Admitting responsibility for the destruction of the players’ outpost on the frontlines, Yamata finally agreed to cooperate with the other progression guilds. Aegis had become effectively eviscerated, but the remaining members offered to support the other guilds. Twilight Adventurers came out of the ordeal without losing cohesion, and they were determined to resume their efforts to clear the game. Crest had lost its leader, but that didn’t impact the guild’s vision.
The four guilds still had different methods and ambitions, but they no longer prioritized their own gains over those of others. Fighting off the largest monster invasion yet, at a huge cost to them all, had the unforeseen benefit of uniting the four disparate guilds.
Misaki was waiting for the meeting to finish, counting birds in the sky to pass the time.
“Ah! There you are!” someone said.
Misaki turned to see who it was. She recognized the smirking man.
“You’re…Amakusa? Is that correct?”
“Aw, man, you don’t recognize one of your own guildies?” he replied, snickering.
Misaki wasn’t in the mood for a chat. She couldn’t stop thinking about the previous evening.
“Nobody thinks that was your fault! Without you, Crest will lose its way!”
When she found Wataru among the group heading back to Calloah and heard what he was doing, she’d done what she could to stop him, but nothing could change his decision. Wataru, in that tattered cape, walking away—it was a sight she couldn’t forget. Ever since then, she’d been racking her brain trying to think what she should be doing. Accompanying Yamata and supporting their exploration of the unknown with her unique skill would probably be the most beneficial to everyone…
“I guess I should…,” she started.
“Um, hello? Are you okay?” Amakusa asked.
“!”
Misaki vigorously shook her head to escape the thoughts circling her mind. Amakusa was watching her, the smirk never leaving his face.
“You hear anything I said?”
“No… I’m sorry…”
“Okay, here we go again. Misaki, what do you say to joining my team?”
The invitation came out of the blue for Misaki. It seemed really strange to her that he’d ask her that, but maybe he had explained himself earlier, when she wasn’t paying attention. She kept her expression neutral so as not to offend him by looking shocked.
“Why do you want me on your team?”
“Well, ’cause you stand out from the others.”
“Stand out? How?”
“How do I put this? It’s your frame of mind in battle, your sense of purpose—those things really set you apart.”
“Huh.”
Misaki didn’t know what to say to him.
“We need strong fighters to defend Fort Sandras and forge a path ahead. Would be awesome if those monsters that lent us a hand earlier were still available. You’re friends with them or something?”
Amakusa clearly wanted to use her as a tool and was unashamed of it. It made Misaki uncomfortable, but she felt obliged to give an explanation about Vampy and Theodore.
“I know them, but I cannot contact them,” she said without emotion. “I can only tell you that they have saved my life twice and they are definitely our allies.”
She honestly didn’t have more information to offer. She knew that the monsters served Shuutarou, but she wasn’t going to tell anyone about him.
“Interesting,” Amakusa mused, stroking his chin.
Misaki realized he wasn’t looking at her but at the bow and arrow quiver strapped to her back.
“That pale girl’s skill reminded me of how the monsters suddenly died in the Goblin King battle. Maybe that’s just a coincidence. What do you think?”
“Sorry, I don’t know,” Misaki said with irritation.
Pretending not to notice her antipathy toward him, Amakusa changed the topic.
“Anyway, I have a task for you.”
“What task?”
“Come with me, and I’ll show you.”
If he was just a regular Crest member, Misaki might refuse, but Amakusa was the guild sub-master. Misaki didn’t trust him, but she did trust Alba and Flamme and their judgment in picking this man as the second-in-command. She followed him without another thought.
When they arrived, Misaki was shocked by what she saw. Inside ruins on the outskirts of the town, players were fighting among themselves.
“So you bastards are player killers, huh?!” a man yelled.
The attackers were clad in sinister black capes, while the attacked wore Aegis uniforms.
Misaki gasped, reaching for her bow.
“Not so fast,” Amakusa said, stopping her.
Instinct took over, and Misaki pulled out her dagger. A split second later, she had Amakusa pinned against the wall.
“It was you… You killed Barbara’s team…!”
“Wh-whoa, whoa! I didn’t! Gimme a moment to explain!”
With a blade pressed against his throat, Amakusa was panicking.
Misaki stared at him with cold threat in her eyes, waiting.
“Look, they finished,” Amakusa said.
Misaki glanced toward the other players. Two of the assaulted Aegis members had fled and were already pretty far away. The attackers faded into the shadows, and after a few electronic bleeps, the ruins morphed into a familiar square training room. Four remaining Aegis players slumped to the floor as Crest members appeared in front of them, offering congratulations.
Misaki overheard one of them saying, “Sorry for deceiving you. It was a test to see if you were worthy of joining us.”
They trick players they’re scouting to test them…?
She was dumbstruck.
“We test them to see what they do when faced with enemies they can’t defeat,” Amakusa said, unbothered. “Only those who don’t run away get an invite.”
He pinched the blade of Misaki’s dagger and moved it away from his neck, pointing to the four Aegis players with his eyes.
“That invasion’s something I wish I could forget, but it taught us a lesson. In circumstances like that, I don’t blame folk for wanting to run away to save their bacon, but I wouldn’t want to be teamed up with them, you know?”
Misaki was staring at him in silence, but that didn’t put him off.
“Does the number eighteen ring a bell?”
When Misaki shook her head, Amakusa’s face clouded over.
“That’s how many of our people died because the formation broke.”
“!”