Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 4: Chapter 5: Contract

Part 1

"… Please help us, we need your strength Shiroe-san!"

Suppressing the pain in her heart, the clear sorrow in her voice told Shiroe something was amiss.

Minori was not a girl who would joke in this kind of voice.

She was a serious, gentle, and strong girl.

Shiroe noticed that Minori saw him as her role model.

Minori tried to learn everything he did on the battlefield and unconsciously remembered everything even mimicking the way he walked. Because she was such a girl, Shiroe wanted to teach her all that he knew.

Minori always responded to his lessons with more than 100% effort.

Shiroe didn't know what sort of life she lived in the old world and he never asked. Shiroe could not hope to understand the feelings of a pair of middle-school siblings who were trapped away from home and could only hang on to each other.

But her willingness to take up responsibility did not diminish in this alternate world.

This was a virtue Shiroe didn't have, he knew he had been running away, refusing to build his own abode.

A girl who was not afraid of socializing with others and committed wholeheartedly.

Minori seemed to admire Shiroe, but Shiroe thought that he had been saved by her practical character.

Minori had never asked so desperately for help before. She trusted him, she was on intimate terms with him, she asked him for tutelage, but she had never asked for his help so defenselessly before.

It should be the pride in her heart holding her back. Shiroe liked this part of her as well and held her in high regards.

But Minori who was like this was fighting back tears as she talked. She was not asking just anyone, but Shiroe himself, which surprised him.

From the entrance of the tent he could see the sky was turning purple in the evening.

"Someone fell, Rundelhous-san, he…"

From the background of Minori he could hear shouts and sounds of gasping breaths.

Telepathy seemed to work like low-performance cell phones.

The sound emitted near the ear drum, so others would not overhear your message, but you needed to talk out loud to relay your message and the background noise would be picked up too.

Minori should be still near the battlefield, he could hear the sounds of other girls and the noisy background.

"He is…"

"Rudy is… a People of the Land."

Another voice interrupted.

Shiroe deduced the voice belonged to the bard Isuzu that Minori mentioned. To be able to hear the words so clearly meant she was almost touching Minori's lips.

Shiroe understood everything from this.

He stood up almost knocking the table away, grabbed his backpack, and rushed out of the tent. After blowing his whistle twice, he didn't waste time for the griffon to come and ran to the central plaza of the equestrian garden.

"Minori, status report."

After taking 3 steps into the plaza, he found a communication operator nearby and told him to get Charasin over now.

"A fierce battle broke out while defending Choushi, we won but Rundelhous-san was mortally wounded in the process. Resurrection magic failed, but he still has a pulse and body warmth… But remains unconscious."

… Resurrection magic failed.

The giant wings that spread across the skies landed, Shiroe jumped on subconsciously and almost didn't notice Akatsuki following behind and squeezing into his arms. He then gave a signal to the magical beast.

The well-trained flying mount flew off on cue into the sky that was turning dark.

"The pulse… should be gradually weakening."

"Use a resurrection spell again."

"We've already cast it twice, but he didn't regain consciousness…"

Resurrection magic could revive companions who died.

The magic seemed miraculous in nature, but was not difficult. Healer classes could learn it by level 20.

Resurrection spells also had levels, low-level spells could revive players but at the expense of the target losing some EXP.

This was the reason why Minori contacted Shiroe after trying it twice.

(No, there should be a more important reason…)

The People of the Land were not Adventurers, they could not revive once they die, and they would not respawn at the cathedral. The background at the other end of the telepathy line was the sound of sobbing with suppressed emotion and mourning.

"Your whereabouts and party members."

"Me, Tohya, Isuzu-san, Serara-san and Rundelhous-san who has not been revived, location is the main junction in the central district of Choushi."

"Is it safe?"

"No enemies around, but they are probably still fighting at the coastal area, I don't know when the goblins will strike again."

… It was ending.

When the People of the Land took too much damage in battle and were losing their lives, the term for this was ending. According to ReGan's spirit theory, resurrection spells might work in the short moment before the soul separated from the body. Since the resurrection failed, it meant he had moved into the stage of 'Failing Essence'.

"Shiroe-nii, please save Rudy!"

He could hear a strong voice in his ears.

"Rudy-nii is stupid and a fool, but he is also strong and cool, he sacrificed himself to save me!"

"I am the one who brought him to the battlefield, no, I did not do that directly but I didn't stop Rudy from coming, Shiroe-san… I am willing to do anything!"

This sobbing voice came from the other end of the telepathy.

'… I need. '

He heard Minori's words.

These words made Shiroe cool down.

He visualized an asphalt road that was going to be covered by snow in the winter night, and he was lying on this road and losing his temperature. It was foreboding but clear, a way for Shiroe to release his imagination.

His unrestricted thoughts went out of control, searching for a route through the matrix of possibilities he could imagine, going through the feasibility of all possible combinations.

(Since this is Minori's request, I have to help her.)

This was not his will, but his prerequisite.

To fulfill the prerequisite, Shiroe increased his speed of thinking.

"Instruct Serara to use resurrection magic."

"Yes."

Minori replied immediately.

She didn't question why and didn't object that it would not work. Minori trusted Shiroe totally, she believed that Shiroe must have a way, that's why she contacted him.

But that was just her one-sided wishful thinking.

There were things Shiroe could not do. Wrong, Shiroe could not do most things, in this strange and unreasonable alternate world, he could even say that he couldn't do anything at all.

But this was just a small issue, could not be done meant could not be done, he would think about it when he needed to tackle it. The important thing was that Minori believed Shiroe could do it, so there was only one answer for Shiroe.

He believed he could do it.

The heart that believed reconstructed all kinds of combinations in his mind, seeing things from other angles and reviewing the concepts that were thought to be impossible.

"The pulse seems to be strengthened… But he is still unconscious."

"Wait 150 seconds, Tohya guard the area, Isuzu-san use MP recovery songs, 150 seconds later Minori use resurrection magic."

"Yes."

Shiroe recollected ReGan's words.

Rundelhous was dead.

For People of the Land or Adventurers, dead meant dead.

Death started when the body stopped moving in this alternate world. The body would not be able to move, the consciousness was disconnected from the body and trapped in darkness.

This was a sign the communication between the 'Soul' and 'Essence' had ceased.

The 'Essence' would then start to dissipate.

'Essence' was the source of energy for the 'Ki' in the body, the diffusion process was known as 'Failing Essence'. For powerful or high-level bodies, they had stronger 'Ki' and the 'Failing Essence' process lasted longer.

Rundelhous was a physically weak mage class, and he was at the beginner-level, the speed of his 'Failing Essence' should be very fast.

Probably… the resurrection magic probably came too late.

A resurrection spell cast by the healer would inject 'Essence' into the body in the state of 'Failing Essence' in order to magically repair the connection between the 'Soul' and the 'Essence'.

It gathered the dissipated 'Essence' and used the healer's 'Ki' to replenish any lost 'Ki' of the target, stimulating the body to recover.

Since there was still body warmth and pulse, it could be deduced that the spell had stimulated recovery, but the connection between 'Soul' and 'Essence' was not repaired, so he did not regain consciousness.

If that was the situation, it made sense.

The 'Soul' was starting to diffuse… reaching a state of 'Losing Soul'. 'Soul' was the energy that drived the psyche, the human psyche was based on 'Soul', as its connection to the body was severed, it would become a lost 'Soul' and lose its identity.

The low-level Rundelhous must have gone into the state of 'Losing Soul' right after he reached the stage of 'Failing Essence'.

Adventurers could be sent to the cathedral to respawn where a new body was made, the 'Soul' was then linked to this new body. As their body could respawn, they would not go through the state of 'Losing

Soul', so even if their body died, their 'Soul' would respawn in a new body… They would not die for real.

"It has been 150 seconds, casting resurrection now."

"After another 150 seconds, Serara will cast resurrection again, I am on my way there so take turns casting magic for 8 minutes."

He heard Minori's acknowledgement. The resurrection spells around level 20 were still primitive, it had a long casting time and they would be defenseless, not practical for use on the battlefield and had a cool down of 300 seconds.

But Rundelhous had both Serara and Minori by his side, they might be new but they were still healers.

By taking turns to cast resurrection spell, they could halve the 300 seconds cool down to 150 seconds.

Resurrection magic needed a lot of MP, Shiroe didn't know how long they could last, but he could only leave it to them.

'Losing Soul' was triggered by 'Failing Essence', when the host body disappeared, the 'Soul' would also be lost. How much they could stop the 'Losing Soul' process was dependent on their resurrection spells.

The next would be…

"Akatsuki, hold me."

This made the silent Akatsuki turn around slowly despite the terrifying conditions on the back of the flying griffon. In the strong wind that threatened to tear through her skin, she hugged Shiroe tightly.

Shiroe closed his eyes and thought of what items he had in his Bag and reached in. He didn't know what items he needed to use, or even if it would work.

But to prepare for the 'spell' he would be casting, he searched for the suitable items.

The bottle of ink Shiroe took a long time to formulate. The only bottle of soul fragments in the whole world.

Part 2

Raynesia arrived on the battlefield accompanied by the female knight in the evening.

According to reports, the vicinity of the valley had been secured by Krusty's forces.

"Woo…"

"Are you okay?"

The female knight did not show much concern in her expressions, but she still asked kindly.

There were very few people who experienced the air of the battlefield in this world. Because the People of the Land and demihumans died very fast, their bodies would disappear within half a day. No matter what kind of battle it was, the place would just be a deserted land when the bodies were gone.

But this battlefield was formed very recently.

The stench of blood was too stimulating for Raynesia, fortunately the summer breeze could be felt through the greenery making the smell more bearable, but she was unable to look down around her feet.

The female knight took a step forward to confirm the details of the battle.

The female knight who introduced herself as Takayama Misa belongs to the 'Field Monitor' group.

In the heat of battle, especially on a large-scale like this, your field of vision would be obscured and limited, it would be hard to grasp the whole situation from the front-lines.

So D. D. D would detail a group with the size between a party and a 'Full Raid' to survey the battlefield and support the 'Legion Raid' group fighting on the ground. Their main duty was to use optical items and reconnaissance spells to gather intelligence and report to the front-line commander.

Raynesia thought Takayama Misa was a high ranking officer within D. D. D because of the attitudes of the people around her.

Because they scouted a trail without the need to bash through the vegetation, they reached the bottom of the valley earlier than expected. Raynesia along with her escorts came to the wide rocky river bank near the stream.

This was upstream of the battlefield they could see from the platform above, there were no signs of any goblin corpses, only the cool flow of the stream warding off the summer heat.

The Adventurers around were resting in their preferred way, some of them were showering topless, others were doing weapon maintenance.

This was the center of the battlefield, but with no enemy formation around, so everyone was resting except the sentries working on shift.

Raynesia had reviewed the parade procession of knights as a princess before.

But she did so from a balcony and gave a prepared speech. She would occasionally head into the parade square and greet the knights as she walked past their formation, but the knights of Maihama would always be in perfect alignment and holding their spears at the perfect angle for her review.

So she had never been up close and personal, walking among knights who were considered rowdy by nobles' standards.

Raynesia was a People of the Land, the daughter of the family ruling Maihama. Even if Akiba joined the

'League of Freedom Towns', as long as they didn't have a direct lord-subordinate relationship, the knights had no obligation to respect Raynesia. Raynesia didn't wish to upset them too much since she was gradually accepting the Adventurers had a different culture from her.

Raynesia already knew they did not like to stand on ceremony, so she was not offended although she was a bit surprised.

What astonished her more was that the group did not ignore her.

Whenever Raynesia passed by them, the Adventurers would greet her with a loud voice.

"Don't worry princess, we will settle this war in no time."

"Heavens, Caucasian-types look like angels."

"The blitz group will be enough to take out all the goblins."

"A real princess is here, where is the camera!"

"Is it okay to wander here princess? Ah, so Miss Takayama is here, god bless."

"Ha ha ha! Our commander is just ahead princess."

"Wah, wah!"

"Be careful of stray arrows!"

They were crude in their words, giving Raynesia the impression of the rumored mercenaries, but she did not feel any distaste about them. Maybe she knew the Adventurers were not being rude and looking down on her when they said these words, that was the usual way they acted, and they were friendly enough to joke with her.

Raynesia was a shut-in.

She did not converse well with others.

She had been relying on her perfect lady education to handle all the situations she faced, but she realized this was not effective on the Adventurers.

The Adventurers were not familiar with the culture of the nobles, they wouldn't misinterpret her slight change in expression and overreact.

After Raynesia's rare session of thinking, she invented an original method to interact with the Adventurers with simple etiquette to avoid shaming her Corwen heritage.

The method was to smile and wave her hand at chest level.

If someone gave her advice or spoke with her, she would think about the meaning for a while and reply "Thank you". Adventurers were the same breed as the mind-reading monster, she would be seen through if she only worked on her appearance. Even if she showed her side unbecoming of a lady, they were not nobles and wouldn't mind… This was the conclusion made by Raynesia.

According to the strict standards of the social world, Raynesia's attitude was on the borderline of being rude. But they were Adventurers and this was the battlefield, Raynesia explained to her grandfather in her heart.

But Raynesia did not realize her sincere smile and cute actions after gingerly crossing the line of etiquette in her heart had made a good impression on the Adventurers in the blitz group who welcomed her readily.

The hybrid task force was led by Krusty, he based the structure of the group around D. D. D members to ensure the integrity of the command structure. But if he only used D. D. D members, Krusty would be showing too much strength in the Round Table Council, so he had to show the unity of the Round Table Council when he arranged the raid group. So half of this hybrid army was formed by veteran players not affiliated with D. D. D.

They included guild members from Black Sword Knights and Honesty, there was a variety in cape colors and coat of arms, which Raynesia interpreted as aristocratic clans, so this band of knights looked strange to her.

The relationships among the nobles' clans were complicated, with blood relationship and alliances making it more sophisticated. It may not be the same for all the nobles, but there were generally some hostilities between the clans. This was the reason why the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' was not united.

But such conflicts were not apparent in this battlefield.

From the colors of their capes and their coat of arms, they seemed to have divided themselves into smaller parties. But some of them were eating, some were helping with weapon inspections, others were running around distributing resupplies.

Raynesia noticed the source of her discomfort.

With so many knights around, there were no squires or attendants around. Takayama Misa explained that they were a select group of elite forces so weaklings would only get in the way, but how could there be so many knights without any squires?

(The Adventurers seem to be free from class systems…)

Even though she knew they were very free, but to see it in action with her eyes, every little detail surprised her.

"Yes, I can hear you, please continue."

Krusty was at the front edge of the bank where the stream bent and formed a pool, wiping his sweat off his topless body.

He was communicating with long range magic even when he was wiping his sweat, but he turned to face them when he saw Takayama Misa and Raynesia's group.

Krusty calmly wiped his body with a cloth he wrung dry. Takayama Misa seemed used to his bold and calm actions, as she approached him to report with documents in hand.

Krusty listened attentively with his back to her.

(What an amazing body…)

Krusty with his elegant clothes in the courts didn't give such a feeling of impact. She could feel his overwhelming strength just looking at his bare back. His muscular back had the beauty of a wild beast as Raynesia lost herself looking at it.

(… Eh! What am I looking at!)

Raynesia shook her head and sulked.

She always lost her pace when Krusty was around.

She missed the peaceful bedroom in Maihama. She really liked living as a shut-in, she just wanted to sleep after eating and live lazily like plants. Her biggest hobby was sun-bathing, she was looking forward to becoming an old lady and enjoying her life like a hermit.

According to Raynesia's ideals, it was not wrong to say she had changed or become depraved.

"Understood, I will increase the amount of survey groups at the next location."

When Takayama Misa finished her report, Krusty had already dressed himself. He was wearing the same armor but he seemed to have changed his shirt. His calm expression was the same as his time in the 'Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice', he was so calm that it made Raynesia mad.

"How was the battlefield?"

Krusty asked as he walked towards her.

Because of their height difference, Raynesia had to tilt her head up, which made her feel unpleasant. She could neither feel the joy Krusty had when he fought nor the feeling that he might disappear like a flimsy illusion.

The mind-reading monster was standing prim and proper in front of her, that feeling she had seemed to be like a dream.

"Did you feel scared?"

Raynesia was trapped in her own thoughts and slow in responding, so Krusty asked her again teasingly.

"No such thing, I believe Krusty-sama will protect me."

Since Krusty put on his mask of courtly manners, she had to reply in kind. She wanted to show him she had much more experience in the rhetoric and culture of the aristocrats.

"… The princess sure is popular."

Raynesia turned around and saw a group of Adventurers observing Krusty and Raynesia from afar without moving. This made Raynesia feel uneasy, so she waved her hands gently and smiled, and the Adventurers went about their business with smiles on their faces.

"Such a thing does not matter Krusty-sama."

Raynesia faced Krusty again bearing the frustration of going off-topic. Krusty was always showing this type of attitude, making Raynesia unsure of whether to put on her courtly manners or to adjust to the Adventurer's way.

"Also…"

Just as Raynesia stepped forward to speak, the howl of wolves echoed through the entire valley. It came from the eastern ridge, it was obviously from a distance away, but it still drove a chill into Raynesia's heart.

"That was…"

"Dire wolves, should be large in size judging by the sound."

"From the goblin king's escort?"

"The goblin king is not here, he will not leave 'Seven Falls', this is the goblin general's royal guards."

"Royal guards…"

Raynesia clasped her hands in front of her chest, she saw the rampage of Krusty's army and believed in their strength. But Raynesia did not know anything about battles so she was afraid, and Krusty seemed so dangerous when he threw himself into battle.

She was not sure if she should ask him to take care of himself or motivate him for the upcoming fight.

As Raynesia hesitated, the wolves howled again. Krusty grinned at the sound and did not notice how Raynesia felt and he said with a cruel smile:

"We will wipe out their nest later, let's take out the trash in Sand Leaf for now."

Part 3

The long central road in Choushi was an excellent landing runway for the griffon. The magic beast did not flap its wings as it glided down. Shiroe patted Akatsuki's head, looked down and whispered: "Please clear the area, don't let any players or monsters come near."

Akatsuki nodded without saying anything.

Even though the speed was faster than a horse, the 2 of them jumped off the griffon without any concern and moved off separately. Akatsuki moved weightlessly forward, her light body disappeared behind the roof of the stone building.

After seeing her off, Shiroe rushed towards Tohya who was waving his hand.

There were 5 people in Minori's group, all of them had anxious faces. From the reports he received through telepathy, the Ocypete had arrived but was unable to dock because of the Sahuagin's resistance.

Naotsugu's party was dealing with the goblins in place of Minori's group.

(That will be more convenient.)

Shiroe did not know if the spell would work. Even though the theory was sound and Shiroe had experimented repeatedly, it was still a gamble. Considering the impact on the future, it would be better to have fewer witnesses even if it succeeded.

Was that a tavern or hotel in front?

A young man lay motionless under the roof of an open concept building, the crying girl beside him should be Isuzu, a charming young girl with freckles.

Familiar faces surrounded Shiroe, Tohya with his painful expression, Serara with her look of worry, and Minori with her sense of purpose.

Shiroe calmed his heart.

It was hot out here, but his mind was like the winter night sky.

"Minori, add me to your party."

"Yes."

Minori nodded without further questions. Shiroe was thankful that she was not talking in this situation. He observed Rundelhous' face, he looked like an elegant nobleman. He still had body warmth and a pulse, but he was still unconscious. The party status screen was flashing the word 'death'.

"I recall you are Isuzu-san? Continue 'Mediation Nocturne', I am going to cast a new spell, please keep this an absolute secret."

Shiroe told the beginners with a strict tone.

"If you cannot agree then give up or leave."

The group shook their heads in response, no one flinched away at his words.

"Alright, let's begin."

Shiroe chose the spell from the menu and cast 'Mana Channeling', a unique spell of enchanters which had unknown functions.

The effect was to drain all the MP of his allies and distribute it equally.

(Correct… The psyche lies in the 'Soul', and MP is the manifestation of the 'Soul', if that is the case…)

As he chanted the spell incantation, the MP of the whole party gathered inside Shiroe.

Shiroe out-leveled all of them, the draining part of his 'Mana Channeling' was a heavy burden on Minori's party who were less than level 30.

Minori, Tohya, and Serara looked pale. Their MP was gradually drained away, making them feel dizzy and lost. Isuzu continued to hold Rundelhous' hand and sing her sad ancient ballad despite her face turning white.

Shiroe felt the effect of the magic with his eyes half-closed.

The MP he gathered from his allies was all under Shiroe's control. He could feel the lingering scent of their 'Soul' although it was only a faint hint. Tohya's one-track mind, Minori's seriousness, all of these expanded out under Shiroe's control.

It also included Serara's, Isuzu's, Rundelhous', and his own MP.

The MP with different subtle tastes mixed into primitive spiritual energy and was guided along the magical circuit connected to his allies.

Shiroe divided the MP evenly and distributed it.

(Hnng!)

The rapid loss of MP gave Shiroe a feeling of anemia.

His MP was more than the other members', enchanters belonged to the mage class and their maximum MP was among the highest among the classes. And Shiroe was level 90, re-allocating the MP evenly with level 30 adventurers was the same as refilling all their MP in one shot.

"Minori cast Resurrection, Serara continue to heal."

This was all preparation work, Shiroe continued to give instructions, but the time was short, there might only be one chance and one sentence.

Rundelhous was a People of the Land.

He was not an Adventurer, so he would not revive after dying.

And Rundelhous was now dead.

That's why Rundelhous would not revive.

This was an iron-clad rule that could not be overturned.

The mana-channeling spell of the enchanter restored the MP of the group… in other words, revitalized their psyche and soul.

He did not regain consciousness because his 'Soul' and 'Essence' were not connected. This was the same as being comatose, so they needed to find a way to force it to connect.

For the next phase, Shiroe took something out from his backpack.

"It will be a race against time."

Shiroe used 'Hades Incense of Soul Recovery' as he finished his sentence.

This was used to wake your allies or creatures for a short time, a medicine mainly used for special monsters. The effect was not resurrection, just regaining of consciousness for 3 minutes before you died again, and the Adventurer would be forcibly sent back to the cathedral.

But for Rundelhous whose 'Essence' was dissipating continuously, this item held a certain possibility.

No matter what happened, his body would be destroyed, the psyche and soul residing in the host body would also perish.

'Hades Incense of Soul Recovery' would re-energize his 'Soul' and forcibly connect it to his body, but at the expense of death after 3 minutes. He could only pull Rundelhous back to this world for 3 minutes.

A fake resurrection with a time limit.

The group seemed to understand this as Isuzu tightened her grip on Rundelhous' hand with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Ah…"

Rundelhous opened his eyes slowly as if he just woke up from a dream.

Isuzu couldn't stop crying as she held his hands. It was unclear if he had regained consciousness, even his eyes opening might be just the reflex of his body.

"Rudy… ?"

"Miss Isuzu… ah, everyone, that's right… seems like… I died."

He had some awareness after death, just that the connection between his 'Soul' and 'Essence' had been severed. For Adventurers, this meant the monitor lost its color, you could only watch your comrades fighting in black and white. It was not clear how it was for the People of the Land, but Rundelhous seemed able to grasp the situation.

Rundelhous smiled and spoke with a tired voice to the others.

"Don't be like this everybody… don't make such a face. If you fight you will risk death, isn't that natural?"

"Only… natural…"

Tohya's voice made Shiroe's heart ache.

It was something they didn't joke about in the game, the heavy topic of death… was only natural for the People of the Land.

"I wanted to be an Adventurer despite that, please don't blame Miss Isuzu okay? I wanted her to help me keep this a secret."

"No, I already noticed, but I chose to ignore it!"

Minori cried out loud, telling everyone the impact this had on the Minori who always acted calmly.

"Ha ha ha, yeah, thank you Miss Minori… there is no need to feel bothered about this."

"No, there is a need."

Shiroe interrupted.

There was no time.

Shiroe let his mind run free as he thought about the horrifying thing he was about to do. It might be a big mistake, it might even threaten the laws of the world.

He didn't know how this would affect the world if he was successful, or how the world would receive this 'proposal'.

But the young man who had accepted his fate and was bidding farewell to the rest called himself an Adventurer.

This was not the term to describe players, but the term for traveling the world and seeing a sunrise that no one had seen before, the name of Shiroe's companions.

Since he called himself that, he was also a scion of 'hers'.

"No, you need to feel bothered. Rundelhous Code, a fellow who gives up so easily calling himself an Adventurer will only trouble others. This is not enough… Did you spend your whole life training and learning in order to die in an alley like this? What you have found in the dungeons are not tactics or strategy, but the will to survive, the grit to do anything to keep living on no matter how hard you have to work, the spirit to never give up right?"

"Shiroe-nii…"

"Rundelhous, your resolve is not strong enough!"

"Then what do you expect me to do?"

Rundelhous' eyes were full of regret and dismay, even if he said this was only natural, his heart refused to accept it as his tears started to flow.

Because of this, Shiroe decided to use that 'magic'.

"Pay attention and listen up!"

Shiroe took out the document he scribbled while he was on the griffon's back and put it in front of Rundelhous' face.

"This is…"

"A contract?"

The document Shiroe took from his backpack was indeed a contract, contract, it was written in 'Carved Dragon Eye Ink' on the 'Fairy King Paper' made from top-class ingredients, the only one in the world.

"Contract… Log Horizon representative Shiroe, and Rundelhous Code agree to the following terms:

1. Effective immediately, Shiroe invites Rundelhous to join the guild Log Horizon.

2. Rundelhous will act appropriately and carry out tasks assigned seriously befitting his position as a member of Log Horizon.

3. Log Horizon will provide Rundelhous with necessary support to aid him in carrying out his tasks… including the identity of an Adventurer.

4. This contract is based on mutual agreement of both parties, whatever things either party gain will remain in effect even if the contract lapses.

As above, there are 2 copies of the contract, both parties will keep one copy after signing the agreement as proof."

Sounds of gasping could be heard.

"Adventurer… ?"

"This is… Shiroe-san, this is…!"

This was developing a spell that was not in the game.

Shiroe noticed this possibility a long time ago.

Chefs could cook food manually without using the game menu, making dishes with normal taste.

Nyanta explained to Shiroe on their way back to Susukino.

And this had proven to be correct.

And Shiroe convinced the Round Table Council that this was not limited to chefs.

People with the corresponding skills could use them to create items without using the game menu, making things that did not exist in this alternate world.

This was the real meaning behind Nyanta's discovery.

2 months after that, Shiroe had been researching things he had visualized and conducted experiments repeatedly. He kept this as a hidden ace to be used if the Round Table Council meeting did not go smoothly, but further research and data kept accumulating and it evolved.

His conversation with ReGan about Spirit Theory gave Shiroe an inspiration and one of his research topics was going to bear fruit here.

Rundelhous was a People of the Land.

And he would die in 3 minutes.

People of the Land could not revive.

Rundelhous would disappear.

If that was the case, the answer was obvious…

He needed to make Rundelhous into an Adventurer in these 3 minutes.

His experiments proved that scribes could make simple contracts and all sort of documents such as 'Mission Request Forms' or 'IOU' that had magical binding powers. A scribe with a high enough level could create these with magical ingredients.

But among these type of contracts, this one was top class.

Allowing a Person of the Land to join a guild and bestowing the identity of Adventurer on him, this contract looked like a fraud to Shiroe. So Shiroe used his level 90 Scribe skills and the top-class magical ingredients and ink he collected during the time when Elder Tales was a game without regret in order to fulfill this request.

Shiroe moved the contract closer to Rundelhous' face.

"I have already signed this, the rest is up to you."

"… Ven… turer…"

"You can realize your dreams."

The young sorcerer with mud all over him said in a weak voice, as Shiroe explained to him.

"This contract has a risk, you will be altered in some ways after the contract takes effect, becoming a different being. Adventurers are still new to this world, you might get caught in some other events, Adventurers might not be as glorious as you imagined."

"I want to become…"

The status screen still showed the flashing word 'death', his HP was reducing gradually, Rundelhous replied without hesitation.

"I want to become an Adventurer, people who help those in need, I won't mind the small details… I am not after the glory… I just want to be… an Adventurer."

Rundelhous grabbed the pen with his trembling hand and it fell out of his hand immediately. 'Hades Incense of Soul Recovery' was losing its effect, Rundelhous might be unable to keep his 'Soul' and 'Essence' connected.

"Rudy… don't worry."

Isuzu held his hand.

"I will sign this together with Rudy."

Isuzu embraced Rundelhous from behind, Tohya helped from the side, Minori and Serara cast healing spells repeatedly, the four of them watched over Rudy as he signed.

His trembling hands gained warmth with his comrades' encouragement, Rundelhous used the magical ink to write down his name, the signature burned with a golden light. Shiroe's skills were acknowledged by this alternate world, becoming a brand new law.

"Rundelhous, you will die… and respawn in the cathedral."

Shiroe said as he felt the cogs turning somewhere by this spell. The dissipating 'Essence' turned into dancing light particles and flew towards Akiba, the other players watched this dream-like scene with stunned expressions.

The act of developing magic was the reason why he earned the nickname 'Chronicler of the East' in the future.

Part 4

The battle continued in the dark.

In the heart of the Sand Leaf central hills.

The venue was a valley like the previous battle, the only difference was the size of the place and the scale of the battle. When she asked Takayama Misa why they chose to fight in valleys, the answer was: "A large group needs a lot of space to gather, we can organize ourselves in the forest or the hills, but it will be hard to accommodate everyone there."

Raynesia thought about it and agreed.

Goblins might be demihumans, but their intelligence was low. But since they were moving in an army, they would follow certain rules.

Since they were fighting in the valley, there were several ridges where they could see the whole valley.

Takayama Misa's observation team was based on one of these ridges but it was different from last time.

They only set up the minimum observation tables. It may be that they might need to move on short notice, or because Raynesia declined the chair, but from the looks of relief from Takayama Misa, Raynesia predicted the previous time was a special arrangement just for her.

But these were trivial matters.

Raynesia, Takayama Misa, and the others were already concentrating on the battle in the valley.

Takayama Misa explained that the team leading the dire wolves were goblin tamers. The barbaric goblins didn't have a complicated society like humans, but they had primitive division of labor and classes.

Most goblins were lightly armored warriors or spearmen, but some of the goblins had special classes, the most common one being goblin tamer and goblin shaman. The goblin tamers bred beasts like Owlbears,

Hippogriffs, and dire wolves.

They could see the enemy formation had hundreds of dire wolves, as if the dark ground had gained sentience and squirmed, a scene from nightmares.

"Seems like a mutant breed."

Takayama Misa explained calmly:

"We fought them in a raid before, it is a wolf with poisonous fangs raised in the miasma of the undead. To have raised so many means the goblin king has a tribe of goblin tamers… Elder Tales has such an intriguing detailed secret setting."

"Would… Would they be alright…"

"Worrying is an absurd action."

Takayama Misa maintained her cold attitude and words, but Raynesia was not so optimistic. There were a few hundred enemies spread out across the valley, the goblin general must be in the center, probably in the exotic tent with wheels that was essentially a mobile fortress.

Raynesia was not worried about that monster knight, but his subordinates were knights as well. Even though they wouldn't die, it would still be painful if they got hurt, which pained her too.

But the two sides engaged suddenly without regard to Raynesia's worries.

"Square shape… so pretty."

"This is the square formation."

Takayama Misa walked to Raynesia's side probably to chat.

She pointed to Krusty's army that was aligned on 4 sides in the shape of a square and continued.

"This is a common formation used in raids, the groups are usually formed in multiples of 4, the same number of sides as the box. So in terms of command, squares are the easiest formation to adopt. It is basically a defensive formation, with the tanks and melee fighters in the front supported by the ranged and magic attacks as the main source of damage dealers. But since this is a tight-knit formation, it will be bad against enemies with powerful wide-area attacks. But against groups of wild beasts, it can be an iron-clad defensive wall."

"So that is how…"

Raynesia guessed right.

The strong vanguards deflected the attacks of the wolves easily, with arrows and magic flying out from behind them. The balm ensured Raynesia had a clear vision in the dark, but great columns of fire all over the valley made it so bright that she could see without any assistance.

"They are moving."

Takayama Misa pointed straight at the battlefield.

The whole formation seemed to move with her finger. It turned into the shape of a trapezoid and advanced, taking out the enemies in its way.

Takayama Misa said this was a defensive formation, but this seemed to be an unreliable evaluation.

This was the first time Raynesia viewed a large-scale battle, she had never seen the defensive battles of the castle knights, so she had nothing to use as a reference, but what she saw could not be described as defensive.

She saw it as a square hole.

Krusty's army seemed to be digging a dark hole into the goblin army. Both the goblins and wolves would be dealt with when they touched the hole. The way the formation handled the enemy was akin to a neat freak, giving off a sense of madness.

"Look closely."

At this moment, a bonfire seemed to be lit in the center of the formation and 4 flaming birds flew out from it and spread orange and crimson flames in all 4 directions, obviously a summoned beast. But Raynesia had never heard of summoned beings like this. From what she knew, summoned beings ranged from the size of a fist to that of a puppy, she had never seen such powerful and dignified creatures.

"That is the Phoenix you can form a contract with at level 86, a high-level spirit with fire affinity. The summoners need to complete a very difficult quest before they are qualified to form a contract with such graceful and holy beast… what is wrong?"

(She asked me what is wrong?)

(That creature has flame on it?)

(Adventurers can… can summon such creatures, there should be a limit to such foul play correct?)

Raynesia finally understood.

Krusty was not putting on a brave face, this was how he acted naturally.

No wonder Takayama Misa said worrying was absurd.

No one could predict what would happen on the battlefield. But there were people in this world who were fine in this unpredictable battlefield and used their extraordinary experience no common man could hope to match to rule the arena.

The army this man was leading were also Adventurers who had accumulated overwhelming experience and training. Raynesia recognized from the bottom of her heart that the common sense of knights could not be applied on them.

Adventurers were an existence beyond Raynesia's comprehension.

The goblin general's giant mobile fortress exploded with a bang. The heavily-armored guards and gigantic ferocious goblins flew out from the shattered fortress. Krusty's forces continued to advance.

Raynesia heard an impossible voice.

… Well then, let's enjoy this sumptuous meal.

The calm words with a hint of joy definitely came from Krusty.

Raynesia did not have telepathic abilities, she couldn't have heard Krusty from so far away, but she did hear his voice.

Krusty swung his two-handed axe and pointed it at the enemy, his forces charged forward as if elongated black spears came out of the square formation. A group of warriors dual-wielding blades shredded through the goblins like thin clothes.

"We have finished the main course… Let's leave the rest to the nets spread out by our headquarters' tactician."

Takayama Misa closed her report file with a soft sound, her voice so calm she seemed to be saying something obvious.

Part 5

In the end they linked up just before dawn.

The resistance of the Sahuagin was stronger than expected, Ocypete took a lot of time to dock. Ocypete had a lot of functions installed as an experimental prototype, but it was basically a transport ship.

It was not a military amphibious assault landing craft.

It was hard to suppress enemies that could move freely in the water, so it was hard to execute bold attack maneuvers.

But at midnight, Naotsugu and Nyanta summoned griffons to ferry several players by air to reinforce the defenses of Choushi. With summoners on both sides of the coastline, it was only a matter of time before they repelled the Sahuagins.

"Wah, I didn't expect you to come Shiro-bou!"

Maryele smiled so happily.

Shiroe who appeared out of nowhere walked out from the town just as the sun was setting. He reorganized the limited manpower and established another defensive line at the north side of the farm.

Shiroe was the guild master of Log Horizon.

That meant he was one of the 11 guild masters that formed the Round Table Council, but he was not wellknown.

The background behind the formation of the Round Table Council was no secret, so well-informed Adventurers all knew about Shiroe. But compared to Krusty or Issac who were the guild masters of major guilds, or Maryele with her wide social network, the number of people who knew his face was much lower.

If you talked to him, you would know that he was a good young man who valued friendships. But he seemed scary in the beginning… Maryele thought.

(He is a good kid! But that face! Those eyes! So scary!)

Maryele nodded as she made this conclusion, but Henrietta chided her, "Most Adventurers are good kids in Maryele's eyes."

Anyway, Shiroe's appearance was not well known, but the impact he brought to the battlefield was quite significant.

Even if he was not well-known, Shiroe was still the tactician for the expedition army. The morale would increase when headquarters sent reinforcements over.

Shiroe appeared in town the moment Ocypete arrived, making the defensive team think he was the one who led them here.

Maryele used this effect to the limit.

She raised her voice to motivate the defense team.

The team facing the unrelenting waves of Sahuagins recovered their fighting spirit when they heard news of reinforcements arriving and Maryele urging them on. With the artillery support by summoners conjuring creatures to perform super long range attacks, the beginners engaged the Sahuagin with renewed vigor and passion.

The corpses of the Sahuagin either were washed away by the tide or disappeared into thin air after some time, the fierce battle continued until midnight.

The Adventurers won the grueling fight at midnight.

The Adventurers taking part in the summer training camp were exhausted, relaxing in their own way at the port between Sand Leaf River and the beach.

The sentry and defensive tasks were handled by the reinforcements who still had energy to help. All those gathered here were the summer camp participants who fought the goblins and the Sahuagins.

Maryele was thinking of maintaining a more spirited attitude as a role model, but she ended up spreading her cape and laying flat on the ground.

(Fu… We somehow made it through…)

Crescent Moon Alliance had no experience with large-scale raids or defensive battles, Maryele had never commanded such a complicated battle line before.

She was a total amateur at this, the reason they succeeded was because of the passion and determination of the beginners, as well as the support of the veterans led by Naotsugu.

"Are you alright Mary-san?"

This voice was closer than she expected. expected.

And just when she was thinking about him.

"Woo wah?"

Naotsugu sat beside Maryele who sprang up in surprise. He had changed into baggy shorts and summer shirt.

"Why are you making weird sounds Mary-san?"

"Wah, that was sly of you Naotsugu-yan, when did you change?"

"No, it's because… The armor is heavy and someone is taking my shift tonight so I can relax."

Maryele's relentless questions made Naotsugu gaze wander all over.

She looked around and saw their exhausted comrades moving slowly like zombies, hoping to change their clothes too.

"I-I-I… I need to change too?"

"Are you okay?"

Maryele pressed her temples. She had been using magic nonstop the whole day which made the her head heavy and numb.

Clerics were the masters of healing, apart from standard healing spells, they could also cast all sorts of magic. If you focused only on defense and healing, the variety of skills of the cleric was the best among the healers.

In this group battle, Maryele did not form a party, running all over the battlefield by herself casting healing spells on all the parties she saw, a heal-and-run tactic.

She didn't think that was a wrong tactic to use, but it was more tiring than she imagined. Maryele experienced the feeling of exhausting all of her MP 10 times in a day, making her head hurt.

"Rest a bit more?"

"Woo hoo hoo…"

To be honest, Maryele didn't want to move at all.

"The bathhouse is still full anyway."

"There is a bathhouse?"

Bathhouses were new facilities in Akiba, Maryele was shocked that Choushi had such advanced installations.

"Of course there is. The reason why Akiba doesn't have shower rooms is because the crafting menu for

Adventurers does not include shower facilities. Or rather, we can craft such facilities, but only for decorative purposes, they do have water storage or heating functions. When Elder Tales was just a game there was no need for us to bathe, but the People of the Land had to shower from the very beginning so they have the appropriate facilities to do so."

"Is… Is that so?"

Maryele held her head with her hands and fell.

So there were shower rooms if they visited one of the few homes of the People of the Land in Akiba?

Maryele recalled discovering Henrietta pouring hot water from a kettle to a basin to wipe her body secretly in the middle of the night. It almost ended in a big commotion. Just remembering Henrietta's scary face during that incident made her face glum.

"But we all rushed to the showers at the hotel and mayor's place, so it is full right now. By the way, the hotel is for men, the mayor's house is for ladies."

"Oh, now I know… I will enjoy the breeze here for a while more."

"Yes yes."

Naotsugu sat with his legs crossed.

Maryele spread her cape on the grass and sat lazily.

The two of them basked in the clear moonlight.

A gentle and soothing breeze made Maryele shift her gaze and look at Naotsugu.

Naotsugu looked at the bright and clear moon as he fanned Maryele using a big leaf from a tropical tree.

(Ah…)

Maryele could feel the remnants of the heat in her blood that boiled during the battle cooling down finally.

It was thanks to this interesting man who accompanied her without a word that her raging emotions were finally calming down and gaining peace.

"Naotsugu-yan, let me ask you…"

"About what… ?"

Naotsugu's leisurely voice gave Maryele the concrete feeling that the battle was really over, everyone survived and protected this town. Some of the Adventurers were hurt too badly and went back to the cathedral in Akiba, but the number was small.

"We did well right?"

"Of course, we protected the town successfully."

Maryele was aware that her smile was more brilliant than normal, it must be a giddy smile that she could not show in public, but she didn't mind at all.

Just for this moment, she wanted to immerse in the kind and gentle wind Naotsugu was giving her under the bright moonlight.

Part 6

There was a sound of a bell coming from the distance.

There was a refreshing fragrance and particles sparkling around him.

Rundelhous sat up on the marble bed with elaborate carvings.

(This is…)

He could see the night sky out the window. It should be nighttime right now.

In this room made of stone, the plants placed all around were spreading out shiny pollen that illuminated the room.

(I see, so this is… the cathedral.)

Rundelhous was able to comprehend. He had heard about this place, but this was his first time here.

People of the Land were different from Adventurers after all, even if they prayed in church, they would not seek spiritual guidance in the cathedral.

The cathedral was one of the facilities related to the Adventurers, it was more like a magical architecture than a religious construction. Rundelhous followed the example of other People of the Land and had never visited it before.

(Anyway… Good, seems like I can move.)

He sat on the bed and moved his body carefully.

Right hand, left hand, both legs, shoulders… there seemed to be no problem, but he felt tired to the bones, probably an after-effect of respawning.

He heard that respawning in the cathedral deducted EXP, Rundelhous opened his status to check and was stunned.

The status screen of the Adventurers was much more detailed than he imagined. His stats were adjusted to reflect stats gained from his equipment, the details of how his equipment affects his stats were also displayed, his MP and HP were also shown in numerical values with increments of 0. 1%.

He looked at his EXP gauge which had dropped significantly. It couldn't be helped, he not only respawned here, he had numerous resurrection spells cast on him as well, this was the price he must pay.

He was alive.

Rundelhous' chest was filled with a slew of emotions.

He was not after the identity or status of the Adventurers, nor was he after their way of life. Rundelhous was the 3rd son of a corrupted noble family, the freedom and sense of justice of the Adventurers who fought for the people were dazzling and stole his heart.

Rundelhous unconsciously followed his gaze and opened another tab on the status screen. He found the word Adventurer.

Name: Rundelhous Code

Class: Sorcerer

Subclass: Adventurer

Rundelhous stared blankly at these words for a long while.

(That's right, I do not have a subclass, that contract forced me to take on a new subclass Adventurer…)

Rundelhous checked the abilities of the subclass in a hurry, a list of unfamiliar abilities he heard about:

'ability to respawn in the cathedral', 'telepathy ability', 'adjustment to EXP gain', 'use of bank and warehouse', 'detailed status screen', there were also many more abilities Rundelhous didn't understand, and they were all listed together here.

(So many… If I have this power…)

He could not gain back the time he lost or change his past, but he wouldn't spend his nights feeling frustrated and helpless at his weakness.

More importantly, he could live in Akiba without hiding his identity. He could live together with the friends he had grown close to during the training camp. Rundelhous might be able to rebuild his old home, create a place to live life to the fullest.

Rundelhous tried to recollect.

He remembered an Adventurer that wanted to wipe out all these corrupt nobles.

That was what he wanted to be, but was cursed to never achieve. Rundelhous swore that given another chance, he wanted to become an Adventurer. He then reviewed this miracle he always dreamed of.

This small stony room was his new starting point. The serious young man with glasses was also an Adventurer that his two friends Minori and Tohya respected, and was also the guild master of their guild.

(That young man Shiroe should know about places I have never seen before…)

As Rundelhous immersed in the joy of respawning, he heard approaching footsteps.

"Rudy!"

Isuzu barged in, banging the stone doors. She looked both angry and perplexed, staring at Rundelhous from the entrance.

"Hi Miss Isuzu… Is anything wrong?"

"Is… Is anything wrong… You ask…"

She walked towards him in big strides and bent her upper body backwards.

Her head was in a taller position than the sitting Rundelhous, so he could not see her expression. He could only hear the sound of sniffing, but Isuzu's voice was definitely angry.

"Overexerting yourself so much, what if you die stupid Rudy!"

"Miss Isuzu, calling me stupid is too much, there are somethings you have to do even if you have to risk your life. Just like no one can put a collar on the free spirited Adventurers, no one can stop my battles."

"When I command you to wait, you have to wait properly!"

"You are being unreasonable…"

"You must wait!"

Isuzu's voice sounded aloof and Rundelhous felt anger rising from his heart.

But he realized something when he wondered why Isuzu was here.

Isuzu was the only companion who knew Rundelhous was a People of the Land. Actually, Minori noticed too, but the one who pressed Rundelhous for the truth and assisted him in achieving his dream was only Isuzu.

She being here right now meant she used 'Call of Home' to chase Rundelhous who respawned in the cathedral in Akiba.

"Sorry… I seem to have worried you."

The moment Rundelhous said these words, a punch so painful that it made him cry fell on his head.

Rundelhous didn't understand why he was hit, but as a noble who had lived to this age, he understood that he had to apologize repeatedly in a soothing voice when a woman was in this type of condition.

"Sorry Miss Isuzu, it's my fault." "I… I apologize, I won't make this mistake again." "Anyway, can you tell me why?"

He was hit 2-3 times every time he spoke, Rundelhous' head was heating up from the abuse and his conscious was starting to fade.

"I understand, I will listen to Miss Isuzu's command properly."

"Really?"

"Really, I swear to god."

"You must tell me about your childhood Rudy."

"Why must I…! I… I understand, I will talk."

"If you are so reckless, it won't be enough no matter how many lives you have."

"I am reflecting on my actions."

"Okay, shake."

(Ah… ?)

This word made Rundelhous look blankly at Isuzu.

Isuzu's cute freckled face seemed to be throwing a tantrum and angry at the same time. Only her eyes had a hint of shyness as she extended her hand gently.

(If you make such a face, I can only surrender right?)

Rundelhous gently placed his hand on hers in response.

This was a strange action that did not exist in this world. To Rundelhous, this was the reverse action of a knight guiding a lady, so it was somewhat embarrassing.

He heard from Isuzu later this was the action of dogs swearing fealty to their masters, which made him mad. But right now she had him cornered, he had no way of venting his frustration.

Seemed like Rundelhous was fated to never go against this young girl with freckles.

Part 7

Akiba's first expedition army returned with victory. This was named the East Expedition Army in the future as the west also sent out an expedition army to deal with the 'Suzaku Gate's Ghost Festival' incident at the same time.

The expedition army did not defeat the goblin king, they only trapped the invasion army in Sand Leaf peninsula and wiped them out. The whole war ended one week after Krusty's forces defeated the goblin general.

Shiroe and Krusty were looking out for reinforcements from 'Seven Falls' all this while, but there were no signs of them until the very end.

The fortress 'Seven Falls' they were watching closely should still have several thousand monsters inside.

This was about a fifth of the whole goblin invasion army, but the numbers were not a big threat.

To measure military powers by numbers was a concept from the old world. In this alternate world where the difference in fighting power varied a lot, they could be as strong as a soldier or as mighty as a tank, so numbers were not an absolute gauge for military might. The Akiba expedition army's success proved this point.

The goblin king was still in the 'Seven Falls' along with several beasts of colossal proportions. The goblin shaman should be waiting inside as well.

It was more important to determine the threat of the remaining forces rather then their cold hard numbers.

They didn't leave 'Seven Falls' alone because it was hard to tackle. Even if there were some stubbornly strong monsters, the Round Table Council judged that with the strength of the Adventurers, it was just a matter of time before they raided them.

One of the reasons they postponed the raid was because they prioritized signing a treaty with 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' first.

The Round Table Council also had other considerations.

The Round Table Council set suitable rewards and announced a ton of quests, the contents of the quests included patrolling the northeast communities as well as raiding the remnants of the goblins.

Monsters like goblins were easy enemies for party-level groups, so there was no need to send out large armies to deal with them. Minori's party with their levels around 30 was able to fight them on equal grounds, which was the best evidence for this.

So the raiding quest was more suitable for beginner-and mid-level Adventurers instead of high-level veteran players. They were happy to take on these missions and many of them set out from Akiba to accomplish them. They roamed the forests and hills of the northeast region, making the People of the Land feel the Adventurers were active again.

By reducing the strength of the forces outside the citadel, 'Seven Falls' would also strengthen their defenses. If you took out the goblin king, the goblins would go out of control.

The goblins who lost their leader would spread out and raze the land, this was the main argument of Shiroe's that convinced the Round Table Council. Put simply, the action of sealing them in was preparation of raiding 'Seven Falls' in the future.

Shiroe just felt they should make full use of the current situation, but the people called his tactics villainous which left a bad taste in his mouth. Shiroe insisted there was no black or white in tactics, but there seemed to be plenty of holes in this self-assessment.

Shiroe did not know that most of the Adventurers in Akiba thought Shiroe was the mastermind who forced

Princess Raynesia to go to the battlefield. That meant he conned the naive and beautiful princess and sent her out to fight with his honeyed words, giving off the impression of a very shrewd man. With this system, whenever the princess gained sympathy with her beautiful and kind demeanor, Shiroe's reputation would take a hit.

Shiroe who was unaware of this just had the feeling 'Why are so many people targeting me'. He was a bit bothered, but Henrietta encouraged him and said: "Shiroe-sama's villain-level is far above the standard!"

This comment gave him complicated feelings.

In this buffer time they earned, the Round Table Council and the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' signed a basic treaty, a mutual trade agreement treaty, and a peace treaty.

It had been a month since the Sand Leaf siege battle.

Maihama was holding a festival to celebrate the signing of the treaties.

Many noble families from the northeast of Yamato gathered in the beautiful streets of Maihama. The nobles' meeting was on hiatus,was on hiatus, the lords who had returned to their territories gathered again in Maihama city. Different from the nobles' meeting, there were no obligations for these festivities so 2-3 of the nobles did not attend, but most of the nobles and merchants did.

Akiba was at its peak of economic development.

The big festival celebrating the signing of the treaties was a rare chance for them to make friends with Adventurers. For the nobles, this was a chance to tout the specialty products of their territories and secure major contracts. The nobles maintained their competitive natures, their motive and the heat of the festival triggered a fierce negotiation war.

But it was the same for all the guilds in Akiba, not only the production and merchant guilds, the battle guilds were also involved considering the elements of transport, so they were also here to enjoy this joyous festival.

All type of resources were going out of stock making your eyes dizzy, that was the state Yamato was in.

The hotels in downtown Maihama were all fully booked, a lot of residences became temporary hostels.

The ones doing business here were mainly small merchant guilds or small guilds taking on escort missions. The businessmen of Akiba also wanted to reap a profit using this chance, bringing everything they could sell from food ingredients to armors and weapons, more than doubling Maihama's population.

The meeting room and the visitors' rooms in the courts were all open for the guests, even the knights' rooms were also used. The nobles struggled with their negotiations here, trying to come to terms with the major guilds.

Most of the players in Elder Tales were young. From the Earth's standard, their slyness and cunning was far below that of the experienced nobles, putting them at a disadvantage in the negotiations. But the nobles were unable to grasp what the Adventurers wanted and their delicate nature, which would sometimes end in confusion.

Both parties knew they were negotiating with strangers, so they had already steeled themselves and lowered their expectations, most of the negotiations ended peacefully.

This was a festival of gigantic proportion that happened only once in a hundred years.

To handle the increase in population, all the People of the Land working in the restaurants, shops, snack stands were working until their faces were red, the Adventurers were so engrossed in crafting and selling things that they forgot to sleep. Everyone made huge profits in the festival and used it to buy alcohol, meals, and clothes, making the consumption demand skyrocket.

At the courts, the butlers that wanted to make everything perfect gave out instructions, all the maids and helpers were busy running around fulfilling their tasks. But in this noisy atmosphere, it was impossible to welcome all the guests perfectly, a serious supervisor would probably faint from this.

If all the Adventurers requested the same service as the aristocrats, they would need at least three servants to take care of their meals, showers, and changing of clothes. Even the grandest Maihama court in the whole 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' wouldn't be able to handle that.

In the eyes of the nobles, the simple way of life of the Adventurers was astonishing. The smarter aristocrats would simplify their daily life during this period as well to accommodate the Adventurers. So the snobbish and extravagant aristocrats were more sensible during this festive period, the attendants and maids in the Maihama courts all breathed a sigh of relief.

The treaty-signing festival that included nobility, peasants, merchants, craftsmen, and even farmers was heading towards its climax.

Under the elegant music of the orchestra, 'Castle Cinderella' held a grand ball in the middle of its hall.

This hall was more spacious than the 'Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice's', illuminated with countless candles and the magic light conjured by summoners. This ball hosted over 200 people from nobles, merchant bosses, and Adventurers.

Duke Sergead Corwen announced the opening of the ball after a simple speech, and a louder and clearer music welcomed the participants to enter.

Unlike before, there were Adventurers taking part as well, the knights and princesses hesitated in this situation, the first to enter the dance floor was Raynesia escorted by Krusty.

The young hero from Akiba who saved 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' from the goblin threat Krusty, and granddaughter of the clan Corwen who chaired the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' Raynesia. This couple tickled the curiosity of the crowd just with their names alone. And the expedition started because of Raynesia's visit to Akiba to ask for aid, the Adventurers were moved by her sincerity and took up arms with their righteous hearts, these events akin to stories of heroes would be chronicled in their history forever.

There was a rumor that Krusty challenged the goblin general 1-on-1 and defeated him, but contrary to the stories, he looked like a sensible young man. His calm face with glasses showed no signs of worry, his height was fitting of his title of a knight, but he didn't give the slow and heavy feeling that went with the description of a burly knight. Krusty in his classy tuxedo was just like a nobleman.

On the other hand, Raynesia had the reputation of the most beautiful princess in all of the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal'. She was wearing a formal dress with its color in layers going from light blue to light purple with fine embroidery sewed on with silver threads.

The design that covered her shoulders looked conservative, but the cuts on the chest and back were enough to attract the attention of men and accentuated her beautiful slender neck like a swan's.

The two of them walked to the center of the floor, drawing murmurs and sighs of praise from the crowd. It was a distinguished scene like that of a poem.

"Are you not going my lord?"

On the 2nd floor seat that overlooked the hall, Shiroe sipped his black rose tea as he watched.

Akatsuki was wearing the same pretty gown she had back in the 'Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice', probably forced by Henrietta.

The pearl-colored gown was the same as last time, but she had a translucent blue and purple shawl tonight. The light-colored dressing accentuated Akatsuki's black silky hair to the fullest.

"Not tonight, Krusty-san is playing the leading role right now, I can't last long anyway… I am so tired."

Akatsuki sat down quietly beside Shiroe when he finished.

This balcony had a small table and several chairs and there was no one else around. This was meant to be a resting area for the high-class nobles, but there was a ball with Adventurers taking part right now, the attendants had no time to take care of this place as they were busy attending to the ball that was just like a festival.

He could see everyone in the hall clearly from here.

The orchestra who were wearing similar costumes focused on playing; the wealthy merchants and the elderly nobles hogged in a corner to enjoy the banquet; the Adventurers who looked nervous; the People of the Land who talked boldly to the knights and merchants in a casual manner.

There were many stories playing out in this ball, Krusty and Raynesia went to the center of the hall and danced like blossoming flowers.

"…"

Akatsuki who was watching intently turned and looked Shiroe straight in the eyes. Akatsuki looked like she was about to say something, but she closed her lips as if she was giving up. She looked so lost and uneasy, but it made Shiroe feel so peaceful and at ease.

"Are you laughing my lord?"

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are laughing."

Shiroe repeatedly denied it while Akatsuki kept pressing him, but she suddenly apologized in a gentle tone.

"I didn't help much this time, apart from fighting, I have been holding you back."

"That's not true Akatsuki."

Akatsuki's words stunned Shiroe, throughout this one month since they attended the nobles' meeting, Akatsuki had always been by his side. She had been collecting intelligence from the dark and performing bodyguard duties in the light. The two of them also visited ReGan's library and came into contact with a part of the mystery of this world.

Shiroe told her this, but Akatsuki still looked depressed.

(It is so hard to convey my gratitude.)

Shiroe just wanted to build and protect his home and this quiet young girl had always been helping him achieve his dreams. Shiroe who finally noticed this stood up without thinking.

"Let's dance."

"Ah?"

Shiroe stood up and gave his hand to the petite young girl looking at him from her chair. A round of applause sounded from the hall below and the second piece of music started to play.

The bright lights shining down at the hall illuminated the balcony on the 2nd floor from below.

"My lord, that… about dancing…"

"You have practiced right?"

Shiroe took her hand and helped her up.

Shiroe remembered that night where Akatsuki practiced her footwork in the palace courtyard. The steps that were complicated but not like martial arts were the dance steps Henrietta taught Shiroe.

The quiet girl who was about his age but looked so young was practicing her dance in secret in the cool night breeze, repeating the movements until they were a part of herself, reflecting the uncompromising nature of Akatsuki.

Only Shiroe knew this in the whole world.

"My lord… you cannot laugh at me."

"I am also a beginner, I won't laugh."

In the dim and narrow balcony on the second floor, the two members of Log Horizon danced awkwardly to the waltz playing in the hall below.

These were clumsy dance steps of the two who harbored concern for each other.

Part 8

Krusty and Raynesia danced to the tune of a waltz under the bright lights in the classy hall.

In Raynesia's eyes, Krusty was a big tiger.

Krusty who was like a towering city wall seemed to betray his image as the general of the expedition army as he guided his partner in a proper and elegant dance.

The court seemed to agree that he was a gentle and handsome young man (Raynesia heard about this from the maids), but having seen how he was on the battlefield, Raynesia just wanted to say "your eyes are just decorations made with ink."

(He is a tiger! This man is a tiger monster!)

He was a bit skinny among the knights… Someone commented, but that was because Krusty was very tall so he looked slender from far. With his hands on her waist from so close, she could feel his strong arms and thick chest. He was a different species of human from Raynesia… or rather, a different creature.

"What is it princess?"

"It is nothing Krusty-sama."

Raynesia made an expression that seemed like a smile to the surrounding nobles and Adventurers and answered in a low and unhappy voice.

Krusty was also keeping his voice down, with the hall filled with the noise of the music and chatter, there was no need to worry their conversation would be overheard.

People might be able to tell they were talking from the movements of their lips, but they would definitely judge it as a friendly interaction judging from their expressions and situation.

Raynesia understood that to the maids who were deprived of romantic topics, their conversation must have been interpreted as whispers of lovers, she had already heard about such rumors.

"… This is so infuriating."

"What is it?"

The most infuriating thing was Krusty's attitude of not denying these rumors. His denial might get rejected, but his cool attitude frustrated her to no end, she could not stand how Krusty was taking all this in stride.

"Nothing."

"You seems to be in a bad mood."

'It is your fault I am saying this and showing this attitude. ' Raynesia said in her heart. But she was speechless the next moment when he said: "Anyway, it is indeed my fault."

(Really, he answers the words in my mind! And he doesn't sound sorry at all!)

Raynesia sighed when she thought of the future.

Her grandfather adopted a very calm demeanor regarding this incidence. The treaty between the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' and the Round Table Council was signed on equal terms.

When East Yamato was facing the crisis of being razed by the goblins, Raynesia approached the Adventurers for aid as an individual, the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' held the utmost respect and gratitude for them, but they didn't owe any favors to the Adventurers.

Grandfather made this very clear to Raynesia.

(Simply put, I have to repay my debts to the Adventurers by myself…)

The ceremony and festival treated the Adventurers as the guests of honor, but the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' would not share the expenses of this war, which made Raynesia pale when she heard about this.

When Raynesia made the speech in Akiba, she was hoping for everyone to volunteer and help. She expected the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' to provide some sort of sponsorship or gift of thanks, but they were actually not doing anything for the Adventurers who got hurt in the expedition.

As Raynesia thought of these troubling things, she continued to dance gracefully thanks to her years of training.

One step right, another two steps right.

Quarter turn, left step, raise her hands and gently touch Krusty's fingers.

The steady flow of the flute, the bittersweet sound of the violin, Krusty and Raynesia danced in the mesmerizing melody that threatened to melt you away.

"Are you so unwilling?"

"It's not like that…"

The plan to appease the crowd was to send Raynesia out as an ambassador. In the culture of the nobles, noble women were symbols, they might be granted political positions for their beauty, with no expectation of them having any administrative talents.

According to her grandfather, 'Raynesia crossed this protective net on her own initiative', so there was no need to worry about this. Raynesia would be the ambassador for the embassy in Akiba, she would need to live her life traveling between the embassy and Castle Cinderella.

'… Since this is your debt, you need to repay the Adventurers by staying there according to proper etiquette correct?'

Her grandfather Duke Sergead said sternly, although his eyes were laughing. This was a rare expression, so this must be the best arrangement he could do for Raynesia.

Raynesia got even more depressed when she thought about this.

"3 meals provided with an afternoon nap included."

"Ah?"

"3 meals provided with an afternoon nap included."

Krusty said with an unpleasant and resigned voice.

"You are going to be the ambassador in Akiba correct? Akiba will be more developed in the future, the nobles will want to have an office or place for negotiations, so I understand why they want to set up a place in Akiba, the effect should be good… But Adventurers like us are not really interested in the daily life of the aristocrats, the number of tea parties or banquets will be very few. Since the princess is coming to such a city, I feel that you should enjoy the shut-in life of 3 meals provided with an afternoon nap included."

Krusty's sudden hint filled Raynesia's chest with hope.

Could this be the situation she longed for?

Leaving her parents' side meant not being under their supervision, this might be her chance to fulfill her dreams of Operation 'Living 3 days Lazily Without Showering'.

"I think 3 days should be an acceptable range."

Krusty's words that seemed to have read her mind made Raynesia blush. This despicable monster was so hard to deal with, she furiously tightened both hands, but it only felt like the weight of a bird to Krusty.

For the uninformed audience, this scene was the decorated young knight leading a beautiful princess in a dance, their tender whispers and words of love made the sorrowful princess blush.

But the rumors might not match the reality, and even if the rumors were true, correlation did not imply causation, so only the subjects themselves knew the details.

"I can finally return to my dissolute life, don't you agree Krusty-sama?"

"That might be hard to say, the princess seems to have the tendency to self-destruct."

The two of them squabbled as they continued to dance, they were like rivals but also accomplices, moving to the music that celebrated the coming peace.

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