Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 4: Chapter 3: Expeditionary Force

Part 1

Raynesia couldn't move until she got down from the griffon. A dance partner would put a hand around her waist, but she had not been carried around casually like luggage since she was a baby.

She didn't think it would be so embarrassing to be treated this way by a man. Raynesia struggled to loosen up her tense face and smile, but she knew her face was cramping up.

It didn't feel like reality when she made the decision during the meeting, it felt like she only acted on the spur of the moment.

Raynesia had spent too much time with Krusty this past week. Compared to facing this young man who was like a monster who could read her mind, saying arrogant things in front of the nobles was nothing… that was how she mustered her courage.

But she was unable to do anything about Krusty.

Raynesia knew Krusty was concerned about her and protected her from being blown off the griffon or feeling too cold. But the more concerned he was, the more embarrassed she felt, and she thought he could see right through her as well.

She appeared elegant on the surface but was actually lazy and hated interacting with people, only thinking about rolling around in her room, a useless and incurable person. But Raynesia didn't mind Krusty knowing all this right now.

But there was one thing if possible… No, one thing she must hide from him. That was her feeling of embarrassment when she was with Krusty.

"Please."

She took Krusty's hand for a moment and stood on the ground once more.

This was Akiba.

It was now late at night, but the lights in the streets were still burning bright, the light which looked like a bonfire from the sky was actually a variety of light sources. The seven bonfires in the city square were orange, the streetlights were yellow, the magic lights were phosphorescent white.

"That… Thank you very much."

Raynesia thanked him with her gaze down, but Krusty was already focusing elsewhere. A group approached them hastily, they had a brand on their clothes similar to that on Krusty's cape.

Krusty greeted the group and turned towards the young mage who was carrying the black-haired girl down.

"Shiroe-kun, can you help her with her dressing and schedule?"

"Of course, but is it okay with you?"

"I have no choice, let's steel ourselves."

After talking to the young man called Shiroe, Krusty left with the group that had similar brands as him and the griffon took off at the same time.

Raynesia felt lost as the young man Shiroe spoke to her.

"Princess Raynesia, this is the first time greeting you. I am Shiroe from Log Horizon, this lady is Akatsuki."

After Shiroe finished the introductions, the petite girl named Akatsuki nodded to acknowledge, seemed like she kept to herself.

"Please follow me."

Shiroe turned and started walking, the streets were filled with Adventurers and they seemed to be rushing about for some reason.

Raynesia declared that she wanted to come to Akiba to convince the Adventurers, but she had no concrete idea how to do that. The Round Table Council should be something like the nobles' meeting, from her vague impression, she should first seek permission from them before meeting the Adventurers one by one.

Akiba was totally different from Maihama.

Unlike the beautiful and gorgeous Maihama with fruit trees and crystals by the streets, this town seemed to utilize the ruins of the centuries past. She would be lost if she lost sight of the young man leading the way, so Raynesia focused on staying alert.

A female pedestrian lugging a big bag with her gave way to Shiroe and spoke a few words with him before nodding and going off. Raynesia thought that since Shiroe was chosen as a lieutenant of the ambassador party, he should be quite high-ranking in the Round Table Council.

(But he is walking so fast…)

The young girl Akatsuki was following effortlessly behind. Raynesia heard before that the Adventurers were very strong physically, but she never expected to experience this much difference.

The young man named Shiroe covered his ear with one hand and talked to the air as he walked, probably communicating through magic.

They reached a gigantic black building shortly after.

"Shiroe-dono!"

"Charasin-san, sorry for making you come so far."

There seemed to be 3 men waiting in the lobby behind the door, one of them was dressed like a merchant.

"This is Princess Raynesia."

"Hi! I heard about you, the daughter of clan Corwen. I am a merchant Charasin, leader of the 8th District Shopping Center."

The man named Charasin was indeed a merchant as he greeted Raynesia with a business smile. But to Raynesia who came from nobility, his greeting was both simple and practical.

(This Adventurer seems very straightforward and dislikes hypocritical courtesies.)

Raynesia responded with a graceful smile… for her standards, this was a simple greeting. 8th District Shopping Center was a unique name, but from the way he introduced himself, it was probably a prestigious family name in Akiba.

"I am Raynesia from clan Corwen, please take care of me."

The merchant called Charasin blushed and averted his eyes, Raynesia was used to such a reaction.

"And so, Charasin-san."

"Here."

"…Eh, how should we do this, which one should we choose. I was thinking something flashy and grabs your eyes, we need to move everyone with the first impression… Do you have the full set of 'Valkyrie Mail'?"

"Hmmm? Ah, ah ah, of course… but the legs for that set… Will it be okay?"

But this sense of ease did not last too long. The youth Shiroe and Charasin started to discuss something, Raynesia didn't understand the content, but she could not pretend not to hear anything.

"Yeah, no problem. From the overall viewpoint, it will be good if we push it to this level. Please prepare a set, I have the cape so you don't need to prepare that. Can you choose a suitable weapon? A 1-handed sword with a beautiful design, any equipment below level 4 will do… Akatsuki, can you rent a room for an hour, it will be fine even if it is small… No, the attack power doesn't matter, it just needs to look good."

Following that were scenes of shame and confusion.

Raynesia was brought to a simple room. Stripped and adorned with battle equipment with the help of the young girl Akatsuki.

Most nobles changed their clothes with the help of their maids and Raynesia was the same, she didn't resist being naked in front of others.

The source of her shame and confusion was due to her first time wearing battle armor.

Firstly, it was as light as feathers.

Breastplate and a shirt made from thin shiny silver chains.

Gauntlets made of metal and leggings with vines carved elegantly on it as if they were the works of elves.

But the problem was… the chain armor around her waist.

The armor only covered the tops of her thighs and you could see her legs down to her knees. Showing your arms was a common design for dresses, but clothes that showed off your thighs seemed so vulgar,

Raynesia (probably) never wore something like this before.

Akatsuki said simply: "The skirt… I will help you wear." But instead of a skirt, it looked more like a belt with a scarf sized cloth.

(My… my thighs are showing… And the breastplate's shape is so real, how should I put this, it seems a bit inflated…)

As Raynesia was stunned by this, Akatsuki hung a sword on her waist and tightened all the straps all over her body. All armors were skintight after tightening so you would not feel its weight.

From the weight and comfort, this should be a famous magical armor, Raynesia was impressed… But the curves of her body were also showing and she could not bear to watch.

Raynesia thought her figure was not bad, but this set of armor… left nothing to the imagination. Raynesia moaned.

"Ermm… Akatsuki-san? If I wear it like this, the curves of my body are a bit…"

"You are tall enough, so bear with it."

Raynesia was too intimidated by Akatsuki's glare to say anything.

Akatsuki took out a comb and straightened Raynesia's hair beautifully. Her actions were more smooth and delicate than any maid's, but Raynesia was only getting more and more tense.

It might be due to her silent nature, but the young girl had been strangely agitated from just now.

Akatsuki grabbed the procrastinating Raynesia and dragged her outside where Shiroe and Charasin were waiting. The 2 of them seemed to have been standing outside and discussing all this time. Raynesia attempted to hide behind the short Akatsuki, Charasin smiled widely upon seeing her.

This expression of lauding from the heart was similar to the knights' and bureaucrats'. But Shiroe seemed to just have the expression of someone judging and gauging. Raynesia entered Shiroe's name into her mental note of someone to look out for.

"Charasin-san, it is pretty good right?"

"Yes, I think she is beautiful."

"… Thank… Thank you for your compliment."

Raynesia almost pulled up her skirt to do a curtsy but she restrained herself. The cloth she was wearing

(she didn't want to recognize this as a skirt) was too short to pull.

"Now, let's proceed to the main event. It will be fine, please relax, I have high hopes for the princess." Shiroe's words and smile sent a chill down her spine for some unknown reason, but she could only nod now.

Part 2

And so…

"Thank you everyone for gathering here so early in the morning, I am Shiroe from Log Horizon. The time is now dawn, the war is coming upon us, let me explain our situation."

It was dawn.

The city square was full of Adventurers, the numbers were uncertain, but from the crowds jam-packed in the city square, there should be more than a thousand.

Akiba central city square.

The debris in the city square had been cleared in the past few months, it was now 20% more spacious than before the Catastrophe. When Elder Tales was still a game, the debris was just part of the immovable background, but now they could be moved or destroyed.

There were still shops open at this unearthly hour, the stores had been refurbished and looked very clean, making Akiba look more vibrant and lively.

Raynesia did not know these details, she only felt this was a city full of life. The sun had just started rising in the east and yet there were so many people already gathered here. For Raynesia who had not been through any battles, this was an unusual sight.

And those gathered here were not just human knights.

There were elves, dwarves, even carpenters and merchants. Unlike military processions and meetings of nobles, the stalls peddled their food and drinks to the crowds, which seemed to be the norm in this city.

Raynesia did not know the Round Table Council members who had been standing by on shift had made all the preparations after Shiroe contacted them. Gathering the veteran Adventurers, setting up the stage, and parking the 'secret weapon' beside Akiba's riverbank had all been done.

Raynesia who was staying inside the tent next to the stage could only see the Lumiere called by the Summoner illuminating the podium.

They were using the valuable mage, the highly respected Summoner, as a stagehand. This went against the common sense of Raynesia, but the contents of the speech made her even more lost.

"… Because of these reasons, centered around Sand Leaf peninsula, in the northern hills and forests of the

Kanto region, there is an army of about 20,000 goblins. This force is attacking the surrounding areas.

There are several Adventurers in Sand Leaf reporting about this attack. The governing organization in Kanto, the League of Freedom Towns Eastal is exposed to this threat. According to the analysis of the Round Table Council, this threat is just a threat, the League of Freedom Towns Eastal will not be wiped out if we leave them alone, but will exhaust at least 30% of their total fighting force… this number is equivalent to the destruction of their military, but it is not to the extent of wiping out all the People of the Land."

The report Shiroe was reading out was more detailed than that of the nobles and he was merciless in his speech. If Raynesia was not wrong, his words had hidden poisonous barbs.

But the scene that amazed Raynesia the most was not Shiroe's attitude, but the comprehension in the eyes of all the Adventurers listening.

From what she could observe from the tent, not one person looked bored or confused. Some of them even opened up pieces of paper, probably maps, and were noting down the important points in the speech.

This was a scene that made Raynesia, one of the People of the Land, amazed. Weren't the people gathered here equivalent to peasants? Why did they have so much comprehension skills?

Raynesia thought that the Adventurers gathered here were just common soldiers, but their comprehension level surpassed that of officers, and was on par with the bureaucrats of the courts. There were so many people with military and geographical knowledge, and they seemed to know the political situation of the

League of Freedom Towns Eastal, this almost made Raynesia fall down in shock.

What were nobles? What were peasants? What were farmers?

The worldview in Raynesia's heart had been shattered.

"On the other hand, we feel that defending Akiba from this army is something simple… apart from food, this city is very self-sufficient and even more so in terms of technical knowledge. We have enough defense capabilities, it is not necessary for us to aid the League of Freedom Towns Eastal. In terms of gain and losses, we do not need to help them, let me repeat, we absolutely do not need to send aid… I hope everyone will listen to the words from this 'person' while keeping this in mind."

It was as though everyone present gulped.

When many people gather together, they would create a certain warmth. In the heat of the silence, Shiroe looked to the tent and pointed to this 'person'.

"Ah?"

Someone grabbed Raynesia's hand while she was stunned.

She turned around and saw Krusty in a sky-blue armor, she was not sure if it was for ceremonial or practical use. Krusty had his usual gentle expression and smiled as he said: "Let's go on stage."

"Eh? Eh?"

"Come."

Krusty dragged her out of the tent and a sudden bright white light shone onto the city square.

It was the light of dawn, the first ray of sunlight in the morning illuminating the whole square from the east.

In the cool morning breeze of the summer, Raynesia was suddenly pushed forward.

This was the center of the stage, the forefront where there was no escape.

Raynesia felt hot as she came on stage and did not know what to say or do. In front of her were several thousand Adventurers, a being that was different from the People of the Land. Even if they had the same form and language, they were fundamentally different creatures.

She could feel this from her short contact with them.

Her lips were trembling, her knees were losing strength.

A sharp sound came from her right.

She turned and saw Krusty with his calm appearance like a heroic guardian angel. He stuck his twohanded axe into the floor and placed both his hands onto its handle. The sound just now was the axe hitting the floor.

This was followed immediately by a dull thud from the left. Shiroe who moved here was holding a ceremonial pewter staff that was taller than him vertically like a spear. Shiroe didn't have the staff a moment ago.

With Krusty and Shiroe on either side of her, Raynesia took a step forward on the stage. Her temperature was rising gradually, the scenery in her eyes was changing its shape, but her thoughts were unexpectedly clear. Her breathing was so loud that it irritated her, and she could strangely hear the conversation of the

Adventurers chatting softly in a corner clearly.

"… Everyone, this is my first time meeting all of you, I am one of the People of the Land. I am a resident of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, the daughter of the Corwen clan governing Maihama. My name is

Raynesia Elart Corwen, I came here bearing a request for everyone."

Her voice was so clear she surprised herself.

Raynesia's words reached every corner of the city square in the morning air.

"Just as Shiroe-sama described, Yamato is facing a great crisis. I announce without any reservation that the guardians of Yamato, the 'Knights of Izumo' are missing right now. The League of Freedom Town

Eastal will need to handle this crisis themselves. The goblin invasion force is the biggest ever in history, and they are advancing fast. They are already within the sphere of influence of the League of Freedom

Towns Eastal. The People of the Land have city walls, magic barriers, and soldiers, but how effective our defenses will be is still an unknown. Even at this moment in time, my fellow People of the Land are polishing their blades and fortifying the walls in preparation for war. But even with all these efforts, we cannot avoid making major sacrifices to protect our homelands."

Raynesia threw her gaze far away.

What she saw was not the crowd before her, but the scene a few hours ago.

"It might sound shameful, but the League of Freedom Towns Eastal has not come to a consensus even at this critical stage. Before I arrived here, they were still arguing selfishly for the safety of their own territories and were reluctant to send aid to each other. Not only that."

Raynesia hesitated at this point.

But she was unable to stop.

"Not only that, we are wishfully thinking about pushing the holy task of defending our homeland to the

Round Table Council's ambassadors. We were scheming to rely on the immortal Adventurers, rely on everyone here for help, hoping to use everyone's battle power to protect our lives and territories. I am not worthy of apologizing on their behalf… But I am deeply sorry, and I also feel remorse over one more thing. The thing is, I am here today to raise the same willful request."

Raynesia did not notice the bright purple cape and 'Valkyrie Mail' that Shiroe chose complemented Raynesia's feminine features to the limit. Raynesia under the dawn light was the image of a valkyrie that everyone respected and adored.

Raynesia did not realize this.

When she made her plea to the Adventurers, Shiroe turned his head slightly and gave Krusty a look.

Krusty gave a bitter smile and an expression of resistance.

"Both the League of Freedom Towns Eastal and I do not have much to offer in terms of rewards…

Everyone is living in such a prosperous city, I do not know what to prepare to give as thanks, and I don't want to use worldly items to exchange for everybody's freedom. But as a daughter of the Corwen family, I love Maihama deeply and have the obligation to protect my nation… that's why… I have come here before everyone today."

Deluding themselves with wishful thinking and only thinking of protecting their own interests was indeed shameful.

Raynesia fell to her knees naturally and gave a deep bow.

If the Adventurers present were knights or bureaucrats, or in other words nobles, she wouldn't lower her head this way. In the culture of nobility, a lady was treated as a valuable item, a noble lady of high status was their top protection priority.

But she learned one thing after knowing Krusty, the Adventurers were not the same.

With her title, she would also be respected as a noble in Akiba. But she would not have a group of people attending to her needs which was the norm in nobility culture, she would at most receive the 'respect' of the people on the street.

This was a heterogeneous city.

She would not receive the princess-level of attention she was so used to in this city. But she would also not be discriminated at all like a lady in a noble's social circle.

The woman in the social circle of nobles did not have rights.

She was treated kindly, would receive all sorts of gifts, and be given numerous compliments and hollow words of admiration.

She just needed to frown slightly and the young knights would present her with the most valuable medicine. But they were seeing her as an individual to adore.

They were just after her as a 'noblewoman', a prize in the diplomatic battles among the nobles, that's why she was treated with care.

A 'noblewoman' was treated like a gem in the noble's social circle, she was a 'noblewoman' who came with a guarantee of high pedigree, she was just a top-class trophy.

Raynesia who spent her days brooding in her room was more aware of this than anyone else, and she understood that she was powerless to deny this fact.

"I am cowardly and lazy, an ignorant vase… but… I want to go to the battlefield, so, if you are able to, if it is fine with you, will you be willing to go with me? Are you willing to help me based on your kindness and freedom? I wish to do all I can to protect the 'Freedom of the Adventures'…"

(Even if I say that… Even if I want to protect their freedom…)

She was a member of the Corwen family, but she did not have such authority because she was born a girl.

She could plea with her father or grandfather to buy clothes or jewelry for her, she could grant testimonials

/> testimonials to one or two Adventurers and she could hold dinner parties.

But she had no further political powers.

Raynesia also thought she was giving an empty promise.

But instead of saying it was a lie, it was more like her aspiration.

Krusty was the first one to acknowledge she had the freedom to take to the battlefield, Adventurers probably had never doubted the freedom of doing this. Raynesia wanted to protect their freedom. For

Raynesia who never had such freedom all these years, this was the first time she had such an aspiration in her heart.

"I sincerely ask everyone to help me."

As she finished her speech in a whimper, there was a loud wave of iron clashing. In the middle of the city square, a group of people in blue with a coat of arms on their cloaks clashed their weapons and shields and stomped their feet.

A company of knights in black armor unsheathed their swords and swore to take to the battlefield; on the open balcony of a ruin a band of elves with bows on their backs sounded their war horns; dwarves holding axes howled mightily in the crowd.

Werecats, wolf fangs, foxtails, and other minorities did not seem to be discriminated in this city.

(Ah…)

Krusty walked to Raynesia's side while she was stunned, Shiroe was at her other side the next second.

"And so, this city… We will be sending out our first expedition army, the condition for enlisting is level 40 and above. This is a quest given by the Round Table Council, there is only one reward, the gratitude and respect of this People of the Land onstage. Comrades who are willing to take up the quest please ride for Maihama! Considering the crisis of this situation, we will also be sending a blitz force against the enemy. The formation of parties will be done while on the move, I hope everyone will cooperate. I am Krusty and I will be the commander-in-chief for this expedition army."

"The role of tactician will be taken by me, Shiroe. Within 15 minutes from now I will be contacting the blitz group through telepathy. The members who receive the message please head downstream of Akiba to

Akiba River and the experimental dock. 'Ocypete' will be waiting for you there… For the members who do not receive the message in 15 minutes, you belong to the main expedition force, please head to the registration counter situated at the city's east gate to collect your quest forms. You can proceed as instructed after being registered on the friend list of the registration staff. There will be instructions for the formation of parties while you make your way there, the preparation time is 15 minutes, please give me your utmost support."

"Ah, ah…"

An army of a thousand soldiers howled in front of the speechless Raynesia.

"Why are you acting so lost and panicky?"

"How… How can you say that, as a gentleman… As a gentleman…"

Raynesia's voice was trembling as she couldn't find the words to say.

The city square was full of the noises of armor clinking and people talking, the words that shouldn't be heard remained a secret… Except for Krusty.

Krusty extended his hand gracefully like a noble. He and Raynesia were full of suspicion, overexertion, and mutual understanding as their eyes met. But to the bystander, they were the perfect couple smiling beautifully at each other.

Anyway, the expedition plan had been set.

The enemy were the goblins that were moving towards the ruined capital Eastal from Sand Leaf peninsula, numbering over 10,000. And so, Akiba formed an expedition army for the first time, heading straight for Sand Leaf peninsula.

Part 3

Minori's group headed towards Choushi in the morning.

They were exhausted both physically and mentally, but their expressions were still spirited.

Although it was only one night, the tense hours in the darkness sapped the energy of the 5 people in Minori's group. The consecutive battles from Ragranda forest until now had made them gain several levels.

After going through multiple fights, their teamwork gradually became more polished. They could sometimes understand what their comrades were thinking even without saying anything.

The 5 in Minori's group were more relaxed walking on the farm trail than staying in the forest, but they did not let down their guard, watching each other's back and blind spots as they surveyed the surroundings, but they maintained a peaceful atmosphere as they advanced.

(I am still scared when I face battles, but…)

Minori might be scared, but she was no longer fearful.

Real fear was the feeling of dread flowing in your veins, making you over-cautious and let go of your life, this feeling was almost the same as giving up.

In this world without death, giving up was equivalent to death. But inversely speaking, you would still stand a chance as long as you didn't give up, even if it was shameful, even if you were shivering, there would be a chance for things to get better if you stood up and fought.

It was a bit late to call this morning.

It should be close to afternoon.

"Hello…! Hello…!"

As confirmed by telepathy earlier, Naotsugu's group was resting in an empty space behind the trees.

In this alternate world, dirty equipped items will become clean automatically when they were repaired.

All sorts of items had a set durability, its wear and tear was insignificant when you used it normally.

Since it was insignificant, the visual cleanliness would correspond directly… This was the logic behind the equipment becoming clean when it was repaired.

But since there was a set durability value, if you used the equipment roughly, the value would drop.

Armor and weapons would gradually wear out after long periods of battling, so there was a need to send it to the blacksmith for repair periodically.

The 4 in front of Minori were all veteran level 90 Adventurers, they were several times more powerful than Minori. They took advantage of their might to charge into the center of the pillaging goblin group to disrupt them and conduct guerrilla warfare.

The formation centered around 2 Swashbucklers must have had battles much fiercer than Minori's group.

"Doing okay? Hi Tohya, did you protect everyone?"

"Teacher Naotsugu, I did!"

Tohya gave a standard bow while Naotsugu rubbed his head.

Serara pounced at Nyanta.

Minori gave a simple report to Shouryuu and Rezarick of their encounters last night, the two of them gave a sigh of relief and helped to check their equipment and wounds. Shouryuu aside, Rezarick was a Cleric of a major battle guild and Minori thought he would fault them for acting so willfully. The care and concern of these two made Minori's heart feel sweetness and remorse.

They were not hurt, but they were running low on supplies.

Minori was afraid they might run out in the midst of battle.

The goblin pillagers' attacks diminished like the receding tide as the sun rose from the east. They should understand their own characteristics, numbers, and the effect of night raids.

Minori's group retreated to the area near the town as the enemy forces backed off.

"Let's stop resting and return to town, I can only relax after seeing it myself."

The Cleric Rezarick from Black Sword Knights said with a serious expression. Everyone nodded in respond and headed for Choushi.

The bloody night was just over, but the summer morning sky was as blue as ever.

The strong sea breeze unique to Sand Leaf hit their faces, blowing through the farm from the coastline.

The scene in the distance and the field in front was dazzling under the bright sunlight. The shadows of beaches and the beach trees fell on the farm trails, making a beautiful picture of contrast.

After walking a distance, they started to see the corpses of goblins. There were groups here and there, seemed like the adventurers battled the goblins last night.

"Seems like she has made arrangements here, as expected of the big-breasted Neechan."

Naotsugu said happily in a soft voice.

He was right, Minori did not think they could protect Choushi with their guerrilla attacks alone. Minori's companions as well as Nyanta, Naotsugu, and others formed guerrilla parties last night and battled the goblins on that hill. Using the element of surprise and the advantage of night vision, they did what they could to reduce the number of goblin parties, a brutal guerrilla tactic.

By reducing the number of goblin parties, the pace which the goblins would attack Choushi would slow down, and it would be a manageable pace… This was the strategy Minori came up with.

Minori did not know the professional term, but the goblins were using saturation attacks, using their overwhelming numbers to break the defenders' formation and tactics.

For instance, if it were 1-on-1 or party-against-party, even if they had the slight advantage in number, the Adventurers would be able to prevail with their superior battle power.

To counter this, the goblins sent out many small parties, so many that the Adventurers could not handle all of them. The Adventurers would of course fend off many of them, but there would be gaps because of the disparity in numbers, and the goblins just needed to concentrate their forces on the gaps to break through.

If they went through the gap, they would be able to savor the fruit that was Choushi, they could also commit arson and cause confusion, disrupting the Adventurers' dominance, making them choose between returning to town to fight off the raiders or to continue fighting the goblins in front of them.

They could then pick off the confused Adventurers one by one, this was the traditional tactic the goblin tribes had always used.

But Minori's party took the initiative to strike the goblins first at a place far from the town.

The proposer of the tactic, Minori, had a very simple thought.

Goblins did not have a base they needed to protect, Minori had one. And Choushi did not have city walls and was easily infiltrated, this was a weakness that would put them at a disadvantage.

… Since that was the case, we should also fight in a place where we wouldn't need to worry about our weakness.

This was a simple and naive conclusion, they would need the capability and courage to do this but Minori's group was insistent on executing this tactic.

The goblin forces were diminished by Minori's tactics, but they still proceeded on the night raid as planned, and Choushi was indeed attacked last night.

But their plan was just to reduce the goblins' numbers. A large number of goblins had to stay alert from ambush or to take another route, taking longer than planned to reach their target. This caused the goblin army to attack the town while their forces were not all in place.

The feature of a saturation attack was to focus all their forces at one point, forcing the defenders into a situation where they were unable to respond effectively. The goblins who missed the chance to gather and muster their forces still proceeded to attack Choushi under the orders of their leader. But their tactic evolved into each unit attacking separately by their time of arrival, making arrival, making them the perfect prey for the Adventurers.

If it was this type of unorganized attack, even the relatively weak and outnumbered Adventurers would be able to handle them.

Maryele who was convinced by Naotsugu in turn persuaded the members of the training camp to defend

Choushi, and was welcoming the dawn victoriously.

"Welcome back…!"

"Woah woah, Welcome back…!"

"Are you tired?"

Adventurers that were familiar with Serara and Shouryuu greet them as the group entered Choushi. The 2 of them were responsible for taking care of the beginners in Crescent Moon Alliance and knew a lot of people. Nyanta, Naotsugu, and Rezarick also exchanged information with the other veteran adventurers.

The road that had been compacted tightly over the years of treading showed no signs of being ravaged.

The goblins failed to invade the town.

"Hey, we made it!"

Hearing the proud announcement of her brother, Minori looked up and saw Tohya grinning widely like a kid in the sun.

Minori felt warmth in her heart looking at his smile.

Her brother maintained his bright and cheery mood through the night and Minori also smiled naturally, happy that she protected Rundelhous. Tohya extended his fist and Minori bumped it with hers.

"Minori…! The People of the Land are letting us rest at their hotel! We are taking turns to rest! We can't let down our guard yet!"

"We should be grateful for their hospitality that we can at least wash our faces Miss Minori, Tohya."

Isuzu and Rundelhous shouted from across the street. The twins walked towards them, their footsteps springy under the summer sky.

Part 4

The prototype steam-powered transport ship 'Ocypete'.

The ship was made originally by putting a steam engine on a big paddle wheel ship to experiment with the possibility of transporting large amounts of goods, so the cargo space on the 'Ocypete' was very abundant.

Compared to the paddle wheel ship in the old world, the steam engine here was more elaborate in design.

There was no need to store fuel as it was powered by salamanders conjured by summoners, a unique feature of this ship.

A paddle steamer was a steam-powered ship with giant wheels akin to watermills on either side of the ship. The steam engine turned the two wheels which in turn paddled the water and moved the ship forward.

A propeller ship was better than a paddle steamer in terms of performance, being more efficient in converting heat to moving energy.

But taking into consideration the difficulty of making parts and installation, they concluded that they were better off making a paddle steamer at this phase and had been working on it since.

Paddle steamers lost to propellers in terms of efficiency, but they could operate in shallow waters, suitable for river operation.

Prototype steam engines on small boats had been completed just a week after the formation of the Round Table Council and they completed the prototype 'Ocypete' paddle steamer in another two months.

The 'Ocypete' was ferrying about 130 Adventurers. It may be noisy with people, but the ship was big enough so it wasn't overcrowded.

Raynesia stood alone on the deck near the ship bow. She had traveled by ship before, but this ship moved differently from a sailboat. The way it cut through the waves was strange to her but it was very fast.

The Adventurers around her were resting in their preferred positions, or moving around to make preparations. Their outfits varied, but about half of them wore cloaks with the same coat of arms as

Krusty, so they should be from the same clan.

Raynesia was feeling blue.

She was not seasick. She was familiar with ships of all sizes as a granddaughter of Maihama's governor.

She was gloomy and feeling remorse over her reckless behavior.

(I said something like that again…)

She found it troublesome and was shy and lazy by nature, so why was she putting on such an act at this critical juncture? It might be the effect of her education to be a perfect lady, but she was troubled about this no matter the reason.

(It has been crazy since last night, a woman barging into the nobles' meeting and causing a commotion, shaming grandfather and all the nobles, conflicting the mind-reading monster… and running away together… and was held by him on the back of the griffon…)

Raynesia couldn't help twisting her body as she recalled the warmth inside Krusty's arms.

(That's not what I meant… And I came to Akiba and was forced to wear such shameful clothes. I am still wearing them now… And I gave that speech…)

She held her head with her hands.

She couldn't believe herself.

But from her view, she insisted on obeying the proper etiquette.

She was one of the People of the Land, different from Adventurers… She heard about this from her grandfather and others, understood this premise, but she really felt the true meaning behind it when she was at that scene.

Raynesia had never seen any group with so many knights with the intelligence of bureaucrats.

She knew people like this were called heroes.

There were 'Ancients' in this world who were both skillful in swordsmanship and possessed the magical powers of a sage, so there were no problems if there were other talents in this world. She could not find suitable words to express it, but the strange thing was 'such talented people suddenly numbered in the thousands', and this strange group were the Adventurers.

The nobles' congregation believed that if they played their cards right and lured them with nobility titles and rewards, they would be able to negotiate with the Adventurers. She thought that they misunderstood the nature of the Adventurers, they possessed such intellect and wealth, how could they negotiate with their offers of status and reward?

The nobles were wrong.

The irritating but comfortable interaction with Krusty and experiencing that speech made Raynesia understand this clearly.

Jewelry and invitations to dance parties would not motivate Raynesia to act, she just wanted to wear her cotton pajamas and lazily eat and sleep all day. It was the same for the different life-form known as

Adventurers. Gems, golds, titles, and territory could not be used as rewards. If that was the case, the only way was to plead with them for aid.

(Because I am a girl, I have no education regarding politics… So it can't be helped right?)

Even if it was a small thing, keeping and following through a promise would earn their trust.

If the Adventurers faced dangers, she had to bear the same risk.

This was the way Raynesia came up with to accumulate trust.

(But even so…)

(Saying something like 'I want to go to the battlefield' was too heavy a promise, have I gone mad? Or is it because of this set of mysterious… clothes that bare my thighs so much?)

She wanted to squat down, but her long years of education made her think that she had to stand gracefully with her back straightened in the public with so many pairs of eyes around. This instinct was deeply rooted in her body, not allowing her to relax.

After that young man Shiroe with the evil smile instigated her, she had became like this. This vicious method almost made her cry.

"That is the struggling look of someone 'regretting blurting out that speech in the spur of the moment but is unable to take it back'."

"Eh!"

Raynesia jumped as if she was electrocuted as Krusty came out of nowhere and said these words that blocked out the sound of the wind.

"Fu fu fu, there is no such thing Krusty-sama."

"Your face is cramping up."

With her follow-up lines sealed, Raynesia could only look out to the ocean with her 'depressed' expression.

"Seems like you are losing patience."

"… Wooo, anyway, you are correct… But don't misunderstand alright? I am not regretting this, I have to come personally to plea for help since I am asking them to risk their lives and accompany them to the battlefield. No, I don't think my life is worthy enough to request the aid of 10 Adventurers, that is, about this, this…"

"That's alright, it is enough…"

"Ah?"

At that short moment, Raynesia felt something different in Krusty's expression as he said these words. But the announcement by the ship crew that they had arrived pulled her back to reality from this feeling.

… So fast.

Even if it were crossing the gulf, they were able to ferry more than a 100 knights to their destination in the afternoon, that was way too fast. It had only been about 15 minutes since they traveled by sea.

The familiar 'Cinderella Castle' of Maihama was before her eyes.

The paddle steamer seemed to be docking at the pier.

The Maihama citizens working at the dock were in a state of panic, probably startled by the gigantic black ship. This could not be avoided as the citizens did not receive any news in advance.

This was normal.

This was the society of the People of the Land Raynesia had always known about.

An army where everyone had a personal long range communication device, was literate, and able to understand the content and objectives of battles, that was weird. If the people working at the docks were

Adventurers, they would be able to understand the reason, purpose, and follow-up plan of this ship.

Just like that time when Raynesia landed in Akiba on the griffon, the preparations would have been made.

But the Maihama Raynesia resided in was not like Akiba. As the sole People of the Land on this ship, Raynesia felt the obligation to calm her people.

Krusty guided her to the bow of the ship to wave to the people. The Raynesia right now was nothing like the princess who was lazy and disliked the crowds.

Part 5

Meanwhile, a tactical headquarters supervised by Shiroe was commanding the expedition main force.

The strategy that Shiroe and Krusty were adopting was not 'steady advancement', but 'speedy and imperfect'. No one could predict the future movement of the goblin army in the center of the archipelago, but if they ran out of food on the hills, they would obviously raid one of the towns. They were currently unable to ascertain the goblin army's main target, so Akiba did not have the initiative.

The choice of where to fight lay in the hands of the enemy which was a disadvantage.

Speed was the most important thing to gain the upper hand in this situation.

Fortunately, the zone between Maihama and Akiba was relatively flat in this alternate world. The only problem was where to cross the river as they traveled southeast from Akiba.

Predicting that the route was relatively safe, Shiroe decided not to muster the troops and move out together, opting to let Adventurers who were ready to party up and move out immediately.

The tactical headquarters was a communication network formed by Shiroe, Charasin and 10+ others.

They were sorting the Adventurers who enlisted by their guilds and also registering independent Adventurers to the network as wellnetwork as well.

The headquarters used this network to receive reports and disseminate information speedily. The network didn't take long to set up. After confirming the interest of a guild to take part in the operation, they would request for a representative of the guild to set up a communication network, and the headquarters staff and the representative would add each other to their friend lists.

The blitz group that already left, the main expedition force, and the reserve supply company had their own communication networks.

This expedition army possessed perfect communication that had never been seen before, the current problem that Shiroe's headquarters was facing was how to party up this strange expedition force.

(We need to come up with a name list by levels… This step is hard to make while they are on the move, so we should set a rough destination for them to gather.)

The first destination was around Matsudo in the old world, situated north of Maihama, the start of the hilly region… a place between Akiba and Maihama. According to Shiroe's knowledge of Elder Tales, there were many abandoned buildings there, a terrain not suitable for battles.

But they had no choice if there were no suitable zones to choose from.

From reports received through telepathy, 'Ocypete' had docked in Maihama and the blitz group was moving to the abandoned port of Narashino under the guide of a few People of the Land.

The blitz group under Krusty's command had 96 people.

A party was made up of 6 Adventurers, a 'Full Raid' consisted of 24 people, a 'Legion Raid' was formed by 4 'Full Raids', this 96-people group was the biggest fighting unit in Elder Tales.

Krusty may look like a gentleman wearing glasses, but he was actually the leader of the biggest battle guild in Akiba and Japan, a charismatic raid commander.

He fully understood the tactical importance of speed in this war and would continue to press on without rest after reaching Narashino.

Shiroe took a map from his pack while riding his horse.

The abandoned port of Narashino was about 25km away in a straight line from the central forest where the goblin main force was. For a normal knight in this world, they would need to take 3 days to reach there. But with Krusty's speed, they should be able to engage them tomorrow morning.

The main expedition force was going by horse instead of sea, so their formation was pulled very long which could not be helped.

(The low-level personnel should make camp about 5km north of Maihama…)

Analyzing the surrounding terrain of Maihama, remembering the characteristics of the zone, and choosing suitable grounds, this camp would be centered around the low-level Adventurers. They would need to organize themselves in a defensive formation and maintain border security, and would also be a resupply point so it needed to be big enough.

Midoraunto Equestrian Garden.

His finger stopped at this place marked with a a small green oval. If Shiroe recalled correctly, this was an equestrian garden that looked like a big sports arena. There was much wildlife in the surroundings, but there were no heinous monsters, an ideal location.

"Communication team! Please help me to relay, the first destination of the army moving north will be Midoraunto Equestrian garden! The secondary company will go along the coastline. When the advance party arrives, they are to post sentries, set up camp and clear away the debris!"

All kind of possibilities flashed through Shiroe's mind.

He looked highly focused, giving off a cold atmosphere like glass as he adjusted his glasses.

(The battle this time trends toward lightning-fast engagement, there is no need to be too concerned with the supply line… The number over here is…)

The expedition's main force that Shiroe was commanding was about 1200, about 10 percent of all Adventurers in Akiba. If you took away the production players, the participation percentage of fighting Adventurers would be about 20%.

Including Shiroe, no one here had any experience fighting in a large-scale war with more than 1000 people. But Raynesia's speech had definitely set the spirits of many Adventurers ablaze, much more then Raynesia imagined. The party that just overtook Shiroe had high morale and fighting spirits in their eyes.

The duty of Shiroe was to keep morale up, avoid all kinds of obstacles and guide them to victory in battle.

There were some who say that you could learn from your failures. But Shiroe thought they would not learn anything if they failed in this expedition.

The confidence and glory of Adventurers, the weight behind their words in this world, living in this world, and their acceptance of the governance in Akiba. All these elements demanded that Shiroe obtained victory.

There was no room for failure.

And the fact was 1200 people were enough to gain victory. Using Soujirou's words, each of them just needed to defeat 10 goblins.

Shiroe was responsible for dealing with any unexpected hinges, guiding the 1200 Adventurers to the front-line and pointing where they should expend their fighting spirit.

(It is 10km to Midoraunto Equestrian Garden… we can reach it in the afternoon without rushing, we should make camp here. I should detail half of them to border security and do a wide area search for signs of the goblins. I will then lead the other half to follow Krusty-san's example and attack the goblin main force. Another way is to leave the defense of the city to the People of the Land and bring the whole army uphill…)

… Shiroe simulated all the possibilities in his mind as he spurred his horse on.

Part 6

Krusty was advancing faster than the upper limit of Shiroe's predictions.

After meeting and looking through the Adventurers on board, he had already organized everyone into groups.

Organizing sounded easy, but was hard to do.

For instance, all spells would naturally have ranges. Healing magic had the range of 20m on average while the largest range for the support songs of Bards was also 20m.

Only allies within range would receive buff support and healing. A group of people who could battle within this range was the concept of a 6-man party in this world.

Inversely speaking, the unit party was based on cooperating within this 20m range as its main principle.

If that was the case, all parties would need at least 1 tank and 1 healer.

A 'Full Raid' formed by 4 parties also needed to arrange themselves by this principle to maintain balance.

It was the same for a 'Legion Raid' formed by 16 parties. If there were 24 healers, they should not band them into 4 parties of 6 healers.

On the other hand, this didn't mean that all parties should be composed with the same well-balanced team.

As they may run into different situations, they would need to add variety to the parties to handle them.

For example, if all parties only had 1 healer, the tank may not be able to withstand attacks from powerful monsters. It would be best for parties battling such powerful monsters to have 2 healers, or even 3 to be safe.

From another angle, if there were no parties with more damage dealers, there would be no units to take out the enemies like a sharp blade during critical moments, and the fight would become a battle of attrition.

If all the parties were composed similarly, they would lack the ability to adapt.

If the party did not have excellent teamwork, they would not be able to perform to their full potential.

Taking into account that members of the same guild worked better together, it would be better to put them in the same or neighboring party. The famous veteran Adventurers would be able to work elegantly no matter which party you slotted them in, making them useful wild cards.

Apart from the class and abilities of each Adventurer, they also needed to consider their experience and their suitability for command.

Even in the most basic 6-man party, the key to teamwork in battle was to communicate with each other, this was common knowledge to the veterans.

For a 24-man 'Full Raid' group, the complexity and confusion would increase as well, so who would do what? Should they focus on healing or attacking? Where should they position themselves? They needed to make judgements like this during battles, so each party needed to elect a leader to execute the plan of the 'Full Raid' captain.

For a 'Legion Raid' battle, the 'Full Raid' captain would need to take orders from the 'Legion Raid' commander, you needed a high level of concentration and experience to maintain this chain of command in the heat of the battle.

When Elder Tales was just a game, there were very few quests that required a 'Legion Raid' to accomplish, as it was difficult to gather almost a hundred veteran players within the given time-frame.

The teamwork training for the 96 players would be too hard to imagine.

The obstacle for challenging 'Legion Raid' quests was too high for regular players, since most players could not do the quest, the company would not focus on developing them.

The 'Legion Raid' quests were too difficult, only suitable for the few high-level veteran players to challenge, so those who completed them would obtain extreme wealth and fame, but the challengers were very few.

D. D. D was a guild that had been challenging this type of high-level content since the time when Elder Tales was a game. Guild Master Krusty of D. D. D was one of the group of less than 20 players on the Japanese server who had actual 'Full Raid' command experience.

He used this experience expertly to organize the time with a surprising speed. The personnel arrangement looked random at a glance, but it made perfect sense if you studied it.

Krusty's group that disembarked from 'Ocypete' had been split into the 96-person blitz group and the 12- man Raynesia protection and surveillance group. Krusty learned the main points of the terrain in the surrounding area from the People of the Land, added the details to his military map and marched the group off without hesitation.

The 'Full Raid' groups had been assigned a number from 1 to 4. They reached Sand Leaf peninsula in the evening, their goal was 24km west of Kasumiura.

The blitz group from Akiba advanced on horseback to conserve their strength, the parties taking turns to lead the group. They moved like the wind through the deteriorating roads of past centuries.

Like a flash of black lightning piercing through Sand Leaf.

Onward! Onward!

Krusty's blitz group was speeding ahead like an arrow, going straight to the heart of the enemy forces.

Name: Soujirou

Level: 90

Race: Human

Class: Samurai

HP: 13624

MP: 6807

Equipment

Divine Sword - Kogarasumaru

A powerful Phantasmal-class Samurai weapon. Very difficult to acquire. Not only is it very powerful, it is an AI type item that can summon the personification of the sword which acts as support during battle.

Dragonfly Beads of Ten-thousand Natural

Calamities An amulet that acts as a talisman against evil and changes color. Reward from the quest

"Questions and Answers Night". Provides high resistance to movement inhibition attacks against those below level 80.

Warrior Armor of the New Emperor

Samurai-exclusive armor worn by heroes in ancient times. Phantasmal-class armor with very high physical defense, along with various status bonuses. Its special ability is to absorb curses.

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