Chapter 101 - Things That Threaten Life
Wednesday
It was lunch with the usual crew, and naturally, the conversation drifted to IRO.
"Hey, Nat. Do you know anything about the Empire's [First Imperial Prince Sigmund] and [Second Imperial Prince Burklest]? Like, if they're on bad terms enough to start a civil war?"
"Hmm? I heard they're on very bad terms. The [First Imperial Prince Sigmund]'s mother is, naturally, the Empress, and apparently, she's the daughter of the Count of [Anheim Territory] in the north. The [Second Imperial Prince Burklest]'s mother is a concubine, and she's supposedly the daughter of the Count of [Paltheim Territory] in the south."
Nat, you remember a lot for someone like you.
"But if that's the case, it seems like the [First Imperial Prince Sigmund] would smoothly ascend the throne, with no issues."
Iincho said. Mion nodded in agreement, and I felt the same.
"Well, there's a rumor that the [Second Imperial Prince Burklest] was actually born about a week earlier."
"Huh?"
"Well, this is just something I heard from a merchant I guarded when I escaped, so it has zero credibility."
He said, laughing.
If he was born first, he would've been the [First Imperial Prince Sigmund] and inherited the throne? Wait, was it not allowed for a concubine's child?
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong? I don't think this has anything to do with Shou, living on his [Uninhabited Island]?"
"No, well, there's [Seth]'s guild business, and the kingdom's expansion to the southeast might be dangerous, that's what I mean."
I explained my hypothesis: that their bad terms were just a pretense, and they were actually on good terms.
Even so, the question of 'would they really go as far as a civil war?' still lingered...
"I see."
"Would they really go so far as to make refugees flock to other countries?"
Mion nodded at Iincho's opinion. She had said the same thing yesterday.
"Yeah, I agree on that point, and I can't think of any plausible reasons either."
"Well, maybe because we players increased, the number of refugees was more than expected."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"No, because we players hunt monsters without fear of death and produce things without regard for profit. Wouldn't the people who've been making a living that way struggle?"
"..."
Mion and I froze at Nat's words.
As for Iincho,
"That's right. We might be ruining the jobs of people who are making a living right now."
a perfectly sensible opinion when thought of in real-world terms.
No, I mean, that's true.
"Would a game go that far?"
"I'd think it's impossible, but with IRO, it wouldn't surprise me if something like that happened. Even the NPCs are strangely human-like, unlike your typical shopkeeper AIs."
Come to think of it, the guild receptionist when Bell-san asked about creating a player's guild was also strangely human-like...
"Um, isn't that normal?"
Nat and I gave a wry smile. Mion shook her head vigorously.
"Well, in normal games — no, in games up until now, there weren't any NPCs whose jobs were taken by players."
"Yeah. But now we have to question things we just thought of as 'it's just a game'…"
Come to think of it, maybe that's why the stone walls remained. As in, 'be careful using magic, you might cause trouble for NPCs.'
"Speaking of the house matter you told me about before, it seems good to have your own private room. I wonder if that's why shared rooms aren't good enough."
"Ah, I see. I also got the housing acquisition thing, so that's what it means."
"Are both of you at the development base?"
"Yes, I got a room in the [Silver Manor]'s girls' dorm."
"I built my own and lend out spare rooms to my friends."
Nat apparently prepared simple guest rooms and supports his friends' login/logout. He's as generous as ever.
Then, Mion tugged at my sleeve repeatedly.
"Hmm?"
"Inn..."
"Oh, right. If I hire an NPC to work the front desk, it would just become a normal inn, wouldn't it?"
"Ah, that's a good idea. Maybe I should talk to [Dads] about it. If I'm going to do it, I'd like to hire someone to cook too."
Nat has completely hit it off with the [Thunder Empress Leona]'s [Imperial Guard] members. Well, that's typical for him.
"Speaking of which, what about the [Area Boss]?"
"Hmm? Haven't you heard that [Seth]-chan defeated it with [Leona-sama] and [Majo Bell]?"
"No, yesterday was all chaotic with that nation-founding declaration..."
So those two came to the club room after defeating the [Area Boss].
Incidentally, that [Area Boss] wasn't the [Red Armor Bear] I encountered, but apparently an [Uruk], a chimera-like creature of an ogre and an orc.
"Well, with [Thunder Empress Leona], [Majo Bell], and [Seth]-chan there, it was a breeze."
I figured. And it was a collaboration live stream, huh?
"It was a collaboration, sure, but they were streaming from different perspectives, so fans could just watch whichever they preferred."
"Oh."
Well, they might argue about money, so separate streams might be better. Though, [Leona-sama] probably wouldn't care at all.
"Oh, that's right. I should have watched it instead of playing the game."
Iincho seems to have become a complete fan of [Leona-sama].
Well, it's better than becoming a fan of [Bell-san]...
"Hmm? Iincho, you don't know you can watch streams in-game?"
"Huh? You can?"
I didn't know that...
Even looking at Mion... she wouldn't know. After all, she's only done character creation in IRO.
"Whoa, Shou, you didn't know either?"
According to Nat, you can view external sites from the menu, so you can watch videos and the [Official Forum] that way.
Apparently, during normal gameplay, some people watch them during crafting wait times or just let them play as background video while working. I see.
"However, only within a [Safe Zone]."
"There's a restriction like that. Oh, I guess it would be bad if mercenaries could watch the enemy's streams."
"It's also dangerous to just watch videos while walking around."
Like walking while glued to your phone...
"The place we are right now is a [Safe Zone], right?"
"Yeah, inside the log fence."
"Hmm? Inside the fence?"
"That fence was built later, right? Does building a fence expand the [Safe Zone]?"
"Yeah, though not immediately after you build it."
If building a fence expands the [Safe Zone], would building a fence in the plaza in front of the cave expand the [Safe Zone] there?
If only it would expand at least to the cave entrance...
"?"
"No, I was wondering if the [Safe Zone] in the cave's chamber might expand."
When I answered Mion, Nat and Iincho looked puzzled.
"Well, it's just a hunch, but maybe you should just put a door at the entrance? That small dirt wall feels more like a threshold, and [Bicobit] will just jump over it."
Nat said, laughing.
Ah, so I just need to build a fence, wall, or door that the nearby monsters can't break.
That feels like the most logical solution, so I'll try it once the [Mountain Cabin] is finished...