Log Horizon Vol 3 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Forest Ragranda 1 "Ragranda Forest?" Tohya asked. "Seems to be the name of a dungeon." Naotsugu replied immediately: "It is not 'it seems like a dungeon', it is a dungeon." The sky that was light purple had turned deep blue, the school that sheltered them was illuminated by several campfires on the field. Tonight they were celebrating with a BBQ party for reaching the campsite. The 60-odd partic.i.p.ants gathered in the school yard to enjoy their dinner. It was summertime in August. The sweltering heat from the sun in the day was still trapped in the ground and was dissipating slowly. But the dry wind in the night felt comfortable to the skin. It was bearable even if you sweat. And the food was top cla.s.s. Nyanta's dishes were always delicious, eating it together with the big group also had a nice feeling. Tohya had always liked this type of atmosphere, he remembered visiting the temple fair and eating the snacks from the street shops. He recalled his sister Minori throwing a tantrum as well. Minori was busy handing out beverages to everyone, but she came over when she saw Tohya waving at her, asking him what was the matter. "Minori, that is, I heard we will be going to a dungeon. You know that?" "Ah? Dungeon?" Minori was just as surprised as Tohya was. The training camp was going to last for 3 weeks, they expected to have live battle training, but never thought that they would be raiding a dungeon. "I'm going too?" Naotsugu nodded at Minori's question. "I know this is a bit too heavy a burden on Minori, but rather than a.s.signing you to a different group, wouldn't you feel better if you party together with Tohya, in case anything happens?" "Of course." Tohya nodded repeatedly. He and Minori were twins. Even though Minori was the elder sister by time of birth, Tohya didn't see his sister as a guardian, but felt strongly that 'I am a boy, sister is a girl'. In that case, even if he was not on the level of being Minori's guardian, Tohya still thought he should protect his sister. They had been partners since coming to this world, so it would be better if they partied together. And if his sister fell into any danger when they were apart, and he was not there for her... Tohya was unable to imagine that. "You are right." It seemed like the sister felt the same way, and nodded in agreement. "We can a.s.sign Minori-cchi to the beach group, but for the sake of the future, it will be good to experience raiding a dungeon nya." Chief Nyanta approached with a rectangular tray filled with grilled j.a.panese horse mackerel as he spoke. "What do you mean by the beach group?" Chief Nyanta explained in detail. The beginners varied in levels. The policy of this summer training camp was to use the school as a campsite, and to conduct training courses with different groups based on their abilities.
For very low levels... players less than level 20, they would be farming wildlife around the campus, or battling Ascot Crabs at the beach. There were healers and camp leaders with the group, so it was very safe in acc.u.mulating EXP. But the battles would be 1-on-1, so they wouldn't be forming parties. The beginners needed to understand the skills of their cla.s.s, what they could do, and what they excelled in. They wouldn't be able to work well with others until they grasped their own abilities, so this stage would be solo training. Actually, the campers including Minori had already 'trained' at the beach during the day, when they were dragged there by Maryele. But in the end they changed into their swimsuits and played at the beach all day, Minori had already done some reflection on this. They left the setting up of the camp and moving of goods to the men, and just enjoyed this vacation activity in the confusion. She even played beach volleyball with the girls she knew from Crescent Moon Alliance and Maryele who cheered loudly, "Wah, this is so much fun! I am so happy! Summer should be like this right? It has to be swimsuits right? This is great!" Maryele was a scary influence on the others. Her bombsh.e.l.l body was also scary, which made Minori embarra.s.sed about her childish swimsuit. But even if she tried to dress maturely, it would still make her embarra.s.sed.
Adventurers of levels 20-35 would be forming teams for battle practices, which would be conducted either indoors or outside. Outdoor training would be conducted at the 'Caminash Waterway'. Indoor training would be in the Ragranda Forest that Tohya just heard of. The dungeon was situated in the direction of the forested area of the peninsula, about a half-day journey. The raid would take several days to complete, so it was the toughest training in a sense. There were only a handful of players above level 36, so they were doing individual training with the high-level camp leaders as mentors on campus. The goal was to get everyone to reach level 40.
Tohya was level 29, and worked as a tank during his time in Hamelin's farming group, so he was quite good in battles. The underground ruins known as Ragranda Forest, with enemies of various levels, were suitable for players between level 20 to 35 to challenge. It should be tough for Tohya who was right in the midpoint at level 29. Tohya's heart burned with pa.s.sion when he thought about this. On the other hand, his big sister Minori was level 21, her subcla.s.s Tailor was level 32, much higher than Tohya's subcla.s.s. But her subcla.s.s was useless in battles. Minori's level put her at a disadvantage and Tohya was determined to protect her. "There will be further briefings before we start the training nya. Level 29 and 21 will not affect the team balance too much, use the innate understanding between twins to make up for it in battle and you will be fine nya." Chief Nyanta squeezed some tangerine juice onto the grilled j.a.panese horse mackerel before digging in, he was probably done with cooking for the day. He poured some wine into a bowl, and drank to his heart's content. "So that's it, dungeons... my fighting spirit is burning!" Tohya was unable to hold back his antic.i.p.ation. When Tohya was with Hamelin, he had fought with monsters to farm before, but because of the distance and their team power balance, he had never been to a dungeon before. In Elder Tales, dungeons were not the term for an underground prison. It was also used for ruins, castles, forts, towers, shrines, caves, and many others. It meant 'An enclosed place where you could fight monsters'. Dungeons were usually ruins or remnants of a magical culture from ancient times or a naturally formed cavern. These ruins were separated into zones which were nests of wild creatures, and it was easy to see the path to the next area. It provided a lot of benefits to the defending side, and had a high 'requirement' in order to complete it. The 'requirement' here was from the monster's perspective. Disregarding the intentions of the builders and original occupiers, most dungeons ended up becoming a dwelling for monsters. Demihumans who possessed some intelligence like Orcs, Goblins and Ratmen set up forts to used as a base. Beasts like Owlbears and Chimera simply wanted to use the area as a nest, like bears in a cave. Everyone also knew that high level undead and dragons were some of the few high-cla.s.s types with high intelligence, and they would use challenging dungeons to hide their treasures. Tohya had never formally fought in dungeons before, but he had joined Log Horizon for 2 months. During his time in the guild house, he was already good friends with Naotsugu and Nyanta. They would talk about their vast battle experience in Elder Tales, so he had acc.u.mulated a lot of knowledge on dungeons.
(Naotsugu-san said the difficulty of dungeon battles are incomparable to battles in the wild!) Tohya was eager to try. Naotsugu was Tohya's teacher right now. s.h.i.+roe was Tohya's benefactor and instructor, but in terms of melee techniques and tanking skills he couldn't compare to Naotsugu. Even so, s.h.i.+roe definitely possessed enough knowledge and could give Tohya various tips. But Log Horizon had an excellent vanguard in Naotsugu, his experience in Elder Tales was comparable to s.h.i.+roe, his battle experience was also among the top in the whole server. As advised by s.h.i.+roe, Tohya started learning from his fellow warrior cla.s.s guild member Naotsugu. Tohya also liked Naotsugu, almost as much as he liked s.h.i.+roe. Naotsugu was friendly, and you wouldn't feel any age gap with him. He was a reliable good guy, Tohya thought all men should be strong like him. Tohya who had been instructed by Naotsugu was confident in challenging any battles. (... I will be challenging dungeons sooner or later, this is just a step on my path to becoming an independent Adventurer.) Saying he had no ambition was a lie. "Alright, Minori! Let's go! Tomorrow we will be challenging Ragranda Forest!" "I can't stand this, Tohya... I will definitely catch up to your level!" Minori seemed determined as well, as she looked at Tohya confidently. They b.u.mped their fists, a greeting they had since they were young. Under the night sky of the Sand Leaf zone and the crackling sound of the campfire in the school campus, the beginners were filled with antic.i.p.ation and determination for the training that started tomorrow. 2 The next morning, Minori's group headed towards the central hilly region of Sand Leaf peninsula. There were no treacherous mountains in the peninsula. On the contrary, it was filled with hills of varying sizes, some as small as a pond, others as big as a lake. There was water flowing everywhere, the clear streams converging into the Sand Leaf River, or directly into the sea. Compared to the old world, it was less than a hundred km away from Tokyo, but in Elder Tales, the atmosphere was like a kingdom of nature. On their way here they had seen orioles, white face sparrows, pied kingfishers, birds that you could see in the old world. They also saw some deer. In the j.a.panese server zones, wildlife like this could be seen everywhere. The trees were also reproducing virally, even though there were no mysterious ancient trees found in Akiba here, there were many of them with trunks that Tohya and Minori couldn't hug even if they worked together. And there were thousands of them, all pointing straight up into the sky. Everyone was moved by this scenery. The twins grew up in Tokyo. They had never been so impressed and stunned by the power of nature. Minori was speechless, while Tohya kept repeating the word "Amazing!" (The vocabulary of my brother is so limited, I feel embarra.s.sed as his sister.) This was part of Minori's true feelings, but the other part of her was happy to see her brother's pure display of surprise and joy.
After hiking along the hill for quite some time, the group reached a plaza which was made by clearing away the trees. Sweeping away the decaying leaves with their feet, they could see stone slates covering the ground. There was a Torii with its color faded after many years of exposure to the elements. This seemed to be a shrine around here. The 14 people in the group dismounted and gathered in the plaza, they had been traveling from the school since dawn, and it was already noon when they arrived. Even though they rested a few times on their way here, Minori didn't expect they would need so much time to travel in the hills. In the center of the group was Naotsugu, Nyanta, and a Cleric sent from the Black Sword Knights, Rezarick. Nyanta pointed at a large cavern entrance that everyone could see. "That is Ragranda Forest nya, but the inside is very s.p.a.cious... To put it simply, if you take the right at the first T junction, the route will be easier. Going left will lead to a more challenging area nya." The beginners looked at the giant cave entrance and gulped. Even without Nyanta pointing it out, once they reached the plaza, their gazes were all focused at the entrance that was like a house made of boulders. Vines entangled the edge of the entrance, there were old and crumbling straw ropes used to exorcise spirits hanging at the entrance, but there were no holy feelings here at all. There was only a rotting smell, and the air could only be described as miasma. "Ah, there might be small demon beasts inside, but the rest should be undead type." Naotsugu warned the campers.
Undead type. They were not fully dead for various reasons, or they still lingered in this world because of evil reasons like curses. Moving using the power from spirits, the undead type monsters. The most common monsters of that type would be skeletons and zombies, but also included monsters that had no physical bodies like banshees. "This is a camp to train up your battle powers nya, 'knowing your own limits' is also a part of your battle power nya, you have to consider your retreat route at all times, and practice your judgment on when to come out nya." "That's right, you must treasure your life." Nyanta and Naotsugu reminded them. "I will be setting up camp here with Naotsugu-san and Nyanta-san and wait for your return. We will be camping at this plaza, and will challenge the dungeon every day. You don't need to clear it in one day. You can recover your strength once you return to camp, you can relax here." Rezarick looked strict, but he seems to be a caring person. His words a.s.sured the campers. "Eh teacher is not coming?" Tohya shouted, Naotsugu nodded with a smile. "Of course, this is a training for beginners. If experienced players tag along, that won't be training right? You are a vanguard as well, so you should understand that right? If I am the tank, you won't be able to learn anything." When he put it that way, it made sense. But Minori was still worried. Minori trusted Tohya, she even heard that he was an excellent tank (for beginners). What she was worried about was her healing abilities. With Tohya holding down a key position, if he did not have the support of healers, he wouldn't be able to endure the attacks for long. But since their instructors Naotsugu and Nyanta said so, Minori had no objections. They a.s.signed them the task because they believed in their abilities, so the twins should respond by living up to their expectations. The other beginners also had worried expressions, but all of them nodded their heads with similar thoughts to Minori.
Next was party a.s.signment. The dungeon had two halves, and the beginners were separated according to their strengths as well. The twins were in the weaker team, as the group split into two as the Cleric read out their names. The weaker party had 5 people. The maximum number in a party was 6, so this was not an optimal situation. But since there were 11 beginners, this could not be helped.
The crucial vanguard position with the duty of attracting and intercepting the enemies' attacks was filled by Tohya, Minori's twin brother. He was a Samurai, level 29. In the central position was Isuzu, a slender and tall Bard. She had been friends with Minori since their time in Hamelin, and was now in Crescent Moon Alliance. She was a bubbly girl with freckles, wielding a 2-handed spear that was rare for a Bard. She was 3 years older than Minori, a high school girl in the real world, level 24. There were 3 people in the rear guard. First was a young Sorcerer, Rundelhous. He wore a flashy robe, and was very prominent with his sn.o.bbish behavior, a solo player not in any guild, level 23. Next was the Druid Serara. When Minori escaped from Hamelin, Serara took care of her. They found out their levels were close after talking, and they became friends. Serara was also in high school, so her age was closer to Isuzu. She seemed to have a crush on Nyanta, always sticking close to him on the ride here, level 25. Minori herself was a Kannagi in the healer cla.s.s, level 21, the weakest in the party. s.h.i.+roe taught them 'battle has nothing to do with levels', but it still made Minori uneasy. The only redeeming point was that Serara the Druid was in the same party, if Minori's healing was not enough, Serara could pitch in as well. (Chief Nyanta must have considered this when a.s.signing the parties.)
"Well then, let's begin the 15 minutes strategy session." Nyanta said "Begin!" and clapped his hands, ending his instruction for the group. Minori's party gathered in confusion. If they looked to the other side, the party that was 5 levels higher than them on average was also having a discussion in a circle.
"Eh... What should we talk about?" Tohya asks the group. "Even if you say that..." Isuzu looked at the rest with a frown. "Hmmm, so that is to say, everyone, let's do our best right?" Rundelhous said confidently holding his 2-handed staff. This youth had blond hair and green eyes, similar to a prince in fairy tales. In Minori's eyes, his 'rich young master' aura was a bit too strong. "That is..." "Correct! You are right! Next will be the battlefield, it's a dungeon right? Dungeon! Fighting spirit is the most important!" Tohya cut off Minori's words and shook both of Rundelhous' hands strongly. "That's right! You understand! Spirit is the most important, even though being elegant and graceful is important, but the essence of a man is spirit and pa.s.sion!" Rundelhous seemed very happy to have Tohya's support, and they became fast friends out of the blue. (But, I think we should discuss something like formation and patrol file...)
"That's it, let's work hard together! We are comrades that will be grinding in the dungeon for a whole week after all!" Isuzu had a smile over her freckled face. (I can't say it in this atmosphere...) Minori peeked to her side, Serara also had a troubled expression. She smiled to rea.s.sure her, and she smiled in return, which put Minori at ease. As Minori's party continued to interact, the stronger party started to move into Ragranda Forest. Minori noticed this when Nyanta shouted: "Work hard in your battles nya!" Minori clenched her fists hard. After leaving Hamelin for 2 months, Minori was not completely useless. Hamelin forced her to take up the subcla.s.s Tailor, which she was unfamiliar with. She abandoned her subcla.s.s training and worked on leveling up together with Tohya under the guidance of s.h.i.+roe's group. After much hard work, Minori rose from level 12 to 21, but s.h.i.+roe warned them about the cons of only grinding levels, so the overall training was progressing slowly. All their battles so far had been under the supervision of a high-level guild member. But even though they set up a camp outside to support them, they had to party by themselves to explore the dungeon and defeat their enemies, so it was normal for them to feel nervous.
Minori was not afraid of losing. She was afraid of doing some embarra.s.sing actions in front of the group. When she thought she might waste all the teaching and efforts put in by s.h.i.+roe's group, her knees would be like jelly, unable to walk properly. "Minori-cchi, are you okay nya?" Someone spoke to her suddenly, making Minori lift her head in shock. Nyanta was in front of her with his usual slit eyes and a kind face. This face with a hint of doubt, made Minori shake her head and say "It's nothing!" Naotsugu looked at this scene and commented "Minori is such a worrywart" and laughed softly. "Listen, if you encounter any trouble, remember to move forward. Not your legs, but your hearts, can you promise me that?" Naotsugu patted Minori's head, approached the other party members and spoke to them. Minori looked at his back. Naotsugu and Nyanta were encouraging and instructing her teammates, Serara seemed so grateful that she might tackle him in a hug. Rundelhous' arrogance was obvious, Tohya promised to bring back a souvenir, Isuzu bowed in grat.i.tude. "Alright, you are lagging a bit too much from the other team, time to go! Work hard!" And so, Minori's party challenged a dungeon for the first time. 3 The morning after the banquet, s.h.i.+roe's group enjoyed their breakfast on a roomy terrace. The terrace the amba.s.sador team gathered in had all sorts of plants, the crystal atrium reflected the bright summer sun. This terrace was about the size of a small-scale greenhouse, with 3 dining tables, a very luxurious place. The dishes were very traditional, freshly baked bread, sunny-side-up eggs, cheese, ham, jam, honey, and b.u.t.ter. There were also fruits and vegetable salad platters and various beverages, everything was decorated elegantly. s.h.i.+roe just needed raw eggs with rice for breakfast, but there was nothing to complain about for this breakfast. According to production guildmaster Michitaka, this was "hmmm... quite normal". Akiba's standard for food had been progressing rapidly for the past 2 months. There were even beef bowls available now through unknown methods, surprising s.h.i.+roe. Processed seasonings like soy sauce and miso soup had also debuted in the form of 'imitation versions.' The news was that fermentation and processing time could take up to years for it to have proper taste, the 'imitation version' skipped several processes and was an inferior product. But to the people who had grown accustomed to the tasteless food of days past, this was a joyful taste.
"Eh, my lord, pa.s.s me the jam please." Akatsuki asked s.h.i.+roe while holding a piece of bread with her pet.i.te mouth. Her sense of 's.h.i.+n.o.bi loyalty' seemed to differ from the common world. Apart from addressing s.h.i.+roe as lord, the two of them had a normal relations.h.i.+p. "Akatsuki-chan, you need to eat the salad too, or your skin will turn bad." Henrietta was looking for ways to interact with Akatsuki, but Akatsuki lifted herself off the chair, getting ready to escape. "Such a comfortable morning!" Just as Michitaka said, the blue of the morning sky was spectacularly beautiful. Enclosed by a gla.s.s wall, there was no wind in the terrace, but it was cool here with several waterways in the area. There was no heat from the summer here, only the bright sunlight. "That's right." 'Berserker' Krusty was calmly sipping his tea. The other members also helped themselves to breakfast. When they first arrived at the terrace, the tables were much further apart, and there was an obvious difference in quality for each table. This should be the difference in treatment for n.o.bles and servants. But the group was not bothered by this, they pulled the tables closer and pa.s.sed the breadbasket around freely, picking the ones they preferred. If there was not enough they could just take more from their bags, there were already people who were drinking their own green and thick beverages. "But this is luxurious, I did expect them to arrange our accommodations, but not this level of service." Henrietta stopped when she reached this point of her speech. After the banquet ended, the group was led to their living abodes, but instead of rooms, it should be described as zones. Situated on the southeast corner of the palace of this floor, there were twenty rooms. There was also a small meeting room, the terrace they were in, showers, a recreation room, a chatting room, and several rooms for receiving guests. "But if this is the case... hmmm." "What is the matter, s.h.i.+roe-dono?" Michitaka inquired. "Michitaka-san, do we have a Chef here?" "Of course, what's the issue?" "I think we should get more Chefs and people to supply food, the supporting staff need to be capable, between 3-6 people." "Indeed." Krusty nodded at s.h.i.+roe's request. "What is the problem? They won't poison us right?" s.h.i.+roe calmed Michitaka down. "No, the reason why they arranged such a big place for us... is in antic.i.p.ation that we would need to entertain guests as well. I have always felt that 10 days is too long, but I understand now. The meetings will be held in several sessions, but there will be many side meetings and invitations to talk, these are known as tea parties." "That should be what is happening. I was invited to many tea parties the night of the banquet." "Now you mention it, so was I." "But I changed the topic tactfully." Krusty concluded with a cold expression. But in this situation, they would be receiving a lot more tea party invitations, and would be forced to attend some, so s.h.i.+roe thought it was best to be prepared. "I wonder what today's meeting schedule will be like... Hey, Kaayu." "Here boss." Michitaka called for his aide from his guild, instructing the youth Kaayu to find out today's meeting schedule, and also reminded him to collect intelligence. After Kaayu left energetically, s.h.i.+roe, Michitaka and Krusty continued to drink their tea. There were only the 3 of them at this table, but the other table was within earshot, so they could discuss things together. "... seems like this is more complicated than expected." Krusty and s.h.i.+roe nodded to acknowledge Michitaka's point. League of Freedom Cities Eastal was formed by 24 n.o.ble families, 25 if you included the Round Table Council. They were spread all across east j.a.pan, governing their own territories. The ones that were larger in scale had a citadel city at most, supported by surrounding farms and a few villages. Duke Sergead's Maihama was the largest among the n.o.bles, but only had a population of 30,000 at most. Of the 3 ladies who debuted last night, one was Marquis Lestar's daughter from Owly, another was the granddaughter of Freedom City Iwafune's Lord Sugana. But these two cities had a population of around 10,000, considered mid-size among the n.o.bles. If you thought about this you would understand Akiba with 15,000 Adventurers and total population of 20,000, was a force to reckon with. Ignoring the fact of the individual battle prowess of Adventurers, the scale of the city itself ranked among the top 5 in the League of Freedom Cities Eastal. Other than this, there were countless small-scale villages in the east j.a.pan region which were not under the control or protection of any n.o.bles. These independent villages did not revolt against the lords. In this world where monsters roamed freely, they yearned to be part of the n.o.bles' territories to be protected. But the n.o.bles would decline with the reason 'it is too far from the main city' and not send any soldiers to guard them.
The duty of n.o.bles was to ensure the safety of their citizens and territory. If you viewed it from an extreme point, taxes were the price they paid for protection. There were also criminals within their territories, and there were also incidents of monster attacks. But these incidents were different from 'being unable to organize defensive forces'. If it was in a distance that could be covered in a day of riding, the n.o.bles would be able to send troops to protect these villages. But any further they would need to station an army camp there. In this fantasy world, traveling took more time than you could imagine, increasing the mobility of a small group of soldiers in order to expand their protection range was impossible to execute. There were also many farmers who were independent and preferred to not deal with n.o.bles. If the n.o.ble was able to increase their armed forces cheaply, there would be a possibility of an increase in taxes. (Just gaining intelligence on this is worth our time here.) The n.o.bles also knew about the existence of Adventurers. Since the time when Elder Tales was just a game, there were many quests involving the protection of villages, escorting travelers, and defeating groups of monsters because of the n.o.bles.
Similar to hiring mercenaries, they could put up job requests for Adventurers that normal soldiers didn't have the time to handle, or even outsource the soldiers' jobs to them to free up resources for their soldiers to fight elsewhere. The pioneer villages not under the n.o.bles' jurisdictions would also send requests to Adventurers when they were attacked by monsters or demihumans. After the Catastrophe, many players including s.h.i.+roe spent the majority of their time trying to grasp the situation and to survive. They also trained to learn how to use their skills here. These pioneer villages definitely needed the aid of Adventurers more. With Akiba taking the lead, Adventurers everywhere were also having a revolution in technology, the n.o.bles knew about this as well. "Seems like they want to recruit us, I can understand their feelings." Michitaka added honey to his tea as he speaks. "Now I understand s.h.i.+roe-kun's speech... to build relations with the People of the Land, right? We need to handle this part delicately, so Akiba won't be fazed by the situation. I wonder what kind of divisive schemes they have up their sleeves." "It is too early to let down our guard, it is highly possible they are just starting their divisive plots." s.h.i.+roe replied in a low voice. Even if it was a bit delusional, his keen observations had already considered several negative ways this could play out. "The topic of division can be dealt with later, the important thing in the current phase is to understand their methods and operation philosophy, we need to start from there." "That's right... What are your views, s.h.i.+roe-kun?" s.h.i.+roe summarized the situation he understood from their conversations last night. "I think the intent of the n.o.bles is quite obvious. They wanted to understand the ambition of the Round Table Council at the beginning, and to observe how barbaric we are. But we have cleared most of their worries in last night's banquet, seeing us as intelligent and reasonable enough to communicate with. Their next step is recruitment, they were planning to bestow a t.i.tle of n.o.bility on Krusty-san, there are no cons in doing that. If they have a cat, they need to tie a bell on its neck, the n.o.bles are still moving in consensus up 'til this point. There are some who object to this, but they will settle such disputes afterwards, prioritizing on the recruitment plan." When s.h.i.+roe reached this point of his speech, the crystal door at the entrance of the terrace opened, Kaayu of Oceanic Systems was back. He was successful in obtaining information, and with the permission of Michitaka, he gave his report. "The official news will be made in the afternoon, but the n.o.bles' meeting appears to have been cancelled." Krusty nodded curtly, Michitaka signaled Kaayu to continue. "I asked the other employees... This palace is managed by them all year long... This seems to be the usual practice of the annual n.o.ble meetings. After starting with a banquet, there will be lunch sessions, tea parties, night parties, and dinner gatherings, so the n.o.bles bring along many attendants. Our numbers and luggage are small by comparison, that's why we have so many empty rooms. There will be n.o.bles meeting in the last few days where they will raise agendas they have arranged beforehand, which will be decided by a majority vote speedily." s.h.i.+roe nodded in agreement. Thinking about it carefully, even if there were 24 members, their power and scale differed widely. Compared to holding a series of meetings to vote and discuss any dissenting opinions, dealing with each other privately and forming alliances and compromise was a smoother way of communication. In j.a.pan this was known as 'consultation', it was not a special idea. "Alright, the schedule for the next few days is obvious, Akiba has powerful military capabilities, the n.o.bles understand this as well. All who challenge us 1-on-1 will be seeking their own destruction, so they will be careful in contacting us. But if they are successful in getting on good terms with the Round Table Council, it will have many advantages for them in this world. As mentioned by Krusty-san and Michitaka-san, their invitations for meetings will increase. Requests for Akiba's battle prowess, finance, talents, inventions, and tools will be overwhelming. We need to clear this problematic barrier in this phase of negotiations." "So we need to set a basic policy for future talks... Hmmm..." s.h.i.+roe's a.n.a.lysis made Michitaka frown, this was a troublesome issue indeed.
"From the perspective of the Round Table Council, we will be fine declining all invitations. But both battle guilds and production guilds might want to accept some of their requests. Other than guilds, we need to consider if individual players want to accept these requests too. We shouldn't handle all the details involved. For instance, even if we restrict exporting goods from Akiba to other cities, we won't be able to lock down the market anyway. The same goes for battle guilds. If the request is for 5000 mercenaries, that will be too much for us, and we can decline them. But if they just want to hire a few Adventurers, even if we restrict it, it will be useless if the players are okay with it." "This part should be correct." Krusty nodded in reply. The governing system in Akiba had been set up after much effort. After 2 months of practice, a lot of Adventurers had gotten used to fighting in the alternate world, a support system with food as its core had also been built over time. The next craze would be world exploration, the plan to investigate the Fairy Rings should be underway. With this, there would be more chances for each guild to receive requests, which should ensure their freedom in this aspect. "Regarding the outflow of our resources, if the scale is too big, we might have to consider export taxes... Henrietta-san, what are your views regarding this?" "... Hmmm, my expertise is not in finance, so I cannot say for certain... I am just a normal accountant anyway. But from the current phase, I think Akiba is not a first cla.s.s production city, and we are unable to acquire farm stocks and fisheries in bulk. Regarding the problems a.s.sociated with resource outflow, importation is not the problem, there will be problems if we stop importation... As for exports, considering the transport ability of this world, we should be concerned about items that are small in number but have large impacts. There is a more serious problem, that is the loss of technology and talents a.s.sociated with them." Henrietta adjusted her gla.s.ses as she spoke. s.h.i.+roe considered her words momentarily and continued. "Yes, this is also a pressing matter... After this diplomatic visit is over, the Round Table Council will need to discuss this. But I don't think we can stonewall the n.o.bles about everything, so we should announce that the Round Table Council has set up a department of foreign affairs, in charge of battle a.s.signments, provision of skills and exports. n.o.bles will just need to submit an official request to the department, we will reply after discussion. I think this process will be more suitable. After this visit, we will really need to set up this department, but if it is jobs that are more common in nature, we can set up an administration system. For example, we receive a request to "defeat 100 goblins in the hills." This job will be a.s.signed to a battle guild registered with the foreign affairs department. It is the same for the corporate side, if there is an order for "200 sets of cutlery," it can be handled by the department and delegated to a guild. If the request is beyond the capacity of a small guild, it will be escalated to the Round Table Council to handle. How does everyone feel about this?" s.h.i.+roe's concept was based on using the department of foreign affairs to handle quest systems just like the old days. "This proposal is fine." "I think this very adequate, this part should be fine for the 3 of us to decide. We can use telepathy to report to the others later." Michitaka and Krusty nodded in agreement. "But I think the n.o.bles won't be satisfied with this. If they cannot convince the Round Table Council as a group, they would want to get closer to the representatives of Oceanic Systems or D.D.D. The n.o.bles are planning to form secret pacts during this period, and for us... we can only deal with them on the spot, be careful not to let them grab your weak spots." s.h.i.+roe concluded. s.h.i.+roe was unable to come up with a strategy on the whole. They would need to make judgement calls on the spot. Even if he could come up with a policy, he was unable to oversee the individual battles.
"This part will be our responsibility." Krusty nodded slowly. As expected of the guild master of a large guild, his calm and confident demeanor gave off the aura of a natural-born leader. "Avoid making contracts carelessly, and try to get intelligence from them, correct?" "Yes, we should move along this line." Henrietta agreed with Michitaka's words. The other members also joined in the debate, setting up counter strategies for some common scenarios. They were also expecting bribery and secret dealings. After confirming that they should deal in secret as much as possible, they concluded the breakfast session. 4 Raynesia's mood was akin to low alt.i.tude flying. Low alt.i.tude flying was the proper term, but her heart had in fact fallen down a cliff. The reason why she didn't use the term fell down a cliff was because she was the eastern region's most powerful n.o.ble's, Sergead's, granddaughter. Simply put, her position did not allow her to sulk in her room. 'Sulk to the bottom of a cliff' sounded so gloomy that she couldn't move, but her handmaid followed her like a shadow, with no regards to her wants, she was forced to change her clothes every morning and attend various events. If you considered this, instead of being depressed to a fixed position like the bottom of the cliff, her feelings were still moving like low alt.i.tude flying. But her heart felt she was being dragged all around the place. "Qoo..." She sighed softly. This was one of the many empty gardens in the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, the time was shortly after noon. She forced her maid to let her be alone here for a while. There were no tea parties for the afternoon, but there was a dinner gathering after sunset. She needed to play host along with grandfather Duke Sergead, father Fernile and mother Sarariya, to several n.o.bles and entertain them. It was not difficult and didn't take much effort, but it made her heart feel heavy. She leaned lazily on the table, her forehead touching the cool marble. Nothing in particular happened that made her sad. This was just her nature, cowardly, afraid of troubles, always frowning and thinking about useless things, pessimistic and had no energy, this was how she saw herself. If there was no one to bother her, she would just hide in a corner peacefully, that was how she was. Instead of saying she was gloomy, a better description was she critically lacked a cheerful side. Even though it was wrong to say this about yourself, she felt that others wouldn't want to socialize with someone like her.
Speaking of Raynesia's appearance, she had long silver hair and a slender neck, a frail and skinny beautiful young lady. The corners of her greyish green eyes drooped down slightly, seeming to give a hint of mysterious sadness. Her breast and body were not well developed, but it was enough to see her as a girl. If there were men who preferred a body type like hers, they would definitely see her as a beauty. (Ah.) Even so, she looked very sloppy the way she lay over the table. Others would praise her beauty, and she was aware of it too. But she felt that 50% of it was because of her grandfather Duke Sergead, 40% was because she showered every day and took care of her hair and put on makeup, anybody could be like her... In other words, her beauty stemmed from the power of the n.o.bles, making her feel a sense of guilt. 10% she attributed to her feeling 'maybe I am pretty cute after all'. But if she heard others describe her as 'What a dreamy princess' or 'cultured lady with a sense of sorrow', she would snap out of it and face reality. (Not full of sorrow, I'm just gloomy. Not a cultured lady, I'm just not energetic... that is all...) As she thought like this, she gave in to her m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic feelings and lay down on the table. She spent every day thinking about these kind of things, seeing herself as a complicated and troublesome person. But it couldn't be helped if she didn't change her nature.
"An army is lucky to have a commander like you, the capabilities can rival those of the 'Knights of the East'." "... No, our forces are not that powerful, we still have many issues with battle readiness to fine-tune." The approaching steps and conversation seemed to be coming from n.o.bles. A middle-aged man sounded a bit panicky, the other young man seemed stable and calm. Raynesia sat up straight in an instant when she heard the sound. In this palace filled with schemes and treachery, women of clan Corwen could not display weakness. Raynesia was a grumpy girl with no energy, but she was still willing to protect her family's pride. "Please visit my territory if you have the time, I have fine wine at my place. It is almost night, want to have a drink together?" "Hmm, drinking... I am very sorry." Several people appeared in the corner of the rose garden and walked in this direction. The two men in front, the left was the lord of Tsukuba, Marquis Kyriva. Tsukuba has an influential university and he was respected for his efforts in governing his lands. Behind him seemed to be the Marquis' attendants and maids. On the other hand, the young man who was walking beside the Marquis... No, he didn't look like a knight. His tidy short hair and spectacles made him look intelligent. His strong body and crisp movements were a sign of a man of action in the battlefield. Simply strolling was enough to feel an air of intimidation about him, he had the demeanor of a young general. (That is... the one I saw yesterday...) Raynesia saw a flash of memory. She remembered her father saying that he was one of the Adventurers, but they were not introduced. She recalled her grandfather chatted with him for a long time. Father described him as "For good or bad, they will be the eye of the storm of League of Freedom Cities Eastal." The people pa.s.sing by were quite a distance from Raynesia. Raynesia hoped that they would see her as 'a princess enjoying tea in a pavilion inside the garden'. This made Raynesia relax, she just needed to nod her head and greet them to avoid any trouble. But maybe it was a coincidence, her eyes met with the young man who looked like a knight. Raynesia instinctively nodded to greet him, showing a face that the young knights in the city described as 'a smile akin to a flower in the rain'. This was a popular face, and could be used on many occasions, a tool that Raynesia utilized frequently. The young knight stopped in his tracks and smiled... Or appeared to. The reflection of the sun from his spectacles made it hard to see his face.
"Marquis Kyriva, I apologize, but I have a prior engagement." "And who might you be meeting... Eh, it is Princess Raynesia!" This man walked towards Raynesia slowly. Raynesia was troubled, or rather, her face was cramping up. The knight approached steadily and with no signs of hesitation, which convinced Marquis Kyriva it was true. His gaze switched between the knight and Princess Raynesia several times and said: "I shouldn't be so obtuse. Krusty-dono, let's improve our friends.h.i.+p some other time." The knight known as Krusty turned at the entrance of the pavilion to bid Marquis Kyriva farewell. After the Marquis was gone from sight, he entered the pavilion with Raynesia confused and frozen in place. (Wah, he... he is tall...) He should be taller than 190cm. Raynesia had seen burly knights in the city before, but this young knight was big not gentle, his face had a hint of sensibility, giving off an elegant feeling. "I... I am from Maihama, a daughter of clan Corwen, my name is Raynesia. May I ask, your prior engagement... is with who?" "Ah, I am Krusty, an Adventurer." After he said that, he took a seat diagonally across from Raynesia. There were several fixed marble benches in the pavilion. They were covered in leather or had feather cus.h.i.+ons on top. The marble table was made shorter than usual, a cla.s.sy design suitable for drinking tea elegantly. "The prior engagement I mentioned was just an excuse, if I made you feel troubled, I apologize..." The young knight said without any guilt. (That means... he is using me? But he doesn't look like a bad guy...) Raynesia was unable to guess Krusty's intent, but if her father was right, this man was the eye of the storm for the League of Freedom Cities Eastal. She had to be polite and nice to him. Raynesia waited for Krusty to continue like an elegant n.o.ble lady should. "You are thinking 'I am so tired', correct?" "Hm!" Krusty's comment made Raynesia freeze. "Not only that, when our eyes first met, you were thinking "this is going to be trouble", right?" "Eh!" Raynesia was totally frozen now, while Krusty smiled. His smile was sensible and gentle, but to Raynesia, it looked like a devil's smile. "Why... Why..." "Why do I know? It's instinct, my kid sister back in town has the same att.i.tude as you, so I can tell." He said this with no signs of mischief, just stating the facts like the result of an experiment. (... This, this, this, this man is a bad man!) "It's not like that, oh hohoho..." Raynesia maintained her elegant lady's smile, but her action was stiff like an un-oiled machine. "I won't eat you, there is no need to be nervous." "Even if you say so, that is..." "I have been chased around by the lords and n.o.bles all morning, but since you are Duke Sergead's granddaughter, they will be hesitant to interrupt us. Is it convenient to chat with me?" The truth was Raynesia was unwilling to. Not only was this troublesome, it was also scary in a way. This gentle young man was able to see through her, even seemed to be able to read her mind. Raynesia felt that she could not stand up to him right from the start. If Raynesia was not a n.o.blewoman, she would want to apologize: "I am very sorry, I will be careful from now on, please forgive me." ... Even though she was not sure what she should be careful about, she just felt like saying this. (But, the last time I had this feeling was when grandfather scolded me that one time...) "You are not very willing correct?" "Hm!" He saw through her again. Raynesia wondered if this Adventurer was a psychic. Raynesia didn't understand why his observation skills were so impressive, and she felt a little bit like crying. But Krusty maintained his gentleman's demeanor with a smile on his face. "Please don't mind me." "Alright, would you like some tea..." "Thank you for your hospitality." Krusty nodded in reply. Raynesia took out the tea set that was prepared beforehand, there was no other way now. Her heart was heavy, not because she disliked him, she was just that way when she saw anyone. Anyway, even if she somehow managed to escape from this young Adventurer, she would have to talk to other people this evening. Compared to attending tea parties, or interacting with sons of other n.o.bles akin to wedding interviews, killing time lazily in this pavilion was better. This Adventurer's instincts seemed to be absurdly sharp. If that was the case, she wouldn't need to act like a lady. Since she had been seen through, just let him see as much as he wanted. Raynesia prepared tea for two, then rested her upper body on the marble table. Raynesia stopped acting cla.s.sy, and her skin was thick enough for her to act this way.
(Fufufu... be stunned by me.) The granddaughter of a duke placed her whole forehead on the marble table and enjoyed its cool temperature. Even though there was a man present she could ignore him. How could there be such a luxurious thing in the world? Raynesia was certain there wasn't any, hooray for solitude, hooray for ignoring people. I need to look people in the eye? Feed that to the dogs instead. But after 1 minute, 2 minutes, Krusty just quietly enjoyed his tea. The chirps of the birds flowed into her ears. From the clear sound of the chirping, the bird should be on the tree in the garden, or was it bathing in the fountain? (Anyway, this man is so cold.) For a normal knight, no, any normal gentleman, if they saw a young lady lying on the table, they would definitely express their concern. If a lady said she was unwell, they would escort her back to her room and look for female attendants to take care of her. Depending on the situation, maybe even find a doctor or a curse-removing mage. But this young man Krusty was totally not acting this way. "I am the most prominent person in the palace, if I announce that I am drinking tea with you, I would have an excuse to decline all activities or tea parties. Your parents will also praise you." Krusty's words made Raynesia stop thinking. As the meaning behind the words sink in, her face turned red. She felt fortunate to be lying on the marble table, even her parents had not seen her panic like this in recent years. Embarra.s.sment, shame, and a certain sweet sense of ease made her knees weak. Krusty's words lay out exactly why she should drink tea with him. "I was just talking to myself, please don't mind me." Raynesia was unable to respond, just stayed down on the table with a beet-red face. 5 Ragranda Forest. It was dark inside, but not as narrow as they thought. The ceiling was 3-5 meters tall, the path was 3 meters wide. The wall was made of stone, and the ground was laid with granite slabs close together. The air was dry and had a taste of mold. "I will provide some light." Rundelhous chanted the spell Magic Torch, conjuring an orange-red light source. "Is it okay to s.h.i.+ne some light? Won't he become a target?" Isuzu expressed her concern, but Rundelhous said "there is no difference." "Since the monsters are mostly undead type, they will be fine even in the darkness as they will detect us by our life force or with magic. Being in pitch-dark will benefit them, so having a light is better." Serara explained, and cast Bug's Light for a light source. Preparing multiple light sources, that was one of the tactics in raiding dungeons. If the person casting the light source was defeated, they would lose the light and fall into darkness. "Hmm, my light is brighter!" Rundelhous seemed to not understand this concept, and cast another magic light to compete. Serara gave a bitter smile and explained the idea to him. Rundelhous was hot-headed in the beginning, but calmed down and agreed after listening to the explanation. He said with a laugh: "So that is what this is about, it is not my light is too weak, I am an excellent mage, hahaha!" This guy was unexpectedly frivolous. Minori had this impression. After a few bends in the path, they reached a room. They stayed on guard, peeking into the room from behind the door. After looking for a while, there was no movement, so the group went in carefully. "This is..." There was a gap somewhere in the room, dry sand covered the stone floor, with tracks of several people pa.s.sing by, and bones scattered all over the place. "Seems like the party before us fought with skeletons here." Minori inspected the tracks on the floor and concluded. She could almost see what happened here. The footprints everywhere, signs of things being dragged, white bones, these clues told Minori about the battle that happened. It should have been over in less than a minute, an easy task. The monsters near the entrance usually had lower levels and were easy to deal with. "I guess there will be no enemies until we reach the T junction." Tohya said and led on. The way he sniffed the air with his nose was just like your average kid brother. The group stopped talking, and reached the T junction. As expected, the footprints before them went to the left. "..." Rundelhous smirked in regret, Tohya nodded in response as they looked straight at the path to the left. Minori tilted her head in confusion, the two of them seemed to have come to a consensus. "We will go this way today." "That's right, I hope they don't think we want to take the route on the right." Rundelhous said in response to Tohya. The party went right with a roar from Tohya, following this would be the main event, they were going to a place where they had to be very alert. "I... feel nervous." "Right." Minori lowered her voice as she talked to Serara besides her. The inside was very quiet, so there was not much point in lowering their voice, since they could still be heard clearly. But because of the darkness and pressure of the dungeon, Minori became afraid in this atmosphere, and her voice would become soft involuntarily.
"Eh!" The first to notice something wrong was Tohya walking in front. He found a group of 4 skeletons approaching them from the other end of the path. Tohya instinctively drew his blade and charged. "Tohya!" Minori stopped him with a shout at the same time. If Tohya charged into the enemy, the result would be the same as before. Tohya also understood this. In the 2 months he spent in Log Horizon, Tohya had improved. He held his sword with its tip at eye level, and swung with a roar. His blade flashed. A deep red shockwave shot from the tip of the sword and hit a skeleton. The impact did not cause much damage to the skeleton, but the squirming bone cracked slightly. They noticed the party's existence and hastily approached. This skill was known as Vacuum Slash. Warrior cla.s.s players were not proficient with ranged attacks, as their role was to be tanks and endure the enemies' onslaught. But they would be unable to handle certain situations. To balance this, they had a few skills with ranged attacks. Samurai's Vacuum Slash was one such ranged attack. Compared to cla.s.ses proficient in ranged attacks, such as a.s.sa.s.sins' arrows and magic attack cla.s.s' magic, the damage was minuscule. But it could attract the enemies attention without running into them, this skill was invaluable and convenient to Samurai this way. This skill served its function well. In the path illuminated by magic light sources, the skeleton moved towards Tohya in a creepy and smooth way. 3 of the skeletons had an axe, the other had a bow. The 4 of them seemed to be rus.h.i.+ng in together, but 5 meters away, the skeleton with the bow stopped. Tohya took up a stance in the middle of the path, exposing himself to the attacks of the 3 skeletons. The 3 skeletons with axes surrounded Tohya from 3 sides and attacked continuously. This was a mechanical movement devoid of emotion that was unique to undead types. "Take this! Hahhhhh!" Tohya counterattacked, slas.h.i.+ng at all the skeletons in sequence. This was a Samurai skill, a powerful technique that had a long recast time, 'Big Whirlwind Slash'.
The skeletons fell instantly. But they didn't fall in vain, as their attacks. .h.i.t Tohya in return, taking away 20% of Tohya's HP. "Cleansing barrier!" "Heartbeat healing!" Minori and Serara used their unique healing spells, casting them on Tohya at the same time. A barrier like a water mirror formed around Tohya. Minori was using damage intercepting magic, stopping attacks 15% of Tohya's maximum HP. Simply put, instead of suffering 20% damage, Tohya would only take 5% damage with the barrier in place. Serara's Heartbeat Healing was like the strong pulse of a beating heart, regenerating Tohya's HP gradually over time. This long term HP recovery spell would activate every second over a period of 15 seconds, recovering 20% of the HP would take 10 seconds. Tohya's defense was guaranteed by the support of the two healers.
"I'm next! Take this!" Rundelhous conjured a ball of magma from the tips of his fingers. "Orb of Lava!" The lava bullet did not fly in a straight line. It pierced through the first skeleton, then bent at an angle before hitting another skeleton. The undead skeletons crumbled under the heat, with one shattering and another catching fire. Rundelhous was a Sorcerer, one of the magic attack cla.s.ses. In a way, it was a complete attacker cla.s.s. They were known for their strong attack power. Similar to a.s.sa.s.sins taking weapon attacks to their limits, taking magical attacks to their limits would be Sorcerers. They could not be like Summoners that conjured creatures to do their bidding, nor like Enchanters who raised the potential of their allies. Sorcerers used primal and strong magic, turning their magic power directly into destructive power. These destructive forces usually took the form of fire, water, or lightning, and could be directed at the enemy to defeat them in an instant. Sorcerers' attack power, along with a.s.sa.s.sins', were the peak of the 12 cla.s.ses. Compared to a.s.sa.s.sins simply attacking with weapons, Sorcerers could choose to attack based on the enemies' type affinity, which many players felt was even better. "Hmm? Ah? Woah!" Rundelhous shouted in surprise. After the lava ball pierced the enemies, the tip of his staff shot out a rainbow beam, following the path of the ball causing additional damage. "That's great! It worked!" Isuzu gave a brilliant and sweet smile. Bard had many support skills, which was a unique feature of the Bard to many players. Their skill variety had a very wide range. In terms of supporting allies, even Enchanters did not match up to Bards. Isuzu chose to activate the permanent status buff song Harmony Carol today. The effect of this permanent status buff song activated when the magic attacks of allies. .h.i.t, and would automatically follow up with another attack. "Impressive! This is... a Bard's skill? Miss Isuzu, my artistic and destructive magic has raised to a legendary level! Hahahaha! How beautiful, well done!" This support seemed to greatly raise Rundelhous' morale. He gave Isuzu a thumbs-up and a wink that she could almost hear. Rundelhous with his western European handsome appearance looked like a Hollywood movie star when he made this action, he looked so charming that it was troubling. His lofty att.i.tude when talking might be due to his sheltered upbringing, but from his pure words, he didn't seem to be a bad guy. (And the attack is so strong...) As expected of a Sorcerer, even though they took some damage from Tohya's area attack, and received support from a Bard. But to take out 3 skeleton with one attack was an impressive feat. In Elder Tales, it was rare to see such an one-sided battle. Using Tohya as an example, if he fought with a monster of the same level 1-on-1, he would need at least 10 rounds to defeat him. The attack of healer cla.s.ses was even weaker, it would take 20 attacks for Minori. Even if the enemies' levels were lower than Rundelhous', to defeat them in one attack was astonis.h.i.+ng.
But... "Hold on, there is more!" "What is it, Miss Minori? Did you fall in love after witnessing my beautiful magic?" Rundelhous was struck in the back of his head as he was twirling around. It was an arrow from the skeleton archer. "Ah..." "Ah..." "Eh..." "This is bad..." "What... What is going on!" Rundelhous turned around. His attack hit all 4 enemies, but Tohya's attack did not hit the skeleton archer and it was still moving because of that. "Woah, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" "I... I will heal you!" Minori used Minor Heal as first aid. Tohya did not want the enemy to have a chance to attack and rushes the skeleton archer. But that was a mistake. The charging Tohya was discovered by a new group of skeleton in another corner of the pathway, attracting enemy reinforcements. Sorcerers had high attack power and were a powerful weapon for attacking the enemies, but they were not invincible. The high attacks would agitate the monsters. In the monsters' eyes, the most threatening player would be prioritized in their attacks. And Sorcerers had the same fate of all magic attack cla.s.ses, they could only equip armor with low defense ratings and had low innate defense. That group that came from around the corner had 5 skeletons, adding the skeleton archer left over, there were 6 enemies. And Tohya pus.h.i.+ng ahead made the formation unstable.    

 

    (This will become a free-for-all battle. No, I need to stay calm in this situation, starting with a party-wide damage intercept spell as insurance...) But Minori's thoughts already lacked calmness. Party-wide damage intercept spell was a powerful skill with a long casting time, Rundelhous could not afford to wait and used his attack spell again. He attracted the attention of the skeletons away from Tohya, and they just left the vanguard Tohya behind, making their way to the rear guard where Minori and the others were stationed. The skeleton archer continued his ranged attack on Rundelhous, and his HP slowly moved to the red danger zone.

 

In the center of the narrow tunnel, a free-for-all fight erupted.