kscans

Chapter 180 - The Two Depressed People

The day after that long day ended, a heavy atmosphere hung over Hayato’s base.

Today, they were supposed to distribute the treasure obtained from yesterday’s salvage and other activities, but the mood was like that of an army after a crushing defeat.

The cause of this situation was two people who had been there since early in the morning. Their expressions were like it was the end of the world, to a level where the despair could have easily spread to Hayato just by looking at them.

One of those with such an expression was Rose.

Though it was to protect a client, she had been taken away by the bandit clan, and moreover, she had rampaged in their hideout against her will. They had gone to subjugate the bandit clan with a considerable number of people, but only a dozen or so remained. The damage was far too great.

Rose apologized to everyone, but no one was particularly angry. Still, she couldn’t seem to forgive herself. She was saying nonsensical things like "I shall end my life as a maid," but of course, Hayato stopped her. He didn’t know how one would end their life in a virtual reality anyway, but he judged that he should stop her.

"My apologies, Hayato-sama. This Rose, despite claiming to be skilled in escort and assassination, has brought about this end… I can no longer say I am skilled in escort and assassination, even if my mouth were torn open…"

"Normally, maids don’t say such things, you know."

"And to think I was beaten to a pulp by Ivan-sama…! It is vexing that I do not remember…! I wanted his autograph at the very least…!"

"Ah, yeah. He comes here sometimes, so why don’t you ask him then?"

She seems surprisingly energetic, in a way. Rose-san is apparently a fan of the Hero, or rather, Ivan, and it seems to be influenced by his story in the real world. I heard that Ivan was an undefeated champion in Virtual Gladiator.

Virtual Gladiator was a popular virtual fighting sport during the era of resource depletion. Basically, most things called sports were held in virtual space.

It wasn't a full-dive type like "Another Frontier Online," and the graphics were at a level where you could tell at a glance that they were CG, but it had gained considerable popularity. Ivan was the world champion there.

Rose was also a fighter who boasted a considerable win rate in the women’s division, and she had been a fan since then.

This information was provided to Hayato by Diite, but that same Diite was also now sitting in the base’s dining hall, with a gloomy face.

Esha’s words had an effect on this.

Esha, after being told the situation by Hayato, had said to Diite, "Did you get Master involved again?"

Ban, the leader of the bandit clan "Greedy Fire Serpent," had wanted to get his hands on Hayato in order to negotiate with God, in other words, Diite. For that reason, Rose was abducted at the base. At worst, Hayato could have been trapped in a space where he couldn’t log out.

Havato himself hadn’t been concerned at all, but Esha had fired off a barrage of accusations at Diite.

"Master had to take a day off from the cafe because of this, you know."

"Can’t you just let him play the game normally?"

"We’re the ones getting stressed out here."

"Could it be that you used Master to smoke out the organization? You’re quite the strategist."

Esha’s expression was normal, but that made it all the more terrifying, and her words were merciless. It reached a point where Hayato felt bad for Diite.

Havato couldn’t bring himself to rebuke Esha for going too far. He himself felt that way to some extent, and he was grateful to Esha for worrying about him and getting angry on his behalf.

However, Hayato’s thought was that not everything that had happened so far was Diite’s fault. The trouble this time was ultimately the fault of the organization that was hacking this virtual reality.

Be that as it may, Diite was quite dejected by Esha’s words.

"H, Hayato-kun, I, I am sorry. I swear… I never intended to get you involved in the slightest… It’s just that the situation turned out that way… I just want you to enjoy this world…"

"It’s okay, I know. I don’t think you’re at fault, Diite-chan."

He had kept telling her it was okay until he logged out yesterday, but Diite had not recovered today either.

Those two had been creating a gloomy atmosphere in the base’s dining hall since early this morning.

Although the situation had been like this since morning, there was a part of Hayato that felt a little relieved. Considering yesterday’s situation, it wouldn’t have been strange if the two of them had disappeared. The fact that they were just waiting in this dining hall could be said to be an improvement.

Esha was probably merciless because she thought Diite-chan was the reason Rose-san was abducted and I had to take a day off from the cafe… I managed to improve her mood with some yakiniku, chocolate parfait, and pudding.

Yesterday, after returning to the real world, he had also invited Ash and Ren to go out for yakiniku. It was an apology to Ash and the others for leaving all the work to them, and to improve Esha’s mood.

It was quite a splurge, but it must have been effective.

Also, Ren, seeing the grumpy Esha, had cheerfully exclaimed, "They say the more you fight, the closer you get!" Ren’s mistaken statement seemed to have taken the venom out of Esha.

Be that as it may, he had to do something about the two people in front of him now. Hayato thought this and called out to them.

"Could you two please recover soon? People will be gathering soon, and this situation will make it hard for everyone to come in."

"It is fine… Please think of me as a useless maid, a ‘dame-maid,’ just another pebble on the roadside…"

"Please think of me as just a talking decoration over here…"

This is more serious than I thought. I guess I have no choice…

"Well then, Rose-san, are you going to return to the Maid Guild as a useless maid? I was hoping you would work here, Rose-san."

Rose flinched for a moment at Hayato’s words, but her eyes also held a slight glimmer of hope. It was virtual reality, so it was subtle, but that’s how it looked to Hayato.

"Are you saying you will give me a chance to redeem myself…?"

"It’s not a chance, but I want to ask you to run the shop because you’re you, Rose-san. I’d like you and Esha to work hard together."

"…What gracious words… I feel I understand why Esha is so fond of this place."

"So, what do you think? Will you still work here? I think Esha would want that too."

Rose stood up and looked straight at Hayato. Then she bowed her head.

"This Rose is grateful for Hayato-sama’s mercy. I will risk my life to see this job through to the end."

"Please don’t risk your life. But if that’s the case, I look forward to working with you. What I expect from you, Rose-san, is not your skill as an escort or assassin, but your skill as a maid."

The now re-energized Rose had a fire in her eyes. And with a "I shall go and prepare the shop," she headed towards the store area.

‘Risk my life’ is just a figure of speech, right…? Well, she’s cheered up, so this is fine.

And now he looked at Diite, who was a hollow shell just like Ban had been yesterday.

"Diite-chan, you’re a brilliant AI, right?"

"…I wonder? I’ve started to lose confidence lately. I might be lower than some monster AI around here…"

This is way too serious. I have to cheer her up too, somehow.

"For me to play safely in this world, I need you to crush that organization quickly, Diite-chan. I want to enjoy this world with you and everyone. A lot has happened so far, but I want to play this virtual reality more purely. And this world will continue to evolve, won’t it? I want to see that evolution with you, Diite-chan, without anyone getting in the way."

Diite had said something like that before. That she wanted to show Hayato the evolution of this world. To one day create a world indistinguishable from reality. She had spoken of that as her wish. Hayato was saying that he wanted to see that too.

Diite stared at Hayato with a surprised face, then quickly averted her gaze.

"What’s wrong?"

"No, please wait a moment, it seems there is something wrong with my programming. A bug may have occurred."

"Don’t say scary things. Anyway, Infinity will fix it automatically, won’t it?"

"Of course. So please wait a little longer… Alright, I am fine now."

Diite’s atmosphere had completely changed. However, her expression was stiff.

"Are you… okay?"

"Yes, I am fine. It just seems there is a small problem with my emotion program. I am holding back an automatic smile."

"Is that why your expression is strange? You’re really okay?"

"Of course. Now then, as you wished, Hayato-kun, I will proceed to crush the organization that is attempting to hack us. I had no time to be depressed here. Hayato-kun, thank you."

"For what?"

"You gave me a pep talk, did you not? Your words made me happy, Hayato-kun. I also want to enjoy this world with you and everyone. To that end, I will promptly eliminate any unnecessary elements. I may not be able to say I am a brilliant AI, but I will do my best to be seen as one."

"It seems you’re back to your usual self, Diite-chan. But don’t push yourself. I was just kidding about wanting you to crush the organization quickly."

"I understand. I vow not to push myself. So, Hayato-kun, please enjoy this world as you normally would. I will eliminate any unsettling elements that approach you, so you can enjoy it with peace of mind. I will be secluding myself deep within the Demon Lord’s Castle for a while. If anything happens, please contact me via voice chat. I will also contact you immediately if anything comes up on my end."

"I see. Then be careful. But you can come visit anytime, okay?"

Diite nodded with a face feigning impassiveness and left the base.

I think they’re both feeling better now. But maybe I should check in on them every day for a while. You never know what they’ll do if they start brooding…

Havato thought this as he waited for the other members to arrive.