Log Horizon Book 2 chapter 1

Book 2
Chapter 1
Rose, red, yellow, orange colored.
Three Griffons flew over the ocean sparking in the dusk.
The night scene from the east gave the sky a purplish glow As the sun sets in the west, it takes the red light with it, leaving a long trial and a beautiful scene.
On the leading griffon, a man in silver armor turned and waved his hands widely with a big smile on his face, signaling something to his companions.
Shiroe saw Naotsugu's signal and gently told the lady behind him:"hang on tight".
Shiroe signalled it with his heel, and the giant 'Griffon' he rode tilted the tip of it's 3 metre wing slightly. The monster cut through the air as it slowly glided towards the ground in a smooth arch
The five who left Susukino - Shiroe, Akatsuki, Naotsugu, Crescent Moon guild's young druid Serara who was rescued in the mission, and her protector Nyanta a werecat, have been flying non-stop since taking off, making across the coast of Ezzo, moving towards Eastal territory where Akiba is.
As the sun sets in the west, darkness covers the world.
Even though they possesses the rare flying mount not available to normal Adventurers, Shiroe's party still wish to get as far away from Susukino today, moving late into the night compared to normal traveling standards.
Setting up camp need a lot of effort.
Setting up the tents and preparing food need a lot of time. Because of the lack of experience, even picking up firewood might also take up to an hour.
After the Apocalypse, Shiroe's party learned how to survive in the wilderness of the world, and have not been pushing too hard on their way to Susukino. But after rescuing Serara, they wished to cross the coastline as fast as possible, going at a pace where pursuers could not catch them.
Three griffons coordinate with each other and took a beautiful curving path to land on a hill.

"I wasn't afraid ok."
Holding Shiroe's hand while climbing down the griffon, Akatsuki said with shifty eyes. She is still scared, even though she is used to the experience of flying.
The thing she is afraid of is the Griffon itself.
The griffon has the upper body of a eagle, but the lower body of a lion, with strong wings that span between 5 to 6 metres, with sharp claws and beaks in addition to its big size, should be able to bite off akatsuki's head in one bite.
Akatsuki kept her distance after landing. Shiroe smiled, careful not to let akatsuki notice, and took a piece of meat from his bag of holding to feed the Griffon
Although the beast looks scary, it is very loyal to adventurer's who summoned them by flute. As Shiroe stroke its neck, it happily swallowed the meat in one bite.

"The mission was a success."
Naotsugu walked uphill towards Shiroe after dismounting from his griffon.
"Correct, your plan was brilliant nya."
Nyanta and Serara approached Shiroe from the other side.
"Erm, thank you very much everyone! I am very grateful!"
"Anyway, don't be too concerned, we didn't do anything great."
Shiroe replied Serara who bowed her head in gratitute. He also felt his attitude was too cold, but he was tongue tied, and just averted his eyes shyly.
Shiroe opened his menu and used telepathy to report to Marielle. Marielle who was waiting anxiously all this while let out a sigh of relief after receiving Shiroe's report.

If you think about it, Shiroe's party forcefully took over Marielle's rescue quest and travelled north.
In the aftermath of the Apocalypse, the city has a gloomy mood, frustrating the populace.
Shiroe took over the rescue quest because he find the mood too depressing.
He was genuinely concerned for the Crescent Moon guild, and was happy to help Marielle and Henrietta, but it is not the sole reason. Shiroe has a feeling of irritation deep in his heart.
"Seriously, don't be too concerned."
Shiroe only did what he wanted for himself.
Hence, he cannot translate his thoughts into words, and can only speak broken phrases.
"Shiroe has always been shy nya"
Nyanta speak in a relaxing and comforting tone.
"Chief Nyanta."
"Mr Shiroe and Mr Nyanta already knew each other?"
"That's right, and I was their friends too."
Naotsugu interjected.
"That's right nya, when Elder Tales was still a game, Shiroe, Naotsugu and me used to adventure together nya."
When it was still a game.
These words ringed sadly in their heart.
This is not Elder Tales anymore. The apocalypse happened, and this is just a world that is similar to Elder Tales, but is ten times more harsh.
Serara gave a depressed expression, making Shiroe troubled, but he is unable to find the words to comfort her.
"My lord, we need to prepare for camp."
Shiroe felt saved by akatsuki's word, and started preparation with the others. Nyanta and Serara also understood that being depressed won't help the situation, pick themselves up emotionally, and started looking for a suitable place to camp.

The sky is dark, but there are no sign of strong monsters in the area.
Naotsugu and Serara set up a small tent. In this season, there will be no problem sleeping under the stars with sleeping bags, but it would be troubling for them if it rains.
Akatsuki and Nyanta headed towards the forest without a word, probably to pick up firewood.

It is inefficient to prepare for camp this late at night.
Even with magic light illuminating the area, it is slow to set up tents in the dark. The party dig up the grass, set up stones to block the wind and started the camp fire two hours after they landed.
It is possible that they couldn't get a full night rest, but the five of them are in a happy mood, as they have already succeeded in the most difficult rescue part of the quest.
Since they have cross several zones using the griffons, they do not need to worry about pursuers. The only agenda left is to return safely to Akiba, so there is no need to rush, unlike their travel to susukino.
They could even spend another night here if they want to.
The leisurely mood is reflected on the faces of everyone.
Nyanta and akatsuki headed into the forest that looks more like an overgrown jungle to pick firewood, Naotsugu head towards the river for water, Shiroe and Serara sets up tents in the meantime. Canvas tents are not magic items, but is a necessity for adventurers. It is heavy, but it's weight disappears when it is placed inside the bag of holding, so it is not a hassle to bring along.
Before setting up the tent, Serara contacted Marielle via telepathy.
Marielle always has a happy smile on her face, but that doesn't mean she is not worried. When she listened to Shiroe's report, her voice became shaky with emotion, probably due to a sense of relief.
Marielle was so happy listening to Serara's call, that even Shiroe who was packing things outside the tent was able to imagine by Serara's reaction.
"I'm back with the water"
The one walking up the hill is Naotsugu.
He went to the pond and used his bottle to collect water. The sun has set completely, and the forest cast a clear silhouette in the clear night sky. Nyanta and akatsuki should be back from the forest soon.
No matter how you look at it, the rescue mission is a success

2
"What is this? This is fantastic!"
Naotsugu let out an emotional voice.
In front of the five is a camp fire.
"My lord my lord, how do I describe this? This is absolute bliss!"
Even the usually emotionless akatsuki shouted with a red glow on her cheeks.
Naotsugu nodded at them, but Shiroe was not calm at all, but is filled with joy. But the socially awkward Shiroe wasn't able to express his happiness to the others.
"Nyahaha, there is still more nya."
Naotsugu concentrated on his meat, and seem to not hear Nyanta's words.
The dear meat is sizzling in the fire, giving off a splendid aroma.
Such a simple thing is an incredible discovery.
The beginning of the incident is Akatsuki and Nyanta hunted a deer on their way to pick up firewood.
In this world, wild animals are not rare. The human population is only 1 percent of the Japan, so the wild animals have a good environment to breed.
In the forest and hill zones where nature flourish, you can see wild animals like deers, birds, boars, goats. But there are dangerous ones like wild dogs, wolves and bears too. Especially wild boars and bears, which are as powerful as goblins, so adequate care should be taken.
But if you avoid the dangerous beasts, deer and birds are easy to handle, perfect for low level to practice and an important source of food.
Akatsuki and Nyanta hunted a deer on their way to pick up firewood.
Nyanta carved up the deer in front of the bewildered eyes of the rest of the party, and skewered the meat into delicious kebabs.
Looking at the sizzling kebabs cooking in the fire, you can tell it is totally different from the food they have tasted.
The aroma of food.
Real food can give out such a wonderful smell, making the group dumbfounded. Shiroe and company felt a sudden hunger which they are unable to bear.
Eating the meat that is seasoned with salt and spices by Nyanta, your tongue is assaulted with the sweet taste that fills your whole mouth. This isn't something you eat to live. This is something you eat to feel alive.

The difference is beyond description.
"Delicious... But why?"
Shiroe was puzzled.
Naotsugu and akatsuki was also dumbstruck, only Serara and Nyanta smiled proudly.
This is the best food they have had in a month.
'All food have no taste' is one of the cruel phenomenon of this world. Shiroe and gang... Nope, the thirty thousand Japanese players feels sadness because of this.
It doesn't matter if you have omelet rice, curry, soup or grilled fish, the taste is always 'soggy crackers', without the taste of salt, it is worst then soggy crackers. Naotsugu describes it as eating cardboard.
They have given up hope of changing this phenomenon, and yet the issue is suddenly solved in front of their eyes.
Nyanta did not create any special dished, only carved up a deer and seasoned it with salt and spices, and cooked it in a pan over a fire.
It might not be top class, but compared to the life of 'tasteless soggy crackers', this is heavenly food.
"This is amazing! Incredible, Chief Nyanta you are the best! My love for you is only second to that of panties!"
"You are exaggerating nya."
Nyanta took out skewers from his bags and prepared more kebabs. Serara beside him laid out dishes and started to cut onions as a side dish.
"Chief, wait a minute! Teacher Nyanya! What happened? Why is it this taste, why doesn't it taste like soggy crackers? Requesting for the testimony of the accused!"
Naotsugu held a kebab in each hand as he asked. He seems wary of Nyanta's guarantee that there is still a lot of meat, and is securing his portions in his hands.
Akatsuki who usually calls Naotsugu as a pervert also said "delicious, wonderful wonderful" and put the meat into her mouth.

Nyanta carefully remove the inner organs while he explained.
"When preparing a meal, you need to collect the ingredients, then open the menu to select the food you want to make, correct nya?"
He is describing the basic methods of creating items in Elder Tales.
"Using this method, you will always get food of that taste nya. You just need to collect the ingredients, but do not open the menu. Instead, you just manually cook the food, and it will appear as you know in the real world nya."
Nyanta explained calmly.
"But we..."
Akatsuki said halfway with her mouth full and had to stop to swallow. Shiroe gave her a water bottle, and said.
"We tried that too, but using this method, we will end up with mysterious items. When we grilled fish, it either became black coal or goey slime... It is impossible to perform normal cooking in this world right?"
This is Shiroe's knowledge of the world.
Since it is a game, If you don't use in game techniques, actions will fail. This is common knowledge.
"If you are not a chef, or if your chef level is low, that is what will happen nya. Even if you use manual cooking, you still need in game skills. In other words, those with chef subclass can make delicious meals as long as they do it manually nya."
Nyanta's words shocked Shiroe, and he is finally able to accept it.
If you think about it, being able to sprinkle salt on food is a weird phenomenon. If you can only make food via menu, even the action of sprinkling salt would need to be done through the menu.
For a subclass like chef, even if the player doesn't choose it, they will still have 5 EXP in it. Sprinkling salt is a default skill, which is the best players who didn't choose chef subclass can do.
"Chief, does that mean..."
"You are right Naotsugu, I am a chef nya. Want another kebab?"
Shiroe and party ate lots of meat under the encouragement of Nyanta.
A mid size deer is more than enough for a group of five, and should last them for tomorrow as well. Nyanta took out a apple brandy he made in Susukino to celebrate, and the party continues.


Nyanta introduced Serara to the trio once again.
"This is the first time we met, Apologize for greeting everybody so late, I am very grateful to everybody's assistance. I am Serara, level 19 druid, subclass maid, a beginner in Elder Tales."
Serara bow her head.
(What an energetic girl)
A girl's gentle face, small and smooth shoulders with her hair tied behind her, that is the impression Shiroe have of her.
"Seems like she is the top three girls in her class, ranked number three, but received the most love letters."
"hmm... What?"
Naotsugu said something that is hard to comment on to someone he met for the first time. Serara struggled to find the words to response. Akatsuki's knee made a sharp sound as it meet Naotsugu's face.
"Don't knee people! No kneeing!"
"My lord, there is someone who is rude, I gave him a flying knee."
"You are reporting after doing it?"
The reason why Naotsugu didn't protect his face is because he is protecting the kebab in his hands, which made Serara giggle.
"heehee..."
"Ara, this is Naotsugu, a guardian, reliable and strong."
"But perverted and stupid."
Serara nodded cheerfully at Nyanta's words.
"I saw him in action before, I am sorry for my low level healing support."
Naotsugu replied "Don't worry, that was already a big help." Serara apologized repeatedly for her low level, but Shiroe felt the same as Naotsugu, acknowledging Serara's commitment and resolve. Anyway things like levels can be improved with time, there is no need to apologize.
"Naotsugu has been like this ever since I met him, don't take it to heart. Also, he was praising you nya."
"Ah?"
Serara raise her head to look at Nyanta, who smiled gently with squinted eyes.
"Naotsugu means that you are the most popular girl in class, he has a shy nature nya."
"Chief, wait a minute, that's not what it means, I like panties more than pretty girls!"
As if to interupt Naotsugu, Akatsuki flying knee strikes again.
"That hurts shortie, you are getting more cruel!"
"My lord, I kicked the pervert's face in and confiscated his meat.
"Huh? ah, ah!"
Akatsuki bit into the meat he stole from Naotsugu.
"How did it end like this..."
Nyanta handed Naotsugu a new kebab to the depressed Naotsugu and asked:" What about this young lady nya?" shifting the attention to akatsuki. Shiroe introduced her to Nyanta.
She has been traveling together with Naotsugu and Shiroe. Akatsuki is an assassin with subclass tracker and is both powerful and reliable. Akatsuki look seriously at Nyanta and bow her head to greet Nyanta. "Teacher, I am Akatsuki."
Naotsugu complained loudly about the difference from his treatment, and Akatsuki stuffed a half cooked meat into his mouth. The two of them bickered with each other with words like "shortie" and "pervert" and the rest of the party laughs heartily.
"As for Shiroe, he is the strategist of a group I was in nya. He is a brilliant young man nya." Shiroe nodded his head at Nyanta's introduction, Serara thanked Shiroe all panicky.
Shiroe feels that she is a cheerful and nice girl.
How old is she? Shiroe wondered.
In this world, your face is affected by your real world's face. But your body size and appearance is determined by the game data, so you shouldn't assume anyone's age by their height as that will be rude. Shiroe learned about this form Akatsuki.
But from her manner of speech, she doesn't sound elderly.
(High school, or maybe middle school?)
Elder Tale is a monthly subscription game, so the average age group is higher than free to play games. But that is only the average, it is not surprising for middle schoolers to play this game.
If I recall, the twins is also about this age.
The chain of events in the rescue mission have tensed Shiroe up, so maybe it is because the tedious part of the quest is over, or maybe it is the celebratory mood and the food, Shiroe reminiscence the time before the apocalypse.

3

Shiroe knew the twins when Elder Tales was just a game world.
Shiroe was unique solo player, since a high level enchanter can only be describe as unique, based in Akiba, living his daily life in Elder Tales.
After the Debauchery Tea Party dissolved, Shiroe becomes a true roaming player. This is not a negative description, as he enjoys this type of gaming life.
In the town centre of Akiba, there are people recruiting parties for raids everywhere using the game server chat channels.
Shiroe sometimes will join group using this method, or join friends like Marielle in quest, or even go by himself to explore or collect treasures.
Shiroe's sub class is scribe, a production class, with the ability to duplicate scrolls, maps and magic tomes. In elder tales, production is the transformation of ingredients into items, so getting raw ingredients is an important step.
For scribes, the ingredients are paper and ink. For normal scrolls, the cheapest ingredients will do. But for high level magic tomes, you will need ink with magic properties. Making special ink is also the job of scribes, which needs ingredients like dragon's blood or rare minerials.
If you want to get rare ingredients, you will need to travel to different places and defeat monsters. Even with the Tea party gone or <her> not dragging Shiroe adventuring around anymore, Shiroe is still busy with all sorts of business.

As Shiroe is living his daily gaming life, the twins was the one to approach him.
"Mister, mister, please wait a minute!"
"Excuse me, I'm very sorry. Is it convenient for you to talk? We want to find out something."
The twins was only up to Shiroe's shoulder in height.
The boy wore cheap armor with a sword on his back.
The girl wore white robes, holding a staff with bells on it.
"No problem, what's the matter?"
Shiroe remembered that it was in a crowded area of Akiba.
Judging by their equipment, the twins are beginners, using default weapons. From their manner of speech and the sound of their voice, they are either middle schooler or younger, giving a child like feeling.
"My magic is too weak, I am unable to cure Toya's wound. I asked someone just now, and he told me to purchase better tomes. But I do not know where to buy them, can you tell me where to buy them?"
From the choice of words and the voice of the girl, she seemed very well mannered.
"I also want to learn skills, if you know then please teach me mister."
The green status bar above the twins shows that the girl is Minori, the boy is Toya and both are level 6.
The first quest in Elder Tales is beginners' tutorial. Players choosing Akiba as the starting city will be sent to Major Colonel's battle training camp to learn the basic controls.
Major Colonel looks like a gentlemen with a white moustache, but you never know what he will do if he gets angry, a troublesome NPC. And his name 'Colonel' is also a military rank, confusing players of his actual rank, and is quite famous among the players.
Major Colonel's training lasts for about an hour, beginners will reach level 4 after completing the tutorial. Considering this fact, the twins probably begin playing either yesterday or today, a total beginner.
"Is this your first day playing?"
"Yes." " That's right mister!"
The voice of the twins overlap each other.
Even though Shiroe is socially awkward, he does not hate other people. He is only wary of people who approach him with ulterior motives.
Because of this, Shiroe does not hate beginners, since they do not understand Shiroe have above average wealth, and they are not concerned with the idea of party efficiency and take advantage of Shiroe.
Leaving such depressing thoughts behind, Shiroe wish to welcome beginners as a player of Elder tales, believing it to be the duty of experienced players.
"I see. I will lead you, this way."
Just bringing them though the family streets is no trouble, Shiroe though as he led the twins.

Just like that, Shiroe became friends with the twins Toya and Minori, teaming up with them occasionally.
Toya is very outgoing, greeting Shiroe loudly when he sees him in town. Minori on the other hand will thank Shiroe politely.
Minori was the elder sister, being born shortly before her brother. She has the air of a class monitor, taking care of his rude brother, which is how the twins live.
They are both in their second year of middle school, which is very young from Shiroe's perspective. Shiroe has played the game for a long time, but he seldom meets middle schoolers. Because of the generation gap, even when Shiroe meets such young players, they don't have much in common so won't ally together for raids. But the twins respects Shiroe and have no problem joining him to play.
When Shiroe first met them, the twins informed him that Elder Tales is their first MMORPG, and they are very excited.
The first adventure was a disaster.
Toya was like a homing missile whenever he sees a monster, rushing them immediately, Minori will follow in a hurry, and they will be in for a tough battle that brings them to the verge of tears.
And this scene repeats itself over and over again.
Elder Tales has a 'Mentoring' system.
In simple terms, it lets high level players play with low level players by dropping their levels and stats to match the lower level players.
Shiroe is an experienced players with deep insights into the game as well as top tier equipments. Using the 'Mentoring' system, Shiroe will be roughly one or two levels better than the twins, which is an ideal level to lead the twins as a mentor.
Shiroe will use his spells to disable the enemy, but the attack power of enchanters are low, and even more useless after the level drop. But it is still a big help to the two beginners.
"Thank you Mister! Ok, let's attack the enemies over there as well!"
"Toya, wait a minute, your HP is dropping!"
Shiroe was drag around by the twins all over the place to play.
Toya is a samurai of the warrior class.
Elder Tales call magic and fighting skills as techniques, which has a name and values like MP, cast time and cool down.
Cast time is the period between selecting the technique and the technique being used. Cool down is the time needed for an activated skills to be available for use again.
Most of Samurai's technique has long cool down time.
Their techniques are powerful, but most them can only be used once or twice a battle, which is the opposite of Monks which chain many techniques in fights.
Samurai are strong for short battles, and can deal the most damage in such situations, which makes it a fun class to play.
But on the other hand, if you do not use the techniques with care and activated all your techniques, you will not be able to do anything before their cool down ends. Losing the ability to adapt to sudden changes by exploiting or covering new changes makes mastering this class very difficult.
"Let's go! Helmet slash!"
Toya charged with his sword raised high, attacking a goblin directly. This damaged the goblin greatly, but Toya couldn't move for a while after performing this technique.
"Wryyy!" "Growl!" "Hiss!"
The goblin seized the chance to gang up on Toya. Toya panics as he is being attacked, but he is still stuck for the moment.
"Toya! Retreat, it is dangerous! Protect shield!"
Minori shook her staff and a barrier blocks the goblin's attack.
Minori is a shaman of the healer class.
A healer's duty include recovering HP, removing status ailments and various spells to support allies.
All three of the healer class has the ability to recover HP, and they all have their own unique skills as well.
Channeling the power of the ancient gods, shaman specializes in blocking damage, setting up barriers protecting a single ally or the whole group. The barrier can negate a set amount of damage before breaking.
By looking at healing powers, Shaman is the least powerful of the healer class. But the potential of negating damage can give a huge advantage in the right situation.
On the other hand, this techniques depends on the user's ability to predict the type and range of the enemy, and is hard to master.
All the classes in Elder tales are designed to be difficult to master, but the twins are not concern with it, and is just enjoying the game.
Shiroe took the twins all over the beginner level around Akiba on the request of the twins, accompanying them to shop and answering all questions.
Shiroe once ask them: "I have better gears, how about i give them to you?" Even though it is good gears, it is only about level 10, Shiroe at level 90 has no problem buying a few hundred sets.
But Toya replied: "Nah, I don't want it, I already started playing. Collecting treasures is the most interesting part, if I were to receive gears for no reason, then what is the point of playing?" Minori said: "I apologized for my brother's arrogance, I am very sorry. Mr Shiroe have been very kind to us, but I would rather than giving us items, we will be happier if you continued playing with us!"
Because it is these twins, Shiroe can also play the role of mentor. The twins will also not view Shiroe as someone to take advantage of, so it is a joy playing with them.
Days like this continued. Until the apocalypse.

4
"Oh, so you knew a pair of twins, and what else?"
"What?"
"My lord, do you know how they are doing now?"
Shiroe talked about his encounter with the twins, and his team mates raised this question.
Under the orange light of the camp fire, the group's shadow dances on the tent, giving a calm camping atmosphere.
"They are online. I have seen them a few times after the apolcalypse."
"So they are stuck here too."
"We were together shortly before, and we were dragged back to Akiba. We got separated right then."
When the Apolcalypse happened, all players were forcefully sent to the nearest village. Serara and Nyanta seems deep in thought recalling the incident.
"Maybe you should have contacted them, they are probably deeply troubled too. They are just beginners and yet they are caught in this hellish event."
Naotsugu said.
Shiroe knows that the tea party is full of generous and helpful people, especially Naotsugu who diligently looks after his juniors and beginners.
(A guardian who protect his team mates must be a guy who gives his all in helping others. But for Naotsugu, his way of expressing himself might affect his image.)
"Anyway, Shiroe also have things he need to attend to nya."
Nyanta said as he pour hot tea into a metal mug. This is not real tea, just a drink made with fragrant dried leaves and apple peelings. But to people who have been drinking tasteless water, this is a bliss. Akatsuki nurse the mug carefully to warm her hands.
"You are right. In the beginning, we can only take care of ourselves, unable to spare any effort to take care of others. By the time I met them again, they have already joined a guild."
Not just Shiroe, all the players also don't have the energy to consider things other than themselves.
"Is that so..."
"At that time, all the guilds was also busy recruiting people."
Akatsuki's words reminded Naotsugu of the situation and he nodded his head.
"I remembered they were about level 20?"
"I think they should have progressed a bit more since then."
"Then it is a good thing they join a guild, since they can't take care of themselves."
Naotsugu stretched himself as he talked, then turned and faced Shiroe.
"And so, is Minori cute?"
"Ah?"
Shiroe starts recalling. He only saw their avatars in the Elder Tales game, and the screen only display a standard character model, so there is no way to know if she is cute. Shiroe have not talked with them face to face after the apocalypse, so Shiroe is unable to answer.
"Nope, this kind of things you don't need to see her in person, you have talked to her through voice chat right? You know whether she is cute from her voice right?"
Naotsugu presses Shiroe.
Akatsuki is speechless listening to their conversation, throwing them a cold look.
Shiroe looks toward Nyanta, the only one who could save him. "Serara, are you cold" Nyanta displays the concern of a gentleman. Can you spare some chivalry for your old friend too? As Shiroe thinks about this, Naotsugu presses on.
"Hmmm... To judge if she is cute... Her manner of speech is polite like a little girl... Feels like she is from a high class family? I feel that her family is high class, but not like Henrietta."
As Shiroe talk, Naotsugu nods at his every word with a happy look.
"That's right! That is how a middle schooler should behave!"
"Why did you guess her age now?"
"Stupid Naotsugu..."
You are correct! Shiroe nods at Akatsuki, but she just said "My lord is also stupid."
"Let's contact them after we go back! A date, I will be the vanguard, Shiroe will be the backup! Girls are great!"
"This I agree with you."
"Shiroe likes panties too right?"
"Not particularly. My interest in panties is at the average level among males."
Naotsugu's suggestion made Shiroe felt troubled, but he still agreed. It's not contacting the twins that is troubling, but getting ready for the punch line with Naotsugu that is troublesome. But it cannot be helped.
Naotsugu have been bullied by Akatsuki a lot lately, so there is a need to be gentle with him.
The party carried on late into the night.
Guild matters, each other's experience, delicious food, the star of the world, the group kept on chatting deep into the night.
Enjoying the feast in the orange glow, their laughter overlaps, the atmosphere is relaxing and no one wants to call it a night.
Akatsuki and serara leaned towards each other as they dozed off. The two of them are very cute, and even the constantly bullied Naotsugu smiled as he covered them with blankets.
When Nyanta finally declared it is time for bed, the sun is already rising from the east.
"Ah, I am so full! It's been a while since I have had such a good meal! Just this meal is worth the trip to Ezzo, this is what traveling should be like!"
Naotsug's footsteps are wobbly because of the sleepiness and breakfast, but his words resonate with his companions.
The five of them slip into their sleeping bags, enjoying the warmth of the camp fire as they dreamt.

5

The journey started anew the next day.
Shiroe's group completed the quest with just three people.
With the addition of the excellent melee attacker Nyanta and Serara the druid who can heal minor wounds, the group is even more prepared for battle.
Even so, they did not rush in getting back.
In fact, the group intentionally slow their return speed, sleeping late into the morning after the first night. They chose the best timing to ride the griffons which can only be used for 4 hours before proceeding on horseback.
They break for camp early in the evening and built their tent before the sun set, leaving plenty of time for dinner preparation. The food are all ingredients from the wild, but it is still a feast when compared to the food they have before.
Nyanta put in lots of effort in preparing the meals, with his soup being the favorite.
The group chat about all sort of things.
Serara did not go into details of her troubles in Susukino, but even if she was traumatized, she has now overcome it, and the group is relieve that she is ok.
Unexpectedly, Serara likes Nyanta, but Nyanta doesn't seem to realize it. But Serara seems to think she hid her affection very well, and no one realized it yet, which amuses the others greatly.
Serara leaves Nyanta's side, she will sneak a peek at him. During dinner, she will sit besides Nyanta with a gleeful expression on her face.
The best news for Serara wa when Nyanta said he will accompany her to Akiba and settle down there. When Serara heard that, she hugged Nyanta tightly, almost knocking over the pots.
Seeing Serara like this, Naotsugu makes a mischievous face. Even though Shiroe thinks that is not cool, he understands Naotsugu's feelings.
Nyanta always claims to be an old man in the tea party, and have never had any scandals. For the two ex-tea party member, this is a spectacular piece of news.
"But come to think of it, why would she likea middle age man..."
"Shiroe, you are too much, we are talking about the chief here. That is the charm of the chief."
"Serara has good taste."
The two of them laughed as Akatsuki replied.
"Akatsuki feels that Nyanta is OK too?"
"Teacher is a first class swordsman."
A mildly shocked Shiroe asked, and Akatsuki dutifully answered. This answer is vague with regards to Nyanta's charm, so it should be Akatsuki's respect for Nyanta as a fellow melee fighter, and Shiroe accept this answer.
In terms of maturity, Nyanta is very reliable
He claims to be an old man, but that is in comparison with the younger kids. He should be about 40. He is skinny and tall, has small eyes, but looks good on the whole.
(Hmm, so Nyanta is OK too.)
Shiroe has the habit of putting his fingers on his chin when he thinks. Akatsuki think of something and approaches Shiroe, tugging at his sleeves.
"My lord, my lord."
"What is it."
"My lord is not a swordsman, but I think you are strong."
She is comforting me. Shiroe realizes this and thanks Akatsuki while gently patting her hair. Akatsuki shows a troubled expression and says:" I didn't say anything worthy of thanks.", and turns her head away. Shiroe felt an itch in his heart.
TL note: The heart part seems weird, I don't know how to translate it properly.
As the group flew over the Yappa highlands, dark clouds approached from the southwest. Naotsugu can see bits of white in the clouds rolling in.
"Shiroe! Chief Nyanta!"
Lazy to use telepathy, shouted directly at his companions who is flying about 10 meters below him.
"There's a storm coming!"
Shiroe look to the west after hearing Naotsugu. The sunlight have been blocked by the clouds, and the air is heavy, and the griffons have difficulty maintaining altitude.
"Shiroe, it's a bit early, but let's look for shelter nya."
Nyanta calmly advised Shiroe through telepathy. Checking the directions of the clouds again, Shiroe raised his right hand, and they started to drop altitude.
Shiroe fly towards a village on the Yappa highlands, which have about 20 buildings in the junction of several unpaved roads.
TL Note: Yappa is a placeholder.
As the group flew over the Yappa highlands, dark clouds approached from the southwest. Naotsugu can see bits of white in the clouds rolling in.
"Shiroe! Chief Nyanta!"
Lazy to use telepathy, shouted directly at his companions who is flying about 10 metres below him.
"There's a storm coming!"
Shiroe look to the west after hearing Naotsugu. The sunlight have been blocked by the clouds, and the air is heavy, and the griffons have difficulty maintaining altitute.
"Shiroe, it's a bit early, but let's look for shelter nya."
Nyanta calmly advised Shiroe through telepathy. Checking the directions of the clouds again, Shiroe raised his right hand, and they started to drop altitute.
Shiroe fly towards a village on the Yappa highlands, which have about 20 buildings in the junction of several unpaved roads.
TL Note: Yappa is a placeholder.
Just as the Griffon lands, thunder boomed and the weather changed in a blink of an eye.
The party rushed into the center of the village.
This is a typical village that can be found anywhere in all five Japanese servers.
The setting of Elder Tales is that of a world with a destroyed ancient civilization, the environment regain its vibrancy over thousands of years as flora and fauna flourishes. Farming is possible in areas where there are less monsters.
The people living here is not adventurers, but NPCs who call themselves people of the land.
A majority of Elder tales game quest involves visiting these villages and solving various problems for the people, with stories involving the villagers as the background.
Noticing the sudden change in weather, a women wearing a white blouse and a kid with a dog and a cow jog across the village roads.
Villagers of various age and dressing collects their farm tools and rushed to get all the sheep back into their shed.
As Shiroe predicted, the large building in the center of the village is the town hall, which is common for such pioneering villages.
"Hello!"
Naotsugu greeted loudly as he led the group into the town hall which smelled of dry grass.
"Coming, are you travelers?"
A NPC elderly man introduced himself as one of the village elder. He have short white hair and glasses with thick lenses, seems to be about 60 years of age. But his back is straight and he has a built of a younger man. He calmly listened to Shiroe's introduction and explanation, and offered to provide shelter for the group at a cheap price for the night. The group thank the old man and went to the shed.
This seems to be a place to store hay for the winter, with stacks of place all over the place. The summer rain not cold, but is falling down hard, sounding like golf balls striking the village.
Shiroe stood at the doorway looking at the sky, and a cheerful voice boomed behind him.
"This is great, I love hay!"
Naotsugu shouted happily.
This world inherited the convenience of the game world, with the sleeping bags and tent being of amazing quality. Even though you can sleep comfortably, at the end of the day it is still a sleeping bag, and you will lose body heat and become stiff after one night.
In comparison, sleeping on hay is as comfortable as sleeping in a hotel bed.
"That's right, it is a comfortable place to be in nya."
Nyanta said as he Inspects the interior, windows and the doors. Even though it is made of wood, the wall have been painted with some form of concrete to block the wind, while the shed remain dry and cool with a clean smell.
With the rain pouring down so heavily, being in the village is a great stroke of luck.
"Is there any place we can start a fire nya?"
"I see a stove over there Nyanta!"
Worried about dinner, Nyanta leaves the shed following Serara. Naotsugu and Akatsuki leaves the problem of dinner to them and started making 5 hay beds for the group.
"Why is this bed so small? Is it a bed for a hamster?"
"Shut up Naotsugu, go make your bed in the corner!"
Shiroe smiled awkwardly as he listen to the two bickers while the elder approaches him.
"Are you from Susukino? Are you Adventurers?"
"Yes, we are Adventurers, we are on our way to Akiba."
Shiroe replied. Adventurers is the term NPC uses to describe player characters.
"Would you like a drink"
"Thank you very much... Is this... Tea?"
Shiroe took out the tea made by Nyanta from his bag of holding and pour a cup for the elder in a metal mug, while he poured a cup into the flask cap. He sat on a sawing table while the elder sat on a wooden stool.
"How is it?"
Maybe it's because he experienced it for the first time, the elder was surprised at the bitter sweet flavor of the tea. The elder praised the quality of the tea as Shiroe smiled.
"Why are making this bed so carefully?"
"This is my lord's bed, of course it needs to be done with care."
"Oh I see, it must be hard making a bed for normal sized people right?"
"Don't look down on me you pervert!"
Naotsugu and Akatsuki continued to bicker as they made the beds, while Shiroe and the elder chatted with the bickering as background music. The roads have been reduced to mud tracks, but from the reaction of the elder, the rain is nothing out of the norm.
"Your companions sure are energetic."
"Yes they are, I apologized for the disturbance."
"Don't say that, if you are going to travel, you need this kind of energy. But since you are Adventurers, this is to be expected.

The biggest change that occurs after the Apocalypse is the change in the NPC.
The NPC in Elder tales is the same as other games, and they do not possess their own personalities. Although they are better programmed than other RPGs, they are limited by their AI in their conversation with the players.
But after the Apocalypse, NPC appears to be the same as normal people. Members of brigandia may disagree, but Shiroe believes it to be so.
They can think, breathe, eat and is alive.
They can drink tea together and talk about all kinds of topics. Each of them have their unique names and memories.
They are not humans, they are not monsters, but they are an important element in the world.
Shiroe's party have been training in the wild most of the time after the Apocalypse, spending little time in Akiba. Furthermore, NPC are fewer in numbers in a Adventurer city like Akiba.
Hence, Shiroe didn't have a chance to interact with NPCs, but chatting like this makes Shiroe thinks they are more and more human.
"The people of the land seldom travels."
The elder says as he look at Akatsuki with peaceful eyes.
The people of the land is not a term describing humans, elves or dwarfs, but used to differentiate between Players and NPCs.
When Elder tales was just a game, this term was already in place, but seldom used by players, who refers to them simply as NPCs.
But it is different now.
"People of the land..."
"Yes, and this is a good village, we can live here with no worries."
They refer to players as Adventurers, and view them with fear. In their mind, adventurers have a different culture, and their abilities is totally on another level.
Adventurers will grow stronger as they experience battles, gaining powers hundreds of time more powerful, and possess an undying soul. They do not disappear when they receive fatal injuries, and will revive after returning to the cathedral. They can travel to places all over the world and even win battles against giants, undeads and dragons.
Beings with such an incredible existence is known as Adventurers.
People of the land do not have such battle prowess, they will fall when injured, cannot revive when they die, representing the common folks in this world.
But there are NPC who have equal or greater strength than players because of the game setting. The people of the land view them as being different from themselves and Adventurers, calling them Ancients.
If you categorize them this way, people of the land are the most helpless. If adventurers wishes to, they can take all their belongings and even their lives.
After the Apocalypse caused the increase in population, the amount of people of the land increase by 5 to 10 folds, but the difference in battle prowess remains the same.
From what Shiroe observed, they do not bear any grudge about this, treating this as a natural phenomenon. Because for them, this is the world they live in, it has always been like this.
(From the name people of the land, that should be the way. They live and are at one with the land, which I can never match up to them.)
As Shiroe chat randomly with the elder, this is what Shiroe felt. How many people of the land are there in the world? There must be at least a hundred village like this in Yappa.
(We have no knowledge about the people of the land. We don't even know what they eat or do for leisure... We are really lacking in this front...)
Shiroe felt a deep curiosity to question the elder, but a cheerful voice broke his train of thoughts.

"Good news Shiroe nya!"
Nyanta approach with Serara beaming at his side. Seems like she already knows what the good news is.
"What is it"
"We went to visit a few household in the area, and they sold ingredients to us nya!"
"It's wonderful! this is milk, this is cheese, we have sausage bacon and eggs! There is even eggs! I brought sugar back in Susukino, so we can bake cookies!"
"We also brought cabbage and potatoes nya."
The couple showed their goods with pride. With so much ingredients, we won't need to hunt on the way back to Akiba anymore.
"Is this OK?"
Shiroe enquired the elder. The elder nod in agreement.
"The weather in spring is good, our livestock is abundant. The villagers will be happy to exchange them for some coins. By the way, I have a barrel of strawberry jam, would you like to buy some?"
The elder added. He must be happy for the chance to earn some coin.
"I would be happy to."
Shiroe followed the elder leading the way.

6

Toya wiped the mud off his face with his left hand.
His gauntlets are made from animal skin and wires, so it hurts when you rub against your face. But this amount of pain is just right.
The pain is enough to stop his tears from falling.
"Faster, stop dragging your feet!"
The captain bellowed in an angry voice.
As usual, he is angry because of the formation falling apart.
Toya can understand this feeling. Toya is a samurai, one of the three warrior class, serving as a tank.
Tank refers to vanguards at the frontline keeping the formation, any team have at least one tank. They are responsible for aggravating the monsters and withstanding their attacks. This will free up the damage dealers who can position themselves to maximize their damage potential without fear of attacks.
There are two important aspect of being a tank. First is that you must not die. If the tank dies, there will be no one left to keep the monster at bay, leaving mage and healers who are weak to attacks open, and the formation will crumble. The 2nd is the need to draw the enemies attention to yourself to ensure your team mate's safety. If you do not draw their attention, there would be no point even if you do not die, as your team mates will be attacked, leading to the formation collapsing.
(Mr Shiro taught me before, I understand the basic concepts, but...)
Even if you understand the concept, puttin it into action is a different matter.
Keeping the formation in place is the duty and the reason for tanks to exist. Toya is also unwilling to endanger his party. But this is also dependent on the support of his group.
In order to keep the tank alive, support and healing is necessary. Even the hardest tank will fall under the constant attacks of monsters. To avoid this, support and healing from the back is needed, and the tank need to draw the monsters attention so the healers can concentrate on healing.
They are two sides of a coin, missing any one of them will result in Toya dying and the formation breaking.
Other than attracting the attention of the enemies, tanks need to aggravate the enemy more than his team mates, making himself the prime target. Warrior class has many skills that attracts the enemies attention, known as taunts. They are able to control the psyche of the enemies, making them lose track of the warrior's team mate's presence.
After attracting their attention, the problem would lie having the guts, presence of mind and trust in the healing of your allies. Toya trust Minori, so this should be simple.
(That is what Mr Shiroe said... but that is not enough...)
Usually, if the powers of the group is about the same, warrior's taunt can operate without issue. But if there is an ally who is higher level than the tanks, or if the attack of the attack is too powerful to handle, then the taunt will not work.
In other words, the enemy will judge the high level damage dealer or healer to be a bigger threat and prioritize them as the target. That is the case for Toya's team.
The leader of the group is level 46, halfway to the level cap in Elder Tales, and twice the level of Toya.
Compared to his power as a sorcerer, Toya's ability to hold the enemies attention is inadequate. The enemy will judge the sorcerer as a bigger threat than Toya.
The powerful attacks of the leader aggravates the monsters, who then switch priorities from Toya to him. But even though the leader is twice the level of Toya, his defense is lower than him.
Because the damage is split between the two of them, the healer will need to heal on both fronts. The effectiveness of the heals will drop and they run the risk of losing on either front.
As things don't go as planned, the formation will also become a mess. Damage dealers will not know which enemy to prioritize in order to salvage the situation. Should they target enemy attacking Toya or the sorcerer? The confusion results in the team not concentrating on their attacks to take down enemies one at a time.
This caused the battle to drag, causing the formation to worsen, a vicious cycle.
(That's why Shiroe uses the mentoring system to avoid aggravating the monsters.)
Toya finally understands Shiroe's reasoning.
Shiroe did not use the system because of vanity or pity for the twins. He did it because this is the way to teach battle formations.
Speaking of which, his current leader is different.
Today's grinding spot consist of level 25 lizard man. For Toya and the other beginners, that is a high level.
But to the leader, monsters 20 level below him are easy. He is unable to tolerate taking much time to finish them off. He spoke plainly to the team before :"You should be the one to adjust to me, not the other way around."
As for the leader, he is just a nanny forced to babysit scrubs and earn gold for the guild. He risk getting a warning from higher management if he don't meet the target.
Toya and the rest are just a burden in his eyes.
The leader in the red robe did not bother to conceal his frustration.
Toya's team mate are exhausted, with hollow and tired eyes.
There was 4 death today. The trip to and fro the cathedral annoy the leader even more.
Despite of this, he refuse to change his ways. If he use the mentoring system, he will be able to achieve balance in his formation, but he is unable to stand the idea of lowering his level. "Doing this will make things slower, and we won't be able to reach the target."
In the alley of Akiba, a bard tripped and almost fell.
"I'm sorry... I'm losing strength in my legs."
The girl apologized to Toya who stopped her fall. There is only exhaustion and a deep hollowness in her eyes.
"We are almost there, you can do it."
Toya helped the girl as he cheer her on. She was a level or two below Toya. She is very light, and cloak smells of sweat and dirt. Toya is the same. They do not have the time or energy for showers.
(This must be hard on her.)
Toya looked at the girl, who have no strength to be concerned with her appearance, just counting her footsteps to distract herself from falling due to exhaustion.
Toya bit his lips.
How did it come to this? He have thought of this over and over again, unable to find his way through the his way through anger and confusion.

The group gathered in the city square under the guide of the leader. The leader snarled at the group and collected the day's bounty from each member.
Even in the guild houses, there are still limits to how many items you can store. Items that are not worth keeping are sold in the market, the style of Hamilon.
"Toya, you collected so much."
Leader said irritating tone. Toya may be a low level warrior, but his arm strength is still stronger than his allies, so he can carry more items. This is just his way of shouldering his team mates' burden.
"I brought this back using all my effort."
The leader surely understand this. Toya didn't look at him straight as he answers. Even if he has the urge to punch him, he knows that fighting is prohibited in this zone. His team mate is exhausted anyway, so he do not want to cause a scene and waste their precious resting time.
"Hmph."
The leader snorted loudly as he put all the collected items into the market.
"For people of your caliber, you can only collect worthless items such as this. You should be grateful that you get to eat anything at all. You should also be thankful for the "Holy water" too.
Toya grind his teeth loudly.
All of this is for Minori.
If Minori was not held hostage in the guild house, he will never allow any bad guy to talk so arrogantly. Toya can feel the hatred in his eyes, as his anger grows in his heart. He shifted his gaze to the streets to avoid detection.
His leader is only a low level member.
(Killing scum like this will only dirty my blade... How long will days like this last? How did it come to this? Why are we in this situation... We don't need "Holy water", we don't want stuff like that, just take it if you want. But Minori was at her limits, if we didn't join a guild...)

"... Just came back. Yes, thank you... Its OK."
A white light entered Toya's dusty and gray world.
It's a voice that he is missed so much in just a month, he almost forgot Shiroe's calm manner of speaking.
Toya raised his head and search the streets with his eyes.
Shops... Nope.
Open air market... Nope.
Blacksmith... Nope.
Weapon store, armor store, bar, hotel... searching everywhere for that familiar presence... and feeling hopelessness. Toya don't know how he looks like.
Toya only know his voice through voice chat, he doesn't know how he looks like after the Apocalypse. Realizing this, Toya felt a depressing feeling squeeze his heart.
But a loud group of about ten plus people entered from the door connecting the central square and the the main street, drew the attention of Toya. A small crowd surrounded a well travelled group that appears to have just returned to the city.
Even though he is in the center of attention, his expression is still moody and trouble. That young man is Shiroe.
"Don't worry! The chef I knew went out of his mind after hearing about it. Every day was a taste testing storm. In english the word will be "storm". When I mentioned Shiroe was coming back, he started preparing for a big party!"
"Wow, there will be a feast? I will be looking forward to it!"
"That's wonderful nya."
"Marielle, there is no need to make such a big deal."
Toya rushed to open the menu in his mind. He stopped the cursor on the man in front of him to ascertain his name by using the system. Guild: Nil. Name: Shiroe. Class: Enchanter/
He was the one that spent his time with him and Minori, sharing his experience and knowledge freely, the one he and Minori addressed as "Onichan".
TL note: I used Onichan to preserve some context
"Onichan"
Toya shouted, but he froze mid way.
Shiroe seems to turn his head and looked his way.
Maybe it is his mind playing tricks on him, but the Shiroe that is facing Toya seemed to give the sense of more determination.
Shiroe was also living in this post Apocalypse world.
The moment Toya felt this, he felt a shock and his words froze.
The world has changed.
After the Apocalypse, the world has turned into a different path and changed irreversibly. This is a world dreamers longed for, and it is a game becoming reality, an incident that only occurs in fairy tales.
But if you looked beyond the surface, the truth is this is a grey prison.
"This is a guild that helps beginners" tempted by these words, the twins who fell into this trap was also at fault. But if you ignore this point, Toya thinks this world is where only for the strong will rule.
Money, items, EXP, all these resources allow the owner to gain more benefits. The rich become richer, those with items gain more items, those with more EXP can fight monsters that yields more EXP. It is the survival of the fittest.
'Those who have' will gain more, 'those who don't' will always be one step behind and can only watch the dust of 'those who have'. This is the Elder Tales world, the truth behind the online game world. Now that it is reality, this cruel fact is emphasize even more, because the players can no longer log out.
Toya's childish logic is unable to comprehend this truth fully. But despite that, he is able to smell this truth because of his childish innocence.
There is no difference.
In any place in any world, this is the law of nature. Since it is the survival of the fittest, the strong and the weak will need to be differentiated. It is not cruel because it is a game. The original world is just as cruel. Excessive squeezing and double standards is prohibited, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Toya understood this logic.
His legs that couldn't move understood this logic.
Minori and Toya are both beginners.
They have low fighting prowess. and have limited knowledge of the world. They have no wealth, and all this means they are powerless.
No one understand this more than himself. Not only is he powerless, but he is also a child. Toya thinks as he tasted the iron in his blood as he bite his lips. The weak don't have the strength to protect themselves. Miracles that saves the weak without asking for anything in return doesn't exist.
The words Toya swallowed, was it "help me" or "save me"? Even Toya isn't sure.
Toya is sure that Shiroe is a high level gamer, more knowledgeable than anyone in Elder tales. Maybe he thought that Shiroe will save him regardless of how deep in trouble Toya is.
But, why did he think that?
He Shiroe is just a random guy who played Elder Tales with him for a week, just a friend at the most. Do Toya has the right to request for his aid?
For example, a bankrupt wouldn't request help from people that is not related to him by blood. Reality is such a thing, Toya understand this concept.
Even Shiroe needs to pay a price to continue living in this world.
There is no room for such naive thoughts.
Toya lowered his clenched fist.
He did not know when the city square started drizzling.