Vol 1 Chapter 4 (2/2)

The person who called out first was the black-haired man cloaked in the aura of a wild beast. Millies so-called pick up was none other than him. It was Wilhelm Avis.

Wil-nii!

Millie rushed over to Wilhelm with her small steps and gave him a big hug. s.h.i.+n continued to be surprised at this unexpected development.

To think that she was Wilhelms kid ...... No way thats true! Shes being taken care of at the orphanage. Orphanage? Oh right, youve only arrived at this country recently.

While gently rubbing Millies head, Wilhelm gave a brief explanation. He talked about how there was a church in the eastern district that was also serving as an orphanage and offering protection to children that had lost their parents for whatever reason. Millie was one of those children.

This one has always been good at sneaking out of the orphanage. I was sent to look for her. So you slipped away without permission. Thats a bit disappointing to hear. Uu, sor, ry.

Millie apologized properly, so it seems like she did understand that she had done something wrong. Her nekomimi spontaneously drooped down, as expected of a fantasy.

With that said, its pretty strange for this one to be so friendly with you. Strange? You might not notice it from looking at her right now, but shes actually really shy around strangers. Shes never been the type to proactively approach someone that she doesnt know. Is that so.

She was just lured in by the meat, thought s.h.i.+n as his line of sight s.h.i.+fted towards her and saw her shaking her head. Almost as if she had read his mind, she seemed to be silently telling him dont say it. Maybe he wasnt completely off the mark.

Well, we dont intend to stand here all day. Come on, Millie, were going back. Wait, a bit.

So saying, Millie came over to s.h.i.+n.

Whats wrong? Ear, lend it. Like this?

s.h.i.+n squatted down and brought his ear to Millies mouth. After whispering in s.h.i.+ns ear, Millie went back to Wilhelm the same way she had come.

Okay, okay.

s.h.i.+n saw off Millie as she disappeared into the crowd whilst holding Wilhelms hand. While musing over the meaning of what Millie had told him, he turned his feet towards The Badgers Pavilion.

After returning to The Badgers Pavilion, s.h.i.+n rested inside his room until dinnertime. Sitting on his bed, he continued mulling over the words that Millie had said when she left.

Please help the Fox-san inside the Northern Forest, was it?

(T/N: Little children add -san after everything to show respect. Like how English-speaking children say Mr. Sun, Ms. Clouds, etc.)

If this was back in the game, then he would have been able to determine the place in question simply by looking up the area map. Sadly, though, with all the changes to the geography, he now didnt have sufficient information to make even an educated guess. As he had been to the Northern Forest himself, it wasnt like he was completely in the dark. However, he could only tilt his head in puzzlement over the word fox. None of the monsters that he had come across had been a fox type. The only ones that he had encountered were bears, snakes, dogs, and the occasional flying type. Perhaps due to the large number of monsters in the area, there were very few wild animals; he himself had only seen snakes and rats. Some of the wild animals had mutated into monsters under the effect of the magical energy in the land, but there were still some normal ones around. s.h.i.+n didnt remember any foxes among them, though.

This is no good, I havent the faintest idea.

s.h.i.+n understood that this was no normal fox, seeing as how Millie had expressly gone to the effort of telling him, but he could make neither heads nor tails of the request. All he knew was that this fox needed to be saved. He would not be surprised if some sort of danger was drawing near it, as the Northern Forest was one of the more dangerous areas in the vicinity of the Berylricht Kingdom.

Though it was strange that she would make such an important-sounding request to someone that she had just met, maybe it was because she had inferred that he was also an adventurer from seeing him and Wilhelm together. Chalking it up to one of those times when children think in ways that adults cant really follow, s.h.i.+n didnt give too much thought to the possibility of there being a catch.

Of course, s.h.i.+n wasnt obliged to do something just because he was asked to. However, not doing anything would leave a bad aftertaste in his mouth. In the end, s.h.i.+n decided to at least check out the Northern Forest tomorrow. On the way, he will also stop by Tsuki no Hokora and leave a message for Schnee with Tiera.

Now that Ive finished planning ...... Food it is.

Having already digested the yakitori, s.h.i.+n went downstairs in search of dinner.

The next day began as the sun rose. Leaving The Badgers Pavilion, s.h.i.+n jostled through the stalls on the main street and pa.s.sed through the southern gate. Continuing onward, he witnessed an enormous line of people on the other side of the road, waiting to gain entrance to the city. It appears that the people who didnt make it before the gates closed last night had lined up again early this morning. From what he saw, there was an abnormally large number of merchant caravans. The line was probably being held up because of them.

Casting a backwards glance at those people, s.h.i.+n began to walk along the wall. Tsuki no Hokora was located somewhere between the southern and eastern gates, but was slightly closer to the southern one. After walking for a bit, he found a place where the trees opened up. As he had thought, the area enclosed by trees as thick as 1 mel where Tsuki no Hokora stood was decidedly out of place here. Before, Tsuki no Hokora had been located in the wilderness on theArclid Continent, one of the original four continents. Based on that, s.h.i.+n surmised that where he was currently living had once been part of the Arclid Continent.

Arclid Continent had been the area beyond the high-leveled area,Houzant Continent. There used to be tougher monsters and harder quests than those found on the other three continents. However, there had also been quests for low-leveled and mid-leveled players to accept, so the customers who visited Tsuki no Hokora included players who wanted to take up weirder quests and players who wanted to fight monsters in the middle of nowhere. In some sense, it had been a place where the largest variety in player levels and jobs had gathered together.

With that said, Tsuki no Hokora had been located in the wilderness, so most of the customers had been high-leveled players, with only the odd player seeking refuge from being chased by a monster. Incidentally, the monsters that sp.a.w.ned in the area where Tsuki no Hokora had stood leveled around 600 on average, ranging from slightly above 200 to the maximum of 1000. Though it was all in the past, there was even a time when s.h.i.+n had casually set up shop close to the den of a boss monster. The aim had been for players to restock their items at Tsuki no Hokora before starting the boss fight.

...... Now that I come to think about it, I wonder what had happened to the monsters that used on live on the Arclid Continent. If some of the continents had been joined, then some of the monsters would have crossed over. Or did all of them get wiped out by the cataclysms?

If the monster sp.a.w.ning setting had remained unchanged, then for starters the Berylricht Kingdom would undoubtedly have been obliterated, as there had been monsters with the mannerisms of army ants. The monsters that would sp.a.w.n as random encounters for each area had an average level of 600; though they were merely irritating to the high-level players, the mid-level players could only either run away or try to slip past, and the low-level players simply lived with the knowledge that they would get annihilated the moment they met one. The more people there were in a party, the higher the encounter rate. Therefore, there was no way that a place like a country, where so many people were gathered, would not get targeted.

With that said though, he wouldnt learn anything just from standing here. Whether preventive measures had been taken or the monsters had stopped appearing, it was a fact that the kingdom was still standing, so there was probably some explanation for the current situation. If it wasnt so, then there was no way that the countries or the roads could have been built. He decided to stop thinking about it for now. In truth, there was also the possibility that this land was originally a different continent altogether, and that Tsuki no Hokora had been moved here.

He put his questions aside as he reached Tsuki no Hokora. When he had been here a few days ago, he had been so relieved at seeing it still standing that he didnt notice the wooden tag about 20 cemels high and 10 cemels wide hanging on the door to the entrance of the shop. On the tag were the wordsStoreowner Struggling On. This was the indicator that Tsuki no Hokora was open for business. The other side of the tag saysStoreowner Currently Out, which meant that the store was closed either because he was not logged in or because he was busy collecting raw materials somewhere else.

Feeling admiration that this tag was still being used, s.h.i.+n opened the door and entered the shop. After taking a step into the store, he heard the light tinkling sound of a bell. This was set to go off when a customer came into the store while no one was behind the counter. It seems like the Knights Order wasnt here this time.

Welcome! Ara, s.h.i.+n. Yo! I forgot to do it last time, so I came again to leave a message for Schnee.

Realizing that the one whod come in was s.h.i.+n, the business smile on Tieras face turned into a beaming grin. The part of her hair that had returned to its original silver color glittered as it reflected the sunlight coming in through the window.

Oh right, wed completely forgotten about that.

At s.h.i.+ns words, Tiera went Ah! and her expression became that of someone who had suddenly remembered something forgotten. Well, considering what happened last time, neither of them could be blamed for forgetting. For Tiera, especially, it was something so huge that it had completely thrown the idea of leaving a message right out of her head.

So its this. Please tell her that Id like to meet and talk with her if she still remembers this.

So saying, s.h.i.+n took out something from his inventory and placed it onto the counter. It was a dark blue ninjatou with a flower that Tiera had never seen before drawn onto the scabbard and handle. The drawing was so detailed and fine that even though this was supposed to be a weapon, it was so beautiful that no one could complain if it was to be categorized as a work of art instead.

(T/N: Ninjatou are short, straight-bladed swords with a square guard used by ninjas.)

............ ...... Tiera? ...... Ah!

s.h.i.+n called out to Tiera, who was just staring intently at the ninjatou. Tiera came to at his voice.

Whats wrong? Um, s.h.i.+n. This ...... is this possibly an Ancient grade weapon?

Tiera was looking at the ninjatou with disbelief in her face. Her eyes were squinted, as if she was looking at something really bright.

You can tell? This is indeed Ancient grade. This is a personal weapon that belongs to Schnee. Its name isSougetsu (Blue Moon). Masters? Aah, I might be wrong, but Schnee is currently not using a personal weapon, right? Umm, I dont actually know what a personal weapon is ...... You dont know?!

Clearly expecting to get his meaning across, s.h.i.+n was taken back at the fact that personal weapon was the part that she didnt understand.

Personal weapons are weapons that can only be used by certain people. In the case of thisSougetsu, that would be Schnee, anyone that Schnee grants permission to, and me, because I forged it. Im leaving it with you, so Ive made it so that you can also touch it. Those who have not been granted permission wouldnt even be able to touch it.

Back during the game, the ability to personalize weapons had been handed out in the form of applicable items given as event rewards. That item could be applied to a weapon that the owner didnt want stolen, such as someone with a sword that he really likes or a guild that had made a weapon as a symbol of itself. Though most people knew of this function, the only people who could apply it to a weapon were top cla.s.s blacksmiths and alchemists, so there were very few people who actually thought of having it done.

A limit on who could use it ...... Come to think of it, I have heard of people excavating weapons from historic ruins that n.o.body could use. Were those personal weapons? Yes, those were probably someones personal weapons. Im sure there are those who are looking for a way to somehow use those weapons. The personalization item can only be applied to weapons Legend grade or higher, which are all already powerful in and of themselves. Depending on how a personal weapon is used, a level 1 person could easily defeat something like a Tetra Grizzly.

...... What is with that ridiculous power.

Tiera could only be astonished at this power completely beyond her expectations. Having only heard the explanation, she was in a state where half of her still remained doubtful. However, it was a fact that a ninjatou packed with an insane amount of magical power was in front of her eyes. s.h.i.+n had just casually laidSougetsuonto the counter, but the s.p.a.ce immediately aroundSougetsuwas almost distorted because of its existence. Though Tiera had very little combat experience, she felt like she could almost understand the incredible power hidden in the sword just from that sight.

Well, even if all that could be achieved by using this sword, I wouldnt want to use it. Heeh~, may I ask why not? I might get swallowed up, I think.

Tiera intuitively knew beyond a doubt that although this sword could indeed grant a mighty power, it would eat away at any user who did not already possess enough power to be worthy of it.

Swallowed up, you say? Hmm, that might be because of the materials used to make it.

Hearing Tieras words, the first possible explanation that came into s.h.i.+ns head was the penalty that would occur when someone tried to use a weapon unbefitting of his or her level. Every weapon has stat requirements, and if someone who did not fulfill those requirements tried to wield it, their stats would be lowered even more. A portion of Legend grade, Mythology grade, and Ancient grade weapons couldnt even be equipped if the requirements were not met. However, this didnt seem to fit the description of almost being swallowed up, so he thought to bring up the weapons raw materials instead.

What exactly was used? The main material was an alloy called Chimeradite. Combined with it was a fang from a Black Death Dragon, a scale from a Sea War Beast, and a teardrop from an Element Tail. There were other components too, but those were the main four. If I had to make a guess, I would attribute the feeling to the Black Death Dragons fang or the Sea War Beasts scale. Both are top cla.s.s monsters after all.

............ Tiera?

Having heard s.h.i.+ns explanation, Tiera was now pressing one hand to her forehead and had furrowed her eyebrows like she had just heard something really hard to understand.

............ No, I refuse to be surprised. Even if I just heard someone spout a list of legendary creatures ...... I will be fine. Yes, I am fine. No, you totally dont look fine!

While Tiera was shaking her head to the sound of her common sense crumbling inside, s.h.i.+n reflexively retorted. As usual, s.h.i.+ns common sense differed greatly from that of the current world. It was only natural, because as Tiera had said, the monsters that s.h.i.+n had spoken of were ridiculously powerful monsters that now lived only inside legends. This talk of turning these monsters with enough power to cause cataclysms into raw materials would normally only be laughed off as a joke. However, there was currently a ninjatou emanating a strong aura right in front of her, and the one who had taken it out was s.h.i.+n, who already had a track record of diverging from what she knew as common sense. The two facts put together convinced her that it was not a joke.

Haah, it feels like every time I talk to you, you grind every speck of my common sense to dust. Eh, Im in the wrong? Naturally! Whats with you just casually taking out an Ancient grade weapon? There should be a limit to how unbelievable you can be. Even if you say that, theres nothing I can do about it. Whether Schnee still remembers me or not could hinge on this.

s.h.i.+n said this while looking atSougetsu. It was Schnees personal weapon, and she had entrusted it to him before his fight with Origin (in game lingo, it was retrieved). Together with Schnee, all of his other support characters had also done the same. The gesture had been something like a little bit of a good luck omen on s.h.i.+ns part. The equipment from the other support characters were still in his inventory, awaiting their turn.

It was one thing when s.h.i.+n himself was still here. From what Tiera said, though, it was clear that the current situation wasnt one where he would be able to meet her just because he sent a message saying that he wanted to meet up. He also had no guarantee that there wasnt anyone else among Schnees current acquaintances who had the same name as himself, so the only method that he could think of to prove his own ident.i.ty was by including something like this with the message.

Very few people would still refuse to meet after being sent something like this. But Master is one of those few people, so your caution might not be unfounded.

Also returning her gaze towardsSougetsuwhere s.h.i.+n was already looking, Tiera was finally convinced. Up to now, she had been asked to pa.s.s along many expensive clothes, precious jewels, and various rare articles. However, the figure of her Master showing almost no interest in any of them floated into Tieras mind. Though Geyl gold coins were beyond their means, those people had also sent goods worth several tens of Jul white gold coins and Legend grade equipment of substantial value, all to no avail. In short, things that are simply unusual or expensive were not enough to garner her Masters notice.

The message this time said if you remember this, so Tiera thought that it would at least elicit a cursory glance. Her Master had ignored even Legend grade items before, so there was no guarantee behind her evaluation that her Master might show interest inSougetsu.

If she does indeed remember, then please use this. You can contact me with this no matter where I am.

So saying, s.h.i.+n left some writing paper and a message card of simple design onto the counter, placing them next toSougetsu.

If I use these, I can contact you? Its only one-way, though. You write your message here, and you write the intended recipients name on the writing paper. Then all you have to do is verbally say Send .

s.h.i.+n gave his explanation while pointing to the message card and writing paper. It was an item frequently used by players for events like birthdays and Christmas. There were also people who modified them to do elaborate things like releasing sparkly effects when being opened Inside the game, it was faster to message each other through the normal chat function though, so these message cards were only used for special days. But this world did not have a friend list function, much less the chat function, so these have now become very valuable.

So there was such a convenient item. I used them so rarely that I now have a lot to spare.

It wasnt just message cards and writing paper; currently in his inventory slept also various other items from quests and events that he never had the chance to use back in the game but would be very useful here in reality.

If this gets spread around, then it would become an enormous deal. I suppose, yea.

From Tieras point of view, being able to reach someone else regardless of distance was something equivalent to a technological revolution. However, s.h.i.+n purposely responded in a way to gloss over the hidden question of Wont you spread this around? behind Tieras words. One does not have to be well-versed in history to know that technological breakthroughs would not necessarily be used in the way that the discoverer or developer had intended. Unfortunately, s.h.i.+n had no intention nor interest in starting a technological revolution. There is also another way of looking at this discovery as this was a function that had already existed in THE NEW GATE in the first place, eventually someone else will stumble upon it.

...... hey. I just thought of this, but why dont you just directly contact Master with this instead of leaving a message with me?

Holding the message card in one hand, Tiera voiced the thought that had just come into her mind.

If only I could. You can only send it to people that you have directly met before. Of course, Ive met Schnee before, but for some reason I cant send it to her.

Naturally, s.h.i.+n had also already thought of the idea of directly sending it himself. However, for some reason, he couldnt send it, and he couldnt directly contact Schnee. There was also the mystery why even though the chat function was gone, he could still use the message cards.

When Tiera asked if the problem lay with the cards, s.h.i.+n went outside and used one to send her a message. Though she was a bit surprised when the writing paper suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, she understood that at least the problem did not lie with the item itself.

(It seems like my friend list was reset.)

s.h.i.+n guessed that that was the real reason. The blurb of the message card saysLets convey your feelings to the people that youve met on your adventurers!. s.h.i.+n surmised that he wasnt able to send messages to people that he had met back in the game but havent met yet in this world.

Hey, hey, if you have a lot of spares, may I have a few more of them? I dont really mind, but I dont think you should use them with people that dont know about them. Im not going to use them, Im going to study them. Im aiming to become a wizard, so when I see unusual magic items like these, I become really interested in understanding how they work.

In truth, after he had sent her a card as a demonstration just now, Tieras eyes had begun sparkling like the eyes of a child that had found a new toy.

Well, if its like that, then it should be fine. Ill give you five more, then. The portion for contacting me after Schnee replies is included, so dont use them all, okay? And Im giving you this many, so could you perhaps give me a discount on the message referral fee? No problem. I have no intention of using these indiscriminately, so dont worry. It could become a huge commotion if I actually sent it to the wrong person, after all. Also, I also dont want to receive all this for free. For now, lets just say that this more than covers the message referral fee. As for the rest, you can look forward to it.

Though he did have a lot of spares, he didnt have an infinite number of them, so he had hoped that they would at least cover the message referral fee and asked for a discount as a shot in the dark. The result was the message referral fee being completely covered plus some more perks promised for the future. Confirming that these cards were indeed quite valuable, s.h.i.+n made a mental note to not use them where other people could see.

As for Tiera, her mind was already churning out imaginations about the kinds of tests that she would perform on the cards. s.h.i.+n thought that it might be better for her to aim to be an alchemist instead if she liked research so much, but it wasnt like there was a rule that wizards shouldnt do research, so he didnt say it out loud. In actuality, there had been quite a lot of players with wizard as their main job and alchemist as their sub-job.

Alright, Ill start heading off now. Ill leave the matter about Schnee to you. You can count on me. When Master returns, Ill show it to her first thing.

After exchanging light greetings, s.h.i.+n left Tsuki no Hokora behind.

It was a while after s.h.i.+n had left before Tiera suddenly thought, If I send a message card, then I can immediately get in touch with Master! Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 3

Leaving Tsuki no Hokora behind, s.h.i.+n made a beeline for the Northern Forest. Hoping to avoid the unnecessary complications that would arise were he to stumble upon the team currently out investigating the Skull Face incident, he advanced while carefully confirming that there was no one nearby.

With no specific destination in mind, s.h.i.+n had left the direction up to mere intuition. As he proceeded deeper into the forest, though, he began to perceive a suspicious feeling in the air, so for now he altered his course to go even deeper into the forest. If he went back to where the Skull Face had been, it would become impossible to avoid encountering the investigators, so he headed for the opposite direction instead. The course led him towards an area that he had not searched the last time he was here.

The place where the Skull Face had been was the southeastern part of the Northern Forest. Bearing westward gradually brought s.h.i.+n towards the central part of the forest. The further he went, the thicker the vegetation and the dimmer the light. The Eastern Forest was no comparison at all; the darkness became so thick and it almost felt like nighttime. The trees themselves were also taller than those in the Eastern Forest, and seemed to emanate a dark and thick air that forbid anyone from going any deeper.

In truth, s.h.i.+n was aware of how the deeper he went into the forest, the stronger the thought that he must not proceed grew in his mind. It wasnt intuition nor premonition. There was something more specific here that was actively trying to influence his will.

(Is this it?)

He was not certain, but s.h.i.+n felt that this feeling that was getting stronger the further he progressed was not directly harmful to himself. Rather, it felt more like a barrier that was protecting something. s.h.i.+n continued to press on like the barrier was nothing. His advance belied the strength of the barrier, though; it was actually so potent that any normal person of this world would have unconsciously evaded the area without even being aware that they were being affected. In some sense, it was a powerful form of illusion magic, and someone other than s.h.i.+n would not have been able to say with confidence that this barrier was not something harmful. However, for s.h.i.+n, who had put in especially more effort into developing resistance against mental interference, the barrier might as well have not existed. Rather, all it did right now was to tell him thatthere is something ahead!.

Carefully keeping an eye on his surroundings, s.h.i.+n continued further into the dark forest in the direction where the feeling grew stronger. Perhaps due