Log Horizon Book 4 chapter 1

Replace Gyoukei with Choshi
Replace Neanthel sovereignty with Ninetails dominion (book 3 chapter 1)


Chapter 1: The Return of the Goblin King


1

While Marielle is protecting the beginners and Shoryu is charging into the Sahuagin horde with a roar, a battle also broke out in the central hilly region of Sand Leaf peninsula.

The enemy are goblins.

They came out of nowhere, sweeping through the forest in small patrol groups.

Naotsugu and the others have fought off tens of waves in the plaza in front of Ragranda forest. There are 13 people here, 5 from the Minori's party, 6 from the higher level party, Naotsugu, and the cleric from black swords knight Rezarikku.

When they encounter the first batch, they thought it was just a group of wandering goblins.

But after several battles, Naotsugu and the others change their mind, thinking they are positioned in the way of a small scale tribal migration. But when they battled for the 6th time, they cannot ignore this anymore.

Nyanta is on his way to scout in the mountain ahead.

The 13 players awaits Nyanta return as they pack their camp site and remain alert.

In terms of battle power, goblins are not a threat. They are one of the major forces of the demihuman and have a variety of troop types, from a military point of view they are very powerful. But their level is between 10-20, so if it is 1 on 1, beginners who are around level 25 like Minori's party is strong enough to handle them.

Even though the situation is unclear, the beginners still go about their business calmly, packing their camp site and handing the heavy items to Naotsugu and Rezarikku with their bags of holding. They keep the light every day items into their normal backpack.

"Very suspicious."

"Ah?"

Naotsugu who is folding the tent canvas says and Rezarikku besides him ask him with a grunt.

"Irritating, I hate irritating situations, it has a feeling of impending misfortune."

"But it is just goblins right?"

Rezarikku gives a 'no big deal' look, he can handle 10-20 goblins himself.

"Don't you think the encounter rate for goblins in the hills is very high today?"

"Hmm...."

Naotsugu peek at the beginners, they are saddling the horses and clearing the campfire.

"There are many beginners around too, I think this could turn out pretty bad."

"Hmm..."

Rezarikku is a veteran player from the big guild Black swords knights of Akiba. He did not laugh off Naotsugu's words, but think deeply about it.

The grass sways slightly and a slender figure appears in the plaza.

A slender gentleman with a head of a cat in a green corduroy jacket with tie... it is Nyanta. His eyes are thin as a slit as usual, but he has a serious expression as he approaches Naotsugu and the others.

"How is it?"

"Nya."

Nyanta's serious attitude made the 2 camp leaders came to him.

The beginners are still hard at work and did not notice Nyanta has returned.

"It is quite bad nya, a large scale army... at least a few thousand goblin army is moving along the ridge on the other side nya. Their actual numbers... to be frank, I do not know nya."

Rezarikku's face tense up when Nyanta finished.

There was incidents of goblin groups moving together before, no, goblins is a demihuman race that likes to make military maneuvers. They are always banding up and pillaging in groups, but an army numbering in the thousands marching together is rare even for goblins.

Goblins have low intellect, they are basically like a virus, pillaging the neighboring towns.

There is something out of place here, the 3 veteran can smell it and is nervous because of this.

"Tch, guess it can't be help."

Naotsugu nods as if he understood something, and ask Nyanta if he has contacted anyone.

"I have reported to Shiroe nya, but I can't contact Marielle and Shoryu nya."

"Can't contact?"

"Maybe they are taking a nap, busy with a battle, or is in telepathy contact with someone else nya."

Nyanta speak calmly, but he was not as calm as he usually is.

Nyanta jokingly says 'taking a nap' just now, but if might happen if it is Marielle, but it is hard to imagine Shoryu to be like this. After hearing about this, Rezarikku has a far away gaze in his eyes, an expression one makes have when using telepathy.

Naotsugu and Nyanta stopped their discussion and waited for his news, but Rezarikku replies:"No good, there must be members of the black sword knights at the beach, but I can't contact them either."

Naotsugu and Nyanta do not have the contacts of any other crescent moon alliance members. Nyanta still has Serara on his friend list, but she is right beside them packing up the camp.

They have met with the other younger members several times now, but they have always done it through Shoryu or talked face to face. Failing to register the other members is something that Naotsugu and the others overlooked.

The 3 of them try to grasp the situation.

There are many possibilities, but they have to prepare for the worst too. But no matter how the situation is
, they cannot abandon the beginners and rush to the beach.

Even if the goblins are low in level, if there are several thousands of them on the other side of the ridge, there are probably even more hidden in the forest.

They cannot leave the beginners behind.

"How does the situation with the goblins look?"

"The one heading into the valley is a big scale pillaging tribe nya, it looks like the whole mountain is moving nya. It is the first time I have seen such a massive army nya, I even saw some big goblins and trolls nya... There are also groups of orcs, this is a proper invasion army nya. They are heading in the west southwest direction, but I can't confirm their target destination nya..."

"So the ones we encountered are just the scouting party?"

Minori gasps.

Naotsugu turns and see the party with Minori and Touya in the lead standing to one side, all of them with stiff expressions and tense body. It seems they have heard the conversation.

"Several thousands... just one mountain ridge away?"

Rundelhaus turns his gaze to the forest attempting to see through the forest. His face did not reflect fear and has a sense of determination.

The 3 camp leaders cannot find the right words to say momentarily. Serara says in a clear voice

"I am in charge of the beginners in Crescent moon alliance, so, because of that, I registered all of them on my friend list right? Isuzu also registered right?"

"hmmm, yeah, of course!"

"Is it okay to ask them about their situation?"

Before Naotsugu can speak, Minori has already asked. The 2 of them nod and open their friend list. Naotsugu scratch his head and mock himself for overlooking this. He forgot that Serara and Isuzu is in the Crescent moon alliance and can contact the other members easily.

Now that he think about it, it was really obvious.

There is no point in hiding the truth now.

Since they have to tell everyone when they go back to base anyway, Naotsugu and Rezarikku gathered the 6 members from the higher level party as well and explain the situation briefly.

They were scheduled to return to the school campus in the afternoon, but now that they are surrounded by the goblin army, they cannot continue to raid the dungeon. The problem now is which route to take and the situation of the other training teams in the area.

Serara and Isuzu are talking to someone.

From the intelligence gathered by the 2 of them, there is a fierce retreating battle at the coast line, blue goblins came out of the sea. The group is retreating back to the school campus while maintaining formation with the high level camp leaders acting as rear guard.

"Blue goblins? Tch, is it sahuagin? What the hell is going on here?"

Naotsugu curse and swear, he have never heard of anyone encountering the rare monster sahuagin in Sand Leaf peninsula before. They are commonly found in warmer areas further to the south.

"Is this... a coincidence?"

Rezarikku is asking about the connection between the goblins and the sahuagins. Nobody knows the answer, so there is only silence. But the 2 armies seem to be moving in concert, calling it a coincidence seems to be dismissing their connection too easily.

Heading to the school campus may not be the best option now, they might be surrounded by both the goblins and the sahuagins in the worst case scenario.

(If it is too dangerous, we can all use 'call of home' to teleport back to Akiba.)

Naotsugu convinces himself.

They can go back to Akiba easily if they use 'call of home', but they will need a few days to come to Sand Leaf peninsula. Hence, this is the last resort if they run out of options.

Leading the beginners back to the school campus is also risky.

But Naotsugu thinks that they should link up with Mairelle's group since they are on their way there. They can account for everyone's safety this way, which is the top priority.

Nyanta and Rezarikku agrees with this plan.

With the decision made, executing it is very fast.

Since there is no way of knowing when the goblin army is coming, there is no point in staying here.

According to Nyanta's description, the goblin groups are spread around the forest area, scouting out a wide area. Even if they trigger a battle, they can just force their way through.

"Alright, we will be returning to the school campus next, Me, Nyanta and Rezarikku will be the leading party. Even with just the 3 of us, we won't lose to you rookies, so don't worry understand? Okay! The higher level party will be in the rear, remember to do your part, pay attention to the back but don't stay too far behind. The lower level party will be in the middle in charge of supporting us if we run into a fight in front, don't drop your guard because you are in the center!"

The group mount their horses under Naotsugu's command.

They intend to cut across the Sand Leaf hills in a straight line.

...There is going to be a war.

Naotsugu worryingly acknowledge this fact, the goblins and sahuagins might have surrounded the entire Sand Leaf by now.

If that is the case, his reliable friend will initiate some form of counteraction rising against the monsters' attack. He just need to do his part.

Naotsugu stroke the neck of his horse gently and advance along the forest trail.


2

Moving the time forward a little.

Shiroe who received the report knew about the unsteady air surrounding the Sand Leaf peninsula. But he already knew about it earlier during the meeting with the lords of the people of the land.

Adventurers can communicate with a companion far away via telepathy, the people of the land also have a form of long range communication.

They hold conference with each other through the use of crystal balls and magic.

When Elder Tale was still a game, the people of the land were NPC, a part of the background of the game. They do not have battle abilities and convenient skills provided by the game system like the adventurers.

Elder Tale is a historical epic, in order to have deeper story elements, the people of the land are set to be able to use all kind of magic.

Examples will be the secret skill to create magical artifacts or teleport magic to escape from the main character (the players).

But this is just a setting, not an existing ability. But in the alternate world after the apocalypse, these abilities become a part of the magic systems and are used more freely.

Long range conferencing via magic by using crystal ball is part of that magic type.

According to the time and place, this communication technique is a more powerful weapon than a band of knights. The nobles of the League of Freedom Cities understand this point, and have a personal court magician reside in their land.

The pillaging goblin tribes only roam in the mountains and won't attack the cities the nobles reside in. Only the small scale community in the hills and unfortunate travelers will fall victim to them.

The first to know of the goblin army is Tsukuba's Marquis Chilliwar. The goblin was moving in the hills, so they weren't detected until elements of the goblin forward forces reach Sand Leaf.

This information was transmitted last night.

Tsukuba's resident magician recognize the seriousness of the situation and contacted Marquis Chilliwar immediately. Marquis Chilliwar only hesitated a moment before calling for an emergency meeting and escalate the news to Duke Sergead. Duke Sergead thinks the matter is more important than his pride and request for aid from all the attending nobles.

The people of the land held a meeting out of the blue, so they are in a state of confusion. The goblin army is terrifying in their numbers and this incident is severe enough to impact their governance.

The people of the land held the meeting through the night thinking of countermeasures.

There are several reasons why Crusty and the other adventurers were not invited to this meeting.

Firstly, Crusty and the group from the round table council is not an official member of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' yet.

There will be a ceremony to officially recognize the round table council joining the league during the 10 days meeting, this has already been scheduled. But the nobles wants to negotiate as much as possible first, so this ceremony will be held in the later half of the meeting. But since they have not went through the ceremony yet, the round table council are not an official member of the league right now.

Secondly, there are still some members of the league who feels uneasy about the round table council. There is even rumors 'Is the goblin invasion a scheme of the adventurers?' that is totally laughably silly.

This type of views come from a fact. The goblin tribes in the Ouyu hills have always been a headache for the residents in the mountains. But in the past 80 years, they have not come out of the mountains to invade the villages. Even though the residents think of them as dangerous elements in the hill and feels uneasy, but there is no big issue if they live at the foot of the mountain.

The reason the goblins are held at bay in the mountain is because the adventurers periodically raid them and cut down their numbers.

The nobles residing around Ouyu mountain ridges knew the importance of inviting adventurers to diminish the strength of the goblins, so they will put out many quest and rewards annually.

When Elder Tale was still a game, the nobles will use the bar to disseminate quest to 'raid goblins', 'attack the goblin village', 'recover the stolen resources', and the adventurers will take on the quest for the reward and make their way up the mountains.

But it is different this year, the adventurers ignored all the quest related to the goblins in Ouyu mountain. That is why the nobles of the league especially those situated near the Ouya mountain ridges suggest it might be a conspiracy of the adventurers.

But that is not the case.

The event known as the 'May incident' to the people of the land, and apocalypse to the adventurers, the world changed. The adventurers also changed to adapt to this new world, living every day with no energy to spare. Compared to the time when Elder Tale was just a game, all kinds of quest was ignored, this is something that cannot be helped.

The adventurers did not have any ill intentions, they are just prioritizing on solving their own problems, that's why they are ignoring the goblins. This is the common knowledge spread among the people of the land. But when the monster army starts to invade, the nobles are unable to accept this idea emotionally.

And also...

"So, is it true?"

"Yes, 'The Knights of Izumo'... disappeared."

"They are no longer here? Meaning they were destroyed?"

"We do not know if they were destroyed, there are no bodies or any trace of battles, they are just gone, 'spirited away' would be the best way to say it."

They acknowledge this fact once again.

'The Knights of Izumo' is one of the 'Global 13 Order of Knights', the strongest military force of the kind human race, the protector of the world. There is an unbelievable type of superhuman known as 'Ancient' in this world. They are made with lost ancient magic hidden in the bloodline of the people of the land, a miraculous people.

The 'Global 13 Order of Knights' are a league of superheroes exclusively made up of 'Ancients'.

They are the savior of humanity and will not interfere with the squabbles of the nobles or appears when demihuman attack in small scale. But they will definitely strike during big scale disasters to protect the human world.

One of the order of knights, 'The Knights of Izumo' disappeared.

This fact was known one month after the 'May incident', because it is a serious matter, the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' classify this information from the public. They suspected this might be the conspiracy of the 'Holy empire Westelande', but their spies reports that 'Holy empire Westelande' is also troubled by this.

The nobles only know in detail about the 'The Knights of Izumo', the other 12 'Global 13 Order of Knights' must be shouldering the safety of the world in other continents, and has not appeared in Yamato before.

The several fortress the use as their home base is now empty. From the scout reports, there are no traces of battle there, or any signs of them being activated on short notice for a crusade to some far away lands.

It has a normal every day feeling, as if the place was frozen in time.

The impression is similar to taking a walk in a sunny day and not coming back.

"But, if that is so..."

"woo woo..."

Several nobles scratches their head.

The goblin army number ten and several thousands. If they formed up on the plains and clash all out with the League of Freedom Cities forces, it is number they can stand a chance against.

But the goblins are moving south along the mountain ridges and there is no way of knowing where they will strike, it might Hitachi, Maebashi or even turn around and hit downtown of Uramiyagi.

These cities are different from others in the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', they have city walls protecting the nobles residence and the entire city area, a fortress city. Depending on the number of soldiers and citizens, they can protect themselves against a larger force if they adopt a defensive strategy. But if they are facing goblins that are over 10,000 in number, they might not be able to keep do it alone. They will face the problem of resource supply and psychological shock.

These cities are dependent on the aid of 'The Knights of Izumo'.

The city in the most dire position is Tsukuba.

There are sightings of the goblin invasion force in the mountains, and they are estimated to be less than a hundred km away.

Other then this, the possible targets of the goblins are the aforementioned Hitachi, Maebashi, downtown of Uramiyagi and an unarmed fishing town Choshi that is not under any noble's jurisdiction.

They might target...

"They might be target Maihama."

Duke Sergead says as he put his strong rugged palm on his cheek.

From the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost' in the direction of Sand Leaf, Maihama is on the other side of the city ruins of Eastel. Calculating from the place the goblins were sighted, they might attack the city in 2-3 days in the worse case scenario.

In conclusion, the goblin army is heading straight for the throats of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal'. From the perspective of the league, they should say that they allow the enemy to penetrate so deep into their territory.

The monsters are too close, there is no way to remove this thorn without spilling blood and the venom is about to corrode the heart of the league.

A deafening silence befall the room.

It is an unbearable silence.

The night meeting continues with heavy words, from a rational point of view, the enemy is just days away from invading any number of cities, this is not the time for meetings.

Since it has come to this, the only way is for the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' to pool their forces to surround and exterminate the goblin army.

But this will require a lot of sacrifice. Cavalry would not be able to fight in the forest with limited visibility, the heavy cavalry which relies on their charges to take down the enemy would not be able to show their might.

It is difficult to run a large scale war, the nobles' forces will be spread out, fighting the goblins will cause many lives. The hill regions is suitable for hiding, even if you send in all your forces to this extent, the goblins might spread out and run away, there is no guarantee you can take them all out.

And so, should the lords all return and defend their own lands? The answer is no.

Most cities are able to survive a siege for months, but as the goblins attack the fortress, they can raid the surrounding villages and communities, destroy the farms and hide in the hills when reinforcement comes to save the city. Their motives is food and treasure, not to occupy the city. Thinking about this way, they are not an army, but armed refugees.

The mountain ranges in the north east region of Yamato archipelago face a serious problem. A big coalition like an army unable to cooperate and support each other in this type of terrain.

Duke Sergead presses his aching temple with his fingers and think.

(The decision of this meeting is probably going to be using all forces to surround and destroy the enemy...We can only accept the fact we will lose a lot of men in this war of attrition... But the problem in this case is which noble will lead the vanguard.)

Leading the vanguard sounds like a honorable role, but they are actually going to be cannon fodder.

...First of all, a certain fortress city will be surrounded and besiege. This fortress will need to strengthen its defense to resist the goblins. The goblins will tire from laying siege, and the league's army will surround and destroy them.

This is a proper war strategy in military terms.

And it is probably the only way to destroy the goblins. But this strategy need a city fortress to be the bait.

The candidates are first Tsukaba followed by Duke Sergead's city Maihama.

All the nobles understand this.

But they dare not say it.

For a city to be under siege means accepting all the farm and fields they have toll on while be razed to the ground and many citizen's life will be lost. 'Be the bait' is not words you can utter easily.

"...We...We request under the charter of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' for help from the lords in the league!"

Tsukaba's Marquis Chilliwar utter these words like a scream.

But facing a plea like this, many of the nobles just avert their eyes in silence.

"That...That's right, Akiba! There is Akiba, they can use their army to defeat goblins, we should do that! They are the reasons for all this after all!"

Marquis Chillewar shouts desperately as though he is going to be crushed by the silence. These words pique the interest of some of the nobles.

(Ehmm...)

Duke Sergead's expression is serious, but he kept silent and think.

This is a good idea.

They have been thinking about it with the current strength of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', they did not consider adding elements from outside...that elements is the adventurers in Akiba, if it is them, they could provide some effective countermeasures.

(But...)

They are a strong weapon of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', but they might also be a double edged sword, there is no guarantee they can control this weapon.

Can we request for aid just like that? But if we seek help, we will need to tell them all the truth, including the disappearance of 'The Knights of Izumo'.

Adventurers are very strong.

If they put their mind to it and declare war on the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', it will be more complex then this war with the goblins. 'The Knights of Izumo' that can rival the adventurers are now gone, if the adventurers know about this, they could not predict how the dynamics of the situation will evolve.

Duke Sergead thinks the 3 young ambassador can be trusted.

Michitaka has the air of a great merchant, he is highly tolerant and is willing to bear any losses to stay true to his business ethics.

Shiroe has the feel of a scholar, but his nature is like a sharp sword. If the sword is out of the sheath, no matter how challenging the problem is, he will be about to cut it down.

And Crusty, senate leader of the round table council is not a knight. He is talented in too many ways, a knight is not enough to describe him. The potential of this young man Crusty cannot be gauged, even with the eyes of the 60 year old Duke, it is like an opaque curtain.

But the personal prejudice of Sergead has to be strictly separated from the decision making of Duke Sergead Corwen, ruler of Maihama, the most prestigious clan Corwen in the east and the chairman of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal'. The nature of the 3 ambassador also cannot be used to gauge the political decision of Akiba.

(And Holy empire Westelande is watching this closely...)

With Marquis Chilliwar leading the way, several nobles wants the adventurers to take to the battle field. A few lords bring up 'The Knights of Izumo' incidents to oppose, suggesting that keeping secrets from allies are not appropriate.

But even more nobles question the feasibility of the strategy, the adventurers joining the fray is a good thing, but how do you lure these adventurers in? If the nobles do not provide quest rewards to match, it will be hard to entice them.

The meeting turn into chaos.

And it continued to be this way when Nyanta report the situation to Shiroe the following day.



3

The morning after the noble's meeting.

The telepathy message from Sand Leaf alert Shiroe's group to the crisis.

Nyanta might not be the first to report, because Michitaka and Crusty also receive similar messages from guild members attending the summer training camp at about the same time.

Sand Leaf peninsula is under a large scale attack from demihumans.

Shiroe's group hold an emergency meeting in their room immediately. The meeting room only have Shiroe, Michitaka and Crusty and a few others, the rest are either on security detail or out scouting for intelligence.

At the same time, the top floor of the guild building in Akiba is also having an emergency meeting at the round table. Even though it is inconvenient, they still manage to hold a meeting through telepathy.

"Let's explain the situation."

Under Michitaka's request, Shiroe took out his notes and inform the others of the known facts.

"Sand Leaf peninsula was under attack by demihuman earlier this morning. Including the beginners, there are 67 players from Akiba attending a summer training camp in the peninsula. The invading demihuman armies are as follows. Sahuagin at the coastline, unknown numbers, estimate to be at least a few hundred; central hill region is attacked by a large scale pillaging goblin tribe, at least 10,000 in strength."

10,000 is easy to say, but is a large number, event the veteran players will be daunted by this.

Elder Tale's smallest group battle unit is a 'Party'. This is a group cooperating together using tactics, maximum of 6 members. When challenging dungeons or adventuring in the world, the adventurers of Elder Tale will form a 'Party'.

But there are some incident and quest that cannot be handled by a party. To handle such large scale battles, Elder tale design a big scale battle system call a 'Raid'.

'Raid' are separated by levels, the more common one being the 'Full Raid' formed by 4 'Parties' a 24 player mid size group. Elder Tale's heroic level battles are normally done in this way.

The quest which the Debauchery Tea Party completed to obtain their griffon flutes,'the fields of dead spirits' requires a 24 man group, and is a 'Full Raid' quest.

There is another higher level group, which is the 'Legion Raid' formed by 4 'Full Raid' groups. There are very few quest in Elder Tale that is 'Legion Raid' level, and is used to handle a very large scale limited time events to avert national level crisis.

It is hard to work together in an army of 96 people, most players won't be able to grasp the full extent of the battle, the commander must be courage, insight and tactical ability.

Goblin levels are low.

TO level 90 players, they are just small fries and they can take on dozens alone. But no one has heard of an army that is a hundred times bigger then the 96 man 'Legion Raid'.

"This is a conservative estimate, I think the actual numbers will need to be revised upwards."

"Why do you think so?"

Crusty ask Shiroe.

"It's based on the reason for the invasion."

"Reason? Sempai knows what it is?"

Everybody is talking through telepathy, the minutes are taken by one of the attendants that came along. These words should be from Soujiro of West Wind Brigade, and Shiroe replies 'this is not a confirmed fact, just my own deduction' as a opening line, and says:

"I think the reason for the invasion is 'The return of the Goblin King'.

Shiroe not only made the meeting room he is in quiet, the round table council members in Akiba and Marielle in Sand Leaf is also dumbstruck.

When Elder Tale was just a game, 'The return of the Goblin King' is a periodic game event.

In the depths of the Ouyu zone's 'Deep darkness forest'there is a goblin castle the 'fortress of seven falls'.

Every 2 years there will be a goblin king coronation ceremony, crowning the strongest goblin tribe leader from the surrounding 6 tribes.

If you change it to real time, this is an event that happens every 2 months. The entrance to the 'fortress of seven falls' will open every 2 months for a week. If the players raid the goblin king's fortress during this period, they will be able to obtain strong loots.

There are 2 reasons why this is so popular. First, the loot dropped by the goblin king is very strong, even if it is not something the top tier players of major guilds will want, it is a very high level items for normal players, high quality items that will make other envy.

Another reason that cannot be overlook is the strength of the goblin king is and the defense forces is not fixed.

According to the game setting, the goblin king is selected from the strong goblin from the surronding tribes. In other words, if you attack the surrounding tribes and weaken their forces, the goblins in the 'fortress of seven falls' will also be weakened, the level and power of the goblin king will also go down.

Because of this feature, even normal players stands a chance in taking on 'the return of the Goblin King' quest, making it a worthwhile and popular quest.

"...Yes, 'The return of the Goblin King' that everyone is familiar with. It has a setting that has never happened before and might be forgotten by the players."

Raiding the goblin king is a 'Full Raid' level battle, but if you weaken the goblins before hand, it is not too difficult, a raid suitable for mid size guilds to take on. Shiroe has never heard of a goblin king living pass the 1 week event period.

But if Shiroe remembers correctly, this is what is happening right now.

"I remember...If the goblin king survives the 1 week event period, he will unite the surrounding tribes and his army will increase by 10 times, I remember there is such an explanation right?"

Shiroe nods to acknowledge Michitaka's query.

That is correct.

The goblin king who completes the coronation will become the hero of the goblins, his influence will increase significantly.

After the Apocalypse, Shiroe and the adventurers has been busy building their environment to survive in this alternate world. Even if it is Elder Tale's popular quest 'The return of the Goblin King', they don't have the time to take on the quest and ignores it.

"So the goblins retained their military power."

An attendant relays the telepathy message, Shiroe think for a while, nods and reply.

"Yes, we did not raid the 6 surrounding tribes , and did not attack the fortress of seven falls in waves, so we can assume the goblin kings and his guards level are at their highest in the history of the game... Other then this, I am more worried about the scale of the united goblins tribe."

There is a suffocating silence in the meeting room.

They did not want to keep quiet but with nothing constructive to say, the room became silent.

They maintain a sense of calm and did not fall into panic. According to reports, the summer training camp attendees are seeking refuge in the abandoned school campus, Marielle from Crescent moon alliance is joining the meeting through telepathy from there.

Telepathy can only connect 1 to 1, so Henrietta is relaying Marielle's messages in the meeting room.

Also, if the campers are surrounded by powerful monsters, they will use 'Call of Home' to teleport back to Akiba to avoid harm.

The goblin army is marching from the Sand Leaf peninsula, they should be heading towards either the west or south, razing any communities in their way. But Akiba is still a distance away, and Akiba will be ready for them if they do come.

Even if the goblin army is the biggest ever, they are still a manageable group. You need a 'Full Raid' group to raid the goblin king... 24 adventurers. Akiba has 500 times that number of adventurers.

(But the situation now...)

Akiba is safe, but the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' cannot take matters lightly like them.

Even if the enemy number just 10,000, Shiroe think it will be enough to take down a weaker fortress.

Shiroe lacks military knowledge, so it is a shame that he cannot be certain about that. But he can imagine the livid faces of the nobles in the league.

"Will the 'The Knights of Izumo' be deploying?"

Henrietta ask hesitantly.

This was answered with a chatter of voices agreeing "Oh..." "Now that you mention it...".

'The Knights of Izumo'.

This is an order of knights in the Japanese server made up of 'Asians'.

'Ancient' is a hero character of the people of the land, their might is more than a match for the adventurers, the ace in the hole for the kind human race. When adventurers first appear in this world, they take on quests and missions to tip the scale against the demihumans with their overwhelming numbers. But if the fate of the world hang in the balance, the 'The Knights of Izumo' of intervene.

In the 12 open server of the world there are 13 such orders of knights, 'The Knights of Izumo' are known as the Japanese server's... wrong, it should be Yamato archipelago's guardian angel.

When Elder Tale was still a game, Shiroe heard of the exploits of this order of knights. Not only Shiroe, the more experienced players will know even more about the legend of this mythical knight order. They fought frequently alongside them in quests or follow their trace in their crusades.

They are the protector of all the kind human race in the world, so they will not involve themselves in the petty political quarrels between the lords and nobles. But if an event like the invasion of the demihumans were to happen, they probably would take some action.

The meeting has the atmosphere of 'I don't need to take care of this personally'. But Shiroe has his doubts, as they have not confirmed that the 'The Knights of Izumo' is operating normally as usual.

Shiroe falls into a feeling of self loathe, thinking that he is worrying about this too much. He is interested in the southwards march of the goblins, recalling that the Elder Tale official setting only says 'the goblin king who survive the week of his coronation will unite the surrounding forces and build an empire'.

(...Can we really leave this alone?)

Shiroe do not have a clear answer in his heart. The fact is that he have to worry about the 'soul theory' issue, making him hesitate about starting a grand scale war.



4

"Princess, princess... Princess Raynesia?"

The maid's call made Raynesia turn around.

"What is it...?"

Raynesia tilt her head slightly up, the knights of the court will be mesmerized by just this look and swear their eternal fealty to her, that is how adorable and beautiful she is. But the one before her is the maid that has been taking care of her for the longest time.

"Thinking about something? It is still too early to think about lunch right?"

The maid says in a overly familiar tone.

But her accusation was quite generous, 'thinking' is a rare action that Raynesia makes. The time she spend looking 'depressed' is longer than the time she spends thinking. But her most common action is just 'dazing around'.

"EH? Elisa, do I look like I am thinking?"

Raynesia is probably used to it and did not make any rebuttal, and just make a query.

The maid Elisa made her way to the back of Raynesia who is sitting at the dressing table to comb her beautiful silver hair.

"Yes, you look like you were thinking, which is so rare for the princess."

This make Raynesia think in silence again, this is a rare sight indeed.

The key of differentiating her actions is in her gaze. When she is looking slightly down and not displaying any emotions, she is 'thinking'.

If she looks to the bottom left and looks like she is smiling despite being trouble, that is 'depressed'

If the princess is fretting and depressed over small matters, this is the expression she makes.

This is the truth behind the face the scholars and bureaucrats praised as 'sorrowful look of the melancholic beauty'. The things she is fretting about is usually stuff like 'did I ate too much last night?' or 'I hope they don't throw away my old pajamas'.

The expression popular with the knights and muscular men is the 'dazing around' expression. Her head tilt slightly upwards, a tipsy look as if she was day dreaming, with a faint hint of a smile. If she is dazing too much, her eyes will shine, making her even more alluring.

Since she is just dazing around, if you ask her you will realize she is not thinking about anything, the most she will say is something on the level of 'Ah, the weather is nice' or 'I want to take a nap in my room'. She sounds like an idiot when she says that, but from what Elisa see, the Raynesia she is serving under is a real idiot, there is no mistake.

At least that is so for their daily lives.

(This is hard, beauties are hard to handle.)

Elisa can only sigh.

Since Elisa is a maid serving the princess, she is also quite a beauty herself. If she has some time off and walk in the city, there will be tons of men hitting on her.

From Elisa's view, she is a pretty charming woman, but to the standard of a fancy beauty. Real beauties are ladies like Raynesia, the beauty at this level has the ability to be independent of the person herself, letting others ignore things like her personality and thoughts, a whole dimension by itself.

(I don't really envy her though.)

Elisa sigh softly as she combs the princess' luscious and silvery hair, each strand passing through her fingers is like treasures as valuable as gold.

"...Didn't come today."

Elisa wants to tease the princess and said.

"Ah?"

"Sir Crusty."

"...Why did you ask?"

"It is nothing, the two of you kept having lunch together recently, he usually comes to visit the princess around this time."

"Is...that so..."

Raynesia replies in a mildly panicky tone. The slightly embarrassed Raynesia is not the princess the knights adore.

This princess is a beauty, but she is closer to being naive and clumsy instead of a fancy lady... she is just a useless girl, but Elisa admires her useless mistress

"Yeah, that is correct. The animal known as man don't pay attention to details since the start of civilization.  We are having a hard time with just the clothes we brought along, but he never care about our problems with our wardrobe, it is really making me speechless... I remember lunch yesterday was a pearl color gown, light purple shawl and purple crystal necklace. The day before was light purple rose satin... right, the one with the double layer material."

"Yeah."

Raynesia has a surprised expression, from the look she is giving Elisa through the mirror, she doesn't understand what she is saying.

"Listen carefully princess, this is not 'grey princess city' in Maihama, so your wardrobe is very limited. If you have lunch with a specific male continuously, there is a limit to the combination of clothes you can wear. Since it is lunch, you cannot wear dresses for dinner banquets, you need to pay attention to the amount of skin you show. If lunch is in the courtyard, you will need to wear matching sleeves designs, and you need to choose according to the wallpaper color if you are eating indoors..."

Raynesia digest these words for a while, then gingerly express her views.

"I am fine with yesterday's clothes."

"No way, wearing the same clothes for meals 2 days in a row, you think you are a country girl?"

Elisa rejects Raynesia's suggestion.

"I can wear the long sleeve silk blouse and plaid skirt..."

"That is indoor casual wear! And this is the specific costume you always laze around in!"

Facing the aggressive Elisa, Raynesia makes a puppy face and kept quiet. Even this expression looks like she is hiding her sorrows bearing her painful troubles, beauties are terrifying.

(But her nature is a useless bum, things like plaid skirts are not meant to be seen by men, she is not a bar hostess!)

"But I think Sir Crusty is not concerned about these things..."

"Wrong! The animal known as man may say he don't mind, but he will tabulate the scores in his heart, it must be like this. They will say 'I like your most natural look', but when they see a woman who just woke up they will turn their gaze far away. What they need is not 'most natural look', but your 'seemingly most natural look'! Listen, in the end the princess..."

The sound of the knocking door interrupted Elisa's spirited lecture.

Raynesia's father Feynail entered with the butler without waiting for their reply.

"Ah, Raynesia, calm down and listen to me."

Faynail tries to hide his exasperation, take a glass of water and drink half of it before continuing.

"A goblin army is heading towards Maihama, 10,000 in strength and seems to be increasing. They might number tens of thousands in a few days, but that is the worse case scenario."

Elisa is unable to get what he is saying.

10 times of a hundred is a thousand, 10 times that is ten thousand.

The city of Maihama has the largest population within the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', numbering about 20,000 which includes the farmers and merchants. The military might of Maihama includes a thousand guards that maintain peace and order in the city, the 400 knights stationed in Maihama, if you add in other patrolling knights, it will barely reach 2000.

When Elisa realize it, she feel her blood draining away in an instant.

10,000 enemy troops!

The enemy is demihumans, so the civilian militia won't be able to match up to them. Elisa heard about defense battle using a fortress, but 10,000 against 2000 sounds like a lost cause to a woman with no military knowledge.

"Those ugly bastards might not be after our precious Maihama, Tsukaba and a few other noble's territory is also in the danger zone. But we cannot afford to let down our guard, I plan to return to Maihama immediately."

"Dear father, I will also..."

Raynesia get up from her chair.

She has a sharp and serious expression.

Raynesia might not be good at socializing with others, is lazy, loves to daze around and doesn't look like a daughter of a prestigious clan.

But she doesn't look like one, it doesn't mean she is not suitable to be one.

This sloppy and careless princess has the bloodline of one of the only two duke clans... clan Corwen. Elisa has never doubted the princess she is taking care of is of noble birth and have high potential.

"No, there is no need, you can just stay here."

"Why? With our land in danger, we need to all go back..."

"No, father in law will also stay here."

Father in law refers to the current head of the family Duke Sergead. Raynesia's mother Helania is the daughter of Sergead, her father married into the clan.

"We have not determined the true intention of the invading army, from the scale, they are not only after Maihama. It won't be too serious they only attack Maihama... the worse case will be the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' being wiped off the face of the map. To counter this, the league will need to unite to face our adversaries together. As the chairman of the leafue, father in law cannot leave this palace. You need to become his pillar of support... Do you understand?"

Feynail came just to say these words.

He did not wait for her daughter to reply and hastily left the room, Elisa bow deeply to bid him farewell.

Feynail is Elisa's main employer. Compared to her times with Raynesia or her mother, Elisa has little contact with her employer, and he gives her an impression of being a honest man.

The lord of Maihama is Duke Sergead.

He inherited his role at a young age and is brilliant in his governance, enjoys a good reputation and is loved by his people. His daughter and granddaughter Raynesia was also very well liked.

Compared to direct bloodline descendants, his son in law Feynail is like an outsider. Even though saying it this way sounds wrong, but he cannot avoid the criticism of leaving a weak impression on the people.

He is not a knight or the son of a noble, he was just a bureaucrat with a normal background. He was in the economic department and raise in rank over time. Elisa heard from her parents when Feynail was marrying into the clan, the people was not really disappointed, but just have the feeling of missed expectations.

But you cannot feel gentleness of his bureaucratic background when you look at his back as he rushes back to his land without hesitation. If he is really so frail and weak, Sergead would not have approved of him, and Elisa agrees with the Duke's judgement.

"Dear father..."

"Princess?"

Raynesia's whimper made Elisa focus on her.

Raynesia is thinking.

No, this is different from the normal thinking Raynesia she has seen so far.

Her eyes seems to be looking at something without form and shape, nursing a flame that is burning slowly.Her graceful stance has an air of nobility, you cannot jokingly describe it as being depressed.

"Princess...?"

Raynesia did not hear Elisa's words and bit her lips gently.



5

This is Sand Leaf penindula, an abandoned school grounds on a gentle hill near the sea. There are many adventurers gathered on the field.

They are all chatting among themselves with a tense expression. They are not a formal army, so there are no officers nagging at them and asking them to form up and behave. They gather in small groups with people they are familiar with or at about the same level and is awaiting orders.

No one made any suggestions, but the adventurers has already accounted for all their things and pack them away. There are several wooden barrels in the central tent, someone will help you refill your water bottles with ice cold black rose tea over there.

These should be initiatives taken by the campers, the adventurers that has taken the tea will return to their companions and continue to talk softly.

In the sky to the west, the sun which looks bigger than it was in the day is setting, it is already evening.

Adventurers kept entering and leaving the only tent left in the center of the field.

Following the guideline that was announced, they will be using this campus as a base until they have accounted for everyone. This also means that they will be leaving after making sure everybody is safe.

Marielle look outside the tent and sigh.

Nyanta, Naotsugu, Marielle, Shoryu, Rezarikku and other level 90 players are holding a meeting in the tent.

The supervisor for this summer training camp is Marille, Crescent moon alliance is a small guild, but it is one of the 11 guild that set up the round table council. The other members of the council are either at the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost', or is back in Akiba, so the training of the beginners is left in Marielle's care.

The news of the sahuagin and goblin attacks has already been reported back to the round table council, they must be coming up with some follow up measures.

"Miss Marielle? Don't think too hard about it, just leave it to Shiroe and Henrietta alright? Don't worry, be it through trick or treachery, they will think of a good way to deal with this."

"Thanks Naotsugu."

Marielle smile brilliantly like usual.

She thinks that smiling in this situation is not too good, but to feeling the sincerity of others made her happy. This youth Naotsugu... That doesn't sound right, he is only a year or two younger, he should be a adult <TL: shonen, seinen>...He is usually so brash and bold, so it is hard to imagine he actually delicate and kind at heart. When Marielle notice this, she is always delighted when he shows his concern.

"Alright! Let me give you a hug! A hug as thanks!"

Marielle hides her embarrassment and hug the panicky Naostugu tightly, Naotsugu with his red face and helpless demeanor is so cute and interesting.

"Eh! Hold on, miss Marielle, stop, don't be like this! Stop...! Avoid...! Touch...! Swimsuit...!" <TL:someone retranslate>

Naostugu whose mind is in total chaos surprised Marielle, but she continue to hug Naotsugu's head as Nyanta intervene with his kind words.

"Miss Marielle? I think you should change your clothes nya, it is already evening. cough cough, about that... just wearing a bikini and a hoodie is a bit too stimulating for Naotsugu nya."

This advice made Marielle realize the situation and she back away hastily.

She was so nervous all the while and did not notice she was essentially half naked.

(Heavens... that was careless of me, I am wearing this when I... Boo hoo... Now he will think of me as a brainless girl. Thankfully Henrietta is not here, or she will give me a lecture...)

Her chest that was pressing against Naotsugu feels warm, the heat seems to be coming from her sense of shame, her face has the same warmth. Marielle rush into the depth of the tents and took out armor to change into, no one should be able to see her behind the screens. But she did not take off her swimwear, and just wear a tunic and armor over it.

"Sorry to disturb! Players above level 30 are all accounted for! Everyone is present!"

Marielle is changing so she cannot see this, but she heard Nyanta accept the report from the camper. Everyone is accounted for, no attendees are lost, Marielle feels a heavy weight is off her shoulders.

The retreating battle from the beach was really fierce.

The enemy level is low, but their numbers is very troublesome. The strategy for long term battle and short term battle are different, which is basically the allocation of MP usage.

Cleric Marielle is a healer, and if the healer runs out of MP it means the supply of healing spells will stop.

In order to keep party members alive, healers need to manage their MP carefully. In Elder Tale, a normal party raiding a dungeon will get into battles that last from 30 seconds to several minutes, so players will find it hard to control their resources for battles that goes over 10 minutes.

Only players in major guilds who took part in 'Legion Raid' will have experience in long and pitched battles.

They retreated with much difficulty.

There were people wounded in the battle, but they were cured by the healers. Shoryu comments that the beginners are now more couragoeous and spirited after experiencing this retreating fight, so they did gain something out of this.

After Marielle finish changing and tidying her hair, there was a commotion outside the tent. She heard Naotsugu call "Miss Marielle!" and walk out into the purple night sky.There are many specks of lights wavering in the forest of the distant mountain range.

"...Those are torches nya."

Nya mentions softly.

This is a scene out of a fantasy, and it is an uneasy and looming sight.

With the red burning sun as the background, Sand Leaf's forest in the mountain is falling into darkness. Countless specks of light shines and move through the forest, light ants carrying lights and marching forward.

"From the looks of it, 100-150?"

Naotsugu says softly.

The number of torches is not equivalent to the number of goblins, but there are at least that number of goblins moving through the forest, Marielle realize that are no longer hiding their movements.

The countless specks of light is a wordless warning from the goblins that 'We will attack you next'.

"Bring me the map!"

"Ah, wait a minute, I will use 'Magic torch'."

The veteran players from 'Jeer' and 'west wind brigade are estimating the position of the goblins on the map. Serara is holding the edge of Nyanta's shirt with unease, while Nyanta studies the maps and the markings, and lift his head and look to the south east.

Nyanta decided to use the griffon to scout from the sky while there is still daylight, he should be the one who is most familiar with the movements of the goblins.

Everyone at the plaza didn't panic when this see this strange sight. Put simply, since everyone is accounted for, they can hold a camp closing ceremony in Akiba 15 minutes later. Since they can use 'Call of Home', they do not have the feeling of desperation.

In this world, adventurers are very strong.

(Anyway, we need to wait for the round table council to make a decision. But since everyone is safe, I should report that to them...)

As Marielle is considering this, Nyanta has a troubled expression as he approaches with Serara and Minori. Naotsugu and Rezarikku is by Marielle's side. Since like Nyanta has something to say to the camp leaders.

"What is it? Did something happen?"

Marielle ask.

"The situation is a bit troubling nya, no, there is no need to be troubled at all, but, eh...."

Nyanta don't know where to start.

"Something wrong? Cheif, just say what is on your mind."

Naotsugu probably noticed Marielle's perplexed face, and directly ask his guild mate from Log Horizon about it.

"...That group seems to be on their way to assualt Choshi town nya. It is not the whole army, probably a mid size splinter group that is responsible for pillaging nya. The main army seems to situated more to the north nya...In other words, they plan to use Choshi town as their granary nya."

"Choshi town don't have walls."

Minori interject.

The hands of the middle school girl is shaking, but she steady herself forcefully and continue:

"If we don't do something, Choshi town won't last the night."



6

"So many...?"

Michitaka keeps repeating this like a parrot.

There are 5 people in this meeting room.

D.D.D's leader 'berserker' Crusty.

West wing brigade harem style guild master Soujiro.

Oceanic systems 'strong armed' boss Michitaka.

Crescent moon alliance stand in guild master Henrietta.

And Log Horizon's 'Black heart glasses' Shiroe.

The crisis of the sudden attack at Sand Leaf peninsula prompt the round table council to hold a meeting to discuss the situation. Marielle who is leading the training camp in Sand Leaf and Shiroe's group who are meeting with the people of the land at the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost' is attending through telepathy.

The conclusion of the discussion can be summarized simply, 'Standby'.

They are unable to come to a final conclusion at this current phase, they can only continue to keep communication open, gather more intelligence and standby while observing how the situation will develop, this is the general feel after the discussion.

But they cannot let their guard down and be ready for anything.

Shiroe made 3 suggestions to the round table council, the first is to strengthen the defense of the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost', there are many nobles gathered here, they need to ensure their safety. The nobles have their own bodyguards, but the adventurers feel they are not strong enough.

After the telepathy discussion with the round table council ended, west wind brigade is the first to heed Shiroe's call and rush to the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost'.

The 'Ancient palace of eternal frost' is situated to the southwest of the ruins of Eastel city, it is unlikely the goblins will attack here, this is a safe zone that doesn't need any reinforcement. But the meeting among the nobles is still unclear, from the few ways Shiroe predict their meeting will go, Shiroe or Crusty might not be able to continue discussion with the people of the land, so there is a need to send reinforcement from Akiba.

But if a big scale reinforcement army was to arrive while they are still in the middle of discussion, the people of the land might view this as an act of hostility. Taking this fact into account, west wind brigade is a relatively small guild among them and volunteers to lead the way.

West wind brigade made camp 10 minutes ride away from the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost', and Soujiro entered the palace with a few attendants.

Akiba and Shibuya is the 2 cities closest to the 'Ancient palace of eternal frost' in the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal'. If they need to rush, they can reach in 2 hours riding a horse, so Soujiro is in position that very evening.

According to reports, it has been confirmed that the goblin army is situated in around the root of Sand Leaf peninsula.

Shiroe mark out the rough position on the map, this place is near Tomomi and Toride in the real world. They are satellite cities in old Japan, but there just unexplored and green hill regions here.

"This is their headquarters, they are divided into tribes and coordinating their movements, but their teamwork is not perfect. Even if you can feel they are leaded by the goblin king, their command system is still scattered and lack uniformity. Their range of operation is wide and unregulated, which makes them harder to handle."

Shiroe express his views.

By looking at the map you can tell the enemy is within reach of the area under the influence of the abandoned capital city Eastel. If you draw a line between Tsukaba and Maihama, the army is right between them, in a position to disrupt their forces from cooperating.

"Because their movement is erratic, we cannot grasp their actual numbers even after receiving several reports... If the latest air surveillance report is reliable, there are at least 15,000 goblins."

"15,000..."

Henrieta gasped. She is not the guild master of the guild that is a member of the round table council, she is just standing in for Marielle who is away for the summer training camp in Sand Leaf. Hence, she is avoiding speaking out in this discussion, but she can't help herself.

"The number is not very threatening."

Soujiro says with a straight face.

"If the enemy has the same number as us, we the adventurers can take them on one after another. The enemy this time is goblins, even mid level players should be able to battle 10 rounds right? I am confident my guild can take out 1,500 of them."

He has a point, but his words are like those of a demon.

"Ay, we might be able to do that, but the meeting with the nobles won't go so smoothly."

Michitaka replies, Soujiro laugh charmingly, scratches his head and says:"You are right."

"As concluded in the telepathy meeting, the round table council will leave the decision in the hand of the ambassador party led by Crusty. Since the goblins are sending an army to attack, the nobles of Eastel should be talking about this right? So instead of discussing in Akiba, it is more efficient to do that here.

They basically decides to wait and see. But the nobles might ask for their aid, so Akiba shouldn't force their views when talking over about countermeasures with them, this is the answer Akiba chose.

In this negotiation, it would be best to give the ambassador on scene the authority to make decisions, this is the faith the round table council have in their 3 ambassador.

"Leave it to us, we won't sell Akiba out."

Michitaka laugh softly and promised Soujiro.

Shiroe looks at Crusty.

The big and handsome man with a calm expression is studying the map in silence.

"...'The knights of Izumo' are not deploying?"

Shiroe understands the question Crusty ask, and the meaning behind them.

"I think they are involve in some other incident we don't know about like the 'Pheonix Door's Ghost festival'."

'Pheonix Door's Ghost festival' is a periodic quest like 'the return of the goblin king', the quest activating once every 3 months. The story setting is based on the doors of hell opening and the ghost and spirits roaming the earth.

The difference between the two is that 'the return of the goblin king' is situated in the northeast, 'Pheonix door's ghost festival' happens in the 'bane of peace city'.

In other words, if there is something similarly happening in the west, 'the knights of Izumo' might be on their way there to help. Shiroe don't think this is the case, but he still brought this theory up.

"Yeah..."

Shiroe is unable to tell if Crusty accepts this reasoning, he just cross his arms and fall into silence again.

(...This might be my chance to tell the truth.)

Shiroe is planning all sort of things and trying to predict how things will pan out. But he decided this based on a premonition he had.

"I have something else to report."

"Hmmm? Mr Shiroe, what is it?"

"Mr Shiroe...?"

Shiroe waited for all of them to focus on him and says:

"It is about the death in this world. We will respawn in the cathedral after dying, so we just assume that by paying the penalty of lost EXP we can revive. This is the setting in Elder Tale, we were too naive to think this is what is happening."

Shiroe's speech made Crusty who is thinking silently lift his head and listen intently.

"According to my sources...This has not been confirmed, but there are risk in dying even in this world, you will not only lose some of your items and a bit of EXP...Dying will drain our Kon, and our Paku will reborn our body, we will lose some memories everytime we revive."

The grand and luxurious meeting room is filled with a tense air so strong that you can almost feel it with your fingers.

"How much memory you lose or which part you will lose, I am not sure... But based on my sources, this is how our death system works."

It feels like no one is reacting to what Shiroe said.

After a long period of time, Crusty replies.

"I understand...so, that is the reason behind the memory lost, I know that now."

"...!"

The group throw their gaze at the calm burly warrior. Crusty remain unfazed even with so many pairs of eyes on him.

"D.D.D is a battle guild, before the revolution in Akiba, we did some live battles training to adapt to this alternate world and I have experienced death several times. I didn't notice it normally, but there is definitely something missing, although I cannot be sure... But I think the memories we have of the old world will selectively be lost.

"Eh, this..."

"So this will happen, hey!"

"Specifically speaking which part? to what extent?"

Henrietta and Michitaka stood up and screams, but Shiroe stopped them and ask Crusty while looking him in the eye.

"I experience death twice after the Apocalypse, it is hard to say which part of the memories were lost. If the clue about the memory is also gone, it is hard for me to know. But I am sure that the memory I have lost so far is just a small part. The grade school I studied in, the nickname and face of my good friend in middle school, my desktop picture, the lyrics of the songs I like... These memories are still here, so judging from my perspective, I did not lose any memory. But I cannot recall the name of my cat, what she looks like...there is a problem with this effect, it is hard to say if this is due to the problem of the soul or I just plainly forgot about her. By the way, I have very good memory, so I deduce the reason I forgot is because of some special reasons, and has something to do with us coming into this alternate world, that is about all I can say about this. Information about my name, friends and relatives seems to be intact, I am not sure if the important memories are protected, or they just happened to not be affected... But if you go by my example, dying a few times would not have much effect, even if you accumulate 10 deaths it will not affect our daily lives."

...even if you accumulate 10 deaths it will not affect our daily lives.

Forgetting your cat's name will not cause any serious problems, and won't affect your life in any meaningful way.

But even if it doesn't affect your daily lives, this is still a stunning revelation.

In some ways, Shiroe's prediction is correct. As he expected, you will only lose some memory when you die, you will not lose everything. Even the subject in question won't really notice the gradual loss of memory, this prediction is correct.

But even so, this fact still hit him hard. You are losing other things, but your memory of your old world. This will be an news full of impact to the players, not in a rational way but it will instill fear on the instinct level.

Crusty smile at the dumbstruck group.

"Don't be so pessimistic, you won't lose your memory if you don't die, also..."

From the corner of Shiroe's eye, he can see Soujiro consoling Henrietta whose face is pale. This harem builder will definitely raise the love point with the girls in this type of situation.

Michitaka stay still in a daze after saying:"So this will happen..."

For Shiroe, the second half of Crusty's speech that the group did not really listen to is the main point.

Crusty says with determination in a gentle and soft voice.

"... also, if we don't find the meaning behind this, it would mean 'living is more terrifying than death' for both worlds right?"

Shiroe keep these words in the bottom of his heart.

Chapter 1 end