds me. We used to have ten little Indian dolls lying around the house, but I found one of them mysteriously broken. I think it was at the end of 1st Year…” he finished in a mutter.

At the end of 1st Year? Wasn’t that when he had his big heartbreak over Yurie-sama…?

A cursed Indian doll that broke because of his broken heart?

‘And then there were none…’

Scaryyy~!

While I was lost in my own ominous delusions, the kids had begun asking them about their time on the trip. The conversation turned to the soccer match they saw in England, which really interested Yuuri-kun.

The chat picked up to a swell, and we had just about finished the tea when Enjou’s phone rang.

He excused himself, and after a chat from a small distance away, he came back and let Yukino-kun it was time to go.

“It looks like our ride is here. Let’s go home, Yukino.”

“Ehhh…? But I still want to talk more…”

“There’ll be another time. Come on, they’re waiting for us downstairs.”

Yukino-kun looked dissatisfied, but Enjou rubbed his head as he chided him, and so Yukino-kun reluctantly left his seat.

Apparently Kaburagi planned to stay though. Nobody asked him to stay…

“Yukino-kun seems to want to talk more, so how about you go together, Kaburagi-sama?” I tried. Unfortunately, Enjou denied it to me with his next words.

“Sorry, but I’ve got plans after this.”

Cheh. Is that so?

“Well then, we’ll be heading off first,” he finished. “See you tomorrow, Kisshouin-san.”

“Gokigen’yoh, Enjou-sama. Let us speak again, Yukino-kun.”

“Bye, Reika-oneesan. Thank you for the book and pencils. And the sweets too!”

“Huhu, you are very welcome.”

The soothing angel left us, and as I mourned that fact, somebody tapped my shoulder as a shadow loomed from behind me.

“Well then. Let’s go somewhere else. I’ve got heaps of stuff I want to talk to you about.”

I wonder if he couldn’t give me a report with just the main points summarised. I promise I’d read it when I had time.


By the way, breaking news! Debt Girl, and/or Otoburi, along with maybe possibly probably not Bathroom Goddess, are getting picked back up on a semi-regular-irregular-probably never basis! We’ll put up a chapter 9, and based on the reactions we get, we’ll see what we can do. Also, like, subscribe, click the bell-shaped notification button, and donate to our patreon for more frequent, regular releases!

We’re also on 1,000 posts!


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34 – Experimental Militarized Monster Avatars

“Deputy Director!”

Audrey opened the door of the room formerly used for monitoring the 100 secret alpha testers. Inside, the Deputy Director of the 7th research center, Brian, and several staff members were watching a screen.

“Heeey, Audrey. A bit late, aren’t you?” He cheerfully greeted.

 

It had been a week since the beginning of the activation test of the militarized monster avatar mass-production models. Fifty physically and mentally resilient soldiers of the Army were chosen to be the ‘secret beta testers’.

The new experimental models had been fine-tuned based on the valuable data gained from the secret alpha testers. Extraneous functions, including evolution, were removed. The precious mana gathered by beta testers had given them a head start in power.

 

“Looks like it’s gonna be tough for the testers to get acclimatized with the avatars if we infuse any more mana. I suppose in the end, nothing beats gathering mana yourself to increase your power. But then again, what if we need to use those things here…”

“Deputy Director Brian, why are you mobilizing the experimental models?”

“Oh, this? Well, seeing your fixation with the so-called ‘bunny girl’ made me curious too. Man, I knew you were hired for a reason! Just as you expected, the bunny was after the magic stone. The player event managed to lured her out.”

 

The secretary woman’s face turned a tad pale.

A rabbit beastman girl with an uncanny similarity to No. 13. Audrey had looked into the heist of No. 17’s magic stone, and had came to the same conclusion as the players. So she connected her mobile device to one of the monitoring screens and sent a watcher drone to observe the players who planned the event.

And just as she thought, the rabbit beastman girl took the bait, and a fight had broken out. Yet suddenly, the experimental models showed up and started attacking everyone there, when they were supposed to be still in the middle of a test run far away from any human civilization.

 

“Man, gotta say, that world really is wide. I never expected there could be a single lone beastman who could fight at that level. Identifications returned some weird numbers, but if she could fight like that, don’t you think she’d make for a great performance test for the militarized monster avatars? They were made to kill people, after all.”

“But shouldn’t we be keeping them out of the players’ eyes…?”

“Oh, it’s not any different from the previous ‘berserker’ event. Besides, that bunny stole the magic stone from No. 17, and now she’s trying to get No. 08’s. Two out of our original three testers had dropped magic stones, so why didn’t No. 01…? No. 13 was next to him that time, right? If, just as you said, that bunny truly had a connection to No. 13, wouldn’t that be so interesting?”

 

Since when did he know Audrey was looking into the rabbit? She thought she saw something twisted in Brian’s cheerful smile. She said nothing, her own expression stiff.

 

“Well then. Let’s see how much of a fight the bunny and the players can give against real soldiers in experimental models.”

 

***

 

“What the hell are those monsters?!”

“Are they event monsters too?!”

“Everyone, calm down!”

“Total combat power is 1000?! And ten of them?!”

“Archers, keep them in check…”

“Damn it, there are way too many of them!”

A carapace-spider dipped low, then sent its entire body weight into an upward smash.

“Whoaa!?”

It was more than the greatshield-holder could take. He went flying, despite his combat power nearing 800. I didn’t think that bit of difference in combat power could blow him off so easily, so it must be the mass difference. And the spiders knew it too; the way they fought was centered around leveraging their weight.

 

[Shadow Bind]!”

[Ice Lance]!”

An archer pinned down a spider, and a magician froze one of its legs. But immediately, the other carapace-spiders moved forward to cover for it. Their claws pierced an approaching warrior.

The restrained spider opened up its crab-claws. From within, rock bullets shot out, aiming at the magicians staying farther away.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me… monsters are using [Stone Bullet]?!”

 

The mobility and agility of a wolf. The toughness of a tank. Possessing both close-range attacks and magical capabilities.

Despite personal combat power not all that much higher, they were still massacring the players one after another, without getting so much as a scratch.

I wasn’t just watching from the side. I was already busy with five of the spiders.

 

“Oof!”

I jumped back to dodge a downward claw, but another spider was already going around to my position. It swung its leg. I ducked, expelling mist as a smokescreen and jumped out of the encirclement.

The very moment I landed, a rock burst apart at my feet. As I struggled to reclaim my balance, a spider charged in.

“Damn it!”

I froze and shattered the grass under me. The cloud of plant fragments obscured its sight for a moment, and I took the chance to stab my dagger into its head.

“…tsk.”

The dagger tip chipped off. Seemed like I dealt some damage with that, at least, but not enough to slow it down any.

I put some distance between us. The spiders didn’t continue their assault. They simply moved to surround me, weaving their net.

 

I had around double their combat power, so I was still managing to deal with their coordinated attacks… no. That wasn’t right. They were playing with me.

Like a pack of wolves hunting a moose. Once their prey weakened, the alpha wolf would turn the hunt into a lesson for the other wolves. And this fight was no different. The spiders were just tormenting me.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 1870/2060] 
[Total Combat Power: 2076/2266] 
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Humanoid Form (National Treasure)] [Specialist Packer]

I was being ground down. At least their own magic were going down, too, due to their attacks. Still, if Isaac’s group went down, the spiders over there would come and gang up on me.

I apologized to Isaac in my thoughts. I didn’t have the leeway to come help them, but I still needed them to survive until I’ve killed at least a few spiders.

I supposed this wasn’t the time to be holding back, then.

 

The spiders were still slowly circling me, tightening their net. I threw the two daggers in my hands upward. Their movements hitched by a fraction.

Immediately, I shot toward the target I had in mind. It stalled for a instant, then moved backwards and started shooting rocks.

Just as I thought. Their connections to their avatars were weaker than us secret alpha testers. And my target had been favoring ranged magical attacks over close-quarters combat since the beginning.

I dodged the rocks I already knew were coming. Before the other spiders arrived, I dispersed both my arms and clung to its top.

One of its leg gouged out my stomach. I paid it no mind. As I began to freeze and absorb its life force, the neighboring spider approached and swung its giant claws.

 

[Reroll] [Reroll]

 

The claws whiffed past my face, then proceeded to pierced through the carapace of the half-frozen spider. I jabbed my own claws into the hole in the shell and absorb the rest of its magic and lifeforce.

Kkrrrr…

It was the first time a spider so much as said anything, and it was also its last. As my target disappeared in motes of light, I jumped to the neighboring spider. The accidental friendly-fire had immobilized it for a few short moments. I immediately began absorption.

It returned to its senses and started rampaging. Quite violently too, since I hadn’t frozen this one. On the other hand, the other spiders weren’t coming any closer.

 

[Reroll] [Reroll] [Reroll] [Reroll] [Reroll]

 

Every time I felt like I was about to fall, I [Reroll]ed to keep myself on it. I sucked it dry in one go.

 

Another spider began shooting magic at me.

 

[Cyber-Manipulation] [Reroll]

 

I forced a success of [Cyber-Manipulation] with [Reroll]. [Fear] suddenly descended on the shooting spider, and its aim turned indiscriminate.

The remaining two spiders were calmly dealing with the situation. They restrained the terrified spider from both sides. As they did, the bound spider started to fade away. A forced logout? Immediately, I shot my dispersed arms to one of the two restraining spiders, the one on the right. I stabbed my claws inside a gap on its shell and began absorbing its magic.

The left spider smashed its claws into me, flinging me off.

“Ooof!”

At least I managed to drain dry my target. Still, that was too much damage.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 1475/2240] 180↑
[Total Combat Power: 1699/2464] 198↑

I lost a bunch of magic. I could still fight, just not as recklessly. Otherwise this would turn into a losing battle in a blink of an eye.

I and the remaining spider entered a staring contest for a few seconds. Then it left, joining its comrades in fighting Isaac’s clan.

I really wanted to retreat here, but I couldn’t afford to let the magic stone fall into the hands of the corporation.

So I instantly gave chase. Looked like Isaac’s clan managed to down one of the spiders, too, but they paid for it with half their members. They had over twenty people at the beginning of the battle, and now their numbers didn’t even reach ten.

The spider from my side regrouped with the other four, repairing their formation.

“Sherry!”

As I arrived, Isaac’s group turned to face me. And so did the carapace-spiders.

I would really like to complain about the fact that both sides were more wary of me, here.

Isaac, battered and bruised but with weapon still firmly held, asked.

“Sherry… these crab-spiders aren’t your friends, right?”

“…no.”

“I see… then, do you want to join up until they’re dead, first?”

“Isaa-mmmfph!” Sandrea cut in, but didn’t get to say anything before pink-head muffled her.

“…even when you look so worn-out?”

“Heh, aren’t you about the same, Sherry?”

The players were avatars, so they were still standing on their own legs, but their wounds hadn’t completely healed. Looked like they ran out of potions. Their armor and weapons were all torn and cracked, too.

My glance swept through all of them. I quietly put out my hand.

“Give me the red magic stone. Then I’ll kill them for you.”

“…magic stone?”

Isaac looked dubiously at me. Even if I could only recover my magic, it should still be enough.

“Wha-mmmfgrh!”

Again, Sandrea was about to shout out something when pink-head held her down. Pinkie reprimanded her in a lecturing tone.

“Sally, be quiet. This is most likely a required condition,” she turned to Isaac, “I think it’s fine, but what do you think, leader?”

Isaac hesitated for a few moments. He looked at me one more time, then nodded to pink-head.

“Here.”

Pink-head threw the red magic stone to me.

No doubt about it. This was No. 08’s magic stone.

Apparently pink-head thought this was a necessary ‘condition’ to trigger the next step of their quest. But that wasn’t quite right.

This was a ‘condition’ necessary for my way of life.

I popped the stone into my mouth without hesitation. As it dissolved inside me, my magic began to rapidly stir, perhaps because all three magic stones were now together.

Hot… like I was burning up. I felt as if my body was heavier, yet at the same time lighter from the overflowing power coursing through me.

I…

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (High-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 4000/4000] 1760↑
[Total Combat Power: 4400/4400] 1936↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption> <Materialization>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Human Form (Wonderful)] [Specialist Packer]

I was Ranking-up…?


Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

33 – Interlopers

“Sherry…?”

 

Isaac, sounding miles away, let slip a whisper.

My temper drove me to a short-sighted retaliation, and I inadvertently killed him. Still, I didn’t regret it.

Despite their plan, the players never thought I would actually show up. They gaped at my ears under the torn hood.

The corporation seeing me and making the link to the real me would be the worst case scenario here. Still, with only my face, I didn’t think they’d come to that conclusion right away. Especially when I now had rabbit ears.

So I tried to hide myself as much as I could. I was only keeping my current human form skin-deep. My insides were turning into mist, slowly covering the area.

Among the players, Isaac had the highest combat power. The lowest of them were about 300. The dangerous ones were Isaac’s clan members, who were all above 400. I readied a dagger, staying alert while wondering who among them had No. 08’s magic stone. Then Weed, recovered from his shock, frantically jumped out.

“Sherry is the bunny?! Awesome! I must have gotten so many relationship points already! Here, jump into my arms!”

 

Silence descended on the field.

What the heck? That was so far out of expectations, I couldn’t help but grimace.

On the other hand, Weed’s idiocy instead brought the players out of their stupor. “It’s the bunny!” “She’s really here!” they clamored, hands moving to their weapons. Isaac frantically ran out in an attempt to stop them.

“No, stop! Let’s try talking with her first! Sherry, you-”

 

“HUNT THE BUNNY!!”

“””Yeeaahh!!!”””

His plea was drowned out by the villainous leader’s party. They charged at me with weapons drawn.

“Too bad for Cardi! That five thousand large golds are gonna be all ours!”

“Don’t get too excited now! She can’t die!”

“Who cares, just throw potions at her and she’ll be fine! Chop off her arms and legs! Make sure she can’t run!”

 

Their combat power were about 300 to 400. They hadn’t grown much since the last time I met them.

My cloud of mist surged toward them, sapping their magic and heat, dulling their movements.

“W-wh-wha-what?!”

“M-m-my legs f-froze…”

I was already moving. I jabbed a dagger into the magician’s neck, threw another one at the archer’s, then turned around and tore apart the scout’s with my claws.

“W-What the hell is this!?

A heavily-armored warrior was swinging his greataxe in wild abandon, his face close to tears. I focused my mist to freeze half of his body, then grabbed his face. My claws crushed the frozen head.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
・The demon of tempestuous mist that ravages the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform.

[Magic Points: 1975/2030] 80↑
[Total Combat Power: 2178/2233] 88↑
[Unique Skill: <Reroll> <Cyber-Manipulation> <Absorption>] 
[Racial Skill: Fear]
[Simple Identification] [Humanoid Form (National Treasure)] [Specialist Packer]

Just as I thought, two thousand magic wasn’t enough for another rank-up.

Thirty seconds to kill them. These players had nothing more than some slapdash fighting skill, and just a bit of fear was enough to render them helpless. Honestly, they were weak. Those bodyguards at the auction were so much more troublesome.

The players had been unable to stop the battle from happening. And neither could they stop the following massacre. Even if none of them would call the dead their friends, the sight of such ruthless slaughter still unnerved them. A few players took a step back, faces pale.

Only the weak ones, however. The stronger players instead readied their weapons and charged. Perhaps they had managed to ‘resist’ my [Fear].

 

“No!”

Isaac still tried to stop them. Sandrea to his side, however, jumped out with her staff drawn and refuted.

“Isaac, enough already! Isn’t it obvious? She’s not a normal NPC, she’s an event raid boss!”

I don’t see what’s so obvious about that.

So they believed NPCs stronger than them were for ‘special events’, then, and that hostile ones were ‘bosses’.

Seemingly convinced, Isaac begrudgingly readied his own weapons.

 

“Alright, just be good now and let us capture you. [Ice Lance]!”

A magician woman fired out an enormous pillar of ice. I was pretty sure that thing was lethal, though? To humans, at least.

I was both weak to magic and lacking viable solutions to the problem. Retreat was my only choice. As I leaped back, an archer some distance away shot an arrow.

[Shadow Bind]!”

Magicians and archers really were my worst enemies. Still, as long as I knew what was coming, it wasn’t all that difficult to deal with.

I threw out my torn coat. The strange skill hit its shadow.

“What the hell?!”

The coat froze in mid-air. I dashed out from the side, toward the archer. A nimble shadow jumped in and blocked my path.

“Lovely Sherry! Come, my arms long for you-uff!”

 

Whoops. I was supposed to use my dagger here, but for some reason I really wanted to kick his face in. So I did.

Weed staggered back. I left his feet frozen, then threw the chilly mist at the retreating archer. A player holding a greatshield intervened, blocking it.

The shielder wasn’t freezing? Was it another strange art? Or maybe they were being buffed with a spell.

This was why I hated fighting player groups. They could cover each other’s weaknesses with their special skills. I had much higher combat power, yet I still hadn’t managed to kill anyone.

 

Whoa?! I just felt something invisible trying to bind me, so I immediately jumped away. Some distance away, standing isolated was a pink-haired girl swinging a huge hammer. She shouted.

“Leader! Isn’t she supposed to have only 200 combat power? How did she resist [Slow]?!”

“Idiot! You’re not supposed to be fighting!” Sandrea, instead of the leader Isaac, rebuked the girl. My status smokescreen was still working, then. Good.

So the strange cloying feeling back then was the girl’s spell? But why did she get scolded just for attacking? Because she was a magician? But wasn’t she holding a big hammer and even wearing a leather chestplate over her robe?

…wait a minute…

 

I ignored the shielder and rushed straight toward her. Both she and Sandrea immediately began panicking.

“Ah! You idiot, see what happened?! She’s heading for you now!”

“Wasn’t it because you were shouting?! Sally, you’re the idiot!”

So there really was a reason why they didn’t want me to reach her. For example… maybe she was holding No. 08’s magic stone?

 

In trying to protect pink-head, the coordination of Isaac’s clan members began to fray.

All of them had at least 400 combat power. Half of them, people who had around 700 combat power like Sandrea and Weed, lost the space they needed to move freely. They could no longer cover for their comrades.

 

“Alright, gotcha!”

A sword-and-buckler warrior charged in. I dodged the slow-motion slash and froze his right arm.

“Waaahh!?”

“I’ll help you!”

Lowest pain setting, I see… His comrade, an archer, shot an arrow to cover for him. I hid behind the warrior, then threw out my frosty mist to drain both their lives dry.

Downing two players in a blink of an eye was plenty enough to frighten the players. On one hand, them losing their calm was a good thing for me. On the other, it also meant they were no longer holding back. No longer fighting to capture.

 

[Fire Bolt]!”

Sandrea’s fireball erupted, torching the grassland.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral Neige] [Greater Demon (Low-Rank)]
[Magic Points: 1935/2060] 30↑
[Total Combat Power: 2141/2266] 33↑

I dodged in desperation. Still quite damaging, despite the higher defense that came with my higher combat power.

“Sandrea!”

“Look, she’s too dangerous! We can’t win if we hold back here!”

“It’s our turn! [Shield Charge]!”

He rushed at me, his greatshield to the front. He wanted to launch me away? Too bad for him.

“Wha?!”

I didn’t budge. With his charge parried, I grabbed and froze his shield-holding arm. Having three times his combat power really helped out here.

 

“Stop!”

I instantly jumped back the moment I noticed the glint of a sword. Isaac was pointing his blade at me.

“Are you okay?”

“S-sorry.”

I could only take half of his magic and life.

Pink-head shot out a white light to the shieldbearer, releasing him from the ice. Then he emptied a small bottle into his mouth.

Huh. I just felt his magic recovering.

 

Round two, then… Fighting head-on would be disadvantageous for me. At least their potions weren’t infinite. If I focused on maintaining my magic and deal with them one by one, I’d still have a chance.

As long as there was an opportunity to steal No. 08’s magic stone, I’d win.

 

Everyone, except for the dead, had completely recovered with their potions. I cast aside my errant thoughts and refocused, daggers in both hands, readying myself with a few hops. My ears jiggled.

No one was playing around now. Even Weed looked tense, sword in hand. Isaac got ready to give the signal.

 

At that moment, a chorus of ear-splitting shrills rang out.

 

“W-what now?”

“What’s this buzzing…”

Pitch-black monsters began to appear, staining the green grassland like a spreading puddle of tar.

“What… is that…?” A player muttered. Their smile was forced, their voice brittle.

The newcomers were huge, two-meters tall and five-meters wide tarantula-shaped monsters, with claws and carapaces of a crab.

“Eh-aaarghh!”

“Shit, they’re attacking us?!”

Their sizes belied their speed. A nearby player was already torn in half by their claws.

 

I knew them… no, not me. No. 01 and No. 17’s knowledge inside me knew of them, of their possible existence.

[Black Carapace Spiders x10]
[Magic Points: 300/300] [Hit Points: 500/500]
[Total Combat Power: 1000]

They’re experimental monster avatars driven by secret beta testers!


Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

32 – The Players’ Event

“That’s the airship.”

“…that is amazing.”

After arriving at a town on the western end of Battrol, we hopped on another train to go south. We reached the airport.

I thought there’d be trouble with border control. Thankfully, we were riding the slow train – which had a surprising amount of passengers, I should add – and not the express train. Since the slow train didn’t directly cross borders, customs was less strict. The leader, Isaac, just needed to present his adventurer’s card, and the other party members only needed to show that they also possessed their own cards, and we were in.

They really should have checked all of us. The officers probably found it too troublesome.

So, back to the airship. It really was incredible.

The most incredible thing about it was that it actually looked like a ship. 60 meters long, 20 meters wide, made out of steel and wood, with eight propellers that were obviously much too small to drive a ship of that size. Yet it flew as fast as a jet airplane. Magic was awesome.

 

The cheapest ticket was 1 large golds and 5 small golds. The top floor rooms were 3 large golds.

So the cheapest ticket would be around the same price as riding an express train, right? Sadly, no. They weren’t tickets for the whole ride. They were tickets for a single day of stay.

If you were traveling within a single continent, a day was enough. Crossing continents, however, doubled the price. Basically, you were paying for a flying hotel room.

Isaac’s group’s yearly passes only allowed them to stay in the bottom twin room. If they wanted, they could upgrade their rooms with an extra fee.

Their yearly passes also allowed me to get a party member discount, but not a free ride. I still needed to pay one small gold as the bed-making service fee.

By the way, Isaac paid it for me.

Just as I was about to say my thanks, I found out they got the yearly passes as the reward for killing us. Screw you, then. No gratitude for you.

 

Sandrea and Weed impatiently jumped aboard. The two flitted around, going from frolicking on the top deck to watching the ground zip by in the observation deck at the bottom of the ship. I thought they were familiar with flying already? They acted like children. By dinnertime, though, all three of them disappeared into their rooms.

Our rooms were separated into the guys’ and the girls’. I checked on mine and didn’t see Sandrea there, so she must have logged out.

Food was already included in the fare. I didn’t want to waste the luxurious meal, so I cleaned it all up (with Blobsy).

*boing-boing!*

‘You liked it? Good for you.’

 

I didn’t need to sleep, and neither was there any point in just sitting alone inside my room. I decided to go to the top deck to check out the night view.

The ship had a protective bubble. Despite flying through open air at super-speed, the most I felt was just a comfortable breeze. I secured my hood, just in case, and watched the far-off mountain.

According to the guidebook, that was Mount Leonard. It was the tallest mountain in the central continent, as well as home to one of the most prominent mines. Surrounding it were three large countries, which included Battrol. Their conflicts over the mountain’s rights were unending, apparently.

…I supposed that’s how it goes. Even if mana already satisfied all their basic needs, wealth was an entirely different matter.

As I watched the night mountain going farther and farther away, I felt a magical signal behind me.

 

“So you were here.”

“…yeah.”

Looked like only Isaac came to check up on me. He seemed quite the earnest person.

He was holding two steaming copper cups. He handed one to me.

“…thanks.” I said, receiving the cup.

He smiled and took a sip of his own drink. “No problem.”

So players couldn’t eat, but they could drink? For me, everything would need to go to [Packer] storage after a few pretend-swallows and disposed through Blobsy later.

Hmm… what was this stuff? Thick, green…

“…hot kale juice?” I murmured.

Isaac besides me spat out his own mouthful of ‘hot kale juice’.

“Eww.”

“Wait wait wait, hold up, what did you just say?”

“I mean, this stuff is…”

“It’s spinach soup, for a midnight snack. Oh man, that was so out of left field. I never expected kale juice to also be a thing here.”

“…”

I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s just gloss over the matter and drink the soup. As was my habit when I was still human, I started blowing on the hot cup. Isaac stared at me.

 

“So this isn’t about the thing those two talked about earlier, but… Sherry, you really don’t act like an NP-a native of this world.”

“…you say that as if you’re not a person of this world.” I counterattacked.

“No, I mean…” Realizing his gaffe, Isaac stumbled on his words. Yet immediately after, a faint smile returned to his face. He looked like he had just thought of a funny joke.

“Well then, what if this world was fictional? What would you do?”

“…”

So he was going for that. He believed that I was a programmed NPC living in a fictional world, who was completely ignorant of ‘games’.

Maybe he thought he was just playing a little prank. Like telling a white lie to an innocent kid. All the same, I looked him in the eyes and fired his question back at him.

“In that case, if this world was real, what would you do?”

“Eh…?”

That took Isaac completely by surprise. A few moment of speechlessness later, he turned his eyes to the night scenery. He smiled.

“Then it’d be great. Just look at this view, this land. If we could visit this place, just the touring industry alone would bring in so much money. And if we could transport the resources here back, our problems would be solved. We could send our increasing population here, and utilize the cheap labor of this world…”

“…”

“Ah, sorry! I got lost in thought. I forgot it probably just sounded like gibberish to you.”

Midway through, he realized what he was saying and noticed my stare. He apologized.

He wasn’t a bad person. On Earth, he probably would be one of those successful, conscientious people you often see.

From Earth’s viewpoint, what he said wasn’t wrong. But that sort of thinking was no different from the humans here; Yggdrasia’s humans, who thought of demihumans as nothing more than just resources.

This was the moment I saw one of my choices closed itself forever to me right in front of my eyes. The choice of talking with the players. The path of mutual understanding.

 

Twelve days of borrowed time left.

We arrived at the Free City of Seis. As this was Isaac’s home country, he just needed to finish up a bit of paperwork to allow us in. Customs were way too loose. We rode a few more slow trains to get to a town to the north, where Isaac’s base was.

Just as with the Trading Confederation, the Free City of Seis was ruled neither by kings nor nobles. A council of merchants and the landowner made all the decisions.

The Trading Confederation was a country of merchants, for merchants. In contrast, the Free City of Seis put power into adventurers and their guild.

I first thought we’d be going to the base after setting foot into the town. Turned out their friends came to meet us, and we’d be going to the meeting place for the ‘party’ next.

 

“Hey, who’s that girl? The leader’s hobby?!”

“Stop that, Sherry’s my girl. I just can’t get enough of her abuse these days…”

They noticed I wasn’t a player and started teasing Isaac. And then for some reason, Weed asserted his ownership and his dangerous fetish.

Isaac’s friends numbered around ten.

I guessed one of them had the magic stone. No way to determine who at the moment, though. And what if they already took it to the meeting place? Then revealing myself here would be a terrible idea.

According to their chatter, some of the more impatient people were already gathering there.

Apparently, the get-together would be held in the rural village that was near the large grassy plains to the north of Seis. The plains was home to a kind of monster called ‘behemoths’, about as large as elephants. Their plan was to hunt the behemoths, raise their skills, and have fun while waiting for the ‘bunny’ to show up.

When we reached the village, I saw 5 parties of around 30 people already there. They were starting up the behemoth hunt.

Isaac’s party looked through the crowd. When they reached a certain group, they all winced.

“…damn it, even the unwelcome ones came.”

 

Once our group showed up, the other participants came by for peaceful greetings. Among the hunting parties, one wasn’t actually hunting, instead only torturing the docile herbivores to death. And they were going toward us.

“…who are they?” I asked someone nearby.

The answer I got was an evasive one. “They’re… umm… well, they’re bad people, I suppose.”

In short, they were people roleplaying ‘villainous outlaws’. Characters who committed crime and were taken into custody would be deleted. On the flip side, as long as you weren’t arrested, playing as a bandit or thief wouldn’t be against the game’s rules.

Still, I felt like I’d already met that group somewhere…

 

“Hey, hey! So it’s first comes, first serve when the bunny shows up, yeah?”

“No, there’s a chance this is a quest chain. If possible, we should all help with capturing her. Then we’ll decide.”

“Who the fuck cares? Fucking hell, we should have gotten the airship pass back then if it wasn’t for that white fucker. If the bunny shows up, we’ll fuck that little shit up!”

 

…aaah, right, I remembered now. That time when I assimilated No. 01’s magic stone, there was a party trying to killsteal. This guy was the leader of the party I killed last back then.

So they were still doing this sort of stuff, I see…

They were terrible people, but whatever. I needed to focus on finding out who had No. 08’s magic stone.

I began to fumble around with [Cyber-Manipulation]. While I was focusing on watching for any reactions from the players, suddenly, someone grabbed my hood from behind. I jolted.

“Why the hell’s an NPC kid here? Did you bring her in case the bunny doesn’t show up? Will we get to hunt the kid instead?” He cackled.

“Stop it! She’s an adventurer we hired!”

Tunnel vision. Damn it. There were too many players around, I didn’t detect the thuggish leader approaching.

Isaac panicked and tried to stop him. The thuggish leader took a look at him, and then exploded in another bout of laughter.

“What, did you buy her to service you? Man, this game really is the shit! I can even kill the slaves I bought and no one would even bat an eye!”

 

…he really was so annoying.

 

*

 

“…shut up already.” The NPC girl growled.

“Hahh?! The hell are you brat-aagh!!”

Just as the player holding her was about to turn to violence, two daggers slashed into his arms.

Cardi was his name. He wasn’t so much a villainous roleplayer as he was simply self-indulgent. Infamously so, with myriads of complaints lodged against him. His words, his actions were all far beyond the pale. Yet still, as long as he wasn’t violating the game’s clauses, he was untouchable. If Isaac’s group interfered, it would be they who were infringing upon the rules.

So they couldn’t do anything. And it seemed like the NPC girl they brought along finally snapped.

The thug was still holding onto her hood even with wounded arms. So she tore it off herself and slashed at Cardi with terrifying speed. A strange coat of mist suddenly appeared on her, freezing the hooligan.

“D-Damn you!”

“Die already.” She said frostily. Her dagger bit deep into his face.

 

When players received overwhelming damage, their senses would be cut off to prevent traumas. But as he was, the sight of death staring in the face was more than enough to terrify Cardi.

With his face set in a rictus of fear, he disappeared in motes of light. The mist lightened by a fraction, no longer hiding the girl from the players’ eyes.

They saw snow-white hair, scarlet eyes… and gently drooping rabbit ears.

The players were all frozen in shock at the abrupt reveal. Isaac let loose a whisper.

 

“…Sherry?”


Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

31 – Traveling with Players

“Oh, you knew about the stone? Are you joining the event?”

 

I turned around. Standing there was a blond-haired man. He was good-looking, but he also looked like such a sleazy skirt-chaser it ruined the whole impression. Two daggers were dangling on his hips.

Event? Magic stone? Were they players, then?

I slightly raised my vigilance and moved back half a step. That got him flustered. He waved his hands and stepped back.

“Ah, no, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. We just put out an announcement, and I was worried no one would come, so when I heard ‘magic stone’ I just reflexively called at you. My name’s Weed. I’m a member of the clan that announced the event.”

“…tell me more.”

 

I played dumb in an attempt to glean some information. But… wait a minute? I thought the beta players could distinguish between NPCs and players?

Well, whatever. For some reason, he seemed interested in my face. He continued his explanation while constantly sneaking glances at my hooded head.

Supposedly, their group thought Tiz’s bounty was a game event. They also possessed the [Red Magic Stone] they got from killing another one of us in that event. And since they knew the ‘rabbit beastman girl’ stole the yellow magic stone, they were planning to use theirs as bait to lure me out.

 

“Around tomorrow, there’ll be a notice saying ‘Finding Buyers for the Red Magic Stone’ posted in all the central continent’s adventurer guilds and a few other places. But with such a high bounty, we weren’t really expecting the bunny girl to show up inside the town. It’s really just people gathering up for a party. So yeah, I was hoping more girls could come-”

 

“Hey, Weed!”

Another interruption. Such déjà vu… Both of us turned to look at the voice. There, I saw the powerful adventurer I met in the armor shop. Sally was behind him, facepalming and going “Aww, crap.”

“Oh hey. Isaac, I was just inviting this girl…”

“No no no, she’s not a player!”

“…wha?! Holy shit, she doesn’t have the mark!”

Weed stared in shock, alternating his gaze between me and a spot slightly to the upper-left of me. This again? Yes, yes, I got it, now could you please stop looking at my face?

“I mean, she just looks so natural-”

“I know, right?! Like, the atmosphere she has, her mannerisms, they’re all a lot more similar to us than the ingame NPCs here!”

Weed began his excuse, which was then overwhelmed by Sally’s own… wait, actually Sally sounded a lot like Salia. So easy to mix up.

Both of them continued their incomprehensible-to-NPCs rants. The powerful adventurer – Isaac, was it? – deeply sighed and turned to me.

“Again, sorry about that. You don’t really understand what they’re saying, right? Don’t mind them, just forget about it.”

…well, about that…

“I heard you’re baiting the ‘rabbit’ in the bounty?” I asked.

Isaac’s smile twitched. “Weed, what the hell have you been saying?”

“Uhh… everything?”

“Damn it, didn’t I tell you? This game’s AI has way too many dialogue and action patterns. Don’t be careless.”

“…but, I mean, you’re talking a lot of meta stuff in front of her too, aren’t you?”

They really weren’t very vigilant at all in front of NPCs, were they? Isaac’s been ignoring me, until his friends finally pointed out his own mistake.

“Ah. Whoops.” Once again, he turned his strained smile back to me. “Oh well… so I see you look quite young, but I guess you’re an adventurer too, right?”

I nodded. Isaac seemed to have finally shaken off his hesitation. He spoke up for both me and his comrades to hear.

“As you heard, we’re about to go on a rabbit hunt. The chances are low though, so it’s really half serious, half an excuse to get together and have fun. There’s no guarantee we’ll get rewarded even if the capture’s successful. Still, if you don’t mind us hiring you, we can pay you 3 small golds. How about it?”

“…hiring?”

Apparently Isaac had decided to bring me along under his employ. Why?

“Whoa, for real? Hell yeah!” Weed cheered.

“Hold on, Isaac?! Are you really bringing this NP-I mean, this girl along? Isn’t she a stranger?”

“Sally, too loud. What if she talk to other adventurers, and then they come to mess things up? We’re bringing her along to keep it secret from the normal adventurers,” Isaac replied.

“…I suppose.”

“Awesome!”

“Learn your lesson already, Weed!”

“Heheheh, alright, let’s go!”

 

Looked like they never even entertained the possibility that NPCs could refuse.

Can’t be helped, I supposed. If anything, this was actually better for me. I didn’t know what sort of event they were going to set up, but as long as I could get my hands on the red magic stone, it’d be fine.

…it was No. 08’s stone, right? Should be. Otherwise I’d be so screwed.

 

“Well then, let’s talk about our schedule.”

“Mmm.”

According to Isaac, the event would be one week later. He had already notified his friends (through the internet). Anyone who could come was welcomed to.

It would be held at their base, in the outskirts of the Free City of Seis. They showed me the spot on the simple map posted inside the guild hall. It was hella far away. It was a large country on the eastern end of the central continent.

I wondered how we were going to get there in just a week. Isaac explained. First off, the group would go by slow rail to a nearby large country called Battrol, switching trains along the way. This would take four days. Then once we were there, we’d take the airship.

…an airship?!

“Yeah. We have a yearly pass. I think we can get them to accept you as a party member.”

This was the first time I’d ever heard of airships. According to them, only the large countries had the necessary airports, and you could go to any other large country in the world in just one to two days with it.

Until Battrol, we’d just be riding normal trains, not express. They said they were here to earn some money in the first place. Wasting large gold coins for a quick ride would just be defeating the purpose.

 

We got on the cheapest train we could find. A bit tight, but still we managed to find a four-person room. We finally had time for proper introductions.

“We were hunting the water lizards in the bog nearby. Their hides and magic stones fetch a pretty good price in the Free City. So…  what’s your name? I’m Sandrea. Just call me Sally!”

“Hi, Sandrea. I’m Sherry.”

The group composed of Isaac the warrior, Weed the speedy fighter, and Sandrea the magician. Of course, I wasn’t naive enough to use my real name here. The fake name wasn’t all that different, since I needed to be able to respond to it quickly enough if someone called me.

For some reason, Sandrea pushed her beaming smile right next to my face after hearing my greeting.

“Sally is fine!”

“Hi, Sandrea.”

“Really, just call me Sally…”

“Hi, Sandrea.”

“…”

I really didn’t want to confuse her with silly Salia. And before I knew it, my insistence had already prompted Isaac and Weed to start calling her Sandrea too. She was appalled.

Miss Sandrea. I can hear you whispering “Dumbass AI…” over there. Whisper quieter.

 

“What will you do about food?” I asked.

“We’ll just grab whatever in real-ouch!”

“We have something to eat, don’t worry about it.”

Isaac elbow-jabbed Weed for his careless words.

On the train, I still went and bought food (for Blobsy’s consumption) from the cafeteria to keep up the ruse. On the other hand, despite being inside a train car, the group sometimes disappeared.

So they were logging out to eat, then. There were times when Sandrea disappeared for a whole twelve hours, even times when only one of them remained in the game. Weed was mostly here. He was here too often. I worried for his real life.

 

“It’s nice, just the two of us alone like this. Hey, Sherry, anything you want to know about me? For a cutie such as you, I’ll answer any question you have!”

“Then, how do I delete you…?”

“You have a surprisingly sharp tongue!”

He was constantly, annoyingly attempting to start up conversations, plus his eyes actually felt kind of dangerous, so I shut him down every time he started talking. Then, once in a while, he would stop moving and stared into empty air.

‘…so there’s this NPC girl who’s super frosty to me…’

A closer look revealed that his lips were barely moving. Maybe he was chatting with someone somewhere.

 

Honestly, were they even trying to fool me?

I supposed that in the end, this was just a game to them, and I was just an NPC. After seeing me unresponsive to anything meta, they kept getting more and more careless, and their logout times became more and more frequent.

It wasn’t really a problem for me, since I had no plans to make friends with them. All the same, even when they knew the NPCs here were acting just like real living people, they still wasn’t treating me as one. Even until now.

…I could see this causing all sorts of issues. Good luck, game moderators. Not like it’s my problem though.

 

And on the day before we reached Battrol’s first station, the three of them finally logged out at the same time.

It seemed they’d been grinding their magic skills on the train, but it wasn’t enough to distract themselves from the boredom.

As they disappeared, I noticed a strange pool of mana on the floor. It had a protecting barrier. It was probably marking the spot for their subsequent login.

I carefully tested out a bit of [Cyber-Manipulation] on it, subtle enough that the corporation wouldn’t find out. As I did, I got a response similar to my [Packer] skill. After some deeper snooping, I found some equipment that could be accessed through my own [Packer] skill. They looked like they belonged to the three.

This was a welcome surprise. Even if I couldn’t take them out, it might still be possible to play a bit of a prank.

 

An hour before the train reached the first station, the three finally reappeared.

“Alright, finally here! I can’t wait for the sky trip!”

“Yeah, the game’s so worth it just for the sightseeing alone.”

Sandrea and Weed immediately crowded the window. They had completely turned into gawking tourists now, entranced by the view of farmlands, villages, and the approaching town. Only Isaac was still in his seat. He seemed concerned, seeing me staying so still.

“Were you fine alone?”

“Yeah.”

I acted the part of an obedient NPC. He relaxed and whispered under his breath, “Yeah, of course, I suppose there wouldn’t be a problem when you’re an NPC…”

 

If only I was just a normal player…

Too late, now. I was neither a player, nor a native of this world. I had become something in between.

The moment that corporation betrayed all one hundred of us, players were no longer our allies.

[Isaac] [Race: Human ♂] [Player]

[Magic Points (MP): 150/150] [Hit Points (HP): 260/260]

[Total Combat Power: 1110]
[Sandrea] [Race: Human ♀] [Player]

[Magic Points (MP): 190/190] [Hit Points (HP): 135/135]

[Total Combat Power: 790]
[Weed] [Race: Human ♂] [Player]

[Magic Points (MP): 140/140] [Hit Points (HP): 180/180]

[Total Combat Power: 665]

Fourteen days of borrowed time left.

I could see the end of the line. Better be prepared, you three. Sooner or later, you’ll become my meal.


Author’s Note: I heard the old meme “How do I delete you?” that used to be popular back in the day actually gets an answer nowadays.

 

Slight exposition. Player storage.

When players died, they dropped their equipment on the ground, except for event items.

As mentioned in the story, the logout spot will be marked, and their items would be stored inside it. Then why were players not allowed to use [Packer] normally? Because maintaining the marked storage requires a bit of mana. Generally, the chance of players recovering their items were low, so for the purpose of economizing mana use, the game developers decided to remove the ability entirely.

 

Below is the travel path for this chapter and the next. There are some slight adjustments to the path Shedy’s taken until now, mainly because of time and date reasons.

pnvqqrz


Translator’s Note: Bigger sized map here.

Author’s note refers to a Japanese meme. Over in Japan, Microsoft Office didn’t used to have Clippy, they had a dolphin called Kairu instead. Which was still annoying as all hell. So when the dolphin asked “What do you want to know?”, a lot of users would type in “How do I delete you?” Newer versions these days actually have the dolphin respond to that message now, and it’ll tell you how to turn itself off while looking super sad.


Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter

30 – Contact with Players

VR chat boards of the MMORPG, World of Yggdrasia. Here, discussions continued just as they always have been.

“Right, so have anyone else heard about how the beta test’s going to end earlier than scheduled?”

“Really? Man, that sucks. I just got to Rank 3 recently. Things were just getting good!”

“Come on OP, that’s ignoring a lot of the facts. To be more precise, the official release is coming out early.”

“Mmm? Aren’t they the same thing?”

“It’s not the end of the beta test, the test continues into the official release. Announcement said we can either keep our characters or make new ones when it’s out.”

“Shit, I can’t decide. It’s a waste to just delete this character after all my effort, but at the same time, I know how to spend stat points better now. And I wanted to fix up my looks a little bit, too.”

“LOL, y’all spend too much time in character creation. Why not petition the devs for a one-time appearance editor?”
“By the way, you think it’s a quest?”

“What is?”

“That super-extravagant bounty issued by Touze Empire. Limited to the central continent, though.”

“Oh yeah, that bounty in the adventurer’s guild board? That’s for real?”

“Guys, deets. I’ve been holing up on the mountain killing orcs these days, haven’t gone back to town.”

“Wait, you mean the bounty that has its own chatroom? The ‘Searching for the Bunny Girl’ room? It’s actually a thing? I heard rumors saying the bounty’s 5000 large golds or something?”

“Five fucking thousands?!!”

“Yeah, that. The quest where you’re supposed to find and capture the only living rabbit beastman girl left.”

“I just had a great idea!”

“Then don’t say it if you don’t want a police visit. Anyway, maybe it’ll turn out to be a choices-matter kind of quest? Like, by the end of the quest you can choose to either turn her in for the money, or you can get a cute bunny girl as a party member. That sort of thing?”

“First off, is she actually cute?”

“No idea. Supposedly, the magic stone that the European players got from the ‘Subdue the Berserkers’ event and then auctioned off was stolen by her. So there’s a high chance it’s actually a quest chain.”

“Aww crap, so that magic stone was actually that expensive…?”

“Apparently the high bounty’s not because the stone was valuable, it’s because the bunny girl’s super kawaii. I heard that the players who auctioned the stone off didn’t actually attend, and that they’re now kicking themselves over it.”

“They got some compensation from the auction host, though. A whole 10 gold coins. Wow.”

“I get your sarcasm, but honestly that’s still a lot of money.”
“...maybe we shouldn’t auction ours off?”

“Whoa, what? You have an event magic stone?”

“We got a [Red Magic Stone] from the toad in the trailer. Our clan’s been considering where to sell it. But maybe we can use it as bait for the bunny girl?”

“A big clan? Then I suppose it’s fine. Still, don’t talk about it here. You might get people trying to steal it.”

“It’s probably fine. Our clan only have around ten people, but half of us are Rank 4. The leader’s a decent guy, so we have pretty good relations with the other clans. The problem is… if getting the bunny girl to be a companion turns out to actually be possible, our group might fracture from a difference of opinions.”

“So which choice are you going for?”

“The recruiting option, obviously!”

“Seconded!” “Thirded!” “Fourthed!” (guy players)

“Yeah, I wanna dress her in a real bunnygirl outfit and set her to work at our clan hall!”

“...ewww…” “I hope I never get a boyfriend like you guys.” “So typical.” (girl players)

 

***

 

Eighteen days of borrowed time left.

I could see the corner that I was being pushed into getting closer and closer. Normally this would be the point where I would start to either panic, give up, or get reckless, but I didn’t come this far just to get a breakdown. Besides, I couldn’t let that corporation get off scot-free now. I’m going to show them.

I needed to survive first, though.

 

Anneuf was a nice-looking port town. White buildings ascended in steps along gently-sloping streets, all roofed with red bricks in a consistent theme. Despite the distance from the equator, this country was still comfortably warm, thanks to the Sapling.

There was a castle on the highest point of the town. At first, I thought it belonged to the lord of this area. After checking on the guide map board, it turned out it was the king’s.

Wow, so a small country was really small compared to a large one… Were the international trains only stopping at the capitals?

I walked around, checking on a few different bulletin boards. Looked like fishing was the main industry of this country, and their specialty was a type of fish similar to herrings. The streetside stalls mostly sold sandwiches, which were pickled raw herrings and potatoes between slices of rye bread. Even if I could actually eat, I wouldn’t buy those… or it might be surprisingly tasty. Who knows?

*bounce*

‘Eh…? Blobsy, you wanna eat that?’

 

My conclusion was that the adventurer’s guild was my best chance for information. Would I have to actually buy one of those pickled-herring-potato sandwiches just to get a chance to ask where the guild hall was?

A few moments into my deliberations, I heard a commotion starting up on the other side of the street. I saw about ten knights, or maybe soldiers, all using pommels of their spears to bludgeon two screaming persons in adventurer’s equipment. The pair were then arrested and taken away, toward the direction of the castle.

What happened…? I got curious. I decided to buy a herring-potato sandwich (three coppers) from a nearby stall and ask the owner about it. They scowled, looking toward the arrested pair, then sighed.

“They were making a fuss at another stall, demanding the owner to release the demihuman slaves that were working there. He refused, obviously. Then they started speaking gibberish. I think it was… let’s see… ‘Just a fucking en-pee-see’? Or something like that. After that, they pulled out their weapons and started threatening him, which got the guards coming.”

“I see…”

 

I supposed they meant ‘NPC’? So those two were beta players, then.

They looked young, enough so that I couldn’t determine whether they were kids in real life or if they were just idiots. Really, even if this was an actual game, which it wasn’t, that didn’t mean players would get an automatic pass to do anything they wanted. No wonder they got arrested.

 

“There’d been more and more of those weird adventurers recently. Apparently even the guild was having a headache. Like hiring a veteran adventurer to be their guide and then skipping out on the payment, or buying up all the young slave girls, etcetera. They caused a lot of trouble, I hear.”

“Huh, they did that…?”

“And this time, they’re even demanding freedom for the demihuman slaves. Is this some new sort of thievery? Honestly. The demihumans were getting more clever these days, it’s getting so much more difficult buying new replacements.”

“…”

Demihumans really were just considered possessions here…

 

I asked for the location of the guild hall and started walking there.

From the train station to the main street was a short walk, and from the main street to the guild hall took a bit longer. It was a four-story block of pure whiteness.

I didn’t enter the guild hall right away. Nearby was a shop selling adventurer’s equipment, which I visited first. I saw a few adventurers browsing around inside.

I went toward the corner selling cloaks and coats, trying not to draw any attention to myself. I started searching.

It needed to be tough and looked nice too, if possible. I did also want some clothes, but maybe I should wait until I passed another growth spurt? Deferred, then. Let’s get some sturdy boots instead. Honestly speaking, I was already nearly outgrowing the pair I currently had. With targets decided, I started looking.

I wasn’t left alone, however.

“Fashion in this country isn’t really all that good, don’t you think?”

A blue-haired adventurer, looking around twenty, just decided to talk to me out of nowhere.

“Terrible designs. And they don’t even have the variety in colors to make up for it. At least the large countries have more stores to…”

“Sally! She’s not a player!”

“Eh?!”

So-called Sally was interrupted by a new face. A man, halfway into his twenties. Sally stared at me.

“Oh, wow! She really doesn’t have the player’s mark!”

Apparently they were players, and only players could see who else were players.

That’s fine and all, but I really wished she’d stop it with the staring. I didn’t think the corporation was monitoring all ten thousand players, but it’d still be a lot of trouble if players were suspicious of my face.

I stayed quiet. I moved a few steps away, hiding my face with the hood. The man cut in between us.

“I told you, stop it. This game doesn’t use any ordinary AI. I’m not going to help if you get arrested and your character deleted, alright?” The man turned to me. “Sorry about that.” He said, sounding not particularly sincere.

“But-I mean, I thought she was a real person, wearing those clothes…”

They weren’t caring much about keeping meta talk away from NPCs, it seemed. I never expected my choice of clothing was what nearly gave me away.

I’d been wondering what would happen to arrested players. Apparently the corporation would just delete them. To the locals, the crime would go forever unsolved. I vaguely remembered this being explained to me in the very beginning, I think.

“No, I don’t mind,” I dismissed their concern with a light shake of my head. The man left the store, dragging Sally behind him. Nothing happened, thankfully.

I sighed in relief. Because really, that guy was actually quite strong.

[Warrior-ish Man] [Race: Human ♂] [Player]
[Magic Points (MP): 150/150] [Hit Points (HP): 260/260]
[Total Combat Power: 1110]

Tiz would eat his dust. I suspected that the System-governed players could grow more efficiently than the natives of this world. They had no areas they were weak in. They didn’t even need to worry about learning how to handle weapons, nor did they need to manually train up their skills like the natives. They just needed to absorb magic power.

Sure, I grew quite strong myself. But if the players could grow the same way, group battles might become the death of me… Still, I couldn’t stop here. I’d come too far.

I changed into a decent-enough coat and pair of boots, paid for them, and left. The guild hall was across the street.

 

No one bothered to make trouble for me in broad daylight, thankfully. Slipping inside the hall, I saw over a dozen idle, loitering adventurers. There were a few who looked like they might be players, too. Why were there so many of them now? There was barely any in the last country I was in.

Most of them were crowding around the bulletin board. I glanced at it. Looked like a bounty or something.

Wanted

A young white-colored rabbit beastman girl, who commands a magical mist.

Whosoever will apprehend and deliver the girl shall be handsomely rewarded.

The girl must not be harmed.

The Emperor of Touze swears upon his name: whosoever accomplishes this matter, shall be given Five Thousand Large Gold Coins as recompense.

…what in the name of all things holy was Tiz doing?! Five thousand large golds for my capture? Was this guy an idiot?

The crowding adventurers were all hyped. They weren’t even talking about where I could be or how to capture me, they were only chatting about the things they would do after they got the money.

Still, this was just a distraction. I needed to find No. 08’s magic stone.

I secured my hood, then approached one of the idle reception counters. Behind it was a man neck-deep in documents. He looked just like the quintessential public servant, in both appearance and impression.

 

“Can I buy information here?”

“Oh, yes. What would you like to know?”

The receptionist looked up. He looked nervous, despite his polite speech.

“I’m looking for a magic stone. It looks like a gem.”

“Aaah, apologies. We’re not aware of any such stone.”

He replied, then returned to his documents. He didn’t even bother to check the records. Was it because the guild didn’t deal in such information, or did he not want to bother with me because I looked like a kid? As I mulled over what to do next, I heard a frivolous voice calling at me from behind.

 

“Oh, you knew about the stone? Are you joining the event?”


Author’s Note: At this point, the corporation was still not putting much focus on the magic stones, and neither were they aware of our little bunny.

So this isn’t actually an official event. It’s just players merrymaking all by themselves.

 

Native people always have some stats they’re weak at, but not players. The System allocates harvested mana in the most efficient way, so players will grow stronger than natives. The higher the level, the more obvious the difference.


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