The Larks Take Flight

by Mamare Touno

  “No one needs that declaration.”

  “But lately you don’t get mad at me when I pat your head. Oh, I’m so fortunate!”

  Henrietta and Akatsuki were messing with each other as usual, right in front of Riezé. From Henrietta’s expression, she might as well have been scattering hearts everywhere, and although Akatsuki looked sullen, she didn’t protest all that much. She probably didn’t like it, but she’d given up resisting. Riezé guessed this was probably because Akatsuki still felt a bit indebted after the previous year’s incident, but she didn’t extend a helping hand.

  She thought Akatsuki probably needed the warmth of being held.

  In any case, Riezé felt close to these two, and the time she spent with them was peaceful.

  Her expression naturally softened into a smile. She even felt as though the heavy accumulation of numbing fatigue that ran from the back of her head to her spine was slowly melting and draining away.

  “…Are things rough now that the scary man with glasses is gone?”

  “Yes, they are. We’ve realized we were relying on Master Krusty quite a lot.”

  Akatsuki, ducking her head like a cat taken against its will and enduring Henrietta’s attacks, quietly spoke to a smiling Riezé. Picking up Krusty’s slack was an issue that Riezé was currently confronting.

  “My liege is having trouble, too.”

  “Master Shiroe as well…? I suppose he would. When it came to diplomacy, Master Krusty was the face of the Round Table Council. In the time he’s been gone, things have been all right, but considering what’s to come, it’s clear that there will be trouble.”

  “I’m very sorry, but we can’t handle the Round Table Council duties.”

  True, Krusty’s disappearance was a big problem for the Council as well, but that was clearly something Riezé couldn’t handle. However, it was noteworthy that she’d finally matured enough to be honest about it.

  As captain of the training unit, she was able to take command during raids. She could draft management plots, too. However, at the very most, these were game strategies. If it was all right to praise herself just a little bit for something, it would be for her adaption of game strategies for use in guild training in this current, other-world Akiba.

  After the Catastrophe, Krusty had told them constantly, “Nothing is different from what it was before. The way we ran the guild then is the way we’ll run it now. Nothing will change. Our lives here will be no different from our lives on the other side.” Most of the guild members seemed to have assumed these were more of the “slippery” lines Krusty was particularly good at, but Riezé knew they had been his true feelings, with no exaggeration.

  Not only that, but it was also very likely that he’d meant it when he’d said, “The world after the Catastrophe is just like reality, and it isn’t very exciting.” Just as Krusty had said, his days at D.D.D. had been unchanging and routine.

  Shiroe, the young man Akatsuki called her liege, was also someone worthy of admiring stares. That young man, Log Horizon’s guild master, had diverted capture techniques from the game, just as they were, and had captured the Catastrophe.

  When his methods and policies were explained, they made sense. MMORPGs were communication games. For that reason, if you genuinely risked your life and used all the words you knew, it was possible to use capture techniques from the game in real life. She understood the logic, but she couldn’t believe he’d taken it seriously and put it into action.

  …Was it really all that strange, though?

  Krusty and Shiroe were certainly special, but Michitaka of the Marine Organization, Roderick of the Roderick Trading Company, and Calasin of Shopping District 8, plus Soujirou, Isaac, Ains, Marielle, Henrietta, who was beside her now, Kushiyatama, and crowds of other people…

  In a way, wasn’t it true that the Catastrophe hadn’t changed any of them?

  In this world, which had been transformed beyond recognition and was still changing from moment to moment, they kept fighting, using the fact that they were themselves as their greatest weapon.

  Krusty and Shiroe had meshed with their circumstances, but in terms of having unwavering selves and using their prior experiences to resolve the situations that confronted them, the others were in no way inferior to those two.

  In other words, right now, Riezé was where Akatsuki had been at the end of the previous year.

  She was competing in a dimension that was centered on game methods and manuals, asking herself whether this was a right answer or a mistake, and whether or not it was enough. As a result, she couldn’t win, and the anxiety made her heart ache every day. She was just like Akatsuki, who’d brooded over her own level and lack of high-class equipment.

  Riezé thought that this was the wrong approach. She needed to focus more on her own will and resolutions, on her preparations and how she lived. She thought that having that center was what made Krusty and people like Michitaka and Isaac strong.

  Not that I can gain self-confidence that quickly…

  “I’m sure we’re causing you a lot of trouble, and I’m afraid we’ll probably continue to do so.”

  “You needn’t worry about that. We know how difficult this is for you. Besides, no doubt Master Shiroe will do something.”

  “…My liege doesn’t think of it as ‘trouble.’ Besides, even if you told him not to, he’d try to help you on his own.”

  Riezé hadn’t expected them to respond to her statement like that.

  Henrietta, her expression prim, assured her that things would be all right, while the petite, lovely girl she was hugging to her chest also blushed and smiled resolutely.

  The girl was always expressionless, and when she did smile, it was as if flower petals had begun drifting down.

  That fight changed Akatsuki. It must have changed me as well.

  She had to take one more step forward. Not from impatience or unease, but because now was the time to deal with the issue she’d been putting off. With only Riezé and Takayama, who blamed herself, they couldn’t hope to improve the situation.

  Now that Krusty was gone, D.D.D. needed Drei Klauen, the triumvirate.

  5

  In this world, there was a proliferation of magic items.

  The many different types included weapons and armor, equippable items, documents, and even items that were shaped like furniture.

  After the Catastrophe, there had been an explosive increase in available magic items. However, even before that, Adventurers sought after one particular type for its convenience: “the bag.”

  In Elder Tales, “container” would have been the accurate term for it. It was an item that could hold other items, and it came in a variety of shapes, from handy things like pouches and bags to larger items like crates, safes, and chests of drawers.

  You could put all sorts of things inside ordinary container items, provided they had enough capacity. With magic container items, you could put in items regardless of size, decrease the weight of those items, or make a specific item you’d put in go through some sort of transformation. There were so many variations that it was hard to have a solid grasp of all of them.

  Dazanek’s Magic Bag was a magic container item that could be equipped starting at level 45. There were magic container items with lower equip levels, but due to their holding capacities and the difficulty of getting them, they weren’t mainstream.

  In addition, unless you were stocking and selling items as a production-class player, in ordinary use, the bag had a very decent capacity of two hundred kilograms. On top of that, there were high-level quests that increased the bag’s performance. It was a superb item that became a perennial favorite for many Adventurers.

  Nearly all midlevel Elder Tales players had Dazanek’s Magic Bags, and the item could have been called the gateway to magic bags in general.

  “Are you guys ready to go?”

  “All set, Master.”

  Naotsugu had poked his head into the living room, and Touya answered him pro
udly. In this big room, the junior members of the guild—Touya, Minori, Isuzu, and Rundelhaus—were preparing for a journey.

  With Magic Bags, it would have been easy to consolidate all their belongings, but unfortunately, the younger group hadn’t gotten theirs yet. As a matter of fact, that was why they were going on a journey. The quest to obtain Dazanek’s Magic Bag—Get a Magic Bag—could be taken at level 45. At this point, there wasn’t much meaning in that restriction, but even after the Catastrophe, the levels at which items could be equipped were still binding.

  In order to retrieve the materials to make Magic Bags, Touya and the others were about to leave the Kanto region for the very first time.

  “The cart is ready as well, Naotsugu.”

  Minori, who’d made that additional report, had a notebook in her hand and was absorbed in trip preparations.

  They were bound for the Redstone Mountains.

  The distance was supposed to be around a hundred and sixty kilometers. Since they were going by horse-drawn cart, the whole trip would probably take about twenty days.

  Touya was imagining as-yet-unseen landscapes and mountains, and it made him a little restless. “Well, if it’s the Redstone Mountains… That’s around Nagano, right? Mountains and rivers and woods! And what’s more, villages we’ve never been to!”

  “Hmm. It’s been quite some time since I last journeyed. You may leave me, Rundelhaus Code, in charge of the rules.”

  “Come to think of it, you traveled to get here, right, big bro Rudy?” Touya continued.

  “That’s right. I traveled with Adventurers part of the way, but from Bogport to Akiba, I was on my own. As a result, I have plenty of experience.”

  “Yes, that’s it. Load the water onto the cart in barrels.”

  “I know that!”

  “Touya, here. Two more pairs of underwear.”

  “Minori, I told you, I already packed that stuff.”

  Touya couldn’t stop his heart from fizzing with excitement. It had been a very long time since he’d traveled in their old world. Even long day trips had been rare. Besides, this time, it would be just him and his friends from the younger group, and they’d be spending their nights on the road. It sounded a lot more interesting than a school trip. The idea of leaving in a cart tickled his sense of adventure, too.

  Touya and the others had their belongings spread out over the floorboards.

  Minori checked over them as they packed away spare clothes, preserved foods, and first aid supplies. That said, Touya didn’t think this really needed as much thought as Minori was giving it.

  Handmade clothing was one thing, but as long as they had enough durability left, equipment from Elder Tales automatically got rid of tears and dirt. That meant that if you spent all your time in armor, even if the only spare clothing you had was underwear, things would work out somehow. And when it came to food in this world, as long as you weren’t looking for fun, you could get by on simple stuff.

  Still, Touya didn’t say anything so tactless. He knew Minori was doing her very best, and that was a good thing. Any older brother worth his salt looked after his little sister (although Minori said that she was his older sister).

  “Hmm.”

  Beside him, Rundelhaus, who was down on his knees, began to paw through his luggage.

  “What’s wrong, big bro Rudy?”

  “Hmmmmm. My brush isn’t here. Elegant Adventurers have a duty to keep their appearances neat and tidy.”

  “Huh?”

  Ignoring the sound of Naotsugu’s breathing—he seemed to want to jump in with a Wait, really?—Rundelhaus went on.

  “This isn’t good. That’s an important item. It cost one hundred gold coins.”

  “Rudy.”

  Isuzu had spoken.

  Setting down her own bag, which was made with ethnic-looking fabric, she deftly plucked a smoke-blue pouch from the luggage Rundelhaus had scattered around.

  “It’s in your toiletries set, Rudy. And pick up your things.”

  “I see, Mademoiselle Isuzu. Thank heavens you found it.”

  The two of them smiled, and as he watched the pair pick up the gear, Touya felt happy, too.

  Rudy and Isuzu were both precious Log Horizon companions, and by now they almost felt like siblings to him.

  When he was little, Touya had played soccer. Looking back, he wasn’t sure he’d really liked the sport that much, but he’d been full of energy, and a single ball was the only excuse he’d needed to run around the schoolyard with his friends after class.

  Even after he wasn’t able to use his legs anymore, Touya had shown up at his friends’ gatherings several times.

  However, after two months, he’d stopped coming.

  It wasn’t because he was jealous or resented them. Out of consideration for Touya, his friends had stopped playing soccer in front of him. It made him feel bad, and he couldn’t bear to stay.

  After that, he’d started to put some distance between himself and his friends. His friends’ ability to smile was more important to him.

  Even after Touya was forced to depend on a wheelchair, no one in his family had grimaced, not even once. Touya knew he was treasured. Still, logic aside, there were moments when a family member’s expression would stiffen, or when they’d bite their lip. Touya was the sort of kid who felt pain if someone was forgoing smiles for his sake.

  And so, when he saw Rundelhaus or Isuzu or Minori smile, he felt relieved.

  He also respected Shiroe.

  It wasn’t just Rundelhaus’s life that Shiroe had protected back then; he’d kept everyone smiling.

  Shiroe had defended their time together, which could be spent doing things like this. That was more amazing than anything Touya had ever imagined.

  “Mweh-heh-heh…”

  After they’d finally gotten their luggage together and piled it into a small mountain, Isuzu hugged her lute case, petting it as if it was precious. Her eyes were sparkling.

  The younger group was going hunting, alone, in order to get the materials necessary to make Magic Bags. It was a quest journey. When they’d come up with that plan, he’d been the one who’d been happiest about it, but he thought Isuzu had seemed just as glad as he was. His own reasons were one thing, but he wasn’t sure about Isuzu’s reasons.

  “Isuzu-sis, you’re happy about the trip, too?” Touya asked. “How come?”

  “Sure I’m happy. It’ll be fun to go all together. Besides, doesn’t it seem a little like a tour?”

  A tour?

  No one there, Naotsugu included, understood what she meant.

  “I mean, you know, in the cart… Twang-twang-braaaang! Like that.”

  Isuzu got up and, still holding her case, gestured as if she were strumming it. Her pigtails bounced happily as she did so, in time with her giddiness.

  “A tour is a journey mewsicians take in order to perform. Famous artists often conduct them on a global scale, and independent artists pay their own way as they travel.” Nyanta, who’d appeared from the kitchen with a tea set, explained this as he approached the coffee table near Naotsugu.

  “A tour! Luckies! A performance trip across the Milky Way!”

  “They’re only going a bit past Izu…”

  Tetora, who’d appeared next, ran to Naotsugu, who’d spoken after. When Akatsuki and Shiroe came in—as if to further dissuade the Cleric—all the Log Horizon members were in one place.

  After hearing it explained like that, even Touya recognized the term. He’d never been to a live music venue or the Budokan stadium, but he’d seen video clips online.

  Touya, Minori, Isuzu, and Rundelhaus, plus Serara (who was attending from “the neighbors”—the Crescent Moon League): The five of them would pile into a cart and leave “on tour.” He’d never thought of it before, but it struck him as a very exciting idea.

  “I see! A tour, huh! Like, ba-ba-boom.”

  When Touya struck a nearby rucksack with the palms of his hands as though it were a drum, Isuzu look
ed a bit startled, but she smiled almost immediately and spun around for him, mimicking instruments with her lips: eeeowm, eeowm, shreee.

  “A tour, hm…?” Rundelhaus asked. “I’ve never heard the word before, but that’s impressive. Are we going to travel around the villages with the forty-two, then?”

  “No, no,” Touya replied helpfully. “We won’t hit that many villages this time. Right, Minori?”

  “If we’re going all the way to the Redstone Mountains,” Minori began, “then, according to Shiroe’s map, there are only about four or five villages.”

  “But hey, why not? Let’s go to ’em,” Touya proposed immediately. “We’ll need to tank up on water either way.”

  Climbing mountains and hunting small wyverns would probably be fun all by itself, but Touya figured visiting local villages to perform sounded like just as much fun. If they ran across a village, they’d spend at least one night there anyway. If they could manage to do both, it would be way better.

  As everyone voiced their agreement, Isuzu whooped. “Yaaay! It’s a tour! Yeah, a tour!” Her smile was absolutely dazzling.

  “Right! Then I’ll be in charge of management and showing the way.”

  Rundelhaus stood to make his proclamation, and his face was radiant, too.

  Touya didn’t know much about music, but he could let his strength take over and whale away on a drum. Serara could manage a simple keyboard instrument, he remembered, and Isuzu had been teaching Minori to play the lute. They might not be able to measure up to a show by real artists, but just helping Isuzu out sounded like more than enough fun.

  “Oh, I’m so happy!” Isuzu shouted, hugging Rundelhaus’s head and pulling him close to her, the way she always did. Rundelhaus was the oldest of Touya’s group, and he was tall, but he didn’t seem to feel up to dealing with Isuzu’s physical affection: He couldn’t resist, and she always did whatever she wanted with him.

  Rudyyyy, you’re way uncool. Heh-heh-heh.

  Touya came very close to laughing at him, but he swallowed the words back down.