kscans

Chapter 93 - The Story of the Artifact

The day after the Stampede in the Imperial Capital, Hayato was in his room at the base, thinking about what to make from early in the morning.

Reconstruction support was needed in the Royal Capital, but it would be necessary in the Imperial Capital as well. Furthermore, he had to strengthen the forces of Ash’s group and Ney’s group.

Even if it was just a game, the NPCs who were its residents were human, and with the possibility of their world being dominated by dragons, he had to prevent that from happening, not knowing what kind of situation it would lead to.

According to Diite, the artifact fragments wouldn’t be stolen unless five dragons attacked at once, but he couldn’t be complacent.

Hayato didn’t have the power to fight, but he could provide support by making full use of his production skills. With that in mind, he had woken up early in the morning and was about to start preparing. By the way, Esha was sound asleep in Hayato’s room in the real world.

Well then, time to get ready, he thought, getting up from the bed.

(For now, maybe rings with skills that nullify knockback or Stun. It seems Ash can’t change his weapon and full armor set, so I’ll have to do something with a ring or a bracelet.)

Thinking this, Hayato began to make rings using his crafting kit.

Three hours later, at ten in the morning, Hayato had produced a large number of rings.

The number was 500. But only about 10 of them had skills that nullified knockback or Stun.

(It didn't turn out as well as I thought. Maybe it's because the material, iron, is said to have the worst performance. If it were Adamantite, more skills might have been added, but I don't have the materials. Should I go mining with Ash and the others again?)

He didn’t get tired in virtual reality, but for some reason, he didn’t like being in the same position and arched his body back to stretch.

"Hayato, are you there?"

He heard Ash’s voice from the dining hall.

After the Stampede ended, he had told Ash to come to the base. Hayato took the rings he had just made and headed to the dining hall.

Ash and Ren were in the dining hall.

The three of them exchanged greetings and sat down in the dining hall chairs.

"Yesterday’s Stampede was a close one, I guess?"

"No, it wasn’t close. We always let it escape in that state. We call that state Flame Form, but when it’s in that state, physical attacks don’t work. With only attribute attacks and magic, the firepower is a bit lacking. My Dragon Breath doesn’t work either. If we could defeat it, it wouldn’t attack for about a month, but at this rate, it will probably attack again within a week."

Ren nodded repeatedly at Ash’s words.

(They didn't attack with five yesterday. Does that mean the other side also has various restrictions? We’ll lose if all five come, so I want to defeat as many as possible while they’re alone.)

Ash smiled at Hayato’s serious face.

"You’re worrying about it quite seriously, aren’t you?"

"Well, you guys helped me out in the Clan War, so this time I want to help as much as I can. Oh yeah, I’ll give you these."

Hayato placed ten rings on the table.

"What are these?"

"Rings that nullify knockback and Stun attacks. You and Ren-chan should be able to equip these, right? I thought they’d be essential for fighting dragons, so I made them. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough for everyone yet, so I’ll have to ask you to wait a little longer."

Ash and Ren stared at the rings with faces that said they couldn’t quite comprehend it.

"It was just yesterday, you know? How on earth did you manage to make so many rings with this kind of performance?"

"I made a lot of them. Don’t hesitate to take them. That aside, I have a message for you two."

"A message? From whom?"

"From your father, Ash. I met him in the Royal Capital the day before yesterday, and he asked me to pass on a message. I didn’t have a chance to tell you yesterday, so it’s a bit late."

As Hayato said that, a frown formed between Ash’s eyebrows. Ren didn’t seem to mind as much, but Ash’s face clearly showed disgust.

"Um, I won’t say it if you don’t want to hear it. What do you want to do?"

"No, tell me. What was the message?"

"It was to stop seeking the Dragon Soul artifact."

"I refuse."

"Yeah, I thought so. I told him that the decision was up to you, Ash, so I think that’s fine. But I want you to tell me, why are you two seeking the artifact?"

Hayato decided to ask about the content that Ash had tried to talk about many times. Even if he didn’t ask, it wouldn’t affect the Stampede event, but he was curious about the reason for Ash’s setting of seeking it.

Ash let out a small sigh and began to talk about it.

Ash’s mother, Kilika Brandle, was one of the Genesis Dragons, but she mated with another Genesis Dragon, Veru Brandle, and gave birth to Ash and Ren. But after that, Kilika fell ill and passed away.

Veru, unable to accept Kilika’s death, wished on the artifact that grants the wishes of dragons for Kilika’s revival.

However, the artifact that grants wishes was a cautionary artifact that would bring ruin to those who were too greedy, and the wish for revival was granted in a different form.

Kilika’s soul came to reside in the artifact itself, and she received the punishment of being removed from the reincarnation cycle for all eternity. That became the Dragon Soul artifact.

Veru tried to destroy the artifact to free Kilika’s soul, but he couldn’t, and the artifact shattered into four pieces.

The dragons were originally divided into a hardline faction that sought to dominate humans and a moderate faction that believed in coexistence.

The hardline faction believes that they should attack humans to retrieve the fragments of the artifact, but the moderate faction believes that this should be taken as a lesson and that the fragments should be managed by non-dragons. In the first place, it’s not known whether gathering the fragments will restore the original artifact.

"And so, we’ve been fighting for nearly a thousand years. To put it simply, it’s mostly my father’s fault."

"I see. From what I heard, there was nothing good about Veru-san. In any case, do you think that if you gather all the fragments and restore it, you can free Kilika-san’s soul?"

"I’ve never heard him say so, but he must believe that. Otherwise, there’s no reason to try to gather them. I don’t know why he’s suddenly become so active recently, though."

(That’s probably because it’s a game event. That said, Veru-san is human, just like Esha. Why has he become so active when Diite-chan can’t set up the events?)

There were some strange things, but he concluded that it was probably an event or setting that had been prepared from the beginning and decided to confirm something else.

"Why are you and the others trying to gather the fragments? You don’t know what will happen even if you gather them, right?"

"The Stampedes are happening because the fragments of the artifact are being held. If a dragon had the fragments instead of some country, the fight would only be among dragons. The honest truth is that I don’t want to involve people."

"Onii-san is a super-moderate in the moderate faction. Actually, after eating your Bucket Pudding, Hayato-san, I’ve started to lean quite a bit towards the moderate faction myself!"

"Is it okay to decide based on Bucket Pudding? That aside, I understand the general situation."

(Even if I know, it won’t affect the event, but other players don’t know this story, right? I wonder if it’s okay for a Stampede to start without any particular reason. Maybe this kind of information will be listed in the Monster Encyclopedia. I was able to hear about the Dragon Soul from Ney because it was written in the Monster Encyclopedia, so maybe the mechanism is that you understand the situation once you defeat all the hardline dragons.)

When you defeat a monster, information about that monster is written in the Monster Encyclopedia. That doesn’t change during a Stampede. Even if you don’t deliver the final blow directly, if you deal damage, you are considered to have contributed to the subjugation. Therefore, it is also written in the encyclopedia.

(Should I participate too when it seems like we can defeat it…?)

Hayato thought about it, but was brought back to his senses by Ren’s words.

"Um, Hayato-san, there was a message for me too, right? What did he say?"

"He said to get along with your brother."

"Huh? Is that all? That’s so blunt."

It certainly felt a little lonely with just that. Even if they were at odds, they were still parent and child. He could have said a little more.

Thinking so, Hayato decided to tell her what Veru had started to say.

"Actually, there’s more. He told me to forget it, but I don’t think it’s a problem, so I’ll tell you."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He said, ‘Just like your mother, you’ve become a beautiful—’ He probably meant, ‘you’ve grown into a beautiful woman’."

"That makes me so happy! I only know my mother from videos, but she was gorgeous! My time has finally come!"

"I’m not so sure about that. Ash, what’s wrong?"

A deeper frown than before had appeared between Ash’s eyebrows. But as if reacting to Hayato’s voice, his face quickly returned to normal.

"Ah, no. I just thought something was strange. Don’t mind me. Oh yeah, I have a message for you too, Hayato."

"Huh, for me? From whom?"

"Do you know someone named Cecil Arven?"

"I saw her at the Stampede yesterday, so I know her. Is the message from her, by any chance?"

"Yeah, but I think she’ll be here soon. It’ll be faster to hear it from her yourself."

"Huh?"

As Hayato said that, he heard a sound like the entrance on the shop side opening. It was the sound of it being opened with considerable force.

"Make me an Excalibur Replica! …There’s no one here!"

As that voice was heard, Ash stood up from his chair.

"Well then, we’ll be heading back."

"Don’t abandon me. I don’t think I can keep up with that level of energy."

After somehow managing to stop Ash and the others, Hayato moved from the dining hall to the shop.