“Couldn’t tell you. The meat’s black too, so even if it’s edible, it’s definitely not appetizing.”
It looked like a fish that had gone bad... It was undoubtedly the kind of ingredient that took courage to eat.
“It seems to be quite a rare fish,” Shouko chimed in.
“I see, I see. So even if he didn’t catch the lord, his haul was good enough to make some compromises. Must be nice, finding a hidden quest.”
“The damage wasn’t nice. Anyway, my Fever Lure got upgraded, so there are a few things I want to test out. Is Yamikage asleep already?”
“Nah, Yammy went for a walk.”
“Hmm...”
An early sleeper at some times, and a late sleeper at others. She was quite the whimsical lass. Granted, it wasn’t that late yet, so maybe she was just taking a pre-bedtime walk.
“Ah, right, bro. I’m going to be clearing this race quest I heard about from a friend.”
“Ah... I remember something about that.”
It was mentioned in the update notes after we cleared the third wave.
Tsumugi’s race was Demihuman; once she completed a specific quest, she’d gain the ability to transform into a beast.
“Need any help?”
“It’s not a super hard quest, apparently. Also, you can’t participate unless you’re a Demihuman.”
So it’s literally a race-locked quest.
“Sounds like a hassle. Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
“It’s fine. My friend already told me all about it, and Alto prepared all the items I’ll need. I’ll be done in no time.”
That’s good to know.
“A race quest, is it...” Shouko paused. “I wonder if there’s a quest for Spirits.”
“They left it pretty vague, right?” said Tsumugi. “They just said you could grow stronger by collecting the souls of defeated monsters, and you could just read that as clearing the conditions to raise the Energy cap... Maybe you have to do something to upgrade your souls?”
“I haven’t heard anything about a Spirit quest, so I’m not sure.”
“It’s annoying, knowing it exists but that no one knows about it.”
Thinking back, during the Demon Lord’s Invasion Event, I hadn’t seen any Spirits apart from us doing anything particularly noteworthy.
“From what I know, Humans, Jewels, and Elves don’t really know either. Only lycanthropes—Demihumans—found their quests.”
Was this clear favoritism, or was it just that we hadn’t found our key quests yet? It was hard to say. Regardless, this was necessary for Tsumugi to grow stronger.
“So, what happens after you clear the Demihuman quest?”
“You unlock this skill called Beastification. Right now, it’s just a self-buff, but the Demihumans I’ve talked to say they think it’ll get stronger in future updates.”
A newly implemented skill that’s not too powerful yet. Sounds like it’s going to be a slow-scaling one.
“Whatever it is, it’s better to pick it up early. Go for it, Tsumugi.”
“Okay! I’ll be back soon, so wait for me!”
And with that, Tsumugi was off on her own to complete her race quest.
“I have returned, I daresay. Oh? Did something happen, milord?”
“Ah, Yamikage. On the way back, see...”
I went on to tell her about what had happened in the Forest of Everlasting Darkness.
Naturally, she was frustrated that she hadn’t been there to take part.
Two days went by.
Tsumugi finished her quest without any trouble and rejoined us. According to her, it turned out to be shockingly easy.
As I sat, cleaning fossils at the inn, I got a chat request from Alto. And, since Shouko was lounging around in the room with me, we ended up talking to him together.
Lately, Shouko had been practicing to get her lure to go exactly where she wanted it to. She wasn’t quite at my level, but she’d gotten to the point where she could cast with impressive accuracy.
I also reported to L’Arc and Therese about the hidden quest at the Forest of Everlasting Darkness. They both grumbled over chat about how they shouldn’t have taken their eyes off of me.
And I was starting to admit they weren’t far off the mark.
I heard that Kanade had been busy pulling in crabs and processing them. Alto actually sounded pretty impressed when he told me how she was doing.
As Shouko and I chatted with Alto at the inn, he brought it up again.
“Man... I have to say, there’s no longer any doubt in my mind that Kanade is your sister.”
“Should I ask what convinced you? Do I want to hear it?”
“Do you mean that she shows the same kind of intense concentration as Kizuna?”
“Hmm...not quite the same. I had her help out with the crab processing work for a while. And then, she came to me saying the layout of the onboard work process—the entire line setup—was inefficient and proposed a complete overhaul.”
I see. I know where this is going.
“Knowing my sister, there’s a chance she was just trying to come up with some excuse to get out of work. But judging by your reaction, that’s not what happened.”
“Not at all. She even brought a new layout diagram showing how to cut down on wasted movement and improve efficiency. I was honestly blown away. She was spot-on—I could immediately see just how much we’d improve if I followed her word to the letter. Her plan was so polished it had me wondering what we’d been doing for so long.”
Boiling and cleaning crabs was repetitive work, but for her to suggest improvements to the line’s efficiency...that was definitely my sister. If a strategy site existed, she was the kind of person who could come up with a build that became the gold standard.
She’d made my time in a few other games a lot easier, and I could understand exactly what Alto meant.
“That extreme dedication to efficiency...it reminded me that she was both a frontliner and your sister.”
“My sister, see...she’s the sort who starts to shine when hunting grounds and common practices become established. She’s the opposite of Tsumugi... She doesn’t make new discoveries, but she thrives on optimizing all the simple and repetitive tasks she’s aware of.”
“Then what sets her apart from Kizuna is that Kizuna will silently and endlessly persist even if it is inefficient?”
“Well, yeah. I try to enjoy the process itself. My older sister, on the other hand, is all about the results, and Tsumugi’s off experimenting and training her player skills however she can.”
That’s why Tsumugi was always the fastest out of the gate. And, once the endgame became the focus, that was where Kanade started to shine.
What about me? I rarely ever stood out.
“They may share similar core traits, but they’re clearly very different as sisters. Incidentally, you might think you’re the normal one, but you’re actually a monster when it comes to persistence. Let me guess: Even after those two quit a game, you’re the one who keeps grinding it out until you’ve hundred percented it.”
“You did spend fifteen days diving in the underground lake.”
“Well, if I’ve already started a game, I might as well see it through to the end—as long as it’s not complete garbage...”
Still, did these people understand what they were saying? Did they realize how unpleasant it was when they easily accepted that I shared the same blood as a stern older sister who lived like a hobo and a stupid little sister who chased whatever was fun in the moment?
I doubt I’m that extreme.
“Then is Kanade getting used to crab fishing?”
“I saw her smiling as she watched her trap skills improve day by day. She even boasted about how her Shipboard Combat skill is going up too.”
Oh my... That does sound like my sister.
She would stumble when thrown into a new environment, but once she threw aside her pride, she’d steadily hone herself until she started to show results. In the end, Tsumugi’s and Yamikage’s schemes to make a comrade out of her didn’t amount to much.
“It’s like she’s completed her rite of passage into the guild. She can join up with you guys once we hit a good stopping point. Of course, I’m calling her back if we’re ever short on hands.”
“Go ahead; honestly, the only reason she’s not here already is because she’s too stubborn to lean on us. Once she feels like she’s earned her keep, we’ll get her back on the battlefield. Shouko, I think you’ve spent enough time carrying me. I want everyone to focus on grinding for the next wave.”
“If I may be frank, I want you to be there as well, Kizuna.”
I’d been scratching that itch with some fishing here and there, but my original goal in the game was to fish in as many spots as possible. Spending a whole day fishing didn’t sound bad at all.
It was just as important to me as leveling and making money.
“Of course, I still have to collect the crab traps I set up in Mikakage, so I’ll go with you. We could challenge some sea monster we haven’t fought yet too.”
“Yes, it’s one final push before the wave. Let’s give it our best.”
“By the way, Kizuna. I don’t think it has to do with you guys, but... Do you know anything about the drastic decline of our warehouse and treasury funds?”
“First I’m hearing of it. You sure you didn’t just forget using them?”
“I don’t think so... Whoever the culprit is, I’ll have to find them and give them a serious talking-to.”
After Alto’s report on my sister’s situation, we tucked in for the night.
Then, just as dawn was about to break... Snap! A sharp sound echoed through the morning mist. The wave’s location, as we all expected, was Mikakage—or not. It actually broke out in a mountain range near La Ilfi, the Second City.