139 - - The Big Tree Island

Good evening, I'm Homura, I'm in the middle of an interrogation.

The interrogation was accompanied by more tea and fig tarts. At any rate, you have my word not to tell anyone.

"Considering what just happened, no matter how much I appeal to the authorities in this world, they won't believe me, but they'll think I'm crazy. I won't do it. The other three promised in their own words not to tell anyone.

"So?　Why are you pretending to be N!C?

I never called myself N!

"Do you know the members of the clan?"

I know who you are.

"And they didn't say anything about it?"

"No, I don't. We've known each other for a long time, and when we play together we adjust our abilities with equipment so we don't end up taking away our enemies. When we played games where you could make a second character, I usually switched between the two characters and adjusted their levels."

The level of my long-logged-in oatmeal and my tendency to stay in and repeat (ham-ham-ham) battles are all over the place. In games without a login time limit, Ochazuke even goes to the third character.

Leo is a habitual fall-asleep criminal, Kikuhime is an early riser compared to me, and Shin is often in the morning because of his work. Peter is a maniac and his level of skill is slow.

Usually, I and Ochazuke and I keep the first level up to the level where we can solo, and the second level up to the level of Leo and his friends. If they are not in the same level range, the fun of the party strategy is reduced to half. However, if they wanted to raise their level, Ochazuke and I would switch to a high level first character and have a hellish boss tour. We heard that the low-level players would be left to attack and protect themselves without attacking to gain experience, but neither of us had a taste for being beaten up without talking.

The watchword of the boss tour is "don't die anyway.

No, well, that's important if we're going to conquer the bosses together. ......

"I think you're missing the point of concern.

I got a subtle response, but I don't know why.

"I'd rather hear how it happened."

"Because you met the inhabitants and happened to meet the gods one after the other?"

"You're a questioning type, aren't you?"

I answered honestly every question with the Flame Kings.

Last time Elias asked me a question, but when I told him that the equipment was designed by Garganos, he seemed to be spurred to cross the country. I thought it would be better to tell him where Galganos was, so I told him about Pasto, the place where I had business dealings with Galganos. Well, even I could have found him, so it would have been easy to find out if I had asked some people in Navai.

"...... heh."

Elias lets out a small laugh.

"What?"

The Flame King looks doubtful.

"You six guys look like a pot-bellied squadron."

"I sent Elias my best shot."

I got a little tired of interrogating them, so I gently send a picture of the six of them right after the pot was set off. I like the way they move their hands with the items, which makes them look like they are posing as if they are in a Sentai Mono.

"pot ......"

The Flame King is disappointed. I have already shown a few pictures to prove that Homura (me) is Rengaard (me). The pot is not my fault, okay?　You can complain to Roy.

"You're doing a great job!"

"...... You're not going to tell me that during the battle, you sometimes stopped moving because you were taking SS?"

I'll keep quiet.

Gilweitzer, who had stopped drinking tea, asked me with half-lidded eyes.

"The reason why you looked so godlike and good-looking in the tournament was because you never told us.

"I was praised."

I didn't compliment you!

I got a little embarrassed, and the Flame King denied it. I thought he was complimenting me on my good looks, but I guess not.

"He's complimenting you, he's complimenting you."

"I don't like N!　But Lengard was the only one who cared. Well, I guess it doesn't matter if he's so flashy. And it wasn't even N!C."

"Shut up!"

The Flame King, whose brow is furrowed with wrinkles, has one thing on his mind.

"You don't like the residents?　Why?"

It's not that I don't like N!C in general. It's just that I don't like the nc's that players bring with them.

The Flame King, discouraged, stabs the tart with a fork and cracks it open.

"Why again?"

"It's a little bit of a dungeon where the parties in Faina's party cooperate with each other. I remember it was just before we met you guys in the labyrinth.

"It's strange that you're so strong, but you're just following the player's lead. It's disgusting that she follows the player's unreasonable orders for some reason or another because she's half-human, even though she shouldn't be human anyway."

"Oh, by the way, you can force me to call you out. Why don't you just get mad at the players instead of the residents?"

I don't know what kind of situation they are in, since I have never called them even though I have been called before, but "with a reason" means that they are fighting while mumbling about the reason after the fact, which is in accordance with the residents' reckless demands. That would certainly be absurd and distasteful.

"It's a game, it's a system and I'm not saying it's wrong to use it. I'm not saying it's wrong to use it, it's a game, it's a system and it's not wrong to use it.

The Flame King drinks a good cup of tea like it tastes bad because of the story.

"You're playing games. It's more fun to treat people like they're normal people in this world.

I say, unsure, as if there is some kind of conflict I don't know about. I don't know about conflicts, but I know that it is more enjoyable to act like a normal human being without worrying about the details.

Galahad and the others, the guys at the general store, and the other residents who are getting to know each other. I like them because they all have their own personality.

By the way, I can't decide whether the Flame King is honest or cynical.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

"Well, the first place is expensive, but I like the first place."

"There's plenty of land there."

"That's what I want, too."

"Me too, me too. There was a stream on that island, I want to release some fish and go fishing!"

"I think we could build a treehouse there in addition to the house.

"That's fine with me. I can do my ninja training without being seen."

All the clan members have logged in and are looking around at the land Fagat is releasing to the gentiles (players). The lands are small islands scattered around, and transportation is by small boats. The boat is guided by a staff member of the Fagat Commercial Guild. Perhaps because of the higher prices of the islets in Fagat compared to other countries, we did not meet many visitors to purchase land to build other houses. Well, maybe it is because we are traveling by sea, not by road.

Shin and Leo logged out on the casino floor yesterday, so you can guess the outcome of their bets. No problem, since the house funds were deposited in oatmeal earlier.

Beautiful cobalt blue and white clouds. The sea connecting the islands is so clear and shallow that you can see the bottom of the ocean if you look down. The depth of the sea is still about 4 or 5 meters at the deepest point. The man with log-like arms who paddles the boat is said to be blessed by Val, the god of the wind, and the boat glides along the sea at a good speed, aided by the wind-battered sails. The boat glides along the sea at a good speed, aided by the wind-filled sails. And you don't have to worry about getting seasick.

"So, I guess we're registering for the first island, is that correct?"

"Yes, please."

Ochazuke answers on behalf of the staff.

Since the floor plan was decided during the waiting time for the games of the tournament, Ochazuke has already prepared the . As soon as you buy an island and decide where to build it, you can start tinkering with the house. When we first went to see the island, we almost decided on a huge tree growing in the center of the island as the place to build. In any case, we liked the tree so much that the island was our first choice.

The layout of the house is simple. Entrance hall, kitchen, dining room, and living room on the first floor. Downstairs is a production facility - this is the one that Ochazuke, Kikuhime, and Peter have given away as casino prizes to the clan members who are free to use the production equipment they use. The kitchen facilities are also of the three-person casino specs, as I have provided the and we all eat there-- seven rooms, including guest rooms, on the second floor.

If you want to expand your own room, you are supposed to get a for each room.

We proceed with the purchase procedure in a room that looks like a temporary office of a commercial guild.

What do you want to do about the landing place?　I can also show you where you can purchase a small boat."

The clan master, Ochazuke, has just signed in when a commercial guild official asks.

"Can I ask you to do it later?"

Yes, I can.

"Then I'll ask for it later."

The catalog-holding official smiles, but does not look a bit disappointed. <, the expensive equipment will have to wait for now. Especially since the two guys who would be happy with a small boat are short on money again. The only thing I ended up picking out of the catalog is shared storage for the clan house.

After completing the formalities, we move to the islets. While most of the islands are about the size of a house, this one is five times the size of those islands. Well, some islands are almost ten times larger than the others, so they are not the biggest. There are even larger islands that can accommodate multiple clans, but they are cheaper than the smaller islands that can be occupied by clans, even though they are larger. The price is reasonable, and there may be a demand for a fighting clan and a production clan that are in partnership.

We move through the water again and land on the small island that is now ours. There is no landing place, so we have to walk a little in the shallows, as we did when we came here for a preliminary inspection, but we are happy to do so.

The boat carrying the staff left with the words, "Please contact the guild if you have any problems.

The guild of commerce has some options, such as warding off the entire island to prevent strangers from entering, or to detect strangers when they come ashore, but no one seems to have a boat at the moment, and the residents say they don't bother to come to this place, so nothing has been done yet.

The house, like the store, has a lockable system, so there is no need to do anything. But then I found out that a senior thief can open a normal lock. There are also "thieves" who choose to be thieves for a living, and I wonder if it is because I am Japanese that I am tempted to call honest adventurers "thieves" and thieves "tozoku".

I was told by a commercial guild that keys have ranks. I heard that the default key rank of a store is higher than that of an ordinary house, but I'll give it some thought. I'd like to get a [warding] as soon as possible.

"Hi-Ho-Ho! ！！！！"

"It's an island in the south. 〜〜〜〜 ！！！！"

Two men run toward the sea after having just landed.

"Yes, yes, yes, after we set up the house!"

Ochazuke-sensei leads the way. It seems to be hard to lead with free students mixed in.

The white sandy beach that borders the island is short, and it is among giant trees and boulders that one's sense of size is quickly lost. The smallest island with giant trees looks strange from a distance, as if trees are growing out of the sea. We chose the slightly larger island because when you look at the island, the larger one looks more like an island (・・・・). You feel like you are smaller than one or two giant trees.

We pass under the roots of a tree thicker than we are, and head for the tree in the middle of the island, which is the biggest of the big trees. Even the moss is soft and fuzzy, but about the size of broccoli. There is no need to worry about getting lost, as the guild staff guided us through the moss we stepped on the last time we landed here. It is a small island, but everything around it is so big that even if you look at a map, it does not make much sense because you cannot go straight because you have to go around the trunks of huge trees or your way is blocked by big rocks.

"It's huge, isn't it?

"It's a strange feeling."

"I'm glad we went into Abu Qusen, I'm glad."

"If we went anywhere else, we'd be there in no time.

The four of us walk around talking. If we had not won the arena bet, we would not have gotten this island. Even the smallest of Fagat's islands might have been difficult to purchase. Especially for a pair of broke people, it would have been either Fast or the city of Isle, which would realistically be at the front line.

The two are not part of this conversation as they keep running from place to place and back to us. Don't disturb the moss too much.

"I feel like a dwarf."

He says this while looking at the trees stretching their branches far overhead.

"I feel a little ...... like a cormorant, too."

"There's two of them, but they're not getting anything."

You know, don't you?

We are open for business today.