by Sakon Kaidou
It was a lion, bearing a mane as thick as wool and a size rivaling that of an elephant. It pulverized the carnivorous boars, asserting its position as the true apex predator on the scene.
“Are you all right, boy?” asked one of the two people that jumped off the lion’s back.
The one who spoke was a bald warrior. He had the facial features of a person from Tenchi and a well-trained body covered in light armor.
The other was a girl with green hair. She glared at the Boar horde with a somewhat vague expression on her face.
The bald warrior ran over to Louie, who was too scared to stand at this point, and extended his left hand towards him. There was a blue crest on the back of the hand.
“That’s my mount, Gringham,” he said. “He’ll keep the monsters away, so you just run, and...”
“M-My mom! My mom is still in the carriage!” Louie shouted, making the bald warrior turn to the vehicle, where he saw Farica, her leg crushed by the baggage.
He hurried to her aid and said, “I’ll help you!”
“Don’t mind me! Just save my son, please!” she protested, urging the bald warrior to focus entirely on Louie. That would be the reasonable thing to do. After all, her damaged leg not only rendered her incapable of running, but also made her attract the violent boars. “Only a miracle can save me now... So please, help my son...”
“I don’t think so,” the bald warrior retorted. “You will be saved if I kill all the monsters.”
“But that’s—!”
“If that would be a miracle... If a miracle alone can save you, then I shall become a miracle-worker!” He stood up, then looked at the boar horde fighting his trusty lion mount.
“Juno!” he called the green-haired girl’s name, prompting her to become green and red particles of light that gathered in the man’s hands, taking the shape of a spear in his right and an elliptical shield in his left. “Come, monsters! This is the shield of miracles!”
The man tightened his grip on his weaponry, ran up to his mount and jumped on its back.
He faced the numerous boars and roared, “I am a Myth Rider, Ichiro Shijima! Face me now!” before charging the overwhelming odds.
The result of this battle was obvious.
◇◇◇
Paladin, Ray Starling
“Dad was... awesome. He and Gringham killed all those monsters and saved me and Mom,” Louie finished.
“And that’s how you met him?” I asked.
“Yeah. He also protected us all the way to Torne and even brought someone who could use healing magic to fix mom’s leg.”
Louie then continued to tell us that Mr. Shijima, concerned with their well-being, had regularly visited them in the village. Eventually, he and Farica had fallen in love, gotten married, and made a child.
I silently processed the story.
One thing that I couldn’t help but note was the fact that Mr. Shijima was a Maiden’s Master. If the words Hugo had told me were to be believed, it meant that he, too, didn’t consider Infinite Dendrogram to be just a game.
The fact that such a person hadn’t visited his family for half a year of this world’s time made me picture scenarios I really didn’t want to consider. When we found him in real life and discovered that he’d simply quit, I would like to, at the very least, convince him to come here and give Louie and his wife a proper goodbye.
However, if the reason why he’d disappeared was one that rendered him incapable of ever meeting them again, then—
“...What?” I asked suddenly as my thoughts were cut short by a low, distant sound, much like the howling of the wind.
The noise was repeated again and again, and seemed to come from several locations. Upon hearing one that came from relatively close, I realized that it was the sound of a conch trumpet.
Soon enough, the entire area’s soundscape was dominated by the sound, and I had no idea if it was a warning, a message, or something else.
“B3, what is th—?” I tried to ask, but cut my words short upon noticing the drastic change in her expression.
If I had to summarize her face in just a word, I’d have probably used “fierce.”
However, once I blinked in surprise, B3’s expression was back to normal.
Did I just imagine that? I wondered as she looked into my eyes and began talking.
“Be alert, Ray. This conch is their signal.”
“‘Their’?” I asked, but before she could answer, a voice blared throughout the entire area.
“This is a message to all Masters passing through or hunting in Fadl Mountain Pass,” the voice said loudly. It was obviously passing through a voice-amplifying item, and it reminded me of a female announcer in Japanese baseball stadiums. “In ten minutes, the PK clan K&R will begin hunting in this area. Those who do not wish to fight must leave Fadl Mountain Pass within this time.”
“Huh?!” I exclaimed as the sudden PK announcement left me confused.
I wasn’t the only one. There were other Masters nearby, and they seemed as puzzled as myself.
Meanwhile, B3, despite acting weird at first, seemed completely calm now.
I silently thought things through.
“Mister, what’s going on?” Louie asked in a worried tone.
The announcement had stated that “Those who do not wish to fight must leave Fadl Mountain Pass within this time.”
Since we had Louie to look out for, I really didn’t want to get involved in any battles, so I considered making Silver hurry and using the given time to leave.
“I repeat. In ten minutes, the PK clan K&R will begin hunting in this area. Those who do not wish to fight must leave Fadl Mountain Pass within this time. Circle of Detect Life — Human.”
Following that repeat and the skill activation, I felt something pass through my body, which was enough to make me gasp.
“They’re just like always...” said B3. “Don’t worry, this isn’t dangerous by itself.” Since she was clearly familiar with the magic used, she explained the spell’s nature. “This is just a life search skill that had its range and precision enhanced by the announcement they used as a Chant. It’s what they usually do.”
Oh, so the announcement was a Chant, I thought.
The Chant skill used MP-imbued words to enhance magic effects, and since the user was free to set the words used, with the exception of a few special spells, even that announcement had been a proper Chant.
That aside... “life search”? I wondered.
“The search they made allows them to know the location and level of all the creatures in the area that fit the designated type,” B3 continued. “They put the skill name in the announcement as a way of saying, ‘There’s no use in hiding. Either run or fight.’ Oh, and just so you know, most K&R members are from Tenchi, and this is an Onmyoji job skill.”
“K&R...” I murmured.
That name was familiar. Marie had mentioned it after the capital blockade incident, and I’d seen it myself on the bulletin board for clan rankings, where it was no. 3.
“They’re third in the kingdom’s clan rankings,” B3 confirmed. “And if you consider just PK clans... With Mad Castle disbanding and Goblin Street moving to another country, they’re the undisputed top.”
The kingdom’s strongest player killers... That certainly seemed like a force to be reckoned with.
“Also, though it pains me to say it, their leader was the top PK even when the other clans were active. In fact, you can even include that hitman, the Superior Killer, and he’d still be the best in the kingdom.”
A PK stronger than Marie... the Superior Killer... the one who killed King of Plagues?
“Is he a Superior?” I asked.
“Not yet, as far as I’m aware, but he’s well-known and very powerful,” she said before making a short pause. “Kashimiya is third in the kingdom’s duel rankings, after all.”
◇
The third in the kingdom’s duel rankings was a person I’d heard of before.
Following one of our usual sparrings, Juliet, the fourth in the rankings, and I had gone off together to have some lunch.
Spurred by curiosity, I’d said, “I’ve yet to see the third and fifth in the duel rankings. What are they like?”
Through Figaro, I’d come to know the eighth, Chelsea the Vagrant Golden Sea, and almost everyone above her. By now, mock battles against these skilled players were a part of my daily life. However, I’d never even met the third and fifth. I’d even talked, though I hadn’t sparred, with the second one, Tom Cat, so I was starting to find this quite strange.
Speaking of him, Tom Cat was a weirdo who walked around with a cat on his head. Then again, most of the top rankers were weird in their own ways, so he might’ve not been all that special.
“So you seek tales of the ‘Guillotine’ and the ‘Bone-Eater’...” said Juliet.
“‘Guillotine’? ‘Bone-Eater’?” I asked.
“Indeed. The latter was conferred the name because of her Embryo’s ultimate skill, while the former was crowned as such because he beheaded all the rank-bearers below himself... including yours truly,” she said before placing her hand on her neck.
“Even you?” I muttered in disbelief.
Juliet was fourth in the rankings and bore the dark knight grouping’s Superior Job, Fallen Knight. In addition, her Embryo, Hræsvelgr, could become wings that greatly increased her mobility and gave her magic attacks, making her into a character perhaps as versatile as Xunyu. And yet, she’d still lost her head against the third.
“The Guillotine is strong,” she continued. “Though compatibility walls him away from the throne of the second, Monster Cat Mansion, he is undoubtedly a match for him. In fact, I expect that even the Endless Chain would find it a challenge to seize victory before the Guillotine’s blade reached him.”
“He can defeat Figaro in close combat?” I couldn’t even picture that. Just what kind of a monster was he?
“You might wish to know that you would never see him spar,” Juliet added.
“Why?” I asked.
“He is a crest hunter... a player killer. On days without a ranked battle he must partake in, he indulges in headhunting ‘outside.’”
“...Well, that sure sounds unpleasant,” I said.
◇
I recalled having thought, Man, I sure wouldn’t like to encounter a ranked PK, but that had turned out to be a jinx.
“Can’t a man catch a break?” I complained. Tsukuyo Fuso yesterday, the strongest player killers today... What the hell’s up with my luck?
“K&R is unique among PK clans because their hunting is limited by rules put there by their leader,” said B3.
“Rules, eh?”
Well, considering they had the decency to announce it and give us time to escape, they were probably a better chance encounter than Marie.
“The rules include the necessity for announcements, giving time for people to escape, warning signs next to the roads leading to the area, and a ban on any attacks against tians.”
“Well, that’s pretty considerate of them... Definitely not praiseworthy, though.” They were basically occupying an entire area, after all. It wasn’t like that counted as a crime, considering they didn’t hurt tians, but still.
“So we just happened to get caught up in their hunt, huh?” I asked.
“No.” B3 shook her head. “I’m inclined to believe this is no coincidence.”
“Hm?”
She opened her map window and pointed at a certain location.
“When the conch signal began, we were right here.”
It was the exact center of the Fadl Mountain Pass.
“Wait, so...”
“Yes, and if it’s no accident, it means they began their hunt exactly when it was hardest for us to escape. Ten minutes aren’t quite enough for us to leave this area from here.”
I’ve been singled out? Again? I thought, confused.
“It’s not guaranteed it’s because of you, is it?” asked Nemesis telepathically.
Well, yeah, but Louie was a tian, so he simply couldn’t be a PK’s target, while B3 was a normal player, so it was unlikely she had anything to do with this. I told her, That leaves only me. I stood out because of what happened in Gideon, so I could easily have gotten into their sights. Damn you, Franklin.
“Whatever the case, escape is unlikely, so it’s best we ready ourselves for battle,” said B3.
“All right, let’s do this,” I replied with no hesitation.
“You sure are quick to prepare.”
“I’m used to it by now.” This certainly wasn’t the first time I’d been caught up in some sudden trouble, after all.
“Then let me tell you about the way K&R fights,” B3 said.
“You know that?”
“To a certain extent, yes.”
First the conch, then life search, now this... B3 seemed to be quite knowledgeable about K&R’s methods. Well, she’d said that she’d joined CID because of the info they had, so it was no surprise that she was well-versed.
“Following the search, K&R’s members split up into three roles,” she said as she raised three fingers. “Group fighters — the ones that target the non-veteran players and wipe them out by overwhelming them; squad fighters — the ones that form single parties and go for the high-rank, max-level veterans; and solo fighters — their two Superior Jobs. One is the leader, Kashimiya, while the other is the sub-leader, Rosa. All the roles act simultaneously.”
“Two Superior Jobs, eh?” And one of them was said to be stronger than any of the rankers I’d sparred against. I hadn’t had many victories against any of them, and this was despite them letting me use a Lifesaving Brooch as a handicap. However, if I were to use the technique that got me some of those wins, I could maybe...
“If they’re targeting us, they will attack right after the ten minutes are up,” said B3. “And they will likely use their Superior Jobs, rather than groups or squads.”
“So we’ll have to fight two Superior Jobs?” I asked.
“Probably just one. Search-and-kill is more effective when they split up, and their fighting styles have little compatibility, so they’ll target different Masters and... Hm?”
Well, having to fight just one instead of two definitely gave me hope.
Oh, B3 seems to have realized something, I thought.
“...Odd,” she said with her hand placed over her mouth.
“What’s odd?” I asked.
“Now that I think about it, the very fact that we’re being targeted is strange.”
“They’re player killers, aren’t they?”
“Yes, and that’s exactly why it’s odd. Right now, we’re escorting Louie — an NPC. A tian,” she explained before looking inside the carriage. “K&R doesn’t target tians or Masters who are escorting them. That’s one of the rules put in place by Kashimiya. So, if they’re really targeting us, they either don’t know about Louie... or Kashimiya isn’t with them this time. I’ve heard rumors that he hasn’t been seen online for almost two months of game time, which makes it highly plausible.”
“So, if they’re targeting us despite knowing about Louie... they’re doing so because the leader isn’t here to enforce the rules?” I asked slowly.
“I believe that the rule has simply slipped Rosa’s mind. The woman is quite a meathead, you see, though not in the same way as the Over Gladiator... Basically, she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”
Coming from B3, that’s quite an evaluation, I thought.
Also, I couldn’t help but feel that her knowledge of K&R amounted to more than just what she’d learned through CID. It seemed kinda personal.
“That aside, if we’re really fighting just the Nobushi Princess, a job from the ambush-focused nobushi grouping, it means our opponent would have a limited set of moves. We could perhaps even counter her, and... Ray.”
“Yes?”
She looked directly into my eyes and asked “Do you want to try and
defeat the sub-leader of the kingdom’s strongest PK clan?”
◆◆◆
Royal Capital, Altea
K&R’s headquarters, the martial arts building, was currently mostly devoid of people, as most of the members had gone out to hunt. One Master that had stayed behind was currently stressed out of her mind.
“Oh no no nooo... What have I done? Nooo...”
Her name was Tomika, and she was the exact same girl that had witnessed the conversation at the adventurer’s guild and reported it to Rosa.
Today, she was free from both training and hunting, so, after seeing off all the members who had gone to Fadl Mountain Pass, she’d stayed and looked after the headquarters. That was when she’d realized that she’d neglected to do something very important.
“I forgot to tell her they had a tian child with them... Oh noooo...”
Tomika had tried to fix this mistake by contacting the hunting party, but she didn’t know any communication magic, nor did she have any items that enabled it. She’d also considered using real-life emails, but unfortunately, all the members she could contact like that were off-duty, just like her, and thus weren’t participating in today’s hunt.
Sadly, there was nothing she could do.
“Oh noo... They’ll be maad... The leader will be mad at Sis, who will then be mad at meee...” she whined with both her hands on her head. “Something even worse might happen... Oh noo...”
K&R’s leader was a gentle sort. Gentle enough to become upset at PK that was senseless or involved tians. Not to mention that, in his absence, Rosa had become even more irrational and inconsiderate than usual.
That had caused her to participate in the well-funded newbie hunt despite it breaking K&R’s rules, and it had inspired her to reduce the time the clan gave to let people evacuate, among other things.
Tomika knew full well what the implications of the current hunt were, and imagining the worst-case scenario made her stressed beyond belief.
“Why would anyone be mad?” someone asked.
“S-Sis was all fired up about this... she might involve the tian in her fight... and if he dies, the leader... Sis... the entire clan would... aaahhhhhh!”
It was hard to tell what kind of future she pictured, but her tears made it clear that it wasn’t pretty.
