Chapter 679 - Shou-kun's Obvious Priority
Saturday.
"Hup."
Saturday noon. Mion was doing her usual voice training, so I was playing solo. I teleported to the courtyard of the Castle of the North End. I was curious about the inside of the manor, but since there was a stream tonight, I decided to wait. I thought it might be bad to move forward while Mion was away.
"Woof."
"Wait just a second."
As far as I could see, there were no enemies. I set down the Transfer Magic Circle and contacted El-san.
"It's set. Tell everyone."
Understood.
Leda and Roy appeared first, then Shal's group, and finally Pan's group. I had called Pan and the others to reconfirm that the courtyard was safe and to clean it up while we were at it.
"Ryuu?"
"Yeah. I want to ask you to take care of this place. Is that okay?"
"Ryuu!" """Ryu-ryu~!"""
Pan immediately gave orders, as if to say Leave it to me! Uri-shuk and the others, who had come to help, started with the area around the fountain, efficiently pulling out the weeds.
"Lupi, Shal, please stay on guard."
"Woof!" "Nya!"
I didn't think there was anything, but the yard was large enough to fit our entire manor. I had to be careful of snakes and mice like the ones near the house, and centipedes like the ones in the cave. Now, I wanted to fix this fountain.
"Ryuu?"
"Yeah. I'm thinking of fixing this fountain."
I didn't think I could make the water spray, but I wanted to at least make it so it could hold water. I used Excavation to crush the cracked bottom stones and move them out. After filling the exposed soil and using Compaction, I made and fitted stone walls to replace them.
"Ryuu~! Ryu-ryu?"
"Ah, maybe I should make one for the manor's backyard too."
I wondered how the water originally came out. Or rather, did this fountain use the Ancient Ruins' function to produce water? Would I know if I appraised it?
[Ancient Magic Fountain]
[A fountain that uses Elemental Magic to produce a fixed amount of Purification. Function stopped.]
Heh, so it would keep a Purification spell active. Since it was an Ancient Ruin, this building must have a Control Room too. If I could find it soon, exploration would become easier...
Thinking about such things, I finished repairing the bottom and sides of the fountain.
"Alright, finished! We're taking a break, so call everyone over."
"Ryuu!"
I asked Pan, who had been helping the whole time, and had Lupi and the others gather. Before I knew it, the weeds around the fountain had completely vanished, leaving the soil exposed. I wondered if grass had originally grown there.
"Ryuu?"
"I'll consult with Sweee about that. For now, it's break time. Let's have snacks."
"Woof!" "Nya!" "Ryuu~!"
I decided to call it a day at a good stopping point and prepare for the stream tonight.
*
I headed to the Virtual Club Room after dinner. I logged in early to prepare for the stream. I reported and explained everything to Bell-bucho and Seth, including yesterday's progress.
"Speaking of castles, Ramune-san's island had one too, didn't it?"
"Ah, come to think of it..."
Shal's group's original island, now Citron Kingdom... I'd heard there was an Ancient Ruin castle on that island.
"Did Ramune-san finish exploring that castle?"
"To some extent. However, there were doors that wouldn't open with administrator authority, so she gave up and went elsewhere."
"Eh? Does she not have a ring with administrator authority?"
"Ramune-san does not have one. She was on the island during the Necropolis World Quest, and she has not entered the Instance Dungeon that remained afterward."
Ah, that made sense... Then someone else must have it, but they apparently lacked enough authority to open it. There were three types of rings... Azure Cloud, Azure Star, and Azure Moon... and their authority was different to begin with.
"The Azure Moon Ring that Brother possesses is currently the ring with the highest level of authority. I suspect Brother is the only one who has one."
"Seriously?"
Did we talk about that two days ago? It wasn't exactly world-unique, but our island was essentially end-game content.
"Would the Azure Star Ring that Bucho has not work?"
When Mion asked that, she meant the one you could get by defeating a powerful demon in the Necropolis World Quest. Bell-bucho had one, and Mion had the one I'd gotten from Vermilion-san in the Necropolis.
"I do not know. I would be willing to help if Ramune-san felt like it, but she does not seem interested right now."
Bell-bucho said with an exasperated look. It was very much like Ramune-san, but then again, she was the type to switch gears quickly once she knew something was impossible.
"It is no use for us to worry. More importantly, Brother, will today's stream be from that courtyard?"
"No, I'll do it from the manor's backyard as usual. The album launches right after the stream, and I plan to finish at the scheduled time today."
"That is true!"
Mion looked a little apologetic, but since today was the release date, I felt that should absolutely be the priority. I planned to talk about the castle during the stream, but the manor investigation would be a thorough one on Sunday with Mion. I also wanted to do something about the unsettling feeling from the west side of the forest...
"Shou-kun. The teleport cooldown should be over soon."
"Roger."
First, I had to take the Transfer Magic Circle to True and the others so they could participate in today's stream.
...
Welcome everyone to Mion and Shou's Relaxed Showtime! I am Mion.
"I am Shou."
""We look forward to your company!""
[Koichii] "Oh? Starting from the studio?" [Shakeena] "Kyaaa! Mion-chaaan!" [Bluesha] "So cute! ('▽')" [Satenaa] "Today is finally the release date! ヽ(´▽｀)/" etc.
Today we started together from the studio. First, Mion talked about how her first album would go on sale at 10:00 PM after this stream, and while she sang a song, I logged in. After that, we'd all eat, drink, and sing, I guess?