kscans

Chapter 113 - Dragon's Grave

Hayato was being carried by the metal dragon, Pat, heading further west across the sea to the west of the Spirit Country.

The game was set up so that there was no oxygen in or under the water, but falling in wouldn't cause him to suffocate. His HP would just gradually decrease until he was defeated. In other words, if he were dropped into the sea here, Hayato would be defeated in a few seconds. It was possible to prevent HP loss in water with magic or equipment, but right now, Hayato had neither of those options.

Since it would be pointless if Hayato was defeated, he probably didn't have to worry about being dropped, but he didn't feel very much alive.

He had flown before when Diite changed his settings, but that setting was gone now, and he was just being held by a dragon's foot. Furthermore, the speed was surprisingly fast, and the night sea, lit only by the moon, was somehow eerie.

He decided to talk to distract himself.

"Um, you're Pat-san, right? Where are we headed?"

"There's an island where the dragons live up ahead. I'm inviting you there. Still, I wonder why I'm flying through the sky with a guy. There's not a shred of romance in this..."

"Don't tell me that. Anyway, wasn't I supposed to be abducting Noat?"

Initially, the situation had felt like they were abducting Noat. At some point, the target had changed to Hayato.

"We lost the fragment in the Stampede in the Demon Country. There's no need to abduct Noat-chan anymore."

"Why?"

"Why? Because it's pointless now. We were trying to abduct Noat-chan to keep the Demon Lord, Lunaria-chan, from fighting in the Demon Capital. The boss knew that Lunaria-chan can't fight when there are ghost-type monsters around, so we were trying to keep Noat-chan from using Requiem. We were destroying the mansion she was staying at and delaying its reconstruction to keep her from participating in the Stampede, but—"

Pat stopped mid-sentence. He then dove sharply towards the sea.

"Whoaaaaa!"

Hayato screamed. Even knowing it was a virtual reality, the roller-coaster-like movement made him feel the pull of gravity and he was terrified.

"It's all ruined because of you, Hayato. And I had to use up one of my Stampedes just to abduct you. What a pain."

"F, forget about that, why did you suddenly dive!?"

"To annoy you, of course. It's a thank you for ruining our plans. And a late-night flight with two guys is a dark part of my history, so it's to vent my frustration. I could cry, you know. I would have preferred Noat-chan…"

(Don't actually cry. But I see. They were doing a lot to keep Noat out of the Stampede. Most likely, if Mist-san's mansion was destroyed, Noat wouldn't be able to participate in the Stampede. And to prevent the mansion from being rebuilt, they were preventing them from getting horse tails so they couldn't make the violin, which was a necessary item.)

Hayato's guess was correct. Noat was an NPC whose country affiliation changed depending on the situation, and by staying somewhere, she would become affiliated with that country. However, that place of stay was limited to facilities, and if that facility was destroyed, she couldn't participate in a Stampede.

"But weren't there other people who could use Requiem besides Noat? Even if you kept Noat from participating in the Stampede, I think Lunaria-san would have fought in the Demon Capital eventually."

"Not for the last six months, at least. Besides, for normal people, the effective range of the song is narrow. To cover the entire plaza of the Demon Capital, you'd need ten people. But Noat-chan is different. The boss says she made a deal with God to expand the range of her songs. In exchange, she gets incredibly sleepy when she's not singing. Doesn't it just get to you, seeing a girl looking sleepy like that? I've got a soft spot for that kind of thing, but what about you young kids these days?"

"No comment."

(He's talking way too much, but he probably thinks the information has no value now that they've lost the treasure fragment. But I see, there's a lot going on. But why does Veru-san know all that? Does he know that much just because he has his memories from when he was human? Or is someone feeding him information?)

Hayato considered this, but then it occurred to him that an administrator other than Diite might be giving him the information. It would be easy for an administrator to grasp that kind of information.

But the same could be said for Diite. The thought crossed Hayato's mind for a moment, but he shook his head and dismissed it.

(There's no way Diite-chan would do something like that. It's just a wish, but I'll believe that.)

Hayato decided to change the subject with Pat.

"By the way, why did the members of the moderate faction betray Ash and Ren-chan?"

"You just come right out and ask, huh? Guys who are that direct get disliked by girls, you know?"

"You're a guy, Pat-san, so there's no problem, right?"

"Well, I guess so. Let's see, the reason we betrayed Ash and the others. To put it simply, I wanted to respond to the boss's spirit."

"Spirit?"

"You've heard that there's a problem if Ash and the others get the treasure, haven't you? I don't know what it is either, but the boss bowed his head to me and asked me to help him. I was moved by that act. That's not something you can fake."

"That happened?"

"I've got a soft spot for a parent's feelings for their child. And I'm an old man, so I get emotional easily. That's why it's not that I betrayed Ash and the others. I just thought it would be better for them."

"You believed Veru-san without knowing the details of the problem?"

"Anyone who knows the boss would believe him. That's why Od and Randa-chan sided with the boss too. We've known for a long time that he's not the kind of man who would lie about something like this."

(Even though their factions were divided, they still trusted him. Well, they were originally in the same clan, and the factions are just a setting. I guess it's normal for comrades to think that way.)

Hayato also had a favorable impression of Veru. They had only spoken for a short time, but he believed that Veru's attitude wasn't an act, but genuine concern for Ash and the others.

(I don't know if letting Ash and the others win is really the right thing to do. But there's an administrator working in the shadows, and they're trying to get Veru-san to win. If I don't stop that, I have a feeling things will get even worse.)

As Hayato was worrying, Pat looked at him.

"Why don't you join us, Hayato?"

"Huh?"

"I'm saying you should join us to avoid the terrible thing the boss was talking about. If it was just Ash and the others, the boss's side wouldn't have lost. But since you started participating in the Stampedes, they've already taken two fragments. If you join us, that won't happen—"

"I won't betray Ash and the others."

Hayato cut off Pat's words, denying the betrayal. Hayato would not betray Ash or Ren. That was the one thing he was sure of.

"I'm not saying you'd be betraying them. Siding with us would be for Ash and the others' benefit, you know?"

"If I was convinced of that, I would join you, but right now, there's no evidence of that at all."

"Ah, I see. Well, I heard you're Ash's best friend, so I guess you wouldn't join us so easily. In that case, no matter what happens, stay by their side. We can see it now. That's the hideout of the hardline faction. You'll be living there for a while. I'm sure it'll be inconvenient in many ways, but please bear with it."

Hayato strained his eyes.

He could see an island in the distance. But it wasn't in the sea, it was in the sky. A giant island was floating in the sky.

"We call that island Paradise, but its official name is Dragon's Grave. It means the tomb of dragons, but don't worry, there are no ghosts."

(Is this the field that's being unlocked in this event? I heard from Diite-chan that you can't enter it without the Dragon Soul's treasured artifact… And it's huge.)

Hayato continued to gaze at the giant island, still held by Pat.