Game’s End Part 1

by Mamare Touno

  At the three big production guilds, particularly the Marine Organization, the steam engine experiment had reached its final stages. Changing the charcoal-fired engine they’d initially envisioned into a Salamander-fired engine operated by a Summoner had made the device compact at a stroke and led to a technological breakthrough.

  In addition, ovens and waterworks had been designed for the new style of cooking, types of clothing (mostly underwear) that hadn’t been seen before had been developed, and a huge hot spring had appeared in town. In the past two months, new discoveries and plans for more had been launched almost every day.

  It would have been scandalous for a councilor to take a long absence (for a vacation, at that) during such an important time. …Still, however true that was, Marielle hadn’t given up. She’d talked Henrietta and Shouryuu around to the idea, and they’d worked out a plan.

  The pretext they’d come up with had been, “A summer camp to train the newbies who have been entrusted to us.”

  “This area ap-purrs to be cultivated.”

  Just as Nyanta said, the slope that descended from the foothills soon became a country road bordered by terraced fields. Pumpkins, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers… The trees over there might be fruit trees. There was a sweet scent on the wind.

  “Minoriii! Hey, Minori! These are pears! Awesome!”

  “Oh, honestly, Touya!!”

  Touya shouted cheerfully; he’d gone off the road and clambered up onto a simple stone wall built on the terraces. How long had it been since they’d eaten pears? She couldn’t remember, but they really did look marvelously delicious.

  “The People of the Earth are growing those! You mustn’t pick them!”

  Yet even as she scolded Touya, Minori’s thoughts were otherwise occupied.

  A summer camp to train the newbies.

  Releasing the new players from Hamelin had been something Shiroe’s group had done on their own initiative; it hadn’t had anything to do with the Round Table Council. The official explanation had been that by the time the Round Table Council was established, Hamelin’s punishment had already been meted out.

  However, it had been a rather delicate time, and support for the newbies had been one of the issues taken up by the Round Table Council.

  For that reason, the Council had readily agreed to the Crescent Moon League’s proposal. The Crescent Moon League had accepted nineteen of the thirty-five newbies who’d left Hamelin, which made it a training guild for new players as well.

  That said, there were newbies who’d left Hamelin and had not joined the Crescent Moon League. Most of them were players who’d been interested in the production classes and had entered highly specialized production guilds.

  There were also newbies who were fortunate enough not to have been part of Hamelin in the first place. They belonged to all sorts of Akiba’s guilds.

  If they were conducting a summer camp officially endorsed by the Round Table Council, it wouldn’t be fair not to invite these other beginners. Coming to that natural decision, letters asking whether they wanted to participate had been sent to the newbies whose whereabouts were known. In addition, a notice to the effect that a summer camp was being held as part of the support measures for new players under level 40 had been posted in Akiba’s plaza.

  At that point, it became an issue of honor among the guilds.

  Some had even felt that if the event had been approved by the Round Table Council, they couldn’t shove the whole burden onto the Crescent Moon League.

  There were some councilors who stated their positions wouldn’t allow them to go with their newbies for training, and so refused the task of assisting the effort. Guilds with total memberships of ten were one thing, but if big guilds with one or two hundred members didn’t send a leader or two, they’d look bad.

  So in addition to leadership, support was provided in the form of food and clothing, and contributions of the new equipment that would automatically become necessary at higher levels were made on a large scale.

  As they stared in blank amazement, the matter grew bigger and bigger, until it had become a large summer camp attended by more than sixty people… This was the full story of the summer camp’s beginnings, as told by Isuzu to Minori.

  Before they knew it, the slope became more gradual, and they entered the dense rubble of a ruined area said to have been a city in the Age of Myth. Back then, the hilly expanse had probably held many single-story houses. Compared to large concrete structures, wooden houses deteriorated rapidly, and there were no prominent remains of stone; only decayed timber homes here and there, many of them buried in weeds.

  The city forgone, the peninsula of the Zantleaf region had become an area of forests, mountains, and gently rolling hills—an environment brimming with lush natural beauty.

  The wide river they’d been able to see for a while now was apparently called the Great Zantleaf River. In the real world, the area where that river emptied into the blue ocean was called Choushi. It meant “the saké bottle,” because the peninsula made by the river curved in and then out like the neck of one. Yet even in this other world, the Pacific in August was a bottomless azure so pure, it seemed to melt into the blue of the sky.

  When they reached the edge of the river, they found several huts.

  A look around showed that many similar huts were scattered all along the riverbank. According to her brother and his friends—who’d energetically gone on ahead and scouted—the huts were used for mooring small fishing boats or raising them out of the water.

  With this area so close to the ocean, the boats probably went down the river to fish there. Storing the boats here, a little ways upriver, might have been a clever way to keep them from being damaged when the ocean grew rough.

  According to Marielle, the People of the Earth who worked as fishermen lived along the river; there was a fair-sized town a bit closer to the river’s mouth.

  After leaving the bank of the great river and detouring around a dense forest of Japanese cedars, Minori and the others reached a reservoir that looked to be about five hundred meters across. Beside the reservoir stood a ruin made of reinforced concrete—unusual for the area—and it didn’t seem all that old.

  “Whoa! Hey, it’s a school!”

  As Touya said, it seemed to be a school building from the Age of Myth. Viewed in that light, the flat area that spread in front of the ruin had probably been the sports field. The chain-link fence and the school’s gymnasium were mere shadows of what they’d once been, but definite traces still remained.

  “Okay! Hey, kids! Startin’ today, this is gonna be home for a while! Today, ya’ll split into the teams we put ya’ll in earlier and clean out three classrooms. That’s three from the east end on the first floor. We’ll be sleepin’ twenty to a room. …If we end up wantin’ a little more space, we’ll clean tomorrow, too, and make the place comfortable somehow!”

  At her words, the members from the big guilds who’d gone on ahead to scout came out of the school building, mingled with the newbies, and got to work.

  “We’ll be barbecuin’ on the field for dinner tonight, so make do with box lunches and rolls for lunch, ’kay? And then, let’s see, Team Three. You and anybody with Chef skills, come with me. We’re goin’ to the village to do some shoppin’! We’ll be greetin’ the village chief, too, so be polite. We’ll head out in thirty minutes. All right: Man your stations!”

  Responding to Marielle’s voice, the group began busily preparing for the training camp.

  2

  Marielle and the rest of the provisions procurement unit walked down a country road in the midst of a raucous chorus of cicadas.

  All the new players trailing after Marielle had summoning whistles hanging from their necks or waists, and they seemed very proud of them. These were items used to summon the horses they rode. That said, there were a variety of summoning whistles, and the items they had summoned rather low-performance mounts for just a few hours a day.

  However, as f
ar as the newbies were concerned, they were precious magic items. Each of them caressed the whistles with their fingertips, as if they were very important.

  The whistles had been handed out to the newbies in advance, as support items for the summer camp.

  Marielle and the others were making for the neighboring town on foot.

  Along the way, they saw many People of the Earth working in the fields.

  They hadn’t wanted to appear suddenly in a large group and make everyone wary, so they were traveling to the town rather slowly, as if they were out for a stroll.

  Of course, everyone had a summoning whistle, so they’d probably make their return trip on horseback. No doubt they’d have a lot to carry by then. However, it was only about three kilometers to the town. Walking would take less than an hour, and they’d wanted to get a feel for the surrounding area while they had the chance.

  “Mmmm. Somethin’ smells right good!”

  The faint fragrance of pears hung in the air.

  “It certainly does. If we find some good pears, I hope we can convince the growers to part with a few.”

  “Yes, I’d love some pears!”

  Nyanta had come along to lead the provisions procurement team, and Serara stuck close beside him. Minori also nodded quietly. Several of the newbies who’d chosen to be Chefs seemed to be eyeing the fields and evaluating the quality of the vegetables as well.

  Under the summer sun, the tomatoes and eggplants shone like jewels. The tomatoes were like garnets, the eggplants onyx. All sparkled with water droplets and hung heavy on their vines.

  In the old cooking method, no one had cared about the quality of the ingredients. It hadn’t mattered whether an ingredient was a bit small, or withered, or even—in extreme cases—nearly rotten. As long as a player could confirm the ingredient item on their menu, these things had had absolutely no effect on the finished dish.

  Tomato salad made with fresh tomatoes had been exactly the same as tomato salad made with withered tomatoes (of course, both had tasted like soggy rice crackers), and there’d been no difference between the two.

  However, in the new method, where Chefs used their own hands and real-life skills to cook, they couldn’t be careless about choosing ingredients. A dish made with tomatoes that were just this side of rotten could never be anything more than food made with spoiled ingredients. Of course, the Chef’s techniques were also important, but in order to make food that was really impressive, they had to use fresh, well-formed ingredients.

  “I’d love to make pizza with those!”

  “I bet tomato sauce would be good, too.”

  For all these reasons, as they walked along, the newbie Chefs gazed at the fields with interest.

  It was only a little past noon, and they saw People of the Earth farmers resting or napping in the shade under the trees after their lunches. Occasionally one of them would wave, and they’d return the greeting, asking what sort of vegetables they were harvesting, and perhaps promising to buy some on their way back.

  Earlier, Calasin of Shopping District 8 had stopped by the town they were about to visit to formally pay his respects, and possibly rumors about this had spread: The farmers were universally friendly.

  “This is shapin’ up to be one great vacation!” Marielle said in a singsong voice.

  Her tone was cheerful. Nonchalant, Nyanta corrected her: “Summer camp, mew mean.” Rumors of Marielle’s reasons for taking this trip had spread through the group, and everyone knew, but it was probably his duty as an elder to at least attempt to reprimand her.

  However, there was very little gravity to his warning, and it was more of a comedic jab than anything.

  The town was near the mouth of the Great Zantleaf River.

  Possibly due to concerns about flooding, it had been built a little distance away from the riverbank.

  The surrounding country was level, and the gently rolling landscape was divided into square, tile-like patches, with this one used as a field, that one for flooded rice paddies, and that one for an orchard. As the mosaic gradually grew more detailed, storehouses and sheds for storing farming tools appeared, and it seemed to them that before they knew it, they were in the town itself.

  It was nothing like the fortified villages surrounded with fences and walls that appeared in medieval tales of chivalry.

  The town’s central avenue was a thick ribbon of asphalt that ran parallel to a canal. It had probably been modeled on a national highway from the old world. The road was lined on either side with many houses built of wood or stone. Unlike in Akiba, though, there were very few structures that used ruined buildings from the Age of Myth; as far as the eye could see, the only ones were the cluster of gigantic storehouses near the river.

  Along the avenue, they saw five or six shops with signs hung out.

  Shiroe had told Marielle that he hadn’t seen any shops in the villages they’d passed on their way to Susukino.

  In farming villages that were designed to be self-sustaining, and in larger settlements that combined animal husbandry and agriculture, the general rule was that the villagers helped one another.

  As long as they lived there, there was no real need for money. For that reason, specialized facilities such as shops probably weren’t necessary. At least, that was how Henrietta had explained it.

  However, this place, the village of Choushi, was more of a small town than a village. In a town of this size, there might be some meaning in having shops.

  “Well, well. This is quite… It’s far finer than what I’d imagined,” Nyanta commented.

  Of course it couldn’t compare to the town of Akiba, but it was large enough that it made them wonder if it wasn’t home to several thousand People of the Earth.

  They stopped in the center of the wide avenue, and the rest of the group surrounded Marielle. People had always said that Marielle was good at looking after others. It made her feel a bit like everyone’s big sister, and she didn’t find it at all unpleasant.

  “Let’s see, now. Hmm. What’ll we do…? All this shoppin’… I think I’ll leave that to you, Captain Nyanta. Then, you’re Lukisea, right? I’ll give you money, too, so split up into two groups. Talk among yourselves and settle on what to buy. You’ve got memos, right?”

  “Of course,” Nyanta said, accepting the task.

  Marielle nodded, then checked her own magic bag, just once. Having made sure the gifts she’d brought along were there, she looked around the group. As a formality, she planned to go call on the town’s mayor.

  Since it was just a social visit, she wouldn’t need many people, but it was probably best to take at least one companion along for appearances’ sake.

  As she thought about who to take, her eyes met Minori’s.

  Why not? She looks like she’s got a good head on her shoulders.

  As she thought this and began to open her mouth, Minori spoke first: “I’ll go with you.”

  She’s sharp, too.

  With that, the party split up to run their errands.

  It sounded as though Nyanta’s group planned to head toward the harbor. Apparently coastal fish were sold from the cluster of storehouses on the riverbank. Come to think of it, fresh meat was a common food for Marielle and the other Adventurers, but they hadn’t had fresh fish lately. If there were delicacies around, it would be nice to try them.

  “All right, then. You an’ me will…”

  “Yes, let’s go pay our visit.”

  Minori might be a practical person, but, as she’d heard, she was probably still in middle school. She was so nervous her back was stiff and ramrod straight, and she walked as if she was marching. Marielle ruffled her hair.

  I lost her to Shiro’s place, but she really is a good kid, isn’t she. …Hmm, I may’ve let a bargain run off on me.

  “U-um.”

  “Hm? What, Minori?”

  “Why are you patting my head?”

  “Well, because I wanted to, obviously!” she sang out.

  Min
ori was looking a little cross, but she won her over with a smile, and they walked down the avenue like a couple of sisters with only a large age difference between them.

  On the way, they asked a Person of the Earth who had an armful of parcels and seemed to be a housewife, and were told that the mayor lived in a big, two-story mansion at the intersection just ahead. She said he was an old man over seventy, and that, although he governed the area, he was a sociable person, so there was no need to worry.

  “All we need to do is pay our respects?”

  “Yep, greet him, then give him what we brought for him…”

  Marielle made a mental list of the things she’d talk about.

  In her pack, she had a barrel of cherry liqueur she’d brought from Akiba. It weighed nearly one hundred kilos, and ordinarily, Marielle wouldn’t even have been able to lift it, but thanks to her incredibly convenient magic-laced rucksack, she was able to walk around as if she were carrying nothing at all.

  Other than that… She’d say that they’d be using the ruin for about two weeks. That they were about five kilometers away from the town, so they shouldn’t cause too much trouble. That, however, they’d like to come into town to buy provisions once every few days.

  “That’s right. We’ll pay our respects, exchange courtesies. We’ll have to sound him out about layin’ in provisions, too. If we buy too much from one farmer, people might start fightin’ here in town…”

  “Oh, that’s right.”

  “Well, I guess all we have to do is listen to the mayor. Then we’ll make some small talk… If there’s any info around here, I’d like to get that, too.”

  “Information…?”

  “Right.”

  Marielle nodded.

  After the Catastrophe, this world had changed. The non-player characters were People of the Earth now, and, strictly speaking, they weren’t sure whether they still performed the functions they’d had in the days of Elder Tales.

  The People of the Earth who worked at the Market and the Bank seemed to be carrying out their duties as usual, but some, like the new clerks who had been hired by the Round Table Council, had begun to choose new lines of work.