kscans

Chapter 333 - Peculiar Specifications and a Declaration of War

Siegfried the calico cat was a real cat logged into this virtual reality, just like Hayato and the others.

After Diite explained this, Hayato was in a bit of a daze. For a moment, he even forgot that Shooting Star was attacking the mansion, but his senses gradually returned.

Now that she mentioned it, some of Siegfried's actions did make it seem that way. He had also behaved as if influenced by the system, like when he bit Esha, so Hayato was honestly half in doubt. Still, he couldn't imagine Diite would lie about something like this.

He took a deep breath to calm down and noticed everyone around him looking at them quizzically. Figuring it was because he had cried out in surprise, he told them, "Sorry, it’s nothing, I’m okay," before turning his gaze back to Diite.

"For now, can you tell me everything?"

Diite nodded and began her explanation to Hayato.

At the time, Siegfried was one of the animals they had borrowed by giving a large sum of money to Artemis, an animal welfare organization. Artemis was also the organization to which Surya belonged.

To put the reason and purpose for borrowing him simply, it was for an experiment.

It was for a full dive, which hijacked the nerve signals of the brain and body and reflected them into a virtual reality. Its very mechanism was completely different from the kind of virtual reality one enjoyed by wearing goggles or motion capture gear.

No matter how safe they claimed it was, they would never test it on a human first. So, several animals were used as test subjects. One of them was Siegfried the calico cat.

The experiment was a success. There were no problems with logging in or out, and there were no effects on his life afterward. However, just because it succeeded once didn't mean it wouldn't fail the next time. They repeated the test over and over.

Eventually, they tested it on humans and confirmed there were no issues, but Siegfried and a few other animals continued to undergo tests.

This was because they had taken over two research projects and were continuing them in this virtual reality. Maris’s research on "understanding animal brainwaves" and Surya’s research on "conveying intent to animal brains."

In the first place, these two papers were one of the keys to realizing the full dive into virtual reality. Data collection was necessary for further version upgrades, and they had Siegfried and the others provide it.

"Sieg-kun is smart to begin with. I imagine that's why he was chosen as a test player."

"So that’s what happened. And you said Sieg was in danger?"

"The device Sieg-kun is logged into, he’s sleeping in a pod just like all of you, but it’s an animal-use model and an early prototype at that. Its compatibility with the ‘Cage of Discord’ is remarkably poor."

"Meaning?"

"If Sieg-kun is put in the ‘Cage of Discord,’ he should gradually weaken. His life is truly in danger."

"Hold on. Why would that happen?"

"Humans and animals like cats originally have different sizes and lifespans, so there are special pods for the animals. That part is fine, but the early models have a problem. Their nutritional intake is linked to the virtual reality."

"Huh...?"

"When he eats in the virtual reality, nutrition is delivered to Sieg-kun through the pod. At the time, we didn't fully understand nutritional regulation for animals in virtual reality, and there was a concern that providing nutrition at regular intervals might cause problems, so we left it to the animals’ appetites. That has become an issue now. If he’s locked in that cage, he can't eat and can’t get any nutrition."

"I'll say it again, why would it be like that..."

"The ‘Cage of Discord’ is an item that lowers a pet’s trust level. There are several ways to lower trust, but the act that lowers it the most is not feeding them. It's an item that forces that to happen. He’ll probably be fine for a few days without food, but becoming too weak to even want to move would be quite dangerous, as he won't be able to eat."

After saying that much, Diite wore a pained expression and lowered her head.

"It’s my mistake for not upgrading Sieg-kun’s pod to a newer model, thinking it would be fine. It was technically possible, but I had made it a low priority. That has led to this problem. I am truly sorry."

Hayato thought this must be what Diite had been hesitant to say. The priority for animals was low, and furthermore, they had been used in experiments. Though some of it was not Diite's own doing, she may have been afraid of how he would react.

(Did she think I’d start to dislike her..._?_)

Thinking this, Hayato gently said, "Please raise your head."

"The ones who caused the problem aren't you, Diite-chan, but the clan called Shooting Star. Besides, you weren’t the one who decided to use animals for the test play, right?"

"However..."

"No howevers about it. If there’s a problem, let’s do what we can now instead of regretting it."

As Hayato said this, Diite’s eyes welled with tears. "You’re right, Hayato-kun," she said, then took a deep breath and nodded.

Watching her, Hayato began to think things over and voiced his thoughts.

"First, can we forcibly log Siegfried out? I mean, let him escape to the real world before he gets caught."

"That... I can’t."

"You can’t?"

"To begin with, I can’t forcibly log you or Sieg-kun out by my own will. I didn’t do it to you, did I, Hayato-kun? Logging out is, by design, something done by one's own volition."

Hayato and Diite had once been enemies. Though it was more a case of Diite unilaterally telling Hayato to get out of this world. At that time, she destroyed Hayato’s biometric authentication data so he could never log in again.

However, she never forcibly logged Hayato out. That was simply because she couldn't, due to the system's specifications.

As an administrator, Diite could change settings, but she wasn't all powerful. Some changes took time, and some specifications couldn't be altered at all. And now, with the program corrupted by the AI Killer, her ability to change settings was severely restricted.

"I can't force a logout. But I did change Sieg-kun’s settings to make him able to log out. I want to tell Sieg-kun to do so, but for some reason, the voice chat won’t go through. I don't know why this is happening..."

"Wait, wait, even if you tell Sieg to log out, he won't understand, will he?"

"He can understand. I mean, Sieg-kun talks with Maris-kun, doesn't he? That’s due to the effect of the item ‘Melampus’ that Maris-kun has, but as I explained earlier, we can converse with Sieg-kun thanks to the results of research into understanding animal thoughts and conveying intent to them."

"...That's even more surprising."

"Perhaps so. It seems that even Maris-kun's and Surya-kun's papers have been lost now, so it’s likely at an impossible level today. Anyway, if he's been put in the cage, being unable to log out is as designed, but I don’t know why the voice chat isn't working."

"Hold on. He can’t log out if he's in the cage?"

"That's right. Normally, AI pets have a system where they disappear on the spot when their master logs out, but Sieg-kun is set up to log out himself. Though logging out just means he's sleeping in his pod. However, the ‘Cage of Discord’ blocks that system."

If the pet could escape at any time, the item called "Cage of Discord" would lose its purpose. Hayato understood this to mean that even if Maris regained her memories and logged out, Siegfried would be left behind.

"So that’s no good either... Then what about supplying nutrition externally... that’s also a no? But why are the specs like this? I mean, even if this virtual reality wasn't a game, it's still strange, isn’t it?"

It seemed like the specifications were either too convenient or too inconvenient for this particular problem. One might even say they were designed as if they knew this would happen.

Originally, this virtual reality was created for people to live in as if it were reality. Despite that, it lacked an emergency escape function.

The headgear used for gaming has emergency escape measures in case of problems, but it felt strangely odd that the pods on the spaceship Aphrodite had nothing.

Hayato thought so and asked, but Diite furrowed her brow.

"I wasn't involved with the initial specifications of this virtual reality, so there are parts I don’t understand well. I’ve asked Infinity to change them before, but I was told it couldn't be done because it was a core part of the system."

"I see..."

It was strange, but he couldn't waste time thinking about something he couldn't change.

Just as he was thinking he had no choice but to count on Simon's efforts, he noticed Jolth standing behind him.

"Can I have a word?"

They had been speaking in low voices, so Hayato didn't think he had been overheard, but he was a little surprised to be addressed so suddenly.

"Uh, um, what is it?"

"I sent a voice chat to their leader, but it won’t go through. This is a first for me. Voice chat between me and Victor works, though."

"Voice chat isn't going through...?"

Hayato had a thought and sent a voice chat to Simon. But there was no response.

"Sorry, but could you try a few more times? If it connects, tell them I’ll be the hostage, so they shouldn't take the calico cat, I mean, the pets."

"Understood. I’ll give it a few more tries, then."

Jolth said this and moved away from Hayato’s group.

After confirming his departure, Hayato turned his gaze back to Diite.

"I told you about how I was attacked by Shooting Star, right?"

"Hm? Ah, yes, I did hear that. Something about a clan targeting you, Hayato-kun, and you fought them in the cafeteria. But what about it?"

"I didn't mention it then, but they had an item that looked like a black orb. It was an item that blocked teleportation, respawning from death, and even voice chat."

"...What is that?"

"You don't know about it either, Diite-chan?"

"As the administrator, I can't say I don't know, but I would never create an item that could affect even the core systems of the virtual reality."

"But they definitely had it."

Diite folded her arms and fell into thought. After a few seconds, she looked up at Hayato.

"If there’s a possibility, it would be something like the AI Killer that Esha-kun created, or Mist-kun’s Panacea. It was likely created based on the knowledge of a high-ranking player from a past Clan War."

"Ah, I see."

Members who placed in the top eight in past Clan Wars received various boons from Diite as rewards, one of which was the ability to create recipes for items that didn't exist in this world. While not unlimited, they could create almost anything to some extent, as long as it was based on their own knowledge.

The black orb, she surmised, was an item created by one of these high-ranking players.

"I see. So the reason the voice chat isn't reaching Sieg-kun is because they're using that item near the mansion, right?"

"I think that’s highly likely. Simon contacted me at first, so maybe she was outside its effective range then."

"Probably. Even if they could make such an item, its range would likely be small. But who on earth could have made something like that... No, I see, it must be her."

"Her?"

Diite said nothing and pointed behind Hayato, slightly upward.

When Hayato turned around, a person was standing in mid-air. It was slightly distorted, flickering for a moment like an old hologram.

But that didn't matter to Hayato. The problem was her face.

She looked exactly like Lunaria. Her hair was blonde and cut short, and her armor was black. She was different overall, but the structure of her face was so similar you could call them twin sisters.

That woman was looking this way, more accurately, at Lunaria, with a confident smile.

"Amanda..."

Lunaria’s whisper reached Hayato’s ears.

Amanda was the name of the exiled Demonfolk. He had been told as much by Gil just yesterday.

"It’s been a while, Lunaria."

"...Do you need something?"

"How cold. I just said it’s been a while."

"I don’t have time to talk to you."

"Oh, I see. Then I’ll get straight to the point. I've taken the Demon Lord's Castle. If you want it back..."

"I said I don't have time to talk to you. If you want the Demon Lord's Castle, you can have it, so do it later. I'm busy right now. I might listen in about a hundred years."

Everyone was surprised by Lunaria's genuinely indifferent attitude, but it was Amanda who showed anger.

"You failure...!"

(Failure..._?_)

Just as Hayato wondered about this, Amanda let out a big sigh.

"Well, fine. I’ll gratefully accept it. By the way..."

Amanda shifted her gaze to Hayato.

She looked at Hayato as if she'd found something interesting and raised the corners of her mouth slightly.

"You must be Hayato, correct?"

"...Yes, that’s me. Is there something you need?"

"The people causing trouble in the Eastern Country right now are people I’m on good terms with. I cooperated with them intending to hold Lunaria and the others up, but it seems that wasn't necessary. Oh, right, I gave them some equipment I stole from the Demon Lord's Castle treasury, so they should be strong, but do your best."

"I see. Thank you for the encouragement. I will do my best."

Like Lunaria, Hayato also gave a curt reply. If she was on good terms with Shooting Star, then she was simply an enemy. There was no need to deal with her properly.

"...You’re as irritating as Lunaria. Well, you're just a human, so it doesn't matter. So that's how it is. Starting today, I will be living in the Demon Lord's Castle as the Demon Lord."

Amanda said this, added a "See you," and her form began to fade.

"Amanda, wait."

Lunaria called out, stopping her.

Amanda stopped fading and looked down at Lunaria with a smug smile.

"What is it? I’m not exactly free either."

"It’s ridiculous to call a castle where a self-proclaimed Demon Lord lives a Demon Lord's Castle. I think you should change the name. I recommend Castle Clunker."

"...I'll kill you one day!"

With an angry face, Amanda vanished.

She seemed so petty that it was almost pitiful, but if she was backing Shooting Star and creating the current situation, she deserved no sympathy. Besides, Diite had said she created that item. Considering the circumstances, that was undoubtedly true. Then she was an enemy.

He paused his conversation with Diite and approached Lunaria.

"Lunaria-san, are you really okay with the Demon Lord's Castle?"

The presence or absence of the Demon Lord's Army made a considerable difference in military strength. Having them here was a great help, but having the Demon Lord's Castle occupied was equivalent to having their home taken. He felt it wouldn't be unreasonable for that to take priority over Sieg and the others.

Hayato's worries were quickly dispelled.

Lunaria answered immediately, without a moment's thought.

"It’s not a problem. Right now, Sieg-chan and the others are the priority. We can just take the Demon Lord's Castle back later, so don’t worry about it."

From the surrounding Black Rose members, voices saying "How noble," and "As expected of our Demon Lord-sama," could be heard.

"Thank you, Lunaria-san."

"No thanks are needed. Sieg-chan and the others are friends who let me pet their fluff from time to time, so it's only natural. In exchange, I'll be using your base as a temporary Demon Lord's Castle, so entertain me. In fact, we could even rebuild it into the True Demon Lord's Castle."

"That would be a problem, but I promise you the finest hospitality."

As Hayato said this, Lunaria smiled brightly.

It was strange, Hayato thought, that even though she had the same face as Amanda, this one looked so much more charming. Then, he suddenly remembered Amanda calling Lunaria a failure.

"Lunaria-san, by the way, about the fail..."

"Hayato-kun, could I have a moment?"

Just as Hayato was about to speak, Diite stopped him. She was subtly shaking her head.

He wondered what was wrong but quickly understood.

(Could it be about the real world...? But Amanda said it... could her memories have returned..._?_)

Hayato told Lunaria, "I was called," and left her side. He stood before Diite.

"Hayato-kun, could you leave the matter of Amanda-kun for later? I'll explain everything properly afterward."

"...Alright. I'm curious about a lot of things, but let's prioritize Sieg for now. That said, all we can do is rely on Simon's efforts."

"That's true. By the way, what should we do about explaining to everyone?"

Should he tell everyone who knew about the real world about Sieg? Hayato thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, I don't think we have time to explain right now. Besides, everyone seems motivated even without me saying anything, so let's do it later."

"Understood. Explaining the complex situation here might just cause more confusion. Besides, it looks like we can see Azuma now."

Looking down from the airship's deck, they could see Azuma.

Unfortunately, there was no place for the airship to land. Thinking they had no choice but to touch down on the water and go from the port to the mansion, Hayato asked the Kokuryu member piloting the airship to head to the port.

"Hayato-sama, please wait. Let's proceed directly to the mansion."

The Maid Chief had appeared by Hayato's side at some point and offered this advice.

"But there isn't any place near the mansion where an airship could land..."

"This is a time for Shukuchi. We will teleport from the airship to the ground."

Shukuchi. A movement technique for the Hand-to-Hand Combat skill that allowed one to instantly teleport in front of a target. It was a skill that had helped him out before, so Hayato made a quick decision.

"In that case, I understand. I want to send our forces in as quickly as possible, so please do."

"As you wish."

"It might be tough on your own, but we’ll be right behind you, so..."

"No, Hayato-sama, there are others besides myself who can use Shukuchi, so please rest assured."

The Maid Chief looked toward the port side of the deck, and Hayato, following her gaze, looked there as well.

There, standing on the railing, were Benitsuru and Xenobia, and a little ways off, Agres.

Benitsuru stood defiantly on the railing, while Xenobia was in a crouched position. Agres stood on the railing with both hands stuffed in his pants pockets.

"I’m seriously mad this time, so I’m going on a rampage. The sword Hayacchi made for me is precious, but I’ll let it rest this time. I don't want to use it for something like this."

Benitsuru said this while looking at Hayato, then took a different sword from her item bag, not the Meitou Yatagarasu.

Meitou Houou. Houou meant phoenix. It was a famous sword said to be so beautiful that one couldn't look away until they were cut. Benitsuru drew the blade from its scabbard, held it to the sunlight, then returned it to the scabbard and stored it in her item bag.

(Come to think of it, Benny-chan could use Shukuchi too.)

Previously, during the incident in the Eastern Country, she had almost attacked him at the port when he was trying to escape, and she had used Shukuchi then. Hayato remembered that.

And since Xenobia and Agres mainly fought using Hand-to-Hand Combat skills, they could naturally use Shukuchi.

As for Xenobia, she sent a glance over her shoulder at Hayato, then gave him a thumbs-up. After that, she adjusted the collar that hid her mouth, put on her goggles, and pulled up the hood of her poncho coat.

Agres, with his back still turned, simply raised his right hand lightly and said nothing. Even Agres, who should have a fear of heights, must have decided he couldn't afford to say so this time.

Then, the Maid Chief leaped onto the airship's railing with the lightness of a feather. Her movements were beautiful at all times, not even her clothes were disturbed.

All four of them were so reliable, Hayato thought.

And they weren't the only ones near the railing. Esha and Pat were there too.

"Pat-sama, shall we compete to see who can take down more?"

"I don't make bets I'll lose. There’s too much of a difference in power and long-range accuracy between your gun, Esha-chan, and my revolver."

As they spoke, the two of them readied their respective guns.

As they neared Azuma, the other members must have been steadily making preparations. Everyone was already in a battle stance.

Maris was riding Lancelot, and Surya was on Garland. However, Maris didn't seem like her usual self. She looked quite agitated.

"Are you okay, Maris?"

"N-No, I’m not okay, but I’m okay!"

From Hayato's perspective, Maris seemed to be in a rather precarious state. He was worried if she could move as usual and was debating whether to tell her to wait here when Surya, noticing his concern, said, "She’ll be fine."

"I’ll support Maris, so don’t worry. It’s more dangerous to leave Maris here in this state, so I’ll let her rampage as much as she likes."

"Understood. I'll leave it to you then."

Before the airship arrived above the mansion, the two of them took off on Lancelot and Garland. They flew alongside the airship.

"Well then, we’ll get ready too."

Lunaria was riding a giant crow summoned by a member of the Black Rose, a Bloody Crow, along with several others. It didn't seem possible to fit all the Black Rose members on it, but with Lunaria there, she was probably worth a hundred people. Hayato said, "I’m counting on you," and saw them off.

Like Maris and the others, they were flying parallel to the airship, ready to strike at any moment.

"Hayato, give us a rope! We’re going to descend to the mansion roof and join the fight too!"

He thought Ney and the others from Kokuryu wouldn't be able to fight against players, but he knew they wouldn't stop even if he said so. Hayato nodded and handed them a rope.

"I’ll have one too, please. But descending from an airship by rope reminds me of when we went to rescue Lunaria-sama, doesn't it?"

At Rosalie's words, Hayato nodded, thinking of that time.

They had gone to rescue Lunaria in her room in the Demon Lord's Castle by airship. At that time, too, they had used a rope to get to her room.

"Oh, that time! Thanks to that, we were able to get to know you, Hayato-dono, so I must be grateful!"

Gil said this and laughed heartily.

At that time, Gil had also climbed the rope, and after a series of events, they had spent some time together at the base. Human connections are a strange thing, he thought, as he handed ropes to Gil and the others.

"We’ll stay here and act as Hayato's guards. There’s a chance Shooting Star might come this way, after all."

When Ash said this, Ren, Suien, and Randa also nodded.

"Guards, huh... Actually, if I got caught, Sieg and the others would probably be safe..."

If he were to be captured instead of Sieg, there would be fewer problems. At least there wouldn't be a fight between players, and Sieg would be safe.

Hayato thought this and said it aloud, but Jolth, who had come nearby, shook his head.

"I don’t think they want Hayato as an ally, so it would be meaningless. Right now, I think they’re just trying to anger you and your group to provoke an all-out battle."

"An all-out battle...? If that’s the case, they’ve already achieved their goal. Everyone’s fired up. But why would they do that...?"

"Ah, well, maybe it’s the ideology of wanting to win after making the opponent give their all. Besides, if they just win, they might be told that their opponents weren't serious... Anyway, I tried a few more times, but the voice chat still didn't go through. They might be rejecting my requests."

Hayato thought it was probably due to the black orb that Ronios or Cremola had, but he felt there was no need to say so and just nodded at Jolth's answer.

"Victor and I will head over there to protect the pets too. We can't fight since we're both players, but we can get in their way, and we can use Shukuchi... though it's my first time using Shukuchi from the sky to the ground..."

"Are you sure about antagonizing Shooting Star?"

"I don’t mind. No matter how you look at it, this is just wrong, isn't it? If it were something a bit more peaceful, maybe, but to think they'd try to abduct pets. Besides, our tamers were taken care of by Maris-san and the calico cat on the floating island, so you can consider this a way of paying them back."

As Jolth said this, Victor also nodded.

At times like this, not having combat skills was frustrating. He couldn't fight since they were players, but Hayato still wished he could.

But thinking it was too late for that, Hayato did what he could and distributed potions and food he had made with his production skills to everyone.

A short while later, the Maid Chief looked at Hayato.

"I have a visual on the enemy. Well then, I shall be on my way, Hayato-sama."

"Everyone, be careful..."

"Hold on a second."

Just as the Maid Chief and the others were about to use Shukuchi, Cecil, who had been silent all this time, stopped them.

"You need a proper greeting at times like this, you know? Besides, we gotta let Simon and the others know we’re here. Hayato, sorry to bother you, but could you make me a spear I can throw away?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Like I said, a greeting. The enemy clan’s name is Shooting Star, right? Then we gotta give them a suitable greeting!"

There was no time to listen to a detailed explanation here. Hayato did as he was told and crafted a spear. A highest-quality iron spear.

Uncharacteristically for Cecil, she placed the sword she wore at her waist on the deck and equipped the spear.

She leaned out from the railing, confirmed the direction of the mansion, and then shouldered the spear. Then she licked her left index finger to check the wind direction and used that finger to adjust her aim and angle.

"A shooting star for Shooting Star."

Cecil took a running start on the deck and threw the spear.

The spear flew with an incredibly loud whoosh.

Hayato realized it. What Cecil had done was the spear weapon skill, "Shooting Star."

It was the same spear-throwing attack she had used to defeat Poseidon at sea. A long-range skill where damage multiplied with distance, and the attack range at the point of impact widened with altitude. Against Poseidon, it was a nearly horizontal throw, but an attack dropped from high above would be like a single-shot Meteor Swarm.

The spear traced an arc as it fell towards the group surrounding the mansion.

(How can she hit that spot from here? Her aim is beyond just accurate..._?_)

It was quite a distance to the mansion. Just throwing it would be one thing, but in this virtual reality where there was no aim assist and the user's own abilities and the laws of physics were directly reflected, Cecil had thrown the spear at her target with unbelievable accuracy.

The enemy had likely noticed the airship. And they must have seen something fly out from it. But they hadn't realized that it was a greeting in the form of an attack.

By the time they did, it was too late. The spear instantly defeated the player who couldn't dodge it and those around them with a massive explosion.

The enemy had surrounded the mansion in a group, but in one part of it, the players had been felled in a circle, like a crop circle. Even from this distance, he could hear cries of surprise that were close to screams.

Cecil saw this and grinned.

"Now, it’s party time! Let's get wild!"

As if responding to her voice, the more excitable members raised a war cry.