kscans

Chapter 424 - The Eastern Country and Its Unique Rules

Parfait was traveling towards Azuma, the capital of the Eastern Country.

For long-distance travel, it was also possible to use a carriage or an airship, but that required a certain level of contribution, which was not available to beginners. Contribution was a kind of recognition that you could get every time you did things like quests.

Parfait was already famous, but that was just in a practical sense. In terms of the game, she had done almost nothing, so she had no contribution points.

Also, there was a teleportation device in the capital that allowed for instant travel, but there was a restriction that you could only teleport to places you had been to before.

Since Parfait couldn't use any of these travel methods, she was traveling on foot. It wasn't particularly tiring, so she walked east through the vast field at her own pace.

A dark forest where you couldn't see the end, a lake that seemed to stretch to the horizon, a landmass floating in the sky, and animals she had never seen before running around.

Parfait was fully enjoying the scenery that would be impossible in reality.

(This is amazing. I hear that the Earth is gradually being redeveloped, but it's still mostly a wilderness, and this virtual reality is more amazing.)

Parfait had also been to Earth several times and seen the outside of the survival areas called domes. The driver was a woman who shouted "Hyahha," but she had seen the scenery with her parents from inside that person's tour bus.

The scenery she saw at that time had also made her heart tremble in many ways. A mere wilderness as far as the eye could see, a land where there were no living things, a situation that made her think she wouldn't be able to return alive if she got lost. As a child, she had been scared by it.

But she heard that green was gradually returning to such places. The ones doing that were Lunaria, Ney, and the others, and it was being funded by the sales of AFO.

(Lunaria-oneechan is amazing, but the great thing about her is that she doesn't seem amazing. She sometimes asks me if I want to be her successor, but my father and mother strongly refuse. I wonder what she's talking about?)

As she was thinking about such things while walking freely, Parfait's thoughts shifted to her friends.

(Natsu-chan said she wanted to be an evil female executive who uses dual pistols for close-quarters combat. I hear that pistol-type equipment is rare, but I wonder if I can find some? Chris-chan wanted to be a close-quarters combat maid, I think. She said something about inheriting a weapon from Silva-san, so I probably don't need to prepare one for her...)

Parfait had been asked not only to find a place to build the clan's base, but also to prepare weapons and armor so they could play right away. As long as it wasn't anything too expensive, she thought she could get them right away, and she wrote down the necessary things in her mental notepad.

However, she started to think that it would be bad for the balance if everyone was a close-quarters fighter, and that they would want a healer, a long-range attacker, and also a tank.

(Will Abel-kun play AFO? His acting job seemed busy, so I didn't invite him. Then there's Rick-kun or Ginny-chan... I don't think either of them is interested in games...)

It wasn't as if all her friends would play games. Her parents were definitely playing AFO, but the children themselves didn't seem to be very interested.

Abel was working hard at his acting career, Rick was interested in starting a business, and Ginny was obsessed with something like demon summoning. Since it seemed like they didn't have time to play games, Parfait hadn't invited them, but she also thought that if they were going to play, she would want to stick with people she knew.

(Maybe I'll just try inviting them... hmm?)

As she was walking while thinking, there was something in front of her.

It was humanoid, short, with green skin, and holding a wooden club. It was a bit stylized, but it was definitely a goblin.

When the goblin found Parfait, it came towards her.

Thinking it was her first battle, Parfait held the Beelzebub 666 Replica P-Custom in its sheathed state in her left hand.

(Come to think of it, a stance that looks full of openings is meaningless against a monster's AI, isn't it?)

A monster would attack whether there was an opening or not. There was no need to deliberately create an opening and let it attack there.

Parfait lowered her hips slightly and took the Stance of the Thunder God.

The goblin raised its club to attack.

At that moment, she swung her katana.

Whether it was defeated in one blow or not, the goblin disappeared in a game-like effect, turning into particles of light.

And a drop item entered Parfait's item bag. It was an item called a Goblin's Fang.

(So goblins are the weakest among monsters... If they're this strong, it shouldn't be a problem... Huh?)

After defeating the goblin, something else was running towards her from further ahead.

One of them was a player, but behind that person was a large number of monsters.

"Sorry! Train! Run!"

Parfait understood just from that.

A train was when you brought a large number of monsters with you, and it was also called a monster train. Apparently, it was called that because the monsters lined up like a train, but Parfait didn't really know for sure.

A monster train was not a commendable act. If a large number of monsters attacked, the place would be in chaos. If a large army came to a place where people were hunting at an appropriate strength for that area, they would have no choice but to run away.

Sometimes there were unusually strong players, but that was rare. And right now, there were no such strong players in this place.

But Parfait was a little excited about the situation.

(If I don't get tired, I can hunt as much as I want!?)

The goblin she had just defeated had left her feeling unfulfilled. And then, a large number of goblins. Parfait readied her weapon, thinking she had to do this.

As a preemptive strike, she changed her Beelzebub into a gun and started shooting like crazy. With this many, she thought she would hit something no matter where she shot, and she continued to shoot without taking any particular aim.

(My Sniping Skill is leveling up like crazy, but I'm not in the Assassin Maid course, am I...?)

She couldn't deny the possibility that her course had been changed without her knowledge, but she decided to trust Rose that she wouldn't go that far. And she remembered hearing that skill experience was boosted right after starting.

When she ran out of ammo, she changed her weapon back to a katana.

And she cut down the goblin in the lead with a drawing slash.

(Of course, the other goblins don't flinch. Alright, continuous slashes!)

Parfait grinned and unleashed the continuous drawing slashes she had shown in the player battle.

No matter how many of them were defeated, the goblins stubbornly came towards her, and they continued to disappear, turning into particles of light without stopping.

"Last one!"

A little hyped up, Parfait cut down the last goblin with a drawing slash, and at the end, she twirled her katana before returning it to its sheath. As the kachin sound rang out, Parfait struck a cool pose.

Doing it even when no one was watching was something Benitsuru had taught her, emphatically stating that the drawing slash was all about coolness.

She didn't know how many goblins there had been, but her item bag contained over 100 Goblin's Fangs, and an item that was probably a rare item, a Goblin's Flute. It was conveniently explained as an item for selling.

Immediately after confirming that, an announcement echoed in Parfait's head.

"Congratulations. You have obtained the title of Goblin Killer. I repeat—"

(A title. I wonder if I can get it by defeating a lot of goblins?)

Parfait thought this way as she checked her titles from the system menu.

'Goblin Killer: Defeat 100 goblins within ten minutes. Effect: STR+1, Damage to goblins 5% Up'

Her only thought was that she had defeated that many in ten minutes, but she was happy that her stats had also improved with the title, and that her swordsmanship skill had also gone up.

Thinking that she might be able to raise her skills even more, she looked around.

She met the eyes of a wolf that had come out of a forest in the distance.

Parfait's eyes widened for a moment, and then she immediately displayed the system menu and pressed the save image button. Immediately after, she ran away.

(Got a fluffy picture! But I can't cut that one! I have to run!)

Just as her friend Natsu had fallen to the dark side, Parfait had fallen to fluffy supremacism. She had a soft spot for cute animals like dogs and cats, and others as well. She could cut people, but she couldn't cut animals. That was Parfait.

(Such a lovely coat...! I hope I can tame a child like that someday.)

After running a certain distance, she had enough composure to think such things.

She thought there would probably be a Tamer Guild in the Eastern Country as well, so she decided to ask about various things there, and Parfait continued to run towards the Eastern Country.

In the game, a day seemed to end in an hour. After about two days in the game, which was about two hours in reality, Parfait arrived at Azuma, the capital of the Eastern Country.

The Eastern Country had its own unique culture. Parfait wasn't familiar with it, but apparently it had existed on Earth a long, long time ago, and things like samurai, ninja, and sukiyaki were famous.

(My father, Master Benny, and also Teacher Simon and Suien-oneechan are said to have that country's nationality, but samurai and ninja are fiction, right? But sukiyaki is delicious.)

Benitsuru had told her, "Samurai did exist!" but the content of what she heard was so exaggerated that she couldn't really trust it. In the first place, her reference material was old movies.

Parfait walked through the capital, Azuma, while thinking about such things.

There were many buildings of a completely different style from the Royal Capital Anhemudal. The Royal Capital was mainstream with buildings made of brick, but here, the framework of the houses was wooden and the walls were made of earth. The shops were basically left open with no doors, and were only separated by a cloth called a noren.

The residents who looked like staff were wearing kimonos or yukatas, and it was very colorful. In reality, Benitsuru wore a kimono, but sometimes Simon also wore one.

When she asked if her equipment in AFO was like that, Simon held her head for some reason. And she had a distant look in her eyes.

Apparently, she had been walking around in an outfit that could be called her dark history, and everyone was saying that they shouldn't touch upon it.

(I wonder what kind of outfit the usually dignified Teacher Simon wore?)

She was curious about that, but first she decided to do what she needed to do and walked around the town.

She registered at the teleportation device, confirmed the location of the Tamer Guild, and after finishing all that, she entered the branch of the Maid Guild.

She had already received her login bonus-like sweets for the day, but she was there to confirm the unique rules regarding the Eastern Country. She definitely wasn't there to check out the Eastern Country's sweets.

(Oh, a Japanese-style maid...! Is her true identity a kunoichi, a female ninja...?)

She wasn't sure if the term "Japanese-style maid" was correct, but there was a maid wearing a kimono and an apron. Furthermore, she was wearing a maid brim—a headband with frills—but it didn't look out of place.

And a kunoichi, which only women could become among ninjas. It was said that this kunoichi was the prototype for maids, but her true identity was unknown.

Partly because they belonged to the same Maid Guild, but also because Parfait was the hottest topic right now, the maid chief of this branch personally taught her.

The unique rule of the Eastern Country was that a Stampede called the Hyakki Yakou occurred regularly.

It occurred every Saturday night, but if a shop was destroyed during the defense, there was a penalty where that shop couldn't be used for a while.

As a player, she wouldn't be particularly troubled since she could use facilities if she went to another country. But for the staff, it would affect their salary a little, so they were desperate. A harsh situation awaited them where their staff allowance would be gone for a while if the shop was destroyed.

"At our branch, when we successfully defend against the Hyakki Yakou, we hold a thirty-minute limited all-you-can-eat sweets event for guild members."

"I will protect it with my life."

Since the Eastern Country had its own unique culture, the sweets were also different from the ones in the Royal Capital. Mitarashi dango, anmitsu, daigaku imo, dorayaki, onsen manju, ohagi... all of these were all-you-can-eat.

Parfait was fired up.

"By the way, our guild has a 'Kunoichi Maid Course.' How would you like it? It specializes in assassination."

"This gives me serious déjà vu. Are all the Maid Guild staff like this?"

"Now, just listen. Unlike the Assassin Maid course, your Throwing Skill will level up more easily instead of Sniping. Shuriken, you know, shuriken. You want to throw them, don't you?"

She certainly wanted to throw them, but she didn't want to join a course that specialized in assassination.

After turning down that invitation, Parfait sold off the Goblin's Fangs and the rare item, the Goblin's Flute, and with that money, she ordered the most expensive sweet, a five-star quality "Fujiyama Anmitsu."