Hello, ITalkToSky Here
Oh boy was this chapter super hard to write. I do not want to dig straight into Shiroe section, since I want to develop the Scarlet Devil Mansion guild a little further. As you may have known from reading my other story, I do not like sticking close to the canon story to the tee. This will be a stepping off point from which further deviation can happen.
Well then, please enjoy this chapter after 8 months in the oven.
I just made a new discord server in case you want to leave some question over there. It is much easier to deal with than the reply review format in Fanfiction.
Discord invite code: nSMHjar
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Scarlet Devil Mansion Estate
Koakuma twisted in her seat, wringing out the cramp working up her side. Desk job was nothing new to her, a familiar in service of the one known as the Unmoving Great Library. Though, she never had to deal with so many people before. It was not difficult per se. Koakuma had no problem talking to people. Her guild was not providing service to customers but giving out jobs, so she needed not to entreat herself to the Adventurers. However, she could do without the troublemakers and more importantly, the blistering sun.
For the past weeks, Koakuma handled the paperwork right outside the gate of Scarlet Devil Mansion with only a large umbrella to shield her from the element. She endured for a few weeks. Even with the discrete help from magic, it was still not a good working condition. Koakuma wanted at least a proper roof above her head.
Her request was answered and then some. Along with the reconstruction of the plaza in front of the mansion, one of the dilapidated buildings on the side was also torn down and rebuilt into a small structure, earmarked as her office and temporary ingredient storehouse. Somewhere along the line, the Kappa went off the rail, like they often did the moment one took their eyes off them. The planned small building expanded into a four-story timber structure. The Kappa managed to dig up and implemented the blueprint for jettying to increase the upper floor space, giving the place a gorgeous medieval look. It would fit right in any castle town, complementing the opulence of Scarlet Devil Mansion.
The Kappa left the upper floor empty but elegantly decorated the first floor where Koakuma would be working. Taking inspiration from the Guild Hall in the middle of Akiba, they built long counters and cabinets for clerks. The billboard was also expanded with the increasing volume of quests issued. In a rare show of thoughtfulness, they utilized the remaining floor space as a lounge for adventurers, providing seats and sofas.
Understandably, Koakuma could not wait to move in. She worked with gusto like a child finally getting her new stationery set. To make the wait more tolerable, the Kappa gave her wooden plaques with numbers to help her manage the queue.
"Number 97 please…Hmm, I have not met you before. I assume you are here to…" The rest of the words died in Koakuma's mouth.
As a familiar of a magician, the devil boasted an impeccable memory. The number of adventurers she processed grew beyond the third digits and she still remembered most of their faces. Since Koakuma recalled not the faintest impression of the youthful girl before her, she assumed her to be a new Adventurer looking to join in their harvest. However, the appearance of the greenish status display dismissed that notion.
Sabina Callister, People of the Land
Koakuma blinked twice. After dealing with rowdy Adventurers for days on end, she developed a routine. The questions to ask, the paperwork to file, she already planned that out before they stood before the counter. Sabina's appearance derailed that neat system she got going, causing the devil to sigh.
There was an option to throw the girl out, but that would be too mean spirited. If the girl somehow misunderstood the purpose of this gathering or god forbid wanted to go on some exciting adventure, then the problem should be reasonably easy to solve. Koakuma sucked in her breath. "Good morning, Miss Callister, how may I help you today?"
"Good morning to you too, miss?"
"Please call me Koakuma. So, what brought you here today?"
"I…heard that adventurers are taking quests from this mansion. Is it true?"
"Very much so, miss Callister." Koakuma gestured toward the long line behind her. "Though, I suppose you are not here to take on our quest, right?"
Sabina chuckled nervously. "Of course not. I just…"
Koakuma watched intently while her mind churned. This was the first time anything like this happened. The Landers in the city never showed much interest in Adventurers' business. The only ones that did were the rats from Maihama Firm, skulking about in the ruins adjacent to the estate. They no doubt were searching for the elusive seamstress. At first, they snooped about almost up to the gate of the mansion, until Remilia caught their names and selectively banned them from the area. Koakuma would have lump Sabina with them if not for her entirely innocent demeanor, which brought up the question of her purpose.
"Yes?"
Sabina's voice trembled slightly. "I wish to know whether it will be possible if you can pass on a quest to any of these adventurers."
"Pardon?"
"Our store is in urgent need of Ebonis Vine. I searched through many ingredient stores, but it is completely out of stock. Something about the Adventurers buying them all up."
"Ebonis Vine, is it?" Koakuma mumbled, parsing through her extensive memory of the plant materials in Theldesia. "Do you need them for the dye?"
"Yes," Sabina nodded. "We use them to dye higher-end clothes."
Koakuma chewed on her lips. "This is quite troubling. You see, Miss Callister, we issue gathering quests as you heard. However, we do so mostly to stock our inventory. We don't fulfill commissions for others."
"Is it truly impossible? We need this or else we will have nothing to do until the stores restocked their vines next week. Even that is not guaranteed from the unusually high demand." Sabina implored.
Koakuma averted her eyes from the puppy-eyed girl. "Well, it is not entirely…impossible. Please give me a moment to discuss it with my superior."
Quickly gesturing for the next person in line to wait a little longer, Koakuma made a quick gesture in the air. Then, she started whispering, causing Sabina to look at her with strange eyes. Before long, Koakuma ushered the girl to the side and instructed her to wait.
Sabina paced around, growing increasingly nervous from the curious stare directed her way. Many Adventurers in the lounge could still her status as the people of the land and started whispering among each other. The warning glance from the devil kept them away from approaching her, but a particularly insensitive one could appear at any moment.
"Oh, Bina, what a surprise!" The girl remembered that voice and quickly turned around to see the silver-haired man.
"Lunaire!"
"I'm glad you still remember me. How have you been?"
"Great as always, thank you." Sabina giggled. "I did not know you are affiliated with this guild."
"Well, we did not get to talk much last time. I had a lot on my mind back then."
"Which reminds me…did that dress auction go well?"
"Couldn't have been better," Lunaire said as he glanced left and right. He beckoned her closer to him, cupping his lips like he had a secret to tell. Sabina quickly inched closer. "I can't tell you exactly how much, but even the Corwen Clan could not have fork up that sum up so easily."
"Eh, come on, tell me!"
Even with her persistent pestering, the girl failed to squeeze anything out of the magician and could only pout. Lunaire finally put a stop to it and changed the topic. "So, Bina, what brings you here again? Koakuma told me that you want the Adventurers to find some Ebonis Vine."
Sabina nodded with gusto. Meeting someone familiar in a foreign place like this dispelled her nerves. "Yes. Koakuma told me that it might be difficult, but not impossible. Please, we truly need the vine urgently."
Lunaire closed his eyes and mused. Ebonis Vine was mostly useful for the craftsmen. Its primary use came from the sap that could be clarified and dried into an intense midnight blue dye for the armors or clothing. Lunaire was willing to bet that the transition of many Adventurers toward crafting subclasses had something to do with the dwindling supply. After Eldertale ceased being just a game, the new reality of sword-to-sword and face-to-face proved insurmountable to many. Understandably, a good portion hunkered down in the city and turned to production-related professions like tailors and blacksmiths. Just like training any craftsman, a lot of materials were needed for practice to accumulate experience points and progress in the subclass. It would be strange if no shortage occurred.
Ebonis Vine was not a particularly rare plant, known to grow in many zones out in the wild. However, these areas were quite a way from Akiba. It was a general rule of thumb that the monsters far from major settlements were generally stronger, complicating the harvest.
Overall, the quest sounded simple enough, but Lunaire wondered whether there would be anyone willing to take them. As far as he remembered, the hunting spots opened to them by the Black Sword Knights had no Ebonis Vine, meaning their gatherers had to take a detour to find them. Since the Adventurers taking gathering commission also wanted the leisure of farming for experience point as well, they required a stronger incentive.
"How much are willing to offer as the reward for this quest?"
"Since we need quite a bit, I will say around twenty large stalks should suffice for now. My mother and I are willing to pay 500 coins for them."
Given that 36 to 40 coins were the minimum amount needed to survive in the city, this was quite the sum to pay to the weaker Adventurers. Yet, in the current climate where they could not care less about housing or the quality of their food, money might not be very enticing. That would hopefully change in the future.
"How soon do you need them?"
"Within three days, the sooner the better." Seeing that Lunaire was seriously considering, Sabina mustered her most devasting puppy eyes. The spectacle glanced right off the magician who continued his mussing unfazed.
"It's not like we have anything to lose from this. Very well, we will post this up for you. Koakuma, paper please!" As soon as her name was called, a piece of paper flew his way like a dart, which Lunaire nonchalantly caught. Sabina's eyes sparkled like she was watching a show of sort.
Gathering Ebonis Vine
Issued by Scarlet Devil Mansion on behalf of Unnamed Third Party
Completion condition: gather 20 stalks of Ebonis Vine
Time limit: 2 days
…
Reward: 500 G, 3 x concentrated Holfry medicinal salve
Description: A young seamstress urgently requires Ebonis Vine for her dye
Signature:
Lunaire added in a little effort on the lettering and the decorating the edge of the paper, both for aesthetic sake and to prevent the request from appearing cheap. Presentation truly mattered when it came to people. He then handed the paper to Sabina.
"Is this acceptable for you?"
"Ah…yes, I think this should be fine," Sabina answered absent-mindedly, seemingly focusing on Lunaire's elaborate penmanship. "Eh? What is this concentrated…Holfry medicinal salve?"
Lunaire smiled mischievously. "It is the medicine we produced in house, a little extra something to make your quest more appealing."
"Is…is that so?" Sabina leaned in close as she whispered. "Um…If you do not mind me asking, how much is it worth?"
"Ah…the production volume is increasing, so the price is dropping down a bit, but somewhere around 1000 gold coins."
Lunaire averted his eyes in slight embarrassment. The price point was very reasonable when compared in terms of convenience and potency with other options on the market. Yet, with their current production volume, even selling at the exclusive price offered to Black Sword Knights of 700 gold coins, they would still be making a profit. The profit margin was ridiculous, to say the least. Of course, they planned to lower it down in the future after they properly padded out their coffers.
"Eep!" Sabina cried.
"Hehe." Lunaire chuckled as borrowed the wax seal from Koakuma to affix the guild emblem on the notice. "Normally, I won't do this for free, but consider this a service on the house."
"No, no, no, I cannot possibly ask you to spend that much." Sabina waved her hand frantically while her eyes darted left and right, making no attempt to hide her shock. Three thousand gold coins, six times her reward, were not something to sneeze at and not something to spend on mere acquaintance.
Lunaire smiled warmly. "Think nothing of it. You help us quite a lot before. It is only fitting that I return the favor. These potions are just chump change."
"Th-thank you very much. This means so much to me."
Even when Lunaire said that it was more fitting to say the Sabina was doing Scarlet Devil Mansion another favor. The guild had limited resources, thus could only give quests based on necessity. The gathering commissions were used to feed their potion manufacturing. This meant there was a limit to the number of Adventurers who benefitted from the hunting ground.
But if Sabina's case went well, it might provide a precedent for Landers to consign their quests with the guild. This would increase their sway among the Landers as they had to depend on the mansion. More importantly, they would now have more quests to issue to the Adventurers, if not to benefit more people then to increase the variety and a little commission on the side.
They needed to negotiate with Black Sword Knights to allow more of their people in, but Lunaire could not see them refusing. The Knights occupied low-level zones because they merely wished to deny it from D.D.D. Since they were not benefiting from the land anyway, they might as well lend those out. It was a win-win situation for both sides. Of course, they needed to take care and maintain the exclusivity, or else people would just bypass the Scarlet Devil Mansion entirely.
Beside Koakuma's counter, there was a billboard where they posted their announcements and the rules in the guild. It seemed a fitting a place as any, so Lunaire promptly affixed the notice on the corkboard. Hopefully, someone would notice, he thought.
And notice they did.
Crescent Moon Alliance Guild Hall
"…Smaller guilds must band together if we are going to stand any chance. Each of us alone cannot stake a claim on any good hunting ground."
"That is entirely unfeasible. We are this late in the game, so all the good hunting grounds are occupied. No matter how many people we have on our side, the bigger guilds won't relinquish the ground they took without a struggle. It is unnecessary to say that we most likely will not come out on top in that situation. In addition, even if we managed to snag up a few zones, can all of us share such a small area harmoniously?"
"Then what do you suggest we do? If you have any bright idea, speak it."
Alice glared at the man for his overly aggressive remark. Her criticisms were valid and thus important in evaluating the merit of his proposal. She bit down her annoyance. If he wanted her a piece of her mind, she would answer. "Rather than trying to wrestle for zones near Akiba, it might be a better idea to organize a caravan to the farther area."
"You suggested something some of us have already been doing, but the efficiency is appalling. We have to spend so much time traveling that we barely get to hunt, hence the reason for this discussion."
"You misunderstood me. I meant a large caravan. Sending in parties piecemeal will end up as you said. Instead, I suggest gathering members from various guilds to form a large, self-sufficient hunting group. With the increased inventory spaces for supply and harvested materials, the caravan will allow for farther and longer hunting trip."
"So, you are saying that we should dispatch something akin to legion-level raid?"
Legion-level raid referred to the largest combat unit that could be formed by Adventurers to tackle the most difficult type of dungeon. It was composed of four raid units. Each raid unit was then made up of four parties of six people.
Alice shook her head. "Even larger…There is no restriction on the number of members like in the dungeon. The size of the expedition should be as large as we can realistically supply and coordinate. This will give us the option to included dedicated members with production subclasses to maintain equipment and replenish consumables."
"Reasonable…" Akaneya, a bearded old man nodded, seemingly convinced. "In a sense, we are establishing the caravan as a moving base to extend our reach into a farther zone."
A dwarf clad in brown jacket added. "We can even turn the caravan into a semi-permanent town of sorts after we establish a proper supply route to Akiba. I like this idea."
"But it will be tough for our members to be away for a long time. It is better to have a hunting ground close by."
"Yeah, right! If we are going to cooperate, why not set the goal a little bit higher!"
Alice shook her head at the finest example of choosing beggar. As Lunaire loved to say, it depended on how badly you wanted it. If they needed the experience and resources as much as they claimed, they would be willing to go any length. Complaining like a spoiled child helped no one.
This was the meeting in a nutshell. The premise was to invite the smaller guilds to discuss the solutions to many problems they were facing. In reality, it was more a place for these disgraceful leaders to shout their unreasonable demands. Every so often when a good, feasible idea cropped up, it would be immediately buried. Alice thought these people would not be satisfied unless everything they wanted was handed to them wrapped up with a bow on it.
"Don't we already have a much easier solution? You of all people should know this better than anyone, but still refuse to acknowledge it." Then came the voice that grated Alice's nerve the most.
"…We have talked about this," Alice growled lowly.
"Is it not just pure selfishness that you refuse to share your recipe? Even though it could have done so much good. So much for your pretty word about trying to help. If you truly wish to help, why are you so averse to sharing?"
For the past few hours, this oaf kept coming back to this very topic. Alice tried many times to reason with him to the point. Logical discourse was certainly beyond this monkey. If the recipe was disclosed, the bargaining power of the potion would evaporate. Black Sword Knights would no longer need to listen to anyone, making everyone worst off. No longer would be in the position to offer some help to lower-level players. Yet, this man would not have it.
In the beginning, most people brushed off his words. Over an hour of constantly taking in his diatribe, more swayed to his cause. Not just him, more guild masters began voicing their dissent loudly. It got to the point where people began hollering openly at Alice. The man in question watched with satisfaction and pride as if he had finally cornered her. He gave her a goading look as if he could read her like an open book, like he had just succeeded in his grand scheme. Alice was beyond the point of her life where she would find jeering monkeys amusing.
"Calm down everyone. Let's not be rash," Marielle stood up and raised her hand in a placating gesture. From the corner of her eyes, she knew that Alice approached the limit of tolerance.
"But aren't they just like the bigger guild, monopolizing the recipe for such a valuable potion like that?"
"We cannot just ask them to give up their recipe like that," Akaneya protested weakly. The frown lines on his face deepened. These people were making an enemy of a guild who truly made a difference. He tried so hard to keep them from antagonizing Alice any further, but to no avail.
Rarely did anyone witness the full consequence of pushing Alice's buttons. She was by no mean a sensitive individual that went off the rail at the slightest tickle. Even if one somehow rubbed her the wrong way, most likely than not, Alice would issue a warning before being pushed off the edge. It took a special kind of people to continue beyond that point.
"Enough…"
Woodstock sitting next to Alice felt chill to his bone when the rest of the room went unnoticed. He whispered placatingly, but she had none of it and slammed her palm on the table.
"Enough!" Alice seethed, silencing the entire venue. "I did not come here to take demands from the likes of you. How shameless must you be to feel entitled to anything we rightly earn? And before you are saying anything else, we are not running charity. We provide help but do not feel for a moment that we have an obligation to take care of you. I represent my guild in good faith to discuss measures to improve our city. But it appears our sincerity is not appreciated."
"Alice-san, that's not…"
Rarely did Alice talk over anyone. When she did, her regal presence commanded attention. With a stare that disguised none of her wrath, her eyes swept the room, missing no one. "I am disappointed…there is little need for further discussion. You all have truly opened my eyes..."
"You can't just leave like…"
Heedless of their words, Alice rose from her seat and after properly sliding the chair under the table, left for the exit. As she neared the door, the rest started making a ruckus. To Alice, they were no longer her problem. The two boys guarding entrance quickly let her through with embarrassment and guilt written on their faces. They too witnessed Alice withstood endless tirade from other guild leaders in the room and felt responsible for inviting her to suffer such an affront.
Scarlet Devil Mansion, half a month later
Looking down from the rooftop of her mansion, Remilia smiled with no little amount of pride. The large clearing that replaced the Misty Lake in front of her gate looked completely different from when they arrived. No longer littering with shattered rocks and overran with weeds, the Kappa overhauled it into something that the vampire could proudly claim as a part of her estate. Though dilapidated concrete buildings surrounding the clearing were still the eyesores, she would deal with them later, one step at a time.
Since Remilia already owned a gorgeous western style garden inside her mansion, modeling the plaza in the same style seemed a little redundant. She wanted something different and interesting while being tasteful. It was a tough ask. But since they needed to a plaza for their plan, it did not hurt to build a pretty one to last.
After clearing out the rubble, concrete, and asphalt, they were left with a rectangular clearing with the long axis facing the Scarlet Devil Mansion. With ample funds and space, they could afford to be a little creative and the result showed.
They split the area into three sections lengthwise. The central plot was paved with smooth stone brick, making up the walkway that led straight from the Mansion gate to the other end of the plaza. Flanking this path were gardens with two rows of Sakura trees each. Albert took quite the effort to find and transport them to Akiba. Unfortunately, the flowers had long scattered with the changing season. Small waterways crisscrossed through the side sections for added aesthetic and to nourish the plant.
Opposite of the Scarlet Devil Mansion across the plaza was an oriental style timber building atop a small artificial hill. Still in the early stage of construction, the framework and the distinctive red gateway or Torii a few paces away in front marked it as a traditional Shinto shrine.
It was perhaps the height of irony for a demon (Japanese characters for Vampire is a literal blood-sucking demon) to voluntarily built a shrine. Yet, Remilia felt oddly satisfied. The shrine unsurprisingly resembled Hakurei Shrine. It was a unanimous opinion among them to build a reminder of the fond memories in Gensokyo. Moreover, it served the purpose and fitted with the plaza thematically.
At the very center of the plaza where smaller pathways crossed was a small raised platform. Standing there, one could see the Scarlet Devil Mansion on one end and the Shrine on the other. It was a diametrical arrangement, a contrast between Western and Eastern, Youkai and Human. On the platform, itself was the Hakke pattern.
Apart from being the performance stage, the Hakke platform doubled as a magical focal point. The pattern was also known as Bagua in Chinese, was a hexagonal pattern of eight trigrams, usually enclosing around Taijitu. Hinted by the name, it was the critical element in the functionality of Hakkero.
Though unlike the Hakkero that used the arrangement of the trigrams of Earlier Heaven pattern, the platform followed the Later Heaven format. In the simplest term, the former demonstrated the state before creation and the tension between opposites. It was this polarization that Hakkero derived its absurd power. On the other hand, the Later Heaven arrangement described the change of the natural world, making the platform more suited in channeling energy. This was chosen as to not imply diametrical tension and struggle in between two buildings representing Youkai and Human.
No matter how many times she looked, Remilia could not smother down the ember of pride in her chest. In her eyes, this was more than a worthwhile addition to her domain and a fitting stage for a grand festival. Though, watching anything alone was somewhat lonely even to a vampire like her.
"Remi?"
"Ara? Lunaire, trying to catch the peeping tom again?"
"Yeah," Lunaire answered and fell silent briefly.
"You must already be quite tired. Thank you for your effort."
Sending out a strong mana pulse, Lunaire felt his reserve dipped, still not used to limited power at his disposal. In less than a heartbeat, the return ping arrived and informed him of fourteen contacts. Using scrying magic to obtain the visual information, he removed most of them from his notice. The Scarlet Devil Mansion Estate zone that surrounding the premise proper was not made private or else no one could access the plaza they built. Some players not knowing any better sometimes took residence in one of the dilapidated skyscrapers in the area. However, this also meant that the uninvited guest could spy on the mansion as well, thus the precaution.
"Oh, found one." Lunaire smiled predatorily. "His name is Vincent."
"Just Vincent?" On cue, Remilia scrolls through the guest list of the zone and promptly booted him out. "How many do we have so far?"
"I believe that was the thirty-second."
"After so many times, I thought they would learn not to trespass into my property." Remilia huffed, annoyed.
"They probably thought if they try hard enough, one probably can slip through the net."
"Fat chance."
"Perhaps, I should pay a visit to Albert and hopefully stop this charade for good," Lunaire mused softly.
"I am surprised you even let him get away with this for so long."
Frankly, there was a little problem to leave the peeping tom be. The mansion was set as accessible to only the guild members, so the spies could only observe from afar. Given her vampiric nature of the mistress, the curtains were kept close most of the time, and all the important activities were done in the dungeon beneath the mansion. Combined with numerous magical wards prevented any attempt of remote surveillance, there was truly no way they could see anything.
Yet, being watched was always unpleasant.
"I had hoped they would learn their lesson and back off peacefully. We slapped them on the wrist multiple times already." Lunaire sighed. "Though I must give them one thing. They at least knew we have the names of their spies and quickly removed them from their posts in Maihama Firm branch."
"Still, to think that we cannot make a concrete connection between them, are they stupid?"
Lunaire smiled softly. "If they honestly think that way, then they are truly morons. However, they might be banking on the fact that we cannot conclusively prove that connection. Since we did not attempt to capture these observers, they can just quickly throw them out of the city and that is the main evidence gone. We have no connection beyond Akiba after all."
"Then, we still have no evidence even now, then?" Remilia asked in dismay.
At this mention, Lunaire smiled gleefully. "Do we even need evidence?"
With just this one question, Remilia's scarlet eyes lit up in delight. Although she did not take an active part in the deals with Maihama Firm, Lunaire made sure to give everyone a summary. One of the most important details was that the consigning agreement made no mention of the obligation for Scarlet Devil Mansion to continually provide the goods. It was like a one-time deal every month for 200 units of the medicinal salve. Lunaire could cancel the arrangement at any moment for absolutely no reason at all.
"Will it be good to lose such a large portion of our income?" Remilia asked.
"While it will be a bit painful, we already have a reliable source of cash for the near future from our ginormous savings, the sale of Marisa's salve, and a bit of commission from issuing quests."
Lunaire referred to the new service offered by their guild. After the speedy conclusion of her quests, it seemed Sabina spread the words to the other Landers. With most adventurers still not accepting quests, this seemed like a godsend. Mere days afterward, the consignment request came flooding on, prompting an emergency meeting between the people in the mansion.
"Hmm, but the salve does not amount to even half of our current income this month, no? As for the commission, that is almost like charity. We are taking too small a cut from the final reward. Also, unlike the 8 million coins item like that dress, I doubt a threat from mere cosmetic could scare a large business like Maihama Firm. Am I wrong?" Remilia had her bout of thoughtfulness. Though childish most of the time, she did not live this long for the show.
Lunaire shook his head gently. "Although you are correct to concern about our income if we make a move, it will not be because of us pulling out of the deal, but the opposite."
"Why would Albert cancel the arrangement?"
"Well…he might do that if we start becoming more…heavy-handed with his precious spies." Lunaire grinned.
Against an opponent like Maihama Firm, it was either go big or go home. Just like Remilia said, a threat to cut the cosmetic supply would mean so little. There were some other indirect options. If they could provide watertight proof of their spying and possibly the affiliation of their employers, Lunaire could smear some dirt on their name. Reputation was everything for a merchant, both their lifeblood and their shield. If their impartiality and confidentiality were called into question, those with things to hide like nobility would think twice before dealing with them. However, shrugging off unfounded accusations was easy enough for Maihama Firm with a stellar reputation. Lunaire would need quite the ammunition to hurt them, something not in his hand.
Nothing short of drastic measures would even faze the Maihama Firm. On the other hand, losing any income at this point would hurt the guild much more.
"Let us not get ahead of ourselves. I have thought of many ways. Even the mildest threat effective against Maihama Firm would inevitably involve playing with human lives. There is no way that the others would approve of such a drastic measure."
"Hmm…hypothetically?" Remilia tilted her neck cutely.
Lunaire glanced away briefly and dawdled. "Well…hypothetically, we can threaten to sell the medication in its more stable form to the Holy Empire Westelande for a start. Maihama Firm seems concerned about the wellbeing of Eastal, so this could give us a bit of leverage. But it is a dangerous game. If we have to follow through with the threat…"
"It could change the balance of power," Remilia concluded dourly.
"We could not kill their spies either as that will antagonize them thoroughly against us. At this stage, we cannot afford to make enemies carelessly." Lunaire sighed deeply, feeling his happiness escaping him by the seconds. "The only thing that might work banked on a shaky assumption that they are just as wary of making an enemy of us as we are to them."
"Why is that shaky? Are the spies not Landers? They are not in the right mind if they have a bright idea of antagonizing unkillable demigods like the adventurers."
"Let us not discount the possibility that the Maihama Firm may just be a pawn by other adventurers, perhaps from another city altogether, to sound us out. Their current passivity can be merely a prelude for their machination. Of course, I might be too paranoid, but we know too little about this world. Dealing with this city full of adventurers is already a lion's share of work."
Remilia puffed her cheek. "So, we can only lay low and take it for now."
"Unfortunately, not just for now but for the foreseeable future. That was just my idle thought. The reason we even sell anything to Eastal at all is to grow our influence outside of Akiba." Lunaire shrugged. "It will be a shame to antagonize them for the moment."
"Is there a problem?"
After leaving Koakuma with all affairs regarding the quest consignments, it would be utterly cruel to put any more on her plate. On other administrative matters for their guild like business deals, organizing inventory, and such were picked up by the others. On that night, it was Alice's turn to chipping away at the mound of paperwork.
Nobody in the world likes paperwork. There was something universally soul-crushing about it, at least for the general population that had not developed a severe case of masochism. It took her the better part of the night. Looking out the window, the sky reddened ever so slightly. The aching headache after such an ordeal demanded tea. Much to her surprise, she found Sakuya in the kitchen.
Normally, it was normal to see Sakuya up and about in such ungodly hours. Her mistress was a vampire, a nominally nocturnal species. However, their activity schedule shifted to what humans may consider normal after the arrival mostly because of the hunting session. Their magic tended to be very bright, thus could be seen from miles away at night. Even with the declining threat of PK-ers, it was unwise to invite attention. Illusion could mitigate the risk, but that was a luxury they could not afford. Their diminished mana reserve was better spent killing the monsters. The situation improved with the rising level, but the shift lingered somewhat.
"No, it is nothing much."
Sakuya answered softly, but her face remained scrunched up in thought, a rare spectacle from the maid. Alice eyed a series of porcelain teapots and cups in front of her. It looked like a tea tasting session. Small wooden crates marked with Maihama firm insignia stood silently to the side.
"Is the tea unsatisfactory? I heard Lunaire ordered just about every variety they offered…even the ones they serve to the nobility.
"…"
Sakuya sighed softly and pushed out a cup to the magician without so much a word. Alice tilted her neck slightly and eyed the dark liquid curiously. A faint aroma of black tea wafted over her nose as she took a sip.
Alice rolled it on her tongue briefly and pulled her face slightly. "…Bitter…and astringent? There is no hint of fruitiness or sweetness at all."
Taking different types of tea was a matter of taste with no right or wrong. Yet, most people she knew in the mansion, especially Remilia and Patchouli, preferred the more delicate, fruity, and floral black tea. Even for Alice who enjoyed many different types of tea, this bitter was a little much for her. Since her palate for black tea was quite similar to Lunaire's as far as she knew, he probably would find this unappetizing as well.
"This one is a miss then." Alice placed down the cup. "What about the others?"
Sakuya shook her head softly. "The premium teas are all relatively the same with a little difference in more subtle tasting notes, possibly from the growing region. Even then, the bitterness covered up everything."
"The nobility may be partial to the bitterness. What about the cheaper ones?"
Sakuya looked away in disgust. "I do not want to call that tea. They were dirty. Twigs, dust, and even small gravel…"
Alice cringed in response. Anyone could at least agree that taking tea with gravel was the wrong way to go about it. Well, given the Landers thought previously that neither the food nor beverage had any taste, it was quite understandable. Alice never could understand the reason people rely on their skill menu to make something as simple as lemonade without the barest thought of trying to squeeze the damn juice out with their hands. If they ever tried, they would have learned about the wonder of taste. The possibility of replenishing their tea stock on this side went out the window. Everyone would not be amused.
"What about the green tea imported from Ninetail dominion? Lunaire complained that he paid quite the sum for that."
"Those are more tolerable. It is still quite bitter with no hint of sweetness, but perhaps can be palatable if turned into Genmaicha." Sakuya mussed.
Genmaicha was a type of cheaper tea made by mixing green tea leaves with roasted brown rice. The starch and nutty aroma could cover up the bitterness and make it easier to drink. Still, Lunaire would have preferred the tea being of a higher grade than this. Suffice to say that if even the best green tea tasted like this, they could all forget about the vaunted elegance of the Macha or Gyokuro. Their current tea supply just became that much more precious.
"We made sure to include a sample of just about every useful plants and herbs in Gensokyo. Surely, there must be some of our favorite cultivars hidden around somewhere." Alice suggested. This was after all a project involving the very fate of Gensokyo. To say that no effort was sparred was an understatement. The greenhouse annex and the underground seed bank could be considered a kind of Gensokyo plant Ark.
"If I may ask, but will that not take a long time? For the plant to multiply and mature?" Sakuya inquired.
"I am sure we have a recipe or two for concoctions to speed up plant growth from the Eientei's doctor. The taste might suffer somewhat for not having enough time to acclimate with the weather and develop the aroma. But anything is probably better than this." Alice smiled charmingly. "As for the land…we have nothing if not money."
Brewing the amount of potion necessary to multiply a handful of tea trees into hundreds would eat into their reagents and ingredients store. This was a small price to pay though. Most ingredients were based on various herbs, so their greenhouse could replenish the supply before long. Waiting was not a problem without any pressing need.
"You are thinking of buying land…just to cultivate tea?"
Sakuya's answer was not one of astonishment but rather, interest. She cupped her chin and fell silent. Even after spending a considerable amount for the renovation of the plaza, some could be spared just to make their lives here a little more comfortable without impacting the agenda in the least. They were in here for the long haul after all. Besides, the one earning that eight million gold coins was the one proposing this idea in the first place. How could she not be tempted?
"But what about manpower?"
"We can just rent a small parcel of land from the existing Landers' plantation for our tea plants and pay them to take care of it to our specification." Alice paused and then chuckled for a bit. "We may even upscale it a bit and add it to our product portfolio. It is always good to diversify as Lunaire often said."
"That is very…tempting." Sakuya smiled. This would satisfy first and foremost her mistress, while also giving another good source of income. "Since it is just renting, we can easily cut our loss if the cost is too much to sustain."
"And should it be profitable, we might even consider opening our tea estate. The nobility drinks tea just for the fanciness. If we can get the tea to also not taste like water, there will be no competition."
The two women shared a smile. Though before long, Sakuya's took on a more teasing look.
"My…I never know you wanted to become a trader."
"Hmm, maybe I have a talent for this…"
"Hehe…at this rate, you might be the richest woman in this city."
"Flattering me will not get you anywhere, you know?"
The two women giggled mirthfully as they cleaned up the chinaware on the table. The high-grade bitter teas were quietly shelved away in the storeroom, while the dirtier ones were immediately discarded. In Sakuya's words, no one deserved to suffer through that.
"I will begin looking for the tea estates then. Hopefully, we will find somewhere close by."
Northern Summit, Ezzo Empire, the next day
In the bitter cold of the extreme northern forest, a lone keep stood, beset by a torrent of monsters and heavy blizzard. Frost Trolls and Giants charged forth frenziedly, disregarding their immolated kin just to get an inch closer. From the sky, the Frost Wyverns and even the rarer Frost Wyrm circled like sharks. At any sign of weakness, they would swoop down to unleash their breath of freezing fog and eviscerating ice shards.
Any lander would call the situation hopeless. The heavy snowstorm made any prospect of reinforcement or retreat a pipedream. There was nowhere to run. The defenders would slowly be dug out and devoured by the monsters.
Yet, this was not a normal keep that these vermin were trying to siege. From the lowliest foundation to the walls to the highest crenels, all shone brilliantly in the dim sun of the extreme north. Rather than the cobblestone and stone bricks of any other contemporary structures, the perfectly cut and polished emerald made up every inch. Even with the diminutive size for a keep, the amount of verdant gemstone probably amounts to more than the total humankind ever uncovered from the earth.
Not just relying on the natural resilience of Emerald, the keep was protected with layers upon layers of concentric barriers. Arrows from archers, frost bolts from the troll shamans, and the withering breath of the Wyrm washed over the shimmering curtain like raindrops. Even further beyond the perimeters was a myriad of wooden and stone stakes stemming the ferocity of the charging monster. The place could be considered a bastion of not for the small number of figures manning its walls.
"I am getting sick and tired of this!" Lunaire muttered silently.
"I know! I am the second-best youkai exterminator, but give me a break, ze!" The blond craned her next to another girl to her side. "Nitori, they really, really, like you!"
The demure girl with a green cap could not help but quip back. "That does not make me any happier." The voice was quickly followed by the series of stuttering explosions from her hands.
Back on Earth, the Kappa still could not compete with the information age that just dawned on the outside world a while back. They had great potential, contributing almost solely to the technological development of Gensokyo even without a great pool of brainpower to draw upon. However, on Theldesia where the industrial revolution had not even started, it was not wrong to say…Kappa science was the best in the world!
It took a few instructions and theoretical concepts from Lunaire and Reisen to culminate in the beast in Nitori's hand. Although not a technological marvel like the laser gun that the rabbit used on the moon, that was undoubtedly a firearm.
It was not a measly little rifle though. The Kappas were capable of manufacturing precision weapons like the one they made for Reisen. For themselves, however, their childish mentality showed through, namely, size mattered. In Nitori's hand was not a rifle, but a cannon. Even with her strong physiology, there was something surreal about a girl singlehandedly hosing down her enemy with solid shot 20 millimeters shells from the hip, while still carrying a gigantic backpack full of tools. Combat engineers could not get any better than this.
Taking a step back, one might wonder what business the Scarlet Devil Mansion had in the extreme north of the Ezzo Empire, or the Hokkaido region as the youkai of Earth knew it. The answer was rather simple, grinding for level. To the normal Adventurers, however, they would add the descriptor of diabolical nutcase in front and for good reason.
Since level was the foundation of recovering power, the Scarlets went to it with great gusto. Even if the monsters mostly had peas for brains and hunting them over and over was not much fun, they treated them like work and training. The thought of being at the mercy of other Adventurers also spurred them on. Thus, they used to most effective measure they knew, no matter how utterly off the rocker it may seem to others.
With their expertise in combat and wide repertoire, hunting monsters 5 levels above them was the bare minimum they were willing to accept. Anything lower and they would kill them faster than the respawn rate, thus wasting time for much fewer experience points. Anything above 12 levels above them would be a good challenge, but too much effort to be efficient. Though, the matter changed entirely with good preparation. Various gadgets and a little terrain manipulation worked wonders in making the job easier.
Then, there was the finding out the more game-like characteristic of the world, namely the power-leveling service countermeasure. When higher-leveled Adventurers partied up with sufficiently weaker ones, the monsters would display unparalleled aggression toward them, mobbing them. This deterred using stronger friends to gain an unfair advantage. In no way this system was designed with lunatics in mind.
When Scarlet Devil Mansion went on a hunt, they generally designated one member to be left behind. This person would be responsible for the affairs in the city, while the others continued to raise their level. When the difference between their levels widened enough, the countermeasure would trigger the next time they all went out hunting. This drastically increases the growth rate. After their levels equalized, the process would be repeated with the role of designated bait rotated between each of them.
Combining these two concepts yielded one of the most insane power leveling systems. First, a location with defensible terrain away from prying eyes was selected. The landscape could be further reshaped to suit their purpose, creating chokepoints to funnel the monsters into kill zones. The perimeters were then fortified with magical barriers and traps. As the magical repertoire expanded with more mana at their disposal, the setup only got more elaborate from there. More powerful monsters could be safely slain in much larger numbers.
With the forward base and defenses in place, they simply had to run around with the bait and pull the resulting train of monster, a poor man parody of Night Parade of One-hundred Demons, into their kill zones. There was no need to fight the monsters on their term when they could be fighting on the Scarlets'.
The discovery of fairy rings pushed this method to even greater heights. Utilizing Lunaire's expertise in probability manipulation, none of Yamato lay beyond their reach. Even if their most suitable hunting ground were the deepest pit of the earth or highest summit of the north, they could easily be home in Akihabara within a few days.
Half a month of relentless, almost daily hunting of much higher-level monsters propelled their levels up to just above the eighties. That was achieved with much sweat and tears, but certainly without using EXP pots. Those were reserved for the last stretch of their journey.
Blue flame erupted violently throughout the battlefield. Rather than a magic cast by anyone, they were the result of the marriage between Marisa volatile concoction and Kappa engineering. Even with such fancy preamble, the devices were merely landmine, designed to scatter the liquid content within when stepped on. When exposed to the air, the sticky concoction burned furiously in the eerie blue flame.
Please mind your step Mark. III
Deal 500 HP splash explosive damage on the entity activating the pressure plate.
Scatter incendiary gel lumps in a large area, each inflicting on average of 50 HP per second for 20 seconds of burn damage and an additional 15 HP per second for 10 seconds of poison damage. The effect is stackable, depending on how much of the gel makes contact. Each charge dispersed on average of 20 lumps of flammable gel.
The blue flame burns more furiously in contact with water!
Description: Jolly good thing Geneva Convention does not apply to monsters. A devastating landmine one should not step on. Like seriously, do not step on it.
Planting these randomly in the open would be a waste of their power. Various boulders, obstacles, and stakes littered the area, funneling and concentrating the horde toward progressively smaller chokepoint where the mines lied in wait. This provided a good target for the magicians lobbing spells from the high towers. Fortunately, the monsters were not deterred, trying to get to the Nitori and her party still visible. They could not realize the futility of their action.
Marisa held many area-of-effect spells in their repertoire. The latter regained her ability to use Master Spark a while back and could easily decimate a vast swath of monsters at once. Any group of stragglers that chose the slightly smarter route to wade through the obstacle was picked off by the combined effort of Lunaire and Reisen. The monsters that managed to slip through even that would face the towering bulwark that was Meiling.
Against the enemy on the air, Remelia, Sakuya and Meiling had fun picking the lumbering beasts apart. The wyverns and Wyrm had great difficulty tracking, let alone engaging, the much smaller and more maneuverable foes, which paradoxically punched way heavier than their weight.
Another day, another massacre, befitting the name of Scarlet Devil…
"Are you ready, Sakuya?"
"Ready when you are."
"Alright, heave-ho!"
Lunaire said it as if he would lift something heavy, but he merely used his magic to blow away the blanket of snow that swallowed their loots from the fighting.
After being killed, the monsters had a chance of conveniently dropping useful parts of their body along with some gold coins. This made up what the Adventurers called loot and were exempted from the violent alchemical reaction that would destroy the carcasses minutes later. The leftover bodies could be manually harvested for further resources if needed, but everyone was simply too busy fighting. Since the goal was to power-level, they were already content with collecting just the automatically dropped loots.
On cue, Lunaire felt the activation of familiar activation of time dilation spell. If not for Sakuya shifting her place slightly and the filled wooden crates of monster parts, one would not notice the effect of the time stop.
A literal horde of towering monsters and wyverns reduced to merely four wooden crates the size a man could easily carry around. Thinking that, Lunaire could not help but feel wasteful. Sakuya saw his expression and said softly.
"Yes, as always, some are destroyed by the other giants trampling about."
"And destroyed by all the explosions, fire, lightning…" Lunaire shook his head. "Let us go then. Would not want to make Remilia wait."
With a gesture of his hand, the crates floated up weightlessly and followed the two of them like ducklings when they flew off.
In the distance, they approached the emerald keep and saw it slowly retracting into the ground. The snow could bury much evidence of their presence here, but it was not so omnipotent as to hide a literal tower of gemstone. If spotted by the Landers, Lunaire did not want to imagine the ensuing mayhem. Of course, it would be a waste to simply disintegrate every bit of the sellable goods, so they kept a few gigantic blocks of emerald as their reserve funds.
On the ground a bit further from the site, the two saw a cloaked figure. Fiery red hair spilled out from under the thick fabric. Both Lunaire and Sakuya landed next to the gatekeeper, who for some reason was outside the barrier keeping out the bitter cold.
"I did not know you like the cold. What are you doing out here?"
"Oh…Lunaire-sama and…Sakuya!" Like a child caught misbehaving, Meiling frantically hid a ball of paper behind her.
Lunaire cocked his eyebrows. If that were not suspicious, nothing else would be. But Meiling was not the scheming sort, so he just shrugged. It was not business meddling. On the other hand, Sakuya leveled her scrutinizing eyes upon the poor gatekeeper, who retreated like a mouse facing a cat. Perhaps, after dealing with her antics for many years, the maid gained a transcendent ability to detect guilt.
"Meiling, is there something you want to be telling me?"
"Ah…well…maybe."
"Meiling," Lunaire sighed softly. "If you are going to be that obvious, might as well just fess up. Who knows, maybe Sakuya may reduce the number of knives she throws at you."
Sakuya glanced at Lunaire, somewhat peeved. Her elbow twitched, but she refrained from slamming it into his side. The maid did not make a habit of throwing her knives at her colleagues, apart from the highly exceptional circumstance. Still, that statement fully implied that she did that from times to times, obviously under the spell card rules.
Noticing the lax atmosphere, Meiling pitched in. "Lunaire-sama, you tell your sister. It is not good to abuse her co-workers."
Most people who saw Lunaire and Sakuya side-by-side would believe if told they were siblings. They shared lustrous silver hair and bright blueish eyes. Lunaire's pair had violet tint mixed in and appeared prismatic from his magic, the resemblance was still uncanny. Their temperament set them apart, so the mistakes were resolved very quickly when they introduced themselves. Still, the thought persisted somewhat within their close circle of friends.
Those in frequent contact knew they had the same habit of carrying around a silver pocket watch. Lunaire was also one of the people who could get around Sakuya's taciturn demeanor though, mostly because of years they knew each other in the mansion. For these and many other reasons, the two were subjected to speculation that they may be related in some way. As far as their knowledge went, this was not the case. Lunaire recalled no one like Sakuya in his family tree even after tracing back a few centuries, while the maid denied associating with Meister family in any way. Though, that did not stop people from occasionally mentioning their uncanny similarity, especially to tease one of them.
Of course, Lunaire merely watched on as Sakuya pressed Meiling for an answer. To the maid credit, she never physically wrenched whatever hidden behind the other's back.
"I was just hungry okay." Meiling thrust the package in her hand forward.
At first, they thought it strange that Meiling could get her hand on anything edible. The food provision was kept securely within Sakuya's inventory space. Then, they noticed the wrappings. Sakuya did not recall packing anything of that sort. On the paper wrapping, a small emblem and writing could be seen.
Instead of the wrapping, Lunaire focused more on the half-eaten content within, two layers of bread stuffed with vegetables and patties of minced meat. He had not seen one of those in years, thus it struck him with a strange sense of nostalgia.
"I…am sorry, Meiling. Were you that hungry?"
"Hamburger?" Lunaire mused but quickly snapped to the strangely sympathetic tone from Sakuya. "Eh?"
"Eh? W-what do you mean?"
"To think that you are so hungry that you have to do this while I collect the loot."
Sakuya seemed genuinely apologetic, which made both Lunaire and Meiling eyed each other in wonderment. It was extremely rare for the maid to do something completely beyond the understanding of others. That was more of the magician's shtick.
"Hold on, Sakuya-san, what are you talking about?"
"Hmm? Are you not so hungry that you have to fill your stomach with those…disgusting food?"
"Oh," Lunaire nodded dumbly and turned to Meiling.
Sakuya was right to be concerned. As far as they knew, food made by anyone other than their resident perfect maid could stave off hunger, but the taste was utterly inedible. For anyone, whose palate was spoiled by Sakuya's cooking, to consider eating such a thing demonstrated the height of desperation. Lunaire was astounded at how hungry Meiling was and thought she could be suffering from a weird illness.
"Oh no! This is pretty good." Meiling shook her head strongly. "Here, try. It is a bit cold from the blizzard, but it is far cry from that soggy rice cracker."
Lunaire stared blankly at the offered hamburger. He looked up to the expectant face of Meiling and tore out a piece that she did not bite into. Sakuya slowly followed suit.
"I saw this being sold in the market this morning. Rather than the Landers, it was the Adventurers selling this, so I got curious." Meiling pulled back her food. "It smells good, unlike everything else. It did not cost much, so I thought might as well."
Lunaire chewed on the hamburger. The expected taste of soggy rice crackers did not come. Rather, he tasted fat, meat, and a little bit of sourness from the tomato. It was not particularly good though. The blizzard stole the last the heat away, resulting in a bland and rubbery texture. Still, it tastes undoubtedly like a hamburger.
"It's bad."
"…" Sakuya refrained to comment.
"Still, it tastes life proper food." Lunaire licked his lips. "Where did you get this? You said the Adventurers were selling it? Earlier today, yes?"
"Yes, Lunaire-sama."
"Most intriguing," Lunaire hummed.
Sakuya leaned toward the magician. "Is this not problematic, Lunaire-sama? If someone discovered the secret of cooking, then…"
"Not necessary, Sakuya. While it is unfortunate that we are no longer the only ones who can make tasty food, we can certainly settle for one of the only two. We cannot satisfy the entire city of Akihabara anyway. Also, the other party will most likely try to keep the lid on the secret. Unless other people discover them independently, we do not need to worry about having even more competition" Lunaire shrugged.
"That sounds quite reasonable. Though we better hurry and make our move. After people learn that cooking good food is possible, many will direct more effort into discovering how."
"Um, we will have to look into this…I suppose we might have to suspend further hunting trip for the time being." Lunaire mumbled but then turned to Meiling. "Anyway Meiling, are you out here just to eat?"
"Well…I do not to be the only one eating."
Understandable, Lunaire thought. It was a little awkward to be the only one eating among hungry people. With a little sigh, he ushered the two ladies toward the camp. He was getting sick and tired of this atrocious northern climate.
00000
And there is it.
You might be wondering why I am leveling up the Touhou cast quickly. This is from two considerations. The in-universe explanation is that the Touhou casts want to quickly regain their power. They are treating hunting sessions like a full-time job. Without shying away from combat or trying to slack off, they are putting in the effort.
As for the out-universe explanation, Log Horizon is always more about the politics. In a way, the combat is the less interesting aspect of the show and the book. The Scarlets will need to at least have the level high enough to command respect. Of course, I did not push them to level 90 or 100 because I still want to see if being slightly weaker than other leading members of the Round Table will ever go anywhere. Secondly, since a little under half of the Eldertale player base is at level cap, it gave me an impression that being level 90 is not all that impressive.
As for the tea…East India…I mean Far East (Scarlet) Trading Company…Thalassocracy intensifies.
As always do leave a review if you have comment, suggestion or just word of encouragement. It goes a long way.
I just made a new discord server in case you want to leave some question over there. It is much easier to deal with than the reply review format in Fanfiction.
Discord invite code: nSMHjar