Chapter 131: Epilogue: What Goes Around…… Part 2

With that, what was once a shining armored-knight and was now reduced to a pile of intimidating rubble started to move. As she was walking through town she saw that the NPCs were all giving her strange or downright scared looks, and even flashing a bright smile from the crack in her helmet didn’t do much to improve the situation. And although Saiga-0 was in such great mood that she was about ready to break into song and dance, she remembered that there was one more person that was still present here: Akitsu Akane. After saying goodbye to Sanraku, he seemed to be lost in thoughts while gazing at the city’s landscape for a while, but then his thoughts returned to matters at hand.

「Ah, Sanraku-san mentioned going back to Rabitz…… Well then, shall we go there ourselves as well, Sickle-san!?」

The cloak on the back of the ninja flutters slightly and then it speaks in silent voice: “I told you that I’m pretending to be a cloak! So don’t talk to me!”. What was that about now? About returning to Rabbitz? The same Rabbitz to where Sanraku went to? But that means……

「W-What did you just……!?」

「He?」

Hearing Akitsu Akane’s words, Saiga-0 stopped dead in her tracks. And even though she couldn’t see his expression behind the mask, she could clearly imagine just how shocked he must be right now.

「Daaah! Damn it!!!」

BONK! I hit my desk, which emphasized practicality over appearance, hard with my fist. I let out a long sigh to try to cover up my irritation and then I fell on top of the bed in an act of resignation.

「Julie is not at home, and Ken is doing something else…… For fuck’s sake, we don’t have nearly enough members!」

Opening my mobile device and logging onto my email, I can see a whole lot of messages that decline my invitation for various reasons.

「At this rate…… I guess I can’t rely on my teammates in the end……」

As I view the declining emails one by one, a particular message appears before my eyes. It was written in Japanese, but it’s clear that it was changed via a translation tool.

「I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR REMATCH. IN THE NEXT GGC, MY “METEOR” SHALL OVERCOME YOUR “LAVA” FOR SURE.」

「…… Now it would be just miserable to lose by forfeit…… Members, members…… Need to get some fucking members……」

Then I remember. A team composition that I would only think off as a complete and utter joke. The strongest heroes that he could ask for…… An image of friends with whom I could take on even the most powerful of adversaries with ease.

There was no other way. After all, most of the other teammates already had plans set up for that date. And even though I managed to secure some assistance, I still needed to fill in for two missing places.

「Ahh, screw it! The time for regrets will come later……」

For a while I was lamenting over the fact that I would have to rely on borrowed strength, but when I was thinking that my long lasting ambitions would finally come to fruition I couldn’t help but to smile brightly.

Subject: A Favor to Ask

From: Modorokatsu

To: Sanraku, Pencil Warrior

Body: Will you go to the Global Game Competition together with me? I’ll cover your travelling expenses.

「I knew it, the level of detail is simply amazing……」

「But without Robots this game would be as worthless as garbage to me……」

A certain two pioneers checked out a certain café in Fifthsia for the first time in half a year.

One of them was a little girl with silver hair brushed over her shoulder and brown skin, having a bow with no string on her back and an expression that would suggest that she might fall asleep at any moment now. The other player was a burly man with his body covered in scars, which contrasted with his magic robes and a spellbook strapped to his waist. They were talking to one another while looking at the rising sun in the harbor area, while other players slowly started to log into the game as well.

「…… We should head over to the meeting place.」

「Let’s do just that.」

Various players and NPCs go towards the harbor area in a hurry, but the two of them walk with leisurely steps, as the darkness was slowly getting illuminated by the sunshine. Normally the town would be nicely lit by now, but thanks to the huge remains of a gigantic ship situated in the harbor, the city was not getting as much sun as it would normally do at this time of day.

The place they were going towards was a part of the harbor inhabited by many rogues and bandits, amongst which there was a certain pirate that would give them the quest they needed to undertake. They were supposed to meet with a certain other person here.

But what exactly that person looks like? …… As Mold kept on pondering that question, he turned towards his companion.

「That being said, how exactly are we going to know if Sanraku-san is here?」

「He said that we’ll surely know its him when we see him.」

And then they saw a half-naked birdman walking towards them, staggering all the time as if he was a zombie of some sort.

「Morning……」

「HYAH!!!」