Chapter 525 - Memories of the Ghost Ship
The Explorers' Guild sent various shockwaves through the Player base. Rather than a warm welcome, the administration was flooded with inquiries asking if Players could create their own guilds, to which they are currently responding that there are no such plans at this time.
Until now, there have been Clans that acted as pseudo-guilds. However, these were merely imitations and entirely different from the actual Guilds within AFO, making them inconvenient in many ways. Upon seeing that such a thing might be possible through the system, there were considerable inquiries from major Clans.
While many Clans were dejected to find it wasn't possible, the phrase "at this time" has turned into an expectation that things might change in the future, leading many Players to show up at the Explorers' Guild.
The ability for Players to set their own Quests, rewards, and the benefits gained by belonging to a guild seemed attractive. Partly for future information gathering, they were asking various questions of the Explorers' Guild staff, who were originally Players themselves.
"And so, you see, instead of the Explorers' Guild's investigation of the unknown within AFO, attention has gathered on the aspect of Players operating guilds..."
"It's a bit troubling to be told those kinds of behind-the-scenes details, but I guess even Diite-oneechan misreads things sometimes."
A few days after the Explorers' Guild was established, Diite visited the Base with a troubled expression.
She wasn't actually in trouble, but she seemed somewhat dejected that her predictions had missed the mark. Parfait wanted to comfort her somehow, but she could only say that results probably wouldn't show up so quickly.
"But, according to what I've heard—or rather, information from Rick-kun—it seems there's been various movement."
"That's true. Little by little, it seems the Explorers' Guild is managing to make do by drawing conjectures from past information. Besides, they are also recruiting informants. That is something to be grateful for."
The Explorers' Guild operated by Luty has publicly announced that they have prepared large rewards for information gathering, and they are also advertising that informants will receive certain benefits.
The rewards are money, rare items, and titles, but the benefits also include unknown information held by the Guild that isn't known to the surroundings. There are many discussions about how much value the information one knows might have.
According to Rick's story, the things currently drawing the most attention are the "Undead Research Institute," the "Colossus activation conditions in Ruined City Clear," and the "Subjugation of Beelzebub the Fly King," and considerable rewards have been set for that information.
Despite reports of sightings and subjugation histories, these are cases said to be unknown to almost everyone and have become urban legends. Much like Demon King Mikan, they have existed since twenty years ago, but because the detailed conditions are unknown, some even say they were misidentifications and haven't been implemented yet.
Parfait doesn't know about any of them, but she is a little interested. Rick also seemed interested and was in the middle of investigating various things. Since there was a mysterious sense of trust that if Rick couldn't find it, there was no point in Parfait and the others stepping in, she had left everything to him.
And, just as she was thinking that, it seemed Rick had logged in, as he showed up on the first-floor coffee shop floor.
"Was Diite-san with you today as well?"
"Yeah, I'm visiting. By the way, you seem to be in a hurry; did something happen?"
"Ah, no, I obtained some information in AFO, so I thought I'd let Parfait know."
"In that case, I'll keep quiet. I won't give any spoilers regarding things inside AFO, so please share the information without worrying about me."
Saying so, Diite drank her Coffee with a smile. When Rick looked toward Parfait, she gave a light nod, thinking it was fine.
"I obtained information on the reality side, but it seems the Undead Research Institute refers to a Ghost Ship."
"A Ghost Ship? A ship, as in a ship floating on the sea? That's a ghost?"
In Parfait and the others' case, "ship" usually referred to a spaceship, but within AFO, it referred to a ship floating on the sea. There were Airships too, but those were called Airships. While they were common ships in games and such, in reality, she only had the knowledge that such an era once existed. With such a ship being a ghost, question marks floated in Parfait's head as to what that meant.
"It seems to refer to a state where ghosts are operating a ship, from a long time ago. Naturally, there are no such things as ghosts, so it probably referred to a state where the crew disappeared for some reason and only the ship was wandering the sea."
"What kind of reason?"
"Who knows. I think it's situations like being thrown into the sea by a storm. Apparently, there are also mysterious situations where the cause is still unknown. Like a state where the crew suddenly vanished, or a ship from a long time ago was sailing as if it were brand new."
"That's a mystery!"
"Abel would probably like that kind of thing, but that's a story from reality. In the game, it seems the Undead are operating it. Apparently, you can make contact with that Ghost Ship when surrounded by thick fog."
"Isn't that a rather specific story?"
"By chance—really, by pure chance—I ran into Ruth-san."
"Ruth-san?"
"We ended up at the same restaurant. But, my heart went cold at the next words."
"What did he say?"
"He said Natsu was coming soon and asked if I wanted to join them..."
"Ooh... were you okay?"
Though the person herself denies it, all of her childhood friends know that Natsu likes Ruth. Until recently, they had been going to Earth together with their families, but there was a possibility she had secured some kind of promise there and was trying to have a date in this Colony.
Even if it wasn't intentional, interfering with a date would be his own blunder, and there was no telling what Natsu would do to him. Thinking that, Rick apparently tried to leave immediately after giving a brief greeting. The problem was what kind of reason to give.
"I've never used my brain so much in my life as I did trying to think of a reason to decline. In the end, I couldn't think of anything, though."
"You can't exactly say you can't get in the way of Natchan's date, after all. So, what happened?"
"So, I talked about the topic currently popular in AFO and tried to wrap it up by saying I wanted to log in immediately if I could get any decent information. At that time, Ruth-san told me about the Undead Research Institute, and hearing that, I said I wanted to tell Parfait right away because she wanted to know, and I escaped. That was the first time in my life I've ever eaten a meal so fast..."
"...Good work."
"I'm truly exhausted... I didn't see Natsu, but Ruth-san will probably bring me up. If Natsu finds out that I know about her date with Ruth-san, she'll probably get angry and make me listen to excuses forever. I'm sorry for dragging you into it, Parfait, but please follow up for me if Natsu comes. I'm not going to log in for a while until the heat dies down. I'll avoid her at school for a while too... no, actually, maybe it's better to just have everything said to me first... no, but, that girl holds a grudge..."
"I'll check Natchan's mood. And I'll follow up for you. Besides, it's not like you actually got in the way; if anything, it was a fine play. I'll contact you later with the situation, so wait for it. Also, I'll look into the Ghost Ship. Oh, I might tell the people at the Explorers' Guild."
"I don't mind that. Well then, Diite-san, see you next time."
"Yes, it's a shame, but it can't be helped. Please log in once the heat has died down."
Rick nodded and logged out immediately. Rather than being scared, his honest feeling was likely that it was going to be a hassle. Since Parfait was basically an accomplice the moment she got information on Natsu, her stomach felt like it was going to ache.
Unconcerned by the situation, Diite was looking at Parfait with a smile.
"It's an interesting thing. Why does Natsu-kun hide the fact that she likes Ruth-kun?"
"A maiden's heart, I guess."
"I see. I still have much to learn about humans. It seems more complex than the truths of the universe."
Saying so, Diite drank her Coffee. Since she seemed to have finished, Parfait poured her a refill.
"Even so, are you going to investigate the Ghost Ship this time?"
"I thought I'd ride this wave since I have the chance."
"That makes me happy as well. While it's not a complete unknown, there are few Players who have made contact with the Ghost Ship. In the first place, there are few Players who own ships. Only members of major Clans would have them, I suppose."
"Is that so?"
"The Woodworking Skill isn't very popular. People who raise the skill until they can build a ship are rare. By the way, Hayato-kun and Esha-kun have made contact with the Ghost Ship. That's right, I was with them at that time."
"Eh? What happened?"
"That was... no, this is a secret, or rather it would be a spoiler, so I can't say what we were together for. At that time, we were doing treasure hunting—treasure hunter-like things. How nostalgic."
As Diite said that, she had eyes that seemed to look far away while enjoying the aroma of the Coffee. To Parfait, she looked very happy.
After that, while they were having idle talk, Natsu came by asking where Rick was, but Parfait, along with Diite, succeeded in calming Natsu down. Under the promise that she wouldn't tell anyone, it was decided that Rick would be off the hook.