kscans

Chapter 446 - Various Factions

The special quest "Operation Annihilate Shooting Star" ended without incident.

The leader, Ronios, was defeated. Or rather, she was scolded by the executives of the AFO steering committee, but very few people knew the circumstances. In any case, with their leader gone, the clan was in a state of collapse, the quest was a success, and the hoarded food supplies were divided among the participants.

As a result, the price of food dropped slightly, and the clans that had been monopolizing the supplies, realizing it would be bad not to sell them now, put them up for sale at a lower price. At the same time, large-scale agricultural clans provided a large amount of food, and prices began to stabilize in just one day.

More importantly, in the Eastern Country, the Maid Guild announced that they would resume the all-you-can-eat sweets buffet, so the in-game message boards were buzzing with excitement.

Parfait was happy about that too. She had also participated in the special quest and received food supplies, so she was doubly happy. She was thinking of making food for the event for a while, but another problem had arisen.

It was about Wilnel, as Ronios had requested. She had been asked to become her friend, and when Wilnel herself said "please," it was hard to refuse. There was no reason to refuse in the first place, but she was worried that Ronios would come along using Wilnel as an excuse.

Apparently, Ney and Jolth had warned Ronios herself, but it was unclear how effective that would be. And when she asked her father and mother about Ronios, they had very strange expressions. According to them, their assessment was, "She doesn’t mean any harm, but she’s a troublesome person," and dinner that night was very quiet.

However, her father, Hayato, seemed to have something on his mind, and it was decided that he would invite Ronios and Wilnel to the shop next time. It would be a problem if they kept showing up unannounced, but it would also be a problem if they plotted behind the scenes, so the idea was to let them relieve their stress periodically.

She had been asked to invite Wilnel herself if she felt like it, so Parfait logged in while thinking about when to invite her.

And Parfait was immediately surprised. Wilnel was gracefully having tea at their base.

"Wilnel-chan, welcome."

"Pardon the intrusion."

She was surprised that she was in their base cafe even though she was not a clan member, but when she asked, she was told that Ginny had let her into the clan.

Originally, Wilnel and Ginny had met as children, and even if they were not friends, they were acquaintances. Ginny had been happy that Wilnel remembered her and had immediately invited her to the clan.

"Was it okay to leave Shooting Star?"

"It’s not a problem. I didn’t belong to that clan in the first place. Ronios-sama stopped me."

She had been planning to put her in this clan from the start, Parfait thought, exasperated.

"By the way, Parfait-san, when did you start your sword training?"

"Tr, training?"

"I heard that you are learning Azuma-ryu sword style. I was also confident in my swordsmanship, but I was completely defeated, so I am very interested."

"I wonder when. I think I was six or seven. Benny-shishou, Benitsuru-san, always came to the shop, and she said she suddenly realized something and declared, ‘I’ll make you my successor!’"

"I see. I also started learning around that age, so I wonder if this is a matter of the teacher. I don’t think there is that much difference in our physical abilities, Parfait-san, so if there is a difference, it would be in our teachers’ instruction."

"I, I wonder?"

She had no way of answering that. However, she was impressed that questioning and analyzing various things was just like someone from a Foundation.

"Oh, that’s right. I apologize again for my rude remarks about Hayato-sama. I am truly sorry."

"Huh? About my dad? Oh, right, the thing about him using a dirty trick. I already received your apology for that, so don’t worry about it."

"It helps to hear you say that. Actually, I asked Ronios-sama again about the situation at that time. It seems that Hayato-sama cleverly used the game’s system to defeat Ronios-sama, who had just started the game at the time. That’s not a dirty trick, but a strategy, or rather, a splendid tactic that exploited the opponent’s weakness."

She did not know what to do with that analysis, but it was the first time she had heard that story. She had asked what kind of match it was, but he had been vague, saying, "I just happened to win." Apparently, her mother, Esha, had also been watching the fight at the time and had said with amusement that it was a fighting style befitting a production class player.

Setting aside the details of the battle, she wondered what had happened to make her father and Ronios fight. She tried to probe for a possible love triangle story, but that was apparently completely off the mark.

"By the way, was Ronios-san okay? Diite-oneechan took her away."

"She said she was severely scolded, but she seemed happy, saying that Ney-sama and the others are the only ones who will scold her. And it seems she said various things she wanted to say, so she won’t be playing the game for a while and will be dealing with things with Ney-sama and the others."

"Is that a good relationship…? But what do you mean by dealing with things?"

"The Foundations have many enemies. That’s what they’re dealing with."

"Enemies."

A line she had only heard in movies came out, and Parfait was a little taken aback, but she was also interested. She leaned forward slightly and looked at Wilnel.

"Can you tell me more about that?"

"I’m not sure how much I can tell you, Parfait-san, but the information I know should not be a problem. To put it simply…"

Wilnel began to explain.

In summary, many factions had formed in the real world, and some of them were hostile to the Foundations.

About twenty years ago, an organization that supervised the Foundations, the Zodiac Foundation, was established, and the power of the individual Foundations declined compared to before. Many people gained freedom, but the weakening of the Foundations’ control led to an increase in organizations with various ideologies.

There were organizations that wanted to completely eliminate the Foundations, and conversely, those with the ideology of returning the Foundations to their former power, and even those who believed that humanity should live in virtual reality, and they were of a considerable scale.

"Ah, maybe that’s sometimes reported on the news?"

"What’s announced on the news is only a fraction of the information, but those are the organizations. If their ideology is not particularly dangerous, there is no problem, but there are several organizations that the Foundations must keep a close eye on."

"Can I ask about those too?"

"Of course. First, there is ‘Restore,’ an organization with the ideology of returning the Foundations to their former state. In fact, one of my teachers was swayed by that ideology."

"Wouldn’t it be better for the Foundations if things were like they used to be?"

"There are some Foundation-affiliated people who think so. However, the majority do not. Most people believe that the situation at that time was distorted and that the Foundations’ control would not last long. I was also influenced by my education to believe in restoring the old Foundations, but thanks to Ronios-sama, I am now gradually returning to normal."

"I see…"

"Becoming friends with you all is part of that. I’m sure you have your complaints, and there are things you don’t like about me, but…"

"It’s okay. I was wary at first, but I understand the circumstances now. I don’t think everyone else minds either. They’re tough in a lot of ways."

When Parfait said that, Wilnel gave a somewhat awkward smile and nodded.

"Are there other dangerous organizations?"

"Let’s see. There’s ‘Gaias,’ an organization with the ideology that humanity should live on Earth, and that wants to eliminate or destroy the colonies."

"That’s scary."

"Their ideology is scary, but they don’t have much power at the moment. They’re a small organization, and they mostly just do promotional activities on Earth. However, I’ve heard that among them are people who want to eliminate the Foundations themselves in order to stop the maintenance and future construction of the colonies."

Whether it was due to reporting restrictions or not, Parfait had never seen such news, so she was surprised that such an organization even existed.

There were few habitable places on Earth. The number of survivable areas was increasing year by year, but it was not as if they could do what was necessary for human survival, such as food production. Production activities in giant space colonies were essential.

"There are also cases where it’s not an organization, but just an ideology that has spread. Mainly, it’s about virtual reality."

"Ideas about virtual reality?"

"‘Realists’ who believe that virtual reality is harmful. Not in the original sense, but they are called that in the sense of opposing virtual reality."

"The original meaning is a realist, right? Then what about the organization you mentioned earlier that thinks people should live in virtual reality?"

"Yes, those are the ‘Returners,’ who believe that virtual space is humanity’s utopia."

"Returners? People who return?"

"It seems to be used in the sense of a returnee. The idea is that virtual reality is the paradise that appears in the Bible from long ago, and that the correct form for humanity, which was expelled from it, is to return to virtual reality."

From the young Parfait’s perspective, she could only think that there were some interesting ideologies out there. Her parents, friends, and acquaintances did not seem to have such ideologies. If anything, they had chocolate parfait supremacy, or they were the coffee party. There was also the ideology that love talk is life itself.

"Um, I apologize if I’ve scared you. Ronios-sama and the other Foundation executives are dealing with that, so please don’t worry. Ronios-sama also properly informed Ney-sama, Jolth-sama, and Lunaria-sama about my situation."

"Ah, Lunaria-oneechan. In that case, it sounds like it’ll be resolved right away."

"Yes. And Ronios-sama promised that in the future, she would not let people with such ideologies get close to us. She also said she would teach me directly. For my part, I’m happy that my time with Ronios-sama will increase."

The Wilnel she had first met was expressionless, and her earlier smile was awkward. But now, she was smiling so brightly it was dazzling.

Parfait smiled in return. More than anything to do with Ronios, she felt a sense of kinship with Wilnel, who seemed to love her family very much.

"Wilnel-chan, why don’t you come visit our cafe with Ronios-san sometime?"

"Huh? I, is that all right?"

"Yes, of course. You can come with your parents too. I think my dad will treat you to coffee, at least."

"No, we’ll pay properly. According to Ronios-sama, she would be willing to pay about a million yen for Hayato-sama’s coffee. I think I can afford that much as well."

"Our shop would make a huge profit, but we’d be called price gougers, so please don’t."

The coffee at the shop was 300 yen a cup. Even though they used good beans from Earth, it was quite cheap, and Parfait’s mother, Esha, seemed quite exasperated by it. However, she had never opposed it.

"Also, in a week, there’s a birthday party for Abel-kun. Want to come to that too? I’m talking about the real world, of course."

"Abel-san…? Oh, the movie actor Abel-san… Huh? A birthday party?"

"That’s right. We’re planning to celebrate not just in reality, but in virtual reality too. Oh, and we have to have a welcome party for you, Wilnel-chan. What kind of food do you like, Wilnel-chan… what’s wrong?"

Parfait waved her hand in front of Wilnel, who was staring blankly for some reason. After a few waves, Wilnel’s body twitched.

"An invitation to a birthday party, and a welcome party for me!?"

"Huh? Y, yeah. You can log in here, so your birthday must have already passed, and since we’ve become friends, I thought I’d like to talk more."

For some reason, Wilnel moved unsteadily and supported her body by planting her hands on the table.

"This is the first time I’ve been invited to such a gathering!"

"Oh, really…?"

Come to think of it, it would be difficult for a commoner to invite someone from a Foundation. And Wilnel had not gone to school and had a private tutor, so she had no friends her own age. It was to be expected.

"I understand! I will have a new trendy dress made so that I will not be embarrassed at the birthday party!"

"Please come in casual clothes. And it’s a small party, okay?"

"Not a party big enough to reserve a whole colony?"

"If we did that, even our descendants three generations from now wouldn’t be able to pay off the debt."

Wilnel was the next head of the Gemini Foundation. She was not just a young lady on par with Ginny, but a princess even higher than that. Parfait now realized that inviting her might have been a bit rash, and she started to panic. So, she hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

"Um, Wilnel-chan, most of Abel-kun’s family are famous movie actors, so they live in a reasonably large house, but it’s still not comparable to a Foundation, okay? Please, I’m begging you, study up on the commoner’s way of life."

"Indeed, Ronios-sama also spoke of such things. I understand. In that case, I will first study thoroughly at your house, Parfait-san!"

Parfait worried if that would be okay, but she decided that this too was for her new friend, Wilnel, and resolved to invite her to her home.