Chapter 135

“Right. I don’t plan on standing on the front stage, and even though Silent is a contributor, he’s still in the middle of recovery. Which means, in the end, our head—the leader—will need to step forward.”

“That’s how it will be. Most likely, they’ll even have to attend the ceremony. Same, I know you’re someone who loves peace. But I also understand you’re someone who extends a hand of salvation when needed. That’s why, at first, I thought it might be better not to tell you about this announcement. No… perhaps I was just being soft. I should have asked you to attend.”

Kokuri’s words were surely true.
But at the same time, it was clear this was also Her Majesty the Queen’s will: she wanted to personally confirm with her own eyes whether the leader of this “brigade” that had shown so much strength was truly someone trustworthy.

…Well, as long as the spotlight isn’t on me, I guess it’s not too much of a problem.

“Fortunately, the leader is currently staying in Lindblum. Actually, the reason I went to Golda wasn’t only brigade-related. In this war, even if it was short, some people still got caught in the crossfire and harmed. Someone connected to the brigade was among the victims, and their child was left behind in the ruins. I brought that child back. The leader came here to take them in.”

Using Rent’s situation as cover, I threw in that excuse so it would sound like the leader could show up nearby at any time.
But… maybe I shouldn’t have said that—Kokuri’s face went pale.

“Wh-what a terrible thing… isn’t the brigade’s leader furious? No, let me apologize first. That’s right, even if the war ended quickly, casualties are unavoidable. Was I so careless as to forget something like that…?”

…Well, yeah! From the country’s perspective, a brigade associate dying, and the leader personally coming to take in a child—that’s a huge incident! I really should have thought more carefully about the brigade’s influence and standing before saying that.

“P-probably it’ll be fine. While the leader’s here, I’ll be handling brigade matters on their behalf anyway, so please just treat the leader well in the meantime.”

“I’ve thought this before, but… Same, aren’t you basically the vice-leader of the brigade? Having someone like that affiliated with this country—doesn’t it seem like people could complain about that at any moment?”

“I’ve made sure to draw the line properly on that, and besides, I regularly accept requests like this from the country, so it’s fine. Well, either tomorrow or the day after, the leader should come by this house. Should they head to the palace after that?”

“…No, we’ll go to meet them. Silent, Same, that woman Sheele, and Shizuma as well—reports say all of you are fighters on par with the Thirteen Knights. To summon the person who commands such people, the one who helped end the war and saved the nation from crisis, would be unthinkable.”

…Now that I think about it, maybe the brigade has earned too much credit with the country.
If not for Still’s proposal, we might have been officially taken in as state officials by now, no joke.

Even as things stand, it’s already a delicate balance.
Silent’s injury probably made them realize they need to avoid relying too heavily on us.

With this announcement of the dungeon cores, the country will likely stop involving us in their inner politics altogether.

“Changing the subject a little—yesterday, when passing through the mid-district, Melt said the atmosphere around the adventurers’ den felt a little strange. Do you know anything about that?”

Since it had been on my mind, I threw in Melt’s question to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“Oh… that topic. Hm, simply put, it’s an extension of a turf war. It’s not that serious, but you could say customers are avoiding the place a little. Actually, the issue isn’t unrelated to the refugee problem. The country will probably deal with it eventually.”

“I see… Don’t tell me there are dangerous individuals among the refugees…?”

“No, that’s not it. Anyway, it’s nothing that should trouble you, Same. Besides, the area around the den’s entrance is still bustling as usual.”

So it is related to the refugee problem, but not because refugees are causing trouble themselves… That’s curious. But maybe it’s not something I should dig into too deeply.

“Anyway, I understand. The brigade’s leader will be coming here soon. Does that mean you won’t be returning for a while, Seim?”

“Right. Just to be safe, I’ll stay and coordinate the brigade until the leader goes back.”

“Understood. And finally… when it comes to meeting this leader—should I be cautious about anything? Naturally, we can’t risk offending them…”

Her concern was natural. Yeah… just the fact that Silent follows this person would make anyone wary.

The leader… who should I make them? Still once suggested I use “that one.”

But “that one” is honestly just a character I made for a specific purpose.
Sure, I trained them all the way to max level. In terms of “class” alone, they’re one of the rare few “special classes” in the game—ranking between strongest and second strongest.

“They’ll probably be fine, as long as you don’t say anything rude. He’s not a violent man—more like a kind old grandpa.”

“An old man…? I didn’t expect that…”

“Well, just remember that he’s the kind of person who could incapacitate Silent one-sidedly in a fight. That’s all you need to keep in mind.”

“…He could do that to him? That sounds like… something beyond human.”

In truth, that class isn’t strong for regular progression or standard play.

But the game had one very popular feature: the Player-vs-Player Arena.
In other words, duels between players.

And the special class “Sword Saint” was built specifically for PvP.

That’s why, in PvE (against monsters), it wasn’t especially powerful—but in PvP, it was another story entirely.

Techniques with blistering speed. Movement methods that let you precisely and quickly control spacing. A wide variety of attacks depending on positioning, and abilities that were overwhelmingly effective against single targets.

The whole concept of the class was “for PvP experts.”

Naturally, the difficulty of operating it was insane—requiring delicate controls, hard commands, and frame-perfect timing, like playing a hardcore stylish action game solo.

But once mastered, it was strong. Just absurdly strong. At one point, the Arena was filled with nothing but Sword Saints, where victory or defeat came down purely to player skill.

Equipment quality, matchups, even luck didn’t matter.
The outcome depended solely on the player’s raw ability.

It was beloved by hardcore fighting-game fans, but… the majority of MMORPG players never accepted it.

As a result, the second and third special classes were eventually implemented, and among all my characters, those two special-class ones ended up being the “strongest and second strongest.”

Still had said that made them perfect to act as the “brigade’s leader.”

“But even so, he’s not a violent person. If you need him to attend a ceremony or announcement, please just ask him. I’m sure he’ll agree.”

“I understand. At first, I was thinking I’d have to persuade you, Same, into attending somehow. But if the head of the brigade himself is coming… then we’ll need to make the proper preparations. Thank you, Same. I promise we’ll do everything we can not to upset your leader.”

With that, Kokuri drained his coffee and stood up.

“Thank you for the delicious coffee. Next time, let me treat you. I’ve actually been experimenting lately with how to brew good iced coffee. A little out of season, perhaps, but still.”

“That sounds great. I love iced coffee too.”

“Oh? That makes me happy to hear. Not many people appreciate it.”

Smiling cheerfully at the end, Kokuri took his leave.

…Now then, before changing characters, I should explain the situation to Melt.

I went to wake her, finding her dozing in the lounge next door. Poor Rent was being used as a body pillow again, her blank face making it look pitiful.

“Mmm… I fell asleep… Where’s Kokuri-chan?”
“She already left.”
“Aww… Oh! Did you ask about the adventurers’ den?”

“Yeah, I did. To put it simply, some faction is picking a fight right now, so things are a bit tense. But near the entrance it’s not dangerous, so Hamsutei Inn should be fine.”

“I see, that’s a relief. But still, fighting is no good, right?”
“Right, it’s not. The country will intervene soon enough, apparently.”
“Then that’s good. Let’s have the Queen go ‘Hey! Stop that!’ and fix it.”

Hahaha… if only things could really be solved that easily, the world would be a peaceful paradise.

Anyway, I explained to Melt the new plan: I would take on another form, pretending to be the person responsible for all of Sam and the others.

Even though we’d just returned home, I felt bad for making things hectic again. But to my surprise, Melt actually looked a little excited.

“What kind of person will it be this time!?”
“Hmm… the inside will still be me, I think. But the appearance is that of an old man.”
“Oh, really! I had a grandmother, but I’ve never had a grandfather. That makes me kind of excited!”

For some reason, those words from Melt made something stir uneasily deep in my chest.

“Most likely, I’ll even be summoned to the royal palace in that form. Which means Melt, you might also be called along. That would leave Rent home alone, though, and I’d rather avoid that. So I think it’s time to dismiss the summoning.”

“N-no way… But Rent-chan is so cute! She doesn’t mind when I hug her anymore, and lately she even hugs back a little. Sometimes she uses my tail as a pillow and sleeps with it, it’s just so adorable! I want to stay with her forever.”

“Hahaha… but I need to check the results of the test, and I want to hear Rent’s voice in my heart directly. Sorry, Melt, but I need to send her back for now.”

Melt hugged Rent tightly, as if refusing to let go of a beloved doll, trying to hide her behind her back.

It made my heart ache, as if I were doing something terribly cruel.

“Uuuh… fine… Rent-chan… see you again, okay?”
“…”

Melt gave a sorrowful farewell, while Rent—as always—remained silent and expressionless.
But then Rent gave a tiny nod and awkwardly waved her hand.

“!? Rent, you’ve really developed a will of your own!?”
“…”
“Rent-chan! See you again!”

I’ll need to dive into the mental world soon and talk with her directly.

Though reluctant, I released Rent’s summoning.

Wrapped in light, her small form disappeared—and I felt an undeniable loneliness watching her go.
Of course… she’d been with us ever since the Great Forest of Dreamhill, after all.

“Well then… next it’s my turn to change form. This time, since the setup is that I’ve already arrived in this city, I’ll just transform here and start moving around openly, without using the underground passages.”

“Yeah… okay.”

“Haha… cheer up, Melt. Someday, when I can summon more at once, I’ll call both Rent and Sheele together so the three of you can spend time here in this house.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I want that too! But… how do we get everyone’s hearts?… back to normal, I wonder.”

“Hmm… well, Rent seemed to understand me a little at least.”

That was probably something I should bring up during a conference in the mental world.
Still’s theory had also suggested the possibility of an “incomplete summoning.”
If so, then maybe with the right sacrifice… or vessel… the problem could be solved.

Thinking about that, I manipulated the menu and switched my character to “Rue.”
Light enveloped me. My line of sight rose sharply.
Not quite as tall as Sheele, but Rue was a tall one. An old man, though.

Isn’t a tall old man who’s a sword master kind of cool?
That’s the image I had when I made him, and the sword saint’s storyline even gave him a mentor-like role. In a way, it fit perfectly.

“Phew…”

“Whoa! A big grandpa!”

“Right? He’s about 190 centimeters tall… in this world, that’s 190 meil.”

“Wow! So strange—he’s an old man but talks like a young guy!”

“Yeah. And this body is a sword master. So maybe I’ll even inherit some of his fundamental movements and techniques as knowledge—”

Suddenly, I felt something trailing down from my nose, tracing along the shape of my lips.
My eyes burned. Pain. A constant flow, like tears—but different.

No… I realized half my vision was being dyed red.

“Eh!? Same!? Shizuma!? Wait, I don’t even know your name yet! Hey! What’s happening!?”

“Ah… uh…”

I touched my face with my hand.
My palm was soaked crimson.

An overwhelming amount of blood poured from my nose.

I staggered into the kitchen sink and turned the faucet.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop. The pain in my eyes grew sharper. My vision was drowning in red.

The stuff flowing from my eyes… was blood too.

What is this? What the hell is this?

“Me…lt…”

My mouth… my hands… wouldn’t move.

Darkness swallowed my awareness.

…Why… is this… happening…?

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