kscans

Chapter 317 - The Eastern Country's Events

When Hayato and his group arrived at the mansion, which resembled a long-established traditional inn, they decided to take a break first, with everyone borrowing a room of their choice to rest.

They had come to the Eastern Country for several reasons, but the main one was to register monsters in the Demon Sealing Picture Book.

In the Eastern Country, there were monsters called Yokai that could only be found here. To register many rare monsters in the book, the Eastern Country was a perfect place.

However, Hayato had other business besides that.

It was less Hayato’s business and more a job for Maris and Surya, who belonged to the Tamer Guild.

It was a proposal to see if it would be alright to build a branch of the Tamer Guild in the Eastern Country.

Since Maris had tamed a Yokai, the number of tamer players coming to the Eastern Country had increased, and as a result, inquiries to the guild were also on the rise. This was a measure to deal with that.

The Eastern Country was special in many ways, and no guilds of any kind existed there.

This was less a game setting and more a rule the NPCs had decided on themselves. If Benitsuru, the head of the Eastern Country, gave her permission, it would be possible to construct a guild branch.

Before searching for Yokai in the Eastern Country, Hayato decided to get this matter out of the way first and, taking Maris and Surya with him, headed to the room where Benitsuru and Simon were.

"Benny-chan, I’d like to talk for a bit, can I have a moment of your time?"

The fusuma slid open with a sharp spaan sound.

"Could this be a confession of love!? I am but a humble woman, but I accept—just kidding. I went a little too far with my jesting. So please stop with the killing intent. That is an act of rebellion."

"Hayato, what business do you have with the Princess? I would like to hear that first."

Simon, who for some reason had drawn her sword, directed a piercing gaze at Hayato.

Feeling a bit disrespectful, Hayato opened his mouth.

"I’m sorry for coming to your room so suddenly, but it’s not so much my business as it is the Tamer Guild’s. Um, maybe it would be better if Maris said it?"

"Ah, yes. Benitsuru-san, Simon-san. To put it simply, there’s talk of wanting to build a Tamer Guild in the Eastern Country, and we came to gauge your feelings, or rather, to get a sense of things. So, we would like to have a moment of your time."

"Is that all it is?"

Simon said this while returning her sword to its scabbard.

"Um, Simon-san, for the guild, it’s not exactly an ‘is that all’ kind of matter..."

"Ah, my apologies, Maris-dono. That is not what I meant—in that case, Princess, shall we hear them out?"

"This sounds interesting! I’ve heard there are many other guilds in the western countries, but I don’t know much about them. I’ve never been to another country."

She said it cheerfully, but Hayato felt a little sorry for her.

He presumed that it was probably rare for her to even leave the castle.

As a princess, that might be normal, but that was just a setting. A normal person in their late teens would probably want more freedom.

"In that case, Benny-chan, you should come to the Kingdom sometime. If we can find the time, I’ll show you around. The base is a little small, so it would be fine if you stayed at the giant luxury hotel in the Royal Capital."

Hayato said this, but the surroundings went quiet, and everyone was staring at him.

"I’ll go today."

Benitsuru said this with a serious face and a low voice that was hard to imagine from her usual self.

"But we just got here today..."

"It’s fine, it’s fine! Let’s go back on the evening ship! Actually, I was thinking of going to the Demon Country in disguise to see Luna-cchi! That’s right, since Luna-cchi is here, let’s all go back together!"

"This is the first I am hearing of you going to the Demon Country."

"I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d say no, Simon! Besides, you’re the one who said a princess should know a lot about other countries! A picture is worth a thousand words! You have to let a cute child travel, something like that—oh my, Haya-cchi, calling me cute! I shall bestow a reward upon you!"

"I’m not that young anymore, so it’s a little hard for me to keep up with that energy..."

Hayato wasn’t that old either, but he was at an age where he couldn't quite keep up with the energy of a teenager.

"Princess, calm down. I did say you should know about other countries, and I will not say you absolutely cannot go. But wait for now. Hayato and the others have gone to the trouble of coming to the Eastern Country. First, we must show them proper hospitality, or it would not be right."

"You promise! You absolutely promise! If you lie, I’ll seriously have you beheaded!"

Simon, who was calming down the huffing and puffing Benitsuru, looked at Hayato with resentful eyes.

"There is a time and a place for things, you know."

"...Um, I’m sorry."

"Ah, no, my apologies as well. The fault does not lie with you, Hayato. It is simply the Princess’s outburst. And it may have been for the best—my apologies, Maris-dono. We got sidetracked."

"It’s alright. In that case, please come and see the Tamer Guild next time. It might be better than me explaining various things."

"Yes, you are right. It would be best to have the Princess see it and make her judgment. Is that fine with you as well, Princess?"

"Totes! Oh, speaking of totes, want some mochi? The kinako is recommended!"

"...I told you to calm down. That aside, Hayato, how long do you plan to stay?"

"I haven't decided, but about two weeks, I think. Oh, I’ll pay for the lodging."

"There is no way we could take such a thing from you and your friends. Please use it for free. But in that case, when you return, I would like you to take the Princess and myself to the western country with you. There will be a few guards as well."

"...Huh?"

Hayato and Benitsuru let out cries of surprise at the same time.

"It is a kind invitation, so I thought we could have you show us around the Royal Capital. With two weeks, we should be able to prepare somehow."

"Is it okay!?"

Benitsuru pressed Simon with great force. Her eyes weren't quite bloodshot, but they had considerable power.

Simon smiled and nodded as if to calm her down.

"The Princess has been working hard since then. It is not a reward, but it is also important to know the world. Besides, I am not familiar with other countries, so I am running out of things to teach you. I will say this, we are not going to play. There is the matter of the Tamer Guild, and it is strictly business as a princess."

Benitsuru’s body trembled, and then she raised both hands.

"Seriously!? Yay!"

Simon watched the jumping and cheering Benitsuru with a slightly exasperated look, but it was exactly the expression of a parent watching a troublesome child.

(Their ages shouldn't be that different, so it's more like an older and younger sister, I guess...)

As Hayato was thinking this, Surya, who had been silent all this time, sighed for some reason with an exasperated look.

"You never cease to amaze me, Hayato-san."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Normally, things wouldn’t be settled this easily, you know. I thought it would take more time, but it already feels like there are no problems. I mean, we just came to make a proposal, but now we’re bringing the princess to the guild. I think that’s just too abnormal."

"Maybe so. But this is as far as I can help. It’s possible that after seeing the guild, she’ll say no after all, so the rest is up to the people at the guild to do their best."

"You’re right... If the princess of the Eastern Country is coming, a regular staff member won’t do. We might need to have the head of the guild explain things."

After saying this, Surya started muttering to herself.

Hayato figured she was probably formulating various plans and tried not to disturb her.

Hayato considered the matter of the Tamer Guild branch settled and started thinking about making plans for their time in the Eastern Country.

Hayato parted with Benitsuru and the others and moved to the room he had borrowed for himself.

There, he thought about what to do from now on.

There were many things to consider, but as he had been told before boarding the ship, he decided not to worry about unnecessary things and to just have fun for a while.

(I’ll forget about the clan that moved in next door and Ronios’s group for now. I need to do some proper game-like things once in a while.)

Thinking this, Hayato listed the things he wanted to do in the Eastern Country.

(Maris and the others are going to search for, tame, and investigate Yokai. And Diite-chan said she wants to defeat all four of the monsters like Suzaku and Genbu. Also, I’m curious about Onigashima that I heard about before.)

Hayato had heard the name of that island before, when he was abducted by the Ten Holy Demonic Swords. He didn't know what was there, but there was no doubt that there would be something interesting.

He had told Simon about two weeks, but that was just an estimate. He became a little worried if two weeks would actually be enough.

"Hayato-kun, are you there?"

"Diite-chan? I’m here. Please, come in."

The fusuma opened, and Diite entered.

"Is the matter with the Tamer Guild finished?"

"It just ended a little while ago. By the way, is this something you don’t intervene in, Diite-chan?"

Diite was the administrator who managed this world. If she wanted to, she could probably build a Tamer Guild in the Eastern Country in an instant.

"I try not to as much as possible. This virtual reality is everyone’s world, you see. Isn’t it more fun to see how everyone creates the world, rather than creating the world of my ideals?"

"Is that how it is?"

"That’s how it is. Well, if a situation arises where the world is about to collapse, I will intervene as an administrator."

That was understandable, Hayato thought, but he wondered what kind of situation would cause the world to collapse.

But that seemed to be the end of that topic, as Diite brought up another subject.

"Actually, I came here because I have a request for you, Hayato-kun."

"A request?"

"Yes. As I believe I said before, there are various interesting events, or quests, in the Eastern Country. But because the Eastern Country is only popular with a certain group of people, even after nearly three years of operation, they are still unknown to anyone. This isn’t a good thing, but I was hoping you and your friends would do them."

"Ah, I see."

The floating island was a recent example of that.

That place had been there since the game started, but no one had been able to build an airship to get there. The dinosaurs had also been there since before, but their existence was unknown until Hayato and his friends went.

"This might also be a form of intervention, but I feel sorry for the programs that don't run and the monsters that don't see the light of day. If possible, I want you and your friends to defeat them or do whatever and give the information to the other players."

"Isn’t that the kind of thing NPCs give information about? Why isn’t it known?"

The basis of an RPG was to get information from the townspeople.

At the entrance to a town, there would be an NPC who says, "This is the town of so-and-so," and having someone say, "There is a monster called such-and-such in the western cave," was a classic trope.

"Everyone knows the information, but normally, they wouldn’t answer unless asked, and even if they knew, they wouldn’t tell someone they just met. It’s the kind of thing you can only hear after becoming friends. However, there are few players who try to become friends with NPCs."

"For better or worse, it’s realistic."

If you became friends, such a topic might come up in a casual conversation, but you wouldn't tell a stranger unless you were a real chatterbox.

"Benitsuru-kun should also know various things, but maybe she’s not very interested, or she seems to have forgotten most of this country’s legends..."

"She seems to like things that are more fun than that... speaking of which, Benny-chan is going to the western countries next time, is that okay?"

"Benitsuru-kun is?"

Diite said this, her eyes wide.

Then she immediately started laughing.

"Hayato-kun, you make everyone proactive. Since the beginning of operations, everyone just played their assigned roles, but when they get involved with you, things change for the better."

"Um, was that a compliment?"

"Of course it was. There’s no problem with Benitsuru-kun. There’s no restriction that she has to stay in the Eastern Country. It would be a problem if she went on a wandering journey, though."

"I think Simon would be sure to bring her back in that case."

"Indeed—oops, we got off topic. So, what do you say to my request?"

"If it’s just asking for the conditions to trigger an event and not strategy information, I guess it’s barely safe... Well, I’ll give it a try."

"I’m sorry about this. I’ll try not to spoil it as much as possible. Now then, right away, I want you to look at the painting on the folding screen in Benitsuru-kun’s castle. If you look at it, you’ll know what you need to do."

"Byoubu...? Oh, a folding screen. They have furnishings like that too. I see, so it’s depicted on that... isn’t information you can’t get without entering the castle a bit high-difficulty?"

"If you work hard in the Eastern Country, Benitsuru-kun will invite you, but so far, no player has ever entered. Well, in your case, Hayato-kun, you’ll be let in if you just ask. Also, I want you to go to the shrine in the artisan district and draw a fortune slip. I want you to complete the set, from Great Curse to Great Blessing..."

"Why do you make such special conditions..."

After that, she told him various other conditions that one would not normally do, and Hayato incorporated them into his future schedule.