Vol 6 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2: Cracked Wing

1

”Just give in, okay? Fufu, you just need to entrust your body to ht?”

”Mary you are acting like a perverted old man”

”Ah, ah wahh!”

Akatsuki was sitting at the edge of the couch, glancing at the chaos in the room

This was a beautifulroom The peach-colored wallpaper was brand-new and the decor was filled with grace and fe with the luxurious tea set and the ladies in the rooeous atmosphere

The host, Raynesia, maintained her usual smile with a hint of uneasiness That was natural The clothes Maryele wanted her to as a nurse uniform

Even Akatsuki thought it was too adventurous

”This dress is a bit small for me”

Raynesia shook her head like a treht Maryele replied, ”Don't worry! Our seamstress tailored it perfectly for you!” as she moved in to capture Raynesia

This roundabout way of declining Maryele would not work If it was Henrietta that would be even worse Akatsuki shook her head even thinking about it

”Eh, like this? This way?”

”Not this way Yahh!”

”Mary I told you not to use this action”

”Ah ah!”

Serara stood beside them at a loss She obediently followed Maryele's instruction of, 'bringflustered,the hierarchical relationshi+p in Crescent Moon Alliance clear

”Aren't you going to rescue her?”

The feant tea set was Rieze She was a Sorcerer in DDD with a head of blonde hair Akatsuki heard that this beautiful lady with a slender body was the captain of the training corps

Akatsuki shook her head in response to Rieze's query

She had some experience with this situation Akatsuki was in Raynesia's position not too long ago, suffering these antics frequently Although most of the attacks came from Henrietta, it was not much different from the current situation

The number of victims would double if she moved in now Akatsuki needed to protect herself

The point was this room had been transformed into the dress-up room of Crescent Moon Alliance demons

”Is that so” Rieze dropped her gaze to her red tea without any hint of accusation

Akatsuki picked up the red bean bun on the plate and took a small bite It eet and savory, one of the perks of this mission

But Akatsuki thought calling this chaotic tea party a mission sounded weird

She was here on shi+roe's request after all It ht of it as her bond with shi+roe Akatsuki would continue to take part in these tea parties for the following month

It was just Akatsuki in the beginning

She drank her tea in aard silence under the suspicious gaze of Raynesia and left after 15 minutes About a week later, Maryele joined in She ca so that, Rieze, as drinking tea in front of her, and ladies frouilds also started to frequent this tea party

To be honest, Akatsuki was not motivated to do this

She was fairls of Crescent Moon Alliance like Maryele, Henrietta, and Serara, but it was hard to sit with the ht that theyunable to hold a conversation

Surprisingly, apart from the members of Crescent Moon Alliance, the only one Akatsuki could speak comfortably as Raynesia

There were about fifteen feh Maryele attended frequently, it was only two or three times a week Each participant had their own responsibilities in their respective guilds

The most consistent participant who visited daily was Akatsuki, although she was only doing it to keep her promise with shi+roe

”Woah Your skin is beautiful, as expected of the princess”

”A, Akatsuki-san Erm help me”

”Ah ah”

”Non non I will be gentle!”

However, seeing each other frequently didn't ressed to the stage where they could chat idly

It was troubling when Raynesia hinted to Akatsuki that she should save her Mainly, because Akatsuki was also prey in this ga that she would be able to survive this ordeal if she could ht the attention of Henrietta

”Akatsuki-chan♪ Why are you curling up like a ball?”

”!”

Akatsuki ju Henrietta smile But she did not press on further today She was probably satisfied just by teasing Akatsuki

The exhausted Raynesia walked to Akatsuki's side to seek refuge Even after being toyed with for so long, she was still sitting elegantly with her knees closed She earing her usual expression, but her eyes were dead tired

Akatsuki poured tea into Raynesia's cup

She kne exhausted Raynesia must be

Theand lined them up with the help of Serara

The scariest thing was the swi costume that was part of the lineup Maryele didn't even care that it was the middle of winter now Akatsuki felt sorry for Raynesia

Raynesia was a very beautiful girl She had a delicate neck, a slender fraant shoulder contours, a s, luscious silver hair that shone like silk She had a gentle nature, was always sh-society lady

(Ah, but she is a princess, that is different froht?)

Akatsuki considered the role of 'princess' to be so like this really rade

The firstbetween Raynesia and Akatsuki was rather tense

On the day they decided to e her clothes under shi+roe's instructions orher to put on another set of clothes

(Raynesia ht Raynesia was still wary of her ever since the daily tea parties had started, and was jumpy even now

However, Raynesia didn't avoid Akatsuki blatantly or ignore her words

Raynesia put careful thought to every sentence and conversed as war iood and she could co about them just once Akatsuki understood why Raynesia was so popular

”My Adventurer guests, is this your usual clothing?” Raynesia said in a perplexed voice

She was talking about the nurse unifor one with a h Raynesia was not very tall, her proportions were perfect and her breasts formed a beautiful curve, so the outfit suited her well Akatsuki shook her head feeling complicated emotions No matter how you sliced it, there was only a very small minority of Adventurers who dressed like this daily (There were still players who did so, thanks to the cultural influence of Elder Tales)

Raynesia got ative answer

Every action of hers was like a beauty in a drawing,Akatsuki feel even more complicated

(If I act more like she does, my lord surely would No, he would not)

Akatsuki thought

Raynesia did not have the body of an Adventurer or the ability of an assassin There was no way for her to be shi+roe's bodyguard Akatsuki was unwilling to give that up She kneillful her thoughts were, but she couldn't stop the bleeding from her wounded heart

” Yeah Yeah Nurse uniforirls in the medical industry wear I see”

Rieze startedto herself

She was using telepathy

Raynesia looked shocked and became embarrassed

”The length is just right It is about 15cm above the knee!”

Raynesia had also noticed the gaze of the others as she pulled on the skirt of her nurse uniform But the non-elasticit taut did nothing other then accentuate her figure

Raynesia looked at Akatsuki with pleading eyes, asking her to 'help me' as she said 'Erh Rieze was elegant and polite, she pulled such pranks froave her a reproaching look

Rieze laughed eted with her ears and said ”It's a joke, the telepathy was just an act” Akatsuki felt the joke was in bad taste Raynesia also looked at Rieze unhappily

Rieze bowed her head slightly at Raynesia

”I'htly jealous”

”Eh”

”Becauseup this security detail, I can even be exe”

Weak spot, she was poking at her weak spot

It was indeed so

Akatsuki and Maryele came to this conclusion after a discussion

The People of the Land princess needed to be protected Ever since the Libra Festival incident, there was a group lurking soainst the city If they wanted to har the People of the Land into this

For Adventurers, the worst-case scenario would just be a trip to the cathedral to respawn after dying, but it was different for the People of the Land If Raynesia was to come to any harm, Akatsuki did not even need to think too deeply to understand the waves that event would create Relations with Raynesia's grandfather, the ruler of Maihaue of Freedom Cities Eastal, would sour or even break down completely

Princess Raynesia was protected by People of the Land knights sent from Maihama City But they were People of the Land after all, their level was around 30 If any Adventurer tried to harm the princess, the escorts would not suffice

Akiba was also guarded by the violence-detecting security system, but even if they apprehended the culprit, Raynesia would not be able to respawn if she were killed

Akatsuki thought shi+roe had foreseen all this and that hy he assigned this task to her It was the sa this period of tiive her all to fulfill this mission

But when this situation was brought up froirl fro at Raynesia's weak spot

It was hard for Akatsuki to look straight at Raynesia whom shi+roe orried about

When did she became so weak? Even Akatsuki herself wasn't sure

(This is so unlike me)

(It shouldn't be like this)

She should be happy that shi+roe was relying on her

But she was coirls

She wanted to get stronger and live up to shi+roe's expectations

Akatsuki had been working hard at this, but her world see Akatsuki

Surrounded by the elegant laughter of others, Akatsuki felt alone

2

Night fell earlier in the winter and the sun had already set when Henrietta left the Consulate She felt the streets of Akiba were beautiful Although it was dimmer than Tokyo back hoht of this world could be, the night scene in Akiba felt elegant and graceful

There were several dark buildings standing tall in the blue night of Akiba The ancient evergreen tree with branches spreading far and wide Magic light shone warentle, fantastical light was ht, fluorescent street lamps

”The sun is setting much earlier now”

”That's right,”

Henrietta nodded, agreeing with the blonde girl walking besides her

Rieze took a scarf out of her Bag of Holding and wrapped it around her neck The excess hung down her back; it appeared to be a scarf for men

”What is with this thing? It's so tedious to use and has so many layers” Rieze complained in a cute manner as Henrietta adjusted the scarf for her

With the lower half of her expression hidden by the scarf, Rieze muttered, ”Thanks” She looked ehed softly as she said, ”Don't worry, it's a simple matter”

This young girl she had befriended recently looked like a perfect lady froo the route of an ice-cool beauty She gave off a gli her so cute She was definitely er than she looked

”There is no need to work so hard, you are already a fair lady”

”Eh?”

Rieze turned to face Henrietta, who just pushed Rieze along by the shoulder gently

”Alright now, let's hurry before the place closes”

”Okay”

The duo headed in the direction ofatmosphere

Henrietta was in Crescent Moon Alliance while Rieze was in DDD Although they were in different guilds, the two of theether after the tea party at the Water Maple Consulate Maryele and Serara left early to prepare for dinner while Henrietta and Rieze went shopping for food to supplement the meal

After the revolution, the Adventurers ate delicious , but it was also a hassle Only those with the subclass of Chef were able to prepare tasty food; this was less than 10 percent of the population, from what Henrietta had estimated

After the formation of the Round Table Council, there were nu their subclass to Chef, but it was not strange for a sh a guild with hundreds of members would definitely have one with the Chef subclass, preparing food for hundreds of people was a heavy burden

To compensate for such situations, they needed to buy the foodout”What do you want to buy Henrietta-san?”

”I' me to buy some”

They chatted as they shopped for food in theti to sell off their s on sale

”Fried chicken cutlets?? Did you say fried chicken cutlets? Shop at ram!”

Henrietta bought three kilograenerously

There wereAdventurers in the Crescent Moon Alliance so this would not be enough It would be gone before you knew it

Rieze bought quiche with hazelnuts For a guild with its own cooking department, these were just snacks

The shopping reat

Just like Henrietta and Rieze, Adventurers out shopping were flooding the s Especially with the Adventurers returning fro their staves, people required more space to move around than in the old world

After finishi+ng their shopping trip and squeezing their way out of the mall, Henrietta'sin the uild even if it were just one second faster

Henrietta was surprised when Rieze said, ”Akatsuki-san see that Henrietta was concerned about

”You could tell?”

”It's that obvious”

Akatsuki had been looking languid recently She kept to herself even when there were things troubling her and adopted a polite demeanor so most people wouldn't notice Henrietta knew because she had been watching Akatsuki since the Catastrophe

She was surprised that even Rieze could tell Rieze only came into contact with Akatsuki at Raynesia's tea party That meant they had been acquainted for half a month

Henrietta was impressed with Rieze

”Akatsuki-san is ht?”

Was Rieze referring to biological age or the a Elder Tales? Henrietta nodded her head auously

” I am not very sure I heard she is a veteran assassin She looks like one too”

On the luscious green pathway between the , Rieze continued to speak softly In the cold winter, she was breathing out white air as she spoke

”She ca once No, maybe more than once The only time I sensed her was just that one ti for 4 hours”

”Is that so” Henrietta could only answer this way

She could guess what Akatsuki was troubled about But to stare at the training of a irl really feel? It ined, but she was unable to say she understood Akatsuki's pain

Henrietta had no experience in major raids; she was a normal Adventurer She was not a top-ranked Adventurer when Elder Tales had been just a game

”We thought it was so for ood environment to be in if you want to join inhard to h thelike children e encounter battles Wrong, they are kids Kids who are more childish than real children Just like a bunch of A to fight in a raid That's why I thought she wanted to join us”

”I don't think so”

” Correct I found that out pretty quickly”

Rieze stared at the ground and nodded when Henrietta corrected her

”Anyway, I reported this to ht she was a spy, but the reply was to ignore her He is okay with her observing our training unconditionally”

She cal her boot mark on it, and continued

”Souild aren't happy about this Although it is not sonment shortly after this”

Henrietta sighed as she looked at the proud blonde girl as a little bit shy Having a crush on Krusty was pretty rash, right? She sy the man who made difficult demands with a nonchalant expression

But it was the sa for shi+roe

Compared to them, Henrietta was much more reserved

Although thinking about shi+roe stirred her heart a little, it was still within an understandable range In this world with little entertain inti his time with Minori, she didn't feel any pain in her heart Rather, it was more like an affirmation of happiness

Henrietta held on to her one-sided love fro satisfied so easily, Henrietta had no right to criticize the efforts of Rieze and Akatsuki

”The way Krustysama put it, he owes a lot to shi+roe-san That's why he gave permission for Akatsuki-san to observe If she opted to join us, it would be a good deal, but soliciting Akatsuki-san was prohibited”

Rieze stopped the topic since she didn't kno Henrietta felt about this

”Is that so”

Such an arrangeht

shi+roe probably didn't know about Krusty's thoughtful actions

She didn't get whether guys were dense towards such things or just preferred to go in a roundabout manner This could be easily resolved if they approached Akatsuki after noticing so was up From Akatsuki's standpoint, she would be at a loss if they approached her

(What Akatsuki-chan is after is confidence)

What she wants

Things which soranted Others wouldn't even knohere to start in order to achieve it

Maryele was such a person This friend of Henrietta's was like a sunflower illuht nature Henrietta didn't have the confidence to smile like that She felt she would never have the heart and personality to shi+ne for everyone

This was unique to Maryele It was so only a handful of people like Maryele possessed, but was absent from most people like Henrietta

On the other hand, Henrietta knew people who lacked confidence no matter how hard they worked For people like that, every second that passed by was torture Henrietta had seen people who held such fear and self-abasing feelings She e Such people were jumpy wherever they went, tired in bothattitude towards others

Henrietta felt she was like this when she reflected on herself

Unshakable confidence She didn't have the confidence to safeguard the things that were most important to her This confidence could only be earned as a result of experience and effort

For exa your friendshi+p with others

Or holding a job without troubling your company

Gettingto aabout the love life of your friends while being the accountant of a guild was a pretty good way to kill time

Beco everyone back home would not fall on her To protect her juniors with the things she had learned-- that was the role Henrietta gave herself

Instead of brooding on tasks she couldn't do, she worked on things she could

This was not anything major, just a normal conclusion by a normal person

”Not getting what you want is a co in this world”

Rieze said as she buried her face in the big scarf designed for men

That's right, this was obvious

This was all too normal for commoners

This was the life etting what you wanted Henrietta was used to it It was probably the same for Rieze

But that didn't mean there were no complaints

They were used to not getting what they want and there was nothing they could do about it That didn't mean they could accept this fact so sio on without adjusting to this, but going with the flowcorpse

Henrietta thought Akatsuki was shi+ning brilliantly

This foolish girl eak It was a weakness which Henrietta thought of as part of 'growing up', a weakness of getting hurt easily It was a weakness, but also an asset

Henrietta also knew this weakness was tor Akatsuki

Henrietta did not wish for her beloved Akatsuki to suffer this pain

Unfortunately, she thought it was impossible for her to help

She didn't knohere to start and are that this was not so others could help with Henrietta reflected about herself She was not sure how she became like this in the first place

”The only thing we can do is stay by her side”

”That's true”

Rieze probably knew this too and answered curtly

(That pitch-black Kuroe-sama is really!)

Henrietta let out a big sigh without Rieze noticing

With his close ally in a bind, as that incredibly sht now? The shi+roe as able to see through any sche this type of situationOr ht just be wearing binoculars he couldn't remove

Henrietta, as thinking about slightly rude things, smiled bitterly

She wanted to treat Akatsuki better Let's bring clothes for Akatsuki to dress up tomorrow The cloud cleared in Henrietta's heart when she thought about this She browsed through the catalog in her mind This was all for Akatsuki's sake, she convinced herself

This was just another peaceful indigo night in Akiba

3

On this very saht scene with their guts and will

Known as ”the uild with girls of iron discipline, West Wind Brigade

It had a high ratio of ladies to irls Just like its nalamorous as usual with dozens of members focused on preparations

Most of the irls, but the atmosphere was not sweet

With their li ladies ready for battle They chatted in soft voices as they looked at their leader, Soujirou

The boyish Soujirou surveyed the lobby The group that would 'sortie' tonight in Akiba comprised of 24 people With four parties of six Adventurers, they had organized themselves into a full raid All those present were level 90 and above

”Everyone”

Soujirou's voice raised the tension in the hall Aside froroup, other members were present to lend their support There were twice the nuathered here

”I have stressed this uard up He isalone is prohibited Maintain formation and report in periodically The contact person will be Nazuna”

”Yes, since we are doing this, let's get it right Don't push yourself, everyone Once you engage the target, assuned two healers to each party, so we are lacking in terms of firepower Don't assu with just one party The s, and slow him down, okay?”

Nazuna earing loose home clothes as she spoke slowly

If there was a need to be nervous, she could leave the butterflies to the parties ere going out to fight

No problem She trusted her comrades

The secret to the success of raids by suilds like Black Sword Knights or DDD, lay in their unity and cooals

Right now, West Wind Brigade was fueled by anger in their quest to apprehend the culprit

Nazuna, who bundled her black hair behind her, inspected theout They had made ample preparations in terms of equipment and tactics Nazuna nodded at the members who promised to stick to the plan

”Well then, your shi+ft will be over in two hours The second raid group's formation and preparation will be done here There will be supper when you come back, look forward to it After a two-hour break you will need to et too relaxed Like Souji said, the eneet this point Okay, I leave the rest to you, Souji”

”Hmm What else is there to say? What I want to talk about has already been said Alright then, there is only one goal The culprit who assaulted our family cut him down”

Soujirou was a youngHe was s at everyone as usual without a hint of panic in his speech, but his words were ice-cold, freezing the mood in the hall A female Cleric who seemed to shi+ver from this cold air squeezed out a reply froht had fallen

The four parties rushed out of the hall in high spirits

The West Wind Brigade guild hall incorporated a japanese style in its layout

The place wasn't like this in the beginning; it had slowly morphed into its current state because of the interests of Soujirou and his members In order to conduct troop inspections before the patrol, the furniture had been moved out of the way

Soujirou pulled a wooden chair into the hall and sat on it

He was on standby, but had no intention of going back to his roo hall”They arepork rib soup in the kitchen” Nazuna informed Soujirou out of concern, but he just shook his head with a smile

(It would be great if shi+roe-san or Kazuhiko-san were here)

Nazuna put her hand on her chin

She had been like this since the old world; she was taller than norh it was not at the gravure level, her figure was still great So to the eyes', but she felt troubled by it With her feet shoulder-width apart and her arms crossed, she looked older and more mature

As a founding member with a helpful nature, Nazuna earned the trust of those around her Because of this, Nazuna was recognized as the vice-guildht that compared to the charismatic leadershi+p of Soujirou, she was uild from behind the scenes

The ood kids who adored Nazuna, and she loved theether after the Catastrophe made her feel that everyone was family

But beneath the kind and warli Nazuna feel bashful as she reminisced about old times

But Soujirou was right this time

The opponent was the Murderer threatening Akiba in the night As one of the eleven guilds of the Round Table Council, West Wind Brigade had the obligation to defend the security of Akiba Patrolling the streets was expected of proreed with this

Furthermore, the Murderer had laid his hands on a coade

Kyouko respawned at the cathedral She didn't lose much in terms of memory or items Kyouko feared the Murderer but she could still face him in combat, that hat she said But an assault was still an assault The murderer laid his hands on the family of Nazuna and Soujirou

Unforgivable

That's how Nazuna felt

She knew Soujirou shared her wrath Although Soujirou's judgment could be too direct at times, that was his nature since the Tea Party days It sounded good when you described it as no hesitation or worries, but on the flip side it meant he was merciless and cruel

Nazuna thought Soujirou was not as warentle as the ladies of Akiba portrayed hi man, but that was not his true nature

He just happened to act this way

Soujirou was gentle to women He acted this way to almost all ladies

He was not doing this out of kindness This was simply the way he was

It was the sae on the Murderer who harirl He didn't do it because he particularly liked Kyouko He was just this type of young man

This was a principle of sorts When hismade a decision, even Nazuna could not influence this aspect of hih She could advise hihts first' or to 'leave this issue to the Round Table Council'

But Nazuna could not warn Soujirou or guide his growth

The only one who could influence Soujirou at that level was shi+roe or Kazuhiko

Because the idea of protecting girls was deeply rooted in Soujirou's thinking, Nazuna's advice was unable to reach him

Soujirou was gentle to girls This was not just a good point but a bad point he needed to correct

Following hiade, Nazuna could be seen as one of Soujirou's girlfriends

But for Nazuna, she thought of Soujirou as a kid brother

Someone that made her worry and she could not leave alone

For Soujirou to act like a guildmaster normally and wear this facial expression was just a streak of lucky coincidences Nazuna wouldn't be surprised if this young uild somehow That was just the way Soujirou Seta was

(But I love him I love with all my heart)

Nazuna fidgeted with Soujirou's hair subconsciously as she thought

Although she really liked hi man was abnormal

He could even rival the Murderer

That's why he could irls and even lead the charts

”What is it?” Soujirou asked Nazuna with his eyes wide open

He orried about the silent Nazuna Nazuna felt troubled as she smiled at him She couldn't help it because they were fas that Soujirou lacked and avenge her other family member, Kyouko, who fell under the blade of the Murderer

4