kscans

Chapter 487 - A Sudden Invitation

"—Let's go to the beach."

It was seven in the morning, the day after the event.

The 'Princess', who had visited my room early, uttered those words as her opening line, and my mind froze for a full five seconds.

My eyes were seared by the dazzling beauty I was seeing for the first time in what felt like four days, and my sleepy brain tried to process the meaning of the words formed by her sweet voice.

I had gone to bed right after sending Nia home yesterday, so I had gotten a solid eight hours of sleep. But since I had only woken up five minutes ago, my head was having trouble functioning.

The fatigue from the previous day's one hour, three nights, and four days probably had something to do with it. My thoughts, starting up at a much slower pace than when I woke up in the virtual world, spun desperately, and in the end—

"...Sorry, I have a crippling fear of the ocean."

The words that came out of my mouth were truly a half-asleep answer.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Hoho, a villa."

"Yes, on the coast just outside of town. It has a private beach, too."

"Umm... I'm not really a fan of the ocean, or water in general..."

"It's not properly hot yet, so the water won't be warm enough to swim comfortably anyway. You can just think of it as a trip."

"Ah, well, if that's the case—that's not the point."

This is all too sudden, without any warning whatsoever.

I had expected to be summoned by Ashe or Goldow soon after the first world event ended. There were plenty of things to discuss, from sharing information about the event to the matter of expanding the teleportation system that we had put on hold.

So, I wasn't surprised that she had come to visit first thing in the morning, but her completely unexpected opening line had successfully made me freeze up.

She seems perfectly at ease, enjoying the coffee I served her, but my mind is filled with confusion and question marks.

"Wh-why, I mean, what's with the sudden... ?"

"I think any time I suggested we go on a trip, it would be 'sudden'."

"That's true—no, that's not what I mean. In many ways, it's more like, is this really the time for that... Wait, wait, don't look so sad. I'm not saying I don't want to go."

It's been a while, but I know that while she may be expressionless, she's certainly not emotionless.

I quickly threw in a follow-up when I sensed Ashe starting to get a tiny bit downcast at my constant questioning and avoidance of a positive answer.

Because though she may have a more subdued face than others, she is, in fact, a princess with a wealth of emotions.

"My brain just can't keep up because it's so sudden. Don't worry, I'll listen with an open mind, so just tell me why and all that, one thing at a time. Okay?"

"...Mm, okay."

Ever since I started to be able to read her expressions to some extent, I feel like I've become weaker to her, rather than gaining an advantage.

Every single one of them, these girls are infinitely cunning.

"Alright, well, let's start with... 'why'. To repeat my earlier question, what's with the sudden suggestion?"

Starting with a jab—I, who began with 'why', must admit that I was still half asleep.

"I'm envious of Nia."

"Ngh, guff..."

"I want to have a sleepover with you, too."

If my head had been working as usual, even for a moment, I should have been able to predict the straight-down-the-middle answer thrown at me like a fastball.

This was not the time to be leisurely sipping coffee.

"Cough... Didn't you say you weren't jealous?"

"I never said that. I simply said, 'If it's Nia, it's fine,' and didn't complain. I was envious, and I was jealous."

"I-I see..."

If it were Sora or Nia, this would be a perfect pout. It was already obvious that her words, being a lethal, honest bombshell, were all her true feelings, but when paired with her expression, the destructive power was immense.

The world may praise her for her 'glass-like serenity' or 'ice-like beauty,' but the more time I spend with her, the more those images fade from my mind.

She's really, truly, just plain cute—is what I think.

Of course, my reverence for the [Sword Queen] as cool, beautiful, and amazing is endless... but that's a separate matter.

"L-let's move on... Uh, to the question of whether we have time for that."

Continuing to face a pure nuclear warhead head-on will only lead to vaporization. Sometimes, parrying is essential to keep facing it, so I smoothly moved on to the next question.

I'll just pretend not to see the facts that I didn't actually parry it, that even a glancing blow took a huge chunk out of me, and parry those away too.

"We have time. Or rather, time was made. Specifically, the next 'Colored Monster' raid—the one against 'Green Connect'—has been postponed for three months."

"Oh?"

Sensing a shift to a more serious topic, I straightened up, and Ashe switched to her role as the representative of Sotalm, the Southern Faction, and laid out the main points.

First, it seems the Tamed Beasts unlocked in the recent event have a very high probability of providing a revolutionary advantage in the Green Connect raid. Therefore, the conclusion was reached that it would be best to take time to secure and raise useful Stardust Beasts.

When I asked when and where that conclusion was reached, she said it was at the Southern Faction leadership meeting held early this morning. They apparently gathered at five a.m.

Should I praise the South for their high awareness, or see the Eastern Faction (us) as lax for having no prior arrangement or post-event summons...? In any case, that's how it is.

As expected, the World Event [Starry Paradise] has become a permanent feature, albeit on a semi-irregular basis. An additional announcement was probably made to all players upon logging out, stating that 'Alvniclo, the Mirror Sky Realm' will be opened at a nearly fixed cycle.

That cycle is about every two months. Whether to be surprised by the high frequency or not is up for debate... but considering this, our group probably rushed things too much.

I bet the original intention was for players to progress through the stages gradually, over the course of multiple event cycles. I don't know for sure, though.

Anyway, for those reasons, the judgment was probably to wait for the second event in two months—at the beginning of August. A guideline set forth in the Southern meeting place, managed by that 'Queen.' With confidence, I'm sure the other factions will agree without question.

And if we're looking at the beginning of August—

"The next Four Pillar War is then, so we won't be able to move until September."

"That's right. I'm looking forward to my revenge."

No, seriously, I didn't win...

"This isn't me being pessimistic, but a calm assessment: if you had come at me with your full power and full intensity from the start, my chances of winning would have been zero."

"Hehe."

"No, it's not 'hehe'... well, whatever."

Forgetting about the terrifying 'revenge' in the future for a moment, the point is that we now have about two months of free time... I'm not sure if I can call it that, but we have time.

"I mostly get it. I still think I should be focusing on my own training, but... well, if that's the case, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go have some fun."

"Yes. A week away from the virtual world should be fine."

"You plan on going for a week???"

She returned my retort with a slight smile, but whether it was a joke or not remains unknown. No, it's not that I have a problem with—no, I do have a problem. I'm a current university student.

"Um, Ashe-san. I have university, so I can't really be gone for that long..."

"If you're a ranker in Arcadia, you should be able to get plenty of leeway with your attendance."

"Hey, wait a minute, are you seriously trying to brute-force this?"

Considering the university's movements so far... or rather, the response of the chairman, Kunori-san, what Ashe is saying is probably true, which is a bit of a dark thought.

Well, if you consider a ranker to be on the same level as, or even higher than, a professional athlete, then maybe 'that's just how it is,' but for me, it's still just a 'game'...

Besides, if it's a trip, then we're really just going to play. There's no pretext or anything; it's a completely and utterly inexcusable truancy.

"...Being serious is a very good thing. You're admirable."

"I don't think I'm admirable... I've been skipping a lot, and I'm not keeping up with my studies at all..."

What's scary is that I feel like I might just coast through and graduate like this. If I were okay with that, I wouldn't have chosen to stay in university in the first place.

"Then, let's do this."

Not that I had any intention of refusing; I was just planning to suggest and negotiate for a shorter trip over the weekend.

But perhaps she thought my response would be negative... or maybe she just really wanted a more relaxed schedule—

"During the trip, I will be your temporary tutor and teach you."

"Excuse me?"

At the unexpected 'let's do this' that came from Ashe's mouth, I couldn't help but let out a dumbfounded voice, but the princess remained dead serious.

"If you're not keeping up with your studies, then just half-heartedly attending university is meaningless."

"Guh...ff!"

And then, a sudden stab to the heart, a mortal wound. I was shocked by the weight of the perfectly logical punch from the very person who was trying to drag me into an extraordinary world.

"So, you can just think of it as a training camp to catch up and get back on track."

"No, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait. You're saying something that sounds plausible, but you teaching me is..."

I was about to say, 'Is that even possible?' but in the next moment, I found myself thinking, 'It probably is,' and was once again surprised at myself. I mean, without any basis, just knowing that she's exceptionally smart, that's such a stupid thing to—

"I don't have a teaching license, but I don't think teaching a first-year university student will be a problem. At the very least, unless it's a particularly specialized field, I have a grasp of what the average university student learns by graduation in each subject."

...just knowing that she's exceptionally, smart, is all...

"Um... excuse me, but how old are you again?"

"Nineteen."

"I'm eighteen and a first-year university student, but..."

"That's right. But I graduated from university four years ago."

"..., ............"

Questions like what age she was when she skipped grades to enroll, what university she graduated from, and even what country that university was in, all things I both wanted to ask and was afraid to, I swallowed for the time being—

—About ten minutes later.

"..................I'm... going to have to consider this in an extremely positive light, if you don't mind?"

"Mm. I'll be waiting for a positive answer."

As Ashe pulled out one of my notebooks from my university bag and proceeded to explain every single one of my questions with painstaking detail at first glance, all I could do was look at her with nothing but reverence.

Who was the idiot who described her as 'just plain cute'?

Show some respect, you fool. Address her as Ms. Alicia White and worship her.

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And so, Chapter Four, Section Two, where Ms. Alicia White will also be taking the stage, begins. Let's get to it.