CH 173

It is not because I went the wrong path, but I stopped going directly to the Mage Guild for now, and decided to go to the market to get anti-mage equipment.

If we are going to be fighting against mages, elemental resistance is necessary. 

We went around the accessory shop, and went through our equipment once again. 

I told the two about my Mage Guild clear in the game days while we were walking, and shared my knowledge.

“…And so, that’s what happened.” (Souma)

I told the two about my experience at that time, and the awkward atmosphere between us disappeared. 

Ringo instead put a hand on my shoulder, and Mitsuki looked at me with kind eyes. 

This in itself feels awkward. 

“I don’t really get it, but it seems like you had it rough.” (Mitsuki)

“No, that part was pretty much my own fault.” (Souma)

I followed the shaking cat ears of Mitsuki with my eyes and shook my head slowly. 

To think I would save after seeing unconfirmed information. I can only call that naive as a Nekomimi Neko player. 

I should have at least confirmed the contents of the patch first before saving. 

The patch not having effect if you have cleared the event before you applied the patch is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot of cases where fatal bugs happen like event items added after the fix that you can’t obtain and it is impossible to progress. 

I should have properly checked for the raging voices from the people that tested the fixed areas and have suffered from it. Measure the expected consequences, and the possible benefits of it, and only after I have come to an understanding about everything, I have to tell myself ‘What I am doing here is not gaming, but debugging’. 

That’s what the latest patch of Nekomimi Neko entails. 

At that time, I severely lacked that mindset. 

…No, it is weird that the Nekomimi Neko developers make the players have that mindset in the first place though. 

And the reality is that there were a lot of problems with the guild event reset, and there was the need for fixes on fixes. 

What was most unpopular was the dream punchline.

There were minute changes to the Mage Guild’s event contents, and instead of not being able to go outside after the ritual, the vice-guild master will show up and there would now be a mini event where he would bless you. 

The details are pretty much the same as if you came outside the tower.

The vice-guild master would praise me for succeeding in the ritual, tell me that I am the mage guildmaster of the era, and would give me words of blessing. 

What’s different is after that.

Maybe because they now can’t surprise the player with the ‘there’s no one in the capital!’ due to not being able to go out, a window that allows you to see the state of the outside was added together with the bed at the top floor. 

And then, in front of this window where you can see the state of the city, the straightlaced and gentle but lacking in presence vice-guild master would show a big smile only at this moment and say:

“This is the new capital. Can you see it? That narrow path in front of the guild, normally, is around the time when a girl would be having a walk here. She is a lively girl, you see. When our eyes meet while I am inside the guild, she would say ‘hello, Onii-chan!’ with a smile on her face and would wave her hand. However, she won’t be crossing this place ever again. That damn brat that doesn’t know her place and position…no, not only that, even her lower lifeform she is taking out for a walk and her family…have become relics of the past. 

Eh? Why, you ask? That’s obviously because all living beings in the capital have all died, including every single insect… Why are you making that face? Please be a lot happier. Due to the ritual that you and Iaski-sama performed, the dirty and foolish people have been cleaned up! The ignorant and unenlightened populace that held prejudice towards mages, the obstinate royalty that doesn’t admit the supremacy of mages, the contemptuous betrayers that didn’t understand our noble ideology despite being mages like us; every single one of them were cleaned up beautifully by you and Iaski-sama…no, by the ritual that you performed!

Man, that’s a grand achievement that someone like me with my lack of ability and timidness wouldn’t be able to achieve even in a millenia! This is truly…truly wonderful! There’s no one in the kingdom’s history who has been able to kill as many people as this. You have repainted history! You have created a new era, Sagara-sama!” 

How to say it…it is the worst kind of praising you to death. 

Of course, in the literal sense.

I mostly play solo, so I haven’t experienced it, but this quest can only be taken solo, so in the case you have companions, they will be waiting outside, and you will have extra dialogue that they have died too from the ritual. 

I don’t think there’s any, but this event is so nasty that it makes me worry that, if there’s innocent children playing this event, they might end up getting traumatized.

The vice-guild master will be talking endlessly about stuff like that, so most people wouldn’t be able to take it and go outside. 

However, you unfortunately can’t go out of the tower because of the changes. 

The door leading to the room where the large scale magic circle is located can’t be entered or exited, so the player can’t escape from the vice-guild master.

In the end, you will have no choice but to head to the one other mysterious object that was added at the top floor, the big bed that is placed unnaturally at the opposite side of the window.

When you do, the vice-guild master will say this.

“Oh, are you tired? Then, please rest on that bed. However, please be careful. Actually, this might be a daydream, and you may still be wondering whether to accept the ritual in front of Iaski-sama. 

If you go to sleep, you might end up waking up from this wonderful dream… Just kidding.” 

After giving you such an on-your-face statement, you get returned to the state just before the last quest when you sleep on the bed. 

Right before the last quest is before you get send to the inside of the tower with the teleportation magic circle of the guild by Iaski, so you will end up right in front of Iaski, who is supposed to be dead, the next instant you go to sleep, so it is unexpectedly terrible for the heart. 

By the way, when you reset the effects once, not only the last quest, everything related to the ritual is treated as if it didn’t happen, so you won’t be able to go inside the tower, and even if you ask Iaski about the ritual…

“Ritual? Purge? What are you talking about? I can’t really say I find eliminating the ones that oppose you as something admirable. 

Mages should coexist with other people that are not. 

The only ones who can accomplish that are us from the Mage Guild.” (Iaski)

Not only does he not remember anything, he answers you with a response like that of an exemplary guild master. 

I don’t know if he was saying that truthfully, but you could say this completely opposite statement amplified the already fuzzy feeling you get. 

This Mage Guild event is pretty baffling in itself, but the Warrior Guild doesn’t fall behind.

In order to join the guild, you have to touch the precious statue that is the symbol of the Warrior Guild, the Full Build Bob, and you will be wrapped in dazzling light. That’s when the event starts. 

It is discovered that the player has a weird special constitution called Muscle Sympathy, and it is destined for you to create an ideal world where all living beings are blessed with the divine protection of muscles, the Muscle Arcadia. 

Well, what I mean is that you have to clash in earnest with the Warrior Guild that only talks physically, power up the Full Build Bob statue more and more, and have the Muscle-Head Field of that statue cover the whole world. 

The Muscle-Head Field is a fearsome field that turns the ones inside into muscle-heads, and in system terms, the people inside will have their skills and spells sealed, and will be forced to fight with only their own bodies. 

It is truly the field for the brawny. 

You could just laugh it off as a joke, but when you clear the last event, the Muscle-Head effect is enhanced. All the people in the world including children, women, and the companions of the player will only speak in muscle language likel ‘Hngh!’, ‘Hah!’, ‘Muscle!’, ‘Osu!’, ‘Yaranaika?’, so you wouldn’t be able to do a proper playthrough. 

Unlike the Mage Guild event, you can freely walk outside after the event is over, but it is not like the characters die so they don’t drop the quest items, and they only say ‘Hngh!’ ‘Haah!!’ ‘Oof!’ when you talk to them, so you won’t be able to proceed with the events no matter how much you try. 

That’s why you could say the existence of the patches were truly beneficial, but the fixes for this one are on a whole level of terrible compared to the Mage Guild.

That’s because when you are going to go to sleep somewhere after clearing the last event, all of a sudden without any foreshadowing…

“Once you wake up, the ideal muscle utopia disappears, and the city returns to its usual liveliness… 

I see, so that was a dream… 

You muttered this dejected, but soon placed strength in your biceps. 

It is okay. Your dream muscles are still here. 

You took a step forward with newfound hope as you felt the afterglow of the foregone dream.” 

Being hit with a monologue that feels like an underpaid intern made it, the muscle-head field is freed up. 

This shoved-in event pulled the same amount of bad rep as the added event of the Mage Guild, and unleashed a big bashing onto the developers.

The result is that the sticky speech of the vice-guild master added with the patch and the dream punchline that was half-assed into both guild events were removed. And so, it is now settled into choosing in the menu screen to ‘Effect Reset of the Guild Events’.

On top of that, there were issues even in those fixes, but…

“And so, is the so-called Muscle-Head Field of the Warrior Guild going to be alright?” (Mitsuki)

“There’s no problem there. It shouldn’t proceed without the help of the player.” (Souma)

I answered with confidence at the question of Mitsuki.

The guild event of the Warrior Guild hinged mainly on the special constitution of the player. 

Unlike the mithril gathering that can be done pretty much by anyone, the Warrior Guild event shouldn’t be able to proceed without the player. 

“Then, as long as we crush the Mage Guild, we won’t have to worry anymore, right?” (Mitsuki)

“It is more the guildmaster Iaski than the Mage Guild. We have to stop that guy no matter what. 

However, in order to catch him, there’s several problems that must be solved first.” (Souma)

The most troublesome thing is his stronghold, the Sorcery Tower. 

In order to enter the Sorcery Tower, you either have to use the teleportation circle of the guild in the first place, or open the secret door.

However, the only one who can use the teleportation circle is Iaski, and only the executives of the Mage Guild and Iaski know how to open the secret door.

The method to open the secret door is different with every individual save file, so even I can’t pinpoint it. 

“Mitsuki, you passed by Salmon from the Mage Guild in front of the library, right? Can you search where he is right now?” (Souma)

“Yes. Wait a bit… Hm?” (Mitsuki)

Her cat ears shook in surprise as if going ‘E-Eh? Hmm?’.

“I can’t pinpoint his location. There’s no way…he is already dead?” (Mitsuki)

“Thanks. That’s most likely correct.” (Souma)

The Sorcery Tower is being treated as a separate map. 

In system terms, it would be something close to the pocket dimension of the Aken household.

There’s no reaction even when a search ability is used outside, and the teleportation spells and items are nullified. 

It is separated in terms of data, so it is impossible to enter and exit with Infinite Mirage Prison, and the World Map and the Teleport Stones that can only be used in adjoined land really show no effect. 

It would be really troublesome if they were to hole themselves up there.

In the worst case scenario, if Iaski and the vice-guild master were to hold fort, we wouldn’t be able to put a hand on them. 

Also, if they were to force the ritual even if in an incomplete state, who knows what in the world would happen. 

Anyways, what’s important here is to not allow the other party any freedom to act. 

“That’s why I am going to use a game event.” (Souma)

In this world, the compulsory power of the events is strong. 

If I take the same actions as the game event, they should have no choice but to move accordingly as well. 

I will cause chain events that Iaski will have no choice but to deal with, and won’t allow him to act.

That’s my basic strategy. 

“First, I will cause the guild recruitment event, and draw in Iaski.” (Souma)

The guildmaster personally gets involved in the baptism ceremony.

If it were someone else, they would most likely get refused at a time like this. 

But if it is me, the Player, it would be an event. 

We should be able to pull Iaski with the compulsory effect of the events. 

“In that case, we are going to catch him when he comes for the ceremony?” (Mitsuki)

“No, the ceremony will be done on top of the teleportation circle. If they were to discover me and they were to escape up, it would all crumble to dust. 

That’s why I will cause the Revolt Event at that moment and am planning on catching Iaski for certain there.” (Souma)

When I fulfill the two conditions of ‘joining the Mage Guild’ and ‘Challenging the guildmaster’, I can trigger the ‘Revolt Event’.

The Revolt Event is a large-scale duel event with the guildmaster position at stake. 

When you issue the challenge, the guild members will be divided into the guildmaster side and the challenger side, and will become a team battle. The leader of the winning side becomes the next guildmaster.

Which side the guild members go to depends on their affection, and there will be no one siding with me as a new member.

In other words, in order to win in the Revolt Event, I have to win in a Whole Mage Guild vs Me.

“However, I have confidence that I can win as I am now.” (Souma)

This is not a lie. 

I have increased my battle power in preparation for the Demon Lord battle before. 

If I were to fight in perfect form, even if I am against more than 20 or 30, I can proudly say I can easily defeat them.

Also, this is an important point. In the case the player wins against Iaski, he will be apprehended by the Knight Order right then and there under the work of the opposing faction, and will be escorted to the castle.

…That opposing faction can also become hostile to you in the duel if you are within a certain threshold of the affection rate, but let’s not bother about the small details. 

Anyways, if I win in the Revolt Event, I will have a high chance of incapacitating Iaski. 

For the sake of that…

“However, both of these events are done alone. That’s why, I am sorry, but you two, please wait in front of the gui—” (Souma)

“…No.” (Ringo)

Ringo grabbed my arm before I could finish.

“You were listening to what I said, right? There won’t be any issues on my own. It would be better for you two to just wait obediently…” (Souma)

“…No.” (Ringo)

Ringo shook her head and hugged my arm tightly as if telling me with her whole body that she definitely won’t be letting go.

Ringo really might be getting anxious about the possibility of me leaving her. 

I myself also want to fight together at the end at least, and that’s why I did allow them to follow me all the way here. 

But even with that, this is still troubling. 

“Hey, it is not like I want to leave you behind because I want to. It is just for a bit…” (Souma)

“…That’s not it. You can…leave me behind.” (Ringo)

“Eh?!” (Souma)

I was left speechless at the unexpected response. 

The expression of Ringo when she said ‘don’t leave me behind’ has been burned into my eyes. 

And yet, why is she saying it is okay to leave her? 

Ringo’s gaze lowers at her own hands for a moment, at the rings on her fingers -at the crystallization of her hard work.

Even with that, Ringo looked up at me as if shaking it off and said to me clearly. 

“…If I am a hindrance, you can leave me behind.” (Ringo)

“Rin…go…?” (Souma)

“…But don’t go alone.” (Ringo)

The strength Ringo was using to hold my arm increased. 

My gaze and Ringo’s intertwined. 

Those way too desperate eyes of hers made me forget to breathe.

“…Souma, you said you can’t use your gear in the baptism ceremony.” (Ringo)

“So you remembered that…” (Souma)

It is true that you will be forced to equip the lowest tier of equipment in the baptism ceremony, and your adventurer bag will be taken away too.

Of course, it is just temporary for the ritual, but I don’t know if I will have the time to get them back this time around. 

It will all go down the drain if Iaski were to run away in the time I am changing.

I planned on causing the Revolt Event the moment the ceremony ends. 

In the worst case scenario, I might have to fight dozens of mages while still in my baptism ceremony gear. 

That’s the biggest worry in this time’s plan. 

I spoke in a way that they wouldn’t notice, but it didn’t work. 

“….You must not go to such a dangerous place…alone.” (Ringo)

I don’t know how to respond to the gaze of Ringo who is worrying about me. 

If it were simply because she didn’t want to separate from me, I could have stopped her, even if forcefully. 

But…

“…Good grief. Can’t stand to watch this.” 

A shadow crept behind me when I was frozen and unable to say anything.

“Wa?! M-Mitsuki?!” (Souma)

I suddenly felt a soft sensation at the opposite arm from where Ringo was grabbing me. 

When I looked there, Mitsuki was hugging my arm the same way as Ringo, and was pulling. 

“You want to do the event alone. Ringo doesn’t want you to go alone. Then, the solution is simple. We will leave that so-called event to you. 

However, we will also go with you, and if anything unexpected happens, we will intervene. 

…Isn’t that okay?” (Mitsuki)

“Eh, no…that’s true, but…okay.” (Souma)

I ended up nodding at the logical words of Mitsuki.

Mitsuki nodded as if saying ‘good’ and looked to the side.

“Also, you two, it is good that you are all concentrated in your talk, but don’t forget to keep your eyes on your surroundings properly… See?” (Mitsuki)

What Mitsuki pointed at skilfully with her ears was…

A sign where Accessory Shop is written…

“If I hadn’t noticed, we would have passed our objective, you know?” (Mitsuki)

“Wa?!” (Souma)

I swallowed the words ‘you don’t have the right to say that’ as I saw how Mitsuki bent her cat ears and winked at me with a smug look.

(The smug cat ears are so annoying! But cute!) (Souma)

I was entranced by the cat ears-chan that were shaking proudly, and Mitsuki was smiling at Ringo as if saying ‘I did it’ while my head was blank.

I forgot about how I was being hesitant of the two accompanying me, and was simply being pulled by the hand of Ringo and the chest of Mitsuki as I entered the accessory shop. 

—

Author: Mitsuki has found a way to steer Souma.