ITalkToSky here,
Oh boy was this chapter difficult to write. The first few days of after the Apocalypse are quite blurry in the source novel and anime, so I had to dig through the manga for some details. You won't see the effect on this chapter, but it will influence the other chapters down the line.
Fair warning, I will take some liberty with fleshing out the world, because I imagine a lot of interaction between Touhou casts and People of the Lands. Unlike most players, people from Touhou fully treated the world as reality and will not have misgiving dealing with the so-called NPCs.
If you have read the little subclass explanation in the previous chapter, you might think that the Touhou characters are overpowered in this story. This is of course, working as intended. The only thing keeping them in check is their lower level, but for how long? We shall see.
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Meiling's hands appeared empty even though she technically carried around half a wagon load of herbs and monster parts. The relentless carnage with her friends left quite the trail of destruction. Carcasses strewn about the forest were roughly hacked apart for any useful or simply interesting parts before the trio moved to the next area where the process inevitably repeated. Convenient nature of inventory system made them forgot the limited carrying capacity, so it wasn't long before the first among them filled their inventory to the brim.
Willing to squeeze the last drop of value from the hunt, Lunaire and Reisen dumped part of their inventory to Meiling to carry back before continuing their rampage. Of course, Meiling was not quite willing to leave the fun bits for the menial task, submitting their quests, selling parts and whatnot. As a consolation, they allowed her to wander about the main street after submitting the quests, seeing if anything caught her fancy, before returning to the mansion.
In regard of her mission, Meiling quickly grew to appreciate her quest menu. With the names and descriptions recorded neatly, the gatekeeper found the task quite manageable. The shopkeepers knew each other on the same street by name and were quite willing to point her in the right direction, although not forgetting to ask about their own requests.
Dumping the pails of slime with that rude fruit stall owner, 3 bushels of Meadow Bell with the alchemists among others, Meiling still finished her task in record time. Since it was still noon, Meiling decided to fully use her privilege. Out of their total earning, each was entitled to a sixth, with half contributed to the shared reserve fund. Roughly speaking, Meiling had around 14 gold to her name.
"Are you interested? It is 5 sticks for 3 gold," the girl called out, seeing Meiling eyeing her stall curiously.
The redhaired monk sniffed softly, noting the peculiar lack of smell in her nostrils. The supple appearance of the freshly cooked pork with a few burnt spots, glistening with oil, alluded to a pleasant eating experience. Yet, for some strange reason, Meiling could not sense a drop of aroma from the appetizing display, not even the smell of smoke or sizzling lard.
"Can I get just one," Meiling asked briskly.
"Sure, but it will be one gold each then."
"Fine," she waved offhandedly, dropping a single golden coin.
Walking away from the stall, Meiling eyed the pork on a stick suspiciously. Her face jammed in so close that she could feel the oiliness on the tip of her nose, yet she still could not smell anything. Not just losing her robust physique, she wondered in horror whether she lost her senses as well. Glancing back at the stall owner, Meiling noted that she acted very naturally as if nothing went out of place.
Meiling shrugged. Given how close she was to the mansion, she could rush there if the food was poisoned. Within the dungeon turned warehouse, a general antidote potion would surely be hiding somewhere. If push came to shove, Koakuma would find it. Meiling gulped at the thought, gathering her courage, and bit down on the glistening meat. She instantly regretted it.
Even with the appetizing appearance, gleaming with excess oil, Meiling's tongue vehemently disagreed with her eyes. It looked like pork, but it certainly neither tasted nor textured like pork. If anything, its taste reminded her of Japanese rice cracker, but unseasoned and unsalted. The bland taste was exacerbated by the soggy and lumpy mouthfeel.
Used to the fine food cooked by Sakuya, Meiling spit out the meat in reflex. She eyed the stick of meat with an unfiltered look of horror and disgust as if it was an abomination or a crime against food. Good, she only spent one gold. If she spent three gold for five sticks of that trash, Meiling did not even know how well she would react.
The Landers around her looked at her in wonder and disgust, wondering why the redhead adventurer was wasting precious food. With reckless disregard, Meiling flicked the rest toward and continued with a sour mood. The prospect of wandering around the food stall evaporated into thin air. All she could think was returning to the mansion to cleanse her palate with Sakuya's superb cooking.
Suddenly, she heard the sound like crackling electricity, reminding her of one of the wood elemental spells, Static Green, from Lady Patchouli. Meiling snapped to the side alarmed. She backed away from the anomalies occurring around the main street.
Hovering in midair, glowing portals multiplied exponentially a few meters above the street. These were shining white, obscuring the scenery behind it. Neither curious nor stupid enough to stay and find out, Meiling somersaulted to the second floor of the ruined building nearest to her and pressed herself behind the window.
"Isn't that Call of Home or something the adventurers can use."
"When we need them, we can't find them. When we don't, they just come out of the woodwork," one of the traders spat.
Taking in the information within earshot, Meiling carefully peeked through the window to the street below. While she was not looking, the portals each spat out a human and had begun shrinking. Meiling was greeted with the sight of the dirt road decorated littered numerous bodies. More than several hundred humans covered the street, completely insensate and showing no sign of waking up any time soon.
The sleeping mass was probably one of the most varied bunch of people she had ever seen. In the human village, most villagers wore simple kimono of different cut and colors. On the other hand, no common pattern could be seen among theirs. Some wore heavy armors and chainmail, carrying spears and swords as if they were preparing for war. Their weapons looked rugged and well-used, hinting at their deep experience in warfare Yet, some dressed so lightly in a floral dress, cute hats, and sleek boots. Their colorful outfits appeared so breezy that an arrow might just pierce straight through. Then again, the wooden staves they carried probably made up for their flimsy dresses, taking Patchouli as an example.
Looking at the overall picture, Meiling almost thought they were an invading force. But, judging from the reaction of the landers, these people were not judged as a threat. If they were indeed an invading force, what was so the big idea behind arriving completely unconscious?
She focused her gaze on the again, noting the presence of purplish labels above their head. Adventurers, she concluded. She had no idea as to where they went in the morning, but there were back. Relocating to the rooftop, Meiling kept away lest one of them spotted her. Even if they were somehow classified as adventurers, the same as her, it did not guarantee her safety. Just like how belonging to the same species of youkai did not promise an amicable relationship between two individuals.
Focusing on her forehead, the interface shimmered into existence. Calling up her friend list, Meiling swiftly pressed on one of the names.
"Patchouli-sama, the adventurers had returned," Meiling cut straight to the issue.
Simple pleasantry was unnecessary when reporting. Considering her conversational partner, Patchouli wanted information quickly, so Meiling quickly relayed her findings succinctly. All the while, she never heard a peep from the other side.
"Is that so," Patchouli responded flatly, unlike the veiled excitement when she received the news about leveling up.
"What do you suggest I do?"
"Return to the mansion promptly," Patchouli stated firmly. "We have a bigger problem."
Meiling frowned, peering down to the adventurers finally waking up from the siesta. "Should I notify Lunaire-sama and Reisen?"
"I am one step ahead of you. Just come back," Patchouli cut the line, giving Meiling an ominous premonition in the process.
"So, what is the big idea here? It was just getting good as well," Lunaire said jokingly, falling in line with Meiling in front of the giant work desk.
Meiling did not respond, but she nodded lightly. In Gensokyo, she rarely had the chance to literally beat something to death. By no mean was Meiling craving senseless violence. She just needed some exercise or a chance to unwind, considering that she got beaten around all the time guarding the Mansion. The sound of bones crunching, and meaty impact felt through her fist were quite therapeutic. Well, perhaps Meiling slightly craved violence, just not senseless. There was nothing unreasonable about brutalizing something trying to maim and or kill you. Anyway, she digressed.
"Oh, you will be back to your business shortly. But…do us with you." Patchouli gestured to the two beside her working desk.
Lunaire did not bother concealing his surprise, blinking confusedly. While Patchouli taking the initiative to leave the mansion was astronomically rare, like an incident, Lunaire nodded in understanding. Considering the current situation, Lunaire would find it strange instead if Patchouli did not want to hunt some monsters. By leveling up, the MP gauge, in other words, their mana capacity, increased. Since their magic was the livelihood of a magician, used for self-protection and research, he was certain Patchouli could not wait to get started. The question was the other two.
"…" Sakuya was still the epitome of stoicism. Although she mellowed somewhat after his arrival, her poker face remained top-notch. Unless she let her guard down, he had no confidence in reading anything from her.
"Hehe," Remilia giggled.
For Remilia who eagerly jumped on any source of entertainment, it was certainly in his expectation that she wanted in. However, the sun had just left the apex. What was the hurry that made a vampire willing to tolerate the sunlight to simply go out? Even though Remilia might have been simply excited, Lunaire disregarded such a simplistic explanation. If that was truly the case, Remilia could simply go out to join their hunt on her own without having to recall him back.
"We need to get Sakuya leveled up as soon as possible," Patchouli predicted his unsaid question. "As someone with the experience outside the city, it will be most efficient if you can guide her."
"Why is the hur-…" Lunaire cut himself off, putting all the pieces together.
The most significant effect of leveling up seemed to be a marginal improvement to their constitution and mana capacity. From her words, Sakuya required these two aspects improved desperately enough that any help she could squeeze out was highly appreciated. Constitution would improve her capability to clean the ginormous Scarlet Devil Mansion, but certainly not important enough to warrant such rush. That only meant that Sakuya wanted the mana capacity to enable the use of her time manipulation ability. In her line of work, she needed her ability primarily for two purposes.
One was accelerating her working pace. The huge interior of the mansion required a proportionately large amount of manhours to maintain. As the sole consistently competent maid in the mansion, she had many responsibilities. Managing the vast premises, her job could be considered backbreaking at the best of times. So large were her responsibilities that she literally did not have enough time in a day to complete them all. Without her time manipulation, Sakuya was stumped enough without the unforeseen mess adding to her misery.
Two was maintaining the anomaly that was Scarlet Devil Mansion. Evident from the first moment one stepped across its threshold, the inside of the mansion was even more spacious than its already respectable size of the exterior frame. Time and space had an inseparable relationship. Interfering with one meant partial influence over the other, so Sakuya's ability permitted the residents to squeeze out more living space than logically possible through space dilation. Her ability was quite efficient, needing only periodic recasting to be effective.
Yet, it was an impossible task to maintain the dilation field encompassing the mansion and the dungeon below with the meager reserve she now possessed. If she did not reapply her spell before the reality reasserted itself, the outside would look pristine while the furniture inside ripped themselves to shred from space recompression. The mess would be legendary.
Lunaire did not know when the last time the spell was applied, but the best-case scenarios only gave him two days at maximum and maybe few hours at the very least. His eyes widened in alarm. The plans to assess the threat level of the newly arrived adventurers or earn more money swiftly flew out of his mind.
"Okay, that is a hurry alright," Lunaire chuckled nervously.
"I like someone who understands thing quickly." Remilia giggled. Her high feminine voice made her quite charming.
"Eh, what are you all talking about?" Meiling looked between the four that seemed to be having a different conversation than the one she was listening in.
"Koa!" Lunaire raised his voice toward the library spanning the entire wing of the mansion.
"Yes!" A cry responded to him before a flash of black and red appeared before him. "Did you call for me, Lunaire-sama?"
"Can you bring me some boxes, a few metal ones will do," Lunaire instruct briskly.
"You could have used the call function, but alright then," Koakuma flew off without question.
"What for?" Patchouli inquired.
"Unlike Reisen who should be selling her haul while spying on the adventurers, the bounty I carry in my inventory is for us to keep. They seem interesting enough." Lunaire shrugged.
"Oh, you brought a gift. I wonder what they are."
"Body parts…and not humans'" Lunaire quickly stopped Remilia's grin from widening any further. "Just some interesting parts we got when dismantling the monsters, some herbs, some interesting minerals, nothing much."
"Che," Remilia clicked her tongue.
Swiping his hand and calling up his friend list, he contacted the rabbit he left behind in the city. Two rings passed before the Reisen answered the call, surprising him slightly.
"You called just in time. I have finished collecting our rewards and selling any excess materials. I will continue with observing the adventurers. For now, I…"
"Something really urgent came up. All I want to know right now is that the other adventurers are not hostile, yes?"
"Yes," Reisen answered firmly, seemingly unfazed by the urgency in his tone. "What should I do now?"
For Lunaire to ask her to abandon such an important mission, it only meant he had something even more vital for her to do.
"Meet us at the front gate. We are going hunting," the call went silent.
Reisen furrowed her brows but shook her head vigorously. She mustn't question the command, Reisen slapped both her cheeks lightly. Eyeing the disorganized and confused mob before her, she decisively turned away and trotted to her destination. None save for a few noticed her passing. Even they care little for a random girl with lilac hair.
Zone: Archive Forest Tower
Once the prosperous academic district, the vines and parasitic plants reclaimed the territory that housed bookshops, library and research laboratories. Crumbling buildings and concrete piles meshed with the greenery, painting to life the image of the Earth after the fall of civilization. Books rotted, leaving behind only the decayed leather, and the machinery broke down. Lunaire preferred the idyllic sceneries, but even he had misgiving of seeing the towering achievement of man being reduced to such a humble state.
Nothing of value remained within these ruins, save for the weaker monsters that made the area their nesting ground, worming about in the corpse of a vibrant city. Unfortunately for them, they were about to be exterminated mercilessly. After leveling a few times with the trash monster inhabiting the peripheral of Akihabara city, the group of six progressed deeper into the Archive Forest Tower, seeking stronger preys.
Sticking together would be much safer but much less efficient. Sakuya needed to be leveled up as quickly as possible, so they forwent this method. Yet, each of them was not cocky enough to believe nothing in this strange world could threaten them, thus they compromised. Adopting an open formation, the six members split into three pairs. Each pair always remained within visual contact and loosely coordinated, casting a wide nest.
To the extreme left were Meiling and Reisen. Armed and sufficiently leveled from the morning excursion, they were the advance force to bait in the enemy. For some reason, the monsters instinctively drew toward the members with higher level, including Lunaire.
Supporting the left from the center were Remilia and Sakuya. Although Reisen had misgiving letting the two under-leveled compatriots teaming up, Sakuya would not budge from the mistress's side.
Patchouli and Lunaire hovered around the right flank, keeping their eyes open. Being exposed themselves, Lunaire stayed doubly vigilant and fended off any monsters deciding to probe their flank, like this pocket of goblins.
The goblins congregated in a disorganized mob, centering around the leading shaman. Armed with little more than stone cleavers and shoddy bows more prone to snapping than killing their enemies, they swarmed forward with reckless abandon.
As the one with the pointy stick, Lunaire stood dutifully in front of Patchouli to meet them. Of course, the magicians were in no rush to meet them in melee, perfectly content to pull back slowly while focusing down the encroaching foes. Despite the withering spellfire, some managed to reach him.
A quick jab with his staves and Lunaire quickly retreated. The sickly sensation felt through the shaft and the spurting blood confirmed the accuracy of his strike. Anatomically, the strike should have been instantly fatal, ruthlessly spearing through the heart. A part of the aorta was possibly nicked as well. Not that it mattered, having a heart nearly bisected should be deadly all the same. Yet, the goblin stood, reeling from the strike and alive.
The goblin's green bar was reduced to a sliver. If the HP was not entirely depleted, the monsters would unhesitatingly throw themselves back in combat. Lunaire transitioned to a light reverse cut while simultaneously retreating out of the stone cleaver slashing his way by another of its ilk.
Rather than swing the staff around, knocking the one overextending with a slash to the side, Lunaire invoked a spell rapidly.
Flash of Spring
A hazy mist condensed on his palm before shooting out at an unseen speed. Worthy of its name, the air bolt left only misty trail in its wake and no other disturbances to the surrounding. Without the spellcard rules in the way, Flash of Spring revealed its lethality, punching a hole straight through the chest of the unlucky foes. Like taking a gunshot to the heart, the goblin collapsed limply like a puppet with its string cut.
That was one other inherent anomaly in this world. The wounds, which should have been identical in their effect, were not identical. There was nothing strange when the goblin died instantly from the Flash of Spring opening a new breathing hole where its heart was. It was a whole other problem when the goblin did not die from the stab to the heart. The narrow blade made a thinner wound, but a bisected heart was quite equivalent to hallowed out ones. Both wounds produced no extra effect other than a bleeding heart either.
Normal and magical attacks were not considered equal. Stabbing through the heart with a spear was less powerful than piercing the heart with spells. This held true even for Sakuya, who dealt more damage if she accelerated her knives. The wound may look the same, but the impact to the HP bar was significantly higher. Of course, this came at increased mana cost and must be used in moderation.
"Level" was whole other can of worms. Taking Patchouli as an example, her Summer Red easily cored out a sizable boulder, partially melting the pieces remaining. Yet, when she was around level 3 in the afternoon, she had no difficulty charring a slime. But she struggled against level 18 goblin, requiring 5 fully charged fireballs. Rather than being melted into slag like the boulder or vaporized, the level 18 goblin could still run around chopping people.
The spell's MP consumption and the devastation to the scenery remained constant. But somehow, the enemy of a higher-level could simply absorb and mitigate the damage of the attacks by a lower-level entity without any shielding. Their natively larger HP pool could not explain the difference as Patchouli easily one-shot-ed the bugger once her level caught up. Of course, the ridiculousness that was five-shot-ing a monster 18 levels above oneself went right over his head.
From his left flank, Lunaire felt mana emanation. Over in the yonder, a goblin wielding a staff bared its toothy grin a few notches cockier than usual. Satisfied that it managed to rush up and flank a puny human, the goblin shaman was unprepared when Sakuya swooped in from above and lodged a pair of silver knives into its eyeballs.
Sakuya leveled up swiftly but still was not quite up to the standard of the monsters they were facing. If the shaman hung back with its guards, Sakuya would not have such an easy time targeting it, having to evade the cleavers and pointy sticks in the way.
Slashing the neck, stabbing the heart and the forehead with a knife, Sakuya quickly disappeared into the ruined skyscraper before the goblin entourage could even reach her. It seemed that her class fitted her like a glove.
The shaman barely lived through the assault, owing only to its higher level. It shrieked miserably, shambling back toward its guards. Although Lunaire saw a budding intelligence within them, able to understand the concept of flanking, they were merely one step above animals. The shaman took a gamble without planning for any case where its plan could go wrong. That said, Lunaire fully intended to properly annihilate these goblins. There was no telling what could become of the budding intelligence if they were left alive to learn.
The guards surrounded the shaman protectively, just the way Lunaire wanted. Due to their frantic dash, they completely neglected their spacing. A clump of juicy targets just presented itself to him. Who was Lunaire to refuse?
"Patchouli," Lunaire yelled to Patchouli, hanging back a few paces behind him to the left.
Without waiting for her confirmation, Lunaire yelled "Snaring Stakes." Responding to his words, thick tree roots pieced up violently from the ground, spearing straight through the bodies that happened to be in the way. Some were exceptionally lucky and avoided the gruesome impalement, but the stakes formed a cage impeding their movement and that was more than enough.
"Summer Flare," Patchouli declared when she rose off the ground. Unrestricted by the spellcard rules, the spell's lethality was fully unleashed upon her foes.
In an instant, her thick grimoire snapped open before a gigantic crackling ball of flame materialized and shot toward the bound goblins at high speed, leaving behind a trail of superheated air. Even Lunaire who stood a safe distance away felt the powerful heatwave on his cheek. Barreling head on to the ground, Patchouli's spell struck true.
According to the five elements theory, wood fed fire. Thick stakes filled to the brim with wood-oriented mana were ripe for the flame spell to consume. The large fireball turned the cage of stakes into an impromptu pyre, erupting a few meters high and immolating the goblins within. Lunaire heard their howl of agony but found no trace of sympathy in his heart.
"Compression," Lunaire invoked elementary magic, pushing the air inward from all direction. Under the five elements system, air and lightning counted as wood attribute.
Receiving both the magical fuel, the wood element, and the scientific fuel, oxygen, the flaming pyre roared. Briefly compressed and then exploded into a blazing inferno, charring to soil pitch black. Not even ash remained where the goblins once stood within the flame.
Pulling out his friend list, Lunaire connected to Sakuya. "Thanks for the assist."
"You are welcomed."
Lunaire thought that the maid would not stray too far from her mistress and asked, "where is Remi…"
The answer he got was not from Sakuya but came in the form of a thunderous crash from crumbling concrete pile. Dust enveloped the area, but Lunaire's vision was clear enough to witness the ensuing act of violence.
From the left side, Remilia's performed a flickering movement, vampire signature high-speed dash, and struck a particularly muscular goblin flying into the concrete pile before him. Lunaire had to give credit to the goblin. Its hands held its large stone shield and cleaver in a death grip, not that it would help. Before it could rise off the rubble, Remilia, possibly its worst nightmare at that moment, appeared in a flicker.
With one hand holding the parasol shielding away the sunlight, Remilia went to town with her free right hand. Her vicious claws, laced with crimson aura, stabbed forth and withdrew in rapid succession. Mercilessly, Remilia tore into the beast's neck and innards, practically eviscerating it. The disparity between their level, which should have been to the goblin's advantage, only prolonged its suffering, requiring more clawing and tearing action before the sweet release of death.
When the HP gauge finally depleted, Lunaire felt a tiny pang of sympathy for the monster as its body slumped down in a bloody heap. Remilia's pink dress, caked in thick blood, gleamed with malevolence. When she turned to face him, her terrifying appearance gave a whole new meaning to scarlet devil mansion. Yet, a pout could be seen on her face, contrasting deeply with the brutality she previously committed.
"I don't want any more of this!" She whined loudly as the blood slowly evaporated off her dress. Unlike dirt and grime, bloodstain would quickly disappear on its own. Another one mystery of this world.
"Didn't you always complain that you want to fight something meatier?" Lunaire chuckled wryly.
"I meant someone new that is worth fighting, not these…sandbags or maybe meat bags," Remilia crossed her arms, still maintaining the shade with her parasol.
She had a point, Lunaire admitted. These monsters were lackluster combatant with the only redeeming aspect being their numbers and variety. Only the faintest hint of teamwork could be seen when the goblin shaman appeared. Otherwise, they were content to swarm the closest non-goblin living being and chop the hell out of it. Their ungainly gait and poor form made them poor excuse of a fighter. Someone of Remilia's caliber, even when weakened, struggled to miss against opponents of this level.
"You are right, but this is for our sake as well," Lunaire shrugged and smiled wryly. "Just continue pouring your frustration into them. It is pretty therapeutic."
"Before that, I am running on fumes," Remilia admitted with frustration. Her previous self could go a few more rounds without breaking a sweat.
Lunaire pressed contacted Reisen, "Remilia ran out of mana. Please pull back to recover."
"Very well."
"Um," Lunaire hummed in assent.
The sun had hovered slightly over the horizon, coloring the world in pale orange light. Although it became much harder to shield with a parasol, the crumbling skyscraper took over the job for Remilia.
Considering that they started a little after high noon, their hunt went on considerably long. The urgency of their mission spurred them on, fighting relentlessly and only taking a few breaks in between to keep their reserve afloat. Perhaps, the sunset was a sign that a longer break was in order.
"Sakuya, I am hungry," Remilia remarked softly.
"Very well, my lady," Sakuya appeared in a flash.
"It's dinner time, Reisen. Fortunately, we don't have rabbit stew," Lunaire added light-heartedly through the telepathy.
"Very funny," Reisen dragged her voice.
"The earth rabbits of Eientei are surprisingly tough, so I wonder what moon rabbit tastes like."
Reisen felt an eerie familiarity with that line. "Did Tewi tell you that?"
"About what?"
"About the earth rabbits. I hope you haven't been hunting our rabbits."
"Hehe, Maybe?"
Tewi once joked to her not to eat the earth rabbit because their meat was tough, despite being one herself. Reisen hoped that Lunaire simply pulled the same joke on her, because if Lunaire did try them and found them to be tough…Tewi's joke might not be a joke after all. And that possibility terrified her.
"…and I had this terrible, terrible pork skewer in the city," Meiling animatedly recounted her experience in the morning. Sitting down leisurely on the boulder, she kept her eyes open for Sakuya to prepare the picnic blanket and set out the food.
"You can eat just about anything," Patchouli noted.
"I can eat most edible food," Meiling emphasized. "That thing was utterly…foul. How did they make it that way? I don't know and maybe I don't want to know."
Inventory system obviated the need to lug their physical dinner around, which the maid was grateful. A few taps and the food items materialized in front of her in the original states when she put them in. Sakuya dutifully laid out her handmade assortments of sandwiches, simple salad, and tea. Anticipating the physical exertion, Sakuya prepared a simple dinner for six. The fact that she still could not cook up something more complex was certainly not the reason that their rustic meal.
A giant basket materialized itself on the Reisen's lap, which she then placed them to the side. Sakuya glanced to Reisen questioningly.
"I thought we might be more famished than normal," Reisen answered with an awkward smile, hoping that Sakuya did not get the wrong message.
It was not in her intention to overstep her boundary. Sakuya reigned supreme in the matter regarding their foodstuff for the residents. Bringing something like this could be viewed as distrusting Sakuya to do her job even if the true reason was to fill out the gap in case, they were ridiculously famished.
Sakuya simply smiled, taking no offense, and moved some dishes out of the way. In fact, the maid was quite grateful. She miscalculated and brought too little food. Constrained by her common sense, she balanced out their appetite with the weight they could reasonably carry. She only remembered about the inventory system only after she finished the preparation, but it was already too late.
"I don't mind at all," Sakuya smiled. "It's time to eat."
"Great, I famished," Lunaire straightened up from his slough, restraining himself not to let his hunger get the better of him.
Patchouli rose slowly off the boulder, sending the last pulse of mana to detect any looming threat in their surroundings. When the ping returned with no significant response, she nodded to herself and made a beeline to their little picnic spot. While appearing indifferent, Sakuya could not help but noticed that the resident bookworm moved with more haste in her steps.
"Itadakimasu," the whole circle chimed, some more enthusiastically than the other. Even the newest addition to their circle had been living under the same roof for months, so no further pleasantry was said before they dug into Sakuya's exquisite cooking. They tacitly decided to leave the sandwiches that Reisen brought for last, just in case they needed more to stuff their bellies.
Remilia hummed to herself in thought. The shenanigans with the cooking process during the day had no effect on the taste of the final product. It was strangely binary. If the sub-class level was not high enough, no matter the technique, the final product could only be a mysterious blob. If it was enough, the ingredients would behave normally like they would in Gensokyo. The taste reflected the seasoning as it should.
They conversed animatedly about the various topics, but inevitably returned to the monsters they fought. They were strange, to say the least. Coming in different forms, they shared two characteristics.
Unlike typical wildlife, these monsters bore unexplainable hostility against the adventurers and would relentlessly attack them. Being territorial and hunting were a valid reason that feral wildlife would attack humans. Yet, those two reasons inexplicably linked to survival, so most animals would break off if they knew they were outmatched, but not these monsters. They would attack and fight until the last breath unless one possessed a significantly higher level than them. It was the prerogative to stay alive became secondary the moment they found adventures at the same or lower level.
Their unnaturalness was elevated to the next level with their body, being highly alchemically active. After death, the bodies would linger for a few minutes, acting as any normal carcasses should. Parts could be harvested and would remain safe from the process that ensued.
If left alone for longer, the body would disintegrate into thin air. It was only through their repeated observation that the magicians concluded that it was an alchemical process. In a split second, the bodies decomposed into various constituent and scattered. The speed they decomposed was so rapid as if they were preprogrammed to disappear after death. Unlike normal monsters and Youkai found in the old world, these showed too many artificialness to be considered natural.
Goblin, these green skins looked like miniature humans but with an unnaturally large head. If the size of the head correlated to the size of their brain, these misbegotten creatures would prove to be more of a menace than a mere nuisance. Their current intelligence was at most halfway above feral instinct, making their common members a little more than brutes with pointy sticks. The only except being their shaman, capable of instructing their dull kin and using magic, they seemed to be equipped with higher intelligence, if only slightly.
Brier Weasel inhabited the area deeper in the Archive Forest Tower. Just like their mundane counterpart, they had sleek bodies, round ears, brown upper coat and white bellies. Only their bright red eyes and the thorny vines coiling around their short tails separated them from their weasel cousin. Operating in a large pack, these nimble creatures attacked ferociously with by whipping their tails or firing condensed mana bullets whenever they spotted the hunting team. Unfortunately, their nimbleness could not save them from an even more agile vampire or immolation by the magicians. For anything that lived, fire was generally a good universal first choice.
On a side note, despite their cute appearance, their fur smelled quite disgusting, so it was probably best not to let them spoil the outfit. Burning these little critters to ash from afar became a good method to remain clean.
Another notable creature was triffid. A carnivorous plant, if its gaping toothy maw was of any indication, hellbent on grabbing anything with its rubbery vines and chomping it down. The giant flower containing its mouth was connected to a thick green stem and roots, which could lift and move the entire plant around. Of course, such horrific creature warranted only one treatment, purging with flame.
Lunaire reached back into the basket and found it empty. His hunger more or less subsided, but he wished for a few more bites to fill out his stomach. Knowing that the exercise would continue throughout the night, he thought it would not hurt to prepare. Reaching for the untouched basket of sandwiches bought by the rabbit, Lunaire promptly chomped down on the regular looking food.
The taste that was nothing regular forced an uncontrollable spat from Lunaire. He maintained only the barest minimum to swerve to the side before spitting. The magician coughed roughly onto his handkerchief, appalled by the taste lingering in his palate.
People generally had an expectation for the taste of foodstuff. No matter how poor the taste, sandwiches should taste of bread, meat, and vegetable. The bread could be stale and meat, rancid, but sandwich should not taste like the one that just left his palate.
"Umm," Lunaire's momentary look of outrage quickly turned awkward from the attention thrown his way.
"That was rude," Remilia chastised, though not sounding offended.
Remilia had known Lunaire to be a rather inoffensive individual. He had the basic courtesy not to commit faux pas or unreasonably find trouble with others, while remaining casual in most situation, one of the reasons she got along with him so well. For someone like him to show such rudeness to Reisen, she concluded that there must be a compelling reason.
"I am sorry…Reisen, I," Lunaire's awkward remark was met with confusion from the rabbit.
"It's alright, Lunaire," Reisen nodded lightly before asking. "Might I ask, what is wrong with it?"
Instead of an apology, Reisen wanted an explanation. Since she did not make the food herself, she had no reason to take the insult personally. But it begged the question, was it so foul to warrant such a strong reaction?
"I," Lunaire hesitated, not quite remembering the exact sensation on his tongue since he was too busy spitting it back out.
Feeling a little guilty, Lunaire reluctantly took another tiny bite out of the crime against food in his hand and blanched. Debating internally, he spat into the bush to the side, before rinsing his palate with the tea.
"It tasted like…rice cracker…plain rice cracker without salt, soggy too. I have no idea that a sandwich can taste like that."
"You are exaggerating," Remilia brushed his comment aside, to which Lunaire responded by offering the side of the bread he did not bite on.
Remilia's scarlet eyes watched him questioningly for a moment. Shrugging, the vampire leaned forward and took a cute, small bite. As if on cue, her eyes widened and a loud spat instantly followed. Unlike Lunaire, Remilia spat repeatedly. Sakuya, as dutiful as ever, loomed over her side and offered a towel to her mistress.
"See," Lunaire tone contained a hint of sympathy. Certainly not something to be offered to his friend, Lunaire found no other way to quickly describe the sensation to the vampire without sounding like an excuse.
"Pu, what was that?"
"I have no idea," Reisen chimed in from the side after recovering from her own bout of spitting. Succumbing to her curiosity, the rabbit suffered the same fate as the other unfortunate three.
"I think I will trust my better judgment not to try," Meiling chucked, having dodged the bullet.
"Please have some tea," Sakuya refilled their cups with more hot tea to cleanse their palate. The strong aroma from the red tea performed its task admirably, calming the three down.
"Thank you, Sakuya…Lunaire, it is I who should be sorry. I did not know that the food will taste like this when I bought them.
"Don't worry, I doubt that you bought them, expecting a taste like that." Lunaire, having cleared his name, smiled brightly.
"Yes, it looked to be a rather respectable stall. I stand corrected," Reisen commented scathingly, recalled the face of the owner who sold such foul creation. "Just how could he cook this up?"
"It is the same," Sitting primly and cradling her grimoire, Patchouli remarked.
"Elaboration, please." Lunaire craned his neck.
"Your description, it matches the one Meiling said about the meat skewer," Patchouli continued plainly.
"You listened!" Meiling felt gratified that someone bothered listened to her rambling before dinner.
Remilia rubbed her chin. "You are right. Meiling was saying something about that, right, Sakuya?"
"I believe so, my lady, but I cannot say for sure. I was concentrating on setting out the meal and had not paid attention. My apology," Sakuya bowed down.
"It matters little. We have plenty left for Meiling to confirm it personally."
"My lady, I think I will," Meiling felt a bead of sweat trailing down her brows.
"Hehe," Remilia giggled brightly, fully intent on enjoying the ensuing show.
With the valiant sacrifice from Meiling, the group discovered another peculiarity of this world. Against all logic, sandwiches and pork skewers tasted the same, like soggy unseasoned rice crackers. It might just be only these two, but Reisen concluded that to be unlikely. According to her recollection, the stall garnered good business, meaning that the common consumer found such travesty perfectly normal. If other food tasted proper, why would one buy these sandwiches and pork skewers at all?
This brought up another question. Apart from her success depending on her sub-class level, Sakuya's cooking remained unaffected and flavorful.
"It might just be their cooking method," Reisen offered.
"Another thing to look into," Patchouli nodded.
Lunaire rubbed his chin. "While it is unthinkable that the cooking method can make two completely different dishes taste the same, this world sometimes defies common sense. That might just be the case."
"Coming from us, the creatures that naturally defy common sense, that is quite something," Remilia rolled her eyes. The vampire loved a challenge like the next resident of Gensokyo, but this was more of a nuisance than anything. Yukari never told Remilia about this when she struck the deal.
"Instead of the method, it might be sub-class? The label stated that I am currently the sole possessor of Perfect Maid sub-class." Sakuya asserted, not willing to be useless.
"That is unlikely," Patchouli countered. "If the stall owners can produce a finished product, their sub-class must accommodate cooking. Or else their food should turn into a pile of goo. Perfect Maid is not the only sub-class that can apparently cook, and I doubt the only class that can make good tasting food."
Reisen nodded in assent. "I agree with that line of thought. But rather than just sub-class, the class itself can also allow cooking.
"What do you mean?"
"The people of the land who were selling food had "Chef" as their class, not sub-class," Reisen recounted her observation when she was strolling around submitting quest.
"Interesting," Lunaire mused.
Sensing that the conversation may move off track, Patchouli brought the rest back on topic and concluded. "But that changes little. Whether if it is because of class or subclass, many people can cook, but only our Sakuya can produce dishes with appropriate flavor, why? Other than the method, is there anything else that makes Sakuya unique?"
"Um, maybe it is because Sakuya is an adventurer," Meiling, who remained silent until that moment, spoke and plunged the whole circle into silence.
The gatekeeper pointed out their inadequate understanding of the difference between adventurers and people of the lands. Apart from the obvious weakness of the later compared to the former, no other difference could be noted between the two groups for now. But, not seeing the difference did not mean there was no difference, so it was certainly possible that people of the land could not cook flavorful food.
"Then, the people of the land certainly got the short end of the stick. Imagine it, eating that trash for years on end," Meiling crossed her arms and shivered.
"But, if that is the case, why is there no other adventurer cooking up good food to sell? They have been around much longer than us, so someone should have discovered how to make food that does not taste like a rice cracker," Lunaire scratched his head roughly as he spoke.
"I hope that they don't think that these soggy rice crackers are good."
"Sincerely, please don't let that be the case, because that is just poor taste."
"I believe we shout stop thinking and start hunting. We are burning daylight!" Remilia cut into their conversation while pouting, eliciting laughter among them.
Before the six went about having fun with the local wildlife, they remembered that people back in the mansion also needed something to stimulate their minds and left a gift. A giant metal bin was left back at the mansion with an inviting sign of "experimental reagent." The fancy name and ribbon served to hide the fact that the materials within were whatever leftover from their morning hunt. In their defense, it was not exactly a waste bin either as a lot of the materials harvested emitted a faint trace of magical power.
Since Lunaire said to let Marisa play, Koakuma did not object. After hauling the boxes filled to the brim with assorted monster parts, organs and other herbs through the huge double doors of the underground laboratory, she quickly bolted out of there. The matter occurring down in the dungeon no longer was her concern, out of sight, out of mind. The library was safe and that was all that she could ever hope for.
The others never question that Marisa possessed the determination to push forward and gather strength in spade. Her strength that rivaled the unholy might, possessed by many Gensokyo denizens, were the product of unceasing practice and research. Such a good impression was undermined only by the disorderly state of her laboratory, the sanctum in which mage derived their power, making it seemed as if she simply stumbled into power. It was highly unlikely that Marisa could learn anything useful in such an environment that screamed of a slob.
Yet, unlike what many may have thought, the only thing disorganized about Marisa was her tendency to misplace things. Her streams of thought were quite volatile, so she often jumped to the next exciting ideas before properly putting away whatever it was in her hind at that moment, hence the dusty towers of tomes and apparatuses. On the other hand, Marisa did her due diligence for the task currently at the forefront of her mind.
Her crude but oddly effective modus operandi revolved around one concept, trial and error. Through boiling, crushing, drying, mixing various regents randomly, she gradually elucidated their property and synergy. A process that sounded just like childish experimentation yielded result only because of her rigorous record keeping.
She recorded everything, success, and failure, her method, the reaction she got, the property of the product. Even the ashes from her experiments were bottled, labeled and stored, possibly forgotten for months until she read through her observation again. Her strict record ensured that not a single detail would be missing when she picked the project back up.
"Low heat furnace, small cauldron, two-part Holfy ash, three-part water, and one part liquified slime core, stirring four times clockwise, one time counterclockwise," Marisa mumbled.
Grabbing a large lump of charcoal, she dutifully sketched the appearance of the product. With the black charcoal as the base, she filled out the sketch partially with sticks of compressed pigmented charcoal. More than hundreds of shades were available at her fingertips, ensuring that her impression was as accurate as it could be. Even Lunaire and Patchouli had to raise the white flag to her meticulousness in this area.
Spinning the greyish goo in the glass dish, Marisa peered so close that her nose nearly poked the gleaming semi-solid. "the ash properly stayed in the gel this time, but the water drained so easily from the gel. What happens if I dry it?"
"Did you have something?" Alice's eyes finally left her books, sensing the excitement from the other blonde witch.
"Yes, I might need to reduce the water or boil it for longer and I will be set."
"You sure work fast."
"This inventory system is quite useful," Marisa chuckled.
Any ingredients dematerialized into the inventory would be labeled with a description. It was sorely inadequate and vague by Marisa's standard, but knowing that Holfy branch contained medicinal property right off the bat was a godsend. As a woman of magic, Marisa would never rely solely on these strange interfaces and verify the information herself. Without more intimate research, how could she learn that Holfy branch had uses in cosmetic?
Unnamed Dilute Medicinal Salve
Recover 2 HP per second for 20 seconds, slightly reduce scarring and skin blemish.
In total, that should be 20 HP or a third her current points, Marisa thought. Instead of simple medicine salve, this should be called a miracle medicine, healing someone a third way from death. The only thing stopping her was the fact that she knew that HP increased dramatically with level. Depending on that factor, the salve might end up worse than trash.
Since the label said diluted, more concentrated form existed. Marisa concluded that to be her next experiment after ensuing that the salve was not poisonous. Most people did not possess the same poison resistance as her, who played with dangerous substances on a regular basis. But for now, she filed that thought for later, turning to her friend who suddenly wanted to help tidy up her laboratory.
"How is it going for you, Alice?"
"It is getting better. I can now support Shanghai indefinitely."
As if on cue, rounding the corner around bookshelves, a cute doll, Shanghai appeared. Her diminutive size looked comical compared to the stack of books she was hefting. The little fellow appeared animate as ever, smiling brightly. Unlike the usual, Shanghai was not surrounded by the legion of dolls that followed Alice around, floating by her lonesome.
"Hey, that is an improvement! Before, you can barely keep one aloft without panting every few minutes."
"At most, she can hover about and lift some weight. Any more and it will start to eat into my reserve."
"Small improvement is still an improvement, ze!" Marisa chimed with unmatched enthusiasm.
Alice sighed with a smile and continued to tidy the surrounding from the comfort of her seat. It was great that Shanghai could not complain because pitting her against the mess that was Marisa's laboratory was clearly overworking. No doll's right existed, yet. Or so Lunaire once joked.
On Alice's part, she could not wait when such debate became a reality, because it would mean that her dolls gained sentience, the whole point of her research.
"Anyway, how did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Your mana pool should be the same, right? How can you maintain Shanghai indefinitely now?"
"Hmm…it seemed that my mana pool improved if only slightly," Alice confirmed her gut feeling by opening her interface.
"That should only lengthen your control time. You will still run out eventually unless," Marisa implied.
"It seemed that Shanghai mana consumption decreased," Alice mused.
"It might be your sub-class," Marisa referred to the discussion between Patchouli and Remilia about Perfect Maid sub-class.
"Seems like it, I am a level 6 Seven-colored Puppeteer now."
"If it takes 6 levels to control one, how high of a level do you have to be to control your entire legion." Marisa spread her arms, emphasizing the large complement of dolls that usually accompanied Alice around.
Alice sighed deeply. "I don't know. I hope the growth curve picks up later."
Lunaire's status within Scarlet Devil Mansion was quite like Patchouli's, based on friendship. Arriving in Gensokyo with little personal items, he sought temporary residence at the mansion after hearing that it had a large library among other reasons. To his dismay, he really had nothing to his name at the time that would interest the vampire as rent. Fortunately, he let him stay out of curiosity and simply because she had ample room to spare. One or two resident magicians made little difference to her.
A position of resident magician traditionally boiled down to magical advisor, giving counsel on mythical matters and protecting their employers. Court magician was also a type of resident magician, only in service of a higher noble. Unfortunately, Patchouli's and Lunaire's positions were just glorified title. Not that they were useless, but Remilia more likely sought a chat than counsel for them. The two were more than happy to indulge, given the friendship they shared with the vampire and the free lodging they received.
While technically not on Remilia's payroll, Lunaire was grateful and did his best to avoid being a freeloader. That conviction was the exact reason he down that ridiculously stout tea, forcibly keeping his eyes wide open throughout the night. Lunaire leaned against the cold brick pillar of the mansion gate and yawned deeply.
For that night only, Lunaire agreed to substitute for Meiling. He thought it exceeding cruel to work Meiling to the bone during the hunt then expect her to stand guard during the night. He would not fault her in that case if she fell asleep where she stood. That would also defeat the purpose of having a guard.
Of course, he was in the same boat. The embrace of sleep coaxed him gently to let go as the mental fatigue caught up with him. Adjusting to the new environment, new information, using his concentration during the fight, it boggled him that he remained standing. If not for two reasons, he would have crawled into his bed, curl up and sleep.
One, the mansion needed a guard. This was a whole new world for them, so they knew not the threat that lurked in the shadow. At the very least, they needed someone to raise alarm to warm their sleeping comrade. Unfortunately, the task could not be entrusted to the people not involved in the hunt. He doubted a level one, the lowest one could be, would hold against anyone trying to harm them.
Second, he wished to walk around the town the next day, taking stock of the situation. He got sidetracked in the morning when people suddenly offered him odd jobs. Not that he complained. The portion of coins he received should suffice as pocket money. Since he would be taking it easy tomorrow, it was fitting he carries the heavier load that night.
Thus, Lunaire splendidly held his vigil over the surrounding. If only he was on the outside of the gate, not inside and facing away from the gate, he would appear like a traditional gatekeeper. Not a negligence on his part, Lunaire simply used his spells could survey the surrounding, so his eyes were free to wander. Also, the barriers and other magical protection enveloped the gates and walls of the mansion, thus staying inside would at least prevent being sniped.
Speaking of surveillance, Lunaire perked up from an audible ping in his head. Someone came close enough to the wall to trip the ward he set up. He straightened up from his slouch, tightening his grip on the bladed staff, and waited. Rather than trying to breach the perimeter, they wandered around the walls. Before long, they arrived at the front gate.
"What might be the reason for both of you to be snooping about this late at night? This is private property and I am sure the owner won't appreciate peeping." Lunaire's loud voice spoked the two.
After a brief pause, the lanky figure answered sheepishly. "O-oh…I am sorry. It is just that I have never known that a zone like this exists in Akiba."
"Right, If I remembered correctly, it used to be just another ruined skyscraper in this area. Is it part of the expansion?" The other man said boisterously. His energetic tone reminded him of some drunken Oni back in the underground capital.
The man that stuttered wore a black sweater and light green trousers. Wrapped around his waist was a large belt, holding a sizable bag. Trailing down from his shoulders to his knees was a dull white robe that might be oversized on the top portion. The wooden staff in his hand marked him as a magician, very classic.
To his side was the complete opposite. Any blade or arrows would find it difficult to scratch his body, save for the gaps in the joints or unarmored thighs. Covering himself with thick plates from head to toe and carrying a great shield, the boisterous man appeared ready for war. Though strangely, he armed himself with a comically wide long sword. Although the cutting power was indisputable, long sword faltered against thick hide and heavy armor. Then again, the magic emanation from the sword made up for the shortcoming somewhat, resulting in a versatile choice.
For some reason, Lunaire felt an unfamiliar presence from the first man, remarkably close to human but not. He was not a youkai either. Lunaire had met a lot of youkai, but he could not recognize this feel from the man. On the other hand, the armored man felt like a human, through and through.
Instead of their races, however, Lunaire was more worried about the mana they exude, towered over his own by many folds. Facing the two right now would be like fighting one of the Watatsuki sisters when she was reasonably ticked off. Believe him, since Lunaire had suffered such fate before.
Of course, this was only comparative. Let alone the Watatsuki sisters, anyone in the mansion at their peak state could trounce the two men in the amount of mana produced many times over. Fortunately for Lunaire, this meant the defensive measures deployed around the premise should be potent enough to deter the two should they prove hostile. If the two were comparable to Watatsuki sisters, that would hardly be the case.
Momentarily, the blue flame sealed in the staff grew agitated from the mana Lunaire fed it. Stepping away from the pillar and squaring against the newcomer, he projected a guarded posture but showed no hostility.
"Please state your business if you have one. If not, I must ask you two to leave."
"Oi, oi, there is no need to be so serious. We were just wondering about this part of town that we never knew existed." The armored man paused a bit, peering toward the side. Rather than looking straight at Lunaire's purplish-blue eyes, the armored man veered to the side.
He is looking at the interface, Lunaire thought and returned the gesture in kind. Rather than the detailed window like his friends, Lunaire was shown only the purplish-blue label with the name, status as adventurer and health bar.
"Shiroe-san, Naotsugu-san," Lunaire mumbled the two names and quickly committed them to memory. There were many strong people in the city, but these two were the first who became interested in this area.
"O-Oh, Luunaire Vivainn…Meeister? That is quite the unique name, also written in English, that is even rarer in this server."
Please don't butcher my name but I will let that slide for now. Hold up, what is so unique about having his name written in English? Also, why does the server come up in the conversation? Isn't that something like a hub for the so-called internet?
It had to be noted that Lunaire came into contact briefly with internet when it was still in its infancy, being dialed-up from the telephone line and all. His confusion went unseen to the two as Lunaire performed his best poker face.
"Lunaire Vivian Meister, at your service."
"Nice to meet you! I am Naotsugu and," the armored man pulled the lanky man next to him closer to the gate. "This one in Shiroe."
"G-greeting," Shiroe laughed weakly, used to the antics of his compatriot.
Lunaire nodded curtly and returned to staring silently at the two, waiting for their move. For now, the two made no move that warranted personally chasing them away. Unless they did something egregious, Lunaire would just stare them down for the moment. He was rather apprehensive to rouse the entire defensive grid just to forcibly evict these two men.
There was a flicker and then the labels on the men expanded, revealing further information about them. It seemed that the full status could only be accessible after a round of self-introduction. While it was off-putting that anyone who knew him could interrogate his status at will, there was really nothing to hide within the information plate displayed.
Shiroe, adventurer, level 90 enchanter, HP 8303, MP 12088, No guild affiliation.
Naotsugu, adventurer, level 90 warrior, HP 13295, MP 6613, No guild affiliation.
"Wait! You are a player! Man, with how rigid you were talking, I thought you are an NPC for a second," Naotsugu laughed, not noticing the complicated expression on the man across the gate.
I am standing here alone, and you dare accuse me of being a womanizer? Wait, it seems that NPC is opposite of a player, so he should mean it that way, probably.
"A player? How can you tell?"
Naotsugu looked at him strangely as if he had asked something obvious but humored him anyway. "You haven't notice till now? Your status shows you as a sorcerer, right? It is purplish-blue too, so that means you are an adventurer."
"And the NPC?"
"The People of the Land are the NPCs…Are you new? You don't seem to know a lot," Naotsugu said worriedly.
"I am new to this…business," Lunaire chose the most neutral word he could think of.
"Man, that is just rough. Being suddenly dropped into this mess without knowing anything. Are you doing alright?"
"I…will manage for now but there is still much to learn." His humility gained the approving nods from the two men outside the gate. For some reason, they seemed pleased with his reaction even if Lunaire could not put a finger on it.
"You are level twenty-three, so you must have clocked in some time into the game already," Shiroe broke his silence with his observation.
This is getting more confusing by the seconds, the terms like player, NPC, time, game. The Japanese language could not change so much in less than 20 odd years, so these words should just be jargons.
"Even if you are almost at the low-mid tier players, don't you get cocky! This world had gotten more dangerous than ever."
Lunaire nodded, holding back from saying that he was already on it. "So, this world was not as dangerous back then."
"Of course, the fights are going to get more realistic as ever. You are going to have to face your enemy face-to-face now, you know?" Naotsugu explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
In turn, Lunaire tried his best to keep his poker face from crumbling and looking at Naotsugu like he had a screw or two loose in his head. Hearing such comment from a heavily armored knight made him questioned his hearing. While long-range bombardment duty existed, even magicians could not avoid meeting the enemies close enough to see the whites of their eyes at least once in their lives, let alone warriors.
Naotsugu continued his lecture, not noticing the twisted expression from the silver-haired magician. "You don't get the overlay like in the game, so you now have to operate these clunky status and skill menus during the fight." Naotsugu made a gesture of a large rectangular to the side.
Lunaire knew of the skill menu, just not its proper name until now. From the strange interface, various magical spells were made available to him as he leveled up, along with a handful of mastery points. These points could be used to acquire further spells that were not automatically granted by just leveling up. The spells and skills in the menu were anomalous in themselves, but that was neither here nor there.
Lunaire wanted to retort from his experience that they could simply call up the spells from the instinctive knowledge granted when the skills were unlocked. By just calling the name of the spell and performing the gestures that automatically came to their head, the spells could be cast without the menu. This did not include the spells they learned on their own outside the skill menu.
However, Lunaire held his tongue. Naotsugu and Shiroe seemed like genuinely pleasant fellows. But even then, Lunaire felt no guilt holding back the potentially useful information. After all, knowledge was power.
"Duly…noted," Lunaire answered neutrally.
"Anyway, since we are already here, we want to ask about this new zone that we are standing in." Shiroe glanced to the upper left briefly before continuing. "Scarlet Devil Estate, I believe."
"Scarlet Devil Estate Zone?" Lunaire tilted his head quizzically and mimicked Shiroe's gesture.
Surely enough, the mansion was properly recognized as the zone. However, Lunaire was currently standing on the zone called Scarlet Devil Mansion, not estate as the man said.
"Yes…the lot in front, a few buildings surrounding the mansion and I assume the mansion as well, if the mansion is not a separate zone entirely, make up the Scarlet Devil Estate Zone." Shiroe explained.
"…"
So, Scarlet Devil Mansion belonged to the zone of the same name, surrounded by another area named Scarlet Devil Estate. From the details written on the interface, Remilia's ownership was properly recognized for the mansion itself. Lunaire just nodded and committed the new information to memory.
"For such a large zone, there is no way that I simply miss it for the past few years. So, we assumed that this zone a part of the new expansion, Homesteading the Noosphere, and just wanted to explore." Shiroe finished.
"Your intention may be pure. But no one would appreciate strangers wandering about their residence at this time, regardless of their purpose, don't you think?"
"We thought that like most spaces in Akiba, this is also a public zone without an owner." Shiroe looked up once again. "But I can see that we were wrong. This zone indeed was owned. We apologize for intruding. However, the entry restriction was not set."
"Entry restriction?" Lunaire repeated.
"You don't know what entry restriction is?"
"Come on Shiro, we shouldn't put this handsome guy on the spot. He is pretty new, so give him a break."
"On the other hand, his boss, Remilia Scarlet should not be. A zone this big should cost a pretty penny with large upkeep cost to boot." Shiroe whispered to his compatriot.
"The mistress of the mansion did not inform me of such matter." Lunaire neither denied nor accepted Shiroe's conjecture while reminding him that his whispering was in no way subtle.
"Right, sorry," Shiroe scratched his head awkwardly. "Entry restriction is a system implemented to allow the owner of a zone to exclude other people from entering. This means that he or she can stop someone not among her friends, or not in her guild or any other category from stepping into the zone."
"That doesn't seem like it will work. What exactly is enforcing this entry restriction?" Lunaire countered. "Say, even if the mistress set the entry restriction against the people she does not know, what is stopping them from waltzing in any way."
"Even if you ask me that…we don't really know how the system works, only that it does. If the person banned by the entry restriction tries to enter the area anyway, different outcomes can occur. If the area is accessible by the gate, they won't be able to open the door no matter how hard they try."
Shiroe sweeps his gaze around the area, prompting Lunaire to do the same. "But if it is an open-air zone like this, it will forcibly teleport the interloper off the premise."
"How absolute is it? Can't you just sneak by or break-in?"
"We don't really know now, but while it was still a game, it was pretty absolute. Why? You are not going to break into someone else's places, right? I tell you, that is not good!" Naotsugu hurriedly warned.
"Of course not," Lunaire snorted loudly. "I am just happy that we might not need gatekeeper if we simply restrict entry."
"Which is strange. Considering that your guild master knows about this, why did she have you stand on guard anyway." Shiroe mused.
"I cannot claim to know all her thoughts, but it is safer to treat this world not as a game." As they mentioned the world as a game multiple times, Lunaire returned the word back to them.
"…" The two were speechless for a second.
"What is it?"
"No, it is just refreshing to see someone still looking forward in all of this," Shiroe answered.
"Yeah, unlike others, you kept soldiering on and taking this in stride," Naotsugu added enthusiastically.
"I highly doubt that I am the only one moving forward," Lunaire asked quizzically.
"Then you haven't seen the situation in Akiba lately. Being sent here all of sudden without knowing how or why so many people fell into despair."
Sensing that this was another can of worms entirely, Lunaire politely dropped the topic. He needed some time to organize his thought. Questioning them any deeper than surface-level detail might unwittingly force Lunaire to spill beans. "Anyway, why do you refer to the mistress as guild master?"
"Are we wrong?" Shiroe tilted his head. "She must have the resources of an entire guild to be able to buy out such a large zone as her guild house."
"Quick too, given how fast she bought it up right after the expansion dropped, which is today."
"She was quite wealthy…and quick thinking, very much so."
Lunaire did not correct their misunderstanding. Not knowing how long Scarlet Devil Mansion existed here in the perception of the locals, he dared not confirm. This area might just be a pile of rubble until this morning or a different mansion once stood in its place. Either way, giving a concrete number of how long Remilia had owned the mansion seemed like a bad idea.
"However, she is not a part of any guild," Lunaire said.
"Oh, you guys are not in a guild?"
Lunaire shook his head gently. "Nothing like that."
They exchanged a few words of pleasantry and then parted way, the other party knowing that they overstayed their welcome. With peace and silence returning, Lunaire turned the night into the impromptu stargazing night. The night sky looked so familiar, yet unmistakably strange to him. The constellation appeared as it should be if he was back on Earth. Yet, the magician knew full well that this could never be Earth.
Lunaire had much to discuss with the rest when they woke up, the enigmatic existences that were adventurers, the jargons, guild and the mansion zone. He would tell them everything, except for the fact that he dearly wanted to clobber Naotsugu for unilaterally labeling him as closet pervert the secret from the others.
00000
There you go.
My first draft did not include the scene with Shiroe. But after much deliberation, I added it in. It was in the novel that Naotsugu and Shiroe started collecting information in Akiba since day one, after their meeting with Maryelle (not shown in Anime). I just cannot imagine the two veterans not noticing the new area in the city if they earnestly looked for information. The other adventurers might be too busy despairing, but not this duo.
I decided to give Remilia ownership over the mansion and a good chunk of land around it, giving room to expand in the future. Akiba is in ruin anyway, so I see no issue tucking in Scarlet Devil Mansion somewhere.