"The food has changed dramatically in the past 2 months, I have brought along my top chefs with high motivation to this meeting." The banquet started after Marquis Dalute's opening speech. The Fortress City Mogami... territory of Marquis Dalute, was situated in the northeast of this region. According to the map created by Shiroe, it was in Yamagata Prefecture. The city had about 8000 people, according to Lord Dalute, it was a comfortable and safe city. Reviewing the data collated earlier, there were ten-odd villages under Marquis Dalute's governance. The feast consisted of extravagant Middle Ages European styled dishes. Michitaka did not know the details, but from his experience, a meal such as French cuisine would serve food in small portion to the table. But in this alternate world, the nobles seemed to be accustomed to large portions of food. Beef steaks roasted with lots of spices were served, and Dalute cut them into fine portions himself. "This meat is reputed to be top class in my territory, how does it taste?" "Yes, this is delicious!" Michitaka praised the meal between bites. This was indeed top class, compared to beef in the real world, this meat was tougher and brought a sense of wilderness with it and its original taste was very rich. Marquis Dalute focused on introducing the tastiness of this dish. (So that's how it is...) In this alternate world, cuisines were a critical part of the political world, the change 2 months ago revolutionized the world. All the other lords made preparations similar to Marquis Dalute, bringing their top chefs and ingredients to attend the meeting. This meeting was an opportunity that appeared suddenly. Small and weak territories might be able to gain immense wealth if they discovered any popular ingredients or dishes. The stronger nobles would seek higher quality foods to solidify their influence and fame. The League of Freedom Cities Eastal meeting was a place where you compared your social standings, but food had now taken center stage, becoming crucial to a city's economy with its trade around the region. "My city is surrounded by hills and the lands are full of slopes. Lumber, mining, and livestock trades thrive there. For our feast tonight, we will also be serving pork that we are proud of." Looking at the anticipation of the elder son, he could tell this would be a wonderful dish. Michitaka enjoyed the food while listening to Marquis Dalute's words. The Marquis' wife joined in the conversation occasionally, chatting about the weather, geography, and culture of the northeast part of the archipelago. For the Marquis, this was preparation for business talks and a display of the features of his territory. For Michitaka, this was valuable intelligence. The northeast region of the archipelago was full of mountain ranges, with forests spread all over the place. The hilly region was full of nature, holding inexhaustible amounts of forest resources. The rainfall was abundant, with many lakes and beautiful rivers flowing in the region. There were few flat lands, most of them near the coast or in the mountain valley. These even plains were primarily used for wheat or rice. From the northeast to the north of Kanto, this whole region was the central zone of the League of Freedom Cities Eastal. The biggest problem with this zone lay with the rampage of monsters. The kind-hearted humans were one of the races players in Elder Tales were able to choose. According to Shiroe's and Rodrick's calculations, the population here was roughly 1% of the real Japan's. But the population was not equivalent to the number of intelligent beings, such as demihumans like goblins or orcs. Their intelligence was not at the level of the kind-hearted humans, but they had strong bodies and high reproduction abilities. Most importantly, they were cruel and evil. The evil demihumans in the world built empires and ruled over regions, pillaging day and night in an attempt to rule the world. The main monster forces in the northeast archipelago were goblins. Goblins were short demihumans, about 150cm in height. They were skinny, ugly, and twisted short humanoid monsters. They had a simple tribal society, living together taking on different jobs. Most of them belonged to roaming and pillaging tribes, but some of the tribes might settle in one location. The northeastern tribes trended towards staying in one place, and even built gigantic communities with populations reaching tens of thousands. Similar to other demihumans, goblins had hybrids of low social status from cross-breeding. One such hybrid were the hobgoblins, which were more violent than goblins, but maniacally loyal. They were armed with armor and weapons, willing to fight to the death for their tribesman. There were also high-class goblin shamans who could summon the spirits of their ancestors, commanding undead monsters and spirits. Goblin tamers would breed creatures like Owlbears, Hippogryphs and dire wolves. Goblins individually were weaker than mid-level adventurers, but had a variety of abilities. They were a force to be reckoned with. The zones demihuman lived in differed from those ruled by humans. In this case, it should be described as humans were fighting to protect the land from them. In the northeast, the demihumans lived in the deep mountains and the dense forests.
"The demand for good ingredients spurs the entrepreneurial minds of the people, and they focus on producing delicious ingredients for a good price, allowing them to get other ingredients... a cycle like this." Michitaka was from a production guild, so he understood perfectly and nodded. "And because of this... there are some problems in delivery." Michitaka thought about it. This was obvious. Their lands consisted mainly of hills, and was not suitable for some types of grains. There were also many ingredients that could only be planted in the south. Michitaka also had a hard time getting sugar which was exclusively produced in the south. Sugar was the native product of 'Ninetail Sovereign'. After the Catastrophe, because of the low supply level, its price was increasing without restraint. It wasn't like this before. The food in the past all tasted the same, so the quality of the ingredients would not have any effect on the final product... In other words, sugar was akin to medical supply. (No, that is not a meal, just a nutritious ration.) But it was different now, with delicious ingredients and fresh products. There was an increase in demand for different foods. In this pure and simple alternate world, they were basically using the products from their own land. Delivery required time and resources, delivering fresh produce took even more effort. But things like seasoning, tobacco, alcohol, or tea, there was a need to import it from far. To fund the import of these goods, the fastest way was through export. And the biggest barrier to this was monsters. When you thought of that, you could understand the feeling of nobles who wanted to request for mercenaries from the Round Table Council. "To sum it up, this is not simply a request for Mogami." Marquis Dalute shrugged. "But I heard that raiding just one hill will require a few hundred soldiers. To exterminate the goblins from the northeast archipelago, you would need an astronomical number. Just depending on Akiba's forces would not be enough. It's a shame, even if it is just guarding the city, our numbers are unable to maintain a full day watch indefinitely." Michitaka replied. Security for the whole region was beyond their scope of consideration, the population of this world was not enough to secure all the zones. And it was because of this dangerous world, that the human communities were sparse like the bubbles in an ocean, they could only live in peaceful zones centered around cities. On the other hand, there was a hint in Michitaka's statement. Before the Marquis could propose 'deal with the other territories later, please send soldiers to me first', he had subtly warned him, displaying an attitude of 'if we are sending help, we need to be fair to all the zones, if we can't do that we won't send help blindly.' The banquet was moving on to desserts. Uncertain if this was a local flavor or if it was a result of 2 months of research, the sweet pancakes had a taste of nostalgia. As Michitaka complemented this simple desert with black rose tea, Marquis Dalute said seriously. "No, there is no need to destroy the monsters, I am asking for something else, providing access to sea delivery." Michitaka was dumbstruck. Ferrying by sea, that was providing them with the steam powered ship. Marquis Dalute's proposal allowed them to bypass the monsters without spending resources to defeat them, and made import and export smoother. 2 The atmosphere inside the tent was heavy. In fact, it was suffocating. Isuzu turned in her sleeping bag. They just had dinner, and the campfire was still visible through the tent's canvas, the time should be 9pm? According to the real world, it was not sleeping time yet, but there was nothing to do in this vast nature even if you stayed up. Even though there was nothing to do, she was still tired and listless, but she couldn't sleep even if she lay down. She got into her sleeping bag with many things on her mind. There were people in the tent using magical lights, or taking care of their equipment. "Woo..." Isuzu looked towards the light. Minori who was always working hard, Tohya who was in a bag like Isuzu, Serara who was lying in a corner of the tent, Rundelhous who was sitting on his bag with his arms crossed, looking displeased. Everyone had a heavy air about them. This could not be helped, since their raid ended miserably. The battle of Isuzu's group evolved into a free-for-all, attracting skeleton monsters as reinforcements and becoming a battle of attrition. In this chaotic formation, it not only hurt the groups' HP, it also drained a lot of MP, their reserved skills, and their focus. They could manage with their HP full in the beginning, but if it dragged too long they would need to rely on healing spells. But even healing spells were limited by MP, and that was also gone as the battle went on. '... Because you did not heal properly that I had to suffer such grave injuries!' Rundelhous complained, but from what Isuzu saw, Serara and Minori had been giving their all. Isuzu did not know how healing worked, but seeing the exhausted Serara and the troubled Minori, she could tell they held nothing back.
Minori treated the other beginners well even under these conditions. Something like knowledge could be shared, but hogging it had its uses. By hogging it, you could save yourself in critical moments. Despite that, Minori chatted with the other beginners in the room every day, sharing what she knew about the game. Her brother Tohya was also the same in a sense. The fact that both of them were in middle school shocked Isuzu. They were strong in a way that could only be described as special. Isuzu felt that without Minori, she would fall into deeper depravity in Hamelin, and she wouldn't be able to regain her cheerful character. On the other hand, Serara was about her age. After Isuzu was saved from Hamelin, the first person to give her hot soup and bread was Serara. The conditions in Hamelin were very bad, even if it was wrong to say this herself, she was probably very smelly when she was rescued. But Serara hugged Isuzu and said: "Don't worry, you are safe now." The guild hall was like a refugee camp that day, the beginners were all crying badly, Serara told them: "I am also a beginner, my level is about the same as yours." "I was also also targeted by human traffickers in Susukino, but I was saved and I am living normally in the guild now." Serara's words must have saved many of them. In Crescent Moon Alliance, Serara was one of the members who took good care of the beginners. Isuzu felt close to her as they were about the same age. They were now best friends in Crescent Moon Alliance, spending almost every day together.
Isuzu peeked at Rundelhous from this position. Rundelhous was pouting and crossed his arms over his chest, which felt like a monk training under the waterfall. He looked totally Caucasian, so he was very prominent, but his attitude was very serious. (He must be doing an after action review by himself...) ... Isuzu thought he might be self-reproaching. Rundelhous always said whatever came to mind, and had been blaming the others for the today's adventure. But he was also strict with himself and seemed to be deeply remorseful. (Haaaaah...) If it was like this, doesn't that mean that no one was at fault?
Bards had a variety of supports, the most important being the permanent status buff song. This was a music that Bards emitted subconsciously from their body. The permanent buff that was effective for the whole party would go on forever as long as the Bard willed it. By using permanent status buff songs at the beginning of the adventure, they wouldn't need to do anything else for it to continue its effect. It was a skill players wanted to use whenever possible. The problem with permanent status buff songs was that you could only use 2 at a time. High-level Bards would learn up to 15 songs, but Isuzu at this stage had only learned 10. Choosing 2 out of these 10 songs was a bothersome choice all Bards will face, and would continue to have even if they reached the level cap. Isuzu chose Harmony Carol' and 'Speedy Sword Etude. The former granted an additional attack for every successful attack, the latter was a support song that raised weapon attack speed. They were both basic support songs Bards commonly used.
(But...) Yes, she had to say but. Isuzu didn't think this was a mistake. Even if it was one, that was only at the level of 'not going with the best choice'... which was the same level as Tohya and Rundelhous. She didn't think this was the reason for the battle falling into chaos. Anyway, if this was a mistake, what should she have done instead? Isuzu thought. (Actually, I am not good at thinking...) She was not good at setting a battle plan. Analyzing and executing were areas Isuzu was not proficient in, but compared to thinking, Isuzu was even worse at dealing with the heavy atmosphere in the tent. So she carried this feeling like a heavy rock in her stomach, and continued to worry. Not only Isuzu, all the beginners in the tent including Minori and Tohya were the same. As they killed time with their worries, their first night in the Sand Leaf Hill region had only begun. 3 Even if it was described as a 'small hall', it was still bigger than a classroom in the old world. In this small hall, with music played by beautiful ladies in the background, the people in the room were gathered in many small circles. This was the Ancient Palace of Eternal Ice. In a corner of its upper level was 'The Hall of Seven Maidens'. Young knights stood around and chatted cheerfully, noble ladies sat on the classy couches that were placed all over the hall, gossiping and laughing happily. There were also the courteous sons of nobles, moody scholars with bitter smiles, and frail looking bureaucrats. This was supposed to be a party where the young people of the League of Freedom Cities Eastal gathered without regard to their titles and positions. Their ages ranged from 15-20, with about 40 people attending. "... Are you planning to stay here the whole night?" "Yes." Krusty replied without hesitation to Raynesia who was sitting across the small round table. Raynesia tried to reply with a smile, but her face seemed to be cramping up. Raynesia did not find Krusty annoying. This bulky knight was a man of few words, and would not say any pleasantries common among nobles. In simple terms, Raynesia didn't have to pretend to be a 'gentle lady in the rain', thank god for that. But she was a daughter of the Corwen clan. If she spent too much time with a single man, who knew what sort of rumors would spread. If it were only during this party, it should be fine. But if this carried on, what would they say about her? Raynesia was starting to get depressed.
(Boohoo...) Raynesia looked at Krusty with hate. Krusty had been 100% ignoring her all this while, but he chose this moment to raise his head and look behind Raynesia. "Princess Raynesia? "Sorry for interrupting your chat, May I ask... Is it convenient for us to join in? We brought cookies." The two young ladies were Marquis Lestar's daughter Appletta and granddaughter of Iwafune's Baron, Febuelle. This was their first time at the party, Raynesia's batchmates. "Of course you can... Sir Krusty, are you fine with that?" Raynesia answered with a perfect smile. Krusty also responded like a gentleman, standing up with a smile and pulling 2 elegant chairs over for the ladies. Not sure where he learned that from, but he moved so smoothly that it was a joy to watch. (... What is this, so he knows how to act like a gentleman in a party... So he knows how to give ladies a proper reception... Woo...) The 2 young ladies seeming relieved, offered Krusty cookies and started to chat. From Raynesia's perspective, princesses and knights would both look at her with admiration. But girls wouldn't woo her, so handling them was much easier. But Raynesia had no common interests with them, even when they talked about new perfumes and gowns, Raynesia was unable to keep up with the conversation. She didn't understand why she didn't like perfume. The smell was too strong. No, if no one bothered Raynesia, she might not bathe for a week, so she might be more smelly. She tried to explain from the angle of personal preference. But the fact was there would always be someone to bother her. Her maid would throw her into the shower every day, and perfume would be sprayed on her from head to toe. As for dresses, she thought they were uncomfortable. They either showed too much skin or had too much decoration, a costume that was hard to live in. Raynesia liked cotton pajamas. The cotton pajamas that were comfortable to the touch were the best. Silk also felt nice, but she didn't like silk pajamas, they were uncomfortable to sleep in. Put simply, she just wanted to pass the whole day in pajamas and sleep in her bed.
"Sir Krusty, please don't mind me and protect the beautiful flowers in the courtyard, alright?" Raynesia tried her best to look at Krusty with virtuous eyes as she said this. It meant 'isn't it time to find some other place of refuge?' "No, the peaceful air around the princess is calming to my raging heart from my many battles, if the princess is fine with me, please let me stay with you during this meeting period in order to repay your kindness." Krusty's words meant "For the whole meeting period, I will be using you as a shield, this is a great cooperation plan right?" This interaction made the two princesses scream with joy and leave, the exhausted Raynesia leaned back on the couch. Krusty beside her gave a feeling of peace and quiet. In the people's eyes, this was a scene of a princess who was unable to bear the din of the party and her loyal knight protecting her silently. 4 "Huff... huff..." Tohya panted loudly as he emptied his water bottle in one gulp. Serara was beside him and asked: "Are you okay?" Minori's group was in a tomb after taking the route on the right in 'Ragranda Forest'. There were countless skeleton bones scattered all over. They broke though the battle in the tunnel just now. Using this tomb as a choke point to handle the reinforcements, they managed to survive in the chaotic battle. The party showed signs of exhaustion. In this alternate world, their physical abilities and stamina were strengthened a lot. A middle-school girl could spend the whole day climbing mountains and exploring dungeons was the best evidence. But the mental fatigue was not so easy. The long continuous battles drained their concentration. The more chaotic the fight, the more mentally tired they became. Minori was also troubled by her sharp headache for a while now. (Now that I think of it, I haven't drank anything since the morning...) Minori didn't feel thirsty, but she still took a sip from her water canteen. If she was dehydrated, it would affect her ability to think, something she could not afford to lose. (The condition is very bad...) Minori looked at her party members.
Serara was still breathing hard, but she was still arranging the items in her bag. Minori thinks she was checking the position of the potions to handle the needs of the next battle. Minori and Serara were healers, but they were still relying on potions. This might sound strange, but skills for dispelling debuffs had a recast time, Minori's 'Notice of Exorcism' had a recast time of 20 seconds. In other words, if she insisted on only using 'Notice of Exorcism', she could only clear one debuff every 20 seconds. If the whole party was poisoned, by the time she could get to the last person, 80 seconds would have passed. Serara was probably doing this to fight for time, so she would cure her own debuffs with potions. (Yeah, this is great, I will prepare next time as well.) Minori added to her mental note. But this also meant that Serara who was a higher level healer than her was unable to handle the situation effectively, using potions was just a drop in the bucket.
For the past 2 days, Minori had heard Rundelhous saying to himself "Why..." He probably meant "Why is this so hard", "Why can't we win" and also "Why am I so weak". These words probably came about because of his conceited nature. Minori understood, because she was the same. ('Why'... I can understand that feeling, we are holding each other back, even things we can do alone are done sloppily, something... is developing in a bad way.) If she said these words, and endured them... Minori didn't think of Rundelhous as a carefree kid, he was taking his duty of exterminating the enemy seriously. In fact, he refused to compromise on this. (Rundelhous-san should be working hard in his own way... It might be hard to understand, but he is giving his all.)
In the center of this cool courtyard, a young girl was practicing moves silently. The movements were not violent, those who were trained could tell she had put in effort into the practice of martial arts. Every time she moved, her long black hair would sway with the wind. Her petite body was covered by dark and low profile clothes, but her slim body still had very alluring curves. She was the young female Assassin from Log Horizon, Akatsuki. (Right step, left slide, pause... left step, right side step, half a turn... pause.) The young girl was practicing strange movements. In karate or ancient martial arts, the focus was not only the steps, but also the upper body flow, all martial arts seemed to follow this concept. But the young girl was putting her hands horizontally in front of her chest, she seemed to be concentrating on practicing the steps. At first glance, this was similar to a certain Chinese martial arts, not lowering the center of gravity, moving lightly with the knees and ankles. It had a hint of Japanese Kendo, it was a weird movement. (Left step, right side step, half a turn... another turn... left side step, change position, right step, 2 steps...) Akatsuki focused on practicing the steps repeatedly. Repeating so much that she seemed to have lost track of time, the entire movement merged with her body like blood flowing in her veins, Akatsuki incidentally raised her gaze and saw Shiroe.
"So how do you feel about it, Akatsuki?" "About what?" "... For example, what are the reactions of the people in the Palace?" Shiroe was very vague, probably because he was unable to explain it clearly himself, Akatsuki decided to report what she felt about the situation. "You can describe it as curiosity, half of it is kindness, the other half is hostility." "Is that so..." "But, I feel it is good that even though there is hostility, there is no malice." "?" Hostility referred to their mentality, not only used on enemies, but also on potential enemies and competitors. Malice meant the will to harm your enemies. After listening to the explanation, Shiroe expressed: "Since that is the case, I think they have no concrete plan as of now." "Even if it is hostility, it should probably be jealousy and admiration." "You are right... it could also be the lack of trust." Shiroe nodded his head agreeing with Akatsuki's view. Shiroe should be using his own ways to observe the surroundings, searching for the meaning in the words and gaze of the crowds. He asked Akatsuki's opinion to compare answers, or to confirm his thoughts.
"And they have not accurately judged the full battle powers available of each other." Shiroe went deeper. Even if the People of the Land knew Adventurers were strong, they wouldn't know the extent of their strength. If you used the previous example, your roommate would be holding a certain weapon, you did not know if it was a chainsaw or a machine gun. Maybe it was just a fruit knife or chopsticks, such inconsequential weapons. But the worst case could be grenades or antitank missiles, which would blow the whole room to pieces. The nobles were not sure what weapons they had, so they were unable to judge if they should defeat them by surprise or ambushes or to strive for peace no matter the cost or humiliation. "Should we threaten them with war?" "That will be a bad choice, spreading feelings of fear too much is useless. I should say that even if there are pros, the cons are not worth the efforts." "I see..." Shiroe rejected Akatsuki's proposal immediately. But Akatsuki wouldn't be depressed because of that. Shiroe was someone Akatsuki recognized as her lord, Akatsuki hoped he would excel in the tactical battlefield, and progress to a point so far that she could never catch up. Akatsuki was okay with supporting Shiroe with her special skills. Just doing that would leave her content. "Hmmm...?" Just doing that would leave her content. Just doing that would definitely make her content. Akatsuki felt something was not right, something was making her uncomfortable, but she didn't know why. And this was a small feeling of discomfort, she would be fine ignoring it. (It should be fine.) And it was getting late at night.