Chapter 524 - The Explorers' Guild
Luty, the next head of the Aries Foundation, had begun frequenting the Mont Blanc Clan Base after her battle with Parfait. Perhaps naturally, Wilnel of the Gemini Foundation also started coming to the Base just as often to keep an eye on Luty.
The situation was simple: Luty was trying to recruit Parfait to Aries, and Wilnel was trying to stop her. Wilnel was so determined that she even claimed she'd rather have Parfait join Gemini than let Aries take her.
Naturally, Parfait, the target of all this recruitment, had no intention of joining either and just listened to their arguments with a strained smile. More often than not, she was thinking about unrelated things, like whether Trachiyo's training was finished yet.
In the first place, Parfait felt it was a bit much just because she'd won a speed contest... a match between her Iai and Luty's Quick Draw. Since Luty had feelings of respect and even something close to adoration for Parfait's parents, Parfait didn't think poorly of her, but she did find her pushiness a bit difficult to handle.
Furthermore, when she'd asked her parents about Luty, her mother, Esha, had simply said, "I just shot her," without a second thought. Her father, Hayato, had said, "It was quite a surprise," with a smile that made her wonder if he had really been surprised at all. Parfait found herself slightly disturbed by her parents' abnormality, wondering what kind of life they'd led to reach that point.
"And that's why, Parfait-san, why not join Aries?"
"Wait just a minute, Luty. What do you mean 'and that's why'?"
"Wilnel, you're always getting in the way. I'm saying that's why I'm making this approach."
"If such a thing could decide her affiliation, our Gemini would have been first."
"Both of you, please consider my own feelings more."
This exchange was already becoming a daily occurrence. Parfait had told both of them it was impossible, but perhaps because they were the successors of Foundations, they wouldn't listen. Parfait worried that, even though she heard the Foundations were getting along lately, the next generation might be ruined because of her.
"Well, fine. I'll give up for now since it seems a restraining order might be issued if I push any harder. It truly is a shame."
"...What's brought this on?"
"Don't be so suspicious. It's just that the time has come for me to fulfill a certain request on my end."
"A time to fulfill a request?"
"My conditions for meeting Hayato-san, Esha-san, and Parfait-san were part of an exchange. Now that my conditions have been met, I have to fulfill their request. Didn't you hear from Ronios-san?"
"...I heard there was a request, but I didn't hear the details. Aunt Ronios likely thought it would be more interesting that way."
"Wilnel has it rough, doesn't she?"
Parfait suddenly remembered. Diite had asked her to listen to Luty's requests. It seemed Ronios had accepted conditions from Aries, but the original spark had come from Diite making some kind of request to Aries. She didn't know the content, but Luty was likely referring to that.
"Is it okay if I ask for the specific details?"
"I've been given permission, so it's fine. But before that, could you be a bit more frank with me? I'd like you to drop the polite tone and talk to me like a friend, the way you do with Wilnel."
Parfait thought it would be impossible to use such a tone with the successor of a Foundation, but then again, Wilnel was the same. The difference was that the current head, Ronios, had directly asked her to do so. Since the current head of the Aries Foundation hadn't made such a request, Parfait found it difficult.
"That's a bit difficult..."
"In terms of status, I'm the same as Wilnel, you know?"
"In Wilnel-chan's case, Ronios-san specifically asked me to."
"I see. So I just need to get permission from my father. Understood, I'll get it tonight!"
That wasn't what she meant. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but since there was no winning against the pushiness of a Foundation member, Parfait gave up early. Wilnel seemed to feel the same, as she looked at Luty with a weary face.
Luty, still smiling, clapped her hands and spoke.
"Now, as for the specific details... there won't be any events in AFO for a while, but the staff will be actively providing information. Or rather, they already are."
"Providing information...?"
"AFO is vast. There's still so much sleeping here that no one knows about. Things you wouldn't find just by playing normally, or things people have given up on because they're too difficult. You could say it's going to become easier for hints about those Quests to appear."
"Heh."
"It's even being said that you and your friends are the cause of this, Parfait-san."
"Eh? Us?"
"The defeat of Demon King Mikan during the previous event... although it hasn't been explicitly stated, you and your group were the ones who did it, right?"
"Ah... I don't intend to hide it, so yes, that's correct."
"Apparently, Demon King Mikan has been there since AFO first started. In other words, he could have been defeated nearly twenty years ago. People have finally realized that now. For the management, it must be a case of 'finally.' Because of that, it seems they want people to discover more of the Quests that haven't been found yet."
Even though she said the management, it was mostly Diite who handled such things. While Lunaria-kun and Ney-kun were also part of management, they were more involved in planning events and couldn't touch AFO's programming at all. Or rather, they weren't allowed to. So, it really meant Diite wanted them discovered.
"I understand the situation, but what does that have to do with you, Luty-san?"
"The Adventures Clan's main goal is discovering the unknown, but from now on, we'll be acting as a variant of the Explorers' Guild... a specialized Explorers' Guild for uncovering the unknown. We'll be treated as staff from now on, tasked with finding the mysteries of AFO. It seems they want to show that there are still many riddles in this world."
"An Explorers' Guild, huh."
Parfait belonged to the Maid Guild. The Guild Master of the Maid Guild was Rose, who was AFO staff. Naturally, even though she was staff, Rose wasn't told everything about AFO, and Parfait had heard that there were more things Rose didn't know than things she did.
From now on, world announcements would play for rare discoveries, and there would be more honorary rewards for Players. Along with that, new Titles were scheduled to be added. While Luty and her group would be treated as staff, they wouldn't be given information directly; rather, they would simply become a Guild organization and be granted access to a system where they could create their own Quests, something a regular Clan couldn't do.
Everyone had their own way of playing, but many tended to seek Efficient playstyles due to time constraints. People often wanted to avoid wasting time going to unknown places where they didn't know what they'd find, so the common style was to conquer things that were already somewhat known. Some large Clans had verification teams to investigate things, but even they wouldn't spend much time on it unless they had some level of certainty.
To change that situation, they were creating the Explorers' Guild to facilitate information sharing, but since this was completely uncharted territory, it would be operated on a trial basis for a while.
"Well, even if it doesn't go well, I'm hoping to become close with Players who seek the unknown. I'm planning to recruit people who will actively explore, even if they don't join the Guild."
"Recruit people?"
"Aries' main business is exploring the uncharted reaches of space. While technology and knowledge are important, we first want to scout people who feel the romance in such things. Recently, concerns about Resource Depletion have decreased, and the number of habitable places on Earth has increased. More and more people feel there's no need to take the risk of exploring space. It's getting hard to secure human resources, even though resources won't last forever... So, I've taken on this job that combines hobby and business."
As a high school student, Parfait didn't quite grasp everything, but she could tell that Luty, who was nearly the same age, was thinking about a lot of things. While she was being impressed by the education of a Foundation successor, Luty gave a sharp grin.
"And that's where you come in, Parfait-san!"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"How about it? I won't ask you to join Aries anymore, but why not work with our Guild for a while to uncover the mysteries of AFO!?"
"Uh, well..."
"Wait just a minute, Luty."
Wilnel, who had been listening in silence, spoke up.
"You're saying that just to try and get her interested in Aries, aren't you? What is this about 'uncovering the mysteries together'?"
"What are you talking about? It's only natural to try and make her interested, even if I'm not recruiting her anymore."
"At least try to hide it a little. Honestly, I can't let my guard down for a second."
"Are you saying you haven't been doing all sorts of things to get Parfait-san interested in Gemini, Wilnel?"
Wilnel went silent. Parfait, hoping for a denial, was a bit troubled when Wilnel let out a sigh.
"I am doing it while properly hiding my intentions."
"Wait, Wilnel-chan?"
Parfait interjected since the answer wasn't at all what she had been hoping for.
Regardless, the launch of the Explorers' Guild with Luty as Guild Master was announced the following day. It was also announced that the discoverers of new information would receive rewards from the Guild based on the quality of that information, and the community was greatly energized.
This will be my last post of the year. The next update will be on January 11th (Sunday). I'll be taking a break for about two weeks, but I look forward to your continued support.
Thank you for everything this year. Have a happy New Year, and I look forward to working with you again next year!