In the Land of Leadale - Volume 3 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – The System, Knights, a Misunderstanding, and a Fog

After freshening up at Marelle’s inn, Cayna left the remote village for Felskeilo early the next morning. 

She entered the capital through the eastern gate and, humming a little tune to herself, made her way toward the western one. Cayna was bursting with excitement, already imagining her new home in the village and what life would be like there. Figuring she would require daily necessities, she perused the market for furniture and cutlery. Li’l Fairy was drawn to the various knickknacks, and she left Cayna’s shoulder to gaze at a wooden cup. 

Just as Cayna nearly got caught up in browsing and forgot her main mission, she received a stern warning from Kee. 

“Cayna! There are more important tasks at hand.” 

“Whoops. Wow, that was a close one. At any rate, we better find the Palace of the Dragon King first…” 

As Cayna left the market and headed for the western gate, she passed by the Adventurers Guild. At that very moment, she incidentally ran into the members of the Armor of Victory as they were leaving the building. 

“Hey there, Cayna.” 

“Morning!” 

Cohral raised his hand, and Cayna gave a slight bow. She greeted the other four members, and he asked them to go on ahead. 

“We’ll be waiting by the gate.” 

“Don’t take forever, Cohral.” 

“Yeah, no worries. I’ll be right there.” 

The four adventurers left Cohral with Cayna and headed toward the eastern gate. 

Insisting the foot traffic around them would only get in the way, he pulled her off to the corner of the street. 

“Need something?” she asked. 

“Yeah, I was hoping you’d hear me out for a second. It’s about the system.” 

“You mean the game system?” 

“That’s right. Something’s been bothering me.” 

Cayna realized she’d checked only her stats and skills after first awakening in the remote village. 

“…Oh.” 

“‘Oh’? That’s all you have to say? You obviously haven’t been paying attention.” 

“Um, well, y’know. Ha-ha-ha.” 

She gave a dry laugh in an attempt to play dumb, but Cohral shot her a reproachful glare. Cayna apologetically admitted, “Sorry, it slipped my mind.” 

The game system Cohral mentioned had several other useful features outside of stats, skills, and the Item Box. However, a number of those functions weren’t responding in the slightest. 

For example, the Log Out option was no longer on the menu screen. The Guild Chat option was similarly unresponsive; back in the game, it allowed you to contact your fellow guild members from anywhere. That said, none of her guild members were still around; neither were there even any guild houses to serve as relay points, so the function was useless. 

“It was the Friend Display that tipped me off.” 

“The Friend Display?” 

Cayna opened her stats screen and checked her registered friends. She saw Cohral’s and Shining Saber’s names in white at the very top, but the rest were grayed out. When Leadale was just a game, gray indicated the person was unavailable, while names in white were logged in. 

Cayna examined her own friend list and wondered if Opus or her other former guild members were still around, but Opus’s name was grayed out. She heaved a lifeless sigh. 

“I get why you’re all emotional, but I happened to realize something,” said Cohral. 

“Yeah?” 

“Shining Saber’s always been on my friend list, but his name was grayed out until I reunited with him the other day. Seems to me that names show up again if you meet the person.” 

“If we meet, huh…?” 

Cayna didn’t have many registered friends. Aside from her guild members, there were only the thirteen Skill Masters and her friends from the high-elf community. One of the Skill Masters had permanently left the game, so their name would definitely stay grayed out. 

“And the names of any friends you’ve run into but don’t remember meeting will turn white, too.” 

“Huh? That doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Mm, I was surprised, too, but I realized what was going on after I tried sending a message. My friend was pretty surprised himself.” 

A large group like a guild could use a group chat, but it was possible for individuals to communicate through a system similar to private messaging. This had apparently remained unchanged from the Game Era. 

“To tell the truth, he and I had met once before, but it’d been so long that neither of us recognized each other.” 

“Oh? You said you came here ten years ago, so does that mean your friend’s even older than you?” 

“That’s right. I mean, he’s this, like, dignified-looking middle-aged guy now. No way I would’ve been able to recognize him!” 

Cohral made a fist of indignation, and Cayna could only smile awkwardly in response. He must have once seen the man as a little brother, yet now that same person was his senior. 

At this rate, there was no question a high elf like her would sooner or later be tending to Cohral’s and Shining Saber’s deathbeds. Such a thought didn’t strike her at the time. 

“The problem is that even though we ran into each other about two years ago, he only showed up on my friend list recently—come to think of it, not much longer after I met you.” 

“…What?! Are you saying it has something to do with me?” 

“You’re a Limit Breaker and a Skill Master with Game Master privileges, yeah?” 

“That doesn’t mean I can mess with the system itself! Game Master privileges are useless if there aren’t rules in place.” 

Her uncle’s company had actually been responsible for managing Leadale back when it was a game, but Cayna was a regular user who had no special benefits. Even if she’d been offered such perks, she would have firmly refused. 

“Huh? …Wait. Hmm?” 

Cayna couldn’t think of a single product her uncle’s company had created with its pooled resources. 

“Any ideas, Kee?” 

“No, none whatsoever.” 

Even said product apparently didn’t have a clue. 

In that case, Cohral was just doubting her. No real harm done. Otherwise, the only other change that occurred before Cayna met Cohral and Shining Saber was the addition of Li’l Fairy. However, seeing how the fairy was hiding in her hair and trying to avoid Cohral’s gaze, Cayna decided not to mention it. 

“Anyway, I have no idea what’s going on with that!” 

“Reaaaaally now? ’Cause you sure seem suspect to me.” 

Cohral continued to eye her warily, and she tried shooing him off with a wave of her hand. 

“Hey, more important: Your friends are waiting, right? Off you go!” 

If the two dawdled too long, the knights she planned to accompany (unbeknownst to them) would likely leave without her. Cayna gave Cohral a push from behind, but he wasn’t so quick to give up. As he made his way toward his friends, he told her, “Tell me if you find out anything else!” 

“Is something like that really worth obsessing over?” 

“His fixations are beyond your comprehension, Cayna.” 

“Can’t argue with that. There’s no way someone like me, who forgot there even was a friend list, could understand his dedication.” 

Cayna gave a self-deprecating smile and headed toward the western gate. 

Cayna soon realized why the western gate was noisier than usual. A large group of people had gathered around the walls. 

A multitude of carriages were stopped outside. People ran around caring for the horses, and several merchants who appeared to own said horses chatted animatedly with one another. 

A large group of children watched these people with hopeful eyes. There were a number of adults as well, of course, but the average citizen didn’t have so much free time in the early morning. People stared across the main road as they eagerly waited for the knights to pass. 

“What’s everyone doing?” she asked a nearby woman. 

“It isn’t every day we can watch the knights leave in such huge numbers! It’s one of the few joys we have.” 

Cayna tilted her head curiously and wondered whether such an event was really a big deal. The woman smiled, amused. 

Incidentally, the group of carriages outside the gate included a few caravans as well. According to a soldier posted at the gate: 

“I don’t wanna say this too loud, but they’re a nasty bunch. They try to leech off the knights for protection along trade routes. They’ve probably got some scheme where they’ll spread gossip if they get attacked by thieves or monsters and the knights fail to rescue them. What a bunch of lowlifes—too stingy to pay for their own convoy.” 

Given the vitriol with which he spoke, Cayna concluded that this must have happened multiple times. Even in the game, the weak had often swarmed around the strong, so she actually found herself impressed by how prevalent freeloaders were, even in other worlds. 

Although Cayna wasn’t a freeloader strictly speaking, there was no question that she planned to hitch a ride with the knight corps without their permission. She felt a bit guilty. 

It was around nine AM when she overheard the soldier while she waited outside the western gate, keeping her distance from the caravans so that no one thought she was involved with them. There were no proper clocks in this world, so she depended on the time displayed on her stats screen to keep her informed. 

“Sheesh, finally they’re here.” 

Cayna closed the stats screen she had been staring at to kill time and peeled herself away from the wall she’d been leaning against. 

When she peered beyond the gate, she saw a group of knights on horseback—including Shining Saber in his white armor—waving to people along the roadside as they headed her way. Shining Saber was at the forefront. Cayna had heard he was the captain of the knights but never imagined they’d run into each other here. Feeling awkward, she quickly hid in the shadow of a gate column. 

This had the opposite effect and made her appear even more suspicious. The eyes of Shining Saber and several other knights fell on the shady figure. 

Naturally, the encouragement and cheers the townspeople lavished on the group were not for the knights alone. There were soldiers carrying the flag of Felskeilo Knight Corps at the front, twenty knights on horseback, and a procession behind them that included eight carriages and another eighty marching soldiers. Finally, at the tail end, ten canopied carriages held the march’s food supply and equipment. At a glance, there appeared to be a total of around one hundred people. 

It was an iffy number when the goal was to get rid of the bandits, but since the knights were entering a neighboring nation, they had taken into account that they mustn’t appear too threatening. 

That was what the western gatekeeper had told her anyway. He also said a small number of elites had been chosen in order to complete the mission as quickly as possible. 

Cayna had considered waiting for the knights’ group to pass so she could follow the tail end of the procession, but she jolted as Shining Saber’s suspicious eyes bored into hers. He, of course, gave a similar reaction but was shocked to find the strange character to be Cayna. Suspecting a person of being up to no good was an occupational hazard common to Shining Saber’s line of work. 

The knights departed first, followed by the soldiers, carriages, and supply wagons. The collection of caravans maintained their distance but followed soon after. Cayna then moved to take up the rear. The knights on horseback progressed swiftly, but she figured their speed wouldn’t be too unreasonable, since the foot soldiers were coming along as well. Plus, she could summon a beast of some sort to ride so she wouldn’t fall too far behind. 

Once they were a considerable distance from the capital, a knight on horseback approached her from the front of the line. It was Shining Saber. He walked alongside her and called from his horse. 

“What do you think you’re doing? Were you plannin’ on trailing us and blowing everyone away from behind if we weren’t worth your time?” 

“Why’re you acting like some kind of inquisitor?! I just figured I’d follow you to that fishing village so I can search for the Palace of the Dragon King!” 

“Ah, Cohral mentioned something about that… At any rate, are you really going on foot? The demonstration for the citizens is over, so things are gonna speed up a bit with the soldiers now in the carriages.” 

“Oh, so that’s what all the carriages are for.” 

She’d been wondering why the knights were bringing carriages along, but Shining Saber’s statement made everything clear. The march picked up speed as they were talking; even the distance between their group and the caravans was growing little by little. 

She knew she had various ways of keeping up even if the gap between her and the knights widened, but Shining Saber nodded with a “Hmph.” He suddenly took her hand and pulled her onto his horse—and, of course, held her in his arms like a princess as he gripped the reins. 

“Kyah?!” 

“I’ll even give you a special seat. Look, don’t worry about it—this is thanks for all your help with the Event Monster. Hey, quit movin’ around; otherwise, you’re gonna fall… Huh?” 

The only members of the opposite sex who had ever held Cayna in their arms were her doctor and her father. Her face reddened in an instant, and her mouth set in a straight line as she sat frozen. Shining Saber may have looked like a dragoid, but he was a human player inside. 

Immediately taking note of Cayna’s Good Looks (which included a light Charm effect), Shining Saber reflected on his own actions and gasped. He was behaving just like some fairy tale prince. Flustered and embarrassed, he swiftly admonished himself: There were so many other ways she could ride with me, so why’d I choose the princess hooooooold?! 

The two sat together in silence and avoided each other’s gaze. 

Finally, Shining Saber offered his apologies in dribs and drabs. 

“Uh, sorry. I wasn’t thinkin’…” 

“…No, it’s okay. You were being nice. I get it…” 

However, Cayna was clearly not her usual easygoing self, and her voice was extremely small. Shining Saber held her like she might break at any moment and didn’t seem to even consider putting her down. In a way, he was at his wits’ end as well. 

However, the procession’s current pace had sped up and was threatening to leave them behind. As his horse trotted faster, heading to the front, both the knights assigned to the rear guard and the co-captain gazed with wide eyes at their returning leader’s eccentricity. 

Feeling the inquisitive stares surrounding her more than any gaze she’d ever felt before, Cayna curled in on herself. Her face turned so bright red that she thought she might die at any second. 

“Uwagh… Shining Saber, you idiot…” 

“Uh, sorry. I didn’t plan for any of this to happen, but all I can say for now is sorry.” 

As their captain repeatedly bowed his head to the beautiful elf in apology, it wasn’t long before his subordinates began looking at him with lukewarm expressions. Shining Saber was so busy apologizing that he noticed all too late. 

“So you had a girlfriend, Captain.” 

“…Huh? What’re you guys talkin’ about?” 

“To think he’s been getting all lovey-dovey on military campaigns. Our captain’s a man among men.” 

“Damn, I’m so jealous!” 

“Hold on—you got the wrong idea!” 

“Captain, it’s not nice to deny it right in front of her. Why not just admit it?” 

“Yup, you have our blessing. Right, everyone?” 

“““““““YEAAAAAAAH!!!””””””” 

The knights’ fervor hit max levels over something that wasn’t true in the slightest, and the soldiers within the carriages peeked out their heads to see what was going on. Shining Saber lost control of the conversation, and the red-faced Cayna stewed with complicated feelings over becoming a couple officially recognized by the knights. Rather than complain, she gave his arm a stiff pinch. 

“GYAGH! OW, OW, OW, OW, OW, OW, OW! How hard do you plan on squeezin’?!” 

“Don’t underestimate a Skill Master! I’ve even got a Double Pain skill!” 

Now that she’d gotten past feeling so embarrassed she might die, Cayna returned to her usual self and started launching a counterattack. However, even this scene looked like nothing more than a lover’s quarrel, and the stares around them only grew warmer. 

The journey was expected to last two days, and the knights and their entourage began setting up camp by the side of the main road after completing the first day’s distance. The people in the caravans that had been tailing the knights were huddled around their bonfires a short distance away. 

“Guess they’re not gonna come and say hi,” Cayna noted. 

“Those folks tend to keep to themselves. They won’t ask for help unless something happens. And when they do come over, it’s usually to make some weird, false accusation.” 

It was here that Shining Saber and Cayna were finally blessed with the opportunity to clear up their misunderstanding, though it was more a matter of him believing what she had to say. After loosely explaining the events that led to her ending up on his horse, she said, “I’m sorry for the confusion,” and bowed her head. Finally recovered from her embarrassment, she also gave a short self-introduction to the knights and another bow. 

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Cayna, and I’m an adventurer. Please pardon me for earlier. It might be easier just to tell you that I’m Skargo’s mother.” 

“““““WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!””””” 

“You’re into that sort of thing, Captain?!” 

“Never thought you’d be into widows!” 

“I’m completely disillusioned.” 

The knights immediately cried out in shock, but for some reason, they also fixed Shining Saber with pitiful gazes and offered their condolences. Several made strange statements: “So I guess the High Priest will call you Stepdad, huh?” “I’m so jealous you’ll get to hear Lady Mai-Mai call you Stepdad!” 

“Are these knights okay…?” Cayna wondered aloud. 

“Sorry, I should’ve trained my subordinates better.” 

Nevertheless, she spent more time with the knights, and before she could have any say in the matter, it was decided that Cayna would sleep with the female knights. 

“It’s kind of like… How do I put this…? Birds of a feather flock together,” said Cayna. 

“Is that a compliment or an insult?” 

“…A compliment, I guess?” 

“Why was that in the form of a question?!” 

Back in the Game Era, knights would only talk about quests and the like. In simple terms, they were stern and inherently formal. 

However, Shining Saber’s subordinates were a chill group that didn’t act the least bit stuffy. Even if you took their different races and circumstances into account, each was shockingly swayed by personal feelings. 

“Hold on! What if you get too friendly with the knights, and this turns into some sort of buddy-buddy guild?!” 

“Don’t worry; I’m still tough on ’em when I need to be. They ain’t so bad.” 

His dear subordinates all had full faith in this situation they believed was going on between Shining Saber and Cayna. Whispers of “He’s got a shot, right?” and “They’re pretty cute together” quietly swirled. 

She heard the comments all too clearly, but since objecting would mostly likely be seen as an attempt to hide her embarrassment, she feigned ignorance. 

Shining Saber, on the other hand, chased them around while yelling “DAMN YOUUUU!” so her efforts bore very little fruit. 

“Do they love him, or are they just messing with him…? Is this country going to be okay?” 

As someone going by the knights’ set schedule, Cayna expected she would arrive near the fishing village around the following afternoon. 

“Huh?! Aren’t you going to join us the entire way, Lady Cayna?” 

“No, no. I have somewhere to be, so I only planned to join you until we came close.” 

“You can freeload off us all you want, Lady Cayna, so stick with us till the end!” 

“By the way, why do you keep calling me Lady?” 

“““Oh yeah, about that. We’ll happily flatter you if it means getting delicious food!””” 

A frown formed on Cayna’s face, and she looked behind her at Shining Saber. He made a chagrined expression and raised a single hand in apology. After all, Cayna just found out their main motive was to escape stale bread, dried meat, and water. Even so, it looked like there were some knights with flasks of diluted alcohol. 

Seeing she didn’t have much choice, Cayna visited the group of caravans a short distance away, bought some meat and vegetables, and put her Cooking Skills to work. The result was a dumpling-and-vegetable soup reminiscent of the famous suiton dish from Gunma Prefecture. 

Hot meals were apparently a rare occurrence during marches such as this, so the soldiers were eternally grateful. Some even cried as they ate. 

“What do these people normally eat…?” 

The chef herself was completely flabbergasted by this scene, which brought to mind the image of schoolchildren without lunch. After Cayna cooked them both dinner and breakfast, the knights and soldiers all tried various ways to stop her when they found out she would be leaving. 

Fed up with their Gimme! Gimme! attitude, Cayna created a Cooking Skill scroll and passed it to Shining Saber. A knight captain who doubled as a cook was pretty unheard of, but since Shining Saber was the only one in his group who could use scrolls, there weren’t any alternatives. 

“The knights remind me of all those players who used to beg for freebies. It kind of made me laugh,” said Cayna. 

“Back in the game, I used to wonder what the point of Cooking Skills was, but now I see they come in pretty handy,” said Shining Saber. 

“Didn’t you know? There was a special quest that activated if you gave certain NPCs their favorite food and raised your Friendship Level with them. You’d get this skill that boosted your vanguard.” 

“Seriously…?” 

Shining Saber started groaning and shooting Cayna sidelong glances. He was clearly dying to ask her for this skill. When Cayna crossed her arms to form a large X in front of her, his shoulders instantly dropped, and he hung his head. 

She only meant to tease him a bit, but the onlookers interpreted their exchange as something else entirely. The female knights firmly grabbed Shining Saber’s arms and shoulders. 

“H-hey?! What’s with you guys?” 

“Captain, we’ve misjudged you.” 

“Could we speak with you over there for a moment?” 

“Harassing her right in front of everyone like this—have you no shame, sir?!” 

“Huh?” 

Both Shining Saber and Cayna were dumbfounded. They were the only ones who had no clue what was going on, and before they realized it, the entire knight corps had the two surrounded. 

“Heeeey now. Just hold up! What did I even do?!” 

Several people pinned Shining Saber down and dragged him into the shadow of a carriage. 

“Ummm…?” 

Cayna ignored the captain’s cries as he pleaded innocent from afar; it seemed the knights had begun lecturing him on how to treat a lady. At least, that was the impression she got from what she overheard. 

Unable to let this slide without comment, Kee issued a warning to the clueless Cayna. 

“He glanced at your chest, and you made a no signal. Perhaps they think he’s trying to mate with you?” 

“Mate?!” 

Cayna’s face instantly turned crimson, and the middle-aged co-captain bowed his head. 

“I am terribly sorry, miss. I assure you we will give the captain a thorough talking-to, so I hope you will pardon this incident.” 

“Huh? Er, uh—r-right! D-don’tworryaboutit!” 

She grew so incoherent that she stumbled over her words, which only served to stoke the knights’ fury. They raised cries of “That damn captain. What’s he doin’ treatin’ widows like that?” “Co-captain! Let’s tie him to a tree for the night!” and “I say we give him a taste of his own medicine!” 

The comments against their own leader were harsh indeed, but perhaps it was the knights’ way of expressing their affection. Cayna had often heard at the Adventurers Guild that knights were “disgusting,” but that didn’t seem to be the case at all. 

The knights likely did more than lecture Shining Saber, because he came back looking slightly the worse for wear. Cayna let loose a smile. 

“What the heck? I was innocent, too… You know something I don’t?” 

“Hee-hee-hee, it’s a secret.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean…?” 

Shining Saber once again drooped his head, but upon realizing he was still under the watchful eye of his subordinates, he hurriedly straightened his posture. Cayna couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the sight. The laughter spread around her, and it wasn’t long before all the knights were in stitches. 

In the midst of this merriment, Cayna had a thought. 

In a world relatively safe thanks to the abundance of level-300 players, when would that vanguard-boosting skill he wanted ever have been useful? 

She pondered this casually but never imagined the events it would set off. 

Determined to prevent any more misunderstandings during the day’s travels, Cayna did not ride with Shining Saber on his horse but instead used Summoning Magic to call upon the centaur Heigl. 

“Ah! My lady! I, Heigl, have arrived!” 

“Watch where you’re swinging that spear! It’s dangerous!” 

Cayna broke into a cold sweat as the tip of a spear passed right in front of her. Kee had put up a protective wall, so she knew it couldn’t harm her. Even so, that didn’t mean she wanted to see a pointy weapon slice the air next to her face. 

Centaurs were generally well-liked by the knights because of their warrior-esque dispositions and good manners. That said, the lady knights took issue with them given how some of the male knights responded to their hot-blooded tendencies. 

“There’s another one of these guys?” 

“He was pretty much like that when I called him. Real-life summonings are nuts, right?” 

Shining Saber rubbed his temples and sighed in consternation. Apparently, a knight of similar disposition was currently stationed at the castle. 

“Just the thought of two of him makes my head hurt.” 

“I can lend you two or three steeds to guard the castle if you want,” Cayna offered. 

“Is it just me, or is there something spiteful about the word steed?” asked Heigl. 

“Guess it’s not just you,” Cayna replied. 

Incidentally, Shining Saber was riding atop his horse, while Cayna was sitting sidesaddle on Heigl’s back. The centaur refused to be treated as a packhorse, but when asked how he felt about riding with the knights, he very willingly agreed and replied, “If my back may so suit you.” Nevertheless, seeing as Cayna was his master, this was a special exception. 

Shining Saber and Cayna chatted casually as the knights continued their advance, but both looked up at the sky dejectedly and grimaced as gray clouds gathered in the direction of their march. 

“Hmm. Looks like we’re in for a shower,” he said. 

“Guess we’ve got no Rain-Shielding Magic.” 

“Rain-Shielding Magic? The heck…?” 

Just as Shining Saber halted their forces to get a grasp on the situation… 

…a mist blew in from somewhere and blocked his vision. 

“What is this?” 

“Wait! Where did this mist come from?!” 

“Uwagh, the horses!” 

“The horses are suddenly going berserk?!” 

“Everyone, calm down! Calm the horses!” 

Before they knew it, the mist covered everyone’s footsteps. It reached up to the horses’ bellies and invaded the floors of the carriages. Moreover, the horses had no idea what was going on and quickly grew agitated. Several reared up and sent their riders falling before any had a chance to react. Since Heigl was still calm, he went around putting them at ease. 

The soldiers farther behind were also bound up in the net of mist. Since Cayna’s Beast Master skill could calm only one animal per cast, there was no way she could take care of them all. 

As this was going on, Kee reported that the mist “has a hostile air,” and Cayna soon switched gears. 

“This looks like mist, but it’s something else!” she shouted. 

“Cayna! Can’t you do something?!” 

The mist seemed to twist around her with a will of its own, and Cayna released as much magic upon it as she would any malicious presence. 

Magic Skill: Purification Barrier Level 2: Landia: Ready Set 

“Release!” 

The moment she cast the spell, a thin undulation of light centering around Cayna spread across the surrounding area. The spell drilled a cylindrical hole into the milky-white mist covering the land, dispersing the mist and revealing the original grasslands below in the blink of an eye. Every bit of mist that the wave of light touched was vaporized without a trace. 

Even the mist that bound the soldiers like thick ivy released them one after the other. They stumbled and fell on their bottoms, but no one’s life appeared to be at risk. A level-1 spell would have merely purified the area, but since her level-2 magic cured any abnormalities in people and animals, even the horses touched by the wave returned to their senses. 

A minute after Cayna cast her magic, not a single fragment of the mist was to be seen. The weather was still a bit touch and go, but the strange presence from earlier was nonexistent. 

As everyone helped the fallen to their feet, the co-captain gathered the injured and entrusted the magic users with healing. Shining Saber went around checking the entire group and confirming with each commanding officer that no other trouble was going on. 

Cayna was absolutely certain the mist had risen up from the ground like a trap and felt it was the work of human hands. 

“What do you think, Kee?” 

“Yes. One can assume this was a malicious plot of some kind.” 

Strangely enough, Li’l Fairy didn’t seem afraid for once. If anything, she looked angry as she lightly struck the back of Cayna’s neck. Despite the tension in the air, the strikes tickled her and made Cayna smile. 

“Thanks for letting me travel with you this far.” 

“Sure thing. We did have that incident earlier, though. Be careful out there.” 

Cayna said good-bye to Shining Saber and the others in front of the road that led to the fishing village where eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the undersea palace. 

“Sniff. All that delicious comfort food…” 

“Just thinking about going back to dried meat and stale bread is… Ngh.” 

Behind Shining Saber, the knights who had been completely brainwashed by Cayna’s cooking peered from the shadows of the carriages, visibly distraught. 

“Ummm, what about them?” 

“Ah, ignore ’em. They’ll be in for a walloping later.” 

Shining Saber grumbled something about how they were “an insult to knights.” The co-captain and others smiled uncomfortably. 

“Safe travels,” the co-captain said to Cayna. 

“Same to you.” 

“Do stop by the castle when you return to Felskeilo. We’ll inform the gatekeeper.” 

She had gained a lot of fans in the past two days, and a smile rose to Cayna’s lips. It was almost entirely thanks to the Cooking Skills that had helped her win the knights over with food. There were even people hoping to invite her to the castle so she could prepare tastier dishes made from proper ingredients. 

She would refuse, of course. If Cayna went to the castle, Skargo would probably hang around her day and night, and it would only add to her stress. 

“I’ll walk on my own from here.” 

“I see. Aye, ’tis for the best.” 

Spear in hand, Heigl looked tense as he beheld the strange sight down below. He and Cayna had left the knights and on their smooth journey instead took a small path that led to an open field with a view of the ocean. The fishing village in question appeared to be farther down. Things had grown quieter now that the knights were gone, but that brought other abnormalities to light. 

Aside from the centaur’s hooves and the faint sound of rippling water, they couldn’t hear anything at all. The air was temperate and vaguely familiar as it drifted by. 

“My lady! I sense a most disturbing presence.” 

“It is strange that we don’t even hear any birds…” 

In the Game Era, seabirds would start squawking by default as you approached the coast, and you’d also be able to hear the distant chatter of villagers. The lack of both was enough to tell her this silence was clearly unnatural. 

The strong scent of seawater made Cayna grimace. Since most smells in the game aside from food were indistinct, this was the first time she’d ever experienced it. 

The gently sloping, barefaced rock was covered in sand, and among the shrubs and weeds that dotted the terrain was a small road that carriages could somehow pass through. 

It halted midway and disappeared into a congestion of thick, cream-colored fog. 

“Well, fog is the next step up from mist.” 

“The village is not visible in the slightest. Remain on your guard, my lady.” 

“I think there was a horror movie like this. What was it called again?” 

She suspected the village was located in an area a distance away that was buried in thick fog and looked like a clump of low-pressure clouds. Although the wind was blowing enough to rustle her hair, the fog remained immobile. Refusing to move the slightest inch, it swirled around lazily. 

“Uwagh, what’s going on…?” 

“It certainly appears dangerous here.” 

Heigl’s stern face grew even more severe as he prepared for battle. 

Cayna, predicting this fog would be the enemy of the drainage system, took out the Eternal Flame from her Item Box, unsheathed it, and prepared a wall of both physical and magical defense. 

As they drew closer, the fog seemed to swirl into a semicircular dome in an attempt to preserve its bizarreness and create a wall to keep out intruders. The inside was completely hidden, and even Cayna’s Probe Magic couldn’t seem to tell her if something was approaching. 

“I will bolster your defensive wall.” 

As soon as Kee said this, an indistinct phosphorescence wrapped around Cayna. There was about a twenty-centimeter gap between this and her clothes, so she could clearly make out the shining human-shaped armor surrounding her. Heigl glanced over at Cayna, but she showed no surprise. 

Probe Magic extended a person’s eyesight by displaying a radar cross section in the corner of their vision. The user was always at the center, allies were green dots, and enemies were red. One’s usual visual radius of about ten meters became one hundred meters. It was an essential skill for solo players like Cayna, who preferred to go it alone. 

However, when it came to observing the fog from outside, the screen displayed a red error message, even though she was within range. 

“The fog is keeping us out… Why does this feel like a quest I’ve seen somewhere before?” 

“My lady, requesting permission to carry out a raid.” 

“We aren’t the forty-seven ronin, so just hold on a second. We could always just blow all the fog away, but if it turns out the villagers were totally fine to begin with, we’ll only be causing more trouble.” 

“Yes, as you command.” 

First, Cayna stuck her magic staff halfway into the fog. She took it out several seconds later, but it didn’t seem to be burnt or dissolved in any way. 

“My lady, we cannot discern the fog’s effects using such a high-ranked weapon.” 

“…Yeah, you have a point.” 

Cayna offered Heigl’s exasperated comment a sheepish reply. 

Regardless, none of the weapons in her possession would damage easily. Since Heigl’s spear was high-grade as well, she was left with no choice but to take out a kirina grass leaf from her Item Box and casually stick it in the fog. 

“Cayna!” 

“My lady?!” 

Flustered voices both inside her head and next to her rang out. 

“Don’t worry—it’s fine. It doesn’t sting or anything… Huh?” 

Her hand wasn’t red when she pulled it out. However, the kirina grass leaf she was gripping wilted in a matter of seconds. 

“Oh?! How very odd!” cried Heigl. 

“I guess it’s not absorbing any water, huh?” 

The wilted leaf fell apart at the merest touch. 

“It is really safe to keep going?” 

“Fear not, my lady! Entrust everything to me!” 

Heigl thumped his chest and walked into the fog. Cayna hurriedly followed suit. 

Inside, their vision stretched no more than about five meters. Heigl remained ever-vigilant, and he held his spear at the ready as he looked around them and slowly made his way forward. Cayna’s defensive wall was in full effect, so a membrane of light visibly enveloped her in their dim surroundings. 

Weak light shone only from the top of the fog dome, so they couldn’t even confirm where the shadows of the houses were until the two were within the village. 

As Cayna casually checked her status, she jolted when she saw the status of Heigl, who was displayed as a party member. 

This was because his HP, which had just been displayed as “Current value: Max,” was dropping before her very eyes. He should have been equipped with techniques that reduced physical and magical effects, but her guess was that the damage caused by the fog exceeded this. 

“What the—?! The fog inflicts damage?!” 

Cayna let out a frantic cry and quickly tried to cast Simple Substance Recovery on Heigl. However, at that very same moment, human-sized shadows appeared from deeper within the fog. They came from behind as well. 

“My lady!” 

The attack came faster than her radar could pick up. Heigl put himself in front of Cayna, and she saw him go flying as he took the hit. 

She used that moment to put distance between herself and the quintessential zombies now swaying, transfixed, in front of her. They had ashen skin; clouded, directionless eyes; and clothes so shredded and tattered, they barely clung to the zombies’ bodies. Not only that, their skin was torn off in places, revealing glimpses of reddish-brown flesh. The horrid stench of rotting meat hovered in the air and forced Cayna to grimace. 

One might say that zombies, whose repulsiveness in 3D games differed from that of real-life corpses, were popular small-fry characters. Even so, however much the zombies of other games were resigned to this fate, the ones in Leadale weren’t all simply low-level. 

Occasionally, among their brethren were several high-level zombies that appeared deceptively unassuming. 

“Gwaaaaaaghhhh…” 

They let out garbled moans and mobbed the living. Heigl, who had been blasted away, left her with a “M-may you be ever victorious…” as his image faded and disappeared. The centaur was level 250, so he shouldn’t have been toppled with such incredible ease. These zombies were the same level as him at the very least. 

Concluding that only players had the ability to create zombies of this level in modern Leadale, Cayna faced the monsters and cast Magic Skill: Simple Substance Recovery Dewl Level 9. 

Casting healing magic on the undead was the same as inflicting Attack Magic on the living. The zombies were completely dyed in white light, and every inch of their bodies crumbled to dust. It wasn’t long before not a single trace was left. If some level-400 player had cast a spell on them meant to fill HP when on the verge of death, the zombies wouldn’t have stood a chance. 

“Where’d these guys even come from?!” 

Cayna had only just entered the dome moments before, so she’d assumed any area behind her was “outside.” Perhaps there was a trick to it that spirited people away to someplace within the dome the moment they stepped inside, just at the forest maze did. 

She cast Holy Light on the short sword she’d bought in Felskeilo and illuminated the area around her. The shining white light extended only about three meters, but it pierced through the cream-colored fog. Even with its narrow range, this type of Holy Magic would purify the area as long as the light persisted. 

The fog seemed to be releasing a poison via some sort of technique. Catching her breath as the film of light around her dissipated, Cayna began walking toward the large shadows vaguely visible on the other side of the fog. 

She immediately made her way toward the residences. 

They were as worn-out as the ones back in the remote village, but this didn’t seem problematic, despite people still living in them. Cayna could smell the tide, but the earlier stench of zombie wafted by as well. She stopped and pondered. 

“Well, now what?” 

She had initially come looking for the Palace of the Dragon King; this bizarre situation was not part of the plan. Maybe she ought to deem the inside of the dome as “all zombie” and burn down both the village and the fog dome with her greatest firepower. Or perhaps she should determine the cause of this accident and, if possible, eliminate the threat. 

As she leaned against a house and thought this over, a red dot popped up in the corner of her radar. Two—no, three of them seemed to be heading toward her from the radar’s periphery. From the groans and swaying shadows, she determined them to be zombies and tossed her Eternal Flame in their direction. 

The flaming long sword transformed in midair and landed on four feet. It was only about the size of a knee-high dog, but it was actually a metal lizard cloaked in flame and as powerful as a level-400 monster. 

All at once, she heard “Uwagh” and “Skreeek” coming from the monster showdown. On the other side of the fog, crimson hues danced like flames in every direction. After a short while, the fighting came to a halt, and the fiery lizard casually sauntered back. It jumped toward Cayna, transformed back into a long sword in midair, and returned to her hand. 

After confirming the sword wasn’t chipped or broken in any way, Cayna jumped up on a roof where she might gather her thoughts in the midst of enemy territory. She returned the Eternal Flame to its sheath and moved from house to house while masking her footsteps. Luckily, the buildings were fairly close together, and there was no need to touch the ground as she made her way past each neighboring roof. 

As Cayna moved along, she spied squirming figures below and decided to conduct a few experiments. 

First, she used Wind Magic to release a voice behind the zombies. As soon as Cayna cast Magic Skill: Transmission and took a slow look in the needed direction, a “Waghhh!” rang out. The zombies turned and pursued the sound deeper into the fog. 

“Looks like these guys don’t have the same perception of ‘life’ as normal zombies and don’t race toward it the same way, either. They’ll even respond to magic and sound…,” she murmured nonchalantly. Kee said nothing. He was usually retrieving data about something she’d said at times like this, so Cayna didn’t pay his silence much mind. 

Tired of carrying her short sword, Cayna was about to leave it on the roof when she turned around and thrust it behind her. 

A small clang of metal against metal rang out, and there stood a lightly armored woman defending against Cayna’s sword with her hand guard. The white dot on the radar indicated she was either an ally or another player, but Cayna attacked, since she didn’t believe anyone approaching from a blind spot was likely to be either. 

However, the target of Cayna’s attack gave a look of surprise and backed away with a flustered expression. She soon disappeared into the fog, but Cayna knew what direction she’d gone and constructed a small Flame Lance in her hand. 

An instant later, a sound came flying from the other side of the fog as a whip struck, but its aim was sorely off. The weapon returned to the fog; Cayna now had a rough location and tossed her Flame Lance. A very unladylike “Dwaaaagh!” immediately rang out. 

“I’ll send two hundred more next time…” 

“I give up! You win! Don’t send two hundred!” 

Responding to Cayna’s absentminded murmurings, the offender appeared while waving a white cloth. 

The timidly approaching figure was a female human warrior in leather armor. She had whips wrapped around both arms. According to Cayna’s Search, she was level 430. She could also see the woman was definitely a player. 

Still, no matter how much of a warrior one might be, her appearance was extremely slovenly. Cayna looked at the mass of unruly hair loosely gathered at the woman’s neck and tilted her head. She felt as if she’d seen her somewhere before. 

The woman noticed Cayna placing her hand on the long sword at her side and waved both hands in a panic. 

“H-hold on! These guys around here respond to magic! Don’t draw your sword!” 

“How do you know that? Don’t tell me you’re the reason for this mess?!” 

“You got it all wrong! We’ve been stuck here, too, and freakin’ out over what to do. Please, you gotta believe me…” 

“The probability that she is lying is low. However, it seems she has not yet told the whole truth yet, either. What will you do?” 

Kee analyzed and reported every detail of their opponent. The warrior tearfully pleaded with Cayna, and Cayna sensed no dishonesty. She remained vigilant but eased up on the woman. For the time being, however, the Eternal Flame would remain in Cayna’s hand. 

Giving a sigh of relief, the woman searched the shadows of the houses while gesturing for Cayna to follow. 

“If you try anything funny, I’ll blow this place sky-high!” Cayna warned. 

“What kind of coercion is that?! Anyway, blowin’ the place up would be a problem. There’s a survivor.” 

“Huh?!” 

They crossed the roofs for some time and finally arrived at a small storehouse at what appeared to be the edge of the village. Inside, a casting net was hanging on the wall, poles were gathered in a corner, and small boats were piled upside down on top of each other. It looked like the storehouse held the village’s fishing equipment. 

The woman lifted a floorboard in the very center of the room and nodded toward the stairs that appeared, indicating for Cayna to proceed down them. About ten or so steps later, they arrived at a door. The woman knocked on it in a three-four-two pattern. 

After a short while, a low voice responded “Come in,” and Cayna slowly opened the door. 

Her radar informed her that there was another player inside, so she entered with caution. 

This room was half as wide as the one above. It had to be a bunker of some sort. The stench of fish hit her nose, and she saw a number of jars and earthenware pots along the wall. There were also two open barrels that contained dried fish and vegetables pickled in salt. 

Curled in a tight ball was a gray dragoid; he seemed to be the player. The other person was a petite human crouching in the corner with a blanket over them. This one appeared to be a child. Faintly shining stones were placed on the floor, and both people looked slightly luminescent. 

“See, Exis, I knew somebody’d come,” said the woman. “My, what a surprise. She seems way freakin’… She seems quite a bit stronger than me. Bet she’s a player…uh, I daresay.” 

“You sound kinda different all of a sudden,” Cayna noted. 

“Shut it—er, please be quiet. I got— I have my reasons!” 

The dragoid named Exis didn’t respond to their conversation and instead stared at Cayna with his mouth agape. The strange woman slapped him across the face to snap him out of his stupor, and he went to grab Cayna. 

The next instant, Cayna sensed a threat to her feminine virtue, so she drew her long sword. She pointed the flaming blade at the dragoid’s throat… 

“…Uh, I just wanted to check.” 

“You must be a pretty starving lizard to attack other races.” 

Both halted in the center of the room. Cayna’s long sword gave her the advantage in terms of reach, and the dragoid, unable to close the distance, stood stock still with his arms outstretched. Her sword stopped just short of cutting off a scale from his neck. 

“Y-you’re Cayna, right?! You’re the only one who would have a sword like that as a default weapon.” 

“Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone with a name as pleasant as yours,” she mumbled as she checked the dragoid’s status. 

In the field where his name should have been, there was a haphazard line of letters that read Xxxxxxxxxxxx. There had been plenty of names made up of single letters in the game, but it was hard to know what to call such a person when you came across them. That was probably why this dragoid went by Exis. 

The woman told Cayna she was frightening the child, so she put away the sword in her Item Box. 

Cayna faced the pair once again, and they all introduced themselves. 

“I’m Cayna. I came to this village to talk to people.” 

“’Sup—I mean, hello, I’m Quolkeh. I came here on a job for the Adventurers Guild. The big guy here is Exis.” 

“Don’t call me big! You can’t tell right now, but I used to be a different character. My main was Tartarus.” 

“…Tar… Tarta… Tart… Ah, Tartar Sauce!” 

“I knew you’d call me that! You really are Cayna! You’re alive, you fool!” 

Tartarus was a player in her guild, Cream Cheese, and one of the few who used elven magic as his go-to. Rather than rely on sheer firepower, he used techniques that pinpointed his opponent’s weakness. However, this dragoid dressed in full armor and wielding a giant sword couldn’t be more different from Cayna’s recollection of Tartarus. He used to be pale, skinny, and hidden in robes from head to toe, so it didn’t match her image of him in her mind at all. As a matter of fact, weirdo players had made up a majority of their guild, and he’d been one of the few voices of reason who provided a much-needed cutting remark. This dragoid warrior was the polar opposite. At level 630, he was by far the strongest player she’d met so far. 

Cayna finally remembered where she’d seen the gray dragoid and the lightly armored, whip-wielding woman before. 

“Now that I’m getting a closer look at the two of you, I think I asked you for directions back in Helshper.” 

“Oh yeah, now that you mention it, you’re that chick—er, lady who asked about the Crescent Moon Castle.” 

At the time, Cayna had been under the impression that the woman was more of a big-sister type. However, ever since she went up against Cayna, her masculine mannerisms were growing more noticeable. When Cayna pointed this out, Exis gave a heavy sigh. 

“I told you to watch your phrasing, Quolkeh! We’re the same gender, so talking like that will only make people more suspicious of him.” 

“I couldn’t help it! I thought she was gonna kill me. How could I not give myself away?!” 

“Well, yeah. Cayna’s a member of the Cream Cheese guild.” 

“Say what?!” 

Their brief exchange switched on a light bulb in Cayna’s mind. She had asked Opus about such players before. After confirming that Quolkeh’s status said “Human: ?; Name: Quolkeh,” she got to the heart of the matter. 

“Quolkeh, are you a guy IRL?” 

“Gah…” 

Bull’s-eye. Quolkeh clutched her chest as she avoided Cayna’s gaze. She looked like she’d just been slapped across the face.