Recommencement of Time

Chapter 2: A Request

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Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon


Author's Notes: There's no beta here. and I made the crucially weak mistake that made me forget to do an introduction to all of the characters in more detail. I'll cover that in the next chapter, I promise!

Edit: 08/10/13

Like Chapter 1, I'm doing a touch up of this Chapter as well! Thanks for the support and understanding.


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'I did, and I am here to request a favor from you, Great Sorceror, Shiroe, please, lend me your strength to avenge my fellow members of the Izumo Knights.'

Nathiru's words made all the members of Log Horizon pause again, it was not that they did not understand what Nathiru meant, but what she was asking was simply ridiculous, to avenge the Izumo Knights? The Izumo Knights were reputedly the strongest force in Seldesha, a force of Knights that would make D.D.D, the strongest and most experienced Raid Guild in Akihabara pale in comparison.

However, those thoughts were only shared by the more experienced players in the guild. The newbies, Toya, Minori and Lundhaz simply looked at each other in confusion, probably not understanding why their more experienced seniors wore grim looks on their faces.

'Let me reiterate your request, Nathiru-san, you are implying that the Izumo Knights were all killed?'

Shiroe spoke slowly, trying to look for any changes in Nathiru's expression as he tried to clarify the situation. Shiroe did get a reaction, but not the one that he was expecting. Nathiru showed a pained expression, briefly swallowed before she nodded in affirmative.

'As far as I can ascertain, yes, the entire Izumo Knights were... indeed killed.'

Her words made another awkward silence descend on the group before Shiroe tapped a finger on Akatsuki's arm, causing her to look up in surprise before receiving a private PM(private message) from Shiroe as he had quickly manipulated his status screen below the table with his fingers.

As she listened to the private conversation which no one else was privy to despite being in the same room, Akatsuki nodded before leaving his side, and subsequently the room as well to prepare for what Shiroe wanted her to prepare on his behalf.

'… I understand, could you tell us more details about this incident? It is difficult for me to risk my guild, for a situation as vague as that. I do apologize for this selfish request, Nathiru-san... and I am sorry for your loss.'

Shiroe offered Nathiru a small bow; even as the other members of the Guild Members followed his example.

It was only natural, even if the Ancient Types were beings of immense power, even dwarfing the Adventurers with their skills and abilities, they were still essentially similar to the People of the Land, they died when their HP reaches zero, and if a revival skill was not attempt immediately on their death, they were essential lost.

For all of their strength, they were unlike Adventurers, who did not have to fear death. Instead, they had to face the prospects of immortality, something that was just as frightening, even if those implications did not reflect themselves just yet. It was rift for abuse, and... there was something else that would be lost when Adventurers die, something so trivial, and yet so important that the Roundtable Council was unable to reveal to the Adventurers just yet.

'Thank you for your condolences, Shiroe-san, everyone. Where shall I begin... Shiroe-san?'

Nathiru blinked when Shiroe shook his head, instead getting up and stating that all of them would be moving to another location for now before they hear her out.

'That is only if you are comfortable with sharing this information with the others as well, Nathiru-san?'

Nathiru seemed conflicted at Shiroe's polite offer, before she shook her head and replied.

'It is a painful memory, but yes, if it is limited only to the company here, I am willing to share my tale. This is a confidential matter, and besides my initial request for help, there is another request that I would ask of you.'

'Please speak, Nathiru-san.'

'… I am a Knight of the Izumo Knights, Shiroe-san. As a Knight, I am honor bound to my fellow knights, as well as my commander. Even... even if he might be lost, I have broken the first role of the Knighthood. We, as a whole, are not allowed to interact with the Adventurers or even the People of the Land, on the grounds of death. It is an order that has been passed down since the formation of the knights.

We, as one of the order of knights who defends and maintain the order of the world, are to be a neutral party, we are to never take sides, to never seek assistance, and to accomplish our mission despite any adversity that might be in our paths. As a Knight, and was one of those in command, I have failed in both our mission, as well as broken the first law in seeking you out, Shiroe-san.'

Nathiru's words were filled with conviction, and it was that impression that made Shiroe wince a little as he nodded in understanding. He had expected that, and he was grateful that he had only prepared a more private room for them to speak freely. Their guild itself was small and Shrioe trusted all of his guild members with his life, but their guild headquarters was set to 'Open', which meant that anyone could walk into the guild and to eavesdrop on their conversation.

As Shiroe was the guild leader of Log Horizon, and was part of the Roundtable Council, there would logically be many members of the other guilds who wanted to speak to him, and it made sense for him to allow them access to the Guild at all times.

Only now it was more of an inconvenience. Shiroe felt a throbbing on the back of his head, this was turning out to be more troublesome than he had thought when he heard that a high leveled member of the People of the Land was seeking to speak with him.

'Nathiru-san, why have you told us so much? If you are bound by honor to not make any contact with anyone else; why do you specially seek me out?'

Shiroe was also feeling more than a little wary of the woman in front of him. She was obviously hiding a lot of things from him. It was partly due to how they had a distinct and disturbing lack of any information about the Izumo Knights or any of the Knighthoods that Nathiru spoke of. Shiroe knew that they existed, but they had always been an enigma to the players of Elder Tales. They simply had no information on hand to cross-reference Nathiru's words, it was only by sheer luck that Princess Renesha had let it slip that the Izumo Knights were missing.

'… I wish for you to hide my identity, Shiroe-san. It is my belief, and with great sadness that I admit that the Izumo Knights are no more, perhaps the entire Knighthood is no more, that I seek your strength and assistance. But that is wrong, as the final Izumo Knight, I am honor bound to keep that tradition alive for as long as I can. So, please, hide my identity, Shiroe-san. Only with that, could I truly seek to avenge my fellow Knights, and if they were to be still alive, I shall then be able to keep their honor. It is a selfish request, Shiroe-san, I am abandoning my duties, as well as my honor for this single, selfish act that might not even be granted.'

Nathiru lowered her head even as Shiroe pieced together her dilemma, she was at crossroads, her pride and honor making it impossible for her to officially and formally seek for assistance, but she herself knew that it was impossible for her to be able to accomplish this fact by herself.

This explained her wish to keep herself hidden till she could accomplish that dream. It was a practical and pragmatic plan, only like it was what she said, she was only concerned with herself, and not about them as well as the fallen. It would be incredibly reckless and incredibly naïve if she thought that he would accept her terms so easily.

'… We would only do that after we hear what happened, Nathiru-san. What you are requesting is possible, and is definitely within the realms of our ability. However, until we have all the facts, as well as the details of your request, it is unreasonable for you to expect any cooperation from my end.'

Shiroe pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose even as Nyanta nodded in appreciation of his words. Naotsugu on the other hand, simply grinned at him. It was just as expected of the Sinister Shades, to keep all his cards to himself while forcing the others to reveal theirs.

'Minori, could you come with us? Toya, Lundhaz, take good care of the guild on our absence. Please take messages on my behalf.'

Shiroe decided on his party members before leading Nathiru out to the private room that Akatsuki had rented for their use.


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'So when you returned back to your headquarters, the entire Izumo Knights was gone?'

Shiroe had difficult believing that, for the Izumo Knights wouldn't have gone down without putting up a fight, well, at least without telling one of their commanders at least. Nathiru was a commander of one of the platoons within the Knight Order themselves, and she had left the Order to tend to some personal business for a few days before she had returned to the Order by herself.

She had been delayed from returning due to reports of the Goblin Invasion, which had started a few months back. Also, unlike Adventurers, who were able to send private messages, and to keep friend lists to track the status of their friends, the Ancient Type didn't have those convenient skills that they did.

It was one of those things that the Adventurers had taken for granted, and was partly why they were able to mobilize and to gather their troops so easily. Not to mention information gathering and reporting, with the ability to send messages and to even speak in real-time to others over long distances meant that they immediately had an advantage over everyone else in that regard.

'Yes, there were no signs of a struggle, the stables themselves were untouched. Whatever happened to the Izumo Knights was not natural. If the Knights were mobilized, they would have sent the summons at least a day earlier, even in the case of emergencies, we would have sent scouts or a front party head, before the main force would reinforce their positions after resupplying. For the entire knighthood to mobilize is unheard of. That was when I knew something was amiss.'

Nathiru bit her lip as she described what she had done; she had gone through all the living quarters within the barracks for any clues. The armoury of the Izumo Knights had all their weapons gone as well, but it was not ransacked. It was as if the entire inventory was taken out, distributed while the spares were offloaded somewhere.

There was absolutely nothing left of the Knights, even the Knight's Emblem, which had endorsed the top of their hidden facility, was missing. The Emblem was a sign of pride for the Knights, as it symbolized their oath to protect the balance of the world. With its removal, their headquarters felt wrong, like it did not exist. It was as if, the entire Knighthood had just been an illusion.

But that wasn't true, for she still had the emblem with her, even if she was not wearing it right now; it was her emblem, her last tie to the Izumo Knights.

'It is as if they simply disappeared.'

Shiroe summarized for her, and Nathiru nodded in agreement. It had been difficult for her to recount the events of the Izumo Knights disappearance, but once she had, she found herself having more questions than answers; she... wanted to know, what had happened. And Nathiru knew that Shiroe could provide those answers, if it was the Grand Sorcerer who had done the impossible, it was possible.

'… Do you mind if we make a trip to the headquarters to verify for ourselves?'

Nathiru did not expect that, and the bard simply looked at him in shock as Shiroe rubbed his chin contemplatively.

'It matches with what we have heard from Princess Renesha, but it would be better if we could verify your claims personally. There might be things that you have missed out. Who knows it might even lead to new leads as well.'

Shiroe was already methodically going through what was available to him, sorting and sifting through what he had learnt from Nathiru for further analysis later on. It all seemed too simple, but at times, the simple things were the hardest to answer as well.

For instance, Shiroe would suggested that the Izumo Knights had simply used a mass teleportation spell to relocate, but that would not have made sense as well.

Nathiru had said that she had only been gone for two days. It would be almost impossible for all of them to prepare for such a move in such a small time frame. Especially since the Knighthood itself consisted of at least five thousand members. To issue out all the weapons, to get rid of the spares, to remove every single personal item belonging to all of them was really quite a stretch.

To do that without informing one of their commanders, who was in charge of at least around twenty men, was nothing of incredible.

At least Nathiru was truthful when she said that it was impossible, but that was the only thing that Shiroe agreed with him. Even if the Bard in front of him had been truthful to him so far, as well as being an exceptional asset that had helped the entire Roundtable Council tremendously, she was also someone that was virtually unknown to all of them.

She declared herself as part of the Izumo Knights, but had no proof to back her up. She wasn't an Adventurer as the status screen certainly verified that, and to top all of that, she was a level 100 Bard. All those factors made Shiroe felt uneasy about the situation.

He had never really been a good judge of character, his preferred way of determining one's motives was going through the actions of that particular individual, analysing and determining his reasons for making such actions would serve as a guide to their character.

The Class President, Nyanta, and his senior in the Tea-Party was a much better judge of character than he was, and Nyanta had been the one who had advised and persuaded him to form Log Horizon in the first place. If not, he would no doubt still be stuck with a simple party with Naotsugu and Akatsuki. Sometimes he was really a dense idiot.

But in these circumstances, Shiroe wanted to both trust as well as to distrust Nathiru, there was simply nothing to gain, and everything to lose. It could be a ploy for them to start an incident with the Izumo Knights, if that was the case, he would be the one responsible for causing Akihabara to be a target of one of the strongest forces in Seldesha. Even if they were practically immortal, the prospects were simply too bleak to ignore.

The implications themselves were too large for him to decide on a whim, and since he was a member of the Roundtable Council, he was responsible for the actions of the City as a whole.

'I am a member of the Roundtable Council, Nathiru-san. The incident that you have told us is something of grave importance to the City of Akihabara, to us Adventurers as well as perhaps the entire world as well. We... or rather, I cannot risk any of my guild members to take on such a risk without verifying your information.

Please, accept my apologies on behalf of my guild in suspecting you, but as a commander, you must be aware of the implications of false intelligence.'

Shiroe withheld nothing back as he looked at the fellow commander; there was no doubt in his mind that she occupied a similar role to his. A commander could take different roles; one was that of the attacking lead, using his own innate strength to set the tone of the attack, the other was that of one who would coordinate attacks from the mid or back lines. In Elder Tales, there were only two true supporter roles, the Bard as well as the Enchanter. The Healing classes were considered an 'active' role as they would be actively within the front lines, supporting the attack forces as much as they could.

The Support classes on the other hand, were there to help their team-mates with skills that activated passively through their skills, or with skills that helped their team-mates with a set duration. At lower levels or small skirmishes it was hard for parties to take advantage of the benefits of the supporter classes, but with long battles, larger skirmishes that were the norm for higher level battles, they really showed their worth.

Being a bard, and no doubt blessed with skills that were different from the usual Bard class for Adventurers, Shiroe had no doubt that she was in a similar role that he was currently playing.

He was the Analyst and strategist of the Roundtable Council, a role that made him feel like he was just a pencil pusher, but it was also true that he was the most suited for it.

It was his hope that by being upfront with Nathiru, she would do the same to him as well.

'...sigh'

Nathiru gave a grimace as she digested Shiroe's words, that were to be expected, and she was glad that at least he was decisive with his actions.

'Please, have a look at this then.'

Nathiru fumbled with her inventory before pulling it out, and displaying a cloak on the table for everyone to see.

'This is the emblem of the Izumo Knights, and my proof that I am indeed a member of the Knights.'

Everyone present simply stared at the detailed brooch that was fastened on the front of the cloak.

'If you go through the archives of the library in Akihabara regarding the history of Seldesha, you should be able to match it with those historical accounts. I... would also lead you to our abandoned headquarters... would that be all that you would need?'

Nathiru gave Shiroe a withering smile as she surrendered to the inevitable.

'There is one last thing that I would want to ask you, Nathiru-san.'

'Please, ask away, Shiroe-san.'

'Why do you seek me specifically? You could have spoken with クラスティ(Craste), he is the official leader of the Roundtable Council after all, with his influence, you would be able to raise this to the Council directly.'

It seems that Shiroe was uncertain of why Nathiru had seek him out, if he had seen what he had done to Landhuz, that was one thing, but it was also true that Craste and the other guilds had more ways to obtain information than he did. Even if he was called a legend, he was sure that Craste alongside his guild, D.D.D, was the originator of more stories as well.

'Yes, Lord Craste and the D.D.D, had their own of legends, their Guild was one of the most pronounce amongst you Adventurers after all, but I would not wish to burden them, or to be seen as an unknown factor within the ranks of D.D.D.

The political as well as psychological ramifications of my level, as well as my class and race would have created a stir within D.D.D. I do not wish to be the cause of any escalation in training due to my presence. Lastly, my request would be for you to turn me into an Adventurer, just like how you did to Lundhaz Code Rundelhouse. That is my... most important request.'

Shiroe groaned audibly even as Nathiru's eyes did not even waver from his reaction. He had the feeling this was what she wanted, and he gave her a small half grin even as he scratched his head in annoyance.

'You don't mince your words do you, Nathiru-san.'

'I learned from the best.'

Nathiru's words made Shiroe sigh before he turned to his fellow Guild Members, most of them still absorbing or trying to make sense of the entire situation by themselves, mostly failing too.

'I guess we'll have to cancel our appointments for the next few weeks. We'll be heading out to verify Nathiru-san's claims.'


Author's Notes: And I think it's more than a little ironic that I'm writing for SAO as well. All of the concepts are linked though, so there's that! Similarities could be drawn between the two SAO fics I am doing, and this one.