I have no excuses. RIP me.
Disclaimer: Still don't own Log Horizon.
Chapter 9: Ketsui (Resolve)
Serara, the girl we saved in Susukino, belongs to Marielle's guild, the Crescent Moon Alliance.
A guild is a team comprised of many players. Guilds offer many advantages that parties, which are more provisional, don't have. For example, a shared vault in the game's bank, and a dedicated communication system. And most important, potential use of a guild hall, located at the Guild Building. These halls can be purchased or rented, and are divided into several ranks.
Normally, you select a hall based on your guild's size. The Crescent Moon Alliance uses what's known as a rank-B hall, consisting of seven rooms. For them, the size is exactly right.
"Making the food without using the commands is more difficult, but it's worth it, nyan." Nyanta announced to the group of Crescent Moon Alliance chefs that were cooking food at the cat-man's instructions. As they cooked, one of the chefs took a good smell of the food that was cooking and sighed in pure bliss.
"This smell…this perfectly charred color…I remember this!" The chef remarked, tears flowing freely out of his eyes. "It's food!"
"You're going to make it too salty, nyan." Nyanta remarked without missing a beat.
Just then, there was a failure noise from another part of the room, causing both Nyanta and the other chef to look in that direction.
"I still can't do it!" another male chef said despairingly as he watched the pot he was cooking turn into an unidentifiable blue gloop.
"To make difficult food, you need a high cooking level, nya." Nyanta explained, walking over to where the chef was. "And even if two people with the same level use the same ingredients, the dishes can still taste different, nya. It's no different than in our old world, nya."
Meanwhile, back in the room that the main party was taking place in, a certain young druid girl was running back and forth between different groups of adventurers, carrying food and other items while she did so.
"Serara's working hard." Hein remarked as the assassin watched the girl offer a drink to Eisel nearby.
"Even though the party is for her…"
Meanwhile, in another part of the party room, Naotsugu eagerly sunk his teeth into a bunch of meat, eating the whole stick with one large bite.
"Listen, kid." The guardian stated to Shoryu in front of him as he continued chewing on his food. "Your level isn't what's important. It's what comes after that."
"What comes after my level?" Shoryu asked, slightly confused at what Naotsugu was saying. All of a sudden, a thought came to him as he exclaimed, "Secret techniques?!" with stars in his eyes.
Naotsugu shook his head in response.
"I mean panties." The guardian replied, leaning towards the young swashbuckler.
"Pa-" Shoryu was taken aback by the response. At the exact same moment, a certain large-chested Crescent Moon Alliance leader came up behind the swashbuckler.
"What are you talking about?" Marielle asked, causing Shoryu's face to turn into a massively shocked one.
"Nothing much." Naotsugu replied, completely oblivious to Shoryu's face, as he turned to face Marielle. "Just talking about p-"
"Powerful monster! About powerful monsters!" Shoryu covered Naotsugu's mouth as he finished the guardian's sentence.
"Heh…" Marielle replied, not entirely convinced by Shoryu's response. To the swashbuckler's relief, however, Marielle's attention was soon diverted by another voice from behind her.
"Marielle?" Henrietta called out.
"Coming!" Marielle replied loudly, turning around and walking towards the bard's voice, much to Shoryu's relief.
"Don't tell anyone?" Marielle asked Henrietta once she had walked over to her.
"We shouldn't let our rivals learn about this food for a while." Henrietta replied as she watched the Crescent Moon Alliance's chefs bring out another huge serving of food that they had just prepared.
"Why?" Marielle asked in response, confused by Henrietta's reasoning. "It's a big deal, after all!"
"It's too big of a deal." Henrietta replied, shaking her head. "If people suddenly find out, it could cause problems. That's what Shiroe-sama said."
Meanwhile, at the exact same moment, Shiroe was currently being thanked by Hein and the female guild member he had been talking to.
"Thank you for your help." The female adventurer said, her voice full of thanks.
"I-it was nothing…" Shiroe replied, a little overwhelmed by all the thanks being sent his way.
"Everyone's honestly grateful!" Hein added to his guildmember's remark. "Let's have a toast!" the assassin continued, holding his glass out at the same time. The three of them clinked drink glasses, Shiroe feeling embarrassed while doing so.
If one could see the epitome of despair/annoyance, it was in the faces of the two youngest members of Shiroe's party at the current moment.
"I'm so happy!" Henrietta exclaimed loudly as sparkles appeared around her face, causing the two young girls in front of her to both massively sweatdrop in response. "Not just Ashlin, but Akatsuki and Sakura too!"
Both girls backed up into a nearby table in response to Henrietta's actions.
"Wh-what are you going to do?" Akatsuki asked nervously.
"Ashlin." Henrietta said in response, adjusting her glasses so they twinkled.
"Hai!" The young girl replied loudly, dragging a clothing stand with her to right in front of the two terrified girls. "Today, we have three types of summer dress for you."
"I-I am my lord's personal ninja!" Akatsuki replied, shielding her eyes from the shine that the three summer dresses were emitting in front of her. "I couldn't wear such frivolous things!"
Sakura, meanwhile, didn't say anything and instead just made a bolt for the door. Henrietta, in response, threw her instrument at the gunner, hitting her square in the back of the head and knocking the poor girl out. After seeing that Sakura wasn't going anywhere at the moment, Henrietta then turned her attention back to Akatsuki.
"Shiroe-sama's given his permission~" Henrietta said in a singing voice as she slowly approached the assassin. "Now, just give up…"
Akatsuki was completely trembling in both anger and fear as Henrietta's shadow spread out more and more on her face as the bard approached.
"Y-you sold me out, my lord. My lord, YOU SOLD ME OUT!"
A few hours later, as night was beginning to fall over the city, Marielle moved between the now-empty tables of the party room, trying her best to silently move between the sleeping Crescent Moon Alliance members that were scattered over the place. One or two of them snored as Marielle passed, but other than that, everyone was exhausted from the party that had just taken place.
"Marie-san…I…" Shoryu mumbled to himself in his sleep from his position on the floor. Marielle smiled at the boy as she placed a sheet on top of him. Behind her, Shiroe smiled as he came to a stop from where he was helping to clean up all the dirty dishes that were still scattered around all the tables.
"We'll have a lot of cleaning tomorrow." Marielle remarked, keeping her eyes on the sleeping face of Shoryu as she did so. Turning to face Shiroe now, she asked: "Shiro-bou, are you going to sleep too?"
"I'm not that tired." Shiroe replied. Marielle smiled at his response.
"Then shall I make some tea?" the cleric offered.
A few minutes later, after Shiroe had accepted Marielle's offer, the two of them found themselves seated beside each other in Marielle's work room; two cups of tea placed on the table in front of the two.
"You really helped us this time." Marielle stated, opening up the conversation. "Thank you."
"It's fine, really." Shiroe replied humbly, waving off Marielle's praise once again. "I didn't do anything too big."
"If it wasn't big, then what would be?" Marielle asked in response to Shiroe's humbleness.
"While I was away," Shiroe continued quickly, trying to change the subject, "what's happened here?"
"Here? You mean in Akihabara?" Marielle asked for confirmation. She made a depressed face and looked away from Shiroe before continuing: "I think it's better than it was. There is far less PKing, and it's a little safer. But…I couldn't say exactly why, but there's something unpleasant in the air."
Shiroe remained silent as Marielle continued her explanation.
"It's like, well…like everyone has fallen into ranks."
"Ranks?" Shiroe asked.
"We're a small guild, with fewer than thirty members, right?" Marielle asked in response. "We have four level 90s, while most are under 50. But the biggest guilds…for example, have you heard of D.D.D., Crusty's guild?"
"The raid guild that beat Oracle's Tower, right?" Shiroe asked. "The Legion raid that they said the Japanese couldn't have beaten…"
"Yeah." Marielle confirmed. "A raid like that can have hundred-player fights. Supposedly, they have over 1,500 members, including plenty of level 90s."
"Then by "rank," you meant the guilds?" Shiroe asked, starting to see what Marielle had meant earlier.
"It's feeling as though the bigger guilds are determining the town's feel and its rules. For example, who has priority using the market."
"I had no idea."
"It's the same way with the hunting grounds. Since the strong and weak guilds were divided, the weak guilds will no longer approach the stronger guilds' territories."
"Then the larger guilds have taken all the good hunting spots?"
"You can't fight in the town, of course. But that doesn't mean you can clash in the hunting areas." Marielle continued. "Well, it means there's less PKing, which is good."
"But that's still…" Shiroe started. His face hardened as he continued his sentence: "Somehow, I don't like it."
"I understand what you mean." Marielle said after Shiroe's statement. "It isn't just the hunting grounds. Invisible barriers are being erected everywhere. I think that's what they mean by the guilds falling into ranks. No one's to blame. And I'm sure the large guilds have their own problems. No laws or ethics prohibit people from using whatever strategy they can to give themselves an edge in this world."
Shiroe's hands gripped his upper arms tightly as he took in what Marielle said.
"But still…" the enchanter said, "It isn't a good thing."
There was a moment's silence between the two of them before Shiroe continued:
"Though perhaps it's a matter of preference."
"That's true." Marielle agreed. "Actually, a few days ago, we tried to form a council of smaller guilds in order to oppose the growing influence of the larger guilds. Unfortunately, all the smaller guilds have their own opinions and mindsets, and the conference didn't work out as planned. Furthermore, the Black Sword Knights and the Silver Sword are aiming for 91."
"91?" Asked Shiroe.
"The old level cap was 90, but with the expansion…"
"Yeah…" Shiroe replied, seeing what Marielle was saying. "With the Novasphere Pioneers expansion, the level cap was raised to 100, wasn't it?"
"And since no new players have entered since the Apocalypse…" Marielle implied.
"Oh, I see…" Shiroe replied. "Because of the limit on how many you can allow to join…"
"The Black Sword Knights have always had a thing about being the best." Marielle said. "Their guild master, Issac, is proud…or maybe just enjoys excluding others…he won't allow anyone below 85 to join. So he isn't in the position D.D.D. was, where he can just start absorbing a bunch of smaller guilds."
"He's trying to fight quantity with quality, then?" Shiroe asked. Marielle took another bite out of the cookie she had started to eat before nodding her head in response.
"At a bare minimum, they'd need to hunt for level-85 monsters."
"But this isn't the same as the game…" Shiroe said. "Isn't that pretty dangerous?"
"It would be if they did it the normal way." Marielle said, her voice implying something dark was to come shortly. True to the feeling her next words confirmed it: "They're using EXP pots."
"EXP pots?" Shiroe asked. "Do you mean they're leveling up by cheating?"
EXP pots…items that slightly increase attack power and health regeneration, and doubles experience earned from combat. One of these potions was freely distributed to every player below level 30 once a day, so new players could level up and start enjoying the game more quickly.
"After the Apocalypse," Marielle answered Shiroe, "a guild called Hamelin gathered new players, claiming they wanted to help them. But instead, they're selling their EXP pots to large guilds that want to raise their levels."
Shiroe didn't reply to Marielle's comment, but one look at his face could tell he had an extremely dark look on his face from the revelation.
At the same time, outside of the guild building, a solitary figure was standing there all alone, looking up at the building itself silently. The figure sighed to herself softly before turning around and heading back down the dark and deserted main street.
A little while later, Shiroe was walking down the same main street by himself, deeply thinking about everything that was going on currently within Akiba.
'It's all stating to go wrong.' The enchanter thought to himself as he walked. 'This town…this world…who's at fault?
No, to a greater or lesser degree, everyone is. Including me, since I'm not doing anything.'
Shiroe continued to walk down the dark road, noting the small campfires every here and there that were illuminating adventurers that were still awake at this time of night.
'That's right…I only went to Susukino to vent some of my frustration at the way things are going.'
"Thinking again?"
The sudden voice startled Shiroe, causing him to turn around to look at the source of the voice.
"There's nothing wrong with thinking. But Shiro-kun's smart enough, so why not just solve the problem?"
Shiroe blinked. Standing in front of him, bathed in a radiant white light that was radiating from behind her, was Kanami, dressed in her previous swashbuckler clothing that she had worn during the time of the Debauchery Tea Party. The sight made Shiroe stop for a moment, before turning back and walking onwards down the dark street once again.
'But what can I do?'
"Shiro-kun."
'I don't even have a guild…'
"Shiro-kun~!"
'I don't have a guild…is it?'
"That's just an excuse for running away…" Shiroe muttered to himself.
"SHIRO-KUN!"
A hard object made contact with the back of the distracted enchanter's head, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Meanwhile, within Hamlin's guild hall, a bunch of the younger and newer players that Hamelin was taking advantage of were sprawled out throughout a storage room, lying on the hard floor with only a single blanket and pillow and trying to get to sleep.
"Can't sleep?" one of the girls, Izuzu, asked the other girl beside her that was currently still awake.
"No." Minori replied simply to Izuzu's question.
"Yeah, I'm too tired to sleep." Izuzu replied, turning away from Minori and looking at the ceiling. "Your brother helped me out yesterday."
"Tohya did?" Minori asked.
"He's a good guy." Izuzu replied. "Kind, cheerful, and hard-working."
"He's just empty-headed." Minori sharply rebuked, but the happiness in her voice gave away her true intentions.
"You two seem to really get along." Izuzu remarked. "When this world was still a game, you two would form a party and adventure together, right?"
"…yeah." Minori replied, her voice much sadder at Izuzu's remark about 'when this world was still a game.' "Tohya…Tohya wanted to play."
"Shiro-kun! Don't die!" Shiro-kun!"
Shiroe was suddenly forcefully awoken from his (forced) unconsciousness by the very same person who had caused him to fall unconscious in the first place shaking him by his shoulders. Opening his eyes, he found himself face-to-face with Kanami once again, this one lacking the shining light behind her and the swashbuckler clothes that he had seen just a few moments previously.
"Kanami…san?" Shiroe asked slowly.
"Thank goodness!" Kanami exclaimed as she lifted Shiroe to his feet. "I thought you had died!"
"Then you should have simply needed to go to the cathedral." Shiroe replied, rubbing the back of his head. Off to the side, he noticed a large rock that was definitely not there before, but Shiroe decided not to ask anything about it.
"…are you thinking too hard again?" Kanami asked suddenly after Shiroe had turned to continue on his walks, Kanami following closely behind him. "…is it about guilds as well?"
Shiroe turned to look at her, a confused look passing on his face for a moment as he did so.
"It isn't that hard to guess what you're thinking about, Shiro-kun." Kanami said cheerfully. "It's written all over your face plain as day."
Shiroe was going to ask the meaning behind Kanami's words, but ignored it and instead turned to continue walking down the road.
"All the old guilds that invited me just wanted to take advantage of my status as a veteran player." Shiroe said as the two of them continued walking. "I hated it, and that's why…no, if I had to say, it wasn't all that bad, having people rely on me."
As the two of them walked, they passed by a group of three adventurers that were sitting alongside the side of the dark road. One of them remarked, just loud enough to hear: "I wish our guild master had a better grasp of things."
"Our guild's done for…" another one complained.
Shiroe walked in silence past the group for a bit before continuing with what he was saying:
"But when a lot of people get together, lip service isn't enough to get by anymore. And I hated that."
Shiroe paused for a moment while making a turn into one of Akiba's side alleys, Kanami following his lead behind him.
"No…if I had to be honest, I knew all that going in…" Shiroe confessed. Kanami put her finger on her lips, her face having completely unchanged from her normal cheerful and joyous one.
"Do you still not like guilds, Shiro-kun?" Kanami suddenly asked after a moment. Shiroe stopped in his tracks and turned quickly to face the monk, who was smiling warmly at him.
"…To be honest, I don't really know anymore." Shiroe admitted, defeated by Kanami's carefree attitude. He turned and continued walking down the alley, eventually ending up on top of one of the walls surrounding Akiba, looking down into the city. Sitting down on a nearby rock, he continued: "The more I think about why I didn't like guilds, the more haughty and childish I seem."
"But that's just you, Shiro-kun." Kanami said, causing Shiroe to look at her. "It's true that the system itself makes it easy for guilds to go rotten, so I can understand why you'd want to keep your distance from that. But if there was a thing that never went bad, I don't know that it's be very fun at all."
"Kanami-san…" Shiroe remarked quietly, looking at the monk while doing so.
"Any kind of life can go wrong, or sicken, or suffer." Kanami continued with her completely out-of-character philosophical speech. "Lives get old, decay, and finally die. That is just the nature of human life within itself. Disliking that fact because it hurts isn't any different than disliking life itself."
Shiroe just continued looking at Kanami silently, taking in every word that the normally hyperactive monk was saying.
"I know you realize this, Shiro-kun." Kanami was continuing while looking up at the stars in the night sky. "You are my bus guide, after all. After all, our old home, the Tea Party, was an exciting place!" Kanami skipped back and forth between both of her feet, starting to revert back to her normal happy-go-lucky attitude. "Nyan-kun, Tsugu-kun, KR-kun, Soji-kun…every day was a whole new day of fun and adventures that made every day within the game fun for everyone. But the reason that was went beyond just ourselves; it also was because everyone with us worked hard to make it that way. Any treasure you attain without anyone ever working is no treasure at all, after all!"
Shiroe closed his eyes for a moment before turning his attention back up to the stars above, thinking heavily about what Kanami had just said.
'She's right.' The enchanter thought to himself. 'The Tea Party and the Crescent Moon Alliance…in both, there was someone hard at work behind the scenes…'
"…Kanami-san, what should I do?" Shiroe suddenly asked, startling Kanami for a moment and causing the monk to look back at him.
"The most amazing thing that you can, as my bus guide!" Kanami exclaimed, lifting both her arms into the air in an excited motion. The next moment, Kanami had put a finger on her mouth once again and transitioned back into a deeply thinking standing posture. "If I had to be honest, Shiro-kun, you hold back too often as my bus guide."
'…bus guide…' Shiroe thought to himself, sweatdropping at how many times Kanami had interjected the phrase into the conversation. Then, he sat back, a moment from the past coming back to him because of Kanami's words.
"I don't think you need to feel so bound by duty all the time. I mean, there's no need to hold back!"
Shiroe's eyes widened at what he was starting to realize. At the same moment, Kanami spoke up once again:
"You know, I spoke with Sora-chan while you were cleaning up the party." The monk suddenly announced, causing Shiroe to look at her. "She actually thinks very highly of you, you know."
"…my strategist works too hard." Sakura remarked as both she and Kanami stood outside the guild building, looking back up at the window 'supposedly' where the Crescent Moon Alliance was housed.
"Hm? Shiro-kun?" Kanami asked, looking at the young girl. "He is my bus guide after all!" the monk continued, laughing at her own statement. Sakura shared a chuckle as well.
"…I wish he would not hold back when it comes to himself anymore." Sakura said after a moment's silence, causing Kanami to look at the young girl once again. Seeing the look on Sakura's face, Kanami spoke:
"Hey, Sora-chan."
"Hm? What's up, Kanami-san?"
"…are you really not able to join any guilds?" Kanami asked bluntly. Sakura turned away from Kanami's stare and looked back up at the guild building once more.
"…it is true. It is listed in the rules for myself and the other supertesters because of favoritism and NDA requirements." Sakura answered honestly. She paused for a moment, before adding more: "But as far as I know, it's only an unwritten rule that isn't set in stone, after all."
Kanami stared at the young girl hard, starting to see what Sakura was actually saying. The gunner turned back and smiled at the monk.
"After all, if there's anything my strategist and my leader taught me, rules were made to be broken, weren't they?"
Shiroe's eyes widened once again as Kanami finished her flashback to earlier that night.
"…I've kept you waiting?"
"That's right, Shiro-kun!" Kanami pouted. "You're such a blockhead sometimes!"
"…Both of you were waiting for me?" Shiroe continued, ignoring Kanami's hurled insult.
"Of course!"
"…And Naotsugu and Chief as well?"
"That's right."
"Instead of going elsewhere, you stayed with me?"
"Of course! You are my bus guide, after all, and where the most fun happens!"
Shiroe gave a sniff, trying to hold back tears, as Kanami looked at him warmly and smiled.
A little while later, back in Hamelin's guild hall, one young girl was still awake, even this late into the night and with the prospect of another hard 'training' day in front of her. All of a sudden, her status menu gave a notification sound, causing her to sit up straight and look around to see if she had woken up anyone else.
'Oh, a message…' Minori thought to herself as she browsed through her menu. All of a sudden, the young girl have a start of surprise as she looked at who was calling her:
Shiroe.
Level 90, enchanter.
"Um, hello." An all-too-familiar voice spoke after the call had connected. "Do you remember me? It's Shiroe."
Minori fought to keep tears from flowing down her face as Shiroe's voice continued: "This is Minori, right?"
"Yes." The young girl timidly said back.
"Listen carefully, Minori." Shiroe's voice instructed. "Cough softly once for yes; twice for no. Three times if you want to say something. Alright?"
'Shiroe-san knows what's happening to us now…' Minori thought to herself, before coughing once, softly.
"You're both in Hamelin, right?"
Another soft cough.
"And you're giving your EXP pots to Hamelin?"
Minori paused for a moment before letting out another soft cough.
"Are you okay?"
Minori's eyes opened wide at Shiroe's question, tears beginning to well up once again.
"Are you okay?" Shiroe's voice asked once again.
Minori coughed. Once.
"Really?" Shiroe's voice came once again, obviously not convinced by the young girl's answer.
Minori paused for a longer time this time, before coughing once, choking, and coughing twice.
"You want to say something?" Shiroe's voice asked. Minori realized that because of her pause, she had actually coughed three times. Minori shook her head back and forth, tears in her eyes, although Shiroe obviously couldn't see it.
"I did tell you to cough three times if you had something to say. Alright, I'll hurry so I can hear it. For now, I'll believe that you're okay. So believe in me too, alright? I'll come rescue you. Got it?"
This time, Minori wasn't able to stop the tears flowing down her face.
The next day, Shiroe made his way back to the big tree where he had originally met the other members of his group at the start of the apocalypse.
"Oh, Shiro!" Naotsugu called out as the enchanter made his way closer. Besides the sitting Naotsugu, Akatsuki was standing off to the side, while Nyanta and Sakura were both leaning against the tree. Kanami, true to expectations, was actually hanging off the tree via one of the vines on the trunk.
"My lord, don't worry me." Akatsuki remarked from her position. "If you're leaving, say something."
"That's right." Sakura added haughtily.
"Wha-"Shiroe started at their reactions, before simply smiling in response.
'That's right.' Shiroe thought to himself as he looked around at all the smiling faces in front of him. 'These five have been waiting for my words, after all.'
"Eh?"
Marielle blinked twice in confusion at the situation that was unfolding in front of her. On one side of the table, she and Henrietta were sitting, with Shoryu and Eisel standing behind them. On the other, Shiroe was sitting on a stool, facing the two of them, with Kanami standing quite impatiently behind him and Sakura leaning against the wall next to the door.
"This time, I'd like your help with something." Shiroe said, his glasses giving off a glint that something was about to come as he did so.
"Our help?" Henrietta asked, looking at Marielle.
"Anything you need, Shiroe-san!" Shoryu remarked loudly from his position, bumping his hand across his chest in affirmation.
"Eh? Ah, that's right." Henrietta said, following up on Shoryu's statement. "The Crescent Moon Alliance owes you much, after all."
"Well?" Shoryu said, prompting Shiroe to go on.
"Some twins I know are being held captive…" Shiroe explained. "Or rather, are being forced to stay in a nasty guild. To put it bluntly, I'd like to save them."
"I see." Shoryu said. "So you just need them to quit the guild, right? We could draw them off…"
"Um…" Henrietta suddenly spoke up. "This guild you're talking about…"
"This guild supposedly gathers new players and takes their EXP pots." Shiroe continued on from Henrietta's statement, confirming the bard's suspicions.
"Hamelin." Marielle confirmed, her face hardening into a serious one. Beside her, Marielle's face had turned the same way.
"I think it's time they left." Shiroe continued on. There was silence for a little while after Shiroe's statement, nobody wanting to say anything to break it.
"W-wait a second…" Shoryu suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence. "Do you mean you'll destroy them?"
"No, I mean exactly what I said." Shiroe said, his tone deadly serious. Shoryu took a step back in fright as Shiroe adjusted his glasses upwards, causing a glint on them. "I'm going to have them leave Akihabara."
Marielle and Henrietta exchanged looks at Shiroe's words.
"Shiro-bou." Marielle said. "I understand how you feel, but we…"
"I'm sorry, but please let me finish." Shiroe interjected, cutting Marielle off. "This is only the first part, after all. Hamelin's just a small portion of this, after all."
In front of him, all the Crescent Moon Alliance members present gave looks of surprise.
"To be honest, I don't' really like the way Akihabara feels right now." Shiroe said, looking at his clenched hands as he did so. "It's petty, pathetic, and cheap. That's why, I'm going to clean the place up."
Once again, the present Crescent Moon Alliance members gave sounds of surprise.
"Akihabara is our hometown." Shiroe continued. "It's the largest city on the Japanese server. And it's sad, unpleasant, frail. Everyone walks with their heads down…it's as if our only purpose in life were to be pathetic. We number thirty thousand, after all. But that also means there are only thirty thousand of us. I think everyone's been underestimating this world far too much. We aren't nearly desperate enough."
A long silence permeated the air as Shiroe stood up after his statement.
"We…" Marielle started after a few seconds.
Shiroe, in response, simply bowed respectfully in her direction.
"Please help me." The enchanter said.
"Shiro-bou…" Marielle said.
"Guild master," Shoryu piped up in an unusual (for him) respectful tone, causing everyone to look at him. "Could we at least hear him out? For a long time, I've been feeling the same way as Shiroe-san."
"Shoryu…" Marielle gently spoke, looking at the boy.
Henrietta, in the meanwhile, was looking back at Shiroe.
"How would you do it?" The bard asked. "It's depends on your plan. Tell us. And we'll decide if it's something we can help you with."
Shiroe sat back down on the seat before replying.
"I need money." The enchanter said, bluntly. "For now, five million gold will suffice."
The looks on everyone's faces in the room could be described as comedy gold after Shiroe made his request. Even on his side of the room, Kanami and Sakura both had shocked looks, as both of them hadn't been briefed on Shiroe's plan yet, before both of them burst out laughing at how very Shiroe-esque that Shiroe's plan was.
"F-Five million…" Shoryu slowly stated, his whole body trembling. "M-money?"
"That's insane!" Henrietta exclaimed, as Marielle had not recovered from her shock yet. "Our treasure only has sixty thousand. Even if we included all our members' belongings…"
"What would you use all that money for?" Marielle asked after Henrietta's outburst.
Shiroe adjusted his glasses once again, an evil look on his face.
"The money isn't that important." The enchanter confessed. "It's only the start. The real problem comes after. After all, I need everyone's hope and goodwill. I believe that more people like this town than hate it, in the end. The more people who want to save it, the more likely it is that we can win. So I'll say it again. Lend your assistance to me." Shiroe bowed once again, this time from a seated position. "To me…and to my guild."
Marielle and Henrietta exchanged glances once again before Marielle realized what Shiroe had said in his final statement.
"Shiro-bou, did you just say 'guild?'" The cleric asked. "My guild?"
"Yes." Shiroe answered her with a warm smile on his face.
"Then you made one?" Marielle asked, this time with the other Crescent Moon Alliance members beginning to smile as well.
"Yes." Shiroe answered once again. "I'm sorry, since you've invited me."
"No, it's nothing to apologize for…" Marielle said, wiping tears of joy and relief off her face. "I see. Shiro-bou, congratulations. So you managed to make one…you made a home…"
Marielle gave a loud sniff as Shiroe and Henrietta both chuckled.
"Shiroe-san, what is your guild called?" Shoryu suddenly asked from his position.
"Eh?"
"What's the guild's name?"
"Ah, right…" Shiroe said, realizing what Shoryu was asking. "Its name is…"
Later that day, as the sun was setting, six figures were standing on top of a cliff overlooking the sea near Akihabara. In the front stood a familiar enchanter, standing side-by-side with a certain monk, and in front of four other familiar figures, including a gunner, guardian, assassin, and swashbuckler. As the group stood there, the enchanter raised his staff and declared the new guild's name to the setting sun:
"It's name…is Log Horizon."
Done! Let's hope I never have that long of a break in between chapters again. Curse my laziness and motivation!
Also, I'm dealing with a double-clicking mouse (it's dying, RIP four years of good service :( ) So I have to go look for another one as well.
With that said, please R&R and please enjoy this chapter!
Next Chapter: Kuresento Mun (Crescent Moon)