Published at 25th of March 2019 11:06 pm

Volume 7: Chapter 5: Consideration of Friendship

1

The Abyss Shaft raid team used one week for preparation.

They reinforced their camp and made dozens of forceful reconnaissances. They wiped out all other enemies except the bosses. They did their best to replenish their perishables and headed towards the battlefield.

Federico felt his breathing become shallow and took a deep breath.

The scenery in front of him was no different from last week.

The imposing dark purple figure of '7th of the garden' Ruseato loomed in the center of the circular arena.

The arena where the battle last week was fought was shrouded in silence.

Federico kept his eyes on his party leader Shiroe and waited for the signal.

Federico felt this taciturn young man had changed over the past week.

He mingled more with the other party members after that defeat. Federico knew he was a good Enchanter, but he was even better now. Federico had gotten used to the new staff Shiroe drew out from his bag.

They could not afford to hold back anymore, they had to do whatever it took to increase their probability of success. Federico felt that Shiroe had responded well to their expectations.

The problem of food reserves was also resolved by Shiroe's group.

They provided ingredients from their bags without reservation, improving both the quantity and quality of their meals. The party's beginner Chef Vuorinen was grateful. Some members commented 'so you couldn't bear to part with your food before this?' but that opinion faded away in no time.

They were guests of Silver Sword after all, so they couldn't push the blame solely on Shiroe and his group.

Being wiped out was the turning point.

Although 'death' was scary and painful, it could bring people together sometimes. Friends from high school or college could get along quite well, but the bonds between members of raid groups were on another level. Sharing this painful experience together elevated their relationships from friends to a band of brothers.

(Although you can't be friends with people you despise…)

Federico thought as he bit his lips.

(But brothers in arms can't work together if they hate each other.)

That was the case for Shiroe. It was the same for Demiqas too.

Azalea closed his eyes in meditation and raised his right hand.

He cast the Summoner's spell Soul Possession. With it, the Summoner could possess a summoned familiar for reconnaissance. He dismissed the spell, shook his head a couple of times and made a curt report to William. "The standby mode position remains unchanged. No signs of other enemies."

The same result after a week of repeated scouting.

The raid bosses might have learned to cooperate, but they still had their own thoughts and preferences, they weren't perfect. Log Horizon's Shiroe mentioned this several times this past week. If you talked to him, you would find that he was a nice chap who thought far ahead. But according to the rumors from Akiba, Shiroe was a mastermind who could manipulate the minions of hell.

(I'm fine with him being either type.)

Federico thought.

Shiroe was an introvert. His shy expression felt like a brick wall. His explanations were hard to grasp and a bit long winded. But these were minor flaws. The members of Silver Sword couldn't really criticize others. They were just a bunch of recluses, every one of them had issues of their own. Shiroe might be a weird guy, but among Federico's friends, he belonged to the bunch with common sense.

Shiroe chanted a short spell and activated it. The Enchanter's Elixir spell increased the potency of recovery spells.

Vuorinen cast Heartbeat Healing, conjuring a bright green light that was injected into Federico's body. The recovery rate had definitely increased. Federico was grateful to Shiroe who continued to cast buffing magic on everyone.

Preparation time was over. It was time for Silver Sword to shine.

This was the continuation of that night when William bared his heart for all to see.

They counted down quietly. Naotsugu rushed out as it went down to zero. The Guardian in the 2nd party left the others far behind and charged '7th of the garden' Ruseato alone.

(Wait for it. Wait for it…)

William's left arm was stretched out horizontally as he surveyed the whole arena. Federico and the others were waiting eagerly. William stared at Naotsugu's back, waiting for the first attack.

"Castle of Stone!!"

Naotsugu roared as he lifted his shield. This was the special skill of Guardians that negated all damage. Using these 10 seconds of invincibility, Naotsugu took the first hit of the raid, the fierce attack Death Knell Moon.

"Now!"

William charged as he shouted.

Federico was right behind him.

Death Knell Moon and Kneeling Dark Silver Swing were the special attacks of Ruseato in black knight mode. Even the elite tank Dinkuron needed the support of defense buffs and health regeneration in order to endure these two attacks. Shiroe's comrade Naotsugu negated it with his Castle of Stone. From their previous battle, they had determined that Death Knell Moon had a cool down time of 90 seconds. This meant that Ruseato couldn't use Death Knell Moon for the next 87 seconds. Ruseato didn't have any other powerful wide area attacks.

Kneeling Dark Silver Swing was a powerful single target strike. During this time, Federico and the others could move to their assigned positions safely.

Although this was to be expected in raid battles, a Guardian from a small guild pulling it off so perfectly made Federico smile.

Even now, they were afraid of 'death'.

But their emotions were sky high.

The moment he charged forward with his comrades at his side, the instant they executed their difficult team battle, Federico's heart was like a toy plane flying in the wind. Others might think this was a dumb and naive emotion, but Federico borrowed the patented quote from his guild master, 'I don't give a sheet. '

Just like that night when William screamed and challenged the world, this was the path Federico chose.

Federico had died numerous times since he arrived in this world.

Time and again he rose back from the darkness. He was reminded of the regret and frustration over and over again.

But he had no memory of meeting his comrades in the darkness, and he found out it was the same for his comrades when they chatted. This made Federico glad. Some said this was only natural as they were just playing a game. But to him, Silver Sword was his home and he could call his guild mates brothers without hesitation. He felt that all this was proven.

… Friends.

It felt awkward to say this term.

At his age, it was troublesome to differentiate friends from acquaintances, and it was hard to classify people like this anyway. They might be close or distant to you, it didn't really matter. As a fresh graduate entering the workforce, this was how Federico felt.

But hearing the term friends from his high schooler guild master, his eyes felt warm. Federico felt complicated.

Maybe he would return to the original world one day.

The daily life alternating between his work place and residence. In reflection, having the resolve to die in a fight was really incredible.

It was not bad, but he would definitely refuse if he was asked to stop. This was a raid zone, and they were the raiders.

"Viper Strike Rush!"

Using the dark purple gauntlet as a springboard, Federico leaped into the air and attacked Ruseato's arm with his flamberge. The venomous Viper Strike Rush did not deal a lot of damage, but it added the bleeding debuff and reduced accuracy by 4%.

This number was not trivial for raid battles. They would be able to reduce healing by this amount, lowering the MP usage rates, allowing them to keep battling longer. Federico would say that this was the 4% that would increase their chance of winning.

Dinkuron relieved Naotsugu's duty as the main tank.

He might be the handsome boy in Silver Sword, but he was equipped with phantasmal armor from head to toe, and wouldn't back down even from Isaac of Black Sword Knights. Contrary to his normal gentle voice, he was shouting loud enough to shatter eardrums. War Cry, a skill that extended the effects of items and increased resistance to status debuffs.

Federico felt a surge of energy through his body.

He moved to Ruseato's back and dealt much heavier blows than before. Alternating between vertical and horizontal strikes, his skills allowed other attackers to deal heavier damage. Considering the battle plan this time, having a good start was crucial.

About ten meters away from the edge of the arena where the battle with '7th of the garden' Ruseato was being fought, the sound of two dull metallic thuds could be heard.

Silver Sword's Samurai Ranodomaru used 'Zentetsuken'.

As they had investigated in advance, cutting out a bar from the metal gate was enough for humans to pass through easily.

Federico snuck a glance as he continued his attack.

(It isn't time yet!)

The attack output against Ruseato was ramped up. There was not much Ruseato could do. Naotsugu had nullified his most damaging skill, and he had nothing that could take out Dinkuron's watertight defense.

Dinkuron and the others would be massacred with ease if Ruseato called for aid, but it had suffered less than 10 percent damage so far. He probably wouldn't ask for help yet… Federico was able to wipe away his fear by following this line of thought.

There was no guarantee. There was a chance that the other 2 bosses would join the fray at any time. Other bosses might turn up too… There was simply no way to tell. These were all deductions made through scouting the map and the team work among the Guardians.

With the slow passage of time, Federico kept up the attack and kept the status quo, waiting for the plan to start.

They thirsted for victory.

They wanted to quench the thirst in their hearts, putting their all in strike after strike.

Federico's sword Sigh of Musuperu turned into a mini typhoon through the might of Adventurers, pelting the armor of Ruseato with numerous blows. Cracks appeared on the armor under the fiery attacks, the ricochet scratching Federico's face. But Federico paid it no heed.

Federico didn't know he was the kind of guy who preferred doing things right until recently.

He understood this in the past week.

Wanting to be victorious did not equate to the desire to bring down powerful foes, gaining fame or fortune. It definitely did not equate to bearing emotions of hate or anger.

He just wanted a proper reward.

This was a raid William wanted to win so bad that he cried.

A fight where Silver Sword laid their lives on the line.

Federico didn't want all their efforts to be for naught. He didn't want this to be a meaningless challenge they kept up because of their own stupidity. If that were true, wouldn't that be sad?

He bore no grudge against Ruseato. He even felt a sense of respect for it.

Federico and Silver Sword just wanted to verify one thing.

They were not wrong. They were stronger.

All he wanted was to prove it.

"The limit point!"

William let out a shrill cry as the support and healing characters rushed off. '7th of the garden' Ruseato was morphing. The armor covered in cracks shed off like a layer of skin, revealing a body as white as snow beneath… its appearance had changed to that of the white knight mode.

The black armor turned into a shadow like swamp, turning into countless warriors. The Adventurers within the trap zone of Ruseato had restricted movement. It stuck to their feet and stopped the players from moving. In order to avoid this area, the raid group changed its formation.

"Hurry! Shiroe's party will lead!"

Following William's command, the group jumped into the other side of the iron gates one by one. '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura awaited them there.

The counterattack of Federico and company started here.

2

Demiqas was among the first to infiltrate the western passageway.

The corridor with a high granite ceiling interspaced with giant pillars extended in a straight path far ahead. The end of the tunnel was hazy like the sunset, but they knew through advance reconnaissance that flaming snake Ibra-Habura was in the large hall ahead.

Demiqas looked around restlessly as he followed Naotsugu in front of him.

In Demiqas' eyes, the armor clad Guardian Naotsugu was as slow as a tortoise. He might look like he was sprinting, but his speed was half of Demiqas'. Demiqas would be able to pull away with either a Wyvern Kick or Phantom Step.

But he would just charge headfirst into the flaming snake if he did that. He had to stay behind Naotsugu to avoid that even if he hated it.

The group was led by Naotsugu and Demiqas.

The tank of the 1st party Dinkuron was the rear guard, fending off the shadow warriors as they retreated. They couldn't move fast this way. With their main defensive party fighting in the rear, Demiqas and the others had to hold the front.

The opening phase of the plan was simple.

The last time all hell broke loose, '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura and '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga opened the giant gates and entered.

The gaps in the gates were too narrow for them to slip through, and it seemed that they could only be opened from the other side.

The scripted event was probably the two gates opening up after they defeated '7th of the garden' Ruseato. But that was not the case this time.

The plan this time was to use the maze-like layout of the dungeon.

This meant that using this arena as a prison to isolate Ruseato was the gist of the plan. Ruseato was unable to pass through the iron gates and enter the passageway so he couldn't pursue the group escaping through the western passageway. But it was possible for him to break down the gate with his destructive attacks, that's why they engaged Ruseato until he turned into the white knight mode with weak attacks. If they didn't defeat all the shadow warriors, Ruseato wouldn't be able to move when in white knight mode.

They had already scouted ahead using a covert type summon. They had already been briefed on several possible situations that might arise, but it was a relief for this situation to prevail.

Ruseato couldn't open or destroy the gate and was effectively nullified. The frost giant Tarutauruga situated in the east might open the gate into the arena, but he wouldn't be able to access the western passageway, just like Ruseato. They had been cut out of the equation. If Demiqas' group defeated Ibra-Habura and progressed into the depths of the zone, they could conquer this dungeon.

… But none of the raid members felt that it would be so easy to achieve victory.

Even if they defeated Ibra-Habura, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be another raid boss waiting. According to Shiroe's interpretation of the dungeon layout, you could reach Ibra-Habura's lair by going the long way from the eastern passageway. Once Ibra-Habura fell into danger, '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga would definitely rush over.

It was only an optimistic speculation that Ruseato and Tarutauruga could not destroy the iron gates. They should assume that it would buy them some time, but would eventually fall. And if it did, they couldn't attempt this again since the gate would be destroyed.

That's the situation. Even though Demiqas and the other Adventurers could respawn, the situation would keep on changing. The same opportunity would not come twice. The members of Silver Sword were tense as they ran down the corridor.

(Damn it!)

But this was to be expected.

There was no way to predict all the possibilities. Even grade-schoolers knew this. There were so many uncertainties in this plan and anything could happen. Like waking up on a Sunday morning to eat breakfast while watching TV. How many times could things go just the way you wanted? Things not going your way was the norm in the real world.

The alternate world of Elder Tales lured you into letting down your guard and forgetting about uncertainties. You thought that this was just a game, thinking everything would go just as you planned. Because you could do that, it created the illusion that everything you did would be successful.

He was beaten badly by Shiroe.

Demiqas knew. This world where things didn't go your way was their reality. And he knew because he fell for the illusion. He was tricked by the game-like appearance he saw in his tiny world. His journey here was the same. But he had warned himself to not let his guard down. But his wariness dripped away slowly like water flowing from a tap and he underestimated this world again.

(I wasn't careful and failed in this dull place. I was taking it lightly and failed… Because I underestimated that bunch of people, that's why I failed.)

Demiqas remembered the skinny lady with her hands on her hips looking at him.

An unhappy face, she was probably looking down at Demiqas. That couldn't be helped. Demiqas had hurt the People of the Land deeply. He didn't kill anyone, but he had treated them with violence, traded them like commodity and worked them like slaves. Of course he would be hated. The only reason stopping them from seeking revenge was his physical prowess.

That woman was thin like chicken ribs, lacking sex appeal. When Demiqas glared at her with his fierce eyes, she would say with a mocking smile. 'If you think you are the master just by saying it then just kill me. ' That was her favorite phrase. 'If you can't kill me then get out of the way, don't get in the way of my chores. ' She scolded him.

Demiqas was utterly defeated.

People of the Land died when they were killed. They knew this very well, but they lived on valiantly using this one life they had. They used what little they had to leave their mark on this world. Demiqas' life seemed so cheap in contrast.

Demiqas underestimated this alternate world.

He lost to Shiroe because he thought this was just a game.

Before he could learn from his errors, he lost against the powerless People of the Land.

He lost to Silver Sword too. He was defeated when they met for the first time in that bar, and he was floored over and over again, leaving Brigandia in a dire state.

And now, he lost to the raid bosses. There might be a way to salvage this, but he lost to William as a guild master. Even after that crushing defeat, there were still 20 odd gaming nerds willing to follow William.

Demiqas had nothing left to lose.

The white corridor made from stone bricks came to an end abruptly.

The tall ceiling had reached the new height of a 6 story building. The giant spherical space before them was shaped like an egg 30m in diameter.

The walls were made from yellow stones with bright orange stripes. Stairs several meters wide along the walls spiraled down into the pit. Puddles of blue waters were scattered all over. The vast space had surprisingly bright colors, illuminated by white lights.

"This smell…"

"Ah ah, hot spring festival."

Naotsugu answered Shiroe in a way that even Demiqas understood. This was the smell of sulfur. The stones had all been soaked in various chemicals.

The group descended down the stairs spiraling round the edge of the pit. At the bottom lay the sleeping giant snake Ibra-Habura.

This was probably the raid boss' standby mode.

As they planned, Naotsugu leapt off from the end of the stairs and charged at the great serpent.

The support was minimal, but they didn't have time to make complete preparations. Naotsugu headed in without complete preparations.

Naotsugu attacked with the support of Tetora's reactive heal and Vuorinen's healing over time. Demiqas couldn't see any hesitation in his action, an excellent move.

Demiqas bent slightly and jumped off like a spring, flying through the air. The members of Silver Sword also joined the fray.

It became a chaotic battle immediately.

The opening at the corner of the pit was probably the 'answer'. At the deepest end of this entrance was the finish line. But there were no 'convenient' gates blocking the entrance to block off any pursuers. They had to take down '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura here. And they needed to do that before '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga arrived.

The distance attack team probably lost their cool, shooting ice arrow spells prematurely.

Demiqas cursed at their incompetence, but Naotsugu just barely managed to draw Ibra-Habura's attention.

A fire storm appeared before his eyes, feeling more like a natural disaster than fighting a monster. Naotsugu used Anchor Howl and became a sturdy suit of armor, swinging his sword to aggravate his foe. In the short time the fight had gone on the amount of hate the tank drew from the monster was still unstable, Demiqas had already learned that. He understood how much the attackers wanted to deal damage as soon as possible, but being too hasty might pull in too much hate and lead to tragedy.

"Fortress stance! Let me test the performance of my new armor and shield!"

Naotsugu braced himself and leaned forward, as though as he was holding up a wall with his back. Blue aura jettisoned from his heels, this was the defensive skill used by Guardians. He blocked the enemies' strikes with his shield while attacking with his sword. This skill traded mobility for a boost in defense, a skill not available to Monks like Demiqas.

But Demiqas had skills Naotsugu lacked too, which were wings known as mobility.

"Ora ora ora! Aura Saber!"

Demiqas launched a downward flying kick from midair.

The attack followed a path similar to the slash of a giant axe, hitting the scales of the burning snake. It must have some effect. Aura Saber ignored defense ratings and damaged the opponent directly. The Energy Protection spell of the Druids reduced flame damage significantly, so Demiqas wouldn't lose too much health as he attacked.

Demiqas dodged the tail of '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura, which was the size of a mini bus, with his Phantom Step. He leapt into the air with afterimages trailing behind him and unleashed a Wyvern Kick.

Wyvern Kick again.

Another Wyvern Kick.

The sole of his Storm Assault Sabaton Boots, which seemed to be cut directly from heavy armor, sent mind numbing shocks to the scalp of his head. If he were to do this in Susukino, the abandoned buildings would crumple into a mountain of debris. Not just Demiqas. As Demiqas flew by in a blur of green, Federico was also striking with his flaming blade repeatedly, surrounding Ibra-Habura with the other melee fighters, like midgets around a giant.

Suddenly, Demiqas' feet emitted a silvery glow.

This was Shiroe's buffing spell Keen Edge.

(That bastard!)

Demiqas snapped his tongue in displeasure. He wanted to spit, but his mouth was dry because of the immense heat emitted by the giant snake. Demiqas attacked Ibra-Habura mouth to vent his anger with Tiger Echo Fist. It had low accuracy, but he couldn't miss when the size of the raid boss was so big.

The slithery eyes of the reptile focused on Demiqas, filled with killing intent.

"Wide area attack, fall back!"

The melee warriors left the front lines on William's command. But Demiqas remained behind like a guardian statue, crossing his arms in front of his face. Demiqas wanted to take the hit straight on.

Without any hesitation or regret, Demiqas expressed his will in his own way.

Demiqas didn't move an inch as the flame vortex spewed by Ibra-Habura encircled him.

3

Naotsugu watched the sea of flames coming at him. This was different from what he saw through his monitor when playing the game. It felt like as if the poisonous flame was sticking onto him and swallowing him whole.

But even in this hellish scene, Naotsugu maintained his stance leaning forward with his eyes barely open.

He felt hot with the flame roasting him. But the sensation was on par with lying naked on asphalt under the bright summer sun. It hurt, but was bearable.

Naotsugu observed that the flames hit him in waves, and took a deep breath as one wave subsided. He held his breath as if he were diving in water. He was doing this to prevent damage to his lungs, but it seemed like he wouldn't be hurt lethally even if he breathed some of the fire in.

(That arrogant Monk isn't bad in a fight.)

Naotsugu was covered by Tetora's reactive heal, Vuorinen's health regeneration and Toko's damage negation shield. These spells were known as classic healing magic. The wide area attack, Merciless Purgatory Feast, was strong. The damage negation shield of a Kannagi could cancel out 6000 points of damage. Together with the reactive heal of 900 points, the damage seemed too low. Naotsugu wouldn't be surprised if the hit just now pushed him to the edge of death.

Demiqas shared the brunt of the damage with Naotsugu.

He probably used Cover Ring, a skill which allowed you to share the damage taken with teammates nearby. Demiqas the Monk had higher resistance to elemental attacks and health than Naotsugu. By spreading out the damage this way, Naotsugu would be able to stay on the frontlines. Naotsugu had a newfound respect for Demiqas.

"Alright, here I go! Taunting Blow!"

Naotsugu attacked to aggravate Ibra-Habura.

The giant flaming serpent was terrifying. The enormous head butted with a force which rivaled a heavy truck, the wide open mouth was as intimidating as heavy construction machinery. It closed in with the speed of an out of control train, making your legs stiffen and vision narrow.

But Naotsugu shook off the pressure and cracked a smile.

He was pushing himself, he had no spare strength to smile at all.

But having nothing to spare was hard to explain. You didn't really feel that you were running on empty, but it did seem like you had nothing left. Even if you had a 3 day weekend, you still couldn't find the effort to do your chores. Even during the hellish period when you were so busy you had to sleep in the office, you could still find the strength to find a particular brand of pudding in the convenience store. That's how it was.

That's why he still had the spare energy to smile. He could squeeze one out even if he was running on empty.

Naotsugu held on to this belief and swung his blade.

Pulling in hate with his roar, adopting a defensive stance with his shield, he refused to back down.

And he kept on smiling. That's how Naotsugu was when he took on the role of the main tank in a raid group.

"Bring it on!"

Everyone should have noticed Naotsugu's shout. William gave instructions from the back, "Maintain damage output and shift to the left!"

Naotsugu's smile deepened. As expected, William got it.

It had been more than 3 weeks since they invaded Abyss Shaft. They could build on their mutual understanding during this period of time. Naotsugu understood how William thought. William should be able to understand Naotsugu's intentions as well.

Naotsugu's body was bathed in recovery spells repeatedly, pushing his hit points up.

Demiqas was doing a great job, but his health had fallen below 30%. Unlike Demiqas who was brought in like a relief pitcher in baseball, Naotsugu had no time to rest. Sharp scales were fired at Naotsugu repeatedly. To reduce damage and tank the next big attack, replenishing Naotsugu's health was the basics in ensuring the safety of the group. Naotsugu accepted their assistance without hesitation.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Naotsugu thought about the old days.

That was a fun place to play in, compared to this alternate world. Naotsugu served as the main tank for the Debauchery Tea Party, so he had experience with raids. In fact, Debauchery Tea Party was a group that went for raids at an insane rate because of Kanami's nature. She treated the raids as just an obstacle blocking their way. They went to challenge raids in overseas servers because she wanted to see new sceneries, what a joke.

"Hey, get over here!"

His new Armor of Silver Oath was really dependable. It was sturdy with all parts connected tightly. There were no loose pieces hanging around. The Gaze of Lionheart shield was excellent too. It provided better cushion against the shock to his wrist. He could keep on fighting with such equipment in hand. If he shifted his shield in the way of the bright spots in his vision, he could even push back the attack from Ibra-Habura's tail. He could feel the increase in defensive power.

"Do you even lift? Bring it on festival!"

Naotsugu roared with brute force.

"Whoa. Mr. Naotsugu, you are fired up!"

Tetora suddenly approached and chatted casually.

Naotsugu leaned even more to protect Tetora from the flames shouting "Leave this to me!" Tetora pulled herself up onto Naotsugu's shoulder and stood facing the arena. She spoke with a clear voice.

"Everyone! How's your fighting spirit?"

The battle was still intense, so no one gave a definite answer to Tetora. But everyone could see her. This was obvious as they would see Naotsugu who was tanking the fierce attack of '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura when they attacked Ibra-Habura. Tetora was speaking to everyone on the battlefield while standing on Naotsugu's shoulders.

A wave of clashing sounds filled the hall. That was the best they could do to respond to the question of this petite idol. Swords and axes rose and fell, frost and lightning rained down on the monster.

Tetora was satisfied with the sound, made a taunting expression and raised the wand in her right hand into the sky.

"Alright, let’s fight together! Work hard everyone! Go, go!"

Tetora's courageous and loud voice could make you forget that you were in the underground. The sound reverberated through the air and reached out to her comrades.

Aurora lights with the colors of the rainbow appeared above them. The curtain of light shimmered, shooting stars flew out and pleasing music could be heard. This was the Cleric's special spell Aurora Heal. It was meant to be used for raids, with a wide enough range to cover a hundred Adventurers with its healing light.

"What a great view festival!"

"Of course, I am an angel after all!"

The Cleric was all smiles as she spun rapidly and shot out healing spells like arrows. The speed and skill were even better than the healers of Silver Sword due to Shiroe's support, an excellent raider.

Naotsugu used this opportunity to attack.

Everything was going well so far. As Shiroe had expected, the hit points of '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura was less than that of '7th of the garden' Ruseato. It also lacked alternate forms and means to recover health. It only had wide area attacks and the 'characteristic' of sapping the hit points of everyone in the zone.

But the team already knew this, and has equipped anti-heat equipment from their bags and cast the appropriate anti-elemental spells. Even though '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura had a lot of hit points, they had already managed to grind half of it away. They should be able to win if they kept up this pace.

(But we can't let our guard down.)

Naotsugu watched the movements of the flaming snake while paying attention to the surrounding situation.

"Incoming!"

"I got it covered!"

Naotsugu wasn't telling that to Tetora alone. Everyone else understood his intentions too.

He was playing the role of a shield. Naotsugu's confidence was mandatory for the main tank of a raid.

'We can win this time. ' 'We should be able to pull this off. ' If you approached a problem with such a mentality, it didn't guarantee victory. If it was so easy to win, there will be no need for any of Shiroe's stratagems. But if your mind was full of thoughts like 'We are going to lose', 'Let's give up', you would really lose. That's how a raid went.

If you wanted to inspire your teammates, gimmicks such as shouting were acceptable.

The hand on his shoulder took away the heat from the fire, the soft touch spread through his body. This was Tetora's Minor Heal. In order to release the full potential of the Cleric, she made her way to the center of the flame vortex, supporting Naotsugu with her sunny words.

Tetora understood too. Their nonsensical dialogue could turn into everybody's strength. Naotsugu understood very well and was in a good mood. He didn't squeeze a smile out to calm the others, but was really smiling from his heart.

"Have you fallen for me, Mr. Naotsugu?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Isn't this the place where all sorts of flags are raised?"

"Your inopportune words mess up the mood!"

Naotsugu blocked the spear-like attack of the tail as he playfully deflected Tetora's question. He already knew the answer and felt anxious about it. Naotsugu wanted to respond to Tetora's gentle feelings and snuck a glance at her.

"I have something to report to Mr. Naotsugu."

"I'm busy right now!"

"If I don't say it now, I will miss the chance to tell you."

Tetora fidgeted her body, her clothes rubbing on her skin loudly while the battle raged on. Naotsugu knocked away the flying debris of sulfuric rocks with his arms and legs and said, "What is it?"

"Actually, I have joined Log Horizon."

"Eh?"

Naotsugu was no longer glancing sideways, he had turned around to face her.

He could see the confidence oozing from Tetora's face and flushed cheeks.

"Lying festival."

"It's true."

"Why?"

"I want to play with Naotsugu some more." She giggled as she cast Heal continuously, the self-proclaimed idol was in a great mood. But she hit Naotsugu's flank with her wand like a cat toying around every time she cast a spell, which irritated him.

"Anyway, who gave you permission?"

"Mr. Shiroe did."

"What have you done Shiroe?"

But they had to stop fooling around. Ibra-Habura stood upright like a theme park attraction, opening its mouth and taking a deep breath. It sucked in air and fire noisily. This was the preparatory movement of the wide area assault Merciless Purgatory Feast it used earlier.

"Incoming!"

"Melees pull back! Federico stay and keep debuffing, damage reduction!"

Naotsugu and William shouted at the same time.

The formation changed once again. The melee fighters withdrew like an ebbing tide.

Pulling back from the firestorm would minimize the damage taken. Minimizing damage not only made the job of the healers easier, it also aided in conserving MP.

But the formation was in disarray.

The Summoner Azalea in the 4th party fell down even though there was nothing to trip him, and was shouting something. Naotsugu couldn't hear it. William issued a speedy instruction in response: "Dinkuron, behind you!"

While their formation was still a mess, a new battle had begun.

There were two ways leading into this arena. One of them was the white granite passage where Naotsugu and the others had entered from. Another was the cave at the bottom of the pit.

A blue giant wearing barbaric furs had emerged from that cave. '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga had joined the fray.

4

It would be a lie to say they didn't panic.

This was expected after the painful experience they had gone through. But they snapped out of that moment of stiffness with a shout from William.

The Guardian Dinkuron, the pride of Silver Sword, rushed out like a bullet, taking on the frost giant with Castle of Stone. The titan swung his club, which was several meters wide, at the elf warrior, who took the hit as if it were nothing. He stood his ground, marking the entrance of the lair as his territory. He had no wasted movement, the skill of a raider who had gone through hundreds of raids.

Shiroe adjusted his glasses that had slipped because of his intense movement and wiped the sweat on his brow. The second change of event was within his expectations.

'7th of the garden Ruseato' was unable to break through the iron gates.

But the 2 raid bosses on the east and west side of Ruseato, Ibra-Habura and Tarutauruga, could enter that arena as well as move into each other's base.

Even if they nullified Ruseato, the flaming snake Ibra-Habura and the frost giant Tarutauruga allying together was a given. Normally, this would be an instant failure. There were no full raids that could withstand the fury of 2 raid bosses at the same time. Their combined efforts were overwhelming.

But was that really so?

After Shiroe respawned, he drew up a plan with this point in mind.

Shiroe and Silver Sword were wiped out in the battle at the arena because their formation was broken by the surprise attack of the other bosses. Analyzing from the victims' stand point, Ibra-Habura's wide area flaming attack coincided with the frost giant Tarutauruga's freezing wide area attack. Just one of these attacks was enough to kill off the defensively weak rear guard, so it was no surprise they were wiped out when both attacked at the same time.

But could their tank take the special attack from just one of them?

Shiroe still remembered the battle with Ruseato, and he felt that another raid boss in the same zone wouldn't overwhelm Ruseato's attack prowess by much. It might be more devastating, but not twice as powerful. Shiroe concluded that it was possible to fend off the attack for either Ibra-Habura or Tarutauruga.

Shiroe deduced that they could hold off both raid bosses if their range of damage didn't overlap. The battle plan was based on this theory.

In this underground lair with just enough space for the raid bosses to move, Naotsugu was holding off Ibra-Habura in the southwest corner. Tarutauruga's attack from the northeast corner was defended by the Guardian from Silver Sword, Dinkuron.

The two shield warriors adjusted their position to keep the wide area attacks at bay.

It was a challenge to adjust their position. The healers had to rush between both fronts to support the tanks. But if they were too far apart the healing would lag behind. Although it was safer to have a bigger distance so the wide area damage wouldn't overlap, they would be out of the range of the healers.

If they maintained the distance to support either side, there were no spaces which were 'not in range of either boss wide area attack'. For the magic and ranged attackers, they had to be wary of wide area attacks from either side, adjusting their position constantly.

When William heard Shiroe's plan he smiled and answered,

"We can win this, Mr. Shiroe."

Determined to prove his words, William attacked with blinding speed, his arrows drawing a continuous line between his bow and the target. And his commands were issued as fast as his arrows.

Shiroe was also giving everything he got in this fight.

Now was not the time to hold back.

They were fending off the terrifying attacks of these 2 raid bosses. But only because of Dinkuron's Castle of Stone. He did not use it earlier to save it for this moment. To take control of the fight, the two tanks would require the support of healing spells, meaning that the 6 healers in the group would be draining their MP at an alarming rate. The members had been holding back since they knew this might happen, but if they were too stingy with their support the vanguards would die. With the battle hanging on a thread, the death of the the tank meant the collapse of the frontline and the inevitable fate of being wiped out.

The hope of clearing this zone would extinguish along with their deaths.

"Federico, debuff attack power and attack range."

"Understood!"

"Tetora, increase healing rate."

"I can't increase anymore!"

"I will help you… Force Step!"

Shiroe cast a special support spell on her. It reduced the cool down time for all spells Tetora had. The reduction was less than 20%, but the effect was significant. Aurora Heal had a cool down of 600 seconds. With Force Step, she could cast it again after 480 seconds. The MP usage would be even more intense, but Shiroe countered this with Mana Siphon. This was a MP management skill which allowed Enchanters to share their MP with others.

A normal combat party could simply recover MP by resting. That's why people often underestimated the value of an Enchanter specializing in MP management.

But Shiroe liked this uncommon specialty and had been building his character around this.

He felt light headed with the loss of MP, but he continued to attack, calculate, and supply MP. He could strengthen the recovery powers of healers like Tetora and Vuorinen. He could help offensive characters like Federico improve their attacking powers too. As he took in the situation of the battlefield, Shiroe's mind focused on the minute details.

"Right here!"

Vuorinen stuck his hand into a puddle that smelled of sulfur and chanted a long spell. It was a special summon available to Druids. A light floated up from his fur gauntlet, rising into the sky. The green light suddenly materialized into a tree. Only Druids with mastery over nature and fairies could form a contract to summon 'Secret of Life' after clearing a high level raid.

"4th party, rally to me!"

The mages rushed under the shade of the tree before William's shout even finished.

The well-known summon 'Secret of Life' was a skill which conjured a magical tree. By staying under the shade of that tree, you would be bathed in green light and recover HP gradually. The recovery rate was less than the healing spells of Druids, but the long healing period provided a big boost to the raid group as a whole.

Shiroe was calculating.

Just like that time he showed Minori, Shiroe was processing the information of the battle and looking into the future. Behind his glasses, his eyes gazed further ahead in time as he calculated.

Twenty four people was 4 times the number of Minori's 6 men party. By increasing the number 4 times, the capabilities and combinations of their actions increased manyfold. He analyzed, chose, scrapped, and combined all these possibilities, 'reading' them.

Reading every attack and heal of his group mates.

The waves of overlapping debuffs reduced the threat of the enemy. The invisible amount of hate accumulated and the feasible actions they could take.

The constantly changing hit points of his comrades were like equalizer panels in Shiroe's eyes.

He could perceive the ripples in the ever decreasing battle timeline and analyzed each small segment.

"Naotsugu, speed up!"

"Okay!"

"Mr. Bolognese, pull back!"

"By your command."

Each action formed single 'words'.

When they were connected, they formed a purposeful 'essay'.

Shiroe could see Naotsugu's face in his mind. He could also see Tetora's smile and William's smug face. The faces of Federico, Vuorinen, Demiqas, and all other members of Silver Sword appeared too.

Shiroe nodded.

Shiroe finally understood what William meant.

The battle became a 'story' in Shiroe's hand.

It was a marching song that inspired wounded hearts to soldier on.

Shiroe was also touched by William's secrets. That was a feeling that encompassed Shiroe during his days in the Tea Party, a nostalgic and peaceful feeling.

Shiroe held his White Staff of the Wings of Ruins and chanted his spells, executing the plan he devised through his 'Full Control Encounter'. Karma Drive spliced through the air like a giant bird towards Ibra-Habura, leaving a myriad of flashing symbols in its wake.

(15%… 16%… 18%…)

Shiroe bit his lips and concentrated.

Vuorinen's summon, 'Secret of Life' was a good move. The spell recovered more than 30% of hit points for 10 people.

The wide area attack Merciless Purgatory Feast of the flaming snake still had a cool down time of 180 seconds. Vuorinen could counter with Life Burst and Mercy Rain. Next one would be at 360 seconds. Naotsugu could use Castle of Stone again after his cooldown was finished. 540 seconds later would be Tetora's Aurora Heal.

As he concentrated, the world became a blur as he 'read' the ending.

'3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura could fall before the 720 seconds mark. Shiroe's Karma Drive allowed comrades who dealt critical hits to the flaming serpent to recover MP. If they maintained the current pace, they could deliver the final blow to Ibra-Habura before the 700th second mark.

They could then turn their full attention to the frost giant Tarutauruga.

Taking the remaining MP into consideration, there was no guarantee they would win the next battle, but there was still a chance of victory.

Even though they were walking on thin ice, it was still possible.

To put the plan into action was the reason for Shiroe's existence.

To accomplish this, he had to calculate until the very end. Shiroe entrusted his overheating heart into the freezer.

"Please maintain damage output at the current level."

"You heard him, Black Heart Glasses has spoken! Give it your all, defeat the enemy! Don't show any mercy!!"

The moment William issued this order, an ominous black object fell into the center of the pit.

Drip.

Drip.

The black mass rose from the ground, turning into humanoid silhouettes wielding weapons.

Shadow warriors… Minions spawned from the body of '7th of the garden' Ruseato. Their combat prowess was a far cry from Ruseato, but they could match up with several Adventurers easily.

Shiroe suppressed his urge to scream and raised his head to look up. He could see a darkness spreading out from the passageway onto the ceiling. It fell from the ceiling like droplets of oil and morphed into shadow warriors.

Ruseato couldn't get past the iron gates.

But the dark minions he spawned were able to slip through the gaps just like Shiroe's group did, following them into this battlefield.

5

This development was not totally beyond Shiroe's expectations.

The shadow warriors were minions spawned from '7th of the garden' Ruseato. He predicted that they would pester the raid group once the battle began. He only envisioned the need to clean up the handful of shadow warriors that spawned during their initial attack, not the immense darkness spreading on the ceiling, the number of shadows was too many.

… The number of shadow warriors that spawned was equivalent to the number of people damaging black Ruseato.

Shiroe was the one who found out about this.

For this battle, they had taken care of all the shadow warriors who followed them before starting their attack on '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura. If that were the case, Ruseato should have zero minions.

Since Shiroe's group had moved on, there shouldn't be anyone dealing damage to Ruseato. There shouldn't be any shadow warriors spawning from Ruseato. The reason so many shadow warriors were created…

Shiroe realized the only explanation.

Ruseato pierced his body with his own halberd.

A shadow warrior spawned because of the damage.

The single shadow warrior and Ruseato did damage to the black armor, spawning two more minions. Rinse and repeat. By sacrificing itself, Ruseato fulfilled its potential of raising the army that was flowing in from the passageway.

"Vanguard!"

Shiroe reacted before he finished his thoughts, screaming his instructions.

Just a bit more. No need for 700 seconds, they could take down Ibra-Habura in 600 seconds. They would have the manpower to spare then. (I have to buy time,) Shiroe thought. (How much time did we take moving from the arena to this place? '7th of the garden' Ruseato spawns a batch of shadow warriors in about 200 seconds. At this rate, how many minions have spawned? 31. At most 63…) He came up with the answer immediately. The latter number would be hopeless, but the former number left a small chance of survival. Shiroe had to do this, even though he felt sorry, he still shouted,

"Attack and kite them away…"

This was like a suicide mission. Getting the herd of shadow warriors to chase you while escaping their wrath. The Silver Sword member Junzo was about to respond, but a stubborn raider rushed out before he did.

"Kyaaahhhh! Out of my way! Phantom Step! Wyvern Kick! Ahhhhhh!!! Taunting Shout!"

Demiqas double jumped in the air as if he were leaping off invisible platforms. He flew in the air like a rocket, spinning as he shouted. That was the provocation skill available to the warrior classes. For an instant, Shiroe saw that all the shadow warriors were focusing on Demiqas.

All members of the raid group including Shiroe saw the long haired Monk when he stopped for an instant. Demiqas seemed to be looking at Shiroe furiously. Shiroe lost his balance when he lost sight of Demiqas because of his fast movements.

Shiroe didn't know what was happening as he floated in the air, feeling overwhelming speed as he moved backwards.

"…!"

Naotsugu was definitely yelling. But Shiroe couldn't hear him as the scenery in front grew distant.

Shiroe seemed to be moving at an amazing speed within this large hall. Like being in a giant dryer machine, he rapidly experienced sudden acceleration and deceleration.

A shadow warrior appeared before him, ready to swing its battle scythe at the surprised Shiroe. But Shiroe's vision spun as if he had a hangover. The view before him disappeared because of the huge, heinous and dark silhouette of a greave.

"Irritating! Phantom Step!"

Demiqas leapt into the air, leaving the enemies swarming him behind.

Demiqas grabbed Shiroe by the back of his neck as he flew all over the place.

"What are you-?"

"Silence, fucking glasses! Wyvern Kick!"

The blood splattering on his face was warm and smelled like rust, but it calmed Shiroe down.

Was this Demiqas' vengeance against Shiroe by messing up the raid? Or did Demiqas have some plan in mind? Shiroe was not sure. Demiqas was grabbing Shiroe by the back of his neck, similar to a hunter holding its prey.

(But this situation. Isn't too bad… ?)

If he looked at it from another angle, Shiroe was like a cannon attached to Demiqas.

With this in mind, there was only one thing to do. Shiroe cast his weak Enchanter attack spells in all directions.

Demiqas should be using Drag Move on one of the minions, but he grabbed Shiroe for some reason and was dragging him all over the place. Maybe he was simply using his level 90 plus wrist strength to carry Shiroe like some sort of cargo. It was possible with the abnormal physical ability of Adventurers. Both scenarios were possible.

But the important thing was that they were pulling the shadow warriors away from the raid group.

"Go to the northeast passageway."

"Shut it, stop nagging instructions."

"Mind Bolt!"

"You damn ink bottle!"

Demiqas' attitude remained hostile, but he changed his bearings.

He kicked the faceless shadows and broke through, rushing towards the passageway while being targeted by countless foes. Shiroe organized the information through his shaking vision. He could see about 20 minions. Including those out of his view, there should be about 30. If Demiqas stopped and was supported with healing, he could last for 15 seconds. If he made do without support, he would only survive half that time. Shiroe found it meaningless to calculate how long he would last, but he knew the answer the moment he started playing Elder Tales. He would be dead in 3 seconds.

"Hey Shiroe!"

As a shadow attacked with a low stance, its head expanded and exploded like a watermelon.

That should be William who dealt the final blow.

"It's meaningless to support here, focus on Ibra-Habura."

"Listen, Black Heart…"

"William! Defeat the enemy!"

His voice reached the proud guild master, but Shiroe was not sure how William would think of it. William looked at Shiroe again with concern and shouted, "All parties focus your attack on Ibra-Habura! Sorcerers! Don't hold anything back, throw everything you have at it!"

The scenery melted before his eyes as Shiroe was moved at top speed, dodging the club of the frost giant Tarutauruga.

The friction Shiroe felt on the back of his neck made him itch. He noticed the encroaching white film near his feet.

"Tarutauruga's White Night. It will reduce movement speed, use fire…"

"Not my problem! Lynx Tumbling!"

Demiqas ignored Shiroe's warning, moving ahead while mocking the freezing spell. Lynx Tumbling gave Demiqas the agility of a feline, and he ran on top of the club dashing for the frost giant's wrist. He sprinted for the shoulder next, aiming for new heights. Tarutauruga, who breathed out white mist because of his freezing aura, was kicked by Demiqas in the face as he accelerated.

Demiqas moved with a speed similar to a roller coaster with its safety features removed. It would probably send all its riders to the hospital on its first day of operation.

Loop, tornado, slalom. The invisible threads known as hate bound dozens of shadows as Demiqas led them on a dramatic high speed chase.

Shiroe heard shouting behind him. He couldn't make out what they were saying. Shiroe thought that they were words of encouragement. They should be supportive words from his fellow raiders in Silver Sword as he leapt into the jaws of death.

The noise of the raid battle subsided as they entered the dark passageway. They would need to fight on for another 580 seconds. After that, they would need to rescue Dinkuron and engage the frost giant.

That's why the 2 of them traveling hastily in the dark corridors could not relax. Shiroe kept on casting his spells with negligible attack power.

Astral Bind and Nightmare Sphere would hinder the movement of the shadows for a few seconds. He couldn't target all of them, but he needed to keep pressuring their pursuers. If he let up, Demiqas, who was carrying Shiroe, would lose a lot of hit points. Not just hit points, Demiqas' MP was dropping rapidly, the price he paid for breaking away forcefully. They were lucky to have made it to this passageway. The two of them were still alive as they moved through the dark corridor.

"Don't use Wyvern Kick for the time being."

Demiqas did not respond.

They could see the shadow warriors about 30m away from them. Shiroe had given up casting magic outside the effective range, focusing on supporting Demiqas with magic instead. In this situation, mobility was more important than attack power. Demiqas dragged Shiroe in the darkness as Shiroe concentrated on his Enchanting spells.

Shiroe didn't understand why Demiqas brought him along.

The kiting strategy was working great so far, but Demiqas probably didn't plan all of this.

Shiroe didn't understand the irrational thinking of this brute and didn't agree with it.

Even after raiding together for so long, their hate and suspicion for each other remained strong.

Demiqas used violence on the People of the Land in the city of Susukino.

It didn't mean only Demiqas was at fault. In the confusion of the Catastrophe, he probably thought that this world was still a game. Demiqas was probably driven by fear when he created all the trouble. The guild Brigandia was notorious when Elder Tales was still a game, a gathering of ruffians. From an outsider's view, the power struggle within the guild might be the cause of their extreme actions.

Shiroe felt there were reasons why they acted that way and understood their thought process. But he was still unable to accept it.

Demiqas abused the People of the Land and violated their rights. He even took part in human trafficking.

And he stalked Serara, causing her much distress.

Shiroe didn't have such a fetish. He could not understand and was unable to forgive.

What a disagreeable man. That's how Shiroe felt about Demiqas.

A lot of time had passed as he thought about this.

Shiroe saw the dark passageway in his view. He wasn't sure how many shadow warriors there were, but he felt that it was unwise to be too far away. Demiqas taunted and attacked them relentlessly just now. It was unlikely for the minions to forget their hate, but it would be prudent to play it safe. The raid would fail if the shadow warriors returned to the hall. Even now, they did not know if they had pulled all the shadow warriors away.

"Stop, we are too far away. Wait for a while."

But Demiqas didn't seem to hear him and continued running.

Shiroe got angry and yelled several times for Demiqas to stop before Demiqas complied. Shiroe was displeased with Demiqas' action and started to protest.

"What are you thinking? Even if you keep on running…"

Shiroe was thrown into the corridor ahead before he could finish, stopping only when his back hit a wall. As Shiroe nursed his wrist Demiqas glared at Shiroe and spoke.

"Hey, Enchanter. Say my name."

Driven by anger, Shiroe thought 'How about calling him Dental Care?' He took a deep breath, lifted his head to look at Demiqas, and chose silence.

This was the first time Shiroe looked Demiqas right in his eyes, and he was at a loss for words.

Demiqas approached Shiroe and leaned forward with a serious and determined expression. Demiqas' eyes were full of resolve, there was something he wouldn't back down from.

Shiroe wanted to accuse him of bringing up such a stupid topic at such a critical juncture, but dropped this idea when he saw Demiqas' face.

Just like William's wish that could not be compromised, everyone else had something similar.

It was the same for Shiroe too. That was why he did not join any guild for so long.

Even Demiqas had such feelings.

Time passed by slowly as Shiroe thought. He realized the anger in his heart was similar to self-loathing. Shiroe who felt helpless during the Catastrophe and didn't do anything met Demiqas who felt helpless and resorted to violence. Demiqas became an outlet for Shiroe to vent his frustration.

Demiqas did some unforgivable things. Shiroe needed to rescue Serara. But it was hard to say whether Shiroe had the right to punish Demiqas. Shiroe was just Shiroe, Shiroe was not the law.

(Even if I had the right to pass judgment… Robbing someone of their name is unforgivable.)

Shiroe realized he had stubbornly refused to address Demiqas by his name.

He thought that he was different from this brute, not recognizing him as a fellow human being.

That's the attitude Shiroe had taken.

"Demiqas."

"Yeah."

"… Demiqas, I despise you."

"Me too, Log Horizon's Shiroe."

Shiroe and Demiqas had come to terms.

They agreed to disagree.

"That's why…" Shiroe words were interrupted abruptly.

The brute placed his hand on Shiroe's chest and sent him flying. Shiroe rolled along the corridor like trash once again. Shiroe curled his body up and rolled, reaching the goal, a cold steel door, like a soccer ball.

"You can wait for your death here, Shiroe. I am still busy with these guys."

Demiqas started running again without giving Shiroe a chance to respond. Green flashes could be seen in the dark corridor shooting into the distance like a meteor.

Several thoughts Shiroe was unable to articulate overlapped each other as Shiroe was left alone in the darkness.

6

Behind the door was a dazzling garden.

Gears that were that were several dozen times Shiroe's height turned slowly. These gears were connected to the elevator through an intricate system, controlling the circulation system.

The purpose of this vast space was clear with a glance.

On the production line that looked like it was designed by Escher, an amazing amount of gold was being moved.

It was a giant mechanism with gears and pistons, controlling the flow of gold coins.

A white pavement placed between the gaps of the machinery led into the depths of the hall. The path was filled with flowers and greenery. As Shiroe moved ahead, he would sometimes cross a small arch bridge, other times he would pass by a pond full of gold.

This garden was the vortex of gold Shiroe expected to find.

The sound of numerous bells ringing made Shiroe turn his head. A series of chains tilted an iron chest the size of a bus forward. The crisp sound of millions of coins formed a metallic melody as coins flowed out from the iron chest.

He had no other words besides amazing to describe this sight.

The path meandered around the operations of the machinery. Getting just one bag of gold from the conveyor belt would double Shiroe's wealth. He thought about how much gold was in this garden, but realized that it was impossible to tell.

There was more gold here than he could imagine.

Shiroe didn't think that the contract he brought along was weak.

But it might pale in comparison. If it were Shiroe from last year, he probably would have run away. But he was different now. Shiroe came to the depths of Palm and entered Abyss Shaft with firm resolve.

"… Welcome. Although I wished that you didn't make it here, I still have to say it."

The angel was '9th of the garden' Uru, the final boss guarding Abyss Shaft. Just 4 meters in height, it was small in stature compared to the other monsters they had encountered so far, but was definitely more powerful than the other bosses. Even if he had brought the rest of Silver Sword along, the chance of victory was still 50/50. It would be suicidal for Shiroe to fight alone. If he actually brought the raid group along, they would probably fail since they were worn down with the consecutive battles. Shiroeignored the threat before him and looked straight at the young man. Beside the gigantic golden lake, Shiroe saw Kinjo with his guard. Shiroe squinted his eyes, looking for any difference in Kinjo, but failed as usual. Kinjo stood behind the crystal angel as he awaited Shiroe's arrival.

(The color of his lapel pin is different, that's the only difference. It really is hard to tell them apart.)

He had met Kinjo in the cabin on the snowy mountain before, and greeted him during a banquet in Akiba city. He also saw Kinjo at the counter when he performed bank transactions in Susukino.

That's the role Kinjo played. That's how the Kunie clan was.

When Elder Tales was a game, they played the role of a bank employee based on the same avatar of the People of the Land. That was the origin of the Kunie clan, Shiroe deduced. He could see fear, wariness, and pride in Kinjo's eyes.

(It must be terrifying for them. Even though he has '9th of the garden' Uru under his control, the Adventurers still managed to infiltrate this place… We saw it as a hopeless fight, it is the same for them too.)

Shiroe tried to imagine their plight.

A group of 20 odd immortals charging into your home base like an avalanche.

This was like a zombie siege. They would rise again even when you wiped them out, wearing down the defense gradually. There was nothing more terrifying. It was normal to feel fear and be on your guard. But Kinjo still stood before him despite the danger, probably because of his pride. The pride as a People of the Land and the will to protect Yamato.

They had followed the words of their ancestors till this day, watching over Yamato.

Their unity and loyalty was beyond the imagination of Shiroe, a modern Japanese man.

"I came here to speak with Mr. Kinjo."

"Then we have the obligation to hear what you have to say."

"…"

Shiroe stiffened when he heard Kinjo's words.

He had expected this, but Shiroe's suspicion at the cabin had raised unnecessary tension, and this was his punishment. Shiroe was trapped by Kinjo's hostility. And that was why this young man in white had the duty to finish their conversation.

"Can you explain this flowing river of gold?"

"… Ah, it is. As promised, we will disclose the secrets to you. All the gold in Yamato originates from here and will ultimately return here. Even we do not understand the ultra-ancient technology that controls the distribution of the gold. The gold will be distributed to monsters or even dungeons like this one from this giant viscous stream. This system is the dark secret of Yamato, a taboo secret guarded by the Kunies for hundreds of years."

… Shiroe realized a fact from Kinjo's speech.

For normal People of the Land and the nobles of League of Freedom Towns Eastal, the Kunie clan's management of this system could be seen as a form of betrayal. They would probably think that the Kunie were funding the goblins and orcs.

Shiroe, who knew that Elder Tales was a game, wouldn't think of it this way. If you thought of it as a system, it was neither good nor evil. But Shiroe had no confidence that the People of the Land who had fought lengthy wars with the demihumans would view it the same way. If this fact was exposed, everyone in the server would boycott the operations of the Kunie clan. It might even lead to riots and genocide.

Kinjo was right to be wary. Shiroe didn't consider their circumstances well enough.

"My group and I have no intention to make this fact public."

Unsure of how convincing he actually sounded, Shiroe promised Kinjo.

"… since you made it here, you have the right to bring gold back as dictated by the law of my ancestors."

Shiroe's thoughts weren't conveyed to Kinjo. Kinjo remained guarded, speaking in a tone he had practiced repeatedly.

"With our long history, a part of the documents left behind by our ancestors is missing. We are not sure ourselves whether you can bring back a thousand or a billion gold coins. All I can do is pass on the words of our ancestors to you."

Kinjo stared at Shiroe with flaming eyes, burning with determination.

They might not be wielding blades, but this battle was as intense as the fiercest fight he had ever gone through.

Shiroe gulped under his gaze, his throat feeling parched. He noticed how weak he was. He was smooth and coordinated when directing policies through the Round Table Council, but right now, he felt as though his knees were going to give way.

He remembered the profile of William's crying face. The concerned expression Akatsuki made when she looked up at him. The worries of Naotsugu as he joked around with him. Chief Nyanta, who had been watching over him, Minori, Tohya, Isuzu, and Rundelhous, who put their trust in him.

What he was feeling now was not weakness.

Tetora commented that she wanted them to win.

He craved victory for the sake of others. The bitter memories of unfulfilled wishes motivated him to search for the best ending possible. The solo player Shiroe who had no responsibilities as a loner was no more. Shiroe thirsted for the ending more than anybody else. Because he was bad at empathizing with others, he had no other ways to repay their kindness.

"The gold of the Kunie is a cursed treasure. No matter how much of it you gain, it is not wealth. Your greed is a monster you are nurturing. That's how the world ends."

Kinjo's words sounded like an ominous prophecy, but Shiroe chose to interpret it as the Kunie giving their blessing.

In the depths of Shiroe's heart, he was glad that he made it here.

Surrounded by the melody of countless bells, Shiroe and Kinjo shared a moment of silence.

Shiroe took out a contract from his magic bag slowly, and tore it in half. The torn contract transformed into gentle light and flames, the sparks dispersing like butterflies before the wide eyed Kinjo.

Gold appeared out of thin air.

"This is…"

"The contract has been completely accepted. The Round Table Council does not seek wealth."

Shiroe told Kinjo with a faint smile.

What Shiroe actually wanted to say was the continuation of the failed conversation they had had in the cabin on the snowy mountain.

"We don't want ownership of the guild building. We think we are strong enough to live on in Akiba peacefully. We are grateful to the system which offered us this opportunity, but it is time to end our tenure. Even if disputes were to arise, there must be a way for us to overcome it, that's our conclusion… This contract art ceremony only works when it is signed and then destroyed."

Shiroe puffed his chest out before the confused Kinjo.

"This was not just my own intention, but also the will of the Round Table Council too."

"We transfer the ownership of the guild building, cathedral, commercial hall and all public areas to the Yamato server itself. The contract will be destroyed to make this transfer permanent."

He went through numerous hardships and long discussions to reach this stage.

There were some who thought it was foolish to give up ownership of these zones.

But after doing a cost benefit analysis, this was the plan they came up with. Purchasing a zone for the rights to administrate it just by paying a onetime cost sowed the seed of mayhem.

Zone owners didn't stand to gain from their investment. But faced with the threat that another party might purchase the zone… which meant an attack, they had no choice but to buy it first. This was why the Round Table Council used all their budget and took loans from the major guilds to purchase the cathedral, commercial hall and the city zone of Akiba.

But upkeep became a problem.

The maintenance fees for the guild building alone were manageable. But the upkeep for all the properties of the Round Table Council had now exceeded 10 million gold monthly. This was a heavy burden on their finances.

The threat of an attack would increase the pressure on defense. A committee centered on Shiroe and Henrietta explored the possibility of reducing this burden. After numerous discussions, they formulated the plan for this expedition.

"This… You mean that all the gold here will be used for the purchase?"

"That's right. All the gold in Yamato originates from here and will ultimately return here. That's what you said right? Since the contract has been accepted, the funds were used as dictated by the contract and came back to this place after the purchase. Just as I planned."

"Mr Shiroe, did you came here just to explain this?"

"In a way, yes."

"What about your request for a loan… What is all that about?"

Shiroe pushed his slipping glasses back with his finger.

"That is the main issue. We want to purchase all the zones in Yamato, the forest, the mountains, the lakes, the sea and everything else. By destroying the contract immediately, we can give the rights of all the zones we brought. I proved it is possible just now, so we will do the same with all these zones, relinquishing our rights and transferring them to Yamato… The land of Yamato should be returned to Yamato itself."

Kinjo clenched his fist so hard that it turned pale, holding back his heightened emotions.

"We won't purchase zones that are in the form of buildings. Maintaining the status quo won't affect your clan, but we hope that all the free zones will have the status of being permanently unowned. Also… The People of the Land can't buy zones."

This thorn had been stuck in Shiroe's heart for the longest time.

"This is an abnormal situation. The Round Table Council does not wish to spark off a war. We do not wish to deny the landownership of others. But I feel that the promise made between people will be sufficient. The zone purchasing system is unnecessary for us. Please loan the necessary funds to the Round Table Council. In order to stop our path towards destruction, please finance us."

7

The ground was uneven and smelled of sulfur.

He felt that it looked dumb to lie down in this place, but William still laid down anyway. If he turned his head to the side, he could see black arrowheads and rags dyed in weird colors. It was probably someone's equipment, it was a mess around here.

His whole body felt hot and strained, even turning his head took lots of effort. The empty spherical space was eerily silent, the sound of geysers and water dripping seemed incredibly loud.

Smelly, hot, painful and tired, this miserable time was also a joyous moment. William knew the wetness he felt on either side of his nose was not blood, but he didn't bother to wipe it away. His arms were in protest mode, unwilling to work because of excess bow usage. All his comrades were on the floor crying anyway.

They won.

They expended a huge amount of resources, and some of the raiders were out of battle commission for now. There was one time when they were caught in a tug of war between fainting and resuscitation spells. William felt the premonition of defeat when the bloodied Demiqas returned with the shadow warriors in tow. But their effort in bringing down Ibra-Habura paid off. The 2nd party bought time by holding off the passageway and they managed to pull off the win in the chaotic fight that followed.

They had run out of gas. If the black armored Ruseato were to show up now, they would be smashed to oblivion like a baby. The raid group collapsed on the floor from fatigue. They were covered in mud, having endured ice and fire, totally exhausted… But they were shining brightly.

William sat up with his abdominal muscles, looked around him and laughed.

It was soft, but was very cheerful.

They won.

William thought that was impressive.

It was an unspeakable joy. It was as if all of his regrets, remorse, anxiety and disappointment were wiped away. "Awesome, we did great," William whooped in delight. William felt embarrassed at his limited vocabulary, but it was just for an instant.

(We pulled off a spectacular feat! Awesome, what a great bunch of friends!!)

Federico continued to lay back as he waved his hand.

Dinkuron stuck his hand into a puddle to cool off. His bangs were messy, the image of a cool guy was lost.

Odiso lay prone, waving his wand like a tour guide. Timid Alraunes popped into existence, hesitant to act. A moment later, they dragged water bottles out of the bag and distributed to everyone.

Only a handful of members could move, they were pushing themselves just to sit up straight. It was not an exaggeration to say Silver Sword was just a step shy of annihilation.

But even if they were on the verge of defeat, a win was still a win.

(Ahh, that was really awesome.)

William was like an idiot who kept repeating the same phrase, repeating the word awesome in his heart over and over again. His mind was hazy, the image of his friends grew blurry and disappeared. But William insisted that wasn't because of the tears flowing out of his eyes.

"We won."

"Yeah."

"We won."

"We finally won."

The soft murmurs repeated time and again in the hall.

When William heard their words, his heart was full of joy. He was terrible at making speeches, but the dialogue between his comrades lacked creativity too. It wasn't any different from him and it made him happy.

"Hey guild master."

"What's up?"

William answered Federico whose voice was breaking. Federico pushed his upper body up like a sick patient. "That, over there." He gestured at the mountain of treasure with his chin. These were the drop items and gold from the flaming serpent Ibra-Habura and frost giant Tarutauruga. A huge pile of gold, valuable jewelry and dozens of rare materials. There were phantasmal level weapons and armor too. They defeated 2 raid bosses, so the rewards were doubled too.

Basically, equipment could not be transferred. The raid captain William would keep them safe, and distribute it to the members.

There were all sorts of ways to split their stash. They could use a point system based on raid attendance and bid for it, or give the equipment to those who could equip them. Or the ones who wanted the item would play a game of rock paper scissors. The choice of system to use was a problem all guilds had to test through trial and error.

Phantasmal items were powerful, and raids were often conducted in order to obtain them. These items with special abilities and great attributes could only be won through raids, earning fame and respect from the whole server. They might even represent the glory of the guild, like the Black Sword Knights.

There were many guilds that dissolved because of disputes in splitting the loot. Because of this, every guild had to spend lots of effort in managing and distributing the rewards from raids.

Silver Sword had been using a point system since Elder Tales was a game. Members earned points by joining raids and auctioned off the reward to the highest bidder. But for unknown bosses they defeated for the first time, the loot would not be given out through the point system, but allocated on the discretion of the guild master William. There would be minimal dissatisfaction if they used the point system, but the items would simply fall to the person who wanted it more, but not necessarily be given to the most suitable player.

William presented the powerful weapons to the best possible person through nomination, taking the efficiency of future raids into consideration as well.

After recovering enough strength, William stood up and approached the mountain of treasure. Multiple windows opened, detailing the variety of items they won through the raid boss on his status screen. The name of the items conveyed how powerful they were.

That was normal. They were the first to defeat raid bosses above level 90. Reaching the top of the hill he had always yearned for, William was so calm that he even surprised himself.

'Eyes of Ruin-Chaos'

'Anti Fire Freezing Blade'

'Ouroboros Scale'

They were all fascinating. All participants of the raid could access the information. They pushed themselves and sat up, checking the windows floating in midair before William. Their hopeful gazes fell on the young man with silvery hair, who considered a while before saying to his teammates.

"'Laurel Talisman'. This…"

A metallic talisman with intrinsic gold markings.

Four petals formed a circle within the frame, a glorious piece of art made with expert craftsmanship.

"I think we should leave this for Black Heart Glasses."

Suddenly, the air became thin. This tingling tension you felt when entering hostile territory.

Federico sniffed the air and spoke softly, "It is getting warmer."

It was clear to all the raid participants that the raid in this zone was this zone was over. By rights, they still needed to take out '7th of the garden' Ruseato to clear the zone, but there was no need for that anymore. The zone had lost its hostility towards William's group, it was now a safe zone.

"It seems that guy has done something."

Dinkuron said as he brushed the dirt off his fringe.

The negotiation Shiroe mentioned before was probably a success. He was sure it would work, but William still felt a smile on his face when it really did.

"Well, this is a great item. It increases your durability and capabilities, a top class equipment. So, let's give it to… Black Heart. He is not part of Silver Sword, but he is still a battle brother."

Affirmative responses echoed throughout the pit.

As he listened to his comrades' answer that was full of pride, William began giving out the next item.

8

Four days after bidding farewell to William.

Shiroe's group landed on the highway bridge that was covered in greenery. Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Tetora waved good bye to the griffons, which left because their limited usage time was up. They strolled casually along the ancient asphalt road.

"Mr. Naotsugu is being so cold!"

"I'm not, I told you that I hate riding with a pillion because my armor is heavy!"

"Not this again, you keep using the same excuse. Are you reserving that spot for a special someone?"

"That hurts! What is with your sharp retorts?"

"Fufufu. Because I am an idol!"

Shiroe looked up to the sky as he listened to the two of them bicker.

A nice day out in the winter. It would probably last an hour or two during this season with the sun shining on Shiroe's path ahead.

Shiroe linked up with William's group after the raid, leaving the Palm tunnels for Susukino. It was a warm and happy journey, unlike their trip to Palm.

Demikas' attitude changed drastically. He was nonchalant as usual, but he didn't clash with the Silver Sword members anymore. He didn't converse with Shiroe's team as usual, but Shiroe was fine with that.

They chatted a lot with the members of Silver Sword during their way back to Susukino. They obtained practical intelligence, exchanging information of life after the Catastrophe.

Their discussion was not limited to just sharing their worries in this world.

Silver Sword had a good idea of Akiba's current situation. For the Adventurers who could communicate via telepathy, they could obtain information no matter how far away they were as long as they knew someone there. But Silver Sword was not too sure about the latest inventions and news. Shiroe felt there was no need to withhold his knowledge, and shared all he knew. In return, Shiroe learned about brand new ingredients they found in Ezzo Empire.

They spent the most time discussing the large amount of materials they won in the raid. Shiroe was given some of them, but Silver Sword kept the lion's share. If they wished for it, 8th District Shopping Center and Grandeur would be willing to visit Ezzo to trade with them. Silver Sword needed to sell their spoils of war to replenish their supplies too.

They gathered around the campfire every night, eating their diminishing supply of food. They discussed about the loot they obtained, the creation of new equipment, and what their future held… The topics were no different from the times when Elder Tales was still a game.

All the participants including Shiroe felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

They won the raid after enduring so much hardship.

There was no need for words, it was fine this way.

Naotsugu hummed as he polished his new gear. Tetora sat on a boulder and smiled as she swung her legs. Even Demiqas joined in with the usual scowl on his face, resting his head on his arms lazily. Shiroe continued to follow the discussion of Silver Sword as he watched this scene. This was a souvenir for his short journey.

He talked briefly with William.

William wanted to stay in Susukino. Titans had been roaming around as a field raid. This was no different than the Elder Tales game era, but new monsters would join in the fray infrequently. The 'Eyes of Mystery' explained to Shiroe clumsily how to repel them while healing at the same time, making preparations for the next raid. William added that he was worried about Susukino.

Shiroe nodded to acknowledge William's plans. He had no complaints about his decision. William was an outstanding guild master and this seemed to be the right call.

"Add me to your friend list."

William said. Even if you added someone to your friend list, you would not be registered with the other person's list. But you could call them if they were on your list, so there was no need to request for others to add you.

Shiroe understood that William meant to say 'Call me if you need help. '

William’s expression was milder than normal, probably feeling embarrassed.

"I already added you."

Shiroe replied.

"Good," William answered and lifted his hand as a gesture.

There were only a handful of elite raiding groups in Elder Tales. No matter how big a guild might be, they could only deploy a few raid groups. There were no more than 500 raiders in Yamato server, a number large enough that there wasn't a need to hang out persistently with the same group. There were plenty of chances for them to fight alongside each other. Shiroe learned this from William.

It was the same even if this was an alternate world. Shiroe thought that these relations existed when he was living back on earth, just that he didn't know. There were many people fighting along with Shiroe, just that he was not aware. This was quite a big discovery for Shiroe.

It was the same now too, Shiroe had many comrades just that they were not in the same guild.

Their main objective for returning to Susukino was to pick up ReGan. He had gotten used to living in a hotel, piling documents all over the place. Books he took from somewhere and notebooks filled with his writings surround him, making him look rather excited.

ReGan wouldn't be leaving Susukino for a while. There appeared to be some progress in the inter-city transport gate research. Shiroe bid good bye to ReGan and left Susukino. ReGan would need to investigate other transport gates, and promised to meet up with them in Akiba.

They rode continuously on the Griffons and finally arrived at Lightport. If the Griffons could last another 30 minutes to 1 hour, they would be able to reach Akiba easily, it was a pity they didn't have enough time. But the distance was not so far that they had to make camp for the night.

They walked for a while to warm themselves up and summoned horses, wanting to reach Akiba by the evening. Naotsugu and Tetora took it easy with this in mind.

"Wah, wait a minute, hey, don't climb up!"

"Can I climb up after waiting for a minute? Please answer."

"Are you acting like a kid and kidding me?"

"A kid won't smell as nice as me, fufufu."

"Where did you learn to talk like that… ah, hmmm? Woah, right."

Naotsugu stopped bickering with Tetora, putting her down as he dashed ahead before the summoned horse reached them, shouting "Sorry, my bad!" Tetora sat on her butt and pouted, then circled around Shiroe with a displeased expression.

"It's not going well. Is my charm lacking?"

"Don't go overboard when teasing him."

"It won't be fun if you don't toe the line."

Tetora puffed her chest out with a shining and confident expression. Shiroe shrugged.

"When are you going to tell him you are a boy?"

"I will keep it a secret until Mr. Naotsugu finds out, it's more fun that way."

"Now is an important time for Naotsugu emotionally, right?"

Regarding his relationship with Maryele.

Shiroe pondered about it. Although the man himself thought he kept the secret well, Shiroe and Nyanta had been silently supporting him from behind the scenes. But they were doing so with their heart, they had no intentions to meddle physically.

"Roger, leave it to me!" Tetora was all smiles, Shiroe sighed as he wasn't sure if Tetora really understood. Shiroe knew Tetora knew how to read the mood, but that didn't mean she would act appropriately.

Although he accepted it because of the flow of things, Shiroe was ultimately the one who allowed Tetora to join. He would feel bad if it troubled Naotsugu.

Aside from her pranks, Tetora was talented in both character and battle capability. She was the one who wanted to join anyway, and Shiroe's good friend also gave his recommendation.

"I didn't stay in Susukino because of Mr. Kazuhiko's order."

"I will take your word for it."

"If it were Mr. Shiroe… you can save more people than me."

"Log Horizon is not a charitable organization."

"But this world is not heartless enough for people to ignore each other’s plight, right? How troublesome."

She's right. Shiroe agreed with Tetora's world view.

Buying the guild building to protect Akiba before unrest troubled the city.

But that was not enough, so they purchased more zones.

But they couldn't pay the upkeep fees, so they undid the contract and forbade it from being owned privately.

Hence, Shiroe thought all of the entire Yamato server needed to break free from the system.

Their concept was logical.

The zone ownership system had the potential to bring tragedy in the future, this was clear to everyone. As the first to use the system, Shiroe felt that he had the responsibility to clean up the mess.

In order to execute his plans, he spent a long time contacting all sorts of people and even traveled to Ezzo Empire and an underground dungeon. This world was not simple at all.

(But this is just business as usual.)

When he thought about it, it had been this way since the Debauchery Tea Party days.

Unexpected events would happen when they executed their plans. Even if they felt their power was not enough, that had always been the case. "That was the star you were born under, don't give up!" Shiroe remembered KR's irresponsible words.

"Ah~!"

After going around the dangerous hill of debris, their vision broadened. Tetora pointed in front and rushed ahead. A group of people wearing clothes of differing colors right ahead waved their hands at Shiroe. Tetora kept her speed up, causing a stir in the crowd as Naotsugu tried to explain hurriedly.

Shiroe smiled awkwardly, advancing slowly with a warm feeling.

The chief, Minori, Tohya, Rundelhous, Isuzu, and Crescent Moon Alliance's members came to welcome them. Naotsugu was in a panic as Maryele and Tetora clung to him from either side; Henrietta smiled gently as she bowed quietly; Serara who looked so blissful beside Nyanta; Shouryuu and Hien were here too.

As Shiroe moved ahead and waved at the others, he felt a presence behind him and turned around.

"Did you grow taller?"

"My lord is so mean!"

His comment seemed to make Akatsuki unhappy, but she really looked more matured. Her new ninja garb and scarf seemed gentler compared to their meeting at the beach.

Shiroe couldn't help staring at her cute and petite face. "My lord, don't be so rude." Akatsuki dashed to Shiroe's back.

Shiroe's eyes followed Akatsuki as she hid under his arm. This scene was the same as usual, warming his heart.

Akatsuki also fought her own battles.

Just like his discovery on the white sandy beach, Akatsuki definitely brought something back too.

And she got stronger too.

The world was still turning.

While Shiroe was working hard, his comrades were also doing their best in other places. Just like William, he had many comrades running alongside him even though he couldn't see them. This was a reliable, lifesaving piece of information. After concluding his long journey, Shiroe returned to Akiba, uniting with comrades fighting alongside him once again.

Shiroe searched for the words to convey his understanding, but he couldn't do it smoothly because of the quiet happiness. But there was no hurry, there was still lots of time to do so.

Akatsuki looked up at him, waiting for him to say something.

"Akatsuki, I'm back."

"Welcome back, my lord."

The lost sparrow obtained her treasure after much hard work, returning to the tree branch to rest her wings.

Even though the stubborn guild master committed some mistakes along the way, he still fulfilled his mission and returned to his base.

The two of them were like children displaying their spoils of war, smiling as they greeted each other after returning home.

Afterword

Long time no see, everyone, and for those of you who are here for the first time, nice to meet you, I am Touno Mamare.

"Hey hey hey, how can you greet us with a straight face, didn't you say you'd publish this volume in the Fall (with self-derision)?" Sorry, sorry, I've been apologizing so much recently that it has become a habit. However, I reap what I sow. When the current book hits the bookstores, it should be time to welcome Christmas (as spoken by a great prophet). Thus, Mamare shall spoil your Christmas with the foul fruit of my own reaping! (Like a great demon king)

"Say, why did you use such a kind of statement as 'Nice to meet you' in your greeting?" That's right, it's because the Log Horizon TV anime has begun airing. By the time this book has reached you all, it should be halfway done. Thanks to everyone, the anime was splendidly made and I'm very certain that we have friends new to the series watching it.

Thank you all for buying "Log Horizon 7: Gold of the Kunie". Due to the aforementioned reasons, I hope this book can also find its way to new readers as well. Correction, this book could reach your hands not because of the power of prayers, but through the publisher's publication, the printer's printings, the dealer's hard work in distributing, and the bookstores putting them up for sale that this is made possible.

Putting this aside, coming up next, let's talk about the female protagonist of season two of the Afterword. That would be Mamare's editor, Miss F-ta. Everyone knows about the meetings authors have with their editors, right? The process where we argue over the writing and try our best to see eye-to-eye is very intense (referenced work: Moeyo Pen). The same goes for Miss F-ta and Mamare; we would spend day and night engaged in heated discussions.

"…"

"…"

"It's raining."

"That will deteriorate the mood."

"Have you already eaten?"

"I can still eat."

"Can we eat?"

"Let's eat then."

Without considering about when you last ate, thinking only "Can I eat this" might be the secret of youth. This is the reasoning that Mamare has learned. No, it's not this thought that makes me slack off and not do work.

Deciding based on "whether I can still eat or not," rather than how long has it been since my previous meal, perhaps this is the secret of youth. This is a fact that Mamare has learned. Nope, it's definitely not me trying to slack off.

Come to think of it, Miss F-ta's claim that "Women are carnivorous", as quoted in the previous Afterword, received quite a response. I tried asking around 20 women: "Do you like meat?" All of their responses were: "Yes, I like meat."

Really?

Seriously?

This is a culture shock for Mamare. So women love meat this much? No, I'm not denying that there are women who love eating meat, obviously such women do exist. However, I didn't expect the probability to be so high (from personal observation, 100%). Just in case, I tried asking Mamare (little sis), whose staple food is carrots, and she said, "Meat that's someone else's treat is very delicious." I always treat my little sister to meat. Once again, I've become smarter.

Talking about important events that have happened to Miss F-ta recently, she bought a new laptop. A MacBook Air, a really fine computer. She always uses this laptop, be it during meetings or her free time.

"Miss F-ta, using that laptop makes you look like a capable pink-collared worker."

"Ain't that right?"

"Yup."

Kachakachakachakachakacha, da! (smirk)

"You look cool."

Kachakachakachakachakacha, da! (smirk)

"You look cool."

Her gesture as she strikes the Enter key and her smug expression looking this way after that is really like an office lady's. Incidentally, Touno has never worked with an office lady in uniform before, so the office lady in this account is a delusion. A pink-collar worker who loves eating meat, and would sit in an amusement park teacup hollering, "Dammit!"

Dammit.

Following this report on recent events, I present to everyone Log Horizon 7.

Making friends is very difficult, even more so after entering working society.

To make new friends or maintaining friendship is very hard, and not only that, even accepting someone as a friend is difficult as well.

As students, we believe that we can be friends so long as we can do something for each other, and feel the need to prove our relationships with action.

After entering society, one would find that the things that we can do for our friends are terribly limited. Unable to share their burdens, nor solve their problems for them, we lament our inability to help out and wonder if we can call ourselves their friends.

Shiroe isn't good at making friends, but he's not the type that does not treasure them; he is definitely a person who hold his friends dear. Including Naotsugu and the new arrival Tetora, his companions and friends are gradually increasing. For guys to befriend each other is a troublesome and yet simple matter, all it takes is for them to just go wild in a raid, that's all.

Friendship is such that, we don't need the other party to do anything for us, nor do we need to do anything for them, and we can still treat each other as friends. In the first place, as outsiders, there's really not much that we can shoulder for each other.

At the most we could go for a meal together, and be the one to treat him to it.

The expenses for meat is nothing, of course I'll be happy to foot the bill.

The equipment on the character featured at the beginning of each chapter are the results of fan submissions sent through tweets during August 2013. The ideas we used were from @Dateryu, @IGM_masamune, @RN_oinu, @SakamotoRiji, @ebiusl, @haniwatw, @hige_mg, @hpsuke, @iron007dd22, @kane_yon, @kuroyagi6, @makiwasabi, @makotoTRPG, @me_pon, @momon_call, @roqku, @sig_cat, @yamaneeeeee, thank you all! Even though a lot of the submissions did not make it into publication, I am still grateful to all those who participated. In fact, Mamare received a lot of overseas submissions, there are readers from various countries supporting Log Horizon!

For detailed and up-to-date information, please visit http://mamare. net. The website also offers information on Mamare's works outside of Log Horizon as well as information about the anime. Come to think of it, the TRPG is coming out as well.

As we move to a close, I am grateful to Mr. Masuda Shoji who oversees the publication (thank you for taking time out frequently to participate in the anime's screenwriting discussions), our illustrator Hara Kazuhiro-sensei (Tetora is so cute), the Tsubakiya Agency for the layout designs, and the petite Ms. F-ta from the editorial department! Mr. Osako took great care of me this time too! Finally, I would also like to thank Mr. Kosuda and Mr. Nishi from the printers for accommodating to my unreasonable requests, thank you both of you! Sorry for submitting my drafts so late!

All that's left is for everyone to enjoy this volume to your heart's content, please help yourself!

Touno "My dream is to buy a new laptop and practice typing in a stylish manner" Mamare

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