Log Horizon Book 4 chapter 3

book 4 chapter 2 line 1055, change 'princess' to 'my lord'
line 1057, change 'I see' to 'right'

http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Log_Horizon


Raynesia couldn't move until she got down from the griffon. Her dance partner will put a hand around her waist, but she have not been carried around casually like a luggage since she was a baby.

She didn't think it will be so embarrassing to be treated this way by a man. Raynesia struggles to loosen up her tense face and smile, but she knows her face is cramping up.

It doesn't feel like reality when she made the decision during the meeting, it feels like she only act on the spur of the moment.

Raynesia has spent too much time with Crusty this past week. Compared to facing this young man who is like a monster who can read her mind, saying arrogant things in front of the noble is nothing... that is how she muster her courage.

But she is unable to do anything about Crusty.

Raynesia knows Crusty is concern about her and protects her from being blown away or feeling too cold. But the more concerned he is, the more embarrassed she feels, and she thinks he can see right through her as well.

She appears elegant on the surface but is actually lazy and hate interacting with people, only thinking about rolling around in her room, a useless and incurable person. But Raynesia doesn't mind Crusty knowing all this right now.

But there is one thing if possible... No, one thing she must hide from him. That is her feeling of embarrassment when she is with Crusty.

"Please."

She take Crusty's hand for a moment and stand on the ground once more.

This is Akiba.

It is now late at night, but the light in streets are still burning bright the light that looks like a bonfire from the sky is actually a variety of light source. The seven bonfire in the city square are orange, the streetlights are yellow, the magic lights are phosphorescence white.

"That... Thank you very much."

Raynesia thank him with her gaze down, but Crusty is already focusing elsewhere. A group approaches them hastily, they have a brand on their clothes similar to that on Crusty's cape.


Crusty greeted the group and turns towards the young mage who is carrying the black hair girl down.

"Mr Shiroe, can you help her with her dressing and schedule?"

"Of course, but is it okay with you?"

"I have no choice, let's steel ourselves."

After talking to the young man called Shiroe, Crusty left with the group that has similar brands as him and the griffon took off at the same time.

Raynesia feels lost as the young man Shiroe speaks to her.

"Princess Raynesia, this is the first time greeting you. I am Shiroe from Log Horizon, this lady is Akatsuki."

After Shiroe finish the introductions, the petite girl named Akatsuki nods to acknowledge, seems like she keeps to herself.

"Please follow me."

Shiroe turns and start walking, the streets are filled with adventurers and they seem to be rushing about for some reason.

Raynesia declares that she wants to come to Akiba to convince the adventurers, but she has no concrete idea how to do that. The round table council should be something like the nobles meeting, from her vague impression, she should first seek permission from them before meeting the adventurers one by one.

Akiba is totally different from Maihama.

Unlike the beautiful and gorgeous Maihama made up of street fruit trees and crystals, this town seems that utilize the ruins of the centuries past. She would be lost if she lose sight of the young man leading the way, so Raynesia focused on staying alert.

A female pedestrian lugging a big bag with her give way to Shiroe and speak a few words with him before nodding and going off. Raynesia thinks that since Shiroe was chosen as a lieutenant of the ambassador party, he should be quite high ranking in the round table council.

(But he is walking so fast...)

The young girl Akatsuki is following effortlessly behind. Raynesia heard before that the adventurers are very strong physically, but she never expect to experience this much difference.

The young man named Shiroe covers his ear with one hand and talk to the air as he walks, probably communicating through magic.


They reached a gigantic black building shortly after.

"Mr Shiroe!"

"Mr Charasin, sorry for making you come so far."

There seems to be 3 men waiting in the lobby behind the door, one of them is dressed like a merchant.

"This is princess Raynesia."

"Hi! I heard about you, the daughter of clan Corwen. I am a merchant Charasin, leader of the 8th district shopping center."

The man named Charasin is indeed a merchant as he greets Raynesia with a business smile. But to Raynesia who came from nobility, he's greeting is both simple and practical.

(This adventurer seems very straightforward and dislikes hypocritical courtesies.)

Raynesia responds with a graceful smile... for her standards, this is a simple greeting. 8th district shopping center is a unique name, but from the way he introduce himself, it is probably a prestigious family name in Akiba.

"I am Raynesia from clan Corwen, please take care of me."

The merchant called Charasin blush and avert his eyes, Raynesia is used to such an reaction.


"And so, Mr Charasin."

"Here."

"...Eh, how should we do this, which one should we choose. I was thinking something flashy and grabs your eyes, we need to move everyone with the first impression... Do you have the full set of 'Valkyrie Mail'?"

"Hmmm? Ah, ah ah, of course... but the legs for that set... Will it be okay?"

But this sense of ease did not last too long. The youth Shiroe and Charasin starts to discuss something, Raynesia doesn't understand the content, but she cannot pretend not to hear anything.

"Yeah, no problem. From the overall viewpoint, it will be good if we push it to this level. Please prepare a set, I have the cape so you don't need to prepare that. Can you choose a suitable weapon? A 1 handed sword with a beautiful design, any equipment below level 4 will do... Akatsuki, can you find rent a room for an hour, it will be fine even if it is small... No, the attack power doesn't matter, it just need to look good."

Next is a series of shame and confusion.

Raynesia was brought to a simple room. stripped and adorned with battle equipment with the help of the young girl Akatsuki.

Most nobles change their clothes with the help of their maids and Raynesia is the same, she doesn't resist being naked in front of others.

The source of her shame and confusion is due to her first time wearing battle armor.

Firstly, it is light as feathers.

Breast plate and a shirt made from thin shiny silver chains.

Gauntlets made of metal and leggings with vines carved elegantly on it as if they are the works of elves.

But the problem is ... the chain armor around her waist.

The armor only covers the top of her thighs and you can see her legs down to her knees. Showing your arms is a common design for dresses, but clothes that show off your thighs seems so vulgar, Raynesia (probably) never wore something like this before.

Akatsuki says simply: "The skirt...I will help you wear." But instead of a skirt, it looks more like a belt with a scarf sized cloth.

(My...my thighs are showing... And the breast plate's shape is so real, how should I put this, it seems a bit inflated...)

As Raynesia is stunned by this, Akatsuki hang a sword on her waist and tighten all the straps all over her body. All armors are skintight after tightening so you will not feel its weight.

From the weight and comfort, this should be a famous magical armor, Raynesia is impressed... But the curves of her body is also showing and she cannot bear to watch.

Raynesia think her figure is not bad, but this set of armor... leaves nothing to the imagination. Raynesia moans.

"Ermm... Miss Akatsuki? If I wear it like this, the curves of my body is a bit..."

"You are tall enough, so bear with it."

Raynesia was too intimidated by Akatsuki's glare to say anything.

Akatsuki took out a comb and straightened Raynesia's hair beautifully. Her actions are smooth and delicate than any maid, but Raynesia is only getting more and more tense.

It might be due to her silent nature, but the young girl has been strangely agitated from just now.

Akatsuki grabs the procrastinating Raynesia and drags her outside where Shiroe and Charasin are waiting. The 2 of them seems to have been standing outside and discussing all this time. Raynesia attempts to hide behind the short Akatsuki, Charasin smiles widely upon seeing her.

This expression of lauding from the heart is similar to the knights and bureaucrats. But Shiroe seems to just the expression of someone judging and gauging. Raynesia enters Shiroe's name into her mental note of someone to look out for.

"Mr Charasin, it is pretty good right?"

"Yes, I think she is beautiful."

"...Thank... Thank you for your compliment."

Raynesia almost pull up her skirt to do a curtsy but she restrained herself. The cloth she is wearing (She don't want to recognize this as a skirt) is too short to pull.

"Now, let's proceed to the main event. It will be fine, please relax, I have high hopes for the princess."

Shiroe's word and smile send a chill down her spine for some unknown reason, but she can only nod now.



2

And so...

"Thank you everyone for gathering here so early in the morning, I am Shiroe from Log Horizon. The time is now dawn, the war is coming upon us, let me explain our situation."

It is dawn.

The city square is full of adventurers, the numbers are uncertain, but from the crowds jam pack in the city square, there should be more than a thousand.

Akiba central city square.

The debris in the city square has been cleared in the past few months, it is now 20% more spacious than before the apocalypse. When Elder Tale was still a game, the debris is just part of the immovable background, but now they can be moved or destroyed.

There are still shops over in this unearthly hour, the stores has been refurbished and looks very clean, making Akiba look more vibrant and lively.

Raynesia do not know these details, she only feels this is a city full of life. The sun has just started rising in the east and yet there are so many people have already gathered here. For Raynesia who has not been through any battles, this is an unusual sight.

And those gathered here are not just human knights.

There are elves, dwarves, even carpenters and merchant. Unlike military processions and meetings of nobles, the stalls peddle their food and drinks to the crowds, which seems to be the norm in this city.

Raynesia did not know the round table council members who has been standing by on shift has made all the preparation after Shiroe contacted them. Gathering the veteran adventurers, setting up the stage and parking the 'secret weapon' besides Akiba's riverbank has all been done.

Raynesia who is staying inside the tent next to the stage can only see the bright magic light summon by the sorcerer illuminating the podium.

They are using the valuable mage, the highly respected summoner, as a stagehand. This goes against the common sense of Raynesia, but the content of the speech made her even more lost.

"...Because of these reasons, centered around Sand Leaf peninsula, in the northern hills and forests of the Kanto region, there is an army of about 20,000 goblins. This force is attacking the surrounding areas. There are several adventurers in Sand Leaf reporting about this attack. The governing organization in Kanto, the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' is exposed to this threat. According to the analysis of the round table council, this threat is just a threat, the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' will not be wiped out if we leave them alone, but will exhaust at least 30% of their total fighting force... this number is equivalent the destruction of their military, but it is not to the extent of wiping out all the people of the land."

The report Shiroe is reading out is more detailed than that of the nobles and he is merciless in his speech. If Raynesia is not wrong, his words has hidden poisonous barbs.

But the scene that amaze Raynesia the most is not Shiroe's attitude, but the comprehension in the eyes of all the adventurers listening.

From what she can observe from the tent, not one person looks bored or confused. Some of them even opened up pieces of paper, probably maps, and is noting down the important points in the speech.

This is a scene that made Raynesia who is a people of the land amazed. Isn't the people gathered here equivalent to peasants? Why do they have so much comprehension skills?

Raynesia thought that the adventurers gathered here are just common soldiers, but their comprehension level surpassed that of officers, and is on par with the bureaucrats of the courts. There are so many people with military and geographical knowledge, and they seems to know the political situation of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', this almost made Raynesia fall down in shock.

What are nobles? What are peasants? What are farmers?

The world view in Raynesia heart has been shattered.

"On the other hand, we feel that defending Akiba from this army is something simple...apart from food, this city is very self sufficient and even more so in terms of technical knowledge. We have enough defense capability, it is not necessary for us to aid the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal'. In terms of gain and losses, we do not need to help them, let me repeat, we absolutely do not need to send aid... I hope everyone will listen to the words from this 'person' while keeping this in mind."

It is as though everyone present gulped.

When many people gather together, they will create a certain warmth. In the heat of the silence, Shiroe look to the tent and point to this 'person'.

"Ah?"

Someone grab Raynesia's hand while she was stunned.

She turn around and see Crusty in a sky blue armor, she is not sure if it is for ceremonial or practical use. Crusty has his usual gentle expression and smiles as he says:"Let's go on stage."

"Eh? Eh?"

"Come."

Crusty drag her out of the tent and a sudden bright white light shines onto the city square.

It is the light of dawn, the first ray of sunlight in the morning illuminating the whole square from the east.

In the cool morning breeze of the summer, Raynesia was suddenly pushed forward.

This is the center of the stage, the forefront where there is no escape.

Raynesia feels hot as she came on stage and do not know what to say or what to do. In front of her is several thousand adventurers, a being that is different from the people of the land. Even if they have the same form and language, they are fundamentally different creatures.

She can feel this from her short contact with them.

Her lips are trembling, her knees are losing strength.

A sharp sound came from her right.

She turn and see Crusty with his calm appearance like a heroic guardian angel. He stick his 2 handed axe onto the floor and place both his hands onto its handle. The sound just now was the axe hitting the floor.

This is followed immediately by a dull thud from the left. Shiroe who moved here is holding a ceremonial pewter staff that is taller than him vertically like a spear. Shiroe didn't have the staff a moment ago.

With Crusty and Shiroe on either side of her, Raynesia take a step forward on the stage. Her temperature is rising gradually, the scenery in her eyes are changing its shape, but her thoughts are unexpectedly clear. Her breathing is so loud that it irritates her, and she can strangely hear the conversation of the adventurers chatting softly in a corner clearly.

"...Everyone, this is the first time i'm meeting all of you, I am a people of the land. I am a resident of the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal', the daughter of the Corwen clan governing Maihama. My name is Raynesia Elart Corwen, I came here bearing a request for everyone."

Her voice is so clear she surprised herself.

Raynesia's words reach every corner of the city square in the morning air.

"Just as Sir Shiroe described, Yamato is facing a great crisis. I announce without any reservation that the guardians of Yamato, the 'Knights of Izumo' are missing right now. The 'League of freedom cities Eastal' will need to handle this crisis themselves. The goblin invasion force is the biggest ever in history, and they are advancing fast. They are already within the sphere of influence of the 'League of freedom cities Eastal'. The people of the land have city walls, magic barriers and soldiers, but how effective our defenses will be is still an unknown. Even at this moment in time, my fellow people of the land is polishing their blades and fortifying the walls in preparation for war. But even with all these effort, we cannot avoid making major sacrifices to protect our homelands."
Raynesia throws her gaze far away.

What she sees is not the crowd before her, but the scene a few hours ago.

"It might sound shameful, but the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' has not come to a consensus even at this critical stage. Before I arrive here, they were still arguing selfishly for the safety of their own territory and were reluctant to send aid to each other. Not only that."

Raynesia hesitates at this point.

But she is unable to stop.

"Not only that, we are wishfully thinking about pushing the holy task of defending our homeland to the round table councils ambassadors. We were scheming to rely on the immortal adventurers, rely on everyone here for help, hoping for use everyone's battle power to protect our lives and territory. I am not worthy of apologizing  on their behalf...But I am deeply sorry, and I also feel remorse over one more thing. The thing is, I am here today to raise the same willful request."

Raynsia did not notice the bright purple cape and 'Valkyrie's silver armor' that Shiroe chose complements Raynesia's feminine features to the limit. Raynesia under the dawn light is the image of a Valkyrie everyone respect and adores.

Raynesia did not realize this.

When she made her plea to the adventurers, Shiroe turns his head slightly and give Crusty a look. Crusty gives a bitter smile and an expression of resistance.

"Both me and the 'League of Freedom Cities Eastal' do not have much to offer in terms of reward... Everyone is living in such a properous city, I do not know what to prepare to give as thanks, and I don't want to use worldly items to exchange for everybody's freedom. But as a daughter of the Corwen family, I love Maihama deeply and has the obligation to protect my nation...that's why...I have come here before everyone today."

Deluding themselves with wishful thinking and only thinking of protecting their own interest is indeed shameful.

Raynesia falls to her knees naturally and give a deep bow.

If the adventurers present are knights or bureaucrats, or in other words nobles, she would not to lower her head this way. In the culture of nobility, a lady is treated as a valuable item, a noble lady of high status is their top protection priority.

But she learned one thing after knowing Crusty, the adventurers are not the same.

With her title, she will also be respected as a noble in Akiba. But she will not have a group of people attending to her needs which is the norm in nobility culture, she will at most received the 'respect' of the people on the street.

This is a heterogeneous city.

She will not receive the princess level of attention she is so used to in this city. But she will also not be discriminated like a lady in the noble's social circle.

The woman in the social circle of nobles do not have rights.

She is treated kindly, will receive all sorts of gifts and given numerous compliments and hollow words of admiration.

She just need to frown slightly and the young knights will present her with the most valuable medicine. But they are seeing her as an individual to adore.

They are just after her as a 'noblewoman', a prize in the diplomatic battles among the nobles, that's why she is treated with care.

A 'noblewoman' are treated like gem in the noble social circle, she is a 'noblewoman' who comes with a guarantee of high pedigree, she is just a top class trophy.

Raynesia who spends her days brooding in her room is more aware of this than anyone else, and she understand that she is powerless to deny this fact.


"I am cowardly and lazy, a ignorant vase... but... I want to go to the battle field, so, if you are able to, if it is fine with you, will you be willing to go with me? Are you willing to help me based on your kindness and freedom? I wish to do all I can to protect the 'Freedom of the Adventures'..."

(Even if I say that...Even if I want to protect their freedom...)

She is a member of the Corwen family, but she do not have such authority because she was born a girl. She can plea with his father or grandfather to buy clothes or jewelry for her, she can grant testimonials to one or two adventurers and she can hold dinner parties.

But she has no further political powers.

Raynesia also think she is giving an empty promise.

But instead of saying it is a lie, it is more like her aspiration.

Crusty is the first one to acknowledge she has the freedom to take to the battle field, adventurers probably has never doubt the freedom of doing this. Raynesia wants to protect their freedom. For Raynesia who never had such freedom all these years, this is the first time she has such an aspiration in her heart.

"I sincerely ask everyone to help me."

As she finish her speech in a whimper, there is a loud wave of iron clashing. In the middle of the city square, a group of people in blue qith coat of arms on their cloak clashes their weapons and shields and stomp their feet.

A company of knights in black armor unsheathe their swords and swear to take to the battle field; On the open balcony of a ruins a band of elves with bows on their back sound their war horns; dwarves holding axes howl mightily in the crowd.

Werecats, wolf fangs, foxtails and other minorities do not seems to be discriminated in this city.

(Ah...)

Crusty walk to Raynesia's side while she was stunned, Shiroe is at her other side the next second.

"And so, this city... We will be sending out our first expedition army, the condition for enlisting is level 40 and above. This is a quest given by the round table council, there is only one reward, the gratitude and respect of this people of the land on stage. Comrades who are willing to take up the quest please ride for Maihama! Considering the crisis of this situation, we will also be sending a blitz force against the enemy. The formation of parties will be done while on the move, I hope everyone will cooperate. I am Crusty and I will be the commander in chief for this expedition army."

"The role of tactician will be taken by me, Shiroe. Within 15 minutes from now I will be contacting the blitz group through telepathy. The members who receives the message please head downstream of Akiba river from Akiba city area to the experimental dock. 'Ocypete' will be waiting for you there... For the members who did not receive the message in 15 minutes, you belong to the main expedition force, please head to the registration counter situated at the city east gate to collect your quest forms. You can proceed as instructed after being registered on the friend list of the registration staff. There will be instructions for the formation of parties while you make your way there, the preparation time is 15 minutes, please give me your utmost support."

"Ah, ah..."

An army of a thousand soldier howls in front of the speechless Raynesia.

"Why are you acting so lost and panicky?"

"How... How can you say that, as a gentleman... As a gentleman..."

Raynesia voice is trembling as she can't find the words to say.

The city square is full of the noise of armor clinking and people talking, the words that shouldn't be heard remains a secret... Except for Crusty.

Crusty extend his hand gracefully like a noble. He and Raynesia is full of suspicion, overexertion and mutual understanding as their eyes met. But to the bystander, they are the perfect couple smiling beautifully at each other.

Anyway, the expedition plan has been set.

The enemy are the goblins that are moving towards the ruined capital Eastel from Sand Leaf peninsula, numbering over 10,000. And so, Akiba forms an expedition army for the first time, heading straight for Sand Leaf peninsula.


3

Minori's group head toward Choshi town in the morning.

They are exhausted both physically and mentally, but their expression is still spirited.

Although it is only one night, the tense hours in the darkness saps the energy of the 5 people in Minori's group. The consecutive battles from Ragranda forest til now have made them gain several levels.

After going through multiple fights, their teamwork gradually became more polished. They can sometime understand what their comrades is thinking even without saying anything.


The 5 in Minori's group is more relaxed walking on the farm trail than staying in the forest, but they did not let down their guard, watching each other's back and blind spot as they survey the surroundings, but they maintains a peaceful atmosphere as they advance.

(I am still scared when I face battles, but...)

Minori might be scared, but she no longer fearful.

Real fear is the feeling of dread flowing in your veins, making you over cautious and let go of your life, this feeling is almost the same as giving up.

In this world without death, giving up is equivalent to death. But inversely speaking, you will still stand a chance as long as you don't give up, even if it is shameful, even if you are shivering, there will be a chance for things to get better if you stand up and fight.

It is a bit late to call this morning.

It should be close to afternoon.

"Hello...! Hello...!"

As confirmed by telepathy earlier, Naotsugu's group is resting in an empty space behind the trees.

In this alternate world, dirty equipped items will become clean automatically when they are repaired. All sorts of items have a set durability, it's wear and tear is insignificant when you use it normally. Since it is insignificant, the visual cleanliness will correspond directly... This is the logic behind the equipment becoming clean when it is repaired.

But since there is a set durability value, if you use the equipment roughly, the value will drop. Armor and weapons will gradually wear out after long periods of battling, so there is a need to send it to the blacksmith for repair periodically.

The 4 in front of Minori are all veteran level 90 adventurers, they are several times more powerful than Minori. They took advantage of their might to charge into the center of the pillaging goblin group to disrupt them and conduct guerrilla warfare.

The formation centered around 2 swashbucklers must have battles much fiercer than Minori's group.

"Doing okay? Hi Touya, did you protect everyone?"

"Teacher Naotsugu!, I did!"

Touya gives a standard bow while Naotsugu rubs his head.

Serara pounce at Nyanta.


Minori gives a simple report to Shoryu and Rezarikku of their encounters last night, the two of them gives a sigh of relief and help to check their equipment and wounds. Shoryu aside, Rezarikku is a cleric of a major battle guild and Minori thought he will be fault them for acting so willfully. The care and concern of these two made Minori's heart feel sweetness and remorse.

They are not hurt, but they are running low on supplies.

Minori's was afraid they might run out in the midst of battle.

The goblin pillager's attack diminishes like the receding tide as the sun rises from the east. They should understand their own characteristic, numbers and the effect of night raids.

Minori's group retreat to the area near the town as the enemy forces back off.

"Let's stop resting and return to town, I can only relax after seeing it myself."

The cleric Rezarikku from black sword knight days with a serious expression. Everyone nods in respond and head for Choshi town.

The bloody night is just over, but the summer morning sky is as blue as ever.

The strong sea breeze unique to Sand Leaf hit their faces, blowing through the farm from the coastline.

The scene in the distant and the field in front dazzles in under the bright sunlight. The shadow of beeches and the beech trees falls on the farm trails, making a beautiful picture of contrast.

After walking a distance, they start to see the corpse of goblins. There are groups here and there, seems like the adventurers battled the goblins last night.


"Seems like she has made arrangements here, as expected of the big breasted sister."

Naotsugu says happily in a soft voice.

He is right, Minori did not think they can protect Choshi town with their guerrilla attacks alone. Minori's companions as well as Nyanta, Naotsugu and others formed guerrilla parties last night and battled the goblins on that hill. Using the element of surprise and the advantage of night vision, they do what they can to reduce the number of goblin parties, a brutal guerrilla tactic.

By reducing the number of goblin parties, The pace which the goblins will attack Choshi town will slow down, and it will be a manageable pace... This is the strategy Minori came up with.

Minori do not know the professional terms, but the goblins are using saturation attack, using their overwhelming numbers to break the defenders formation and tactics.

For instance, if it is 1 on 1 or party against party, even if they have the slight advantage in number, the adventurers will be able to prevail with their superior battle powers.

To counter this, the goblins send out many small parties, so many that the adventurers cannot handle all of them. The adventurers will of course fend off many of them, but there will be gaps because of the disparity in numbers, and the goblins just need to concentrate their forces on the gaps to break through.

If they go through the gap, they will be able to savor the fruit that is Choshi town, they can also commit arson and cause confusion, disrupting the adventurers dominance, making them choose between returning to town to fight off the raiders or to continue fighting the goblins in front of them.

They can then pick off the confused adventurers one by one, this is the traditional tactic the goblin tribes have always used.

But Minori's party took the initiative to strike the goblin first at a place far from the town.

The proposer of the tactic... Minori is a very simple thought.

Goblins do not have a base they need to protect, Minori has one. And Choshi town do not have city walls and is easily infiltrated, this is a weakness that will put them at a disadvantage.

...Since that is the case, we should also fight in a place where we won't need to worry about our weakness.

This is a simple and naive conclusion, they will need the capability and courage to do this but Minori's group is insistent on executing this tactic.

The goblin forces are diminished by Minori's tactics, but they still proceed on the night raid as planned, and Choshi was indeed attacked last night.

But their plan is just to reduce the goblins' number. A large number of goblins have to stay alert from ambush or to take another route, taking longer than planned to reach their target. This cause the goblin army to attack the town while their forces are not all in place.

The feature of a saturation attack is to focus all their forces at one point, forcing the defenders into a situation where they are unable to respond effectively. The goblins who missed the chance to gather and muster their forces still proceed to attack Choshi town under the orders of their leader. But their tactic evolve into each unit attacking separately by their time of arrival, making them the perfect prey for the adventurers.

If it is this type of unorganized attack, even the relatively weak and outnumbered adventurers will be able to handle them.

Marielle who is convinced by Naotsugu in turn persuades the members of the training camp to defend Choshi village, and is welcoming the dawn victoriously.

"Welcome back...!"

"Woah woah, Welcome back...!"

"Are you tired?"

Adventurers they are familiar with Serara and Shoryu with greets them as the group enters Choshi town. The 2 of them are in responsible for taking care of the beginners in Crescent moon alliance and knows a lot of people. Nyanta, Naotsugu and Rezarikku also exchange information with the other veteran adventurers.

The road that has been compact tightly over the years of treading shows no signs of being ravaged.

The goblins fail to invade the town.


"Hey, we made it!"

Hearing the proud announcement of her brother, Minori looks up and see Touya grinning widely like a kid in the sun.

Minori feels a warmth in her heart looking at his smile.

Her brother maintained his bright and cheery mood through the night and Minori also smiles naturally, happy that she protected Rundelhaus. Touya extend his fist and Minori bump it with hers.

"Minori...! The people of the land is letting us rest at their hotel! We are taking turns to rest! We can't let down our guard yet!"

"We should be grateful to their hospitality that we can at least wash our face Miss Minori, Touya."

Isuzu and Rundelhaus shouts from across the street. The twins walk towards them, their footsteps springy under the summer sky.

4

The prototype steam powered transport ship 'Ocypete'.

The ship was made originally by putting a steam engine on a big paddle wheel ship to experiment the possibility of transporting large amount of goods, so the cargo space on the 'Ocypete' is very abundant. Compared to the paddle wheel ship in the old world, the steam engine is more elaborate in design. There are no need to store fuel as it is powered by fire lizard conjured by summoners, a unique feature of this ship.

A paddle steamer is a steam power ship with giant wheels akin to watermills on either side of the ship. The steam engine turns the two wheels which in turn paddle the water and move the ship forward.

A propeller ship is better than paddle steamer in terms of performance, being more efficient in converting energy to moving energy.

But taking into consideration the difficulty of making parts and installation, they conclude that they are better off making a paddle steamer at this phase and has been working on it since.

Paddle steamers lose to propellers in terms of efficiency, but they can operate in shallow waters, suitable for river operation.

Prototypes steam engine on small boats have been completed just a week after the formation of the round table council and they complete the prototype 'Ocypete' paddle steamer in another two months.

The 'Ocypete' is ferrying about 130 adventurers. It may be noisy with the people, but the ship is big enough so it isn't overcrowded.


Raynesia stand alone on the deck near the ship bow. She have travel by ships before, but this ship moves differently from a sailboat. The way it cuts through the waves is strange to her but it is very fast.

The adventurers around her is resting in their preferred position, or moving around to make preparation. Their dressing varies, but about half of them wear cloaks with the same coat of arms as Crusty, so they should be from the same clan.

Raynesia is feeling blue.

She is not seasick. She is familiar with ships of all sizes as a granddaughter of Maihama's governor.

She is gloomy and feeling remorse over her reckless behavior.

(I said something like that again...)

She finds it troublesome and is shy and lazy by nature, so why is she putting on such an act at this critical juncture? It might be the effect of her education to be a perfect lady, but she is troubled about this no matter the reason.

(It has been crazy since last night, a woman barging into the nobles meeting and causing a commotion, shaming grandfather and all the nobles, conflicting the mind reading monster... and running away together... and was held by him on the back of the griffon...)

Raynesia can't help twisting her body as she recalls the warmth inside Crusty's arms.

(That's not what I meant... And I came to Akiba and was forced to wear such shameful clothes. I am still wearing them now... And I gave that speech...)

She hold her head with her hands.

She cannot believe herself.

But from her view, she insist on obeying the proper etiquette.

She is a people of the land, different from adventurers... She heard about this from her grandfather and others, understood this premise, but she really felt the true meaning behind it when she is at that scene.

Raynesia has never seen any group with so many knights with the intelligence of bureaucrats.

She know people like this are called heroes.

There are 'Ancients' in this world who are both skillful in swordsmanship and possess the magical powers of a sage, so there are no problems if there are other talents in this world. She cannot find the suitable words to express it, but the strange thing is 'such talented people suddenly numbers in the thousands', and this strange group are the adventurers.

The nobles congregation believe that if they play their cards right and lure them with nobility titles and rewards, they will be able to negotiate with the adventurers. She thinks that they misunderstand the nature of the adventurers, they possess such intellect and wealth, how can they negotiate with their offer of status and reward?

The nobles are wrong.

The irritating but comfortable interaction with Crusty and experiencing that speech made Raynesia understand this clearly.

Jewelry and invitation to parties would not motivate Raynesia to act, she just want to wear her cotton pajamas and lazily eat and sleep all day. It is the same for the different life form known as adventurers. Gems, golds, titles and territory cannot be used as rewards. If that is the case, the only way is to plead with them for aid.

(Because I am a girl, i have no education regarding politics... So it can't be help right?)

Even if it is a small thing, keeping and following through a promise will earn their trust.

If the adventurers face dangers, she has to bear the same risk.

This is the way Raynesia came up with to accumulate trust.

(But even so...)

Saying something like 'I want to go to the battle field' is too heavy a promise, have I gone mad? Or is it because of this set of mysterious... clothes that bare my thighs so much?

She wants to squat down, but her long years of education made her think that she has to stand gracefully with her back straightened in the public with so many pairs of eyes around. This instinct is deeply rooted in her body, not allowing her to relax.

After that young man Shiroe with the evil smile instigated her, she has became like this. This viscous method almost made her cry.


"This is the struggling look of someone 'regretting blurting out that speech in the spur of the moment but is unable to take it back'."

"Eh!"

Raynesia jumped as if she was electrocuted as Crusty came out of nowhere and say these words that block out the sound of the wind.

"Fu fu fu, there is no such thing Sir Crusty."

"Your face is cramping up."

With her follow up lines sealed, Raynesia can only look out to the ocean with her 'depressed' expression.

"Seems like you are losing patience."

"...Wooo, anyway, you are correct... But don't misunderstand alright? I am not regretting this, I have to come personally to plea for help since I am asking them to risk their lives and accompany them to the battle field. No, I don't think my life is worthy enough to request the aid of 10 adventurers, that is, about this, this..."

"That's alright, it is enough..."

"Ah?"

In that short moment, Raynesia feel something is different in Crusty's expression as he says these words. But the announcement by the ship crew that they have arrived pull her back to reality from this feeling.

...So fast.

Even if it is crossing the gulf, they are able to ferry more than a hundred knights to their destination in the afternoon, that is way too fast. It has only been about 15 minutes since they travel by sea.

The famliar 'Cinderella castle' of Maihama is before her eyes.

The paddle steamer seems to be docking at the pier.

The Maihama citizens working at the dock is in a state of panic, probably startled by the gigantic black ship. This cannot be avoided as the citizens did not receive any news in advance.

This is normal.

This is the society of the people of the land Raynesia has always known about.

An army where everyone has a personal long range communication device, is literate and able to understand the content and objectives of battles, that is weird. If the people working at the docks are adventurers, they would be able to understand the reason, purpose and follow up plan of this ship.

Just like that time when Raynesia landed in Akiba on the griffon, the preparation would have been made.

But the Maihama Raynesia resides in is not like Akiba. As the sole people of the land on this ship, Raynesia feels the obligation to calm her people.

Crusty guides her to the bow of the ship to wave to the people. The Raynesia right now is nothing like the princess who is lazy and dislike the crowds.


5

Meanwhile, a tactical headquarters supervised by Shiroe is commanding the expedition main force.

The strategy that Shiroe and Crusty is adopting is not 'steady advancement', but 'speedy and imperfect'. No one can predict the future movement of the goblin army in the center of the archipelago, but if they run out of food on the hills, they will obviously raid one of the towns. They are currently unable to ascertain the goblin army's main target, so Akiba do not have the initiative.

The choice of where to fight lies in the hands of the enemy which is a disadvantage.

Speed is the most important thing to gain the upper hand in this situation.

Fortunately, the zone between Maihama and Akiba is relatively flat in this alternate world. The only problem in is where to cross the river as they travel southeast from Akiba.

Predicting that the route is relatively safe, Shiroe decided not to muster the troops and move out together, opting to let adventurers who are ready to party up and move out immediately.

The tactical headquarters is a communication network formed by Shiroe, Charasin and 10+ others.

They are sorting the adventurers who enlisted by their guilds and also registering independent adventurers to the network as well.

The headquarter uses this network to receive reports and disseminate information speedily. The network didn't take long to set up. After confirming the interest of a guild to take part in the operation, they will request for a representative of the guild to set up a communication network, and the headquarters staff and the representative will add each other to their friend list.

The blitz group that already left, the main expedition force and the reserve supply company have their own communication network.

This expedition army possess perfect communication that has never been seen before, the current problem that Shiroe's headquarters is facing is how to party up this strange expedition force.

(We need to come up with a name list by levels... This step is hard to make while they are on the move, so we should set a rough destination for them to gather.)

The first destination is around Matsudo in the old world, situated north of Maihama, the start of the hilly region...a place between Abiko and Maihama. According to Shiroe's knowledge of Elder Tale, there are many abandoned buildings there, a terrain not suitable for battles.

But they have no choice if there are no suitable zone to choose from.

From reports received through telepathy, 'Ocypete' has docked in Maihama and the blitz group is moving to the abandoned port of Narashino under the guide of a few people of the land.

The blitz group under Crusty's command has 96 people.

A party is made up of 6 adventurers, a 'Full raid' consist of 24 people, a 'Legion raid' is formed by 4 'Full raid', this 96 people group is the biggest fighting unit in Elder Tale.

Crusty may look like a gentleman wearing glasses, but he is actually the leader of the biggest battle guild in Akiba and Japan, a charismatic raid commander.

He fully understands the tactical importance of speed in this war and will continue to press on without rest after reaching Narashino.

Shiroe took a map from his pack while riding his horse.

The abandoned port of Narashino is about 25km away in a straight line from the central forest where the goblin main force is. For a normal knight in this world, they would need to take 3 days to reach there. But with Crusty's speed, they should be able to engage them tomorrow morning.

The main expedition force is going by horse instead of sea, so their formation is pulled very long which cannot be help.

(The low level personnel should make camp about 5km north of Maihama...)

Analyzing the surrounding terrain of Maihama, remembering the characteristics of the zone and choose suitable grounds, this camp will centered around the low level adventurers. They will need to organize themselves in a defensive formation and maintain border security, and will also be a resupply point so it needs to be big enough.


Midoraunto equestrian garden.

His finger stop at this place marked with a a small green oval. If Shiroe recalls correctly, this is an equestrian garden that looks like a big sports arena. There are many wild lives in the surrounding, but there are no heinous monsters, an ideal location.

"Communication team! please help me to relay, the first destination of the army moving north will be Midoraunto Equestrian garden! The secondary company will go along the coastline. When the advance party reach, they are to post sentries, set up camp and clear away the debris!"

All kind of possibilities flash through Shiroe's mind.

His looks highly focus, giving off a cold atmosphere like glass as he adjust his glasses.

(The battle this time trends toward lightning fast engagement, there is no need to be too concern with the supply line... The number over here is...)

The expedition main force Shiroe is commanding is about 1200, about 10 percent of all adventurers in Akiba. If you take away the production players, the participation percentage of fighting adventurers will be about 20%.

Including Shiroe, no one here has any experience fighting in a large scale war with more than 1000 people. But Raynesia's speech has definitely set the spirits of many adventurers ablaze, much more then Raynesia imagined. The party that just overtook Shiroe has high morale and fighting spirits in their eyes.

The duty of Shiroe is to keep morale up, avoid all kinds of obstacles to guide them to victory in battle.

There are some who says that you can learn from your failures. But Shiroe think they will not learn anything if they fail in this expedition.

The confidence and glory of adventurers, the weight behind their words in this world, living in this world, and their acceptance of the governance in Akiba. All these elements demand Shiroe to obtain victory.

There are no room for failure.

And the fact is 1200 people is enough to gain victory. Using Soujiro's word, each of them just need to defeat 10 goblins.

Shiroe is responsible for dealing with any unexpected hinges, guiding the 1200 adventurers to the front line and point where they should expend their fighting spirit.

(It is 10km to Midoraunto equestrian garden... we can reach in the afternoon without rushing, we should make camp here. I should detail half of them to border security and do a wide area search for signs of the goblins. I will then lead the other half to follow Mr Crusty's example and attack the goblin main force. Another way is to leave the defence of the city to the people of the land and bring the whole army uphill...)

(It is 10km to Midoraunto equestrian garden... we can reach in the afternoon without rushing, we should make camp here. I should detail half of them to border security and do a wide area search for signs of the goblins. I will then lead the other half to follow Mr Crusty's example and attack the goblin main force. Another way is to leave the defence of the city to the people of the land and bring the whole army uphill...)

...Shiroe simulates all the possibilities in his mind as he spur his horse on.



6

Crusty is advancing faster then the upper limit of Shiroe's prediction.

After meeting and looking through the adventurers on board, he has already organized everyone into groups.

Organize sounds easy, but is hard to do.

For instance, all spells will naturally have range. Healing magic has the range of 20m on average while the largest range for the support songs of bards is also 20m.

Only allies within range will receive buff support and healing. A group of people who can battle within this range is the concept of a 6 man party in this world.

Inversely speaking, the unit party is based on cooperating within this 20m range as it's main principle.

If that is the case, all parties will need at least 1 tank and 1 healer.

A 'Full raid' formed by 4 parties also need to arrange themselves by this principle to maintain balance.

It is the same for a 'Legion raid' formed by 16 parties. If there are 24 healers, they should not band them into 4 parties of 6 healers.

On the other hand, this doesn't mean that all parties should be composed with the same well balanced team.

As they may run into different situation, they will need to add variety to the parties to handle them.

For example, if all parties only have 1 healer, the tank may not be able to withstand attacks from powerful monsters. It would be best for parties battling such powerful monsters to have 2 healers, or even 3 to be safe.

From another angle, if there are no parties with more damage dealers, they will be no units to take out the enemies like a sharp blade during critical moments, and the fight will become a battle of attrition.

If all the parties are composed similarly, they will lack the ability to adapt.

If the party do not have excellent teamwork, they will not be able to perform to their full potential.

Taking into account that members of the same guild works better together, it would be put them in the same or neighboring party. The famous veteran adventurers will be able to work elegantly no matter which party you slot them in, making them useful wild cards.

Apart from the class and abilities of each adventurers, they also need to consider their experience and their suitability for command.

Even in the most basic 6 man party, the key to team work in battle to to communicate with each other, this is common knowledge to the veterans.

For a 24 man 'Full raid' group, the complexity and confusion will increase as well, so who will do what? Should they focus on healing or attack? Where should they position themselves? They need to make judgement like this during battles, so each party need to elect a leader to execute the plan of the 'Full raid' captain.

For a 'Legion raid' battle, the 'Full raid' captain will need to take orders from the 'Legion raid' commander, you need high level of concentration and experience to maintain this chain of command in the heat of the battle.

When Elder Tale was just a game, there are very few quest that requires a 'Legion raid' to accomplish, as it is difficult to gather almost a hundred veteran players within the given time frame. The team work training for the 96 players will be too hard to imagine.

The obstacle for challenging 'Legion raid' quest is too high for regular players, since most players cannot do the quest, the company will not focus on developing them.

The 'Legion raid' quest are too difficult, only suitable for the few high level veteran players to challenge, so those who completes them will obtain extreme wealth and fame, but the challengers are very few.

D.D.D is a guild that has been challenging this type of high level content since the time when Elder Tale was a game.

Guild Master Crusty of D.D.D is one of the group of less than 20 players in the Japanese server who has actual 'Full raid' command experience.

He uses this experience expertly to organize the time with a surprising speed. The personnel arrangement looks random at a glance, but it makes perfect sense if you study it.

Crusty's group disembark from 'Ocypete' has been split into the 96 person blitz group and the 12 man Raynesia protection and surveillance group. Crusty learn the main points of the terrain in the surrounding area from the people of the land, add the details to his military map and march the group off without hesitation.

The 'Full raid' groups have been assigned a number from 1 to 4. They reached Sand Leaf peninsula in the evening, their goal is 24km west of Kasumiura.

The blitz group from Akiba advance on horse back to conserve their strength the parties taking turn to lead the group. They move like the wind through the deteriorating roads of past centuries.

Like a flash of black lightning piercing through Sand Leaf.

Onward! Onward!

Crusty blitz group is speeding ahead like an arrow, going straight to the heart of the enemy forces.


Chapter 3 end