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Log Horizon (Light Novel) - Volume 4 — Chapter 1 — The Return of the Goblin King
Volume 4: Chapter 1: The Return of the Goblin King
Part 1
While Maryele was protecting the beginners and Shouryuu was charging into the Sahuagin horde with a roar, a battle also broke out in the central hilly region of Sand Leaf peninsula.
The enemy was goblins.
They came out of nowhere, sweeping through the forest in small patrol groups.
Naotsugu and the others had fought off tens of waves in the plaza in front of Ragranda Forest. There were
13 people here, 5 from Minori's party, 6 from the higher-level party, Naotsugu, and the Cleric from Black
Sword Knights' Rezarick.
When they encountered the first batch, they thought it was just a group of wandering goblins.
But after several battles, Naotsugu and the others changed their minds, thinking they were positioned in the way of a small-scale tribal migration. When they battled for the 6th time, they could not ignore this anymore.
Nyanta was scouting in the mountain ahead.
The 13 players awaited Nyanta's return as they packed their camp site and remained alert.
In terms of battle power, goblins were not a threat. They were one of the major forces of the demihumans and had a variety of troop types, from a military point of view they were very powerful. But their level was between 10-20, so if it was 1 on 1, beginners who were around level 25 like Minori's party were strong enough to handle them.
Even though the situation was unclear, the beginners still went about their businesses calmly, packing their campsite and handing the heavy items to Naotsugu and Rezarick with their bags of holding. They kept the light, everyday items in their normal backpacks.
"Very suspicious."
"Ah?"
Naotsugu who was folding the tent canvas said, and Rezarick besides him asked him with a grunt.
"Irritating, I hate irritating situations, it has a feeling of impending misfortune."
"But it is just goblins, right?"
Rezarick gave a 'no big deal' look, he could handle 10-20 goblins by himself.
"Don't you think the encounter rate for goblins in the hills is very high today?"
"Hmm…"
Naotsugu peeked at the beginners, they were saddling the horses and clearing the campfire.
"There are many beginners around too, I think this could turn out pretty bad."
"Hmm…"
Rezarick was a veteran player from the big guild Black Sword Knights of Akiba. He did not laugh off
Naotsugu's words, but thought deeply about it.
The grass swayed slightly and a slender figure appeared in the plaza.
A slender gentleman with the head of a cat in a green corduroy jacket with a tie… it was Nyanta. His eyes were thin slits as usual, but he had a serious expression as he approached Naotsugu and the others.
"How is it?"
"Nya."
Nyanta's serious attitude made the 2 camp leaders come to him.
The beginners were still hard at work and did not notice Nyanta had returned.
"It is quite bad nya, a large scale army… at least a goblin army of a few thousand is moving along the ridge on the other side nya. Their actual numbers… to be frank, I do not know nya."
Rezarick's face tensed up when Nyanta finished.
There were incidents of goblin groups moving together before, no, goblins were a demihuman race that liked to make military maneuvers. They were always banding up and pillaging in groups, but an army numbering in the thousands marching together was rare even for goblins.
Goblins had low intellects, they were basically like a virus, pillaging the neighboring towns.
There was something out of place here, the 3 veterans could smell it and were nervous because of this.
"Tch, guess it can't be helped."
Naotsugu nodded as if he understood something, and asked Nyanta if he had contacted anyone.
"I have reported to Shiroe-cchi nya, but I can't contact Maryele-san and Shouryuu-kun nya."
"Can't contact?"
"Maybe they are taking a nap, busy with a battle, or are in telepathy contact with someone else nya."
Nyanta spoke calmly, but he was not as calm as he usually was.
Nyanta jokingly said 'taking a nap' just now, while it might have happened if it were Maryele, it was hard to imagine Shouryuu being like this. After hearing about this, Rezarick had a faraway gaze in his eyes, an expression one had when using telepathy.
Naotsugu and Nyanta stopped their discussion and waited for his news, but Rezarick replied: "No good, there must be members of the Black Sword Knights at the beach, but I can't contact them either."
Naotsugu and Nyanta did not have the contacts of any other Crescent Moon Alliance members. Nyanta still had Serara on his friend list, but she was right beside them packing up the camp.
They had met with the other younger members several times now, but they had always done it through
Shouryuu or talked face to face. Failing to register the other members was something that Naotsugu and the others overlooked.
The 3 of them tried to grasp the situation.
There were many possibilities, but they had to prepare for the worst too.
But no matter how the situation was, they could not abandon the beginners and rush to the beach.
Even if the goblins were low in level, if there were several thousands of them on the other side of the ridge, there were probably even more hidden in the forest.
They could not leave the beginners behind.
"How does the situation with the goblins look?"
"The ones heading into the valley are a big scale pillaging tribe nya, it looks like the whole mountain is moving nya. It is the first time I have seen such a massive army nya, I even saw some hobgoblins and trolls nya… There are also groups of orcs, this is a proper invading army nya. They are heading in the west southwest direction, but I can't confirm their target destination nya…"
"So the ones we encountered are just the scouting party?"
Minori gasped.
Naotsugu turned and saw the party with Minori and Touya in the lead standing to one side, all of them with stiff expressions and tense bodies. It seemed they had heard the conversation.
"Several thousand… just one mountain ridge away?"
Rundelhous turned his gaze to the forest attempting to see through the trees. His face did not reflect fear and had a sense of determination.
The 3 camp leaders could not find the right words to say momentarily. Serara said in a clear voice,
"I am in charge of the beginners in Crescent Moon Alliance, so, because of that, I registered all of them on my friend list, right? Isuzu also registered them, right?"
"Y, yeah. Of course."
"Hmmm, yeah, of course!"
"Is it okay to ask them about their situation?"
Before Naotsugu could speak, Minori had already asked. The 2 of them nodded and opened their friend lists. Naotsugu scratched his head and mocked himself for overlooking this. He forgot that Serara and
Isuzu were in the Crescent Moon Alliance and could contact the other members easily.
Now that he thought about it, it was really obvious.
There was no point in hiding the truth now.
Since they had to tell everyone when they went back to base anyway, Naotsugu and Rezarick gathered the
6 members from the higher-level party as well and explained the situation briefly.
They were scheduled to return to the school campus in the afternoon, but now that they were surrounded by the goblin army, they could not continue to raid the dungeon. The problem now was which route to take and the situation of the other training teams in the area.
Serara and Isuzu were talking to someone.
From the intelligence gathered by the 2 of them, there was a fierce retreating battle at the coastline, blue goblins came out of the sea. The group was retreating back to the school campus while maintaining formation with the high-level camp leaders acting as rear guard.
"Blue goblins? Tch, is it Sahuagin? What the hell is going on here?"
Naotsugu cursed and swore, he had never heard of anyone encountering the rare monster Sahuagin in the
Sand Leaf peninsula before. They were commonly found in warmer areas further to the south.
"Is this… a coincidence?"
Rezarick was asking about the connection between the goblins and the Sahuagins. Nobody knew the answer, so there was only silence. But the 2 armies seemed to be moving in concert, calling it a coincidence seemed to be dismissing their connection too easily.
Heading to the school campus may not be the best option now, they might be surrounded by both the goblins and the Sahuagins in the worst case scenario.
(If it is too dangerous, we can all use 'Call of Home' to teleport back to Akiba.)
Naotsugu convinced himself.
They could go back to Akiba easily if they used 'Call of Home', but they would need a few days to come to Sand Leaf peninsula. Hence, this was the last resort if they ran out of options.
Leading the beginners back to the school campus was also risky.
But Naotsugu thought that they should link up with Maryele's group since they were on their way there.
They could account for everyone's safety this way, which was the top priority.
Nyanta and Rezarick agreed with this plan.
With the decision made, executing it was very fast.
Since there was no way of knowing when the goblin army was coming, there was no point in staying here.
According to Nyanta's description, the goblin groups were spread around the forest area, scouting out a wide area. Even if they triggered a battle, they could just force their way through.
"Alright, we will be returning to the school campus next, Me, Nyanta and Rezarick will be the leading party. Even with just the 3 of us, we won't lose to you rookies, so don't worry understand? Okay! The higher-level party will be in the rear, remember to do your part, pay attention to the back but don't stay too far behind. The lower-level party will be in the middle in charge of supporting us if we run into a fight in front, don't drop your guard because you are in the center!"
The group mounted their horses under Naotsugu's command.
They intended to cut across the Sand Leaf hills in a straight line.
… There was going to be a war.
Naotsugu worryingly acknowledged this fact, the goblins and Sahuagins might have surrounded the entire
Sand Leaf by now.
If that was the case, his reliable friend would initiate some form of counteraction rising against the monsters' attack. He just needed to do his part.
Naotsugu stroked the neck of his horse gently and advanced along the forest trail.
Part 2
Moving the time forward a little.
Shiroe who received the report from Naotsugu knew about the unsteady air surrounding the Sand Leaf peninsula. But he already knew about it earlier during the meeting with the lords of the People of the
Land.
Adventurers could communicate with a companion far away via telepathy, the People of the Land also had a form of long range communication.
They held conferences with each other through the use of crystal balls and magic.
When Elder Tales was still a game, the People of the Land were NPCs, a part of the background of the game. They did not have battle abilities and convenient skills provided by the game system like the
Adventurers.
But Elder Tales had a fantasy setting, in order to have deeper story elements, the People of the Land were set to be able to use all kinds of magic.
Examples would be the secret skill to create magical artifacts or teleport magic to escape from the main characters (the players).
But this was just a setting, not an existing ability. But in the alternate world after the Catastrophe, these abilities became a part of the magic systems and were used more freely.
Long range conferencing via magic by using crystal balls was part of that magic.
Depending on the time and place, this communication technique was a more powerful weapon than a band of knights. The nobles of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal understood this point, and had a personal court magician reside in their land.
The pillaging goblin tribes only roamed in the mountains and wouldn't attack the cities the nobles reside in. Only the small scale communities in the hills and unfortunate travellers would fall victim to them.
The first to know of the goblin army was Tsukuba's Marquis Kyriva. The goblins were moving in the hills, so they weren't detected until elements of the goblin's advance forces reached Sand Leaf.
This information was transmitted last night.
Tsukuba's resident magician recognized the seriousness of the situation and contacted Marquis Kyriva immediately. Marquis Kyriva only hesitated a moment before calling for an emergency meeting and escalated the news to Duke Sergead. Duke Sergead thought the matter was more important than his pride and requested for aid from all the attending nobles.
The People of the Land held a meeting out of the blue, so they were in a state of confusion. The goblin army was terrifying in its numbers and this incident was severe enough to impact their governance.
The People of the Land held the meeting through the night thinking of countermeasures.
There were several reasons why Krusty and the other Adventurers were not invited to this meeting.
First, Krusty and the group from the Round Table Council were not official members of the League of
Freedom Towns Eastal yet.
There would be a ceremony to officially recognize the Round Table Council joining the League during the
10 days meeting, this had already been scheduled. But the nobles wanted to negotiate as much as possible first, so this ceremony would be held in the latter half of the meeting. But since they had not gone through the ceremony yet, the Round Table Council was not an official member of the League right now.
Second, there were still some members of the League who felt uneasy about the Round Table Council.
There were even rumors 'Is the goblin invasion a scheme of the Adventurers?' that were totally, laughably silly.
This type of view came from a fact. The goblin tribes in the Owly Hills had always been a headache for the residents in the mountains. But in the past 80 years, they had not come out of the mountains to invade the villages. Even though the residents thought of them as dangerous elements in the hills and feel uneasy, there was no big issue if they live at the foot of the mountain.
The reason the goblins were held at bay in the mountain was because the Adventurers periodically raided them and cut down their numbers.
The nobles residing around the Owly mountain ridges knew the importance of inviting Adventurers to diminish the strength of the goblins, so they would put out many quests and rewards annually.
When Elder Tales was still a game, the nobles would use the bar to disseminate quests to 'raid goblins',
'attack the goblin village', 'recover the stolen resources', and the Adventurers would take on the quests for the rewards and make their way up the mountains.
But it was different this year, the Adventurers ignored all the quests related to the goblins in Owly mountain. That was why the nobles of the League, especially those situated near the Ouya mountain ridges, suggested it might be a conspiracy of the Adventurers.
But that was not the case.
The event known as the 'May Incident' to the People of the Land, and Catastrophe to the Adventurers, changed the world. The Adventurers also changed to adapt to this new world, living every day with no energy to spare. Compared to the time when Elder Tales was just a game, all kinds of quests were ignored, this was something that couldn't be helped.
The Adventurers did not have any ill intentions, they were just prioritizing on solving their own problems, that's why they were ignoring the goblins. This was common knowledge spread among the People of the
Land. But when the monster army started to invade, the nobles were unable to accept this idea emotionally.
And also…
"So, is it true?"
"Yes, the 'Knights of Izumo'… disappeared."
"They are no longer here? Meaning they were destroyed?"
"We do not know if they were destroyed, there are no bodies or any traces of battles, they are just gone,
'spirited away' would be the best way to say it."
They acknowledged this fact once again.
The 'Knights of Izumo' was one of the 'Global 13 Orders of Knights', the strongest military force of the kind human race, the protector of the world. There was an unbelievable type of superhuman known as
'Ancient' in this world. They were made with lost ancient magic hidden in the bloodlines of the People of the Land, a miraculous people.
The 'Global 13 Orders of Knights' were a league of superheroes exclusively made up of 'Ancients'.
They were the saviors of humanity and would not interfere with the squabbles of the nobles or appear when demihumans attacked in small scale. But they would definitely strike during big-scale disasters to protect the human world.
Those 'Knights of Izumo' disappeared.
This fact was known one month after the 'May Incident', because it was a serious matter, the League of
Freedom Towns Eastal classified this information from the public. They suspected this might be the conspiracy of the Holy Empire Westelande, but their spies reported that the Holy Empire Westelande was also troubled by this.
The nobles only knew in detail about the 'Knights of Izumo', the other 12 'Global 13 Orders of Knights' must be shouldering the safety of the world on other continents, and had not appeared in Yamato before.
But those 'Knights of Izumo' disappeared.
The several fortresses that were used as their home bases were now empty. From the scout reports, there were no traces of battle there, or any signs of them being activated on short notice for a crusade to some far away lands.
It had a normal, everyday feeling, as if the place were frozen in time.
The impression was similar to taking a walk on a sunny day and not coming back.
"But, if that is so…"
"Woo woo…"
Several nobles scratched their heads.
The goblin army numbered over 10,000. If they formed up on the plains and clashed all-out with the
League of Freedom Towns' forces, it was a number they didn't stand a chance against.
But the goblins were moving south along the mountain ridges and there was no way of knowing where they would strike, it might be Hitachi, Fourbridge, or even they might even turn around and hit downtown of Urumiya.
Those cities were different from others in the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, they had city walls protecting the nobles' residences and the entire city area, they were fortress cities. Depending on the number of soldiers and citizens, they could protect themselves against a larger force if they adopted a defensive strategy. But if they were facing goblins that were over 10,000 in number, they might not be able to do it alone. They would face the problem of resource supplies and psychological shock.
These cities were dependent on the aid of 'The Knights of Izumo'.
The city in the most dire position was Tsukuba.
There were sightings of the goblin invasion forces in the mountains, and they were estimated to be less than a hundred km away.
Other than this, the possible targets of the goblins were the aforementioned Hitachi, Fourbridge, downtown of Urumiya, and the unarmed fishing town Choushi that was not under any noble's jurisdiction.
They might target…
"They might be targeting Maihama."
Duke Sergead said as he put his strong rugged palm on his cheek.
From the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice in the direction of Sand Leaf, Maihama was on the other side of the city ruins of Eastal. Calculating from the place the goblins were sighted, they might attack the city in 2-
3 days in the worst case scenario.
In conclusion, the goblin army was heading straight for the throats of the League of Freedom Towns
Eastal. From the perspective of the League, they should say that they allowed the enemy to penetrate so deep into their territory.
The monsters were too close, there was no way to remove this thorn without spilling blood and the venom was about to corrode the heart of the League.
A deafening silence descended on the room.
It was an unbearable silence.
The night meeting continued with heavy words, from a rational point of view, the enemy was just days away from invading any number of cities, this was not the time for meetings.
Since it had come to this, the only way was for the League of Freedom Towns Eastal to pool their forces to surround and exterminate the goblin army.
But this would require a lot of sacrifices. Cavalry would not be able to fight in the forest with limited visibility, the heavy cavalry which relied on their charges to take down the enemy would not be able to show their might.
It was difficult to run a large scale war, the nobles' forces would be spread out, fighting the goblins would cost many lives. The hill regions were suitable for hiding, even if you sent in all your forces to this extent, the goblins might spread out and run away, there was no guarantee you could take them all out.
And so, should the lords all return and defend their own lands? The answer was no.
Most cities were able to survive a siege for months, but as the goblins attacked the fortress, they could raid the surrounding villages and communities, destroying the farms and hide in the hills when reinforcements came to save the city. Their motives were food and treasures, not to occupy the city.
Thinking about it this way, they were not an army, but armed refugees.
The mountain ranges in the northeast region of the Yamato archipelago faced a serious problem. A big coalition like an army was unable to cooperate and support each other in this type of terrain.
Duke Sergead pressed his aching temple with his fingers and thought.
(The decision of this meeting is probably going to be using all forces to surround and destroy the enemy…
We can only accept the fact we will lose a lot of men in this war of attrition… But the problem in this case is which noble will lead the vanguard.)
Leading the vanguard sounded like a honorable role, but they were actually going to be cannon fodder.
… First of all, a certain fortress city would be surrounded and besieged. This fortress would need to strengthen its defense to resist the goblins. The goblins would tire from laying siege, and the League's army would surround and destroy them.
This was a proper war strategy in military terms.
And it was probably the only way to destroy the goblins. But this strategy needed a city fortress to be the bait.
The candidates were first Tsukaba, followed by Duke Sergead's city Maihama.
All the nobles understood this.
But they dared not say it.
For a city to be under siege meant accepting all the farms and fields they had tilled would be razed to the ground and many citizens' lives would be lost. 'Be the bait' were not words you could utter easily.
"… We… We request under the charter of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal for help from the lords in the League!"
Tsukaba's Marquis Kyriva uttered these words like a scream.
But facing a plea like this, many of the nobles just averted their eyes in silence.
"That… That's right, Akiba! There is Akiba, they can use their army to defeat the goblins, we should do that! They are the reason for all this after all!"
Marquis Kyriva shouted desperately as though he was going to be crushed by the silence. These words piqued the interest of some of the nobles.
(Ehmm…)
Duke Sergead's expression was serious, but he kept silent and thought.
This was a good idea.
They had been thinking about it with the current strength of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, they had not considered adding elements from outside… that element was the Adventurers in Akiba, if it were them, they could provide some effective countermeasures.
(But…)
They were a strong weapon of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, but they might also be a doubleedged sword, there was no guarantee they could control this weapon.
Could we request for aid just like that? But if we seek help, we would need to tell them all the truth, including the disappearance of the 'Knights of Izumo'.
Adventurers were very strong.
If they put their minds to it and declared war on the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, it would be more complex than this war with the goblins. The 'Knights of Izumo' that could rival the Adventurers were now gone, if the Adventurers knew about this, they could not predict how the dynamics of the situation would evolve.
Duke Sergead thought the 3 young ambassadors could be trusted.
Michitaka had the air of a great merchant, he was highly tolerant and was willing to bear any losses to stay true to his business ethics.
Shiroe had the feel of a scholar, but his nature was like a sharp sword. If the sword was out of the sheath, no matter how challenging the problem was, he would cut it down.
And Krusty, senate leader of the Round Table Council was not a knight. He was talented in too many ways, a knight was not enough to describe him. The potential of this young man Krusty could not be gauged, even with the eyes of the 60 years-old Duke, it was like an opaque curtain.
But the personal feelings of Sergead had to be strictly separated from the decision-making of Duke
Sergead Corwen, ruler of Maihama, the most prestigious clan Corwen in the east and the chairman of the
League of Freedom Towns Eastal. The nature of the 3 ambassadors also could not be used to gauge the political decisions of Akiba.
(And the Holy Empire Westelande is watching this closely…)
With Marquis Kyriva leading the way, several nobles wanted the Adventurers to take to the battlefield. A few lords brought up the 'Knights of Izumo' incident, suggesting that keeping secrets from allies was not appropriate.
But even more nobles questioned the feasibility of the strategy, the Adventurers joining the fray was a good thing, but how do you lure these Adventurers in? If the nobles did not provide quest rewards to match, it would be hard to entice them.
The meeting turned into chaos.
And it continued to be this way when Nyanta reported the situation to Shiroe the following day.
Part 3
The morning after the noble's meeting.
The telepathy message from Sand Leaf alerted Shiroe's group to the crisis.
Nyanta might not be the first to report, because Michitaka and Krusty also received similar messages from guild members attending the summer training camp at about the same time.
Sand Leaf peninsula was under a large-scale attack from demihumans.
Shiroe's group held an emergency meeting in their room immediately. The meeting room only had Shiroe,
Michitaka, Krusty, and a few others, the rest were either on security detail or out scouting for intelligence.
At the same time, the top floor of the guild building in Akiba was also having an emergency meeting at the
Round Table. Even though it was inconvenient, they still managed to hold a meeting through telepathy.
"Let's explain the situation."
At Michitaka's request, Shiroe took out his notes and informed the others of the known facts.
"Sand Leaf peninsula was under attack by demihumans earlier this morning. Including the beginners, there are 67 players from Akiba attending a summer training camp in the peninsula. The invading demihuman armies are as follows. Sahuagin at the coastline, unknown numbers, estimated to be at least a few hundred; central hill region is attacked by large-scale pillaging goblin tribes, at least 10,000 in strength."
10,000 was easy to say, but was a large number, even the veteran players would be daunted by this.
Elder
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Elder Tales' smallest group battle unit was a 'Party'. This was a group cooperating together using tactics, a maximum of 6 members. When challenging dungeons or adventuring in the world, the Adventurers of
Elder Tales would form a 'Party'.
But there were some incidents and quests that could not be handled by a party. To handle such large-scale battles, Elder Tales' design had a big scale battle system called a 'Raid'.
'Raid' was separated into levels, the more common one being the 'Full Raid' formed by 4 'Parties', a 24- player mid-sized group. Elder Tales' heroic-level battles were normally done in this way.
The quest which the Debauchery Tea Party completed to obtain their griffon flutes,'The Fields of Dead
Spirits,' required a 24-man group and was a 'Full Raid' quest.
There was another higher level group, which was the 'Legion Raid' formed by 4 'Full Raid' groups. There were very few quests in Elder Tales that were 'Legion Raid' level, and were used to handle very largescale, limited time events to avert national-level crises.
It was hard to work together in an army of 96 people, most players wouldn't be able to grasp the full extent of the battle, the commander must have courage, insight, and tactical ability.
Goblin levels were low.
To level 90 players, they were just small fries and they could take on dozens alone. But no one had heard of an army that was a hundred times bigger then the 96-man 'Legion Raid'.
"This is a conservative estimate, I think the actual numbers will need to be revised upwards."
"Why do you think so?"
Krusty asked Shiroe.
"It's based on the reason for the invasion."
"Reason? Do you know what it is?"
Everybody was talking through telepathy, the minutes were taken by one of the attendants that came along.
These words should be from Soujirou of West Wind Brigade, and Shiroe replied 'this is not a confirmed fact, just my own deduction' as a opening line, and said:
"I think the reason for the invasion is 'The Return of the Goblin King'."
Shiroe not only made the meeting room he was in quiet, the Round Table Council members in Akiba and
Maryele in Sand Leaf were also dumbstruck.
When Elder Tales was just a game, 'The Return of the Goblin King' was a periodic game event.
In the depths of the Owly zone's 'Black Forest' there was the goblin castle, 'Seven Falls'.
Every 2 years there would be a goblin king coronation ceremony, crowning the strongest goblin tribe leader from the surrounding 6 tribes.
If you changed it to real time, this was an event that happens every 2 months. The entrance to the 'Seven
Falls' would open every 2 months for a week. If the players raided the goblin king's fortress during this period, they would be able to obtain strong loot.
There were 2 reasons why this was so popular. First, the loot dropped by the goblin king was very strong, even if they were not something the top-tier players of major guilds would want, they were still very high level items for normal players, high quality items that would make others envious.
Another reason that could not be overlooked was the strength of the goblin king and the defense forces were not fixed.
According to the game setting, the goblin king was selected from the strong goblins from the surrounding tribes. In other words, if you attacked the surrounding tribes and weakened their forces, the goblins in the
'Seven Falls' zone would also be weakened, the level and power of the goblin king would also go down.
Because of this feature, even normal players stood a chance in taking on 'The Return of the Goblin King' quest, making it a worthwhile and popular quest.
"… Yes, 'The Return of the Goblin King' that everyone is familiar with. It has a setting that has never happened before and might be forgotten by the players."
Raiding the goblin king was a 'Full Raid' level battle, but if you weakened the goblins beforehand, it was not too difficult, a raid suitable for mid-size guilds to take on. Shiroe had never heard of a goblin king living past the 1 week event period.
But if Shiroe remembered correctly, this was what was happening right now.
"I remember… If the goblin king survives the 1 week event period, he will unite the surrounding tribes and his army will increase by 10 times, I remember there is such an explanation, right?"
Shiroe nodded to acknowledge Michitaka's query.
That was correct.
The goblin king who completed the coronation would become the hero of the goblins, his influence would increase significantly.
After the Catastrophe, Shiroe and the adventurers had been busy building their environment to survive in this alternate world. Even if it was Elder Tales' popular quest 'The Return of the Goblin King', they didn't have the time to take on the quest and ignored it.
"So the goblins retained their military power."
An attendant relayed the telepathy message, Shiroe thought for a while, nodded, and replied.
"Yes, we did not raid the 6 surrounding tribes, and did not attack the fortress of Seven Falls in waves, so we can assume the goblin king and his guards' levels are at their highest in the history of the game… Other than this, I am more worried about the scale of the united goblin tribes."
There was a suffocating silence in the meeting room.
They did not want to keep quiet but with nothing constructive to say, the room became silent.
They maintained a sense of calm and did not fall into panic. According to reports, the summer training camp attendees were seeking refuge in the abandoned school campus, Maryele from Crescent Moon
Alliance was joining the meeting through telepathy from there.
Telepathy could only connect 1-to-1, so Henrietta was relaying Maryele's messages in the meeting room.
Also, if the campers were surrounded by powerful monsters, they would use 'Call of Home' to teleport back to Akiba to avoid harm.
The goblin army was marching from the Sand Leaf peninsula, they should be heading towards either the west or south, razing any communities in their way. But Akiba was still a distance away, and Akiba would be ready for them if they did come.
Even if the goblin army was the biggest ever, they were still a manageable group. You needed a 'Full
Raid' group to raid the goblin king… 24 Adventurers. Akiba had 500 times that number of Adventurers.
(But the situation now…)
Akiba was safe, but the League of Freedom Towns Eastal could not take matters lightly like them.
Even if the enemy numbered just 10,000, Shiroe thought it would be enough to take down a weaker fortress.
Shiroe lacked military knowledge, so it was a shame that he could not be certain about that. But he could imagine the livid faces of the nobles in the League.
"Will the 'Knights of Izumo' be deploying?"
Henrietta asked hesitantly.
This was answered with a chatter of voices agreeing "Oh…" "Now that you mention it…".
The 'Knights of Izumo'.
This was an order of knights in the Japanese server made up of 'Ancients'.
An 'Ancient' was a hero character of the People of the Land, their might was more than a match for the
Adventurers, the ace in the hole for the kind human race. When Adventurers first appeared in this world, they took on quests and missions to tip the scale against the demihumans with their overwhelming numbers. But if the fate of the world hanged in the balance, the 'Knights of Izumo' intervened.
In the 12 open servers of the world there were 13 such orders of knights, the 'Knights of Izumo' were known as the Japanese server's… wrong, it should be Yamato archipelago's guardian angels.
When Elder Tales was still a game, Shiroe heard of the exploits of this order of knights. Not only Shiroe, the more experienced players would know even more about the legends of this mythical knight order.
They fought frequently alongside them in quests or followed their traces in their crusades.
They were the protectors of all of the kind human race in the world, so they would not involve themselves in the petty political quarrels between the lords and nobles. But if an event like the invasion of the demihumans were to happen, they probably would take some action.
The meeting had the atmosphere of 'I don't need to take care of this personally'. But Shiroe had his doubts, as they had not confirmed that the 'Knights of Izumo' were operating normally as usual.
Shiroe fell into a feeling of self-loathing, thinking that he was worrying about this too much. He was interested in the southwards march of the goblins, recalling that the Elder Tales official setting only said
'the goblin king who survives the week of his coronation will unite the surrounding forces and build an empire'.
(… Can we really leave this alone?)
Shiroe did not have a clear answer in his heart. The fact was that he had to worry about the 'Spirit Theory' issue, making him hesitate about starting a grand-scale war.
Part 4
"Princess, princess… Princess Raynesia?"
The maid's call made Raynesia turn around.
"What is it… ?"
Raynesia tilted her head slightly up, the knights of the court would be mesmerized by just this look and swear their eternal fealty to her, that was how adorable and beautiful she was. But the one before her was the maid that had been taking care of her for the longest time.
"Thinking about something? It is still too early to think about lunch, right?"
The maid said in a overly familiar tone.
But her accusation was quite generous, 'thinking' was a rare action that Raynesia took. The time she spent looking 'depressed' was longer than the time she spent thinking. But her most common action was just
'dazing around'.
"Eh? Elissa, do I look like I am thinking?"
Raynesia was probably used to it and did not make any rebuttal, and just made a query.
The maid Elissa made her way to the back of Raynesia who was sitting at the dressing table to comb her beautiful silver hair.
"Yes, you look like you were thinking, which is so rare for the princess."
This made Raynesia think in silence again, this was a rare sight indeed.
The key of differentiating her actions was in her gaze. When she was looking slightly down and not displaying any emotions, she was 'thinking'.
If she looked to the bottom left and looked like she was smiling despite being troubled, she was
'depressed'. If the princess was fretting and depressed over small matters, this was the expression she made.
This was the truth behind the face the scholars and bureaucrats praised as 'sorrowful look of the melancholic beauty'. The things she was fretting about were usually stuff like 'did I eat too much last night?' or 'I hope they don't throw away my old pajamas'.
The expression popular with the knights and muscular men was the 'dazing around' expression. Her head tilted slightly upwards, a tipsy look as if she was daydreaming, with a faint hint of a smile. If she was dazing too much, her eyes would shine, making her even more alluring.
Since she was just dazing around, if you asked her you would realize she was not thinking about anything, the most she would say would be something on the level of 'Ah, the weather is nice' or 'I want to take a nap in my room'. She sounded like an idiot when she said that, and from what Elissa saw, the Raynesia she was serving under was a real idiot, there was no mistake.
At least that was so for their daily lives.
(This is hard, beauties are hard to handle.)
Elissa could only sigh.
Since Elissa was a maid serving the princess, she was also quite a beauty herself. If she had some time off and walked in the city, there would be tons of men hitting on her.
From Elissa's view, she was a pretty charming woman, but to the standard of a fancy beauty. Real beauties were ladies like Raynesia, a beauty at this level had the ability to be independent of the person herself, letting others ignore things like her personality and thoughts, a whole dimension by itself.
(I don't really envy her though.)
Elissa sighed softly as she combed the princess' luscious and silvery hair, each strand passing through her fingers was like a treasure as valuable as gold.
"… Didn't come today."
Elissa wanted to tease the princess and said.
"Ah?"
"Krusty-sama."
"… Why did you ask?"
"It is nothing, the two of you kept having lunch together recently, he usually comes to visit the princess around this time."
"Is… that so…"
Raynesia replied in a mildly panicky tone. The slightly embarrassed Raynesia was not the princess the knights adored.
This princess was a beauty, but she was closer to being naive and clumsy instead of a fancy lady… she was just a useless girl, but Elissa admired her useless mistress.
"Yeah, that is correct. The animal known as man doesn't pay attention to details since the start of civilization. We are having a hard time with just the clothes we brought along, but he never cares about our problems with our wardrobes, it is really making me speechless… I remember lunch yesterday was a pearl-color gown, light purple shawl and purple crystal necklace. The day before was light purple rose satin… right, the one with the double layer material."
"Yeah."
Raynesia had a surprised expression, from the look she was giving Elissa through the mirror, she didn't understand what she was saying.
"Listen carefully princess, this is not 'Castle Cinderella' in Maihama, so your wardrobe is very limited. If you have lunch with a specific male continuously, there is a limit to the combination of clothes you can wear. Since it is lunch, you cannot wear dresses for dinner banquets, you banquets, you need to pay attention to the amount of skin you show. If lunch is in the courtyard, you will need to wear matching sleeve designs, and you need to choose according to the wallpaper color if you are eating indoors…"
Raynesia digested these words for a while, then gingerly expressed her views.
"I am fine with yesterday's clothes."
"No way, wearing the same clothes for meals 2 days in a row, you think you are a country girl?"
Elissa rejected Raynesia's suggestion.
"I can wear the long sleeve silk blouse and plaid skirt…"
"That is indoor casual wear! And this is the specific costume you always laze around in!"
Facing the aggressive Elissa, Raynesia made a puppy face and kept quiet. Even this expression looked like she was hiding her sorrows, bearing her painful troubles, beauties were terrifying.
(But her nature is a useless bum, things like plaid skirts are not meant to be seen by men, she is not a bar hostess!)
"But I don't think that person is concerned about these things…"
"Wrong! The animal known as man may say he doesn't mind, but he will tabulate the scores in his heart, it must be like this. They will say 'I like your most natural look', but when they see a woman who just woke up they will turn their gaze far away. What they need is not 'most natural look', but your 'seemingly most natural look'! Listen, in the end the princess…"
The sound of the knocking door interrupted Elissa's spirited lecture.
Raynesia's father Feynail entered with the butler without waiting for their reply.
"Ah, Raynesia, calm down and listen to me."
Feynail tried to hide his exasperation, took a glass of water, and drank half of it before continuing.
"A goblin army is heading towards Maihama, 10,000 in strength and seems to be increasing. They might number tens of thousands in a few days, but that is the worse case scenario."
Elissa was unable to get what he was saying.
10 times of a hundred was a thousand, 10 times that was ten thousand.
The city of Maihama had the largest population within the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, numbering about 20,000 which included the farmers and merchants. The military might of Maihama included a thousand guards that maintained peace and order in the city, the 400 knights stationed in Maihama, and if you added in other patrolling knights, it would barely reach 2000.
When Elissa realized it, she felt her blood draining away in an instant.
10,000 enemy troops!
The enemy were demihumans, so the civilian militia wouldn't be able to match up to them. Elissa heard about defense battle using a fortress, but 10,000 against 2000 sounded like a lost cause to a woman with no military knowledge.
"Those ugly bastards might not be after our precious Maihama, Tsukaba and a few other nobles' territories are also in the danger zone. But we cannot afford to let down our guard, I plan to return to
Maihama immediately."
"Dear Father, I will also…"
Raynesia got up from her chair.
She had a sharp and serious expression.
Raynesia might not be good at socializing with others, was lazy, loved to daze around, and didn't look like a daughter of a prestigious clan.
But just because she didn't act like one, it didn't mean she was not suitable to be one.
This sloppy and careless princess had the bloodline of one of the only two duke clans… Clan Corwen.
Elissa had never doubted that the princess she was taking care of was of noble birth and had high potential.
"No, there is no need, you can just stay here."
"Why? With our land in danger, we need to all go back…"
"No, Father-in-law will also stay here."
Father-in-law referred to the current head of the family, Duke Sergead. Raynesia's mother Sarariya was the daughter of Sergead, her father married into the clan.
"We have not determined the true intention of the invading army, from the scale, they are not only after
Maihama. It won't be too serious if they only attack Maihama… the worse case will be the League of
Freedom Towns Eastal being wiped off the face of the map. To counter this, the League will need to unite to face our adversaries together. As the chairman of the League, Father-in-law cannot leave this palace.
You need to become his pillar of support… Do you understand?"
Feynail came just to say these words.
He did not wait for his daughter to reply and hastily left the room, Elissa bowed deeply to bid him farewell.
Feynail was Elissa's main employer. Compared to her times with Raynesia or her mother, Elissa had little contact with her employer, and he gave her an impression of being a honest man.
The lord of Maihama was Duke Sergead.
He inherited his role at a young age and was brilliant in his governance, enjoyed a good reputation, and was loved by his people. His daughter and granddaughter Raynesia were also very well-liked.
Compared to direct bloodline descendants, his son-in-law Feynail was like an outsider. Even though saying it this way sounded wrong, but he could not avoid the criticism of leaving a weak impression on the people.
He was not a knight or the son of a noble, he was just a bureaucrat with a normal background. He was in the economic department and rose in rank over time. Elissa heard from her parents when Feynail was marrying into the clan, the people were not really disappointed, but just had the feeling of missed expectations.
But you could not feel the gentleness of his bureaucratic background when you looked at his back as he rushed back to his land without hesitation. If he was really so frail and weak, Sergead would not have approved of him, and Elissa agreed with the Duke's judgement.
"Dear father…"
"Princess?"
Raynesia's whimper made Elissa focus on her.
Raynesia was thinking.
No, this was different from the normal-thinking Raynesia she had seen so far.
Her eyes seemed to be looking at something without form and shape, nursing a flame that was burning slowly. Her graceful stance had an air of nobility, you could not jokingly describe it as being depressed.
"Princess… ?"
Raynesia did not hear Elissa's words and bit her lips gently.
Part 5
This was Sand Leaf peninsula, an abandoned school grounds on a gentle hill near the sea. There were many Adventurers gathered on the field.
They were all chatting among themselves with tense expressions. They were not a formal army, so there were no officers nagging at them and asking them to form up and behave. They gathered in small groups with people they were familiar with or at about the same level and were awaiting orders.
No one made any suggestions, but the Adventurers had already accounted for all their things and packed them away. There were several wooden barrels in the central tent, someone would help you refill your water bottles with ice cold black rose tea over there.
These should be initiatives taken by the campers, the Adventurers that had taken the tea would return to their companions and continue to talk softly.
In the sky to the west, the sun which looked bigger than it was during the day was setting, it was already evening.
Adventurers kept entering and leaving the only tent left in the center of the field.
Following the guideline that was announced, they would be using this campus as a base until they had accounted for everyone. This also meant that they would be leaving after making sure everybody was safe.
Maryele looked outside the tent and sighed.
Nyanta, Naotsugu, Maryele, Shouryuu, Rezarick, and other level 90 players were holding a meeting in the tent.
The supervisor for this summer training camp was Maryele, Crescent Moon Alliance was a small guild, but it was one of the 11 guilds that set up the Round Table Council. The other members of the council were either at the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, or were back in Akiba, so the training of the beginners was left in Maryele's care.
The news of the Sahuagin and goblin attacks had already been reported back to the Round Table Council, they must be coming up with some follow-up measures.
"Mary-san? Don't think too hard about it, just leave it to Shiro and Henrietta-san, alright? Don't worry, be it through tricks or treachery, they will think of a good way to deal with this."
"Thanks, Naotsugu-yan."
Maryele smiled brilliantly like usual.
She thought that smiling in this situation was not too good, but feeling the sincerity of others made her happy. This youth Naotsugu… That didn't sound right, he was only a year or two younger, he should be an adult… He was usually so brash and bold, so it was hard to imagine that he was actually delicate and kind at heart. When Maryele noticed this, she was always delighted when he showed his concern.
"Alright! Let me give you a hug! A hug as thanks!"
Maryele hid her embarrassment and hugged the panicky Naotsugu tightly, Naotsugu with his red face and helpless demeanor was so cute and interesting.
"Eh! Wait, Mary-san, don't do that! Stop… Swimsuit… Touching…!"
Naostugu whose mind was in total chaos surprised Maryele, but she continued to hug Naotsugu's head as
Nyanta intervened with his kind words.
"Maryele-cchi? I think you should change your clothes nya, it is already evening. cough cough, about that… just wearing a bikini and a hoodie is a bit too stimulating for Naotsugu-cchi nya."
This advice made Maryele realize the situation and she backed away hastily.
She was so nervous all the while and did not notice she was essentially half naked.
(Heavens… that was careless of me, I am wearing this when I… Boo hoo… Now he will think of me as a brainless girl. Thankfully Henrietta is not here, or she would give me a lecture…)
Her chest that was pressing against Naotsugu felt warm, the heat seemed to be coming from her sense of shame, her face had the same warmth. Maryele rushed into the depths of the tents and took out armor to change into, no one should be able to see her behind the screens. But she did not take off her swimwear, and just wore a tunic and armor over it.
"Sorry to disturb! Players above level 30 are all accounted for! Everyone is present!"
Maryele was changing so she could not see this, but she heard Nyanta accept the report from the camper.
Everyone was accounted for, no attendees were lost, Maryele felt a heavy weight was off her shoulders.
The retreating battle from the beach was really fierce.
The enemy level was low, but their numbers were very troublesome. The strategy for long-term battles and short-term battles were different, which was basically the allocation of MP usage.
Cleric Maryele was a healer, and if the healer ran out of MP it meant the supply of healing spells would stop. In order to keep the party members alive, healers needed to manage their MP carefully. In Elder
Tales, a normal party raiding a dungeon would get into battles that lasted from 30 seconds to several minutes, so players would find it hard to control their resources for battles that went over 10 minutes.
Only players in major guilds who took part in 'Raids' would have experience in long and pitched battles.
They retreated with much difficulty.
There were people wounded in the battle, but they were cured by the healers. Shouryuu commented that the beginners were now more courageous and spirited after experiencing this retreating fight, so they did gain something out of this.
After Maryele finished changing and tidying her hair, there was a commotion outside the tent. She heard
Naotsugu call "Mary-san!" and walk out into the purple night sky. There were many specks of lights wavering in the forest of the distant mountain range.
"… Those are torches nya."
Nyanta mentioned softly.
This was a scene out of a fantasy, and it was an uneasy and looming sight.
With the red burning sun as the background, Sand Leaf's forest in the mountain was falling into darkness.
Countless specks of light shone and moved through the forest, like ants carrying lights and marching forward.
"From the looks of it, 100-150?"
Naotsugu said softly.
The number of torches was not equivalent to the number of goblins, but there were at least that number of goblins moving through the forest, Maryele realized that they were no longer hiding their movements.
The countless specks of light were a wordless warning from the goblins that 'We will attack you next'.
"Bring me the map!"
"Ah, wait a minute, I will use Magic Torch."
The veteran players from Keele and West Wind Brigade were estimating the positions of the goblins on the map. Serara was holding the edge of Nyanta's shirt with unease, while Nyanta studied the maps and the markings, and lifted his head and looked to the southeast.
Nyanta decided to use the griffon to scout from the sky while there was still daylight, he should be the one who was most familiar with the movements of the goblins.
Everyone in the plaza didn't panic when they saw this strange sight. Put simply, since everyone was accounted for, they could hold a camp-closing ceremony in Akiba 15 minutes later. Since they could use
'Call of Home', they did not have the feeling of desperation.
In this world, Adventurers were very strong.
(Anyways, we need to wait for the Round Table Council to make a decision. But since everyone is safe, I should report that to them…)
As Maryele was considering this, Nyanta had a troubled expression as he approached with Serara and
Minori. Naotsugu and Rezarick were by Maryele's side. It seemed likeIt seemed like Nyanta had something to say to the camp leaders.
"What is it? Did something happen?"
Maryele asked.
"The situation is a bit troubling nya, no, there is no need to be troubled at all, but, eh…"
Nyanta didn't know where to start.
"Something wrong? Chief, just say what is on your mind."
Naotsugu probably noticed Maryele's perplexed face, and directly asked his guild-mate from Log Horizon about it.
"… That group seems to be on their way to assault Choushi nya. It is not the whole army, probably a midsize splinter group that is responsible for pillaging nya. The main army seems to be situated more to the north nya… In other words, they plan to use Choushi as their granary nya."
"Choushi doesn't have walls."
Minori interjected.
The hands of the middle-school girl were shaking, but she steadied herself forcefully and continued:
"If we don't do something, Choushi won't last the night."
Part 6
"So many… ?"
Michitaka kept repeating this like a parrot.
There were 5 people in this meeting room.
D. D. D's leader 'Berserker' Krusty.
West Wind Brigade's harem style guild master Soujirou.
Oceanic Systems' 'Strong Armed' boss Michitaka.
Crescent Moon Alliance's standin guild master Henrietta.
And Log Horizon's 'Black Heart Glasses' Shiroe.
The crisis of the sudden attack at Sand Leaf peninsula prompted the Round Table Council to hold a meeting to discuss the situation. Maryele who was leading the training camp in Sand Leaf and Shiroe's group who was meeting with the People of the Land at the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice were attending through telepathy.
The conclusion of the discussion could be summarized simply, 'Standby'.
They were unable to come to a final conclusion at this current phase, they could only continue to keep communications open, gather more intelligence, and standby while observing how the situation would develop, this was the general feel after the discussion.
But they could not let their guards down and must be ready for anything.
Shiroe made 3 suggestions to the Round Table Council, the first was to strengthen the defense of the
Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, there were many nobles gathered here, they needed to ensure their safety.
The nobles had their own bodyguards, but the Adventurers felt they were not strong enough.
After the telepathy discussion with the Round Table Council ended, West Wind Brigade was the first to heed Shiroe's call and rushed to the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice.
The Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice was situated to the southwest of the ruins of Eastal city, it was unlikely the goblins would attack here, this was a safe zone that didn't need any reinforcements. But the meeting among the nobles was still unclear, from the few ways Shiroe predicted their meeting could go, Shiroe or
Krusty might not be able to continue discussions with the People of the Land, so there was a need to send reinforcements from Akiba.
But if a big-scale reinforcement army was to arrive while they were still in the middle of discussion, the
People of the Land might view this as an act of hostility. Taking this fact into account, West Wind Brigade was a relatively small guild among them and volunteered to lead the way.
West Wind Brigade made camp a 10 minutes ride away from the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice, and
Soujirou entered the palace with a few attendants.
Akiba and Shibuya were the 2 cities closest to the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice in the League of Freedom
Towns Eastal. If they needed to rush, they could arrive in 2 hours riding a horse, so Soujirou was in position that very evening.
According to reports, it had been confirmed that the goblin army was situated around the root of Sand
Leaf peninsula.
Shiroe marked out the rough position on the map, this place was near Abiko and Toride in the real world.
They were satellite cities in old Japan, but they were just unexplored and green hill regions here.
"This is their headquarters, they are divided into tribes and coordinating their movements, but their teamwork is not perfect. Even if you can feel they are lead by the goblin king, their command system is still scattered and lacks uniformity. Their range of operations is wide and unregulated, which makes them harder to handle."
Shiroe expressed his views.
By looking at the map you could tell the enemy was within reach of the area under the influence of the abandoned capital city Eastal. If you drew a line between Tsukaba and Maihama, the army was right between them, in a position to disrupt their forces from cooperating.
"Because their movements are erratic, we cannot grasp their actual numbers even after receiving several reports… If the latest air surveillance report is reliable, there are at least 15,000 goblins."
"15,000…"
Henrieta gasped. She was not the guild master of the guild that was a member of the Round Table
Council, she was just standing in for Maryele who was away for the summer training camp in Sand Leaf.
Hence, she was avoiding speaking out in this discussion, but she couldn't help herself.
"The number is not very threatening."
Soujirou said with a straight face.
"If the enemy has the same number as us, we the Adventurers can take them on one after another. The enemy this time are goblins, even mid-level players should be able to battle 10 rounds, right? I am confident my guild can take out 1,500 of them."
He had a point, but his words were like those of a demon.
"Aye, we might be able to do that, but the meeting with the nobles won't go so smoothly."
Michitaka replied, Soujirou laughed charmingly, scratched his head and said: "You are right."
"As concluded in the telepathy meeting, the Round Table Council will leave the decision in the hands of the ambassador party led by Krusty. Since the goblins are sending an army to attack, the nobles of Eastal should be talking about this, right? So instead of discussing in Akiba, it is more efficient to do that here."
They basically decided to wait and see. But the nobles might ask for their aid, so Akiba shouldn't force their views when talking about countermeasures with them, this was the answer Akiba chose.
In this negotiation, it would be best to give the ambassador on the scene the authority to make decisions, this was the faith the Round Table Council had in their 3 ambassadors.
"Leave it to us, we won't sell Akiba out."
Michitaka laughed softly and promised Soujirou.
Shiroe looked at Krusty.
The big and handsome man with a calm expression was studying the map in silence.
"… The 'Knights of Izumo' are not deploying?"
Shiroe understood the question Krusty asked, and the meaning behind it.
"I think they are involved in some other incident we don't know about like the 'Suzaku Gate's Ghost
Festival'."
'Suzaku Gate's Ghost Festival' was a periodic quest like 'The Return of the Goblin King', the quest activating once every 3 months. The story setting was based on the doors of hell opening and the ghosts and spirits roaming the earth.
The difference between the two was that 'The Return of the Goblin King' was situated in the northeast,
'Suzaku Gate's Ghost Festival' happened in the 'Bane of Heian'.
In other words, if there was something similar happening in the west, the 'Knights of Izumo' might be on their way there to help. Shiroe didn't think this was the case, but he still brought this theory up.
"Yeah…"
Shiroe was unable to tell if Krusty accepted this reasoning, he just crossed his arms and fell into silence again.
(… This might be my chance to tell the truth.)
Shiroe was planning all sorts of things and trying to predict how things will pan out. But he decided this based on a premonition he had.
"I have something else to report."
"Hmmm? Shiroe-dono, what is it?"
"Shiroe-sama… ?"
Shiroe waited for all of them to focus on him and said:
"It is about death in this world. We will respawn in the cathedral after dying, so we just assume that by paying the penalty of lost EXP we can revive. This is the setting in Elder Tales, we were too naive to think this is what is happening."
Shiroe's speech made Krusty who was thinking silently lift his head and listen intently.
"According to my sources… This has not been confirmed, but there are risks in dying even in this world, you will not only lose some of your items and a bit of EXP… Death is when our 'Souls', and our 'Essence' are reborn in bodies. At that time we will lose some memories."
The grand and luxurious meeting room was filled with a tense air so strong that you could almost feel it with your fingers.
"How many memories you lose or which part you will lose, I am not sure… But based on my sources, this is how our death system works."
It felt like no one was reacting to what Shiroe said.
After a long period of time, Krusty replied.
"I understand… so, that is the reason behind my memory loss of the old world, I know that now."
"…!"
The group threw their gazes at the calm burly warrior. Krusty remained unfazed even with so many pairs of eyes on him.
"D. D. D is a battle guild, before the revolution in Akiba, we did some live battle training to adapt to this alternate world and I have experienced death several times. I didn't notice it normally, but there is definitely something missing, although I cannot be sure… But I think the memories we have of the old world will selectively be lost.
"Eh, this…"
"So this will happen, hey!"
"Specifically speaking which part? To what extent?"
Henrietta and Michitaka stood up in screams, but Shiroe stopped them and asked Krusty while looking him in the eye.
"I experienced death twice after the Catastrophe, it is hard to say which part of the memories were lost. If the clue about the memory is also gone, it is hard for me to know. But I am sure that the memories I have lost so far are just a small part. The grade-school I studied in, the nickname and face of my good friend in middle-school, my desktop picture, the lyrics of the songs I like… These memories are still here, so judging from my perspective, I did not lose any memories. But I cannot recall the name of my cat, what she looks like… there is a problem with this effect, it is hard to say if this is due to the problem of the soul or I just plainly forgot about her. By the way, I have very good memory, so I deduced the reason I forgot is because of some special reason, and has something to do with us coming into this alternate world, that is about all I can say about this. Information about my name, friends, and relatives seems to be intact, I am not sure if the important memories are protected, or they just happened to not be affected… But if you go by my example, dying a few times would not have much effect, even if you accumulate 10 deaths it will not affect our daily lives."
… Even if you accumulated 10 deaths it would not affect your daily life.
Forgetting your cat's name would not cause any serious problems, and wouldn't affect your life in any meaningful way.
But even if it did affect your daily life, this was still a stunning revelation.
In some ways, Shiroe's prediction was correct. As he expected, you would only lose some memories when you died, you would not lose everything. Even the subject in question wouldn't really notice the gradual loss of memory, this prediction was correct.
But even so, this fact still hit him hard. You were not losing other things, but your memory of your old world. This would be a news full of impact to the players, not in a rational way but it would instill fear on the instinctual level.
Krusty smiled at the dumbstruck group.
"Don't be so pessimistic, you won't lose your memory if you don't die, also…"
From the corner of Shiroe's eye, he could see Soujirou consoling Henrietta whose face was pale. This harem builder would definitely raise his love points with the girls in this type of situation.
Michitaka stayed still in a daze after saying: "So this will happen…"
For Shiroe, the second half of Krusty's speech that the group did not really listen to was the main point.
Krusty said with determination in a gentle and soft voice.
'… also, if we don't find the meaning behind this, it would mean living is more terrifying than death in both worlds, right?'
Shiroe kept these words in the bottom of his heart.
Name:
Raynesia
Level: 12
Race: Human
Class: Noble
HP: 909
MP: 455
Equipment
Ring of White Tree
A toy ring made from a white tree, with a pale rose stone on it. Although Raynesia cannot wear this amongst noble social circles, it is her favorite. There is reason to be cautious.
This has been handed down for generation from mother to daughter.
Crystal Tone Music Box
Music box made of mithril discs and crystal blades. It used to move through the magic of the Alv's, but that power was lost with their destruction. By turning the mechanisms manually, one can play songs of the past.
Rose Blossom Dress
A beautiful light pink dress hemmed to look like rose petals. The colors of each piece of cloth are slightly different and catches the eyes at every angle. Also, the comfort of the wearer was not considered at all.
