by Sakon Kaidou
“...Well, if we’re talking about just killing Tsukuyo Fuso, then I probably can,” I said.
I wasn’t called “The Superior Killer” for no reason. If I delivered a good surprise attack while she was off-guard, I might be able to quickly dig through the High Priestess’s HP and PK her. However, as things were...
“It’s impossible,” I sighed.
“But whyyy?” Babi asked.
“Because... she has the King of Assassins with her.”
King of Assassins was the Superior Job of the assassin grouping, and it currently belonged to Eishiro Tsukikage — the functional second-in-command at The Lunar Society.
It was much like my Death Shadow in nature. The only real differences were that mine was eastern, while his was western, and that Death Shadow was focused primarily on hiding the user’s presence, while the King of Assassins specialized in, as the name might suggest, assassination.
And because of that, just like I was as good at seeing through Conceal as I was at Concealing myself, he was as good at preventing assassinations as he was at assassinating.
As long as she had him at her side, the High Priestess would be an impossible target for me. Any and all of my surprise attacks would be countered.
“In fact, we can’t even be sure if giving her the death penalty would be enough,” I added. After all, we were faced with a cult that had a solid presence both here and in reality. And if that wasn’t troublesome — nothing was.
Still, that furball could, at the very least, save Ray from his predicament here in Dendro, and...
“Ah,” Rook exclaimed, pointing. “Look, Marie! Ray’s brother is right over there!”
I turned to where he was pointing, and saw...
“The bear’s popcorn! Gosh, oh boy!
Eating them is so much joy!
Your taste buds these will destroy!”
The bear was standing at a popcorn cart and attracting customers with a song sung in the most needlessly beautiful voice.
What is this manbear-thing even doing? I thought, exasperated.
“Mister Shu!” Rook called as we approached him.
“Oh, hey there, Rook, Babi, Superior Killer,” the bear greeted us. “Something wrong? You look beary out of it. Oh yeah, Superior Killer, I—”
“Don’t call me ‘Supe... whatever and so forth’ in public!” I shouted. “And just what are you doing here?”
Why was the top of the kingdom’s kill rankings selling popcorn? Had he gotten a part-time job as some business’s mascot or something?
“A furmer I know retired and went off to Caldina, so I went and bought all the corn he had left,” the furball answered.
Well, Altar was politically unstable and kept bleeding people daily...
No, wait, but why had he bought them?
“I’m selling popcorn to get money fur Baldr’s ammo,” he continued. “The KoD’s seal of approval actually makes it beary popular.”
“You could go hunting instead,” I commented. “Thought about that, Mr. Kill Ranking Number One?” He’d definitely earn more money that way.
“Well,” he scratched his cheek as he responded. “I have reasons that keep me from going too far from here. Anyway, what’s your deal? You were looking for me, weren’t you?”
“Well, Ray was kidnapped by The Lunar Society, and...”
Once Rook explained the situation, the surrounding air instantly shifted.
“Reeaaally, now?” said the bear who was the King of Destruction. He was spitting words so laced with bloodlust that one needed no skills to sense it. Though it wasn’t directed at us, it still made a chill go down my spine.
The people around us were shaking, as well, thoroughly unaware as to why.
“That damn cultist fox bitch...” he continued with not a hint of the usual humor in his tone, even swearing in the process. Clearly, he was most displeased about the kidnapping.
...Wait, had he been like this back when I’d given Ray the death penalty?
...Th-That’s just terrifying, I thought as another chill went down my spine.
“The guy has college tomorrow, damn it...” the angry bear sighed. “Man, how am I supposed to go about this?”
“You’re actually thinking this through?” I raised an eyebrow.
That was thoroughly unexpected. Knowing this bear, I’d expected him to go straight to the capital and raid The Lunar Society’s headquarters the moment he’d heard that Ray was in a pinch.
“Strange,” I said, speaking my thoughts. “I expected you to rush to them and punch her lights out the moment we told you.”
I mean, you scorched the entire Noz Forest when I PK’d Ray, I thought.
“Believe me, I’d love to do that, but I can’t really move from here right now,” the bear said, once again telling us that he couldn’t leave the city.
Was something happening here in Gideon? Surely he didn’t mean that he was too busy with his popcorn business to leave, right?
...Then again, I couldn’t really put it past this ursine barrel of laughs.
“I see,” I sighed, giving up on his help. “But if you can’t act... saving Ray will become much harder. Well, if worst comes to worst, he can escape by just using suicide.” As a precaution against harassment and cyber bullying, Dendro had the “suicide” feature. It allowed players to give themselves the death penalty by simply willing it, letting them escape situations where they, for some reason, couldn’t log out the normal way.
It came with the risk of dropping precious items, but the most valuable gear in Ray’s possession — the two special rewards — couldn’t be transferred in any way, including via dropping upon death.
Also, most of the money he’d acquired from Gouz-Maise, Clash of the Superiors, and Franklin’s Game had been entrusted to the relevant public institutions.
The only thing to fear was the possibility of his dropping Silver, but considering the number of items he had on him, that was highly unlikely. Ray’s daily gacha rolls had given him quite a stuffed inventory.
All in all, a death penalty wouldn’t be too bad for him. In fact, once he came back from it, he would get his arm back and be fully healed — a huge plus, no doubt.
However...
“Well, sure he can use suicide,” said the bear man. “But knowing him, he won’t want to.”
Yeah, that, I thought.
I mean, the guy had chosen to spend a month of Dendro time without an arm instead of fixing it with a death penalty.
“Still, if we don’t do anything about this, his college life could be in danger...” I said.
We were dealing with The Lunar Society here. That bunch of literal lunatics would have no qualms about keeping him from logging out for 24 hours and beyond.
...Oh dear, that might even cause Ray’s real body to be in danger.
“The timing just couldn’t be worse,” growled the bear. “Leaving Gideon and letting the nuclear duo do what they want isn’t an option, so... damn.”
Nuclear duo...?
“Who do you mea—?”
“Should I go, then?” asked someone at my side, cutting my question short.
I turned and saw none other than the most famous person in Gideon.
“Over Gladiator, Figaro...” I muttered his job and name.
It was another one of the Big Three and, without a doubt, one of the strongest Masters in the kingdom.
...For some reason, he was actually eating the popcorn sold by the bear.
“I’m about to... raid the Tomb Labyrinth again, anyway,” he said while munching down the popcorn. “I can also pay a visit... to The Lunar Society.”
He then cracked a smile while looking at us with those slit-like eyes of his.
It was no doubt a pretty expression, but alas, his popcorn-eating completely ruined it.
“You’ll help him?” asked the bear man.
“Of course.” Figaro nodded. “Ray worked really hard while I was unable to move back during Franklin’s Game. I’d like to return th
e favor.”
“Thanks,” said the bear.
So we now had the one and only Figaro on our side.
...This will work, I thought in relief. In fact, the Over Gladiator would be even better than KoD in this situation. With the High Priestess being holed up in her HQ at the capital, the bear would have had to hold back so that he wouldn’t destroy the city, but Figaro had no such limitations. Not to mention that his limitless buffing was a good counter to her debuffs. No matter how heated things got, he could save Ray without much trouble.
“You probably know this, but...” the bear began.
“Yeah,” Figaro cut his words short. “If she and I fight, I’ll make sure to end it before she uses her ultimate skill. Otherwise, I’ll lose.”
...Eh? I thought in surprise.
“Thankfully, it’s still daytime,” he added. “If I hurry, I should be able to settle it before sundown.”
“...Take care, my dude.”
“Yeah. All right, I’m off,” he said before running away from us at supersonic speeds. Even I found it hard to follow his shape. He’d probably switched to AGI-focused gear.
With how fast he’s going, it won’t be long until he’s at the capital, I reflected.
“Marie,” Rook spoke up. “What do we do now?”
“Well...” I muttered, and began to ponder. At our top speed, it would take us several hours to arrive at Altea. But if all went well, we might be able to meet up with Ray right after he was rescued by Figaro.
“Maybe we should go right now...?” I said.
“I don’t think there’s a need fur that,” the bear commented.
“Why?”
“No matter how quickly Figaro does his thing and saves Ray from the lunatic cultists, Ray would need to log out immediately. Going there now would beary much be a waste of time.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t feel too good about entrusting it all to Figaro alone.
“Also, Superior K... Marie,” he continued as he reached into his inventory and took out a letter. “I have this for you.”
The “To Marie” written on the envelope in cutesy handwriting made it easy to tell who was the sender.
“Is this from Ellie?” I asked to confirm.
“Fur sure,” the bear nodded. “She and Liliana came to me while I was selling popcorn yesterday and handed this over to me.”
Well, our party had been out on a quest for the whole of yesterday, so they’d probably figured that giving the letter to the bear, our party member’s brother, was a good way to get it to me.
They’d actually entrusted a letter to this furball... Well, as far as Superiors went, he was definitely a good person, so it wasn’t the worst idea. He certainly wasn’t reasonable by any stretch of the imagination, though.
“They told me it was fur a quest,” the bear added.
“A quest for me? From Ellie?”
Now, what could it be? I pondered.
“Yeah, so I’d say you should focus on that. Also, Rook.”
“Yes?” Rook replied.
“Lend me your ear fur a sec.”
“Hm...? All right.”
The bear walked up to Rook, brought his mouth to his ear, and whispered something. In all honesty, it felt kinda like I was watching a bear about to eat a person.
“I see,” nodded Rook. “Very well, then.”
“All right. Come to me within the next few Dendro days. Whenever Ray’s offline and you have nothing going on will do just fine.”
The two seemed to have made some sort of arrangement.
“Just what are you two planning?” I asked.
“Well, in a word... ‘training,’” the bear answered.
Training? The furball is gonna train Rook? I raised an eyebrow.
“That’s the simplest way to put it, anyway,” the bear added. “I mean, Ray’s been in lots of mock battles, but you can’t really say the same for Rook, can you?”
True enough. Rook had been primarily an observer, rather than a participant.
Wait, no, that wasn’t the crux here. What I had to ask was...
“...What does this ‘training’ involve?”
“Death...ly difficulty, but it’s beary much worth doing, yes.”
H-He just straight up said “death” and then added some words that don’t make it the least bit better.
“...Isn’t a Superior like you a bit too much for a newbie like him?” I asked.
“The world is an unbearably harsh place,” the furball sighed. “It even has veteran players who stalk forests and go around massacring newbies on their first day of Dendro.”
...Sincerest apologies, I thought and looked away. I have no say in this matter.
“I don’t mind it,” Rook spoke up. “Also, if he went out of his way to bring it up, then this training is probably very important.”
“It is.” The bear nodded. “I guarantee it.”
Rook seemed to be very accepting of the idea.
Are you sure? You’re training with the bear, you know?
“Anyway, with that pawsitively settled, again, come find me whenever you have free time.”
“Yes, of course,” Rook said.
The bear then left us, dragging his popcorn cart behind him. It kinda felt like he was avoiding us, but instead of investigating it, we just went our own way.
I then opened and read Ellie’s letter, parted ways with Rook, and went to her place.
Sure, I was still concerned about Ray, but I decided to entrust him to Figaro.
I could only hope that the situation would be resolved without Ray having to choose the death penalty.
◇◇◇
Duel city Gideon, alley
Once Shu pulled his popcorn cart into an empty alleyway, someone behind him began talking to him.
“Do you plan to train the newbie and make him capable of doing something against us... or him?”
It was a lone woman. She had the appearance of an average adventurer, but the porcupine-like animal in her arms made her more than notable.
As for her expression... it was clearly mocking.
“We heard your exchange back there,” she continued. “So neither Figaro, the prime primate around these parts, nor your lucky, puny Superior-killing little brother is here, eh? Such a shame we don’t have any orders from the imperator. As things are, we wouldn’t have to kick away any annoying trash gathering around us.”
Those words clearly mocked the weak and frail, but they weren’t enough to arouse Shu’s anger.
“‘Kicking away trash’?” he said. “What are you, some sort of slovenly OL?”
“‘OL’? What does that mean?”
“...Oh, I see. That expression isn’t beary popular in your cultural sphere. Well, can’t say I blame you. I mean, it’s a neologism that was created in a Japanese magazine.”
“But what does it mea—? Well, no matter. I must say, though, you certainly like making assumptions. That little encounter made it clearer than all the days since the incident have.”
“Mh...” the bear muttered.
“You’re here to keep an eye on us, aren’t you? That’s why you’re staying in the city instead of going out and hunting. Am I right?”
“Well, if worst comes to worst, I’m just about the only one who can stop you.” Shu’s reply was very casual, definitely not meant to bring out any sort of emotion, but it was enough to make the woman knit her brow.
“You’re gravely wrong about one thing,” she said in a menacing tone, and looked at him with a beast-like glint in her eye. “You are not enough to stop the Queen of Beasts... and the King of Beasts.”
The murderous aura about her was enough to instantly kill the faint of heart. Even hardened warriors would shiver when facing it.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
But the King of Destruction remained firm. Like a boulder standing solid in the wildest storm — or perhaps like a willow letting the mighty winds pass it by — Shu was unfazed by
her threats.
“Care to try?” she said, pushing the tension further and creating an air much like the one that formed between Figaro and Xunyu during the Clash of the Superiors.
This one was very different in nature, though. While Figaro and Xunyu’s battle had been one of precision and technique, this one would be a face-off of sheer power.
Indeed, while the Clash had been a duel between two of the greatest warriors, this would be the collision of two natural disasters — a sign of a volcanic eruption and a tornado coming at the same time, devastating everything in its wake.
The situation was critical. It felt as though Gideon could be wiped off the face of the world the very next moment.
“I’m beary much against that!”
But all such feelings scattered like mist when Shu spoke in his usual, comical tone, not even neglecting to throw in a pun.
“Going at it now would be bad fur all of us. Your infiltration would become meaningless, while I’m short on money fur ammo. Man, that unbearable lab coat lunatic’s mess was such a hit to my wallet that I can’t make up fur it, no matter how much popcorn I sell.”
“You little...”
Shu’s seemingly-mocking — yet completely true — words made the woman scowl even more. Anger overwhelmed her. She began reforming the menacing aura Shu’d scattered and prepared to charge him.
“lol” The porcupine-like animal in the woman’s arms released a sound that seemed somewhat joyous.
Because of that alone, the woman’s rage vanished like it had never been there, and her expression softened up.
“If you’re having fun, Behemot... then I won’t mind it,” she said.
“Well, fun things are beary good things,” Shu commented.
There were no traces of the tense air from just a moment ago. The alley was now tranquil.
With their exchange seemingly done, Shu grabbed his popcorn cart and started walking away.
As he did so, the woman spoke to him again, as though she just remembered something she was curious about.
“By the way, may I ask you something?”
“Bearily, yes.”
“What about your life on the other side? You’re always online whenever we’re here, aren’t you?”
“You’re in no position to talk.”
“XD”
With those words as their last, the no-lifers that had clocked over 200 hours of play time over the last ten days turned their backs to each other and walked away.