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"Is this really okay?"
Maryele who had come to see them off asked yet again.
This was Ueno Log Castle, a zone where demihumans, and bandits roamed at night. Right now it was a scene of beauty with the sky slowly turning white through the mist.
The humid morning air surrounded Shiroe's team, Maryele, and the several Crescent Moon Alliance members who had come to bid them farewell.
"Marie-san, don't worry about this. That girl is cute, right? I won't let any guy touch her before I hit on her myself, hitting on girls expedition festival!"
Naotsugu's words that, in a sense, seemed flirty, were rewarded with an elbow by Akatsuki along with the words 'Shut up, idiot'.
"It will be fine, we are used to camping outdoors and have been training for the past 2 weeks..."
Shiroe reassured Maryele.
The chance of success with the 3 of them was higher than that with Maryele's party. Even though this was a fact, his showy action last night had been really embarrassing, and Shiroe still hesitated to look directly at Maryele.
"Erm... This is nothing much, but please eat this on your way there. Shiro-senpai, do your best."
"Akatsuki-chan, this is healing salve made by the guild members, take care on your way there."
Shiroe and Akatsuki accepted the sincere support items prepared by the Crescent Moon Alliance members. Although Shiroe only said a simple word of thanks while Akatsuki nodded, their feelings were successfully conveyed to the Crescent Moon Alliance guild members.
"Do take care as well Mary-nee... especially with the PK."
"Yeah, we will be fine here and will continue to collate data."
"Marie-san, take it easy and leave this to us!"
"Ahahaha, be safe Naotsugu-yan, alright? Shiro-bou doesn't need it, so I will let Naotsugu-yan touch them. Look here, they are really soft!"
Maryele smiled to hide her embarrassment and hugged Naotsugu's arms with her hefty breasts.
"Eh, time out, Marie-san!"
"What is it, Naotsugu-yan hates this just like Shiro-bou?"
"That's not it..."
Maryele was like a bold and candid big sister who took care of others and liked to pull dirty jokes to hide her embarrassment. She declared that her character was unladylike and laughed as everyone ignored her when she pulled dirty jokes like this.
(But I think only Mary-nee considers herself to be unpopular...)
Shiroe glanced at Akatsuki and saw her covering her mouth with both hands and mumbling 'Idiot, idiot, die pervert Naotsugu'.
The members of the Crescent Moon Alliance just smiled sheepishly without stopping her. This was probably an everyday occurrence.
"Is it fine? Is this chest worthless?"
"Hold up... If it's thrown in my face, I will be afraid to accept the offer... Ah, really, me helping has nothing to do with this! Didn't I prohibit any dirty jokes!"
"That is totally unconvincing when Naotsugu says it."
Akatsuki kicked Naotsugu.
The blow was shielded by the heavy armor of the Guardian, only leaving a dull thud. Naotsugu used this chance to break away from Maryele.
"I will let you have your way with my breasts when you come back safely... Yeah, bon voyage, thank you for doing this, take care of yourself."
After hearing this, it was time to go.
The blushing Naotsugu who had broken free from Maryele was already walking down the foggy street to hide his embarrassment.
"Shiro-bou, Naotsugu-yan, Akatsuki-chan, please bring Serara home."
Naotsugu turned around with his back to the rising sun and lifted his shield up high.
Shiroe waved goodbye while Akatsuki drew her blade half an inch and slammed it back into the hilt, making a clear sound.
The trio bade their farewells and started their journey to the distant north.
The morning mist was a temporary scene in the early summer, which turned back into a bright blue sky soon after fading.
The three of them walked on the half-ruined highway. In ancient times (which was the modern era in the real world), it was known as the grandest highway of the capital. The highway that was like a bridge over land extending far into the north.
Looking back from the capital highway, the zones they had passed through were relatively peaceful. There was more wildlife than monsters out here, you could see herds of deer and bears taking a leisurely stroll.
The players believed the world of Elder Tales was set thousands of years into the future of the real world so much that it was akin to the official setting. According to the Elder Tales lore, there had been a war so grand it had literally shattered the world. And the world was now rebuilt into its current state by the miracle of the gods. This was a common world building setting seen in fantasy games.
The graphics that improved with each new expansion enchanted the players with its beauty. But after the Apocalypse, the scenery they saw with their eyes was beyond that of any rendering machines.
The trio had no problem riding, even though they had zero experience doing that. Horses were a common mode of transportation in Elder Tales.
All players could ride a horse without any practice. A horse could be purchased or rented for a few days from shops. It was normal for mid-level players to have their own ride.
Horses were treated like summon creatures when Elder Tales was just a game.
You obtained a flute after buying or renting a horse. You could summon the horse by blowing the flute in any place.
This setting was recreated in this world. Your horse would run to you from far away when you whistled for them so you wouldn't need to tie it down and worry about your horse when raiding dungeons.
Horses were classified as items in the game and would not die, but this had yet to be confirmed in this world. You might lose your horse if you called for them in dangerous places, so Shiroe had not experimented and confirmed this aspect.
Shiroe's group would be traversing through field zones for this journey. As the name implied, they were open and vast areas in this world.
This world basically consisted of interconnected field zones. There were some buildings in good condition that were considered individual zones, but ruins and abandoned buildings were usually part of the field zone's background.
One of the features of field zones was their vague boundaries.
Enclosed zones were connected to others by doors, cave entrances, and stairs. But field zones had no clear entry points to move between neighboring zones.
You would cross over to the adjacent zone by walking over the zone boundary. So being in which zone was not a concern when traveling over open land.
You could check which zones you were in by opening the status screen if you wished.
The highway the trio was traveling on was in a state of disrepair, debris and collapsed sections were everywhere.
They had to traverse some parts by horse. The trees engulfed so much of a section that it was practically a forest. They had no choice but to go through the dense undergrowth instead.
They decided to rest just a short while past noon.
The flyover highway merged with a wide road after rounding a complicated curve in the sky. The asphalt under their feet was alarmingly weak, it would be dangerous to go this way any further.
"Shall we take a lunch break?"
Naotsugu who was leading the way sighed deeply at Shiroe's suggestion.
"It's nice that riding a horse is automatic, but my butt still hurts."
"That's right."
Shiroe nodded in agreement while Akatsuki stared with a questioning look asking "Does it?"
The height difference between Shiroe and Akatsuki was about 30cm, Shiroe estimated her weight to be about half of his. Being so much lighter would place less burden on her lower body while riding.
"I wonder how far we went."
"It's only been half a day, you are too hasty, stupid Naotsugu."
Naotsugu remained nonchalant despite Akatsuki's words. They were used to this type of interaction, a way of bickering and playing around.
Shiroe led them down the slope made of collapsed sections and debris of the highway. This was probably a residential area in ancient times, but only the remnants of telephone poles were left, a wasteland without any trees.
On the reddish undulating ground, they found a boulder suitable to be used as a table to rest.
They lay a cloth on the surface of the rock and placed food, canteens, tools and a map on top. This was a map of Japan labelled with names of zones Shiroe still remembered.
"Where did you find that, my lord? That's a really nice map."
Just as Akatsuki saw, the map was really detailed and worthy of praise.
It was about 1 square meter in size when fully opened, with a drawing of an archipelago similar to Japan... the zones under the jurisdiction of the Japan server of Elder Tales.
The map was drawn with 4 colors labeling rivers, forests, and even villages, not something an amateur could draw.
"My subclass is Scribe, this is a map I copied off the Akiba library."
"I see... Nice job, my lord."
"Well, where are we?"
Naotsugu asked as he opened his canteen.
"We should be around here."
Shiroe pointed to the north of Tokyo, very near Akiba.
"We didn't go very far yet."
"Oh well, it's only been half a day... we'll make better time flying in the afternoon."
"Roger."
Naotsugu chatted with Shiroe as they started digging into a basket of soggy crackers that looked like chicken sandwich.
Akatsuki usually kept out of such conversations. Shiroe recently thought she acted this way because she trusted them completely, not because she was disinterested. Since she didn't ask any questions, that meant she understood the contents of the conversation.
The horses grazed on the dry brown grass as the trio had their meals. They ran off into the distance after some time. The horses would leave by themselves a short while after you dismounted.
They would be back when they blew their flutes, so the three were not concerned about them.
"... Will it always be like this?"
Akatsuki asked as she took small bites out of her chicken sandwich.
She looked far off into the distance, straight at the depths of the untamed lands. She had filtered the contents of her mumbling and you would miss it if you didn't pay attention.
But Shiroe could empathize with her.
This world had recreated the settings of Elder Tales wonderfully, but Elder Tales was a game, not a journey to experience an alternate world. There was no sleep or pain in Elder Tales, and this world was not a game.
It inherited the settings and logs of Elder Tales, but Shiroe believed they should treat this as a totally different alternate world. Since the first day of the Apocalypse, Shiroe had felt a deep sense of unease, telling himself it would be a big mistake to mistake this world for Elder Tales.
(Everyone forgot about something important and wants to move on without confirming it. But no one knows what is really happening. Even if this is really related to Elder Tales, this is still an alternate world... That's why everybody is acting so strangely.)
Security didn't really turn bad.
Saying security was turning bad seemed to imply security was good before, which was not true. If you treated this as an alternate world independent from Elder Tales, then security did not exist in this world in the first place.
The non-combat zones were the only places that were close to being safe. This seemed to be a shallow sign to prove that the Elder Tales' settings still existed.
But this restriction was not the same as laws.
There was no security in the first place, so it couldn't have deteriorated.
This was a lawless world.
Akatsuki understood this point.
But she still talked softly to herself, even though she understood.
Were her emotions wavering in the depths of her serious eyes?
(I can't tell...)
Shiroe couldn't see through Akatsuki's thoughts.
It might be unease, homesickness or even despair. But if you searched in Shiroe's heart, he thought you would find frustration.
This was the reflection of his heart.
The irritation that things turned out this way. The subject when she said 'Will it always be like this' was this world, but it could also refer to 'us'.
(Is this the best we can do? Are we being looked down on? We are killing each other, racketing, crying, and despairing over trivial things. Are we being treated like brats?)
This was a question for himself. Would we immediately turn into backstabbing villains when thrown onto a lawless plain?
Shiroe answered firmly because he understood this:
"No, it won't."
He would not fall into despair so easily.
Like the rotten fruits falling to the ground, the world was following this natural order and turning cunning, cheap, and unsightly. It was moving away from nobility and gallantry which was a bad thing. Shiroe didn't accept this natural evolution of the situation.
"That will be too boring."
Naotsugu commented curtly.
"..."
Akatsuki looked towards the horizon.
Shiroe decided to take over Maryele's quest by himself because their chance of success was higher than that of Crescent Moon Alliance's team based on their levels and familiarity with battles.
This was just one of the reasons.
But this reason was more of a 'want', not a 'need'.
The Crescent Moon Alliance was an independent guild no matter how good their relations were. Shiroe's party had no obligation to spend so much time risking countless dangers to do this on their behalf.
This was something that was normally impossible.
Maryele requested Shiroe to occasionally drop by and look after her guild because she understood this. She probably thought it was the limit of what she could ask of Shiroe as a good friend. This was a deduction made from common sense, Maryele was not wrong.
Naotsugu and Akatsuki also knew they had no moral duty to aid Maryele's comrades.
But Shiroe wanted to take on this quest.
Logic and calculations were important, he even held his breath when thinking through this mission. But his will was mainly driven by a sense of frustration. Shiroe was also surprised to have unearthed such strong emotions. And Shiroe was glad that his companions felt the same without putting it into words.
... That was too boring.
... Too unsightly.
(Although such embarrassing words were uttered...)
The wind brushed his cheeks that heated up when he recalled the event. He could feel joy, unease, and bliss within his undulating emotions.
It was a sense of resistance, he wanted to resist this unsightly world.
If that were the case, he shouldn't hold anything back.
To do the best within his abilities.
To work hard in this environment of his.
As Shiroe was distracted with such thoughts, Naotsugu tapped his back.
"You would help if your family is sobbing, right? That is common sense. Even if those guys are unsightly, we have no reason to dance to their tune."
Shiroe didn't want to accept that he had drifted into an unsightly, dull, and boring world beyond redemption. There must be something cool and flashy like the Debauchery Tea Party out here.
It was embarrassing to express it in words, so Shiroe tried not to think about it. But he could feel that a quest like this was the answer.
These were the 'Things they should be doing'.
"Really, harassing a girl like this is unromantic. You need to do it more like this! Try to grab their attention."
Naotsugu's speech threw the whole atmosphere off.
"Well, what types of girls do you like, Naotsugu?"
Akatsuki gave Naotsugu a condescending look while Shiroe resisted joining this conversation. These pubertal thoughts were extremely awkward for Shiroe.
"My range is wide, like maids and nurses. Nah, it has to be my junior, right? After joining the workforce, the clean and pure juniors joining my company look so blindingly bright. They will even call me 'senpai'. That is very important!"
"The basics are important! Teamwork is built on the fundamentals of practice!"
Shiroe didn't really understand what Naotsugu was implying, but he decided to answer Naotsugu loudly with conviction. Akatsuki's glares poked painfully at him.
"You are absolutely right, teamwork, tactics, and terrain are all important. Getting angry at guys when their panties are seen while climbing the stairs. They are the one exposing and blaming us. That is really the strongest."
(That's not being strong, just a nasty excuse, right?)
Even if that was what Shiroe thought, he wouldn't express it to Akatsuki. She nagged at him anyway saying, "Ignoring that idiot Naotsugu, my lord needs to act like a proper lord. Stupid lord."
... Akatsuki was giving them the cold shoulder after that conversation. She was stopped by Shiroe when she was about to summon her horse after lunch. Akatsuki was puzzled as Shiroe took out a bamboo flute with elegant carvings.
It looked like a piece of art, even though it was just a horse summon flute. Naotsugu had the same flute in his hand.
"What is that, my lord?"
Shiroe smiled at Akatsuki's question and blew the flute while facing the sky. The sound harmonized with Naotsugu's flute and was carried across the plains by the wind.
"Could this be...?"
A high pitch cry interrupted Akatsuki. Two huge shadows drew near with the deep sound of flapping wings. The creatures as big as a carriage circled twice above Shiroe's party before landing strongly, bowing their heads at Shiroe's and Naotsugu's feet.
"Those are griffons!"
The mythical beasts standing before them were griffons. A griffon had the head, forelegs, and wings of an eagle along with the body of a lion. Its battle prowess differed by variety and age, but was mostly on par with chimeras.
"Well, yeah."
Shiroe rubbed the neck of the griffon a couple of times and took some raw meat from his bag. He bought these from the market at a cheap price since they were ingredients that could be easily hunted in the wild.
"You didn't really think we were going by horse to the far north, did you? We would get old by the time we arrive."
Naotsugu teased Akatsuki.
"Why did you summon these monsters... we're riding them?"
"Yes, we are riding them. What is it, Akatsuki-san?"
"It's Akatsuki."
Akatsuki made a strong request when she heard Shiroe. Even though he had been addressing Akatsuki this way all the time, she still wanted Shiroe to call her by her name.
"Akatsuki... You'll ride behind me. Okay?"
"That's fine, however..."
Akatsuki watched the griffon fearfully from afar. Naotsugu prepared the saddle on his griffon expertly as Shiroe fed his griffon while scratching its ears.
"I have heard of summon flutes like those... That they're only given to players who've beaten the Hades Breath raid on the Fields of Death."
"Yeah, a long time ago..."
Shiroe answered Akatsuki.
This was one of the legacies of the Debauchery Tea Party that was gradually forgotten by the masses. Shiroe and Naotsugu obtained these flutes from the deepest part of the Spirit King's grave. They fought a fierce battle with the four horsemen of the king in front of the magic altar that desecrated the secrets of life.
The Spirit King attempted to steal the underground energy of the elf mountain to gain eternal life. The 'King of Winged Beasts' who fought alongside them to stop the Spirit King's plan presented these flutes as a symbol of their friendship.
"Why do you have these flutes?"
"It's a great party trick to surprise people with, right?"
Naotsugu answered Akatsuki this time.
(This is sort of embarrassing.)
They didn't mean to hide it, but taking these flutes out was still kind of awkward for Shiroe and Naotsugu. 'Griffon Flute' was a rare item that made others envious. No matter how precious it was, it still served mainly as a memento.
"Bind the sheath of your sword tighter, same with your bag. Keep everything that might be blown off by the wind."
Shiroe extended his hand out to the hesitant Akatsuki.
After hesitating a while, Akatsuki reached for Shiroe's hand. But she noticed something and started to blush.
As Shiroe was starting to feel awkward, Akatsuki mustered up her courage and grabbed his hand.
Shiroe pulled Akatsuki up with just the strength in his arm. He was not sure if she jumped or her weight was light, but the feather-light feeling surprised Shiroe.
"All set?"
"Yes my lord, no problem."
Akatsuki's fidgeting figure behind him made Shiroe look back uneasily.
"Sit tight and hold on firmly. Hold on strongly if you are afraid. Wait, don't grab my stomach!"
Naotsugu, who had been holding back, burst out in laughter looking at Shiroe and Akatsuki's interactions. Ignoring their accusatory eyes, he patted his griffon's neck.
"I'll go first!"
Naotsugu's sentence was followed by a gust of wind, and Naotsugu and his griffon became a shadow in the sky.
"Really... You ready, Akatsuki? Let's go!"
It felt like being thrown into the sky or falling head first into the ground far below. Akatsuki endured this feeling as she held on to Shiroe's slender back.
Shiroe's back was lean like that of an old scholar. Akatsuki buried her face in it, hiding her eyes from the surrounding view. But she regained her composure to look around after a moment.
"It's a great view."
Shiroe was deeply concerned about Akatsuki who was grabbing his back tightly and told her softly. Akatsuki was too small in stature after all. The young girl who was only about Shiroe's shoulder or even chest height might fly off with the wind, which worried Shiroe.
Instead of sitting behind, she would be more stable in the front. But doing it this way might scare off Akatsuki in another way.
(Another problem will be where I can hold on to Akatsuki.)
After analyzing in his head, the answer would be to grab the reins with his right hand and hold Akatsuki by the belly or chest with his left hand. But he would risk touching sensitive parts of her body, which made him bleed cold sweat. It would be fine if Naotsugu laughed at him, but being pushed off the griffon in mid flight would be bad.
"Yeah... This is amazing, it's like we're floating in the sky, my lord.""You doing okay?"
The griffon tore through the air.
It was not flapping its wings, simply gliding steadily in the wind.
The air current was split to either side like the flow of a river, alternating between rising and falling. The griffon might have the instincts of birds, choosing the suitable currents and climbing up the stairs in the sky.
Naotsugu's griffon was flying beside them like a sapphire in the sky, shimmering in the sun.
"Isn't this great!"
Instead of bragging, his words felt more like the pure joy of flying. Akatsuki who usually treated him like a childish companion couldn't help but smile when she saw his grin. It was a rare smile, just like a blossoming flower.
"It's amazing... This is amazing, the sky is so blue and clear."
Shiroe with his eyes in front smiled warmly.
It was true.
Flying through the sky was a unique sense of happiness.
"... No signs of any enemies ahead."
"Let's advance."
Shiroe answered with a gesture after hearing Akatsuki's report.
This was Deep in Palm, which passed under Tearstone Mountains. It had been 15 hours since they entered the dungeon.
Referencing the map Shiroe drew from memory, they had traveled about 20km in a beeline.
Shiroe visited this place when Elder Tales was still a game, but he did not know this place was so vast.
It had been 3 days since they set off from Akiba.
The trip had been smooth and peaceful.
Griffons were 3 times faster than horses in terms of speed, but the ability to ignore obstacles meant they were 10 times faster overall.
The ability of the griffons had been nerfed, so it could only travel 4 hours a day. But they still managed to complete a 2 week journey by horse in 3 days.
But their speedy travel reached a bottleneck.
They already anticipated this, and they confirmed Tearstone Mountains was a nest for iron tail wyverns when they arrived. Wyverns were a type of demi-dragons, they were similar to dragons without forelegs and the ability to use magic. They were considered the scrub of dragons.
But they were still tough enemies.
Dragons had the highest stamina, defense, speed, and attack among monsters. Some possessed immense intellect and could cast spells. Just like in most fantasy stories, dragons were amongst the strongest enemies Adventurers could face.
Even a scrub like a wyvern was still a type of dragon.
They couldn't use magic, but their tails were as strong as steel, and their razor-like wings made them as fast as griffons.
Shiroe's party consisted of top class players and could take a single wyvern on the ground easily.
But they might get overwhelmed if a group of wyverns attacked them in the sky.
Tearstone Mountains had been the nest of wyverns since the early days of Elder Tales, so Shiroe was already mentally prepared for this and did not plan to fly recklessly here.
If they fought without a plan in the sky, they might be able to fend off a few wyverns, but would eventually fall from their waves of attacks.
There was no such thing as a graceful retreat from an aerial battle.
The losers were doomed to fall hundreds of meters to their deaths.
Shiroe's team that hid on the ground to avoid this trap had 4 options.
They could go the long way by the sea route or bash through the forest in the mountains. They could also advance through Palm's tunnels under Tearstone Mountains made from ancient sewage systems. The last option would be to climb the mountain directly.
Shiroe's group decided to challenge the tunnels after a discussion.
After considering many factors, this route offered the best combination of speed and safety.
After going through the forest and entering the tunnels through the ruins of a work site, they had traveled in Palm for 15 hours. The vast tunnels were built with grey concrete walls, stretching endlessly under the illumination of magic light.
Similar to large sewage systems in the real world, there were narrow pathways that connected 2 major sections. There would be dry and clean smelling square rooms popping up every now and then which seemed redundant.
The intent of the designer and any traces of the users had been lost under years of dust and debris. The deep cavern with slow flowing water was now ruled by the ratmen.
Ratmen.
They were low in class among the many demihumans in this world. Their appearance was a cross between rat-headed men and rats standing on their hind legs. They were about the height of middle-schoolers, but it was hard to tell their shape with all their fur. They were covered all over in wet-looking fur and could use simple tools.
Ratmen were no threat at all for high-level players like Shiroe. The ability of each unit varied, but most of them were weaker than goblins or beast men.
But the ratmen had 2 troubling weapons; their numbers and the plague.
Just like real world rats, ratmen had powerful reproductive abilities, living in small confined areas in large numbers.
Shiroe's group had already stumbled across rooms several square meters in size with 20 or so ratmen nesting inside.
Normal creatures would run away if they instinctively felt their enemies to be much stronger than them. It was the same with ratmen, who could sense that Shiroe's group was powerful.
Shiroe's group did not have any proper battles on their journey thus far, proving this point. The objective of this quest was to save the girl named Serara, so Shiroe had avoided any unnecessary battles and exploration as they rushed to her. The monsters avoiding them were a good thing for this mission.
But for the numerous ratmen trapped in a confined space with no escape route, things would be different.
The ratmen would attack in this situation, even if Shiroe's group wanted to give way to them. A cornered rat would fight desperately.
Shiroe's party knew they would win, but fighting a large group of ratmen wasted a lot of time and would increase their mental fatigue.
Another issue was the plague debuff.
Ratmen could spread diseases, just like in the Middle Ages. Elder Tales recreated this aspect by giving ratmen the ability to infect players with the plague debuff that dealt persistent damage over time.
The ratmen in the tunnel were about level 40.
The harm level of the plague was determined by the level of the ratmen, which was around 40 in this case. This could be easily handled by a mid-level healer, but Shiroe's party didn't have one right now.
They purchased 'Preventive Potions' at the market and already took them, but they could not be used to cure any plague statuses. Even with their large level difference and low chance of getting infected, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"This room looks safe... How about it Shiro?"
"Yeah... You are right, let's take a break. Please stay near the entrance Naotsugu. I will make a routine call to Mary-nee. As for Akatsuki..."
"I will scout ahead."
Akatsuki melted into the shadows without waiting for a reply.
Their roles within the team had been set. Shiroe and Naotsugu detested the idea of a petite girl like Akatsuki scouting alone in the beginning, but Akatsuki was proficient at this, and her pride pushed her to contribute to the team.
The two of them accepted this reluctantly after understanding Akatsuki's view.
Scouting was Akatsuki's strong point, so this division of work made sense. This serious girl played her part with utmost dedication.
Naotsugu dragged a steel box from a pile of junk and sat on it, hugging his sword while guarding the entrance. He would be ready if any enemy showed up.
After confirming this, Shiroe used the menu in his mind to call Maryele telepathically. Shiroe had been contacting Maryele around this time daily after starting the journey. Maryele understood this and picked up quickly.
"Thanks for the hard work Shiro-bou, how are things?"
"Everything is fine here, we made camp and rested shortly after contacting you yesterday. We entered Deep in Palm this morning."
"To say that, you are in the dungeon right now?"
"Yes."
"That is too fast, you are scaring your onee-san here!"
"Yes."
Maryele's kind greetings gave Shiroe a warm feeling.
He wanted to reply in a kinder way, but that was beyond him. Shiroe continued to answer politely as he thought about this.
Maryele didn't know Shiroe was traveling in a special way... by griffon. The usual means of travel in this world was by summoning horses.
Another way to traverse the land was by trained 'War Boars'. There was news of players in the Chinese server using Dire Wolves as their rides.
Summoners could conjure several mounts such as unicorns to ride, but only high-level summoners were able to summon flying mounts. Normal players would not be able to imagine Enchanters, warriors, and weapon-based classes owning flying mounts.
"To be frank, we would probably have only covered about a quarter of your journey if we had taken on this quest, I am grateful for your help."
"Uh, that aside... How are things on your side?"
"We are in touch with Serara via telepathy."
This was one reason for the periodic contact.
Shiroe was heading to Ezzo Empire to save Serara, but he couldn't contact her telepathically.
You could only contact players on your friend list by telepathy. And you could only add them to the list when they were right in front of you.
In other words, Shiroe's group had no means to contact Serara through telepathy.
"The situation remains unchanged?"
"Yeah, she says she is hiding with that nice guy I mentioned and that she is okay for now."
"I see, that's good to hear. There are still good players there, seems like Susukino is not beyond redemption."
"Yeah."
Serara was targeted by a group of nasty players, forcing her to join their guild through intimidation. She was even confined for a period of time and was almost assaulted sexually. But she managed to get away and was hiding somewhere in Susukino.
The size of Susukino was on par with Akiba, but there were only about 2000 players there, 1/8 that of Akiba. This made each player more prominent.
Take buying food for instance, you couldn't merge with the crowd and do that, so it would be several times harder to remain undetected. Shiroe was worried Serara couldn't cover her tracks with such a low urban population.
But Serara seemed to have found a player willing to aid her.
Shiroe didn't know the details, but Serara only managed to escape from the nasty guild Brigandia with the help of this kind player.
With a player the enemy knew nothing of, there would be no problems buying supplies. With this, the chance of Serara avoiding detection before help arrived was high. With the low population, there would be more ruins and abandoned buildings for her to hide in.
Shiroe breathed a sigh of relief when he thought of this.
"We can't confirm further plans before leaving the dungeon, so I will contact you again after passing through Palm. Tearstone Mountains is the biggest obstacle after all..."
"How do you plan to cross the straits?"
"I will figure it out once I get there."
Shiroe avoided the question even though he had already decided to fly over.
Owning a griffon meant conquering the 'Hades Breath' Full Raid. Raids were the pinnacle challenge in Elder Tales, only a few major guilds were able to complete them. They were then rewarded with the rare item Griffon Flute.
For some people, guildless people like Shiroe owning this rare item was unacceptable.
Maryele, the guild master of Crescent Moon Alliance, knew lots of people unlike Shiroe. At the very least, all her members knew about Shiroe's quest to rescue Serara.
Although Maryele accepted Shiroe's aid with her usual smile, it was hard to say this was the same for the other guild members. Shiroe was worried that the public's perception of him would change if this news spread.
"You will definitely make it, Shiro-bou."
Maryele's hesitant words made Shiroe smile.
(Mary-nee is definitely pushing herself. She is so tough.)
"We have had no serious problems, we have not even fought much at all."
"Roger!"
"Well then, I will contact you later."
"Great! I will pray to the goddess Yurala on your behalf, say hi to Naotsugu-yan and Akatsuki-chan for me, Henrietta misses her."
Maryele ended the call by mentioning the goddess Yurala which priests talked about in this alternate world.
(So far so good...)
"How is the situation, my lord?"
"...!"
He didn't notice Akatsuki was back when he was focusing on the telepathy call. Shiroe turned and saw Naotsugu taking big bites out of his meal.
"Akiba is the same, Serara is hiding in the urban part of Susukino. No issues so far, let's proceed as planned."
"Affirmative."
Akatsuki took out a large water canteen from her back after answering. The canteens were all the same size, but it looked bigger in Akatsuki's hands.
Shiroe opened his bag and offered some oranges to Akatsuki. In this world where food had no taste, unprocessed ingredients like fruits were precious delicacies that retained their flavor.
Shiroe and the others were using a Bag of Holding, an excellent item that could be loaded up to 200kg. Apart from the bag itself, it could negate the weight of all the items inside it.
This was a well-known item in Elder Tales, and its quality determined the weight and type of items it could carry. Almost all the players had one because of its convenience.
With this bag, you could carry on fighting in the dungeons, even if you were loaded with lots of treasures. You wouldn't be flustered by cumbersome camping equipment, a necessity in this world.
"Can you tell me what you saw? I want to cross reference it with my map."
"Understood."
Akatsuki peeled the orange expertly with a knife as she made her report. The main path was wide enough for two trucks to drive through side by side, so they wouldn't lose their way, but there were loads of side paths that branched out.
They could reach their goal by following the main route, but it was better to make a detour sometimes to avoid a nest of ratmen. Akatsuki's scouting reports were invaluable for this.
Shiroe drew new deviating paths on his map as he listened to Akatsuki.
"Does it look something like this?"
"Yeah, that should be fairly accurate... You really are good at cartography, my lord."
Akatsuki leaned over to inspect Shiroe's map and is impressed.
"This is just like CAD, and my subclass is also Scribe."
"What is CAD?"
"Designs you make on a computer. I do it at my university as an engineering student."
"So you are a college student, my lord?"
"But I am graduating soon." Shiroe nodded in reply. His memories of the real world seemed so distant and unreal now.
"I see, so you are about my age."
"Hmmm?" "No way!"
Shiroe and Naotsugu retorted at the same time.
"Is it that surprising?"
Shiroe felt bad for Akatsuki who was asking so calmly, but he was sure Akatsuki was 3-4 years younger than him.
"Are you kidding us, shrimp? Based on your height you- Puwahh!"
A knee landing on Naotsugu's face cut off his sentence.
"May I kick this stupid Naotsugu, my lord?"
"Didn't I tell you to ask before doing it?"
Ignoring the comedy duo, Shiroe was bleeding cold sweat in his heart. He didn't say it out loud, but Shiroe had been judging Akatsuki's age based on her height.
"Idiot Naotsugu is always nitpicking about height issues."
"It would be sadder talking about bre- Puwahh!"
She used her left knee this time. Akatsuki jumped almost 2 meters, flipped backwards, and landed gracefully like a cat.
"... Akatsuki? Please don't murder Naotsugu."
"Since it is my lord's request..."
Akatsuki left Naotsugu while sulking. Shiroe didn't say his thoughts about her age out loud, but he still helped Naotsugu.
"Did you also think I was a child, my lord?"
Shiroe endured the pressure of Akatsuki's glare and commented softly.
"I am not concerned about height... or age issues. This is troubling..."
Shiroe did think Akatsuki was younger, but he didn't treat her like a kid.
This was a world where survival skills were crucial.
A place where you needed to trade blows with ratmen in giant tunnels like this. You would die if you didn't meet the minimum requirement, even if you were a child.
It was the same even in this world without death.
Shiroe recalled the twins he knew recently.
On that day, Shiroe was still with the twins up to the moment the Apocalypse hit. They got separated when Shiroe rushed back to Akiba.
Shiroe saw the twins joining some guild from afar once, but he still worried about their current status.
Shiroe decided to meet them when he returned to Akiba.
"What are you thinking about, my lord?"
"Hmmm? Nothing, really."
"That isn't true. Whenever you are thinking, your brow furrows."
"Ah..."
Shiroe objected to Akatsuki on reflex, but she had totally seen through him. Being seen through was embarrassing enough, but Akatsuki continued 'Right here you know? Just like the wrinkles of an old man', which made Shiroe uneasy.
"Hey, what are you laughing at, Naotsugu?"
"Because... Wahahaha!"
Shiroe kicked Naotsugu in the shin.
But Naotsugu's legs were wrapped in armor, so Shiroe's toes hurt from the impact.
The 3 of them moved out after bickering for a while. It was always dark in the tunnels, threatening to crush the trio with its weight.
In the cold humid air unique to such underground dungeons, only the smiles of the three offered some warmth.
The first light of dawn bathed the ridge of the mountains in purple light as they came out of the tunnel.
Shiroe's group, which had been spending long hours underground, stretched their backs in the cool and fragrant breeze.
They did not need to bend their backs to traverse the caverns, but the billion tons of rocks over their heads gave them overwhelming pressure.
The sky right now was still dark as the summer sun slowly rose.
"The wind is cold."
Akatsuki jumped onto a boulder which gave her a view of the forest and the ocean as she spoke.
"But it feels great. We are finally through the tough part."
Shiroe followed them up the boulder.
The wind was indeed icy, but the scenery was grandiose. The dark green forest was glowing beautifully from the rose colored light.
As the clouds moved off with the wind, this rose-colored light made the ocean shimmer like a sea of gold.
"Beautiful."
"Amazing."
Shiroe's companions explained everything with these simple words.
Speaking of which, this was the first time.
(We are the first to see this scene. In this alternate world, no other players have traveled to Susukino from Akiba yet. We are the pioneers. When Elder Tales was a game, lots of players passed by here at dawn. But, we are the first ones here. Being the first means...)
... The best part of adventuring was experiencing new things. It made you so tense with anticipation you couldn't stand still.
'Hmmm? What? Don't lose control of your bladder? What's the big deal, this is a happy moment. Are you unhappy? You are happy right? Just look at this gorgeous view, totally worth the effort! Hahahaha!'
Shiroe remembered 'her' words.
'She' had no basis for her overflowing confidence. 'Her' character was built on willfulness, bluffs, and bold words.
But 'she' always knew the correct answer.
If it were 'her', she would treat this scenery as a medal and wear it proudly.
"We're the first ones here."
Shiroe said to his friends with this emotion in his heart.
"We're the first Adventurers in this world to see this."
For the first time, Shiroe accepted this to be an alternate world with his words.
The gorgeous view in front of them confirmed this fact stronger than anything else. Something that was impossible to see in a game. Technology that recreated real life in the virtual world could not display this flowing wind, chilly air, the sound of the trees, and the dawn that was changing every microsecond.
After coming to this world, even as everyone around them fell into a panic, or players disrupted the security due to lack of goals, Shiroe still maintained a certain degree of calm.
He would go to the suburbs, investigate the zones, experiment with spells while battling, and find out what he could or could not do in this world even if it was tedious.
(... I didn't know I was so adaptable. Naotsugu's humor helps me forget my hardships. Akatsuki makes every day livelier, saving the sanity in my heart...)
But that was not all. Shiroe finally understood this now.
The ruins under the ancient trees looked so beautiful after coming to this world, telling him this was indeed an alternate world.
(This is an alternate world, we are Adventurers.)
Akatsuki looked at Shiroe with surprise for an instant, yet in the next moment she nodded with understanding. Naotsugu gave a manly grin and took a deep breath.
"That's right, I've never seen anything so amazing, even in Elder Tales."
"It's our first prize for victory."
The 2 of them cherished the scene in front of them with longing eyes before acknowledging Shiroe.
And in reply, Shiroe faced the sky to the east and blew his griffon summon flute.
|
|
"Is this really okay?"
Maryele who had come to see them off asked yet again.
This was Ueno Log Castle, a zone where demihumans, and bandits roamed at night. Right now it was a scene of beauty with the sky slowly turning white through the mist.
The humid morning air surrounded Shiroe's team, Maryele, and the several Crescent Moon Alliance members who had come to bid them farewell.
"Marie-san, don't worry about this. That girl is cute, right? I won't let any guy touch her before I hit on her myself, hitting on girls expedition festival!"
Naotsugu's words that, in a sense, seemed flirty, were rewarded with an elbow by Akatsuki along with the words 'Shut up, idiot'.
"It will be fine, we are used to camping outdoors and have been training for the past 2 weeks..."
Shiroe reassured Maryele.
The chance of success with the 3 of them was higher than that with Maryele's party. Even though this was a fact, his showy action last night had been really embarrassing, and Shiroe still hesitated to look directly at Maryele.
"Erm... This is nothing much, but please eat this on your way there. Shiro-senpai, do your best."
"Akatsuki-chan, this is healing salve made by the guild members, take care on your way there."
Shiroe and Akatsuki accepted the sincere support items prepared by the Crescent Moon Alliance members. Although Shiroe only said a simple word of thanks while Akatsuki nodded, their feelings were successfully conveyed to the Crescent Moon Alliance guild members.
"Do take care as well Mary-nee... especially with the PK."
"Yeah, we will be fine here and will continue to collate data."
"Marie-san, take it easy and leave this to us!"
"Ahahaha, be safe Naotsugu-yan, alright? Shiro-bou doesn't need it, so I will let Naotsugu-yan touch them. Look here, they are really soft!"
Maryele smiled to hide her embarrassment and hugged Naotsugu's arms with her hefty breasts.
"Eh, time out, Marie-san!"
"What is it, Naotsugu-yan hates this just like Shiro-bou?"
"That's not it..."
Maryele was like a bold and candid big sister who took care of others and liked to pull dirty jokes to hide her embarrassment. She declared that her character was unladylike and laughed as everyone ignored her when she pulled dirty jokes like this.
(But I think only Mary-nee considers herself to be unpopular...)
Shiroe glanced at Akatsuki and saw her covering her mouth with both hands and mumbling 'Idiot, idiot, die pervert Naotsugu'.
The members of the Crescent Moon Alliance just smiled sheepishly without stopping her. This was probably an everyday occurrence.
"Is it fine? Is this chest worthless?"
"Hold up... If it's thrown in my face, I will be afraid to accept the offer... Ah, really, me helping has nothing to do with this! Didn't I prohibit any dirty jokes!"
"That is totally unconvincing when Naotsugu says it."
Akatsuki kicked Naotsugu.
The blow was shielded by the heavy armor of the Guardian, only leaving a dull thud. Naotsugu used this chance to break away from Maryele.
"I will let you have your way with my breasts when you come back safely... Yeah, bon voyage, thank you for doing this, take care of yourself."
After hearing this, it was time to go.
The blushing Naotsugu who had broken free from Maryele was already walking down the foggy street to hide his embarrassment.
"Shiro-bou, Naotsugu-yan, Akatsuki-chan, please bring Serara home."
Naotsugu turned around with his back to the rising sun and lifted his shield up high.
Shiroe waved goodbye while Akatsuki drew her blade half an inch and slammed it back into the hilt, making a clear sound.
The trio bade their farewells and started their journey to the distant north.
The morning mist was a temporary scene in the early summer, which turned back into a bright blue sky soon after fading.
The three of them walked on the half-ruined highway. In ancient times (which was the modern era in the real world), it was known as the grandest highway of the capital. The highway that was like a bridge over land extending far into the north.
Looking back from the capital highway, the zones they had passed through were relatively peaceful. There was more wildlife than monsters out here, you could see herds of deer and bears taking a leisurely stroll.
The players believed the world of Elder Tales was set thousands of years into the future of the real world so much that it was akin to the official setting. According to the Elder Tales lore, there had been a war so grand it had literally shattered the world. And the world was now rebuilt into its current state by the miracle of the gods. This was a common world building setting seen in fantasy games.
The graphics that improved with each new expansion enchanted the players with its beauty. But after the Apocalypse, the scenery they saw with their eyes was beyond that of any rendering machines.
The trio had no problem riding, even though they had zero experience doing that. Horses were a common mode of transportation in Elder Tales.
All players could ride a horse without any practice. A horse could be purchased or rented for a few days from shops. It was normal for mid-level players to have their own ride.
Horses were treated like summon creatures when Elder Tales was just a game.
You obtained a flute after buying or renting a horse. You could summon the horse by blowing the flute in any place.
This setting was recreated in this world. Your horse would run to you from far away when you whistled for them so you wouldn't need to tie it down and worry about your horse when raiding dungeons.
Horses were classified as items in the game and would not die, but this had yet to be confirmed in this world. You might lose your horse if you called for them in dangerous places, so Shiroe had not experimented and confirmed this aspect.
Shiroe's group would be traversing through field zones for this journey. As the name implied, they were open and vast areas in this world.
This world basically consisted of interconnected field zones. There were some buildings in good condition that were considered individual zones, but ruins and abandoned buildings were usually part of the field zone's background.
One of the features of field zones was their vague boundaries.
Enclosed zones were connected to others by doors, cave entrances, and stairs. But field zones had no clear entry points to move between neighboring zones.
You would cross over to the adjacent zone by walking over the zone boundary. So being in which zone was not a concern when traveling over open land.
You could check which zones you were in by opening the status screen if you wished.
The highway the trio was traveling on was in a state of disrepair, debris and collapsed sections were everywhere.
They had to traverse some parts by horse. The trees engulfed so much of a section that it was practically a forest. They had no choice but to go through the dense undergrowth instead.
They decided to rest just a short while past noon.
The flyover highway merged with a wide road after rounding a complicated curve in the sky. The asphalt under their feet was alarmingly weak, it would be dangerous to go this way any further.
"Shall we take a lunch break?"
Naotsugu who was leading the way sighed deeply at Shiroe's suggestion.
"It's nice that riding a horse is automatic, but my butt still hurts."
"That's right."
Shiroe nodded in agreement while Akatsuki stared with a questioning look asking "Does it?"
The height difference between Shiroe and Akatsuki was about 30cm, Shiroe estimated her weight to be about half of his. Being so much lighter would place less burden on her lower body while riding.
"I wonder how far we went."
"It's only been half a day, you are too hasty, stupid Naotsugu."
Naotsugu remained nonchalant despite Akatsuki's words. They were used to this type of interaction, a way of bickering and playing around.
Shiroe led them down the slope made of collapsed sections and debris of the highway. This was probably a residential area in ancient times, but only the remnants of telephone poles were left, a wasteland without any trees.
On the reddish undulating ground, they found a boulder suitable to be used as a table to rest.
They lay a cloth on the surface of the rock and placed food, canteens, tools and a map on top. This was a map of Japan labelled with names of zones Shiroe still remembered.
"Where did you find that, my lord? That's a really nice map."
Just as Akatsuki saw, the map was really detailed and worthy of praise.
It was about 1 square meter in size when fully opened, with a drawing of an archipelago similar to Japan... the zones under the jurisdiction of the Japan server of Elder Tales.
The map was drawn with 4 colors labeling rivers, forests, and even villages, not something an amateur could draw.
"My subclass is Scribe, this is a map I copied off the Akiba library."
"I see... Nice job, my lord."
"Well, where are we?"
Naotsugu asked as he opened his canteen.
"We should be around here."
Shiroe pointed to the north of Tokyo, very near Akiba.
"We didn't go very far yet."
"Oh well, it's only been half a day... we'll make better time flying in the afternoon."
"Roger."
Naotsugu chatted with Shiroe as they started digging into a basket of soggy crackers that looked like chicken sandwich.
Akatsuki usually kept out of such conversations. Shiroe recently thought she acted this way because she trusted them completely, not because she was disinterested. Since she didn't ask any questions, that meant she understood the contents of the conversation.
The horses grazed on the dry brown grass as the trio had their meals. They ran off into the distance after some time. The horses would leave by themselves a short while after you dismounted.
They would be back when they blew their flutes, so the three were not concerned about them.
"... Will it always be like this?"
Akatsuki asked as she took small bites out of her chicken sandwich.
She looked far off into the distance, straight at the depths of the untamed lands. She had filtered the contents of her mumbling and you would miss it if you didn't pay attention.
But Shiroe could empathize with her.
This world had recreated the settings of Elder Tales wonderfully, but Elder Tales was a game, not a journey to experience an alternate world. There was no sleep or pain in Elder Tales, and this world was not a game.
It inherited the settings and logs of Elder Tales, but Shiroe believed they should treat this as a totally different alternate world. Since the first day of the Apocalypse, Shiroe had felt a deep sense of unease, telling himself it would be a big mistake to mistake this world for Elder Tales.
(Everyone forgot about something important and wants to move on without confirming it. But no one knows what is really happening. Even if this is really related to Elder Tales, this is still an alternate world... That's why everybody is acting so strangely.)
Security didn't really turn bad.
Saying security was turning bad seemed to imply security was good before, which was not true. If you treated this as an alternate world independent from Elder Tales, then security did not exist in this world in the first place.
The non-combat zones were the only places that were close to being safe. This seemed to be a shallow sign to prove that the Elder Tales' settings still existed.
But this restriction was not the same as laws.
There was no security in the first place, so it couldn't have deteriorated.
This was a lawless world.
Akatsuki understood this point.
But she still talked softly to herself, even though she understood.
Were her emotions wavering in the depths of her serious eyes?
(I can't tell...)
Shiroe couldn't see through Akatsuki's thoughts.
It might be unease, homesickness or even despair. But if you searched in Shiroe's heart, he thought you would find frustration.
This was the reflection of his heart.
The irritation that things turned out this way. The subject when she said 'Will it always be like this' was this world, but it could also refer to 'us'.
(Is this the best we can do? Are we being looked down on? We are killing each other, racketing, crying, and despairing over trivial things. Are we being treated like brats?)
This was a question for himself. Would we immediately turn into backstabbing villains when thrown onto a lawless plain?
Shiroe answered firmly because he understood this:
"No, it won't."
He would not fall into despair so easily.
Like the rotten fruits falling to the ground, the world was following this natural order and turning cunning, cheap, and unsightly. It was moving away from nobility and gallantry which was a bad thing. Shiroe didn't accept this natural evolution of the situation.
"That will be too boring."
Naotsugu commented curtly.
"..."
Akatsuki looked towards the horizon.
Shiroe decided to take over Maryele's quest by himself because their chance of success was higher than that of Crescent Moon Alliance's team based on their levels and familiarity with battles.
This was just one of the reasons.
But this reason was more of a 'want', not a 'need'.
The Crescent Moon Alliance was an independent guild no matter how good their relations were. Shiroe's party had no obligation to spend so much time risking countless dangers to do this on their behalf.
This was something that was normally impossible.
Maryele requested Shiroe to occasionally drop by and look after her guild because she understood this. She probably thought it was the limit of what she could ask of Shiroe as a good friend. This was a deduction made from common sense, Maryele was not wrong.
Naotsugu and Akatsuki also knew they had no moral duty to aid Maryele's comrades.
But Shiroe wanted to take on this quest.
Logic and calculations were important, he even held his breath when thinking through this mission. But his will was mainly driven by a sense of frustration. Shiroe was also surprised to have unearthed such strong emotions. And Shiroe was glad that his companions felt the same without putting it into words.
... That was too boring.
... Too unsightly.
(Although such embarrassing words were uttered...)
The wind brushed his cheeks that heated up when he recalled the event. He could feel joy, unease, and bliss within his undulating emotions.
It was a sense of resistance, he wanted to resist this unsightly world.
If that were the case, he shouldn't hold anything back.
To do the best within his abilities.
To work hard in this environment of his.
As Shiroe was distracted with such thoughts, Naotsugu tapped his back.
"You would help if your family is sobbing, right? That is common sense. Even if those guys are unsightly, we have no reason to dance to their tune."
Shiroe didn't want to accept that he had drifted into an unsightly, dull, and boring world beyond redemption. There must be something cool and flashy like the Debauchery Tea Party out here.
It was embarrassing to express it in words, so Shiroe tried not to think about it. But he could feel that a quest like this was the answer.
These were the 'Things they should be doing'.
"Really, harassing a girl like this is unromantic. You need to do it more like this! Try to grab their attention."
Naotsugu's speech threw the whole atmosphere off.
"Well, what types of girls do you like, Naotsugu?"
Akatsuki gave Naotsugu a condescending look while Shiroe resisted joining this conversation. These pubertal thoughts were extremely awkward for Shiroe.
"My range is wide, like maids and nurses. Nah, it has to be my junior, right? After joining the workforce, the clean and pure juniors joining my company look so blindingly bright. They will even call me 'senpai'. That is very important!"
"The basics are important! Teamwork is built on the fundamentals of practice!"
Shiroe didn't really understand what Naotsugu was implying, but he decided to answer Naotsugu loudly with conviction. Akatsuki's glares poked painfully at him.
"You are absolutely right, teamwork, tactics, and terrain are all important. Getting angry at guys when their panties are seen while climbing the stairs. They are the one exposing and blaming us. That is really the strongest."
(That's not being strong, just a nasty excuse, right?)
Even if that was what Shiroe thought, he wouldn't express it to Akatsuki. She nagged at him anyway saying, "Ignoring that idiot Naotsugu, my lord needs to act like a proper lord. Stupid lord."
... Akatsuki was giving them the cold shoulder after that conversation. She was stopped by Shiroe when she was about to summon her horse after lunch. Akatsuki was puzzled as Shiroe took out a bamboo flute with elegant carvings.
It looked like a piece of art, even though it was just a horse summon flute. Naotsugu had the same flute in his hand.
"What is that, my lord?"
Shiroe smiled at Akatsuki's question and blew the flute while facing the sky. The sound harmonized with Naotsugu's flute and was carried across the plains by the wind.
"Could this be...?"
A high pitch cry interrupted Akatsuki. Two huge shadows drew near with the deep sound of flapping wings. The creatures as big as a carriage circled twice above Shiroe's party before landing strongly, bowing their heads at Shiroe's and Naotsugu's feet.
"Those are griffons!"
The mythical beasts standing before them were griffons. A griffon had the head, forelegs, and wings of an eagle along with the body of a lion. Its battle prowess differed by variety and age, but was mostly on par with chimeras.
"Well, yeah."
Shiroe rubbed the neck of the griffon a couple of times and took some raw meat from his bag. He bought these from the market at a cheap price since they were ingredients that could be easily hunted in the wild.
"You didn't really think we were going by horse to the far north, did you? We would get old by the time we arrive."
Naotsugu teased Akatsuki.
"Why did you summon these monsters... we're riding them?"
"Yes, we are riding them. What is it, Akatsuki-san?"
"It's Akatsuki."
Akatsuki made a strong request when she heard Shiroe. Even though he had been addressing Akatsuki this way all the time, she still wanted Shiroe to call her by her name.
"Akatsuki... You'll ride behind me. Okay?"
"That's fine, however..."
Akatsuki watched the griffon fearfully from afar. Naotsugu prepared the saddle on his griffon expertly as Shiroe fed his griffon while scratching its ears.
"I have heard of summon flutes like those... That they're only given to players who've beaten the Hades Breath raid on the Fields of Death."
"Yeah, a long time ago..."
Shiroe answered Akatsuki.
This was one of the legacies of the Debauchery Tea Party that was gradually forgotten by the masses. Shiroe and Naotsugu obtained these flutes from the deepest part of the Spirit King's grave. They fought a fierce battle with the four horsemen of the king in front of the magic altar that desecrated the secrets of life.
The Spirit King attempted to steal the underground energy of the elf mountain to gain eternal life. The 'King of Winged Beasts' who fought alongside them to stop the Spirit King's plan presented these flutes as a symbol of their friendship.
"Why do you have these flutes?"
"It's a great party trick to surprise people with, right?"
Naotsugu answered Akatsuki this time.
(This is sort of embarrassing.)
They didn't mean to hide it, but taking these flutes out was still kind of awkward for Shiroe and Naotsugu. 'Griffon Flute' was a rare item that made others envious. No matter how precious it was, it still served mainly as a memento.
"Bind the sheath of your sword tighter, same with your bag. Keep everything that might be blown off by the wind."
Shiroe extended his hand out to the hesitant Akatsuki.
After hesitating a while, Akatsuki reached for Shiroe's hand. But she noticed something and started to blush.
As Shiroe was starting to feel awkward, Akatsuki mustered up her courage and grabbed his hand.
Shiroe pulled Akatsuki up with just the strength in his arm. He was not sure if she jumped or her weight was light, but the feather-light feeling surprised Shiroe.
"All set?"
"Yes my lord, no problem."
Akatsuki's fidgeting figure behind him made Shiroe look back uneasily.
"Sit tight and hold on firmly. Hold on strongly if you are afraid. Wait, don't grab my stomach!"
Naotsugu, who had been holding back, burst out in laughter looking at Shiroe and Akatsuki's interactions. Ignoring their accusatory eyes, he patted his griffon's neck.
"I'll go first!"
Naotsugu's sentence was followed by a gust of wind, and Naotsugu and his griffon became a shadow in the sky.
"Really... You ready, Akatsuki? Let's go!"
It felt like being thrown into the sky or falling head first into the ground far below. Akatsuki endured this feeling as she held on to Shiroe's slender back.
Shiroe's back was lean like that of an old scholar. Akatsuki buried her face in it, hiding her eyes from the surrounding view. But she regained her composure to look around after a moment.
"It's a great view."
Shiroe was deeply concerned about Akatsuki who was grabbing his back tightly and told her softly. Akatsuki was too small in stature after all. The young girl who was only about Shiroe's shoulder or even chest height might fly off with the wind, which worried Shiroe.
Instead of sitting behind, she would be more stable in the front. But doing it this way might scare off Akatsuki in another way.
(Another problem will be where I can hold on to Akatsuki.)
After analyzing in his head, the answer would be to grab the reins with his right hand and hold Akatsuki by the belly or chest with his left hand. But he would risk touching sensitive parts of her body, which made him bleed cold sweat. It would be fine if Naotsugu laughed at him, but being pushed off the griffon in mid flight would be bad.
"Yeah... This is amazing, it's like we're floating in the sky, my lord.""You doing okay?"
The griffon tore through the air.
It was not flapping its wings, simply gliding steadily in the wind.
The air current was split to either side like the flow of a river, alternating between rising and falling. The griffon might have the instincts of birds, choosing the suitable currents and climbing up the stairs in the sky.
Naotsugu's griffon was flying beside them like a sapphire in the sky, shimmering in the sun.
"Isn't this great!"
Instead of bragging, his words felt more like the pure joy of flying. Akatsuki who usually treated him like a childish companion couldn't help but smile when she saw his grin. It was a rare smile, just like a blossoming flower.
"It's amazing... This is amazing, the sky is so blue and clear."
Shiroe with his eyes in front smiled warmly.
It was true.
Flying through the sky was a unique sense of happiness.
"... No signs of any enemies ahead."
"Let's advance."
Shiroe answered with a gesture after hearing Akatsuki's report.
This was Deep in Palm, which passed under Tearstone Mountains. It had been 15 hours since they entered the dungeon.
Referencing the map Shiroe drew from memory, they had traveled about 20km in a beeline.
Shiroe visited this place when Elder Tales was still a game, but he did not know this place was so vast.
It had been 3 days since they set off from Akiba.
The trip had been smooth and peaceful.
Griffons were 3 times faster than horses in terms of speed, but the ability to ignore obstacles meant they were 10 times faster overall.
The ability of the griffons had been nerfed, so it could only travel 4 hours a day. But they still managed to complete a 2 week journey by horse in 3 days.
But their speedy travel reached a bottleneck.
They already anticipated this, and they confirmed Tearstone Mountains was a nest for iron tail wyverns when they arrived. Wyverns were a type of demi-dragons, they were similar to dragons without forelegs and the ability to use magic. They were considered the scrub of dragons.
But they were still tough enemies.
Dragons had the highest stamina, defense, speed, and attack among monsters. Some possessed immense intellect and could cast spells. Just like in most fantasy stories, dragons were amongst the strongest enemies Adventurers could face.
Even a scrub like a wyvern was still a type of dragon.
They couldn't use magic, but their tails were as strong as steel, and their razor-like wings made them as fast as griffons.
Shiroe's party consisted of top class players and could take a single wyvern on the ground easily.
But they might get overwhelmed if a group of wyverns attacked them in the sky.
Tearstone Mountains had been the nest of wyverns since the early days of Elder Tales, so Shiroe was already mentally prepared for this and did not plan to fly recklessly here.
If they fought without a plan in the sky, they might be able to fend off a few wyverns, but would eventually fall from their waves of attacks.
There was no such thing as a graceful retreat from an aerial battle.
The losers were doomed to fall hundreds of meters to their deaths.
Shiroe's team that hid on the ground to avoid this trap had 4 options.
They could go the long way by the sea route or bash through the forest in the mountains. They could also advance through Palm's tunnels under Tearstone Mountains made from ancient sewage systems. The last option would be to climb the mountain directly.
Shiroe's group decided to challenge the tunnels after a discussion.
After considering many factors, this route offered the best combination of speed and safety.
After going through the forest and entering the tunnels through the ruins of a work site, they had traveled in Palm for 15 hours. The vast tunnels were built with grey concrete walls, stretching endlessly under the illumination of magic light.
Similar to large sewage systems in the real world, there were narrow pathways that connected 2 major sections. There would be dry and clean smelling square rooms popping up every now and then which seemed redundant.
The intent of the designer and any traces of the users had been lost under years of dust and debris. The deep cavern with slow flowing water was now ruled by the ratmen.
Ratmen.
They were low in class among the many demihumans in this world. Their appearance was a cross between rat-headed men and rats standing on their hind legs. They were about the height of middle-schoolers, but it was hard to tell their shape with all their fur. They were covered all over in wet-looking fur and could use simple tools.
Ratmen were no threat at all for high-level players like Shiroe. The ability of each unit varied, but most of them were weaker than goblins or beast men.
But the ratmen had 2 troubling weapons; their numbers and the plague.
Just like real world rats, ratmen had powerful reproductive abilities, living in small confined areas in large numbers.
Shiroe's group had already stumbled across rooms several square meters in size with 20 or so ratmen nesting inside.
Normal creatures would run away if they instinctively felt their enemies to be much stronger than them. It was the same with ratmen, who could sense that Shiroe's group was powerful.
Shiroe's group did not have any proper battles on their journey thus far, proving this point. The objective of this quest was to save the girl named Serara, so Shiroe had avoided any unnecessary battles and exploration as they rushed to her. The monsters avoiding them were a good thing for this mission.
But for the numerous ratmen trapped in a confined space with no escape route, things would be different.
The ratmen would attack in this situation, even if Shiroe's group wanted to give way to them. A cornered rat would fight desperately.
Shiroe's party knew they would win, but fighting a large group of ratmen wasted a lot of time and would increase their mental fatigue.
Another issue was the plague debuff.
Ratmen could spread diseases, just like in the Middle Ages. Elder Tales recreated this aspect by giving ratmen the ability to infect players with the plague debuff that dealt persistent damage over time.
The ratmen in the tunnel were about level 40.
The harm level of the plague was determined by the level of the ratmen, which was around 40 in this case. This could be easily handled by a mid-level healer, but Shiroe's party didn't have one right now.
They purchased 'Preventive Potions' at the market and already took them, but they could not be used to cure any plague statuses. Even with their large level difference and low chance of getting infected, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"This room looks safe... How about it Shiro?"
"Yeah... You are right, let's take a break. Please stay near the entrance Naotsugu. I will make a routine call to Mary-nee. As for Akatsuki..."
"I will scout ahead."
Akatsuki melted into the shadows without waiting for a reply.
Their roles within the team had been set. Shiroe and Naotsugu detested the idea of a petite girl like Akatsuki scouting alone in the beginning, but Akatsuki was proficient at this, and her pride pushed her to contribute to the team.
The two of them accepted this reluctantly after understanding Akatsuki's view.
Scouting was Akatsuki's strong point, so this division of work made sense. This serious girl played her part with utmost dedication.
Naotsugu dragged a steel box from a pile of junk and sat on it, hugging his sword while guarding the entrance. He would be ready if any enemy showed up.
After confirming this, Shiroe used the menu in his mind to call Maryele telepathically. Shiroe had been contacting Maryele around this time daily after starting the journey. Maryele understood this and picked up quickly.
"Thanks for the hard work Shiro-bou, how are things?"
"Everything is fine here, we made camp and rested shortly after contacting you yesterday. We entered Deep in Palm this morning."
"To say that, you are in the dungeon right now?"
"Yes."
"That is too fast, you are scaring your onee-san here!"
"Yes."
Maryele's kind greetings gave Shiroe a warm feeling.
He wanted to reply in a kinder way, but that was beyond him. Shiroe continued to answer politely as he thought about this.
Maryele didn't know Shiroe was traveling in a special way... by griffon. The usual means of travel in this world was by summoning horses.
Another way to traverse the land was by trained 'War Boars'. There was news of players in the Chinese server using Dire Wolves as their rides.
Summoners could conjure several mounts such as unicorns to ride, but only high-level summoners were able to summon flying mounts. Normal players would not be able to imagine Enchanters, warriors, and weapon-based classes owning flying mounts.
"To be frank, we would probably have only covered about a quarter of your journey if we had taken on this quest, I am grateful for your help."
"Uh, that aside... How are things on your side?"
"We are in touch with Serara via telepathy."
This was one reason for the periodic contact.
Shiroe was heading to Ezzo Empire to save Serara, but he couldn't contact her telepathically.
You could only contact players on your friend list by telepathy. And you could only add them to the list when they were right in front of you.
In other words, Shiroe's group had no means to contact Serara through telepathy.
"The situation remains unchanged?"
"Yeah, she says she is hiding with that nice guy I mentioned and that she is okay for now."
"I see, that's good to hear. There are still good players there, seems like Susukino is not beyond redemption."
"Yeah."
Serara was targeted by a group of nasty players, forcing her to join their guild through intimidation. She was even confined for a period of time and was almost assaulted sexually. But she managed to get away and was hiding somewhere in Susukino.
The size of Susukino was on par with Akiba, but there were only about 2000 players there, 1/8 that of Akiba. This made each player more prominent.
Take buying food for instance, you couldn't merge with the crowd and do that, so it would be several times harder to remain undetected. Shiroe was worried Serara couldn't cover her tracks with such a low urban population.
But Serara seemed to have found a player willing to aid her.
Shiroe didn't know the details, but Serara only managed to escape from the nasty guild Brigandia with the help of this kind player.
With a player the enemy knew nothing of, there would be no problems buying supplies. With this, the chance of Serara avoiding detection before help arrived was high. With the low population, there would be more ruins and abandoned buildings for her to hide in.
Shiroe breathed a sigh of relief when he thought of this.
"We can't confirm further plans before leaving the dungeon, so I will contact you again after passing through Palm. Tearstone Mountains is the biggest obstacle after all..."
"How do you plan to cross the straits?"
"I will figure it out once I get there."
Shiroe avoided the question even though he had already decided to fly over.
Owning a griffon meant conquering the 'Hades Breath' Full Raid. Raids were the pinnacle challenge in Elder Tales, only a few major guilds were able to complete them. They were then rewarded with the rare item Griffon Flute.
For some people, guildless people like Shiroe owning this rare item was unacceptable.
Maryele, the guild master of Crescent Moon Alliance, knew lots of people unlike Shiroe. At the very least, all her members knew about Shiroe's quest to rescue Serara.
Although Maryele accepted Shiroe's aid with her usual smile, it was hard to say this was the same for the other guild members. Shiroe was worried that the public's perception of him would change if this news spread.
"You will definitely make it, Shiro-bou."
Maryele's hesitant words made Shiroe smile.
(Mary-nee is definitely pushing herself. She is so tough.)
"We have had no serious problems, we have not even fought much at all."
"Roger!"
"Well then, I will contact you later."
"Great! I will pray to the goddess Yurala on your behalf, say hi to Naotsugu-yan and Akatsuki-chan for me, Henrietta misses her."
Maryele ended the call by mentioning the goddess Yurala which priests talked about in this alternate world.
(So far so good...)
"How is the situation, my lord?"
"...!"
He didn't notice Akatsuki was back when he was focusing on the telepathy call. Shiroe turned and saw Naotsugu taking big bites out of his meal.
"Akiba is the same, Serara is hiding in the urban part of Susukino. No issues so far, let's proceed as planned."
"Affirmative."
Akatsuki took out a large water canteen from her back after answering. The canteens were all the same size, but it looked bigger in Akatsuki's hands.
Shiroe opened his bag and offered some oranges to Akatsuki. In this world where food had no taste, unprocessed ingredients like fruits were precious delicacies that retained their flavor.
Shiroe and the others were using a Bag of Holding, an excellent item that could be loaded up to 200kg. Apart from the bag itself, it could negate the weight of all the items inside it.
This was a well-known item in Elder Tales, and its quality determined the weight and type of items it could carry. Almost all the players had one because of its convenience.
With this bag, you could carry on fighting in the dungeons, even if you were loaded with lots of treasures. You wouldn't be flustered by cumbersome camping equipment, a necessity in this world.
"Can you tell me what you saw? I want to cross reference it with my map."
"Understood."
Akatsuki peeled the orange expertly with a knife as she made her report. The main path was wide enough for two trucks to drive through side by side, so they wouldn't lose their way, but there were loads of side paths that branched out.
They could reach their goal by following the main route, but it was better to make a detour sometimes to avoid a nest of ratmen. Akatsuki's scouting reports were invaluable for this.
Shiroe drew new deviating paths on his map as he listened to Akatsuki.
"Does it look something like this?"
"Yeah, that should be fairly accurate... You really are good at cartography, my lord."
Akatsuki leaned over to inspect Shiroe's map and is impressed.
"This is just like CAD, and my subclass is also Scribe."
"What is CAD?"
"Designs you make on a computer. I do it at my university as an engineering student."
"So you are a college student, my lord?"
"But I am graduating soon." Shiroe nodded in reply. His memories of the real world seemed so distant and unreal now.
"I see, so you are about my age."
"Hmmm?" "No way!"
Shiroe and Naotsugu retorted at the same time.
"Is it that surprising?"
Shiroe felt bad for Akatsuki who was asking so calmly, but he was sure Akatsuki was 3-4 years younger than him.
"Are you kidding us, shrimp? Based on your height you- Puwahh!"
A knee landing on Naotsugu's face cut off his sentence.
"May I kick this stupid Naotsugu, my lord?"
"Didn't I tell you to ask before doing it?"
Ignoring the comedy duo, Shiroe was bleeding cold sweat in his heart. He didn't say it out loud, but Shiroe had been judging Akatsuki's age based on her height.
"Idiot Naotsugu is always nitpicking about height issues."
"It would be sadder talking about bre- Puwahh!"
She used her left knee this time. Akatsuki jumped almost 2 meters, flipped backwards, and landed gracefully like a cat.
"... Akatsuki? Please don't murder Naotsugu."
"Since it is my lord's request..."
Akatsuki left Naotsugu while sulking. Shiroe didn't say his thoughts about her age out loud, but he still helped Naotsugu.
"Did you also think I was a child, my lord?"
Shiroe endured the pressure of Akatsuki's glare and commented softly.
"I am not concerned about height... or age issues. This is troubling..."
Shiroe did think Akatsuki was younger, but he didn't treat her like a kid.
This was a world where survival skills were crucial.
A place where you needed to trade blows with ratmen in giant tunnels like this. You would die if you didn't meet the minimum requirement, even if you were a child.
It was the same even in this world without death.
Shiroe recalled the twins he knew recently.
On that day, Shiroe was still with the twins up to the moment the Apocalypse hit. They got separated when Shiroe rushed back to Akiba.
Shiroe saw the twins joining some guild from afar once, but he still worried about their current status.
Shiroe decided to meet them when he returned to Akiba.
"What are you thinking about, my lord?"
"Hmmm? Nothing, really."
"That isn't true. Whenever you are thinking, your brow furrows."
"Ah..."
Shiroe objected to Akatsuki on reflex, but she had totally seen through him. Being seen through was embarrassing enough, but Akatsuki continued 'Right here you know? Just like the wrinkles of an old man', which made Shiroe uneasy.
"Hey, what are you laughing at, Naotsugu?"
"Because... Wahahaha!"
Shiroe kicked Naotsugu in the shin.
But Naotsugu's legs were wrapped in armor, so Shiroe's toes hurt from the impact.
The 3 of them moved out after bickering for a while. It was always dark in the tunnels, threatening to crush the trio with its weight.
In the cold humid air unique to such underground dungeons, only the smiles of the three offered some warmth.
The first light of dawn bathed the ridge of the mountains in purple light as they came out of the tunnel.
Shiroe's group, which had been spending long hours underground, stretched their backs in the cool and fragrant breeze.
They did not need to bend their backs to traverse the caverns, but the billion tons of rocks over their heads gave them overwhelming pressure.
The sky right now was still dark as the summer sun slowly rose.
"The wind is cold."
Akatsuki jumped onto a boulder which gave her a view of the forest and the ocean as she spoke.
"But it feels great. We are finally through the tough part."
Shiroe followed them up the boulder.
The wind was indeed icy, but the scenery was grandiose. The dark green forest was glowing beautifully from the rose colored light.
As the clouds moved off with the wind, this rose-colored light made the ocean shimmer like a sea of gold.
"Beautiful."
"Amazing."
Shiroe's companions explained everything with these simple words.
Speaking of which, this was the first time.
(We are the first to see this scene. In this alternate world, no other players have traveled to Susukino from Akiba yet. We are the pioneers. When Elder Tales was a game, lots of players passed by here at dawn. But, we are the first ones here. Being the first means...)
... The best part of adventuring was experiencing new things. It made you so tense with anticipation you couldn't stand still.
'Hmmm? What? Don't lose control of your bladder? What's the big deal, this is a happy moment. Are you unhappy? You are happy right? Just look at this gorgeous view, totally worth the effort! Hahahaha!'
Shiroe remembered 'her' words.
'She' had no basis for her overflowing confidence. 'Her' character was built on willfulness, bluffs, and bold words.
But 'she' always knew the correct answer.
If it were 'her', she would treat this scenery as a medal and wear it proudly.
"We're the first ones here."
Shiroe said to his friends with this emotion in his heart.
"We're the first Adventurers in this world to see this."
For the first time, Shiroe accepted this to be an alternate world with his words.
The gorgeous view in front of them confirmed this fact stronger than anything else. Something that was impossible to see in a game. Technology that recreated real life in the virtual world could not display this flowing wind, chilly air, the sound of the trees, and the dawn that was changing every microsecond.
After coming to this world, even as everyone around them fell into a panic, or players disrupted the security due to lack of goals, Shiroe still maintained a certain degree of calm.
He would go to the suburbs, investigate the zones, experiment with spells while battling, and find out what he could or could not do in this world even if it was tedious.
(... I didn't know I was so adaptable. Naotsugu's humor helps me forget my hardships. Akatsuki makes every day livelier, saving the sanity in my heart...)
But that was not all. Shiroe finally understood this now.
The ruins under the ancient trees looked so beautiful after coming to this world, telling him this was indeed an alternate world.
(This is an alternate world, we are Adventurers.)
Akatsuki looked at Shiroe with surprise for an instant, yet in the next moment she nodded with understanding. Naotsugu gave a manly grin and took a deep breath.
"That's right, I've never seen anything so amazing, even in Elder Tales."
"It's our first prize for victory."
The 2 of them cherished the scene in front of them with longing eyes before acknowledging Shiroe.
And in reply, Shiroe faced the sky to the east and blew his griffon summon flute.
