kscans

Chapter 374 - Someone You Don't Want as an Enemy

Around the time Parsha was losing to Amanda, Hayato was talking with the production players of the major clans and gathering information.

It wasn't just the production players, most of the members of the major clans remained. The only major clan that had already headed for the dungeon was Starkest, which had been unaffected. And the remaining leaders of each clan consulted with Hayato and gave up on the decayed food and medicine as a lost cause. That was because, although the materials they had brought would be reduced, they could be remade. Due to time constraints, they decided to keep a little for investigation and discard the rest. Similarly, they decided to give up on the equipment of the clan Imperial. That was because the leader, Rauxal, and all the others had standardized their equipment with items that could be made with production skills. In this case too, although the materials would be reduced, they could be remade, so they quickly returned them to materials and began remaking them. They kept some of the equipment for investigation, but nearly ninety percent was returned to materials. When they returned the equipment with the decay bad status to materials, the materials did not remain decayed, but returned to normal. This was a game-like mechanism, but it was good news for Hayato and the others.

The problem was the rare drop equipment that couldn't be made with production skills. It was possible to turn it into materials, but it couldn't be remade. They needed to somehow stop the decay, but they didn't know how. The decay only occurred on metal-type equipment, and cloth-type equipment was fine. Realistically speaking, cloth would probably also rot over a long period of time, but it was highly likely that this was also a game-like specification that had saved it.

They found out something else as well. Considering the rate of durability loss, the decay had occurred at night, around one or two in the morning. And the decayed items were only those that were in the clan warehouse that clan members could use. The equipment, food, and medicine that individuals were holding were fine. For equipment maintenance, it was a common practice to put all the equipment in the clan warehouse and have the person in charge deal with it using blacksmithing skills. Bandit, Imperial, and Over the Top used this method. However, Starkest had many solo players, so they had few players with production skills. It was normal for them to basically carry their own equipment and ask their acquaintances for maintenance. Alvie and the others' Kiss of Death also used a clan warehouse, but as singers and dancers who provided buffs, they only had cloth equipment, and they said that food and medicine were held by individuals.

From this, they understood the general situation.

(They can probably access our clan warehouse. I should probably assume someone from the New Demon Lord's Army snuck in last night and did this, but if we don't find a countermeasure, this will be a huge blow in the future.)

At the very least, Hayato didn't know of such a situation. If this was possible, it should have been a much bigger topic during Clan Wars.

(Whether it's possible or not is one thing, but that's the situation, and countermeasures are another matter. Realistically speaking, it would be good if we had something like a preservative, but I don't know of such an item, and I don't know if it would even be effective on an item that's already decaying. I don't think there's no countermeasure, though.)

He thought about various things, but couldn't come up with an answer. If he at least knew the item or skill that had caused the equipment to be in this state, he could probably think of a countermeasure, but he didn't even know that.

He wanted more information. Just as he thought that, someone called out to him.

"Hayato-san, do you have a moment?"

"Noat-san? ...What are you doing?"

Noat had come to the place where Hayato and the other production players were gathered. However, Noat was lying on a futon laid out on the palanquin that Mikan always rode on. The demons, who were complete NPCs, were carrying the palanquin, but to Hayato, those demons seemed bewildered.

"Mikan-chan prepared a palanquin for me so I can sleep anytime, anywhere. With this and some donuts, I'm invincible."

"I think you're invincible in various ways even without them, but I'm busy right now, so could you hold off on the donuts?"

"I didn't come here to get donuts. Actually, I got a message from Parsha-chan."

"Eh? Parsha-san?"

"It seems her betrayal was discovered. She was cut down by Amanda-chan and kicked off the battlefield, so this is a report. You can give me a donut as a thank you for coming to tell you."

"That's a problem. Parsha-san's betrayal should have been part of Randa-san's calculations."

Spreading false information was one thing, but the strategy also included direct attacks. A direct attack that would reveal the betrayal could only be used once, but it was also highly effective. So, they should have been thinking about the most effective timing for the betrayal, but that was no longer possible.

"She sent some other information too, do you want to hear it?"

"Yes, could you tell me?"

He didn't think this would lead to a solution, but out of a desire to get even a little more information, he decided to listen to the information that was said to have been sent from Parsha.

Noat relayed the information from Parsha to Hayato. It seemed there were clans that were not allied with Despair Angel but were 'comrades,' and according to information from them, the morale on the New Demon Lord's side was quite high. The fact that Amanda had defeated Parsha with overwhelming strength seemed to be a factor, and they had invaded Abaddon with that momentum. Amanda was also said to have been part of that invasion.

(So she's finally participating in earnest. She was supposed to be more laid-back, but I wonder if she had a change of heart?)

When Hayato was a hostage in the Demon Lord's Castle, Amanda had never participated in a battle. The only time was during the battle in the magical city of Under, where the Demon Lords were forced to fight. It was probably out of confidence that she wouldn't lose to Lunaria under any circumstances, but if that was gone, future battles would be tough.

Hayato was about to sigh, but then he learned more information. Most of it he already knew, but there was one piece of information he had learned for the first time.

"Raven?"

"It seems to be a clan that specializes in information gathering, and one of its members was with the leaders of the major clans on the other side. They're always in black and hide their faces, so it's apparently a 'probably.'"

"An information gathering clan…"

It was a clan Hayato had never heard of, but Jolt spoke up, saying that such a clan had existed for some time.

"It's a clan that deals in all sorts of information, from dungeon maps and strategies to item gathering. We've bought information from them a few times."

"They're pretty famous?"

"In that field. And they're a small elite group, so there are fewer than ten members. The leader is a woman, but no one has ever seen her face. I think her name was Loana."

"Oh, but can they gather information with that few people?"

"They wouldn't tell me the details, but I've heard that their skill composition is specialized in treasure hunting, so they can go to the deepest parts of dungeons alone."

"Specialized in treasure hunting skills...?"

Hearing that, Hayato decided to contact Relic. It was just a hunch, but he thought that they might have been infiltrated using treasure hunting skills. There was a possibility that he could get some information about the current situation.

Currently, Relic and Sonia were not on the battlefield. They were in the middle of gathering materials with the members of the Treasure Hunter Guild, so he sent a voice chat.

He got a reply immediately.

"Hayato-sama, what is it?"

"Relic-san. Please stop with the 'sama,' just my name is fine."

"This is also part of my role-playing. I'll be normal in reality, so please don't worry. So, what is it?"

Hayato explained the current situation. He also asked him to tell Sonia the situation and ask if she had any ideas.

There was a moment of silence, then a reply came from Relic.

"First, regarding the decay status, I have a little information. I don't know if it's related, but according to Sonia, there's a technique in the 'Poison' skill called Corrode Attack."

"Corrode Attack?"

"You could call it a corrosion attack. It's said to be able to deal high-multiplier damage to metal-type monsters, such as Iron Golems and Living Armor. That's about all she could think of when she heard 'decay.'"

An Iron Golem is a golem made of iron. There are many other golems made of metal, such as Mithril Golems. And a Living Armor is a living suit of armor. It's a type of monster that moves around with just its armor, and of course, the armor is made of metal. Hayato was convinced that a corrosion attack could deal fatal damage.

"Neither Sonia nor I have logged in much since then, so we haven't been leveling our skills, but it's possible that if your poison skill is 200, you could do something like that. Also, if you raise your lockpicking skill to 200, you might be able to sneak into a base or open the warehouses of other clans that you normally can't."

"So it might be possible if you break the limit... but this is a problem."

Hayato was convinced by the answer, but that alone didn't solve the problem. He was grateful to have gotten even a little information about the decay, but it was meaningless if he didn't know how to deal with it. However, he had found a clue to solving it. He decided to think positively that he had made some progress.

"Hayato-sama."

"Ah, yes. Sorry, I was just thinking--"

"We'll also enter for the battle."

"Eh?"

"When an ally on the battlefield is defeated, we'll make a reservation so we can go there. It seems there's someone on the other side who fights in a strange way. If the location is a dungeon, I, Sonia, and the former members of the Thieves' Guild may be of some use."

"That would be a huge help."

Relic and the others were by no means weak, but they fought in a tricky way. In a battle in a narrow space, it could be said to be even more effective.

"Also, is Zack from the former Assassin Guild on the battlefield?"

"Zack has been here from the beginning. Rose-san said she would go talk to him."

"Poison skills are more of an assassination skill than a treasure hunting skill, so he may know more about it than we do. Why don't you try talking to him?"

"That's true, he might. I understand, I'll go talk to him."

Relic said, "Then let's meet on the battlefield," and ended the voice chat.

As Relic advised, Hayato immediately sent a voice chat to Zack.

"Yo, Hayato, what's up? Oh, before that, do something about this Rose kid. She's saying some dangerous stuff about wanting to learn assassination techniques--"

"We can talk about that later. Could you come to the Area Stone? There's something I want to discuss."

"Discuss? Ah, sure. I haven't entered Abaddon yet."

A few minutes later, Zack came to where Hayato and the others were. For some reason, Rose was also there, but instead of her usual maid outfit, she was equipped with the all-black Assassin Series, giving her a more dangerous feel than usual. But Hayato decided not to say anything about it.

"I'm here. So, what's up?"

"If you know, I'd like you to tell me--"

Hayato explained the situation to Zack. Zack listened with a 'hmm hmm,' and when Hayato finished his story, he crossed his arms.

"Do you know anything?"

"To think there's someone else who can do that. The world is a wide place."

"Eh?"

"The skill that gives items the decay bad status, right? It's a skill called 'Hel' that someone who has mastered the poison skill can do."

"Um, does that mean hell?"

"No, I think it was the name of a god. A female god who is half-rotten or something like that."

Hayato thought that there was indeed a god with such a name, but decided to ask more questions later.

"Do you know how to deal with it? As I explained, we have a lot of equipment in that state and it's a huge problem."

"I know, you could say I know."

Keith, who was nearby, lunged at Zack, who had said it as if it were nothing. Then he grabbed his shoulders and shook him vigorously.

"Tell me."

"Whoa, who are you? Hey, let go. I'll assassinate you."

Keith, who had lunged, was restrained by his comrades and pulled away from Zack.

Keith was still breathing heavily, but he was being held down by several people from his clan. In that state, Keith's comrades were apologizing to Zack.

Seeing that, Zack took a deep breath and then spoke.

"Ah, that surprised me. What's with being able to lunge at an assassin? Right, the countermeasure. You use a neutralizer."

"A neutralizer?"

"Yeah. You use a neutralizer on the target item. Then the decay bad status disappears. But you can only use it on equipment, not on food or medicine. Those become useless once they're affected."

Hayato was happy to have gotten the information he wanted, but the problem still remained.

"How do you get that neutralizer?"

Zack shook his head from side to side.

"I don't know that. It's just written in the skill description, but I don't have one. Can't you make one, Hayato?"

"No, I can't make that either…"

Hayato wondered what to do, but that was resolved by Rose's words.

"If it's how to obtain a neutralizer, I believe the Maid Chief knows."

"The Maid Chief-san?"

"The Maid Chief loves cleaning and her hobby is collecting good detergents. I was shown them before, and I feel like there was an item called a neutralizer among them."

"Cleaning in the normal sense, right?"

Rose just smiled at Hayato's question.

The Maid Chief had the nickname 'Sweeper.' It meant 'cleaner,' but Hayato had heard that the target was not just garbage, but also people. In any case, Hayato summarized the conversation so far in his head.

(Decay of weapons and armor, so corrosion, which means rust. The appearance of the equipment doesn't change, but it's probably treated that way. So, the mechanism is that a neutralizer can be used to remove the rust. But why rust from a poison skill? And the decay of food and medicine seems different…)

He had many questions, and normally there would be many different types of neutralizers, but this was virtual reality. He felt that this was also a game-like specification and that a single neutralizer could solve everything.

Hayato nodded to Rose and then contacted the Maid Chief, who was inside Abaddon, via voice chat.

"Maid Chief-san, it's Hayato. Is this a good time?"

"Hayato-sama, this is rare, what is-- could it be Esha? I understand, I will dispose of her immediately."

"No, no, I don't know what you imagined, but Esha has nothing to do with it. She's currently poised to dispose of the enemies that have come out near the entrance outside, so please rest assured."

Inside Abaddon, there were wide open spaces, but most of the battles would be in narrow places. Esha was strong in close combat, but her combat power would drop significantly in narrow places, so this time she would only be on intercept duty on the surface. She was currently on standby with Ren and the others at one of the entrances to Abaddon.

"That is unfortunate. Then what can I do for you?"

Hayato thought, "It's unfortunate?" but didn't say it out loud and asked his original purpose.

"Do you have an item called a neutralizer?"

"Of course I do. Cleaning is a maid's virtue. I also have a rare item called the 'Stardust Duster' that instantly restores the dullness of furniture, and it is my pride and joy--"

"We can talk about that later. I'm sorry, but could I have the neutralizer?"

"That is fine, but could you please tell me the details?"

Hayato explained the situation in brief. He had already told her about the equipment's decay, so just by telling her that a neutralizer could nullify it, the Maid Chief seemed to understand.

"So that was it. Then, I will return immediately. However--"

"Is there something that concerns you?"

"I do have neutralizers, but I have few on hand. I doubt they will be enough for everyone's weapons and armor."

"There is that…"

They were currently in the middle of an event battle, and the only items they could bring in were those in their item bags. If they were to bring in a large amount of food and medicine, they couldn't bring a large amount of unnecessary things. Especially this time, they had brought sub-equipment in anticipation of a long battle, so their item bags were more packed than usual. The fact that she had brought a neutralizer, which until now could only be used for cleaning, to this place was a miracle.

He wondered what to do, but then a voice message from the Maid Chief continued.

"Hayato-sama, do you have any citrus fruits, such as lemons?"

"Eh? Yes, I have some. I have a large amount of ingredients for making sweets, but why?"

"You can make a neutralizer with them, so I will deliver the recipe now. I will be there shortly, so please wait a moment."

Immediately after those words from the Maid Chief arrived, the voice chat cut off.

(Citrus fruits... could the neutralizer be citric acid? I thought it was a more magical potion... well, whatever.)

Hayato pulled himself together and relayed the Maid Chief's words to the others.

"It seems we can make a neutralizer with citrus fruits. I think we'll need a lot, so people with cooking skills, no, alchemy skills. People with that skill over 100 or people who have ingredients, please gather-- huh? What's wrong?"

Most of the people in this place were watching Hayato from a distance and whispering to each other. Even Keith, who had been in such a panic, was now looking at Hayato with a surprised face, and only Noat and the others were acting normally.

"Well, I was just thinking again how glad I am that Hayato isn't an enemy."

Jolt approached, laughing, but Hayato had no idea what he was talking about. He tilted his head and looked around.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't just solve a first-time trouble so easily, can you? If I were in the position of the enemy who did this, I'd be stamping my feet in frustration."

"Ah, that. But I haven't done anything. I just listened to everyone and made a request. I'm confident about making the neutralizer, though."

"That's what's amazing. Having a lot of people who will listen to your requests is a pretty big deal in itself, you know."

To Hayato, it was just a matter of 'is that so?'. But he was grateful that he was blessed with good companions.

Just as he thought that, the Maid Chief arrived in front of Hayato with Shukuchi.

The surrounding players flinched, but Hayato, being used to it, was not surprised.

"Thank you for waiting."

The Maid Chief took out the neutralizer. She also handed Hayato a piece of paper.

"Hayato-sama, this is the recipe for the neutralizer. Normally, I only give it to those who have worked part-time at the Maid Guild for a month, but this time is special. Everyone, please take one."

"Thank you very much."

Hayato and the production players thanked her and received the recipe. Everyone who received it immediately looked at it, but then frowned. The items used were three citrus fruits. The type didn't matter, it was a simple recipe. However, it required two skills.

"Does this mean you need both cooking and alchemy skills?"

"Yes, you will need a skill of about 50 in both. However, even so, it will only result in the lowest quality. To make the highest quality, five stars, I believe you will need 100 in both. By the way, if you make a five-star one, could I have one later? With this, Gil-sama's armor...!"

"I understand, but please be careful, your feelings are showing in the latter half."

Hayato said so, then decided to test what would happen if he used a low-quality one. They decided to use the armor that Imperial had been using and had not yet returned to materials, and Rauxal gave his permission, saying it was fine.

Hayato, who had both cooking and alchemy skills at 200, created the highest quality neutralizer, asked another player to make the lowest quality neutralizer, and decided to use the one the Maid Chief had for the three-star neutralizer.

As a result, it was found that with low quality, even if the 'Decay' status was fixed, the upper limit of the durability would be significantly lowered. With three stars, it was fixed normally, but it only fixed the decay status and did not restore the lost durability. The highest quality one that Hayato made not only fixed the 'Decay' status, but also restored the durability that had been lost and even added a 'Preservation' status. It had a limit of only being effective for one week, but it was quite something.

In that case, there was no choice but to use the highest quality, five-star one. However, currently only Hayato and a few other players could make it. And they would need a considerable number of them.

"Let's have those who can make it split up and make them. If we don't fix them by today, the rare items will break, and it'll be bad if we get hit again tonight, so let's mass-produce them."

At Hayato's words, the production players raised a spirited cry. It was a rare sight, but it was probably that their artisan spirit had been ignited. And so, mass production began immediately, but in just a few minutes, Hayato once again became the center of attention. Hayato's production speed was unbelievably fast, and he was creating items at two to three times the speed of the other production players. The production team of Bandit had seen it on the floating island, so they were not as shocked, but the production players of the other major clans showed surprised expressions. The production players here were the ones who undertook the production for the major clans, and they themselves were considerable veterans. Even so, they were surprised at Hayato's production speed. Everyone who witnessed it once again thought, just as Jolt had said, "I'm glad he's not an enemy."