kscans

Chapter 107 - Soiree

Three days after their trip to Labyrinth Castle, Mist's Mansion in the Demon Capital was restored.

And today, a soiree was scheduled to be held at the mansion from the evening.

It was originally planned to be held sooner, but the restoration had taken longer than expected. While the furniture and tableware were relatively easy to procure, crafting the musical instruments, especially the violins, had been time-consuming.

The reason it took so long was because gathering the materials had not gone smoothly.

To collect the "Horse Tail" needed to make the violins, Ney and her group had gone to defeat a horse monster called Sleipnir, but they had been interfered with by an NPC there.

Players could not fight each other outside of a Clan War. As there was no Clan War event currently active, player versus player combat was not possible, but this restriction did not apply to NPCs. They could attack players under any circumstances.

At the place where Sleipnir was, Ney and her group were attacked by this NPC. Hayato received a report that on the first day, they couldn't even defeat a single Sleipnir.

They had the option of giving up on that location and defeating other horse-type monsters, but Ney's fighting spirit was ignited.

Since the NPC was attacking, players could fight back. So she challenged them to a battle. However, at that time, she bowed her head to Rosalie in her gothic lolita dress and asked for her cooperation.

For Rosalie, it was originally a response to restore facilities in the Demon Country, and since it was not a Stampede, she could fight regardless of her country affiliation. She seemed reluctant at first, but eventually relented and decided to help Ney and her group defeat the interfering NPC.

As Rosalie had said before, the Kokuryu clan lacked firepower. The Excalibur Replica that Ney wielded ignored the opponent's defense, but unlike the real Excalibur, its base physical damage was low, and even with food and items, it couldn't deal that much damage.

However, when Rosalie joined as a front-liner, this weakness was remedied.

Rosalie wielded a giant scythe called "Scream." Named for the fact that any opponent who faced it would inevitably scream, this weapon had a constant area-of-effect attack and a "Combo Boost" property that temporarily increased its base damage with each hit.

Furthermore, she possessed a unique skill called "Madness," which allowed her to double all her abilities, including movement speed, at the cost of being unable to receive healing from magic or items. Even after deactivating it, she could not receive healing effects for five minutes and her abilities would be halved, but while the skill was active, she boasted unparalleled strength.

Ney and her group fought alongside this Rosalie. Unfortunately, they were unable to defeat their opponent, but they succeeded in driving them away. After that, they defeated Sleipnir and brought back a large quantity of "Horse Tail."

As long as he had the materials, the violin was not that difficult to make. He delivered the specified number to Mist, and the facility's restoration was finally complete. That was this afternoon.

And so, Hayato logged in again at night and had just arrived at Mist's Mansion with Esha.

"Listening to a song won't fill my stomach, you know."

"I'm surprised by your immediate dismissal. Besides, this Noat person is a former comrade of yours, isn't she, Esha?"

"That is true, but Noat can't do anything but sing, so she was a lot of trouble. I suppose she did her best in the Clan War, though."

"You're a maid, Esha, but you can't do much of anything either, can you?"

"Is that a declaration of war against me?"

"So please don't ready your Beelzebub. Anyway, are you okay with just your maid outfit? I could have made you a dress."

Mist had said there was no dress code, but Hayato thought that even in virtual reality, women would want to dress up a little for an occasion like this.

Esha was indifferent to what she wore in reality as well. Sometimes, when work was slow, she seemed to be browsing online shops for clothes, but for some reason, after staring for a few seconds, she would shake her head and not buy anything. This usually happened when she was looking at cute clothes.

Pointing it out seemed dangerous, so Hayato said nothing, but he did think that she should just buy them if they weren't that expensive. He couldn't tell if she was holding back because she was a freeloader or if she thought they wouldn't suit her, but it was a delicate matter, so Hayato couldn't bring himself to step in.

He had proposed the dress, thinking she could at least do it in virtual reality.

"When your Sewing Skill is in the negative, the durability of your fabric equipment gradually decreases just by wearing it. It is dangerous unless it is equipment with a self-repair property, so anything other than this maid outfit is difficult. The simple clothes you wear when you have nothing equipped are fine, though."

"That's terrifying."

Basically, when you had no equipment on, you would be wearing simple clothes.

Hayato had a bitter memory of this behavior. When the Hero Ivan had rampaged at their base, Ren's Dragon Curse had inadvertently targeted Lunaria. At that time, all her equipment had come off, and Lunaria was left in her normal clothes. Although they were just normal clothes, Lunaria had become embarrassed and knocked Hayato out with a right straight.

Remembering this, Hayato felt a little dejected. He also felt a little sympathy for Esha, thinking the demerit for a negative Sewing Skill was too severe.

"If you make a dress with a self-repair skill, please give it to me. I'm not wearing it for you, Master, just so you know."

"I don't plan on making such a dress... The self-repair skill that comes randomly is extremely rare. If I happen to make one for some reason, I'll give it to you. Let's go. I think everyone else is already here."

Hayato said this and approached the entrance of the mansion with Esha.

After being greeted by Mist in the entrance hall, they were guided to a place called the great hall. There were already many people there, seemingly enjoying food and conversation.

His clan members were there, but most of the people there had pale complexions. Hayato guessed they were probably vampires and grimaced slightly. He probably wouldn't have his blood sucked, but it was a little eerie.

Mist smiled at Hayato.

"Please rest assured. I will not let them do anything like attack you. There is plenty of tomato juice, so you are safe."

"I'll pray that we don't run out of tomato juice. Um, are we the last ones? Sorry for being late."

"Not at all, I know you two are busy. Well then, I will have them get ready right away."

Mist said this and headed towards the stage in the great hall.

There were already people with instruments there, but there were empty chairs, so not everyone was there yet. Thinking it would be a little while before they started, he looked at Esha.

"Hey, what kind of person is this Noat-san?"

"It is difficult to explain what kind of person she is, but she is a woman about the same age as us. She is usually sleeping. I seem to recall her saying that sleeping was her hobby."

"Not singing?"

"Singing is probably her job, not her hobby. I didn't know this, but apparently she was a pretty famous singer in reality. That might have something to do with it."

"She has a job as rare as an actor. In the age of resource depletion, most sounds are computer-synthesized, right? Lyrics and composition are probably done by AI too."

"That is true, but apparently Noat did everything by herself. However, she said that people singing was not in high demand at the time, and she lost her motivation. She also said she was happy that in virtual reality, her songs are sought after for their buff effects."

"There's that way of thinking too, huh."

As they were talking, a woman came walking onto the stage, stumbling like a zombie. Seeing the surrounding vampires applauding, Hayato guessed that she must be Noat.

As Esha had said, she was in her early twenties. Her hair was blonde and about shoulder-length. Her clothes were a white-based dress, reminiscent of the ancient Greek peplos or chiton.

Hayato stared at Noat, but for a moment, he honestly thought she might be a different person.

(She looks so sleepy, and her posture is so bad. Is she really a singer that Mist-san would praise so highly?)

However, Hayato's thoughts would soon be proven wrong.

Once the preparations were complete and the music started, Noat's sleepy eyes sharpened, and she straightened her back. Then, she began to sing with a volume that was unbelievable for her small body.

Since it was in virtual reality, her voice was digital. However, the tone of her voice reflected her real-life situation. Before starting the game, you had to register basic information like age and name, but you also had to register your voice. Although the way NPCs started in virtual reality was different, they probably registered their voices in the same way.

Despite the song being quite long, to Hayato, it felt like it was over in an instant. He was brought back to his senses by the surrounding applause. And then Hayato also applauded.

"That's the first time I've heard her, but she's amazing. To the point where I'd want to hear her in real life."

"In virtual reality, it inevitably goes through a computer, so it is probably different in reality. The chocolate parfait I ate in reality was also more delicious than in virtual reality."

He was given a comparison he wasn't sure he understood, but he could somehow grasp what she meant.

"Well then, shall we move on to the main course of the meal?"

"You ate dinner in reality, so you're not hungry, are you?"

"This is for my other stomach."

"It's not another stomach, it's a virtual stomach. Well, whatever. I'm going to go say hi to everyone. I need to thank them for gathering the materials too."

Hayato parted ways with Esha and started walking towards where his clan members and Ney's group were.