Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 2: Chapter 03: Sunflower and Lily of the Valley

1

The following day, they started four days of preparation for the battle.

It was beyond being a tight schedule as everyone went beyond their limits in order to meet the deadline. The preparation was miraculously completed on time thanks to the efforts of everyone.

The three project leaders humbly pushed the reason for their success onto each other.

Crescent Moon Alliance’s guild master, a kind motherly figure loved by everyone, Maryele said: "Our guild Accountant is excellent, give her any number-related information, and she will take care of it accurately with less than 0. 01% error. As long as Henrietta handled the accounts, both the demons in hell and the angels with their trumpets will piss themselves and beg for forgiveness." She finished by proudly sticking out her voluminous chest.

The Accountant Henrietta said with her blond, curly hair swaying slightly, "I feel that my management skills have been pushed to the limits. Shiroe-sama's naturally cold-blooded proposal is vicious to the point of absurdity, to the point where it shakes the heavens. Calling him Shiroe is like a joke, we should refer to him as Pitch-Black Kuroe. If not for Akatsuki-chan, I would want to offer myself to him." Shiroe was unable to tell from her words if she were praising, joking, or putting him down.

As for the Shiroe who was being bullied, he pushed up his falling glasses and said in a sincere tone: "I think my darkness is only good for fooling 3 year-old kids. This cannot be compared to Mary-nee's kind nature. Even when the guild members are exhausted, they will still push on for her encouraging smile. In order to earn Mary-nee's praise and acknowledgement, people will even rise from the dead." He was dead serious as he said these words.

Anyway, the schedule set by these three had pushed Akatsuki, Naotsugu, Nyanta, and the Crescent Moon Alliance to their limits. For the members with shallow experience, this was a literal 'deadline'. The people taking part in the plan were like zombies returning to life after being encouraged. After finishing the preparations, they ushered in the morning where they began executing the plan.

That very morning.

As Akiba moved into the summer, the sun rose slightly earlier everyday. As the day started to get warmer, temporary stores that looked fancy but at the same time shabby appeared in three different locations.

A canvas was propped up by bundles of bamboo and wood cut to size, creating a big tent. Akin to a fair or event, colorful banners fluttered in the sky. In the center of the tent was a modified horse carriage serving as a store. The only stylish decoration was the wooden counter table.

The design of the store varied slightly in each location, but all of them had colorful flying flags and banners as a signboard with colorful letters that said 'Crescent☪Moon'.

In today's Akiba, restaurants and street stores were a dying business.

Because all the food had the same taste.

Following the setting of the game era of Elder Tales, the NPCs would operate beverage stations and bars, and many hotels also provided meals.

But all the meals available had the same taste, from the cheap 'bean with rice' or top-level grilled chicken, all of them tasted like soggy crackers. No grease or flavor; even if it were moist it was still hard to swallow, making you depressed as you ate.

It was the same with beverages. No matter what it was, even if the color was different, the smell and taste were just like well water. The only difference was alcohol, which tasted like water but made you warm inside, and eventually drunk.

Since that was the case, no one went to restaurants or bars anymore.

There were still some who were looking for a place to rest and headed towards these places. Compared to talking in the central square, a place with shade and chairs was much more comfortable. There was indeed a need for such services, but they were not there for the food.

They would only order the cheapest food as their 'chair rental' fee.

Most players in Akiba bought their food directly from NPCs.

All the food had the same taste, so if you could get the necessary nutrients, the only criteria would be price.

High-class food had the added effect of improving base stats for a short time, so battle guilds might need such items, but the demand was only a minority, probably less than 1 percent.

The majority of the players treated food as just something you needed when you were hungry, so buying cheap food was enough.

This led to a drastic price war.

The production rate for food in this world was very fast, and even the most high-level food could be made from the menu in 10 seconds.

If there were enough ingredients, a Chef could make 300 meals in an hour. Chef was not a popular subclass, but the supply of cheap food in the market was still overwhelming.

The manufacturers did not need to pay too much attention in getting the ingredients for high-class food. In this slow economy, low quality products were enough to meet the market demand, so just supplying cheap meals was enough.

Even though eating was necessary and there was a steady demand for it in the market, the price continued to fall. Even though it was one of the three basic desires of consumers, it was no match for the fact that food no longer had taste.

'Since the market is so harsh, why are you opening a restaurant?' This was what the citizens thought as they saw the flag and banners.

All the Chefs entrusted their goods to the NPC marketplace to sell. This was not only convenient, but it also avoided the pressure of selling it upfront by yourself. This was to be expected as there was no joy in selling tasteless food to the customers who were buying it solely for subsistence. All Chefs wanted to see their customers enjoying their food, and so Chefs had all but disappeared from the storefront.

But as the sun rose to a good angle, just one hour before noon, the shockwave started to spread.

Probably made by some guild or chef, big boxes of food arrived at the three stores, and an unfamiliar fragrance spread in the air.

It was the enchanting smell of grease and spice.

A lady with a voluptuous body walked to the front of the store, with her green hair flowing behind her, and started shouting,

"We are opening today, please visit our store! We are from Crescent☪Moon! For the people who are sick of the tasteless food, we bring good news! Now is the time to resume eating normally! It's tasty, very delicious! So good that your jaw will drop!"

Maryele shouted as if she had given up her self-esteem.

Guild Tailors made uniforms with a white blouse and skirts with vertical pink stripes. There were also bright orange ribbon bow ties and aprons with lotus designs on its edge; this was the standard appearance for fast food restaurants in the real world.

Serara, who was standing by, raised her tiny voice with a 'refuse to lose' attitude,

"Thank you! Thank you everyone! Thank you for your patronage!"

Maybe she was too tense, but she was handing out brochures while shouting 'thank you' repeatedly to the crowd.

Crescent Burger 15 gold, Super Crescent Burger for 30 gold.

Fried Chicken(1 piece) 18 gold, (3 pieces) for 50 gold.

Fish & Chips(small) 10 gold, (large) for 20 gold.

Black Rose Tea(1 cup) 5 gold, (1 bottle) for 15 gold.

The brochures contained promotional slogans as well as the price list.

The menu was more highbrow than a real world fast food chain, but it still brought a sense of nostalgia to the players.

A few customers were drawn by the fragrance and curiosity to the store.

The price was honestly quite steep.

A one-night stay in the cheapest room cost 10 gold in the city, meals could be bought for 5 gold. The price at Crescent☪Moon was 3 to 6 times the average price, so it was not a small expense.

But it was not an impossible price.

The expenses needed to live in this world were small, for example sleeping, the worst you could do was use a sleeping bag instead of renting a room.

There were many ruins and abandoned buildings in the city; if you just wanted shelter from the outdoors you could stay there. Food was plentiful and cheap, clothes were not something you needed to change frequently.

If you wanted to live luxuriously there were no limits, but if you wanted to live a simple life, 15 gold would be enough. In this world, guild hall maintenance fees and equipment repairs both required gold, so it was hard for players to amass fortunes, but it was easy to earn the money to get by everyday.

You might start to hesitate when spending 1000 gold on magic items or equipment, but 10+ gold was just chump change.

With this in mind, members from the crowd purchased a few of the items.

Maryele and Serara received incoming customers with a warm smile, serving the food that was just delivered by the young male members of the guild. They would also thank the customer with a smile and say "thank you for your patronage" together.

The first customer who only purchased out of curiosity bit into his food with a mixture of shyness and expectation. And, with just one bite he received a shock that made his legs feel like jelly.

"This! This! What is this?"

There was taste. You could only use these three words to describe it, but for the people who experienced it first hand, this was a joy that made the world spin.

Meat had the taste of meat.

The lettuce was crisp with the flavor and grease of the meat, mixing elegantly with the sour taste of the tomato.

The sweetness of the lightly toasted bun, the smoothness of the butter, the sting of the yellow mustard.

Every taste was refreshing and moving.

In terms of completeness, this was still far from perfection. In the real world, this taste was akin to family restaurants'; it was not good enough to be featured in gourmet magazines. But you could definitely say that this was the peak of taste in this world.

This man concentrated on eating his meal with teary eyes.

This must be the best food he ever had. Before he could process this thought, the burger was already gone.

He even licked the grease inside the box packaging clean.

He did not feel any shame.

If he felt any shame, he would have stopped his tears from flowing.

The shock he felt spread across Akiba in less than an hour.

This was a revolutionary discovery, as if people from a black and white environment were suddenly thrown into a colorful world.

The citizens of Akiba started to recall how much vitality they had lost. The masses had even forgotten the importance of delicious food, which they had given up pursuing.

Crescent☪Moon became Akiba's new legend.

2

Maryele's office was like a battlefield.

In front of her table was another simple meeting table, her couch had been pushed to a corner, documents piled up on the table like mountains.

All of them were full of words written by Henrietta who did the accounting and Shiroe who directed the operation.

After the impact-filled opening day, it was already 10 pm when the Crescent Moon Alliance members returned. They were much more exhausted than from fighting monsters for a whole day.

The stamina of the players matched that of the Elder Tales game era. That was to say, they were related to the player’s levels. The majority of the guild members were only mid-level, so they were like this. In fact, they should be complimented for their effort. But Shiroe and Henrietta had no time to spare for the store operation team. They were battling the documents akin to escaping from demons in hell.

The paper and ink produced by Shiroe using his Scribe abilities sat in the corner of the room. Henrietta took a stack of them and wrote new numbers down without saying a word. She raised her head and let out a long sigh.

"The accounts for today are done."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Hearing that, Shiroe stopped his pen and looked up.

"If you want to reward me, give Akatsuki-chan to me."

"… I can't give her to you, but you have permission to toy with her for an hour."

"Wah!"

Henrietta's eyes sparkled and she twisted her body in joy. Shiroe averted his eyes, and picked up the paper she was writing on.

"The wastage rate is lower than expected."

"Because the customers just keep coming, you can say that we have reached our targeted sales."

"If that is the case, then the problem will be in the ingredient stock…"

"That is right."

The numbers were within their projected values. It was a good number too. But this didn't mean there were no problems. The running of the stores used up all the manpower available to the Crescent Moon Alliance. Since it was food, it would surely deplete the ingredient stocks.

Everyone had been hunting the monsters for food and filling up the storage during the preparation period. Even on the opening day, a team led by Naotsugu and Shouryuu was out hunting for ingredients. According to the depletion rate, the stocks would last for 4 more days.

"… Ingredients are hard to gather."

"Want to start purchasing in bulk?"

"We will need to wait for Mary-nee to report for that part."

Shiroe and Henrietta continued manipulating a few figures, doing simulations through different ways. For instance, decreasing or increasing the menu or adjusting the selling price up or down.

No matter what combination they used, the stock wouldn't last more than 5 days. For the Crescent Moon Alliance's storage and manpower, this was the limit.

"Sorry for intruding… Wrong, this is my room."

Just as they were reaching for tea after finishing their discussion, Maryele entered the room after opening the door wide. Even though she was not drawn there by their discussion, Maryele was in high spirits as she walked in and gently petted Shiroe's head.

"Good work Shiro-bou, and you too, Henrietta."

As Maryele stuffed Henrietta's face into her huge chest with a hug, Henrietta replied calmly as if this were normal,

"Welcome back, Mary."

Maryele didn't return to her table, opting to take a seat in a chair beside the meeting table. She poured black leaf tea into 3 glasses from a bottle she claimed she stole from the kitchen. This was sold in the franchise as “Black Rose Tea”, but had nothing to do with roses, just Henrietta's preference.

"How is it? What are the sales like!"

Maryele asked with sparkling eyes.

(This part is the character of people from Osaka… but it is cute so that's okay.)

Shiroe sighed while Henrietta read out her report.

"Store revenue is 43,776 gold, a total of 1,159 sales were made, average sale is 38 gold. Crescent Burger and Super Crescent Burger sold out, the side meals other than Black Rose Tea also sold out."

"That’s incredible! Outstanding! 40,000 gold is, let me think, compared to our guild's monthly budget…"

"40 times."

"That's right, 40 times! We made a killing! If we maintain this pace, 5 million will be ours in no time!"

Maryele danced happily at the table. Shiroe shifted his gaze from her bouncing breasts and said,

"Mary-nee, this is not fast enough."

"Is that so?"

"Using rough estimation, this will take 120 days, that is over 3 months correct?"

"Wait a minute, we have been apologizing to the customers the whole day! If we want to sell, there are still lots of customers, so we need more stock."

Shiroe raised his hand interrupting Maryele and retorted,

"Potential customers should be more than 10,000. Since Akiba has at least 15,000 players, that is not the problem. The problem is with the number of stores the guild members can operate, and the number of merchandise we can prepare."

"Is that so?"

Maryele gave a confused expression that suggested she did not understand. Henrietta explained in detail for her,

"Hmm, that's right, the time to serve a customer and complete a transaction, let's assume is 3 minutes for 1 sale. 1 hour is 20 people, 8 hours is 160 people, 10 staff can serve 1600 customers. Even if the whole guild takes part in sales, we can only serve 4000 people. And that is ignoring deliveries, cooking, and administrative work, just solely concentrating on sales, so it is not a sustainable number… Because of this, I feel that our business plan has a good balance of manpower between sales, cooking, delivery, and miscellaneous. This stable situation can continue for the long term, and our profits…"

Henrietta pointed to the documents like a teacher.

"Should be similar to the result today, about 1000… In other words, with the scale of the Crescent Moon Alliance, no matter how much we want to, we can only handle 1000 orders per day."

"I see… I mean, this is such a good chance to rake in the cash but…"

After listening to the analysis, Maryele frowned at the missed opportunity, but brightened up immediately and asked,

"Hey, should we recruit more people? I think that this is a good chance to expand our numbers. Our stock has the most potential in Akiba right now, we are the miraculous Crescent☪Moon franchise, right?"

"We cannot do that."

Shiroe raised his objection.

"It is not good to doubt others, but the new recruits will probably all be spies. We are busy enough as it is, we have no time to handle this."

"I agree with that too."

Henrietta chipped in.

Maryele sighed as she said,

"Is that so…"

"Mary-nee, our objective in the end is not to raise funds."

"Hmmm… you are right! I was blinded for a moment by the cash we are raking in… But it is a pain to have no money right? If we go at the current pace, it will take 3 months, that will be too late… So we need to use the other plan? Can it succeed?"

Maryele asked timidly, making Henrietta smile.

"Relax, a normal merchant will not reject us. Trust me, if such an idiot exists, he should be executed by guillotine."

Shiroe smiled sheepishly at Henrietta.

The plan was moving in line with Shiroe's prediction.

(I will be expecting great things from this two-man show…)

Shiroe confirmed the plan in his mind; the negotiation in the next few days would be critical with no room for error.

"I leave the negotiation details in your hands, Henrietta-san."

"Roger, leave it to me."

Henrietta nodded slightly, giving her princess smile.

"Mary-nee, I leave restocking to you."

"I understand, but, I am not good with numbers…"

"You just need to get the other party to agree, I will come along to discuss the details. Or should I say, I will do both the restocking and the negotiations together, this will be easier."

Henrietta was far more capable than Shiroe imagined. He felt her aptitude for business during normal conversations, but he did not expect her to be so excellent.

Maryele, who was a bit clumsy but accommodating, needed companions like Henrietta and Shouryuu to assist her.

Shiroe recalled Akatsuki who was traveling the city carrying out her special mission and Naotsugu, who was doing stock takes even though he had been farming the whole day, as well as Nyanta, who was preparing the Crescent Burgers for tomorrow.

(Everyone is working up to expectations, and even giving higher standards than the targeted goal. If we fail in the end, the fault will lie totally on me…)

"What is the matter, Shiro-bou?"

"Nothing."

(Am I worthy of being their teammate?)

That thought flashed through his mind.

But that was only for an instant. For the sake of the companions that had been waiting for him, in order to not let them become fakes, he had the responsibility to match up to them.

Just as he promised Akatsuki that day, just as he pledged before Naotsugu, Nyanta, Maryele, and everyone.

No, 'worthy or not', this question was a meaningless and pretentious one. What mattered was making the plan work, to play out his role as the plan proposer who needed everybody’s help in the slew of ongoing operations.

"I will finish up the preparation work for the meeting. What we can do now is to prepare ourselves. By not exposing our ace in the hole, let's set up a grand festival. ”

3

Maryele put her fingertips together in an absent-minded manner, letting out a sigh yet again. She was always confident and smiling in front of others, but when she had to operate in an unknown field, she had no confidence.

She understood the reason Shiroe requested her to attend to this personally.

Since she was a guild master operating in Akiba, her circle of friends was wide. The person she was meeting was also an acquaintance; in some ways he was easy to communicate with… but he was also a famous and influential man.

Maryele adjusted her clothes once again.

She was wearing her most fancy dress, but she could not calm down. This was quite natural since she didn't have any experience with negotiating in-game, which was rare for most players too.

Elder Tales' costume… not long ago it was a type of equipment, but it had a high degree of freedom.

When adventuring or hunting the only things that mattered were the stats when choosing equipment. In Elder Tales, barring some exceptions, the equipment was all middle-ages European fantasy in design. Vanguards would wear plate armor while the second rows would wear chainmail or leather armor.

Healers have all kinds of armor to choose from, but Maryele, the Cleric, preferred heavy armor, such as a light breastplate and leather accessories, a tight fit shirt, pants, and a cloak. The guild crest could be added and the color customized. For equipment chosen for their performance, its appearance could not be altered too much.

But the clothes for moving around the city could be customized more freely.

Elder Tales was a middle-ages fantasy style RPG, but it did not follow the classical style totally. The design was influenced by current trends and fashion.

Middle-ages European fantasy designs were the default, but clothes unique to ethnic groups, uniforms, and maid outfits were also available. Designs influenced by manga and anime have a large following in the fashion culture.

As for the 'module and information' for the items, the outsourced developing company and the various servers maintenance companies had been given a lot of freedom, which was only natural.

This world was different from earth. This zone, which was representative of Japan, had low humidity. In this summer season there were plenty of clothes to choose from. Ranging from shorts and cotton shirts for the casual feel, fantasy-style long robes, Greek-style loose robes, or Japanese kimono, to iron-clad warriors, and high-class tailored suits, players had a variety of dresses.

Maryele was wearing a white silk blouse and a tight-fitting long skirt without any jacket. She had a loose scarf on her shoulders. The guild's Tailor made a V with her fingers symbolizing victory, but Maryele worried if this outfit was suitable.

"Don't look so lost."

Henrietta sat beside her said while looking in front.

Henrietta tied her blond wavy hair with a black ribbon and wore a black and white formal dress.

Maryele looked at her and thought that she could be so popular if she had her very own style.

"Is it okay…"

"Don't be so insecure. You need to be strong when negotiating. This is just the first step in the challenge we must overcome. Even if we fail, we can just try again with someone else, it's not like we have no room for error."

Maryele nodded in reply.

Today's negotiation topic was securing the supply of ingredients. If they could not replenish their depleting stock, they would still be fine tomorrow, but the day after would begin to affect the operation.

Inversely, if they succeeded in settling the ingredient supply problem, Crescent Moon Alliance could concentrate on cooking and sales.

What followed would be…

(Let's worry about what follows in the future. We have Shiroe and Henrietta with us, and as long as I do my part Shiroe will take care of the rest. I need to give my all in this negotiation.)

"But… if today's negotiation goes well it will make the later challenges easier, so don't relax, and give it your all."

"Boohoo, please don't give me more pressure…"

Just when Maryele was cheering up, Henrietta gave a cool retort, making Maryele feel feeble. Everyone had things they were good and bad at; Maryele understood that she would never learn how to maintain a poker face.

"Hi! Sorry for the wait!"

A player with sharp eyes appeared. He was a human with hazel hair and eyes. His name was Charasin, guild master of 8th District Shopping Center, one of Akiba's top 3 production guilds.

Charasin greeted them warmly after closing the door, and proceeded to sit down.

This was a room in a bar near the central square, available for 2 hours at the price of a few gold coins, suitable for private conversation. Maryele and Charasin had met before.

They went raiding together during their time as beginners.

Maryele and Charasin both started their own guilds and had had no chance to raid together since, but the relationship between the guilds was quite good.

Charasin's guild, 8th District Shopping Center, and Crescent Moon Alliance were located in different zones; exchanging information would be convenient for the both of them. Because of this, the two of them still kept in contact.

"Wah, Mary-san has a scary expression, what can I do for you today?"

Because they were quite close, Charasin expressed his concern gently.

The two of them went way back, but the scale of operation between 8th District Shopping Center and Crescent Moon Alliance was different.

Crescent Moon Alliance had about 30 people. It was a mutual assisting group, but the fact was the guild was a loose group where anything goes. It was made up of mid-level players where members with common interests went adventuring together.

Charasin's guild, 8th District Shopping Center, was a pure production guild. It did not provide battle or exploration support. The main activities of the players were the exchange of raw ingredients, bulk sales, production, and trade. It had 700 members, ranking number three behind Oceanic Systems and The Rodrick Firm among the production guilds.

The face of battle changed dramatically after the Catastrophe.

Shiroe and Naotsugu, who were experienced gamers, could observe the changes in battle, including the skills and abilities of the monsters, and adjust to them. But for the majority of the players, the biggest change was the horror of battling in person.

Even if you could win easily against low-level monsters, it was still a frightening experience to fight. Sword, axe, fang, claw, fire, or curses would come flying at you. Even if you could logically understand that you could handle it if your level were high enough, the number of players who refrained from fighting because of its bloody nature was not small.

Even if this were an alternate world, even if you were stuck here, even if fighting monsters were the most efficient way of making money, you should refrain from fighting if you could… it was more than expected for people to have this kind of thought.

The actual amount could not be determined, but Maryele estimated that after the Catastrophe, about half the population preferred to avoid battling. The production guilds gained popularity among the players and expanded their member base.

In Akiba, the biggest production guild was Oceanic Systems with 2500 members, followed by The Rodrick Firm with 1800 members.

Adding the guild led by the man sitting right in front, the 8th District Shopping Center's 700 members, the three guilds numbered 5000 members. There were also other smaller guilds. Before the Catastrophe, players who focused solely on production were rare, but this had changed.

"Today, I have a request for the 8th District Shopping Center."

Maryele explained.

"What is the request?"

Maryele was more serious than usual, so Charasin replied candidly. Charasin had already guessed the reason behind this meeting.

Maryele successfully operated Crescent☪Moon.

In the eyes of the production guild, she was at the top of the the food industry. Just like a person who was used to a colorful world would find it hard entering a world without color, players who ate the food with taste could not go back to eating a tasteless product akin to chewing wax.

Maryele had received reports that the price of food in the open market was dropping drastically.

Elder Tales was no longer a game.

Without a way of logging out, this was their reality now. Even if you could not die here, no one could deny the fact that you could not avoid living on as well.

The 30,000 players in the Japanese server needed to live here, unable to escape.

To exaggerate, in this far east region, the control of the food industry lay in the hands of the Crescent Moon Alliance. At least that was how Charasin saw it.

(Wah, Charasin is all business-like, leading a big guild is not that simple indeed.)

Charasin remained stately despite having a tense air around him, making Maryele form this opinion. If Henrietta did not instruct her with "We have the initiative in all the meetings, so we need to take a strong stance", she would have been pushed around easily.

"We would like to commission a supply guarantee request. The ingredient stocks in our guild are depleting fast, so we need to outsource the supply. The items we need are young deer meat, lettuce, tomato, flour, potato, sun sun fish, and thunder bird meat… that is about all. We can discuss the price and amount separately, but you can assume we need a huge quantity."

"Buying in bulk…"

Charasin replied curtly.

He expected this, and in a way this was natural.

Crescent Moon Alliance was a small guild, and as everyone expected, running such a big operation would deplete their stocks in a blink of the eye, and they would need to stop supplying their merchandise.

The amount of members, how many ingredients they could farm themselves… After considering all this, they came up with this request. Be it Maryele or Charasin who just found out about this, this was easy to understand.

"… What about the price and quantity?"

Maryele took out a piece of paper and gave him a few figures.

"Is that so…"

Charasin breathed slowly and seemed to be deep in thought, deciding if he should take up the commission.

Normally, this was a good deal; a guild like 8th District Shopping Center had many raw items in stock. There had been a price war recently, so if he could dump the stock that was worthless in the market at a reasonable price, it would help clear space in their warehouse.

If there was a need they could keep an eye on the market, buy cheap and sell high to Crescent Moon Alliance.

From the business point of view, there was no reason to reject.

This was the conclusion Maryele and Henrietta had reached.

But that didn't mean the request would be accepted easily. Maryele recalled Henrietta saying "We are now in the spotlight, they won't accept these excellent terms so easily, and will try to squeeze more benefit out of us."

After a moment of silence, Charasin smiled sociably.

He asked: "These are the ingredients for Crescent☪Moon?" Maryele replied with a smile "Yes".

"It seems that Crescent☪Moon is doing very well."

"Thanks to everyone, everyone is happy with the food, and our chef is also all smiles."

"… Is it a new recipe?"

"Our chef has excellent skills."

Maryele replied to the probing Charasin with a smile.

With a smile like a sunflower, Maryele looked gracefully prepared for anything. But the truth was, Maryele was already at her limits.

Charasin's query made her think that she had been exposed as a newbie, giving her the feeling of cold sweat.

But Shiroe instructed: "Mary-nee please maintain your beautiful smile no matter what happens. This is the most important thing. As long as you continue smiling, others will assist you in other ways."

So Maryele smiled like there was no tomorrow, free smiles for everyone. The corner of her green eyes drooped slightly, displaying a smile that could melt anything. With the combination of her voluptuous breasts and motherly nature, this could open a warm barrier that would stop anyone from further questioning her. But Maryele was unaware of this.

"I will look into this contract in detail. But in order to increase the scale of the operation, the 8th District Shopping Center and Crescent Moon Alliance can take this opportunity to…"

"Charasin, I apologize but it is almost time."

Henrietta interrupted Charasin with a clear voice.

"Time?"

"That's right, we will be talking to some other people after this."

Henrietta’s calm voice made Maryele put her hands together in guilt and shame.

"I'm sorry Charasin, I gave you a bit of advantage since we know each other, but Henrietta insisted that we need to be fair."

"Eh, Mary-san, what do you mean?"

"Hmm…"

Maryele moved her gaze and observed Henrietta. This was not an act, it was real. Maryele could not stand up to Henrietta when it involved spending money.

"Even though they are deals on some other matters, we are going to have a meeting with Oceanic Systems and The Rodrick Firm."

"Other matters?"

"Yes. I should say it is a sponsorship. It is regarding the sale of the Crescent☪Moon franchise rights."

"Eh!"

Charasin's expression changed.

8th District Shopping Center was among the top 3 guilds in Akiba, but it could not compare to Oceanic Systems and The Rodrick Firm. Oceanic Systems itself had 3 times the members of 8th District Shopping Center. If they joined in, Charasin would not have any say in the negotiations.

"We want to live in harmony with everyone. 8th District Shopping Center has been taking good care of us right? And we go way back, so I want 8th District Shopping Center to be a part of this… But Henrietta says we must solve the supply issue first."

"Mary, instead of saying ‘solving the issue’, it should be securing a supply line first, before moving on the next stage correct?"

Henrietta frowned when she listened to Maryele, and explained it to her like she was a kid.

"Wait a moment Mary, Henrietta-san, what plans does Crescent☪Moon have? What do you mean by sponsorship?" Charasin's question made Maryele nervously open her mouth. Henrietta touched her lips with her slender finger, and turned towards Charasin.

"In the eyes of 8th District Shopping Center, how much is this information worth?"

Henrietta looked at Charasin with mysterious eyes. No matter how you sliced it, the commission had excellent terms for 8th District Shopping Center, with no risk of loss. Charasin squinted his eyes and made his decision with this announcement:

"8th District Shopping Center is willing to accept the commission we discussed. Including young deer meat, lettuce, tomato, flour, potato, sun sun fish, and thunder bird meat. We will prepare 3200 sets each. The first batch will arrive the day after tomorrow in the morning… price will be 50,000."

"40,000."

"… Deal, 8th District Shopping Center's Charasin accepts these terms."

"Wonderful! Charasin accepted it right? Right? We can invite him to the meeting later and discuss this together right?"

"Yes, of course."

As Henrietta nodded a ring-tone sounded in Maryele's ear informing her that the next batch of visitors had arrived.

4

"Incredible, aren’t these two great beauties and the young guild master of 8th District Shopping Center?"

"… Erm."

As informed earlier, the ones who came in were Oceanic Systems' Michitaka and The Rodrick Firm's Rodrick.

"This is the first time we met! I am the guild master of Crescent Moon Alliance, Maryele, and this is our guild's manager Henrietta."

"Hold on, please don't use such an old term to address me. As introduced, I am Henrietta, in charge of accounts."

They took turns addressing the guests. Maryele just loafed at home and took care of the chores, while Henrietta was an office lady with a degree in economics. Even though Henrietta was in charge of accounts, she also learned from her father. As an office lady, she knew how to handle meetings of this scale. Even though the two of them were rough on the edges, they still managed to greet them properly.

"I am Oceanic Systems' Michitaka, my position is the boss."

With a body that looked more like a warrior's than a merchant's, he had a strong grip as he shook hands. His arms were beefy with obvious burn marks, possibly because he was a Blacksmith.

"I am The Rodrick Firm's Rodrick, guild master of a production guild."

On the other hand, the young man introducing himself as Rodrick had a scholarly air around him. He was a Pharmacist.

"Yes, I understand… understood…. Eh, I have heard about the two of you! Both of you are famous!"

Maryele smiled passionately.

In Henrietta's eyes, Maryele seemed to have taken a load off her shoulders. In the meeting earlier, Maryele was assigned to request 8th District Shopping Center to provide ingredients for this period of time. Because of this, she had already completed her assignment just now.

The negotiations now would be handled by Henrietta.

(This means that this is my battle now.)

Henrietta smiled and her intelligent eyes shone brightly. In front of her were the biggest and 2nd biggest guilds' leaders. Because their scale was too far apart, they normally wouldn't think much of Crescent Moon Alliance. Before today, Henrietta would have flinched at the thought of talking to them.

But Henrietta and her group had spent the last week preparing for this moment. All the preparation, days of farming, deliveries of goods, selling in the hot day, collecting information like fighting a moat battle, all that was for this encounter.

This step was based on the previous step, and the step before, and the step before that, a long chain of steps. And the ones who laid the foundation was not Henrietta, but her teammates.

(If I back down now, I won't be able to face my comrades. And this is Shiroe-sama's dark scheme… If we don't win this way, other ways won't work too. Keke, to think that I am taking part in this scheme.)

Henrietta thought of herself as a second rate player, and had never challenged any big-scale raids or high-level quests. And someone like her was right in the middle of the greatest campaign since this new world began.

(My strength is able to become someone else's strength.)

(I can use my power to its limit.)

This knowledge brought a sense of determination and excitement from within.

"Erm, we also know you. You are the owner of Crescent☪Moon correct? You are now a celebrity in Akiba. I ate it before too, although only that one time."

Michitaka smiled as he spoke.

Maryele continued to smile cheerfully in reply, unfazed by the others.

"But on the other hand, Maryele-san of Crescent☪Moon, you have invited us and the other big guilds, what do you have in mind?"

Rodrick said as he gazed at Charasin, trying to guess why Charasin was here before they arrived.

"That… the meaning, regarding the meaning, that is, erm…."

"Before this, let me explain the reason why I invited 8th District Shopping Center here before the others."

Henrietta said after counting her breaths.

Explaining word by word, wary of talking too fast, trying her best to sound at ease, carefully choosing her words, controlling her tone, and explained.

"We commissioned 8th District Shopping Center to supply us with ingredients."

This sentence made Michitaka's kind expression and Rodrick's wise eye suddenly fill with tense emotion; they probably guessed how the situation was going to progress.

8th District Shopping Center had about 700 members.

Oceanic Systems had 2500 members, The Rodrick Firm had 1800 members. Even though their levels and expertise were different and their influence was as big as the number of members, if Crescent☪Moon allied with 8th District Shopping Center supplying them ingredients, they would tip the balance in their favor.

Crescent☪Moon started a food revolution.

But because of its small guild size, their supply was also small in scale. Akiba had more than 15,000 people; supplying 1000 meals a day was far from adequate to meet the demand.

But if they linked up with 8th District Shopping Center's 700 members, they would be able to satisfy the city's need, and the profit would be enormous.

Because it was food.

Different from clothes, furniture, weapons, armor, accessories, these types of equipment, food needed to be consumed everyday. It was gone after you ate it, and even if it were cheap, the total expenditure would still be an astronomical figure. Since it was consumable, sales could be maintained, and 8th District Shopping Center who controlled the food supply would be able to absorb more members. Over time, they would be able to overturn the current situation, this was easy to see.

Henrietta understood Michitaka and Rodrick's thought process. Food as a weapon, depending on how it was used, could be a nuclear weapon capable of upsetting the balance of the production guilds.

"You mean… You are working together with 8th District Shopping Center?"

Michitaka beat Rodrick in asking the question.

His nature was straightforward, just like his appearance. This might not be the case in the real world, but for online games, popular guilds were surprisingly all led by players like that.

"No, if that was the case, there would be no need to invite us. This meeting has a different agenda correct?"

The skinny man with glasses, Rodrick, said in a gentle voice.

Henrietta thought he was similar to Shiroe as both of them wore glasses, but his neuroticism was a negative trait. Even if his schemes were better than Shiroe's, he wouldn't have the courage to harbor such schemes.

Until recently, Henrietta thought that Shiroe was an introvert and his low profile nature was like Rodrick's. That was why she could feel how wide their potential difference is; the only thing they had in common was their similar appearance.

"Yes, as you said, our guild has another agenda. We hope Oceanic Systems, The Rodrick Firm, and 8th District Shopping Center can listen to our request on equal grounds."

Henrietta bowed slightly.

Negotiations

Negotiations were a series of probings for truths and falsehoods.

By this definition, Henrietta was in a perilous position.

The topic was raised by Henrietta. If she did not provide information, the negotiation could not continue. But giving the details would mean showing her trump card.

Her advantage was that the other party wanted to reap some benefits, and Crescent☪Moon was a delicious and high-yield piece of meat.

On top of that…

(As long as we control the negotiations, that will mean sharing or hiding any information will be up to us.)

Henrietta organized information that could or could not be shared like a chess player.

Shiroe set a restriction for this meeting, that was not to lie.

When probing each other, you were banned from throwing smoke bombs, which limited the freedom she could use to fight. Henrietta knew that she has to keep to this restriction since this could become a disadvantage in the future.

(Shiroe-sama is being inconsiderate… If I don't borrow Akatsuki-chan from him, this will not be worth it. Ah ah, Akatsuki-chan, black and smooth hair just like a doll…)

Henrietta's face turned red as she started to fantasize. Maryele coughed twice in a hurry to warn her.

"… Ah, sorry, let's get straight to the topic. Crescent Moon Alliance is planning a big campaign, you can also say that it is a challenge. But our guild alone is not enough to take up this challenge, so we need help from all of you."

"Erm… solving a quest?"

For Rodrick's question, Henrietta did not answer yes or no. She kept her gaze down, her lips becoming the shape of the crescent moon.

(He is mistaken…)

Quests were an event in Elder Tales where you accepted missions from an NPC or book, leading to a series of events and adventures, with a variety of content.

For example, you receive a request from an old villager to look for her daughter in the forest; to clear the goblins in a cave; head to the lion scorpion swamp and bring back its sting. Every imaginable event could be included in quests.

Elder Tales was not like single-player RPG where there was a main story line and the quest represented a story in the game. Players could choose which level they want to take up the quest. But when Elder Tales was just a game it claimed to have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of quests, and no player could grasp all of the content.

With a variety of quests there were also a variety of rewards. It might be EXP, gold, items, magical knowledge, or even some special rights. The rarer rewards were magical training and recipes for producing items.

Rodrick interpreted Henrietta's challenge as a quest. That meant he should be deducing from the word campaign that this was a quest that could not be done alone. It might need several people, or maybe even organized groups that were bigger than a party in order to challenge it.

Right now they were negotiating the knowledge of preparing food with taste in exchange for funds. But Henrietta's method was more like an idea or an inspiration.

The production guilds' leaders had sharp instinct. If there were some leak in information, even if it were not the whole thing, they would be able to infer the technique. In fact, someone else might have the same inspiration one day.

Considering this, Henrietta chose the tactics of baiting the other party. Making use of the other parties' doubt and competitive nature, luring them to say what she wanted them to say.

Not lying. But not letting them know the truth, this was Henrietta's scheme.

"So, what kind of support does Mary's side need?"

Charasin asked, which was the assist Henrietta expected. She did not answer immediately, but looked into the eyes of the 3 guild masters.

Creating an indecisive atmosphere was also a necessary preparation during negotiations.

She knew her ally Maryele was still displaying her smile like a sunflower as the three young men looked at the two ladies.

(Mary is a beauty after all, she would be my type if she were not so tall. I would want to bring her home to be my hug pillow… Ah, Charasin-sama's face is red, seems like he has a thing for Mary, so pure…)

In reality, the three of them were looking at Maryele who was like the sun and Henrietta who was like the moon at the same time, shifting their gazes repeatedly between the two ladies. But Henrietta did not realize her charm, that was why she thought that way.

Henrietta summarized what she needed to say and began:

"Before saying what we need, I will explain the operating system. If we don't explain the resources we gathered, you might not believe us. This campaign will be led by Shiroe-sama."

Henrietta decided to gamble.

This was not Shiroe's instruction, and was not approved by Maryele. Henrietta did not know what the name Shiroe meant to them, she only knew that he played for a long time, had very deep level of experience, and knew some incredible people. But she did not know why Shiroe was so close to a small guild like Crescent Moon Alliance, and why he was not in any guild.

Henrietta spoke to Shiroe before and thought he was a special player, but was that the truth?

Henrietta heard from Serara about the griffons. From what Henrietta knew, that was not something a normal experienced player will have.

"Black Heart Shiroe is in command?"

The voice was soft, but Michitaka did say these words.

"The power forward is Naotsugu-sama, small forward is Akatsuki-sama, point guard is Nyanta-sama, guard is Maryele and me. There are also other volunteers as well as Crescent Moon Alliance who carry out this campaign."

Henrietta stopped momentarily to peek at Michitaka's reaction.

Michitaka reacted to the name of Shiroe and some others. He suppressed his emotions, so others could not tell what the reaction meant… But he did react.

(Shiroe-sama in control of a big chance of success.)

Shiroe's name had meaning.

"These are the core members, but even so we are still lacking something, so everyone please lend us your aid… We lack funds, we need 5 million gold."

The three of them gasped in unison.

That was quite a large sum of money.

In the game, there were some quests that needed money to complete. Maybe it was needed for bribes in the process, or the fee for training. Some quests required specific items, which you needed to buy from the market. If you took into account all of this, a quarter of the quests required funds.

But 5 million gold was too large a sum of money, it was impossible for a single player quest to request so much cash. But on the other hand, if it were a quest of legendary level, or if it covered a large range of areas, then it was hard to dismiss that you would need such huge funds.

Since no one had heard of this type of quest, did that mean it was a new quest? If it was an unknown quest, it was possible that it was added with the Novasphere Pioneers expansion pack, which no one knew about. But since it was announced that the level cap would be increased, the quest might be targeted at players above level 90.

Or it was a long story quest of a big scale. But if that was so, you would receive some monetary reward as you reached each checkpoint.

This was to motivate the players with rewards as they complete each phase of the quest so they wouldn't give up midway.

… That was what the 3 of them were thinking.

Humans, by nature, wanted to believe information was real, as Henrietta often heard her father who was a broker, say. The 3 of them were leaning towards believing that this was a new grand-scale mission.

Henrietta asked Maryele to present the goods.

Maryele presented red tea and custard pudding.

"Please have a taste! This is a new product, it is very tasty, okay? It's made from a roc egg!"

With Maryele's service with a smile, the 3 of them were stunned by the delicious food and her words. A roc was a high class monster with a level of 85 and above; if you wanted to use its egg… that meant there was someone who was higher than level 90 who had to have created this with a hidden recipe.

"We are not asking for you to sponsor for free. After we complete this campaign, we will share the details of our campaign with you all. In addition, we will also share our current food preparation method, and any recipe we find out in the process of the campaign, using the copying skill of our Scribe."

According to what Henrietta and Maryele understood, this campaign was a fight to improve the atmosphere of Akiba, that was to form an independent organization. The two of them did not know the details or the execution method… Shiroe had been vague on this part.

But if it were this type of activity, there was no need to know the information in detail. If it worked, the situation would be transparent, and it had to be this way. Shiroe judged that security could not be maintained with a black box system, and there was no harm in making the information public. And the information would lose its value after the campaign succeeded.

But to the production guilds, if Crescent Moon Alliance was challenging an unknown grand-scale quest, the starting point of the quest, requirements, and how to solve the puzzles were all top secret. Since there was no access to gaming guides via the internet, finding the same quest would take time, maybe even years.

Not only that, since Henrietta said that "our current food preparation method, and any recipe we find out in the process of the campaign", there was a recipe reward, and the quest should be linked with production. From Crescent☪Moon's activity, this must be a revolutionary recipe. Since the reward was targeted at Chefs, but not other production lines, the value was also hard to gauge.

The 3 of them believed the story they deduced.

Henrietta was confident that she has passed the biggest obstacle.

Her terms were so fantastic, they would have to be morons to reject it.

If she were rejected, it meant they still had doubts about the story. But the 3 of them were totally trapped in the "unknown new quest" story they came up with.

(It is about time to throw them life jackets…)

"We have done all we can to raise the money, including clearing our storage bank as well as the profits from Crescent☪Moon, and we have 0. 5 million, but we still need 4. 5 million. I feel that just asking for a sponsor from a single guild would upset the current balance. That's why I wish for each guild to come up with 1. 5 million… What do you think?"

Henrietta's monetary demand was split in 3.

In this world, level 90 players had wealth between 10,000 to 40 or 50,000. From this estimate, 100 people donating their money would reach the target of 1. 5 million.

For the biggest guild, Oceanic Systems, if they asked for donations from all the guild members, everyone just needed to bear the burden of 600 gold.

600 gold was the price of a mid-level armor, their expressions changed into that of determination, which is just as planned.

"The Rodrick Firm will join this campaign."

"8th District Shopping Center agrees as well."

"Understood, Oceanic Systems will also provide monetary support. But we can also be the exclusive sponsor if you wish."

"That is not okay… you want to hog the deal?"

Maryele stopped the commotion and said: "Please don't say that, okay? Please get along well for my sake."

Since Maryele, who had been smiling the whole time said so, the three of them had to give in. The agenda was still controlled by the Crescent Moon Alliance anyway.

"Then the payment time… four days later, is that okay?"

"Understood, what about the recipe in exchange?"

"The food preparation method will depend on how fast our Scribe works. But if it is possible, we will provide it on the day of the payment, the latest will be the day after. Shiroe-sama himself is a Scribe."

After bidding farewell with these words, the trio left the room. Maryele and Henrietta lost all their willpower and energy. Henrietta felt that the meeting was moving at her pace and she was controlling its direction, but she still felt more pressure than she expected.

The meeting was short, but the two of them were mentally exhausted. Their backs were so weak that they could not even sit straight, collapsing on the table.

"Henrietta… sorry…"

Maryele said with exhaustion and guilt.

"What's the matter, Mary?"

Henrietta's usual high-class lady's tone became lazy.

"I wanted to help, but I didn't do anything, negotiations are hard."

Maryele was embarrassed from the bottom of her heart as she said this. Even though Henrietta was very tired, she still couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Mary, what are you saying? If you did not smile like you did, we will not stand a chance in this meeting."

Henrietta was grateful of Maryele's smile. Without her sunflower-like smile, they probably couldn't secure the funds from the 3 experienced businessmen. And so, Henrietta and Maryele managed to raise the money.

5

The moon was shining brightly tonight.

The heat of the day left behind a dry and warm wind which blew across the abandoned train station where the fireflies danced. It was situated on the overhead bridge which overlooked the Akiba central square, over 200 meters of concrete ground.

In the real world, this was the platform of the Akiba train station.

The tracks and pillars were completely rusted and covered with weeds and moss. The two towers on either side of the platform had signs of heavy crushing damage, similar to being smashed by a blunt force, causing zigzag edges to form atto form at its peak.

The moonlight made the tower's shadow akin to a spear falling on the platform, mixing with the vegetation and the concrete. Two long shadows stood in this picture.

It was Shiroe and Nyanta.

"The wind is starting to blow nya."

"Yes, it is."

Shiroe raised his hand to his forehead and looked towards the moon.

The wind blew his fringe over his face. He squinted the eyes behind his round glasses and said slowly:

"It's getting late, and it will be some time before Soujirou comes. Chief Nyanta, want to sit down somewhere?"

"No no no, thank you for your concern, but this old man has not become that frail yet nya."

"I am not treating you like an old man."

Shiroe shrugged.

"Shiroe-chi, do you not wish to meet Souji-cchi nya?"

"Ah, eh…."

Shiroe considered the query.

"It's not that I am unwilling, just that I feel a bit guilty. Soujirou invited me when he formed his guild, so it is a bit awkward."

"So that is the case nya."

"He didn't invite Chief Nyanta?"

"During that time, I was online irregularly, so I do not remember his invitation nya."

"I see…"

They were waiting for Soujirou Seta.

He was an old friend of Nyanta, Shiroe, and Naotsugu.

He was in the Debauchery Tea Party as a Samurai with subclass Sword Saint, one of the 8 Debauchery Tea Party members trapped in this world.

In a way, Soujirou was influenced the most by the Debauchery Tea Party. Not only was he earnest and hard-working, he also had a kind nature. When the party disbanded, the one most reluctant to leave was him.

Samurai were proficient in many weapons, but their strength lied in swords. There were a variety of swords, such as the traditional tachi(cavalry sword), the smaller kodachi (a short tachi), or wakizashi (companion sword, a very short back-up blade, could be used for suicide) meant to complement other blades, and their iconic katana weapon. Elder Tales called fierce warriors focusing on damage and strength 'taichi', and those focusing on agility and speed, requiring high level of skill to control were known as 'katana'.

Soujirou was an expert 'katana'.

His techniques were not only fast, he could also use graceful movements to hide his actions. You could not see what he is going to do even if you concentrated on him. He was able to parry a punch from giants that could knock down a tree. The armor of sand worms that could withstand blows from warhammers was meaningless before him.

Soujirou always said with a shy smile, "Senpai, there is a trick to this."

When Naotsugu left the game, several others also left Elder Tales due to personal reasons. Chief Nyanta was half-retired for a period of time too, logging in irregularly.

Of those that were still playing Elder Tales, Soujirou was the pseudo-representative. He expressed "I don't want the Debauchery Tea Party's existence to be wasted." and started his own guild.

He also invited the other Debauchery Tea Party members. The Debauchery Tea Party was not a guild, just a name for this group and most of them were not in any guild.

Some of them joined, others declined. Shiroe was in the latter group.

"I feel that there is no need to feel any guilt nya, everyone must walk their own path nya. Souji-cchi will not be angry just because of this nya."

"You have a point, but…"

Shiroe stammered.

He was not concerned about declining to join, but the reason behind declining.

He was declining to be bound by these things called guilds.

And yet he now assisted the Crescent Moon Alliance in the Susukino quest, and was frustrated by Akiba bowing to the influence and control of the big guilds. He was meeting with Soujirou of the West Wind Brigade for his help to change this situation. Shiroe was changing with the times.

Back then he was a neat freak and found guilds and their complicated interpersonal relations to be disgusting, but it was different now. It was just that Shiroe didn't think he could explain exactly what was different and convey that to Soujirou.

Soujirou formed the West Wind Brigade after losing the Debauchery Tea Party, so he might understand this better than Shiroe.

West Wind Brigade.

Its scale was not big, but it was one of the most influential guilds in Akiba, claiming to have 120 members, but in reality there were less than 60. With these limited numbers, they were able to stand on equal grounds with big guilds like D. D. D, Black Sword Knights, and Honesty.

Although their scale was small, they had been successful in famous raids such as 'Rhadamanthys' Throne' or '9 Prisons of Heroes'. They had consistently raced with other big guilds to be the first to complete raids.

If you considered the results, they probably shone brighter than guilds with plenty of reserves and huge resources.

"Don't worry too much, since you decided to campaign you have to keep your head up. Shiroe-chi is now the owner of our porch nya."

Nyanta's words made Shiroe change his mindset and think that is really the case.

Just as Soujirou started a place to call his own, Shiroe was also building his new home, and he could not continue to be upset about this.

"Evening Shiro-senpai, Master Nyanta, it's been so long since we last met."

The approaching figure greeted them from a fair distance away. Soujirou's child-like expression reminded Shiroe that Soujirou was younger, and it had been a year since they last met.

"Soujirou, it's been a while."

"Long time no see nya. Souji-cchi, how have you been doing nya?"

Soujirou shrunk his neck shyly from their greeting.

Standing here smiling at each other was like going back to those times.

Soujirou dodged the overhanging vines agilely as he approached as the fireflies took to the sky.

Soujirou was wearing a hakama with two swords at his waist, like a Bakumatsu (End of Edo period) patriot.

He would wear armor if there were a need to fight, but in the city this was fine.

"I heard you started a guild, how is it nya?"

"Yes, it is doing very well, but the Catastrophe hit soon after."

Soujirou shrugged.

Shiroe noticed something from his expression.

Thinking about it carefully, including himself, Naotsugu, Nyanta, and Soujirou, all of them were not depressed by the Catastrophe. No matter how harsh the situation, they maintained a half-exploring, half-adventuring mood, probably because of the Debauchery Tea Party.

"Are Nazuna-chi and Saki-ojou still with you?"

"Nazuna is with me, Saki is also in my guild… but she wasn't logged in during the Catastrophe. ”

The two people Nyanta was asking about were the Debauchery Tea Party's excellent healer teammates. This reminded Shiroe the other reason he did not join Soujirou's guild.

"Soujirou is still popular with the ladies?"

"Hmm? Ah… please don't say that."

Soujirou started to panic. Nyanta squinted his thin eyes into a thin line and asked "So nice to be young. How many nya?"

Soujirou raised one hand with his thumb folded in.

(Still in his harem mode, not that I envy him… But there are 4 of them, gives me an unforgivable… sort of feeling. What is this deal with 4 people? Other than Nazuna and Saki, there are 2 more, what a grand formation…)

Shiroe feel exhausted.

"Let's not talk about this. Why did Shiro-senpai contact me so suddenly? I always thought Senpai hated me."

"Ah? Why do you think so?"

These unexpected words made Shiroe reply seriously.

"Nothing really, but, because… I am a harem character."

Soujirou stammered with a red face, making Shiroe speechless. Nyanta laughed heartily at this, if Naotsugu was here he would probably give him a chop immediately as the punchline.

"That is a serious problem, but I won't hate you just because of that, we are Tea Party mates after all!"

"Is that so, you are right… But if that is the case, why are we meeting today?"

Soujirou asked again, Shiroe straightened his back and started over.

"Let's get straight to the point, we need your help."

"How may I assist?"

"… Souji-cchi, how do you feel about the current Akiba nya?"

"This city, what an abstract question… I feel that it is bad in a lot of ways, but for this whole city, I feel that they view the whole world like a prison."

"Prison…"

Soujirou scratched his head, his samurai-style ponytail flowing with the wind.

"Yes… we have suddenly been taken into an alternate world, with no way of logging out. We cannot die, the world is set like this. There are monsters roaming outside, I can understand the feelings of players who hate fighting. They feel like they’re imprisoned."

"That is true nya, you summarized it very well nya."

Nyanta nodded his head in agreement.

Soujirou put into words the thoughts everyone was thinking. If you saw it this way, there was a feeling of being in an enclosure, Shiroe thought that was only natural.

"Even if I feel bad about it, I feel that it shouldn't be this way. In this type of situation the weak will be bullied. To be frank, my guild has members who suggesting leaving this city."

"Your guild is leaving Akiba?"

"No, that is only a proposal, there has been no formal discussion yet. The facilities here are more convenient after all. But I cannot bear to watch the city slowly becoming a colder place. It cannot be helped after all."

Soujirou replied.

Soujirou’s words, 'it cannot be helped', didn't mean he was being irresponsible. He wanted to do something too. But after thinking it through, he judged that there was nothing he could do about it, that's why he concluded it this way.

(The evidence is his depressed tone.)

"There is a way."

"Is that true, Shiro-senpai?"

"… It should work."

Shiroe avoided asserting it outright. The things he wanted to do, decided to do, had no guarantees. But if there was anyone who did not have the guts to follow even though there were no guarantees, the Tea Party would address them as cowards, not companions.

That was why Shiroe would not give guarantees to people he wanted to invite to join his campaign.

"I hope for you to provide some support."

"What do you need me to do?"

"… Not just Soujirou, I also need to borrow the name of West Wind Brigade."

Shiroe looked Soujirou in the eye as he said this.

As Nyanta said, nothing is forever, you had to live life to the fullest. Soujirou who created, and had been protecting the West Wind Brigade, must have put in a lot of love and effort into his guild; you had to look him in the eye if you wanted his help.

For Shiroe who had not built anything, this was even more true.

Soujirou was surprised for a moment, and nodded his head, Shiroe continued:

"First, I hope you can tell everyone that the atmosphere in Akiba is very bad, and it will fall into neglect if we carry on like this. The more big guilds you can spread this to, the better."

"Okay, that is not a problem. But everyone is already aware of this fact, correct?"

"But I feel it is important to actually say it out. You just need to let everyone know that West Wind Brigade harbors such thoughts and will take action to remedy it, that will be effective enough. There is one other thing: there will be an invitation letter for you a few days from now, so please stay in Akiba until then. It is regarding a meeting. I want to settle some things there."

"Understood."

Soujirou agreed like it was no big deal.

"Is this fine, you won't ask the details of the campaign?"

"Because Shiro-senpai is busy correct? I will delay your progress if I do that. I am a brainless vanguard anyway; even if I listen to the strategist’s tactics, I will not be able to understand totally."

These words gave Shiroe a warm feeling as well as fear in his heart.

Shiroe did not expect to be so trusted by Soujirou. They had not met in a year, and he declined his invitation before.

"Souji-cchi is a good kid nya."

"I am worthy of Master Nyanta's praise after all."

Soujirou's expression was tense after saying that, and he looked at the two of them straight on.

"I want to talk about something unrelated, Shiro-senpai, Master Nyanta… Will you be willing to join West Wind Brigade? I think Nazuna will be happy too. The members of our guild are nice people. We have been taking turns exploring the regions far away, and we want to gather new information and data. This might not sound right… but this campaign will be more efficient if you use West Wind Brigade's fame, correct? Am I wrong?"

Soujirou's invitation was logical, but Shiroe could not accept this. If it were last week, Shiroe might have agreed, but Shiroe had his own home now.

"You don't like me after all?"

Shiroe shook his head as Soujirou asked with a disheartened tone.

This was the second time Shiroe rejected Soujiro. Shiroe patted his shoulder gently.

Nyanta's words during that time, made Shiroe aware of what he needed to do, and what he had been ignoring.

Indulged in the kindness and tenderness of Naotsugu and Akatsuki, and the protection of Nyanta, the things he did not say until now.

"Soujirou, that is not the case… listen to me, I understood that I need to build my own home. I have been avoiding the troublesome things that happened before and am finally here. But I understand that I need to stand in a position to protect others. That is why I created my own guild, but there are only a few members, and it is very new. I finally realize the logic that by building a place for others, my home will also be made."

Soujirou looked at Shiroe, as if seeing him for the first time, as Shiroe expressed his determination slowly.

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