Chapter 307 - Chapter 271 Everything Falling into Place
After dinner, doing the dishes, and homework, I headed to the [Virtual Club Room].
"Evening~."
Shou-kun!
"You're here."
"Huh?"
Why was Bell-san here? The school trip… Oh, right, today was the day she came back, so it wasn't strange for her to be home.
"Souvenirs on Monday, okay?"
"Ah, thanks. Or rather, welcome back."
Shou-kun, look at this!
Mion showed me something with high enthusiasm, and I exclaimed,
"Ooh!? Is that a wolf cub?"
"Yes, a [Forest Wolf] cub. It was so cute~."
It had just been released to the public, so she couldn't actually touch it, but apparently, only visitors to the zoo that day got the footage. This one looks like Lupi-chan.
"Ah, you're right. Should we do the same course next year?"
Yes!
Bell-san's course apparently involved a whole day at the zoo on the fourth day, a Thursday. It seems many cubs born in spring are unveiled around this time, and I really want to see them…
"No, that's fine, but aren't you going to IRO?"
I felt like it wouldn't be strange for her to go to IRO immediately after coming home, and Seth (Miki), who must have arrived before me, was certainly there. "I already announced that I wouldn't log in today. Besides, I made a promise to Yata-sensei…"
Bell-san averted her gaze. Apparently, her live stream on Sunday before departing was because she had promised not to play the game today.
"You two can go to IRO. In fact, I'm going to the studio too, so tell me all the details about Wednesday."
"Yes, ma'am…"
Okay.
*
It was cloudy in IRO too. Since it would be bad if it started raining, I decided to work on the goddess statue inside the storage room. Lupi, Leda, and Roy were all napping, and Sweee and the Fairies were napping on them as pillows.
How skillful. It's really starting to look like a goddess.
"Well, a big part of that is because it's a game, I guess. And the [Crafting (Woodcraft)] skill might be influencing it too."
I had finished the rough shape during club activities, and now it was time for the fine details. The goddess-like dress, apparently called a [Robe Décolleté], with its sleeves and hem, needed careful work…
Club president, you watched the archive of the live stream, right?
Yes, I did. At first, it was like, 'Thank you for the meal,' but… was that little girl the [White Dragon Princess]?
Yes. Neither Shou-kun nor I have seen her in dragon form, though.
Since Nat and Iincho had asked the same thing, Mion gave the same answer. I wonder if she would turn into a small dragon? I had a strong feeling she'd be a beautiful, pure white dragon.
By the way, have you transformed the goddess statue you received before into the [Jade Goddess]?
"Yes."
I stopped my work and took out the [Jade Goddess Statue] from my inventory. Since I was at it, I decided to activate the sanctuary and work within it.
"Hm… alright."
A faint green light gently spread, enveloping the entire storage room, and then expanding outwards. Using it in the dark, the spread of light was clearly visible and interesting. It was surprisingly wide.
How long can you maintain that?
"It seems to last about a full day. It continued from Monday night until Tuesday night. That's probably with the condition that nothing interferes, though."
If I used it in the Necropolis, and undead charged in, it would probably be consumed, so maybe half a day? Well, it would be best if the undead just avoided the sanctuary.
Heh… so you knew how to turn it into a goddess statue before Wednesday's live stream.
Shou-kun…
"Ah… Sorry. I kept quiet because I didn't want to spoil it."
I'm not angry. In fact, if you had told me, I would have been at a loss. That was when you were still in the Mage's Tower, right?
"That's right."
Of course. Only some of the people who had monopolized the Imperial side's [Frontline Base] had obtained [Nameless Goddess Statues], and in that situation, if someone had said, "With this, the Necropolis conquest will be perfect (probably)!" it wouldn't have made sense.
In that case, asking Shou-kun also makes sense. You've already succeeded. The problem is why it's necessary…
"Argenta-san also said she'd have her subordinates investigate the Necropolis. She seemed interested in the [Ancient Ruins Manager], and there are stories about the calamity too."
Is that so? Was she planning to have NPCs solve the [World Quest] if the progress was too poor?
Ah, so that's what she's thinking. But Argenta-san is mobilizing her subordinates to secure the [Transfer Magic Circle]. Bell-san knows about that, but I'll keep quiet for now…
"At any rate, if you encounter Argenta-san's subordinates, please try not to get into a fight…"
Don't worry, I won't think of engaging NPCs who have dragons backing them up.
"Got it."
That's usually how it goes. So, the really scary one is still Marie (Mashiro-nee)… I'll remind Seth (Miki) again.
So, it seems the 'Nameless Goddess Statues' that the Hegemony guild members had were collected by your fans…
"I was surprised by that too."
Me too. But it seems some people anticipated something special because Shou-kun received it.
I can somewhat understand that. Even Seth-chan said, 'There might be something to it.'
And indeed, something was to it, so I couldn't argue. Besides, if I hadn't received that from Argenta, I think I would have lost to the [Maroon Wraith], and then Sweee and the others would have been in danger. Thanks to this update, that seems to be avoidable, so it's a net positive, I guess?
But it seems they were collecting them as fan items even if there was nothing special about them. It's written here in the forum…
Heh, I see.
They both seemed to be looking at the [Official Forum], but I felt like it was a losing battle to pay attention to that. I needed to concentrate on my work so I could properly unveil it tomorrow.