Chapter 26: Houkago DC-bu
In the corner of his eye was a clock, it joyously informed him that the time was at hand.
It was the time he was waiting for; the time of the promise.
Very soon he would be with Suzu, his imagination was filled with thoughts of a clan just for the two of them.
「Yoshii-kun」
「…… Oh hey there, Suzu-chan. You came~」
Long awaited sound brushed against Yoshii’s ear, a soft and gentle voice.
Suzu’s complexion had several dark shadows etched onto it.
I won.
I beat Edgar-kun, I won this contest.
「Hmm~ What’s the matter, Suzu-chan? Are you upset?」
「……」
Yoshii was wearing a sly smile, but Suzu said nothing in response.
She did not move from where she stood, simply staring at Yoshii without a single word.
「Now then, how about you come over here. Hmm…… Did Edgar-kun run away because he thought he would lose?」
Yoshii quickly scanned the surroundings, but Edgar was no where to be seen.
Hmph, what happened to all that talk about「With one hour left, I’ll pull something off」
While imagining Edgar grinding his teeth in frustration, Yoshii lightly chuckled as he walked over to the silent Suzu.
If was as if, he was a knight, going to fetch his princess.
「Well now, Suzu-chan. What shall I name our clan? I want it to have a wonderful name that shows our love to the world, Suzu-cha──ッ!?」
And, as he was basking in euphoria, the awfully talkative Yoshii suddenly shut his mouth.
That gaze sent chills of fear running through Yoshii’s entire body.
That girl, if I remember she is Suzu-chan’s friend──
「……Aaah~ it’s no use. I can’t hold it back any longer, nope」(Megu)
「……ッ!?」
Yoshii’s expression instantly grew stiff.
A bald-headed Fighter, and a Knight that carried the same attitude as him.
It was Andou and Yamabuki.
「Y-You are…… Yamabuki-kun?」
「Why are you here……!?」
Seeing Yamabuki who he knew very well, Yoshii drew away.
No, more importantly, now of all times, why are they here.
「S-So what. Do you plan on separating me and Suzu-chan by force?」
「Fine, I never want to talk to you again, but since you don’t get it I’ll say it here. Use those repulsive eyes of yours and have a goood haard look at our statuses!」
Megu’s anger was on the verge of exploding as she cried out.
Floating before Yoshii, was a Status Window.
Looking at that screen, Yoshii immediately noticed that an unbelievable name was written there.
「……Th, Th, The『After-School DC Club』? Wh-Wha, What the hell is this!?」
「Obviously it’s our Clan」(Megu)
A somewhat unusual Clan Name was written on Megu’s Status.
Andou and Yamabuki.
It was even written on Suzu’s status──
「A-Are you kidding!? Even though I bought all the ingredients, How!?」
「…… Well, I really had to bust my back you know」
“I can’t believe this,” it happened while Yoshii still had swirls in his eyes.
A black haired and plain-looking guy.
It was Edgar.
「……Y-YOU!?」
「Hmm? What’s the matter? Is there something stuck on my face? Well, there’s something stuck to my status screen that wasn’t there before though」
Forcefully placing his arm on Yoshii’s shoulder, Edgar turned him with a wide grin.
And once again, on Edgar’s status screen was a name. The same clan name Suzu and the others had; the name「After-School DC Club」 floated above him.
「H-H-How did you!?」
「Why!? How did you clear the Clan Quest!? Did you use some glitch to get around it!?」
「ッ!?」
Edgar sharply glared at Yoshii.
Putting his hand on the back of Yoshii’s head, Edgar placed him in a headlock.
「W-Wait…… Are you raising your hand against me!? If you do that, then I’ll call the GMs──」
「……ッ!?」
Yoshii’s expression turned pale.
Seeing Edgar’s menacing gaze, the fundamental idea that「It was impossible to be physically harmed by another person while you were in town」quickly vanished from Yoshii’s thoughts.
「I, I never used RMT. You don’t have any proof of it」
「……Y-YEsh」
From Yoshii’s mouth came a reply almost like a shriek.
Yoshii was thoroughly shaking in his boots, but Edgar continued to pile on threats.
「Yoshii, since I won this contest, how about I ask a favor from you?」
「Don’t worry, there’s some merit in it for you too. You’ve spent all your time here buying ingredients, isn’t that right?」
「……Eh?」
Not knowing the meaning behind those words, Yoshii stood momentarily confused.
「B-Buying…… ingredients?」
「「「ANIMAAL HAAAAIR!」」」
The moment Edgar sent a quick glance over to them, Megu, Andou, and Yamabuki pulled out an enormous amount of「Animal Hair」; so much so that it was overflowing out of their hands.
And just like the pile animal hair they held in both arms, big bright grins spilled onto their faces.
「Wha…… how, huh, wa」
「Well, we have a really reliable comrade you see. Despite the current shortage, she was able to give us a considerable amount of Animal Hair」
The person who brought all this animal hair, was none other than Usa.
Perhaps she possessed incredibly good fortune. When Usa went to Rabasta Woodlands there was already a bunch of players there, but she always managed to come up on top. Again and again, Usa was victorious in her struggles and obtained all this animal hair.
「W-W-Wh, Why do I have to buy them from you guys!」
「…… Hiii」
Edgar peered into Yoshii’s eyes.
The overwhelming fear caused Yoshii to let out another squeal.
「Everyone wanted to report you to the admins because they suspected you of using RMT, but you know, I was thinking it would be fine to let you off the hook」
「To report, or not to report…… I’m having trouble deciding」
「I-I, I-I-I, I never used RMT!…… I never used it, but…… Your ingredients…… I’ll buy them」
The crestfallen Yoshii hung his head.
Seeing his appearance, Megu and the others rejoiced.
「Wow, Wow! He’ll buy them for 6,000 Manila a piece, and we have about 40 of them so…… I don’t know how much that is, but aren’t we like, going to be super wealthy now!?」
「…… Uuu」
Wahhaaha, Megu and the others erupted with joy.
It was like that gaze was filled with deep pity towards Yoshii.
「ッ! S, Suzu-chan! Pleaase forgive mee! All I wanted, I just wanted to make a clan together with you」
“Please understand,” Noticing her gaze, Yoshii made a desperate plea to Suzu.
Making light of the tense mood from earlier, he cried out with tears in his eyes, as if he was made out to be the victim.
「Yoshii-kun……」
Very quietly, Suzu cast her gaze downward.
Time passed, it was only a few seconds, but for Yoshii it felt like time had stopped; it was a painfully long time.
And then, as if gathering her resolve, Suzu took a deep breath, and once again turned her gaze to Yoshii.
── Completely unlike her usual self, that gaze was extremely icy and cold.
「…… I can’t make a clan just by myself」(Yoshii)
「…… Go die……」
Suzu only said those words.
Seeing him, Edgar couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
A worthless man and a worthless contest.
But as proof of their triumph, the clan「After-School DC Club」let out their first victory cry, as newborn fledglings to this world of Dragon’s Krone.
I have never seen Sasaki-san (Megu-san) in such high spirits.
The reason for Megu-san’s good mood is pretty obvious.
That being said, when you include their Helper Usa, the money they「liquidated」 from Yoshii was distributed amongst everyone, so each individual didn’t receive much.
Or rather, for me that amount of money is like a small drop in the bucket, but for Megu-san who’s been living her life in poverty ever since she started playing, it was apparently an unbelievable amount of money.
「Heey~ there, Ed! Yesterday you were really cool too! I just want to say it straight, that you’re the best for saving us!」
「Well, thanks」
Should I try to stealthily give her a ton of money from Aran?
She would probably die from shock.
「…… Say, though it’s about Yoshizumi (Yoshii). Apparently he’s saying home from school today, but ya think the reason is that?」
Seeing he pops his head into the neighboring class from time to time, Yamabuki brought up that info.
「…… Eh, what, so that lan-tard is skipping school?」
「Well yea, he went through some bad times. Though he got what he deserved」
No sympathy whatsoever, saying it like he didn’t even care, in response to Andou’s question Megu and Yamabuki voiced respective「Of course he would be」while nodding.
It was because in that short period of time Yoshii had his「Account Banned」by the admins of Dragon’s Krone.
Of course this was a reality that Ran and the others did not know about. When a new player came to City of Crescendo he saw a Player just handing out money so he reported it to the admins. After the admins investigated Yoshii’s account, the discovered signs that he had used RMT.
Of course, using RMT was obviously a breach of the code of conduct. The admins determined that Yoshii had malicious intents as he tried to break the game’s balance by handing out money to beginner players, and they promptly issued a ban on his account. The reason that Yoshii sunk into the ground, was because he was forcefully ejected from the world of Dragon’s Krone.
「It got a bit difficult along the way, but it’s great that we were able to make a clan huh」
「That’s right. Although I didn’t think it was cause so much headache」
As the delighted Suzu spoke, Ran replied as if he was stuck with a bad aftertaste.
I guess I should start the grind and level up Edgar huh.
I never know what will happen in the future after all. This time we were lucky enough to pull through because of Chrono, but the way he is I doubt he’d be willing to help again.
「Ah, now that I think about it, there’s something I didn’t hear about」
And so, as if he had just remembered something, Ran spoke up.
「Huh? You didn’t hear about something」
「About that clan name…… Who came up with it?」
By the time Ran joined up with Suzu and the others, the Clan Quest was already finished, and their clan had been established.
And it was given the name「After-School DC Club」[1].
「Ooh…… The name huh」
「…… So that name, Andou came up with it huh」
Andou awkwardly scratched his head when Ran pressed the question.
Once a clan name is decided it can’t be changed after all, so complaining about it now is a bit pointless.
「…… I guess, it’s pretty lame huh, Edogawa-kun」
Suzu interrupted Ran’s conversation with a soft voice.
「Eh?…… Oh, yea, it is kinda lame」
「…… Huh?」
Hearing those words, Ran grew stiff as if he was struck by an attack with the “petrify” effect.
You’re tell me, the one who made that name was──
「…… The one who came up with that name, was Suzu-san?」
「……Ouh」
His words stuck in his throat. Letting out a croak like the cries of a frog, at the same time Ran’s chest violently pounded.
In that instant, Ran’s thoughts were blown out of the water.
「Uh…… ah, I mean…… i-it’s a pretty good name, yeah. I think it’s real great」
「Ed, he’s flustered huh. You’re waay too easy to read」
Ran was like a fish out of water. Megu and the others fired snide remarks at him while wearing wide grins.
And, seeing the flustered Ran, the gap between him and the reliable Edgar was somehow amusing. Suzu’s shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her laughter, smiling all the while.
A relaxing afternoon, the sound of their classmate’s conversations filled the classroom.
Among those sounds, the sound of Suzu and her friend’s laughter could be heard, as the noise danced around the classroom.
Author Afterword:
This marks the end of Volume 3.
For you continued readership, Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!
Ash Dancer’s Afterword:
Thanks to those who showed their support, and an extra thank you if you also supported the author by buying the light novel.
Next volume is my favorite so be sure to stick around!
Footnotes:
1.
TL note: “After-School DC Club” is otherwise known as 「Houkago DC-bu」, which is the title of this chapter.
I assume the DC stands for “Disconnected” which would make their clan name “After-school Offline Club”.
Technically DC could also stand for “Dragon’s Chrone/Crone”, since the author doesn’t specify how “Dragon’s Krone” is spelled.
That said, if it’s suppose to be “Chrone” I’m going to have to flip some tables since “Chrone” isn’t a real word like “Krone” (Krone being an alternative spelling of “Crown”).