kscans

Chapter 31 - The Nameless God

Hayato was still in the basement of the Maid Guild.

The Maid Chief insisted that she wanted to apologize somehow. In truth, releasing him immediately would have been the best apology, but she seemed completely unaware of that, which put Hayato in a bind.

"Um, really, it’s quite all right."

"To let Hayato-sama return home like this would be a disgrace to the Maid Guild. I wish to atone for this in some way... I know. The Maid Guild will issue a letter of appreciation addressed to the Savior."

"The thing I would most appreciate is for you to discard that letter. Also, please stop calling me Savior."

"Then could you give me a little more time? I will be sure to come up with a good plan. If you would like, please relax at the cafe on the first floor. We will provide any dish free of charge."

Hayato heard a phrase he could not ignore.

The Maid Guild had a cafe. That was something he had to check out at least once.

"If you insist, I will wait in the cafe."

"Then I shall guide Master. Also, I would like an Omelette Rice for my breakfast. It would be quite sufficient if you write ‘Esha-sama is the best’ in ketchup."

"Esha, I have something to discuss with you. I hear you have been receiving a Chocolate Parfait from Hayato-sama every day, is that correct?"

"No, that is not the case at all. I believe there has been some kind of mistake."

"A moment ago, did you not say you gained weight from Chocolate Parfaits? You also said you ate my pudding. Your actions are worthy of ten thousand deaths."

"...So your questions during the trial were leading questions. I must say, that is what I expect of the Maid Chief."

"My apologies, Hayato-sama. It seems I must have a rather long talk with Esha, so I will need some of your time."

"Please, go ahead. I will be in the cafe, so don’t mind me."

Esha was once again taken from the room, her arms held by other maids. Hayato saw the look in her eyes that seemed to plead for help, but he pretended not to see it.

Guided by a maid, Hayato moved to the cafe on the first floor of the Maid Guild.

Bright sunlight streamed into the cafe from outside, making the spacious interior feel very bright. The surrounding walls, tables, and chairs were all wooden, creating a simple yet unified and stylish atmosphere.

The clientele was about half male and half female. There were both Players and NPCs. More than half the seats were empty, but about twenty customers in total were enjoying their meals. According to the maid who guided him, the morning-exclusive menu, called the morning special, was quite popular.

(The quality of the chairs and tables isn't great, but the overall atmosphere is nice. Still, wooden walls. That’s not feasible in reality.)

Hayato thought this as he sat at the table he was shown to and looked around.

Just like the other customers, he ordered his breakfast from the morning menu. Pancakes and salad, and coffee. It was not an order, but he also asked the maid to show him the menu for times other than the morning.

(So they change the menu depending on the time of day. That’s an interesting system. But drinks are available at all hours, I see. If I were to do this, I’d probably just stick to coffee.)

He did not know if he would actually be able to run a cafe, but it was fun to imagine it. Hayato amused himself by idly thinking up ideas of what he would do.

A few minutes later, Hayato gazed at the food that had been brought to him.

It was not the highest quality, but it was at least three stars. He figured it would taste fine and began to eat immediately. He could not actually gain nutrition, but he could enjoy the taste. Hayato quickly finished the pancakes and salad.

Then he slowly drank the coffee someone else had made.

The five-star coffee he made himself was undoubtedly more delicious, but the mere fact that someone had made this for him made it feel special, he thought, savoring it deeply.

As he was relaxing and looking around, Ash and Ren appeared at the shop's entrance. Hayato was surprised to see them.

Ash and his sister were looking around the shop restlessly, clearly searching for someone. Hayato figured they must have come looking for him.

Hayato raised his right hand to show them where he was.

Ash and Ren were talking to a maid while looking around, but when they noticed Hayato, they let out a deep sigh and approached him.

"Hayato, so you were safe."

"We heard you were taken into custody by the Maid Guild, so we were worried."

"Sorry about that. For now, it seems the suspicion against me has cleared, so I’m fine. Right now, the Maid Guild wants to apologize, so I’m just waiting for that."

"Is that so? By the way, what was the suspicion?"

"I can’t go into details, but it was Esha-related."

He could not very well tell them it was about Esha’s weight, so he spoke vaguely, but for some reason, the two of them looked satisfied with that answer and did not press him further.

"It’s on me, so you two can order something. It’s my thanks for worrying. Oh, and Relic-san will need a souvenir. I should order some food to go."

At his words, the two were delighted. Ash ordered pancakes and coffee, and Ren ordered toast with plenty of honey and orange juice.

Hayato had said he would pay, but the maid told him they could not accept any money, providing Ash and Ren’s food for free as well. They also offered to make a sandwich as a souvenir for Relic.

(Somehow this is making me feel even more sorry. The suspicion is cleared, so they don't need to go this far. Speaking of which, I wonder what Esha’s position is in the Maid Guild.)

The Maid Chief of the Maid Guild had been trying to push Esha onto him. It felt less like she was disliked and more like they wanted to keep Esha at a distance because she was a problem child.

(I don’t get it. If she’s a problem child, I think they should just fire her, but maybe there’s a reason they can’t. Why is Esha a maid in the first place?)

As Hayato pondered this, he remembered something Ash had said.

(That's right, Ash knew about Esha, didn't he? It was about the Clan War three years ago, but I think she said she wasn’t a maid back then.)

"Ash, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I just finished my pancakes."

"Esha wasn’t a maid three years ago?"

"Yeah, she was different back then. I didn't get a good look, but I think she was dressed more like a sorcerer. Her weapon was an ominous-looking staff, too."

"Really? Then why did she become a maid and start carrying a gun?"

"I don’t know that much. But the teams that did well in the last Clan War had a wish granted by God. Maybe Esha wished to become a maid?"

"God? You mean God?"

"Is there any other kind of God?"

In this game, a being called God did exist. They were worshiped in churches and the like, but Hayato had never heard God’s name. His understanding was just a vague sense that God was there.

Hayato, who did not know the main story in detail, had no idea how God was involved in this game. He made a mental note to ask Ney about it later, but first, he tried to get what information he could from Ash.

"What’s God’s name?"

"God is God. There is no name."

"Is that right. So Esha wished to a nameless God to become a maid? But why?"

"Don’t ask me. Why don’t you ask her yourself?"

"I suppose so. But I doubt she’d answer, so it feels like a waste of time to ask. Ren-chan? You’ve been lost in thought for a while, what’s wrong?"

Ren had her arms crossed and was tilting her head, her half-eaten toast forgotten.

"Well, I’ve known about Esha-san for a while too, but I was just trying to remember how I knew about her."

"I heard Esha is famous. I heard she defeated the Hero and the Demon Lord in the Clan War."

"I know that. But that’s just by name... In the first place, big brother, where did you find out that Esha-san dressed like a sorcerer?"

"Hmm? Let’s see... where was it?"

Ash tilted his head at Ren’s question, but Ren, who had asked, tilted her head as well.

"I also know that Esha-san looked like a sorcerer, but I can’t remember where I saw it."

"Didn't you see a video at the Clan Management Committee facility?"

Hayato did not know how the Clan War three years ago was set up, but if the system was similar to the current one, he thought seeing a video was the most likely scenario.

"Oh, yeah. I think that's it. I was watching that match too, so I think that's when I found out."

"Come to think of it, that's the only possibility. It’s probably just as Hayato-san said. I don’t remember why I watched the video, though."

Ash and Ren looked a bit uncertain, but they seemed to accept that it was the only explanation.

But Hayato was concerned about something else.

(It’s probably not good to press NPCs for details. They exist with those settings, so maybe I shouldn’t ask unnecessary questions. Still, it feels like the game's settings are a bit loose.)

Though slightly bothered, Hayato decided to stop pressing for more about Esha and suggested a change of topic. However, a chaotic situation arose as Ash started talking about dragons and Ren started talking about curses, with neither of them understanding the other’s topic.

After this state of affairs continued for a while, Esha and the Maid Chief approached their table.

"Ash-sama and Ren-sama are here as well. Did you come to get me because you were worried?"

"No, I was worried about Hayato. I wasn't worried about you, Esha."

"It hurts when you say it with such a serious face."

"I, I was worried about Esha-san too! But I’m relieved you both seem to be doing better than I expected! I thought you might be going through some unspeakable ordeal!"

"Please rest assured. As long as this Esha is here, Master will never come to any harm."

"I was about to come to harm because of Esha, though?"

As he said that, the Maid Chief took a step toward Hayato.

"Hayato-sama, I am truly sorry for what happened this time."

"Oh, no, what matters is that the misunderstanding has been cleared. I don't mind, so you don't need to apologize. You gave not just me but Ash and his sister free food here, and that’s more than enough."

"I have not eaten yet. Menu, please."

"Esha, you will be quiet for a moment. Now then, Hayato-sama, I was just speaking with Esha, and we have decided on the nature of our apology."

"That's fine, but your HP is down by about half, both of you. Was it really just a discussion?"

Although you could not normally see a Player’s or NPC’s HP, the system allowed you to check just their HP if you looked at their character details. As far as Hayato could see, the red bars indicating Esha and the Maid Chief’s HP were clearly about half gone. The Maid Chief’s HP seemed to be slightly higher.

"The matter of the apology was decided through discussion. The loss of HP is due to the pudding incident."

"Oh, I see. In that case, may I hear the details of the apology?"

Hayato prompted the Maid Chief for an answer. He intended to reject it immediately if she said anything strange. Based on his predictions so far, Hayato was wary that she would try to push Esha on him again.

"I heard from Esha that you wish to become number one in the Clan War rankings, Hayato-sama."

"Well, not necessarily number one, but I’d be happy if we could place in the top five."

Hayato was taken aback that it was not the apology he had been wary of, but he could not mention the prize money, so he explained it as being within the top five.

But after saying that, it occurred to him. He had wondered about it before, but he was struck again by the question of how they managed to come up with the prize money.

Prize money was awarded to the top five ranks. Five clans meant fifty people. Paying each person one hundred million would be a total of five billion.

Hayato estimated that the game had at least five million players, though the exact number was unknown. If that were the case, a monthly fee of one thousand yen per person would bring in five billion yen in monthly sales. This game had no microtransactions and was not expanding into other media, so that figure was almost certainly correct.

Since the game had been running for nearly two and a half years, it was probably a payable amount when considering the total so far. However, when he thought about salaries for the development and operations staff, server maintenance costs, taxes, and the monthly prize money paid to players, Hayato wondered if they were not actually in the red.

On top of that, how could they have five billion yen ready to go? Hayato found himself pondering this now of all times.

But thinking about it would not produce an answer, so he decided to let it go.

There was no need for such a popular game to use fraudulent methods to gain popularity. He concluded that they must be generating money in a way he could not imagine.

Just as Hayato reached that conclusion, Esha spoke with a serious expression.

"No, if you’re going to aim, aim for first place. There is nothing else."

And at Esha's words, Ash and Ren also nodded. The clan leader is me, Hayato thought, but there was no particular need to deny it, so he let it be.

The Maid Chief adjusted her glasses slightly with her right hand and nodded.

"I see, there seems to be no mistake. In that case, the Maid Guild will henceforth provide Hayato-sama with information on enemy clans."

"Pardon?"

"I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, Hayato-sama, but in Clan Wars, the opponent is decided one week in advance. Once your opponent is decided, the Maid Guild will use its full resources to investigate them. We would like this to serve as our apology. What do you say?"

Is that really okay, Hayato wondered. But he quickly concluded that there was no problem.

(I've been investigating opponents myself for a while now. It shouldn't be an illegal act within the game. I don't know the Maid Guild's methods, but I doubt they're too extreme, so it should be fine. Probably.)

"Well, in that case, I'd appreciate it. Since I specialize in production, I have a lot of preparations to make, so your help would be a great relief."

"Understood. We will stake the name of the Maid Guild on bringing you information about your opponent."

"I, for one, told her to just assassinate the opponent, but that was rejected. I am sorry for my lack of power. Next time, I will be sure to beat the Maid Chief and get my request approved."

"If you do that, the Clan Management Committee will disband our clan, so please, absolutely do not. Also, don't say it like it was my request."

After that, Hayato received the souvenir for Relic and a letter of appreciation addressed to the Savior before heading home. Incidentally, the letter of appreciation was an item with a non-discardable attribute.