Chapter 301 - Chapter 267 God-Tier Timing
"Phew…"
Good work.
[Large Transfer Room]. The light of the [Transfer Magic Circle] faded, and the figure of the [White Dragon Princess], who had waved goodbye, disappeared. The live stream ended as it was decided the [White Dragon Princess] would return. I'd cut it short, as Argenta was probably in a huge panic by now.
It felt like she had suddenly appeared and stirred things up, but I was relieved that the comments hadn't gotten too out of control. Or rather, it seemed the discussion had indeed shifted to, "Can the goddess statue be used for the Necropolis problem?"
"Mion, good work. By the way, I made the statue look exactly like you on stream…"
Please don't worry about it. You still…
"Hm?"
N-no. More importantly, we need to report to the club president, don't we?
Ah, that's true… Someone from [Silver Manor] probably saw it, but the only person I could contact was Aunt Gold, who was apparently her uncle?
Yata-sensei… Of course, she wouldn't be in the comment section. She had already announced that [Witch Bell's Manor] was closed this week.
"~~~?"
"Woof."
"Ah, sorry, sorry."
I pressed the [Transfer Elevator] button to go up. It was still before 10 PM, so they should be fine to play for a while longer, but what should I do?
""Bow!""
"""~~~♪"""
"Oh, thanks for picking me up."
Leda and Roy, whom I had asked to stay behind, and the Fairies seemed to have waited for me at the top of the stairs. As I slowly walked back to the [Mountain Cabin], the unfinished goddess statue greeted me.
"Lupi and the others, you can go play."
"Woofn."
I watched Lupi and the others run towards the [Divine Tree] in the forest, and now…
"I still have about an hour, right?"
Yes. You're going to continue?
"Yeah. And well, Seth will probably show up soon, won't she?"
She'd probably been helping with the [Demon Kingdom]'s frontline construction, so she wouldn't have watched the live stream, but she must have been contacted. If she heard about it, she'd likely come right away…
""Thank you very much."
If I overslept so much that I was late, Miki wouldn't wake up, which would bother Nao-chan—Nat's sister—who came to pick her up, and result in me owing Nat a favor. Well, I planned to go to bed at my usual time today, so I was more worried about Miki, who was probably having a blast with Mashiro-nee…
"Mion, are you good at waking up in the morning?"
Um… Tsubaki-san wakes me up…
"Ah, I see. Well, that person seems like she'd wake up perfectly in the morning." She had the aura of someone whose eyes would snap open like in a manga, and she'd get right up. She had a bit of a robotic feel to her…
As I carved the wood, clack-clack, and discussed the next live stream with Mion, it seemed Seth had arrived. I still had 30 minutes, so I had them let her through to the studio.
Brother! Just as expected! And superb timing!
""Eh?""
Even though she was my sister, I wondered if a screw had come loose somewhere in her head. No, it was probably already loose. Seth's "just as expected" was probably referring to the [Nameless Goddess Statue], and that was likely what the [World Quest] meant by 'purify the district'. Well, 'purify' might be something else, but at the very least, being able to maintain a sanctuary indefinitely was a huge advantage. That aside,
"Timing?"
Is it because the viewers who watched today's live stream will search for goddess statues?
"Ah, the 'Hegemony' guild fell apart, and Nat and the others are going there, so it's pretty good timing, I guess?"
Or rather, had the [Nameless Goddess Statue] and its instructions not been found in the Necropolis? The one the [White Dragon Princess] brought today was probably picked up in the Necropolis. It's possible that the 'Hegemony' guild and the others who were there hadn't even investigated it properly…
Of course that too, but it seems the recovery of the goddess statues that had already been taken out of the Necropolis is almost complete.
"Huh? Taken out? Recovered? Sorry, please explain from the beginning so we can understand…"
Big brother just can't keep up with his genius sister…
Hmm. First, I shall explain about the items that 'Hegemony' guild obtained in the Necropolis.
According to Seth, most of the items obtained by the 'Hegemony' guild—and the players who worked hard at that frontline—were mostly old swords and armor, with very rare staffs and accessories that had stat or skill bonuses, and the [Nameless Goddess Statues]. The staffs and accessories were, of course, the 'hits,' and those were used by the frontline team. The 'duds' were circulated to the production team. If they had gone deeper, the production team might have gotten better items, but with repeated captures and losses, it was tough.
By the way, Brother, are you aware that the 'Hegemony' guild's production team borrowed money from Empire nobles to acquire [Dragon Coins]?
"Ah, I heard that from Nat. So, even if the conquest progressed, they weren't making a profit, but just slowly dwindling?"
Indeed.
If they hadn't monopolized it from the start, I think the conquest would have progressed better…
"True."
Bell-san also said that tourist-trap prices were acceptable, and I felt that would be far more profitable. I didn't hear it directly, but it seems they were blinded by your 'Ancient Ruins Manager' title, Brother. "Looks like it's my fault after all…"
It's not Shou-kun's fault.
That's right. They merely self-destructed on their own.
They tried to monopolize and proceed to become the manager, failed, and even then, if they had maintained their monopoly, they thought they could get by with price gouging. However, that changed when information leaked that the triple collaboration of [Witch Bell], [Thunder Empress Leona], and [Ice Princess Anshia] would initiate the conquest from the Demon Kingdom side…
At lunch, we talked about 'how they would repay the money,' but were they perhaps trying to sell the goddess statues?
Exactly. They must have thought that the [Nameless Goddess Statue] would fetch a good price among Mion-dono and your brother's fans.
"Seriously… Or rather, it might be sacrilegious, but wouldn't melting them down be more profitable? It didn't show up in appraisal, but it seems to be [Mithril]-like."
It seems they could not be melted. If they asked NPCs, they were naturally refused.
Ah, if the reason was that they were [World Quest] event items, then it wouldn't be so strange.
So, you were buying up the goddess statues that were about to be sold?
"You, were you buying them up at [Silver Manor]? Even when their use wasn't clear…"
Mion hadn't explained that it became the [Jade Goddess Statue] after the battle with the [Maroon Wraith], and I had, of course, kept it secret. It was embarrassing.
No, [Silver Manor] was not involved in this. As your brother said, there was an element of gamble involved.
"Huh? Then, someone paid for it personally?"
Of course, I later paid for one, but I was not the one who started collecting them in the first place. It merely means there are incredibly bold individuals in this world (of IRO), you see.