Chapter 9

Beta: Worldbringer of Joseun

Cover: LousGndiner


It took a while, but they eventually returned from their small and unusual stint into the goblin-infested caves. Illya had immediately told them that they could go and do whatever they wanted for the remainder of the day, which wasn't much seeing as it was already two in the afternoon.

In hindsight, having their own clock built into their inventory was very useful. Especially for Rin, who seemed to never trust traditional clocks anymore, something about clocks being an hour ahead or behind.

Speaking of the magus, Rin had decided to drag Sakura along to meet Ferlna properly, even though they told her that they met when purchasing her old sorcerer robes.

Not that the magus listened, so Sakura couldn't really refuse.

With the newly acquired free time, Shirou decided to head over the Melhia and Meltraus to get some extra work done. If any of his family needed to contact him, then he was only a single message away.

It didn't take him long before he arrived at Meltraus' forge, but immediately he noticed something odd. The doors to the forge had been locked and sealed, the stall up front was closed with a sign saying so, and the smoke clouds that would normally appear from a forge were absent as well.

Had they closed the forge for today?

That didn't make sense. Today wasn't a weekend, not if his internal clock and calendar were any indication. As far as Shirou knew, they had beds somewhere at the back, so they practically lived at the forge. Did that mean that they left for an errand?

Again, that didn't make sense... The last time they went on an errand out of town, it was just Meltraus that left. As for their most recent errand, Shirou had left with Melhia to the marketplace, but even then, she could have gone alone like she said she usually did.

Shirou turned to the neighboring stall, which had a blond and tanned Lander sitting on a stool, selling a couple of trinkets and talismans. He wasn't sure what they were, but there was a hint of magical energy coming from them.

"Excuse me," Shirou began. "Is there a chance that you know where Master Meltraus went?"

The Lander gave him a glance and began to answer. However, before the Lander could even speak, Shirou noticed the not-so-subtle glare that the Lander had given.

"Meltraus' apprentice, aren't you?" He asked, to which Shirou nodded. Another subtly hidden sneer came along. "Yeah, he went out with his daughter a while ago. Don't know where-"

"Ten Talismans of Warding!"

Shirou blinked and glanced beside him, where an adventurer had waltzed up and interrupted.

Shirou immediately frowned.

The Lander mumbled something to himself, obviously annoyed at the interloper, and grabbed a stack of talismans from under his stall, and shoved it towards the adventurer.

The Lander sighed. "That'll be fifty gold-"

The adventurer didn't even acknowledge him as he tossed a bag towards the Lander, ignoring the fact that he missed by a mile and the gold bag landed on a previously arranged stack of paper.

The flutter of paper came as the neat stack tumbled down like a house of cards.

Shirou felt his ears burn. "Hey! Get back here!"

But the adventurer didn't even acknowledge him and simply walked away.

Shirou found himself gritting his teeth in irritation. "HEY–!"

"Leave it be," the Lander interjected, a sigh escaping him. "Calling that adventurer out won't do anything. Damn adventurers..."

Shirou wanted to disagree, to chase the rude adventurer down and make him realize what he did. Wasn't this the Japanese server? What happened to the polite respect that they were all taught?

In the end, Shirou decided that it would just be better to help out the Lander, seeing as the offending adventurer had already turned a street corner.

"Are you alright? Do you need any help?" Shirou asked, stepping closer to the Lander, ready to provide aid at a moment's notice.

"No, I'm fine… "The Lander muttered, picking up the fallen slips of paper and arranging them once more.

It only took a second to gaze into the Lander's eyes. Shirou saw anger, contempt, irritation... and strangely, acceptance.

That only caused Shirou to worry more.

"Are you sure…?" He muttered, somewhat confused and unsure.

"Anyway," The Lander started once more, seemingly ignoring what Shirou said and what had just happened. "I don't know where Meltraus and his daughter went. You'll have to ask someone else."

Shirou found his brow twitching. "Hey, are you okay with what just happened? I'm certain that if I had just gotten that adventurers attention-"

"Nothing would have changed, absolutely nothing." The Lander interrupted with his narrowed gaze focused on him. "You adventurers never listen anymore. You're probably different from them, lad… but all the others aren't. All they do is eat, kill, sleep. You lot don't even help out when we need it anymore." He sighed and went back to his stool, gazing out of the store once more.

Once more, with his gaze filled with begrudging acceptance.

"But thanks, I guess, for trying."

This isn't right.

It was only when Shirou walked away from that Lander that he finally noticed that his begrudging acceptance wasn't something unique to him alone.

When Shirou walked away and down the marketplace, he found all the Landers sharing that same gaze of increasing irritation, all the while the adventurer populace around them barely even noticed.

They barely noticed the storm brewing over their heads.

This... isn't right.


"This way, Sakura! Try to keep up!" Rin called as she swerved around Landers and adventurers alike, making her way to the Arcadia

"Wait a moment, Nee-san!" Sakura called as she hurriedly tried to keep up, bobbing under large wooden stacks that a Lander's carriage carried. She also kept an eye on the wolf pup hidden within her clothing.

Rin recalled that there wasn't any need to hide the pup at all, if the old ghost's words were anything to go by, but didn't really seek to correct her sister's behavior.

In the end, Sakura could do what she wanted. Rin certainly was, that was why she dragged her sister this far already.

It wasn't like Sakura could go anywhere else anyway, with Shirou heading off to those blacksmiths and Illya returning to the guild hall. Their little training montage had come to an end, but Rin didn't really mind.

Although Rin did slow down her pace in consideration.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Sakura asked as she finally caught up to her sister in stride. "Shouldn't we have followed Senpai on our way there? The locations are close by after all…"

Rin snorted. "Don't worry, Sakura. We're already here!"

Sakura took a moment to blink, which Rin found amusing, to gaze at the building next to her. "Oh… but I didn't recognize the path?"

"There's another back alley that we went through, didn't realize?" Rin asked.

"Back alley…?" Sakura muttered. "But we went through a crowded road, didn't we?"

True, the 'road' that Sakura mentioned was right next to the Arcadia – in between it and the usual large, withered, and vine-infested building – so it wasn't really noticeable to the common eye.

"Apparently, the back alley over there is used a lot by locals as a shortcut to the market district," Rin informed. "You notice a lot of things looking out the Arcadia's window."

Not even bothering to knock, Rin shoved open the door and let the doorbell announce her arrival.

As always, Ferlna was at her seat by the counter, tending to a few customers– hang on. Those weren't adventurers, they were Landers.

Did the Landers buy things here too? Maybe some of them ran out of firestones for the winter… No, they shouldn't be purchasing those now, seeing as it's soon to be summer. Maybe herbs?

When Rin made her abrupt entrance, the Landers gave her a single glance… and sneered?

Despite Rin's growing indignant irritation, she kept both a tight lip and a steady gaze as a few of the Landers whispered something to Ferlna. In that brief moment, she saw her friend's brow twitch barely noticeably as if mirroring Rin's own irritation.

It didn't take long after that for the Landers to leave, with Rin stepping to the side to allow them some leeway out. Sakura did so as well, but she smiled as she did so, appearing as kind as she always was, even when the Landers failed to return it.

Rin waited only a few seconds after the door closed to open her mouth.

"So, what was that about?" Rin asked bluntly. "Is it another one of those research requests or something?"

Ferlna sighed audibly, sending a curious look to Sakura afterward. "Something like that... and this is?"

"Oh, right," Rin muttered. "This is my little sister. You might have met her before."

"Hello!" Sakura greeted with a bow. "My name is Sakura, it's nice to meet you again, Ferlna-san!"

Ferlna took a short glance at the polite yet cheerful girl. She narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two of them. She didn't see any resemblance between them, but just chalked the relation up to being an adventurer quirk... especially in the chest area.

Fortunately, Rin didn't realize her friend's thoughts.

"It is good to meet you," Ferlna reciprocated. "I recall that you were here last time with a swashbuckler and a guardian. I assume that you are all a part of the same guild?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, that's right!"

Ferlna let out a slight non-committal hum of interest, not that Sakura noticed.

Rin audibly coughed to grab their attention. "Now that introductions are out of the way... do you mind explaining what that meeting with all those Landers earlier was about?"

The way Ferlna opened her mouth to speak, only to pause as words failed to escape her, told the two sisters a lot. She eventually just sighed and pressed onwards.

"There will be a meeting in the heart of the market district later on. They were wondering whether or not I would attend." She began to rub her forehead in irritation. "Apparently, it's a meeting about what we, as the Landers that live in Akihabara, intend to do for the betterment of this city. To get rid of or deal with certain aspects that trouble us."

Rin narrowed her eyes.

"… That's it? No, that's not it, not all of it. There's something else. Something that caused you to worry, isn't there?" Rin asked. After all, there was no need to hesitate in that specific statement unless…

Rin widened her eyes as the realization struck her.

"I see that you realized it," Ferlna muttered.

Sakura frowned as the pup sitting in her cleavage whined, prompting her to ruffle it's fur just a bit. She really did need to name him… or was he a she? "Um… What would be a cause for worry?"

Rin ignored the way that Ferlna's eyes widened at the wolf pup within Sakura's robes.

"Landers usually live their lives headstrong without care, there are only two variables that cause a Lander to inherently worry," Rin began. "The first are monsters. They kill and plunder Landers with ease unless said Lander had some form of training, which means they have to rely on adventurers for protection." She narrowed her eyes once more. "The second, are adventurers themselves."

Sakura nodded as she took in the information.

"In a meeting of Landers, within a city where we need not worry about the monsters lurking outside the boundaries…" Ferlna added. "… what would we worry about? What is our issue? The answer is obvious."

With the information she received, there was truly only one answer.

"The issue is us," Sakura concluded. "The Landers are meeting together to deal with adventurers."


Illya sighed as she ran her armored hands all over her face.

She had gone over to the guild building in order to locate where the Strategist of the Debauchery Tea Party had gone. When she didn't find him, she went around asking certain people where he was, who regarded her some odd looks, but a few odd looks were arguably a worthwhile trade-off.

So, with that in mind, she roamed and roamed the guild building.

It was only when she managed to find that odd guild master with a huge rack – Marielle if Illya remembered her name correctly – that the woman had told her something very important. That something being that The Villain in Glasses was far too busy for a simple meeting with others, but he did mention that he'd be available at a later date if it was important enough.

While that was ultimately a good thing, it took a lot from Illya to not rant at all her wasted effort, walking around and wasting a few hours of her day to follow a lead. It was all a huge complete waste of time!

This sucks.

No, she was not pouting. She was simply expressing her displeasure with a frown, nothing more.

Might as well check up on Krentelfal. He should be in our guild room or something.

Since Illya was still in the building, it didn't take long at all to find her way into her guild room. She didn't bother to even knock on the door before she opened it up, not seeing the need to.

In hindsight, knocking on the door is a habit she should start making.

Why? Because the first thing she saw when she opened the door was the old ghost floating upside down.

He didn't seem to have any sign of discomfort at the act whatsoever, with a journal also upside down as he wrote something on it with a quill. The ink for that quill was from the inkwell on the table, which he occasionally poked at with the quill to wet it.

Illya had no idea where he obtained any of these things.

"Krentelfal," Illya found herself calling out. "… What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Oh, Illya!" The old codger finally realized someone had opened the door. "Wonderful timing! Would you mind imparting just a bit of your time to listen? Do not worry, this shall not take long."

… Well, it's not like Illya had anything better to do. It was far too late into the day to consider heading back to level up her guild some more anyway.

"Alright, sure. What do you need?"

Krentelfal rotated midair to make himself upright. "You see, it has only just occurred to me that, while we took care of the cultists and prevented a possible catastrophe, there is still something that needs to be tended to. If you could please take out his armor?"

Tulius' armor?

Illya wasn't really sure about listening to the request, seeing as the old codger could decide to take it back or something… but she already agreed earlier.

Illya opened up her inventory and dragged the armor pieces out. Tulius' chest plate, his greaves, his gauntlets, and his helmet.

Elder Tale had an odd quirk in their armor set system. If you look at your character page, then you'll only see a single piece of armor, such as the guardian's usual 'Knight Castle Armor'.

That was how it has always had been, likely to reduce the effort it took to acquire or code in the gear. It would likely have been tedious to code individual armor pieces with their own individual stats… then again, Illya didn't have a background in coding so it could've just been out of sheer laziness.

However, in order to get that armor, you needed four of its pieces to craft together. The better the craftsman skill, the better the stats of the resulting armor would be.

Of course, you could equip all the pieces separately, but then you wouldn't be able to use the set bonuses at all. Hence, why crafting guilds with skilled craftsman were in high demand.

"Wonderful!" Krentelfal cheered to himself for reasons Illya can't comprehend. "You see, Tulius' armor, while being vastly superior pieces of equipment, cannot actually be forged together."

"Ah, I see…"

Wait, what!?

"What!?"

"Now, now, calm yourself," Krentelfal prompted, not doing much to quell Illya's raging confusion. "You see, the smith that originally bound his armor together was Tulius' closest friend. This blacksmith, while a woman, was a craftswoman whom Tulius had trusted above all else, not only due to their shared camaraderie but due to the vastly superior skill the blacksmith possessed."

Krentelfal grabbed the pair of gauntlets and held it above him as if to study it. "Notice how, even after all these centuries, there is no damage present nor are there any hints of degradation in the steel…"

Illya listened closely, more out of slight respect and tolerance, and noticed that the ghost seemed to be reminiscing, almost as if he was lost in a memory.

"… to mine own knowledge, there are no smiths in the current era that are capable of binding Tulius' armor once more," Krentelfal explained before placing the gauntlets back down. "In fact, thou would need to scour the world itself for a smith with such skill. The closest smiths to her skill were the adventurers at the time, and even then, none of them came close to the plateau she had reached."

"Do you think that it's possible that there'll be any blacksmiths that can remake the armor in the future?" Illya asked with frustration leaking from her tone.

He turned to Illya with an apologetic smile. "If a smith with such skill catches mine eye, then I shall let thee know."

Illya took a moment to collect her thoughts and sighed.

In hindsight, it wasn't so bad. Even if she managed to combine the armor set, she wouldn't be able to equip it without being at the utmost maximum level, like 90 or higher.

This meant that Illya would have until then to find a blacksmith capable of combining the pieces, which she had no idea where she would even start looking.

Eh, maybe her brother would end up becoming a good enough smith to forge the armor together. She certainly had enough faith for something like that to happen. After all, her brother hadn't let her down – hadn't let any of them down – during the Grail War, and she didn't think that he planned to do so any time soon.

"Right, until then," Illya continued after her long ponder. "I'll just keep the armor pieces in the bank where they'll be safe."

"I see… The Kunie clan honor in their word is infallible, they shall keep the pieces safe without question," Krentelfal mused. "Very well, that is all I had to part with thee. Thou may do as thee wish."

Illya snorted as she made her way to the door. "Not that there's anything for me to do right now–"

It was at that moment that Illya received a message from her brother, and shortly after, a message from Rin. One said that something was odd with the townspeople and that the relations between Lander and adventurer were worsening.

Classical Shirou, always seeing people in need and wanting to help them. Illya was going to send him a message to just move on, but then she opened Rin's message…

"Oh for fuck's sake."

"Language, Illya."

"No time to worry about language. Follow me, we're going to the Arcadia!"

Her growing headache was the least of her worries now.

Landers and adventurers– everyone is losing their damn minds!


Ferlna had watched as the Mage she respected pivot around the store in thought, her sister in the meantime, had seated herself on a pile of books with no issue.

Normally she'd be infuriated at the lack of care shown to those books, but since those were books that both she and Magi Tohsaka disregarded as nonsense, she didn't care as much.

By the curtain covered window stood the Magi' guild master, who had brought along an apparition with her. A ghost that bore armor very reminiscent of the far distant past.

Ferlna noted that this ghost seemed to be staring off into the distance, somewhat bored no doubt, but the guild master was very much focused on Tohsaka Rin as she roamed the floor.

The adventurer was considering all the options that they had, which was something that Ferlna had no doubt in. So when Rin suddenly sighed and took a seat on another pile of literary rubbish, the Lander was admittedly surprised.

"Okay, I got nothing else," The twin-tailed sorcerer found herself saying.

"Don't worry Nee-san, at least we have one way out of this!" The sister enthusiastically cheered. "The other Landers might even try to rehabilitate the other adventurers, maybe?"

Ferlna deeply wished she could agree, but with how the current Lander sentiments are, she wasn't so sure.

It was at that moment that the door opened up to reveal a swashbuckler, one that Ferlna recognized from almost a week ago. He walked inside with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry everyone, I got held up," The swashbuckler said. "A granny dropped her bag and–"

"– And then you helped her, that's fine," Their guild master rattled off as she interrupted her guild member. "Just find a pile of books to take a seat, or stand. The sooner we get this over with, the better. Krentelfal, lock the door."

As the swashbuckler – whose name eludes Ferlna – took a seat, thankfully beside Sakura and on the useless pile, their guild master walked to the center of the bookstore and let out a puff of breath from her nostrils, clearly frustrated.

"So before we begin, does anyone have anything else to add?"

Ferlna found her arm raised before she knew why. A moment later and she remembered. "Why are you all debating within my store?"

"Because you aren't allowed in the guild building," Their guild master answered quickly. "You're just as important. I'll explain later."

"Totally not foreboding," Rin mused with some hint of lighthearted sarcasm.

"Having a Lander meeting about adventurers is, admittedly, a huge concern for us," Illya started. "We need to know what's the topic of the meeting, so the smartest thing to do is get a Lander we can trust to get in and tell us about it later."

"… But why Ferlna-san?" Sakura asked. "How about Melhia-chan and her father?"

"I couldn't find them today. They must be busy elsewhere." The swashbuckler said.

"Or it's because they're already invited to the meeting and went ahead," Illya interjected.

"Meltraus is the most respected blacksmith in the city, so it makes sense for him to be invited…" Ferlna added with an absentminded nod. "However, I would doubt that he or his daughter would even be capable for the job you have in mind."

The swashbuckler nodded. "Infiltration would require a calm and rational mind… Meltraus is a stoic but emotional man. That's the impression I have from my apprenticeship with him."

Meltraus has an adventurer apprentice!?

"Melhia-chan too I guess…" Sakura muttered, ignoring Ferlna's look of surprise. "I guess we will have to rely on Ferlna-san."

"She'll be fine," Rin vouched, only lending the Lander a single brow for her surprised reaction. "I trust her, so that should be fine, right? It's not like it's going to be dangerous anyway."

"But does she want to actually attend?" The swashbuckler said as he admirably came to her defense, as futile as the act is. "It wouldn't be right to force her to do it."

"That is true… What do I get out of this ordeal?" Ferlna muttered as she gauged the reactions of each of the adventurers in the room.

"I'm helping you with your research," Magi Tohsaka pointed with a small and polite smile that held a much more sinister presence behind it. "If you want me to keep doing so, then I suppose you'll have to listen, right?"

Typical of her, truly.

In hindsight, Ferlna should have expected that... especially considering the interaction they had only a few days ago.

"Nee-san!" Sakura berated. "We can't just threaten her!"

"I'm in agreement," The swashbuckler agreed. "We can at least offer some sort of compensation or something."

"I dunno, the gun to the head approach kinda works," Illya pointed out. Ferlna would have to ask what a 'gun' is in the future, but from what it implied, it didn't sound like anything good.

Sensing the incoming argument, Ferlna sighed lightly in inevitable resignation.

"It is fine, I suppose," Ferlna semi-reluctantly agreed. "I was going to attend that meeting anyway. It wouldn't bode well for me to ignore the state of the city that I live in."

"Yup, gun to the head always works." The guild master chimed.

Rin snorted. "That, and Ferlna owes me for helping her with her research."

You're working with her for her brilliant mind Ferlna… keep it in mind.

"… Magi Tohsaka, we've barely started with the research."

"Eh, advanced payment."

"Rin. If anything, we're the ones who'll have to pay her back."

Magi Tohsaka suddenly wore a sadistic grin. "Shirou, has anyone told you that you're absolutely terrible at business deals–?" Oh, so his name was Shirou? "–Because you absolutely are."

"Well, we don't keep him around for his trading skills that's for sure," Their master idly threw out there.

"Illya, really? You're worse than me at shopping."

"Not my fault that the Einzberns wouldn't let me learn anything other than the Holy Grail War– oh yeah, does Ferlna over there know what the grail wars are or something?"

"Nah, don't worry about it," Rin waved off both Illya question and Ferlna's own inquiring gaze. "You should probably get going Ferlna, don't want to be late for the meeting after all."

Just as Ferlna was about to do so, Sakura raised her hand with a question.

"Just a thought, but wouldn't it be suspicious if some Landers saw a bunch of adventurers waiting in the shop?" Sakura pointed out.

"But we need to be here so that Ferlna can tell us about it later," Illya argued. "We can just use some hypnotism, no biggie."

Hypnotism?

Ah… of course. Magi Tohsaka had mentioned that their 'magi' had either inducted or slain people who learned of their existence. There must have been a much more pacifistic side that developed a form of mental editing to erase their memories of magic.

Ferlna found this alternative to be much more pleasing than outright murder.

"Still, what if we miss someone?" Sakura pushed forth. "We should head back to our guild and let Ferlna tell us in the morning."

"The sooner we receive info, then the sooner we can react," Illya argued.

"I'm kinda with Sakura on this one. It'd be damaging to Ferlna's reputation with the other Landers if she was caught with us." Rin pointed out.

Before their argument could escalate, the ghost near the entrance coughed for their attention. "Might I be so bold as to offer a solution?"

Illya rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Sure, go ahead Krentelfal."

"I have the ability to both become intangible and hidden to the average Lander's eye," The ghost, whose name Ferlna learned was Krentelfal, pointed out. "I will be able to hide away and listen in on the meeting for you all. All I need is miss Ferlna to act as a guide and all will be well."

Ferlna could only blink.

"Good idea!" Illya applauded. "We'll go with that. Once we head back to our guild, Ferlna over here can lead you to the meeting. It's almost foolproof!"

"It hinges on sir Krentelfal not being seen," The swashbuckler, named Shirou if Ferlna recalled correctly, pointed out. "We can't afford to be careless."

"I am well aware of the risks involved, brother of Illya," The ghost replied easily. "Have faith and fear not, for I was never the first to be spotted in battle!"

"Probably because you were at the back or something," Rin muttered, surprising Ferlna with the pettiness.

"We are not having another argument," Illya declared. "Remember the plan you two, we're heading back."

"Farewell, my friends!" Krentelfal waved, but even Ferlna could tell that it was only Illya and Sakura waving back at him as they left.

"Good luck you two!" Rin wished.

"Be careful!" Sakura wished as well, albeit unnecessary.

The swashbuckler Shirou only bowed before leaving the ghost and her alone in the Arcadia.

She let out a calming breath.

"Well then," Ferlna found herself saying. "It'll take a few minutes to close up shop. Do you mind waiting?"

Krentelfal simply chuckled. "I've waited for years on end before, just a little bit now wouldn't make a difference."

It didn't take very long before Ferlna locked the front door with Krentelfal hovering unseen behind her.

The things she did for Magi Tohsaka.


Krentelfal hovered behind the woman known as Ferlna.

He quietly kept up with her, noting the path he had traveled was towards the Lander segment of the market district, if what he heard from passersby were true.

Lady Ferlna had not said a word so Krentelfal opted to do much of the same. He kept his body invisible to the naked eye, surprising himself at the fact that he hadn't even drawn the slightest bit of notice from even the adventurers.

He must have underestimated himself, the constant draw of mana he was getting from lady Illya was truly an act of miracles.

Through numerous twists and turns, past the cages with chicken and the stalls with much friendlier Lander to Lander banter, until finally, they arrived at the heart of the district.

There were vigils surrounding the outside, ready to alert them to disperse as soon as an adventurer would make their way into the district. Numerous Landers, whom Krentelfal did not recognize, surrounded a heightened podium, where a speaker's voice would be amplified for others to listen.

This would be problematic… it would indeed help if he knew who each of them were to offer a detailed report to lady Illya.

"… The head smith Meltraus to the far left of us…" He heard Ferlna mutter. She was aiding him! Such a smart lady. "… Three great merchants to the center right. Drudgel of the north, Edgar of the south, and Tomtom of the center."

Krentelfal nodded, but only just realized that she wouldn't know if he replied. He would have tapped her shoulder, but he didn't know what that act would have served.

"Settle down everyone!" A large portly man called, Shipyard master Sen as Ferlna informed him. "Speaker Ashe of the Eve-marrow Inn will start us off!"

The portly man left the stage as a new man, one wearing a simple brown tunic with a white stained apron atop of it. He had brown hair that stretched below his back and a stern frown on his face.

"Fellow Landers, today we gather to discuss the recent changes to our fair town." He began, voice echoing loudly across the center of the district. "It has been about a week ever since the adventurers all around us began their sudden change! They have become lethargic, panic-stricken, and above all inexcusable!"

Krentelfal frowned. It didn't sound good so far.

"Holler if you ever heard of the term, N P C–"

A surge of cries came forth in unison. The entirety of the square having heard of it, and from what Krentelfal could see, none of them wore smiles on their faces.

"Aye, we have all heard it before from the mouths of these adventurers…" The speaker solemnly continued. "It took me a long time before I realized what it meant, before one of those adventurers let it slip. It means Non-Player Character. It means that we are not like them! It means that they do not see us as people of the land! They do not respect us!"

A surge of boos came out of the crowd.

It really didn't seem good at all.

"Adventurers spit in our faces! They no longer respect us as they once did ages ago! The crown has remained silent, their scholars have not found a solution! So what is it that we should do!?"

"We fight!"

"We show them who we are!"

"Yeah! This is our city too!"

"Aye, aye, aye! Aye to all of you!" He bellowed. "We suffered long enough! No longer shall they extort us! No longer shall they refuse to do their jobs! They may be adventurers, but we are the people of the land– nay, the people of this land! We will not tolerate this any longer!"

A torrent of cheers of agreement followed soon, bringing a slow frown to Krentelfal's face. While he agreed with their sentiments, especially after witnessing the state of the once proud 'adventurers' of ages past simply loitering across the streets… he could not help but worry about the direction this was going to take.

"And what exactly do you suppose we do about it!?"

A new voice, belonging to Meltraus if he recalled correctly, cut into the sea of cheers and applause with ease. "If you recall, we are Landers, not adventurers! They are stronger than us, it'd do you all well to remember that."

Ashe, the speaker at the center, apparently disagreed with the frown on his face. "Meltraus, have you and the rest of the smiths not forged armor and weapons to aid us in this?"

"Aid in battle, yes," Meltraus replied easily as he stepped to the stage. "But aid in suicide? No. I am not so foolish to do so. Don't think that I don't know where the surplus of steel sword requests came from, Ashe. This is a battle that we will lose."

A strong humph came soon after. "Not to mention unprofitable."

Stepping to the stage next was a buff and strong man, almost similar to Meltraus in that regard, yet he still held youth in his eyes along with flowing blond hair. Donned in the clothes of a merchant, this was Drudgel of the north.

"If we go to war like this with the adventurers, then we won't just lose our lives, but all of our money and belongings," He reminded. "Not to mention, even if we do manage to win in some kind of fantasy, the adventurers cannot die. They will never fall in battle permanently, and when they come back, they will eradicate us."

"Always the logical coward aren't you Drudgel?"

Drudgel immediately frowned as he saw someone else step to the stage. He wore similar clothes to Drudgel, yet it was much more… refined. He had no hair on his head, but he had enough of a mustache to cover his own mouth.

"Edgar, what are you on about?"

Edgar of the south smirked from under the mustache. "I have dealt with adventurers more than any other Lander here, and I say that if we fight, then we should aim for where it will hurt! Not mindlessly attacking them, no, no, no, that would be unwise."

He pivoted on his heel and pointed off into the distance, each of his hands in a separate direction. "The Cathedral in which they come back from, or the guild which they find invaluable!"

Numerous murmurs spread across the crowd as their eyes showed consideration, even as Krentelfal's own widened in mute horror.

"Are you insane!?" Meltraus shouted. "Do you even remember why the adventurers exist in the first place? They are here to protect us from the monsters that reside outside of our very walls! The beasts that seek to tear us apart piece by piece! Without the adventurers, we will perish. No ifs or buts about it!"

"Yes, see reason!" Drudgel agreed vocally. "We should be seeking to peacefully rectify this situation. Talk with them, try to find mutual ground to debate with them, and maybe we will find a way to coexist as we once did."

Ashe snorted. "Fat load that'll do! Do you think I haven't tried? Every adventurer that has ventured into my inn, I try to talk to them. Find what's wrong so that maybe I could help, but what do I get in return?"

He placed a hand on each of his hips and spoke in a high-pitched voice. "'Oh shut up you fucking NPC!' That is what I get every day! These adventurers are nothing but slobs now!"

"To talk with them, we require an equal footing," Krentelfal widened his eyes when he realized that it was Ferlna who spoke out. "They are just frightened and frustrated at their current situation."

"Oh?" Edgar muttered, ruffling his large mustache as he did so. "Lady Ferlna, I did not realize that you would attend our meeting?"

"Thank the gods that she did…" A girl behind Meltraus muttered, most likely his daughter Melhia. "Could you elaborate, Ferlna?"

"Gladly," Ferlna uttered as she too stepped upon the stage. Krentelfal applauded the foresight of whoever decided the stage should be huge and wide enough to support a dozen people.

"I've conducted research and discovered that these adventurers are nothing more than children or young adults that have been seeing our world through avatars. Puppets that they control to see and view our world. At any time they could leave and return to their lives in their world without issue… However, on the day that we call the May Incident, they call the Apocalypse. Do you all know the reason?"

While a few of the Landers were lost, the major ones on stage shook their heads as they had followed without issue.

"It is because their avatars, their faux puppet bodies, had become their own. No longer could they return to their families in their own world, no longer can they live out their lives as they used to, but now they are trapped here in immortal bodies where death is not their final embrace," She sent a steady gaze to the crowd before her. "We are not seeing beings who are 'nothing but slobs' but something else. They are in despair. Only a few have managed to rise up and continue as adventurers should, but the majority have fallen into despair as they see no purpose to actively live out their lives."

"… Makes sense…" The innkeeper Ashe muttered. "It explains their behavior. I dunno about this different world stuff or what that even bloody means, but basically they want their mamas back?"

"So we're dealing with a childish tantrum?" Edgar mused.

"An oversimplification at best, sir Edgar," Ferlna chastised. "I support the notion of an attempt at mutual understanding. The sooner they see us as people they can truly rely upon, the better."

"And why is that?" Ashe blurted out.

"Because if they don't see us as people by the time they acclimate, then we won't be necessary to them anymore."

The stretch of silence that held the Lander crowd was long and heavy, but a frown from Meltraus managed to get the discussion back again.

"Elaborate," He half-ordered. "How much time before the adventurers finally get off their rears and do something."

"By the looks of it, from how their biggest guilds are moving out more and more, I'd say not long." Edgar mused. "They have been purchasing more and more materials from me. My stock is running low and I've only restocked a few days ago."

"Then shall we strike while the iron is hot?" Said a lanky elf wearing an oversized blacksmith's garb. He also had long hair fitting for an elf, yet there were singes marring its clean sheen.

"Halfas, I thought you were wiser than that." Meltraus berated.

"I am, old friend. That is why I propose that we begin getting these adventurers to recognize that we are people, that we are deserving of respect like they do each other," Halfas argued.

Ashe snorted. "They hardly even respect each other now. I don't know the specifics, but every night in my inn they argue about how they'll deal with the power struggles of the big guilds. It's a bloody nightmare I tell you."

"Do you propose a protest before their guild hall?" Edgar asked. "If we're not going to hit them where it hurts, then how will our voices be heard?"

"Simple, we stop treating them like adventurers."

Huh?

"Huh? Has he lost it?"

"What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"Bloody elves, loony at their best and loony at their worst."

"Calm yourselves!" Sen bellowed, the shipmaster making a reappearance to keep the crowd controlled. "Halfas, if you might be so inclined to elaborate?"

"Alright~" Halfas sang with his usual playful attitude, bringing a sigh to Meltraus again like the elf always had. "It isn't just the adventurers that have been treating us like dirt, like we're different from them and unworthy of notice. We have been doing the same. We treat them like animals and keep away from them. The only times we do interact with them are when we antagonize them or dismiss them as quickly as possible~"

He twirled with a pivot of his heel. "It is possible that they too notice how we treat them, how they notice our mutual sense of exclusion~"

"But they're different!"

"They're adventurers!"

"And we are all Landers, are we not?" Halfas countered the crowd. "Are we not one with the land? Are we not the ones who understand the land the most? Why not channel that understanding to these adventurers, these lost children who despair at the world around them? Hate begets hate, anger begets anger, and kindness begets kindness. Haven't our mothers taught us this?"

There was a mumble of agreements spread across the crowd, yet there were also hints of minor disagreement.

"We must prove ourselves better than them, if not physically, but spiritually!" Halfas said once more.

"You think kindness is going to get them to respect us like before?" Ashe spoke up. "Is that how they do it in your fantasy lands?"

"It is how I treat all beings, adventurer or Lander," Halfas declared. "The way I see it, from all the ideas and plans put forth, it's either mutual prosperity or destruction. I don't know about all of you, but I want our next generation to be in prosperity."

"So we just ignore it?" A man with alabaster skin and ginger hair stepped up wearing an apron. "We just have to ignore what they've done to us during this week? What they've done to our families and lives? Is this the solution you propose, elf?"

"Egburd," Drudgel warned. "There's not enough time for that now–"

"LIKE HELL THERE ISN'T!" The man named Egburd shouted, culling the merchant before he spoke. "Do not patronize me, or any of us! We can have our peace, but not until we get what we're due, what our families are due!"

"Until they treat us as people, we won't be getting it Egburd!" Drudgel argued fervently.

"They won't treat us equally! Not even our children!" He argued. "We have to show them that we're not some stain beneath their boots! Rolling over like lambs to the slaughter isn't going to help them look at us as equals, they'll look at us like tools!"

"Not like we haven't seen them like that once upon a time," Edgar mused with his usual apparent form of pragmatism. "I propose a compromise for us all. We prepare to attack their cathedral and guild hall, but only attack when they've proven to be beyond redemption. We will try and aid them like a doctor does her patients in the meantime. Is this agreeable for us all?"

The numerous grunts of agreement and nods did nothing to dissuade the notion.

"Well then, it looks like we've reached a conclusion," Edgar concluded. "It's getting late. I'm sure we'd all love to get back home to our wives for a little something 'special'. Shall we disband now, ship master Sen?"

The portly ship master returned to the stage and nodded. "The consensus! By the end of the month of June, if these adventurers have proven themselves to be a threat to our lives and the lives of our children, then we shall commence an attack. Until then, we shall all seek to aid them in our own ways. Dismissed!"

Slowly but surely, the crowd dispersed. Some people remained to shake hands or exchange farewells, but Krentelfal saw no need to do so and floated off, recalling the way he had previously entered and left the district.

Ferlna was left behind, but she would slowly but surely return home so no true worries there.

There was only one thing left to do.

Now… how shall he deliver the news to lady Illya?


A/N: It is done!

Honestly, this didn't need to take the entire month. The time spent writing was no different from previous uploads, but December was a VERY busy month. I've had exams, activities, holidays, gift purchasing, FGO farming, watching Spiderverse[9.5/10] and Aquaman[8/10], and a whole load more slue of details that I won't really cover.

As you can see, we're getting into the meat of the new arc, of what I plan for the guild and co to do while the Crescent Moon Burger begins its infancy. I lost my draft so I worried even more, but luckily I recovered it by dragging it into my word folder. It's REALLY weird to find your file turn into "[Insert Original File Name]~[Some Random Letters and Numbers]", so if you ever happen to encounter it again, then you're gonna have to try googling an answer because I'm sure as hell that my solution wasn't the regular one.

I don't have anything special planned here, but I'm offering my deepest and sincerest wishes to the family of Stan Lee. His departure was unexpected, but a sad truth to acknowledge. If I wrote a Marvel story then I'd make an Omake, but I'm not good at those and I'm not thinking of starting another story anytime soon. I already have my hands full with these two.

That's it for now. The next chapter will be out sometime in February. I hope that I'll make a longer chapter than this when the time comes. Until then, I've got my hands full with rewriting scenes in my other story.

Canon, I love and hate you.

Until next time,

Kappa.