Part 2
—— Right now, Izayoi on the other hand.
“Hei!”
“Guaaaaahhhhh I got beateeeeennnn!”
Participants let out wails and got planted into the bedrock. The participants that were rooted into the bedrock from head to body obviously could not continue the Game.
He felt that “using violence to win goes against the motto of the Game” and rejected this method, but picking a fight against him was another matter.
At the start he wanted to find an opponent related to earth, deciding a victor with a fair competition in mining, hence he held the pickaxe and started digging with vigor, but nearing the end of the preliminary, more and more participants started to assault others and rob the ores. Izayoi, who was at the top few, was also targeted, resulting in Izayoi sending them flying.
“—— Seriously. I never imagined that there will be so many fools to start robbing each other in a mining game. It seems like I must reconsider the game rules.”
Izayoi dusted his clothes. The objectives of the preliminary and main competition of this Gift Game were different.
The objective of the preliminary was to attract large number of miners. Just by participating in mining would be rewarded with gold coins, this was for the sake of gathering many miners.
In the main competition, weapons made from 「Adamantine」 was lent out. The objective was to let the strong display the weapon capabilities, hence promoting the new products at the same time. Also letting the participants that passed through the preliminaries confirm the usefulness of the weapons, helping to clarify the weapon capabilities.
(The reason the act of robbing is tolerated in the preliminaries, is to make it easier for the strong ones to advance to the main competition… But this seems to have a reverse effect. If the important miners got scared and won’t dare to participate again, the Game cannot continue.)
Since the goal was scheduled festival, there was a need to consider the Game balance, securing a stable source of participants. The way of the Host was really deep, Izayoi crossed his arms and laughed.
At the same time, the gong signifying the end of the game rang. Fox girl Lily, who was substituting for the absent Kuro Usagi, announced the end of the game with a mic.
“F, Group F preliminary ends here! The one who mined the most is —— Ugh, that, Tokuteru-sama! Please!”
“Oh. The most should be Sakamaki Izayoi.”
“Gre, Great! Izayoi-sama made it through the preliminary!”
Lily’s fox ears stood up and she waved at Izayoi.
Izayoi replied with a bitter smile.
(But that guy. He also possess 「Judge Master」 authority like Kuro Usagi.)
In —— No, Mikado Tokuteru willing to cover for Kuro Usagi is a good thing, but we cannot casually ask him to help, hence Lily was sent as his assistant to take up the judging role together.
Despite the person himself wanting to hide his identity, he failed to hide it at all.
If his identity was leaked it would cause a commotion, so Lily had to work hard by herself.
Izayoi rotated his shoulder. Just as he left the venue, Porol came to service him with a nervous expression.
“Good work, master Izayoi. A complete victory.”
“Losing in the preliminary is too disgraceful after all. —— Although that’s what I want to say, truthfully speaking I am probably lucky. If nobody came to pick a fight I still don’t know if I could win. I was only helped by the unbalanced part of the Game.”
Earth spirit and dwarves races that specialized in mining should not be few. Despite Izayoi possessing extraordinary physical strength, he could only fight with a single pickaxe.
If simply competing in appraising the location where the most 「Adamantine」 was, he would probably be in a difficult fight.
“Hmm… That’s quite unexpected. I thought that brother’s motto is ‘No matter what I must win!’”
“Of course I want to win. But, only a landslide victory by abiding to the rules and objectives of the Game is considered to be a first-rate Player. Because in the end, Game is only a communication tool. The actual use is to determine the winner and loser.”
Of course, there were exceptions. For example games that would affect the Community’s survival if lost, he must win regardless of the methods. Izayoi thought, a first-rate Gamer was not talking about those who had no loss record, but used to praise those who would never lose when facing a fight that could not afford to be lost.
In this case, Izayoi never thought about obtaining a landslide victory. If he had been fully prepared with Gifts that were useful for mining, there would probably be a decisive difference between him and the other participants.
The reason he did not do so was not arrogance, but the Host purposely livening the place. If Izayoi was seriously aiming for the win, it might very well be possible to scare the other participants off from coming again.
“Mining Game is just one part of the investment game we are progressing with. It would only be boring if I get serious. —— Isn’t that right?”
“That’s true… This is unexpected, I thought that brother is not someone who care about it.”
“Depending on the situation and time. Since I do things based on my mood.”
Izayoi yawned after finishing. Is that really true? Porol tilted his head.
—— But speaking truthfully, this was unlike Izayoi’s style.
At least the Izayoi that was just summoned to Little Garden would not choose the method to win nor hesitate to win. Although he made an excuse that seemed to justify his actions, the act of making an excuse was already something he would not do. Izayoi in the past would not speak much, throwing a ‘Because it would be boring’ and finished.
In that case, the only reason he could think of was only one.
Simply speaking, he was not passionate about the Game.
“...Moody period?”
“Eh?”
“No, nothing, do you have any plan later?”
“I am thinking of how to provide reception for Tokuteru. He is still a sponsor, so we must make him happy. The preparation is left to Luilui and Gry now.”
Izayoi showed a bitter smile at this moment. Gry referred to the gryphon Gry. Although using Therianthropy Technique, he might be able to handle the welcoming job, but he was still not used to the customs of humanoid beings. He walked around naked in the Community ground just not long ago, and angered the girl group. They could not estimate how unprecedented Mikado Tokuteru was, but they couldn’t let a man who would be naked on the first meeting to do the job.
Just as Izayoi began to think of some strategies, Porol shook his head and smiled.
“Ah, Izayoi brother. I probably know what you are worrying about, why don’t you leave it to me. It won’t develop into the situation you imagined.”
“Hoh? Is there a way to restrain that stripping maniac?”
“It’s the opposite. Don’t think of a way to stop him, but provide a place where stripping is fine. Why don’t brother also join in. I think it can let you relax.”
...Uhuh, Izayoi observed Porol while holding his chin.
Izayoi definitely did not rate him poorly, but to have predicted his thoughts and actions, it seems that he must re evaluate him. This youth named Porol was even talented than Izayoi thought.
He heard that in the alliance meeting at 「Underwood」 back then, he lost to Jin Russel. It might be because of that, Izayoi unconsciously looked down on Porol.
“En. How should I put it, it’s that. You obviously have such a brilliant mind and way of words, why did you lose to our Chibi-sama?”
“Ah ah um?...Ah ah, talking about the alliance formation matter. Aiya, I really gained a lot from that time. The reason I lost was because of the cards I held and lack of information, so this time I put in a lot more effort, negotiating only after preparing irrebuttable contents.”
Porol pushed his spectacles and grinned.
Knowing to turn failure into experience at the age of 11 was really unsettling, but he indeed possessed the ability to boast it. This point must be evaluated frankly.
This youth, would become an irreplaceable ally of 「No Name」.
“So reliable. Then I will leave the troublesome matter in the hands of my ally, let me also enjoy the reception.”
“Oi oi brother. You belong to the welcoming side.”
“What, it’s fine to let me go help? I don’t mind, but I would only use my style to service the other party.”
“...No, leave the reception to us, brother go enjoy yourself.”
Izayoi laughed heartily, Porol could only laugh bitterly.
Afterwards, after discussing the hotel address for the reception, the two parted. Although Izayoi did not have much expectation, he suddenly remembered the origin of Indra.
—— Indra was originally an evil God of 「Zoroastrianism」[2].
Since this was the case, he needed to ask him some matters.
—— Mah, though asking won’t change anything.
Despite not expecting anything, it might be possible to bring some moisture to his withered heart. If he was a real God, he could also give him a divine prophecy. Izayoi also carried achievements equivalent to it after all.
Even so, if it could not resolve his withered state ——
(Then at that time… I would let the strongest War God-sama to worry for me.)
Holding his fist alone amongst the crowd.
Izayoi showed a trace of smile, walked towards the hotel Mikado Tokuteru resided in.
[1] Our here refers to Ayesha and Jack.
[2] OK, this topic is a bit complicated to explain. In Zoroastrianism you have an opposition between the “good” Yazata (and Ahuras) and the “bad” Daeva. If you know a bit of Hinduism you can see it’s actually the opposite (Deva vs. Asura) there. It’s complicated because you only see Vedic-deities as “enemies” in the Vendidad (Avesta: Vî-Daêvô-Dāta : given against the Daevas) which wasn't written by Zoroaster himself. In the oldest text wrote by Zoroaster (Yasna) it’s not the case. FYI Indra appear in Vendidad 10.09.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login