9-009
Serara is hiding in one of the many simple, insulated dwellings in Susukino, a two-bedroom apartment that is housed inside an abandoned building.
This is a world where the civilization of the old times was lost due to the collapse of the world, and the ruins of this civilization can be seen everywhere. Of course, the player, Celara, knows that these buildings seem to be inspired by the real world of Japan. In real life, Susukino is part of the city of Sapporo, and this player town is a reminder of that.
On Earth, Susukino used to be an entertainment district, but now there are many multi-tenant buildings in the city. In this otherworldly town of Susukino, designed after the world of Elder Tail, most of the buildings have been refurbished to look like fortifications, reinforced with rugged blue steel.
This angular, retro, mechanical empire is the design motif of Hokkaido, or as we call it here, the "Ezzo Empire".
These abandoned buildings, reinforced with steel frames, screws, and huge bolts and nuts, were able to withstand snow and wind, but they were unable to protect themselves from the cold of winter. So the people of Susukino build another house with insulation inside the fortified miscellaneous buildings. These houses are built with an emphasis on warmth and livability.
Although this is not feasible in the real world of Japan, as it would be highly inefficient in terms of the number of people per square foot, it is possible in the Elder Tail game world, and it is the same here in the other world.
Serara lives in one such insulated space as a hiding place. Her roommate, who had saved her, had rented it for her.
She spends most of her day cleaning the room between the two rooms.
It's not that cleaning is a hobby of hers, much less that the rooms are messy or dirty, but she has nothing else to do, and in a world without TV or the Web, it's hard to pass the time.
Besides, Serara was a 'housekeeper'. This sub occupation involved cleaning the zone and managing small items. Managing various supplies and equipment. It gives her the necessary skills for maintenance.
(.........How did I get such a minor and useless sub-job?)
Serara sighed for the umpteenth time and didn't rest her hand on cleaning.
In Elder Tail, main professions are not interchangeable, as they are selected during character creation, but sub-occupations are relatively easy to replace, as long as you are prepared for the sub-occupations to return to zero experience.
Serara's main occupation is the Forest Curse Master (Druid), one of the recovery professions.
Serara herself started the game because she wanted to be able to imitate a merchant in this complex and profound game.
There are many players who enjoy playing as a merchant. There is a unique pleasure in interacting with other players and accumulating money, which is one of the play styles of Elder Tail.
However, if you want to play as a merchant, the most common sub-occupations are tradesmen and accountants. These sub-occupations provide bonuses related to trade and a small discount on transactions with non-player characters.
Another solid option would be a production-based sub-occupation. Creating various items and playing as a merchant was one of the major styles in Elder Tail.
However, according to the introductory website that Celara had seen when she first started the game, the Trade Merchant and Accountant required a certain amount of ability and could only be obtained by completing quests. There was also a report that the sub-professions in the production field needed to have a certain amount of assets in order to obtain materials, and that they could not be successfully raised.
If that's the case, I can raise my main Forest Curse Master somewhat, save up some money and then select a sub-occupation after I have some room. I've been thinking about this for a while now, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to find a way to make it work. There is.
In other words, the fact that Selara was a 'housekeeper' was a result of elimination, a near-accidental coincidence.
(Ughhhh~. I should have had a production position even if I couldn't give her anything for a while. A craftsman, a seamstress, something like that.
Serara wipes the table dry while thinking about this.
The interior of the simple dwelling, built with insulation, is country style.
To be precise, it's not "wind", it's a legitimate wooden structure with beautiful wooden floors, wood inlaid ceilings, and walls that look like they're made of round wood.
The Ezzo Empire is a treasure trove of natural resources, and the setting has some of the largest iron mines and forestry resources in the Japan Server administration area.
The wooden flooring and the deep candy-colored wooden table are the specialties of the Ezo Empire, and if you polish them carefully, they will shine beautifully by themselves.
It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're in the market. She wears a comfortable flannel shirt and denim pants. Her hair pulled up in one piece. Her unpretentious face is not an immensely beautiful woman, but she is clean and looks like a young wife at a glance.
(And I'm too busy to raise the bar...)
Serara sighed and opened the menu. Today, the experience level of the
The Housekeeper level was 42 yesterday and today it's already 44. Lately, the pace has been going up by 3 levels every day, which is astounding. If this continues, she may complete the Housekeeper course while she's hiding out in Susukino.
(I hope I don't get a can't-skill test while living as a recluse! That's just too sad.
If you spent all day doing cleaning, laundry, and house chores, that would raise the bar. But isn't this not housekeeping, or isn't it a housewife? Serara herself can't help but think, "I don't know. As a girl of her age, that's not a bad sounding word, but the embarrassment comes first.
(What a joke! Who am I kidding? I might be a maiden who gets her house in order after welcoming her cat husband. (Konchikishou)
Selara gets embarrassed and begins to impatiently polish the dishes.
As a way to pass the time, it doesn't bother others, and from an objective point of view, it's a peaceful sight.
Her sub-occupations continue to grow at an astonishing rate, but not all of them are the same.
The Forger, for example, is difficult to cultivate and requires a great deal of work to reach level 90. In the days of the Elder Tail, it was said that this was a job only for masochists.
Generally speaking, the production sub-professions gain experience by producing the items they target.
For example, a cook would gain experience by producing food items, while a woodworker would make wooden instruments, armor, and bows. As you advance in the game, you'll learn new recipes, which will increase your repertoire of items you can produce.
However, in order to create a productive item, you'll need the raw materials that will be used to make it.
Naturally, the types of items you can use to make them will vary depending on the type of production job you have, but in any case, when you create an item, you'll need to either collect them yourself or buy them from a market.
In order to level up, you can't just make simple items; you must continue to make items that are appropriate for your current sub-profession level in order to gain experience. And of course, making higher level items requires higher levels and more raw materials.
In the case of the Forge, if you wanted to make an item with a level of 80, you would need blue jade ore, high-purity flame stone, fairy silver and Shion steel. These are all mine resources that are calculated in zones where powerful enemies appear.
These raw materials are needed in significant quantities to make a complete set of armor, and you'll need to make 100 units of armor to raise your level.
That's why they say that "smithing" is a masochistic occupation.
The housekeeper's job was much easier because she didn't need to use any materials to make armor. Of course, that takes time.
Serara-san, we're back.
One strange man comes back through the door.
This zone is independent and rented on a monthly basis, so only registered users are allowed to enter. Just as Serara had thought, a thinly built lone 'cat person' enters.
His slender body, wrapped in a green corduroy jacket, resembled a medieval musketeer from a storybook. His long, thin arms and legs gave him a slender appearance. His head is unusual; he has a nice, calm and dignified middle height, but he has a beard on his cheek and cat ears on top of his head.
His name is Nyanta.
Of the eight races that players can choose from in Elder Tail, he is a sub-race of the Cat People, with the characteristics of the Cat People.
Welcome back, Nyanta-san!
Serara bows her head with a peek.
'How was the city?'
Nyanta tilts his head back a bit and smiles vaguely. Her eyes, which are always narrowed and threadbare, are like a cat in the sunshine, giving her a sense of security, but the details of her expression are difficult for Serara to understand.
It's the same as always. Not good, not bad.
Serara's expression clouds at the words. Nyanta tells me it's not bad, but if it's not getting better, it's probably still bad. The safety of Susukino has been getting worse and worse. Because the population is small, the city's self-cleaning mechanism is not working. The city of Susukino today is a country of the weak and the strong.
A large part of this is due to a single guild called the Brigandia. This guild, which has been in disrepute since Elder Tail was a game, was formed by a band of notorious players who had been ostracized from the streets of Akiba and Minami.
The guild had been playing very aggressively, prioritizing profit, and after the Catastrophe, they quickly turned into a group of almost real thieves.
Penalties are a common occurrence, and in some cases, with only half of the items you get from penalties, they've gotten bored with the game, and have taken a lot of money from other players by threatening and sticking it to other players.
Their misdeeds extended not only to players, but also to non-player characters.
In general, non-player characters have no reason to be subjected to that kind of behavior from players in many ways. For example, the guards defending the no combat action zone have a high level of combat ability and level, and they can easily repel attacks from normal players.
Also, non-player characters in field zones, such as traveling merchants, out-of-town peasants, and residents who give adventure hints, have low combat and no self-defense abilities, but conversely do not have the same assets as the player.
And because some of them are also beings who give us quest tips, it would have been hard for a normal player to think of attacking a non-player character.
However, they didn't care about such things, and even the lack of wealth of non-player characters was rendered meaningless by their actions - in other words, they began to commodify themselves, or in other words, the "slave trade".
In Elder Tail, players could also employ non-player characters. There are many uses for this, but the most common use is to manage housing. In the Elder Tail, where players could purchase an apartment, there was a certain amount of demand for people to help clean and manage their own homes.
There was also a demand for non-players with certain special skills.
There's also the fact that the number of non-player characters has exploded. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in the game's day, non-player characters didn't need sleep or rest. Now it seems that non-player characters also need to sleep, rest and eat. Because of this, Serara had the impression that the number of replacements had been added to the world.
That the non-player characters were now as close to human as possible. And the number had increased. When these two things were dangled like ripe fodder before the eyes of a vicious guild like Brigantia, something called 'human trafficking for entertainment' had been born into the world.
Of course, there is no way there could be a huge market for it in Susukino, a city with a population of only two thousand people. It was an ugly caricatured likeness of economic activity, not an act of profit-seeking.
Non-player character hunting - and worse, even that is a way to pass the time.
And like all follies, it escalated, and the abuse and exploitation of non-player characters was directed at real-life female players, even Serara.
When she remembered this, Serara could feel the blood drain from her. A dimming veil descended before her eyes, and her body temperature clearly dropped.
If the man in front of her, Nyanta, hadn't helped her, she would have been in a terrible situation.
'Well, well. Mr. Serara. Don't think so. If you don't think about it, you'll get old in the blink of an eye.
As Nyanta said that, she fluttered her palm in front of Serara.
''When you say that, it's good to eat some fruit without thinking too much about it. ....Here you go.
He hands the apple to Serara, who nods a small nod.
A sweet scent drifts from the red fruit and Celara is relieved.
The house is beautiful today, too. I'm sure you'll make a good bride, Serara.
Not at all. Yes, sir.
Nyanta pulled a chair from the dining room and kitchen table and sat down on it, letting out those thoughts in a relaxed manner. At her words, Serara feels her temperature rise from the bottom of her body.
Nyanta himself calls himself an "old man".
It's true that he is much older than Serara, judging by the sound of his voice. It's not surprising that he is twice as old as his second year of high school.
But that doesn't mean she doesn't feel "old" at all, as she says she does. Once I told him that, he replied, "That's because of the graphics in the game world," but Celara doesn't think so at all.
(Nyanta-san must be that.... He's a beautiful middle-aged man. He's smart, good looking, and mature. He's refreshing.
Nyanta is a reliable and mature man. There's nothing rough around the edges, but when you're with him, you have a strange sense of security that he'll protect you. His black hair with silver tufts in it is very nice, just like a high-class cat's, and his thin body is very cool.
(Nyanta-san is very smart, so when I'm with him, I look like a fat person. That's the only thing that bothers me. .........I'm a bit of a Puyo-chan, you know......
Objectively speaking, Serara is just a feminine figure, but when I look at Nyantas, I can't help but feel a bit teased.
As for Nyanta, her body parts look like they are made up of pencils, even though they are not actually made up of many parts.
How's the pick-up?
Nyanta asks me as she organizes the packages she bought on the dining room table. It's a common topic of conversation these days, as both Serara and Nyanta know that a three-man rescue team, commissioned by Serara's guild, the Crescent Moon Alliance, is coming from the streets of Akiba to Susukino.
Their speed was so impressive that even Nyanta, the veteran player who had defended Serara from the Brigandian villains, had been impressed by their speed. Although she's not in direct contact with them, the several times a day that Marielle, the guild master of the Crescent Moon Alliance, sends her a few messages, which give her a rough idea of where she is.
''Yes, we're almost there. He said they should be there before noon tomorrow.
Serara reports.
When the rescue team arrives, I will return to the city of Akiba. He couldn't stay in this town of Susukino forever.
But what about Nyanta? Serara hadn't yet been able to hear it.
Serara doesn't know how far she should wish to go with the kyanta who only helped her with good intentions. The truth is, she feels she owes him a debt of gratitude that she can't possibly repay, but every time she says it, she laughs and says, "It's the duty and pleasure of an elder to help a young man," she says.
(I'm glad to hear you say that, but.... That's just treating me like a child, isn't it?
Then it's time for a little more patience. I'm sure Serara-san must be very cramped to be trapped in such a small house, but let's try to hang on a little longer. Don't worry, we'll get you out of it.
Nyanta's smile caused Serara to lose her chance to ask another question.
◆
Then another day and night passed.
Shiroe and the others had built a scouting camp just a few minutes away from the city of Susukino as planned.
The city of Susukino is an urban area that exists in the field zone
It's a fortified city area that includes an agricultural area where many non-player characters live.
Cautiously, Shiroe finds a collapsed house on the outskirts of the city that is out of sight, and once there, he settles in to check the entrances and exits of the Susukino Zone.
''There's nothing to be alarmed about at the moment, is there? 'My lord,'
But it's still a depressing atmosphere. It's not alive.
Shiroe nodded at their words and took out a piece of paper from her pocket and wrote down the structure of Susukino in a simple manner.
'The city of Susukino is centered around the main street. ........like this. The downtown area runs through the east side. The main square is here, on the east side. "We are the..." writes Shiroe with an arrow. "-- entering from the west.
What's wrong with meeting up outside of town?
That's a poor idea. d*mn.
'Really? Eero Naotsugu.
Shiroe explains, chiding the two of them who are still calling each other "chimichu" and "erotic" for the moment.
The city we belong to is Akiba. It's because Akiba was the last city we stopped in. ....So if we are wiped out, after a certain amount of time, the corpse is transported to the city of Akiba and resurrected there.
But that's not the case with our rescue target, Serara-san. If she is dead, she will return to this Susukino.
In other words, even if we make it to the meeting in one piece, in the unlikely event that we are wiped out, we will be separated from Akiba and Ms. Serara will be separated from Susukino and we will have to start over from the beginning. We don't want to do that.
Yeah. Yeah.
Akatsuki nodded honestly. Naotsugu has a proud look on his face as if he understands.
Next, let's check the formation. I'm not going to be able to get it right. I'm not going to be able to get it right.
No honorifics.
Okay. I understand. -- Naotsugu, me and Akatsuki, who has dispelled the signs, enter the city through the gate as usual. We aim for the abandoned building at the rendezvous point. Akatsuki finds a place to hide and monitors the entire building. If there's any trouble, telegraph to me.
The dark-haired girl nodded her head in a serious manner.
''Naotugu will take up a position near the entrance of the building. If possible, a place where you can see both the street and the inside is best. Stand by at that location in case of trouble on the outside and inside. I'll go straight into the interior of the building and meet up with Serara. We'll take him out quickly and return to Naotsugu's place.
Okay. Well, what. What about a third party who's willing to help us?
'I'm not sure yet. Personally, I think I'll get out of Susukino for once, including that person for now. Whether or not I go with you to Akiba or not, I don't know.
Shiroe continues to speak thoughtfully.
'There's a not-so-low chance that Serara-san is a friend of the guild that claims to be the cause of the worsening security situation in Susukino.
Despite the name of the function, you can register friends with any player in front of you without asking their permission. And once you register, you can see if they are online or not. And we'll even find out if we're in the same zone or not.
If so, it's possible that they'll know you're in the same town as them as soon as you get out of the rented room you've been hiding in. The possibility of being pursued is not small. It would be better to leave Susukino before that happens. If we leave the zone two or more times, they won't be able to track us...I think.
This area was a strategy that Shiroe had been thinking about throughout the trip, and he was able to explain it smoothly. It was also just in case he'd put together a pretty elaborate formation, and the chances of trouble actually happening were not high, Shiroe thinks.
However, that depends on how vindictive and vicious the problem player organization in Susukino is. You can't just go back to the city and do it again after you've been wiped out, unlike hunting monsters.
The worst thing that could happen to you is a lot of bad things. ) This kind of thinking is probably the reason why people call you an overthinker or an introvert.
If it's a hassle to get rid of, then there's nothing wrong with that. Naotsugu and Akatsuki nodded widely to Shiroe, who was thinking about it.
''We could say goodbye to Susukino in an hour at the earliest.
"I support my lord's mission.
After discussing other details such as detailed call signs and meeting up in case of an emergency, the three of them headed to the city of Susukino.
The city gate was designed like a castle gate, reinforced with blue steel.
It had an intimidating appearance, with rather angular iron clasps sticking out on all sides.
The Ezzo Empire was a young nation founded by the human conquering emperor Al-Radil, and was set up as an armed and belligerent nation within the Japanese server's administrative area. For this reason, weapons are displayed throughout the city, and the colorful flags are somewhat militaristic in tone.
(It's a different atmosphere than Akiba, after all. I've been here before in my gaming days, but the impression I get from this is quite different...)
Every single decoration, smell, and small detail of the city that hadn't been noticed as a background in the game was new to Shiroe. That seemed to be the same thing for Naotsugu as well, looking around curiously with his thick woolen cloak wrapped around him.
A long street leading to the city center.
There were numerous non-player characters walking around there, but their expressions were all lacking in spirit with no heights. Many of the players you see are also listless, and there are many who have a pensive look on their faces.
It's a bad atmosphere. I don't want to live here.
Yes.
When Naotsugu hid his voice so as not to be heard, Shiroe replied in the same way. I have a desire to do something to improve the situation, but I don't have the concrete means or ability to do so now.
I've been wondering about it and looked back several times, but there is no sign of Akatsuki, nor do I know where she is. I'm sure he's probably following me, but the lack of any sign of his presence here is worrisome.
In the meantime, we saw an abandoned building with a broken sign saying "-Laoke Box" on it. It was the building with the landmarks I had identified in my meeting with Marielle. With a small wave of his hand, Shiroe sends a hand sign and then he and Naotsugu enter the building.
The concrete cracked here and there has been reinforced with a steel frame and is in better condition than a similar building in Akiba. At least the concrete seems to have retained its strength.
As soon as Naotsugu entered the building's entrance, he turned right and saw the guardroom. Somewhere conscious of hearing small noises inside, Shiroe went to the back and reached the second floor by going up the stairs.
When he gave Marielle a telephonic message and asked her to intercede, she replied, "I'll be there in a minute. So far, things are going as planned, and Shiroe is a little relieved. It's been six minutes since we entered the Susukino town zone. It's going well.
'Oh, um.'
A girl in leather armor with the soft curves characteristic of the recovery profession calls out to Shiroe, who turns around with enough time to hear the sound of two pairs of approaching footsteps. A ponytail bunched up in the back. It was a girl with a pretty cheek line and a clean appearance.
"I'm Celara from the Crescent Moon Alliance. Thank you for this time.
Hey, aren't you the squad leader?
I'm sorry for the girl who bowed her head in a pout, but Shiroe couldn't help but plunge in with her biggest voice.
'Oh, well. It's Shiroe's team, if you're wondering who it is. No wonder I thought it was a divine speedy and decisive rescue mission!
A tall shadow stood behind Serara, protecting her, a cat-eared swashbuckler, known as the "Squad Leader" and "Cat Retreat" at the Prodigal Tea Party.
It was Nyanta, the cat-eared swashbuckler, nicknamed "Squad Leader" and "Cat's Retreat" at the Prodigal's Tea Party.
◆
Nyanta was also a player in the Prodigal's Tea Party with a certain unique air to it. He had a soft personality that was always calm and unassuming.
You could call him like a cat basking in the sun. He was a valuable and sensible person in the Tea Party of the Prodigal, a place where many players like to party and are prone to running amok if they make a mistake.
Nyanta was, in his own words, an "old man," and he had the composure of an adult. In Elder Tail, where voice chat had been introduced, it was not impossible to guess a person's age from his or her voice.
It was not impossible to guess the age of the kitten who claimed to be old, but his voice did not seem to indicate that he was fifty. He was in his forties at the very least. He was in his thirties. I guessed that he was in his 40s and austere in his 30s.
Of course, network games are a young culture, and it's not unusual to see players in their 30s.
It's not unusual to see players in their 30s, but the number of players in their 40s is much smaller. He may have called himself an "old man" with this in mind, but Shiroe and the others around him had a different perception.
In this case, "adult" had nothing to do with his actual age.
Nyanta's personality and life experience had made him an adult in the eyes of those around him.
It's not the same as the title children have for adults, which is to detest those "airheads" who come to interrupt their play, but a different kind of adult, one who is always there for them.
Nyanta didn't hesitate to ask for advice from fellow members who were in trouble or in need. That didn't mean she was overly helpful, but her calm voice made her feel that she could do something about the problems that she thought were out of her control, which earned her the respect of her younger colleagues.
Some of his friends even gave him the nicknames "Squad Leader" and "Retiree" because of the goodwill of others.
The Tea Party of the Prodigal was not a guild, but just a gathering.
There were many people there who did not belong to a guild, but of course there were also people who belonged to various guilds. But in general, large, well-disciplined guilds do not like their members to have deep interaction with outsiders.
This was not for no reason (though of course there were cases where it was discrimination), but rather because they feared a drain on the guild's internal human resources. For example, if a senior player in the guild would rather mentor a newcomer from outside the guild or a younger player from another guild, it would be natural to want to mentor a younger player from the same guild. This is because guilds are essentially a mutual aid organization that allows players to compensate for their own shortcomings.
From this point of view, it was inevitable that many of the members of small and medium-sized guilds who joined the Prodigal's Tea Party were members of small and medium-sized guilds.
Nyanta was a member of the Nekomanma Guild.
However, Shiroe had never seen any other Nekomanma members before. It was a small guild, but it was a silly little guild.
When Shiroe asked him about it, Nyanta replied, "I like the porch, but the house is decrepit. That's about it," he laughed.
Kyanta was not, then, the opinionated leader of the Tea Party of the Prodigal, or a man of ability, for that matter. In fact, Shiroe thinks that Nyanta was rather afraid of influencing the overall direction of the party.
Nyanta would have loved the many festivities that took place at the Prodigal's Tea Party, despite his quiet demeanor and enjoyment. He wanted to mix with the "young people" as he put it, and enjoy it, didn't he? ........Shiroe thought that way.
''Ah. Um, I'm sorry. Mr. Serara. My name is Shiroe. I know your grandmother.
Oh yes, Mr. Serara. His name is Shiroe, he is a very smart and good boy. He's a good young man. If he comes, this strategy will be a success for sure.
Your pretentious catnip is still going strong, Squad Leader.
Shiroe smiles wickedly.
Making fun of Nyanta's endings has been a pastime of his since the days of the Tea Party.
'What are you talking about, nyah? Shiroechi. This is the official language of cats and humans. I guess it's the language of cat and dog.
Nyanta and Shiroe's jovial exchange of pleasantries left Serara with a black and white look in her eyes. Still, as if she managed to regain her composure, she asked, "You two know each other? I managed to ask.
I used to ask Shiroe and I used to ask her to collect fleas for me. I used to ask Shiroe to collect fleas for me.
I don't remember doing that.
Unable to say that if it was a flea catcher, I'd be the one to do it, Serara can only nod silently at their words.
'If Shiroechi is here then... what about the other two?
Naotsugu and his daughter Akatsuki. She's very skilled. 90 on the Assassin's list, with 160 credits in about three weeks of coordinated training.
Is Naotsugu here too? And are you new to the group? ....that's a good thing. It's that time of year at Shiroe too.
Nyanta, whose eyes always narrowed as if she was smiling, looked at Shiroe with a slight deepening of her smile.
The main house collapsed because it couldn't withstand the snow. Maybe that's what they want me to do, too, to leave Susukino and go to Akiba.
That's.... Oh, wait.
Nyanta's words exude more clarity than loneliness. Shiroe is about to question his meaning when she hears a soft sound, similar to the sound of a bell.
'There's a group approaching the building. You'll find a group of people approaching the building, and they're not very good at it. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. They're approaching with a large area of the city streets surrounded in as little as two minutes.
Akatsuki's concise and to-the-point reminder reminded Shiroe of the city map of Susukino he had drawn earlier.
''We've spotted a group coming towards us. It's a party of six people led by a martial artist. Any idea?
What?
Supposedly the leader of the Brigantia, Demiquas, a 90-level warrior, with similar skills as the others. He's the mastermind behind all of this. You're the enemy.
Nyanta clearly used the word 'enemy'.
Shiroe's resolve was also determined as Nyanta didn't hesitate to say the word he had never used against another player in a game.
'Is there a back door to this building? We'll break through if we have to.