kscans

Chapter 468 - Déjà Vu

"Oh... oh...!"

"Chris-chan, calm down."

While calming down an excited Chris, Parfait and the others transferred to a small boat to head to the shores of Cat Island. Since the island was uninhabited, it had no port, making it impossible to land with their large ship.

It had been the same on the larger vessel, but the moment she boarded the small boat, Chris, who could usually be described as a cool beauty, had an expression of unconcealed excitement that surprised everyone. When they landed, she threw her hands up and cheered, an act that could be called bizarre for the usual Chris.

"Why is Chris-san so excited?"

Wilnel, who hadn't known them for long, asked. Parfait answered with a wry smile.

"I think it's because Cat Island is more of a jungle than we expected."

"A jungle? It certainly looks like one, but why would that...?"

"Chris-chan likes camping. She said she enjoys camping with her parents in Colony 'Amazon'."

"Camping in Colony 'Amazon'...? But that place isn't an amusement facility or a vacation spot. It's an experimental colony built to replicate nature, isn't it...?"

"Wilnel-chan, there are things in this world that science can't explain."

"...I don't think we were talking about science at all, but I think I understand the situation. In other words, it's useless to think about it, correct?"

"I'm not sure about your choice of words, but I guess so. Besides, I heard they're not doing it without permission, so I don't think it's a problem."

"You can't even enter that colony without permission in the first place. I suppose that's to be expected of Chris-san's parents."

Chris's parents, Gil and Silva. Being directly employed by Lunaria, who oversaw the Foundations, their positions were considered higher than most Foundation-related personnel. They might even rank higher than Wilnel, the next head of her Foundation.

Even so, neither of them acted important because of it, and Chris never lorded it over anyone. They might have received some preferential treatment, Parfait thought, but they probably got permission through the proper channels.

Regardless of those circumstances, now that they were on the beach, Chris looked like she was about to run off at any moment. Natsu and the others were holding her back just in case, but it seemed like only a matter of time.

"Um, is Chris-chan going to be okay...?"

Orion, who hadn't heard the explanation, asked timidly. Parfait gave another wry smile.

"She's fine. She's just a little excited. So, have we decided where to set up our base?"

"Based on the map of Cat Island that Rick-kun brought, we decided on a spot near the beach on the west side of the island."

After saying that, Orion's expression became indescribably complex.

"I mean, why does Rick-kun have a map? It even shows where the other clans have set up their bases. He told us to use it, but I think this is incredibly valuable."

"He said he bought it from an information-providing clan. Apparently, it was pretty expensive."

"An information-providing clan? Oh, Raven... No way! What kind of connections do you need to buy information from them!?"

"W-Well, I don't know. Something about Rick-kun's parents being acquaintances with Raven's clan leader."

"...You know, Parfait-chan... or rather, your parents are mysterious. I hear about other players whose parents played AFO, but it's rare to hear about connections to a legendary clan like that. Could it be they've been playing since the very beginning?"

"It seems so. I've heard they were playing back when the server was on a spaceship."

"The Genesis era. That's serious business!"

"Genesis?"

"It means 'genesis', as in the beginning. That's what we call the time when the server was on the spaceship. After the server moved to the colony, it's been called the New Age, meaning a new era, I guess."

"Huh. Is there any special meaning to dividing it like that?"

"Nope. Just because it sounds cool or something."

"...I can kind of understand the feeling."

It was human nature to want to divide eras when you've been doing something for a long time. You just want to give them cool names. Whether they were actually cool was another matter.

They had gotten quite sidetracked, but Chris was now looking like she might genuinely wander off on her own, so they decided to head to the location Orion had designated earlier.

According to the map and information from Rick, the dinosaur clan "Cretaceous" had set up base near a lake to the northwest, while the high-speed pet clan "Highway Star" had theirs near the eastern lake.

There were two lakes on this island. Losing those spots in a PvP-enabled area was a blow, but they had no choice but to accept it.

For a temporary base, easy access to "water" was crucial. There was no thirst system, but you needed large quantities of "water" as an item to cook or make medicine, so securing a water source gave you an advantage.

However, it was also possible to create water with magic, so it wasn't a huge disadvantage. It was just a bit of a hassle.

It seemed they were considering driving out their opponents and taking their base. Orion had chosen Cretaceous as the target for that. That's why they'd picked the west coast, which was closer to their base.

"I see," Parfait thought as she followed Orion's group, but then a question popped into her head. She voiced it to Orion, who was nearby.

"By the way, why is this a PvP-enabled area?"

"Huh? Didn't you listen to what the captain said on the ship?"

"Now that you mention it, the captain did say something. I leave all that stuff to Rick-kun, so I might not have been listening..."

"Rick-kun has it rough... To put it simply, there's an event going on where we fight over an item unique to this area. It's linked to the Cat War event, and I hear it's likely to become a permanent event."

"An event?"

"Prepare to be amazed! If you collect the catnip that only grows on this island, you can have an audience with Queen Siegfried-chan of Nyanko Kingdom!"

"...Huh."

"I think you should be more impressed!"

Siegfried was apparently a very important figure in AFO, but from Parfait's perspective, the first image that came to mind was of the cat lying limply in the cafe after her mother had rubbed its belly too much. Having seen that, Parfait didn't find it particularly impressive.

It was questionable if it was even the same cat, but Parfait just didn't feel any sense of dignity from it.

"And like I said earlier, in conjunction with the current event, you can apparently meet the other kittens at the same time during the audience. It's a chance to get a lot of points!"

"That's great. I'm aiming for the Melampus, but there are lots of other things I want, so I can never have enough points."

"Other clans will probably start showing up soon, so we need to start collecting catnip now. Anyway, getting back to my point, that catnip is the one thing you can take by defeating other players."

"Oh, so that's how it works... Then we have no choice but to attack!"

"Saying that with a smile makes you seem so reliable, Parfait-chan. Though I was a little taken aback."

"I can't cut down fluffy animals, but I can cut down people."

"Isn't that a little psychopathic? Oh, in a good way, of course."

"Is there a good way to be a psychopath?"

Parfait found the comment deeply offensive. She meant that people were easier to cut down, not that she wanted to, so she considered herself in the clear. Besides, compared to her mentors, Benitsuru and Simon, she felt she was perfectly normal.

"Oh yeah, changing the subject, there are other factions on Cat Island."

"Are there players other than Cretaceous and Highway Star?"

"Apparently, there are some solo players here too. But I don't mean them. I'm talking about a faction, or rather, monsters unique to this island."

"Well, of course there are monsters. But what about them?"

If it was just monsters, they could just defeat them. She couldn't bring herself to defeat fluffy monsters, but she was fine if someone else did it. In terms of in-game strength, Orion's group was superior anyway.

"Well, it seems there's a faction from Nyanko Kingdom, and both of them are apparently raid-boss level strong."

"What? There are raid-level monsters? And you said both, so does that mean there are two of them?"

"Yep. And for your information, the Elder Griffon Lancelot we fought recently is also part of the Nyanko Kingdom faction."

"I had no idea... So the ones on this island are?"

"A Hercules Beetle named Chariot. It's apparently as big as a real tank."

"A beetle like that exists, huh."

"The captain said its defense is so high we probably can't win. Plus, it's a new enemy, so there's no clear strategy yet. I'm sure some strategy-focused clan will figure it out, but that'll probably be much later."

"It would be nice if it were a monster you could beat just by being strong. What about the other one?"

"It's a normal dragon, but it's a named monster. Its name is Garland."

"A named dragon called Garland...? Is it a normal dragon?"

"Yeah. But apparently, there's a version with a person riding on its back. It's supposed to be someone dressed as a clown who attacks with a whip. In that case, it's more than just dangerous. It's like a fighter jet. This is also from the captain, but he told us to run immediately if we see it. I guess we'll have to wait for a strategy for this one too."

"...Garland the dragon...? A clown...?"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, no. It just feels like I've heard that somewhere before, or maybe I haven't...? Well, it's a new monster, so it must be my imagination."

"Déjà vu! I hear that if you're defeated by those two, you lose the catnip in your item bag, so don't push yourselves."

"Understood."

Parfait now had a general understanding of the island's rules. That aside, she tilted her head, puzzled by the words that sounded so familiar from long ago.