Chapter 371: Dash Through, with a Flame Lit in Your Heart
Updates are back, damn it! (kicking the door down)
The plot is still unfinished, but write it on momentum anyway. (Beat the competition with worldbuilding power.) (More importantly, I want to focus on the Ancient Era between the Divine Era and the present.)
Akitsu Akane: "A-A dragon...!!"
Noirlind: "Hmph... To think a mere insect would trespass into my bedchamber. I could trample you to death in one go, but perhaps I should carve your insolence into every last scrap of your flesh..."
Noirlind: "No, wait... Insect, you hide it, but what is that etched upon your face?"
Akitsu Akane: "Huh? This? I got this when I fought Siegwurm-san!"
Noirlind: "Siegwurm, you say...! Hmph! Coddling an insect that dared oppose him—just as I thought, he's nothing of consequence!!"
Akitsu Akane: "Well, he did just blast me away with a normal breath attack! Oh, right, um... could it be that your name is Noirlind... san?"
Noirlind: "Hmph, so even an insect knows my great name... Very well. Before you meet your inevitable death, I grant you permission to sing my praises."
Akitsu Akane: "Sing praises...? Compliment...? Um, an invasion event? Aggro? Other players—I mean, pioneers—all say 'that guy's bad news'!"
Noirlind: "Heh heh heh... Naturally. That is because I am the one true king."
Akitsu Akane: "Noirlind-san, you're a king!"
Noirlind: "Hm? Hm... Well, yes. Standing atop the insects that have submitted to my power, I suppose you could call me a king."
Akitsu Akane: "A dragon king! A Dragon King, right!"
Noirlind: "For an insect, you know your place. Unlike those slaves who cheer for that detestable gold one, the fact that you bare your fangs at him pleases me... Though it's nothing more than idle amusement before I crush you."
Akitsu Akane: "By the way, Noirlind-san, why do you hate Siegwurm-san so much?"
Noirlind: "Is it not obvious? Despite me being the one true king, he carries himself as if he alone stands at the top. The king is always one, and that one can never be anyone but me!"
Akitsu Akane: "Is that so? I think it's fine for there to be lots of kings! What matters is what you're aiming for!"
Noirlind: "What I aim for...? An insect dares to speak of kings?"
Akitsu Akane: "Hmm... This is my personal belief? Principle? Um... well, anyway, that's just how I see it———"
Noirlind: "...Hmph. For an insect, you certainly run your mouth."
Akitsu Akane: "Ehehe... But if we're talking about that, the people I know are amazing too, you know?"
Akitsu Akane: "Every one of them is someone I admire... someone I'm aiming for."
Noirlind: ".........Hmph."
Akitsu Akane: "That's why I'm going to support you, Noirlind-san!"
Noirlind: "...What did you say?"
Akitsu Akane: "Because———"
◆
It hasn't been that long since the info-bomb dropped by the bomber "Akitsu Akane" hit me with its blast wave, but that's that and this is this. Lending a hand to Noirlind the Black Dragon, who half-destroyed the frontline base and is, no exaggeration, drawing the most aggro right now... It feels like a route that's clearly in the "villain's henchman" territory, but that aside, I've got my own route to follow. Right now, I'm starving for money and experience. And to get the latter, I've come to the café The Wandering Sword, where people with the Avenger and Bounty Hunter jobs gather, to meet someone perfect for the job.
Or so I was going to, but...
Survival: "Hoaaaaah, Tias-tan! Tias-tan! Can I take a picture!?"
Tias: "........."
Survival: "Ahh, perfect! So perfect! The golden ratio! I now understand the true meaning of the golden ratio!"
Sunraku: "What the hell are you doing, you pervert Survival?"
Survival: "Gah!? ...Ahh, what, it's just you, Sunraku."
Where did the guy who faced down a monster bigger than a dump truck with a fearless grin and bare hands on that deserted island go? The Phi Server guys who follow Baibaru are gonna cry if they see you—a guy in a female avatar—moving all creepy around a little girl. Though, it might be rude to say, but Phi Server got called things like "Barbarians," "Gorilla Nest," "Primitive Settlement," so they'd probably just scream and start a brawl. Incidentally, my server, Mu Server, was called "Slasher Horror." Because before you know it, you've been stabbed in the back. Scary stuff...
Tias: "...Acquaintance?"
Sunraku: "Well, something like an old pal, I guess."
Survival: "Oi, Sunraku, you bastard! What's your relationship with Tias-tan!? Depending on your answer..."
silently slides over a photo of Loli-sensei in a maid outfit
silently slides over 10,000,000 Mani
Sunraku: "I'm basically her student."
Survival: "I sell flattery, I buy with money... Commerce is established."
It's not established at all—you're just the one doing all the consuming.
Sunraku: "Actually, the fact that you're here means..."
Survival: "Yeah. I did everything I could at the church—prostrating, donating, serving food, buying indulgences—and cleaned up my Karma Value completely. Pulling that Glitch was huge."
If you think about it, just like Psyger-100 pours her heart into defeating Lycagon, this guy pours his passion into Tias the bounty hunter. So, throwing himself into Avenger work is just the natural conclusion. And since I already met the conditions in front of the Dress-Up Squad, reproducing them isn't that hard.
Survival: "Since Bounty Hunter is an NPC-only Job, I completely overlooked it... Who'd have thought there'd be a hidden job in a larger category."
Sunraku: "That makes sense... So, did the other members get Avenger too?"
Survival: "Ahh, we figured out the conditions, but you still need to at least get a draw against a bounty hunter, right?"
I see. It requires actual player skill, so the numbers won't just explode overnight.
Survival: "But I stand here carrying the hopes of my squad. So, Tias-tan, first, let me try this smock on y—"
tap tap
Survival: "Haaah?"
Toole: "Newbie. I'm your training instructor."
This guy, Survival, is probably the culprit. A muscled, bulked-up old man dressed in a maid outfit, with a very, very wide smile, rests his hand on Survival's shoulder.
Survival: "W-wait, man. I'm supposed to get hands-on training from Tias-tan..."
Toole: "Don't worry. I'll pound the way of the Avenger into you, down to the marrow."
Survival: "Noooooo! T-Tias-taaaaan!!"
Ahh, Survival. He might not have broken his level cap yet, but he's got decent stats. If Lutia had done the same thing to him, he probably could've escaped... But Toole, the Bounty Hunter, is a pure tank build. His STR and VIT scores are likely several tiers above Survival's. If his fighting style hasn't changed since the island days, he's a footwork-focused grappler... So against a specialized tank, he's got no chance in a pure strength contest. Maybe because he chose a female avatar in SLF, a woman letting out a pathetic scream—in a man's voice—gets grabbed by the scruff of the neck by the gorilla and dragged away... Namu-san.
Tias: "...Sunraku. You should choose your friends better."
Sunraku: "Yeah, you're right."
Tias: "And girls too."
Sunraku: "Yeah, yeah!"
Full throttle, my girl power...!!
Sunraku: "Master... One Single Venti, Caramel, Almond, Hazelnut, White Mocha, Two Percent, Chocolate Chip, Extra Whip, Extra Caramel Sauce, Extra Chocolate Sauce, Extra Topping Dark Mocha Chip Cream Frappuccino."
Apparently, they were out of stock. Wait, did they even have that in the first place?
Sunraku: "By the way, Tias Loli-sensei, I have a favor to ask."
Tias: "...What is it?"
Snap! With a well-timed finger snap—perhaps playing along—the master of The Wandering Sword places a two-tiered cake, lavishly decorated with cream and apples, before Loli-sensei.
Tias: "...Hoh."
Sunraku: "For my own further study... would you spar with me, just once... Tias-sensei?"
The Secret Law that Skill Gardener Elke presented when I reached triple-digit levels... It is the High Connection system, which lets me freely combine and separate skills that, previously, could never be restored once they had been merged.
Two things are required for it. One: instead of consuming a massive amount of experience points, Elke proposed an enormous sum of money. And the other...
Sunraku: "Your supreme technique... the famous Tachyon. I would very much like to experience it firsthand."
To solidify the mental image of a "target skill"—whether it belongs to a player, an NPC, or a monster—observing the real thing is a necessity.
Akitsu Akane-style Perfect Communication: praise the other person while skirting land-mine words by a hair. If an ordinary person tries it, they step straight on the mine and blow themselves up.