Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 5: Chapter 4: Confusion

Part 1

The entire floor was jam-packed right from the start.

There were teams of Adventurers representing their guilds, girls shopping for the lowest prices, traders queuing to buy the works of renowned artisans, and noblemen merchants dressed in their splendor.

Although the crowd had been expected, few guilds had foreseen that it would be such a grand spectacle.

The scene was chaotic, with various stalls busy touting customers.

This large hall was the venue for the clothing expo.

Since the wares here were limited to "clothing", not all the production guilds had set up booths here. It was a matter of course that the three big production guilds, who had at least 500 members each, had various departments that catered to different industries and needs. However, the small or medium-sized guilds would usually choose to specialize in a specific type of product.

For instance, Amenona was a weapons production guild that was known to all of Akiba's insiders. It specialized in the production of Japanese swords. All of its members were high-level Blacksmiths. Their dedication, which stemmed from their near-freakish obsession with quality, allowed them to rediscover the techniques for manual forging in this post-Catastrophe world. Such a guild would obviously not have

Tailors, and would naturally not partake in the exhibition held within this building.

However, the entire Libra Festival was a big opportunity for all sorts of guilds and artisans.

This floor was a market which specialized in clothing and was indoors at the request of the female Adventurers. However, a 'flea market' was also being held outside concurrently, centered along the main streets. The open-air stalls there were selling all sorts of different wares.

The clothing market was held in the building's interior, but the market outside sold weapons, armor, and even jewelry. To be honest, the heart of the festival was obviously the 'flea market' being held outside; however, the clothing expo also received a significant amount of attention as well.

The clothing market's main event was the 'fashion show'. Basically, it was an event featuring the clothing various guilds had designed with as much attention to detail as their ingenuity. Models would wear these fashion items and parade on a runway. The models were Adventurers famous in Akiba for their popularity or appearance. With so many of them gathered and appearing in the show, it wouldn't be surprising if a good portion of the crowd were actually here as fans instead of shoppers.

The booths were split into two categories: large and small.

The large booths had more personnel and had a greater variety of wares on display. These were the booths of the large-size guilds. They were situated against walls, making the transportation of goods an easy task.

The area in the middle of the floor had been partitioned into semi-open spaces for the small booths. These were used by the small and medium-size guilds.

Crescent Moon Alliance's booth was not situated in a good location. It was rather far from the center of the floor, but it was not close to the walls either. With regards to the crowd's traffic, it was a rather unfavorable location, it was also far from the fashion show's runway. Hence, it was expected that their business would be a bitter struggle.

However, Crescent Moon Alliance was different from the pure production guilds. "Let's try anything as long as it interests us!" That was the sort of guild it was. In fact, its booth was only set up by the members who had expressed an interest in doing so. It was not a concerted effort by the entire guild.

Since the Crescent Moon Alliance was a friendly guild full of equally-friendly Adventurers, players, even council members, were willing to lend them a hand if they asked. However, when compared to pure production guilds, their experience in business was a little lacking. If, perchance, they got a good location, rumors of them abusing their position in the Round Table Council were bound to come up. In this sense, their location was very appropriate.

"Say, isn't this crowd a bit ridiculous?"

Henrietta grabbed hold of Maryele, who had lost her composure and was exclaiming "wuah~, wuah~".

She took this guild leader, who had such a voluptuous body that it incited hatred from others, dragged her back to the counter, and sat her down on a stool.

"Marie, you are a guild master, how can you lose your cool like that? Do me a favor and sit here quietly."

"You're right. It's just that, how do I put it in words, I haven't seen so many people in quite a while…"

Maryele felt restless inside and was unable to settle down.

What she had said was indeed true. In the original world, taking a crowded train was a common routine.

In the heart of Tokyo Prefecture, it was a common sight to see thousands of pedestrians going about their business in front of train stations or at crossroad junctions.

However, ever since they came to this world due to the Catastrophe, they never had the opportunity to see such scenes anymore. Despite the fact that Akiba's central plaza was filled with activity, it never felt crowded due to its spacious open area.

This place made people reminisce of the crowded conditions back in their original world. The crowd had rushed in immediately after the opening, gathering around the myriad booths to shop.

The fact that they could still afford to quarrel despite this ongoing commotion proved that Crescent Moon Alliance's booth was away from the main traffic of the crowd.

Like a waterfall splashing against the rocks below, the bulk of the crowd first swarmed the booths of the large-scale guilds situated next to the walls. Subsequently, smaller streams of people made their way towards the booths of the small and medium guilds which were located near the stage.

However, they were only able to afford the luxury of observing the crowd in such a detached manner for roughly half an hour.

After the large guilds had attracted long queues, a significant number of people started to think in the following manner: "Isn't it better if we looked at the smaller booths rather than line up now?"

Henrietta had initially planned to deploy Maryele (or rather her smile) on the frontline, with herself serving as the cashier and accountant. However, current circumstances made this increasingly difficult to do.

The number of People of the Land was greater than expected.

The members of Crescent Moon Alliance who were stationed at this stall were Maryele, Henrietta, and two Tailors. Apart from this booth and the fashion show, the Crescent Moon Alliance had also set up an al-fresco restaurant and a weapons shop at the flea market.

As Maryele was the guild master, it was expected of her to make an appearance at every one of their booths. Henrietta had decided that it would be best to keep Maryele here only until this afternoon after the fashion show. By doing so, only the two inexperienced guild members would be left to man the booth.

Henrietta snuck a look at the aforementioned two. They shook their heads in response.

The meaning behind it was clear. "No way, no way, we're not familiar with this!" The two of them were expressing this through their gazes.

Henrietta was negotiating business and sighing internally at the same time.

If the other party was an Adventurer who simply wanted to buy outdoor clothes for daily use, there would hardly be an issue. Since they were all from another world, they were all equally unfamiliar with conducting such business. Thus what they were doing could be better described as merely "playing business". But that was more than enough for Adventurers.

On the other hand, the People of the Land were mostly merchants and traders.

Furthermore, the purpose of their visit was not simply to pick out clothes that they liked. They were here to gather information, make new contacts, and, if possible, to negotiate the establishment of a supply line.

Hence, they would make inquiries about the price, the materials, and even in depth details such as how things were sewn.

(However, I have neither the experience nor the know-how for such a responsibility…)

With this thought in mind, Henrietta politely refused the inquiries of the middle-aged People of the Land merchants with a smile on her face.

(During the formation of the Round Table Council, having put one over the three big production guilds— could it be that I've developed a taste for this kind of situation?) Henrietta thought to herself.

Henrietta was currently in her 20s.

One could not regard her as experienced.

Although she was technically a 'professional', she knew a person in his or her 20s, like herself, was like a newly hatched chick with its eggshell still stuck to its head. But she also knew that in order to graduate from being a hatchling, one had to gain experience in the frontline. Henrietta understood this through personal experience.

(I can't just leave this to my juniors… I have to at least take care of the troublesome merchants before I try making sense of the situation.)

Her guild mates could probably sense Henrietta's concerns.

It might have been a result of their subconscious team spirit, but while Henrietta handled a People of the Land merchant, the remaining three Crescent Moon Alliance members arranged themselves into formation to handle an Adventurer.

The inexperienced pair packaged the wares while the smiling Maryele received the payment. The transaction was then completed after the three bowed in appreciation.

Henrietta observed this scene from the corner of her eye as she handled the inquiries of the People of the Land. Given the scale of the Crescent Moon Alliance, even an order of a 100 pieces a month was far too large for them to handle. If it needed to be refused, it needed to be refused— this was something that Henrietta had put her foot down on.

(If I agreed to such a contract, I have no idea what the consequences would be like. Since a man who has such a pitch-black nature like Shiroe-sama exists, I truly cannot afford to let my guard down… eh?)

Henrietta examined her surroundings.

She had just realized that Shiroe had disappeared.

She remembered throwing him the clothes that he was meant to wear, but now, that overbearing man was currently nowhere near the booth. There was no sign of a certain black-haired girl either.

"—Shiroe-sama?"

After checking that there were no troublesome customers coming or going, Henrietta straightened her back and scanned the area. While Henrietta was taller than Maryele by a bit, the endless traffic in front of the stall obscured her vision.

"Where is—"

"Yes, the items this time are experimental. Therefore, for the sake of getting as much feedback from as many people as possible, every customer is restricted to two items."

"I've already made it clear that I'm willing to pay!"

"That's not the problem."

Henrietta, who had craned her neck to search, heard Shiroe's bland voice.

It sounded like he was dealing with somebody's complaint. Henrietta examined the endless streams of people and finally spotted Shiroe's figure at a booth located opposite the passageway.

Shiroe was wearing a long sleeveless hooded vest. This, coupled together with a thin long-sleeved Tshirt worn on the inside, made him look "presentable". He was holding his ground, with a steady expression, in front of a merchant who looked impatient to the point of releasing steam from his head.

Wearing Crescent Moon's apparel, Shiroe looked more like a normal Japanese youth than a character from medieval times. That appearance gave Henrietta a nagging feeling that she was getting a sneak peek into Shiroe's private life back in the original world.

"Sorry, please let me through!"

Henrietta only managed to get a glimpse of him before losing him in the crowd again. She cut through the mass of customers enjoying the expo and rushed towards the opposite booth.

That was the guild Cocoa Brown's booth.

Shiroe stood among the staff, facing a merchant who was shaking in frustration. Akatsuki was next to him, but it seemed as though Shiroe was stopping her rather than protecting her.

Cocoa Brown's clothing stall seemed to specialize in small accessories, selling beautiful precious stones of various colors as well as delicately-crafted necklaces and earrings.

Henrietta felt that the items on display were very classy. She had already seen them earlier, before the expo's opening, when she was greeting the booths around theirs. Furthermore, the items were priced shockingly low, to which the Cocoa Brown staff explained that 'This is in gratitude to the battle guilds that have been taking care of small guilds like ourselves.'

"It's like I've been saying, right? If you sell them to me, your crafters will be known among the People of the Land—"

"I'm sorry, please leave."

Shiroe continued to reject the merchant's offer.

By this point, the crowd nearby had noticed the commotion and naturally formed a semicircle around Cocoa Brown.

This ill-mannered merchant was trying to buy Cocoa Brown's goods in bulk. It was okay to buy just one or two items, but a bulk purchase would make the stall unable to continue its operation for the remainder of the expo.

If their aim had been profit or to sellout, then Cocoa Brown would have sold everything by then. But that was not the case. It was their heartfelt wish that their products would prove useful to Akiba's local Adventurers. Thus, their policy of limiting the items sold per customer didn't sit well with businessmen.

Adventurers had superior physical and magical capabilities in comparison to the People of the Land.

Their subclass level could allow them to achieve crafting capabilities comparable to a master artisan's skill.

However, haggling and negotiations did not depend on physical abilities. After all, the proficiency of some skills depended entirely on one's personality and traits. Furthermore, the issue at hand had nothing to do with physical capabilities and instead was about interpersonal skills.

This was why Shiroe had intervened.

He decided to lend a helping hand.

(This line of reasoning shouldn't be too far from the truth— ahhh, this Person of the Land-san is quite unlucky.)

"Don't get so cocky, kid!"

Just as Henrietta managed to squeeze her way through the crowd to reach the area in front of Cocoa Brown, the Person of the Land finally snapped and tried to punch Shiroe.

The onlookers that gasped were mainly People of the Land.

Some of them even averted their eyes.

However, the result was as Henrietta had expected.

Shiroe stopped the punch with his fingers.

Shiroe was an enchanter. Like the other magic classes, an enchanter's stamina and strength were lower than the other classes— however, that only applied when compared to an Adventurer of a different class and of similar level.

With a level difference of over 50, and up against a People of the Land no less, even as a magician, the difference in agility and strength was overwhelming. In Shiroe's eyes, the haughty merchant's fist was nothing more than a balloon.

Because Shiroe caught the People of the Land's punch, it was not judged as an "attack" and there was no sign of the city guards appearing.

As he caught the punch from the middle-aged merchant with his left hand, Shiroe stopped Akatsuki with his right, probably to keep her from drawing her dagger. Akatsuki gave Shiroe a displeased look.

"Have you had enough?"

Shiroe asked with a smile.

In spite of his smile, the bard Henrietta could clearly sense a formless energy being focused in Shiroe.

Shiroe was gathering the mana in the air. Because both bards and enchanters were similar in that they could provide mana to their party, Henrietta was keenly aware of what was happening.

The expressions on the faces of other Adventurers also changed as they became aware of Shiroe's actions.

Brandishing a friendly smile on his face, Shiroe gradually amplified the oppressing atmosphere. All around them, a look of horror could be seen.

Shiroe was not casting any spell.

He was merely accumulating mana without casting one.

Therefore, it was not an act of combat and the city guards would not appear. Moreover, his expression was kind and did not contain even a hint of aggression.

And even though the People of the Land weren't as sensitive to magic as Adventurers, at that point, they too should have felt the enormous amount of mana emanating from Shiroe.

The middle-aged merchant's face rapidly grew white and withdrew his fist from Shiroe's hand.

"This is unpleasant, I'm leaving!"

He hastily muttered these words and fled the scene.

"There are a lot of hot-blooded people."

"My lord, didn't you also force him into a corner?"

"If you had dealt with him, wouldn't he have lost his head?"

"After breaking all of his limbs."

Shiroe appeased Akatsuki as she tilted her face up.

Shiroe shrugged helplessly as members of Cocoa Brown thanked him. The cute and round face of the dwarf girl had tears of gratitude in them as she held his hands tightly.

"Shiroe-sama."

Henrietta was startled when she heard her own voice.

That was because it contained a somewhat displeased tone.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just that…"

"My lord, it must be time for us to go back to work."

"That's right."

Upon hearing Akatsuki's reply, Shiroe scratched his head, his previous aura having totally disappeared.

The crowd nearby had also begun dissipating as though satisfied with the ending.

"Henrietta-san?"

"Yes, Shiroe-sama?"

"— This expo is so chaotic."

Henrietta instantly set aside her musings on "Why am I feeling unhappy?" and considered the meaning behind Shiroe's statement.

A chaotic expo.

The disturbance in this incidence should be referring to the People of the Land incident just now. Thinking back, she had also just handled a business transaction that nearly turned into a fight. It was because on one side, there was a People of the Land, while on the other, it was an Adventurer that was lacking in experience… that was what Henrietta suspected. Did Shiroe think differently?

(Shiroe-sama saw something? If that's the case…)

Henrietta was in doubt. She couldn't decide whether or not to inform him of her bad premonition from earlier.

"Erm, Shiroe-sama…"

"Indeed, the actions of the People of the Land are suspicious, but given that we don't know enough, we simply cannot make anything out of this situation."

She understood the things which Shiroe had just whispered. In other words, he too had felt some sort of unknown machination.

Akatsuki looked at him worriedly.

Henrietta wanted to talk to him so that perhaps, with his insight, he could shed new light on her doubts.

However, Shiroe had already begun to act. Speaking softly, he definitely was not talking to himself, but was contacting others through telepathy.

He focused on his secret conversation.

Finally, he nodded and turned towards Henrietta and stated his deduction clearly.

"It seems as though someone is attacking Akiba."

Part 2

Today, Raynesia had been in a rush since the break of dawn.

Of course, this was not of her own volition.

She had believed that she could let her hair down while the festival's preparations were taking place— at least eventually.

She had planned to become "plant-like", to be a lazy-bum, to act like a "spoiled child" to her heart's content.

However, dealing with a near constant stream of invitations and guests made her unable to make time for an afternoon nap. Elissa was bustling around the room like a bee, taking out dresses and accessories from everywhere and considering how to pair them with each other.

The reason why Elissa was behaving in this manner was not because she was one of those airheaded girls who enjoyed dressing up.

In the nobles' society, an event such as a dinner party or a formal meeting was an important gathering which was used as a show of prestige. A mere trinket could convey multiple meanings and messages to other parties according to its value, its color, and what gemstones it contained. This was how nobles socialized: with subtlety and allusion.

For instance, Raynesia was the second daughter of a duke. However, because the eldest daughter had already married out of the family, she was considered the oldest daughter in the family line. Also, while the reason for her deployment to the city was publicly announced as "a sincere and personal apology to the Adventurers", in reality, she was there as the representative of both the members of the League of

Freedom Towns Eastal and the Corwen clan. This was a rather evident fact.

Therefore, in situations like a formal reception, she had to make absolutely certain that Eastal's most prestigious noble family— Clan Corwen— would not be shamed. On the other hand, using her status as a representative as a shield, she could then leave subtle hints under the table. When meeting with merchants, she had to don jewelry of the appropriate value so as not to be despised, and when she was meeting with nobility, accessories that stressed her family's lineage and status were in order. If both parties knew each others' family situations, one could choose to avoid a fashion faux pas by wearing something that clashed with the other party's, or one could even intentionally dress to compliment their attire. In the end, it was a game of complex psychological warfare.

Given that such a task needed a meticulous eye for detail and it could not be performed by the inexperienced maids who served as her helpers, the choice was left to Elissa to handle. It had to be executed by someone who was familiar with the mannerisms of nobles, as well as the customs of the clan.

Such was Elissa.

It was obvious that she could not wear the same attire the entire day.

She had to change her clothes and accessories for each new guest, making her very busy.

Nobles were very particular about keeping appearances. For instance, among the nobility, it was considered bad form to refuse the request of another party right on the spot. This was true even for cases like a minor noble making a request to a higher-classed noble. Even if it were just for show, she had to follow such customs to satisfy the demands of high society.

Thus when making requests, a lower noble would have to be more careful 'not make a request the other party cannot agree to', and if you were the higher-classed noble to whom the request was made to, one had to show subtle 'hints reminding the other party to know their place'. In this political dance, clothes, gossip and gifts were the tools of the trade.

"Ah, really… What am I to do about the dinner party? I really have no idea what these Adventurers find tasteful."

"Can't we just go with the usual?"

"And what is this 'usual' you speak of?"

"Um… light and airy?"

"Princess Raynesia, really?"

Even Elissa, it seemed, had not fully grasped the social etiquette Adventurers' adhered to.

In the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, how one could convey gratitude was common sense. But for the nobility, who would give thanks by giving awards or by asking someone to kneel down to be knighted, giving their thanks to Adventurers was a complete mystery. To know how to dress or how to act for people you did not know was utterly impossible.

Since this was so, the dinner party was modeled to resemble what was popular as closely as possible.

The food too was done in this fashion as apart from the food the palace chefs that came from Maihama made, half of the cuisine was from restaurants around Akiba. If such an event were held in Maihama palace, scandals like "they are making fools of their guests!" were bound to come up. Fortunately, it seemed that for Adventurers, such an event was alright.

Since the general direction of the party was plain to see, Raynesia saw no need to worry about anything whatsoever. To her, it served no purpose to get frazzled over things that hadn't even started yet, so she decided to laze about to pass the time. But it was an undeniable fact that Raynesia had such a disposition because she lived a life of indolence while avoiding people as much as possible.

However, the situation changed.

"This should be on the list— next, coupled with a jade necklace, please wait. Remember last year, you received a birthday gift in…"

Elissa's voice contained a hint of nervousness.

"You're right, I have to pay attention to status… right?"

It was all too sudden.

Raynesia received notice that the western merchant Lord Marvis was about to visit.

Lord Marvis was a merchant by trade, but was also an important member of Holy Empire Westelande's nobility. Although her family's standing was not inferior to his, she still could not afford to be careless.

And judging from the timing of his visit, he was most definitely sent here by order of the palace.

(The rumors that the west had changed were certainly true.)

Raynesia bit her lip.

Of course, there was a good reason for her stress.

About 280 years ago, the Yamato archipelago was a single, unified country. Commonly called the ancient dynasty, the Westelande Imperial Dynasty was ruled by a royal family which dominated the whole archipelago by use of force.

But during the chaos incited by the Six Scrapped Princesses, the royal family came to ruin. Following its annihilation, the unified Yamato split apart after the power that was keeping it together was lost.

However, Yamato's current nobility continued the system of 'dynastic succession' used in the ancient dynasty. After the death of the royal family, being the core of the former social strata, Yamato's people were then ruled by the feudal lords that served the former Westelande Imperial Dynasty.

To the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, this fact was also very significant.

The title 'Duke' of the Corwens, Raynesia's family and one of only two dukedoms found in Yamato, was originally bestowed during the Westelande Imperial Dynasty. Likewise, the lords of the League of

Freedom Towns Eastal inherited their 'right to rule' the People of the Land from their ancestors.

Of the areas of Yamato that were once under the Westelande Imperial Dynasty, the two most influenced, Holy Empire Westelande and the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, practically split the archipelago in two.

The Holy Empire Westelande had recognized the Itsuki clan as the successors to the Westelande Imperial Dynasty.

Even though Raynesia was not too familiar with history, she did know that the Itsuki clan was a "branch family" of the ancient dynasty's royal family. The origins of the Itsuki clan came about from a political sacrifice. As their clan had moved to Ise, they survived the destruction of the Westelande Imperial Dynasty.

Naturally, the Itsuki clan was put forward to be leaders of the Holy Empire Westelande as their name alone held a strong appeal to rulership, being the "legitimate successors" of the Westelande Imperial Dynasty.

However, not all of Yamato's nobility recognized the Itsuki clan as royalty. In fact, both Akiba and the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, to which Raynesia belonged to, did not acknowledge the Itsuki clan as their rightful rulers.

In the end, the Itsuki clan was only a branch of the royal bloodline.

Once the clan split from the bloodline, its title could not be reinstated.

Besides, if it only were a question of having royal lineage, then even the Corwen clan had royal blood in their veins through a number of political marriages as described by the records kept by the aristocracy.

With the way things were, the Corwen clan did not recognize the Itsuki clan as the successors to the royal bloodline. Having said that, the fact that they were still a branch family of the royal bloodline could not be taken lightly.

Under the hierarchical system of the previous Westelande Imperial Dynasty, the Itsuki clan outclassed the Corwen clan. From this political standpoint, even though both the eastern League of Freedom Towns

Eastal and the western Holy Empire Westelande both branched out from the royal lineage, they always had a tense relationship.

This Lord Marvis person, the man that was sent here by the Holy Empire Westelande this time, was a highly ranked noble. Raynesia had once heard that he was the head of the merchant nobility and that he was in charge of maritime trade.

Although this dinner party was intended to improve relations with Adventurers, if this person wanted to drop by, they could not refuse him an invitation. He was not the the kind of man that could be refused with a "maybe later, when we've got time".

Raynesia shook her head to clear her dark thoughts.

After all, both Lord Marvis and Raynesia were People of the Land, and by the culture left behind by the royal family in Yamato, they were both nobles.

Because of this, it could be said that they were of equal footing— meaning both needed to adhere to the norms of etiquette and culture high society demanded.

(At least…)

What she could do right now was do her duty, that was what Raynesia was thinking.

As a daughter of the Corwen clan in Akiba— called "Princess Raynesia". She felt that doing her best here was a way to repay Akiba for saving her home.

Raynesia stood up, with her snowy-white dress flowing with her.

Although she did not know the intentions of this noble from the west, she had decided to be the vanguard in this battle.

Part 3

"Hmm…"

"This is an attack. As they are using propaganda or psychological warfare, this is really leaving a bad taste in my mouth."

Shiroe sighed softly.

Aside from the taste, it was also incredibly bad mannered.

The intent of such actions was obvious.

This attack on Akiba by an unknown entity seemed to be an attempt to discredit the Round Table Council and to weaken the unity of the city. However, this approach was too crude.

Was it because of the "enemy's" incompetence? Or…

"… Or arrogance?"

Akatsuki turned her head upon hearing Shiroe muttering to himself.

He waved his hands hastily upon seeing the situation.

"It's nothing, put away your dagger."

"But, my lord…"

"You will have no opportunity to use that this time."

Akatsuki unwillingly hid the ice-cold weapon under her skirt. Shiroe averted his eyes from her thighs and looked at Henrietta.

"Akiba is under attack."

"Yes."

Henrietta gave a stiff, curt nod.

Seeing that Henrietta had already noticed, Shiroe decided it was best if he shared some information.

"Our enemies should be making use of the ruckus to spread rumors. They aim to undermine the authority of the Round Table Council."

"… We have to counter this quickly, maybe even stop the festival if necessary."

"That might not be the best strategy."

Shiroe calmly replied to Henrietta, who was hastily trying to find a solution.

"If we halt the festival, the public will doubt the Round Table Council's ability to handle emergencies, resulting in our loss of authority, and our enemies will have achieved their goal. Thus, the best thing we can do at this time is to reduce the number of disruptions to a minimum and to resolve them as well. The festival must continue."

"True… that makes sense."

Henrietta looked pale.

Being under the indirect attack of mysterious assailants had produced quite a bit of stress. And it was not as if Shiroe wasn't under the same amount of stress, but rather as Shiroe had a better grasp of the situation, he appeared calmer.

Shiroe's instincts told him that the People of the Land were behind this attack. There were numerous reasons for such an assumption, but his primary basis was the "intent to weaken the authority of the ruling organization".

Including Shiroe, Yamato's Adventurers were Japanese from the real world.

Not to sound boastful, but the Japanese saw no value in undermining the authority of its governing body. In fact, they viewed those in politics or in the police force as people who provided world-class service. If such organizations failed, it would only inconvenience them. So for most Japanese, they would rather leave these organizations to their own devices. So such notions as 'the Japanese government being incompetent is only natural' did not originate from the Japanese people themselves. In other words, Akiba's Adventurers, who were also Japanese, would not think of 'undermining the authority of the ruling organization'.

Furthermore, the unrefined manner of this attack provided another clue.

The People of the Land behind this would not expect this attack to physically harm Akiba's Adventurers.

That was to be expected, as it would at most cause the failure of the festival and worsen the security of the city. It could only result in the criticism of the Round Table Council, but would not weaken the Adventurers themselves.

This level of attack wouldn't achieve their goal, even if that were to 'undermine the authority of the Round Table Council'. It should be viewed as merely a phase in their plan.

In that case, what was their real objective? And how would they benefit from it?

They probably wanted to use this chaos to get an advantage during negotiations with Akiba.

This should be the aim of the 'merchants from the west', as mentioned when Minori reported in via telepathy. Since the Round Table Council and the League of Freedom Towns Eastal signed an agreement, naturally the People of the Land from the west also wanted the same to prevent the benefits from being monopolized. In order to achieve better terms and conditions, they conducted a preemptive strike.

If the mastermind were able to mobilize such a large number of merchants, then this person should be a merchant or noble who possessed quite a bit of wealth.

The only person who could fit this criteria had already entered the city beforehand, a conclusion Shiroe drew after confirming it with Isaac.

Shiroe could understand this.

According to the current situation, this attack was certainly effective.

However, Shiroe felt that if that were all there was, then it was too crude and inelegant.

They only gained a slight advantage in price negotiation through intimidation and gossiping after mobilizing so many people. That was the extent of their capability.

"So it's the west, huh…"

"Please keep it a secret for the moment."

Shiroe requested this of Henrietta after explaining it to her back at Crescent Moon Alliance's booth.

"I don't mind, Shiroe-sama, but what should we do next?"

"Hmm…"

Shiroe paused again.

Shiroe was one of the eleven founding members of the Round Table Council. However, it was mostly an autonomous organization that was trusted by Akiba's residents. If he acted alone, based on his own judgement… Shiroe broke his own train of thought.

He was dead-set that "there would be no easy solution."

(Seems like there is no need for bloodshed this time… since the foe is causing trouble with such arbitrary means, they should be prepared for our retaliation too.)

He also had this slightly reckless idea.

We might fight when beaten back, this was only right and proper. In this place, the cause and effect would be more severe than back home. No, he had to take the defensive; defending oneself was a right that needed no explanation.

"Of course we're going to fight back."

The out-of-place feeling Shiroe felt since yesterday's "chaos" cleared up after asking the Production Guild Liaison Committee. The number of cases they needed to handle had increased.

The disputes in the city and the minor incidents that escalated to quarrels were merely the tip of the iceberg. For example, they would split a request that normally took only one form into two, take up the staff's time by making them go through unnecessary paperwork, not pay the exact amount in taxes, and attempt to bribe the officials. When you looked at them separately, they were all trivial issues. But there was someone pushing these minor issues to their limits as a means to attack Akiba.

It was difficult for Adventurers to determine if such actions were malicious. But these silly contacts continued to accumulate, trying to bind the Production Guild Liaison Committee— and even the Round Table Council.

The enemy would mercilessly exploit this vulnerability.

Where were the "enemies" focusing their attack?

At this stage, they should be targeting the Production Guild Liaison Committee's administrative operations-related parts. City entrance, warehouse facilities, flea market inspections. Filing false or repeated reports focused on these businesses would overwhelm the administrative powers of the liaison committee.

The places where Adventurers or People of the Land were interacting were also targets. The enemy was attempting to spoil the festive mood by disrupting these venues.

To resolve these situations, they would have to "increase the number of staff". The focus was to establish an efficient and flexible organization.

The governing bodies headed by the Round Table Council were all formed by volunteers. Volunteers displayed problem-solving abilities above their usual level when their number and morale were high. But insufficient numbers would lead to fatigue, which in turn would deplete their morale. Without adequate coordination and direction, they would lose their way.

— We must reorganize the command system and deploy more manpower.

In addition, that alone would not be enough to stop any "follow up" attacks. If Shiroe was in their shoes, he would be ready to play his next card in hand to press the attack. Such a scheme would seriously undermine the administrative ability of the Round Table Council.

Shiroe calmly examined the situation.

(The battlefield is vast. Each individual attack is but a prick, barely worth mentioning… but the field of attack encompasses the entirety of Akiba. The sheer scope of things makes it impossible for me alone to handle. Even the help of Log Horizon would be insufficient. However, if I were to mobilize the Round Table Council, there are certain disadvantageous aspects. In fact, the enemy is probably waiting for this very move, so they can take advantage of the various vendor disputes and disrupt our position.)

The priority at the moment was to contact the appropriate people for assistance, but this had to be kept within the upper management of the Round Table Council. This prevented panicking the public, which would then take more manpower to handle. The attack was directed towards the Round Table Council by overwhelming the Production Guild Liaison Committee with saturation attacks; hastily raising the alert level would make them fall into the enemy's trap.

(The best way, really, is to let this incident resolve itself…)

Shiroe started thinking of the possible outcomes.

He mentally created simulations of the deployment of combat power at hand. If one idea failed, he would change the conditions of the simulation. Shiroe stopped breathing, moving away from the murmur surrounding him, and the silence of the world enveloped him. He accelerated the simulation, trying to find the balance that had to exist somewhere.

Even the worried Akatsuki watching Shiroe had disappeared from his eyes.

Shiroe was so immersed in his thoughts that light and sounded faded away from his senses.

However, there was nothing.

Shiroe was not good at dealing with an "enemy" that used such attacks.

The "enemy" seemed to lack a master strategy. The commander's purpose should be broadly understood as a whole, but each attack was almost always a type of "live" action. The assault was not based around a single point of careful strategy, but was rather about finding opportunities to make random attacks.

They could only know about the attack after the enemy had already finished preparations and initiated the offensive. Shiroe, who used preparation as a weapon, was bad at countering such tactics.

(Well wow, I hate this kind of opponent.)

Even though Shiroe had requested Akatuski and the others to engage the enemy, the situation was in fact much more complicated and frustrating than he had imagined. It was impossible to predict an enemy that would randomly regroup and attack targets of opportunity. If the enemy had instead chosen to focus their energy on a single point, their location could have been calculated, and defenders could gather to fortify the position. It would have been possible for a small group of defenders to repel a much larger army. This time, however, the enemy had chosen to simultaneously attack everywhere at once. Moreover, the enemy "agents" didn't necessarily bear any malicious intent, and were merely pawns being utilized by the enemy.

Shiroe was thus unable to properly interpret and anticipate the various movements of the enemy groups.

(This time, there is no other way but to give up.)

Shiroe switched to another point of view.

He gave up on dealing with all the conditions.

(Some things simply cannot be done. With this in mind, we should focus instead on what we can do.)

It was now past noon, so there was not enough time to remedy the situation. If no countermeasures were deployed within the next hour, the situation would deteriorate so much that it would become obvious to the citizens.

In this situation, you had to find out what you could do to fight the "enemy"…

"Huh, isn't it Shiro-senpai? So you were at Crescent Moon's booth, that makes sense."

Shiroe turned to look and spotted his friend, West Wind Brigade's Soujirou, at the back of the crowd.

Today, Soujirou was wearing a deep blue floral hakama, with his hair tied into a short ponytail and carrying two swords around his waist.

"It's been a while." "Afternoon!" "Greetings, this is the first time we've met." "Who's this?" "It's Log Horizon's…" "Yaaay!"

A chorus of greetings, bright and melodious, rang forth from the girls accompanying Soujirou.

"I went to the cake store Senpai recommended. Their service was amazing! They brought out sixteen full cakes for me. I couldn't quite finish, so I found a couple guild mates to assist me. As more of us arrived, they kept bringing us more and more cakes! Such warmth and kindness… Ah, eh?"

Shiroe felt his legs go weak, almost causing him to collapse on the spot.

That wasn't service, that's just increasing the cake count to match the number of people per the competition rules!

The retort almost made its way out of Shiroe's mouth, but was restrained at the last moment. Soujirou remained completely oblivious.

"They ran out of stock after bringing out 30 cakes, 30 cakes, but everyone enjoyed them. Oh, I like the orange mousse cake, it has a great taste, tastes like summer on the finish."

(Ah ah, really, Soujirou, this guy…)

Even though Shiroe felt weak, Soujirou had "avenged" his humiliation, and he put a hand on Soujirou's shoulder.

"Shiro-sempai? What's the matter?"

"I'm fine, Soujirou, come, there's something suitable for you to handle."

The enemy was fighting a secret war with saturation attacks, but was not following the usual rules and regulations of saturation combat.

In this case, "unintentional", which was better than "lawless", would be the most suitable line of defense.

The best candidate to fight was right in front of Shiroe.

Part 4

Minori clenched her fist after ending her telepathy call.

Her fears had come true.

Akiba—Minori and her friends were under attack.

"You're certain of this?"

Minori nodded in response to Charasin, who was taken aback.

"Shiroe-san also shares this view."

Charasin bit his nails with a serious expression on his face while reviewing the document, and then started thinking about it once again.

Minori had been in this office for nearly eight hours, almost never taking a break since morning from the continuous process. Most of the mountain of documents had disappeared, now compressed into wooden file boxes in the corner of the room.

They had started to get a hold of the situation.

The reports were dispersed to avoid detection, but the number of Western merchants exceeded 15% of the total number of participants.

The quantity was not the issue. The problem was, that 15% was causing more than 60% of the storm.

This room served as the command center for the Libra Festival.

Gathered here were prior and subsequent intelligence reports.

Using "reports" was a mistake from the start. The multitude of different "reports" was overwhelming the administrative process.

Of course, documents were very important.

Keeping records was the iron rule in administrative work, and in this world, it could only be done on paper.

The Production Guild Liaison Committee, though, had an overwhelmingly inadequate processing power.

If they stuck to the level of detail they had originally planned, they would ultimately fail in consolidating the reports. While they also lacked experience in doing this, the main culprit was the lack of manpower.

This became a window the other side could exploit.

Some examples included the simple survey of goods that were brought in, the permit to sell at the flea market, the paperwork authorizing the sale of merchandise, the documents for renting the common warehouse of the Round Table Council, the permit to withdraw goods on site. There was a shortage of on-site staff everywhere.

Delays caused by pressure, the pressure caused a storm.

This jumble, caused by People of the Land, was much more than expected, leading to the inevitable— that was the unintended result. In other words, they did not expect this clutter, which was also the responsibility of the liaison committee. Charasin was reflecting on this.

But after organizing the reports, the actual situation was clear. Western merchants were deliberately complicating the administrative procedure with repeated applications.

A person or a group was trying to increase the burden on the system.

Charasin confirmed that the guilds responsible for patrolling the city, D. D. D and the Black Sword Knights, were at their limit dealing with the rapid increase of quarrels and disputes, while voices criticizing the Round Table Council of incompetence began to rise.

With things having escalated to such a degree, Charasin told Minori to contact Shiroe so that there would be no gaps in information, which would result in their disadvantage.

Minori's prediction was unfortunately supported by Shiroe's report.

"Minori-chan, will you go back to Shiroe-dono?"

She had expected Charasin to ask this question, and shook her head "no" as she planned.

"I am not going back to Shiroe-san."

"Ah?"

"I want to stay here."

Minori stressed this once again.

Charasin's look of dismay, too, was as expected.

When groups were under attack, they tended to gather at the leader's side. This was the defensive instinct of both humans and animals, and even guilds too.

In these kinds of situations, members would gather next to the guild master to wait for instructions, this was the general concept of coping. This was the rule of thumb for joining guilds. When being subjected unilaterally by an unidentified social aggression, like right now, most guild masters, like Charasin, had just issued instructions, and members had been summoned to the guild hall.

Moreover, since Minori was still young, Charasin believed that she should return to Shiroe's protective wings.

But instead, Minori decided to stay here.

Her document-organizing capabilities were on the level of an administrative officer's. Of course, the 8th District Shopping Center had several such members that worked in the background, but seeing how

Minori virtually "eradicated" the clutter in the office, he could not refuse her decision to stay.

Minori deliberately pretended not to see Charasin's worried look, and took a deep breath.

This here was her battleground.

From her perspective, these documents and this office seemed to be other things.

Information in her consciousness naturally switched to form a new image.

(In other words, use the same approach as before.)

The problem was "dealing with an insufficient processing capability".

It was the same idea as "having an insufficient healing capacity".

Minori could recollect the chilling, murderous, and suffocating tension. Slowly, she relaxed her clenched hands, her body resuming the blood circulation. That's right, she could imagine this as a raid battle.

Looking back, her throat became dry, her body cooling down.

Use the same approach as in Ragranda, Choushi, and Sand Leaf. Imitate what Shiroe did, follow in his footsteps.

"I'll stay here and deal with the warehouse work. Can all the warehouse documents be moved over here?"

"Huh? Ah, ah, oh, that is… if you're willing to help, I am of course very grateful."

Charasin gave instructions to the youth beside him, Taro.

This so-called warehouse was the Round Table Council's managed materials storage. Small-and mediumsized guilds could rent the warehouse space for a small fee. This was established during the Round Table Council's creation.

After the Catastrophe changed the world, material quality would affect the finished product's quality. So for producers, identifying which materials were good or bad to purchase became very important.

Before, if the item name was 'tomato', regardless of what 'tomato' was used, the quality of the finished dish was the same— but of course, it all just tasted like moist crackers. Now, if an inferior 'tomato' was used, a tomato salad would be of poor-quality, and it would just become disgusting food. It was therefore increasingly necessary to check the quality of items personally before a purchase.

This gave a need to improve the management system of large warehouses. Large guilds could use their personal large-scale warehouses, but small-and medium-sized guilds couldn't. In response to this, the Round Table Council set up several large warehouses and was responsible for their management.

During the Libra Festival, these warehouses were also open to the People of the Land.

For example, a People of the Land with over-laden carriages would need such services. Among their products, much of it wouldn't be able to be placed in the hotel's warehouse, or were bulky items. Some high-level items required special storage, like Tianjin Winter Clothes, which were made by elves and needed a refrigerated warehouse, or else it would be nearly impossible to maintain its freshness.

But by opening their use to the People of the Land, the process itself had become complicated, and this was a fact. All of the goods must be kept in a detailed list, or they could not be held responsible. In addition to the usage of the warehouse, they had originally speculated that a fixed amount would be taken out every morning, and in the evening the leftovers would be stored; they hadn't planned on letting businesses withdraw goods whenever they clinched a deal.

Frankly speaking, such a burden far exceeded the processing capacity of the operational window— which was how Akiba came under attack, the most illustrative example.

"Minori, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Ah, Tohya."

Tohya went into the office without a word, Minori nodded to acknowledge him.

Communication between these twins was unique. Because of their constant calls to reach each other, it could be made subconsciously to each other, and was more like true telepathy that communicated through thoughts alone.

"Charasin-san, I'm here to help, I'm her twin brother Tohya."

"Ah, ah, long time no see. Sorry to trouble you, thanks for helping."

"Got it. Then Minori, I'll be back."

After Tohya's simple greeting, he simply dropped the backpack and left the office. Minori didn't ask where he was going.

Various warehouse goods were definitely kept on this floor somewhere. As he said to Charasin, Tohya was going to get these custody orders.

The documents would soon be moved into the office at twice the speed. The flea market reports and custody orders would also be brought here.

After cleaning up the current space in this office, they would have to deal with the parallel processing of large amounts of documents.

This was the battlefield that Minori had chosen.

"Charasin-san, these are also for you."

As Minori was sorting the documents, the more important ones were passed to Charasin. Written in red on the top right-hand corner of the file was "urgent". He was somewhat puzzled, but nodded his head quickly after inspecting it.

Charasin himself was a guild master whose practical abilities were highly regarded by Shiroe. Even keeping track of supplies, such as potatoes being "taken out multiple times", which Minori could not handle, were easy for him by using short telepathy calls. This could calm the waters and compensate for damages.

Minori was convinced of this.

At this moment, rushing back to Shiroe was not a good approach.

When the battlefront was in danger of collapsing, the rear guard needed to support the front line defense.

The healers had the obligation to trust the vanguards.

(Although I'm not sure if I can be of any help…)

But at this moment, this office lacked manpower; the only people present were Charasin and two 8th District Shopping Center volunteers, plus Minori and Tohya.

—Even if it were the Libra Festival, the core staff only numbered at five people.

Shiroe had only instructed that she and Tohya "meet up".

Minori pondered over the hidden intentions behind these words.

Minori's initial feeling about Shiroe's message was that "Akiba is now faced with a situation that is not directly causing physical harm". If it progressed into a dangerous situation, and Shiroe should order to meet him against all odds, she would certainly go to him if necessary.

But after feeling at ease, she felt as though the message was giving her the permission to act freely.

It wasn't simply giving her permission to act freely. Akiba was being attacked. In effect, she was allowed freedom of movement, which she interpreted as Shiroe looking to her to take action.

He was giving her a small expectation from afar.

Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding, but it was enough to make Minori get fired up.

(However, if this really is the case… even if it's only for a little bit, if I can't meet Shiroe-sama's expectations, I…)

I would like to imitate Shiroe in this office.

Minori came to this decision.

Reproduce Shiroe's full battlefield control.

While having two Shiroes in the same place was meaningless, if there were no Shiroe here, then imitating him might be of relevance.

The People of the Land counter staff were the vanguard tanks. Charasin, who was solving the problem using the time they brought, was the healer in this case.

Prioritizing the issues at hand was of utmost importance, predicting how things will progress. Sorting the intelligence allows things to move smoothly, this was what Minori was "giving her all" to achieve.

(I cannot become the vanguard or the healer.)

Despite the lofty ideals, she had only organized the documents, copying the content to other paper collations. Minori herself felt a kind of fire burning inside her underlying the sense of helplessness and irritability, but she tried freezing such sentiments.

She was a middle school student, and incompetence was a matter of course.

In these cases, blaming oneself and self-abusive behavior was useless on the battlefield, which was Shiroe's teachings. Minori did not want to go contrary to Shiroe's expectations.

'—Don't read the flow, but rather, 'become' the flow.'

Minori recollected Shiroe's gentle, half-joking voice.

(Be the flow…)

For the current Minori, the so-called fighting with the flow of files one after another, that was moved in a series, as well as through a series of contact whispers waiting for instructions. She wanted to turn into something like this.

No worrying.

No thinking.

Turning herself 'into' the document itself, turning herself 'into' a solution.

Minori chased after the vague feeling of contact as she focused on the task at hand.

Part 5

The venue for the dinner party was shrouded by a luxurious atmosphere.

This was where Raynesia resided, on the entire first floor of the "Water Maple Consulate". The "Water Maple Consulate" was where Raynesia was posted when she came to Akiba, which was purchased by the

Cohen duke of Maihama and one of the many buildings that were redeveloped.

Originally, it was almost in ruins, with only the basic structure of the building remaining. Now, it had been converted into a People of the Land aristocratic style mansion.

This was a Consulate in outer appearance only, as it offered accommodations for visitors, and was also often used to conduct meetings or to examine local products and other practical work. So even though it was Raynesia's private residence in name, it was of considerable size. It had three large halls, a total of 80 rooms, and more than 30 regular staff.

The Consulate would be holding the grandest of the events—the dinner party. The number of staff increased, as the usual 30 people would bepeople would be unable to cope. More chefs from Maihama had arrived, there weren't enough bards or waiters, and there was urgent recruitment of kitchen staff from Akiba professionals; it was a large-scale mobilization of many people.

In fact, the staff was not limited to People of the Land.

Although there were few, some Adventurers joined to cook, serve food, entertain or work behind the scenes. Adventurers had high income levels; Raynesia was using the People of the Land as a benchmark for salary so she never thought Adventurer applicants would come, but this was Akiba, there were Adventurers that 'were interested' and a 'join in on the fun' mentality that applied.

Probably from a sense of obligation, these Adventurers were even busy working behind the scenes of this gorgeous banquet, working side-by-side with People of the Land of the opposite gender and got to know each other, establishing somewhat adorable relationships and having the opportunity to talk to each other.

"Thank you very much."

Raynesia gave a sweet smile to the nearest Adventurer that greeted her. The young Adventurer looked cold and indifferent while looking away, but still quietly replied, this was how it should be.

The boy participated in the Sand Leaf campaign, working in support and siege warfare. Raynesia could only be grateful, so she made this event, the dinner party that would be held today, in order to thank them.

"Thanks to everyone's support, Maihama and the League of Freedom Towns were saved, please accept my eternal gratitude."

Raynesia curtsied to show her appreciation.

The young man waved for her to stop, hurriedly telling her that "This isn't worth your thanks, we are Adventurers and something like that is our natural duty… it was a simple task."

The youth blushed, blurting out "Don't mind me, please don't!" as he left in a rush.

"I think all of them are very pure."

"Correct… that is so."

Raynesia replied to Elissa behind her.

Adventurers—especially the young ones, seemed to be mostly reserved people. Most Knights were also romantic, but they were inevitably too invested in 'Chivalry' and forced their own values upon others.

In this respect, the young Adventurers often fled in panic when Raynesia thanked them.

When Raynesia had first encountered this, she thought that she was hated or marginalized, but she now understood that it wasn't like that. While in the League of Freedom Towns Eastal, she was called the "sorrowful beautiful princess" and people treated her as decoration and enjoyed her beauty. In Akiba, it appeared to be similar; however, there was a different type of admiration.

Adventurers would get embarrassed.

Elissa would say with a smile, "Goodness, they're all shy like children," but Raynesia didn't think that was bad. Compared to awkward flattery, this type of attitude gave her a more favorable impression, making her smile.

The consulate had room for about 300 guests.

Two-thirds were Adventurers, the rest were People of the Land. The People of the Land included in this were a wide array of merchants and executives running the city bank. Also present for the celebrations were the heads of the Chambers of Commerce and Trade.

The lobby was filled with a very appetizing aroma.

The dinner party was intended to provide a venue for everyone to mingle and chat, but it was important for the dishes to be perfect; chefs from Maihama came to show their talents to Raynesia, making various luxury dishes, as if to show off to Akiba's Adventurers.

Among those dishes were fish soup and beef with raspberry sauce, examples of "redeveloped" dishes.

These were Sand Leaf's traditional dishes prior to the revolution, when goods were still produced through the synthesis menu.

Bland-tasting food was now but a hazy memory, the feeling of chewing on rubber dishes had left a gloomy impression, surprising since that sort of flavor could not truly be considered food.

But after the Revolution, there were many dishes that were no longer like this. The crafting menu showed the list of necessary items to make synthesis goods, and by extension the ingredients needed to make food; however, knowledge of the recipe was required in order to make the finished product have the same appearance as the synthesis menu dishes.

The Catastrophe exposed the People of the Land's ignorance. They knew how twisted the situation was, that synthetic menu items couldn't be crafted by hand. But brave chefs from Maihama tried to use the ingredients on the list and strived to turn the unknown cooking methods into actual local food.

Although it was hard to tell, today's guests seemed to be satisfied. Raynesia traveled throughout the venue, introducing People of the Land to Adventurers and Adventurers to People of the Land.

So far, the dinner party could be called a great success and everything looked great. As Raynesia's grandfather Duke Corwen said, Adventurers' bonds with the People of the Land would become the great treasure of Eastal.

Raynesia thought so as well.

But this was the value of the bonds they made, everyday to polish and refine the ability to welcome the result. Raynesia thought that their duty was to foster this budding relationship.

This should be the reason her grandfather posted her in Akiba.

But she just wanted to be a sloth and laze around all day.

"Princess…"

"What is it, Elissa?"

Behind Raynesia stood her maid, taking advantage of the brief gap between guest arrivals to grab Raynesia's attention. She looked unwell; she probably heard some bad news from the maid who whispered in Elissa's ears just now.

Fearing bad news, Raynesia mentally braced herself.

She was already prepared for this when she knew of Marvis' intention to visit.

Raynesia had not seen Marvis at the dinner party. She had yet to receive news of his arrival, which implied the bad news would be about him.

"There is bad news."

"… Although I dread it, please tell me."

"Lord Marvis will reach the lobby in about 10 minutes."

"I see."

That was as expected.

Even though this information didn't sit well with her, this was not to the extent of being bad news.

"Then…"

"What's wrong?"

Raynesia pretended to be calm and urged her to go on.

"The thing is, Lord Marvis came with a ship to Akiba port filled with a lot of goods that he would like to move into the warehouse, but…"

"What is the problem?"

"It was too sudden, coupled with the large amount of goods he is carrying—the rental warehouse is a service intended for the Adventurers' use."

Elissa responded in a troubled tone.

This was within her expectation. If any problems occurred, Raynesia was obligated to help Marvis. Her job was to serve as a bridge between the People of the Land and the Adventurers.

At this time, the noise in the venue picked up.

A large number of envoys had probably arrived, most likely Marvis', and it was too late for Raynesia to hear any reports.

Raynesia brought Elissa along, Adventurers standing on the side greeted her, and the orchestra was playing while she was walking across the hall. A middle-aged aristocrat walked through the door.

Raynesia had never met him before, but this man was definitely the Holy Empire Westelande aristocrat—

Marvis.

"We are honored by your presence."

Raynesia gently lifted her skirt, and gave a curtsy.

Raynesia held a unique position in the People of the Land's aristocratic society. She was the daughter of the greatest noble clan in the East. Her beauty earned her the name of 'Rose Princess' in the social world, and was truly the envy of all people.

Nevertheless, she was a woman. In aristocratic society, women could not engage in foreign affairs.

Raynesia was living in Akiba as a part of her duties, bridging the gap between the People of the Land and

Adventurers, providing all kinds of cooperation opportunities. But the official reason she was here was as a punishment for "Seeking help from Adventurers without the consent of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal."

She was the representative of the East for People of the Land, stationed in Akiba, but had no official position. She was merely 'the daughter of the Corwen clan who is grounded as punishment'. Hence, she had to show deep respect for the grand noble Marvis from the Holy Empire Westelande.

"Wow, really beautiful. If my memory is correct, you are the daughter of the Corwen clan, Princess Raynesia, right?"

"Yes, Marvis-sama. Thank you for visiting tonight, and for honoring us with your presence at this Autumn Celebration."

Raynesia hid her emotions perfectly, and elegantly bowed her head.

To tell the truth, she had a lousy impression of him.

It was downright terrible. Marvis looked like he was made of white clay. Raynesia had accompanied her grandfather several times visiting nobles of the Holy Empire Westelande, feeling repulsed by them every time. Marvis was no different.

Having an ancient aristocratic culture, the Holy Empire Westelande was more conservative than the East, even the men wore perfume and lipstick. Some were suitable for this, but from the League of Freedom Towns Eastal's point of view, it was an outdated custom.

Raynesia was not interested in finding faults with others' appearances, but with Marvis, the problem was not so much with his appearance, but with his personality.

"It appears to be exceptionally lively, really a wonderful event."

"Yes, this is thanks to the good fortune you brought."

However, being noble-born, Princess Raynesia had the accumulated experience of a thousand conversations with various officials and diplomats. Even if it were with someone she could not stand, she would still be able to effortlessly converse with them while wearing a faint smile on her lips. Such was the foremost skill required of any child born of nobility.

"However, how should I put this… I can't help but feel it is a bit too disorderly."

"What do you mean?"

Hearing the disdain in the noble's voice, Raynesia raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing… for nobles and peasants to attend the same banquet, this must be the guts of the East that inherited the blood of barbarians, hahaha… really, I already gave hints not to come near me, shoo shoo."

"I am very sorry, we of the East are not well-versed with such customs, that's why the dance party was held in this form. I do not know if it will fit your tastes, but would you be willing to taste this wine from the East?"

This kind of statement of contempt was not something you can get used to, nor was it easy to ignore. The League of Freedom Towns Eastal was comprised mostly of lands conquered by the Westelande Dynasty during its formation. The nobles of the Holy Empire Westelande from Nakasu had always viewed this place as a barbaric zone since the days of the Westelande Dynasty.

In comparison, Ezzo was seen as a barren and sparsely populated place, looked down on as uncivilized brutes. Ezzo called itself an empire after gaining independence, the hostility from the central countries also spanned from this.

Raynesia tilted her head slightly, pouring wine for the overdressed Mavis. Mavis looked dreamily at her, slit-eyed, and suddenly touched her silver hair.

A wave of anger flared up around her.

It came from the Adventurers closest to them. A young warrior in armor holding a glass of wine and a samurai with his blade sheathed at his waist glared with looks that could kill.

Their eyes conveyed the message: "Want us to slaughter this pig?" Their concern made Raynesia smile.

The Adventurers were free like the birds. Raynesia was really glad to understand how they felt.

But Raynesia declined their silent proposition with her eyes. Some proposals were too kind for her to accept graciously. It would be bad if the noble of the west got hurt, and Raynesia was expecting this level of harassment from people like him.

If Raynesia didn't handle this well, this noble would be kicked out at best, or slain on the spot at worst.

For both the east and the west, as well as the People of the Land and Adventurers, that would be an unfortunate outcome.

If he just wanted to mock her, she was ready to take it in stride.

Raynesia held this view.

It stemmed from her laziness. She was confident enough to ignore all the words she heard and kept herself on the verge of yawning. But she was also prepared for Elissa's lecture after all that.

"Eh, all right princess, please prepare the warehouse with haste. The goods I brought this time includes ingredients from the sea, it must be kept fresh."

"I understand. I will make the arrangements, please wait for it in the meantime."

Raynesia bowed her head and acknowledged his request.

But Mavis interrupted Raynesia with a disdainful expression.

"Ha! Princess, what are you saying? I have already sent in the documents beforehand. A copy has already been sent to Maihama's Duke Sergead, and I already received a reply."

"Eh?"

"You have already prepared for this, correct? We are bringing in top notch merchandise, fit for the Itsuki clan of the Holy Empire. It is not something you can leave lying around, understand?"

Name: Akatsuki

Age: 20

Weapon: Devotion

Specialty: Flying Knee (Kick)

Birthday: 7 July

Favorite Food: Dorayaki

Equipment

Light Purple Two-ft Long-Sleeved Kimono

A light purple, small long-sleeved kimono with the refreshing patterns of scattered

Chinese bellflowers. An original product of 〈Kimono Shop Komachi〉, a production guild based in Akiba. Kimono Shop Komachi is rare in the fact that it produces traditional

Japanese clothing such as kimonos and such in the world of Elder Tales.

Vermillion Lipstick A light red lipstick. Not in a "tube form", but in the traditional paint form applied (by spreading it on the lips) with the fingers.

Although there are brighter and more vivid shades, this is the limit of Akatsuki's tolerance.

Wind Chime of the Wind Dragon

A furniture-type item created by 〈Antique〉, a guild of artisans. The paper at the bottom that catches the wind is formed from the scales of a wind dragon. Akatsuki uses this wind chime as a doorbell.

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