kscans

Chapter 89 - An Unpredictable Event

Hearing the World Announcement, Ash, Ren, and all the members of their mercenary group sprang into action.

Ash bowed his head apologetically to Hayato.

"Sorry about this timing. We’re heading to the Imperial Capital."

"Really? But we haven’t had a chance to talk at all…"

"Let’s have another party later. We’ll take care of everything next time."

With that, Ash turned to Ren and the others and gave the order, "Let’s go!"

Ren bowed her head, saying, "I’m sorry! Please let’s talk about the curse next time!" before leaving the base with the rest of the mercenary group.

And so, Hayato and the others were left behind.

Hayato found the situation a little strange.

Ash and Ren were dragons, and now there was a dragon Stampede. It made sense for them to go fight, given their settings. But besides Ash’s group, no one else was making a move, even after hearing that announcement.

He could understand it if it were players like Ney and her group.

Unlike the Clan War, participation in Stampede events was voluntary. Defeating dragons earned contribution points, so there was a merit to participating, but if one wasn’t interested in the points, there was no need to go.

However, it was a different matter for the residents of this world. A dragon rampaging should be a serious problem for them, yet they were acting completely calm. To confirm, he decided to ask Diite.

"Diite-chan, is it okay for everyone not to go to the Imperial Capital? No one seems to be making a move."

"The location itself is the problem."

"The location? You mean there’s a problem with the Imperial Capital?"

"Exactly. The NPCs, I’ll call them NPCs for convenience, have a national affiliation setting. The Kingdom, the Empire, the Demon Country, the Spirit Country, and so on. This is determined by the guild they belong to, but during a Stampede, there’s a restriction that they can only fight in the region of their affiliated country. After all, if all the NPCs could fight together, they wouldn’t lose a Stampede even without players."

This was the first time Hayato had learned of a setting that didn’t exist for players. But there was something odd about that explanation.

"But what about Ash and the others? Are they affiliated with the Empire?"

"No, their affiliations are varied. The reason they can fight outside their affiliated country is because they’re mercenaries. Ash-kun’s ‘Crescent Moon Beast’ is set up as a firmly established mercenary group. They don’t have combat restrictions during Stampedes. There are other exceptions as well."

Hayato thought, I see.

Esha belonged to the Maid Guild, but its headquarters were in the Royal Capital. The same went for Relic’s Butler Guild and Maris’s Tamer Guild, so their affiliation would be with the Kingdom.

"By the way, did Ash and the others participate when the Royal Capital was damaged?"

"Of course. But with five Hardline Dragons, there was no way to win without a proper strategy. However…"

Diite paused. She seemed to be deep in thought, but Hayato couldn’t guess why.

"However, what?"

"Ah, my apologies. To put it simply, it’s strange. The dragons also have an affiliation setting, or rather, an affiliated region. They shouldn’t be able to fight outside of it, but yesterday, five Genesis Dragons went on a rampage in the Royal Capital. It seems to be related to the fact that I can no longer tamper with the settings."

"…Um, are you saying that even you, who manages this world, don’t know certain things, Diite-chan?"

"That’s about right. To be honest, I can’t predict what will happen in this event. I mentioned that it would be bad if the Hardline Dragons won, and it’s actually related to that. They are seriously seeking the Dragon Soul artifact. It’s just a setting and not an especially important item, but I’m not sure what will happen if it’s stolen. In the worst-case scenario, their setting might become reality, and the dragons will rule this world. That would drive us into a situation where this game becomes unplayable. It’s only a possibility, though."

This isn’t the time for a party, and, Is that really okay, were Hayato’s thoughts, but he was also involved in the circumstances that led to this. He was the one who had created the cause for Diite being unable to change the event settings in the first place.

(Carelessly wounding her might have been thoughtless, but at the time, I didn't have any other choice…)

Perhaps that thought showed on Hayato’s face, because Diite gave a slight, bitter smile.

"Hayato-kun, what happened is my responsibility, so you don’t need to worry about it. However, I would be grateful if you could help. Even if it’s just a possibility, I want to prevent any problematic situations from arising. I’d like you to support Ash-kun’s group as much as you can so the moderate dragons can win. Also, if you could focus on facility restoration, the artifact fragments shouldn’t be stolen. The mechanism is that they are taken when all the facilities in an attacked town are destroyed. One has already been taken, but as long as we protect the remaining three, we should be fine."

"So that was the setting? In that case, I’ll have to do my best to help restore the town and support Ash and the others. Ah, shoot, I had a message for Ash."

"A message?"

"Actually, yesterday, before I came to the base, I started out in a destroyed inn in the Royal Capital. I met one of the Hardline Dragons there."

"…You are incredible. Your timing is either very good or very bad."

"Well, that’s fine, but it turned out he was Ash and Ren-chan’s father, so we talked. He asked me to pass on a message to them. I was going to tell them today, but since they went to the Imperial Capital, it’ll have to be tomorrow or later."

At Hayato’s words, Diite crossed her arms, her face contemplative.

"By the way, what did Ash-kun’s father, Veru-kun, say?"

"I guess it’s okay to tell you, Diite-chan. The message for Ash was to stop seeking the Dragon Soul artifact. And for Ren-chan, it was to get along with her brother."

"…He said that?"

"Is there a problem? I don’t really know Ash and the others’ settings, but it seems fine, doesn’t it? The dragons called Genesis Dragons are fighting over the artifact, right?"

"That’s true, but, to stop seeking the artifact, hmm."

Diite seemed to sink even deeper into thought, touching her chin with her right hand.

While thinking that she looked very human-like in that moment, Hayato asked something else.

"By the way, are Ash and Ren-chan’s mother somewhere around?"

"That’s quite a sudden question. I can answer it, but are you asking about the story within the virtual reality? Or about the real world?"

"Um, what’s the setting in the virtual reality?"

"The artifact called the Dragon Soul is the soul of Ash-kun’s mother. That said, it’s just a setting. It’s not as if she exists somewhere as an NPC."

"So that’s the setting. Then what about reality?"

Diite opened her mouth slightly, but then paused as if to think, before speaking again.

"As an AI, I’m not the type to care about such things, but I don’t think it’s right for it to come from my mouth. It’s a private matter for Ash-kun and his group. If you really want to know, I can tell you, though."

"Ah… you’re right. I’m sorry, please forget I asked."

Ash and his group weren’t NPCs. They had their own lives, and for various reasons, they had chosen to live only in virtual reality. He didn’t know if their mother was directly related to that, but it wasn’t something to ask about out of mere curiosity.

Hayato thought of Ash and Ren as friends, even best friends. That’s precisely why it wasn’t right to hear their story from a third party without permission.

"By the way, why did you suddenly ask about Ash-kun’s mother?"

"Ash’s father was about to say something, in his message to Ren-chan. He said, ‘Just like your mother, you’ve become a beautiful—’ but then he stopped and told me to forget it."

"I see. A slip of the tongue, just like me."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh, it’s nothing. Now then, it seems Ney-kun’s group would like a word."

At Diite’s words, Hayato turned around. The members of Kokuryu, led by Ney, were there.

"Hayato, why don’t we all join the Stampede?"

"…Excuse me?"

"It’s a party to celebrate your return, Hayato, but let’s do something even grander. Let’s all participate in the Stampede and go on a rampage. We’ll dedicate our victory to you!"

"The monsters are the ones rampaging in a Stampede, not us."

Hayato said this, but after hearing what Diite had to say, he was beginning to think they couldn’t afford to lose this Stampede event.

He himself couldn’t fight, but if Stampedes were going to keep happening, he thought he might be able to go to the scene, assess the situation, and offer support to Ash and the others based on what he saw.

But there was a problem. This was a party to celebrate his return. Everyone here couldn’t participate in the Stampede due to their national affiliation restrictions, so they had no choice but to remain here. In this situation, Hayato, the guest of honor, couldn’t just disappear.

There were circumstances, and they might understand if he explained, but the situation was complicated, and it was hard to judge how much he should explain. The Stampede would probably be over by the time he finished explaining to everyone. So, he decided he couldn’t participate this time.

"That’s a good suggestion, but I can’t just leave everyone behind to participate."

As Hayato said that, Esha interjected.

"In that case, how about this? Even if we don’t participate in the Stampede, we can watch a broadcast of it. Ney-sama’s group can participate, and Master and the rest of us can watch from here. If Ney-sama’s group performs well, it will liven things up on our end as well."

Esha had been eating nothing but sweets and hadn’t participated in the conversation, but she must have overheard the talk between Hayato and Diite.

"Oh! That’s an excellent idea! As expected of a maid-san!"

Ney seemed enthusiastic about Esha’s proposal. And Hayato was getting enthusiastic too. He didn’t know the specific method, but if he could see the Stampede situation from here, it would be useful for analyzing the enemy, and he might be able to provide accurate support for Ash and the others in the future.

The idea was quickly approved, and the members of Kokuryu headed for the Imperial Capital.

Then, Diite prepared a giant monitor in the dining hall, the party venue. An image of the Stampede began to play.