Chapter 11

Resolution

/Location/

[Skill]

(System)

{Item}

Thoughts


"Henrietta-san?"

I call her over to my corner where I recline.

Social situations are exhausting.

It gets hard to juggle what everyone wants at the same time.

Despite all of it, I appreciate the atmosphere and gratitude behind the party.

They mean well.

"Yes, Shiroe-sama?"

She pushes up her spectacles, and my hand drifts upwards to my own.

Catching myself in time, my fingers twitch by my side.

"Ah. Yes, I wanted to ask you to keep the secret of [Real Food Preparation] within the ones who know. Don't let it leak out, please."

I have plans as to how to make use of it.

"But why? This is a big deal…"

She trails off, and figures it out herself.

"It's too big of a deal to just reveal like that. You want to keep this as leverage for something, don't you, Shiroe-sama?"

My smile must be a tad too dark, because she takes a minute step backwards.

Finally allowing my hands the relief, it's my turn to push my spectacles upwards as I nod.

Oh, I have plans indeed…


In the aftermath of the party, I try not to think of tomorrow.

"We'll have a lot to clean up when we all wake up, won't we?"

Unlike the rest of her guild members, Marielle is still wide awake.

It's…nice to see her caring for her guild members, but seeing she and her guild, really, most guilds, makes me rather gloomy.

To be caught between wanting to belong, yet struggling to meet the demands of others, takes a certain kind of finesse to make it through.

I cannot strike such a balance.

Something about tonight, the darkness, this world, is changing me.

Everyone is changing.

Everything is.

The discovery of [Real Food Preparation] can aid my goal in the long run, but it's not the time for it to be released yet.

"Are you going to sleep yet, Shiro-bo?"

Marielle has a hand out stretched, a fluffy yellow blanket in it for me to take.

This kind of compassion…is something very foreign to me.

Rubbing the back of my head, I sheepishly decline, "I'm not that tired really."

Her smile is warm, accepting, understanding.

"Then shall I make us some tea?"


We don't turn on the light, perfectly content to converse in the dark.

Moon beams stream in through the large windows, catching on the plain white and blue cups.

English Breakfast, a clear red tea steams happily in them. It will go by largely ignored throughout our conversation.

An invitation to tea is one to chat, not specifically drink tea, unless stated explicitly so.

"You really helped us this time. Thank you."

We don't quite look at each other, angled towards the table and each other, but not facing.

"It's fine, really. I didn't do anything too big."

I need something to distract myself, so the tea works fine.

Her smiles turns more earnest, "If that wasn't big, then what would be?"

Many other things.

Looking at the tea swirling in my cup, I close my eyes and sip it slowly.

"While I was away, what's happened over here?"

Her faltering smile sets the mood again.

Was that the wrong thing to ask?

"I think it's better than it was. There's less PKing, so it's safer. But still, this uneasiness in the air… What happens in the real world is repeating here, and everyone is falling into ranks."

"Ranks?"

Does she mean what I think she means?

"Our guild is a small one, we have 4 level 90s, but most are lower than level 50. In comparison to the larger guilds, like say DDD…"

"Crusty's guild? The raiding guild that defeated Oracle's Tower? The Legion Raid that we Japanese supposedly couldn't beat."

"Yes. That kind of raid can have 100 player fights. Supposedly, they have over 1500 members, inclusive of many level 90s."

The reason why they defeated Oracle's Tower was because they had the numbers. Like its namesake, the Tower's Oracle was able to predict and neutralise any attack. They went in and overwhelmed it. Of a hundred attacks, at most, 80% of the attacks could be avoided by the Oracle using [Foretell]. With the huge player pool, they just sent in wave after wave, withdrawing to heal, buff and repeated till they won.

I salute their determination.

"Then you must mean caste sorting according to the guild's power."

Marielle looks out the window.

"It feels like the bigger guilds are determining the town's feel and its rules. Like in terms of priority for usage of the market. Then for hunting grounds? Since the split, smaller guilds don't approach the larger guild's 'territory'."

I never knew…

"There's no fighting in town, but in the hunting areas it's a different story altogether. There's less PKing…"

"But there's still something you don't like, isn't it? It feels…off."

She buries her face in a pillow, "It's not just the hunting areas. Invisible barriers are being erected everywhere. Despite this, no one is to blame…"

"It's the natural way things work, isn't it, Marielle-san?"

Yume is seated on the other sofa, but when did she appear?

Marielle takes to her appearance well, not startling.

"Yes. I'm sure the large guilds have their own problems. No laws or ethics prohibit human usage of strategies, and it's only human to want the best for themselves."

"Mm, but no matter what, the caste system works so. The powerful will dominate the weak, and that cannot be avoided. To choose between constant war and power tussles, and helpless slavery and complete dominion. /Susukino/ of course fell to the latter. Brigandia rules them."

She's right, "But still…neither is good. A balance needs to be struck, but perhaps it's just a matter of preference? My preference of equality?"

"Equilibrium is an unattainable dream, to pursue it is not a bad ideal, but to believe it possible would be folly. All we can take, we should, because all that can be created is the illusion of perfect balance. So easily…shattered."

Marielle ponders on Yume's words, and to think that such polite words carry such dark undertones, it is rather hard to accept in the end, that things touched by humans are so tainted.

"But only humans can reverse the damage of what is done."

My unspoken, "Though, sometimes, they only make things worse," is heard clearly, resonating around the room.

So, to take one step forward, to set a ball rolling.


Through it all, Yume sits in the couch, sipping her own tea.

She's not thinking like them, see.


"A few days ago, I got the smaller guilds who know each other well together. We were discussing the possibility of creating a joint council, and alliance of sorts to stand up to the large groups. After all, as separate groups, there was nothing we could do on our own."

It doesn't sound like that bad of an idea.

"However, every guild had their own opinion and way of thinking. Own priorities, own wants. After all, there were many reasons as to why were weren't already one large guild. Every guild was different. We ended up quarrelling over minor differences in opinion and the entire meeting dissolved. We forgot what we had been trying to do, because the gaps between us couldn't be breached."

To be expected.

"Furthermore…"

There's more?

"The Black Sword Knights and Silver Sword are all aiming for 91. With the expansion, the level cap raised to 100, and since the Apocalypse, no new players have entered. The Black Sword Knights always had a thing about being the best, so to combat DDD, they've turned to being very selective with their members."

"Isaac-san isn't allowing anyone beneath level 85 to join, he's even considering raising that to 90. He approached me the other day. I declined."

Ouch, must have hurt his ego that she declined.

"He is a persistent one, he won't stop at just one."

She nods, agreeing, and I realise that that wasn't the first time she was approached.

"Because of his stringent criteria, he can't do things like DDD, absorbing smaller guilds wholesale. In my opinion, he trying to fight quantity with quality, but in trying to push levels, they have to fight level 85 monsters and over."

"Or they could go to the scaled dungeons. There's one at the lake. Behind the waterfall there's a challenger arena. It's designed to push people to the limit."

Sure, they could, "But this isn't like the game. Isn't it dangerous?"

Marielle's expression holds a certain kind of grimness.

"It would if they were doing it the normal way."

I am…curious. What are they doing, then?

"They're using {EXP pots}. Aren't they, Marielle-san?"

She nods, and Yume sets her cup down.

{EXP pots}?

But those are meant to help lower levelled players, and high levelled players shouldn't have any.

"They're levelling up by cheating?"

I see.

The increase in attack power and health regeneration, and the double in EXP gained from combat must be helping a great deal. Not to mention those potions last the entire day.

"After the Apocalypse, a guild named Hamelin took in hundreds of under level 30 players, claiming to want to help them. They're selling their {EXP pots} to larger guilds that want to raise their levels. Hamelin is the main one, but since people caught wind of it, kidnappings have happened, and such small {EXP Pot} mills have appeared."

Hamelin…?


After the big reveal, I find myself unable to sleep at all, and am kept awake by the questions.

Yume seems to dissolve into the shadows, and I walk out, into the wilderness.

It's dark, but I do not activate my [Magic Light].

Everything is starting to go wrong in this world.

To some extent, every person is at fault for doing something, or for doing nothing.

That's right, it includes me.

I went to /Susukino/ to get my mind off the problem.

My problem.

I was off, playing hero when I couldn't even help myself.

"One must first give to receive, Shi-sama. There are very few heroes in any world. Most of the time, they die, and then go down in history books as heroes. I would not want such a tag placed on my name."

I was playing.

Just playing.

"Then stop playing."

What?

"You possess your own intelligence, Shi-sama. No one can tell you how to use it if you don't want to. Solve something you want to solve. 1 step at a time."

But what can I do?

Even with her advice, I am still directionless.

"What do you want to do, Shi-sama? Not others, yourself. What do you seek?"


I was only making excuses for myself.

I was only running away.

Away from what all the guilds wanted from me.

They wanted to take advantage of my status as a veteran player.

Having people who relied on me, wanted me, feeling needed for once was good.

Just that the moment people gathered, and lip service wasn't enough.

Even when I knew what I was getting myself into, I still wanted, no, craved the attention and fame, but didn't want to pay the price.

"Do you still not like guilds, nya, Shiroe-chi?"

Chief…

The more I think of my own reasoning, the more selfish and thoughtless I become.

"I understand why you would want to distance yourself from something that would turn on you so easily, nya. But if something never went bad, if you never gave that something a chance, nya…you would never know how much you could trust it."

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Yume looks out over the town.

"Nyanta-sama is correct. Nothing in the world remains pure or untampered for long. Life will all sicken, suffer and someday, cease to exist."

Chief smiles, "The reason why the Tea Party worked, and was wonderful, was because everyone worked to make it succeed. Nothing lost, nothing gained. No treasure comes without a price, and if you are unwilling to pay that price, then you cannot have the treasure."

He's right.

No matter what it was, someone was working hard, behind the scenes, unacknowledged.

"You don't have to hold back, nya."


"I want to make this world…into a better world. For everyone."

Perhaps I am dreaming, but I swear, in the shadows where she walked, I saw a ghost of a smile.

"Then, shall we begin, Shi-sama?"