kscans

Chapter 222 - A Request for Cooperation

A few days after Relic and Sonia visited the coffee shop, Hayato logged into Another Frontier Online first thing in the morning.

Inside the game, the treasure hunting event was still ongoing.

Havato and his friends had acquired a considerable amount of Treasure Coins, in-game currency, and items on the floating island. Having enjoyed the event to the fullest, they had been taking it easy for the past few days without doing much of anything.

To be more precise, Hayato had been so worried about what would happen with Relic and Sonia that he could not do anything until they finally visited the coffee shop.

He had been logging in every day, but he was mostly just restocking the shop's inventory and had done little else. Now that things had finally calmed down, he was thinking of putting new products in the shop. In parallel, he was also considering sorting through the items he had obtained on the floating island.

He sat in the base's dining hall, sipping coffee and wondering what to do first today.

Just then, the maid, Rose, came down from the second floor.

"Good morning, Hayato-sama."

"Good morning, Rose-san."

Rose, who was dispatched from the Maid Guild, had been entrusted with shopkeeping at this base. It was originally Esha's job, whom he had hired as a maid, but Esha had work at the real-world coffee shop in the afternoon.

He had newly hired Rose to tend the shop for the whole day, and she was quite capable. She also possessed the slightly troubling special skill of being good at assassination, but that was also for Hayato's protection.

Hayato was being targeted by various organizations, so the Maid Chief of the Maid Guild had thoughtfully dispatched her.

That Maid Chief was currently in a terrible predicament, but that was another story.

Hayato immediately asked about the shop's situation. He thought he would decide what to do based on that information.

Rose paused to think for a moment before speaking.

"How about stocking some more affordable equipment? The items in this shop are all of high quality, but they are also quite expensive and may be out of reach for novices. Recently, the number of customers who look like beginner adventurers has increased, but I have observed that many of them leave the shop without buying anything because the prices are too high."

Hayato had a rough idea of the situation.

Ney, the leader of Hayato's former clan, Kokuryu, was related to the Foundation that could be said to rule the real world, and she had become an investor in this game. That information had spread, and many new players, thinking it was safe, had started playing the game.

As an NPC, Rose would not understand the full context, but she must have advised Hayato because she had seen players with weak-looking equipment coming to the shop.

This shop rarely stocked low-quality items, those with three stars or less. It was always four or five stars. Potions, which were useful precisely because they were low-starred, were stocked from one star upwards, but there was no benefit to low-starred weapons and armor, so they were not stocked.

For someone like Hayato, whose Blacksmithing Skill had reached 100, it was actually more difficult to create low-quality weapons, but it was possible. He decided to accept Rose's suggestion, thinking that being a beginner-friendly shop was not a bad idea.

"I've been breaking down the low-quality stuff for materials until now, but from now on, I'll sell them cheaply."

"Yes, I am glad to hear that. On another matter..."

"What is it?"

"What shall we do about the muscle... I mean, the Dark Knight-sama on the second floor? It has been over a week now..."

"Ah."

When he rescued the Demon Lord Lunaria from the Demon Lord's Castle, he had brought back one of the Dark Knights who tried to interfere and locked him in a room on the second floor.

He was supposed to return to the Demon Lord's Castle with Lunaria and the others, but right after they returned from the floating island, Lunaria's group went straight back to the Demon Country without stopping by the base.

There had been a lot going on the day they returned. He had heard the story from Rose later, but there had been other things since then, and he had left the matter as it was.

This was a problem, he thought, and sent a voice chat to Lunaria.

"Lunaria-san, can you hear me?"

"...The Demon Lord is still sleeping. Come back later."

"This is urgent. Besides, it's already eight in the morning, isn't it?"

"The Demon Lord does not care about time. I sleep when I want to sleep."

"Don't say that, just listen. I helped you out of the Demon Lord's Castle, didn't I?"

"Fine. I will engrave Hayato-san in my mind as the man who disturbed the Demon Lord's slumber. Now, what is it?"

"That's not a pleasant way to be remembered, but never mind that. There's a Dark Knight at our base. Is it okay to send him back to the Demon Country now? Actually, can you come and get him?"

"Ah."

(She forgot, just like I did...)

"That reminds me. Send the Demon Lord bed that's in the third-floor hall to the Demon Lord's Castle. Cash on delivery is fine."

"You're remembering the wrong thing. Can you tell me what to do with the Dark Knight-san? Is it okay to release him?"

"About that, I'd like you to keep him there a little longer. I'll thank you for it later."

"...Why?"

"Right now, the Black Roses and the Dark Knights are fighting because I was imprisoned, so it would be a bit of a problem if he came back. I want the Black Roses to win this time, so I don't want to upset the current balance of power."

"That's what's happening?"

"I said I don't care, as a Demon Lord should, but the Black Roses are saying they'll use force to make them understand so this doesn't happen again. It's very much in the spirit of the Demon Lord's Army where might is right, so I gave my permission."

"Shouldn't you stop them? But I understand the situation. I'll look after the Dark Knight-san here for a while, so let me know when it's okay."

"Got it. Also, I'll send him a voice chat telling him to listen to what you say. So send the bed."

"...I'll send the beds Rosalie-san and the others were using too, so do as you please after that."

With that, he ended the voice chat. Then he looked at Rose.

"I just spoke with Lunaria-san, and we'll be looking after him for a while longer. But could you treat him like a guest instead of a prisoner? I think he'll behave himself."

"Understood. In fact, while he was confined, he said he wanted to train outside, so I will grant him permission."

"Ah, I think he did say something like that. And at that time, that Dark Knight person and Noat-san fought off one of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords who came here."

"Yes, they did! I knew they were both strong, but I never imagined to that extent!"

(The Dark Knight aside, Noat-san... It's hard to believe, but I think Relic-san also said Noat-san helped him in the Clan War. Maybe she's strong when she's serious. But her usual self is...)

After returning from the floating island, Hayato received various reports from Rose. One of them was that a member of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords had come here and a fight had broken out.

Apparently, they had come to talk, not to abduct Hayato, but there was no reason to take their word for it. It would be necessary to remain on alert.

Just as he thought that, he heard a knock on the door.

Hayato and Rose both tilted their heads. An acquaintance would normally just come inside. Since they did not, it must be a guest. But no one was scheduled to come this early in the morning.

It could be the Ten Holy Demonic Swords, Hayato thought, on guard.

Rose, equally cautious, approached the door.

"Who is it?"

"Is this the base of the clan 'Daedalus,' by any chance?"

A young man's voice. Hayato had heard that voice before.

"Before that, please state who you are and where you are from."

"My name is Damian Trens. I think you'll understand if I say I'm an associate of Mist. I want to ask for Hayato's cooperation."

Hayato recognized the name. He remembered.

It was the vampire dressed like a medieval nobleman who had been on the ghost ship.

"This is indeed the base of 'Daedalus,' led by Hayato-sama, but what kind of cooperation do you mean?"

"...Mist has gone missing in a dungeon. I want to ask for your help in searching for him."

Forgetting that this was a virtual reality, Hayato immediately opened the door.