In the Land of Leadale - Volume 4 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Retaliation, Fishing, the Road Home, and Secret Talks

A banging echoed in the lightless room.

“Dammit…”

An incredulous mutter followed. Then there was more banging—someone was striking a desk in utter frustration.

“Preposterous…”

The man who owned the room knew that recent unthinkable events had left him in a vulnerable position.

Just as the commoner’s noisy festival was reaching its end, the prime minister had bid him to come to the castle immediately. He quickly got his affairs in order and was on his way.

When he arrived, unsure of why he’d been summoned there, he found the king was present as well. The king ended up castigating him for a most unpleasant incident.

The crime in question was his son’s attempt to harm a commoner—specifically, someone closely connected to an honored national guest. The man had also collaborated with a seedy underground organization and thereby sullied his noble family’s name and dignity. The father, of course, insisted that such accusations were false or part of someone else’s scheming.

However, many prominent figures had witnessed the young noble’s threats firsthand at the Academy, among them the princess and several knights. The man was unable to evade the accusations against his son.

Among the man’s biggest miscalculations had been the fact that the castle had the magical lie detector tool known as Mute Eye, and the underground organization’s messenger, who had supposedly been killed to hide any remaining evidence of the crime, had actually survived. Even covered head to toe in bandages, the messenger had been subjected to a thorough interrogation; the Mute Eye confirmed his account and the noble’s claims were rejected. As a result, the king and prime minister refused to hear the man’s desperate sophisms, and his punishment was meted out then and there. He was demoted from his rank of earl and his lands were confiscated. His family was to vacate their mansion within the month and relocate to a smaller abode.

“What the hell is going on?!”

There was more banging along with the sound of furious kicking. Nothing was spared from his unbridled rage. Was the man’s anger born from his family’s tarnished name, or was it simple indignation at having his masculine pride sullied?

As the night stretched on, the banging, thumping, and clanging from his office continued, and the servants held their breaths in the hopes of avoiding his ire. Once the next day came, his wrath finally abated. The room that had taken the brunt of his fury for hours on end looked as if a monster had been set loose within.

To ease his hardened heart, the man headed to his private quarters. He would look upon and touch his treasured collection for comfort. The man felt relief before he even opened the door. He was like a child thrilled to receive a present the day before his birthday.

However, his heart froze in an instant once he stepped inside—someone had entered the room before him. The servants were forbidden entry, and he was the only one with a key, so this visitor was clearly an intruder.

The person in question was by the window with the man’s treasure in their hand. They passed it back and forth between both hands like a toy. Each time the treasure flew through the air, the man’s heart felt on the verge of breaking.

He wanted to scream: “Get your paws off it!” “Stop!” “Give it back!”

However, the man said none of this. Instead, he demanded, “Why—? What are you doing here?!”

He approached the intruder carefully so as not to surprise them and cause them to drop his treasure. Just then, the moonlight revealed the intruder’s full form.

It was the messenger who had just endured a harrowing ordeal at the castle—the one he had ordered his subordinates to kill. As proof of their success, they had brought him a unique part of the messenger’s body: a red eye. Since half of the messenger’s face was still wrapped in bandages, one could only assume he was missing an eye.

“Hello there, earl. It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? You look downright terrified. Is something the matter?”

The corners of the messenger’s mouth rose in a smirk. The earl felt that something wasn’t quite right.

Wasn’t this messenger the more modest type, he wondered? Indeed, he was more subservient and excellent at reading faces.

When they’d recently reunited at the castle, the earl had confirmed this man to be the messenger. But the person before him now seemed like someone else entirely.

“Keh-keh-keh. Unsettled, are you? I let you mistake me for him in that moment alone. But no longer.”

His silhouette suddenly twisted, and an unfamiliar figure overlapped with that of the messenger. A confident voice unlike that of the messenger filled the room, and like tossing away an old shell, someone else appeared from within him.

There was a thump. It sounded nearby yet somehow foreign. Several moments passed before the earl realized that he was the source of the sound. He’d gripped the back of a sofa as he fell backward. The reality before him was like a fictitious, hazy sensation that was impossible to grasp, and he lost his ability to stand.

The messenger once before him was now an utterly different and commanding man who stood about two heads higher. His tall collar reached the corners of his mouth, and his entire body was enshrouded in a reddish-brown coat. Only his head and feet were visible. His head was no different than a human’s, but he had sharp, pointed ears and peculiar horns. It was difficult to see in the poor lighting, but his tanned skin marked him as a demon. His golden eyes glared in disinterest.

The mere sight froze the earl to his very core. He couldn’t stop trembling.

“A-agwah…”

His heart was gripped in an agonizing vise, and his breath came in gasps. He didn’t even have the composure to realize he’d been hit with De-Buff, which inflicts a target with a status ailment in a single look.

“Well then, I sincerely doubt the king’s punishment will serve as proper atonement for the likes of you.”

The demon’s gaze swiftly shifted over to a second figure that had unexpectedly appeared. When the earl caught sight of it, he unleashed a massive scream.

It was a humanoid white tree with nothing from the neck up. The cavity on the left side of the chest held a white skull.

“Perhaps you will serve as good material for this one. Or…”

A sword was thrust right before the earl’s eyes. The blade alone was longer than he was tall, and its polished, mirrorlike surface reflected his utterly terrified visage.

“…perhaps you’d like him to chop you into tiny pieces?”

Wielding the sword was a six-armed dragoid so tall it had to crouch against the ceiling. Each arm held a weapon, all of which were pointed straight at the earl.

“Eeeeek?!”

His throat grew parched from fear, and panic seized his arms and legs. He wanted to beg for his life but was so stricken with terror that his body wouldn’t listen.

Nevertheless, the demon picked up the gold coins scattered on the table and announced his death sentence with utmost indifference.

“I know—let’s decide with a coin toss.”

His light tone might as well have been discussing the weather. An instant later, the skull’s and dragoid’s faces were tinged with surprise, but those expressions disappeared quick enough to make one wonder if they’d been there at all.

“Nononononononononononononononononononononononononono!”

Only a voiceless scream that threatened to split him open echoed within the earl’s heart. The demon flicked a gold coin; it flew unfeelingly through the air, then twirled in slow motion. The earl felt like he could see every detail of the coin’s design. He mustered all the strength in his body and released a shriek the moment it landed.

However, when questioned the next day, the servants in the mansion reported not hearing a single sound.

Then, the day after the festival.

When Cayna suddenly woke, she realized she was the only one in bed. Luka and Lytt’s warmth from the night before was now long gone. All that remained were neatly folded blankets.

“Meooow.”

The cath palug leapt gracefully onto the bed and sent her a telepathic message: “’Bout time you got up.”

Based on the angle of the sun coming in from the window, she had clearly overslept.

“I guess yesterday wore me out more than I thought…”

She stretched with a “Nghhh” and quickly got changed with a few taps of the Equipment field. After twisting her back and rotating her shoulders around, she confirmed there was nothing out of the ordinary. Feeling fine, she picked up the cath palug and left the room.

“Miss Cayna!”

“Mommy Cayna!”

“Good morning, Lady Cayna.”

They all greeted her with smiles and sound effects that were along the lines of “Bubble, bubble” and “Shing.”

The bubbling came from Luka and Lytt as she hugged them. The “shing” came from Roxine’s polite nod after she’d already prepared and arranged their meal perfectly.

“Sorry I’m late. Are you two having breakfast?”

“I…ate.”

“Me too. You were super late, Miss Cayna!”

“Sorry about that. It looks like my job yesterday wiped me out more than I thought. Cie, I can look for brunch in one of the stalls. Or did you already prepare something?”

“No, I thought you might do that. What about dinner?”

“I’m not sure yet. Worst comes to worst, we can all go to a tavern or something.”

“Understood.”

The festival was over, but Cayna planned to go and see how the tower was doing. She’d bring along the girls and the cath palug, of course. Roxine said she had to clean the rental house and would meet up with them later.

“Won’t you finish faster if you have some help?”

“Lady Cayna, could you please refrain from doing my job?” Roxine gave her the evil eye, so Cayna decided to gladly leave her to it. “It looks like we’ll be leaving by tomorrow, so I must ensure that everything is spick-and-span.”

“Right, sorry about that. I appreciate it.”

Judging from Roxine’s expression as she took out various cleaning supplies from her Item Box, she was ready to get down to business. The werecat maid was prone to bouts of verbal abuse when anyone got in the way of her cleaning, so Cayna and the girls made a swift exit. She led them toward the main drag with the cath palug on Lytt’s head.

“Uwagh…”

“Eek.”

“……”

When they got there, the three stared in bewilderment at the disastrous scene.

“There’s trash everywhere…”

“Yeah…”

“Ah, right. Makes sense, I guess. That’s bound to happen when you’ve got so many people and stalls.”

Skewers and paper bags covered the street from one end to the other. The storefronts were tidy for some reason, but everywhere else was a scattered mess of litter.

“I feel like I’ve seen the dark side of the city…”

The trash at the corners wasn’t so bad, but anything in the middle of the street got kicked up every time a carriage passed through. When Cayna spoke with the people carrying around large bags and cleaning up, they turned out to be adventurers who specialized in requests within the city. The guild apparently got a lot of clean-up requests after the festival. Even so, since there weren’t nearly enough hands to help with the entire city, it would take several days before the garbage was fully packed away.

Cayna thanked them and went down an inconspicuous back alley to summon three Wind Spirits.

“Make sure no one sees you and use the wind to collect all the trash.”

She asked the little Wind Spirit girls to gather up the mess in town. Doing so would save everyone both time and effort.

The spitits flitted about merrily before disappearing and scattering to every corner of the city. Creating a whirlwind to pick the garbage up off the ground was fine, although the powerful gust that sent half-eaten skewers flying was probably not. No one had yet noticed.

Li’l Fairy, who had hardly made an appearance throughout the festival, flew around Cayna; maybe the lack of crowds put her at ease. The cath palug had been startled the first time it saw her, but now it didn’t seem to care in the least as she sat on its head. They looked like the Bremen Town Musicians stacked atop one another like that, and Cayna laughed.

“Mommy Cayna?”

“What’s wrong, Miss Cayna?”

“Phew. Ah, sorry. There was something funny, so I couldn’t help myself.”

Since the girls couldn’t see the fairy, they had no way of knowing what was on the cath palug’s head. With a mere shake, Li’l Fairy and the kitten on top of Lytt’s head swayed, and it took everything Cayna had to hold back her laughter. This made the girls even more confused, and their unsolved questions grew. Once they started pouting, she decided to fess up. She avoided the topic of the fairy, of course.

“It’s just funny to watch the cath palug on your head sway each time you move, Lytt. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think you were doing anything wrong.”

“Hmph!”

Lytt removed the kitten from her head and gave it to Luka, who stared at it for some time before frowning and subsequently passing it to Cayna. However, the cath palug soon twisted out of Cayna’s arms. It jumped to the ground, shook itself off, and began trotting toward the riverbank.

“Ah, wait, kitty!”

“It…ran off?” Luka watched Lytt chase the kitten and looked up at Cayna with concern.

“No worries. That kitty is strong, so it’ll be totally fine.” Cayna gave Luka a comforting hug, and the two of them followed the cath palug, Li’l Fairy, and Lytt.

They found Lytt on one of the riverside piers with the kitten in her arms. Luka trudged over to her and held her tight.

“Don’t…run off.”

“Sorry, Luka.”

When Lytt looked up in apology, she saw Cayna behind Luka with several skewers of salted grilled fish. “Here you go,” Cayna said as she handed one to her.

The three of them sat on several wooden crates and barrels on the pier, and for a while, there was only the sound of them munching on the fish. When Cayna looked over toward the sandbar, she noticed the Guardian Tower was surrounded by small boats keeping their distance. She used Eagle Eye and saw that most of the passengers were soldiers. A galley full of sightseers also slowly passed by, all of whom looked terrified. Cayna felt bad that she might’ve actually created more work for the Guardian.

“Oh!”

Cayna took a look around when she heard Lytt cry out and realized she’d let her mind wander too much. Kee was also more or less keeping an eye on things, so he would report to her if anything happened.

When Cayna turned toward the direction of Lytt’s gaze, she found the cath palug gnawing a collection of empty fish skewers to pieces. As soon as she finished eating, Cayna handed over hers as well, and it repeated the process. The kitten then gathered the chopped debris on to a corner of a wooden crate, and a single gust of wind collected the trash and snatched it away. The cath palug appeared to have a good relationship with spirits, and it stuck its nose in the air with a self-satisfied look.

“How’d ya like that?” it boasted.

When she petted its head and told it “Good kitty,” the children followed suit: “Good kitty!” “Good…kitty…,” they said as they rubbed its head and back. It amused Cayna that this was the one time the cat acted subtle.

While the girls were enjoying some fruit for dessert, Cayna mentally contacted Roxine to let her know their location. The maid wasn’t quite done cleaning yet, so the group decided to head over to the sandbar. Now that the ban on sailing was lifted, the commuter boat was back up and running. However, someone on the pier made Cayna a strange offer.

“Will you walk on water if I cancel out the children’s fare?”

“Whaaa—?”

She hadn’t planned on making herself a spectacle but realized she was already being put on the spot. Weighing the embarrassment of public humiliation against six bronze coins, her mind focused on the former. She could’ve very well considered the whole ordeal as a personal demonstration rather than a show that forced her to be on display. However, Cayna would need more time to settle into such a mindset.

“Hmm, fine. I’ll walk by the boat until we reach the sandbar.”

“Ah, I’d be mighty grateful if you did. Heck, I’d even pay you for it. I’ll just raise the fare, then.”

The nearby passengers who heard the captain laughed out loud.

Having someone walk on water and accompany the boat would make for an excellent marketing opportunity. Plus, since Cayna couldn’t join the boat for each ride, her presence would give those trips an added sense of luxury.

“In any case, riding alongside you is enough of a reward for me.”

“That’s all?”

The old captain said he could offer her more money, but Cayna wasn’t willing to be that greedy. She turned down any compensation for the time being.

The passengers’ fare would be three bronze coins whenever Cayna walked beside the boat. The cost was round trip, although the passengers didn’t know whether or not she would accompany the boat on the return. Only those who didn’t mind this boarded.

Once the boat departed, Cayna walked alongside it near where Luka and Lytt were seated. She drew a lot of curious stares. Several minutes in, and she already wanted to retract her previous offer.

The captain and passengers thanked her after they arrived at the sandbar pier, but she quickly said her good-byes and hurried off before others could make similar requests.

“I’m not some pushover who’ll do just any favor on a whim.”

At any rate, she was only willing to do this service for that specific commuter boat.

Cayna took Luka and Lytt to the sandbar’s eastern edge. Large groups of people were coming and going from this direction.

Normally, the top of the blue whale’s head was visible at this location, a dome-shaped space surrounded by tall piles of flowers.

“Wow, what is this place?” Lytt asked.

“So many…flowers.”

“There sure are, huh?”

Only one spot where you could just barely see the front of the blue whale was open, and people stepped forward to pay their respects. They would then add their bouquet to the nearby wall and leave. The three of them watched as more and more flowers were added to the wall.

Some people were eyeing Cayna and her group suspiciously for not praying, so she and the girls left to avoid bothering anyone further. Just then, the whale spouted water from its blowhole, and those who had gathered to offer it their prayers started cheering. Some of them seemed to consider this a form of blessing. Real whales didn’t actually spout water, though.

After stopping by the church to check out the sparkling stained glass windows, they visited Kartatz’s workshop. It was then that they finally met up with Roxine.

“How’d it go?” Cayna asked her.

“Everything has been well polished. We will be able to depart tomorrow with no issues.”

“Gotcha. Great work. Looks like we’re heading back tomorrow, then. Are you two okay with that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yeah, that’s fine!”

The children gave their approval, and Cayna made plans to thank Elineh the next day and leave Felskeilo. Marelle was no doubt worried about Lytt being so far from home.

“Mum!”

“Hey there, Kartatz.”

The workshop appeared to be back in business, but things didn’t seem especially busy at the moment. Cayna and the others arrived to see the workers resting on the floor or in the shadow of piles of lumber, which was when Kartatz came rushing out from further inside the workshop.

“Thanks for the lumber earlier,” said Cayna. “I was able to build a really nice house with it.”

“It was your own abilities that made it possible, Mum, not anything I did. Hey there, Luka. How are you?”

“……Hel…lo…Kar…tatz.”

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lytt.”

Luka had approached Kartatz and kept her head down as she spoke, and Lytt nodded next to her. Behind Cayna, Roxine bowed.

“Oh, you must be the innkeeper’s daughter. I’m Mum’s third child, Kartatz. As you can see, I make boats in this here workshop. Nice to meet you.” Kartatz briefly introduced himself while stroking his beard with his arms crossed.

Luka took Lytt’s hand and looked up at him.

“Can we…look around?” she timidly asked.

“Sure, I don’t mind…but there’s a lot of dangerous stuff around here that you could trip on and whatnot. Stay away from the piles of lumber. It might topple in a heartbeat.”

“…Okay.”

“Got it!”

“Then I shall accompany you ladies.”

When Roxine suddenly stood right by them and made this offer, Kartatz chose one of his men to act as a guide. He gave instructions to let them observe as they pleased.

Since both the cath palug and Roxine would protect Luka and Lytt even in the event of an avalanche, Cayna wasn’t particularly worried.

“Sorry that Luka kinda forced this on you.”

“Aw c’mon, it’s nothin’. Besides, that lady with her looks pretty capable herself. If any of the lumber collapsed, I bet she’d handle it no problem.”

Lytt asked Kartatz’s employee a string of questions, which Luka would whisper to her, like “What’s that?” and “What’s this?” Behind them, Roxine kept a constant watch. The other workers still on break watched them with smiles on their faces.

“Even though my house is in the village, I made more rooms than I need. You’re free to stay anytime. We even have a public bathhouse.”

“That right? I’ll be lookin’ forward to it.”

“And we’ve got this!”

Cayna produced a barrel from her Item Box, and it landed with a thud in front of Kartatz. One whiff of the aroma had him lunging at it and crying “Ooh, booze!” with a big grin on his face.

“I decided to open up a brewery in the village, so I thought I’d give you a barrel as thanks for the lumber. You can either drink it yourself or share with everyone. I’ll leave that up to you.”

“You already paid me for the wood. Isn’t this giving me too much?”

“Conscientious as ever, I see… Just accept it as ‘profits.’”

“R-right. Much obliged.”

“I’ll be selling through Sakaiya, so order from them if you want more.”

“Got it. Thanks for this, Mum.”

Clearly quite pleased with this “profit,” Kartatz beamed from ear to ear as he hoisted the barrel up and headed further inside the workshop.

“Listen up, boys!” he called to his staff. “I got some top-notch booze from my mum, so the drinks are gonna be flowin’ tonight!”

His men let out a raucous cheer that shook the workshop. Luka and Lytt looked around, startled by the noise. The cath palug meowed and licked Lytt’s cheek to assure her there was no danger.

Cayna grinned uncomfortably; she had a feeling Kartatz and his staff were going drink it all within the day. “I guess they drink like fishes,” she murmured.

“…Fishes?” Luka repeated, clearly confused.

She, Lytt, and Roxine had returned after taking a tour of the workshop. Seeing Kartatz skipping back to them in high spirits shocked Cayna, although she couldn’t relate since she wasn’t a fan of alcohol herself.

“It means that you drink all the alcohol in one sitting,” she told Luka.

“Hmm,” said Lytt. “I don’t really like adults who get plastered…”

“You sure don’t pull your punches, Lytt.” Cayna burst out laughing. Lytt was just as brazen in her opinions as her big sister, Luine.

Lytt unmistakably saw her fair share of sloppy, foolish adults since she lived in a tavern. It was impressive how every employee around them who had been listening in on the conversation clutched their hearts with a groan and looked away.

The shipbuilders had returned to their activities that day, and Cayna decided to stay at the workshop until evening since the children insisted on watching. Roxine said she would keep an eye on the girls, so Cayna decided to spend her free time fishing on the bank of the sandbar. Fishing was a skill as well, and one which Cayna only used when gathering cooking ingredients. Many players had fished with boundless determination in order to snag a rare catch or collect one of each kind.

Fellow Skill Master Kujo had often invited her on fishing trips where he had her spend endless hours helping him look for specific types. Her own friendliness and camaraderie surprised her; one time they visited a beach with a different goal in mind but ended up fishing out a zwohm with Liothek. Kujo hadn’t been after the zwohm but rather Liothek, who had been dressed in a sea slug onesie. It was a huge ordeal, with the zwohm subjugated after a great many sacrifices only for them to learn that it couldn’t be made into a summoning. Cayna remembered how Liothek had cried with resentment.

These memories came flooding back to Cayna as she got ready to go fishing, and only after Kartatz pointed it out did she realize she’d had a grin on her face.

She put together the fishing bait through skills, and after recalling some of Kujo’s past meddling, her fishing gear was ready to go. Given the large variety of fish at the market, Cayna was certain that Kartatz, who had long lived in Felskeilo, would be able to identify which ones were edible.

She caught the Ejidd River’s famous catfish (ponsu) on her very first try and realized she’d need something to put the fish in. As time went by, the attention of the workshop employees fell on Cayna. After all, she was sure to catch something with each swing of her rod. Kartatz wisely brought out a washbasin, but Cayna’s catches quickly filled up two more. She had put the smaller fish in one basin, which was soon full to bursting.

Luka and Lytt grew more fascinated with fishing than observing the workshop. Together with Roxine, they peered into the basins and listened to Kartatz’s explanation of each kind of fish and how to cook them. Four large fish like the ponsu were swimming in one other basin. The little ones were released at Kartatz’s suggestion.

“I think I’ve had enough of the little guys.” Cayna switched out her rod meant for medium-size fish and switched it for a rod designed to catch large ones. “Cie, can you pick out several fish from that basin and cut them up for me?”

“You’d like to turn them into bait? Just one moment.”

Roxine took out her own knife and cutting board, and then chopped a few fish she had scooped from the basin.

“Miss Cayna, are you going to fish some more?”

“I’m really enjoying myself. It might be seem boring, but wait just a bit longer.”

It’d been a long time since she last fished, and it was surprisingly fun once she started. Her expectations went from “I’ll get enough for the whole family,” to “Let’s get fish enough for everyone.” Now, her plan was, “I won’t stop until the line snaps.”

“Agh, fine! I give! We ain’t gettin’ any work done like this! Hey, someone grab some burners and leftover wood! People who know how to clean fish, get over here!”

Kartatz, realizing that his workers were captivated by Cayna’s huge haul and that any attempt at work was futile, decided to round everyone up for some food prep. Following his orders, they soon collected scrap wood and made a bonfire. Magic stoves were brought from the kitchens, pots and frying pans were set up, and those who knew the proper techniques cut and trimmed the fish. Many of Kartatz’s workers were quite skilled; they gutted the fish, skewered and grilled some with salt, and arranged others for fresh sashimi—even readied the fish for frying. A mouthwatering aroma wafted through the air.

Roxine borrowed a stove and started her own preparations. She always seemed to have her own ideas in mind.

Unable to keep up with the rapid-fire pace, Luka and Lytt held the cath palug and stared in amazement as the rough-looking men went about their work.

“So cool.”

“Uh-huh. So…cool.”

“Meow.” Swaying back and forth, the cath palug covetously eyed several fish dishes.

As an added bonus, even some of the fishermen passing nearby were lured by scent and brought their own catches as well. The riverbank by the workshop was instantly filled with people, several bonfires were lit, and an impromptu banquet broke out. When Cayna switched out her gear and immediately caught a nearly three-meter-long pirarucu, the crowd erupted into cheers.

Pirarucu were difficult to catch and very delicious. Such a high-quality fish went for more than two silver coins at market. Everyone agreed that the one who caught the fish ought to decide what to do with it. Since she didn’t really want to bring it all the way home, Cayna urged everyone to eat it.

“Here you go…Mommy Cayna…”

“Oh, thanks, Lu.”

Luka brought out the first piece, which had been steamed with herbs inside a hole in the ground. Cayna opened her mouth with an “Ahhh” as Luka tossed it in.

“Gah, hot! Huff, fwagh. Ooh, this is tasty,” said Cayna.

The herbs had erased any bad odors while the salt had softened the flesh. It tasted of sea bream. After Cayna finished her own plate, she later divided the portion Lytt had brought over between the two girls. They were shocked at how good it tasted.

Later on, Kartatz came over and offered his mother a cup. He’d recently opened the barrel of beer she gave him and was apparently treating everyone to drinks.

“Here ya go, Mum. Haven’t you done enough fishin’ by now? Why not join the party?”

“Hmm. I’m having so much fun though. I’ll keep at it just a bit longer.”

“More fishing…?”

“Also, Kartatz, I don’t drink alcohol.”

“Huh?! But didn’t you bring this?”

“I brought it and made it, but I don’t drink it.”

She smiled awkwardly as Kartatz stood frozen in shock. She wished he would stop thinking she could drink as much as a dwarf all because he was her son.

“Mommy Cayna…are you…still hungry?”

“Yeah, I’ll have another bite. Could you bring me some of that salted grilled fish?”

“…Okay.”

Incidentally, Roxine was producing salt with her skills and using her Cooking Skills to make oshizushi and nigirizushi. Since it was rare cuisine, people kept coming back for more the moment it was available. However, Roxine’s intimidating aura ensured no one made a move. She watched Luka and Lytt take some of the food with a bright smile on her face but stared daggers whenever anyone else tried to do the same, forcing them to dejectedly retreat.

Cayna held the fishing rod in one hand and popped the salted grilled fish Luka had brought into her mouth with the other. Perhaps out of some deeply ingrained habit, Lytt was now serving, carrying food, and pouring drinks. People sang and played ditties on their flutes, and for some reason even a wandering bard joined in to enliven the merry atmosphere.

“It’s getting pretty rowdy. Does this sort of thing happen often?” Cayna asked her son.

“Nah, it’s pretty unusual. You just…tend to cause a ruckus wherever you go, Mum.”

“Well, gee, sorry about that.”

“Yeah…this is fun…,” said Luka.

Kartatz had joined Cayna at the edge of the river and was sitting on a wooden crate while he ate and drank his fill. Luka sat on a large boulder nearby, staring out at the over eighty members who had joined the party. She was stroking the full-bellied, purring cath palug on her lap. Roxine returned to them with Lytt, who was now dog-tired from serving. Both the maid’s arms held several plates of food. She tossed them into the air and took out a table from her Item Box. Catching the falling plates one after the other, she lined them along the table. It was like watching a combination of acrobatics and a parlor trick. Luka and Lytt clapped enthusiastically, and the maid bowed politely.

“You did a fine job, Lady Lytt.”

“Uwagh, I ended up serving people before I even knew it!” Lytt moaned.

“Comes with the territory, miss,” Kartatz teased.

“Forgive me, Lady Cayna. I failed to assist you here.”

“I’ll call you if I need anything, so just do whatever you feel like.”

As Roxine earnestly apologized for leaving Cayna’s side, Luka patted her head consolingly. She probably wouldn’t want Roxilius to learn she’d been in such a state.

Next to Cayna, who was visibly confused as to why Roxine was being so hard on herself, Lytt looked at the line in the water and mumbled with boredom, “You’re still fishing, Miss Cayna?”

“Yeah, I was thinking I’d catch one more before we head back… Hmm?”

Just as Cayna spoke, the fishing rod bent. This type was meant for hauling big fish from the sea and had apparently caught something. The line moved to the left and right along the river’s surface beyond the light of the bonfires. Cayna grabbed the rod with both hands and shouted “Light!” at Roxine, who cast Additional White Light over the tip of the pole. The cath palug slipped off Luka’s lap and walked across the water with a tup, tup, tup to peer at the end of the line. A summoned Light Spirit, which looked like a giant dandelion, further illuminated what lay beneath the surface.

The next moment, a giant swaying shadow rose out of the water. Cayna’s group stared wide-eyed.

“Whoa, what is that?” said Cayna.

“It’s freakin’ huge… Do we have the space to reel in somethin’ like that?”

Kartatz quickly looked at the nearby riverbank and told the people there to retreat. “Hey! Somethin’ big is comin’. Stand back, you guys!”

“Hold on, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to catch it yet!” Cayna protested.

“I believe in you, Mum!”

He gave her a thumbs up, and Cayna’s gaze grew distant. “I hate when people expect big things of me…”

It wasn’t just her son. The merrymakers had also heard the commotion and come running. Cayna became the center of attention as she strained against her big catch. She clutched the rod tight as it swayed back and forth and paused for a moment. Instead of reeling the line in, she kept the fishing rod raised and gradually backed away in order to pull the creature to shore.

Finally, whether out of resignation or desperation, her big catch made its way onto land. As soon as it was illuminated by the Light Spirit, people screamed and scrambled away from the riverbank. Roxine picked up Luka and Lytt and carried them off a good distance. The only ones left were Kartatz with a beer in one hand, Cayna who still held the rod, and the cath palug growling at her feet.

“The heck is that?” said Kartatz.

“Looks like a monster to me,” replied Cayna.

It was some sort of alligator creature that looked to be about nine meters long. It had rough, dark-green skin, a shark head, an alligator body, and wide fins like a stingray’s. The monster’s long, thin, vertical tail was like those you see in cryptobranchoidea.

Its chimera silhouette bore a striking resemblance to a monster Cayna had seen recently; she wondered if this one came from some sort of Pillage Point.

Now with its body fully on land, the chimera alligator-shark snapped its jaws with a clang in an effort to threaten Cayna and her son.

“Ah, now that ya mention it, I got a feelin’ there was a warning sent out for the whole riverbank,” Kartatz casually recalled as he gulped down his beer. His staff behind him shouted, “Shouldn’t you have mentioned this stuff, boss?!” in protest.

He couldn’t flip out at his workers and make a fool of himself in front of his mother, so his only reaction was a bulging vein that appeared on his forehead.

“Now, now,” Cayna said with a strained smile as she consoled her son. She then glanced at the chimera alligator-shark curiously.

“Hey, isn’t this the smaller shadow that appeared before the Guardian Tower did?” she said.

“GRAAAGH!” the monster howled, and went to attack just as Cayna looked away. The onlookers behind her gasped and screamed, “Watch out!”

They shut their eyes, anticipating her tragic end where she would get torn to shreds. Their shrieks echoed through the night as Cayna, the one under attack, calmly leaped toward the creature.

As the chimera soared through the air to make its attack, she slipped beneath its giant body and let a kick fly.

Weapon Skill: Explosive Kick: Guen Van Ti

A sound like “Bwaahm!” followed, and a huge hole went straight through the chimera’s chest and out its back. An instant kill, it passed straight by Cayna and fell motionless to the sandy soil with a loud thud.

An almost painful silence settled over the area, and the onlookers timidly peeked at the unmoving monster. Finally, a quiet round of applause began to rise from the murmuring crowd. This soon turned into a thunderous cheer that spread across the sandbar.

At that point, a phosphorescence rose from the chimera. The monster lit up in an instant and disappeared before their very eyes. All that remained was a square piece of metal small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand.

“I knew it. So it was a Pillage Point…”

After Cayna picked the metal up and used Search to evaluate it, she tossed it to Kartatz.

“Whoa, what’s this for, Mum? Don’t just throw stuff at me.”

“I’m not gonna use it, so you can have it.”

“‘Won’t use it’? What even is this thing…?”

Kartatz used Search on it and did a spit take.

The metal was actually Damascus steel, one of the hardest of all fantasy metals.

At any rate, the feast drew to a close, and the partygoers and workshop members who had drunk and ate their fill began cleaning up. A soldier who should have been on patrol but had also joined in the revelry collected accounts from the eyewitnesses who saw the vanishing monster.

“He’s playing hooky,” Cayna stated.

“Yep, no question,” Kartatz agreed.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” the soldier retorted. “Th-this is part of my duties, too. Yeah.”

“He dodged the issue,” she added.

“Indeed he did,” Roxine concurred.

The soldier learned from Cayna that this creature might have been the source of the first shadow that sprang up before the ordeal with the white fish and hurriedly went to report this information to his seniors. It would take some time for him to deliver this report, since he had to cross the river; this was one of Felskeilo’s pitfalls. The news apparently wasn’t too urgent, so the guard couldn’t use the dragonfly service either.

“Sounds like a pain to me,” Cayna said with a sigh.

“Mum, not everyone has useful skills like you.” Kartatz shot his mother an exasperated look. It would take a few days to get conclusive results, so Cayna asked that any reward for her information be sent to Kartatz.

“You can collect it the next time you stop by,” Kartatz told her.

“Just go ahead and use it, honestly,” Cayna replied indifferently.

“What are you saying, Lady Cayna? Money is a finite resource. Sir Kartatz, please hold onto it for safekeeping,” Roxine urged.

“R-right…,” said Kartatz. Faced with her stern expression and fervent gaze, he really had no other choice but to agree.

“Well, guess we better catch a boat before they’re all gone,” said Cayna. “Lu, Lytt, let’s go.”

“’Kaaaay!”

“Okay…”

Roxine gave a polite bow, and Luka ran to Cayna with the cath palug in her arms. Lytt followed Cayna after accepting some salted grilled fish.

“Sheesh. Never a dull moment when Mum’s around.”

As soon as he saw Cayna and the others off, Kartatz kicked his workers’ butts into gear and had them hurry with the clean-up.

The sun had already set by the time they crossed the river, and it was pitch dark. The city was basking in the lingering post-festival atmosphere, with many people out reveling in groups. Getting through such crowds with children in tow would put any parent or guardian on edge. Many of the revelers were fairly easygoing, but not the ones Cayna’s all-female group ran into. Most of them were men who were either starved for female attention or tried to force drinks on her and Roxine.

The group made their way through town, handling those men as they cropped up, although Cayna and Roxine had to resort to force several times when a verbal warning didn’t suffice. By the time they got back to the rental house, Cayna was mentally exhausted.

“What is this, the final gauntlet? Gimme a break.”

They spotted several shadowy human figures in front of the rental house. Cayna took her magic staff from her earring and gave it a swing. When she brought it back down to a manageable size and glared at the group, a harried voice called out.

“H-hey! Just hold on a sec! Why’re you suddenly goin’ into battle mode?!”

“Hmm?”

“M-Miss Cayna, it’s Mr. Knight from yesterday,” Lytt said as she clung to Cayna’s arm to stop her. When Cayna strained her eyes, she saw the startled faces of the group of knights as well as Myleene, whom they were protecting.

“Jeez, it’s you, Shining Saber? Don’t get me all confused like that,” Cayna griped.

“You seem pretty beat. What’re you doin’ out with the kids this late?” the dragoid asked.

“All sorts of stuff. I guess you haven’t heard about what went down yet. Anyway, come on in. Sorry, Cie, I know you’re tired, but please prepare us some tea.”

“Will do.”

Although the invitation was extended to everyone, only Myleene and Shining Saber entered. The rest of the knights stood on patrol around the perimeter of the house.

As Roxine was preparing the tea, Cayna brought the two children to the second floor.

“I’ll leave the girls with you for a bit, cath palug.”

“Meooow.”

“You two can go to bed without me,” Cayna said to Lytt and Luka.

“Gotcha.”

“…Okay.”

Once the girls changed into their pajamas, they got under the covers and bade Cayna good night. When she arrived back down at the first floor, she sat down in front of her two visitors at the table.

“Well, what is it?” Cayna said.

“You sure are sulky,” Shining Saber replied. “You mess up or somethin’…?”

“I’m tired from dealing with drunks.”

Really, it was more exhausting than the uproar at the sandbar.

Myleene giggled as she watched Cayna stretch and stifle a yawn. “Just when I assume it’s from the momentous odd job you’ve taken on, it turns out to be people who have tired you out. You certainly are a peculiar one, Lady Cayna.”

It was here that Roxine served them tea before stepping back with a bow. Each took a sip, and just as they all relaxed, Shining Saber brought out a strangely bulky leather pouch.

“What’s this?” Cayna asked him.

“The reward from yesterday.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Huh? That’s all you’ve got to say?”

Without even checking what was inside it, Cayna accepted the purse and stowed it in her Item Box. Myleene’s eyes grew large as she witnessed the quick exchange.

“If you’re giving it to me, I’ll take it. It’d be more of a pain to reject this sort of thing than to just accept it.”

“Somethin’ happen?” Shining Saber asked.

“Yeah, just a little while ago. I’ve got a feeling the soldiers won’t get back to me soon, since I can’t prove my claim.”

As soon as Cayna told them what had happened at the sandbar, Myleene got to her feet.

“What’s wrong, Mye?”

“I shall speak with the soldiers myself. After all you have done for us, to think they wouldn’t take your claim seriously!”

“No, no, it’s really okay! There’s no reason to get so worked up! Just calm down!” Cayna hurriedly had Myleene sit back down in her chair. “Phew, I’m totally wiped…”

Shining Saber clutched his stomach from laughing as Cayna hung her head wearily. “Ha-ha-ha-ha, how’s it feel when someone else has all the power?” he taunted.

“By the way, is it really a good idea for the princess to be out this late?” Cayna asked.

“Of course it’s not. That’s why I’m with her. Quit screwin’ around.”

“Why’re you snapping at me?”

When Cayna looked at Myleene, she had an apologetic expression and nodded. It seemed that Shining Saber or some other knight was only supposed to deliver the reward, but the princess had requested to come along. That’s why there was an entire group present. Primo wasn’t the only member of the royal family actively trying to run away from home, as Cayna had realized the last time Mye had escaped the castle on her own.

When it was time to return to the castle, Cayna sent her off with one of the Wind Spirits she had called upon that morning since they had already returned. She made it so the summoning would cancel out once Myleene safely returned.

“Well, see you later, Mye.” Cayna waved good-bye, and Myleene curtsied. “See ya, Shining Saber.”

“Yep. Don’t get mixed up in any more trouble.” After giving his tall order, Shining Saber waved a hand from behind.

“Good night, Lady Cayna.”

“Thanks. Night, Mye.”

The knights on guard also bowed their heads or waved back, and the group disappeared into the bustling night.

“Aghh, that sure was a busy way to relax…” Cayna stretched with a “Nghhh” and gave a big yawn. She mumbled, “Time for bed,” and headed to her bedroom. There, she was greeted with the sight of the girls and kitten curled up and peacefully asleep.

“My goodness.” Cayna climbed in under the covers next to the girls, said good night to the cath palug in the center, and drifted into dreams.

The next morning, they went over to Elineh’s company and returned the key to the rental house. Cayna had removed all the traps while Roxine had done some deep cleaning, so it was spick-and-span by the time they had checked out.

“Thank you so much, Elineh,” said Cayna.

“Thank you!”

“Thank…you…”

“Ha-ha-ha, I’m so glad to see you’ve enjoyed yourselves. How was the festival?”

“More than worth it, since we got to enjoy all different kinds of food.”

“My, my, it appears food is your true love. How very like you, Lady Cayna.”

Next to Elineh was the untransformed Armuna. Just as she interrupted her husband’s conversation, she gave her employees an order, and they brought over three wooden boxes.

“Umm, what’s this?” Cayna asked.

“Yes, well, I heard you desire food ingredients, Lady Cayna, so I’ve prepared a choice selection. I do hope you’ll accept it,” Armuna replied.

“Wow, you didn’t have to do all that, but thank you.”

“It was nothing. Our company accomplishes this much before breakfast.”

When Cayna looked over at the employees who had brought the boxes, her expression stiffened. Some had dark circles under their eyes; everyone looked rather exhausted.

“In that case, please take this,” Cayna said, and handed Armuna three gold coins. The kobold blinked and stared at the money in her hand.

“Um, what is this for?” Armuna asked.

“It’s payment. I said I would pay next time, didn’t I?”

“Goodness me, you certainly don’t pull your punches, do you? Understood. I shall accept your payment. Thank you as always for your patronage.” Armuna and the relieved employees fell back.

“Oh my, Lady Cayna. It seems my wife is rather fond of you,” Elineh commented cheerfully.

“…Please give me a break,” a haggard-looking Cayna mumbled.

The wagon was already out of the Item Box and ready for departure. In order to avoid any commotion, this time it would be led by a single horse and look like a normal wagon. To make the appearance more palatable than the stern-looking golem, Cayna used Summoning Magic to call upon an enbarr—a mythological horse that could race across land and sea.

“Well, Elineh. Thanks so much for everything,” said Cayna.

At the rear of the wagon, Luka gave a little bow and Lytt waved good-bye. Elineh waved back and told Cayna he looked forward to seeing her again in the village.

Cayna was relieved to find that they were able to exit the eastern gate without shocking anyone.

“Miss Cayna, isn’t the wagon going kind of fast?” Lytt asked.

As Cayna relaxed inside their transport, Lytt, who was staring out at the scenery, looked behind her.

It really couldn’t be helped. Since the very beginning, the wagon had always had a will of its own and did as it pleased to a certain degree. Cayna had only instructed the enbarr to pretend to pull it. She never said to not pull it.

Perhaps pleased it had nothing to do in particular, the enbarr raced along. The wagon raced along as well, and the synergy caused it to push forward at a reckless speed.

“It doesn’t look like we are about to run over anybody, and we’ve got countermeasures (for the inside of the wagon) that will keep us perfectly safe,” Cayna said with a wink.

They were flying much faster than any normal carriage, and the scenery outside passed by in the same way one might see from the window of a moving train. Lytt’s expression grew dark. Cayna popped her head out of the wagon and said, “Enbarr, can you slow it down a bit?” Their speed quickly dropped, and the wagon finally moved at a horse’s pace. The enbarr seemed a bit dissatisfied, so Cayna considered unhitching it at night and letting it have a good run.

Then, just as they left Felskeilo and were about to spend their first night camping outdoors…

Roxine noticed an elaborate carriage guarded by four knights on horseback coming toward them from the direction they were headed and reported this to Cayna. It stopped alongside them by their campsite, and Skargo, enveloped in a Rainbow Halo, burst out. Cayna offered a strained smile and greeted him.

“Ah, Mother Dear, to think we would reunite in a place such as this… I, Skargo, am ever grateful to the gods.”

The knight guards ignored Skargo’s little meltdown and started setting up camp.

Cayna hit him over the head and told him not to leave the knights with all the heavy lifting. Her vaguely icy smile prompted Skargo to leap to his feet and run off to help his entourage. As she put a hand to her forehead with a sigh, she called to Luka and Lytt.

“…You…called us?”

“What is it, Miss Cayna?”

“Could you ask the knights if they’d like to have dinner together?”

“Okay…I’ll try…”

“Yeah, we’ll help!”

Cayna was watching the two amiably walk off hand in hand when Roxine, who had made a bonfire nearby, burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny, Cie?”

“Shouldn’t you invite Sir Skargo as well?”

“Those who don’t work don’t eat.”

“How very stern of you. Can he even cook…?”

“I’m sure he learned when he was training to be a High Priest. He ought to be fine, right?”

Roxine brewed several cups of tea and passed one to Cayna and the girls once they returned. The knights, who had assumed they’d be managing their own meals somehow, couldn’t resist the children’s imploring gazes and accepted Cayna’s invitation for dinner.

Skargo wound up sobbing tears of agony and asking why Cayna didn’t invite him, too.

Luka shot him a steely glare and replied, “’Cause you slacked, off…Big Brother.” Skargo subsequently turned to stone from the shock, but never mind that slight detail.

Cayna used her Cooking Skills to prepare dinner. She made a spicy soup from some large shellfish from the Ejidd River along with vegetables and colt bird meat that were in the wooden boxes Armuna had given her. The pot was full to the brim with soup, but the knights emptied it in no time. Her foolish son was promptly silenced when he started grumbling, “Perhaps you could show an iota of self-restraint while enjoying Mother Dear’s cooking?” Most remarkable of all was when Roxine served equal amounts of tea to everyone.

Cayna, Luka, and Lytt went down to the stream alongside the main road to wash the utensils, and when they returned, it was time for everyone to sit together and chat. Social status had no bearing here, as Cayna reminded Skargo earlier. However, the bureaucrats and attendants quickly withdrew, insistent that they should abstain.

The knights’ commander seemed like the reasonable type. After all, his objections of “Sir Skargo, could you please refrain from sending out stars and rainbows from the carriage whenever we pass by citizens? It’s rather embarrassing” put an end to the High Priest’s shenanigans from the very outset of their journey.

“Ah, sorry about my idiot son,” said Cayna. “You can keep him tied up until you get back to Felskeilo. You have my permission.”

“Motherrrr Deaaaaaar…”

“What are you crying over, Skargo? I’m being totally serious.”

“You’re not going to deny it?!”

Skargo’s harried response sent everyone around the fire into roars of laughter as he crouched down and helplessly cried a waterfall.

The knights then asked Cayna what had brought her all the way to Felskeilo. It was no big secret, so she answered that she’d gone to see her daughter and show the children more of the world. Their idle chit-chat continued for some time, but alcohol suddenly loosened one of the knights’ tongues. Silence fell after he asked a single question:

“Heeey, I wonder what Sir Skargo’s father is like?”

It really wasn’t all that odd a topic of conversation, but Cayna wasn’t expecting it and clammed up. Meanwhile, even Skargo, who was normally throwing effects around constantly, went silent as well, looking downward with a pained expression on his face. No one said a word. Unsurprisingly, the knight realized his slipup and bowed his head with a “Sorry” at his commander’s prodding.

With this, the light conversation ended as well. However, amid the uncomfortable atmosphere, Skargo lifted his head and looked at Cayna. “Mother Dear. My siblings and I have only heard of Father in vague detail—what kind of person was he?”

“Gah!”

It was out of the frying pan and into the fryer.

Cayna froze when her son asked her point-blank about the hazy subject. An emotional response—that is, hitting him with her strongest Flame Magic—wouldn’t solve this.

Strictly speaking, the father of Skargo, Kartatz, and Mai-Mai was the VRMMORPG Leadale’s game system. Not that they would ever understand that…

Now internally panicking, Cayna used her deep knowledge of men (that is, Opus) and started to explain without thinking of the consequences. According to her, their father was stronger than Cayna and used his wiles to mess around with people. As she spoke, Cayna’s mood grew darker with self-loathing. The knights mistakenly thought it was a painful subject and felt bad for her. She was eternally grateful they never asked why the father was gone even though he’d supposedly been stronger than Cayna.

Her mood now thoroughly deflated, everyone decided to call it a day. The knight who had started the whole conversation bowed his head remorsefully, but Cayna had brought this dark mood upon herself and told him not to worry about it. She summoned a Fire Spirit and Lightning Spirit to keep watch over the camp. Skargo had his knights, so what he did with them was up to him.

Cayna held her head and groaned miserably. Luka clung tight to her.

“Wh-what’s wrong, Lu?”

“I want to…sleep with you, Mommy Cayna.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Well, let’s hop into bed, then.”

Luka had never seen her mother so flustered.

“No fair, Luka! I wanna sleep with Miss Cayna, too!”

“Wait, don’t the three of us always sleep right next to each other anyway?”

She’d apparently become a hot commodity, and an agreement was finally made when she offered each girl one arm as a pillow. With Roxine as mediator, the matter concluded smoothly.

“My arms are definitely gonna be sore tomorrow…”

At their newest campsite two days later, Cayna’s group met up with a party of five that included Cohral.

“Yo, Cayna,” he called.

“Wait, didn’t you have a guard job to do?”

He was supposed to be on bodyguard duty for Sakaiya, escorting an envoy to the border, but he shouldn’t have been finished with the job so soon. She had asked him out of concern, but the reason was simple.

“Ah, that was a one-way deal. They’ll be at the border a while. We’re also heading back to Felskeilo.”

“I see. Well, how about some dinner together?”

Cohral noticed the children staring at him over Cayna’s shoulder. Following his gaze, she turned around and smiled uncomfortably.

“We’re not gonna get in the way?” he asked.

“It looks to me like they’re excited to talk to other people. Besides, it’ll help get Lu socialized.”

Cohral peered over his shoulder and asked his party, “Sound good?” There were no particular objections; they readily agreed.

Cayna once again used her Cooking Skills, this time to create a dish similar to paella. Cohral’s party members had never seen so-called ancient arts, and they were completely confounded. To tell the truth, Luka and Lytt had been staring at Cohral and his party in the hopes that they’d all end up eating a meal made with Cooking Skills.

With Skargo’s group gone, last night’s dinner had been a dried meat and boiled vegetable soup prepared by Roxine. They soon realized they’d be able to eat food meant for guests if someone else was present. The only one who had known this was Roxine, since the girls had asked her what they needed to do in order to eat Cayna’s food.

The night stretched on as Cohral’s companions relayed their adventures to the children in a most entertaining fashion around a bonfire. Cohral and Cayna excused themselves briefly before heading behind a wagon that overlooked the vast, dark forest. Cohral had agreed to talk to Cayna in private when she’d asked.

“So why all the secrecy?” he asked her.

“You got here ten years ago, right? I want to hear about your experiences…”

“What, again? Look, I’ve just been keeping my real power under wraps, passing myself off as some beginner, and laying low. I don’t know enough to answer questions from a pro like you.”

“Um, I was being serious…but okay.”

“Ah. My bad.”

Cayna passed him a cup filled with some of the beer she’d made earlier. The downside was that she could only produce a whole barrel’s worth at a time. She’d still had a lot left over after running into Skargo, so crossing paths with Cohral and his party here made for perfect timing.

“So have you ever faced an enemy only you were strong enough to handle?” Cayna asked. “Besides that one Event Monster from before.”

“Hmm? Umm, let’s see… Not really, from what I can remember. Have you?”

He threw the question right back at her, and Cayna sighed. She listed all the high-level monsters she’d faced so far. These included the most recent alligator-shark chimera that she fished out the other day, the dark elf who commanded a team of ogres, and the Ghost Ship that led to Cayna adopting Luka. All of those monsters had appeared whenever she happened to be present.

“You don’t think you’re being a bit too self-conscious?”

“I mean, yeah, that too. The problem is mostly that the Event Monsters appear outside Pillage Points. The Event Monsters appear during a series of conversations with NPCS, so I don’t know why they’re operating without any NPC involvement,” Cayna said matter-of-factly as she looked down at her wine.

Cohral could tell she had all sorts of idle complaints pent up inside. He nodded; unlike Cohral, Cayna had trouble meeting fellow players. They were all adventurers, besides. They had their own home bases and couldn’t necessarily meet up. Talking to her maid and butler wouldn’t be of much help to her here. Cohral guessed that she probably just wanted someone to vent to. But at the same time, she was looking for some kind of lead, so Cohral mustered up his ten years of experience and knowledge to answer her question.

“Hmm, do you know the Abandoned Capital?”

“Gwagh… Why not just punch me in the gut?!”

“Ah! I forgot that you were the one who turned the Brown Kingdom to ruins.”

The social media posts from the Admins, known as the Weather Report, had announced a monster attack would befall a certain city. And sure enough, a monster horde subjugation event soon took place in the Brown Kingdom capital. In order to quell the horde, Cayna, a magic specialist, the game’s highest-level high elf, and a Skill Master with unique and advantageous equipment had appeared on the scene.

The problem started right before the event began, following an experimental update that made even ordinary attacks capable of destroying entire buildings. After a few hundred hits of her long-range attack Meteorite Giga Strike, the Brown Kingdom capital was turned to rubble. From then on, the city’s remains were known as the Abandoned Capital, and the incident led to Cayna’s notoriety as the Silver Ring Witch.

“Well, it’s the former Brown Kingdom anyway,” Cohral continued. “I heard on my trip to the border that the Abandoned Capital is to the west and lies in between Felskeilo and Otaloquess. Apparently, it’s hidden thanks to an agreement between the three nations.”

“Huh? The place is so dangerous that three countries need to work together to hide it? Or is it ’cause it’s that beneficial for them?” Cayna asked.

“Couldn’t tell ya. It’s kind of an open secret. There’s a pretty even split between people who believe it exists and those who think it’s a total fairy tale.”

“I understand that much, but what does it have to do with what I’m talking about?”

With an air of importance, Cohral finished off his beer. Holding the empty cup out to Cayna, he smirked as if to say: You know, don’ t you?

“Okay, okay,” Cayna said with a nod, then briefly went back to the bonfire. Already guessing what she needed, Roxine filled two cups of beer to the brim and passed them to her.

“Thanks.”

“Not at all.”

She returned to Cohral and handed him the two beers. He grew more loose-lipped after he gulped down each one in a single swig, and Cayna elbowed him to continue. He obliged. “Makes no difference to me if it’s some fairy tale, but they say that when the three nations were established two hundred years ago, the gods sealed the world’s remaining disasters inside the Abandoned Capital.”

“…Disasters?”

“The word disaster didn’t mean anything to me either, but you think it might have somethin’ to do with the Event Monsters you’re talking about?”

“…………Oh! I get it!”

“Right? Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“It really does…”

Cayna had faith in Cohral’s long-winded explanation. However, she thought of Cohral, Shining Saber, Quolkeh, Exis, and the bandit leader whose name she never learned and froze, wondering why they were here in Leadale in the first place.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Cohral asked.

“Cohral, what were you doing the day service ended?”

“Ah, the usual mostly. Taking down small-time monsters with some random party, stuff like that.”

“…So that’s what’s going on. What if, on the day service ended two hundred years ago, a ton of people initiated quests and fulfilled the requirements for Event Monsters to appear, which were then sealed inside the Abandoned Capital? The problem though is why they’ve been escaping recently.”

“Whoa, just hold on a sec…” Cohral understood what Cayna was getting at, and he began sweating profusely.

The seven nations in the VRMMORPG Leadale had been split among seven servers. The maximum capacity of each nation’s server varied, but records showed that an average of several thousand players accessed a single nation during times of war.

On the day service ended, all the cities and villages had been decorated thanks to a special update, and fireworks had been going off in-game throughout the entire week. Cayna had a feeling some, if not most, of the players online then were really into festivals. It was also possible an unprecedented number of people who hadn’t logged on in a long time also accessed the servers that day just to fool around in the game.

With all the festivities going on, there had to be lots of casual players online and not just people like Cohral, who simply grinded levels. What if, instead of going after average enemies, a small number of these players saw this final day of operation as their last chance to take on quests they hadn’t completed yet? If that was indeed the case and the entire server shut down in the middle of a boss battle, these bosses had likely remained undefeated. And if this had happened throughout all the servers, then those Event Monsters were now scattered across the continent.

It was unknown how closely this world and the game were connected, but considering the rate of random encounters, the so-called fairy tale in question, and the pact among the three nations, Cayna and Cohral felt that had to be the most logical conclusion.

“Shining Saber probably knows this already since he’s top brass, right?” said Cayna.

“What about your son, Cayna?” Cohral asked.

“My guess is he’s keeping his private life and work separate. He wouldn’t be Number Three in the nation otherwise.”

Although Skargo was irresponsible and strange, Cayna acknowledged that since he was dealing with national matters without getting his mother directly involved, it was doubtful he’d reveal classified government secrets. Even if she went all the way to Otaloquess, she couldn’t just ask Queen Sahalashade questions about this world’s origins.

If they were going to get to the bottom of this mystery, then Caerick was the closest national authority. Cayna considered asking him if he might be willing to sell any information to her. She also remembered that she’d have to get Quolkeh and Exis’s opinions as well and jotted down a mental reminder (or rather, Kee did). Cohral and Cayna promised to exchange info the next time they met, and they soon called it a night.