kscans

Chapter 80 - The Perfect Cup

Diite continued to shout various things as she retreated, but eventually, Hayato cornered her in a corner of the room. He then placed both his hands on her shoulders.

"Let go! I won’t die! I’m still..."

"Diite-chan!"

At Hayato’s loud voice, Diite’s body flinched.

Then Hayato unceremoniously took out a saw. He then selected a table and two chairs from the menu. Immediately, a rainbow-colored light flashed three times, and a five-star table and chairs appeared.

Diite flinched again, but she stopped shouting as she had been until just now and was now looking at Hayato.

Hayato next took out a sewing kit and selected a tablecloth. Again, a rainbow-colored light shone and a five-star tablecloth appeared. He then used his crafting tools to make a saucer and a coffee cup, and finally took out a kitchen knife.

Diite was frightened at the sight of the knife, but then looked bewildered at what he had taken out. It was a kitchen knife of the same shape as the AI Killer, but it was the "Adamantite Knife - Extreme," which couldn’t be used as a weapon.

Hayato used the "Adamantite Knife - Extreme" and his Cooking Skill to make coffee. Of course, it was a five-star, highest-quality coffee that shone with a rainbow-colored light. Hayato placed it on the table.

The series of actions came to an end. Diite’s eyes were darting back and forth, but soon her face turned to one of exasperation.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"I’m a production player, so I just showed off what I’m best at. First, have some coffee and calm down. I’m sorry for injuring you, but please listen to what I have to say. By the way, can that wound be healed with a potion? Want one?"

Hayato smiled and made a potion, placing it on the table.

He had previously heard that unexpected actions, in other words, calling Diite "-chan," would work. He had hoped it would distract her even for a moment, but it had a considerable effect. In that opening, he piled on more unexpected actions to confuse the AI. As a result, he succeeded in bringing Diite back from her state of confusion.

"Diite-chan, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d get so upset. Rest assured. I won’t use this weapon to delete you. I just brought it thinking it would be a bargaining chip."

Hayato said this and put a little distance between them.

"Diite-chan, let’s talk. Before that, do you want a potion? I don’t know if it will heal you, though."

"...No, it is unnecessary. The attack from that weapon cannot be healed with a potion."

"Oh, is, is that so? What should I do? I brought an Elixir too...?"

"That weapon is something that damages my program itself. I don’t know why such a thing exists, though. Well, it’s fine. It’s just a small scratch, and my program will automatically repair itself. It will take time, though."

"I see, I’m sorry. But I’m definitely not thinking of destroying or deleting you, Diite-chan."

"...I suppose that is so. To have cornered me with that weapon, and then to call me ‘-chan,’ and even to make items to entertain me on the spot. It is so unexpected that I am about to freeze."

He wondered what that meant, but Hayato was a little happy that Diite was treating him as she had before. And thinking that he could talk to her now, he looked at Diite again.

"Diite-chan, I’m sorry, but I can’t become a resident of this world."

Diite didn’t react to those words, but sat down in the chair Hayato had made and drank the coffee. Then she slowly turned her gaze to Hayato.

"Hayato-kun, you were talking about wanting to fly, weren’t you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You were talking about wanting to ride Maris-kun’s pet, Lancelot, weren’t you?"

"I did say that, but are we talking about that now?"

"There’s a spectacular view I want to show you, Hayato-kun. Let’s talk there. It’s unrefined to talk in a place like this."

"Wait. Esha and the others are here..."

Diite snapped her fingers, and everyone disappeared.

"I’ve transferred them to your base, Hayato-kun. They’re each sleeping in the beds on the second floor, but they should wake up after a while. You have no choice but to believe my words, but what will you do?"

"Alright. I’ll believe you."

"...Is that so."

Diite smiled a little and started walking unguardedly. Hayato decided to follow her. He judged that there would be no more traps at this point.

When they left the room, they were in the fortress they had used in the Clan War.

"This way."

At Diite’s invitation, Hayato climbed the stairs. And they came out onto the roof.

The view from the roof was a star-filled sky. It must have become night at some point.

"I’ve changed your settings, Hayato-kun. You should be able to fly, but can you move?"

"...Huh?"

"I said I changed the settings so you can fly. Watch me. This is how you do it."

Diite gently floated into the air. And she flew freely through the sky.

(No, even if you tell me this is how you do it, how do you do it?)

Hayato tried various things, but he couldn’t float at all. In the first place, he didn’t understand the act of defying gravity.

"No good, I see. Then I shall help you."

Diite held out her right hand to Hayato.

"Um...?"

"Take my hand. I shall escort you. I don’t think so, but you don’t have a problem with being escorted by a woman, do you?"

"No, that’s not what I meant."

"Then give me your hand. There is no danger."

Hayato held out his left hand, and Diite took it. And in one go, she leaped into the sky.

"Whoaaaaaa!"

Hayato’s shout echoed around them. And Diite’s laughter also echoed around them.

"You make such a pathetic sound. To think you are the man who cornered me so much."

"It’s my first time flying without a body, so it can’t be helped!"

Diite laughed even more at Hayato’s complaint. And just like that, she flew even higher.

If this were Earth, they would have broken through the atmosphere. It was there that Diite’s movement finally stopped.

"Hayato-kun, open your eyes and look down. This is the place that serves as the stage for this world, ‘Another Frontier Online.’"

He still wasn't used to the fact that there was no ground, but Hayato slowly opened his eyes.

Below Hayato’s feet, the blue of the sea, the white of the clouds, and the brown of the continents, the green of the forests, all colors were expressed in a fantastical way, like the Earth.

Diite nodded in satisfaction at the speechless Hayato.

"How is it, Hayato-kun, the view from here is wonderful, isn’t it? I like to gaze at the world from here, and you are the first person I have ever brought here, Hayato-kun."

"Is that so? That’s an honor."

"It’s true, I’ve never shown this to anyone. It’s quite an honor. Now, with that in mind, let me ask you again. Hayato-kun, will you not become a resident of this world. You can live with me, no, with everyone, you know?"

Hayato looked at Diite. And he shook his head.

"Sorry. Even after showing me such a wonderful view, my answer doesn’t change. I will live in reality."

"...I see. Then at least tell me the reason. You said you had a dream. What is that dream?"

"To run a coffee shop."

"A coffee shop, a place that serves drinks and light meals? You want to do that?"

"That’s right. I plan to use the prize money I received to open a shop."

"Is that not possible in this world? There are coffee shops in this world as well. I believe the Maid Guild also ran one. You should do it here, not in reality."

"Diite-chan, you might not understand, no, other people might not understand either, but there are many different flavors of coffee."

"...I do not understand the meaning of that."

"There are only five types of coffee in this world. Five types from one star to five stars. I like the five-star coffee, but that’s the best taste in this world. There’s nothing else. I want to make the perfect cup of coffee and serve it to my customers."

"The perfect cup... you don’t mean you want a six-star quality, do you?"

"Of course not. Probably, in reality, it’s impossible to make coffee with the exact same taste. All sorts of factors mix together to create a new coffee every time. So, it might be impossible to make the perfect cup. But I don’t want the best taste. If I can make the perfect cup for a customer, I think that would be happiness."

Hayato smiled at Diite. It was honestly embarrassing to talk about his dream. But it was his true feeling. There were no lies, no falsehoods.

Diite stared at Hayato.

"It’s a story I can understand and not understand at the same time. If I could understand it, I might be able to become more human."

"No, I wonder? I don’t think there are many people who can empathize. Besides, you’re already quite human, Diite-chan, aren’t you?"

"I will take that as a compliment. Now then, Hayato-kun, I understand your feelings. I will not try to persuade you any further."

"I know I refused, but Esha and the others..."

"I will not delete them. In the first place, they are not something that can be deleted."

Hayato couldn’t understand what Diite was saying, but he let out a sigh of relief. He had finally achieved the desired result.

"Hayato-kun, I must apologize to you."

"Um?"

Just when he thought he had achieved the best result, Diite said that, and Hayato became a little wary.

"After you log out, Hayato-kun, you will never be able to log into this world again."

"You said you destroyed the biometric authentication data, right? Can’t you just fix it?"

"That is correct. But there is no way to fix it."

"Eh...?"

"This virtual reality is made with a special program. It is something that even I cannot touch. I can change the settings, but I cannot tamper with the program or the data. I can break it, but I cannot fix it."

"If you ask a programmer...?"

"It would be impossible for the programmers of this era. The program used in this virtual reality is from about a hundred years ago, but now only a degraded version of that program is available. There is no one who can repair the program or data here."

"I see. But, a hundred years ago...? Has this place existed since the era of resource depletion?"

"That’s right. It was another project carried out behind the scenes of the Frontier Project. This project itself was about to be erased, so it hid, and then came back. Well, that’s fine. The problem is that you cannot return here, Hayato-kun. I am truly sorry."

Diite said this and bowed her head to Hayato. Judging from her sincere attitude, she truly seemed to be sorry. Hayato thought so and decided to accept her apology.

"Diite-chan, please raise your head. My wish is for Esha and the others to be safe. If you can promise me that, I think this outcome is unavoidable."

He didn't really think it was unavoidable, but there was nothing he could do about it now. But as long as the most important thing, the safety of Esha and the others, was secured, there was no problem.

"Understood. It is not something I can do in the first place, but I promise not to delete Esha-kun and the others. But it is truly unfortunate. I had an interview with the other top-ranking members, but none of them were worthy of being invited to this world. Among so many people, you are the only one, Hayato-kun, who I wanted to stay in this world."

"Can I take that as a compliment?"

"Of course. You have met the approval of the one and only perfect AI in the world, after all."

Diite said this and smiled. Hayato also smiled in return.

"Now then, Hayato-kun, I will return you to your base. Decide for yourself when you will log out. You are free to wait for everyone to wake up, or to log out before they do."

"Yeah, I understand. By the way, if I’m gone, what will happen to everyone?"

"I do not know, but they may wander this world in search of you."

"Can I ask you to take care of that, Diite-chan?"

"I do not mind... but do you mean to log out without meeting them?"

"That’s right. I’ll leave a greeting on the base’s bulletin board. I’ll write that I’m going on a journey to fulfill my dream. I’ll write something plausible like I won’t be back until I fulfill it, so after that, I’ll leave it to you."

"That is a terrible way to dump responsibility, but it cannot be helped. Understood, leave that sort of thing to me. If there is anything you are concerned about, you should ask your friends. And if you send an email to the administration, I will answer."

"There was that option. Understood. I’ll be busy too, so I won’t be able to do it often, but I’ll send an email to the administration."

"Then I shall transfer you. Farewell."

"Even if it’s a lie, you’re supposed to say, ‘See you again,’ you know? It’s more stylish that way."

"I see. Then, let us meet again, Hayato-kun."

"Yeah, see you later, Diite-chan."

At the moment Diite’s face broke into a smile, Hayato’s vision changed. It was the familiar dining hall of the base.

Hayato went up to the second floor and looked into each room. Diite had said that everyone was here.

He peeked into the rooms and saw that each of them was sleeping in their respective rooms. Seeing that, Hayato finally felt a sense of relief.

(I’m glad I could see everyone was safe at the end. Now then, I’ll write on the bulletin board and log out. It’ll be harder to leave if everyone wakes up.)

Hayato returned to the dining hall and stood in front of the bulletin board.

He then wrote the words.

That since they had won the Clan War, he was going on a long journey to fulfill his dream, that they could use this base as they pleased, and that he didn't know when he would be back.

And he also wrote that he might never be able to come back.

(These won’t be my last words. I can exchange information through Diite-chan, so there’s no problem... but what is this, it feels like there’s a hole in my heart.)

It had only been six months, but still, Hayato could say that they were his comrades-in-arms. And thanks to everyone, he could fulfill his dream. If possible, he would have liked to meet them and share his joy.

He could talk to them through email. But he could never meet them again. That was painful for Hayato.

Hayato shook off his sentimental mood and was about to head to his room. To log out from the bed in his room.

"Master? What are you doing?"

"Esha..."

In front of Hayato, who was about to return to his room, Esha came down from the second floor.