kscans

Chapter 495 - The Closest of Aides

About a week had passed since the event began. Despite it being a weekday, the area around the World Tree in the Spirit Country was in a festive mood every day, with many players participating cheerfully.

The event itself was managed by the clan Kiss of Death, and a program of performances was released daily, with a wide variety of events. There were concerts, PvP battles, rare item auctions, and even plays, and the area was bustling day and night.

However, the most popular attraction was the creative food stalls.

The dishes, which had become freely craftable in a recent update, were well-received, with the atmosphere of the event making them taste delicious even if the flavor itself was so-so. Additionally, new types of dishes that had never been seen before, such as super spicy dishes and Russian roulette-style dishes, were adding to the excitement of the Spirit Festival.

And then there was the outfit creation, which had been unlocked for this event.

There were players wearing unique outfits that had never been seen before, but the designs were not exactly refined, and for now, most outfits were just slightly altered versions of existing equipment. Still, players with good taste stood out, and more and more people were imitating them, saying, "That's a good idea!"

Parfait was enjoying these things with her friends while gathering materials for the outfits Kazatoki and Lion would wear.

Today, she logged in thinking she would gather some materials and then join the festival, and as she was waiting for everyone, she heard a knock on the base's door.

Thinking it was Kazatoki, Lion, or maybe Cynthia coming to visit, Parfait opened the door without checking outside.

There, a person wearing a dark green poncho coat simply raised their right hand slightly and said, "'Sup."

The collar was turned up, hiding their mouth, and they were wearing goggles, so their eyes were hidden. They were also wearing the hood of the coat, so she couldn't see their hairstyle or who they were. However, the voice was female and sounded familiar.

"Um, who might you be...?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, you can't tell like this, can you."

The woman said, pulling her face out from under the hood and taking off her goggles. She then lowered her collar slightly to reveal her mouth.

"Xenobia-san!?"

"Parfait-chan, how have you been?"

"I-I'm fine, but you surprised me. This is the first time we've met here, right?"

"That's right. I log in once a month, but I never have time to play. Is it okay if I come in?"

"Of course. Please, come in."

Parfait said, inviting Xenobia into the base. She then guided Xenobia to the table and immediately prepared cheesecake and tea.

Xenobia sat down and looked around curiously, then smiled when she saw the sweets and tea Parfait had prepared.

"This is a lovely base. And the plates for the sweets and tea are very elaborate."

"I'm happy to hear you say that, Xenobia-san. Please, help yourself."

Xenobia used her fork to cut a small piece of the cheesecake and put it in her mouth. After savoring it, she took a sip of her tea.

"This isn't an existing dish, is it? It's your own original cake, right?"

"You can tell? I'm still practicing, though."

"Really? I think it's delicious enough to be five stars."

Parfait slapped her right bicep with her left hand and raised her right arm in a victory pose. It wasn't a very ladylike way to show joy, but there was no one here to chide her for it.

Despite her joy, the question of why Xenobia had come here loomed larger.

Xenobia was Lunaria's closest aide and bodyguard, the one who oversaw the Foundations. According to her, "Lunaria-chan doesn't need a bodyguard," but she was always by Lunaria's side.

However, she remained completely in the shadows, and even when Lunaria was in the news, she never showed her face. It was a thorough job. Still, she was apparently always by her side, acting in a way that she would never be caught on any camera. According to her, it was "like a stealth game."

The fact that this Xenobia, even if it was in virtual reality, was here, away from Lunaria's side, was unbelievable to Parfait.

"Um, Xenobia-san, I'm happy you're here, but why are you here?"

"I have something I want to ask Rick-kun. He's coming today, right?"

"Rick-kun? He said he might be a little late, but he said he would log in."

"Really? In that case, is it okay if I wait until then?"

"Of course. But what business do you have with Rick-kun...?"

It wasn't that they had no connection at all, but she couldn't imagine Xenobia had personal business with Rick. As she was wondering if something was going on that she didn't know about, Xenobia took a sip of her tea and smiled.

"You know that Rick-kun has been asking a lot of people to be in a PvP video lately, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yes."

She knew. In fact, you could say she was the one who made him do it. He was asking even more conspicuous people to be in the video so that she wouldn't stand out if she was in it.

"Benny-chan was invited, and she told Lunaria-chan about it, looking very happy. And then, Lunaria-chan said she was being shown up."

"Shown up...?"

"'I haven't been invited yet,' Lunaria-chan said, and now she's sulking."

"Ah..."

"She's been fidgeting, waiting for an invitation from Rick-kun, but it never came, so I came to ask directly."

Knowing Lunaria's personality, she could kind of understand. When she was left out, she got a little grumpy. And then she would make it known. You couldn't just casually invite the person who was, for all intents and purposes, ruling the world, but she didn't understand that. So, not inviting her was a problem, and that was the situation now.

She understood the situation, but she had her own thoughts on the matter.

"Are Lunaria-san and you, Xenobia-san, not busy...?"

"No, no, it's the opposite. We're busy, but because Lunaria-chan is sulking, work is getting delayed. She'd have to turn down the invitation even if she got one since she can't participate anyway."

"So that's what's going on..."

"And lately, Ronios-chan's Gemini Foundation's work has also been stalled, and in connection with that, Ney-chan's Libra Foundation is also being affected. It's really a problem."

Something terrible was happening. And it was because of her and her father.

"Um, you see..."

Parfait explained the whole story to Xenobia.

That the request for the PvP video was a camouflage to keep her from standing out, that they couldn't rely on Foundation members because of Break's circumstances, that Hayato had told Ronios to come visit next time, and that the current situation was her family's fault. She told her all of it.

Xenobia's eyes widened at first, but by the end, she was laughing.

"That's Hayato-san and Parfait-chan for you. Only the two of you could mess with the Foundations like this."

"That's not a compliment, is it...?"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it as a jab. It's just that Hayato-san and Esha-chan were influential people, for better or worse, so I was just thinking that Parfait-chan inherited that from them."

She didn't know if being influential in this situation was a good thing or a bad thing. But she did know that it wasn't just a good influence, since she had said, "for better or worse."

"But I get the situation now. You want to get video views without relying on Foundation members, and on top of that, you don't want Parfait-chan to stand out, right?"

"To put it simply, yes."

"In that case, Benny-chan is one thing, but Lunaria-chan is definitely out of the question. She's a Foundation member more than anyone."

"In the first place, I don't think the person who oversees the Foundations should be in a PvP video."

It was a well-known fact that Lunaria used to be the Demon Lord in AFO, but if someone like that appeared in a new PvP video, it would be on a whole other level than just standing out.

"It might not just stand out, it might become news that gets reported all over the world."

At the moment, Lunaria was the most influential person. For some reason, Parfait was relieved that there was someone more influential than her, but putting that aside, she was also relieved that Lunaria probably wouldn't sulk now that she knew the situation.

"But I see now, since I understand the reason, I'll let Lunaria-chan know. I'm sure she'll understand that it can't be helped."

"I'm sorry for all the trouble."

"Not at all. In the first place, keeping Parfait-chan from standing out is for the convenience of the Foundation, or rather, the Colony 'Frontier'. If anything, we're the ones getting you all involved in our affairs."

"Because of the terminal at the cafe, right?"

"That's right. There was talk of moving it to another location, but Diite-chan was against it."

From Parfait's perspective, it was "a terminal where she could talk to Diite in the real world," but it also meant "a terminal where you could negotiate with Diite in the real world."

If Parfait or Hayato were to be kidnapped and held hostage, Diite would most likely obey commands. And being able to command Diite was the same as being able to completely disable all security in the entire world, which also meant being able to rule the world.

Of course, the terminal would be useless without knowledge of Diite's existence and what she could do, but since you never knew where information could leak from, various countermeasures were in place.

"We have guards around your house, Parfait-chan, so I think you're safe, but it's also important not to be targeted in the first place."

"Ah, I think I saw someone."

"Sorry, I know hearing about guards sounds alarming, but we're doing it in a way that doesn't affect your daily life."

"No, I had no idea until you told me, so it's not a problem."

In the first place, Colony "Frontier" had a very strict screening process just to enter, let alone move there. And since Diite was the one doing the screening, it was almost impossible for suspicious people to get in.

However, even Diite couldn't completely grasp people's social circles, and there had apparently been a number of problems in the past. So, with Parfait's advancement to the next school level, they had increased the number of guards.

It was refreshing to hear about these things from Xenobia, and she was about to ask more, but Xenobia said, "Well then," and stood up from her chair.

"Now that I know the situation, I'll go tell Lunaria-chan. Work is getting backed up."

"Are you leaving already...?"

"I left Barl and Grant in charge of the work... Ah, I don't think you've met them, but like me, they're Lunaria-chan's aides."

"The Demonfolk-san, right?"

Lunaria's aides were called the Demonfolk. There were eight of them in total, and they were called Lunaria's direct team, the Demon Lord's Army. In the past, she had only been able to wonder why, but she remembered feeling drained when she heard that their titles in AFO had become their titles in the real world.

"They tell me to take a break, but I can't really take that from people who work more than I do. Well, that's how it is, so see you later. I'll come to the cafe with Lunaria-chan next time."

"Yes, please come anytime."

Xenobia smiled and used a Ring of Teleportation to teleport somewhere.

Lunaria had a childish side to her. It was something all her acquaintances knew, but Parfait felt for Xenobia-san and the others who had to deal with it.

The next day, for some reason, Xenobia came again.

"Xenobia-san, did something happen again?"

"Well, Lunaria-chan told me to be in the PvP video in her place... so I was thinking of making my base here for a while."

"I thought I said Foundation members were a no-go because of the other clan's circumstances...?"

It wasn't a matter of a replacement. Rick hadn't invited Lunaria in the first place.

"Well, that's true, but that kind of reasoning doesn't work on Lunaria-chan. And she said that even though I'm her aide, I've never appeared in public, so it should be fine."

"Ah, I see."

"And everyone told me to think of it as a vacation. I think that's the real reason. So, I'm going to take them up on their offer and play to my heart's content for the first time in a while. I know it'll be a bother, but please let me stay with you for a while."

"A bother? Not at all. You're more than welcome!"

Xenobia smiled and said, "Thank you."

Thinking this might liven up the PvP video, Parfait decided to contact Rick-kun first and sent him a voice chat.