kscans

Chapter 440 - Special Quest

Parfait and her friends were participating in the Hyakki Yakou, the Stampede of the Eastern Country.

While they still couldn't contribute much, the Hyakki Yakou event, where a wide range of monsters from weak to strong attacked, was perfect for leveling up their skills.

Various factors influenced the amount of skill experience gained, but for combat skills, the enemy's strength had a significant impact. They would lose if they fought normally, but during a Stampede, they could cooperate with other clans, allowing them to fight stronger monsters than usual.

So, Rick and Ginny, who had only recently been able to log in, were working hard to raise their skills, and Parfait, Natsu, and Chris were also fighting formidable enemies in search of more skill experience.

Today's boss monsters were a pair, Fujin and Raijin. Facing those two directly was not just difficult but dangerous, so they were taking on a different, moderately strong monster.

Their opponent was a yokai called a Raiju, a large weasel-like creature wreathed in lightning. It was a borderline case for Parfait, but she decided, "I don't think it's fluffy," and was able to attack it.

"Dossei!"

"Fuhaha, fear the power of darkness!"

"Shih!"

The three of them, Parfait, Natsu, and Chris, attacked all at once. Parfait's sword, Natsu's necromancy, and Chris's martial arts, even with all three attacking simultaneously, the Raiju did not turn on them.

Taking the brunt of the attacks was Balbara from the clan "Knights of Sweets." Other members of her clan were also attacking the Raiju, but the creature paid them no mind, focusing its attacks solely on Balbara.

Balbara was equipped with red armor, a sword, and a shield, and she used weapon skills to draw the Raiju's attacks. She was skilled at managing hate, and no matter how much damage someone else dealt, the Raiju's target never wavered.

And a few minutes later, the battle was over.

The Raiju fell, having targeted Balbara from beginning to end. It was an unexciting fight, if you had to describe it, but from the perspective of a safe and secure battle, it was a perfect one hundred.

"Thank you, Balbara-san."

"Don't worry about it. We're all allies during a Stampede."

Balbara smiled and replied to Parfait's thanks as if it were nothing. She didn't seem to mind at all, and the members of the Knights of Sweets just cheerfully praised Parfait and her friends, saying things like "Amazing," "You're good," and "It's nice to be young!"

However, most of the members of the all-female Knights of Sweets, including Balbara, were glancing over at Rick.

During battle, Rick wasn't wearing his butler uniform but the silver armor he had inherited from his mother, Miliara. He was wearing a helmet now, so his face wasn't visible, but he hadn't been wearing it at first.

They had seen his face then, and Parfait had faintly heard the words "Ashley-sama." Rick must have heard it too, as he had quickly put on his helmet after that.

"Parfait-chan, can I have a word?"

"Yes, what is it?"

Balbara used to call her Parfait-san, but after fighting together in several Stampedes, it had changed to "Parfait-chan." That same Balbara leaned in close to Parfait and whispered.

"That boy in the silver armor, he's an acquaintance of yours, right?"

"Yes. We know each other in real life too."

"…I have a tiny favor to ask of you."

"…Is it something like you want him to take off his helmet, or wear his butler uniform?"

"I knew it!? That's right, isn't it!?"

Parfait guessed that she was probably a devoted reader of Heart-Pounding Pandemonium. She already knew from Ginny that the character named Ashley in that manga looked like Rick.

(Rick-kun is such a heartbreaker, driving even a woman like her wild…)

She probably wasn't actually going wild, but her gaze was a little scary. Parfait figured that Rick understood that, which was why he wasn't taking off his helmet.

She couldn't sell out her friend, so she politely declined Balbara's proposal. Abel, who aspired to be an actor, might do anything for fan service, but she judged that it would be difficult for Rick, who was just a regular person.

Balbara and several other members walked away looking quite dejected, but they weren't angry. They were heading off to fight Raijin and Fujin.

"Rick-kun, I didn't sell out my friend."

"I appreciate it. By the way, is that Doki-something famous? I don't hear anything about it at school, so I thought it was just something Ginny was into."

"It's a manga that's sold over a million copies. There's talk of an anime adaptation too. I think there are a lot of girls at school who think the same way but just don't say it. The reason you don't hear anything is probably because of Abel-kun."

"So Abel is a convenient lightning rod for me. I'll treat him to some ramen next time…"

"You should treat him at our shop."

Though dejected, Rick seemed to have sworn a silent oath never to take off his helmet outside of their base.

Ginny, who would normally jump into a topic like this, showed no reaction, which Parfait found strange. Natsu must have thought the same, as she was talking to Ginny.

"My friend Ginny. Are you feeling unwell? You cannot master the dark side in such a state."

"It's not that I'm sick, but I'm having a little trouble keeping food down…"

"Ah, about the rival character getting done in."

"I, I'm fine! Only his broken glasses were left in the final panel! That's a flag! A death without a body isn't a death! He'll definitely be back for the final battle! His glasses will be resurrected too!"

Ginny grabbed Natsu's shoulders with both hands and shook her back and forth.

"I get it, so stop shaking me. But why the glasses?"

"Listen, a character with glasses won't die even if they betray someone! This is an immutable law that has been passed down since ancient times!"

Parfait wondered if such a law existed, but decided it didn't really matter and shifted her focus. Most of the monsters in the Stampede had been defeated, and the Maid Guild was secure. All that was left was to defeat Fujin and Raijin.

It would be tough to participate in that fight, so they would just watch from a distance, but that too would probably be over soon. Many major clans were participating in the Hyakki Yakou.

Just as Parfait predicted, a world announcement came five minutes later.

"The Heavenly Disaster, Fujin and Raijin, have been successfully subjugated. Participants of the Hyakki Yakou will be granted items according to their contribution. I repeat—"

And an item appeared in her item bag. Parfait was hopeful, but also told herself she probably wouldn't get anything that good, as she checked it.

"A silver statue of Raijin… a sellable item, huh. I guess I won't get anything good unless I contribute more."

"Same here. Well, it's still a good item. What about everyone else?"

As Rick said that, everyone checked their item bags.

"I got a silver statue of Fujin."

"I got a bronze statue of Fujin."

Chris and Ginny answered, and finally, it was Natsu's turn. For some reason, Natsu was frowning at her item bag.

"An electric eel…? I wonder why there is a note saying it is not an ingredient? I quite like kabayaki."

"Isn't that used to make some kind of electric weapon? It's a pretty rare material."

"I'd like an electric gun… like a railgun."

"I wonder if there are any weapons that break the world's setting that much?"

Having guns at all already broke the world's setting quite a bit, but Parfait thought there probably weren't any guns that ran on electricity. For now, she was happy to have gotten a rare item, so they decided to keep it at their base instead of selling it.

And now for the post-Hyakki Yakou fun. This benefit was only for Parfait, who belonged to the Maid Guild, but they all decided to head to the Maid Guild together.

But for some reason, it lacked its usual energy, and some people were sitting on the ground. And their faces wore expressions of despair. Wondering what had happened, they approached the Maid Guild, where a staff maid looked apologetic.

"We are very sorry! Due to the current soaring prices of ingredients, there will be no all-you-can-eat sweets! Sweets are limited to one per person!"

Hearing this, Parfait collapsed to her knees. She placed both hands on the ground.

It was true that the Maid Guild had been busy lately, and the daily sweets had changed from the elaborate ones of before to simpler ones. The effects of that had finally reached the weekly delight of all-you-can-eat sweets.

She could hear voices from those around her.

"What am I supposed to live for now…"

"I was enduring my real-life diet because of this…"

"This is the work of a demon…"

"Let the world end…"

There were some dangerous lines, but many players looked forward to this. In the first place, most of the clans participating in the Hyakki Yakou event belonged to the Maid Guild, so the damage was immense.

"Hey, Chris-chan…"

"Are you all right, Parfait? You look like the world is ending tomorrow."

"Who do I have to cut down for the world to be at peace…?"

"I do not think cutting anyone down will solve anything, but this is interesting. Even though it is an event, for the value of ingredients to rise and cause something like this. This would be impossible in a normal game."

"…Right, the root of all evil is Diite-oneechan, who planned this event…"

Everyone calmed Parfait down, telling her that couldn't possibly be true.

The grudge over food is a scary thing, even in a virtual space. Everyone but Parfait realized this, but the lack of light in Parfait's eyes was a little frightening. Why that was reflected in virtual reality was also a scary thing.

For now, Parfait received just one sweet. It was a cream puff, but it felt smaller than usual. Of course, it was just her imagination, but Parfait ate the cream puff as if it were precious.

It was delicious, but Parfait ate the cream puff listlessly. She felt a sense of melancholy as the cream puff disappeared with each bite.

In the midst of this, a commotion started around them.

"Which clan bought everything up!?"

"Unforgivable! I won't forgive them!"

"Let's raid them!"

"It's Armageddon!"

The players were making rather extreme statements, but their eyes were serious. However, those voices gradually died down. Even if there was a hoarding of ingredients and subsequent price hikes, they couldn't just go and steal it.

And Balbara, who had looked so dignified during the battle, must have realized there was no all-you-can-eat sweets, as she staggered toward Parfait like a zombie.

"Parfait-chan, are you alive…?"

"Even if I'm alive, isn't this hell…?"

"I know. It's tough, isn't it… I have some good news for you, Parfait-chan, or rather, a good job. Care to join in?"

"What kind of job is it?"

"Actually, we've identified the clan that's hoarding the food, and we're planning to raid them and take the food."

"Huh? But that kind of player-versus-player combat isn't possible, is it?"

There was individual player-versus-player combat. There was also clan-versus-clan combat. But that was done with mutual consent, and the only time one side could attack without permission was in a territory dispute, which wasn't normally possible. And there was no way the other side would wager their food at a time like this.

"Well, you see, the clan that's hoarding the ingredients isn't run by players, but by staff. There's a rule that allows us to attack staff-run clans through a special guild quest."

What kind of rule is that, was Parfait's impression. In the first place, she thought that organizations run by staff were guilds. When she asked for details, it seemed there were various organizations run by staff other than guilds, and you could always fight them.

"The person who came up with the idea is the Maid Guild's guild master, and she's looking for members, so if the schedule works for you, please join."

Balbara said that, then glanced at Rick for a moment before leaving.

The guild master of the Maid Guild was, without a doubt, the assassination-loving Rose. If Rose was the one who proposed it, she thought she might as well join.

Due to the event, the soaring ingredient prices had hit Parfait and her friends hard as well. If they could solve it with force, she would be grateful. Her thinking was like a bandit's, but it couldn't be helped.

Parfait explained the plan to attack the clan run by the game staff to everyone, and they decided to check the details at the Maid Guild building.

Just as Balbara had said, there was a special quest on the bulletin board to attack a certain clan on a specified date. It seemed that even those who didn't belong to the Maid Guild could participate, and the ingredients obtained would be split evenly between the Maid Guild and the clan.

"It seems there's no demerit even if we lose. In that case, I think we can participate."

Everyone nodded at Rick's words.

"But it is interesting that an AFO staff clan is hoarding. Could it be that this is also part of the event?"

"It's possible. Um, what's the name of the clan?"

Parfait checked the name of the opposing clan and said it out loud so everyone could hear.

"The clan name is Shooting Star. The clan leader is… a person named Ronios-san."

"…Hm?"

Rick made a questioning sound. He stared intently at the information written on the bulletin board.

"No, it must be a coincidence, right…?"

"Rick-kun, what's wrong?"

"No, I thought I knew someone with that name, but it's probably just my imagination. I don't think that person would have time to be doing something like this. Though her personality is the type to do it."

"Hmm? There are lots of people with the same name. Well then, let's all accept the quest! We'll steal the ingredients and complete our event dishes! And, with the Maid Guild's ingredients restocked, all-you-can-eat will be mine!"

Everyone except Rick responded to Parfait's words with a cheer of "Oh," but Rick alone just crossed his arms, tilted his head, and stared at the bulletin board.