Vol 3 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Chapter 1 To Summer Camp
1
According to the lore of the world, a black stone fil cities were built on top of it But , nature, once it broke out onto its surface, invaded the urban cities
This world was based on japan, but the vegetation had incredible vitality That's why the lush grass seemed to sprout from everywhere, and trees were so tall that it looked like a tunnel when you looked up
A plants, you would not only see black soil
There were signs of tar roads everywhere, which showed that this forest trail used to be a road from the ancient lore
The sun pierced through the barrier of leaves and left shadows on the ground This tunnel seeo on forever
But because of this, the scene beyond the trees was even more beautiful
”Wah!”
Minori couldn't help herself and shouted happily
The 30 or so comrades with her reacted the same
”Yah Hah! So cool! So cool so cool so cool!”
Her brother Tohya rushed forward, as his horse shi+fted froallop down the slope
The ith the taste of the tides blew up the slope, towards Minori and the others The lush greenery extended from the slope all the way to the beach
What was this big river in front of them called?
On the other side of the beach was a hill, with several windether, not sure if it was operational or in ruins
The beach was like a snohite line sparkling in the sun
From the distance of 10 kilo shi+ne, you could not make out any details
”Alright alright! We need to reach there before we can do anything If we don't find our camp site soon, on't be able to eat dinner!”
”That's right the whole lot of you, you won't be able to keep up with the trip if you miss any meals!”
Maryele said and Naotsugu added teasingly
The beginners cheered happily, mounted the horses which they didn't have the chance to ride in the forest trail and moved down the slope in ts
This was the Sand Leaf zone
In the real world, this was centered around the Boso peninsula
Using the 'Half-Gaia Project', shrinking the proportions of the real world by half, the distance was roughly 50 k in this abandoned world for 3 days
”Minori-cchi, still doing okay nya?”
”I'm I'm still fine!”
The tall and thin figure blocking the sunlight that pierced through the trees was Nyanta frouild as Minori He squinted his gentle eyes and Minori hurriedly replied to him positively
Turning to face the front, the Guardian leading the group Naotsugu was also looking this way and he waved at Minori signaling her to relax Surrounded by her guild members, Minori felt safe
Minori reaffiruild like Hamelin and here were totally different matters
But this group was not entirely co Horizon uilds with a total of 60 people
Including Oceanic Systeade, etc, Akiba's top guilds had assigned people to participate
This was the main party with 35 people, but an advanced party had already arrived at the destination They planned to meet them there soon
The reason Minori's group was in this training camp was because of Maryele
Minori was not present, but from what her friend Isuzu said, this hat happened
' I want to go to the beach, want to eat shaved ice, ramen, and curry rice at the beach, I want to eat o? We can't? We really can't? I want to go to the beach! Let's go!'
Crescent Moon Alliance master Maryele proposed in this way
(I can roughly guess the situation then)
Minori was in the guild Log Horizon, but before joining, she lived in the Crescent Moon Alliance guild hall for a short while At that tiuild Hamelin (which had since been dissolved), and was busy the few days right after
Crescent Moon Allianceher time there Headed by Maryele, Henrietta, Shouryuu and the othersuch willful words and Henrietta's frowning face, this was a coine it easily
(Sheher hands and feet around on the couch)
Minori s her cushi+on and shaking her legs
Having such feelings was unavoidable
Minori knew that inal world, but this was not a wish that could be achieved sih hard work There had been no news of anyone finding any clues on how to solve this problem
If you just wanted to survive here, you just needed some money Since there were no places for you to expend your efforts, it was no wonder the players were all bored out of their minds
So even if anyone wanted to take a summer vacation, no one would stop them probably
But Maryele and the Crescent Moon Alliance were in a special position In June, shi+roe proposed the forovern the various issues in Akiba Crescent Moon Alliance was one of the 11 uild master Maryele was also one of the senators
After the founding of the Round Table Council, Akiba's trending topic was centered on revolution and they were the ones leading it
It would be fine if the elected senator took a couple days off, but it would be troubling if the vacation lasted for weeks The Round Table Council had only been in operation for 2in daily, noas the tiress in Akiba
With Oceanic Systeuilds' stean used burning coal, but had been refined to Su salamanders to provide heat This h
There was also the new grill box and water pipes for use in cooking Clothes that were never seen before (ariant onsen, these two months had been filled with a series of new inventions and discoveries
But during this important period, if a senator left the city (in this case, for a vacation), it wouldn't be good for the council's reputation But Maryele did not give up and thought of a plan together with Henrietta and Shouryuu
The inners'
”The surrounding area seems to be farms nya”
Just as Nyanta said, along the slope of the s into farplants, cucumbers the trees in the distance seemed to be fruit trees, the wind had a sweet aroma to it
”Minori, look, these are pears, this is great!”
”Wait up Tohya!”
Tohya left the road and cli had it been since she ate a pear? Minori couldn't recall, but it looked nice and delicious
”Those are planted by the People of the Land, don't pick them!”
Minori warned Tohya as she thought about it
A suinners
In the end, rescuing the beginners from Hamelin was a personal decision executed by shi+roe and the others, it had nothing to do with the Round Table Council They had also clarified with the public that Hamelin had been dealt with before the council was formed
But 'providing aid to beginners' becaenda for the Round Table Council anyway
The reason the council approved Crescent Moon Alliance's request so fast was because out of the 35 rescued beginners, 19 of them were in Crescent Moon Alliance and it was even known as the beginners training guild
But not all the beginners from Hamelin joined the Crescent Moon Alliance Soo into production and joined the corresponding guilds
There were also beginners who did not join Hamelin, ere lucky in a sort of way, and joined the various other guilds in Akiba
Since the training camp was approved by the council, it wouldn't be fair if applications were not open to the public With this decision, all beginners whose location was known received an invitation to participate Notices were also put out announcing 'In order to support beginners below level 40, a suanized'
As it cauilds came into question
There were also opinions that since this was a Round Table Council-approved event, they couldn't just leave everything for Crescent Moon Alliance to handle
Sending beginners to participate but not taking part as a camp leader Some senators felt that they couldn't do this with their position in Akiba If it was a guild with tens of members, it should be acceptable, but if their member numbers were in the hundreds, it would be shameful to not send one or two members as camp leaders
The guilds not only sent their members as support, but also provided all sorts of food and clothing There was even a donation event, canvassing for equipinners after they level up
As they proceeded with the preparations, the carew to the size of 60 people This hat Minori heard fro camp
The slope gradually flattened out and the groupthe ancient tihborhood back then Cos, the wooden houses deteriorated much faster
With no obvious sign of concrete debris, there were only a few decaying residential structures which were covered by thick vegetation
The peninsula of Sand Leaf was rounds It was a place filled with the feeling of Mother Nature
The river that was right in their field of vision was the Sand Leaf River, which flowed into the blue sea In the real world this was a place called Choushi+ Even in this alternate world, the Pacific Ocean in August was so clear and blue that you could see the botto of the sky and blue sea
Reaching the riverside, there were a few houses over there
If you looked around there were several such houses along the river banks Her lively brother ent to scout around reported that these houses seemed to be able to let boats dock there
It was close to the coastline, there should be fishermen ent out to catch fish that were pushed by the river flow
Keeping the boats away froed even if there were raging waves, probably the wisdom of the fishermen Maryele said that People of the Land orked as fishermen lived near the riverbanks, if you walked upstream there would be a mid-sized town
Minori's group left the riverside, hly 500 meters wide Beside the pond was a structure that was rare in this zone, a relatively new abandoned concrete structure
”Woah! This is a school!”
Just as Tohya said, this should be a school in ancient tiround in front should be a field for sports The wire fence around it was long gone but there were still signs of it having been here
”Okay! Everyone! From today onward, this will be the place ill sleep in! We will split into the 3 tea 3 classrooms That is the 3 roo in each roo tomorroell, let's make this a comfortable place to live in!”
As if on cue, the advance party ether with the beginners
”Dinner tonight will be BBQ on the field! So please make do with bread for now And also Tearocery shopping at the town! Rereet the town chief properly and be courteous We leave in 30 minutes, start the battle!”
Everyone responded to Maryele's cheer in high spirits and started setting up the training camp site
2
Maryele and the food transport party walked along the farm trail with the loud sounds of cicadas
The beginners she was leading displayed their 'su flutes' proudly and prominently on their necks or waists This was an item to summon horses There were different kinds of flutes and the ones they had could only call forth a low quality horse, and were restricted to only a few hours use per day
But this was a precious ently and protectively with their fingers
They were donated items distributed to them at the start of the trip
Maryele and the others were traveling to the neighboring town on foot
On their way there, they could see People of the Land working on their farms
Maryele didn't want to alar at a casual speed
Everyone owned a su on their way back with their groceries But it was only 3 k would take just an hour, so Maryele wanted to scout out the area at the same time
”Hood!”
The sweet fragrance of the pears surrounded the area
”That's right nya, if there are nice pears I hope we can get some nya”
”You are right, I want to eat pears!”
Nyanta ith the group as the head Chef, with Serara tagging along When Minori heard this she nodded her head politely The few beginner Chefs were also co on the quality of the fruits as they passed the farm
Bathing under the suplants shone like jewels, the toemstones Both of thehtly
Using the old cooking methods, there was no need to be concerned about the quality of the ingredients Even ingredients that were s to turn bad, if you could identify it as the correct ingredient through the game menu, it would not affect the final product
Tomato salads made with fresh or dried up toy cracker flavor was identical
But if the Chef used their own skills to cook food redients they used If they used a rotting toood the Chef was, the food would still be bad The skills of the Chef were iredients to complement it
”I want to use this to bake pizza!”
”Making them into ketchup should be nice too”
With this fact in inner Chefs moved on as they kept their eyes full of interest on the field
Noon had just passed, there were People of the Land taking breaks in the shade after their lunch all over the place The group waved at theetables soements to buy some on the way back
Charasin of the 8th District Shopping Center had already infor camp The news must have spread around, the farmers were all very nice and kind
”Seems like this will be a comfortable vacation♪”
Maryele said cheerfully, but Nyanta corrected her ”This is a su camp nya” Maryele's true intent for the trip had already spread aation to advise her as a senior
But the advice was not from the heart, and more on the level of a punchline
The toas situated near the Sand Leaf River
It was soainst floods
The land in this area was relatively flat The slightly undulating ground seemed to have been divided into individual squares, to be used for vegetables, paddy fields and fruit farms The squares were further divided into smaller sections and you could see sheds and warehouses They reached the inner part of the town eventually
This was not a town you read about in Middle Ages knight tales, with fences, orthe town
In the town center, wide tar roads and drains ran in parallel, giving it the feel of the national roads of the old world Many houseseither side of the road There were few ancient towers that were abundant in Akiba, while only the giant warehouses by the river were similar to them
There were 5 or 6 shops with signboards on the streets
Maryele heard froes he encountered while doing his Susukino quest, but he did not mention any shops
Fares with livestock and farmland formed their communities and they helped each other
You did not need gold living in such a place, so there was no need to set up facilities such as shops At least that hat Henrietta explained
But this Choushi+ was e, so shops had a reason to exist
”Hined”
Nyanta commented in a quiet voice
This place could not be compared to Akiba, but there should be a few thousand People of the Land living here right? This hat this town made them feel
Maryele stopped in the roup around her Maryele had the reputation of being friendly and taking care of others But she feltsister now and she was comfortable with that
”Let roceries I will leave that to Chief Nyanta And, I remember your naroups, decide a list?”
”Of course nya” Nyanta accepted the task
Maryele nodded and checked the contents of her Bag of Holding, confirift As a reet the roup
Since this was just a greeting, there was no need to bring tooto back her up should be okay
As Maryele considered who she should bring, her eyes met with Minori
(She looks reliable, so why not?)
Before Maryele asked, Minori already expressed her willingness to co
(This girl has keen instincts too)
And so everyone went about their task
Nyanta would head to the harbor, the warehouses at the riverside see seafood Since Maryele and the others were Adventurers, they had less chances to see sea cuisine, they would be pleased to eat these
”Let's move out”
”Okay, tireet the mayor!”
Not sure if it was her nature, or if she really was a middle-schooler like she claiht as if she was hly
(Even though she is noith shi+ro-bou, she is still a nice kid Hmmm, seems I missed out on a quality member)
”May May I ask”
”What is it, Minori?”
”Why are you patting my head?”
”That is because I want to pat you♪”
Maryele shtly The two of the the streets
On their way there, the two of theoods where the mayor lived They found out that the mayor lived in a 2-story mansion at the junction ahead, he was a 70 year-oldto worry about
”Just greeting hiht?”
”Yes, just present a gift after greeting him”
Maryele listed out the things she needed to say
In her Bag of Holding was a barrel of peach wine It was al Maryele could carry, but thanks to this ht at all
She also needed to explain to theat the ruins for about 2 weeks, the place was about 5km from the town, and it shouldn't cause any problems But they would be here to resupply every few days
”Yes, we need to greet and build a relationshi+p with theredients If we only buy frole farm, it could cause conflicts in this town”
”Ah, you are right”
”Anye should be fine if we follow theI want to gather information around this area”
”Inforht?”
”Right”
Maryele nodded in response
The world had changed since the Catastrophe, NPCs were now People of the Land Strictly speaking, the players did not know if the functions of Elder Tales were still working
The People of the Land working in the market and banks were still at their posts, but just like the Round Table Council wanted to hire administrators, some People of the Land also wanted to do different jobs
If you inferred froht not be working anymore
Quests were challenges players took on and cleared to progress the story line of Elder Tales For exaht have quests like 'Eli fields' or 'Escort fisherman to an island to fish'
Some quests were started from secret items or locations, but most of them were in the form of an NPC request
The quest givers which were NPC's were now People of the Land, was the quest system still in place? This was a serious question, because if the quest givers happened to be People of the Land who died, the quest would be gone forever
( This is what shi+roe is worried about,) Maryele also understood the danger behind this
When Elder Tales was just a game, there were some basic quests available to all players
The Bag of Holding was the reward for one of those quests, Maryele and all the other experienced players loved this bag, it was very convenient
But if this quest was gone forever because of any reason, all the beginners wouldn't be able to acquire this bag, which would cause serious problems
”shi+ro-bou always pays attention to all the details, so he requested that I do all I can to gather data, anything related to Choushi+ and the People of the Land As you can see, I don't know a lot of things”
”Oh I see you are right”
Minori nodded with an enlightened look
”I wonder what shi+roe-san is doing right now”
”shi+ro-bou ence in his oay, but maybe”
Maryele rehed
”He ht not have the time to do that”
3
The perforant and classy
The vast hall was beautifully decorated It was filled with laughter froentleuests were here
People gathered around the couches near the walls or the snack tables, leaving the center of the hall empty
There was still soan
Banquets such as this usually started later than planned, eventhis with a waiter, he sighed softly
(Seems we acted like bumpkins)
Never having attended parties like this before, there was no way shi+roe could have known about this Due to his sorrowful inexperience, he arrived earlier to be polite, but instead caused the opposite effect
shi+roe's group had no choice but to gather near the wall and drink
This was the 'Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice'
According to the game lore, this palace which was 2 hours ride away fro the ancient times In the Elder Tales world, the ancient Alv were extinct They had iy, but failed to withstand the flow of time The only evidence of their existence was the half-Alv race, one of the 8 races available for selection by the players
Situated in southern Tokyo of the real world, Minato district The Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice had no distinct owner, and was ruled coue of Freedom Cities EastalLeague of Freedom Cities Eastal
This was the alliance that ruled over an area equivalent to the eastern mainland of japan Elder Tales divided the japanese servers into 5 territories
The real world Hokkaido was 'Ezzo Empire'
shi+koku was 'Fourland Dukedom'
Kyushu was 'Ninetails Dominion'
Eastern ue of Freedom Cities Eastal'
Western main island was 'Holy Empire Westelande'
In the end, in the hopes that the players would enjoy a variety of different adventures, they showcased the native culture and art unique to each region
This included League of Freedom Cities Eastal in the eastern japan mainland, which was a country made from the alliance of different cities They had 20 such fiefdoms united to rival the Holy Empire Westelande
Compared to what shi+roe understood of real japan, the population in this world was small even if you included the fact that the People of the Land increased 10-fold in nuame became their reality
In this world withabout, the territory of ue of Freedom Cities Eastal was like an undeveloped wilderness, just a bubble of safety in this world
Even if the population were small, there should be about 2 million People of the Land in the whole japan server
League of Freedom Cities Eastal only had influence over the eastern overnance
League of Freedoanization was controlled by the nobles Elder Tales was based on Middle Ages European fantasy world view, and the territory owners were known as nobles
Landowners had their own castles, official residences, or officialcroith capes or dresses, the typical wardrobe of the People of the Land nobles
League of Freedoather at the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice once or twice a year to hold s to discuss all sorts of political issues They would also use the chance to improve relationshi+ps with others and let their sons and daughters debut to the world as nobles They would also conduct horse races or bring up e pacts with other nobles
Froant culture But on the other hand, the League of Freedom Cities Eastal alliance was a necessity to help each other in the face of monsters
Built in the southern part of Tokyo where Haical ice, the People of the Land used it as a socialvenue for the nobles
shi+roe just stood around with nothing to do in the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice
”Hmm, that is quite spectacular, now I'm nervous”
Michitaka frouild Oceanic Systes, he commented on the facility and decoration of the palace without reserve
”Just iine that you are surrounded by monsters and you can stay calm”
The one replying was the battle guild DDD's leader 'Berserker' Krusty Contrary to his nickna man He was in a well-tailored tuxedo today, which suited him very well
”The only one ill be calm that way is just you”
Michitaka laughed in reply
He was also wearing a tuxedo, looking just as dynamic or maybe evenIt looked better on people with a big body type, a perfect fit for these 2 warriors
One of theuild in Akiba, the other was the biggest battle guild DDD, also holding the post of senate leader of Akiba's governing body, the Round Table Council
Considering the purpose of this banquet, being dyna
”That is right leader, only you will feel safe being surrounded by monsters”
Krusty's words were too wild, the tall and elegant lady standing beside hine shi+roe recognized her as a DDD member, Takayama Misa
After hearing about the dress code, they predicted that there would probably be dancing during the banquet The three representatives concluded that there would be a need to bring a fe to this social event
” My lord”
The petite young girl standing beside shi+roe was also wearing a beautiful dress She did not seeuildto shi+roe with fear from the bottom of her heart
shi+roe lowered his gaze to Akatsuki
Their height difference was about 30cm, so he could only see the top of her head if they were too close, an inconvenience
But if he bent down to meet her eyes, Akatsuki would say: ”My lord, don't treat ive up
”What is it?”
”Is, That is My appearance it is weird right?”
Akatsuki asked with a voice like a ine it with her normal attitude
shi+roe didn't understand what she meant and was confused
There was nothing wrong with Akatsuki In fact, she looked absolutely stunning
Her neatly combed hair, her petite body in a dress The dress was pearl white, the botto skirt was dyed in layers of Turkish blue, which gradually ed with the pearl white top
The color co her a pure and handso
”Hnng”
”It is not weird, in fact you look very cute, very pretty! Like a sweet and fresh loli strawberry! It makes people want to take you ho you home!”
(She actually asserted ownershi+p!)
As shi+roe stressed over his reply, Crescent Moon Alliance's capable Accountant Henrietta butted in She bundled her blonde hair up high, with the nape of her neck in plain sight, just like a high class lady