Translation: Yamaking
The next day at the Modern Electronic Communications Game Club’s club room, a heavy mood filled the air.
“This was beyond my expectations.”
Master folded her arms as she said that.
“I’ve researched quite a bit after that, and it seems that in order to make my Apricot into a character usable in PVP, I might be better off just making a new one from scratch.”
“I also played with some friends who did a bit of PVP but they just wiped the floor with me.”
“I’d say I’m pretty specced into things like this but… I just have no gear for it.”
Stuff like Stun Resist, Bind Resist, and MDEF UP gears that are must-haves for any front-liner in PVP were pretty much the things that got stolen from me.
Even though I didn’t have much interest in PVP, I still used to have those items. This is frustrating.
“How many more Cassel Seeges are left until the festival?”
“It happens on Sunday every week. There are still three instances of it left until the cultural festival.”
The fact that there’s only three tries left makes this even harder.
At this rate, we’ll end up doing the real siege before we can even get used to actual combat.
“…Actually, are we supposed to prepare all this for the cultural festival in just three weeks?”
‘Isn’t that difficult?’, is what Ako asked as she tilted her head.
“For normal cultural clubs, they would begin preparations before the start of summer vacation, and they finish it all up in the middle of it.”
“…The reason we didn’t do anything during vacation was…”
“Mainly the fault of our adviser.”
‘Haa…’, sighed everyone in sync.
“…Should we just make a panel on the history of net games?”
That would cause conflict to erupt, even just with these members, so stop it with that.
“Hmm, how about we just set up a net game demo booth and have someone permanently stationed here?”
“I definitely won’t be the one doing that!”
“I am the president after all so I have a lot of work to do.”
Since those two won’t work out, then I guess we’re the only ones left.
“Though having either me or Ako stay here the whole time to look over it is pretty impossible…”
“I’m fine with us just playing net games here the whole time though.”
“No, no, don’t you want to walk around with me during the festival?”
We’d go around the stands and be made to buy stuff recommended to us by our seniors. Let’s even go watch the stage plays that may not even be that good.
“That’s sounds fun but, just so you know, I definitely won’t go to the closing event!”
“Ako, do you also have bad memories related to campfires? …Ah no, sorry. Of course you do right. It’s my fault for even asking.”
Come on, stop making that sad face.
“Then it seems that in order for everyone to have a fun and fulfilling cultural festival, our only choice is to wrest victory from the hands of our opponents.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“I have a few in mind however… First, it’s time for live combat.”
Master firmly clenched her fist.
“Due to what I’ve experienced yesterday, I now know the hazards of approaching things with knowledge only from watching videos and reading the Wiki. We will be fully participating in this weekend’s Castle Siege. If we start there we’ll surely be able to get a hold of something.”
For now, being able to grow out of that kind of mentality is good, but what exactly is she planning for us to do?
“Then everyone, try to gear up as best as you can up until the weekend.”
“I think we should at least also practice…”
As I turned to face my PC, I felt that this was only the start of our grueling battle.
I got together my pitiful excuse for gear to get a bit of practice in our first Castle Siege.
We were at the capital aimed for medium scale groups, Ray Sword. We assembled in the field in front of the templar fortress built in that town.
Apricot: This would be our guild’s, Alley Cat’s, first campaign.
Master looked over all of us as she said that.
Apricot: First off, in order to get a hold of the feel in these battles, I chose a fort that is neither too large or too small for the siege we are about to participate in. The current owner of the castle is a guild called the ‘Cleaning Crew’. And it seems that their current occupation is cleaning up trash inside the fort’s premises.
Schwein: They messing with me?
There’s no point in complaining about the name of another guild now.
Ako: It sounds cute, like a group of maids.
Apricot: What they mean is, they’re out to mop us, the trash trying to enter their fort, up and throw us back outside. If you take them lightly then you’ll be sure to lose.
Schwein: Then it’s fine if I just slaughter all those castle holders right? Just leave this to my bad self.
Ako: I’ll just watch from behind okay?
You’re going to at least buff and heal us right?
It’s fine for a healer to focus on their own survivability but Ako seems to be more unenthusiastic than usual.
Since she considers ‘Ako’ to be pretty much her own self, she’s deathly afraid of fighting with other people.
Apricot: Our final objective is to get into the innermost chamber, the lord’s room, and to destroy the crystal that is sitting there. We then change that up with our own crystal. If the Castle Siege ends with our crystal remaining there, then this fort would be ours!
On the other hand, the owners of this castle would be defending the fort with everything they’ve got.
Since they already have their defenses set up, I’m sure they’re eagerly waiting for us to come rush them.
[The Castle Siege will now commence]
The announcement came out.
After this announcement, everybody in the area surrounding the fort besides your own guild or members of your alliance will appear as an enemy.
Apricot: Everyone ready? Be not too eager, nor too timid. Just make sure to let them know what we’re capable of!
After an instant, Master threw out her first command.
Apricot: Charge!
Rusian: Let’s go!
Schwein: Awriiiiiight!
Ako: Uuu…
We charge towards the Templar Fortress of Ray Sword which could be seen in the distance.
After running for a while, we saw a group from another guild in front of us.
I estimate their number to be at least a several dozen people. It was a guild much larger in scale compared to ours.
Apricot: Alright. Let’s watch how they will fight and use that as a reference.
Master said that.
Well, I guess she’s right. We should just watch how other guilds attack and wait for our chance to break through.
As we approached closer, we could now clearly see the fort.
Atop the outer walls, their defense corps lined up as they prepared their weapons.
And then, the group that we were watching finally got into the defense corps firing range.
Apricot: Now how will you attack?
Right after that, the sky began to shine.
And from atop the outer walls, arrows, bullets, spears, lightning, and meteorites came crashing down. A blizzard that blew gusts and a vermilion fire storm covered the entire area. And finally, a large explosion enough to dazzle the eyes happened.
TL note: Reference to RO sieges where Storm Gust, Lord of Vermilion, and Meteor Storm are precasted at the entrance for the duration of the siege.
Once the fog cleared— no traces of anything remained.
Schwein: Hey, their corpses aren’t even there!
Apricot: In only took ten seconds for a group that large to be completely wiped out…
What is this massacre?
Is the Castle Siege really something like this?
Ako: What are we going to do? Go back?
Apricot: No.
Even though Ako clearly wanted to go back as she shook her head, Master took the lead and rushed forward.
Apricot: We won’t get it until we get a taste of what it’s like for ourselves! Charge!
Ako: I— don’t— wanna—!
Even if you scream and cry, the boss’ orders are absolute.
We went charging towards the fort with no plan.
For now, my Rusian was able to make it up until the gusts of blizzard. He did pretty well.
Ako: I don’t want to go there anymore…
Rusian: Don’t cry. Just give up and let’s go.
Schwein: Your mistake was joining a guild with such a tyrannical guild master.
Apricot: I apologize for making you do such a reckless charge. Since there’s no death penalty here, let’s challenge this for a while longer.
Without much of a choice, we headed towards the fortress yet again.
It looks like another guild has come to attack. They’ve all assembled their front-liners equally around the fort.
The entrance to the fort was covered with so much explosions, blizzards, meteorites and rains of arrows that you can hardly see what’s happening there. It doesn’t really feel like you’d be able to enter it at this rate.
Rusian: If you try to approach then they’ll bombard you with AoEs again huh.
Schwein: I’m pissed that my bad self can’t help but do nothing at a time like this.
Apricot: I would like to fire off one of my long ranged spells as well but… I doubt it will change anything about the current situation.
We pondered on what we could do as the the frontlines reached a stalemate.
I guess the most favorable thing to do for a small scale group like ours is to charge in from the sides.
Ako: Ah.
Just then, Ako misclicked on one of the players of that guild that was near us and hit him.
With a ‘Twinkle ☆’, a star came flying out along with the little damage she dealt.
The player who got hit then turned around to face us.
Ako: Sorry I misclicked.
In place of a reply, that person took his sword over his head and swung it down on Ako pulverizing her in one hit!
Uwah, that’s amazing. He 1HKO-ed her.
No matter how weak Ako might be, this guy’s damage is just ridiculous.
Rusian: —Wait actually, what do you think you’re doing to another person’s wife huuuuuuuuh?!
Schwein: You picking a fight with me you bastard?!
Apricot: E, everyone wait! This is a large scale guild! We’re outnumbered!
As a result of the long ranged fight that was dragging on, it seems that the melee jobs were losing patience.
After we got completely wrecked that I feel like I could almost cry, we collapsed yet again on the ground.
Apricot: I see. We have one common enemy but it’s not as if we’re all allies.
Rusian: The attacking guilds are still rivals with each other after all so you never know when they’ll turn to attack you.
This really reeks of the makings of a shitty game, but I wonder if that’s only my opinion?
Apricot: I’ve looked it up on the Wiki and it seems that you have to create something called Siege Weapons in order to break this kind of stalemate at the frontlines.
Schwein: Ho? So that thing can smash the fortress walls and we can infiltrate from there?
Apricot: Indeed. Take for example the Giant Catapult— more commonly known as Gi. It seems that if you gather enough materials and construct it, you will be able to control it with five players.
TL note: This is a reference to Giants in Fantasy Earth Zero which is a giant biped carrying two cannons. The online community also refers to them that way (Gi, pronounced Jai) in Fantasy Earth Zero (FEZ) JP. They’re also used for sieges in that game as seen in Steparu’s video here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qbj_XKP6aU)
Five players… Five players huh?
Me, Ako, Schwein, Master…
Rusian: This is a no go.
Ako: I guess it’s impossible after all. Let’s just go back and play like we always do.
Apricot: Wait, just a moment. It’s still too early to give up. I still haven’t used that.
What’s with that statement that sounds like a victory flag?
If you lose even after saying that, it would be very humiliating for you, won’t it Master?
Apricot: You’ve banned me from using it up until now… saying things such as living off of someone else’s money or raising your efficiency with that kind of money is not a pleasant idea. However! Under these circumstances, I’ve decided that those kinds of restraints are not needed! I’ll use up all the premium items that I have on me and mow them all down!
Rusian: Wha, Master?!
Schwein: Y, you don’t mean that you’ll be using those full recovery potions or instant revival talismans are you?! Didn’t you say you that it got too boring when you used them too much that you stopped yourself from using them?! And now you’re planning on going full out with them huh you bastard?!
As we looked at Master, who suddenly went off into the distance, we could see her nod.
This girl is just raring to go!
Rusian: Stop it Master! It won’t work!
Apricot: There’s no problem at all. I’m sure these items would be satisfied knowing that they’ll be used for the sake of my friends. I’ll be going now so watch over me!
Rusian: That’s not what I’m trying to say! Master—!
Master made a dash for the frontlines. I shouted at her from behind.
Rusian: Premium items are banned in Castle Siege!
Apricot: No waaaaay!
Master’s figure vanished in a sea of magic spells.
Apricot: Who would have thought they would ban premium items… If I can’t use any of my premiums, then the only way to get a full heal would be through the Drop of Yggdrasil…
Ako: I haven’t even used something like that before.
Schwein: It’s worth over 10M a pop after all. If you can afford to use something like that then you would be better off fixing your gear.
I completely agree.
Even I haven’t even seen an instance of someone using something like a Ygg Drop.
Rusian: Using Ygg Drops is sure to put you in the red after all. So in order to avoid that, every guild tries to avoid using expensive pots like that.
However, cheap potions usually have a pretty lengthy cooldown attached to them.
Getting past that hellish barrage of AOEs with just those is going to be tough.
Apricot: Kuh… Can’t we do anything about this? In order to meet our objective, we simply cannot back down now.
Rusian: There’s nothing we can really do even if you say that. That fort doesn’t seem like it’s going down anyway… Oh?
Just then, another group came up from behind.
It was an army of twenty… No, thirty people.
But it’s not just their numbers. They were all marching at the same pace which shows a clear chain of command. It really makes you feel that they’re quite experienced about this.
The person at the forefront then turned around to face his comrades and said this,
†Cloud†: Hear me out, proud soldiers of the Nekohime Elite Guard!
—O, oh.
Ako: Uhm, I feel like I just saw a familiar name pop out.
Rusian: Ignore it, it’s just your imagination.
†Cloud†: We have only one objective— And that is for us to offer this fort up to our goddess, Nekohime-sama!
……
Rusian: I told you it was just your imagination.
Schwein: I didn’t say anything.
†Cloud†: The only thing we seek is victory! We must achieve our goal at all costs, even if it means treading through the corpses of our comrades! Everything is for the sake of our Holy Angel, Nekohime-sama!
‘Uooooooooooooo!’, shouts like that piled up on top of one another.
Is she a holy angel or a goddess? Make up your mind damn it.
Nekohime: I didn’t ask meow all for thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!
Ah, the actual person herself is here.
Schwein: Just what is that person doing?
Rusian: I just really can’t understand that person.
I seriously can’t.
And then, the Nekohime Elite Guard recklessly rushed into the fort…
Schwein: Hey, aren’t they actually doing pretty good?
They all pushed up to the frontlines— and actually, a portion of them tore a hole in the defense and their melee DPS outflanked them from that opening.
Because of that, the backline DPS of the other side got involved in the melee and their barrage of attacks eased up.
Apricot: The enemy formation is falling apart…
Nekohime’s Elite Guard’s Armor Knight tore a hole through their defense and paved a path for the melee DPS to get through.
At the same time, Assassins who were in stealth flanked them from the sides and caused a lot more chaos. The Cleaning Crew’s defensive formation was falling apart.
Ako: Isn’t Sensei’s guild way too strong?! What the heck is that?!
Rusian: Ah… Yeah… Strong, huh…
They steadily continued on with their advance and finally, Nekohime’s Elite Guard has managed to push inside of the fortress.
We thought about going in after them as well, but when we looked at the back end of their formation and saw Nekohime-san trudging along, we lost the will to do so. We just watched over them as they left.
A few minutes later, a system announcement was displayed in our chat window.
[‘Nekohime’s Elite Guard’ has occupied the ‘Templar Fortress of Ray Sword’]
Schwein: They captured the fort…
Rusian: That they did…
Ako: Should we go back?
Apricot: Indeed.
We quietly returned to the tavern that we always frequent.
Nekohime’s Elite Guard ultimately lost to a raid by a large scale guild. As regrettable as it is, they let the seat of the lord slip past them.
In the club room come Monday, a heavy mood hung around in the air.
However, the reason for it this time is a bit different.
We were staring at Saitou-sensei with dead eyes as she painfully tried to force out a smile.
“U, uhm, you see? It’s not what you think alright?”
Segawa then coldly said something to Nekohime-sensei, who was rambling on for some reason.
“Nekohime-senseeei, what did you do yesterday?”
“No, that’s uhm, don’t get me wrong okay? That’s not it at all you know?”
“Everything is for the sake of Nekohime-sama!”
“Our goddess!”
“The Holy Angel Nekohime-sama!”
“We offer them up to you, Nekohime-sama!”
“Meow got it wrooooooooooong! I didn’t me-owsk them for that kind of thiiiiiing!”
Nekohime-san cried as she crouched down.
“I just asked everyone for advice saying ‘I wonder what meow could do to capture a fort?’. And then one thing led to meownother and…”
All because you thought to put in a little effort to it, all that happened.
I feel just a little bit sorry for her.
“Actually, why is Sensei’s guild that strong? Isn’t that strange? Don’t tell me that’s actually a hardcore guild?”
“No way. It’s supposed to be just a guild for idle chat you know?”
“This smells fishy…”
Eh, is that what you think?
Is it really strange for Nekohime’s Elite Guard to be strong?
“There’s no way that’s true. It’s probably really strong. It’s Nekohime’s Elite Guard after all.”
“What? Are you planning on joining them too?”
“That’s not it! —Wait Ako, don’t make that kind of face!”
Don’t stare at me with those eyes that look like those of a dead fish!
“I knew it… You just couldn’t forget about you first love after all can you…”
I told you that’s not it!
“Listen here. Nekohime-san said this before, but that guild is made up of old friends that she used to play with back when she was active you know? There’s quite a lot of familiar faces there to me.”
“You mean to say you were part of Sensei’s Elite Guard right?”
“Well, you’re not mistaken there.”
“Uuuuuuu!”
Well, at the time she was quite the celebrity.
“Well let’s put aside how that happened for now. Those people gathered there are from back when me and Nekohime-san were in the same guild, that is, a little over two years ago.”
But of course unlike me, who experienced quite the shock, went on to play other games and then ultimately ended up playing solo, they were pretty serious about the game.
“So even if they’re not really hardcore players, they would’ve leveled up quite a bit and gotten appropriate gear. And of course they’d end up getting good at the game too. Not to mention their coordination is top notch, which is much better than most guilds.”
That ‘Reunion of Old Guild Members’ is strong. Numbers aside, they’re still pretty strong.
There have been a lot of instances of players returning and then assembling their old guild members to revive their previous guild in such a way that it destroys the power balance in the server.
“And thus, a new middle scale guild was born.”
“The status of being a long time player is not just for show huh?”
“Sensei is amazing isn’t she?”
“As expected of the adviser of my club!”
“I’m not the least happy about it even if you praise me like that!”
Sensei looked really depressed as she hung her head.
“In any case, I now know the essential fighting force we need for this feat, as well as fighting tactics. What we have witnessed this time may have been for the middle scale sieges, but if we pick out the smallest fort then, although we may be considerably smaller than Nekohime’s Elite Guard’s fighting force, we could obtain victory. Let’s go and win the one next week!”
“Guess it can’t be helped.”
“You’re doing it…?”
“I just can’t accept any of this…”
“I didn’t ask them for anything you know?”
Master, who was raring to go,
Segawa, who still hasn’t thrown away her hope,
Ako, who seemed fed up with all this as she cried on me,
And Sensei, who has been crying this whole time…
This has turned into quite the chaotic situation.
“Still, not allowing me to use premium items… is quite the handicap. I just can’t accept this.”
“It can’t be helped after all. Letting those damage multiplier buffs, instant revives, and full recovery potions work here would completely ruin the balance of the game.”
“There’s nothing strange about paying players gaining an advantage is there?”
“There are limits to that.”
If you could get a fort by just paying up money then I’m sure those who fight for it would be pissed.
“Well, you can count on our strength and our bonds wherever you may fall short.”
“I suppose so. I suppose that’s the only way…”
Master still doesn’t seem convinced, but she doesn’t seem to hate the idea of her allies doing their best. She kept nodding to herself as she faced the screen.
“Hey, hey.”
Segawa suddenly pulled me and Ako away, and drew our heads close to hers as she whispered something.
“Isn’t this pretty good?”
“By pretty good you mean?”
“What about it?”
“Having that premium junkie fight without her premium items I mean. Isn’t this a good opportunity to wean her away from swiping?”
Wean her away from swiping you say?
True, she completely can’t use any premium items in this situation.
“You’re saying we can cure Master of her whaling tendencies?”
“I think it’s okay to just let Master use it when she wants to though.”
In response to what Ako said, Segawa lowered her voice further so as to not get heard.
“Even so, there are limits to that. Doing a 100 roll on a new gacha update for no reason at all is just not normal!”
“Well I think so too…”
“I don’t even want to imagine how much she has spent on it you know.”
And also, just between us— Ako excluded— we’re not really too used to just accepting free stuff like that, so her list of excess items just keeps getting longer and longer.
Even so, she will still roll in the next gacha. ‘Since they went to the trouble of doing the update, then I’ll roll’.
If you ask me, this is truly terrifying.
“If we can get through this without her using any premium items then maybe her dependency on them would subside. Since we’re here anyway we might as well put it on our hidden agenda. Let’s make her understand that swiping is just a huge waste of money. Doesn’t that sound interesting?”
“True. I was getting kind of worried about her…”
“If we can let her experience the viewpoint of us F2P players, then I’m sure she would become one of us!”
“Okay. That’s decided then.”
‘Fufufu’. A smile came up on Segawa’s face.
She went back to her chair, lively as she was. If she’s that happy about it then that’s all that matters.
“So then? Do you have a plan for that?”
“Eh?”
Segawa tilted her head at me as if she sincerely had no idea.
“You’re the one who’s going to think of that aren’t you?”
“Good luck, Rusian!”
She passed the ball to me just like that.
I, I see. So that’s my role huh.
“……O, ok.”
I’m sure Segawa and I both have a lot of excuses we can come up with, but I’m sure that no matter what unreasonable plan I might concoct, she would obediently follow through it without a doubt. I trust her at least that much.
With that in mind, I just obediently took that up with no rebuttals.
But even though I said that… What am I going to do?
There are only two weeks remaining until the Saki Fest.
And for the Modern Electronic Communications Game Club, many difficulties still lie ahead for their first cultural festival.
Translation: Yamaking
The next day at the Modern Electronic Communications Game Club’s club room, a heavy mood filled the air.
“This was beyond my expectations.”
Master folded her arms as she said that.
“I’ve researched quite a bit after that, and it seems that in order to make my Apricot into a character usable in PVP, I might be better off just making a new one from scratch.”
“I also played with some friends who did a bit of PVP but they just wiped the floor with me.”
“I’d say I’m pretty specced into things like this but… I just have no gear for it.”
Stuff like Stun Resist, Bind Resist, and MDEF UP gears that are must-haves for any front-liner in PVP were pretty much the things that got stolen from me.
Even though I didn’t have much interest in PVP, I still used to have those items. This is frustrating.
“How many more Cassel Seeges are left until the festival?”
“It happens on Sunday every week. There are still three instances of it left until the cultural festival.”
The fact that there’s only three tries left makes this even harder.
At this rate, we’ll end up doing the real siege before we can even get used to actual combat.
“…Actually, are we supposed to prepare all this for the cultural festival in just three weeks?”
‘Isn’t that difficult?’, is what Ako asked as she tilted her head.
“For normal cultural clubs, they would begin preparations before the start of summer vacation, and they finish it all up in the middle of it.”
“…The reason we didn’t do anything during vacation was…”
“Mainly the fault of our adviser.”
‘Haa…’, sighed everyone in sync.
“…Should we just make a panel on the history of net games?”
That would cause conflict to erupt, even just with these members, so stop it with that.
“Hmm, how about we just set up a net game demo booth and have someone permanently stationed here?”
“I definitely won’t be the one doing that!”
“I am the president after all so I have a lot of work to do.”
Since those two won’t work out, then I guess we’re the only ones left.
“Though having either me or Ako stay here the whole time to look over it is pretty impossible…”
“I’m fine with us just playing net games here the whole time though.”
“No, no, don’t you want to walk around with me during the festival?”
We’d go around the stands and be made to buy stuff recommended to us by our seniors. Let’s even go watch the stage plays that may not even be that good.
“That’s sounds fun but, just so you know, I definitely won’t go to the closing event!”
“Ako, do you also have bad memories related to campfires? …Ah no, sorry. Of course you do right. It’s my fault for even asking.”
Come on, stop making that sad face.
“Then it seems that in order for everyone to have a fun and fulfilling cultural festival, our only choice is to wrest victory from the hands of our opponents.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“I have a few in mind however… First, it’s time for live combat.”
Master firmly clenched her fist.
“Due to what I’ve experienced yesterday, I now know the hazards of approaching things with knowledge only from watching videos and reading the Wiki. We will be fully participating in this weekend’s Castle Siege. If we start there we’ll surely be able to get a hold of something.”
For now, being able to grow out of that kind of mentality is good, but what exactly is she planning for us to do?
“Then everyone, try to gear up as best as you can up until the weekend.”
“I think we should at least also practice…”
As I turned to face my PC, I felt that this was only the start of our grueling battle.
I got together my pitiful excuse for gear to get a bit of practice in our first Castle Siege.
We were at the capital aimed for medium scale groups, Ray Sword. We assembled in the field in front of the templar fortress built in that town.
Apricot: This would be our guild’s, Alley Cat’s, first campaign.
Master looked over all of us as she said that.
Apricot: First off, in order to get a hold of the feel in these battles, I chose a fort that is neither too large or too small for the siege we are about to participate in. The current owner of the castle is a guild called the ‘Cleaning Crew’. And it seems that their current occupation is cleaning up trash inside the fort’s premises.
Schwein: They messing with me?
There’s no point in complaining about the name of another guild now.
Ako: It sounds cute, like a group of maids.
Apricot: What they mean is, they’re out to mop us, the trash trying to enter their fort, up and throw us back outside. If you take them lightly then you’ll be sure to lose.
Schwein: Then it’s fine if I just slaughter all those castle holders right? Just leave this to my bad self.
Ako: I’ll just watch from behind okay?
You’re going to at least buff and heal us right?
It’s fine for a healer to focus on their own survivability but Ako seems to be more unenthusiastic than usual.
Since she considers ‘Ako’ to be pretty much her own self, she’s deathly afraid of fighting with other people.
Apricot: Our final objective is to get into the innermost chamber, the lord’s room, and to destroy the crystal that is sitting there. We then change that up with our own crystal. If the Castle Siege ends with our crystal remaining there, then this fort would be ours!
On the other hand, the owners of this castle would be defending the fort with everything they’ve got.
Since they already have their defenses set up, I’m sure they’re eagerly waiting for us to come rush them.
[The Castle Siege will now commence]
The announcement came out.
After this announcement, everybody in the area surrounding the fort besides your own guild or members of your alliance will appear as an enemy.
Apricot: Everyone ready? Be not too eager, nor too timid. Just make sure to let them know what we’re capable of!
After an instant, Master threw out her first command.
Apricot: Charge!
Rusian: Let’s go!
Schwein: Awriiiiiight!
Ako: Uuu…
We charge towards the Templar Fortress of Ray Sword which could be seen in the distance.
After running for a while, we saw a group from another guild in front of us.
I estimate their number to be at least a several dozen people. It was a guild much larger in scale compared to ours.
Apricot: Alright. Let’s watch how they will fight and use that as a reference.
Master said that.
Well, I guess she’s right. We should just watch how other guilds attack and wait for our chance to break through.
As we approached closer, we could now clearly see the fort.
Atop the outer walls, their defense corps lined up as they prepared their weapons.
And then, the group that we were watching finally got into the defense corps firing range.
Apricot: Now how will you attack?
Right after that, the sky began to shine.
And from atop the outer walls, arrows, bullets, spears, lightning, and meteorites came crashing down. A blizzard that blew gusts and a vermilion fire storm covered the entire area. And finally, a large explosion enough to dazzle the eyes happened.
TL note: Reference to RO sieges where Storm Gust, Lord of Vermilion, and Meteor Storm are precasted at the entrance for the duration of the siege.
Once the fog cleared— no traces of anything remained.
Schwein: Hey, their corpses aren’t even there!
Apricot: In only took ten seconds for a group that large to be completely wiped out…
What is this massacre?
Is the Castle Siege really something like this?
Ako: What are we going to do? Go back?
Apricot: No.
Even though Ako clearly wanted to go back as she shook her head, Master took the lead and rushed forward.
Apricot: We won’t get it until we get a taste of what it’s like for ourselves! Charge!
Ako: I— don’t— wanna—!
Even if you scream and cry, the boss’ orders are absolute.
We went charging towards the fort with no plan.
For now, my Rusian was able to make it up until the gusts of blizzard. He did pretty well.
Ako: I don’t want to go there anymore…
Rusian: Don’t cry. Just give up and let’s go.
Schwein: Your mistake was joining a guild with such a tyrannical guild master.
Apricot: I apologize for making you do such a reckless charge. Since there’s no death penalty here, let’s challenge this for a while longer.
Without much of a choice, we headed towards the fortress yet again.
It looks like another guild has come to attack. They’ve all assembled their front-liners equally around the fort.
The entrance to the fort was covered with so much explosions, blizzards, meteorites and rains of arrows that you can hardly see what’s happening there. It doesn’t really feel like you’d be able to enter it at this rate.
Rusian: If you try to approach then they’ll bombard you with AoEs again huh.
Schwein: I’m pissed that my bad self can’t help but do nothing at a time like this.
Apricot: I would like to fire off one of my long ranged spells as well but… I doubt it will change anything about the current situation.
We pondered on what we could do as the the frontlines reached a stalemate.
I guess the most favorable thing to do for a small scale group like ours is to charge in from the sides.
Ako: Ah.
Just then, Ako misclicked on one of the players of that guild that was near us and hit him.
With a ‘Twinkle ☆’, a star came flying out along with the little damage she dealt.
The player who got hit then turned around to face us.
Ako: Sorry I misclicked.
In place of a reply, that person took his sword over his head and swung it down on Ako pulverizing her in one hit!
Uwah, that’s amazing. He 1HKO-ed her.
No matter how weak Ako might be, this guy’s damage is just ridiculous.
Rusian: —Wait actually, what do you think you’re doing to another person’s wife huuuuuuuuh?!
Schwein: You picking a fight with me you bastard?!
Apricot: E, everyone wait! This is a large scale guild! We’re outnumbered!
As a result of the long ranged fight that was dragging on, it seems that the melee jobs were losing patience.
After we got completely wrecked that I feel like I could almost cry, we collapsed yet again on the ground.
Apricot: I see. We have one common enemy but it’s not as if we’re all allies.
Rusian: The attacking guilds are still rivals with each other after all so you never know when they’ll turn to attack you.
This really reeks of the makings of a shitty game, but I wonder if that’s only my opinion?
Apricot: I’ve looked it up on the Wiki and it seems that you have to create something called Siege Weapons in order to break this kind of stalemate at the frontlines.
Schwein: Ho? So that thing can smash the fortress walls and we can infiltrate from there?
Apricot: Indeed. Take for example the Giant Catapult— more commonly known as Gi. It seems that if you gather enough materials and construct it, you will be able to control it with five players.
TL note: This is a reference to Giants in Fantasy Earth Zero which is a giant biped carrying two cannons. The online community also refers to them that way (Gi, pronounced Jai) in Fantasy Earth Zero (FEZ) JP. They’re also used for sieges in that game as seen in Steparu’s video here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qbj_XKP6aU)
Five players… Five players huh?
Me, Ako, Schwein, Master…
Rusian: This is a no go.
Ako: I guess it’s impossible after all. Let’s just go back and play like we always do.
Apricot: Wait, just a moment. It’s still too early to give up. I still haven’t used that.
What’s with that statement that sounds like a victory flag?
If you lose even after saying that, it would be very humiliating for you, won’t it Master?
Apricot: You’ve banned me from using it up until now… saying things such as living off of someone else’s money or raising your efficiency with that kind of money is not a pleasant idea. However! Under these circumstances, I’ve decided that those kinds of restraints are not needed! I’ll use up all the premium items that I have on me and mow them all down!
Rusian: Wha, Master?!
Schwein: Y, you don’t mean that you’ll be using those full recovery potions or instant revival talismans are you?! Didn’t you say you that it got too boring when you used them too much that you stopped yourself from using them?! And now you’re planning on going full out with them huh you bastard?!
As we looked at Master, who suddenly went off into the distance, we could see her nod.
This girl is just raring to go!
Rusian: Stop it Master! It won’t work!
Apricot: There’s no problem at all. I’m sure these items would be satisfied knowing that they’ll be used for the sake of my friends. I’ll be going now so watch over me!
Rusian: That’s not what I’m trying to say! Master—!
Master made a dash for the frontlines. I shouted at her from behind.
Rusian: Premium items are banned in Castle Siege!
Apricot: No waaaaay!
Master’s figure vanished in a sea of magic spells.
Apricot: Who would have thought they would ban premium items… If I can’t use any of my premiums, then the only way to get a full heal would be through the Drop of Yggdrasil…
Ako: I haven’t even used something like that before.
Schwein: It’s worth over 10M a pop after all. If you can afford to use something like that then you would be better off fixing your gear.
I completely agree.
Even I haven’t even seen an instance of someone using something like a Ygg Drop.
Rusian: Using Ygg Drops is sure to put you in the red after all. So in order to avoid that, every guild tries to avoid using expensive pots like that.
However, cheap potions usually have a pretty lengthy cooldown attached to them.
Getting past that hellish barrage of AOEs with just those is going to be tough.
Apricot: Kuh… Can’t we do anything about this? In order to meet our objective, we simply cannot back down now.
Rusian: There’s nothing we can really do even if you say that. That fort doesn’t seem like it’s going down anyway… Oh?
Just then, another group came up from behind.
It was an army of twenty… No, thirty people.
But it’s not just their numbers. They were all marching at the same pace which shows a clear chain of command. It really makes you feel that they’re quite experienced about this.
The person at the forefront then turned around to face his comrades and said this,
†Cloud†: Hear me out, proud soldiers of the Nekohime Elite Guard!
—O, oh.
Ako: Uhm, I feel like I just saw a familiar name pop out.
Rusian: Ignore it, it’s just your imagination.
†Cloud†: We have only one objective— And that is for us to offer this fort up to our goddess, Nekohime-sama!
……
Rusian: I told you it was just your imagination.
Schwein: I didn’t say anything.
†Cloud†: The only thing we seek is victory! We must achieve our goal at all costs, even if it means treading through the corpses of our comrades! Everything is for the sake of our Holy Angel, Nekohime-sama!
‘Uooooooooooooo!’, shouts like that piled up on top of one another.
Is she a holy angel or a goddess? Make up your mind damn it.
Nekohime: I didn’t ask meow all for thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!
Ah, the actual person herself is here.
Schwein: Just what is that person doing?
Rusian: I just really can’t understand that person.
I seriously can’t.
And then, the Nekohime Elite Guard recklessly rushed into the fort…
Schwein: Hey, aren’t they actually doing pretty good?
They all pushed up to the frontlines— and actually, a portion of them tore a hole in the defense and their melee DPS outflanked them from that opening.
Because of that, the backline DPS of the other side got involved in the melee and their barrage of attacks eased up.
Apricot: The enemy formation is falling apart…
Nekohime’s Elite Guard’s Armor Knight tore a hole through their defense and paved a path for the melee DPS to get through.
At the same time, Assassins who were in stealth flanked them from the sides and caused a lot more chaos. The Cleaning Crew’s defensive formation was falling apart.
Ako: Isn’t Sensei’s guild way too strong?! What the heck is that?!
Rusian: Ah… Yeah… Strong, huh…
They steadily continued on with their advance and finally, Nekohime’s Elite Guard has managed to push inside of the fortress.
We thought about going in after them as well, but when we looked at the back end of their formation and saw Nekohime-san trudging along, we lost the will to do so. We just watched over them as they left.
A few minutes later, a system announcement was displayed in our chat window.
[‘Nekohime’s Elite Guard’ has occupied the ‘Templar Fortress of Ray Sword’]
Schwein: They captured the fort…
Rusian: That they did…
Ako: Should we go back?
Apricot: Indeed.
We quietly returned to the tavern that we always frequent.
Nekohime’s Elite Guard ultimately lost to a raid by a large scale guild. As regrettable as it is, they let the seat of the lord slip past them.
In the club room come Monday, a heavy mood hung around in the air.
However, the reason for it this time is a bit different.
We were staring at Saitou-sensei with dead eyes as she painfully tried to force out a smile.
“U, uhm, you see? It’s not what you think alright?”
Segawa then coldly said something to Nekohime-sensei, who was rambling on for some reason.
“Nekohime-senseeei, what did you do yesterday?”
“No, that’s uhm, don’t get me wrong okay? That’s not it at all you know?”
“Everything is for the sake of Nekohime-sama!”
“Our goddess!”
“The Holy Angel Nekohime-sama!”
“We offer them up to you, Nekohime-sama!”
“Meow got it wrooooooooooong! I didn’t me-owsk them for that kind of thiiiiiing!”
Nekohime-san cried as she crouched down.
“I just asked everyone for advice saying ‘I wonder what meow could do to capture a fort?’. And then one thing led to meownother and…”
All because you thought to put in a little effort to it, all that happened.
I feel just a little bit sorry for her.
“Actually, why is Sensei’s guild that strong? Isn’t that strange? Don’t tell me that’s actually a hardcore guild?”
“No way. It’s supposed to be just a guild for idle chat you know?”
“This smells fishy…”
Eh, is that what you think?
Is it really strange for Nekohime’s Elite Guard to be strong?
“There’s no way that’s true. It’s probably really strong. It’s Nekohime’s Elite Guard after all.”
“What? Are you planning on joining them too?”
“That’s not it! —Wait Ako, don’t make that kind of face!”
Don’t stare at me with those eyes that look like those of a dead fish!
“I knew it… You just couldn’t forget about you first love after all can you…”
I told you that’s not it!
“Listen here. Nekohime-san said this before, but that guild is made up of old friends that she used to play with back when she was active you know? There’s quite a lot of familiar faces there to me.”
“You mean to say you were part of Sensei’s Elite Guard right?”
“Well, you’re not mistaken there.”
“Uuuuuuu!”
Well, at the time she was quite the celebrity.
“Well let’s put aside how that happened for now. Those people gathered there are from back when me and Nekohime-san were in the same guild, that is, a little over two years ago.”
But of course unlike me, who experienced quite the shock, went on to play other games and then ultimately ended up playing solo, they were pretty serious about the game.
“So even if they’re not really hardcore players, they would’ve leveled up quite a bit and gotten appropriate gear. And of course they’d end up getting good at the game too. Not to mention their coordination is top notch, which is much better than most guilds.”
That ‘Reunion of Old Guild Members’ is strong. Numbers aside, they’re still pretty strong.
There have been a lot of instances of players returning and then assembling their old guild members to revive their previous guild in such a way that it destroys the power balance in the server.
“And thus, a new middle scale guild was born.”
“The status of being a long time player is not just for show huh?”
“Sensei is amazing isn’t she?”
“As expected of the adviser of my club!”
“I’m not the least happy about it even if you praise me like that!”
Sensei looked really depressed as she hung her head.
“In any case, I now know the essential fighting force we need for this feat, as well as fighting tactics. What we have witnessed this time may have been for the middle scale sieges, but if we pick out the smallest fort then, although we may be considerably smaller than Nekohime’s Elite Guard’s fighting force, we could obtain victory. Let’s go and win the one next week!”
“Guess it can’t be helped.”
“You’re doing it…?”
“I just can’t accept any of this…”
“I didn’t ask them for anything you know?”
Master, who was raring to go,
Segawa, who still hasn’t thrown away her hope,
Ako, who seemed fed up with all this as she cried on me,
And Sensei, who has been crying this whole time…
This has turned into quite the chaotic situation.
“Still, not allowing me to use premium items… is quite the handicap. I just can’t accept this.”
“It can’t be helped after all. Letting those damage multiplier buffs, instant revives, and full recovery potions work here would completely ruin the balance of the game.”
“There’s nothing strange about paying players gaining an advantage is there?”
“There are limits to that.”
If you could get a fort by just paying up money then I’m sure those who fight for it would be pissed.
“Well, you can count on our strength and our bonds wherever you may fall short.”
“I suppose so. I suppose that’s the only way…”
Master still doesn’t seem convinced, but she doesn’t seem to hate the idea of her allies doing their best. She kept nodding to herself as she faced the screen.
“Hey, hey.”
Segawa suddenly pulled me and Ako away, and drew our heads close to hers as she whispered something.
“Isn’t this pretty good?”
“By pretty good you mean?”
“What about it?”
“Having that premium junkie fight without her premium items I mean. Isn’t this a good opportunity to wean her away from swiping?”
Wean her away from swiping you say?
True, she completely can’t use any premium items in this situation.
“You’re saying we can cure Master of her whaling tendencies?”
“I think it’s okay to just let Master use it when she wants to though.”
In response to what Ako said, Segawa lowered her voice further so as to not get heard.
“Even so, there are limits to that. Doing a 100 roll on a new gacha update for no reason at all is just not normal!”
“Well I think so too…”
“I don’t even want to imagine how much she has spent on it you know.”
And also, just between us— Ako excluded— we’re not really too used to just accepting free stuff like that, so her list of excess items just keeps getting longer and longer.
Even so, she will still roll in the next gacha. ‘Since they went to the trouble of doing the update, then I’ll roll’.
If you ask me, this is truly terrifying.
“If we can get through this without her using any premium items then maybe her dependency on them would subside. Since we’re here anyway we might as well put it on our hidden agenda. Let’s make her understand that swiping is just a huge waste of money. Doesn’t that sound interesting?”
“True. I was getting kind of worried about her…”
“If we can let her experience the viewpoint of us F2P players, then I’m sure she would become one of us!”
“Okay. That’s decided then.”
‘Fufufu’. A smile came up on Segawa’s face.
She went back to her chair, lively as she was. If she’s that happy about it then that’s all that matters.
“So then? Do you have a plan for that?”
“Eh?”
Segawa tilted her head at me as if she sincerely had no idea.
“You’re the one who’s going to think of that aren’t you?”
“Good luck, Rusian!”
She passed the ball to me just like that.
I, I see. So that’s my role huh.
“……O, ok.”
I’m sure Segawa and I both have a lot of excuses we can come up with, but I’m sure that no matter what unreasonable plan I might concoct, she would obediently follow through it without a doubt. I trust her at least that much.
With that in mind, I just obediently took that up with no rebuttals.
But even though I said that… What am I going to do?
There are only two weeks remaining until the Saki Fest.
And for the Modern Electronic Communications Game Club, many difficulties still lie ahead for their first cultural festival.
