Chapter 141

“Yes, well, that’s normally the case. After all, we’ve never fought in a true war ever since the three nations were founded,” replied Sfult. “Actually,” said Lonti, “Mye asked for volunteers throughout the castle, and ten times more than this showed up…” “Wow…,” Cayna marveled. She was tempted to mutter And the Imperial Knights just went along with it? but she held her tongue. “In short, outside of training, everyone is twiddling their thumbs.” This final dam was spectacularly broken by the princess herself. Unable to contain themselves any longer, Lonti and Cayna burst into laughter and infected any student who heard. However, perhaps fearing their laughter would be taken as disrespect, many tried to hold it in. Instead, their shoulders trembled as they giggled in silence. Only a chorus of hollow laughter rose from the three Imperial Knights. Once the students had calmed down, Helau raised a hand. “May I have a moment?” “Sure, what’s up?” “Lady Cayna, you are Lady Mai-Mai’s mother, correct?” “Yep. And Skargo and Kartatz are my sons.” Cayna didn’t really get it, but Helau and Sfult appeared satisfied by this answer. Ark, on the other hand, looked completely nonplussed and blinked in surprise. “Pardon me, but do you happen to know anyone named Barzelan or Tolfossa?” asked Helau. “Barzelan and…Tolhossa?” “It’s Tolfossa. I suppose you haven’t met them, then,” Sfult replied. Mumbling to herself, Cayna crossed her arms and pretended think it over while she checked to see if either name was in Kee’s log. The results were immediate but unfavorable. “Hmm. Sorry, I haven’t seen or heard of them.” “…I see. Thank you,” said Helau. She and Sfult were visibly disappointed. Myleene and Lonti, who were totally lost in the conversation, merely stood there flustered. “Um, might I ask what is going on?” “Have you three met?” “Nope, not before today. But I’m pretty sure I know what you’re trying to ask.” Cayna recalled her Search on them earlier, then said something only a player would understand. “Helau, Sfult—you’re both Foster Children, right?” ““What?!”” “Those names just now belong to players who might be your parents or siblings or whatever.” ““Whaaaaaaat?!”” “And you, Ark, are a player.” “Huh?” Stupefied, Helau’s and Sfult’s mouths formed perfect circles. Ark, who had assumed she was safe outside the mosquito net, froze in shock like a deer in headlights. Lonti and Myleene read the room and fell silent. Cayna’s bold assertion came from her Search of the three Imperial Knights—Helau was level 180, while Sfult was level 190. Ark went as high as level 230. All three were powerful in their own right and easily identifiable as either players or Foster Children. However, Cayna could tell that Ark was a player since Search indicated a national affiliation in addition to her name and level. Helau and Sfult didn’t have specific nationalities, so she determined they must be Foster Children. More importantly, Cayna dug deeper into a questionable point of Ark’s player profile. “Uh, Ark?” “Y-yes! What is it?” Trembling from head to toe, Ark straightened her posture. She was restless and looked more like a clumsy civil servant than a knight. “So your display name is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant. Ark’s an easy nickname to remember. I guess your real name is actually something like Ark of Darkness or Jet Black Ark, right?” Ark gulped at Cayna’s question, and after a good three seconds, the color drained from her face. “N-noooooooooooooo! Sh-sh-sh-sh-she can see my-my-my-my-my-my statssssssss!!” She clearly hadn’t been expecting this and started to yell and writhe in horror. Ark then crouched behind Helau and covered her eyes and ears. Everyone else was still on the move, so only Ark would be left behind. When she realized this and scurried to catch up like a little animal, all eyes were on her. Ark’s colleagues eyed her with pity. Each pressed a finger to their lips and whispered to the dot-eyed Myleene and Lonti, “Let’s keep this between us.” “Who’d have thought I’d meet one of us here? I guess you really do have to go abroad to hear news of home. It’s nice to meet you, Ark.” Once Cayna made it clear she understood the situation, Ark formulated a hypothesis. “That means you’re a player, too, Cayna? Wait… What? Then could Lady Mai-Mai and Sir Skargo be…? Huh?!” “Yep. They’re my foster kids.” Ark’s eyes darted around as her expression went from doubt to acceptance to doubt again and then finally to surprise in quick succession. “Little Ark is adorable as always,” Helau and Sfult giggled as they watched her. Ark was apparently the mascot of their friend group. “Seriously, are the Imperial Knights okay…?” Cayna wondered aloud. “Well, these three usually escort us royals and patrol the castle, so they don’t venture outside like this very often. I don’t exactly understand what’s going on, but I’m glad to see you’ve been enjoying yourself as well.” “Hmm. I’m glad they’re not hounding me anyways. Sorry to keep so many secrets from you, Mye.” “I will lend an ear when you’re ready to talk.” Myleene beamed. Cayna guiltily wondered how she’d even begin to explain the players. “Perhaps you could say the world is a game board?” That makes it sound like I’m calling everyone a chess piece or something. The reaction would be terrifying. Explanation and persuasion weren’t her forte, so Cayna thought maybe Opus should write the script instead. “By the way,” she began, “aren’t you going to ride in your fancy royals-only carriage and flex in front of the other students?” “Why would you even suggest something so shameless?!” cried Lonti. “Am I wrong? I thought being condescending, abusing authority, and walking around like a big shot was part of the royal package.” “Cayna, I’m begging you. Please do not to apply such a strange value system to Mye or the rest of the royal family.” Lonti’s expression was vaguely threatening, so Cayna continued nodding impulsively. “Royals aren’t like that in this world, huh?” “Most certainly not! They govern with honesty and integrity!” “Okay, okay,” Cayna replied, already done with the conversation. She had turned away from Lonti when Ark trotted over to her and whispered, “Cayna, did you do a lot of quests for royals and nobles back in the game?” “Ugh, sure did. I wanted to strangle and blow ’em up.” Cayna thought back to the NPC nobles and royalty in the Game Era. They were rude and arrogant, regarded anyone beneath their social rank as less than, and treated the working class like tools. They were also exceedingly cruel and did not hesitate to execute whoever invoked their ire. Naturally, the players detested them like nothing else. NPCs weren’t so easily avoided, and making the wrong choice in your interactions with them could land you in hot water, so there was really no option but to reluctantly accept every request. There were honest nobles as well, but these were only about one in twenty quests. After everything the Skill Masters had been through to claim their title, these nobility quests really tested the limits of their patience. It made their blood boil. “I did one of those quests and hated it,” said Ark. “Right? Been there, done that,” Cayna replied. The two became fast friends as they secretly shared their Leadale experiences, and each new bit of common ground was followed by an inquiry on how the other got into it. Cayna had the Wind Spirits remain on lookout while she and Ark fell deeper into conversation. Both girls were still on guard duty and obviously couldn’t forget their surroundings. However, Cayna was free to relegate everything to Kee, since he was completely automatic. Based on the pair’s discussion, Myleene assumed Ark and Cayna hailed from the same place—although since one was a human and the other a high elf, Myleene doubted their sole connection was a single homogeneous hometown. Thanks to knowledge passed down through the royal family, she had some understanding of the word players, which peppered their conversation. She knew of the havoc they wreaked across the continent over two centuries earlier. Nevertheless, there were also tales of their impact on Leadale’s geography, so she couldn’t bring herself to label these “players” as all bad. As far as Myleene knew, Cayna and Shining Saber were people of moral character who never once ravaged the land in the fires of war (at least by modern opinion). Cayna’s earlier reaction suggested she’d be open to questions if asked, so Myleene decided to patiently bide her time. “Hee-hee-hee.” “Whatever is the—? Um, what’s the matter, Mye?” Lonti almost fell back into formal speech but hastily switched to the more casual tone of a close friend when Mye eyed her reproachfully. “I’m sorry.” “You’re still too stiff.” “This is the best I can do. I’m afraid I’m not like Cayna.” As far as Lonti and Mye were concerned, a high elf like Cayna was a dignified royal. It just didn’t always look that way since she didn’t boast this fact and sometimes even forgot it herself. She was also evidently all-powerful, which truly put Cayna in a league all her own. “I’m saying it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t care about my social standing.” “It’s hard to believe Cayna is a royal at all.” “Yes, that’s certainly true,” Myleene agreed with a laugh. Lonti thought she’d deny it and felt a bit deflated. “I wonder if I can pull that off, too?” Myleene said. “Perhaps you ought to build up your strength first?” “You’re right. Considering how often Cayna causes a commotion, you would need to be quite strong just to survive.” Having realized such a goal was nigh impossible, the girls exchanged glances and laughed. Cayna continued chatting with Ark, unaware of Myleene and Lonti’s conversation. Helau and Sfult meant to remind Cayna of her guard duty, but since several visible Wind Spirits provided Cayna with detailed reports of their surroundings every few minutes, neither could do much more than bitterly acquiesce. “I see,” said Cayna. “So your little brother introduced you to Leadale. You must like to stop and smell the roses if it took you a whole year to reach level 200.” “I did lots of offline quests or quests in town, plus I didn’t fight very often,” replied Ark. “Sometimes my brother’s friends would help out and go hunting with me.” Cayna nodded along as she listened. The way Ark described her brother’s friends seemed kind of…familiar? The two continued to talk like old pals. Meanwhile, Helau and Sfult followed with the wagon. “So you’re not really suited to combat?” Cayna asked Ark. “I’m a little worried, since the area up ahead is pretty dangerous. You might have to make a run for it ASAP.” “I’m not totally useless in battle. I’ll give it my best shot. This is my job, after all. I mainly use a bow, but I can act as indirect backup, too.” “Gwah?!” Ark smiled uncomfortably as she unsheathed the weapon at her side. When Cayna used Search on it, she did a spit take and stared in amazement. “Isn’t that Impaler, the Ultimate Crossbow?! Where’d you get a super-rare weapon like this…?” “This is just what I got when I made a crossbow.” The blade of the delicate ceremonial-looking sword split in half to create the gun barrel (the bow portion). Then, a grip and trigger appeared from the hilt and transformed into a crossbow. It was a beautiful projectile weapon accented in gold and silver. Its strength depended on the overall level of its wielder, but in addition to an auto-loading function that cost only a single MP, it was a Cheat weapon capable of rapid-fire. The chances of producing a high-quality crossbow were one in a thousand, but an item of this caliber was more like one in a hundred million. Back in the game, it was a manufactured rare item that sold at auction for a record-breaking 700 million gil. In fact, as far as Cayna could remember, the weapon caused a stir at auction only twice in the three-plus years she’d been playing Leadale. People claimed that even a Skill Master couldn’t replicate it. “What dang luck…” “No, I’m pretty sure my luck has already run out. My name is just one example.” “Come to think of it, why does it sound like it’s got some shady history?” “In those final hours of the game, I fell for a trap…” “Huh?” Ark explained in detail that she’d been dungeon-crawling and had gotten caught in a forced name-change trap. This was one of several possibilities with Active Skill: Trap Creation. After registering several random words, the prankster responsible could change the names of hapless players. These ranged from embarrassing to downright cringey, and the only fix was to briefly log out, pay a fee, and edit your character settings. It was truly malicious. Unfortunately, Ark got caught on Leadale’s final day and fell into this world without a chance to amend things. A classic case of bad timing. “Ahhh, so that’s why you shortened it to Ark.” “Oh, it’s always been Ark. I didn’t make any changes there. Actually, my little brother came up with the name. He was basically a Leadale junkie, plus he was a top-level player. Incredible, right?” Ark giggled. A bead of sweat dripped down Cayna’s forehead. It was tough to admit she was an addict, too, but there was no need to hide it, either. She mustered up the courage to ask the question on her mind. “Um, we might’ve met if he was a top player… What was his name?” “Erm, uh, let’s see… Oh! It was something tasty sounding, like Tartar Sauce!” “Tartar…Sauce? …Ah!” Cayna knew the name all too well. What a small world; the siblings’ interdimensional travel was pretty incredible in its own way. “Do you know him?” Ark asked. “I do. His real name is Tartarus, though.” “Oh, yes, that’s right. I knew it was Tarta-something.” Cayna felt bad for the guy; even his big sis was calling him Tartar Sauce. “We were in the same guild, for better or worse. He and I are well acquainted.” “Huh? What? Cayna, you were in the Cream Cheese guild, too?! Does that mean you’re a junkie like him?” “‘Junkie’ is a bit… I mean, you’re technically not wrong. Still, I’d rather you not call me that.” “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll stick to just Cayna.” No matter how accurate the label was, being called a junkie on a regular basis would get old quick. Cayna pressed a hand to her chest in relief when it didn’t immediately stick. “Huh,” said Ark. “That explains things.” “What things?” “I just felt like your name was somehow familiar. My brother must have mentioned you on occasion. Now I get it.” “…Mind giving an example of what he said about me?” Cayna asked, a vein in her temple visibly throbbing from anger. It was unclear whether Ark took notice. She thought for a moment and then answered matter-of-factly: “Something like how you’re an emotional ticking time bomb and your obsession with magic is a danger to others. I always thought you sounded pretty scary, but now that we’ve met, I can see how wrong he was.” I knew it. This answer didn’t surprise Cayna in the least, although hearing it point-blank still struck a nerve. The target of her wrath was Tartarus/Exis, of course. “Actually, I did run into your little brother here.” “What?! He came here, too?!” “Huh? “…Uhhh?” Ark’s blank-eyed stare confirmed that neither sibling had any clue the other had come to this world. Cayna spoke with Exis on multiple occasions, but the topic of siblings never came up. She didn’t recall him mentioning any, either. “Can I see him?” Ark asked. “Yeah, sure. This is good timing, so let me contact him.” “Really?! Thank you very much, Cayna!” Seeing Ark’s face light up made Cayna feel warm and fuzzy inside. She considered dropping vague hints about Ark to tease Exis, but that seemed wrong. So she opened the Friend Message screen and wrote to him: Just ran into ur sister lol. As thanks for the unflattering rumors Exis had spread about her to Ark, Cayna blocked any incoming messages from him. She grinned mischievously and wondered how he would manage to come find her. An ominous, arabesque cloud effect rumbled above her; she let slip a chilling cackle, and everyone in the general vicinity slowly backed away. Meanwhile, Exis and Quolkeh were in the remote village under the pretext of a vacation. They had initially planned to enjoy the tourney and took the outer eastern trade route from Helshper to Felskeilo, but… Their first impression at the village entrance was Damn, that chick has some nerve! The village wasn’t particularly big, but it was surrounded by a solid wall with gargoyle sentries situated at intervals atop the perimeter. There was also a bathhouse that looked to be made of cypress wood with separate areas for men and women. And to top it all off, a giant projector sat in a corner of the tavern. “The hell is Cayna doin’ to this place?!” Exis raged, the memories from last time still fresh in his mind. It wasn’t long before Roxilius noticed Exis and Quolkeh’s arrival and took them to see Luka. Later, the two turned to jelly as they slowly savored the wonders of the bathhouse. Quite some time later, both adventurers still had yet to leave the village. There was delicious food at the inn, and they could check on Felskeilo from the projector. The cost of living was also much cheaper than in the capital. Sakaiya’s village branch carried a large selection of products, and a mermaid would do their laundry for a reasonable price. The little hamlet lacked for nothing. Soon, the two adventurers started making themselves comfortable. “Maybe I’ll retire here once my adventuring days are over,” Exis announced. “Sign me up.” Steam gently rose from Exis’s and Quolkeh’s armor as they collapsed on to one of the tavern tables. Neither resembled a seasoned adventurer in the least. Moreover, no one criticized them or complained. It made sense that these two were as laid-back as Gude**** right now. “Hrm…” Nonetheless, there was one tiny objection. It came from Luka, the girl they had personally rescued. ““Hey, Luka.”” She sulked moodily and glared at Exis and Quolkeh, who were still collapsed on the table. “What’s wrong?” asked Quolkeh. “You’ll waste that cute little face scowling like that.” “When your greatest heroes are slumped over like fools in public, how can one not be disheartened?” came a voice—it was Roxine, who stood attentively by Luka’s side. “Gweh?!” Her contemptuous glare sent a chill down Exis’s spine as if he’d been struck by a glacier. He hastily sat up. Thinking back on it, he recognized that shameless attitude that hurled abuse at her own master. When Exis first met this paid-content NPC back in his guild, her rapid-fire insults had filled him with terror. “Heh-heh-heh. Look at how comfortable you are—beheading you would be such a simple task,” Roxine whispered, already right next to Quolkeh and stroking her neck. “Eek?!” Quolkeh paled. Any warm and fuzzy feelings from earlier were long gone now that this hostility had enveloped their corner of the tavern. Luka, meanwhile, had no idea what was going on. “You… Are you here to warn us on Cayna’s orders?” Exis asked Roxine, reaching out a hand to help Quolkeh. Roxine swiftly dodged him and slipped into his blind spot. “Unfortunately, we are forbidden from killing anyone in this village except for those who pose a threat. Thank your lucky stars, you failure of a dragon.” It was the worst insult you could give a dragoid, and Exis instinctively bristled. It didn’t cut him too deep since he was a player, but he understood the nuance, thanks to his fellow dragoids. “You tryin’ to start something with us?” As soon as Exis threatened Roxine, she returned to her position behind Luka to preserve the tavern’s jovial atmosphere. “Sadly, I can only offer you candid advice in Lady Luka’s stead. Please do not utter such vile language in front of her,” Roxine said, as if nothing had happened. Quolkeh stood. “What the heck?! Speak for yourself— Exis?!” “I don’t think she’s acting on Cayna’s orders,” Exis muttered cautiously, trying to placate his partner. Lytt had been milling around the tavern, and Luka ran to her when her friend called her over. Now that there were no innocent bystanders, Exis had some newfound confidence. “Keh-keh-keh-keh.” Roxine chuckled quietly. “What’s so funny?” I can take her down now without looking bad in front of Luka, he thought. However, he kept his mouth shut and watched Roxine’s every move. “Can your addled brain not even comprehend your own authority?” “What?” “Take a good look at yourselves, you numbskulls.” What’s she after? After a bit of trolling on her part, Roxine left to join Luka. Exis slumped back into his chair, miffed over this lost opportunity to trade blows. Luine came over with snacks and alcohol and placed them on the table. “Bee in your bonnet, fellas?” she asked. “Weren’t you just in the baths?” The fear in Quolkeh’s eyes made her freeze. Exis looked completely wiped out. Neither seemed the least bit refreshed. Luine had already seen them around for several days and could tell something was off. She cocked her head curiously. “…What was that…?” Exis wondered aloud. Once Luine left, a strange silence hovered over them. Quolkeh massaged her stiff facial muscles. “I thought I was gonna die…,” she muttered. “That’s the stain of Cream Cheese,” said Exis. “She’s an infamously malicious maid…” “The hell are you talking about?” “She turned out that way back when the NPCs came to life, and we just experienced it firsthand…,” he replied stiffly. Exis reached for the snacks and explained what they’d just witnessed. This was something only his fellow guild members would immediately pick up on, and now Quolkeh did, too. “She said something about authority—what does that even mean?” Quolkeh asked, nervously fiddling with her tankard. Exis racked his brain for a moment but finally struck a fist against his palm. “If she was talkin’ about player authority, it must be our stats or skills, right?” “Oh, so that’s it…” Quolkeh nodded and checked her status screen, but nothing seemed off. Exis took a peek at his own. Quolkeh was about to ask what his screen looked like, but the words caught in her throat when she saw his shocked expression. “Wh-what’s wrong?” she said. “……” “H-huh? Heyyy, Exiiiis?” That shock turned to fear. Quolkeh got ready to slap him across the face when he didn’t respond. However, just as she swung her arm back, Exis suddenly stood. His expression was ghastly. “…We’re leaving,” he said out of the blue. “…Huh?” said Quolkeh, absolutely clueless as to what was going on. “I can’t take this!” Exis promptly beat a retreat and dashed up the stairs. Quolkeh stayed put, utterly bewildered.