Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 3: Chapter 3: Negotiation in the Ancient Court

1

(Ha, seems like this is a nest of wily foxes.)

Michitaka took the glass with a smile while complaining in his heart. This was in the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, but not the zone reserved for the Round Table Council, this was the zone Marquis Dalute was residing in.

As Shiroe predicted, the League of Freedom Cities Eastal meeting was progressing slowly.

From the news they received, meetings would be held in the afternoons occasionally. But in the 4 days since Michitaka arrived at the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, there had yet to be a single meeting.

The event lasted for 10 days, so there was no need to rush. That was the opinion of one of the nobles, but on the contrary, there was a lot of turbulence in the under table negotiations.

The proof was the numerous invitations the Round Table Council had received. Shiroe, Krusty, and Michitaka attended the discussion together in the beginning, but they had to split up in order to process all the invites.

They came up with a basic policy beforehand, and used a weapon not available to the People of the Land… telepathy. These two factors had been of great assistance.

They would be helpful tonight as well.

Marquis Dalute from the Fortress City Mogami's banquet.

League of Freedom Cities Eastal's young knights' evening party.

Tsukuba's Marquis Kyriva's and its university's dinner party.

The 3 invitations clashed.

If they only attended one, there would be negative effects on the power balance between the nobles. In order to be impartial to all the lords, they also thought of declining them all. But collecting intelligence and building relationships took priority, so they decided to divide and conquer.

Since it was an evening party with young knights, there should be musical performances or dances. Because of this, Shiroe was nominated to attend it. But Tsukuba's Marquis Kyriva's dinner party had scholars attending, which would be a heavy burden on Krusty and Michitaka.

So Krusty would be going to the young knights' and princesses' party… which was the gathering of future leaders. Shiroe said with a mischievous smile: "It must be so much fun to dance", it seemed like he was still holding a grudge from before.

Crescent Moon Alliance's Henrietta was also worried about the dancing part, but Krusty replied calmly: ”I found a highly durable shield recently, I just need some technique to use it to protect me, allowing me to not dance without appearing obtrusive, so there is no problem."

Michitaka did not know what Krusty was talking about, so he just shrugged and left it to him. Michitaka couldn't do much to help anyway.

With two of the events decided, only he was left to attend Marquis Dalute's banquet.

"Here, I brought the best beef from my territory, please enjoy the feast tonight!"

Marquis Dalute received Michitaka with these words. You could say he was simple, but being a bit more mean, you could describe him as an old fashioned middle-aged man. His clothes were clean and made from high quality materials, but it had no designs or accessories on it, making him look plain.

Michitaka was a section chief salaryman in the real world, but he was the guild master of the largest production guild Oceanic Systems in Akiba, leading 5000 members. The members saw him as a sensible brother, but that alone was not enough to operate this massive guild. He was not dense enough to not see through the Marquis' intent.

Despite that, Michitaka still greeted him warmly, accepting Marquis Dalute's offer and took a seat. Around the extravagant feast table was the Marquis' family.

His wife was very young, a slightly plump beauty, maybe his 2nd wife. The elder son about the age of the last couple of grades in elementary school, seemed like a strong youth. There was also a young daughter.

"The food has changed dramatically in the past 2 months, I have brought along my top chefs with high motivation to this meeting."

The banquet started after Marquis Dalute's opening speech. The Fortress City Mogami… territory of Marquis Dalute, was situated in the northeast of this region. According to the map created by Shiroe, it was in Yamagata Prefecture.

The city had about 8000 people, according to Lord Dalute, it was a comfortable and safe city. Reviewing the data collated earlier, there were ten-odd villages under Marquis Dalute's governance.

The feast consisted of extravagant Middle Ages European styled dishes.

Michitaka did not know the details, but from his experience, a meal such as French cuisine would serve food in small portion to the table. But in this alternate world, the nobles seemed to be accustomed to large portions of food.

Beef steaks roasted with lots of spices were served, and Dalute cut them into fine portions himself.

"This meat is reputed to be top class in my territory, how does it taste?"

"Yes, this is delicious!"

Michitaka praised the meal between bites.

This was indeed top class, compared to beef in the real world, this meat was tougher and brought a sense of wilderness with it and its original taste was very rich.

Marquis Dalute focused on introducing the tastiness of this dish.

(So that's how it is…)

In this alternate world, cuisines were a critical part of the political world, the change 2 months ago revolutionized the world.

All the other lords made preparations similar to Marquis Dalute, bringing their top chefs and ingredients to attend the meeting. This meeting was an opportunity that appeared suddenly. Small and weak territories might be able to gain immense wealth if they discovered any popular ingredients or dishes. The stronger nobles would seek higher quality foods to solidify their influence and fame.

The League of Freedom Cities Eastal meeting was a place where you compared your social standings, but food had now taken center stage, becoming crucial to a city's economy with its trade around the region.

"My city is surrounded by hills and the lands are full of slopes. Lumber, mining, and livestock trades thrive there. For our feast tonight, we will also be serving pork that we are proud of."

Looking at the anticipation of the elder son, he could tell this would be a wonderful dish.

Michitaka enjoyed the food while listening to Marquis Dalute's words.

The Marquis' wife joined in the conversation occasionally, chatting about the weather, geography, and culture of the northeast part of the archipelago. For the Marquis, this was preparation for business talks and a display of the features of his territory. For Michitaka, this was valuable intelligence.

The northeast region of the archipelago was full of mountain ranges, with forests spread all over the place. The hilly region was full of nature, holding inexhaustible amounts of forest resources. The rainfall was abundant, with many lakes and beautiful rivers flowing in the region.

There were few flat lands, most of them near the coast or in the mountain valley.

These even plains were primarily used for wheat or rice.

From the northeast to the north of Kanto, this whole region was the central zone of the League of Freedom Cities Eastal. The biggest problem with this zone lay with the rampage of monsters.

The kind-hearted humans were one of the races players in Elder Tales were able to choose. According to Shiroe's and Rodrick's calculations, the population here was roughly 1% of the real Japan's. But the population was not equivalent to the number of intelligent beings, such as demihumans like goblins or orcs. Their intelligence was not at the level of the kind-hearted humans, but they had strong bodies and high reproduction abilities. Most importantly, they were cruel and evil.

The evil demihumans in the world built empires and ruled over regions, pillaging day and night in an attempt to rule the world.

The main monster forces in the northeast archipelago were goblins. Goblins were short demihumans, about 150cm in height. They were skinny, ugly, and twisted short humanoid monsters. They had a simple tribal society, living together taking on different jobs.

Most of them belonged to roaming and pillaging tribes, but some of the tribes might settle in one location. The northeastern tribes trended towards staying in one place, and even built gigantic communities with populations reaching tens of thousands.

Similar to other demihumans, goblins had hybrids of low social status from cross-breeding. One such hybrid were the hobgoblins, which were more violent than goblins, but maniacally loyal. They were armed with armor and weapons, willing to fight to the death for their tribesman.

There were also high-class goblin shamans who could summon the spirits of their ancestors, commanding undead monsters and spirits. Goblin tamers would breed creatures like Owlbears, Hippogryphs and dire wolves.

Goblins individually were weaker than mid-level adventurers, but had a variety of abilities. They were a force to be reckoned with.

The zones demihuman lived in differed from those ruled by humans. In this case, it should be described as humans were fighting to protect the land from them. In the northeast, the demihumans lived in the deep mountains and the dense forests.

"But, the situation is changing… yes, because of the revolution."

Marquis Dalute continued.

"Firstly, the food has been affected greatly by the revolution. As you can tell, the citizens in my territory have been completely charmed by the new dishes, there is nothing I can do about that."

The Marquis said seriously. His wife cut in with a bitter smile.

"You are also engrossed in the Pecorino salad and smoked bacon. You are putting it like the citizens are the only lazy bums desiring good food, that is despicable."

The lady smiled mischievously, Michitaka nodded and replied.

"Yes, great food can make the days seem better, it is a wonderful thing."

"Cough, cough, anyway, there seems to be such a thing too… After the revolution, our citizens are also motivated, production rates have improved. Rice takes a long time to harvest, so there is no significant change there, but vegetables and livestock have major developments. Put simply, in order to eat delicious food, the farmers are more careful in breeding and harvesting, and are careful to avoid wastage in deliveries."

Michitaka nodded to acknowledge, thinking this was a good summary.

"The demand for good ingredients spurs the entrepreneurial minds of the people, and they focus on producing delicious ingredients for a good price, allowing them to get other ingredients… a cycle like this."

Michitaka was from a production guild, so he understood perfectly and nodded.

"And because of this… there are some problems in delivery."

Michitaka thought about it.

This was obvious. Their lands consisted mainly of hills, and was not suitable for some types of grains. There were also many ingredients that could only be planted in the south. Michitaka also had a hard time getting sugar which was exclusively produced in the south.

Sugar was the native product of 'Ninetail Sovereign'. After the Catastrophe, because of the low supply level, its price was increasing without restraint.

It wasn't like this before.

The food in the past all tasted the same, so the quality of the ingredients would not have any effect on the final product… In other words, sugar was akin to medical supply.

(No, that is not a meal, just a nutritious ration.)

But it was different now, with delicious ingredients and fresh products. There was an increase in demand for different foods. In this pure and simple alternate world, they were basically using the products from their own land.

Delivery required time and resources, delivering fresh produce took even more effort. But things like seasoning, tobacco, alcohol, or tea, there was a need to import it from far. To fund the import of these goods, the fastest way was through export.

And the biggest barrier to this was monsters.

When you thought of that, you could understand the feeling of nobles who wanted to request for mercenaries from the Round Table Council.

"To sum it up, this is not simply a request for Mogami."

Marquis Dalute shrugged.

"But I heard that raiding just one hill will require a few hundred soldiers. To exterminate the goblins from the northeast archipelago, you would need an astronomical number. Just depending on Akiba's forces would not be enough. It's a shame, even if it is just guarding the city, our numbers are unable to maintain a full day watch indefinitely."

Michitaka replied.

Security for the whole region was beyond their scope of consideration, the population of this world was not enough to secure all the zones. And it was because of this dangerous world, that the human communities were sparse like the bubbles in an ocean, they could only live in peaceful zones centered around cities.

On the other hand, there was a hint in Michitaka's statement.

Before the Marquis could propose 'deal with the other territories later, please send soldiers to me first', he had subtly warned him, displaying an attitude of 'if we are sending help, we need to be fair to all the zones, if we can't do that we won't send help blindly. '

The banquet was moving on to desserts.

Uncertain if this was a local flavor or if it was a result of 2 months of research, the sweet pancakes had a taste of nostalgia. As Michitaka complemented this simple desert with black rose tea, Marquis Dalute said seriously.

"No, there is no need to destroy the monsters, I am asking for something else, providing access to sea delivery."

Michitaka was dumbstruck.

Ferrying by sea, that was providing them with the steam powered ship.

Marquis Dalute's proposal allowed them to bypass the monsters without spending resources to defeat them, and made import and export smoother.

2

The atmosphere inside the tent was heavy.

In fact, it was suffocating.

Isuzu turned in her sleeping bag.

They just had dinner, and the campfire was still visible through the tent's canvas, the time should be 9pm? According to the real world, it was not sleeping time yet, but there was nothing to do in this vast nature even if you stayed up.

Even though there was nothing to do, she was still tired and listless, but she couldn't sleep even if she lay down.

She got into her sleeping bag with many things on her mind.

There were people in the tent using magical lights, or taking care of their equipment.

"Woo…"

Isuzu looked towards the light.

Minori who was always working hard, Tohya who was in a bag like Isuzu, Serara who was lying in a corner of the tent, Rundelhous who was sitting on his bag with his arms crossed, looking displeased.

Everyone had a heavy air about them.

This could not be helped, since their raid ended miserably.

The battle of Isuzu's group evolved into a free-for-all, attracting skeleton monsters as reinforcements and becoming a battle of attrition.

In this chaotic formation, it not only hurt the groups' HP, it also drained a lot of MP, their reserved skills, and their focus. They could manage with their HP full in the beginning, but if it dragged too long they would need to rely on healing spells.

But even healing spells were limited by MP, and that was also gone as the battle went on.

'… Because you did not heal properly that I had to suffer such grave injuries!' Rundelhous complained, but from what Isuzu saw, Serara and Minori had been giving their all.

Isuzu did not know how healing worked, but seeing the exhausted Serara and the troubled Minori, she could tell they held nothing back.

Isuzu was one of the beginners rescued from Hamelin, her class was Bard.

She had been close to Minori since their time in Hamelin.

You could say she took good care of her.

Minori, a middle school girl 3 years her junior, was a very capable girl.

Isuzu had great respect for this young girl who had a lower level and less experience than her. Minori's use of the phrase 'the knowledge Shiroe-san shared with me' was one of the reasons, but the main reasons she respected her were her courage, foresight, and intelligence.

(Because I am clumsy… I have to keep relying on Minori-chan…)

Isuzu thought as she sulked in her sleeping bag, recalling all her experiences. She felt that she was useless in this situation.

She joined the band in high school, her interest was instruments, the contrabass in particular.

She was tall and skinny like an athlete with a hormone disorder during puberty (her stamina was not good too), and she thought her face was not ugly, just plain, but still a long way from being beautiful.

Freckles were her biggest concern, her hair was thick too. Even tying them into braids didn't keep them in place, which made her depressed.

She had a number of friends, and was not bullied. But she was just a normal mass-produced bumpkin high school girl you could find anywhere.

She started playing the netgame on a spur of the moment, because her brother who loved the piano said: "I have extra passes, want to try playing it?" so she tried it.

It was interesting in the beginning, and you could choose the class Bard which was related to music, which made her happy. Even so, she was not really into it. If someone asked her if she would continue playing if they charged her money, she probably wouldn't.

Isuzu was then involved in the Catastrophe and was trapped in the evil guild Hamelin.

She felt lost in the beginning, her head filled with confused thoughts, and slowly she fell into a deep… yes, deep sense of despair.

Isuzu was in absolute despair, her hopes was crushed, she gave up fighting, hated god and the world. She became an empty shell with her repeated sense of hate, and thought of nothing but feeding herself every day.

'Ah, this must be how the children in poverty nations lived,' she complained with a miserable feeling. Even if she resisted maniacally, deep in her heart she still accepted this. She could hear her heart saying in a tired voice. This was how the story ended for side-characters.

Isuzu had been defeated by the Catastrophe.

Minori treated the other beginners well even under these conditions.

Something like knowledge could be shared, but hogging it had its uses. By hogging it, you could save yourself in critical moments.

Despite that, Minori chatted with the other beginners in the room every day, sharing what she knew about the game.

Her brother Tohya was also the same in a sense.

The fact that both of them were in middle school shocked Isuzu.

They were strong in a way that could only be described as special. Isuzu felt that without Minori, she would fall into deeper depravity in Hamelin, and she wouldn't be able to regain her cheerful character.

On the other hand, Serara was about her age.

After Isuzu was saved from Hamelin, the first person to give her hot soup and bread was Serara. The conditions in Hamelin were very bad, even if it was wrong to say this herself, she was probably very smelly when she was rescued.

But Serara hugged Isuzu and said: "Don't worry, you are safe now."

The guild hall was like a refugee camp that day, the beginners were all crying badly, Serara told them: "I am also a beginner, my level is about the same as yours."

"I was also also targeted by human traffickers in Susukino, but I was saved and I am living normally in the guild now."

Serara's words must have saved many of them.

In Crescent Moon Alliance, Serara was one of the members who took good care of the beginners. Isuzu felt close to her as they were about the same age. They were now best friends in Crescent Moon Alliance, spending almost every day together.

Because of the above reasons, Isuzu saw Minori and Serara as trustworthy acquaintances. Actually, they were already friends, but she had an inexplicable feeling that she needed their permission before that happened, or she would feel bad about this declaration. Because of this feeling, Isuzu addressed them as acquaintances, but thought of them as friends in her heart.

So they could not have been sloppy in their healing duties, Isuzu knew them well.

So, what was the reason behind the miserable state they were in? Whose fault was it?

This question confounded Isuzu.

The free-for-all battle lasted about 30 minutes.

After making it through this fight where it wouldn't be strange if any of them died, their party was in a miserable state. They had used up all their MP and their high cool-down skills. If they were detected and had to fight again, they would definitely be wiped out.

The party rushed back to the entrance in a hurry, but they were attacked by the skeletons that respawned on their way back, and had to fight a miserable retreating battle…

(Today was really bad…)

A total loss.

Isuzu's party's first dungeon challenge, set a record of 1 hour before retreating.

(It is not Tohya's fault.)

Isuzu didn't know Tohya as well as Minori, but they are acquaintances.

Isuzu saw him as a good cheerful kid, was this a result of Tohya not doing his job or playing around? If someone asked Isuzu, she would answer no.

In their short raid, Tohya did charge in by himself and seemed to have made a mistake in doing so. But if you analyzed the case, you would feel that 'it might be a mistake, but Tohya had his reasons, you cannot blame him based solely on that'.

Isuzu also thought of other reasons.

For instance, she only knew Rundelhous through this training camp. His character and strength were unknown to the party.

Rundelhous was lofty when he talked, had a snobbish attitude, his proud and boastful demeanor was a pain. Even if he was handsome like a prince, judging by Isuzu's standard, he was a frivolous man.

Was Rundelhous the reason for today's defeat? If someone asked her, she could only give a big question mark.

Rundelhous' overconfidence and carelessness made the situation worse, but similar to Tohya, his actions were based on his considerations in order to achieve victory.

Most importantly, Rundelhous loved his class and worked hard to display his strengths, there was no doubt about that, since Rundelhous had narcissistic tendencies. He considered destroying the enemy to be a virtue, there was no way he went easy on them.

(He is not a bad guy…)

Isuzu thought it was true.

Isuzu peeked at Rundelhous from this position. Rundelhous was pouting and crossed his arms over his chest, which felt like a monk training under the waterfall.

He looked totally Caucasian, so he was very prominent, but his attitude was very serious.

(He must be doing an after action review by himself…)

… Isuzu thought he might be self-reproaching. Rundelhous always said whatever came to mind, and had been blaming the others for the today's adventure. But he was also strict with himself and seemed to be deeply remorseful.

(Haaaaah…)

If it was like this, doesn't that mean that no one was at fault?

(No no no, hold on for a moment, this is not right.)

Yes, there was one person she did not consider, that was Isuzu herself. Unable to deny the fact that she might be the reason for the party's crisis.

(I am not good at this…)

No matter how you diced it, Isuzu was a beginner in this game, and had no martial arts background. She never thought of survival in the wilderness in the real world, so she should be bad at fighting.

But it had been 2 months.

Isuzu knew she had been through many battles in this world, maybe she would never be used to fighting no matter what, was it going to be this exhausting forever? And Isuzu was different from Tohya, she was a rear guard support class, not meant to tank direct attacks from the enemy.

But as she reviewed the day, Isuzu felt that there were many areas that felt wrong for today's adventure. Her wrong referred to 'in hindsight, this is not the best course of action'.

Why didn't they know it will end up like this? Reviewing the day, she felt she made many mistakes.

Bards had a variety of supports, the most important being the permanent status buff song.

This was a music that Bards emitted subconsciously from their body.

The permanent buff that was effective for the whole party would go on forever as long as the Bard willed it. By using permanent status buff songs at the beginning of the adventure, they wouldn't need to do anything else for it it to continue its effect. It was a skill players wanted to use whenever possible.

The problem with permanent status buff songs was that you could only use 2 at a time. High-level Bards would learn up to 15 songs, but Isuzu at this stage had only learned 10.

Choosing 2 out of these 10 songs was a bothersome choice all Bards will face, and would continue to have even if they reached the level cap.

Isuzu chose Harmony Carol' and 'Speedy Sword Etude.

The former granted an additional attack for every successful attack, the latter was a support song that raised weapon attack speed. They were both basic support songs Bards commonly used.

But the battle failed because of that.

Harmony Carol could increase the damage from magical attacks, but it attracted more attention to Rundelhous, something she did not expect.

And the number of enemies was more than expected, causing the battle to turn into a free-for-all.

At that point in time, Isuzu decided to change the support song even though she was in the middle of a battle. Changing support songs required a long casting time, which was best performed when not in battles. She also hesitated and wasted a lot of time before deciding that maintaining the current situation would result in them being wiped out, and changed the support song.

Harmony Carol changed to Meditation Nocturne.

Speedy Sword Etude changed to Dancing Peacock Melody.

Meditation Nocturne was a support song that recovered MP even if you were in battle. In Elder Tales, you would recover MP slowly as long as you were not in battle. It would recover speedily if you rested. But you could not recover MP if you were in battle.

Meditation Nocturne was a support song that allowed party members to recover MP even in battle, but it was much slower than the recovery rate during resting.

Dancing Peacock Melody raised the agility of all party members, helping them evade enemy attacks.

Since there were reinforcements, the battle would be long. No, it had already been a dragging fight before Isuzu decided to change her songs. She changed the support songs once she determined it was going to take quite a while.

That's all she could do then, she still didn't think she was wrong now.

But from the results, this judgement call did not improve the battle situation.

Evade rate increased, the drain of MP dropped, and the support song was supporting the party as intended, recovering their MP.

But this also meant that Harmony Carol and Speedy Sword Etude which increased damage were no longer in effect.

With lower damage, it took more time to defeat one enemy. Being slow in taking down the enemy also meant the battle was going to be longer… which caused the HP to be in a healthy range, but MP to be drained faster.

This was a vicious cycle.

(But…)

Yes, she had to say but.

Isuzu didn't think this was a mistake. Even if it was one, that was only at the level of 'not going with the best choice'… which was the same level as Tohya and Rundelhous. She didn't think this was the reason for the battle falling into chaos.

Anyway, if this was a mistake, what should she have done instead?

Isuzu thought.

(Actually, I am not good at thinking…)

She was not good at setting a battle plan.

Analyzing and executing were areas Isuzu was not proficient in, but compared to thinking, Isuzu was even worse at dealing with the heavy atmosphere in the tent.

So she carried this feeling like a heavy rock in her stomach, and continued to worry.

Not only Isuzu, all the beginners in the tent including Minori and Tohya were the same.

As they killed time with their worries, their first night in the Sand Leaf Hill region had only begun.

3

Even if it was described as a 'small hall', it was still bigger than a classroom in the old world. In this small hall, with music played by beautiful ladies in the background, the people in the room were gathered in many small circles.

This was the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice.

In a corner of its upper level was 'The Hall of Seven Maidens'.

Young knights stood around and chatted cheerfully, noble ladies sat on the classy couches that were placed all over the hall, gossiping and laughing happily. There were also the courteous sons of nobles, moody scholars with bitter smiles, and frail looking bureaucrats.

This was supposed to be a party where the young people of the League of Freedom Cities Eastal gathered without regard to their titles and positions. Their ages ranged from 15-20, with about 40 people attending.

"… Are you planning to stay here the whole night?"

"Yes."

Krusty replied without hesitation to Raynesia who was sitting across the small round table.

Raynesia tried to reply with a smile, but her face seemed to be cramping up.

Raynesia did not find Krusty annoying.

This bulky knight was a man of few words, and would not say any pleasantries common among nobles. In simple terms, Raynesia didn't have to pretend to be a 'gentle lady in the rain', thank god for that.

But she was a daughter of the Corwen clan.

If she spent too much time with a single man, who knew what sort of rumors would spread. If it were only during this party, it should be fine. But if this carried on, what would they say about her? Raynesia was starting to get depressed.

(Does this man understand things like this…)

Krusty was drinking alcoholic black rose tea unfazed. The two of them had been occupying these seats since the party started an hour ago. But they did not have a proper conversation in this whole time.

In the short term, they both stood to benefit by maintaining this situation. This helped Raynesia by keeping the nobles, knights and bureaucrats and their hollow pleasantries at bay, giving her the room to breathe.

She was the granddaughter of the leading nobleman Duke Sergead.

In the whole of Yamato, there were only 2 clans with the noble title of Duke, they were the noble of the nobles. This title was bestowed by Westelande during ancient times. After the fall of the ancient empire, only the clan that watched over the grave of Westelande, clan Itsuki, ranked higher than clan Corwen.

With a lineage as prestigious as this, there were many knights and bureaucrats who wanted to woo her. Raynesia had an elder sister and a kid brother. With her sister moving away after her marriage, clan Corwen needed either Raynesia to take a husband into the family or her brother to take in a wife in order to pass down the clan name. With this background, it was not surprising to see so many nobles and knights her age adoring and yearning for her.

(Ha…)

When she thought about things like that, her heart felt heavy, and she couldn't help but sigh. Raynesia treated marriage as an unknown country far away from here. Her parents' relationship seemed more cautious than common wedded couples, while her sister's in-laws seemed to stick together like glue.

Raynesia was unable to judge which one was the real husband and wife.

She felt that living together with a stranger of the opposite gender seemed ridiculous, but her position didn't allow her to stay single.

Actually, you couldn't describe your husband as a stranger, but Raynesia didn't think that far.

When the young nobles and princesses saw Raynesia's sorrowful expression, they would say: "Raynesia-sama seems sorrowful…" or "She should be worried about the future of the world, what a refined and cultured lady…" or something like this. But she didn't take their words to heart.

The other main character in their gossip, Krusty, was also enjoying the benefits of being with Raynesia. The topic of their conversations described him as the young leader of the Round Table Council, the group governing the biggest coalition of Adventurers.

With a force of 15,000, and every one of them being stronger than their common knights. If you converted them in terms of a noble's army, they could easily reach tens of thousands in terms of battle power. Apart from this, their economy might not be as big as League of Freedom Cities Eastal biggest city Maihama's, but they were not far behind.

They were a powerful influence that suddenly appeared in League of Freedom Cities Eastal.

Even if you took away all this, Krusty himself was still a remarkable man.

Taller than 190cm, he was considered very tall among humans, but he did not give the impression of being thin and lanky. With his bulging muscles and strong body, you could tell just by looking that he was a top-class warrior.

Even when he sat down quietly, his glasses and sensible face made him look like a nobleman, his sand-colored hair also suited him.

Even if you took away the fact that he was an Adventurer, he still had a strong charm about him, drawing the curiosity and adoration of the ladies.

During the knights' exhibition matches held 2 days ago, he wore a deep blue heavy armor with scratches and scars all over it. The knights who were proud of their beautiful and shiny armor all hesitated in challenging him when they saw his armor. Those who did spar with him were totally enchanted by Krusty's excellent skills.

Krusty was not willing to become the center of attention. But by being with Raynesia, he was able to avoid tedious invitations or be caught in troublesome schemes, at least that's what he said.

(Boohoo…)

Raynesia looked at Krusty with hate. Krusty had been 100% ignoring her all this while, but he chose this moment to raise his head and look behind Raynesia.

"Princess Raynesia?

"Sorry for interrupting your chat, May I ask… Is it convenient for us to join in? We brought cookies."

The two young ladies were Marquis Lestar's daughter Appletta and granddaughter of Iwafune's Baron, Febuelle. This was their first time at the party, Raynesia's batchmates.

"Of course you can… Sir Krusty, are you fine with that?"

Raynesia answered with a perfect smile. Krusty also responded like a gentleman, standing up with a smile and pulling 2 elegant chairs over for the ladies. Not sure where he learned that from, but he moved so smoothly that it was a joy to watch.

(… What is this, so he knows how to act like a gentleman in a party… So he knows how to give ladies a proper reception… Woo…)

The 2 young ladies seeming relieved, offered Krusty cookies and started to chat. From Raynesia's perspective, princesses and knights would both look at her with admiration. But girls wouldn't woo her, so handling them was much easier.

But Raynesia had no common interests with them, even when they talked about new perfumes and gowns, Raynesia was unable to keep up with the conversation.

She didn't understand why she didn't like perfume.

The smell was too strong.

No, if no one bothered Raynesia, she might not bathe for a week, so she might be more smelly. She tried to explain from the angle of personal preference. But the fact was there would always be someone to bother her. Her maid would throw her into the shower every day, and perfume would be sprayed on her from head to toe.

As for dresses, she thought they were uncomfortable. They either showed too much skin or had too much decoration, a costume that was hard to live in.

Raynesia liked cotton pajamas.

The cotton pajamas that were comfortable to the touch were the best. Silk also felt nice, but she didn't like silk pajamas, they were uncomfortable to sleep in.

Put simply, she just wanted to pass the whole day in pajamas and sleep in her bed.

"… Princess Raynesia, you also agree right?"

Appletta and Febuelle gave cute smiles, Raynesia reacted instinctively and said: "Yes, that's right." and smiled in return.

Receiving permission from Raynesia, the two girls chatted by themselves happily. Raynesia's heart was sweating like crazy, she just agreed on the spur of the moment, but she was daydreaming and had no had no idea what they were talking about.

"Krusty-sama, Raynesia-sama is beautiful right?"

"Yes, I am honored."

Krusty replied, making the 2 princesses laugh. The two girls were very cute to Raynesia too, they were very different from her, they had cute personalities.

"?"

"But… Princess Raynesia is a kind lady, she only said that to show her concern for a banquet beginner like myself."

"There is no such thing, Krusty-sama is a gallant knight."

(Eh, hmmm?)

Raynesia's expression was a gentle smile, but her heart was in a mess.

From the conversation, the two princess were praising Krusty, and she also agreed with them.

Raynesia was doted on by her grandfather, so she made her debut at a later age. But these two girls were different, she remembered they were only 15-16 years old. In their eyes, the older Krusty was a knight they admired. Thanks to the age difference, they were able to join in the conversation of this table, and not hesitate like the other princesses.

The two of them complimented Krusty, Raynesia went with the flow and agreed… this should be the situation right now.

(I hope it is just a normal compliment!)

"Princess Raynesia is accompanying me like this because she is concerned about me being unfamiliar with the customs of the courts, and is saving me from making a fool of myself. I feel that I am unworthy of this honor."

Krusty said smoothly to the two young girls, being a man of few words was totally a lie.

(He… He is a bad man! Super bad man!)

"Krusty-sama, allow me to introduce you to others…"

"Or would you prefer to play Chaturanga with us over there?"

The two of them suggested excitedly.

"Thank you for the offer, but no. Princess Febuelle, Princess Appletta, I am just an uncultured man who only knows about the battlefield. And Princess Raynesia is willing to sympathize with a brute like me. To repay her kindness, I need to stay right by her side."

Krusty was probably just too lazy to entertain the other nobles, but he said this with a face full of seriousness and zeal, the two princess seemed to misinterpret this to have romantic connotations. They commented "A knight's oath", "So dreamy", which made Raynesia's head hurt.

"Sir Krusty, please don't mind me and protect the beautiful flowers in the courtyard, alright?"

Raynesia tried her best to look at Krusty with virtuous eyes as she said this. It meant 'isn't it time to find some other place of refuge?'

"No, the peaceful air around the princess is calming to my raging heart from my many battles, if the princess is fine with me, please let me stay with you during this meeting period in order to repay your kindness."

Krusty's words meant "For the whole meeting period, I will be using you as a shield, this is a great cooperation plan right?"

This interaction made the two princesses scream with joy and leave, the exhausted Raynesia leaned back on the couch.

Krusty beside her gave a feeling of peace and quiet.

In the people's eyes, this was a scene of a princess who was unable to bear the din of the party and her loyal knight protecting her silently.

4

"Huff… huff…"

Tohya panted loudly as he emptied his water bottle in one gulp.

Serara was beside him and asked: "Are you okay?"

Minori's group was in a tomb after taking the route on the right in 'Ragranda Forest'. There were countless skeleton bones scattered all over.

They broke though the battle in the tunnel just now. Using this tomb as a choke point to handle the reinforcements, they managed to survive in the chaotic battle.

The party showed signs of exhaustion.

In this alternate world, their physical abilities and stamina were strengthened a lot. A middle-school girl could spend the whole day climbing mountains and exploring dungeons was the best evidence.

But the mental fatigue was not so easy.

The long continuous battles drained their concentration.

The more chaotic the fight, the more mentally tired they became. Minori was also troubled by her sharp headache for a while now.

(Now that I think of it, I haven't drank anything since the morning…)

Minori didn't feel thirsty, but she still took a sip from her water canteen. If she was dehydrated, it would affect her ability to think, something she could not afford to lose.

(The condition is very bad…)

Minori looked at her party members.

Tohya sat on the floor with his sword in his arms, and his breathing was recovering slowly. The battle just now was hard, and he lost a lot of blood, even losing 30% of his HP at one instance, and was suffering from various debuffs that they had no time to clear away, it must be a painful experience.

But the exhausted Tohya was still sitting near the entrance on stand-by, so he could react immediately and be the enemies' first target. Minori thought this was due to Tohya's determination and strong character.

Serara was still breathing hard, but she was still arranging the items in her bag. Minori thinks she was checking the position of the potions to handle the needs of the next battle.

Minori and Serara were healers, but they were still relying on potions. This might sound strange, but skills for dispelling debuffs had a recast time, Minori's 'Notice of Exorcism' had a recast time of 20 seconds. In other words, if she insisted on only using 'Notice of Exorcism', she could only clear one debuff every 20 seconds.

If the whole party was poisoned, by the time she could get to the last person, 80 seconds would have passed. Serara was probably doing this to fight for time, so she would cure her own debuffs with potions.

(Yeah, this is great, I will prepare next time as well.)

Minori added to her mental note.

But this also meant that Serara who was a higher level healer than her was unable to handle the situation effectively, using potions was just a drop in the bucket.

Rundelhous shut his eyes tightly.

Minori was familiar with this position, he should be opening the game menu and checking his remaining MP.

After the continuous battles, Minori only had about a quarter of her MP left. They were now resting, so their MP was regenerating at a normal pace, they could probably regain 70-80% in 10 minutes, enough to continue fighting.

But Rundelhous had been casting spells rapidly, much more than Minori. If Minori's estimate of her party-mate's MP was correct, Rundelhous had exhausted all of his MP in the previous battle. Maybe to him, waiting and recovering was also a way of working hard to destroy the enemy in the next fight.

For the past 2 days, Minori had heard Rundelhous saying to himself "Why…" He probably meant "Why is this so hard", "Why can't we win" and also "Why am I so weak".

These words probably came about because of his conceited nature.

Minori understood, because she was the same.

('Why'… I can understand that feeling, we are holding each other back, even things we can do alone are done sloppily, something… is developing in a bad way.)

If she said these words, and endured them…

Minori didn't think of Rundelhous as a carefree kid, he was taking his duty of exterminating the enemy seriously. In fact, he refused to compromise on this.

(Rundelhous-san should be working hard in his own way… It might be hard to understand, but he is giving his all.)

Isuzu was quiet.

Minori was a bit worried about her, Isuzu was usually very cheerful and talkative. She was very sensitive to the atmosphere around her, unable to be playful in this situation. Minori was worried that she might not be able to endure this mentally.

(Regarding this… I am the same…)

Minori understood that something was wrong somewhere, which made the situation bad, she also understood that she was the one who could grasp the situation the best.

This is one of the dangers Shiroe mentioned repeatedly.

(But… I think…)

Minori shut her lips tight, now was a critical situation, it fit several examples Shiroe warned about.

"Why are we so weak…"

Rundelhous who had calmed his breathing said.

His voice was not loud, but it reverberated within the walls of the tomb.

"…"

Minori bit her lower lip, Isuzu was unable to raise her head.

"I am level 24, the enemies are between level 17-21, so why are our battles so desperate? Isn't this weird?"

(This…)

Minori thought this was because he had not performed to his full potential, or he was being held back from performing to his potential.

… Undead types did not have much intelligence. High-level undead monsters aside, they had only encountered skeleton and zombie types of undead monsters, they were not self-aware or did not possess tactical intellect.

In the end, it was Minori's group who was suppressing their own potential.

But she was unable to say it.

Because she was level 21, the lowest in the party and a burden to her party members. On top of that, the highest level here was her brother Tohya at level 29.

If Minori said these words, it would look like she who was the weakest was finding an excuse. If it was Tohya, it would look like he was defending his sister.

Even though they understood they were not performing at their best, they did not know how to overcome this problem.

"…"

"So… We can only keep practicing…"

Rundelhous seemed to not believe his own words, it was the same for the others.

5

The sound of water flowing could be heard clearly in the dark courtyard.

The fountain situated in the center of the courtyard continued to operate late into the night, the water flowed through the beautiful sculpture and fell from a predetermined height, making ripples at the bottom.

The designer of the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice seemed to have made ample preparation to tackle the heat in the summer. This palace was supported by permafrost pillars 15 meters into the sky, so there was less humidity from the ground, and the temperature was lower.

Using unknown technology, fresh water was supplied to similar waterways all over the palace, the water flowed from high to low and the cycle was repeated.

Even though it was August, the palace night air was still comfortably cool.

In the center of this cool courtyard, a young girl was practicing moves silently. The movements were not violent, those who were trained could tell she had put in effort into the practice of martial arts.

Every time she moved, her long black hair would sway with the wind. Her petite body was covered by dark and low profile clothes, but her slim body still had very alluring curves.

She was the young female Assassin from Log Horizon, Akatsuki.

(Right step, left slide, pause… left step, right side step, half a turn… pause.)

The young girl was practicing strange movements.

In karate or ancient martial arts, the focus was not only the steps, but also the upper body flow, all martial arts seemed to follow this concept. But the young girl was putting her hands horizontally in front of her chest, she seemed to be concentrating on practicing the steps.

At first glance, this was similar to a certain Chinese martial arts, not lowering the center of gravity, moving lightly with the knees and ankles. It had a hint of Japanese Kendo, it was a weird movement.

(Left step, right side step, half a turn… another turn… left side step, change position, right step, 2 steps…)

Akatsuki focused on practicing the steps repeatedly.

Repeating so much that she seemed to have lost track of time, the entire movement merged with her body like blood flowing in her veins, Akatsuki incidentally raised her gaze and saw Shiroe.

"My lord?"

"Akatsuki,

"My lord?"

"Akatsuki, you are not sleeping?"

"You… When did you… ?"

"Eh… Just now."

Shiroe approached with a troubled expression, handing the glass in his hand to Akatsuki. He should be lying about 'Just now', how would he explain why he was holding 2 glasses?

When did he start watching? Akatsuki found it hard to hide her embarrassment, but she worked to act casual and took the cup.

"My thanks."

The cup she received was filled with garnet tea. Even though the taste was simple, the coldness was just right, her body that just finished exercising welcomed it.

Shiroe sat on the limestone bench with decorative carvings near the fountain. There was space for at least 3 people beside him. But Akatsuki did not sit down, not because of the lack of space, but because of the lack of courage.

Akatsuki stood in front of Shiroe and drank her tea casually. Even though it could be described as standing in front of him, she avoided standing right in front, at an angle of 60 degrees to the side.

(A shinobi needs to be like this.)

She explained to herself, but the other reason was that their eyes would meet if she stood directly in front of him.

Akatsuki wanted to avoid that.

Even for a shinobi, she did not need to be so humble. But she didn't know if it was respect or embarrassment, if Akatsuki were to face Shiroe directly, she would have a cowardly emotion in her heart.

"…"

But Shiroe did not expect Akatsuki to have such thoughts. He showed a faraway and troubled expression, which seemed so mature to her.

This young man Shiroe's eyes had pupils that were slightly smaller than usual, he had a habit of frowning when he was looking at something (and he looked at the details very closely), giving an impression of aloofness. As he wore mischievous round-frame glasses, the first impression would be they were being conned by him. But after being around him for a while, they would be amazed by his deep thoughts and wide imagination.

It was hard for others to understand Shiroe's train of thought, but there were things only Akatsuki knew.

Living like family together in the guild house, she was able to see different sides of him, just like the him that was sitting on this bench, even Akatsuki who was short would also notice.

Yes, for instance Shiroe's hair whorl went in a clockwise direction.

Akatsuki thought this was very cute.

A bunch of hair behind his head would twirl like a rat's tail like he had just woken up, it was very cute.

That bunch of hair was sticking up now, tempting Akatsuki to touch it gently with her fingers. Akatsuki and Shiroe were both in university in the real world, they were at an age where they could not touch each other casually without concern, so she held back her desires.

(But my lord's clockwise hair whorl is very cute.)

Akatsuki thought in her heart.

"So how do you feel about it, Akatsuki?"

"About what?"

"… For example, what are the reactions of the people in the Palace?"

Shiroe was very vague, probably because he was unable to explain it clearly himself, Akatsuki decided to report what she felt about the situation.

"You can describe it as curiosity, half of it is kindness, the other half is hostility."

"Is that so…"

"But, I feel it is good that even though there is hostility, there is no malice."

"?"

Hostility referred to their mentality, not only used on enemies, but also on potential enemies and competitors. Malice meant the will to harm your enemies.

After listening to the explanation, Shiroe expressed: "Since that is the case, I think they have no concrete plan as of now."

"Even if it is hostility, it should probably be jealousy and admiration."

"You are right… it could also be the lack of trust."

Shiroe nodded his head agreeing with Akatsuki's view. Shiroe should be using his own ways to observe the surroundings, searching for the meaning in the words and gaze of the crowds. He asked Akatsuki's opinion to compare answers, or to confirm his thoughts.

Akatsuki's group was always the center of attention wherever they went.

Henrietta and Shiroe's dance on the first day made them the topic of the day, Shiroe and Henrietta changed partners and danced for 5 music pieces. They received many dancing invites from the noble ladies and gentlemen, akin to a challenge in the social world of the League of Freedom Cities Eastal.

During the dance party, apart from Shiroe and Henrietta, Krusty and Michitaka also socialized with many of the nobles.

The cute and petite Akatsuki was viewed with curiosity in the beginning.

From their common sense, anyone in this hall was either a noble or their servant. They were unable to decide which role Akatsuki belonged to.

But considering the fact that Henrietta danced with Shiroe, and Akatsuki's frilly dress, they decided not to see her as a servant, but as the family of a noble clan.

Once that was clear, a lot of invites poured in.

Sons of noblemen or knights repeatedly approached Akatsuki, offering drinks and dances. Akatsuki didn't mind their doing that, but she couldn't tolerate being treated like a child.

Akatsuki was already an adult.

Why was everyone pampering her like a grade-schooler? In that hall, only the daughters of nobles saw Akatsuki as an equal, but they were obviously in their low-teens.

(Why must I be treated as an equal by a child?)

Akatsuki was furious as she recalled this, there seemed to be a fire burning in her belly.

In the real world, this treatment was normal.

She would be stopped at the bar, ticket-counter staff would pat her head and tell her to get the children tickets, the clothes that fit her best were in the children category. She had enough of this. And this was the reason she role-played as a tall silent man in Elder Tales, but even that was screwed up by the Catastrophe.

She almost drew her kunai at the dance party out of anger, but she restrained herself and escaped. She was tired of dealing with other people, and used 'invisibility' and 'silent move' to leave the hall.

She had been walking around the whole palace using these skills since that day.

Hiding behind drapes or curtains, she eavesdropped on the conversations of the nobles. She could not approach too openly. Akatsuki's keen senses told her there were other hidden People of the Land who were also spying on the nobles. If you did not prepare adequately in advance, the one who noticed first had the advantage over the ones who were hidden for this type of secret operations.

This was just honor among thieves, an 'if you don't mess around, we can just ignore each other' situation. The spirit of not interfering with each other among spies.

Even through such a casual observation, it was easy to infer that the people sent to spy in Akiba were a lot more than expected. They were very interested and focused on Adventurers and the Round Table Council.

Deducing even further, this also confirmed the People of the Land knew about the Catastrophe, and thought of this as the first step of the revolution that would impact the world.

"To harbor hostility, is it because of the difference in battle prowess?"

"That seems to be it."

Adventurers were powerful in combat, Akiba's 15000 Adventurers, about half of them were level 90. Even if you lowered the average level to 70, that would also mean Akiba had 15000 level 70 Adventurers.

This fighting force was far above what the nobles could command.

One of the nobles leaked this information: "There are 15 level 30 knights in my army, the others are guards and militias, about a hundred, other than this, the rest are mercenaries." If this was true, they could suppress this territory with just 30 Adventurers.

"I see, I think they did not make up these numbers, the weaker lords in the northeast should be about this level."

"Is that so?"

Shiroe confirmed Akatsuki's doubt. He seemed to have made progress in his own investigation.

"Because their forces are at this level, that's why they are not able to stop the evil ways of ruffian Adventurers like Brigandia."

"You are right."

Akiba and the Round Table Council had no intention to fight, they wanted to cooperate with the People of the Land instead, and coexist with them in this world.

Of course, if they had to fight the People of the Land to return to their old world, it would be a different matter. But going to war with the People of the Land had no benefit for the players.

But if they used this reason on the People of the Land blindly, that would be dangerous.

Firstly, Akatsuki and the Adventurers saw this world differently from the People of the Land. Their nobles governed the land and lived off taxes. Adventurers were an unknown factor, and their actions might be a pain to the nobles.

And the other major problem was just as Shiroe said, battle prowess.

For example, if there was a man with a machine gun in the room you lived in, how would you feel? Living in this room must be very stressful, the question was not whether the man with the gun could be trusted, it didn't matter if his character was good or if his morale was solid. It was even worse if that man was a stranger, it was a worry to be near a man with a machine gun.

"And they have not accurately judged the full battle powers available of each other."

Shiroe went deeper.

Even if the People of the Land knew Adventurers were strong, they wouldn't know the extent of their strength. If you used the previous example, your roommate would be holding a certain weapon, you did not know if it was a chainsaw or a machine gun.

Maybe it was just a fruit knife or chopsticks, such inconsequential weapons. But the worst case could be grenades or antitank missiles, which would blow the whole room to pieces.

The nobles were not sure what weapons they had, so they were unable to judge if they should defeat them by surprise or ambushes or to strive for peace no matter the cost or humiliation.

"Should we threaten them with war?"

"That will be a bad choice, spreading feelings of fear too much is useless. I should say that even if there are pros, the cons are not worth the efforts."

"I see…"

Shiroe rejected Akatsuki's proposal immediately.

But Akatsuki wouldn't be depressed because of that. Shiroe was someone Akatsuki recognized as her lord, Akatsuki hoped he would excel in the tactical battlefield, and progress to a point so far that she could never catch up. Akatsuki was okay with supporting Shiroe with her special skills. Just doing that would leave her content.

"Hmmm… ?"

Just doing that would leave her content.

Just doing that would definitely make her content.

Akatsuki felt something was not right, something was making her uncomfortable, but she didn't know why. And this was a small feeling of discomfort, she would be fine ignoring it.

(It should be fine.)

And it was getting late at night.

If she wanted to stay up for the night, it might affect her ability in fighting the intelligence battle. Akatsuki was still okay for now, but Shiroe's duty was a strategist.

Akatsuki was about to advise Shiroe to go to bed when she felt a tremble of magic in the surroundings.

Shiroe felt it at the same moment.

He sprang up from his seat, his hand holding his wand that appeared out of nowhere.

Akatsuki drew her kodachi and took up a stance. A skinny man appeared in front of her and Shiroe.

Wearing a robe like a scholar, his forehead covered by a purple crystal accessory, his skin seemed to be covering just the bare minimum of muscles in a human body. If it was only that, it would be a sign of misfortune. But there seemed to be a sense of humor in the man's expression, giving off an unspeakable charm, a feeling of adoration.

The man lowered his hand as a greeting and said,

"You must be Shiroe-sama of Log Horizon, I am ReGan, the Sage of Mirror Lake, please take care of me… I came here tonight to discuss some things with Shiroe-sama."

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