Log Horizon Volume 7 (1/2)

Chapter 1: Shiroe in the North

1

The dim red Fox Light illuminated the luxurious room.

Unlike the Bug Light common in Akiba, it was a weak flame. It could not light up such a spacious room. The flickering fire shone in the room unevenly, casting shadows everywhere.

The room which seemed to be empty had an occupant.

A woman with black hair curled up in the dark with a shawl wrapped around her.

But the room didn't look desolate.

This was a room outfitted with extravagant furniture. A beautiful cotton couch, walls adorned with damask, a bed with a canopy and a table made from marble. But you couldn't feel the tender usage of the owner in these items. They were simply commanded to be displayed there, giving off a mechanical atmosphere akin to strangers.

Nureha who appeared to be hiding amongst the shadows of the furniture was mulling away a sleepless night as usual.

She could see papers pouring down like a waterfall from a small round table in her field of vision. A document which seemed to be filled with some words was stained with a red mark like a flower. On closer inspection, it appeared to be red wine.

Nureha focused on the scenery in this dim room.

It was impossible to read the small words written with dedication on the papers in such a dark room. Nureha was just using her eyes to oppose these documents as well as the illusions that were rising from the darkness.

All sorts of things emerged from the darkness, most of them being blurry white humanoid figures.

The figures with hazy outlines were conversing in tiny voices beyond the range of Nureha's hearing, stealing glances at Nureha. The smoke-like shadows with hazy faces seemed to be judging her as they looked at her tauntingly.

Nureha clenched her fist as she glared at them.

Sometimes the illusions could solidify, Nureha had seen such a frighteningly big arm materialized before. If the hand grabbed Nureha's hair, it would drag her towards the white figures.

Nureha let out a feral growl, she learned that the shadows would dissipate if she did that.

She covered her ears to block out the curse like sounds, mulling away the night.

This guild house with 16 luxurious rooms was for Nureha's personal use. Aside from Nureha, there were less than 10 people with the right to access the guild building. At this late hour, only the People of the Land maid on duty might visit.

Nureha spent the seemingly endless night alone in the shadows.

She didn't have the memory of what she had done to deserve this. A deep fatigue encompassed her. Her blood that had turned cold circulated around her limbs as heavy as sandbags, the world was as depressing as a city sunk underwater.

This was normal. She had always felt this way.

The nights were lonely even with this Adventurer body.

She lifted her slender hand before her eyes.

Thin, white and tender, fingers that were like a delicate piece of art.

Like a bewitching sculpture, her nails glittered with a pink glow.

Her flawless skin extended down from her fingertips. Her arm seemed to lack warmth, but was soft to the touch.

Joyous feelings she could not suppress were mixed together with the disgusting darkness.

Even though Nureha did not acknowledge the high value of her body, she understood why others fell heads over heels for her. It was a rotten happiness. Enchanting fingers which were much more alluring than her real life self seemed to be caressing the darkness as they moved.

With a sweet husky voice, fragrance of flowers and clothes that fit snugly over the curves of her body, these were things others craved for. If she thought of it this way, an impure sense of joy welled up.

The white figures that claimed the area around the fallen documents let out a short burst of laughter of contempt. The white figures seemed to be accusing her with groans, but the winds had turned. Nureha was not enduring the pain like before.

Nureha wore her blanket like a mantle as she cawed like a bird.

She thought this was a sound that boded misfortune.

She couldn't let out such a loud and irritating voice in front of anyone, be it the young head of the ruling clan, the chief Sentinal Roreiru, Zerudeyusu or Nakarunado. Tempting others with her alluring honeyed voice was the norm for Nureha. It had always been like this before, and would continue to be in the future.

She thought she was boring.

She thought she was silly.

Even though she thought this way, the crowd craved after the boring and silly Nureha and continued to fight, sigh and belittle others in order to show their own superiority.

Those who looked down on Nureha and accused her of endangering the world were now willing to give their whole fortune and even lives for Nureha's sweet husky voice. This was the weapon and armor Nureha used to mill away the endless night. It allowed Nureha to forget the pain momentarily as the screams of all those fighting over her drowned out the sorrow.

The people who worshiped the worthless Nureha like treasure seemed so silly. The silliness granted Nureha warmth and a numbing sense of healing and sweetness.

Just looking at them gave Nureha so much joy. On top of that, just by observing the bickering of the dull people around Nureha, she confirmed once again that the world was worthless just like she was.

She couldn't help but smile when she remembered the warning given by an Adventurer with a pallid face

'-- This world is not a game. We have to struggle for our survival.'

Nureha was aware of the sinister smile she was showing.

What a foolish thing to say. Meaningless. What's the use of saying this now. Nureha thought they were still half asleep. The young Adventurer who said this was now a member of Plant hwyaden, working and dedicating his life for the guild. Was joining a guild and becoming a worker ant the struggle he was talking about?

Foolish.

Just hours after the Catastrophe, Nureha swindled all the money, food, weapons and armor of the Adventurers around her. It was too easy. They believed all the ridiculous lies she told them after falling into a panic.

A couple of days later, Nureha obtained information of this new world through the dedication of her devotees. After giving up on thinking because of the shock of the Catastrophe, they followed Nureha without question. With her gentle words soothing them, distracting them from their worries, Nureha was able to organize them, and became the richest Adventurer in Minami.

One month after the Catastrophe, she was able to gain control of the Guards in the south after mastering her 'Over level' skill.

The coup was over without anyone knowing it. With her overwhelming military force, Nureha negotiated with the aristocrats and rulers of the People of the Land, amassing even more wealth. With this, buying the cathedral was a piece of cake.

That's right, it was that simple.

This was the struggle for survival the young Adventurer warned her about as if it were some guarded secret.

This was beyond the realms of silliness.

She even hated the young man for being so naive.

This world was not a game. Nureha laughed from the bottom of her heart when she heard this. Nureha was thankful for his naive words. People became trusting when faced with disasters they had never seen before and then turned into cattle ready for slaughter.

Looking at the serious and desperate face of the youth, she was tempted to vent her dark emotions, but she maintained her attitude of a loving big sister. She was aware that this was the mask he wanted the most.

But the impulse to laugh continued to fill Nureha's heart.

She knew. She had always known.

Nureha had never played around.

She only treated Elder Tales as a game or entertainment in the very beginning.

For most players, Elder Tales was just a MMO computer game, but it was a battlefield without mercy for Nureha.

If she stopped shedding blood and tears, she would be forgotten.

If she were forgotten, she would disappear from this world.

If a person were not sought after or cherished by someone else, it would be the same as being dead. No, it would be worse than death.

Being dead might just be a vast emptiness, but to live life without any meaning, without anyone caring about you, just treating you like dirt was unlike a peaceful death. Being an unimportant flawed presence your whole life, that was an unending hell.

In order to gain the goodwill of others, in order to make others love her, in order to make them fight for her, Nureha dedicated herself to research with abandon.

Nureha knew about hell, she knew the burning sensation of solitude.

No matter the hardship, it was a hundred times better than being ignored by others. The fruits of her research allowed her every gesture and word to garner the favor of others, who Nureha discarded like trash onto the floor, and then she repeated the process with new victims.

Nureha thought that they deserved it. It was a ritual to prove 'your feelings for me are worthless'. Only players whose eyes had been muddled by selfish wants would present their goodwill to the twisted Nureha.

'-- We have to struggle for our survival.'

A comedic line.

It seemed to suggest that there was no need to fight for survival in their old world.

Maybe that was true. Maybe that was the case for that youth. Maybe he was pampered in his life, or maybe there was something wrong with his head. When she thought of this, she felt the impulse to laugh out loud, as the darkness and hatred inside her swelled.

From what Nureha knew, every moment was a battle for survival. Be it the old world or this one, that didn't change.

Analyze the system, find the weakness, make them careless, manipulate them, earn their trust, betray them, take everything from them. These were the basic rules of the world. To say it out loud to show your determination was beyond stupid.

She was aware of the reason she gained control of Minami so easily.

Nureha planned this from the very beginning. Of the tens of thousands of Adventurers wandering this world, Nureha was the only one to see this as reality and not just a game from the very beginning. This was the norm for Nureha after all.

Nureha garnered the goodwill of others just like when Elder Tales was just a game, while walking the thin line of sowing discord and gaining the favor of others. She had always been chasing after the advantage for herself. That was why she was beloved by the people and became the center of Plant hwyaden. The world chose Nureha and she obtained happiness. She obtained everything!

She listened to the sound of her own breathing while glaring at the shadows.

Why was she, the chosen one, in such a pitiful state? Nureha shivered as she hugged her tail like a pillow.

Why was she cowering like a wounded beast, struggling to mill the night away with bated breath?

Nureha ground her teeth and her fox ears fidgeted.

She lifted her head and looked up, the door which shaped the light into a rectangle opened, with the figure of the maid in the middle.

"Lady Nureha."

"..."

Nureha averted her eyes, blatantly ignoring her words. The maid who oversaw the actual operations, Indicus. Although she was Nureha's key advisor, Nureha was totally not interested in her. On further thought, she might be a woman who was haunting Nureha like some sort of curse.

"You are not sleeping on the bed again."

"..."

Nureha looked at the silhouette of Indicus standing against the light at the door.

In place of her usual emotionless mask, Indicus was smiling. Although she only showed this smile to Nureha, Nureha felt her stomach cramping every time she saw it. No matter how she tried to cleanse herself, no matter how she attempted to mask it, Nureha still felt the pungent smell similar to the arm reaching out for her from the darkness.

"Are you thinking about Shiroe?"

"..."

Nureha kept on staring.

But Indicus wouldn't back off or disappear from intimidation like the white figures.

Indicus continued to wear her smile like a sticker on her face, glided in and bent down to look at Nureha.

Nureha bit her lips when she smelled cold steel as Indicus came near her. It was the taste of clean blades that didn't match well with women.

"Is that it?"

"Don't talk about him."

Her furious words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

It had always been this way. Of all the demands Nureha made, Indicus refused to oblige on this one thing. Indicus was willing to give up everything for this one.

"I told you so didn't I? Of course I did. That man won't do. It didn't work despite all your efforts. That man has no worries to hold him back. He has always been like this. He is not a normal player, just background noise who has some minor accomplishments... Hey, Nureha?"

Pain and horror seeped into Nureha's view.

"That man is beyond your grasp. He is just a traitor with a little street smarts. Or rather, he has an obsession with cleanliness. And you stink like the sewers."

She knew it was coming and had braced herself, but Indicus' remark still stung like salt on a wound. The countless memories she had suppressed in the darkness squirmed in Nureha's chest like restless spirits.

That was what the white figures had been whispering about.

It was the past Nureha had already left behind in the old world.

"Who do you expect to approach and caress you? A filthy, broken hobo like you? Aren't you nothing but a stowaway on a train? Even the specks of dust on you are lies. The truth is that your past smells more pungent than an open sewage cover. Wearing your disgusting smile, with no control over your desires as you gaze longingly over to our side, a lowlife like you?"

The intense terror that held a stranglehold over Nureha awoke.

The plastic plates. Soup with pieces of trash mixed in. Hiding in the narrow storage compartment, hoping to evade detection. Her belongings were hidden from her, having to walk barefooted on the road. Memories of hiding in the bushes, not wanting her family to find her. The memories of all her failures.

"Please face the truth. Don't ever hope that someone like you can connect socially with anyone. That's right, a dirty woman like you will only be able to make a contract with someone like me."

She grit her teeth to hold back the feeling of nausea.

It worked this time.

Lucky.

To hide her weakness, Nureha had to keep her eyes wide open. Indicus told the truth. But she could not bring herself to say it out loud. Nureha knew better than anyone else how filthy and disgusting she was.

But knowing it yourself and someone bringing it up were two different matters.

"Because you are a princess that looks nice from afar but is far from nice."

Indicus pulled Nureha up by her ears, threatening to tear the fox ears off of the glaring Nureha.

"That's why I told you it is troubling for you to run off to Akiba, Nureha. Please use some common sense. Things are different from your time in the saloon. You have a castle filled with mannequins you collected now. I am going to secure the Yamato server properly this time. Isn't that our deal, Nureha?"

Nureha's hope and dreams.

A dream she bet everything on so she wouldn't have to go back to that place.

She was literally willing to do whatever it took to not go back. That's why she teamed up with Indicus. This was Nureha's castle, the city that never slept with its bright lights and wonderful reputation.

"You want to make a home of your own?"

Nureha nodded defiantly in order to hide her weak side from Indicus.

"Is that so. The Conference of the Ten is about to begin."

Indicus seemed to have lost interest in the current Nureha. It was impossible for Nureha to attend all the meetings too, she had no interest in the actual operation of the guild.

"Because you are our honorable princess. Allow me to bear the message on your behalf. Because you are our precious guild master, Nureha."

Indicus' footsteps grew distant as she left after leaving some sympathetic words as a parting gift.

Nureha was losing herself in her cursed past and self loathing, curling even more tightly into a ball and hugging her tail close.

Her extremities felt painful and cold. The blanket wrapped around her body felt heavy and didn't bring her any warmth.

Her heartbeat grew erratic, her vision turned dark like an anemic attack.

Terrible experiences and shameful recollections welled up, threatening to pull Nureha back to the old world. Indicus' remarks were spot on, forcing Nureha to fight the puppet-like figures alone.

But a hint of a smile grew on Nureha's lips.

'... That's right, a dirty woman like you will only be able to make a contract with someone like me.'

That's not true.

Things are different now.

Such a contract was just a verbal agreement that you couldn't bring yourself to voice out. It was even less binding than remarks between strangers who happened to meet on the streets. Aside from her contract with Indicus, Nureha made another promise with someone else.

'... it is better to be your enemy, your wish would more likely be fulfilled this way.'

The young man whom Indicus had dismissed as useless left these parting words for Nureha, offering some meager support for her.

The dull rings of the bell from somewhere far away told her it was 9pm.

The hands on the face of the clock seemed to be clogged with glue, moving so slow that the night seemed endless. The bodies of Adventurers were able to move effortlessly even when they felt sleepy. This physical advantage became the lock that trapped Nureha in the dungeon of nightfall. She alternated endlessly between dozing off and waking up startled.

Nureha waged her battle tonight in her room as usual. "One day, I will definitely..." Nureha uttered this prayers as she fell into shallow slumber.

2

A group of men and women gathered in the weird room.

Ornaments adorned the pillars and drapes hung on the walls. Flowers were displayed from vases with delicate designs, the tables and chairs were plated with gold. But they paled in comparison to the lively congregation.

The 8 members with colorful personalities and their posse.

"Where did Indicus go?"

A man wearing clothes like a court official's and glasses asked.

"She went to visit our princess. It shouldn't take long. Don't worry, Zerudeyusu."

The woman in military attire replied.

"It has been a while since the appointed time of 'when the moon rises' right?"

"The princess has always been like this."

"Those two should just marry each other."

The young voices filled with arrogance joined in with interest, mixing with one another.

This room was shaped like a stairwell, with the steps about 4 cm apart . Instead of steps, it was closer to a series of platforms with ascending height, an interesting room. Each platform had an unique style, bringing with it an unique flavor.

There were leather couches and chairs on most platforms, some had tables and bookshelves. There were ten platforms. The arched doors at the edges of the room were also placed at differing heights for each platform. The positions of the doors also reflected the status of the owner of each platform. The unorthodox structure of the room represented the relationships among the group.

Kazu hugged his sword and sat on his chair, surveying the room. This was the Conference of the Ten. This was the meeting that decided the policies of the south, the meeting of its core group.

The attendees of the Conference of the Ten were known as the ten seats or seat generals.

There were only two absentees. The guild master Nureha and Indicus who went to get her.

Indicus should be showing up soon. But it was hard to say whether Nureha would show up. She was whimsical and seemed uninterested in the operations of the guild, missing most meetings of such nature. For a mammoth organization, the decision of the founder and leader Nureha was unnecessary for everyday operations. The members had grown used to the absence of Nureha.

This was a periodical Conference of the Ten. Kazu was not aware of any special issues to be discussed.

But that didn't mean he could let his guard down.

The relationships between the seat generals were complicated. It was unique as the guild was formed by absorbing all the Adventurers in the west of Yamato. It was fundamentally different from a guild formed by friends or people with similar interest in MMOs such as Elder Tales. This colossal organisation made from lots of guilds had the goal of helping the Adventurers survive in this alternate world. It had been with this goal in mind from the very beginning.

Although there were individuals that called for equality similar to normal guilds, the fact remained that they were divided into various cliques. People with a normal level of street smarts were able to understand this.

And there was more.

To found such a gigantic guild, Nureha had pulled the Guards from the south to her side from the very beginning. The Guards from the south were under the jurisdiction of the Itsuki clan. It was an order that worked for the People of the Land from the very start.

As the guild master, Nureha obtained the status and power that matched her position, the 'Councillor of the West'.

The senate that ruled alongside the Itsuki clan had also displayed great interest in the rise of Nureha and wanted to get on her good side.

Minami was built on the delicate balance between the cliques among the Adventurers, the Itsuki clan and the senate of the People of the Land.

Kazu represented one of these factions.

The security organisation 'Wolves of Mibu' kept Minami safe, keeping bribery and fraud at bay.

But in actual fact, it was Kazu's private army.

'Wolves of Mibu' was set up by Kazu and his allies, determined to stop the corruption in the south. Their influence was limited in Minami, but they managed to obtain a seat within the Conference of the Ten as an official department within the guild.

Behind Kazu were two bodyguards dressed in black. Few seat generals attended meetings with guards.

Bringing guards was meaningless for this conference. It was just a superficial front.

Kazu squinted his eyes and looked towards the seat on the top platform.

The top seat was a delicately crafted throne for a queen that seemed to be from a fairy tale.

This empty seat belonged to the guild master of Plant hwyaden, Nureha.

One step down was the tea server and silver cart. A round seat that appeared unused. There was no one there, but it actually belonged to the no. 2 seat of the council. It was the seat of the maid Indicus.

Both of them were still absent.

The meeting would probably begin when Indicus showed up.

The 3rd platform was spacious, with a chair that looked practical flanked by large file cabinets. A man with glasses was filling in numbers and instructions on a form. He had a mean and squeamish feel about him. He raised his head and blurted out tacky comments from time to time. The 3rd seat known as the spy tower, Jack.

The man in charge of finance and development, the iron blooded minister.

Further down a woman in military dress relaxed on her seat, with wine bottles littered on the floor. The fourth seat Mistal Torti, general of the east. The strongest general from the senate and the commander in chief of the People of the Land army vanguard.

"Another idle day without any scent of blood. I am rotting here. I have so much time, I won't mind waiting for the moon to set if I get to battle."

She maintained her beauty even after the age of thirty. Instead of the rigidness of a military woman, she had the swagger of a cold criminal. Sitting in the middle of a 2 person couch, she rested her arms over the back of the couch in a relaxed manner.

"Didn't you come here for the high grade wine, Lander?"

An Adventurer of immense proportions teased while seated in his leather chair. The fifth seat. The general of the south, Nakarurano. His armor that was comparable to construction machines showed everyone clearly that he was a Guardian.

Mistal did not take any offence at his words, replying "That's right" without much thought.

"That's smooth." Nakarurano replied with a bitter face and raised the empty glass in his hand. A maid with a presence as faint as dirt on the wall appeared like a spirit and poured wine into the glass.

These two generals were in charge of offensive warfare.

They led the People of the land army and the Adventurer army respectively.

Mistal was ranked higher among the ten seats because the Adventurers in the council wanted to appease the elders in the senate. In terms of actual military might, Nakarurano's army was actually several times more powerful than Mistal's army. In the old world, Nakarurano was the guild master of the strongest guild in Kansai, 'Howling'. His dominance in the past still had influence among the factions in Plant hwyaden.

"Getting sleepy here. Really, why are we having the conference at night."

The 6th seat 'Prophet Quon' complained as he stretched his back.

"You are always sleepy, even in the day."

Zerude commented without lifting his head from his books. At first glance, he looked like a normal guy in shirt and jeans you could find in any corner on the streets. The only fantasy theme clothing is the cloak on his shoulder to ward off the cold.

"I am just standing by for the 'GM call'."

The other participants laughed bitterly upon hearing this.

The young man Quon had neither the ability nor interest in becoming one of the seat generals. But when Elder Tales was just a game, he was a game master. Game masters had game avatars similar to Adventurers, and would investigate any reported game errors and mediate any disputes between players, the operating staff in the game world. In simpler terms, they were customer service officers.

As an employed staff of F.O.E, he was well versed in how the game operated and was knowledgeable in many aspects of the game. He did not log in from the special mainframe from the company, but was online from his home computer; that's why he was affected by the Catastrophe as well. Although most of his abilities as a game master had been sealed, there was still a chance that he could contribute with his deep understanding of the game. That was the reason why he was one of the seat generals.

'GM call' was one of the game master abilities Quon retained, allowing him to receive pop up notifications of events happening within the Yamato server. He was also able to receive messages from F.O.E as well, but he had not been contacted since the Catastrophe. The event notification had been limited to timed and triggered events.

"Are you telling us that the connection with the upper world is fading?"

One step below Kazu, the old man in the eighth seat said with stifled laughter.

"Shut up. The continued supervision of system messages was decided by the conference right?"

The old man laughed as he watched Quon's bashful attitude. There was a hint of cloudy cruelty behind his laughing eyes. The 8th seat, the Sage of Mirror Lake, Jerad Gan. The leading authority on People of the Land magic and history. With his knowledge and magic powers, he pushed the frontier of development of new techniques together with Zerude.

"Our princess... will probably be absent tonight too."

The ninth seat Roreiru Dawn, the chief Sentinal, mumbled to himself when the talented beauty dressed in a maid outfit, Indicus, entered the hall. Her footsteps akin to striking the floor resonated like a bell announcing the beginning of the show.

"Let's start the Conference of the Ten. Let's begin with the report on the social welfare facility in the city."

Indicus forewent the opening address and started the conference abruptly. And this topic had been on the top of the agenda recently. Kazu held his breath like a submarine, keeping his heart cool and collected.

Minami was a peaceful and prosperous city.

But this was built on the exploitation of the People of the Land. There were 10,000 Adventurers living in Minami; the number of People of the Land was 3 times this number. Although the People of the Land operated many eateries and lodging rentals, most of them did this as serfs.

Serfs were People of the Land who provided services for the Adventurers. It was popular as it relieved Adventurers from the hassle of everyday life chores while providing the People of the Land with relatively high remuneration. But this in turn led to the development of troublesome issues. The prosperity of Minami was constructed with the cover up of this filth and corruption in mind.

The conference carried on as Kazu's mind drifted away.

The biggest policy the governing body of Minami was pushing for was the administration of Guildpass.

The People of the Land residing in Minami and affiliated with Plant hwyaden could collect their pass at the state run office. The Guildpass was divided into many ranks, allowing the holder to enjoy free services at corresponding restaurants and hotels befitting their status. This would eliminate the need for members to bring a wallet when going out. The Guildpass was issued free of charge and could be renewed every 3 months, which would contribute to the economical development of Minami in the future.

Kazu renewed his resolve as he listened to the glamorous report.

Things were definitely going to get ugly.

He understood the benefits of Guildpass. It would guarantee the minimum quality of life for Adventurers who were avoiding fighting monsters for loot. It would also enable more meaningful policies for Plant hwyaden, such as purchasing management. But this came at the expense of the People of the Land. Wolves of Mibu existed to uphold justice in the city. This meant protecting the weak. In order to lessen the suffering of the People of the Land who were being ignored by the Adventurers, Kazu's group fought on.

The conference breezed through the survey report of Nakasu and the raiding grounds, and moved on to the situation in Akiba.

"Seems like Akiba is sending a campaign army towards the northeast."

"That appears to be so."

Nakarunado replied to Indicus' query.

"It consists of 5 legions led by the 'Berserker' Krusty. Agent One reports that members from Blackswords, HiRyuji and Mad Hatters are also taking part."

Both Akiba and Minami were troubled by the affairs with the People of the Land in different ways.

Just like Minami working together with the leaders of clan Itsuki, Akiba was collaborating with the People of the Land in the League of Freedom Towns. The seat generals felt the deciding factor was the speed difference in political change between Akiba and Minami.

Minami was able to secure a stable social environment, better quality of life and development of technology before Akiba, and had outstanding achievements in every facet of life. For the Adventurers trapped in this alternate world, Minami provided a stable livelihood that was highly valued by the players. That was the happiness of Adventurers living in Minami.

"Black Heart Glasses is missing too."

The tenth seat pulled up his sleep mask and chipped in.

The 'Transforming Jester' was lounging on his beach chair made from canvas and a wooden frame. His brief words seemed to suck the life out of the conference, quieting everyone down.

"Black Heart Glasses is missing too," the tenth seat repeated as the room remained strangely silent. "I am not sure if he is with the campaign to the northeast, but he is definitely covering his tracks."

His smile appeared more ferocious than delirious. Wearing a cloak with tattered edges, the skinny Summoner was a member of the Debauchery Tea party, KR.

KR smiled mischievously as he looked up at the others from the lowest platform.

"What should we do, Indicus? The noise refusing to stick to your plans is running off again."

3

Naotsugu closed the heavy wooden door and dusted off the snow on his body.

For Naotsugu, the snow storm brewing outside was just a gentle breeze with snowflakes. It should be early noon right now, but the thick clouds made the surroundings dark and cold.

Thanks to his anti-freeze equipment, Naotsugu was able to move in the snow, but it still hindered his movements. As a Guardian, Naotsugu was covered in full armor from head to toe, not equipment fit for traveling in the snow. Naotsugu was able to maneuver in such adverse weather because of his body as an Adventurer.

"Naotsugu...?"

"I'm back..."

Naotsugu replied to Shiroe's voice which came from the depths of the cabin.

Naotsugu unfastened and removed his gauntlets. These gloves were a state of the art production class item that didn't exist when Elder Tales was just a game. This hand made armor was more versatile than loot the level 90 Naotsugu was able to obtain in raids. As they were made by hand after the Catastrophe, he was unable to take them off with the use of the game menu.

Instead of a gauntlet, it felt closer to being a weapon in terms of weight. Naotsugu took off and stored his equipment in his magic bag one by one. Under his imposing armor were indoor clothes and 3/4 pants. He was as casual now as he was back in the old world.

On this snowy mountain, the builders of this cabin were very practical with their design. The house was made from 2 layers of thick walls, with hay stuffed between them.

Reinforced by the thick curtains, the cabin maintained a comfortable temperature.

After taking off his thick boots, Naotsugu stuck his toes inside his indoor shoes. With his habits of taking his socks off when he returned home, others tended to tease him for acting like an old man. But he kept this habit since he was a kid, so he disliked it when others pointed this out.

"How was it?"

"All is well. The wind is blowing and the snow is falling."

"I don't think the snow will stop even if you cry."

"Crying is for shrimps."

"Don't talk about others behind their backs."

In Japanese terms, this room was about 10 tatami mats big.

The fireplace was burning brightly. Shiroe was sitting on a thick rug, surrounded by dozens of notes and maps. Naotsugu recognized some of them. The map of the region they were in... Notes and legends were written in red words, summarizing Naotsugu's observations from the past week.

Although it was warm and comfortable in the cabin, they had been away from their friends in Akiba for about a week. Naotsugu looked around moodily.

"Where is the tiny old man?"

"He is not an old man yet. I think he is around 30 years old?"

"But he looks just like one when he laughs."

Shiroe was not wearing his trademark white cloak today. He carefully tidied his logs without looking up at Naotsugu.

"Need help?"

"Thanks, but no need. I will be done really soon."

"That so, alright."

He must be focusing.

In order to not disturb Shiroe, Naotsugu took a seat on the fur rug.

"..."

"..."

Shiroe took out a notebook and placed it beside his logs to write something down. There were no typewriters or computers in this world. Although Shiroe seemed to have a hard time consolidating his reports, Naotsugu would definitely be rejected if he offered to help. Shiroe had always been that stubborn.

He's been this way since the day they met. Naotsugu started to reminiscence.

In the Debauchery Tea Party days, the topic of hanging out together for a meal came up. Since this was a server based game, the members must be residing somewhere in Japan. It was unlikely for everyone to join in, but there were still 5 members living in Kanto.

Shiroe was drinking black tea the first time they met.

Is that Oolong tea? Naotsugu asked, and then received an explanation of the difference between oolong and black tea from Shiroe. It took 30 minutes, and somehow led to the topic of the political situation in Taiwan and tea investment in general. Back then, the big news was the European Union going through the 'Vital Fall', so normal college students wouldn't know about the subject of Taiwan politics and the economy of tea.

This offline meeting was the start of Naotsugu and Shiroe's friendship.

Both of them were in university and lived about an hour's bicycle ride away from each other. Having friends not from your school was also a precious relationship. He would bring Shiroe, who preferred to stay indoors, to hang out from time to time.

There were times when they had been blindsided by the willfulness of Kanami.

Go to the fish paste factory in Odawara. They were on the verge of losing it when Kanami said that. But it was a fun trip when they went over, and more importantly, the fish paste was delicious. Naotsugu thought that Kanami's character and penchant for tasty food was top notch.

And so, Naotsugu and Shiroe spent a lot of time together.

Having gotten used to the silent Shiroe, Naotsugu stretched out his legs and relaxed. He did this from time to time when he was in school and was still doing this in Log Horizon.

The heat from the fireplace radiated to his toes which had been buried in the snow. The numbness melted away as he regained the warmth in his body.

Naotsugu twisted his body and took out a metallic flask and cups from his magic bag deftly.

He poured Mog milk into the cup. Crushing the Mog fruit and adding it to milk gave it a taste similar to banana milk on earth.

Naotsugu grunted as he passed one of the cups to Shiroe, who took it and mumbled "Kay". They drank the Mog milk that was slightly too sweet. That's what friends were for. There were quiet times, and there were times when they talked passionately about stuff.

"Shiroe and the old man's snowy mountain prison party."

Naotsugu was muttering nonsense not because he was malicious, but because he was bored.

"Do you miss the crowd, Naotsugu?"

"Yeah. There is nothing around here."

"It feels really rural."

Naotsugu was amazed by Shiroe's reply.

The cabin was a restricted zone, with the snowy mountain zone just outside being a square field zone 64km wide. There was only one Adventurer in this field zone. He checked before entering the cabin with his Border Patrol ability, so that was definitely it. This was not a rural area, it was the wilderness. Tear Stone was like a deserted island in the Yamato server.

"Speaking of which, where were you born, Shiroe?"

"Tokyo."

Naotsugu sighed when he heard this curt reply. Tokyo people were really troublesome. They couldn't even differentiate between a rural area and the wilderness.

The speechless Naotsugu used his arms as a pillow and lay down.

About ten days ago, he received a request from Shiroe to watch over their home. He planned to leave Akiba for a trip, that's why he was asking Log Horizon for assistance. Naotsugu rejected him in a second and ended up here.

He didn't ask where they were going or what they were going to do. But he knew there was going to be trouble so he tagged along. The others might think Shiroe could make the trip alone, but Naotsugu knew Shiroe would need backup. He could tell just by looking at Shiroe's face.

If everyone understood that it was necessary, Shiroe would open up and call for help from the others. If it were necessary for everyone to join in, he would not hesitate to ask the rest to join in. Because it was hard to explain why he had to do this himself.

Naotsugu thought Shiroe had grown since the Crescent Burger incident, but it seemed that it was not that simple for someone to do things contrary to their nature.

Naotsugu thought that Shiroe was too stubborn, but he felt that this was his nature.

This was a weakness of Shiroe although he had many good points to balance this out. But the problem was that Shiroe held back too much. With his intelligence, he should push his dumb friends harder to stride forward. As Shiroe's old friend, Naotsugu thought he qualified.

When Shiroe strode forward willfully, he was usually able to achieve a bright future.

If Shiroe intended to watch such sceneries, Naotsugu did not want to give up his front row seat.

"I think it is about time to explain why I have to be imprisoned in a cabin on this snowy mountain."

"You are not trapped. We are just living in this secluded place."

"Shiroe, that is why you have no luck with girls."

"I mean it is peaceful here."

With Shiroe's nature, he was actually half serious in his reply, what a pain.

"... I'm holed up here because I don't want anyone to know my whereabouts. There are no problems yet, but considering future events, I don't want others to preempt my plans."

Shiroe ended the jokes and explained slowly.

"Anyway, the goal this round is money. I'm looking for a way to generate lots of money. In order to do this, I have to convince someone."

"That old man?"

Naotsugu recalled their companion. The small sized People of the Land elf sage, just staying next door. Literally.

"Ah, that is someone else. ReGan is a chess piece for the battle this time. He is part of the persuading party, I can't do this alone. He is famous here after all."

"I can't tell from his looks."

"Does the Sage of Mirror Lake ring a bell?"

Naotsugu understood now. Shiroe was talking about that guy.

The Sage of Mirror Lake was a well known NPC in the MMORPG Elder Tales. But even so, Naotsugu had never seen him appear in the game before. He was a sage that was referenced often in the rumors and legends of the game. In the raid '9 Prisons of Heroes' he took part in during the Debauchery Tea Party days, he was mentioned in the background lore.

"So that guy really exists."

"Yes he does."

"But why are we in the deep mountains to think about money making plans? Why not borrow some from the Round Table Council if we need cash?"

"Well," Shiroe crossed his legs and sighed with a troubled look. "The amount is rather big this time."

Naotsugu started to feel a headache.

The 'rather big' Shiroe was saying could not be trusted. The 'rather big' he mentioned last time when he schemed to buy the guild building could make anyone's face pale.

"Exactly how much?"

"The total is 80 trillion."

Deranged, you couldn't describe this amount in any other way.

Even if every Adventurer in Yamato server had 10,000 gold, you couldn't reach that amount by pooling everyone's money. Not just Yamato server, it couldn't be done if you added in the wealth of every Adventurer in the world, an impractical amount. Naotsugu looked at Shiroe slack jawed. Shiroe furrowed his brows and mumbled to himself.

Naotsugu understood when he looked at the mumbling Shiroe. Shiroe wasn't joking or having any other intentions in mind. He was seriously contemplating how to earn this amount.

"So, can we earn it?"

"Not all of it, we will need to divide it lot of times... bit by bit."

It was still an astronomical figure no matter how small a bit he divided it, Shiroe smiled bitterly.

"This will be tough. Tell me more about the scheme you are thinking about."

"There are no schemes. We will simply have to beg for it. We have to convince him no matter what."

"Convince who? How?"

As the two of them sipped Mog milk and conversed, the door to the room beside them opened and a robed man appeared.

"Master Shiroe. Seems like our guest has arrived."

A People of the Land mage with shifty eyes tapped Naotsugu's shoulder enthusiastically as he giggled. ReGan had ill manners even for a People of the Land, which annoyed Naotsugu. ReGan continued nonchalantly.

"Please let Sir Naotsugu join us. Even though we are still have a long way to go, the negotiation Master Shiroe is hoping for is about to begin. This is really amazing. In a way, negotiation is war level, no, national level magic."

What do you mean by national level? Naotsugu's query was interrupted.

Because the door to the cabin had been knocked on.

Just 20 minutes ago, there shouldn't have been any Adventurers within a 10km radius of this area. So was this a People of the Land? But could a People of the Land make their way to the snowy Tear Stone?

Under the watchful eyes of Shiroe and ReGan, Naotsugu drew his sword from his magic bag and approached the door cautiously.

4

"Shiroe, your guest is here."

Shiroe stuffed the maps and documents into his magic bag before Naotsugu brought in the guest.

He was already expecting the guest and had prepared tea and cups near the fireplace.

(So it turned out this way...) Naotsugu looked baffled when he returned. Although the guest was contrary to Shiroe's prediction, it was still one of the possible candidates.

"Please take a seat."

It was rude to ignore Naotsugu, but Shiroe kept his priorities, ushering the guest to the solid wooden chair.

"It's been a bit of a challenge to hike up this snowy mountain."

That's what he said, although there were no signs of snow sticking to his shirt. The young man with purple eye pupils, Kinjo of the Kunie clan.

"Have you been doing well?"

"Things are going smoothly."

Shiroe smiled at Kinjo's reply. He sighed in his heart, knowing that this was going to be tough.

Shiroe had been waiting in this desolate cabin to meet the representative of the Kunie to negotiate. There were several reasons he chose this out of place mountain, one of them being that it was close to the base of operation for the Kunie.

(... So it is this man.)

Shiroe felt that this was going to be difficult.

He knew that dealing with the Kunie clan would be hard.

Shiroe came to know about this mysterious clan when he was doing his bank transactions. The banking service was one of the functions that existed in Elder Tales that provided convenient service for the Adventurers. It provided storage facilities for the safekeeping of cash and items. There was no need to go to a specific bank for withdrawal, you could make your withdrawal at any banking outlet in Yamato.

This teleportation technology that differed from the spell Call of Home or the inter-city transport gate was not solely used for banking transactions for the banks.

It was also implemented for personal mail and small package delivery service. It was also used in the bazaar that was open to public. The security system that was installed on most streets also belonged to the Kunie.

The players of Elder Tales, or rather the players after the Catastrophe, took these services for granted and treated them as public utilities. When the Round Table Council was formed, Shiroe said that "Adventurers need the People of the Land to survive". He was already aware of the existence of such a clan.

But he didn't know back then that the services were provided by the mysterious Kunie clan.

After the formation of the Round Table Council, the council led by Shiroe made contact with the Kunie clan. This was accomplished easily. Shiroe met Kinjo, who was in charge of the Kunie clan in the Akiba region, at that point. But there had been no progress after that.

He found out that the Kunie clan provided all sorts of service in the Yamato region. And they were all crucial facilities that Adventurers could not do without. Shiroe had also met their representative for Akiba, Kinjo. But that was all.

Although he did not bluntly ignore Shiroe or display hostility, Kinjo managed to keep all of Shiroe's advances at bay with his steady smile and words.

And the fact was not far from what Shiroe imagined. Adventurers could not live on without the People of the Land, but the People of the Land would be able to scrape by without the Adventurers. They might not be able to prosper on this earth with savage monsters roaming the land, but they could survive with the use of no-combat zone and magic technology. And the clan that had the power to do so was the Kunie clan.

For the Kunie clan, Adventurers were unnecessary. This had limited almost all the cards Shiroe could play.

But Shiroe had strived on and collected intelligence to build up his cards. But his opponent was Kinjo, the young man with an experienced profile. Kinjo had probably sensed what Shiroe was plotting and sealed off all information related to the Kunie. The strength of this clan, the knowledge they held, their base of operation, ideals, goals... He was unable to gather further intelligence from Kinjo.

Almost all the intelligence Shiroe had of the Kunie clan was provided by ReGan.

"This is Sage ReGan, you must have heard about him."

"Of course. First time we met. I am Kinjo, I manage the counter for the Kunie."

"Nice to meet you. This is the first time I meet with the Kunie clan."

ReGan waved his hands cheerfully in response.

Kinjo was also all smiles.

"It is a rare day indeed. Representing the Adventurers is 'The Archmage of the Tea Party', Master Shiroe of Log Horizon. I even get to meet Master ReGan, the Sage of Mirror Lake. It is a great honor to be invited to such a historically meaningful conference. Very few in the history of the Kunie were able to receive such honor. My ancestors would never have expected such a day to come."

Shiroe was troubled by Kinjo's reply.

This young man named Kinjo bore no hostility towards Shiroe or the Adventurers. He was not taciturn either and definitely understood the things they were saying. He was simply not disclosing information and was keeping it under wraps with his silver tongue.

Shiroe sighed at the thought of the coming negotiation. He had hoped to speak with the representative of the Kunie. He had conveyed his request personally through the Akiba branch leader of the Kunie, who was Kinjo. He didn't expect him to be the one to travel all this way to this desolate cabin.

But Shiroe sensed that this could open up other possibilities. But just as Shiroe was about to test it out, ReGan had started to converse enthusiastically with Kinjo.

"You have made this conference more honorable with your presence. Kunie... a mysterious clan supporting the all the counties in Yamato from behind the scenes, inheriting powerful ancient magic technology. And Sir Kinjo is the head of this clan. I am brimming with anticipation."

"Anticipation?"

"That's right, Master Shiroe here is an existence akin to a Jack in the Box."

"Fufu, that is amazing."

(Just stop the show already.)

Shiroe injected his emotions into his glare at ReGan, who continued to smile with curiosity. He was not oblivious. This humorous People of the Land sage did not plan to help Shiroe anyway.

"So..."

"Fufufu."

Shiroe glared at ReGan who was smiling and started the negotiation.

"The things I hope to discuss with Mr Kinjo are as stated in the letter."

"You want to talk about financing, specifically loans, correct?"

It was that simple.

He just wanted money from Kinjo.

"Since we are going straight to the point, this will save a lot of trouble."

"Correct, we will save a lot of trouble."

"Thank you for accommodating me."

Shiroe was hoping to hold the negotiation in Akiba. The core members of the Round Table Council were on a campaign to raid the Citadel of Seven Falls right now, leaving Akiba vulnerable to attacks. He sensed that something was going to happen. Even though Soujirou was around to hold the fort, Shiroe was still reluctant to leave Akiba.

He was holding the conference here because of the way Kinjo was stonewalling him, although Kinjo did not outright reject him. He was simply kept at bay with meaningless talks, the topics being kicked around like a ball. In terms of negotiation experience, Shiroe with his graduate student qualifications had no chance against this professional old timer.

But Kinjo was diving straight into the point this round, surprising Shiroe and earning his gratitude.

"No, please don't mind me. Saving the trouble is also important. For the Kunie, this is a matter of grave importance."

"Ha..."

"Since you are here, that means you have some level of understanding about the Kunie."

"That's right. I heard about from Mr ReGan."

"Ah. I am impressed that this is in the records of Mirror Lake."

"It is only polite to keep notes."

Shiroe replied with a bitter face.

This was not being polite.

According to ReGan's research of his ancient texts, the knowledge that the Kunie clan was based in this zone had become a card for Shiroe to negotiate with. 'I know where your home base is', a move that was threatening by nature. Shiroe knew this bordered on being malicious. He did not forbid or hesitate in doing this, but Shiroe definitely didn't decide to do this gleefully.

He was frustrated when forming the Round Table Council.

He was on the verge of lecturing the major guilds who were ignoring these obvious issues. He was so frustrated that he didn't even care about using intimidation to get his way.

But the Kunie clan did not give up the duty they inherited since ancient times. At least they didn't plan to.

"Although I really hope to provide assistance to Master Shiroe of the Round Table Council, please allow me to reject."

"Why?"

"Because this goes against our obligations to our ancestors."

Shiroe sighed.

Shiroe knew from the beginning that this was going to be hard. That's why he invited ReGan and did all sorts of investigation to prepare for this. Their findings indicated that there were no records of the Kunie banking service providing loans, investing, or financing any business. They simply provided cash deposit and withdrawal facilities.

Shiroe recalled the previous meeting he had with Kinjo. Equity ratio, credit, trust fund... terms that were common sense for earthlings like Shiroe were foreign concepts for Kinjo. If Shiroe explained them, Kinjo would be able to understand what these phrases meant, but that was it.

The entity known as banks in Akiba were not the same thing as banks on earth. This was the conclusion Shiroe and the others had drawn. It was closer to a storage facility, not a financial organization.

That was baffling.

The fact that real banks didn't exist in this world could be rationalized. But the inability to obtain loans was too unnatural. Shiroe was not a professional so he was not too sure, but the act of borrowing money should have a long history. On further thought, Shiroe remembered that the Romans loaned money. Rome existed in the BC era. For this world that seemed to be in the middle ages, the progress of civilization seemed too slow if the concept of loans did not exist.

Shiroe couldn't get a straight answer from ReGan when he explained all of this to him. Going by the account of the People of the Land Elissa, it was very rare to see the act of borrowing money between the nobles and the peasants.

She had not seen such acts of loans between peasants either.

That's why the merchants did not hold much authority in this world. Basically all trades were done between the aristocrats; the merchants just executed the trade and delivered the goods. People of the Land that were half noble and half merchant existed.

Also, the credibility of the currency did not lie with the nobles and royalty.

The aristocrats, who were the rulers, did not create the currency for market use. The currency was all 'discovered' when they defeated monsters. The money supply would increase if they continued defeating monsters. The currency in circulation in a country on earth was created and made legal tender by the government, but this concept did not apply here.

The credibility of the currency lay in its universality.

There was only one currency in circulation in this world. Gold, half gold and quarter gold were the units, there was no name for money. This was different from earth where USD and Euros were in circulation together; there was only one currency here. There was no need to give it a name. It was simply called gold, nuggets, or coins. Shiroe thought that the currency was not limited to the Yamato server, and was applicable worldwide, making it legal tender in the whole world.

This meant that it had the credibility of 'not turning into junk no matter where you went'. The credibility had nothing to do with the military might of countries; it was simply because there were no other forms of currencies. In a sense, it was more credible then the currencies of earth which might lose their value if the countries distributing it went bankrupt. Even if the League of Freedom Towns Eastal or the Holy Empire Westelande crumbled, the gold in Maihama would still retain its value.

On the other hand, the rare metal the currency was made from held value as well, but smelting them requires extra effort. But Shiroe was convinced that the main source of credibility for this currency still lay in its universality.

There were issues with the Kunie's bank as well. Although they were no different than a safe-box, its security was top notch. The money you deposited was guaranteed to be safe. Most of the bank was situated in its own unique zone, and guards were a common sight. The bank also had unknown ID authentication technology. It was entirely possible to deposit cash in one bank and withdraw from another branch immediately. It also included the sale of zones and the collection of upkeep cost. All these convenient services were available by adopting gold as your currency of choice.

This system was too convenient and self autonomous to not take advantage of. But there were other reasons why the governors did not create their own forms of currency.

"We can get gold when we defeat monsters right, Mr Kinjo?"

"Yes, you are right."

Shiroe dove straight to the point.

"We can obtain hundreds of gold by looting chests in the dungeons."

"Fortune favors the brave."

"Since the Kunie do not provide loans, what if we find the person distributing all this gold and take it before it is given out. What do you think about this method?"

5

ReGan was excited.

He had befriended Shiroe of Log Horizon in the Palace of Eternal Ice, and was here on his invitation. Shiroe was like the arrival of a hurricane, bringing the house down.

ReGan held high regards for the young man with eyes that seemed to gaze both into the past and into the future. Just like the time when ReGan heated the library as he explained the findings he devoted his whole life to, World Fraction. This young man managed to grasp all of this in one night, a rare talented Archmage.

ReGan watched Shiroe's profile so intensely he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

Shiroe, the young man who introduced himself to be from Log Horizon, was an Adventurer who made his living through the use of magic. Adventurers were strong. They were entities that could overwhelm People of the Land. Be it warriors, scouts, healing magic, or mages, Adventurers were geniuses at whatever they did.

All Adventurers were elites, but there were only a select few who were worthy of the title of Archmage. Although Adventurers were powerful, their abilities were often too specialized for use in aspects other than battle. For the knowledgeable mages who explored the mysteries of the world, magic used for fighting was nothing more than parlor tricks.

Shiroe was one of the few Adventurers who deserved the title of Archmage.

ReGan thought that there were four paths to sage-hood in this world.

All these routes were independent and did not intercept.

In this feudal era, technology and knowledge were secrets not to be divulged. The knowledge was then passed down as secrets which were not made known publicly by those who inherited it.

The knowledge of this world was retained in this manner, and there were four ways to reach the pinnacle of knowledge.

First of these would be the path of research as a People of the Land, which ReGan belonged to.

The options to study openly were available through the academy of Tsukuba, to research in the shadows would be the way of the Mirror Lake. As a Sage of Mirror Lake, he kept watch over the 'Forgotten Lake of Books', also known as the Mirror Lake. They were students who challenged the known perception of the world.

The second way was the Adventurers. As the Sage of Mirror Lake, ReGan thought the magic and knowledge of Adventurers were totally different from People of the Land. Their magic was powerful, but was essentially similar to People of the Land. But even so, their knowledge seemed to have a source that was out of this world.

Did the Adventurers seal a part of their soul in an alternate world? ReGan believed that there were signs that showed this. And this alternate world might be linked with the golden era. After the Catastrophe, the Adventurers came up with all sorts of miraculous discoveries and inventions. It was already common knowledge to the mages of Tsukuba and ReGan that these discoveries were linked to the super technology of the golden era.

The third method was to use the powers of the Ancients. The ones who could easily attain powers beyond the limits of the People of the Land were the Adventurers and the Ancients. Just like Adventurers, the Ancients were heroes that were beyond the understanding of the People of the Land. Those who were on the level of the People of the Land were humans, elves, dwarves, half-alvs, werecats, wolf-fangs, fox-tails, and race of ceremony.

The Ancients also inherited secrets from days of old, a close society that protected the world as bands of knights.

The last way available would be the path of the Kunie clan.

They were shrouded in too many mysteries, so the contents of ReGan's knowledge about them were all speculations. Although they were People of the Land, they were not academics like Tsukuba academy or Mirror Lake. Inheriting the technology passed to them for countless eons, their influence went beyond Yamato and affected continents beyond the ocean.

They had similarities with Mirror Lake which collected and studied the knowledge of the past, but the Kunie did not make this knowledge available to others. The key difference from the researchers of Tsukuba and Mirror Lake was their lock down of information. They did not actively engage People of the Land or conduct research. They had no curiosity, a clan that shied away from contact.

Mirror Lake which focused on all types of knowledge had attempted to contact the Kunie clan dozens of times. But there had been zero records of success in terms of information exchange.

A member of the Kunie, Log Horizon's Shiroe, and ReGan being seated at the same table was a cause of excitement for ReGan.

Shiroe's words had shocked the Kunie's leader.

Kinjo let out a deep breath, wearing his emotionless mask once again in silence. He stayed that way for a long time.

"Master Shiroe, did you really think this was possible?"

After hearing the long awaited reply from Kinyou, Shiroe gave a small nod after stealing a glance at ReGan.

It's about time for me to step in, ReGan thought as he calmed himself and spoke.

"Shiroe has brought up a point that has never been mentioned before. But speaking of which, this is one of the unexplained mysteries of this world. This is a viewpoint that will complement the Spirit Theory. The monsters are ever spawning. But where do their gold and loot come from? There must be some system in place that grants the monsters with these treasures. This is a new perspective that does not exist in the library of books in Mirror Lake. I am sure, I have browsed through all of them."

ReGan pushed the circlet with purple crystals on his head out of habit. This magic item gave ReGan a great sense of insight and memory retention. But it was still a metallic headgear, and ReGan still couldn't get use to this circlet that had been passed down through the generations no matter how long he wore it.

But it would not be possible to complete the investigation this round without the aid of the magic circlet. Even with the circlet, they wouldn't be able to make any headway without the records left by ReGan's predecessor.

"The base of the Kunie and the gold that Shiroe mentioned were found in the records."

"..."

Kinjo kept up his emotionless mask.

ReGan was simply probing. That had always been the case. The men of Mirror Lake collated knowledge. New questions arose from the result of the collated knowledge. More information was needed to answer these queries. Working hard to answer these new questions, repeating this endless cycle.

"The logs state that there is a whirlpool of gold at the lowest level of the depths of Palm. Gold appears out of nowhere and disappears to nothingness, a winding river of gold and the graves of vanquished monsters. The Dead Spirit King raised an army of undead in order to seize the gold for himself. Records of this incident are still available. One of the defenders was the Sage of Mirror Lake 15 generations ago who sealed the passage in the depths of Palm."

This was a common request for the Sage of Mirror Lake.

The Sage of Mirror Lake stood to gain all sorts of knowledge and magical items by taking on such jobs. They usually had to handle cursed items and equipment that were extremely dangerous if used in the wrong way. The owners of such relics, mostly nobles, brought them to Mirror Lake for sealing.

The reputation of the Mirror Lake grew because they were able to fulfill such requests, and they were happy to take on the task in order to collate more knowledge. Even if they were unable to learn anything new, getting their hands on such items meant that they had more experimental materials. Mirror Lake had a vested interest in learning sealing skills. Their techniques applied to both items as well as zones.

"I received the 'Key of Eternal Darkness' during my adventuring of the 9 Prisons of Heroes. This was something made by Mirror Lake."

ReGan handed the floor back to Shiroe when he heard Shiroe speak.

"According to the key, we obtained the rights to challenge the 9 Prisons of Heroes. This area was sealed by Mirror Lake's... I'm not sure how long ago, but it was definitely the predecessors of ReGan. And there were also several sealed danger zones. We have confirmed their location."

Kinjo was taken aback by Shiroe's statement.

ReGan's is a scholar, so his combat magic was very weak. Although he wouldn't lose to the knights of minor lords, it was only at the level of the People of the Land, he couldn't match the powers of Adventurers.

And so ReGan was escorted to the depths of the dungeon under the protection of Shiroe and his friend Naotsugu.

The records of Mirror Lake only mentioned that they were requested to seal the area, but did not explain the details of how it was done and what things they came across. When they reached the place, they found the giant bronze door and ReGan knew how to deactivate the seals with the deep sealing knowledge of Mirror Lake.

Although he did not really understand what Shiroe meant by 'unreleased zones', ReGan understood from this expedition that there were such sealed off areas all over the world. Not all of them were sealed by Mirror Lake, and these zones were areas and facilities with restricted access.

"You intend to borrow the money from the golden whirlpool?"

"That's right."

"You think it is related to the Kunie?"

"You are correct."

Kinjo seemed to have recovered his composure as he conversed with Shiroe.

"... So you are going to plunder the gold from that place? You intend to rob us, man from the Round Table?"

Kinjo's said with a cold voice without any trace of doubt.

Everything was clear.

There was a whirlpool of gold in the depths of Palm. And that place was related to the Kunie. There was no confirmation on this data, and the Kunie might have nothing to do with this. ReGan had discussed this possibility with Shiroe, but made contact with the Kunie on Shiroe's advice anyway.

This had confirmed a query he had.

The Kunie clan had something to do with the Spirit Theory.

There was no hard evidence, but judging from Kinjo's reaction, it couldn't be too far from the truth. The secrets of the Kunie held the answer to the intricate workings of this world. ReGan was overjoyed with this revelation. He was on the verge of literally jumping with joy. The Spirit Theory was the most important research that ReGan was working on. He felt like giving a toast, even though he could not drink wine.

But Shiroe's voice was bitter.

"That is why we wish to meet you here. We do not wish to be enemies with the Kunie. The Kunie are very important. Even if we want to use the money, we can't make any headway without the assistance of your clan."

"Why are you doing this? No, what do you intend to do with the gold, Master Shiroe?"

"If I explain, will there be any chance that you will help us?"

"I am sorry. The ancestors' will is to be followed."

"... Mr Kinjo."

ReGan glanced at Shiroe who was biting his lips and seemed to be holding something back, grasping onto any available possibility.

"Mr Kinjo. I understand about the will of your ancestors. Although this is just the Adventurers' way of thinking, I know this is an iron clad rule since ancient times. We are not asking you to break them. We don't intend to ask you to do anything forbidden. And that is why we need to know the limits of the rules."

"..."

"That's right. The Catastrophe changed the rules. This is a new age. It cannot be stopped. There must be..."

Kinjo closed his eyes, looking just like an iron bust.

Shiroe's explanation did not seem to reach Kinjo's heart.

ReGan's happiness had faded just like the setting sun. He didn't understand what was happening before his eyes. ReGan, who had been schooled in magic since birth, could feel that some matter that he didn't understand was crumbling. It was probably a thing known as negotiation. But ReGan thought that something that could not be expressed by the simple term negotiation was shattering.

3 of the 4 sages in this world were only gathered here, but they didn't achieve anything.

ReGan clenched his fist unconsciously.

6

An icy atmosphere drifted in this room heated by a fireplace.

Naotsugu watched the back of Shiroe as he added wood into the fireplace. The tables had been shifted aside to make space for their sleeping bags.

This was the cabin in the mountains where their conference with Kinjo had ended fruitlessly.

(What a lifeless back,) Naotsugu thought.

Shiroe's was always like this.

Shiroe stirred the flame with a stick. They would be sleeping soon, that's why he was nursing the fire so carefully. But he looked helpless, as if he were being made to go round and round in circles.

Naotsugu speculated that Shiroe must be thinking about complicated stuff and unable to rest. From the discussion in the conference earlier, Shiroe appeared to be at a dead end. This seemed to be tougher than that time when they were forming the Round Table Council.

"Hey Shiroe."

"Yeah?"

"Enough, get some sleep."

"Yeah."

Shiroe shuffled to his sleeping bag and sat with his legs crossed.

Sleeping bags on earth were made from excellent materials, that's why they tended to be thin and convenient to carry. But such advanced insulation materials had not been invented yet, so the sleeping bags here were made from wool. Their insulation capability was much lower and they were uncomfortable to sleep in because of its thickness. But when combined with carpets made with long fur, it was comfortable to sit on.

"Shiroe, you want to drink some?"

Naotsugu showed Shiroe the warm sake he was pouring into his mug. Shiroe attempted to block out the smell by blowing air out of his nose and replied, "No thanks, I'm good."

Naotsugu thought that things would be easier to deal with if he had a drink, but he did not force the issue.

If it were up to Naotsugu, he would just drink the sake, sprawl out on the floor and sleep. But this was not Shiroe's style, and Naotsugu knew that he would pick himself up even if you left him alone. There was no need to intervene in this.

"So it didn't work..."

"Yeah."

Shiroe answered with a troubled expression.

Naotsugu didn't think this was a loss. He didn't know the details, but it seemed like Shiroe needed a huge amount of cash. It was not an amount that could be raised by Adventurers. The means and source of such an amount was very limited.

From the dialogue session with Kinjo of the Kunie clan, Naotsugu had a good idea of what the plan was.

Shiroe wanted to exploit the settings of Elder Tales that were in place when it was just a game.

Adventurers could loot gold from the bodies of the demi-humans they defeated. They were humanoid in appearance and possessed a basic level of intellect, so that was nothing special. But gold could be looted from feral creatures such as wild dogs and large boars as well.

There was no real explanation as to why this was so. Elder Tales was a game; it was structured to reward players with gold and items when they defeated monsters, that's why monsters dropped loot. In simple terms, this was expected of a game.

But a game would not be interesting if the game world mechanics did not make sense. Background lore was then added in order to make the mechanics logical. The setting used to explain was 'A powerful ancient relic implants gold into the spirit of the monsters when they re-spawn'.

A nonsense setting. But since it was a fact that monsters dropped loot, there must be a reason why. When Shiroe saw the fact lying before him, he decided to take advantage of it.

Naotsugu thought Shiroe had already succeeded.

"... Well then, let us meet again. In that place where 'gold appears out of nowhere and disappears to nothingness, a winding river of gold and the forgotten underground garden'."

"... But you will need many warriors. How would you make your way to the source at the deepest level? The Kunie's answer will be dependent on the result of your challenge, Master Shiroe."

Those were the final words the boss of the Kunie, Kinjo left behind.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Shiroe knew there was a huge amount of gold in the depths of an unknown region. Collecting evidence, visiting sites, undoing the seals and investigating the feasibility of raiding the place.

And he told the suspected owner of the treasure, the Kunie clan.

Shiroe was already successful theoretically when he achieved these goals. To be honest, Naotsugu felt that there was no need for Shiroe to contact the Kunie clan in the first place.

The targeted treasures were in the underground zone and they even had the means to access it. They just needed to simply go there and bring the gold home to achieve amazing wealth.

(Hmm... That means there is another reason why Shiroe is so depressed.)

When he thought about it, the answer was obvious.

This troublesome friend of his conversed with the Kunie even though there was no need to do so.

'... There are no schemes. We will simply have to beg for it. We have to convince him no matter what.'

That's what he said before negotiating with the Kunie.

At that point, Naotsugu thought Shiroe was being humble when declaring 'I don't have any plans'. But it turned out that he really didn't have anything in mind. What a clumsy fellow... Naotsugu thought with a smile.

In order to succeed, Shiroe would plan ahead and consider all possibilities. He seemed to have spent quite a bit of time this time too. Naotsugu took part in the scouting visit to the deepest part of Palm, but he heard from ReGan that preparations were made a long while ago. The long nights Shiroe spent studying and researching in the study room was all for this conference.

Shiroe did so much preparatory work in order to gain all this money. And his hard work was rewarded with a promise straight from the mouth of the Kunie clan. Now they just needed to venture into this new zone and grab the money.

But Shiroe had a more ambitious goal in mind.

Shiroe wouldn't make intricate plans if he wanted to make friends with someone. He could only speak the truth just like an idiot. Shiroe did not want to rob the place by force, take the Kunie clan by surprise or lie about it. This meant he wanted to befriend the Kunie and was feeling down because he failed.

Naotsugu understood this and could only sigh, it couldn't be helped.

"Speaking of which, you were not acting like yourself back there."

"Really?"

"It's like you can't speak your mind. It won't become a festival, a festival that is not really a festival."

"Is that so."

Naotsugu wanted to trash things out with Shiroe to clear the air, but Shiroe's answer was vague and half-hearted.

"He's holding back again." Naotsugu sighed.

The negotiation today was definitely going to fail.

The Kunie clan observed a policy of extreme secrecy. And Shiroe withheld the crucial point of how the funds were going to be used. They didn't discuss or make any compromise either. Both sides were withholding too much information.

That's why the negotiations did not make any headway. Having worked in the corporate world for a year, Naotsugu understood this would not work.

Just like the purchasing he did before, just sell a kg of pepper for 2450 yen. Get the purchase order from the client and submit it to the supply department. There was no need for conversations. But suggesting new products and negotiating long term contracts were another matter. You needed to understand the situation of the other side. You needed to convey the constraints you faced on your side as well. You had to consider the issues for both parties and not simply keep pushing for your own agenda. These were the prerequisites, the rest was sincerity. In order to move forward, both sides would definitely need to compromise.

With the secretive manner Shiroe and Kinjo handled the negotiations, the talks were doomed from the beginning.

Naotsugu didn't know what cards both of them were holding in reserve.

He didn't know what Shiroe intended to do with all that money neither.

Or why Shiroe seemed so troubled.

Shiroe was being too considerate again.

"What are you thinking about Shiroe?"

"..."

"This is just the beginning, so spit out everything that is troubling you."

Troubling things, troubling things, Shiroe chanted like an incantation. He lay down with a moan.

"Hey Naotsugu."

"Yeah."

"Kinjo mentioned that we need many warriors right?"

"Ah."

Naotsugu was wondering what was troubling Shiroe and replied without thinking. The path to get the funds was clear, so the problem was how to get on the good side of the Kunie. Wasn't that the main issue? Shiroe faced the confused Naotsugu and continued.

"No matter how you interpret it, he is hinting at a raid battle. No, this is the only possibility. But this is really troubling."

"Why?"

"We lack the manpower."

"Eh?"

Naotsugu didn't get it. He knew that a fight was inevitable. If you found a mysterious zone in the depths of a dungeon, there was a high chance there would be a raid battle. But he was confident they would prevail. Adventurers were immortal, and Shiroe could tap on the manpower of the Round Table Council. It might take some time, but they would eventually make it through.

"All the guilds in the Round Table Councils are under surveillance. We are being led by the nose here, unable to get away from supervision. I don't want Minami to locate me."

Naotsugu was taken aback.

Not using the resources of the Round Table Council. Not wanting Minami to find out about this operation. And he was withholding the final objective. What kind of handicap play was this? Naotsugu's mouth stayed open. There was probably a time limit too. Since Shiroe didn't want Minami to catch wind of this, they couldn't stay too long. Naotsugu, who sneaked out of Akiba in secret, understood. Except for the members of Log Horizon, other people probably thought that Shiroe was holed up in the guild building hard at work. Since they wanted to complete the mission before others knew about it, there would be a time limit.

"Shiroe you masochist."

Shiroe, who was lying down, replied, "I'm not. I just want to live happily everyday."

Naotsugu was speechless, but Shiroe was not lying. Naotsugu knew very well.

This was Shiroe's true wish. He had been this way since the Debauchery Tea Party days. Shiroe had always been striving for the easiest method with highest chance of success. When the method seemed winding and troublesome, it meant the problem was twisted and hard.

The complex and winding path turns out to be the shortest way. That's how Shiroe's plan feels like.

Naotsugu's friend did not compromise on his target.

That was why Shiroe worked so hard and was burdened with so much.

(Although most of these troubles are created by Shiroe himself. There are many people who can assist Shiroe with his problems.)

"Well, I guess there is no other way."

Naotsugu statement contradicted his heart.

Shiroe was a man who would get it done in the end. He was not someone who would lose sight of his goal. If he were someone who would lose track of his objective, Naotsugu just needed to bash Shiroe's head in with a brick.

Shiroe seemed troubled right now, but he would accept the reality of the situation with time. Not just Shiroe, all men were like that. Naotsugu blushed when he thought about this. He recalled the incident where someone's stubbornness brought a ton of trouble to others. But Naotsugu thought that it was necessary.

It was the same for everyone and probably applied to Shiroe, too.

He might be heralded as a strategist and an intellectual, but Shiroe was actually clumsy by nature. The clumsy Shiroe required time to think things through.

And it would be great if Shiroe let Naotsugu accompany him during this period of time.

Even if Naotsugu left him alone, Shiroe would work hard in order to accept the reality of things. That's the kind of man Naotsugu's friend was. He gave everything he had in the things he did.

"There is no other way. Let's go solicit members for the raid. Don't worry, it will work out in the end."

When Shiroe mumbled hesitantly, Naotsugu kicked Shiroe optimistically and added "It will be fine." Everything can be repaired and mended, Naotsugu thought, but he didn't convey it verbally.

Shiroe will definitely find the sun rising over the horizon.

That was the winning condition for the Tea Party. Naotsugu decided to appreciate that scenery.

After knowing Shiroe for so long, such a night was not uncommon.

Chapter 2: Palm Again

1

Going above the party limit of 6 Adventurers, a raid group allowed a large group of Adventurers to work together and challenge difficult quests in dungeons. When Elder Tales was just a game, challenging end game content was all the rage, and raiding quests were the most popular among them.

There were different types of raids, categorized by the number of participants. The largest were called Legion Raids, consisting of 96 Adventurers, but only a handful of Legion Raid quests existed in all of Yamato.

The most common raid quests on the server were Full Raids, which condensed the essence of running a raid into a well-rounded package, requiring 4 parties of 6 Adventurers each. Needing 24 Adventurers, conquering such raids was the path to fame within the server. When Elder Tales was still a game, there were weekly announcements detailing the achievements and expectations of the major guilds in raids, a well-received news in the game.

The Debauchery Tea Party which Shiroe took part in was an active group that aimed to complete Full Raids. If you included the reserves, Legion Raids required over a hundred people to challenge, so even the famous guilds seldom took part in them. That's why Full Raids were the most popular and perfect challenge in the server.

There might be some misunderstandings, but Full Raids did not require powerful equipment.

If you were a rookie in raids and they required powerful equipment obtained through raids to complete them, then no one would be able to complete such raids. No matter how difficult the mission might be, it was still a game. If no one wanted to play the game, then there was no point for the developers to release such content.

It needed to be tough enough to challenge the players, but must not be impossible to beat. For the developers of raiding content, this required good taste and experience.

So what was the content of a good raid challenge?

When Elder Tales was just a game, the game creator who was known as the lead designer said this.

'... Content that allows you and your companions to grow.'

Shiroe felt that these words literally reflected the message the creator wanted to convey.

A raid should be challenging enough for a team of a certain level of equipment to complete with some training. The training here referred to the analysis of the raid content, scouting the characteristics of the enemies, formulating a suitable battle plan, and training until you were proficient enough to achieve the mission objectives.

The strength and abilities of the players played an important role. With the right mix of people, the group would be able to complete the raid content. But sooner or later, you would run into content that you could not master. To overcome it, you would need to move as one with your teammates and work together. This went beyond the limits of the avatars' abilities and the strength of their equipment, it was the bond between comrades.

If you were determined to challenge difficult raid content, you would need people you could rely on as comrades. This level of teamwork required time to improve. If a bunch of ragtag Adventurers rushed into a difficult battle, the fragile relationships would deteriorate under pressure. If that happened, the coalition that was similar to a guild would crumble.

That's why Shiroe was so troubled.

Shiroe had made a lot of close friends after the battle of Sand Leaf. Even a long time player like Shiroe increased the number of people on his friend list multiple times. Although he could contact people by telepathy, he was unable to log into the internet. The chance of success would definitely increase if he requested aid from a professional raiding guild like Black Swords Knights or West Wind Brigade. But right now, the prominent guilds might be under the surveillance of some group. No, Shiroe had already confirmed that someone was keeping tabs on them. So he was unable to tap into these guilds for aid.

The abilities of individual Adventurers weren't bad either. But since a raid was group content, they would need to have a training camp if he chose that route. Building a new team was very risky. It would be nice to deepen the relationships between the team, but he wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible. With that condition in mind, Shiroe was hesitant about creating a new team.

There wouldn't be such problems if the Debauchery Tea Party was still here, Shiroe thought. That was a bold group of people, daring to take on any raid. He remembered Turi who liked sake and rushing into battle screaming. If it were that group that grabbed any chance to gain fame no matter the hardship, if Kanami and her comrades were still here, this raid would be a piece of cake.

"I understand. No problem."

Shiroe sighed in relief when he heard this answer.

The silver haired man in front of him readily accepted Shiroe's request.

This was Susukino, one of the 5 player cities. According to modern geography, this was approximately the city of Sapporo. There was a large bar in the center of the city which doubled as the guild house of Silver Sword.

Although it was a bar, the ceiling was high so it did not feel humid. The couch felt more like a long wooden bench and 'Eyes of Mystery' William Massachusetts was sitting on it, looking at Shiroe sharply.

"I am very grateful... But don't you want the details?"

"You'll tell me even if I don't ask."

Shiroe, who had contacted the guild master of Silver Sword, organized the things he wanted to say in his mind. William accepted the request, so that was a start. He would need to give a detailed explanation to strengthen their relationship.

During the formation of the Round Table Council, William was impatient and had a short temper. It wouldn't be wise to drag the explanation. Shiroe split up with Naotsugu in order to work separately, and he intended to bring back good news from his foray into the HQ of Silver Sword.

"The location is a new raid zone accessible from the depths of Palm. We have scouted the area, it is a Full Raid challenge. The enemies we encountered are level 89, the discovery was made by us. We have unsealed the entrance. You can assume the difficulty is very high."

"Hmm..."

After the talk with Kinjo, Shiroe's group made another trip to the deepest area of the depths of Palm to investigate the seal. Although the seal was still active, those that were permitted by ReGan would be able to enter through the door with an entry pass given by ReGan. As expected, they confirmed the interior contained a raid zone.

The ceiling of the zone was high with an ancient architecture design... it gave the impression of being an extension of the depths of Palm. This underground space that was illuminated by glowing crystals was filled with shrines and had arching ceilings, an amazing facility.

From afar, they saw some jelly-like monsters that had no fixed form. At level 89, Shiroe and Naotsugu should be able to take down a single one. But this was a Full Raid challenge, which meant it had been set to be on par with 24 level 89 Adventurers. Shiroe's group retreated without engaging.

As Shiroe expected, there was a limit to the number of people that could enter. This meant only 24 Adventurers could enter the zone. For quests that placed emphasis on numbers, you could not force your way through with overwhelming numbers.

William smirked as he listened intently to Shiroe's crisp report. He garnered a lot of information from Shiroe's minimal words. This was expected of veteran Adventurers who had gotten used to raids.

"What types of enemies are there? Speculations are fine too."

"What we saw are slime monsters, about 5 meters in width. Although this is just a guess, from experience and the shape of the facility, I think they might be Titans."

"Titans."

There were all sorts of monsters in Elder Tales. They were created by the game developers who pushed the limits of their imagination. The monsters were categorized into different types. Examples were the Sahuagin and goblins Shiroe's group fought in Sand Leaf. Others included the undead type Skeletons and the famed strongest mythical beasts Dragons. One such category of monsters was the Titans. Famous in Yamato, they were found in the north of Kanto. There were different types of Titans such as Cyclops and Frost Giants. They took pride in their high health and attack power, but were low in agility and speed. Unlike the image others had of Titans, high level Titans were able to attack with powerful magic. Compared to Dire Beasts and Treants, Titans were strong enemies.

"What a coincidence, I am familiar with these, they roam around Susukino."

William said.

Shiroe nodded in reply. This was one of the reasons why Shiroe approached Silver Sword. Based on Hokkaido in the real world, the Ezzo Empire was the front line of the People of the Land's war with the Titans. Silver Sword shifted their HQ to Susukino with its many Titan centric raids after leaving Akiba. After gaining this information, Shiroe visited one of the few organizations that enjoyed success in such quests, Silver Sword.

"But there are problems."

William continued while keeping his stubborn face on.

"Silver Sword is on hiatus right now. Short of people."

"Eh?"

"I mean there are members who won't take part in this raid. There are guys who are adamant not to take part in raids anymore, or intend to stay in Susukino forever."

William gave a tough reply.

"That means I can't take the job. Although we can still take on simple quests, but definitely not a tough one like this... this is too difficult. Although we have reached level 95, it is too big a challenge. It will be a stretch to gather 20 people."

"Is it... because of the memory loss?"

Shiroe asked about the horror of losing your memory, but William shook his head.

"The loss is exaggerated. We are not afraid. And we don't fear the fight. At least not because of the monsters."

"If not, then why?"

Shiroe was confused.

Shiroe could understand if it were because of fear. You might be able to respawn no matter how many times you died, but there was still some physiological inhibition towards dying. The pain had been dulled, and the discomfort was only of muscle ache when you lost most of your health bar. Even the pain during the instance of death was still bearable. But to see a steel sword pierce through your chest was enough to shatter the will of some Adventurers. Being shredded by the claws of a dire beast and seeing the scenes of disembowelment that were not censored. The horror of death remained.

Even famous guilds like D.D.D. and the Black Sword Knights were hesitant to challenge the hardest raids after the Catastrophe. And the difficulty of battle had increased after the Catastrophe. Team positioning was even harder without the overhead view of the battlefield. The level of monsters they could take on had dropped compared to the past when Elder Tales was just a game, a fact noted by most Adventurers. The major guilds had dropped their choice of raid difficulty correspondingly.

(Because of the fear of death, the drop in raiding membership is understandable. But...)

"Why?"

"Shiroe... Erm, Mr Shiroe."

"Just Shiroe is fine."

"Oh. How many times have you died so far, Shiroe?"

He was probably referring to the period after the Catastrophe, so Shiroe replied "None." William's dour face twisted with displeasure after hearing this response.

Instead of displeasure, his expression was closer to hesitance.

"I can't explain clearly to someone with no experience."

"..."

"Just die and you will understand. The incompetence, the bad side and the ugliness of yourself. Die a hundred times and you will understand a hundred times. They can't go on because it is too hard to face them."

William looked very young when he bit his lips.

Shiroe saw a young guild master who was disappointed in losing a place for him to prove himself. Although something Shiroe should understand was right there, the time for Shiroe to think about it was up.

With an explosive sound, a familiar man approached Shiroe with a menacing expression.

2

On the other hand, Naotsugu and ReGan were wandering around Susukino.

It was December. Susukino in the depths of winter was covered in silvery white. Two men were walking along the wide streets of Susukino. There were plenty of restaurants in the direction they were heading. They were going the other way from Shiroe, hoping to find members for their raid.

In Elder Tales, information like name, class and level could be seen easily. Shiroe and Naotsugu felt that the lowest level limit for this adventure was 90. Other information like guild, equipment, attitude and the way they spoke all played a part in their search. Shiroe said that gathering individuals for the raid is hard, but the members of the Tea Party were individuals anyway. Naotsugu thought that the most important thing was their instinctive feel, so he split up with Shiroe and wandered around.

"Looking for members?"

"Yeah."

Naotsugu answered the hunchback scholar walking beside him.

"I don't think we can gather 20 in an instant, but I was hoping for at least one for a start."

"Is it that easy to gather warriors for raids?"

"When things go smoothly, it is."

Naotsugu answered halfheartedly as he surveyed the streets. Compared to his first visit, the place was much more peaceful. The Susukino where Adventurers looked at each other with suspicion was no more.

Silver Sword had improved this place dramatically. That's the news he heard from Shiroe. This guild which left Akiba in search of raid quests came to this city in the north and was very influential. Silver Sword brought salvation to the violent anarchy of Susukino. Although it was not part of the Round Table Council, it was still a strong guild that was chosen as one of the twelve founding guilds. The members were different from the haughty people who ruled Susukino city. Even if their levels were the same at 90, Silver Sword was a guild that was trained through the fires of raiding.

A single top tier battle guild managed to improve the situation in Susukino, that's what Naotsugu heard from Shiroe.

A People of the Land elderly woman wearing a fur coat and a round Russian hat was walking slowly with a large bag in her hands and traveling with a child. She was probably carrying food inside. She had a peaceful expression and the kids seemed happy, meaning the state of the city was not too bad. She was rushing because it was too cold outside.

From the look of this street, the snow had been shoveled to the side, piling up 15cm high. It was still freezing outside, but it matched the scenery well; Naotsugu thought the place looked great. Shiny icicles formed under the roofs of buildings, and the city looked like a work of art decorated by crystals.

Passing through the residential area of the People of the Land, the roads widened. The artery that linked to the heart of Susukino. Although the abandoned buildings still looked like a frozen fortress to Naotsugu, he was used to this view compared to his trip down in May. This was the structure of this country of snow, serving the dual purpose of intimidation and practical insulation from the cold.

"Have you been to Susukino before, old man?"

"A few times."

"You will have to hold down the fort without us though."

"I was prepared for that. It would be troublesome to escort me while exploring the secrets of the depths."

ReGan replied with a hint of regret.

In a raid zone, the strength of the monsters required 5 to 6 Adventurers to defeat. With Naotsugu and Shiroe being above the requisite level, it was possible to fight with ReGan in tow to explore the depths of Palm. But for a raid that required 24 Adventurers, the fight would be very intensive. After discussing with ReGan, it would be best for him to stay in Susukino while they went for the raid.

"It is a pity."

"Of course. We are talking about the secrets of the Kunie. The truth we can undercover there is worth more than gold."

"We will bring back whatever information we can."

Naotsugu promised ReGan.

"No, please don't mind me. This is the duty of the Sage of Mirror Lake. There are lots of mysterious items in this city as well, a place the Adventurers are developing. While Sir Naotsugu is adventuring, I will research in Susukino in my own way. Just the thought of experiencing new things in the north makes me excited."

ReGan giggled and looked around the streets as he said this.

What a strong sense of curiosity. Although ReGan used honorifics when speaking, Naotsugu saw him as a man of the same generation. Naotsugu thought that ReGan looked like a graduate student from a science department who lived in the lab. The outgoing Naotsugu saw him as an interesting fellow he could talk to without reservation. And ReGan had hit it off with Shiroe as well.

"Well, you are right. There are lots of sights to see in Susukino too."

"Correct. I will use this chance to investigate the intercity transport gate."

"Mmmf!"

A sound interrupted their conversation.

They looked over on reflex, the top half of a person was buried in a snow pile by the road. That was an impressive way to fall. The person dived at an angle into the snow, so Naotsugu couldn't see the face. But the well-proportioned butt in hot pants stuck out nicely.

"Nice Panties!"

Naotsugu gave a thumbs up with a bright smile.

The outline of the behind flowed smoothly to the thigh.

"No arguments there."

ReGan said with a smile. (Ahh, this guy is a bro,) Naotsugu thought. Although he was a similar intellectual type like Shiroe, expressing his compliments without hesitation in this situation was much manlier.

ReGan continued levelheadedly.

"I am not familiar with the customs of the Adventurers, isn't this a low cut hot pants? So it would be wrong to call them panties."

"It's alright. Isn't it sad to exclude them? If you have panties in your heart, then those are panties."

"Well said."

"A little help here?"

The person exploded out of the snow pile in protest. Her head was probably buried very deep, she probably fell from the roof. She didn't seem to be hurt, just a slight redness on the tip of her nose. The strong body of Adventurers played a part here too.

"My bad."

"I forgot what to do when I saw that great ass."

Facing the unrepentant attitude of these two, the girl with small stature growled.

"It will be a loss for all men if my pretty face were to get hurt."

Naotsugu observed the self-declared victim who was about the height of his chest.

What a pretty and cute figure. A slender body, loose white blouse, hot pants that accentuated her long snow white thighs. The space between her pants and knee high socks shone brightly, an area called the 'absolute territory'. The top half of her costume looked like a uniform with her tie, but the bottom half was excessively exposed.

Even for men who were not looking to date, it was a fashion sense that made your heartbeat accelerate. Naotsugu's face was already burning hot. He was holding back on ceremony, but that cute face wearing a small silk hat which suited the tastes of man betrayed the atmosphere.

This was a sense of fulfillment and happiness Naotsugu had never seen before. An arrogant face declaring to the world how cute she was. Total confidence in the words she says.

Cute.

She was definitely cute.

Naotsugu didn't want to admit it, but it would be a lie to say she wasn't cute.

But saying "It will be a loss for all men" was a bit too much for Naotsugu's taste. Even so, he was still hesitant about retorting at a girl smiling at him with pudding like lips.

"Isn't it too arrogant to say something like that?"

ReGan retorted without inhibition.

(ReGan's stock is rising.)

Naotsugu was impressed.

"Hmmph... Meanie."

"Ah, she stood up."

ReGan was just teasing the girl who was recovering from her fall. She had a cheerful expression, but her face was red from ReGan's retort.

But she was still wearing a happy and proud expression. She was missing a sense of humbleness present in pretty girls. But this might be her unique way of expressing herself. The girl with a wonderful expression gave off a charismatic air about her.

"Hmmm... She is very cute but her expression is too arrogant, so even though she is cute I don't want to acknowledge it... By adding all the elements and judging the overall score, by volume and panties it is Ms. Marie's victory! In summary, a festival!"

"Huh?"

Naotsugu blurted this out unintentionally as he crossed his arms over his chest. Fortunately, the girl and ReGan didn't understand what he was saying. Naotsugu looked into the distance and waved his hands, pretending nothing happened. Naotsugu then pulled a towel out from his magic bag and tossed it to the girl.

She was dressed casually and didn't seem to be carrying a magic bag.

"Oh, I understand. I am kind to my fans."

The girl caught the towel and wiped away the snow without hesitation. She used her thumb to brush away the snow on her hat clumsily. Naotsugu took the chance to check the girl's status screen.

"Tetora."

"Call me Tetora-chan!"

Naotsugu was stunned by the forthcoming girl. Level 92, just like Naotsugu. An Adventurer who continued to battle after the Catastrophe. She belonged to the guild Light Indigo, and her class was Cleric.

"Well, seems like it's easier to get close to this guy here."

"It is ineffective when you say it out loud."

As Naotsugu was retorting, Tetora leapt agilely like a cat and hugged Naotsugu's left arm, hanging with her feet off the ground.

"Really? No effect? None? Even my hugs~?"

The confident face that recognized this to be the basics asked him. The answer was no effect! Although it was easy to deny, this was the pitifulness of men. Even if you knew that she was only toying with you, you wouldn't feel irritated when a pretty girl hugged you. Tetora had an orange like fragrance.

"Re, re, release me."

"Haha. That won't do Mr Naotsugu."

His status screen was read before he realized it. In this world, it was not strange for people who met for the first time to know each other’s names.

"I like to grind against men who are panicky. By the way, I hate people grinding me, so don't mix that up!"

"Like I said, let go!"

Tetora swung onto Naotsugu's back, grabbing his head and climbing onto his shoulder. With the Adventurers' strong body, he didn't really feel that she was heavy.

Tetora who was giggling as she hugged Naotsugu's head was certainly a cute girl.

With the system character design, it was not surprising to see handsome men and beautiful women all around. But that was on the outside; the atmosphere around a person could not be faked. Tetora gave off an elegant and sunny air, and Naotsugu thought she was way ahead of other Adventurers in grabbing attention.

"Just like a pika rabbit climbing a tree."

"The skeleton uncle over there is so mean!"

"She called me a skeleton..."

ReGan and Tetora seemed to be having a fun conversation.

"That was an emergency, so you should have helped me right? A poor girl like me bruising my nose will make my fans cry. Really, a disgraceful fall like that could have ended my career as an idol."

"Upside down with your panties sticking out..."

"Not panties! Hot pants!"

ReGan was not backing down. He realize that Tetora was concerned with her awkward appearance earlier and was attacking her.

"Hot... warm panties... ah... Did you leak because of the fright?"

"Leak, leaking is impossible!"

"Really?"

"This snowy country really chills your stomach..."

"That's right."

"What are you saying you blind old skeleton!"

Tetora was hugging Naotsugu's whole head as she bickered with ReGan. Naotsugu lifted his hands up and grabbed Tetora by the armpit and put her gently onto the ground. He felt ReGan's gaze on him.

He understood the meaning of this gaze immediately. ReGan was asking whether Naotsugu wanted to invite this girl.

Naotsugu observed Tetora with a raid in mind.

Clerics were front line healing characters. Equipped with heavy armor, they occupied the heavy responsibility of healing the main tank. That's why out of the 3 types of healers, Clerics were the only ones that could equip heavy armor.

In fact, out of the 12 classes, together with Guardians like Naotsugu and Samurai like Soujirou, Clerics were one of the 3 classes that could equip heavy armor. With their ability to equip shields, their defense was second only to Guardians.

Clerics were dependent on equipment, responsible for holding up the health of the defense line. The defense line had to withstand the brunt of the enemies' attacks. They were not limited to the blows from swords or axes, but also included area attacks such as dragon's breath.

Although the attacks were directed at the defense line, the Clerics would also suffer damage if they were in range. Clerics could use powerful healing spells in close range, but the front line was still a scary place. The Clerics who faced the risks fearlessly were also known in Elder Tales as the toughest defense.

Observing Tetora again, she was armored lightly.

Tetora might be wearing casual wear for traveling in the city, so he couldn't judge from this alone. If Shiroe were here, he might be able to tell whether the girl was wearing the best set up of equipment for her build, but these were all meaningless gimmicks to Naotsugu. Naotsugu was inconclusive about that. Her level was excellent, but Naotsugu was scouting for an excellent healer that could fight in raids.

But on a separate note, Naotsugu was hesitant about pushing a girl onto a dangerous battlefield.

"A beauty like me will spread pheromones wherever I go."

Tetora said with a 'can't be helped' expression.

She was misunderstanding why Naotsugu was looking at her from head to toe. Although Naotsugu was troubled by this, Tetora seemed to be enjoying herself as she stood with her hands on her hips. 'Pheromones pheromones, it can't be helped nya, I know what you are thinking nya fufufufu...' She was so happy that she was almost singing out loud. Naotsugu didn't know what she was so happy about, trying to hug Naotsugu whenever she had the chance. Naotsugu did his best to dodge.

"I think the smell coming from your ass is not pheromones, but fart."

ReGan put his finger on his chin and commented, stopping Tetora's arrogant attitude.

"What did you say?"

"Right?"

Her face turned woeful, her knees slackened and then straightened in defiance.

"Idols don't fart!"

"What about pee?"

"We don't!"

Naotsugu's retort on reflex made Tetora fall into a trap. What a perfect combo.

"Well done you pass."

"Huh?"

"You pass... Ermm, this is kinda abrupt."

As ReGan said, it fell on instinct in the end.

Naotsugu felt a nostalgic air from Tetora. That was the feeling of his friends who pressed forward even though they were not concerned with victory.

That's how Naotsugu managed to solicit a new raid member.

3

"You have guts to show your face here, Log Horizon's Shiroe."

Shiroe turned around and saw the wrathful Demiqas draw near.

He left a trail of overturned table with food and dishes falling onto the floor. The members of Silver Sword looked uneasy at the sight of Demiqas, as they watched the table where their leader William was seated with the guest Shiroe.

This zone was situated within Susukino city, which was obviously a no-combat zone.

That's why no one drew their weapons. One of the Adventurers told a stunned People of the Land "Don't stay here, take a break inside."

Shiroe's expression softened when he heard this. This guild was not bad at all.

But the agitated Demiqas didn't care.

"Your easy going attitude is still the same."

"Long time no see, Mr. Democracy."

This muscle bound giant looked no different after half a year. Although his equipment had been updated, his thick arms and bloodshot eyes were still the same. This was indeed the world of Elder Tales, appearances didn't change with time. For Shiroe, this was both amazing and disappointing at the same time.

He knew the possibility of this happening. When they were planning the trip to Susukino, the first concern of Naotsugu was meeting Demiqas and his guild Brigandia again.

Shiroe had clashed with Brigandia in Susukino when he rescued Serara after the Catastrophe. Because Brigandia was using violence to control the city, Marie was worried about Serara's wellbeing, leading to the operation to rescue Serara. In this world where there was no permanent death, Shiroe's victory probably didn't have that much of an effect. But they succeeded in taking Serara with them and wounding Brigandia's pride.

"Let's take this outside Shiroe!"

Demiqas' iron fist smashed onto the table.

Naotsugu was right. It was hard for him to be wrong though, since it was unrealistic for Demiqas to forget what happened 6 months ago and let it go with the wind.

"What do you want to do outside?"

Shiroe knew what was coming, but he asked anyway.

Although he knew what Demiqas wanted, Shiroe couldn't skip the necessary steps. Going back and forth with taunts and bickering. This was the karma Shiroe wrought, there was no escaping this. But he was soliciting for raid members right now, so Shiroe had to avoid showing his weak side to William.

"Do you prefer hamburgers or chicken cutlet?"

"Tofu."

"Tender and soft, just the way I like it. I will tenderize you until you are half dead, so get out there!"

"Shut up, Demi."

William cut him off curtly.

"This man is my guest."

"Like I give a shit! William, this is my..."

"You lost, right?"

"Eh!"

"You lost. Just walk away."

"But..."

"I will kick your ass again, Demiqas."

William warned Demiqas in an icy tone.

Shiroe adjusted his glasses and thought. He understood the situation in Susukino from the information he had gathered. Half a year ago, chaos continued to reign after Shiroe left Susukino. After forming the Round Table Council, several expeditions were sent to Susukino to evacuate anyone who wanted to leave. After Silver Sword migrated to the north, there was still bloodlust in the air, but it was relatively stable for a player city in the border areas.

In this city ruled by several battle guilds, a high ranking guild within the server like Silver Sword brought stability to the region. William's gang was ranked 3rd behind Black Sword Knights and D.D.D. Although they did not actively patrol the streets, they did not tolerate Adventurers that disturbed the peace. From their perspective, Adventurers who bullied the powerless People of the Land were despicable weaklings. They would not allow such people to throw their weight around in Elder Tales.

An example of such reports was right before Shiroe's eyes.

There were 6 ears sticking out from behind the kitchen counter. The werecat People of the Land revealing just their eyes were observing the situation. They seemed to think this was troublesome, but there was no fear in their eyes.

Silver Sword earned the trust of the People of the Land in Susukino. When Elder Tales was just a game, Susukino was set to be the frontline city in the fight against Titans, a pioneer city built from the wilderness. This setting might have positive implications, too.

Instead of Brigandia which ruled the city with an iron fist, Silver Sword playing the role of the guardians of the city with no ulterior intentions was a much better upgrade.

Demiqas ground his teeth at William's threat and glared at Shiroe.

"You can't beat Shiroe anyway."

"I have upgraded my gear though difficult raids!"

On closer inspection, Demiqas' Wyvern Shin Guard seemed to have been modified heavily. From the equipment he was using, it was clear that Demiqas took part in many raids in these 6 months. And they were not easy quests. The Beast King's Coat was a loot from the level 90 raid quest 'Ruler of the Tenvuikutori Plains', an admirable achievement.

"Thinking that you can win because of your gear is the reason you will lose."

"!!"

William maintained a casual attitude while facing the silent anger of Demiqas. Shiroe didn't know what kind of relationship these two had, but he got the general gist. They had probably had a duel which William won overwhelmingly, forcing Demiqas to play second fiddle.

"Like I said, Brigandia has lost half its members. Mah, it can't be helped. They were defeated by a werecat swordsman who is not even in a guild. It's obvious that no one would want to stay. And the poopy Londark was headhunted by people from Kansai."

"Hey, idol wannabe. Is it okay for you to say poop?"

"Don't say poop, your popularity will plummet."

"Hah! I, I didn't say that okay? Idols don't say things like poop. That would tarnish my image."

"So you are going for the comedy route."

"I am a traditional beauty galaxy idol. Even the Voyager will rush into space without wearing shoes for me!"

"Just like a grade schooler. So what about Demiqas?"

"I am not a grade schooler! Demiqas is like the little brother of Silver Sword, or rather the whole guild is falling into that role. Anyway, peace came to Susukino. Really, I am not a grade schooler, okay? We have Demidemi's wife to thank for that. Before I forget, I am not a grade schooler from this point onwards alright."

The loud obnoxious voice traveled to the tense table where Shiroe, William, and Demiqas were. They seemed to be heading this way as the sound was getting louder. They were talking without sparing a thought for others.

"Really!? Wife!? What the hell!!"

"Marriage huh. How wonderful."

"Although he still denies the marriage stubbornly, my sources from the People of the Land network tell me he cleans the sheets daily and provides 3 meals a day. It makes the other guild members jealous, saying that his aristocratic People of the Land bride has Demidemi under her thumb."

"Eh..."

"The People of the Land he kidnapped to be a servant is being treated so delicately. Like the opening to a hentai game. Ah, Mr Naotsugu. Want to serve me? Hehehe. It can be arranged, I am an idol after all."

"Enough, get down you fake idol!"

Shiroe heard the cute voice giggling while uttering uncute contents.

There were 2 male voices accompanying this approaching trouble, and they sounded so familiar.

"That's why in this period of time, Demidemi has become a more rounded person, just like a ball. Ah, it's Demidemi."

Demiqas flew through the air instantly without any running start. Wyvern Kick. Gliding 5 meters through the air with a powerful kick, the renowned attack skill of Monks. He probably did it with his body movement instead of using the game menu as it seemed faster compared to half a year ago.

The attack with no preparatory movement was blocked by Naotsugu who grabbed his shield in an instant. The clear clashing sound showed that Demiqas was attacking seriously. If it were a real fight, the Guards operated by the Kunie should be rushing into this no-combat zone. Naotsugu didn't really want to fight. He was just taking the blow with the shield on his shoulder to avoid sounding off the alarm.

But the attack still reached the target. The slender girl hanging off Naotsugu's neck was being squashed by the pressure. Her mouth was open wide, hugging on to Naotsugu like a koala bear.

The ones at the doorway were Naotsugu, ReGan, and a Cleric. Naotsugu knew that there was a high chance Demiqas would attack Shiroe, so he came here to meet up with Shiroe. Unfortunately, they were just gossiping about Demiqas when they showed up.

Although they meant no harm, Demiqas was still angered by their talk. Well, Shiroe didn't blame him. Discussing such things in public and in such a tense situation, no wonder Demiqas was angry. The kick was a bit too much, but it was no problem for Naotsugu. Naotsugu had gotten used to Akatsuki's kicks. The leading expert in being kneed and kicked in Akiba was definitely Naotsugu the Guardian. With his 50% success rate when defending against Akatsuki, Naotsugu matched up well with Monks who specialized in kicking.

"A flying kick?"

"Where are you putting your hands at a time like this? Don't put your weight on me!"

"Damn you Tetora, running your mouth off!"

Their conversation was going nowhere as the scene descended into chaos.

Seemed like the Cleric hanging on to Naotsugu's neck was Tetora. A rather cute name. Shiroe understood when he read her level and guild. Naotsugu was probably recruiting members. With a couple more people, together with himself and Naotsugu, they should barely be able to form a Full Raid. As Shiroe breathed a sigh of relief, William laughed and announced.

"Great, with the healer and Demiqas, we will have the numbers. You have so much energy, save that kick for the actual raid, Haha."

Shiroe's sense of relief disappeared when he heard the mocking laughter.

The raid beyond the depths of Palm. Shiroe felt all sorts of worries piling up no matter where he went.

4

The preparations proceeded smoothly.

Adventurers kept most of their belongings in their rooms, their guild house, the bank, in a warehouse, or brought it along in their bags. Veteran Adventurers owned several weight reduction containers known as magic bags. Bringing along perishables and equipment needed for adventuring was common knowledge.

It was even more so for big battle guilds specializing in raids like Silver Sword. The elite members spent every day battling. They were ready before evening after William gave the word.

The world of Elder Tales after the Catastrophe moved twelve times slower than before. With the Fairy Rings rendered useless, the amount of time required to traverse great distances was depressingly long. You had to go through the straits of Lightport in order to reach the depths of Palm. Although Shiroe, Naotsugu, and ReGan flew past the straits on Griffons, it was not feasible for a group of 24 to travel that way.

Silver Sword was one of the major guilds competing for the honor of being the best in raids, so quite a number of them had flying mounts, but not all. Although they could make it by air if they squeezed, William decided to travel directly by land. Shiroe agreed with this means of travel.

Silver Sword was William's guild, so he was most suited for command.

Shiroe and Naotsugu understood this and had no qualms about following William's lead. The ones complaining were Demiqas, and Tetora. Demiqas threw a tantrum without a word because of his pride, while Tetora disturbed Naotsugu in a Tetora way, saying stuff like 'I want to be a flying idol.'

Shiroe felt that there was more than meets the eye.

For Naotsugu, spring had come.

There was only one way if they traveled by land. That was through the tunnel under the straits of Lightport. As expected, this tunnel also doubled as a dungeon in the world of Elder Tales, but was no threat to the Full Raid group with an average level of 93. This dungeon could be traversed alone for Adventurers above level 40 anyway.

The raid group led by William advanced into the dungeon underneath the straits.

The basics of group battle in Elder Tales was the party made of 6. The 24 men Full Raid was comprised of four parties; each party of six was then numbered from 1st to 4th.

Raid battles differed widely, so there was no such thing as the correct composition. But it was common to see the 1st party focus on defense and the 2nd party be well balanced for guerrilla missions. The 3rd and 4th parties concentrated on attack and were responsible for bringing down the enemy.

The first problem in planning a raid was assigning members to parties.

If you thought about the roles each member played, it would be based on their job class. For example, the tanks in the 1st party formed the defense line for the whole raid, as it was impossible for all the players to withstand the attacks of the raid boss indefinitely. The main tank would need to have the highest defense and health bar, and use the best taunting skills to focus the enemies' hate on himself. Only a Guardian met all these criteria. Although Samurai were a viable choice, Guardians were still better with their ability to equip shields.

But that was only in normal situations.

If the Samurai was of a higher level than the Guardian or had better equipment, the Samurai would be the better choice. And more important than the level and equipment was the character of the Adventurer. In raid battles, spending long periods of time tanking the enemies' attacks was a heavy burden. Skills were important, but mental toughness and the teamwork with others were crucial as well. There were some Guardians out there who preferred to concentrate on attacks and hated taunting enemies and protecting teammates. Instead of assigning them to the front lines, they would be more suited for command or the 3rd or 4th party which concentrated on attacking.

This meant that detailing the members was not limited to classes and levels, but also the character of the players, a complicated puzzle to derive the best combination. Taking into account the weaknesses and movements of the enemy monsters, there were plenty of permutations to consider, a difficult question that had plagued commanders for the past 20 years.

Shiroe understood that the reason why William chose to travel by land lay here. He wanted to understand the nature and strength of the new members as reference for the team roster when the time came.

(But, I don't think you can use this as reference.)

Shiroe was assigned as the leader of the 2nd party.

The members were Enchanter Shiroe.

Guardian Naotsugu.

Cleric Tetora.

Druid Vuorinen.

Swashbuckler Federico.

Monk Demiqas.

Vuorinen and Federico were veterans of Silver Sword, and they welcomed Shiroe more warmly than he expected.

The problem child was Demiqas, rushing out when the battle started to hunt down monsters. The monsters were between level 30 and 40. For the level 93 Demiqas, this was as challenging as poking through paper windows. It was hard to tell his character and teamwork from this.

Although Shiroe tried talking to him several times, Demiqas cut the conversation short with his curt and menacing replies.

"No need to rush."

The kind and warm Vuorinen told him.

"It will be great if we complete this by year's end."

There was a reason why Vuorinen thought this way.

Things like raid battles were not challenges you could complete in a day. From their experience of Elder Tales as a game, a raid zone had countless normal monsters and 5 to 10 raid bosses. They could be wiped out by a normal monster if they were careless. You would need to be wiped out dozens of times in order to understand the raid boss' capabilities and look for the way to victory, that's what raiding was all about.

If you died in a raid zone, you would not be sent to the cathedral in the player's city. You would respawn right at the entrance of the zone. This meant the entrance to the zone had the same capability as a cathedral.

Since they could challenge the zone from the entrance if they were wiped out, it was the norm for players to try again multiple times. Preparing to spend a month on this was reasonable.

William's instruction to purchase a month's worth of perishables reinforced Vuorinen's words. Shiroe was already prepared for this and squeezed all sorts of materials and tools into his bags, enough to last him 2 months.

This was great for evading spies, Shiroe thought. Although Susukino was a border city with sparse population, it was still a player city. There was a high chance people were already watching him. It would be safe to stay in an unexplored region. Shiroe didn't know how true this was...

But even so, he didn't want this to drag too long.

Even if he stayed still, the chance of information leaking increased the longer he took. And if Shiroe was right, this was not a surveillance he could evade by switching zones. Although Nyanta and Akatsuki were creating an alibi for him in Akiba, there was no telling how long he could keep this up. So he wanted to wrap this up as soon as possible.

As Shiroe thought about this, he started missing his old friends.

How strange, Shiroe thought as he scratched his cheek.

It had been less than half a year, but he missed the guild house wrapped by an ancient tree. The fragrant wooden floors of the living room made by Michitaka, he missed the cheerful sound of everyone. He wanted to watch the sun rise from the balcony while drinking tea. In order to protect all this, he had to complete this mission. I am a guild master now, Shiroe pushed himself on with this thought.

"Wahh!"

Shiroe looked towards the source of the scream, Tetora was staring at him.

"What happened?"

"Mr Shiroe was smiling! I saw him smiling by himself!"

"He does smile every now and then."

"Really!? This was my first time seeing it..."

Barging in with this rude conversation were the duo Naotsugu and Tetora.

"Keep a distance from Shiroe. He is a closet pervert."

"Ahh. I see... Mr Shiroe is so pitiful. Want to see some panties?"

"You claim to be an idol and yet you are fine showing it to anyone?"

"I'm not showing. I'm just asking. Just curious. If I really wanted to show it, I will pretend it's an accident. And then report that guy to the police."

"That's being a trap, not an idol."

"Mr Naotsugu you meanie. Even if you are charmed by me, I still don't belong to any one person."

Although Shiroe didn't show it on his face, he was shocked by their unhesitant conversations. Naotsugu grunted 'I'm not charmed.' Tetora used Tetora's way and hugged Naotsugu, saying 'The words of a true tsundere. I'm climbing up okay?'

They had good affinity with each other.

Shiroe forgot to be mad at being the subject of a rude discussion, but felt happy for some reason. This was just their second meeting. It was only natural that she had never seen Shiroe smile, and both of them knew nothing of each other.

Tetora somehow angered Naotsugu and fled, with Naotsugu chasing behind. Shiroe didn't feel the need to stop them. They could take on any monsters in this dungeon easily, and Demiqas was wiping out all the enemies nearby anyway.

Shiroe still waved and shouted 'Be careful okay' anyway. A hand patted his back and said to him 'You are really taking it easy.'

William was fully equipped with a giant bow on his back. He looked straight ahead with his sharp expression and walked to Shiroe's side.

"Instead of taking it easy, I feel that I am enjoying myself."

Shiroe replied.

William seemed to laugh bitterly upon hearing this response.

Shiroe only learned in these few days that William's sharp and guarded expression was his default face; he was not actually unhappy about anything. He did not show his thoughts through his face and his mocking smile didn't really mean anything. This was the norm for William.

A good commander needed to grasp the direction and character of his members. This would maximize the effectiveness of command and execution.

On the other hand, the members would also learn the perks of the commander over time. Just following orders blindly was meaningless. Only when you understood the intent and purpose would you be able to react in time to achieve the team's goal.

Appointed as the leader of the 2nd party, Shiroe tried spending more time understanding William. From the unhappy expression William wore all the time, Shiroe could imagine the guild issues William worried about all the time.

But this was to be expected. Without this level of ability, it would be impossible to lead a guild like Silver Sword to the top of the battle guild rankings.

"But he's not."

The meaning behind these vague words could be understood by following William's gaze and looking at the bulky figure destroying monsters. Indeed, Demiqas was straying away from the 2nd party's formation.

"He is an unstable factor."

Shiroe said apologetically with a hint of guilt. But William simply smiled and nodded. William used his left hand to stroke his chin and looked into the distance with a bitter smile.

"But he also needs this chance. Whether he will fight on or give up, we will know when the raid begins. Demi understands too. If he doesn't, then this will be his limit."

William seemed to be hinting at all sorts of things with cryptic words, but Shiroe didn't understand it at this point in time.

5

Three weeks later, the group was still raiding on.

The 1 month target they set was shattered easily, the way ahead seemed to be getting more unpredictable. They only took down 2 raid bosses after 3 weeks, and only had a vague idea of the whole raid zone.

The atmosphere of the group was growing increasingly fatigued and serious.

"Damn it!!"

The roaring Demiqas was taking damage from poison, Vuorinen cursed in his mind as he cast Heartbeat Healing on him. Demiqas would constantly be healed gradually over a 20 second period. Green and orange pulsing light effects surrounded the burly warrior.

Demiqas used his specialty of dashing while punching to charge at the yellow slime creature.

Lightning Fist. He leaned forward and struck with all his might, piercing the slime monster easily. But Vuorinen sighed, knowing it wouldn't work.

The Orcus Jelly splattered slime in all directions. A pungent smell from the pieces filled the air as they started to dissolve. The attacking Demiqas was also covered in white smoke and was smoldering. Orcus Jelly used its acidic body to attack enemies and would also damage anybody who came into contact with it. The 5 meter large slime ball didn't seem to be hurt.

"I told you so!"

Vuorinen rushed in Demiqas' direction. The muscle head warrior's strike had put him out of the 20 meter range of healing spells. Although he cast Heartbeat Healing on him, the recovery amount wouldn't be enough. If Vuorinen didn't cast Instant Cures and Minor Heals, Demiqas would fall again.

Vuorinen felt frustrated with Demiqas who had disrupted the formation again.

The dull thud from the sewage pipe on either side of them signaled the arrival of more Orcus Jellies.

A chaotic fight.

The raiding group of 24 was led by Vuorinen's guild master William, made up of 4 parties. But only the 1st and 2nd parties had acceptable levels of defense. The 1st party specialized in defense and was tanking the bulk of the Orcus Jellies from the front.

The 3rd and 4th parties were in charge of dishing out firepower to destroy the enemy. Their offense was heightened to kill their foes, but their defense was lacking. They were to dispose of the monsters the 1st party was pulling.

The 2nd party Vuorinen was assigned to have the task of guerrilla missions.

They had to intercept the monsters that got past the 1st party. When the enemies launched surprise attacks against the weakly armored 3rd or 4th party, the 2nd party would need to protect them.

The 1st party was in the spotlight as they held off the biggest enemies and attracted their hate, the 2nd party on the other hand needed quick reactions to danger and was very important from a tactical standpoint. All of the members needed to know what the task at hand was in order to coordinate efficiently.

The monsters emerging from the sides launched their attack.

The 1st party was holding the defense line ahead and couldn't pull back. Demiqas pulled a surprise attack when the raid bogged down to a stalemate. This was a dangerous time for enemy reinforcements to come in. They were coming at the flanks of the 3rd and 4th parties, the rear of the formation with weak defense. The lightly armored mages responsible for long range attacks were especially vulnerable. It would be over if they were to fall.

(This is not the time to worry about others!)

Vuorinen chased after Demiqas who had charged on ahead.

He watched his steps and moved ahead, failing to notice the translucent yellow pudding wall approaching until it was too late.

(This is bad,) Vuorinen thought as silvery mass manifested from his right.

"Anchor Howl!"

The ear splitting shout of the Guardian attracted the wrath of the Orcus Jelly. It was his teammate Naotsugu from the 2nd party. Vuorinen heard that Naotsugu was from a small but famous guild, and was impressed with his smooth movements in the raid battle.

The monster shook its ugly body, probably locking on to Naotsugu. Naotsugu raised his shield in defense, understanding that reckless strikes would invite counterattacks in the form of acid. He skillfully used his taunts and wielded his shield to minimize the damage. His ability might be even better than that of the Guardian Dinkuron, the defensive specialist of Silver Sword.

The Orcus Jelly from the left moved in to double team Naotsugu, rising up like bread dough and suddenly freezing.

Without even hearing it, Vuorinen could tell this was the timely Astral Hypnos spell cast by their Enchanter. Although it was only for 20 seconds, monsters hit by the spell would cease all movement. Because they were just sleeping, just a light hit was enough to dispel the condition. But the ability to reduce the number of active enemies was already a big help. Since this was a raid zone, the monsters here were all buffed up to raid zone level. The effectiveness of hypnosis spells was reduced to about 4 seconds. Just 4 seconds was enough to slip past the enemy and head for the front lines.

"Enemy reinforcement, requesting support! 8 o' clock, Orcus Jelly!!"

Shiroe shouted as he cast Astral Hypnos.

In response to the voice, the 3rd and 4th parties switched their attack target. The first blow came from the commander William. His crystal-like arrows sparkled like meteors, piercing holes through the stomach of the Orcus Jelly the size of fists. This was followed by fire, frost and lightning spells raining down in rapid succession.

All raid monsters had huge amounts of health. Even the combined attack of dozens could not take them down in a short period of time. The Orcus Jelly crippled by Shiroe had broken free, but the 4 seconds was enough for their Guardian to accumulate enough hate.

Vuorinen watched the nimble Cleric bounce around the battlefield.

The lightly armored Cleric was more experienced than she looked. She came from an unknown guild called Light Indigo but was no stranger to raid battles. Her lightly armored build contradicted directly with the orthodox build of a fully armored Cleric. But from her skillful positioning and movements, Vuorinen knew that she had a good sense and understanding of the situation.

Tetora moved back and forth repeatedly as she distributed her Reactive Heal among teammates. She hid behind Naotsugu when the Orcus Jelly compressed its body. Using the powerful defense of the Guardian to block the dangerous area attacks of the raid monsters, a move veterans used.

"Doing okay, Mr. Naotsugu?"

"The slime festival is really swell!"

"Wonderful...! Mr. Naotsugu is so cool...!"

"You are totally using me as a shield!"

"I healed you several times already so take some hits for me, alright?"

Vuorinen smiled when he saw the two of them bicker. Shiroe and the duo he brought along were impressively tenacious. Vuorinen was impressed.

Mysterious light shone from the tall ceiling within the zone. It was either illuminated by luminous mushrooms or magic. The bright lights kept the dungeons bright and the surroundings visible. When exploring the place, it was still advisable to use Bug Light though.

This place was several hundred meters underground. They had passed through the depths of Palms to a bigger battle zone 'Abyss Shaft'; a conservative estimate of the amount of soil above their heads would be several million tons. For Adventurers who were mainly students and working adults, it was very pressuring.

The complex sewage openings around the premises meant monsters could launch sneak attack at any time, intensifying the pressure. The raid was hard. They were not holding back either. The difficulty of this zone was tougher than Vuorinen expected.

They had to spend 8 to 10 hours battling dozens of rounds with monsters daily. This was their limit. Every fight was challenging, and they needed time to recover too. Their exploration area was still very limited.

Contrary to expectations, the trio was not discouraged at all.

Even the elites of Silver Sword were feeling the heat. Compared to normal Adventurers, this trio was full of life and vigor. This didn't seem to be the effect of skills and equipment, but rather because of their nature.

"I'm going to do it okay. Anytime now. Don't fall for me, alright?"

"Enough, just get on with it!"

"Fufu. Here I come. In response to everyone's request... listen to my song! 'Aurora Heal'!"

Colorful lights from the entire spectrum of the rainbow shone bright, healing the wounds of all allies in range slowly. The area attack of the Orcus Jellies did not only target the members holding down the defense line. Melee attackers using swords and axes would also take damage. A member of the 2nd party, Federico, was already at half health. It was the duty of Vuorinen to heal him when he had the time to spare. But with the monsters' fierce attack at hand, Vuorinen had to give the priority to the tanks.

In order to cover for Vuorinen who rushed out to support Demiqas, Tetora was using a big spell with long casting time to mass heal.

"I did it! I am so smart and cute, so perfect!"

"That's the truth, although your attitude disgusts me, I am grateful for the fix! Take this!"

"Focus your attacks! Keep your melee area attacks down!"

Shiroe cast support spells for Tetora. At the same time, Federico, whose wounds were on the mend, returned to the front lines.

While listening to the cheerful voice behind him, Vuorinen cast consecutive healing spells at Demiqas.

Orcus Jellies seemed like nothing but trouble for melee fighters and tanks. Acidic slime would spurt out when they were attacked from close range, an effective counterattack. The acidic smog caused area damage and debuffs, another headache. Dealing with one was bad, facing 4 or 5 at once was even more of a pain.

"Come back, Demiqas!"

"To be held back by these small fries...!"

Demiqas roared as he retreated with Phantom Step. His hands were smoking from the acid. The wear and tear on his weapons seemed rather serious.

"Damn it, heal me!"

"Don't need to shout, I can hear you."

Vuorinen started to chant. Demiqas was on the verge of dying, and would fall if this kept up. Demiqas returned because he understood the risk, but his attitude was bad.

Demiqas seemed unhappy with Vuorinen's response and glared at him. His eyes seemed to be saying, 'If you know, then hurry up!'

Vuorinen sighed.

Demiqas was troublesome.

As a fellow party member, Vuorinen wished Demiqas would tone it down.

If he kept up his solitary strikes, his heal work would be compromised. Attacking without considering the casting range would cause the formation to crumble.

Demiqas had racked up several deaths. In a raid group with dozens of Adventurers, there were sure to be members with a healing class, so they could be revived with no issues. For Adventurers in raiding guilds like Vuorinen, death was just equivalent to fainting, but it also meant they would not be able to move when they went down. The overall performance of the group would drop with death.

No matter how dumb he might be, he had learned to avoid dying. But even if he retreated just before he fell, it was still unacceptable in terms of efficiency. When Demiqas was recovering, the 1st party had to cover for him.

Demiqas' reckless charge was reinforced by the kindness of the people around him. The support stopping would lead to the whole group falling into ruins.

(But...)

Vuorinen thought as he cast Healing Wind and Heartbeat Healing, rushing back to the front lines alongside Demiqas.

But even so, it was only fair to say that Demiqas was a good player.

They had spent 3 weeks exploring the depths of the underground dungeon. There had been many brutal battles in this period. Although they had never been wiped out completely, all the participating members had been killed more than 10 times.

In normal circumstances, people would want to vent their anger at their surroundings when faced with such pressure. For Shiroe and his group from Log Horizon to maintain their optimism was abnormal.

Vuorinen thought he was an elite in raids.

Led by the famous William, Vuorinen felt like a veteran who had been through hell.

Not only Vuorinen, all other members of Silver Sword were confident that they were the strongest guild in the server and they were proud of it.

But the guild specializing in raids and striving to be the strongest had its share of troubles. The core group has fallen to about 80 percent after the Catastrophe, and about 40 members were left. There were some who had quit raiding even though they still retained guild membership.

That was because raid battles in a zone that matched the level of the Adventurers were brutal.

The top guild D.D.D playing around in the Citadel of Seven Falls of about level 50 was evidence of this.

In the eyes of Vuorinen and the others, it was a joke. A bunch of level 90s running around a level 50 zone? Instead of being a major battle guild, it was more like a major fun and games guild.

But he could not dismiss Demiqas because of this pride. This dim witted, burly Monk was unable to understand the meaning of cooperation. He was unwilling to listen to others and gave them a ton of trouble. His attitude was poor, lacking all the essential elements for fighting raids.

But Demiqas was no coward.

Even D.D.D was hesitant when fighting level 90 end game content. But this martial artist did not slow down when facing the torrent of violence and death. He did not shy away from contact with monsters, and his eyes were unwavering.

Vuorinen knew that Demiqas' jealousy for Shiroe and Silver Sword were part of the reason. But fear was not something you can overcome with jealousy. There was no way Demiqas could handle the slime ball monsters more than twice his height by throwing tantrums.

Vuorinen had no answers, and could only add protective barriers on Demiqas and himself.

The situation was dire.

The exploration was not progressing well. Even Silver Sword was losing self-restraint and was on the verge of exploding. The most brutal battles in the whole server were probably here. They couldn't just let the vagrant continue to run amok. Vuorinen continued to commit to his duty as a healer to keep his party healthy as he rushed around the battlefield.

6

William, who held the trust of Silver Sword, was suffering.

After finishing the battle for the day, in the elaborate temporary base camp, William tossed out the papers documenting the results of the exploration. He stretched his back so far out that he almost toppled the canvas chair he was sitting on.

"It's not going well."

"Right."

Sitting beside him was Log Horizon's Shiroe. This young man in glasses was mapping out the area with an accuracy William could never match. William stretched out his legs wide, rocked his chair, and sighed. He knew he was furrowing his brow.

"How many to go?"

"Well..."

Shiroe traced his finger on the gigantic map.

"There are 3, no, 4 more."

This was an estimate of the number of raid bosses left in the zone.

Although there were all sorts of raid zones, this one appeared to be a typical multi stage raid zone. Raid dungeons were more challenging versions of normal dungeons, containing raid content.

Compared to party level dungeon zones, there were many more passages and rooms. There might even be traps and puzzles. Humongous areas lay within the key areas of the zone, and powerful raid bosses stood guard in them.

All the enemies were at raid level strength. Since this area was designed for a 24 person Full Raid, a party of 6 would never stand a chance. Even with a Full Raid group, there was still a chance you would be wiped out if you let down your guard. Silver Sword would be able to expedite their exploration process if they were facing normal monsters. But they were still stuck with filling the gaps in the map for now.

The problem lay with the raid bosses which required different tactics from normal monsters.

They had taken down '1st of the garden' Vandemi and '5th of the garden' Eroraider. Both of them were powerful and had special abilities which required complicated tactics to defeat.

"This is tedious."

"The fights with these 2 bosses were really close."

That was expected in raid boss battles.

Simply gathering powerful members wouldn't even get you to the fight, let alone lead you to victory.

Neither of the fights went perfectly, and they barely avoided being wiped out, with a handful out of the 24 escaping to safety. The other members were revived in safety, and this process was repeated 20 odd times. Including combat resuscitation, all the members had been incapacitated multiple times.

But some good did come out of this. Orcus Jelly, Mutant Griffon, Venom Hydrangea and Murderous Minotaur dropped lots of high quality materials such as primordial mud, variant leather, and comet metal only available through raids. These were high class items production class Adventurers could use to create quality equipment worth a fortune.

They also obtained 7 phantasmal class equipment after defeating 1st of the garden Vandemi and 5th of the garden Eroraider.

These equipment were a huge motivation for major guilds fighting to be the very best like no one ever was. The loot this round were types that they had never seen before. They were not only an upgrade of phantasmal class level equipment, it was a glorious accomplishment they could be proud of.

Shiroe poured out coffee from the pot that was 20cm tall. William counted the number of days they had left as he watched Shiroe's action.

"Ten days is our limit."

"..."

William was concerned about their supplies.

As they fought on, the Adventurers' equipment would suffer wear and tear. Death would cause even more damage which could not be mended by resuscitation spells. To keep the equipment in working condition, they had to constantly maintain them.

This was common sense in Elder Tales and William had already taken this into account. Such multi stage raids had always been a headache since the Elder Tales days. The members of the raid had subclasses of Blacksmith, Armor Craftsman, Seamstress and Carpenters. Doing maintenance when not engaging in battle was the norm for major guilds.

But repairs required materials. Without proper facilities, the material consumption rate was much more intense. And a guild like Silver Sword was full of members with phantasmal level equipment, which required phantasmal materials as well.

Apart from the maintenance of equipment, they also needed to take note of expendable items. That was the case for William's Holy Crystal Comet arrows. The powerful arrows were made by craftsmen from phantasmal materials. A skilled craftsman could make 500 arrows from Holy Rainbow Quartz. But 500 was not enough for consecutive battles like these. William had already expended 2000 of the 10,000 he had prepared. Other diminishing expendable items included potions, balms, talismans, and scrolls.

This meant that the supplies for raid battles were gathered from other raid battles, a vicious cycle.

To upkeep the equipment you got from raid battles, you would need to get materials from raid battles. By going through such cycles, you would obtain the power to challenge harder raid battles. If you succeeded in challenging a higher level raid, you would get even better equipment. And to maintain them, you would need to continue fighting difficult raids.

Historically, raiding guilds would periodically conduct raids of a lower level in order to maintain balance in the cycle. The purpose was to resupply. But with the Fairy Rings out of commission because of the Catastrophe, it was difficult to visit the raids spread all over the world. And even if that were not an issue, Silver Sword was a proud battle guild. Unless there was a pressing issue for resupply, they would rather not visit lower level raid zones.

William had kept on fighting after the Catastrophe.

He did not regret it, but he had exhausted a large portion of his resources and materials. In terms of Full Raid battles, William was confident that this group was the strongest within the server. But their finances were in a pitiful state.

"I have resources prepared from Akiba as well."

"How long will it last us?"

"Adding it in, we can last for 20 more days."

Shiroe replied bitterly. William heard that Log Horizon was a small guild with just 8 members. Supplying the elites of Silver Sword for 10 days was amazing. But that didn't change the situation. Downing 2 bosses took 3 weeks, and twice that number in 20 days would be hard. From past experience, bosses would get harder in the later stages.

And William had another concern.

Which was the origin of the man before him.

The silent Shiroe who seemed to have many secrets hid his true thinking behind his expression.

This zone itself was unnatural.

'1st of the garden' Vandemi.

'5th of the garden' Eroraider.

Even without seeing the other bosses, William could take a stab at their names. Probably '2nd of the garden' Mezarakurau, '3rd of the garden' Ibura Habura and '4th of the garden' Tarutaurugar. The bosses guarding this zone were the pride of 9 Great Prisons of Heroes, having the same form and name as their administrator. But they were not totally the same of course. In the expansion pack Heart of Fantasy, they were known as '1st of the prison' Vandemi and '5th of the prison' Eroraider. The raid bosses took the form of winged snakes and of a white horse which you would never forget. They made their appearance again after a slight change in name and color palette. They had also became stronger and discarded their old fighting patterns.

Games that recycled characters living in the database were common. This zone was just one of many examples. There should be some lore behind them if this world was still a game. Shiroe had not divulged the things he was hiding for some reason.

He was not in a position to nag at others.

This was William's true feeling.

He did think his group was wrong. He had no regrets over leaving Akiba or going through multiple raids in the north. Although he had no qualms about it, he felt that Silver Sword had distanced itself from the others. Man could not improve just by avoiding mistakes. William didn't want to know about all that. He just wanted to be the best and that would be enough. If his comrades felt intimidated, he, William, could wipe away their worries with just a shout.

But he understood that he could not keep this up and had to face reality.

He didn't want to admit it, but William thought he might be wrong.

He was wrong to reject Shiroe's invitation and leave the Round Table Council.

William wanted to talk about this with Shiroe.

But William was not sure what Shiroe was up to, and it seemed Shiroe was suffering from the secrets he was withholding. It was hard to lower his head and ask Shiroe to address his doubts. William was not an adult and he didn't want to be such an adult.

He mocked his childlike pride. He also had thoughts thinking that this was just fine.

The deteriorating supplies issue, fighting raid battles deep underground with no ready means of escape. In this situation which was worsening by the minute, what could he say to motivate his Silver Sword comrades? What could a loser like him who had only taken Elder Tales gaming seriously since birth say to his men?

William didn't think he could say anything. He was just going about this on a whim.

He felt like a child waving a weapon around to show his bravado. But he should make use of the weapon since he had one that was only natural. That was what William decided as a gamer.

"What do you think, Shiroe?"

"About what?"

William scratched his head roughly when he heard that response.

He had no answer ready for Shiroe's query.

William also needed a chance. To take up the challenge or give up.

To prove that he was someone or to become someone. What was the different between Demiqas who had lost his way and was picking fights wherever he went and Silver Sword?

The chance was before him, in the battle. That's what William determined.

So he strove on despite the hardships.

Chapter 3: The Changing Battlefield

1

"This is irritating."

Naotsugu complained.

He grabbed a rag from his bag to clean the stains on his Armor of Silver Oath and Gaze of Lionheart Shield. He had already cleaned his equipment with the waters conjured by the Summoners with their Undines. The filth from some monsters was harmful to equipment, so cleaning up was important in the aftermath of battles.

"What irritates you, Mr. Naotsugu?"

Tetora who was cleaning her flashy wand asked.

As members of the 2nd party, the duo spent a lot of their time together. Demiqas was moody and moved alone, while Vuorinen and Federico spent their time working with the other members of Silver Sword. Filling in as the strategist of this raid, Shiroe worked closely with William and was often summoned by him.

This meant Naotsugu and Tetora spent a lot of time together.

"Maybe the stain will never come off. It might be a curse."

"What a creepy thing for an idol wannabe to say."

"For a super charismatic girl like me, it is my natural speech and actions that made me popular. Because I am cute."

"Yeah right."

The expedition for the day hadn't ended. It was now noon, so they were taking a break and preparing for lunch. They were doing simple maintenance on their equipment by cleaning them by hand, but part of the reason was because Naotsugu had nothing else to do.

"I am not talking about the equipment."

"Okay. So you are thinking about me?"

"No way."

Naotsugu denied without hesitation.

If you forced him to decide between like or dislike, Naotsugu would categorize Tetora under the like column.

Chatting with her was fun and not a bother. She was a good partner when they talked about nonsense. Speaking your mind without thinking was very refreshing. It was silly but healing for the soul. He didn't talk about panties all day because of his fetish.

"You look so down. Want to look at panties?"

"As if I'd do that."

"I think miniskirts are better than hot pants."

"Let's drop this topic."

"No I want to stick with this. Fufufu."

Tetora seemed to be plotting something as she stuck onto Naotsugu with a smug face. Naotsugu then said 'Hey, back off, that's irritating' and peeled her off of him. Being toyed around like that was troubling. Tetora was small and nimble, crawling onto Naotsugu when he let his guard down. Naotsugu couldn't attack her seriously so he could only react passively.

Tetora knew Naotsugu couldn't do anything to her so she didn't let up on disturbing him. She was just teasing him. How mean of her. And she knew she was cute, which made it even more terrible.

"I say, doesn't seeing panties make you happy?"

"Ah, what?"

She said it so naturally that it caught Naotsugu off guard and he didn't give a proper reply.

"It's like a 'Wow'! That sort of feeling? When you see the panties of a cute girl like me, you will be energized to work the whole day, like a high five with God! Don't you feel that way?"

Tetora was not joking with Naotsugu, she was expressing her heartfelt thoughts. Naotsugu had to agree with her words, but he refused to express this with his attitude.

"Even if that's true, that's too arrogant."

"I understand this feeling more than anyone! I really am a natural idol! You are allowed to let your heart race for me, okay?"

Tetora who was snorting her nose smugly was very impressive. Naotsugu had to admit it. Not minding the other details, this Cleric was smiling all the time.

This was an important Moe point. Naotsugu strongly believed that a smile was the greatest gift girls could give to the people around them.

And Naotsugu would think about Maryele when he was with Tetora.

Her smile reminded him of Maryele.

The frequency was high, even when Tetora was not around.

He was not after the wonderful soft pressure. But even so, it was really troubling.

Life back on earth was much simpler. Naotsugu landed a job and his life was getting stable. He hadn't had a girlfriend for a while, so it wouldn't affect his future dating life. Although there were great aspects in the life of Adventurers, it seemed more unstable when he thought about things like that. Running amok. The feelings of Maryele were also important. On the flip side, it was not good to drag it too long, Naotsugu thought as he scratched his face.

"Ahh, that's not how it is!"

"Wah!? Why are you yelling?"

Tetora who had sneaked to Naotsugu's side was shocked, falling to the stone cold dungeon floor on her butt. Naotsugu waved his hands to play it down. "Nothing, my bad, sorry." He pulled Tetora up with his hand.

Naotsugu's train of thought was disrupted and he lamented, "Well, such things do happen in life."

"Mr. Naotsugu, you are like a grade-schooler who wrote a love letter to the beautiful teacher on a test and was found out by your classmates."

"What is with this awfully specific comment?"

"Fufufu. So, what is the thing that is bothering you?"

Tetora's face told Naotsugu that she wouldn't let him run away. But it was a good chance if Tetora wanted to talk about this. Naotsugu wanted to take advantage of this misunderstanding.

"Ah, it's about Shiroe." Naotsugu said as he faked a troubled expression.

Tetora's smug expression shone bright. This equated to Tetora saying 'Way to go! How brilliant of me to ask the crucial question!' or something like that. Tetora puffed out her chest like a hopeless idiot.

Naotsugu couldn't depend on Tetora's healing all the time.

The trouble was real, but Naotsugu pondered on how to put his thoughts into words.

"Hey, lunch is ready."

Federico approached with a box-like container. It was filled with asparagus and meat stew. Although Naotsugu was slow to react, Tetora received the box with a smile and said, "Thank you, Mr. Federico."

As expected of a self-proclaimed idol, Tetora was really popular. The raid group accepted her as one of them in no time and treated her well. She probably had fans, too.

Naotsugu could tell from the smile on Federico's mustached face as he said, "It's my pleasure." He seemed friendlier than he looked from the way he delivered the food. Demiqas and Vuorinen had probably received their share. They were getting used to the duo from Silver Sword taking care of the menial chores. Naotsugu didn't think that this would have happened.

"Eat up, Mr. Naotsugu. Remember to tell me what's up after this."

"Okay."

Naotsugu answered directly as he searched for a suitable place to sit.

This was one of the many small rooms in the Abyss Shaft zone. Small was a relative term in this dungeon, the room was actually 15m by 15m big, about the size of a mini sports complex. The giant pillar might not be grandiose, but was still decorated by carvings. In terms of atmosphere, it had a religious feel to it with the glowing light coming from the high ceiling.

There were lots of empty rooms like this around this area. The morning was spent clearing all the monsters in the area.

A granite pillar stump of just the right size was used by them as a bench.

"Chow time!"

"Time to eat!"

(There is an amazingly large piece of meat in the stew,) Naotsugu thought as he chewed on a mouthful. It was a pain to explain. The core of the problem lay with Shiroe, but things not going smoothly was just a gut feel.

Simply put, Naotsugu didn't understand why Shiroe was so troubled, that was it.

But this human known as Shiroe worried too much and burdened himself with too much work and responsibility. That's why people other than Naotsugu thought Shiroe wore a bitter expression full of worry all the time.

Naotsugu didn't think so.

Shiroe might have a sour face, but there were interesting things about him too. There were times when Shiroe lazed around and broke bottles because of clumsiness as well. He had seen him sleeping on the table with an 'I don't care anymore' expression on his face multiple times.

But for those who were unfamiliar with Shiroe, he always seemed to be thinking about complicated issues. He sometimes mumbled to himself but always solved the issues in the end. Naotsugu found it hard to tell what Shiroe's limit was and it was hard for him to explain to those around him.

Because his normal serious face was no different from his expression in a crisis, Naotsugu couldn't explain how to differentiate between them. Naotsugu understood, but it was more of a gut feel.

Shiroe right now looked more troubled than normal.

But that was just a gut feel.

And it was hard to explain.

"Shiroe," Naotsugu said slowly, "How should I put it, seems to be in a crisis."

"Seems?"

"Yeah."

"Let's help him then."

Tetora skewered her asparagus and decided.

"Don't take this so lightly, it's hard to execute." Naotsugu answered.

"The world calls him Black Heart Glasses, but he actually has a delicate ego. Is it okay to involve others? Will it be fine to work on this alone? That's what he is thinking about."

"Is that so? He is mentally a shut-in."

"I can't deny that."

"He needs an idol!"

"That won't be necessary."

"So why are we in this super rural cave?"

(Because we need money,) Naotsugu thought, but knew that this was not really an answer. Shiroe had no interest in piling up gold and watching it. Money was a means to achieve something. That was the case with Crescent Burger. This time, the purpose of getting the money remained unclear, so Naotsugu was unable to answer.

He wanted to buy the bank zone for the formation of the Round Table. His purpose was not in owning the bank. It was a negotiation chip used to converse with the Adventurers of Akiba, a means to an end.

What did he want to do with the money? What was the meaning behind it? Thinking back, Naotsugu did not hear of the plan from Shiroe. A man he could trust without knowing everything, that's his friend Shiroe. But it was hard to explain this to the third party Tetora.

(Reason, the reason...)

Naotsugu tilted his head as he thought. Inspiration struck.

"Just a guess, but it is to protect our home."

"Home?"

"I'm not talking about a physical building. I mean a place you reside in or something like that."

"You mean a guild?"

"Not just a guild. I don't really understand either."

Naotsugu chewed on the bread he dipped in the stew as he thought about what to say.

"In order to survive, we will need things to eat and have a roof over our heads. And also, comrades. A place to live with them is necessary no matter what. That means a family in the old world, but a guild in this one."

Naotsugu had been watching Maryele and the Crescent Moon Alliance for the past 6 months.

A place for everyone to relax. Get up from bed, work, have dinner, play and sleep after a hard day's work.

Most importantly, the warm and gentle smile that held all this together.

"But even a guild needs a home."

"Huh?"

Naotsugu tried explaining to the confused Tetora. Even Naotsugu was unsure about this, digging this up from the depths of his own heart.

"Speaking of home that will mean Akiba too. Having a guild in an empty world won't do. Because all sorts of things are interconnected. Even a guild needs a home as well. Be it an organization that provides convenient services or a guild of a friend. The places where we are interconnected with others need to be treated with care too."

That should be it.

This was the reason that Shiroe was fighting so passionately for when forming the Round Table.

"The city is a gigantic place belonging to everyone. If the city is suffering, all the homes will suffer. In order to protect his home, Shiroe is willing to take on the city or even more powerful enemies."

"... A home."

Naotsugu was worried about Tetora not getting what he was saying, but he saw an unexpected expression. That was a smug, gentle and strong smile.

"It is important to protect our home. It is important for us wolves. Mr Shiroe must be quite a guy to command such expectations from Mr Naotsugu... I really mean it, he is more than what the rumors made him out to be. It's the same for my guild, we are not sure what to do."

"Is Light Indigo not doing too good? I don't know much about the guild, but did your numbers fall drastically after the Catastrophe?"

"Not really. In summary of our conversation, Light Indigo is not a guild or a home. It is more like a holding place."

"What is that, an idol training center?"

Naotsugu asked in confusion. Tetora clapped her hands and declared "I am full", then proceeded to poke at Naotsugu's face and continued.

"That's probably it. We are idols who exist to protect the homes in everyone's heart. Following along is the right call! My charm radar is beeping here. I will follow this raid to the end even if I have to leave Light Indigo!"

Naotsugu was not sure why Tetora was smiling so smugly, so he just replied "I'm counting on you."

2

"Haachoo!"

"Ara ara, what an unlady like way to sneeze."

"I can't help it, my nose itches."

Henrietta criticized Maryele's etiquette as they sat around a table in the warm hall.

Henrietta surveyed the room looking for the source of the cold air, but the Crescent Moon Alliance dining hall was as peaceful as usual.

The ceiling was high in order to accommodate all the members for meals. Crescent Moon Alliance had over 40 members now, and it was not easy to take in so many members. Nevertheless, they still prepared 2 big tables that could seat 16 each. If they kept the chairs, all the members would be able to squeeze in.

The rowdy hall during meal time was a quiet place for the guild master Maryele and her confidant Henrietta to relax at night. It gave off a cozy atmosphere.

They went through many trials and difficulties in Akiba since the Catastrophe.

There were not just sad times, but also happy times that made you want to dance. After going through all sorts of things, the city seemed to remember the way it should be after the Libra Festival. It is a different kind of happiness compared to the formation of the Round Table Council, but the expressions of the people reflected the prosperity and peace they were enjoying.

Although the winter was harsher than in the original world, life remained stable in Akiba.

Maryele thought so, too.

Maryele had endured much stress as a guild master for the past half year, but she had started to relax recently. It was all because Henrietta said, "If you put on a sour face all day, you will turn into a cranky grandma." During that moment she was lectured, the members of the guild averted their eyes from Maryele. She must not forget to smile, she had been too tense even though she didn't mean to be.

She needed to reflect on this, Maryele sighed softly.

The lecturing party Henrietta seemed rather cheerful lately.

Asuka was helping Henrietta with the finances. Although she had to attend to the Round Table Council frequently, Henrietta had found time to relax in the afternoon.

The 2 old friends warmed their hands with the mugs as they took tiny sips of cocoa.

"...? ...?"

"Ara, Nanami, what is it?"

Henrietta asked the young girl who was peeping in from the doorway. She watched Maryele's side of the table, warily avoiding Henrietta.

The young girl joined the guild very recently and was still shy.

One source of her insecurities was Henrietta, who was trying to sip her cocoa inconspicuously. But Maryele wouldn't miss the corners of Henrietta's mouth which were cramping with a smile.

The day Nanami came to the guild, Henrietta was overjoyed, grinding the young girl like a pay per use dryer. She tirelessly toyed with Nanami like a dress up doll, going through over 30 costumes. When Nanami burst into tears, her protector Hein the Assassin protested Henrietta's action strongly. Henrietta finally restrained her instinct to cuddle cute and small things.

Even though Henrietta was reflecting on her actions, Nanami was still traumatized by the ordeal. She seemed ready to bolt at any moment.

"Want to sit on my lap?"

Maryele grabbed Nanami by her waist and put her gently on her lap.

The young Nanami was finally able to see the objects on the table up close.

The long table that could seat 16 was filled with Maryele's carpentry tools, Henrietta's accounting books, 2 mugs of cocoa and things like bags. Henrietta placed the carving knife into the bag for safety. Maryele was thankful for Henrietta's attention to details.

As Nanami fidgeted on Maryele's lap with her eyes wide open, Maryele could feel her mouth breaking into a smile. She couldn't express it properly in words, but Maryele felt a motherly urge to care for her.

The atmosphere of the hall was warm and peaceful under the gentle glow of magic light. They could see the 2 Chefs preparing dinner in a part of the kitchen visible from the doorway. You could also hear the conversation from the corridor and the greetings of comrades returning home as well as those welcoming them.

Nanami smelled like freshly cleaned clothes. Maryele probably smelled the same. For Maryele, this was like a bond between families.

"Want some cocoa? Or are you looking for Hein?"

Nanami was surprised by Henrietta who offered her mug with her head tilted. Nanami looked up at Maryele, then the cocoa, and then at Henrietta. Henrietta smiled and said "take it" as she passed the mug to the stunned young girl.

Nanami carefully received the mug that was too big for her, and drank from it.

"!"

An impactful sense of sweetness.

Nanami face was frozen in surprise.

Among Adventurers, the girl knew surprisingly little of their old world. Everything was amazing, and she desired to learn about it all. The amused members of Crescent Moon Alliance doted on her and taught Nanami all sorts of knowledge, but Nanami still liked Hein who she knew first the most. She looked unsettled when Hein was not around, searching for the big brother she could rely on.

(We can educate her about such things slowly.)

Maryele thought as she took care not to let Nanami slip off.

Nanami who had been sipping the cocoa slowly suddenly froze.

Concerned about Nanami's troubled look, Maryele looked over and saw that there was only a bit of cocoa left.

'I drank the whole thing, what I should do, this belongs to Henrietta!!'... She was probably thinking something like that. Nanami was acting suspiciously because she felt that she had done something wrong. Maryele smiled as she watched Nanami.

"Don't mind her, Umeko won't get angry over something like this."

"But addressing me as Umeko will make me angry."

The icy retorts made Maryele feign fear. The face Nanami made as she stared at the both of them was so cute that they laughed out loud. This interaction affirmed that both Henrietta and she felt the same warm feeling, making Maryele even happier. (My guild, the Crescent Moon Alliance, is a great home, a place to be proud of.)

'... Hey! It's cold out here!'

These energetic words which didn't really serve as a greeting made Nanami spring up and look around.

"That's probably Hein. He should be at the entrance."

Nanami didn't notice Henrietta's attempt to curry favor with her, so she simply nodded with gratitude and leaped off Maryele's lap. Maryele caught Nanami and let her down gently with a smile. Nanami then ran off with unsteady steps that made them worry.

"Really."

"What is it?"

"I am jealous of how popular Hein is."

"That's because you traumatized her, Umeko."

"Ma. Ry. Ele."

The two of them broke out in laughter.

They had played around like this since old times, but this always filled Maryele with joy.

"... So the sneeze from earlier was because of Naotsugu, right?"

"Woo wah!"

Maryele's only gained the upper hand momentarily.

Her friend who knew her so well approached her with a menacing smile.

"Was it Mr. Naotsugu? Did Mr. Naotsugu talk about you?"

"How would I know?"

Even in this magical world, detecting such things instantly was impossible.

"Alright then, why not ask him through telepathy."

Pushing aside the logic of the fantasy world they were living in, Henrietta forced Maryele to a corner.

It might be a mistake to discuss matters of the heart with this dear friend of hers, Maryele had already regretted this hundreds of times. Henrietta might be working hard and doing a huge amount of work, but her interest in bullying small girls and Maryele was so mean. Just like a scary mother-in-law.

"Boo~ Spare me~"

"Why?"

"Even if you ask, it is not convenient for me to say..." She was at a loss, averting her eyes and becoming defensive. She intertwined the fingers of her hands together.

"It's just that."

"Huh?"

"Telepathy once a day, at 9pm after dinner."

"..."

Maryele's words silenced the room as Henrietta digested the news. Finally, Henrietta's sigh deflated in reply.

"Ha ah!?"

"I... I won't say it again!"

Maryele said as Henrietta made a rare expression with her mouth open wide in the shape of a rectangle.

"Because, he is in a raid right? He is working hard! It is a matter of life and death, he might die, okay? Naotsugu is definitely soldiering on, Shiroe is thinking really hard, so we can't disturb them. So we made a promise to only use telepathy after they made camp at night..."

Henrietta sighed as she used her finger to press against her forehead.

Her dear friend seemed so rude. Henrietta didn't seem to understand Maryele's well-meaning intentions.

"That's not what I am asking, well, maybe I was... So he has contacted you every day?"

"Yes."

Maryele didn't seem to understand the situation and nodded her head.

"I will tell him about Akiba's condition and things about Akatsuki. Well, I told him about Nanami last night. Didn't we make new boots for Nanami? I told him about it. I also told him how we bought the rubber boots together and about Nanami and Hein dancing at the entrance. That's right, I mentioned about the tandoori chicken too. Naotsugu said that he wants to taste some too. Naotsugu is so big and strong he can eat 3, right? It is spicy so he can take 4! We also chat about how great milkshakes are, so we should grab lunch together some time. The time is up before I realized. Na Na, don't you think the tandoori chicken is delicious, too, Henrietta?"

"Hah."

Henrietta stood up as if she were suffering from heartburn.

"What is it?"

"I, I need to send something to the Production Guild Liaison Committee before dinner."

"Is that so?"

"Even if I am starving, I won't be able to eat dinner if this keeps up. Maryele you, really... how should I put this..."

Maryele bid farewell to her depressed dear friend walking out of the hall. This was another normal day for Crescent Moon Alliance.

Maryele had unknowingly gained another point in the scoreboard inside Henrietta's mind.

The fight here was as intense as a raid battle.

3

According to the scouting reports, a set of dark purple armor was sitting motionlessly in the middle of the giant basin-like arena. A Cannoneer used the skill Lock on Sight to scan it from 100m away. The enemy was about 16m in height, probably a golem or a giant.

The detection radius of a raid boss was special and wide. The arena would probably turn into a battlefield the moment William's group entered.

The enemy was '7th of the garden' Ruseato.

This enemy looked similar to '7th of the prison' Ruseato he fought countless times in the raid 9 Great Prisons of Heroes. The stats and tactics had probably been strengthened while retaining its specialty. According to the reconnaissance report of the scouting team, '7th of the garden' Ruseato probably had dual modes of black knight and white knight. The memory of the 2 modes interchanging as they attacked was still fresh on his mind, a difficult boss.

William raised his hand above shoulder level.

He knew the eyes of the raid group were on him.

They had convened a meeting before this. The scouting team attacked several times, using their deaths in exchange for valuable data. The strategy built on the information had been acknowledged by Shiroe of Log Horizon to have a '50/50 chance of success.' This number wasn't too bad for the first try.

With the preparations done, he felt a heat wave rise from his back.

William seized this moment and threw his hand down.

The troops burst ahead like water from the dam with the signal. The 1st party led the way, leaping down from the audience seats which surrounded the arena.

They slid down the crumbling wall moving onwards, onwards.

The attack range of a monster was normally proportional to its size.

For Goblins which were less than 140cm in height, their range was several dozen centimeters barehanded. Their reach could go up to 1 meter when using kicks or equipped with spears. But for trolls which were 2m high, you had to give 3m allowance for the reach of their clubs. The humongous raid boss in front of them definitely had an absurd attack range.

Silver Sword took Shiroe's advice and used 10m, 15m and 20m as a benchmark to train their formation. They learned to gauge the distance through their sight and feel, cutting down on error when estimating the range of the attack.

But that would be after they launched their attack. They needed to move into the attack range of the enemy stealthily, with the tanks in the front and the vulnerable mages and ranged attackers at a safe distance. They would need to shift their distance, moving back and forth to stay out of the boss' range while being close enough to attack. If they did not make use of the raid boss' blind spot in their strategy, the rear guards would not be able to survive the raid boss level attack.

That's how damaging a hit from the enemy was.

Dinkuron led from the front and charged into the 20m range like a whirlwind. '7th of the garden' Ruseato came alive and stood up. Light from the red luminous fluid flowing within the mechanical armor could be seen through gaps as it lifted its oversized halberd up high. Dinkuron grit his teeth and raised his shield to shoulder the strike. His effort paid off as the heavily armored Guardian from Silver Sword endured the first attack of the raid boss.

The damage was slight, about 10 percent of his total hit points.

But that didn't mean the attack power of the enemy was weak. Dinkuron was buffed by a protection barrier before the battle started. A high level Kannagi could cast a shield which negated 4500 points of damage. This meant the attack broke through the barrier completely and hurt Dinkuron. Without the protection barrier, this attack would take out more than 30 percent of Dinkuron's health bar.

What a powerful attack.

But this was within their expectations. The dispelled barrier was recast.

The vanguard of the 1st party, Dinkuron the Guardian, was the toughest steel at the tip of the arrow. Supported by multiple healing spells, the iron warrior made his way to the feet of '7th of the garden' Ruseato and cast Anchor Howl and Taunting Shout multiple times.

The fight started here.

"Begin the attack!"

William commanded from the 3rd party.

With the support song of Bards buffing them, all sorts of physical and magical attacks rained onto the raid boss. It was hard to check the status screen in raids, but there was definitely a stupendous number of debuffs cast on Ruseato. This was the reason behind gathering all 12 classes for Full Raids. The same debuff could not stack, but this could be overcome by using a variety of spells instead, which worked wonderfully when fighting powerful enemies.

The consecutive attacks lit the sky; the earth trembled from the explosions.

Reuseato swung his humongous steel weapon in a 10m circle, attempting to end all life within this range. This strike caused 2 deaths and brought several melee fighters to the brink of death.

Even Dinkuron lost half of his health bar to this cruel attack.

But Silver Sword held the line.

Kannagi had the resuscitation spell 'Soul Call Prayer', which teleported dead comrades to their sides before reviving them. A convenient spell which extracted allies to a safe distance in order to heal them. Recovery was supported by the Carbuncle conjured by a Summoner. The magic-attack classes had health recovery spells too. They might be weaker than their healer class counterpart, but it helped to relieve the burden of the healing specialists.

The healers other than the Kannagi prioritized healing the wounded. Dinkuron did not back down as he went head to head against Ruseato.

The powerful strike that swept one round was probably the special attack of the raid boss.

The members of Silver Sword would etch this blow into their memory. The Summoner beside William squeezed a cute and fluffy Carbuncle and started counting time. The sound reached the ears of all their allies.

Without exception, all special attacks of raid bosses had conditions.

The main condition was their recast time. Powerful attacks would not be launched in rapid succession. Each skill had its own cool down time. It might be 10 seconds or 30 seconds, but it definitely existed.

As planned, the Summoner started counting to gauge the cool down time. But he didn't neglect his attacking duties and kept his damage per second up.

When Elder Tales was still a game, the time was tracked by a 3rd party software or just by a physical stopwatch. Every move of the raid boss was recorded for reference and analyzed by the millisecond. With reference to the timer, the attack damage, attribute, area, rate, animation, penetration, critical chance, all these were taken note of.

The challengers would also share their information on the cloud servers and discuss it on the forums. They would then try again with better tactics and strategies.

"18, 19, 20, 21..."

The hoarse but steady count of the male Summoner mixed with the noise of steel on steel, clashes of the sword and the reverberating sound of thunder and fire.

All the members focused on the count and the enemy before them.

Silver Sword continued to challenge raids in this world swallowed by chaos using primitive and awkward tactics.

The strong guild of the past had fallen on hard times.

Covered in dirt and forced to the edge, they concentrated on the count and their will for victory.

When the count hit 26, '7th of the garden' Ruseato's colossal halberd rose. The horrible strike came again.

But William's comrades were fearless.

The Assassins and Swashbucklers leapt into the air.

The Bards and Druids pulled away like a spring.

Clerics buffed the defense of the tanks.

They handled the second strike much better.

The incoming storm after they started counting time was over, there were no casualties.

The hit points of many players fell drastically, but they were on the mend with the support of the healing team.

They made it through the 1st phase, they could handle the attack of the enemy.

William sneered with a violent look.

No. The raid boss covered with blade-like armor definitely had more attacks up his sleeves. And he had not even shifted into alternate modes yet.

(But things aren't too bad,) William thought as he shot his arrows.

Before William realized, the words had escaped from his throat and he roared, "Up the DPS! We can't win this if we hold back, weaken him!"

Huge amounts of arrows flew out.

Swords clashed, threatening to dissolve the formation. Flaming spells danced and surrounded Ruseato.

William understood. All boss monsters had an incredible amount of hit points. Just the number alone was enough to turn players off. For a first class raiding guild like Silver Sword, the level 94 Guardian Dinkuron had base hit points of 18,000. The raid boss had one or ten thousand times that amount of health.

If you viewed the hit points of '7th of the garden' Ruseato in the form of a health bar, you could see how slowly the attacks were grinding his health down. It was hard to even see the damage done when you looked at the health bar. Even so, piling up all this minute damage was the only way to take him down.

"Look out below you!"

The shrill voice came from the bandit Federico.

'7th of the garden' Ruseato suddenly slowed his movements and a black mist and ooze seeped out from his feet. Its wriggling movement covered the entire floor of the arena in a hurry.

"It deals damage, attribute is poison! It hinders action, correction, hinders movement! Attack speed and power are diminished!"

Dinkuron reported his findings. At his feet was the black ooze with weak flickering lightning as it entangled Dinkuron's metal boots.

William hesitated for a moment.

It caused damage, but it was very slight.

The damage hit against the protection barrier causing sparks to fly, but was weak as it didn't break through. Melee members with weaker defense than Dinkuron did not suffer much damage, meaning the damage was low.

The damage was insignificant and hindered movement... As William's sense of danger tingled, '7th of the garden' Ruseato started to move with heavy steps.

Dinkuron used Anchor Howl to stop him, but the effect was nullified. The armor of Ruseato had a new nullify skills effect.

Wide area movement hindering effect with low damage.

When William realized its intent, he roared.

"Mass buff defense! Mass healing!"

This roar was like pressing a button, the team reacted on command.

Translucent hemispherical barriers, the dim glow of defense spell, the orange light of reactive heal, all of that was blown away with one stroke. The metallic armored body of '7th of the garden' Ruseato was like a weapon itself. The towering machine leaped with the agility of a cat. The halberd swung close to the ground, mowing through the members of Silver Sword.

But despite that.

More than half of the group survived.

The fearless sound of counting continued, ignoring the pain.

"Healers of the 1st hold down the front line! 2nd party retreat to recuperate! 3rd and 4th lower output to 70%, prioritize resuscitation!"

William smiled, unable to hold back his joy.

He could smell the blood dripping from his nose.

The taste of iron in the blood that was the raid William was after.

The enemy was strong, beyond his expectations.

But William and his crew were still alive.

The battle was just beginning.

4

Demiqas leapt back 10m, exhaling the burning air from his lungs. He recovered his health slowly through his passive skill Resilience.

The fight had fallen into a stalemate.

He grit his teeth as though he wanted to shatter them as he glared at the enemy.

Facing the '7th of the garden' Ruseato in dull purple armor, they had to endure his abuse and keep on wearing him down. The information on this was correct and the fight was going well. The melee warriors including Demiqas struck at Ruseato's sturdy armor countless times, making deep marks on the armor.

These scars were like branches of a tree, covering Ruseato's whole body. Suddenly, he started to shed, breaking out of his old shell like a hardboiled egg.

A Ruseato as white as a hospital's ceiling emerged from within.

The armor that dropped from his bleached body merged with the shadow at his feet, forming into shadow warriors. These black, slender and featureless monsters wielded giant battle scythes. They seemed 2 dimensional like pieces of paper because of their dark appearance.

Demiqas dodged white Ruseato's beam.

A weak casual attack unlike the fierce strike from before.

Demiqas was ready to strike after recovering his hit points.

Silver Sword members grabbed this chance to move in and attack in waves, but were intercepted by the shadow warriors. Their range and attack power were much weaker when compared with Ruseato's, but they made that up with numbers. A dozen of them had formed right now.

The group dodged Ruseato's careless attacks while destroying the shadow warriors.

Even the main tank Dinkuron was unable to taunt this number of enemies. Including Naotsugu who he couldn't get along with, they would need 5 tanks to aggravate the enemies and keep them off the rest of the group.

The shadow warriors pushed forward like bugs attracted by the sweet scent of honey.

Demiqas locked on to these monsters with Wyvern Kick.

Demiqas used his special skill Absolute Geheimnis, a gliding kick allowing him to target any enemy in a 150 degree arc before him. By using this skill, he could charge into the midst of the enemy in one move. This was not advisable in normal conditions, as it was difficult to dodge the attacks of a strong raid boss like Ruseato. It also left the healers behind him in a dangerous situation. But the shadows before him were raid monsters, not the raid boss. Enemies with such large and unwieldy weapons were a piece of cake for Monks like Demiqas.

Demiqas transformed into a green meteor with a crackling sound.

Demiqas looked like he was navigating the air on a skateboard as he burst through the chest of a shadow warrior with his Tiger Echo Fist.

The raid mobs attacked with their scythes in retaliation. Demiqas parried away the strikes with a backhand, pulled his knee to his chest and launched a shadowless kick.

The enemies exploded like a watermelon falling to the ground.

But with every shadow warrior that fell, Ruseato would absorb their darkness and recover a bit of health.

They were going back to square one.

The white Ruseato could heal itself.

The catalyst was the shadow warriors, existing just to buy time. The white Ruseato would be able to recover enough health after some time and start attacking again. Its armor would then be dyed black and it would launch powerful attacks repeatedly.

The group could endure the torrent of attacks if it were just Ruseato alone. If the shadow warriors teamed up with black Ruseato, the tanks would fall under the shadow warriors' scythes after black Ruseato's powerful strikes.

The health of the group was supplied by the healers. Be it the protection barrier of Kannagi or the reactive heal of the Cleric, there was a limit to what they could do.

Fighting '7th of the garden' Ruseato alone had already pushed them to the limit.

They couldn't let the mobs live. But killing them would restore the health of white Ruseato. Before they knew it, there were twenty odd shadow warriors, and the raid had been pushed to the brink of failure.

Shiroe was the one who broke the stalemate. It irked Demiqas.

... The number of people who damaged black Ruseato was equivalent to the number of shadow warriors.

This discovery allowed Silver Sword to pull themselves together.

Leaving the task of attacking to the powerful players, healers and supporting members stopped their damage output. This way, they could limit the number of shadow warriors that would form to a dozen when Ruseato activated white mode.

The coward Shiroe who was directing from behind was an unforgivable target of vengeance for Demiqas. Both Demiqas' pride and his guild Brigandia were shattered by him. If those 3 hadn't come to Susukino, Demiqas would have adapted to this world slowly.

That werecat Swashbuckler could be forgiven. That swordsman had waved his rapier in front of Demiqas. But that coward didn't even look Demiqas in the eye the whole time.

Shiroe acted as if he didn't remember Demiqas' name.

Demiqas still remembered Shiroe's expression back in Susukino. That man showed no signs of worry when he saw Demiqas. Fine. Shiroe was strong, he could tell from this raid. Then at least mock Demiqas a little, even a look of disdain would be fine too.

But that Enchanter only wore the expression of 'don't trouble me'.

Demiqas vented his anger on the shadow warriors.

He punched through a warrior with Lightning Straight.

After dodging with Phantom Step, he used Aerial Rave to launch his foe into the air. He attacked its flank with a Wyvern Kick, and followed up the air combo with another Wyvern Kick.

That was the extent Shiroe cared about Demiqas.

Demiqas would not rest unless he killed Shiroe, his fiery anger burned in his lungs. He swore to torment Shiroe one day and make him regret being born into this world.

But now was not the time.

It was regrettable, but his capability was limited. At this point in time, Demiqas had to acknowledge that Shiroe was very strong. Not just equipment, his skills were better than Demiqas' too.

When Demiqas took part in this raid, he wanted to backstab Shiroe in the beginning. The training substitute for this was the monsters he was massacring. He just wanted to uplift his spirit. His body felt lighter than before. Demiqas' fist decimated the monsters, tearing through all the shadow warriors.

Just when Demiqas thought he had gotten used to the pace of the raid, he noticed a symbol of a dagger circling around his wrist. This unfamiliar dagger was Shiroe's Keen Edge... He realized things were different from what he imagined. He was fighting at such a high level because of the buffing spell of that man. He knew that this would help him by chaining faster and increasing the attack power.

Just like what he was experiencing now.

A shadow warrior drew near and raised its battle scythe high.

There was still half a second of rigidity time left from using Wyvern Kick. Demiqas should have taken the blow directly, but that didn't happen.

He might fail to notice sometimes, but Shiroe had cast spells to assist him ever since they entered the zone. This spell seemed to be called Mind Shock. A magic that used a shock wave to stun the enemy and blur their senses. Leaving normal monsters aside, it would be a great help if it could stun the raid mob for even a second. One second was plenty for Demiqas, leaping out of the monster's attack range with Monkey Step and counterattacking with a Dragon Tail Swing roundhouse kick.

Demiqas going all out to decimate the enemy was within Shiroe's calculations.

Demiqas dropping out of formation and his roundhouse kick, all this valiant effort was done under the watchful eyes of Shiroe.

This man did not have the power and skill of Demiqas.

What he could do was to mislead the enemy and cast buffing spells. Such dependence on deception would not work on powerful foes.

More importantly, Shiroe could preempt what Demiqas wanted to do and provide support without Demiqas even noticing. Shiroe could see right through Demiqas' intentions. In a way, Demiqas had also grown if he managed to understand to this extent.

(I will kill you one day.)

(I will do it before everyone.)

(I will smack you till your face is black and blue, you will regret this and spend the rest of your life in tears.)

(First, I will obtain phantasmal gear in this raid...)

(Grind my level, refine my techniques...)

Demiqas leapt through the battlefield taking out one enemy after another.

His class Monk had short cool down time and had powerful attacks. His attack power couldn't match that of weapon specialist classes, but his hit points and abnormal status resistance were top notch. That's how he managed to roam among the enemies and survive the onslaught of the raid boss, all the while dishing out damage of his own. Demiqas was fired up, using his body to strike, kick, parry and attack with all the skills he had.

The battle was progressing slowly.

Even when the enemy gained the upper hand, William would reorganize the team successfully with his fiery will. Maintain the front lines with tanks and healers, keeping the enemy debuffed. If he could bring out the full potential of this formation, they wouldn't be wiped out so easily. If they could keep this up, fend off the shadow warriors and grind off Ruseato's health, they would be able to pull it off.

But this would take a while with many judgment calls they had to make. The decisions required calm and focus, and needed to be made fast with little room for error. Raids were a combination of all these actions.

Demiqas was heat.

Demiqas was fire.

Concentrating on dodging the attacks in front of him, breakthrough and eliminate them. He moved in on black Ruseato, trying to shatter its armor with thunder-like punches.

His mind slowly became empty as he immersed himself in the heat of battle. Compared to his days in the corrupted Susukino and his fight with Nyanta, Demiqas was able to focus on the battle without distraction.

But he didn't notice the situation had changed until he heard the scream from behind.

You couldn't blame Demiqas for being caught off guard. Even the veteran raid members were surprised by this attack. The iron gates on the east and west side of the arena were fully open. In the darkness beyond, the bearded frost giant with white pupils, '4th of the garden' Tarutauruga and the fiery serpent, '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura loomed.

They entered the arena, bringing a whirlwind of frost and fire with them. Their target was the 4th party that was concentrating on Ruseato. The 4th party was wiped out in a blink of an eye, the splash damage from the attacks severely hurting the other parties.

Demiqas could taste the bile coming from his stomach after watching this ridiculous scene.

This was too much.

Demiqas was fighting '7th of the garden' Ruseato right now.

He thought they should be taking them on one at a time.

They had to take care of Ruseato's minions in this raid battle, making this an even fight. The balance could be destroyed by just adding one or two more monsters to the mix, enough to wipe out Demiqas' group.

They were just getting the hang of it, even though their chance of victory was akin to walking on thin ice.

But now there were two more raid bosses on the same level as '7th of the garden' Ruseato.

Demiqas knew the truth.

They couldn't win this.

The problem was not with tactics or strategy.

There was an overwhelming difference in fighting power, dismissing all their delicate preparation and hard work. If they had to take on 3 raid bosses, they would need a 96 people Legion Raid army instead of a 24 people Full Raid force.

He remembered the emotionless voice speaking from the depth of his ear that said this before.

'... This world is no longer a game. The game has ended. Your time has ended.'

Just like Adventurers adjusting their strategy for the raids, the monsters could also abandon their position and muster their numbers... That's what Demiqas thought.

If Demiqas were the guardian of the dungeon, the first thing he would consider was such a strategy.

Working together to destroy the Adventurers.

This was common sense, and it had happened.

In this arena with cruelty and despair frozen in, Demiqas could hear an inhuman shriek.

A face the size of a billboard you saw in cinemas approached. The frost giant leaned in as if he were falling and slammed his fist into the raid group. With a splatter, a Summoner turned into a stain on the arena floor.

Demiqas could no longer hear the counting that calmed his mind.

Demiqas charged in like a tornado with a roar, knocking the surprised Shiroe flying. After 3 or 4 somersaults, Shiroe was caught by Naotsugu in mid-air, out of the attack range of the frost giant's club.

Look at how pitiful you are, coward. Demiqas mocked Shiroe.

Although his left leg was crushed because of this, it was worth it since he got to see Shiroe's dumbfounded look.

'See if you can kill me, you bunch of cheating raid bosses,' Demiqas spat onto the floor.

But both Demiqas and Shiroe were unable to escape from the hail of fire cast by '3rd of the garden' Ibra-Habura. Not just them, but also Naotsugu, William and Tetora. It was the same with the veteran warriors of Silver Sword who were stronger than Demiqas, who were able to stampede through countless raids as if they were killing bugs.

All the moisture was vaporized in an instant, the flames clearing all sense of pain. The 24 man raid group was wiped out.

5

Krusty exited from the goblin hut that smelled so bad that his nose was bent. Even the renowned strong man of the guild was unable to bear the odor of the goblins.

His lieutenant Takayama started to feel lightheaded when they made it half way through.

Compared to the hut piled with dirty hay and filth, even standing under the freezing winter sky was a hundred times better. Adventurers had strong resistance to changes in temperature anyway.

It was the same with Krusty.

He relaxed his shoulders and left the goblin's lodging, there was nothing for him there.

All the huts were all the same. A shallow pit was dug in the ground, a pillar was erected and the roof and walls were made from branches and grass. There were several such primitive huts arranged in rows for each settlement. This was one such hut in the Silver Rack Mountain. There were countless settlements in the mountains with about 50 huts each housing about 300 goblins.

Most of these settlements were like empty shells.

Krusty's army took out 30% of the goblins.

The 70% balance were probably gathered at the Citadel of Seven Falls ruled by the goblin king.

It had been a month since the campaign began.

While Takayama Misa and the army marched through the area, they would scout out the surrounding zones and verify the locations of the goblin settlements. They would then plan their attack according to the intelligence they gathered, the campaign was progressing slowly.

In the beginning, the consensus of the Round Table was that raiding the Citadel of Seven Falls could be easily done. But the goblins in Eastal had been reproducing and bolstering their numbers with the start of the Catastrophe, growing to a colossal scale. This was a crisis comparable to a nightmare for the People of the Land.

On the other hand, these goblins were not a threat for the Adventurers of Akiba, at least for the level 90 players in battle guilds. There was a raid quest that needed to be completed within the Citadel of Seven Falls, which Krusty was confident of finishing in 2 days with a select group of Adventurers. Takayama agreed with his assessment.

The goal this time was not to defeat the goblin king.

The mission was to ensure the safety of the People of the Land living in the north eastern region. The root of the problem lay with the tens of thousands goblins roaming the area. Even if they could take out the goblin king successfully, they would still fail if the leaderless goblins spilled out from Silver Rack Mountain.

The staff officers of the command unit, Krusty and Takayama, had deliberately slowed their pace while traveling through the region akin to a hunting trip. Dozens of Adventurer groups were patrolling Silver Rack Mountain, doing reconnaissance and small scale battles.

They were herding them like fish into a net, using this battle plan to chase all the goblins in the region into the Citadel of Seven Falls. For the goblins, they were mustering their forces to counterattack. But for Takayama's group, this was just a part of the plan.

Takayama headed into the valley with a ready water source by Krusty's orders.

The other members were investigating the area around the settlement. From the looks of things, it was unlikely to find any goblins left behind. They were relaxed as this was just a routine check.

Krusty and Takayama bashed through the foliage as they followed a trail they had found.

This path was probably used by the goblins to retrieve water. But the goblins were only 140cm in height, so it was hard for the 2 of them who were taller to make their way through.

After making their way to the river, they squinted their eyes because of a gust of wind. The cool wind seemed to sweep away any air of doubt. Takayama liked it, but Krusty seemed to be unmoved.

Although she felt it when the Libra Festival ended, but Krusty seemed to be getting more moody. Rieze might bite her handkerchief and worry about him, but Takayama had been ignoring it. Krusty was a grown man, he would probably feel annoyed if a woman were to worry about him, that's what Takayama thought.

(No, it has nothing to do with being an adult or a child. Boys are delicate no matter their age.)

Takayama used her work experience as a gauge.

Takayama had worked with Krusty for a very long time. She could guess what the things he was worried about were. An approximate idea. Taking the chance while they were out scouting, she chatted with him a bit.

"Milord?"

"Hmm? What's the matter, officer Takayama?"

Krusty reacted slowly as he looked at Takayama with thoughtful eyes.

"You seemed troubled recently. What's on your mind?"

"Hmm."

Krusty hid his mouth behind his fingers, deep in thought. Unlike the heavy gauntlets he normally wore, he had put on leather gloves today. The armor he was wearing matched his muscular body well. A guild master that looked great. There were plenty of people who were fooled by his appearance, but this made operations easy to run. With this in mind, Takayama probed further.

"Are you bored?"

Krusty gave Takayama a shifty look. He considered it for a moment, cleared away his dignified expression and smiled wryly, lifting his arms in surrender.

"That's it. I'm bored."

"Please bear with it."

"I have been enduring it every day."

Takayama sighed.

It was just a wild guess but she was right.

Krusty had an intellectual look and took logical actions. He had the capability to manage people and the charisma to match. Operating the largest battle guild in the Yamato server was a real result he could be proud of. With 1700 members, his guild was beyond the size of a small or medium enterprise in the real world.

But Krusty was not as perfect as he looked.

The young man who oversaw all sort of issues in the Round Table Council was mischievous and bored easily.

This was only known to a few pioneer core members, but the reason why Krusty founded such a large organization was because 'I just want to see what will happen if I succeed in doing it.' It was not meant to be a guild in the beginning. It was a talent network which happened to be an important element when creating a guild.

Krusty did it on a whim one day.

... This game Elder Tales was fun. But to enjoy the game, he would need to have a large number of comrades he could have fun adventuring with. The game developers knew this and had made similar statements. They included all sorts of systems for the players to find companions to play with. But what if the players come up with a better talent management system and use it to dominate end game contents, wouldn't that be interesting?

That was why D.D.D was founded.

It was fine even if it were not a guild. He used the guild as a template because it was convenient. When Elder Tales was just a game, the guild activities were communicated through voice chat and an official website. This system was proposed by Krusty. Periodical management meetings and the system of assigning manpower for raids were done the same way.

Krusty was interested in delegating command, letting 'each department plan their own activities to achieve results', and was intrigued by such self-sufficient groups. Hence, even though the guild was very large, it remained flexible without bureaucratic red tape.

This continued after the Catastrophe too. With the formation of the Round Table Council, Krusty used the chance to push the departments to be more autonomous. As a result, he fulfilled his curiosity of creating a self-sustaining guild, but his offhand approach meant that Krusty was getting less involved with the guild as well.

Simply said, he had too much free time.

Takayama understood the temper of her friend, this was troubling indeed. Even though Krusty was talented, it was difficult to spend time with him because he was too capable. His excess abilities caused unexpected troubles and chaos around him, for better or for worse.

It was a pain to handle a bored Krusty.

He was not a lawless criminal and in the end, he usually did more good than bad. But the chaos he caused in the process gave headaches to Takayama and the others. Takayama thought that he could restrain his 'boredom' after finding Raynesia, but she seemed to have overestimated that young lady.

(Forcing this issue onto the princess is unreasonable anyway...)

When she thought about it, she felt apologetic towards Raynesia.

(I have to think of a topic,) she thought as she caught up with Krusty who was wandering aimlessly by the river. He bent down and meddled with some pebbles.

"Found something?"

"Not really..."

Krusty adjusted his glasses which moved when he leaned forward, inspecting a pebble before his eyes. This was probably the tip of a broken spear.

The river meandered further downstream, there were stones bigger than the fists of a child in the depths of the water. There was snow around the area, but this might be a great and refreshing place for a BBQ in the summer.

Krusty kicked some pebbles and seemed to be on to something.

"This place appears to be a training area."

"Training. This area seems to be well tended."

Takayama replied.

At a glance, she could see the signs of stones being moved to the edge of the trees. If she looked closer, she could find remnants of weapons between the rocks and trees. This place had been used for quite a period of time.

She had never thought that the goblins would conduct training, but this was normal if they wanted to start a war. But even so, she didn't think this would help them much. The levels of the goblins were much lower than the Adventurers.

As Takayama thought about it, she noticed Krusty's gaze. She thought about it seriously for a moment and got it in an instant.

The goblins were training their strategy and tactics.

They had not considered this possibility before. Just like Takayama's group plotted different approaches to raid the Citadel of Seven Falls, the goblins were also preparing for battle in different ways. This world was not Elder Tales anymore. Takayama cursed her own incompetence for not noticing this earlier.

"Milord, let's head back and break the news to the others."

"We need to send scouts to search the surroundings for training grounds and their effects."

"That's right."

The two of them headed back towards the settlement after a short conversation. They needed to meet up with Kugel and Richou's scout party first. Next would be heading back to headquarters and giving the necessary orders.

It was already too late when Takayama noticed her Scythe vibrating gently. It made a metallic sound in an instant and glowed red hot.

The recent performance of the weapon was strange.

It did not become weaker. Takayama felt that it had become stronger instead, so she didn't send it for repairs. But sometimes it would vibrate during battles, and heat up for no reason.

Takayama looked confused as she drew out her weapon to inspect it. This action was done automatically without much thought

But Takayama felt a truck had run over her hand, so strong that she was certain the bones in her arm were crushed. Takayama's eyes opened wide, seeing a dark red sphere enveloping Krusty who had snatched the weapon away from her.

The weapon emitted a red glow, and a bizarre force field was sucking everything into its twisted core.

The bored D.D.D guild master was in the center of the sphere.

Krusty pushed Takayama away with his other hand, but Takayama didn't remember asking him to do that, reaching out desperately for Krusty. She pushed her right hand into the twisted space.

But with a sharp crack, Takayama was left alone in the silent night.

Takayama's right hand, her old friend Krusty, and the Scythe named 'Calamity' were gone.

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