Vol 4 Chapter 2 (2/2)

Log Horizon TOUNO Mamare 199320K 2022-07-19

”There are 3 deoblins”

”Dire wolves they are strong enemies”

Minori said quietly

She only had elee she learned fro feral wolves, but

they were not wild aniic and the power of the moon,

twice as strong as normal wolves

”Any weaknesses?”

”Not ht and loud noises, but that will only work once”

Minori answered Rundelhous curtly

But no one was hesitating, even if they were, they were not backing down

”Let's do this, Rudy-nii please be our main striker, let's protect Rudy-nii and win this one, Minori cast a

barrier on him too, please coordinate attacks with Rudy-nii, Isuzu-nee”

Tohya had the support of the group, and they turned their attention to the ridge

The

Part 4

Night fell in the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice

Aatmosphere It was not meant to be a

co but alue of Freedom Towns Eastal and

all 3 ambassadors froood as the grand

that was planned for the second half of the 10-day event

Awithand coughing But today

no one wasso

The topic was 'the security situation in the Yao'

The proposer for this i Shrine city The Baron did not start this out

of his own initiative, but because he was unable to withstand the pressure of the situation, which was

obvious to everyone

Baron Craindit as chairing theso aard that it was painful to

watch, fidgeting with his beard and wiping off cold sweat under shi+roe's stare

”Even if you say that”

”Hmmm”

”Fu”

The ot to the ress

”The goblin aro came from the fortress 'Seven Falls' that

ah came to raze our land that's it”

After Baron Craindit who had obviously been forced to chair thestammered out this speech in a

shrill voice tens of ress

(Froo into this topic ourselves and gather our intelligence

and force uilt trip us for not attacking 'Seven Falls' in the first

place)

shi+roe observed the nobles as he thought The lords had looks of fear, despair, anger, and pleading on

their faces

Their attitude was full of unease, Marquis Kyriva from Tsukuba couldn't seem to sit still, occasionally

glaring at the Round Table Council members

(Tsukuba and Maihaoblin army, the front-line of this war Compared to

the biggest city Maihaile I remember they are

focused on the study of ainst us)

”Ah, Eh, cough, and so the League of Freedoreat crisis, the demihuman

attacks are thethis”

Baron Craindit pushed theforith his dull words, but there was nu

out in the roohboring nobles Their voices were

so low you could not ave an air of commotion

Looking to one side, he saw Michitaka shrugging

Thewas out in order

But with the future of the Round Table Council at stake, they could not give too ht now

”May I ask, does anyone know the whereabouts of the 'Knights of Izumo'?”

shi+roe had no choice but to ask this way, and he seemed to have poured cold water over the room, some

of the nobles stared at shi+roe ide eyes and gaping mouths

(What is this reaction? Do the People of the Land think we are uess this

can't be helped, ere looking down on the People of the Land and treating them like NPCs not too

long ago, so that hts of Izu From their

reaction, they seeed in another crusade? Or is there a deeper reason?)

”The the 'Knights of Izuels of Yamato, we cannot trouble them to intervene in

this fight Moving on, may I ask the members of the Round Table Council present why Akiba is not

intervening in the face of this grand crisis of Yahts led by Lord

Krusty istroops for this incident?”

”I don't think thisis to question what Akiba thinks, but to ascertain what all the nobles of the

League want, correct? The decision of the Round Table Council is to gather more information about this

incident”

Michitaka scratched his head and said nonchalantly

Since they were attending aasked to express their views But it was

irritating if it was used to steer the conversation off-topic That was the attitude Michitaka was showing

”I heard the knights of Akiba have never failed before!”

A skinny and tall noble whose name he couldn't remember added in a loud voice

”I don't knohere you heard that rumor from, but the Round Table Council and Akiba do not have a

regular hts”

shi+roe shrugged helplessly

He finally understood that battle poas judged in units of 'order of knights' This seemed to be the

case ahts did not refer to elite soldiers who rode on

horses, but meant professional soldiers It was correct to equate 'order of knights' to 'ever-ready military

force'

There were almost no mercenaries in this world, militias made up of normal civilians could only be seen

when farmers defended themselves Part of the reason was that the nobles were not happy with the

existence of armed civilians

In other words, 'order of knights' was the only way nobles could understand a military unit

But even if that were the case, shi+roe didn't think Akiba needed to acco

things

”Then what is the use of Adventurers!”

Marquis Kyriva said rudely with bloodshot eyes,Michitaka retort

”What is the use of Adventurers? What is theof this?”

”What else could it ift froation to save this

land!”

”I never heard anything like this before”

”What baffling words, immortality! You have such powers, and you want to forsake your duty to this

world? Shaant when you have such abilities?”

” Bullshi+t!”

Michitaka's thundering roar shook the air in the whole room

shi+roe's group had been collecting data Discussing about the loss ofand

also the possibility of sending out an expedition force

It was a frightening experience to lose your

your hos of unease more intense But they

could not avoid living their lives in this world, this was a clear concept

For Adventurers like shi+roe, even death didn'tthis

would continue but they only carried on living this never-ending life

Even if they could avoid sending forces to attack the goblin army, they would inevitably be involved in

war one day The Round Table Council had the consensus that since as inevitable, they were fine

with fighting against the goblin king too They had already coht, and

the Round Table Council are of this when they delegated the decision to the 3 ambassadors

But it would be troubling if they let the nobles

military aid so readily would leave a scar on the Round Table Council, Akiba and the League of Freedom

Towns Eastal They didn't o through due

process

The 3 of theht

shi+roe would be supportive of the Round Table Council sending forces, luring theh up

information

Michitaka would be against the provision of ive concessions

Krusty would be responsible forthe final decision

Put siainst Marquis Kyriva's request was going by the script, but there

was a fury beyond his acting in his roar

( Because we are immortals and there is no risk so we ry if you

put it that way)

For Adventurers who knew about the loss of memory, these words were taboo, of course Michitaka was

furious

(The arrogance that the strong have against the weak No, don't laugh, we antly

without knowing it)

”We are not nobles of the League of Freedo

ceremony, isn't that ere not invited to yesterday's ?”

Michitaka stared at the croith a fierce look in his eyes

Akatsuki found out about the secret ht

Because of the effort of the nobles' spies, she was unable to find out the contents of thatBut the

content could be deduced fro

”There is nothing wrong since we have not been bestoith any titles through the ceremony But to

hold aa one-sided request from Akiba and the Round

Table Council for help, what is the reason behind this? We did not take part in that , do we have

the obligation to accept the request in this ? What do you think Baron Craindit?”

”Yes, we definitely do not have this sort of thinking Lord Michitaka, you are mistaken”

”I am not a lord, didn't I just say I wasn't bestoith any title?”

”Even Even if you say so We the nobles of the League of Freedom Towns Eastal did not come to a

collusion? Anyway we did not gather together to request Akiba to send troops, there is no such thing”

Baron Craindit stammered badly under the intimidation of Michitaka

”The request for troops is Marquis Kyriva's personal request and has nothing to do with the League of

Freedom Towns Eastal correct?”

shi+roe responded

This made Marquis Kyriva panic

”Eh! You mean I orchestrated all of this out of my own selfish desires? My dear allies, Earl Kashi+wazaki!

Marquis Taihaku! Chief of Lake Suwa! Why areto the Adventurers!”

”This”

”It is not the opinion of all of us, not a consensus But hty

Akiba fine with Ya into crisis?”

A ed fat noble pressed Michitaka relentlessly

”We are not cats or dogs 'Because you can't die, so go take care of the goblins', is that it? If we try to

convince our people to go to ith this reason, how can we earn the trust of the citizens!”

shi+roe restrained the passionate Michitaka and let him sit down

shi+roe didn'tloudly out of his duty, but if he lost control of his emotions and

leaked the fact about the et complicated

(Yeah This is going to be troublesome)

shi+roe thought the current situation was a bit of a failure

Marquis Kyriva and Michitaka's hostility was forcing this into a stale

an expedition force to help theht that it was inevitable that they needed to help

He needed to find a co was breaking up before

he could do that, and it was hard to interject his opinions at this stage

(We want to bait the concessions, but we did not decide on what kinds of concessions to

work for, that is a failure Exa a contract No

oal is a mistake)

Thewas frozen under this heavy atmosphere

Even Duke Sergead was unable to speak in this situation As shi+roe attempted to break the stalemate after

thinking for a while, theroom door opened suddenly

Co with a breeze of as a beautiful princess

It was Raynesia wearing a dress the color of daith her hair coiled up

Part 5

Raynesia was regretting this

She had been regretting nonstop since a o

Those ere familiar with how Raynesia actually ould behow

hardworking she was at regretting Regretting was an unproductive action, so it could not be described as

hardworking, but let's ignore that for now

Raynesia did not have any energy to spare with the details today

The hall was bigger than Raynesia iined

Raynesia had been eavesdropping on the other side of the door for a while

As she cas as eavesdropping (she also

lacked the skill), the one doing it was Elissa

She seeed in, her legs were tre and

her heart was beating fast Raynesia was a daughter of a noble fa and

dancing gracefully under the eyes of the crowd But this was her first ti,

and there was no plan for her to ever attend one

League of Freedom Towns Eastal was heavily influenced by the culture of nobility, and women would not

be seen as independent entities, even iven

per, and there wouldn't be any in the future as well

Raynesia had been educated to be an ideal, virtuous, and low-profile lady, so she knew this very well,

and was fearful of her colossal actions

But a certain e her on, to stand up on her oay from the

shelter of her parents or knights

Raynesia, who in her heart was dripping with cold sweat, was on the surface antly into the

room

”This is”

”She is still as beautiful”

”It's Duke Corwen's granddaughter Lady Raynesia”

”Just like a fairy dancing on the surface of a lake under the ht”

It was not only the nobles, there were alsoroom as well Many

of theht

Some of them had looks of curiosity and even lust

The smooth contours of her face and her delicate face, sorrowful eyes, clear bridge of her nose, and her

hair like silver strands coiled high up in a bun A beautiful line that extended from her slender neck down

to her collarbone coure with alluring curves, there

should be no objections in calling her a 1st class beauty in the League of Freedom Towns Eastal

If you married her, you would be part of the Corwen faious clans in all of

Yaazes of adoration and love, she also attracted attention of ambitious suitors

The table in the ed in a U-shape, the one seated at the center at the deep end of

the roo, beside hirandfather Duke

Sergead

In Raynesia's eyes, her grandfather appearedthan normal She prayed that he

would not fuss over this too ave a curtsy, the

traditional greeting First to the front, then to the east and finally to the west

She had stopped thinking

Her brain see She was just racefully

like a puppet froreeted the nobles The 'real Raynesia' seemed to be

watching this scene as if it had nothing to do with her, tre

and holding an iinary pillow over her head

But as she straightened herself and raised her gaze, she looked straight into the eyes of her target

They had beenalmost everyday for the past week and acted contrary to the customs of the nobles,

a scornful brawny man who appeared polite on the outside

A ht on the surface, but was actually an expert

of sarcasm on the inside

The senate leader of the Round Table Council Krusty

With a huge body from Raynesia's view, he rapped in a black attire with few decorations He was

cal

Hiding his eyes behind his square glasses with a hint of a smile on his lips, an expression of mischief

Raynesia stared intensely at Krusty

Krusty was also looking at Raynesia, and he said in a low voice with his

” Not thinking of being a lazy bum today?”

(That's obvious)

(Of course I want to)

Raynesia wanted to return ihtly stretched but

very comfortable flannel pajamas and roll around on her bed

She wanted to sleep until noon and not talk to anyone, get up slowly and eat lunch before washi+ng her

face, then go back to sleep again

That's why she was looking straight at Krusty

She had no spare energy to santly like a noble lady

Clenching her teeth, her lips closed tight, she was staring at Krusty with this uncouth expression Raynesia

could feel the displeasure of Elissa behind her, but she had no time to mind the details as she continued to

stare at Krusty

A co room

What was this sudden intrusion all about?

The nobles thought this could be the arrange quietly

”Raynesia”

”Krusty-sama”

Raynesia interrupted her grandfather without even looking at his word and spoke to Krusty

She prayed in her heart for her voice not to tremble

Even if she had a feeling that there was no turning back, she still disregarded everything and made a

request to Krusty

(This is not a man, he is a monster, a monster)

Raynesia as shaking in her heart recalled the calm and steady demeanor of Krusty, she didn't have

any intiether She remembered he had never told her

any gentle words, and his Godlike observation powers

Recalling his kind actions and words as well as his fake exterior

Helooked fine on the surface and ements She and Krusty

were accomplices in this

They had worked together to lie to everyone in the League of Freedo

their kind sentle actions to hide the truth about the their laziness and mischief,

protecting their little secret

(That's right I probably trust in the dishonesty of this man, trust in the lies of this conman, believe that

he can see through me and help me in this ridiculous joke)

”Please go on, Raynesia-sama”

Krusty said politely and Raynesia acted in concert and moved closer to him, the 2 of them less than 1

meter apart

”I want to go to Akiba, please escort me”

Raynesia informed clearly

Her heart was peaceful and cal seemed to be so far away

Her heartbeat, burning earlobes, and the change in Krusty's slight squint of his eyes as his expression

changed all seemed so clear to her

”Krusty-saht to stay by , so

I beg of you, I have to make a trip to Akiba”

”Head to Akiba to do what?”

”To recruit a volunteer army”

She could feel the nobles gasp at her words, the Round Table Council governed Akiba, the Adventurers

of Akiba were the military force of the Round Table Council, the military forces referred to as 'order of

knights' in this world

So she was heading to a city not under her jurisdiction without perhts'

for aid directly According to the common sense of the nobles, this was an action that belittled the Round

Table Council's authority

But if Krusty, senate leader of the Round Table Council, accompanied her for the trip to recruit a

volunteer arht be different

Raynesia was only asking Krusty the knight to escort her, so even if Krusty accepted this role, the Round

Table CouncilThe worst-case scenario would be her execution by guillotine

for inciting a war

But her actions ht have positive effects on the Round Table Council since the Adventurers would

likely avoid executing a princess escorted by their senate leader

But would Duke Sergead allow his granddaughter to act so willfully? The nobles let out moans that

seemed to be a mixture of disappointment, acceptance, or joy

Krusty would irl after all

But Raynesia continued to look at Krusty straight in the eye

”I think this is a very very troublesome matter, correct?”

” Yes it is”

Raynesia nodded with a gentle expression of a lady

But she was not as cal If possible, she wanted to lean on

Krusty and cry, that was how desperate she was

”Why are you doing this?”

” Krusty-sanorant girl I do not understand

political affairs, and also whythe news that the 'Knights of

Izu”

The ulfed in curses and sords this time

Criticish to shake the walls Elissa drew her dagger

to protect herthis

”You have really done it this time”

”Please acco comes”

Raynesia replied to Krusty with an expression of resistance from the bottom of her heart

This was not an expression befitting the bloo winter rose of Eastal, but almost no one noticed the

slight change in Raynesia's expression in this vast ead's

granddaughter had betrayed the League and leaked information to the Round Table Council was still

reverberating in the room

”What are you thinking about?”

”So Krusty-sa of anything I just don't want to be a

disgrace to the Corwen family”

The young e claps his hands loudly The sharp sound shook the

air, stunning all the lords and knights and silencing the room

It was probably a foric

Raynesia turned in the sudden silence as if she was protecting Krusty and said

Just like what she told Krusty, she was not thinking about anything

She was just going with the flow in her heart andit up as she went:

”The Adventurers are free! We ht be weaker than the Adventurers, but that doesn't mean we can use

our weakness to bully the Adventurers and use theo to Akiba and plead with the

Adventurers in that city Krusty-sama says the Adventurers are free, so if any Adventurers are willing to

help, they will not intervene Be it 10 or 15 people, I want volunteers who are willing to aid us Since we

want to ask the free-spirited Adventurers for help, we need to have the proper etiquette My grandfather

taught ant words, so I want to go there and

stand on the street to plead with each Adventurer face-to-face!”

She said

She said it out loud

Raynesia had lost all her vitality and almost collapsed dizzily, but a pair of hands supported her

shoulders

”Can I leave the rest to you, shi+roe-kun?”

”Allow me to reject, it will be a shame if I miss this”

” Then let's leave it to Michitaka-dono”

The lightheaded Raynesia felt the conversation see from far away

There was a sharp sound of a flute and there was an uproar in theroom

This was followed by a rush of footsteps and the voices of angry arguments

Raynesia uided by her partner in a dance and she was in the open balcony with the

gentle night breeze before she knew it She turned her head and saw theroom in chaos and a few

knights rushi+ng after her The one leading the knights was her respected and stern grandfather

”Will you be going there?”

Her , but her grandfather's voice was like shi+ning

letters in the clear night sky going straight into her e and seemed to feel

her grandfather's sination

She only held on to this thought for an instant

A horrifying winged beast a griffon glided in with the rising air Raynesia was lifted off her feet like

luggage before she could scream

”Please excuse my impudence”

This leisurely voice came from the warrior Krusty

He held her with his strong arriffon with the power of his legs

”You will be fine if you hold on tight”

Raynesia riffon took off into the starry night sky

with the 2 of them on it

The griffon with the young irl with black hair flew beside them

Her grandfather and the nobles'were left behind

Raynesia held on to Krusty's chest tightly to avoid her gown fro bloay

And so the whim of Raynesia caused her to tumble down an endless slope

Part 6

”What are you laughing about my lord?”

Akatsuki twisted in shi+roe's arms and looked him in the eyes

shi+roe had been snickering for a while now,a 'fu fu fu' sound deep in his throat

The griffon tore through the air of the starry night sky, flying northeast They could reach Akiba within

minutes at this speed A journey that took a few hours by horse only took about 20

griffon

”Nothing, I just find this very a”

”Hmmm?”

shi+roe was laughing happily

”This is the first tih he tried to conceal it But he

totally caved in back there This is really soothing”

”My lord you are still bearing a grudge about the dance?”

”No way well, maybe”

shi+roe replied to Akatsuki as completely in his arms

”And that princess is very daring to pull that ht of that, but

she saved the League of Freedom Towns Eastal that was trapped in a dead end No matter what others

ue, and she succeeded”

League of Freedoht of the Round Table Council shi+roe did not

knohy the 'Knights of Izu, but the Adventurers would need to join the fray It

would be a long battle of attrition if they failed

This ue of Freedom Towns Eastal

To avoid that, the League of Freedom Towns Eastal needed to pull the Round Table Council and the

Adventurers to the battlefield no ive

But there was aon their part

The Round Table Council was a governing body that administrated the function of the city, but they did

not rule over Akiba

The Adventurers were free individuals, the guilds and individuals were not restricted in any way This

concept was an unspoken rule in Akiba For players like shi+roe who viewed Elder Tales as a game, this

was so

If Akiba was riddled with rules and bound the freedom of the Adventurers, it would create undue stress

a the Adventurers

The ambassadors from the Round Table Council led by Krusty had the authority to provide military

assistance against the goblin army, but they also needed to fulfill a condition There was only one

condition, they needed to get the support of the Adventurers in Akiba when they announced their decision

to send aid

If they failed to do this, shi+roe and the other as in Akiba

Although the current Akiba was unable to sustain itself econo

in thethe knowledge of the old world, they

would definitely i economy

Put simply, it was hard to entice Akiba with rewards since Akiba was a prosperous and rich city

Since neither gold nor provision of technology would work, League of Freedom Towns Eastal had

nothing to negotiate with In reality, Akiba needed a lot of raw resources such as food The players with

their knowledge of the old world were always striving for comfort, they would not be satisfied with

tasteless soggy crackers anymore

But the nobles did not notice this in their short period of tiether

shi+roe already had a plan in mind to hint at what concessions the Round Table Council would want if the

otiation

But some of the nobles led by Marquis Kyriva exploded e to a stalemate

and shi+roe was unable to play his cards

(She ht not know this, but she not only rescued the nobles, she also saved the Round Table Council)

Honestly, shi+roe agreed with sending out an expedition force

This was so they could not avoid in orde