kscans

Chapter 425 - The Hyakki Yakou Event

Saturday night had arrived.

Tonight, in Azuma, the capital of the Eastern Country, a Stampede known as the Hyakki Yakou would occur.

The Eastern Country had many unique monsters, and they were called yokai. Even though they were called yokai, they each had their own racial types, and the system was such that one of these types would attack.

It was usually the oni-type, followed by animal-type yokai, and sometimes a hydra-like multi-headed snake called Yamata no Orochi would come. It was not known what would come today, but all they could do was fight with all their might.

Parfait had a reason she had to win. It was the special rule of the Maid Guild in Azuma. If they survived the Stampede safely, a thirty-minute limited all-you-can-eat sweets event would be held.

Eating sweets at night was an act that feared not even the gods. But in virtual reality, there was no problem at all. In fact, Parfait seriously thought that there were only benefits.

In a battle with monsters, real-world strength was basically not very relevant. For that reason, she had devoted herself to leveling up her skills for this day. Even so, she couldn't reach the level of players who had been playing for years, but she prided herself on having become as strong as she possibly could.

She had also obtained titles like "Apprentice Maid" and "Yokai Killer," as well as "Samurai Apprentice" and "Sniper Apprentice." In addition, she had unintentionally obtained the titles "Infinite Stomach" and "Incarnation of Sweet Tooths," so her stats had also improved accordingly.

(I've gotten quite a few titles, and I've prepared my recovery items. I probably won't be able to beat a boss-level monster, but I can handle the small fry!)

Parfait thought this as she waited for the time to come.

Around her were many players who also belonged to the Maid Guild. She had heard that there were many clans that always came to this Stampede, and that most of them belonged to the Maid Guild.

Among them, the clans that were said to be strong were the "Knights of Sweets," "The Gluttony," and "Sweets are Justice." Each of them was a clan with over a hundred members, and it was said that most of them were composed of women.

From her surroundings, she could hear spirited voices like, "We're gonna eat!", "Think of yokai as sweets!", "No, as fat!", and "Calories are zero in virtual reality!"

There were also clans that were not related to the Maid Guild but participated in the Stampede every time. Clans like "Sixth Heaven Demon King," "Kurikara," and "Cats are God" were said to be famous, and they had been contributing every week.

(This feels like a festival, it looks fun. I wish Natsu-chan and the others could log in soon.)

Although they were in the same school year, her friends who hadn't had their birthdays yet still couldn't log in. It was only a few more weeks, but it felt a little frustrating that she couldn't share something this fun.

However, thankfully, when she invited Abel and the others, she had received a reply that they would play. Their birthdays were still a while away, but it seemed they would log in and join the same clan. They wouldn't be able to log in every day, but that was more than enough.

As she was thinking that she had to build a proper base, a woman approached Parfait.

"Are you the ranker, Parfait-san?"

"Huh? Um...?"

"Ah, I'm sorry for being so sudden. I'm Balbara of the Knights of Sweets. I'm a ranker too."

Parfait looked at Balbara.

She was a woman in her early twenties, clad in red armor. Her red hair was braided and styled up in the same way, and from the sword and shield she was holding, it seemed she was role-playing as a knight.

(She has a sort of older sister feel. She seems like she could do a job like a secretary. Ginny-chan's mother is Mikan-san's secretary, but she's like this.)

"I saw your video. You're really strong, aren't you?"

"I just happened to win."

"No one would say that was a coincidence. You were clearly winning with skill."

It was true that he wasn't a very strong opponent. However, that was like a surprise attack. If he had known her strength, he would have changed his tactics. It was a strategy that was only possible because he was clearly looking down on Parfait.

It could be said that not being able to see through that was a weakness, but Parfait's thought was that there were probably very few people who would look at her and think she was strong.

That aside, Parfait was a little wary, wondering what her business was.

She couldn't imagine being asked for a PvP match in this place. If that was the case, she would be in trouble if she was recruited, just as Rose had told her. She had made her own clan, and had set the system so that she would decline clan invitations, so she thought she would be fine, but Parfait was a little hesitant.

Balbara seemed to have understood that, and she smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to fight or to join my clan. I just spoke to you because you were a celebrity."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, and I also wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

She didn't remember doing anything, but Parfait wondered if she had some connection with that axe man.

"Ranker vs. ranker battles were not very common, but since that video came out, the number of battles has increased more than before."

"Is that so?"

"There are various ways people who saw that thought about it, but a trend started where it was uncool to run away to maintain your rank. You see, that man fought you, who looked extremely weak, right? The result was what it was, but it started a trend where people questioned whether it was okay for a ranker to only fight opponents they could win against."

All Parfait could say was, "I see," but it seemed to be a very good thing for Balbara.

"Thanks to that, I've been able to fight against higher rankers, and I've also been challenged by lower ones. This is how it should be!"

Contrary to her appearance, she seemed to like fighting. Her mother was a prime example, and most of the women she knew were belligerent, so it wasn't particularly strange.

"If we ever fight, please go easy on me then."

"Yes, I'll be in your care then."

Balbara smiled back, waved her hand, and returned.

(A ranker, huh. I didn't hear her rank, but she seemed strong...)

It wasn't that she saw it often, but people who did some kind of martial art had a slightly different way of placing their center of gravity. From Parfait's perspective, Balbara also seemed a little different.

Benitsuru would probably see through her opponent's strength immediately, but Parfait wasn't at that level yet. It was just a feeling of, "She seems strong."

Parfait also had a desire to fight against strong people other than Benitsuru and her masters. In reality, the only ones doing martial arts were Chris, who was learning boxing, and Abel, who was working hard at his acting career. The others were normal.

She was just at a point where she wanted to know how strong she was.

As she was thinking about such things, the sound of a bell ringing echoed around her.

"A Hyakki Yakou has occurred in the capital, Azuma. The Golden-Haired, White-Faced Nine-Tailed Tamamo-no-Mae has begun its invasion. Please engage and repel it. I repeat—"

Furthermore, when a world announcement was heard, black clouds covered the clear sky, and the sound of thunder began to echo. From within those clouds, a fox with nine tails and a total length of about twenty meters descended.

That fox let out a single cry of "Kon," and yokai appeared on the ground. Then, voices also rose from the players.

"A rare yokai has come!"

"Get a video, get a video!"

"I'm going to tame the Nekomata, so don't kill them!"

"Defend the sweets to the death!"

The players launched their attacks against the yokai that had appeared. The heat of the moment was transmitted to Parfait, even though it was virtual reality.

(I can't cut a fluffy...! Oh, I can take on that frog.)

She could cut any oni, but she couldn't cut animal-type yokai. Parfait had such a restriction, but since she was a beginner in the first place, she didn't think she could contribute that much, so she would defeat weak yokai that would be overlooked by everyone.

However, that aside, it was the first time she had seen the fighting style of a large clan, so she was often captivated by that.

Basically, the entire clan was just attacking the same enemy, but sometimes a command was issued, and everyone responded to it.

(A flashy magic spell is being used as a signal. When they use a fire spell, everyone switches to fire-type attacks, or something like that.)

In such a noisy situation, there was a possibility of missing a voice chat. So, she thought they were using visually flashy magic to switch their general tactics.

It was unclear whether that was effective or not, but they were definitely pushing, so she thought their raw combat power was probably high. Just then, Tamamo-no-Mae began to attack with lightning.

This seemed to do a lot of damage, and everyone was requesting support from healing magic. Since Parfait's stats made it dangerous, she left the area and headed towards the Maid Guild.

Her goal was to prevent the Maid Guild from being destroyed. Tamamo-no-Mae was a fluffy fox-type, so she couldn't attack it. In that case, she had taken a picture, and she moved to protect the Maid Guild.

After defeating several yokai and arriving at the building, there were several other players protecting the Maid Guild in the same way.

The problem was that the yokai attacking the building seemed strong. They seemed to be pushed back here, and the building's HP had been reduced by nearly half.

Probably the main forces had gone towards Tamamo-no-Mae, and the defense of the building was being handled by the second and third string forces.

Seeing that, Parfait got a little angry.

She suddenly started running and launched an attack on the yokai attacking the building—a Kappa.

"Dossei!"

An attack that she hadn't learned from Benitsuru, swinging her katana while running, made a clean hit on the Kappa, and whether it was because a knockback had occurred, she sent it flying with great force.

As cheers rose from the surroundings, calls like "Keep it up!", "Protect the sweets!", "Justice is with us!", and "Break the plates on their heads!" also rose, and they launched their attacks on the surrounding Kappa.

The tide, which had been pushed back, turned, and they defeated the surrounding Kappa. Since her stats wouldn't suddenly increase, Parfait thought that this kind of thing was all about tension, and she defeated the Kappa just like everyone else.

And when they defeated the last one, everyone raised a victory cry.

At almost the same time, an announcement flowed.

"The subjugation of the Golden-Haired, White-Faced Nine-Tailed Tamamo-no-Mae has been successful. Items will be given to the participants of the Hyakki Yakou according to their contribution. I repeat—"

Perhaps because the way of fighting had been established, the battle ended in about twenty minutes. And from the surroundings, many voices rose.

"The Killing Stone is here!"

"A... a Kappa's plate..."

"The Nekomata didn't work out this time either...!"

"The Ninja Guild is broken again!"

"Alright, I'll treat the maids to some sweets!"

"It's free!"

Apparently, there were some lines that were said every time, and everyone was saying them happily. Thinking that it was a kind of stylized beauty, the previous Balbara approached Parfait.

"I thought I couldn't see you, so you were defending here."

"Since I'm a beginner, I can't fight the boss after all."

She didn't say that she couldn't cut a fluffy. That was a weakness, after all.

"That's true. If you'd like, why don't we eat some sweets together? I think I can teach you a few things about the game. Of course, I won't force you to join a clan or anything."

"Um, well then, please do."

Parfait bowed her head, and Balbara laughed and said, "Don't be so formal."

And then, maids came out of the Maid Guild building and set up tables, and began to line up sweets.

"For those belonging to the Maid Guild, we will be providing sweets for a limited time of thirty minutes! Items with a limited number are first-come, first-served, but please line up in order to receive them!"

She thought there were this many people belonging to the Maid Guild, but they were lining up properly to receive them.

"Let's hurry. The Snow Moon Flower Manju here is on a level where you'll regret it if you don't eat it."

"Then I must eat it...!"

And so, Parfait enjoyed her first event and the all-you-can-eat sweets.