kscans

Chapter 496 - The Truth of the World

"Um, Xenobia-san."

"Oh, Parfait-chan, sorry for letting myself in."

"No, that’s not a problem at all. The problem is this."

"Wasn’t it enough?"

"The opposite. Why is there such a massive amount of Spider Silk in the storage…"

Three days after Xenobia’s arrival, Parfait logged in as usual to find her relaxing at their base.

That was no problem at all. With Demon Lord Lunaria’s castle now open to the public, Xenobia no longer had a base of her own, so Parfait and the others welcomed her to use theirs.

While she could log out anywhere, Xenobia still had a bit of a phobia of men, though it had improved considerably from the old days. She could manage with people she had known since they were babies, like Rick and Abel, or with other acquaintances, but speaking to anyone else was difficult.

That was why she was staying at their base instead of a town inn. Perhaps as a thank you, she had been gathering items like Spider Silk for them.

Xenobia was on vacation, so she had plenty of time on her hands. While Parfait and her friends were at school studying, she had been solo hunting spiders to collect materials.

But seeing the incredible amount of Spider Silk piled in the base’s storage left Parfait more dumbfounded than surprised. On the first day, the amount was just enough to be grateful for, but by the third day, it was ten times that. She wanted to ask what kind of crime one had to commit to accumulate so much.

"It’s been a while since I’ve fought here, so it’s taking me a while to get my groove back. I ended up gathering a lot after killing so many. I used to be able to take on ten of those monsters at once, but now I think eight is my limit. I’m getting old."

Parfait, who could only defeat them one on one, wanted to ask what she meant by ten at once.

Xenobia had no intention of holding back in PvP, so she was spending her weekday afternoons fighting monsters to regain her instincts. It was getting to the point where Parfait worried if any of the other participants could even beat her.

"It would be rude to hold back, especially since Break-san officially approved my participation in the matches. I’ll make sure I’m in top shape by the day of the event."

Parfait’s anxiety levels rose at the thought of her getting into even better shape.

Nevertheless, her participation was a done deal. Rick had told Break that he wanted a retainer of the Foundation’s director to join, and the two had discussed it. Rick mentioned that translating for Xenobia had been quite a struggle. The matter was settled.

Parfait hadn’t been there, but she heard that Break was left speechless when he learned Xenobia’s true identity. He had been reluctant at first, as he preferred not to use Foundation connections, but in the end, he had no choice but to let her participate.

"Lunaria-chan said she’s looking forward to the video, so she told me to do my best."

Parfait couldn’t imagine how much of an impact those words had on Break. Lunaria herself had no hidden meaning behind her words, but Break, being connected to the Foundation, could only overthink the weight of words coming from the top of the world, a queen in all but name.

Furthermore, although Xenobia was related to the Foundation, she was a shadow figure who never appeared in public, which was another reason he had approved her participation.

Given the circumstances, Xenobia said it would be rude to do anything but fight seriously.

There were other reasons for Xenobia to give it her all.

One was Parfait.

Benitsuru had praised Parfait so much that Xenobia had apparently wanted to fight her someday. Although she had come here because Lunaria hadn’t been invited, it was a fortunate opportunity, and she was looking forward to fighting Parfait.

And the other reason was Kazatoki.

Yesterday, Kazatoki and Lion had visited the base about their costumes. They met Xenobia, and Kazatoki became more flustered than ever before.

When asked, it turned out that Kazatoki had watched Xenobia’s videos countless times and had been emulating her style. Faced with her idol, she could only manage to say "no ja" for a while, a secret kept by everyone present.

When Parfait fought Kazatoki, she had thought her techniques resembled Xenobia’s. She was right. Kazatoki had been using not just all of her techniques, but her combos as a reference.

Xenobia, who had no idea someone was imitating her, took such a liking to Kazatoki that she demonstrated combos she had never shown in her videos and promised to fight her seriously in the actual event. Apparently, they were even going to practice together until the video shoot.

"G-good afternoon, no ja!"

"Welcome, Kazatoki-chan."

"No ja."

A miko with fox ears and a tail, Kazatoki, arrived at the base. Parfait greeted her normally, while Xenobia, perhaps thinking "no ja" was a greeting, raised a hand and said the same.

Kazatoki apparently added "no ja" to the end of her sentences not just for her streams but all the time, saying she was clumsy. Parfait wondered if that was really okay, but she hadn’t said anything to stop her for now.

The earnest Kazatoki was out of breath. This was virtual reality, so she shouldn’t be, but maybe she was just excited. In that state, she bowed her head to both Parfait and Xenobia.

"I-I’m sorry for coming so suddenly! U-um, yesterday, you said you would train with me, and I took you at your word… i-is that alright… no ja?"

"It’s not really training. I was just thinking I wanted to get my PvP instincts back, so it’d be a big help if you could practice with me."

"O-of course! I’ll do it! I-I won’t give this right to anyone… no ja!"

"Okay, please go easy on me."

Kazatoki’s eyes sparkled as she nodded at those words. Her ears and tail moved in sync, making Parfait want to touch them, but she resisted with an iron will.

Xenobia stood up from her chair and looked at Parfait while stretching.

"You’re heading to the World Tree, right Parfait-chan?"

"Yes, I’m planning to go with Nat-chan and the others today. I was thinking you two could come as well, but maybe we should do that after the video shoot is over."

Seeing Kazatoki’s eyes well up with tears and her fox ears droop, Parfait immediately decided it was best not to invite them.

"I’ll buy you some souvenirs. Is there anything you’d like to eat?"

Parfait asked as she waited for Natsu and Chris.

Once Natsu and Chris logged in, Parfait headed to the World Tree with them.

One would think they’d get tired of a festival that went on every day, but since the activities were different each day, they were enjoying it without getting bored. Today’s event was selling original sweets they had come up with themselves, so Parfait and her friends had come looking forward to it.

"Will about three laps around all the shops be enough? Should we do more?"

"My friend, please tell me you’re joking."

"You know Parfait would never joke about sweets."

As they had this conversation, Parfait looked around, wondering which shop to visit first.

From classic sweets like ice cream and crepes, there were many other original creations lined up. Thinking about it, since they were going to visit them all anyway, she decided to start from the end and headed toward a crepe shop.

"Oh, Parfait-chan?"

"Balbara-san, hello."

A woman with her red hair up, clad in armor of the same color. Balbara. She was the leader of the clan "Knights of Sweets," and a player she often partied with during the Hyakki Yakou event in the eastern country of Azuma. And it went without saying that they also met at the Maid Guild’s all-you-can-eat sweets events.

She was also acquainted with Natsu and Chris, and they all exchanged greetings.

But a thought occurred to Parfait. It was a weekday, still early evening. Balbara should normally be working, so she wondered why she was here at this time.

"Um, Balbara-san, what about work?"

"Paid leave. There’s a law that says girls are allowed to take paid leave for the sake of eating sweets."

"It’s a law, not just a company rule…?"

"Today is a sweets pop-up event, so most of our members took paid leave to enjoy it."

Parfait wasn’t sure if that was okay, but if they were already on leave, it probably wasn’t a problem. However, although she mentioned her members, there were no other clan members around.

"Are you not with the rest of your clan?"

"Everyone likes sweets in general, but our preferences are divided. We went around about three times together, but now we’re all eating separately. I think I’ll go around one more time, and then revisit the places I liked."

"We were just talking about doing three laps too, so let’s go together!"

Chris didn’t seem to mind, but Natsu had a frown on her face. Parfait, however, didn’t notice and headed to the first shop.

She received a crepe from a cheerful clerk and they all began to eat.

As Parfait was enjoying her crepe topped with matcha ice cream, strawberries, and chocolate, a commotion began to stir around them.

"I wonder what’s going on."

A large crowd was gathering near the entrance of the World Tree.

The World Tree was a gigantic tree, but its interior was structured like a tower with different floors. The views from the middle and top floors were excellent, making it a famous and popular date spot.

Wondering if there was some trouble, she watched as Balbara’s face turned pale.

"Huh? No way…!"

"Balbara-san?"

"You’re kidding! Isn’t that area under the jurisdiction of ‘Kiss of Death’? What are they doing!"

"Huh? What’s wrong?"

"Oh, right, you guys wouldn’t know. A Named Monster appears here, and it’s a guaranteed spawn if you meet the conditions. ‘Kiss of Death’ is supposed to be managing it strictly to prevent that from happening, but…"

A Named Monster was a special monster with a name, boasting considerable strength. They often had special spawn conditions, some of which were so complex that you would never encounter them without knowing.

"What kind of monster is it?"

To Parfait’s question, Balbara answered, trembling.

"Do you know about the Genesis Dragons? The ten dragons that are said to have created the world…"

"I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before. Where was it?"

"One of them is the Illusion Dragon, and—"

A world announcement cut her off.

"A Stampede has occurred in the Spirit Country. The Illusion Dragon Suien Mikazuki has begun its invasion. Please engage and repel it. I repeat—"

Immediately after, the surroundings were enveloped in a thin mist.

(Huh? Suien? Does she mean Suien-san?)

Suien, who belonged to the same talent agency, Dragon Soul, as Ash and Ren. She was currently more in a management role than an acting one, but she was still a bewitching woman of ageless beauty. She occasionally came for coffee, but she mostly just complained to Randa about work.

As Parfait recalled what Suien looked like, shouts of anger echoed around her.

"You’ve got to be kidding me! Did someone meet the conditions!? What were they thinking!"

"Damn it! All the young ones, log out immediately!"

"Cover your ears!"

"It’s over…! It’s all over!"

For some reason, she was hearing lines straight out of a disaster movie. Parfait and her friends didn’t understand why everyone was so scared. But Balbara quickly finished her half-eaten crepe and drew her sword.

"Parfait-chan, you all should log out!"

"Um…?"

"Hurry! If you don’t log out right away, something terrible will—"

Just as Balbara was about to finish, the silhouette of a massive dragon appeared in the sky above. Its eyes glowed red.

"Oh, you poor lambs, trapped in illusion. I shall teach you the truth of the world…!"

(That’s definitely Suien-san’s voice. But what does she mean by the truth of the world? About AFO?)

"Truth number one."

(Huh? Number one?)

"…First love never works out."

After a moment of silence, voices of resentment and anger erupted from the crowd.

"Don’t screw with us!"

"Source! Give us a source!"

"There’s no data for that!"

"Of course it works out!"

As she wondered what was going on, Natsu, right beside her, let out a "Guh," and fell to her knees as if she had taken damage.