Vol 4 Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5: Contract

Part 1

”Please help us, we need your strength shi+roe-san!”

Suppressing the pain in her heart, the clear sorrow in her voice told shi+roe so was amiss

Minori was not a girl ould joke in this kind of voice

She was a serious, gentle, and strong girl

shi+roe noticed that Minori saw him as her role model

Minori tried to learn everything he did on the battlefield and unconsciously re even

irl, shi+roe wanted to teach her all that he knew

Minori always responded to his lessons with more than 100 effort

shi+roe didn't knohat sort of life she lived in the old world and he never asked shi+roe could not hope

to understand the feelings of a pair of s ere trapped away from home and

could only hang on to each other

But her willingness to take up responsibility did not diminish in this alternate world

This was a virtue shi+roe didn't have, he knew he had been running away, refusing to build his own abode

A girl as not afraid of socializing with others and committed wholeheartedly

Minori seeht that he had been saved by her practical character

Minori had never asked so desperately for help before She trusted him, she was on intimate terms with

hie, but she had never asked for his help so defenselessly before

It should be the pride in her heart holding her back shi+roe liked this part of her as well and held her in

high regards

But Minori as like this was fighting back tears as she talked She was not asking just anyone, but

shi+roe himself, which surprised him

Fro purple in the evening

”Someone fell, Rundelhous-san, he”

Froround of Minori he could hear shouts and sounds of gasping breaths

Telepathy seemed to work like low-performance cell phones

The sound emitted near the ear drue, but you needed to talk

out loud to relay your round noise would be picked up too

Minori should be still near the battlefield, he could hear the sounds of other girls and the noisy

background

”He is”

”Rudy is a People of the Land”

Another voice interrupted

shi+roe deduced the voice belonged to the bard Isuzu that Minori mentioned To be able to hear the words

so clearlyMinori's lips

shi+roe understood everything from this

He stood up alrabbed his backpack, and rushed out of the tent After

blowing his whistle twice, he didn't waste tiriffon to come and ran to the central plaza of the

equestrian garden

”Minori, status report”

After taking 3 steps into the plaza, he found a coet Charasin

over now

”A fierce battle broke out while defending Choushi+, on but Rundelhous-san was mortally wounded

in the process Resurrection ic failed, but he still has a pulse and body warmth But remains

unconscious”

Resurrection ic failed

The giant wings that spread across the skies landed, shi+roe jumped on subconsciously and almost didn't

notice Akatsuki following behind and squeezing into his arical beast

The well-trained flyingdark

”The pulse should be gradually weakening”

”Use a resurrection spell again”

”We've already cast it twice, but he didn't regain consciousness”

Resurrection ic could revive companions who died

The ic seemed miraculous in nature, but was not difficult Healer classes could learn it by level 20

Resurrection spells also had levels, low-level spells could revive players but at the expense of the target

losing some EXP

This was the reason why Minori contacted shi+roe after trying it twice

(No, there should be a more important reason)

The People of the Land were not Adventurers, they could not revive once they die, and they would not

respawn at the cathedral The background at the other end of the telepathy line was the sound of sobbing

with suppressed e

”Your whereabouts and party members”

”Me, Tohya, Isuzu-san, Serara-san and Rundelhous-san who has not been revived, location is the main

junction in the central district of Choushi+”

”Is it safe?”

”No ene at the coastal area, I don't knohen the goblins

will strike again”

It was ending

When the People of the Land took tootheir lives, the term for this

was ending According to ReGan's spirit theory, resurrection spells ht work in the short moment

before the soul separated from the body Since the resurrection failed, it meant he had moved into the

stage of 'Failing Essence'

”shi+roe-nii, please save Rudy!”

He could hear a strong voice in his ears

”Rudy-nii is stupid and a fool, but he is also strong and cool, he sacrificed himself to save me!”

”I aht him to the battlefield, no, I did not do that directly but I didn't stop Rudy from

co!”

This sobbing voice came from the other end of the telepathy

'I need'

He heard Minori's words

These words made shi+roe cool down

He visualized an asphalt road that was going to be covered by snow in the winter night, and he was lying

on this road and losing his te but clear, a way for shi+roe to release his

iination

His unrestricted thoughts went out of control, searching for a route through the matrix of possibilities he

could ih the feasibility of all possible combinations

(Since this is Minori's request, I have to help her)

This was not his will, but his prerequisite

To fulfill the prerequisite, shi+roe increased his speed of thinking

”Instruct Serara to use resurrection ic”

”Yes”

Minori replied immediately

She didn't question why and didn't object that it would not work Minori trusted shi+roe totally, she

believed that shi+roe must have a way, that's why she contacted him

But that was just her one-sided wishful thinking

There were things shi+roe could not do Wrong, shi+roe could not do e and

unreasonable alternate world, he could even say that he couldn't do anything at all

But this was just a small issue, could not be done meant could not be done, he would think about it when

he needed to tackle it The i was that Minori believed shi+roe could do it, so there was only

one answer for shi+roe

He believed he could do it

The heart that believed reconstructed all kinds of cos from other

angles and reviewing the concepts that were thought to be impossible

”The pulse seethened But he is still unconscious”

”Wait 150 seconds, Tohya guard the area, Isuzu-san use MP recovery songs, 150 seconds later Minori use

resurrection ic”

”Yes”

shi+roe recollected ReGan's words

Rundelhous was dead

For People of the Land or Adventurers, dead meant dead

Death started when the body stoppedin this alternate world The body would not be able to move,

the consciousness was disconnected from the body and trapped in darkness

This was a sign the communication between the 'Soul' and 'Essence' had ceased

The 'Essence' would then start to dissipate

'Essence' was the source of energy for the 'Ki' in the body, the diffusion process was known as 'Failing

Essence' For powerful or high-level bodies, they had stronger 'Ki' and the 'Failing Essence' process

lasted longer

Rundelhous was a physically weak inner-level, the speed of his 'Failing

Essence' should be very fast

Probably the resurrection ic probably came too late

A resurrection spell cast by the healer would inject 'Essence' into the body in the state of 'Failing Essence'

in order to ically repair the connection between the 'Soul' and the 'Essence'

It gathered the dissipated 'Essence' and used the healer's 'Ki' to replenish any lost 'Ki' of the target,

sti the body to recover

Since there was still body warmth and pulse, it could be deduced that the spell had stimulated recovery,

but the connection between 'Soul' and 'Essence' was not repaired, so he did not regain consciousness

If that was the situation, it made sense

The 'Soul' was starting to diffuse reaching a state of 'Losing Soul' 'Soul' was the energy that drived the

psyche, the human psyche was based on 'Soul', as its connection to the body was severed, it would

become a lost 'Soul' and lose its identity

The low-level Rundelhous ht after he reached the stage of

'Failing Essence'

Adventurers could be sent to the cathedral to respahere a new body was made, the 'Soul' was then

linked to this new body As their body could respawn, they would not go through the state of 'Losing

Soul', so even if their body died, their 'Soul' would respawn in a new body They would not die for real

”It has been 150 seconds, casting resurrection now”

”After another 150 seconds, Serara will cast resurrection again, I am on my way there so take turns

casting ic for 8 minutes”

He heard Minori's acknowledgement The resurrection spells around level 20 were still primitive, it had

a long casting time and they would be defenseless, not practical for use on the battlefield and had a cool

down of 300 seconds

But Rundelhous had both Serara and Minori by his side, they ht be new but they were still healers

By taking turns to cast resurrection spell, they could halve the 300 seconds cool down to 150 seconds

Resurrectionthey could last, but he could only

leave it to them

'Losing Soul' was triggered by 'Failing Essence', when the host body disappeared, the 'Soul' would also

be lost HowSoul' process was dependent on their resurrection spells

The next would be

”Akatsuki, hold me”

This made the silent Akatsuki turn around slowly despite the terrifying conditions on the back of the flying

griffon In the strong wind that threatened to tear through her skin, she hugged shi+roe tightly

shi+roe closed his eyes and thought of what ite and reached in He didn't knohat

items he needed to use, or even if it would work

But to prepare for the 'spell' he would be casting, he searched for the suitable items

The bottle of ink shi+roe took a long timents in the whole

world

Part 2

Raynesia arrived on the battlefield acco

According to reports, the vicinity of the valley had been secured by Krusty's forces

”Woo”

”Are you okay?”

The feht did not show much concern in her expressions, but she still asked kindly

There were very few people who experienced the air of the battlefield in this world Because the People

of the Land and demihumans died very fast, their bodies would disappear within half a day No matter

what kind of battle it was, the place would just be a deserted land when the bodies were gone

But this battlefield was formed very recently

The stench of blood was too sti for Raynesia, fortunately the suh

the greenerythe smell more bearable, but she was unable to look down around her feet

The feht took a step forward to confirm the details of the battle

The fes to the 'Field Monitor' group

In the heat of battle, especially on a large-scale like this, your field of vision would be obscured and

lirasp the whole situation from the front-lines

So DDD would detail a group with the size between a party and a 'Full Raid' to survey the battlefield

and support the 'Legion Raid' group fighting on the ground Their main duty was to use optical items and

reconnaissance spells to gather intelligence and report to the front-line commander

Raynesia thought Takaya officer within DDD because of the attitudes of the

people around her

Because they scouted a trail without the need to bash through the vegetation, they reached the bottom of

the valley earlier than expected Raynesia along with her escorts came to the wide rocky river bank near

the stream

This was upstream of the battlefield they could see frons of any

goblin corpses, only the cool flow of the strea off the summer heat

The Adventurers around were resting in their preferred way, so topless,

others were doing weapon maintenance

This was the center of the battlefield, but with no ene

except the sentries working on shi+ft

Raynesia had reviewed the parade procession of knights as a princess before

But she did so froave a prepared speech She would occasionally head into the parade

square and greet the knights as she walked past their forhts of Maihama would always

be in perfect alignle for her review

So she had never been up close and personal, walking ahts ere considered rowdy by

nobles' standards

Raynesia was a People of the Land, the daughter of the fa Maihama Even if Akiba joined the

'League of Freedo as they didn't have a direct lord-subordinate relationshi+p, the knights

had no obligation to respect Raynesia Raynesia didn't wish to upset them too much since she was

gradually accepting the Adventurers had a different culture from her

Raynesia already knew they did not like to stand on cereh she was

a bit surprised

What astonished her nore her

Whenever Raynesia passed by thereet her with a loud voice

”Don't worry princess, ill settle this war in no time”

”Heavens, Caucasian-types look like angels”

”The blitz group will be enough to take out all the goblins”

”A real princess is here, where is the camera!”

”Is it okay to wander here princess? Ah, so Miss Takayama is here, God bless”

”Ha ha ha! Our commander is just ahead princess”

”Wah, wah!”

”Be careful of stray arrows!”

They were crude in their words, giving Raynesia the impression of the rumored mercenaries, but she did

not feel any distaste about the rude and looking down

on her when they said these words, that was the usual way they acted, and they were friendly enough to

joke with her

Raynesia was a shut-in

She did not converse ith others

She had been relying on her perfect lady education to handle all the situations she faced, but she realized

this was not effective on the Adventurers

The Adventurers were not familiar with the culture of the nobles, they wouldn't ht

change in expression and overreact

After Raynesia's rare session of thinking, she invented an original method to interact with the Adventurers

with sie

The method was to smile and wave her hand at chest level

If soave her advice or spoke with her, she would think about thefor a while and reply

”Thank you” Adventurers were the sah if

she only worked on her appearance Even if she showed her side unbeco of a lady, they were not

nobles and wouldn't mind This was the conclusion made by Raynesia

According to the strict standards of the social world, Raynesia's attitude was on the borderline of being

rude But they were Adventurers and this was the battlefield, Raynesia explained to her grandfather in her

heart

But Raynesia did not realize her sincere s the line of etiquette

in her heart had roup elcomed her readily

The hybrid task force was led by Krusty, he based the structure of the group around DDD members to

ensure the integrity of the command structure But if he only used DDD members, Krusty would be

showing too th in the Round Table Council, so he had to show the unity of the Round Table

Council when he arranged the raid group So half of this hybrid army was formed by veteran players not

affiliated with DDD

They included guild hts and Honesty, there was a variety in cape colors

and coat of arms, which Raynesia interpreted as aristocratic clans, so this band of knights looked strange

to her

The relationshi+ps a the nobles' clans were complicated, with blood relationshi+p and alliances

it more sophisticated It enerally some

hostilities between the clans This was the reason why the 'League of Freedom Towns Eastal' was not

united

But such conflicts were not apparent in this battlefield

From the colors of their capes and their coat of arms, they seemed to have divided themselves into

s, so eapon inspections, others were

running around distributing resupplies

Raynesia noticed the source of her discomfort

With so hts around, there were no squires or attendants around Takayama Misa explained that

they were a select group of elite forces so weaklings would only get in the way, but how could there be so

hts without any squires?

(The Adventurers seem to be free from class systems)

Even though she knew they were very free, but to see it in action with her eyes, every little detail

surprised her

”Yes, I can hear you, please continue”

Krusty was at the front edge of the bank where the strea his sweat off his

topless body

He was co his sweat, but he turned to face

theroup

Krusty cal dry Takayama Misa seemed used to his bold and

calm actions, as she approached him to report with documents in hand

Krusty listened attentively with his back to her

(What an a body)

Krusty with his elegant clothes in the courts didn't give such a feeling of impact She could feel his

overwhel at his bare back His muscular back had the beauty of a wild beast as

Raynesia lost herself looking at it

(Eh! What a at!)

Raynesia shook her head and sulked

She always lost her pace when Krusty was around

She missed the peaceful bedroo as a shut-in, she just wanted to

sleep after eating and live lazily like plants Her biggest hobby was sun-bathing, she was looking forward

to beco her life like a hermit

According to Raynesia's ideals, it was not wrong to say she had changed or become depraved

”Understood, I will increase the aroups at the next location”

When Takayama Misa finished her report, Krusty had already dressed hi the same

ared his shi+rt His calm expression was the same as his time in the

'Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice', he was so calm that it made Raynesia mad

”Hoas the battlefield?”

Krusty asked as he walked towards her

Because of their height difference, Raynesia had to tilt her head up, which made her feel unpleasant She

could neither feel the joy Krusty had when he fought nor the feeling that he ht disappear like a flimsy

illusion

Thepri she had seemed to be

like a dream

”Did you feel scared?”

Raynesia was trapped in her own thoughts and slow in responding, so Krusty asked her again teasingly

”No such thing, I believe Krusty-sama will protect me”

Since Krusty put on his mask of courtly manners, she had to reply in kind She wanted to show him she

had much more experience in the rhetoric and culture of the aristocrats

” The princess sure is popular”

Raynesia turned around and saw a group of Adventurers observing Krusty and Raynesia from afar without

This ently and smiled, and the Adventurers

went about their business with smiles on their faces

”Such a thing does not matter Krusty-sama”

Raynesia faced Krusty again bearing the frustration of going off-topic Krusty was always showing this

type of attitude,Raynesia unsure of whether to put on her courtly manners or to adjust to the

Adventurer's way

”Also”

Just as Raynesia stepped forward to speak, the howl of wolves echoed through the entire valley It came

froe, it was obviously from a distance away, but it still drove a chill into Raynesia's

heart

”That was”

”Dire wolves, should be large in size judging by the sound”

”Fro's escort?”

”The goblin king is not here, he will not leave 'Seven Falls', this is the goblin general's royal guards”

”Royal guards”

Raynesia clasped her hands in front of her chest, she saw the rae of Krusty's army and believed in

their strength But Raynesia did not know anything about battles so she was afraid, and Krusty seemed so

dangerous when he threw himself into battle

She was not sure if she should ask hiht

As Raynesia hesitated, the wolves howled again Krusty grinned at the sound and did not notice how

Raynesia felt and he said with a cruel smile:

”We ipe out their nest later, let's take out the trash in Sand Leaf for now”

Part 3

The long central road in Choushi+ was an excellent landing runway for the griffon The ic beast did not

flap its wings as it glided down shi+roe patted Akatsuki's head, looked down and whispered: ”Please

clear the area, don't let any players or monsters come near”

Akatsuki nodded without saying anything

Even though the speed was faster than a horse, the 2 of theriffon without any concern

and htlessly forward, her light body disappeared behind the

roof of the stone building

After seeing her off, shi+roe rushed towards Tohya aving his hand

There were 5 people in Minori's group, all of them had anxious faces From the reports he received

through telepathy, the Ocypete had arrived but was unable to dock because of the Sahuagin's resistance

Naotsugu's party was dealing with the goblins in place of Minori's group

(That will be more convenient)

shi+roe did not know if the spell would work Even though the theory was sound and shi+roe had

experi the impact on the future, it would be better to

have feitnesses even if it succeeded

Was that a tavern or hotel in front?

A young , the crying girl beside him should

be Isuzu, a charirl with freckles

Familiar faces surrounded shi+roe, Tohya with his painful expression, Serara with her look of worry, and

Minori with her sense of purpose

shi+roe calmed his heart

It was hot out here, but his ht sky

”Minori, add me to your party”

”Yes”

Minori nodded without further questions shi+roe was thankful that she was not talking in this situation He

observed Rundelhous' face, he looked like an elegant nobleman He still had body warmth and a pulse,

but he was still unconscious The party status screen was flashi+ng the word 'death'

”I recall you are Isuzu-san? Continue 'Mediation Nocturne', I a to cast a new spell, please keep

this an absolute secret”

shi+roe told the beginners with a strict tone

”If you cannot agree then give up or leave”

The group shook their heads in response, no one flinched away at his words

”Alright, let's begin”

shi+roe chose the spell fro', a unique spell of enchanters which had

unknown functions

The effect was to drain all the MP of his allies and distribute it equally

(Correct The psyche lies in the 'Soul', and MP is the manifestation of the 'Soul', if that is the case)

As he chanted the spell incantation, the MP of the whole party gathered inside shi+roe

shi+roe out-leveled all of the' was a heavy burden on Minori's

party ere less than level 30

Minori, Tohya, and Serara looked pale Their MP was gradually drained away,them feel dizzy

and lost Isuzu continued to hold Rundelhous' hand and sing her sad ancient ballad despite her face turning

white

shi+roe felt the effect of the ic with his eyes half-closed

The MP he gathered from his allies was all under shi+roe's control He could feel the lingering scent of

their 'Soul' although it was only a faint hint Tohya's one-track mind, Minori's seriousness, all of these

expanded out under shi+roe's control

It also included Serara's, Isuzu's, Rundelhous', and his own MP

The MP with different subtle tastesthe

ical circuit connected to his allies

shi+roe divided the MP evenly and distributed it

(Hnng!)

The rapid loss of MP gave shi+roe a feeling of anemia

His MP was ed to the e class and their maximum MP

was a the classes And shi+roe was level 90, re-allocating the MP evenly with

level 30 adventurers was the sa all their MP in one shot

”Minori cast Resurrection, Serara continue to heal”

This was all preparation work, shi+roe continued to give instructions, but the tiht

only be one chance and one sentence

Rundelhous was a People of the Land

He was not an Adventurer, so he would not revive after dying

And Rundelhous was now dead

That's why Rundelhous would not revive

This was an iron-clad rule that could not be overturned

Thespell of the enchanter restored the MP of the group in other words, revitalized

their psyche and soul

He did not regain consciousness because his 'Soul' and 'Essence' were not connected This was the same

as being comatose, so they needed to find a way to force it to connect

For the next phase, shi+roe took so out from his backpack

”It will be a race against time”

shi+roe used 'Hades Incense of Soul Recovery' as he finished his sentence

This was used to wake your allies or creatures for a short time, a medicine mainly used for special

of consciousness for 3 minutes before you died

again, and the Adventurer would be forcibly sent back to the cathedral

But for Rundelhous whose 'Essence' was dissipating continuously, this item held a certain possibility

No matter what happened, his body would be destroyed, the psyche and soul residing in the host body

would also perish

'Hades Incense of Soul Recovery' would re-energize his 'Soul' and forcibly connect it to his body, but at

the expense of death after 3 minutes He could only pull Rundelhous back to this world for 3 minutes

A fake resurrection with a time limit

The group seerip on Rundelhous' hand with tears flowing

down her cheeks

”Ah”

Rundelhous opened his eyes slowly as if he just woke up from a dream

Isuzu couldn't stop crying as she held his hands It was unclear if he had regained consciousness, even his

eyes opening ht be just the reflex of his body

”Rudy?”

”Miss Isuzuah, everyone, that's right seems like I died”

He had some awareness after death, just that the connection between his 'Soul' and 'Essence' had been

severed For Adventurers, this meant the monitor lost its color, you could only watch your comrades

fighting in black and white It was not clear hoas for the People of the Land, but Rundelhous

seerasp the situation

Rundelhous smiled and spoke with a tired voice to the others

”Don't be like this everybody don't ht you will risk death, isn't that natural?”

”Only natural”

Tohya's voice made shi+roe's heart ache

It was soame, the heavy topic of death was only natural for the

People of the Land

”I wanted to be an Adventurer despite that, please don't blame Miss Isuzu okay? I wanted her to help me

keep this a secret”

”No, I already noticed, but I chose to ignore it!”

Minori cried out loud, telling everyone the impact this had on the Minori who always acted calmly

”Ha ha ha, yeah, thank you Miss Minori there is no need to feel bothered about this”

”No, there is a need”

shi+roe interrupted

There was no time

shi+roe let hishe was about to do It

ht even threaten the laws of the world

He didn't kno this would affect the world if he was successful, or how the world would receive

this 'proposal'

But the youngfarewell to the rest called himself an

Adventurer