Chapter 641 - Peace North
"—Well, well, look at them all returning at once."
At the Nortalia wartime base, Fugrigand, Castle of Tranquil Garden.
Next to an object that had replaced the stone monument that normally displayed the Ranks—a massive crystal, floating in mid-air and emitting a faint light—a man spoke in a somewhat flippant tone as he watched a total of twelve people tumble out onto the floor, as if being born from the crystal itself.
"Man, that's practically a whole squad wiped out in an instant. Scary stuff."
"""""We have no excuse…"""""
"Nah, I'm not gonna blame ya. So, who got you?"
The man's way of speaking was soft, similar to the faction's 'Tiger', but with a slightly different feel. He was a slender figure clad in a traveler's black long coat, with sharp yellow eyes and mousy-gray hair tied back in a single ponytail.
"""""It was Haru-chan."""""
"Figured as much, but why do you all sound so happy about it? You're the losers here, you know?"
"""""We have no excuse…!"""""
His expression was light, his tone was light, his words were light—to anyone who didn't know him, he might be judged as 'flippant', 'scheming', or 'impossible to read'. However, he had long since been recognized as a straightforward, hardworking man who often suffered for others—the conscience of the Northern Faction.
This was Nortalia's second-ranked member, Gin of the Wolf Pack. With the first-ranked member being wildly unpredictable, he, along with his right-hand man, was the one who effectively ran the Northern Faction.
Which meant, to his right—
"Just as I expected, yet more than I imagined."
…stood his right-hand man, a former Northern Faction Ranker.
Though he had relinquished his crown, his name, Hagi of the Dog Whistle, remained. He had publicly stated that he 'aimed for an unremarkable human in character creation,' and true to his word, he pushed up the glasses on his extraordinarily plain face—a rarity in Arcadia—and said…
"As I thought, isn't it pointless and meaningless to poke the bear like that?"
He spoke without any attempt to hide the weary look of someone fed up with it all, earning a wry smile from Gin, his boss, comrade, and old friend.
"Yeah, but it's an order from the Princess's faction. It's probably best to just go along with what the 'Queen' in charge wants, right? I think her reasoning makes sense, too."
"That may be true, but… for us, a PvE-focused faction, it's going to be tough to take him on properly. In fact, our top PvP force just got swatted away—ah, you all can go now. If there are no issues, please return to the front lines promptly."
If Gin's role was to oversee the entire faction, Hagi's role was to manage the battlefield. At the command of the man who was the 'General' in both name and practice, the twelve who had been watching the usual exchange between the top brass responded in unison and ran off.
…And, from the direction they ran off in.
A chorus of greetings, dripping with blatant affection, reached their ears… Hagi let out a sigh, deciding to let it slide, as two sets of footsteps approached him and Gin.
"—I heard 'Haru-chan' and…!"
"You don't need to be here. You, too, should try to exercise some self-restraint, at least for the duration of the war."
"I'm so sorry, this one's just an idiot, really, just an idiot…"
She wasn't the only female Ranker in the Northern Faction, but for various reasons, she was the only player who could be properly treated as an idol, and as such, she received the ardent support and gazes of Nortalia's male members—Rinne of Bell-Mail.
And, due in part to her personality, her ever-conspicuous childhood friend and partner… in other words, the man known for being the second-biggest long-sufferer after Gin, Maru II of Ever-Changing.
Both were fundamentally sensible types, and their superiors and seniors, Gin and Hagi, trusted them as reliable juniors.
Trusted, as in past tense. What did that mean? Well…
"Yah-ha! As expected of Haru-san, he's in top form! Ahhh, my favorite is so full of life and having fun today, it's truly a wonderful sight!"
"It's not a wonderful sight, Rinne-chan. Right now, he's the enemy, you know?"
"Of course! If I encounter him, I'll go at him with all my might! Hiyah!!"
"Your enthusiasm is great and all, but when our lone flower is getting all starry-eyed over a guy from the enemy side, y'know? It affects the morale of our guys over here. …Wait, it does, right?"
"Well, I suppose it's not entirely unrelated…"
In other words, this is what it meant.
While not completely useless, one of them had undergone a strange transformation, stepping out of the bounds of common sense with one foot… or perhaps, with both feet planted firmly outside.
She was still reliable, but whether she could be 'trusted' in various senses was now a bit dubious.
"Well, I'm pretty much the only one in our faction who has a good matchup against the Acrobat, you know? When it's my turn, you bet I'll give it my all!"
"Is that so?"
"You're a problem too, you know. Just because it's been a while since the last Four Pillar War, you've gotten too soft."
"Well, I mean, I don't really get all this PvP stuff…"
Putting that aside, for better or for worse… well, given Arcadia's game design, there was hardly anything 'worse' about it, but Nortalia was simply inexperienced in PvP.
The players participating in the Four Pillar War, both Rankers and general members, were basically a fixed roster. Under the principle that 'as the Northern Faction that sings of freedom and adventure, we should prioritize our true calling,' many of them, aside from the chosen few who wished for it, knew nothing of the basics of PvP.
Even the second-ranked Wolf Pack was no exception… Although he had answered the 'Queen's' call, he honestly hadn't been of much use so far. At best, the presence of their beloved leader on the battlefield provided a slight morale boost.
Therefore, Rinne, a valuable PvP asset regardless of her personal preferences, being in a state of fan-induced stupor was a real headache. It was no wonder Gin was smiling wryly and Hagi was sighing.
"You really need to start reining it in, you know? Even Haru-san tells me, like, 'Please, just keep her on a leash.' Why do I have to be the one holding your leash? I get it, but seriously, calm down for a sec—"
"Aaaand there he goes. That's so typical of you, Maru, you're not cute at all! What's with that look like you're so perfectly composed? When we're talking about him together, you're the one who gets all intense and pushy! Haven't you noticed Haru-san looks a little weirded out sometimes?"
"Weirded… Huh? What? There's no way. I'm not like you, Rinne, I know my limits."
"Well, I know my limits too!"
"Says the person with a prior conviction for chasing him through the city while screaming?!"
"I wasn't screaming! Don't make me sound like some crazy person!"
"It's close enough! What part of that is 'knowing your limits'?!"
"That is me trying my absolute hardest to hold back!"
"That's even worse! There's a limit to how much of a nerd you can be!"
—...and with a childhood friends' quarrel breaking out on top of everything, it was enough to make one look to the heavens. All in all, it was a truly, utterly…
"…Man, this is one peaceful war we're having this time, huh."
"The winds of change may be blowing things in a better direction overall, but… honestly, it just takes all the tension out of it. Can I go home now?"
"Like hell you can. Who's gonna take command?"
"There's no one but you."
"I've only ever done PvP a handful of times, you know. Either way, I'm nervous, so I'd be in trouble if you weren't here, Hagi-kun. Don't leave me alone."
"And you're the second-ranked. I'm aghast."
It was, truly, a scene from a peaceful battlefield.
Huh? I was planning to drop a bunch of exposition, but the wolf-and-dog pair and the childhood-friend pair just ended up flirting infinitely???