Volume 1 - CH 13

A herd of monsters had suddenly appeared within the Kingdom. With her mission of suppressing said group of enemies finished, Mira returned to the Arkite Castle and quickly reported what she found; afterwards, the girl comfortably placed herself on the corner of a sofa, inside the King’s office.

“Hmm, I could have relaxed like this if it were not for all that shaking.”

Once again, during her trip back to the castle, she kept being thrown around inside the Armored Jeep, so it was with a relieved expression that she now stood there, gracefully sipping on her Apple au Lait.

“Who would’ve expected that a Lesser Demon would be involved in that matter… so then, the entire herd was killed, but its goal was achieved, right?”

“Yeah, without a doubt. It let out that peculiar and annoying laugh.”

While remembering the creepy smile that crept on the demon’s face during its last moments, Mira placed the bottle of her drink on the table, having only finished half of its contents.

The Lesser Demon’s laughing voice. It was something well known among the players of Arc Earth Online, a sound that signaled the completion of their foe’s goal. In other words, it meant that the demon had achieved whatever its objective was before being killed by the Dark Knight.

“This is bothering me. I’m usually busy with all kinds of stuff and now there’s another problem I need to worry about.”

When they were still in a game, events that involved the Lesser Demon were always troublesome to deal with, most leaving a really bad aftertaste even if completed on time. Obviously, Solomon had experienced those events, so it was with a disgusted expression that he finished the report.

“So, am I also one of those problems of yours?”

Considering she arrived there not as Dunbalf, but as a “disciple” of his, Mira reacted to what her friend said about getting more problems to take care of.

“Oh no, of course not. Rather, I’ll have you in charge of it… ah, it wasn’t that long ago, but remember how I said that we couldn’t announce right away your status as a Sage?”

“Hmm, yes, there was something like that.”

“Then, I have a plan for you.”

After placing the finished report on the edge of his desk, the king folded his hands and, looking almost like a commander from someplace, leaned forward to utter those words.

“Ohoo… and what is it?”

In response, the girl threw a sharp glare at Solomon and fixed her posture on the sofa, placing a finger on her chin during that time. While in the game, it was a kind of pose that the friends often did together when they were about to discuss things seriously.

“After you achieve feats deemed worthy enough by everyone, I believe that declaring you, the pupil of Dunbalf, as the successor to his title of ‘Sage’ would be completely fine.”

What the boy wanted to say was that her position as the disciple of a Sage gave weight to her name. The fact was that only a few people would truly believe a little girl who suddenly appeared and claimed to be Dunbalf. And even if everyone accepted it as the truth, that drastic change in appearance would inevitably destroy the majestic image the Sage had, so the king had no idea of what kind of negative influence that problem would exert.

Additionally, if Solomon were to immediately grant the “Sage” title to Dunbalf’s disciple, another problem would arise. That position, the highest ranking an Expert could reach, held enough power to directly influence the future of the kingdom; consequently, no matter how strong was the position of being a disciple of the hero, raising a featless young girl to the “Sage” ranking would most probably be met with unneeded opposition by the hardworking Experts.

However, what would happen if Mira appeared with a track record of great contributions done for the country?

“It will definitely go well… is what I can’t say for sure, but I think that it’s worth a try. Or more precisely, I want to do it.”

Although there was also the option to simply have Mira show off her true powers to everyone, Solomon had abandoned it. The details were mostly unknown by the girl herself, but the succession of Dunbalf was currently something that held way more importance than she would’ve ever thought. The king believed that, to convince the neighboring countries of Mira’s strength, she needed to provide proof worthy enough of the “Sage” title.

“Well, I got the gist of the situation. So, what are you having me do?”

When Mira asked her question, Solomon took a deep breath and crossed his arms. Then, while looking completely serious, a somewhat troubled expression appeared on his face.

“Dunbalf… no, from now on I’ll be calling you ‘Mira.’ I don’t want the risk of having your real identity leaking.”

“Alright, be my guest.”

“Then, Mira. What I want you to do is to search for everyone else.”

“Everyone else?”

The young girl repeated her friend’s words while holding her chin with a hand. She had no idea who or what Solomon was talking about; or rather, she couldn’t understand what he meant for a moment, but after considering the flow of their conversation until now, Mira managed to think of something. After that sudden realization, she furrowed her eyebrows and revealed a pure, annoyed expression on her face.

“Are you telling me that, besides Luminaria and me, there are more of the original nine Sages in this world?”

“Yep. And I might even be right to say that you’re the last one to appear.”

“What the…”

“Remember how I told you about the Friend List when you first came here? Give it a try and check it.”

Just as she was instructed to do, Mira operated her bracelet. After activating the secret menu, she opened the Friend List and observed the names lined up there, each one of them corresponding to a friend she made in the game. Of course, written in white letters, were both Solomon’s and Luminaria’s names. Then, while searching through the other ones, when the girl finally found the names she was looking for, it was with a completely lethargic look that she confirmed they were also written in white characters.

“Hmmm… everyone is online.”

Mira checked the names of seven people. In short, they were the ones that, together with Dunbalf and Luminaria, made up the Nine Sages.

“Exactly.”

“So, why are they not here?”

Because he verified that Dunbalf’s status had changed from offline to online, Solomon could realize that the young girl calling herself “Mira” was, in fact, his good old friend. Then, it was possible to guess that if someone’s status was online, that person’s existence in the (now real) game world could be confirmed. However, in the Kingdom of Arkite, homeland of the Nine Sages, Luminaria was the only one present.

“No idea. That’s why I want you to search and investigate it.”

“This is pretty bad. Where do I even begin looking for them? Except for the towers, they are the kind of people that will never stay in one place.”

“Well, to be frank, I believe it will take some time. But if possible, I would like you to find at least half of them before the year ends.”

Find half before the end of the year. What would be Solomon’s goal in order to set such a time limit for the task? Without the slightest idea of her friend’s reasons, Mira expressed those concerns.

“Wanting me to do that within this year… this is quite the hurry you have there. We have absolutely no idea about their whereabouts, so the job of searching for them is not something a person would be able to do in one or even two years, right?”

Since their relationship was a long one, Mira had a considerably good understanding of her comrades. And precisely because of that, she was also pretty familiar with what she couldn’t grasp of them.

“Yeah, I know that. But it will be really bad if we don’t find those Sages until then. Even your appearance here, in this world, was in the nick of time. I can’t help but feel that this is fate at work.”

Naturally, the king knew that the matter was a very difficult one to solve. That was why he wanted to entrust it to the person who would most likely be able to see it to the end.

The figure of that boy, looking completely tired as he wrinkled his eyebrows, immediately showed that something was off; from Solomon’s expression and the tone of his voice, Mira could sense that their situation was quite dire.

“So, why do we have to hurry that much? Could you tell me the reason?”

When asked by his friend, the king retrieved from the bookshelf a folder filled with documents and opened it on a desk, right in front of the sofa. Inside said folder were the written records of a battle that happened ten years ago. Mira then recalled, from the back of her mind, the conversation she had with Graia. After a certain battle, the number of monster appearances had increased.

“The Three God-doms Defensive Battle…huh?”

The girl glanced at the documents and, after checking the cover of that file, read it in an audible murmur.

“You know about it?”

“Yeah. I think it was something from a decade ago. Graia said that, afterwards, the rate of monster attacks greatly increased.”

While glaring at the folder, she remembered the story told by the knight.

“Exactly. Without you and the other Sages, I ended up having to deploy an order of knights to take care of the problem; it happens so often that the military budget is shooting through the roof.”

As he explained the situation, Solomon sat by Mira’s side and took the half-empty bottle of Apple au Lait on the desk, tasting it in the process.

“This stupidly sweet taste… damn, it really takes me back.”

“Hmpf, drinking it without even asking… I am sure that you, as a king, have a lot of first-class stuff at your disposition.”

“I’m not a genuine king, you know. I’ll never forget my love for junk food.”

Together with his retort, the boy held out both of his hands towards Mira; while one was returning the empty bottle, the other demanded seconds.

“Good grief. So, the reason why you have to be so hasty is inside here, right? In the end, it was something that happened long ago. Or are you trying to say that you just wanted to be stingy about your military expenses and have the Sages, me included, return to help once again with the suppression of monsters?”

Getting rid of the empty can, she took out another Apple au Lait and handed it over to Solomon.

“Ahh, that’s right… it would be a great help to have you guys do it, but there are more pressing matters here.”

After his reply, the boy took a sip of his drink while turning the pages of the folder, stopping at a certain point.『Limited Anti-war Treaty』 was how the matter that occupied that page was titled.

“Hmm, and this is?”

Mira inspected the title in a quick fashion, averting her eyes from the tiny characters that continued right below it and, immediately after, asked for an explanation.

“Since you weren’t there, of course you wouldn’t know. The Three God-doms Defensive Battle was something on a completely different scale than any other war we had ever fought. Maybe it will be easier for you to understand if I tell you that the rulers of the Beginners’ Three Kingdoms, the God Kings themselves, took command there.”

“What did you… those Immovable Kings acted?”

It was no wonder that Mira appeared surprised. The Beginners’ Three Kingdoms were a group of nations that every player once belonged to, at the beginning of their playing history. Before new ones started being created, those countries were already in the game, serving as a safety zone for novice players.

When the continent went through a surge of new nations being founded, not a single one of them declared war against that group. And on the off chance that they actually tried doing it, no one would stand a chance against the powerful NPCs that resided there, characters so strong even top players would be easily destroyed by them. So, if the three kings of those countries went out to battle, it would be easy to comprehend the sheer dimension that the war took; incidentally, the “Immovable Kings” Mira talked about was a nickname given to them because of the fact that they have never moved from their places.

“It’s called the ‘Three God-doms Defensive Battle,’ but because the Beginners’ Three Kingdoms struggled at the frontlines, it was a war that involved the whole continent. It all started with a swarm of demons that came flying from the sky. Even though they mainly assaulted the Three Kingdoms, when the reinforcements arrived they flew and scattered towards other locations too. Those demons then swoop down on the neighboring nations, greatly increasing the damage they caused, even resulting in the complete destruction of some of the smaller countries. That stuff was really harsh.”

With an expression distorted in anguish, as he talked about that cruelty, Solomon certainly showed that he carried the determination of a king that was concerned about his people. Upon seeing that figure, the girl replied with “So that happened, huh…” and, even though she couldn’t understand the matter completely, as a close friend she worried about Solomon.

“Well, that great war happened ten years ago anyway. But you can easily imagine what was the situation post-war, right?”

“Everywhere was very busy with the reconstruction work.”

“Correct. That’s why, to restrain the nations from attacking one another, we created the Limited Anti-war Treaty. Simply put, it was a treaty stating that, for a period of ten years, anything related to waging wars was prohibited between them.”

In other words, because all the countries in the continent were clearly in no condition to battle, for a while they had to focus on restoring themselves and stop attacking others to take advantage of the situation.

“So, what you are telling me is that the time limit given by the treaty is almost over?”

From what she heard up until now, Mira guessed that her friend’s reason was a time limit. After the deadline given by the treaty, its effectiveness would be over and, consequently, the ban on waging wars would be lifted. So, considering that the main strength of the Kingdom of Arkite, the Nine Sages, was reduced to only one person, the other nations could take advantage of that gap in the kingdom’s defenses. With its bountiful, gifted lands, and an unrivaled progress in the area of Abilities, if anyone were to take possession of Arkite and its wisdom, it would surely bring about great fruits for the victorious party.

“Honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that we’re being protected by this treaty. Anyway, we don’t need the kind of war potential that would make others fearful of attacking us, but something that would at least help in successfully defending our country. That’s why I’m asking you, once again. Mira, would you find everyone else for me?”

After closing the folder, the girl paused for a moment and stared back at Solomon’s sincere eyes. Deep down, she already knew her answer.

“Sure, why not? I accept the job.”

Upon receiving that reply, the king thanked his friend and smiled broadly.

———–

“Well then, now that we’ve finished negotiating, there’s the matter of where and how you will search for them, but…”

Having finished his Apple au Lait, Solomon kept the empty can in his hand while proceeding their conversation with a sigh. The fact was that every single one of the Nine Sages was a very eccentric individual, each with their own peculiarities.

“Yeah, indeed. Those guys are not the kind of people that would be easily located.”

“Exactly. The problem we have here is that the bad habits you all have are just too strong.”

As the king affirmed that, he moved a hand and stared at Mira through the hollow bottle he held, letting out a bitter smile while saying “Just look at what happened with one of them.” His eyes, however, shone somewhat cheerfully, for he was able to meet once again with his best friend after thirty years.

Suddenly, at that moment, the outside of the office became noisy. Immediately after, having ignored the pleas to stop given by Reynard, a single woman opened the door to the room with such violence that anyone would think she wanted to break it.

That person, who single-handedly snatched the gazes of Mira and Solomon, was clad in a blue and white robe, revealing an extremely attractive body line; furthermore, not losing to that perfect figure, her face was also finely beautiful. Indeed, that woman was so pretty she could easily captivate anyone that looked at her.

Taking a moment to fix some of her fiery, deep crimson and long hair with a hand, the beauty glanced at Solomon with her also blazing red eyes, not giving any thought to the fact that her actions were causing her ample bosom to sway. Finally, the woman’s gaze moved and concentrated on the other person in the office, a young girl.

“What is with you suddenly barging in? I thought our appointment would only be later.”

Without a single hint of his earlier informal behavior, Solomon talked in a tone that now exuded a dignified presence while staring at the pretty girl that had just arrived. Then, the moment said girl heard those words, she vigorously closed the door; sadly for Reynard, his face was nailed hard by the moving object, causing the Knight to display an anguished expression as he staggered to a great extent, tears faintly welling up in his eyes. While placing a hand on his companion’s shoulder, Joachim tried to comfort him by saying “No matter what you say to that lady, it will be useless, so please do not mind her.”

“When I heard about how a girl, who called herself Dunbalf’s disciple, was here in the castle, I went to take a look at her, but had no luck in finding anyone inside the guest room. Then, I saw one of the guards nearby and squeezed out the answer from him: everyone had moved to the office. So, here I am.”

The beauty faced Solomon and explained herself, a bright smile appearing on her face.

“I see… well, whatever. Afterwards, I was planning on bringing her to your place anyway.”

Following his reply, the king walked and approached Mira.

“This girl here is the so-called disciple of Dunbalf. Her name is Mira.”

After being introduced, the little girl didn’t even try to leave her seat nor greet the other party. She simply gazed at the woman standing in front of the door and, upon confirming that the beauty looked the same as ever, revealed a wry smile while strongly correcting her posture on the sofa.

“Ah, so it is her. By the way, Solomon-sama, is it fine to be using that kind of tone?”

What the woman meant was that Solomon’s manner of speech had become one that would only be used when talking between friends, and not the one he had previously changed into, a tone filled with the dignity of a king. That matter was something they had decided beforehand: in a situation where the two of them weren’t alone, both Solomon and the woman were supposed to behave in a suitable posture and manner.

“Yeah, there’s no problem. Since this girl here is Dunbalf himself, you know? So you can just drop that and speak normally. Even after this many years, I’m still not used to that new tone of yours.”

While saying that, the boy had a playful and radiant smile on his face.

“Wha… w-w-wha…”

“Ooh, hey there, Luminaria, long time no see. Or that is how it is supposed to be for you, I guess. In my case, it has been barely a day since then.”

Still relaxing on the couch, Mira simply raised a hand to greet the woman.

Luminaria. That was the name of one of the Nine Sages and also the only Elder whose whereabouts were known.

“Got it. Dunbalf, huh? So you’ve finally arrived here too…”

The beauty then tried to get a good look at Mira, observing her whole figure from top to bottom. That cute, adorable little girl in front of her was enough to make Luminaria remember clearly an old conversation she had with Dunbalf, when they talked about their preferences in women;  currently, Mira’s appearance completely matched the characteristics she heard that time. Finally, while feeling happy to once again meet her longtime friend but also finding that situation hilarious, Luminaria burst out in laughter.

Escaping through the door and reaching the outside, the faint laughing voice made Reynard cover his ears as both him and Joachim nodded to each other. Within the castle, there were rumors circulating that, sometimes, Luminaria would act like a completely different person. In a sense, they were completely right.

When the woman finally stopped her convulsing outburst of laughs, she gave another look at Mira’s figure and, as if trying to imply something, smiled broadly.

“So you’ve also finally realized how wonderful this is. Having a woman’s body is great, right? Did you play with it to your heart’s content already?”

Then, the very first thing that came out of Luminaria’s mouth was some really indecent speak. However, even that didn’t change the fact her seductive lips, now raised in a smile after uttering those words, were also part of her charm, filled with sensuality.

“Do not put me on the same level as you. This was mostly an accident, I had no intention of having this happen to me.”

“Damn, that was some excellent work for an accident, dontcha think? I’m finding it a tad bit hard to believe…”

After stroking Mira’s silver hair for a moment, the woman placed her fingers on the collar of her friend’s robe and pulled it, taking a peek at the young girl’s chest; even under the clothes everything was flawless, so Luminaria made sure to voice what she found.

“…Uughh. It will take some time if I were to explain, but…”

Seemingly irritated, Mira brushed off the beauty’s hand and briefly explained the events the led to her current situation, starting with the message that warned about her soon to be expired in-game cash.

———–

“Well, I bought my current Vanity Case because of that too. But in my case, I didn’t use it.”

As Solomon finished listening to his friend’s history, he mentioned that the same message had arrived to him and, after thinking that it would be a waste to simply let his money expire, bought the Vanity Case in the process.

“Same here, dude.”

In order to prove what she said, Luminaria opened her item box and brought out the same item, holding it on the palm of her hand. Then, while glaring at the case with a bitter expression on her face, a completely sulky Mira pouted and threw herself on the sofa.

“Why am I the only one without iiit?”

“ ‘Cause you used yours, of course.”

Having her heart pierced by Solomon’s point-blank words, the girl could only groan in despair and, while looking exactly like a sullen kid, sprawled face-up over the couch.

Vol.1 Chapter 13

“But hey, that ended great, right? At least you didn’t try to copy the image of some joke character[1] out there. If I remember well, you said this was your ideal female figure, no? Well, even if this weren’t your ideal or you had no attachments to it at all, your current state in itself is something to celebrate. For me, it was like I’d hit the jackpot when this world became real, this place is just the best shit ever. I spent the entirety of my first day here playing hard with my body.”

A truly refreshing smile appeared on Luminaria’s beautiful face. Without a doubt, most men would get instantly charmed by it, but only if they didn’t know the real person that was behind that pretty expression. And unfortunately, the other two individuals there knew really well her true identity.

While sending an icy stare towards her friend, whose behavior and appearance remained the same even after all the time that had passed, a certain question appeared in the girl’s mind.

“By the way, I had this sudden thought now, but… Solomon spent thirty years here and Luminaria twenty, right? It is a lot of time, so why do you guys look like you did not age a single year?”

Because Mira had barely spent a day in that world, she obviously wouldn’t feel that things were out of place there; what was baffling, however, was that her friends didn’t change a single bit after spending a considerable amount of time in that new reality. Even if she disregarded Luminaria’s case, it would be impossible to do the same for Solomon. There was no way for a human in their forties to still have the figure of a young boy.

“Oh, that’s right, it was so natural to us already we actually forgot to talk about that.”

“Yeah, it’s the reason why I said this world was the best shit ever.”

In order to settle down and focus on the talk, Solomon tried to get his wheeled office chair and bring it near the sofa, but apparently Luminaria thought “First come, first served,” and quickly sat on said chair. The woman then crossed her fascinatingly long and slender legs, with a clear intention of showing them off.

“Simply put, it seems that we, former players, are quite different from the ordinary people, or former NPCs.”

The boy continued the conversation while poking his friend’s head, retaliating for her audacity in taking his seat.

“Different from the ordinary, you say…?”

“Yep. First of all, I’m talking about ‘Inspection.’ Did you already try to inspect both me and Luminaria?”

When the king asked that, Mira remembered that during her audience with him, she had tried to inspect the boy but no information was displayed. So this time, the girl attempted to observe Luminaria, who kept squirming around in a really unpleasant way. However, she couldn’t make any kind of data appear in her field of vision..

“Nothing appeared, for both of you. And yet I could do it for Suleiman and Graia…”

After hearing Mira’s reply, Solomon let out a jovial laugh and quietly sat near the sprawled girl’s feet.

“Somehow, it looks like we can’t inspect former players. This is the first difference. Oh, by the way, when I first saw you I tried the inspect function, but since it didn’t show anything, I could confirm that you were an ex-player. Then, there was the fact that the name Dunbalf had changed to ‘online’ and, at the same, a certain disciple of his appeared, a loli whose appearance looked perfectly fit for his tastes. That was enough evidence to convince not only me, but anyone else with such information.”

“In other words, it can be used as material for decision-making.”

Mira concluded with a bitter smile.

“Indeed. We can’t be completely sure that the people you’ll be looking for won’t change their appearances, right? At least with this you will be able to identify if someone is a former player or not.”

Said the boy as he adjusted the lower hem of his friend’s robe to cover her legs; that skirt-like part of her clothing was in a dangerous position, to the point that even her bloomers were exposed.

“Anyway, with how those guys are, we should be able to identify them without even looking at their appearances.”

“You’re right. For example, if Luminaria here changed into someone else, I’m pretty sure I would recognize her.”

“Exactly. There are not many perverts like her.”

Throwing a look at Luminaria, whose expression was of pure ecstasy as she ogled her own legs, the other two resisted the urge to laugh. Although the woman directed a sharp glare towards her friends after being called a pervert, she completely changed her expression all of a sudden, as if something had happened.

“Hey, in other words… if we’re already at the point that we can recognize each other without even looking at our appearance, then we’re really close buddies!”

Luminaria, who gave a surprisingly positive reply, stood straight up and, looking almost like a pro wrestler, made a diving attack towards the sofa. With nimble movements, Solomon managed to escape in time, but Mira wasn’t that lucky; the girl was lying sprawled on the couch, feeling completely exhausted, so she couldn’t do anything in response to her friend’s sudden attack. A moment later, assisted by the force of gravity, the woman relentlessly embraced Mira.

“Ohh, my friend~!”

“Hey! Drop that, Dumbnaria![2] …Where the hell do you think you are touching me!?”

Switching their target to the young girl now, Luminaria’s hands started crawling all over Mira’s body, as if trying to investigate its every nook and cranny.

“This should be fine, right? It’s aalright… OOOF!”

While making a scene fit for a clichéd drama, Luminaria, acting as the evil governor, laid her hands on the young girl, attempting to rape her[3]. However, that was quickly interrupted by a dull exploding sound, followed immediately after by the woman’s groan as the air from her lungs was forcefully expelled; Luminaria flew in the air for a moment and, after colliding hard with the ceiling, crashed onto the floor.

Still lying on the sofa with her face up, Mira also had her right hand thrust towards the ceiling. At point-blank range, she had launched an ability from her secondary class, the Xian Expert, against the assaulting woman.

“Sexual harassment is pretty risky, huh.”

Seemingly indifferent to what had just happened, Solomon called out to Luminaria. The woman then slowly rose to her feet and proudly gave a thumbs up, replying with “But I can take that risk.” As for the girl, she got up from the couch while tidying her worn out robe and, with her eyes now completely awake, glared at her pervert friend to say “Next time you do that, I will be using it together with my Mystic Eyes,” as an ultimatum.

With a clear intention of continuing her assault, Luminaria’s hands were already ready to thoroughly grope Mira’s body, but when she heard the girl’s warning, the woman stopped in her tracks, both hands now wandering after losing their destination. Afterwards, she started picking up the documents that were scattered on the floor.

“Now that is something deserving of praise.”

“Nah, come on, I just like to keep things tidied up.”

“Oh really? Then, while you’re at it, take care of these ones too.”

Taking advantage of the situation, Solomon pointed towards a desk filled with even more scattered papers. Silently, Luminaria nodded in agreement.

TL Info:

限定不戦条約 – Limited Anti-war Treaty

1↑ネタキャラ – “Neta Character” or a “memetic” character (Japanese version). The term is really broad, but you could say that Akari (from Yuru Yuri) is an example of a “neta character,” what with all the jokes about her being invisible.

2↑バカナリア – “Bakanaria,” a pun with “Luminaria” and “Baka” (so obvious).

3↑よいではないかよいではないか – “Yoi de wa nai ka~ Yoi de wa nai ka” (lit. “Isn’t it fine~ Isn’t it fine~): those lines are commonly used (in dramas, anime, manga) by “evil politicians of the Edo period” when they lay their hands on a helpless girl and try to rape her. Something like, “don’t worry, it will all be fine” (obviously it won’t). Well, see this (humor skit) if you want an example: (first few seconds) here  or a  cute girls version

魔眼 – For now, I’m keeping it as “Mystic Eyes” since we already have the same term, from some really huge works (Tsukihime, KnK…), translated like that. But suggestions are always appreciated.