Recommencement of Time
Chapter 7: Determining One's Role
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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: Well here we go again.
My Personal notes for Episode 5-6 of Log Horizon:
Tohya and Minori were introduced decently, quite close to the original LN at any rate. Torn between the battle though, that wasn't awesome or narrated awesomely enough to give it justice. That combination was sickening and executed in such a great way between Nyanta and Shiroe.
The revelation of the People of the Earth =/= NPCs have finally been revealed! Finally, that took a while. Sadly it won't have much impact so soon.
Tohya and Minori's situation was actually worse in the LN, alot of abuse there and the anime downplayed the situation alot in Hemelin, it gets way worse. Also, Isuzu looks odd, maybe it was simply the animation style.
The conversation leading to the formation of the guild was nicely done, but could be better.
Next episode, one that probably was not covered in the LN, a filler of sorts. Till the next time! And do enjoy this chapter of silliness.
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'W-What do you mean by that, Naotsugu-san?'
Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir found herself unable to react or to respond to the Adventurer, Naotsugu's answer as she stared at him.
'I said that you already knew the answer in your heart, but you just can't accept it right now, that's all.'
Naotsugu answered evenly as slapped his own thighs, making a din in the round as he the sound of flesh hitting steel echoed in the otherwise quiet room.
The Guardian and the 'Panties Warrior', Naotsugu of the Tea Party had gone through many battles both within Elder Tales as well as in Seldesha, the land of the People of the Land.
He had not faced death before in Seldesha even if he had been responsible for at least the deaths of at least two Adventurers who had engaged in Player-killing with him as the targets. He had 'killed' them with no remorse or any mercy as if they had the willingness and daring to kill others, they should be prepared for the same thing to be done to them.
The conclusion to the end of that particular path has already been decided at the start, regardless if they had accepted it or not. The saying goes: Do onto others what you want others to do to you. If one decided to kill Adventurers, they had to be prepared to be killed by said Adventurers as well.
So if Nathiru was prepared to go to such absurd lengths, to be an Adventurer and giving up on what she has always been, the answer that she found find would be that she had to change herself as well.
That was what Naotsugu felt and whether Nathiru was prepared to accept it was up to her, he was not going to spell that out to her and he did not have the obligation to do so.
One would normally discount Naotsugu as the brawn behind his partner, Shiroe's brain, but like Shiroe he had plenty of experience and when it came to his identity outside of Elder Tales, he was older and had more experience with dealing with people as he had established a career for himself. In comparison Shiroe on the other hand, similar to Akatsuki were college students.
So logically after Nyanta, who every one sought advise from, Naotsugu should be the second in line. Only Naotsugu knew that when it came to pure intellect, he was inferior to Shiroe.
But at the same time, it was also true that when it comes to interacting and connecting with others, Naotsugu had always been the one who would pull the group together.
Even if Shiroe was the leader that gathered all of them together, Nyanta the healer that filled up all the cracks, Akatsuki brought stability and purpose - Naotsugu was the glue that keeps all of them together.
'I... I don't. I don't have the answer, Naotsugu-san. If I truly know the answer, I would not be so pained over it.'
Nathiru raised her voice when replying, a first for her as she had always been so polite and controlled. But when it came to this topic, it was difficult for her to keep those emotions in check after all. The mask that Nathiru had worn for so long was cracking under the simple questions from Naotsugu and Nathiru found herself very overwhelmed.
Her chest hurt, the feeling that she was short of breath was making it difficult for her to keep her cool and no matter what she did, the knot in her stomach refused to be undone. The uneasiness was back and Nathiru found herself lost, helpless and desperate as she could not return the level and firm look that Naotsugu had on his face.
'Well, maybe you haven't thought it through yet-'
It was perhaps this momentary loss of control and the panic resulted that caused Nathiru to screech at Naotsugu, screaming at him to stop.
'D-DON'T SAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND! YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING! H-HOW COULD YOU UNDERSTAND WHEN Y-YOU.. YOU CAN'T EVEN DIE, YOU MONSTER!'
Nathiru screamed as she reached forward in an attempt to grab a piece of Naotsugu, it did not matter to her what piece of him was within reach, all she wanted to do was to shake him, to hit him and to inflict back on him the pain that he had reminded her off.
She was trying so hard to stop the memories, to not dwell on them, to not reflect on what had happened and what she would have to do in order to accomplish what she wanted to do! But he had to come and drag those memories out, to remind her that by choosing this path would result in her going against everything that she and her knights had always believed in. It... was wrong, it had been wrong, but now, was it really wrong? She, more than anything else, knew the extent of what the Knights would do in order to accomplish a mission. She knew, she did know and so... Naotsugu was right.
But a cynical part of her pointed out to her that it really wasn't his fault for he was just stating the obvious. Even if she had said that she didn't know, she did know what the answer was all the time. By searching for an answer, she was already following her own self-fulling prophecy that she would have to move on, and to abandon what she had held dear in order to find that answer, regardless of what really happened because without this opportunity, she would never get the answer.
At her current stage and level, she was not ready, she could never be ready to face what had happened to her counterparts and that's why she was here, seeking help from an avenue that she would havenever considered until now.
'M-Must... I really...'
Nathiru asked weakly even as she buried her face into the hard object in front of her, her voice muffled even as she asked Naotsugu again.
'Must I... really... move on? In this way to gain the strength I need? It hurts, I... I don't want to move on in this way. I'm... betraying them by choosing this path...'
'…'
Naotsugu did not reply, not that she expected him to do so. He had no obligations to reply at all and perhaps he had always been humoring her so far.
For many reasons, Nathiru found herself very happy that the only thing she could hear was silence while she continued clutching on to whatever she had been holding before.
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Shiroe had a hand on Akatsuki's shoulders to stop the smaller girl from leaping in to defend Naotsugu. He was actually very happy that Akatsuki had acted in such a way as it was a sign that she was willing to jump to his aid even if outwardly she didn't really get along with him.
He suspected that Akatsuki was just as embarrassed at realizing that for he could see that her neck was a little red and was pointedly not looking at him at all.
'Nya haha~ I guess Naotsugu got all the answers out of her faster than you could, Shiroe.'
Nyanta winked at him even as he looked over to Minori to see her frowning, no doubt trying to get a better view of what had been exchanged so far. Shiroe himself had a much clearer picture as to the potential problems if he agreed to Nathiru's request to change her to an Adventurer and possible to take her under his wing.
The political ramifications notwithstanding, it would mean that they would be dragged along with Nathiru's quest due to her obsession as he would be responsible for her. Shiroe also clinically noted that this was also turning out to be quite similar to an RPG game if the developments like this continued. At least he didn't have to comfort the crying woman inside the room right now, that was definitely a plus. That meant that he wasn't the main protagonist in this story, that was good, very good.
'So Shiroe, what are we going to do nyah? Regardless of what Nathiru-san's goals and wishes are, we would still have to figure out what happened to the Izumo Knights nyah! We know that the Royal Guards are still around to stop PK-ing in Akihabara, but we know nothing about them at all nyah.'
The Royal Guards, another group of individuals that had more powers than the Adventurers similar to the Knights as they had the ability to appear and disappear out of nowhere seemingly at a whim. No one had ever heard a member of the Royal Guard spoke before they were killed by them. Seeing that even level 90 players were no match for them, the Royal Guards were another force to consider in the grand scheme of things. Some Adventurers even suspected that they were possibly all robots themselves, created and maintained in the past to enforce law and order on the land.
Whoever or whatever they were, they were an unknown factor that Shiroe had not had time or resources to start researching about. He doubt that the People of the Land knew anything about them, seeing that the Royal Guards only appeared when Adventurers broke the established roles that had been set in areas within the city, like GM (Game Masters) if you would.
'Nathiru-san is our best option to know more about the Izumo Knights, and if the time frame is right... they disappeared more or less around the same period where the Apocalypse happened. It's too much of a coincidence to consider it an accident. Any one would wish to maintain order in their home land regardless of any anomaly or disaster that happened, in fact it was even more important to maintain the same order that was achieved when a disaster happens...'
Shiroe expected that the Izumo Knights would agree with him, especially so since Nathiru had explained that their mission was to maintain the balance of power between the People of the Land and the Monsters. The Adventurers themselves were not included in the equation and it had been established, within Elder Tales itself, that if the Adventurers were unable or failed to crush a particular scourge that would devastate the People of the Earth, the Izumo Knights would intervene instead, crushing the monsters instead of the Adventurers.
Their very existence was to ensure that peace and stability was maintained if the Adventurers failed, a fail-safe of sorts and maybe the final solution if either side gain an unfair advantage. Why would such an important force disappear by itself? It did not make sense at all for them to be removed from the equation unless someone wanted to cause chaos in the first place.
Yes, this was starting to really sound like the plot out of a RPG now.
'You put it all in one nyah. I guess we'll need to start packing for an extended journey as well...'
Nyanta winced even as he rubbed his chin while contemplating the situation himself. Subsequently hearing Minori speak up made the two of them jump slightly. Akatsuki on her part had recovered herself and offered no input from her part.
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'But does the People of the Land have contact with the Izumo Knights in the first place? Even if Nathiru-san says that they don't, the People of the Land does have way to contact or at least to know that they disappeared. I... do we know where their bases are? And if we don't, if the People of the Land, does, they might know more about them, don't they?'
Minori put up a good point and it made Shiroe and Nyanta look at each other before nodding.
'Guess one of us have to pay the princess a visit after all... Chief, could you please go my behalf?'
Shiroe sighed even as he rubbed his head in annoyance. It would be best if that person was not him, he had his own role in the grand scheme of things and getting in the good books of Princess Renesha was not one of them. He was the Devil's Advocate of the Roundtable Council after all, someone had to oppose plans eventually. There was just no way that the status quo could be maintained for long. It just did not help that Crusty, the leader of D.D.D and the appointed spokesperson and leader of the Roundtable Council was very close indeed with the Princess.
'Don't worry, consider it done nyah~ I have enough charm in these old bones to at least get some input from our princess-san nyah~'
Nyanta chuckled before looking towards Minori and asking her to accompany him as well, the swashbuckler had a glint in his eyes that meant he was up to something. Whatever the case, Shiroe trusted Nyanta and Minori too, the young girl had potential, she just need to be more confident in herself.
'M-Me as well, Nyanta-san?'
'Consider this training, Minori-chan. Chop chop, let's go nyah.'
Nyanta gave her a stern look before he smiled and waiting for her to catch up with him, leaving Shiroe looking quite bemused before Akatsuki suddenly pulled Shiroe from his position into an adjacent room to hide the two of them. He blushed at the close contact and Akatsuki seemed to realize it as well for she turned pink but she still pressed a finger on her lips for his silence.
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'… I-I am terribly sorry, Naotsugu-san, I lost control and I...'
Nathiru's face was flushed and she was unable to meet Naotsugu's eyes while the guardian just laughed and said that was fine while she saw him out of the small room. Although it had been quite a shock to see the young woman to really attack him, with his stats, it was impossible for her to do any lasting damage. And it was his words that had caused her to lose control anyway. Not that he found his questions particular hard or surprising.
'No, no, it's my fault for pushing the question on you, Nathiru-san! Anyway, I should be saying thanks for earlier. Aha~'
Naotsugu's remarks made Nathiru even more embarrassed as she looked down again at her hands. Her hands hurt, and were throbbing slightly with pain. After realizing what she had done and the close proximity with Naotsugu, she had started hitting him hard while forgetting that he was wearing armor. She had patched herself with magic, but it still stung a little.
'F-Forget what happened... Please.'
Nathiru's image of a cool headed individual would probably be shattered to smithereens if word about her outburst got out, she was a Knight after all and it was important for her to keep that image. So she trampled on her own pride to plead with Naotsugu again for him to keep that incident a secret.
'Please, Naotsugu-san, I... My earlier outburst was entirely my fault and Naotsugu-san had no obligations to honor a promise with me to keep it a secret, but please! It is... something that I would never live down if word got out. My honor and pride as a Knight is at stake. I am begging you...'
Nathiru was babbling at this point and she had grabbed hold of Naotsugu's collar by sheer instinct, causing her body to be pressed against the guardian again. If only Naotsugu wasn't wearing that armour right now he would have gotten even more!
'I am aware that up till now, I have hardly been the most truthful and open of guests, and this latest outburst would surely been the last straw in any organization. But please, Naotsugu-san! I-I'm willing to do anything in exchange! If it is a something that I can do within my power, please, name it!'
On hindsight, her words could be phrased in a much better way, but in her moment of panic and desperation, Nathiru had once again made quite a huge and exploitable error in judgement.
'W-Well, how about you be the maid of Log Horizon for a week? We could use some help cleaning up after all!'
Naotsugu's suggestion came totally out of left field and even he himself was shocked at what he had just said while Nathiru just stared at him with tears forming at the side of her eyes. The sheer cheek that Naotsugu had to even suggest this idea in the first place was just beyond her ability to comprehend. Even if he was the 'Panties Warrior' that request was a little too much!
'W-Well, you see... you need to have a cover while you're staying here right? Nathiru-san is well known as one of the strong Bards who helped out in Choshi Town. But you're special cause you're one of the People of the Earth right? You also said that you don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble by asking for our help, right? So why not hide yourself in plain sight by being a maid? No one would associate you with being a strong bard that way! W-Wait, they'll still be able to see your player name though...'
Naotsugu tried to come up with an explanation even as Nathiru continued staring in abject shock at his words. That, didn't even make sense at all! No, that made sense and that's why it was so scary!
'No one takes a maid seriously after all! And no one would really care about why and what we are doing to help a maid, right? Even the fact that you are a powerful bard wouldn't matter as you're just maid now!'
'T-That's... that's just a stupid idea!'
Nathiru screamed again in frustration, even going to the extent to pulling at her hair in response. All the respect that Naotsugu might have gained from him sharing words with her was totally gone at his lousy suggestion.
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'I agree on the stupid part, but the idea has merit.'
'Baka Naotsugu, you never stop, do you? Milord, may I seek permission to grant punishment to this pervert?'
Nathiru swore that her heart stopped beating when she heard two voices comment behind the two of them, and as she turned back she felt the feeling of dread in her stomach grow steadily till she froze anew at seeing not only Akatsuki-san, but Shiroe-san walking towards them.
Akatsuki-san for her part looked very upset but what made Nathiru feel even more worried was the way that Shiroe-san's glasses glinted, preventing her from seeing his eyes and the expression that he was making as he smiled at the two of them. Nathiru felt a shiver run up her back even as tried her best to smile back at the two of them.
'Yo, Shiroe! It's a good idea right? Right!'
Nathiru was aware that Naotsugu was gesturing for she was stillholding onto him and she released him in an undignified manner before finding the ground very interesting indeed as the other two members of Log Horizon walked towards them.
There was just no way that Shiroe-san would agree to her request now!
'You did ask for permission this time, Akatsuki.'
Shiroe-san's remark made Nathiru pause even as she heard Naotsugu's noise of confusion while Akatsuki replied after a small sigh.
'As galling as it is to admit, Naotsugu does have a point. It is difficult to keep Nathiru-san's identity a secret as she is well established among the younger Adventurers who had seen her in action. It would be a matter of time before the other guilds start to approach her as well.'
'How bad is the situation, Akatsuki?'
Shiroe's question made Nathiru look up in confusion as she tried to keep up with the conversation that the two of them were having. At least Naotsugu-san seem just as confused as she was.
'To be honest I am not entirely sure of the full extent of the recruitment attempts, seeing that there have been only a few inquiries directed to me the past few days.'
Every guild has their own grapevines as well as their information gatherers and in Log Horizon, that role has been unofficially fallen on Akatsuki. That was due to the admirable performance she had pulled off during the time the members of the Roundtable Council met the leaders of the Istal Free City Alliance. She was one of the few assassins that had been accompanying the party from the Roundtable council and she was responsible for digging up many leads that helped the representatives from the council in their first ever political meeting with their counterparts from the People of the Earth.
Akatsuki had done Shiroe proud by obtaining information either through spying or through barter of information from her own counter parts. Information was power after all, and perhaps it was more right to say that there might be some honor among thieves if there was equivalent trade involved?
The same principles applied within Akihabara as well even if it was never openly discussed or committed upon, but the different guilds would in their own capacity ensure they have the means to obtain information and power.
Even if the Roundtable Council was accepted as the overall leadership or role model for the Adventurers in Akihabara, that did not mean that the guilds were all working together as one single entity. No, it was still a cuthroat open economy out there even if the largest guilds that formed the Roundtable Council did work together for the most part. They might be ruled by an elected 'government' but individual guilds still have power to do whatever they want within the rules and guideline set by the Roundtable Council.
And as such, there would be guilds who was very interested in the power and potential that Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir had displayed during the siege of Choshi Town. She was an anomaly, a unique individual that would be a great asset to any guild who would secure her loyalty.
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Even if Nathiru herself wanted to avoid controversy, the moment she had revealed her powers to the world, she had already done so. The only reason that no one had not made a move just yet was probably due to the more pressing issue of the Goblin Invasion, the setting up of the embassy of the Istal Free City Alliance within Akihabara itself and the various trade and transactions done between the People of the Land and the Adventurers up till this point.
But now that things were finally settling down, attention returned to Nathiru and the powers that she possessed.
'However seeing that there had not been any attempts to contact me before on this matter, it speaks for itself. They have established that there is a distinct possibility that Nathiru-san has approached us and is more than willing to join the ranks of Log Horizon. They would no doubt try to contact Nathiru-san to try and convince her to consider other possibilities as well.'
Akatsuki finished her report even as Naotsugu rubbed his own chin in contemplation.
Nathiru for her part just stared in shock and unease, was it already too late for her to cut her losses and flee? No that wouldn't work, a skilled tracker would locate her faster than she could escape to somewhere safe. She was truly trapped between a rock and a hard place.
'But seeing that I am the only person who knows how to grant Nathiru-san her request, she is just as stuck with us as we are stuck with her. The other guilds would call it unfairness if we do not accept her into the guild while at the same time disallowing her to join others.'
Shiroe analyzed and explained the situation even as Nathiru felt her heart drop and her stomach fill with butterflies again.
No, she just couldn't accept this! T-This is just too much!
'That is true milord. As I have mentioned earlier, as galling and despicable as the idea might be, it holds merit for it would not only take the attention off Nathiru-san without initiating her formally into the guild, but at the same time allow the stories of her prowress be steadily diluted due to her... new job scope.'
Akatsuki paused and looked quite disgusted at her own words but she powered on nonetheless while Nathiru shook her head, slowly moving away from the two devils that were trying to destroy whatever pride she still had inside her. She knew what they were about to suggest, but that did not mean that she would like it! In fact she hated that idea!
'S-Stop, no, please. D-Don't say it!'
Nathiru waved her hands in the air in panic even as Akatsuki gave her a very apologetic sigh before finishing and shaking her head in conclusion.
'No one would wish to recruit a individual whose sole role in a guild is to be a maid.'
'Maids are a supernatural being no doubt, but they are no Adventurers!'
Naotsugu chipped in, further digging Nathiru deeper into despair while she looked at Shiroe for help, maybe a semblance of hope before it was cruelly snuffed out by the Sinister Shades.
'That said, you do have to be a very enthusiastic and willing maid. Anything else and they would believe that you are being forced to serve as one under our charge. The attempts to recruit would die down after a while, so in the mean time as we sort out all the details. We would be in your care, Nathiru-san.'
Shiroe spoke calmly and cruelly even as Nathiru sank to her knees in despair, this was not what she had imagined would happen to her!
Author's Notes: Ah, I'll be fixing the names of the Guild leaders of D.D.D and the Black Sword Knights, Crusty and Isaac right? Cool names! Also, my portrayal of Nyanta is a little odd, I might revise that. Hmm... Do give your comments if you have any!
