kscans

Chapter 179 - The Unexpected and The Expected

"Alright... well, that about covers it."

In the end, Goldow started to wrap things up about thirty minutes after the meeting began. Honestly, I had imagined a much longer, more intense conference, so I was a bit taken aback.

"Fufu, you look a little disappointed, don't you?"

It seems she'd been watching my face. Hinayo-san, having read my mind, let out a soft laugh, and Irori, next to me, leaned back deep into his chair and continued.

"I told you before, we don't get bogged down with a lot of miscellaneous tasks. The bulk of the difficult thinking is handled by dedicated support staff."

"...And they get paid, too?"

—Exactly, Irori laughed, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I still can't quite wrap my head around that part... Getting paid to work inside a game, what kind of mindset is that?

"Well, in the end, we're less like leaders and more like 'figureheads.' We stand at the front, take charge, and call the shots, but what's really demanded of us is this here," he said, patting his brawny arm, which was as thick as the torso of the crimson-haired girl sitting right next to me, though certainly not mine. "Our strength."

He continued, "Even for me as the commander, it's not like I'm leading every single player participating in the war. I just give orders to you Title Holders, who are also 'figureheads,' and to the squad and company leaders of the divided units."

"That still sounds tough... but alright, I get it. At least I know I just need to go on a rampage without thinking too hard—or rather, that's what I should do."

"Exactly. Leave the detailed thinking to the guys who are good at it—like that guy you know, Lotta."

I see, that makes sense.

But Lotta, huh... he's on the 'Four Pillar Operations Committee.' I haven't had a chance to see him since the selection match, but if that's the case, he must be incredibly busy.

"Speaking of which, Lotta-n was the one who first took notice of you, right, onii-san? As expected of the [Insighter]."

Lotta-n... wait, huh? In-sigh... what?

Mi-na, who had been sprawled on the table without a shred of tension from the very beginning, uttered a word I didn't recognize. As I tilted my head, the conversation continued between the seemingly always-chummy third and fourth ranks.

"You bet. He sent me a message, all worked up, saying something like, 'I've found a monster!!' So I went to check it out, and what do I find? The monster sitting right there with a dazed look on his face, instantly wiping the floor with a selection match regular. Man, that was a good laugh."

"Aww, I wish I could've watched it too. All I really know about him is his battle record and that he's fast."

"Look forward to tomorrow. If he's gotten even better since then, I'm sure even those of us here who haven't seen him in action will be blown away."

They're raising the bar for me for some reason... Anyway,

"Hey, he's an acquaintance of Goldow's, and Red... Mi-na? uses a nickname for him. Is Lotta a pretty high-ranking or important person?"

"Hey, why'd you stick a question mark on my name?"

Well, I have been calling you 'Crimson' in my head this whole time—

"Lotta-san is a former Title Holder."

—so... oh.

"..."

I averted my gaze from the glaring Mi-na, and my eyes met Ri-na's. The words she stated so concisely left me speechless.

...A former ranker? Lotta? That handsome family man who acted like, "Oh, I'm just a committee member who's reasonably strong"?

—You should think of the contestants in the main tournament as being on a different level.

—You have to go in assuming they're all opponents I couldn't even touch. You have to.

I remembered the words that guy had spouted after the selection match preliminaries.

Hmm...?

Hmmm...?

Hmmmmm...?

—That bastard...!!!

THUD! I slammed my head against the Round Table in a headbutt of pent-up frustration. Next to me, Tetra flinched with a startled "Eh? What?" but I couldn't care less.

—By the way, you're definitely stronger than me, so you can relax.

"Damn it...! He was totally messing with me...!"

"Ah, could it be..."

"Hahaan."

"That bad habit of his again..."

Hinayo-san, Mi-na, and Goldow reacted instantly to my resentful muttering. From their reactions, it seems he's always been like that.

"In-sighter? Could that be..."

"Mm, [Insighter]—his highest rank was seventh. He dropped out of the rankings during the turnover three times ago."

So that was his title. Ri-na's additional explanation came, and in my mind, a glorious tag reading "Former 7th-ranked [Insighter]" was implemented above the head of the handsome man smiling with a mischievous, refreshing face.

"Ah... well, I can pretty much guess what that guy said to you... but here's a tip: when one of our Eastern Faction guys says they're 'no big deal,' you probably shouldn't trust them?"

—Like that kid right there. Goldow pointed to the tenth-ranked [Undying] sitting next to me... ah, right, this kouhai also said something about "not being good at fighting."

I shot a sideways glance at him, and Tetra quickly looked away.

Okay, I'm not trusting your "not good at fighting" claim either.

◇◆◇◆◇

Though my mind was thrown into disarray by the unnecessary revelation, we confirmed the meeting time for tomorrow and then dispersed.

I was told to rest well today—even to the point of being told to sleep in until past noon tomorrow... but well, it's still a bit early for that, you know?

While this virtual world has passed twilight and entered the night, in the real world, it's just approaching 5 PM. It's still a little early for dinner—

"Haru."

A voice called out to me as I was wondering what to do.

As everyone was leaving after saying their goodbyes, the one who approached me was... a figure of a samurai, clad in formal kamishimo.

"It's kind of an awkward time. Do you have any plans after this?"

"No, I don't. I was just wondering what to do."

When I answered honestly, Irori nodded.

"I see—in that case, give me a little of your time."

"..."

Those words, or rather, this development—

"Alright."

Having anticipated the events to come to some extent, I stood up from my chair with words of acceptance.

Our eyes met. His blue eyes were calm, yet—they seemed to hold a color that could hardly be called tranquil.