CH 36.1

“Fire Arrow.”

Arrows of fire scorch the earth. With a death cry and a thud, the vampire falls. This seems to be the last monster in the city. Before I knew it, all the noise of the fights around me stopped.

This is the second town we’ve freed from vampire control on our way to Clermont since we left Charante. They’re all high level monsters, so I’m no match for them on my own, but I’m in a party with some tough-looking warriors who protect me. Their fangs never reach me.

They’re all members of Raoul’s guild who wear the same custom-made armor (I’m a little jealous. I wonder if their guild supplies them?), and they don’t initiate conversation. It’s a relationship on the level where we exchange one or two words with each other. I kind of want to be more friendly with them, but for a chronically solitary player like me, it’s nearly impossible to make small talk with a silent player.

I’ve been playing with them pretty much all the time, but all the members of Raoul’s guild sure do have a high login rate. I’ve also spent quite a bit of time playing since I started my summer vacation, but it’s like they’re logged in all the time. I’d almost think they were logged in 24 hours a day. Seriously, when do they sleep? I guess it really does take a lot of motivation to be in a top class guild.

So why am I doing this, and why am I heading to Clermont right now? The truth is, Raoul’s guild seems to be raiding Clermont, so Raoul invited me to accompany them. However, we’re not taking the shortest route which we took before, but an alternate route that’s a bit more to the northeast. Maybe that bridge isn’t fixed yet. When does it get fixed? Did… did I overdo it?

Along the way, there was a town that got taken over by vampires, so today, we freed that town. This really is a top guild if they have the strength and the leeway to own multiple cities. It’s true that it doesn’t say anywhere in the even description that a guild can’t own more than one city. In fact, we also freed one other city. I’m sure there will be a territory battle between guilds during this event.

But since I felt awkward about tagging along and for leveling up, I’ve also been participating in combat. When I told Raoul I was going to join the battle, he recommended that I party up with the guild members. He gave me bodyguards since I’m low level. Thanks Raoul, thanks bodyguard guys.

Thanks to that party, I was able to defeat a bunch of monsters. I’m also using the Book of Blessings, and since the enemies were high level, my level is pretty high now. I guess the solo leveling I did in my spare time because I didn’t want to be a burden really worked out. Though, it’s still not enough for a class change yet.

There’s a ton of people, though. Now that it’s over, the soldiers are patrolling the city. They’re probably staying vigilant in case there are more monsters.

When Raoul’s guild moves, it’s on such a huge scale that it could easily be called a march. There’s too many of them to be only players, so there’s probably NPCs mixed in. I wonder if you can hire NPCs and assign them actions if you own a territory. Probably because the event has such a high difficulty and there are so few guilds that own territories, there’s not much info about territory acquisition on the wiki, so I don’t actually know. Is it even possible to control NPCs?

Although, the summons of the Rank 2 class Summoner are sort of NPCs. And there are also other games where you can hire NPC mercenaries. Though, it can be said that there are no existing games where you can give orders to NPCs on this scale. But with Another World’s diverse NPCs, it seems plenty doable, so I can’t say it’s impossible. Hmm… Yup, it’s a mystery.

Well, I can’t figure it out just by thinking about it. After all, it’s not like I have a territory or the ability to control NPCs. I’ll look it up when the wiki has all the info.

“Hey, Chaos.”

After the patrols are done, Rosa– I mean, Roseline approaches, accompanied by several bodyguards. She isn’t wearing a dress like in Charante, but something closer to light equipment which is easier to move around in. Yeah, I guess I’m more used to this, it makes me more relaxed. Seeing her in a dress made me so nervous that it was bad for my heart.

“Your Highness, that is improper.”

Raoul is also with her. Come to think of it, Raoul is always around when I’m talking to Roseline. Roseline looks unhappy about what Raoul told her.

“I know that, Uncle. But wouldn’t it be alright to relax just a bit?”

“Nevertheless… Honestly, when it comes to things like this, you’re always so stubborn and unyielding. Alright, just for a short while.”

From the sound of it, Raoul is respecting Roseline’s wishes. Or more like he’s indulging them. He must really love his niece.

“In times like this, it’s so stifling that I can’t stand it. Don’t you think so too?” Roseline says to me, and I nod. It’s kind of hard to make casual conversation when she’s surrounded by so many people. Especially when she’s with her guardian. This exchange seems to put Roseline in a better mood, while in contrast, Raoul’s expression looks sour.

Raoul, could it be… Is he like one of those overprotective parents? When I think about it that way, it makes sense. Since Roseline is a girl of a certain age and I’m on good terms with her, he doesn’t want me getting close to her, so he isn’t leaving her side. Since he’s her uncle, he probably can’t help being worried, but this is a bit excessive. She’s in a situation where her guardian is always nearby when she’s playing with her friends. Frankly, that’s just uncomfortable. If anything, he really doesn’t need to worry about us being alone together.

“Now, Chaos. You must not agree with her. Now Her Highness will be uncontrollable.”

He’s putting me in a tough spot here. If I said something like that, she’d definitely get upset. However, it doesn’t look like there’s anyone on my side right now. Maybe they just don’t want any trouble, but everyone has their eyes on me as if they’re urging me to correct Roseline’s behavior. Isn’t this kind of playing dirty? Besides, I don’t think her attitude is that bad.

“This place is pretty destroyed, isn’t it?” Roseline sadly mutters to herself as she looks at her surroundings.

Apparently, the extent of the damage done to cities under vampire control will change depending on the location. Clermont may have seemed uninhabited, but the buildings weren’t damaged and it looked like things could return to normal as long as the people returned. But in this town, not only are the NPCs gone, but the houses have also been mercilessly destroyed. And even if there’s some buildings here and there that haven’t collapsed, they’re in need of repair.

This wasn’t caused by the battle from earlier. The town was probably destroyed by vampires. Do some cities get destroyed like this if you take too long to free them? Even though we went to the trouble of freeing it, it looks like the buildings and NPCs won’t come back right away. Are they planning on restoring it during server maintenance? …But there wasn’t anything about that in the official announcement. That seems like a pretty important detail, though.

Maybe the territory owner has to restore the town like a city management sim game. That actually sounds pretty fun.

“I hope we can free Clermont from the vampires soon.”

“…It’s for that reason that we’ve gathered so many soldiers. We’ll definitely free it. Chaos, will you also lend me your strength?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Clermont is one of the game’s starting locations and a hub of player activity, so it’s an important location. Apparently, not many players have been active in Commune since this event started. And those few players evacuate to the towns around Clermont to escape the danger. However, aside from the towns that have been freed and are already owned by a guild, the towns that haven’t been freed are still targets for the event. There’s no telling when those towns will end up like Clermont.

That’s why I want to hurry and free Clermont. It’s not just beginners, other players are also inconvenienced by this. Also, this guild has helped me out a lot, so I want to be of as much help to them as I can. Alright, I’ll give it my all!

***

Judging by the report from the soldiers monitoring Chaos, there are many things that are suspicious about him.

On the surface, there are no problems with his behavior. Perhaps he isn’t particularly fond of other people, since he doesn’t actively try to build relationships, but he’s obedient and doesn’t disrupt military activity. When Chaos first told him that he would accompany the army, Raoul suspected that he would take advantage of that opportunity to plot something, but at the very least, he’s been very cooperative during battle.

The part of the report that’s concerning is that for a mage, he’s growing at an accelerated pace. There are some who have talent surpassing that of ordinary people, but this goes beyond that. No, Raoul feels that something is wrong here.

Growing stronger in a short period of time does happen very rarely. For mages in particular, the difference is obvious when they learn new spells. But for him, that’s not all it is. At first, his spells were only as powerful as a beginner mage’s, but in just a few days, he became more powerful than the average mage. To compare this to one who wields a sword, it would be similar to one’s physical strength suddenly increasing in the middle of battle. Without support magic, it would normally be impossible.

It’s possible that he was hiding his true strength from the start, but in that case, Raoul doesn’t understand why he would reveal it now. Whether it’s to blend in or for some other purpose, Raoul can’t understand what he’s thinking at all.

Another part of his behavior that’s suspicious is that he disappears regularly. Specifically, he disappears whenever he eats and goes to bed. He may be contacting someone on the outside, but rather than keeping it a secret, he calmly uses teleportation magic even in front of the soldiers. Since few mages can use teleportation magic, this isn’t commonly known, but normally, teleportation magic can only transport you to certain places known as portals. The teleportation spell he uses is a new type of teleportation magic.

When asked where he was going during that time, he said that he was going home to eat and sleep. Even though this is a battlefield, he’s acting like a store employee going to work. If he was going to lie, couldn’t he have come up with a better explanation?

And so, Chaos continued this inexplicable behavior and confused Raoul. It’s unclear whether or not Chaos is an enemy spy. However, his actions which are so detached from reality leave Raoul a bit uneasy.

‘I cannot spend any more time on this. I’ll meet him directly and discern his true intentions myself.’

There isn’t much time until they arrive in Clermont. Raoul has more than Chaos to worry about.

He can’t contact Duke Numour or Duke Mayenne. The messengers he sent by dragon should have been back by now. If it was just that it’s taking a long time, then it wouldn’t be a problem, but it’s possible that they’ve fallen into enemy hands just like this city has and been cut off from contact. If the military strength of both dukes is on the enemy’s side, then the military strength that Raoul possesses can’t compete. If that happens, then it could turn into a civil war covering all of Commune. That said, he can’t have the soldiers withdraw. The vampires are gradually expanding their territory, just like they have in this city.

It’s better to strike fast and hard than slowly and carefully. How quickly they recapture Clermont will determine whether they can get the people of Commune on their side.