The uproarious mood at Arca’s sudden appearance turned as cold as if someone had poured a bucket of water over it.
But Ian quickly came to her senses and glared at Arca with an angry face.
“All right, perfect timing. Sit down here for a second. We need to talk.”
“Talk about what? Is it something fun?”
Arca sat down in front of Ian, wearing an innocent, childlike smile.
Of course, what she was about to say was very far from anything fun.
“What on earth were you thinking, setting up something like that as a boss? Sure, I won by luck, but was that really a boss you made for people to beat?”
It used other weapon skills at will, handled multiple weapons at once, and on top of that, she had to beat it one-on-one.
If that gamble hadn’t worked at the last moment, Ian would have lost.
But Arca merely tilted her head.
“Huh? I didn’t make it to be beaten.”
“What?”
“It only looked like that. It was just an ordinary NPC. You didn’t get a message saying you beat a boss, did you?”
“Now that you mention it…”
Until now, whenever a raid ended, a window had appeared in front of her saying the boss had been cleared.
But when she searched her memory, and even checked to see if there was a window she might have missed, there were only level-up notifications. Nowhere could she find a message saying she had cleared a boss.
Which naturally raised a question.
“Hey, then what about Area 5? Is there some separate liberation condition?”
“You just go. It was open from the very beginning.”
“Wh-what did you say? N-no. Then why are you only telling us now?”
“Because if I told you, my big sisters and brothers wouldn’t have enjoyed the festival Arca prepared. There’s nothing sadder than someone not accepting your gift.”
“Then the reason you made Ravana was…”
“Just to try challenging him as a test. Hehe.”
“Ugh, my head.”
She clutched her head.
Her breathing came out in rough huffs, and with her eyes squeezed shut, her fists trembled.
‘I really want to hit her.’
And Ian wasn’t the only one.
Arca gave an awkward laugh, rose from her seat, and waved at the players.
“Then, big sisters and brothers, I hope you enjoy Area 5 too. Ian, you were super cool today as well. See you all next time~!”
And then Arca vanished cleanly, as if she had never been there to begin with.
In the rigid silence that followed,
someone’s voice rang out.
“Can’t we make her a boss later?”
Everyone nodded as if it were only natural.
***
The next morning.
While I was recovering from yesterday’s fatigue at the lodging, an unexpected guest came to visit.
“Ravana?”
Ravana, the captain of the guard here, whom I had barely managed to defeat yesterday.
He smiled good-naturedly and bowed to me.
“Did you pass the night well?”
“Yes, well… But what brings you here?”
“Her Majesty is looking for you. Might you spare a moment?”
“Ah, of course. Should I go right away?”
“Yes. I will escort you.”
The place I arrived at after following Ravana was the queen’s palace, where I had met Maharani on my first day in Tedumaya.
However, if there was one thing that had changed from before, it was the gazes of the dark elves.
Unlike before, when their eyes had been filled with wariness and curiosity, they now directed signs of goodwill toward me.
Thanks to that, I was able to reach the reception room comfortably.
And just as I was eyeing the sweet snacks I had eaten before, Maharani, the queen of the dark elves, appeared.
“I’m sorry. I should have been here waiting, but I made you wait instead.”
“I didn’t wait long at all. If anything, these are so tasty that I was hoping you’d come even later.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
The queen sat down in a chair with elegant movements.
I sat across from her and bowed my head slightly.
“Thank you for what you did the other day. Thanks to you, I was able to have a good match.”
“Not at all. As the host of the festival, it was only natural. And thanks to you, I got to watch a wonderful match. When the captain of the guard went down, I felt so refreshed.”
Uh… aren’t you both dark elves?
He’s still your subordinate. Won’t he be hurt if he hears this from outside?
“It’s fine. Do this, do that—he nags me every single day. When else would I get to tease him like this? I have to relieve some stress at times like this.”
“Ahem… I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Like that, we drank the tea brought by an attendant and chatted about this and that.
This time, most of the topics were about the Birth Festival, but hearing about it from a spectator’s perspective was quite refreshing too.
But she was the queen. She couldn’t keep sparing time forever.
She set down her teacup and asked me,
“Will you be leaving now?”
I nodded.
“We’ve been here for quite a while, so it’s about time. But I’ll still stop by often.”
I didn’t know when the next big city would appear, but until then, we would need Tedumaya’s resources.
And now that there was teleportation, going back and forth was convenient too.
Maharani smiled.
“Come whenever you like. We will always welcome you.”
“Yes. I’ll drop by from time to time to get some snacks.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll prepare plenty.”
Then she asked me a question.
“By the way, have you decided on your destination?”
“No. Not exactly…”
Wouldn’t we probably be going to Akarsuma, the last rainforest?
Just as I was vaguely thinking that,
“Kalinia told me. She said you are people who readily resolve dangerous matters.”
“Oh, it’s not that impressive.”
Of course, even though I said that, hearing it from someone else’s mouth was embarrassing.
However,
Maharani added that much and shook her head from side to side.
“It may be unfortunate for you, but at present, there is nothing in Rimbahitam for which we need your help.”
“Huh?”
My head naturally tilted.
Then where on earth was Area 5?
And what was Arca talking about when she said it had been open from the beginning?
While I was filled with questions, Maharani continued.
“Instead, I know of a place that desperately needs your help.”
“Where is it?”
Maharani rose from her seat and brought over a map of Rimbahitam from the reception room bookshelf.
“Tedumaya, where we are, is here. Durigarda and Akarsuma are here.”
Maharani pointed to the center, the south, and then the west of the map.
Then her finger moved north.
“If you go north from here, there is a human village.”
It was where the great rainforest came to an end.
“The village’s name is Winsley.”
And that was the true identity of the fifth area we had to攻略 this time.
“It is a land devastated by endless monster waves.”
***
“So it wasn’t Akarsuma. That’s pretty surprising.”
When I returned from the palace and told them what had happened today, Emily seemed dumbfounded and sank into thought for a while.
In the meantime, Naira asked me a question.
“No, then what the hell is Akarsuma?”
“She said it’s a place even the queen can’t enter carelessly. Apparently, it’s where dead dark elves are buried, so only people like gravekeepers can go there, or something like that. So the only place we can go is here.”
I said that while pointing at the map Maharani had given me.
“There’s… no proper information on it.”
“They said contact was cut off ten years ago because of the monster waves. This map is all they have. We’ll have to go there and find out the details ourselves.”
After all, this was a game.
When it came to investigating an area, you had to do it with your own two feet.
Having finished organizing her thoughts, Emily said,
“We should let the others know first. Can I borrow the map?”
“Yes, take it.”
“Thank you.”
She picked up the map on the table and rose from her seat.
Naira and Mugi followed after her as well.
“When are you leaving, Ian?”
“Probably around tomorrow, after I get ready.”
“Then I’ll see you there.”
Emily and the others waved and left the room.
The once noisy space fell into silence.
But my work still wasn’t over.
I turned my gaze to the pink-haired girl beside me.
“Veronica, how about you head back soon?”
“Uh… me?”
“Then is there anyone else here besides you?”
Veronica, who had been blank for a moment, looked ready to cry.
“Have I become a bother to you, by any chance?”
“Why ask something so obvious? You were from the very beginning.”
“A-are you serious?”
“Yeah. Really.”
To be blunt, did I ask you to follow me? You were the one who stubbornly stuck to my side like a leech and refused to leave.
Unfortunately, there probably weren’t many people in this world who would like that.
Veronica thrust out her lips and lowered her head in utter despair.
However.
“Even so, I think of you as a friend now.”
“Ian…”
Seeing Veronica look moved by a single sentence, I couldn’t help finding her cute now.
That must mean we had grown that much closer.
And because of that, I all the more couldn’t take her with me.
“So go back.”
“But you just said we were friends…”
“I don’t want to see a friend die.”
I smiled bitterly.
“You know, don’t you? That I’m a solo player. I don’t want to drag a friend into something this dangerous.”
I couldn’t predict when, where, or what kind of danger might strike.
And it wasn’t as if I had party members to rely on.
I didn’t want to drag a friend into something this dangerous.
“Then what about you, Ian? Isn’t it dangerous for you?”
“Of course it’s dangerous.”
“Then why…?”
“Because I have no choice.”
Yuri, Hayes, Gliana.
Because their faces still came to mind so vividly.
Because that guilt still weighed heavily on my heart even now, after so much time had passed.
As I was now, I couldn’t form a party with anyone.
Veronica, who had been looking at me, let out a long sigh as if there was nothing she could do.
“Haa… All right.”
“Really?”
“My former party members happened to ask me yesterday. They asked if I’d found a party. They said there was still a spot open and told me to come back.”
“That’s good, then.”
“Still.”
Veronica cried out and took my hand.
“If, really if, you’re okay someday, you have to party with me.”
“All right. I promise.”
“Then… that’s enough.”
Veronica rose from her seat.
She had to tell them she intended to join before they found another party member.
Before leaving the room, she looked back at me.
“Ah, but I can still stay with you until tonight, right?”
“Come on, what, are we never going to see each other again?”
“Absolutely not. Hehe. Then I’ll be back.”
Only then did Veronica leave the lodging with a smile.
After watching her run off outside the window until the very end, I got up from my chair and stretched.
“All right, then should I get ready too?”
To go to Area 5.