Chapter 16.4

Chapter 16.4

Well then, let’s talk about them results up till noon.」

Hiroshi and the five of them formed a circle in a perfectly inconspicuous corner of the courtyard, handing out the lunch they had prepared as they had a meeting. Needless to say, they had taken precautions against eavesdropping.

「Looks like I’m up first. I don’t got nothin’ at the moment though, other than takin’ half a day to be able to activate some sorta outface thing.」

「And what happened on the firepower side of things?」

「We settled on swingin’ around a pole axe for the time being. Bein’ real with ya, I think I’d have some trouble with learnin’ attack-related skills.」

Basking in the smell of the prepared food, Hiroshi finished his own report. As the drinks last night had been filled to the brim with poison, Hiroshi was appraising this food as well with his top detection skills. It was made at the knight’s mess hall and not the guest one out of precaution, but declaring it safe as a result was a little too careless. So even with the alluring scent of food before them, not a single person tried to even touch it.

「So you still ended up not focusing too much on the offense…」

「Well, as long as Hiro doesn’t try to go off on his own, we should be fine for the time being.」

「Right, right. Plus we can easily support him as things are.」

Makoto’s shoulders dropped when she realized that there wasn’t any major problem that had been resolved. Meanwhile, Haruna and Tatsuya hadn’t expected much of him, so they were lenient on him for at least learning Outface.

「Still, wasn’t that a bit fast?」

「Maybe those settings that we started out with’re still in effect, like Haruna said?」

Makoto and the other two made dubious expressions at that query. Haruna began a supplemental explanation after seeing their expressions.

「Well, you see. According to the game’s settings, the guests from the unknown continent are supposed have quicker growth than that of the average person in this world. So I was thinking that it might not be weird at all for us to also acquire skills more quickly.」

「Besides, the old man ’n everyone else were sayin’ things like “As I’d expect from lads from the Unknown Continent.”」

「Hoho, I see. So if I were to learn things related to crafting right now…」

「Yup, I think ya’d have about as easy a time as in the actual game.」

Makoto grimaced at Hiroshi’s answer. Of course things couldn’t go her way. For those who hadn’t gone through the trial of crafting, one might say “Oh, that thing that gets easier as you progress?” Still, if you were to think about it normally, it would only take around twenty years to master a field that would normally take one’s whole lifetime to master, in addition to all the skills that came with it, so it was still quite comparatively easier.

「And that’s how it is, so I bet I can learn that there Around Guard shouldn’t be too hard to git as a prerequisite. Although I worry ‘bout just how much trainin’ ya gotta do to be able to use it proficiently.」

「Ah, okay.」

「Also, this ain’t really as I expected, but there’re quite a few peeps who don’t think very well of us, regardless of miasma. Welp, not like we know whether they’re under the influence’re not just by meetin’ ’em.」

Makoto and Mio grimaced and nodded at what Hiroshi said. Someone had apparently said something to them too when they parted ways with Aearis. It seemed that by this point, only Tatsuya and Haruna had not encountered such people.

「Yeah, and I just finished bein’ told off by one of them authority figures from the meeting to hurry up ’n git goin’. But well, I think even if he tries to git us out, he probably won’t interfere with our investigation.」

「You sure it’s okay?」

「Well I can at least say they had no issue with purification, so they ain’t Barold’s henchman or anythin’.」

Tatsuya and Makoto seemed to be satisfied with Hiroshi’s information. In actuality, it would be more effective and less risky to make them facilitate the process by being in the library.

「I’d say the real problem here is Ellie’s maid.」

「I think so too.」

「That there gurl is dangerous. Honestly, even if I try ’n stick to the edges of the room, it’s too risky for me to go into Ellie’s place by myself.」

「I mean, even I don’t want to go in there alone.」

After they had finished breakfast that day, Hiroshi and Mio had gone to Elena’s medical examination before training just in case, and as they remembered the events that had transpired, they shivered all around. Especially in Hiroshi’s case, since he had been subjected to all sorts of things that aggravated him, which was why Elena and Mio had had to support him desperately.

But all that did was rub the maid even further the wrong way, making their relationship even worse.

「Just in case, we’ll git to medical examination affairs while we’re here, but I think it’s best we finish up and git outta here as soon as possible…」

「Agreed. So what about Makoto and Mio?」

「Nothing that’s particularly worth discussing, I’d say. Other than maybe that we can launch a protective barrier against flying weapons at a moment’s notice.」

Mio nodded at Makoto’s report with an earnest face. Aearis was also pretty reasonable for her age. Although it was troubling that her lack of exercise caused a lack of stamina, it wasn’t like she was a guest from the Unknown Continent. She couldn’t just solve this issue in a brief span of time.

「Elle’s seriously giving it her all. She should be getting up there pretty soon.」

「Sounds about right. Plus she listens to what people have to say and her reflexes aren’t half bad either.」

「Well that’s good to hear.」

「So, Sensei. We going to eat yet?」

Pestered by Mio, he made a slight grimace and nodded. He at least couldn’t detect any poison from any quick searches, nor did he have any bad feelings about it, so even if something had been slipped into it, they could probably just detoxify it by biting into some solmizen.

「Alright then, let us eat.」

「About time we get to dig in…」

After putting her hands together to exchange pre-meal formalities, Mio grumbled as she reached out for a sandwich. To Mio, who had about as much obsession with meals as Aearis did, it was quite testing to have food right in front of her but to not be able to touch it. With that being said, all these sandwiches involved were hard, black bread and your typical ingredients inserted inside- a very masculine, bare-bones sort of product.

「Y’know, I think this every time, but is there any way to do something about the hardness of this bread?」

「That’s cause we ain’t usin’ yeast. How ’bout ya learn how to ferment dough in the castle’s kitchen for now?」

「Oh yeah, you asked Prince Layotte to help out as well, right?」

Haruna muttered as she remembered. It wasn’t like she had forgotten, but it was just infinitely low on her priority list, so she hadn’t thought about it in the slightest. Ever since he had tasted the soft, fermented bread in the kitchen, Layotte had become obsessed with normalizing it. It would probably be best to just get over it and teach everyone as much as possible, both for the sake of his wish and for their own affluent eating habits.

「Heck, Lay even wanted to increase the production and normalization of takoyaki plates.」

「Sensei, I don’t think that plates alone will suffice.」

「Well yeeeah. Puttin’ aside green seaweed, the sauce ’n bonito flakes alone would be too difficult as of right now.」

The Japanese group’s conversation became increasingly derailed with the topic of food. The topic of what to eat was truly a fearsome one. Furthermore, the takoyaki plate that Layotte was so insistent about was more of a simple edition, where you would set it on a stove or hot plate. Both of those had the corresponding magic tools, so Layotte figured that all they needed was to make boards.

「Anyhow, let’s leave that to the side. It’s not high on our priority list after all.」

「True. Gettin’ back on topic, how was everythin’ on yer guys’ end, Haruna?」

「Well, we had a lot happen on our end…」

「Where do we even begin?」

Suddenly in the spotlight, Haruna and Tatsuya’s expressions grew fretful. It seemed like it was difficult for them to go about describing it.

「Well let’s just start with whatcha investigated.」

「All right. Then I’ll go first.」

Consenting to Hiroshi’s request, she began discussing what they currently knew. The information that Haruna had picked up about the guests from the Unknown Continent was as follows:

The first thing they were able to confirm was that there was no solid causual relationship between the game Fairy Tale Chronicles and the Guests from the Unknown Continent. Certainly, it was a bit difficult to insist that everyone had played the game at some point, especially when cyberpunk-esque elves had found their way in. Even in terms of Japanese people, there had reportedly been a man from the Warring States Period who came in after a young man who had been part of a special offense force during the second world war, so it was clear from the records that time didn’t have to always play the same way, and it was honestly a very brain-wracking find.

However, it was also true that there were several people whose description quite possibly matched that of players. Not all who had wandered in here ended up the same way: there were mixing cases of those who suddenly went missing and of those who were confirmed to be dead. It wasn’t clear whether or not the missing people were merely missing or had returned safely to Japan, but this possibility alone made it a huge find.

「……I know this ain’t the time to bring it up……」

After hearing Haruna’s explanation, Hiroshi opened his mouth fearfully.

「Something you’re concerned about?」

「Well, things like what happened to our bodies over there or what time it is over there.」

「……I do get what you’re saying, but yeah, no use thinking about it right now.」

「I know. I know, but…」

Everyone found themselves utterly silent at Hiroshi’s words.

「Also, there’s something I’m wondering about.」

「What?」

「Was just thinking that it’s peculiar for all these players to show up but not really make much of an impression here.」

「Ah, very true……」

According to Haruna, the players who had been sent here before, save one, were all your average players that made up the majority, not involved in much crafting. The only exception was that of a magic-obsessed person who had only really gotten to the Harvest skill, and no one had any experience with cooking, so at least in terms of culinary impact, everyone had yet to outmatch Hiroshi.

As to how she knew that, it was because among those who came from a different world, there were those who were probably at least on par with Hiroshi in terms of their medical knowledge. She had found a book detailing what skill sets those individuals had in comparison, so she was able to comprehend a decent amount about the people who had been sent here in the past. Of course, there were many of them who had come from some undeveloped area in Africa, sharing a similar food culture with each other like whole roasting or the occasional boiling.

For those who were accustomed to a more affluent diet, they had no knowledge of how to replicate it and she sort of felt something artificial or ill-willed about them.

「I really don’t get it though~」

「Well, if we just count the players, it would still be less than twenty people even with us included, so if we consider the population ratio then it’s practically a miracle that we even ended up being close to people like Hiro.」

「Yeah, that’s true.」

Makoto couldn’t help but agree with what Tatsuya said.

「But in the first place, it’s quite abnormal to find someone who wastes their skills just to eat like Sensei.」

「Mio, yer purty tough on someone ya call yer “Sensei” as of recently.」

「It’s how I feel though.」

As he heard Mio declare with conviction, Hiroshi suddenly looked tired and had a faraway look in his eyes. Sure, he knew that he was a loser, but when his pupil, not to mention a girl of five years younger than him made a fool of him like this, he seriously had to question his life.

「Well putting that aside, what about your report, Tatsuya?」

「I didn’t find anything particularly decisive. All I know is that there’s some group of followers of an evil god that are running amok in this country.」

「Wow, totally haven’t heard that concept before…」

「Yeah, you’re telling me.」

Tatsuya grimaced at Mio’s straight remark. That term was all he had and no further information to go on, so it was inevitable to imagine that. At most, Makoto had informed him that she had crossed swords with a group of an evil god’s followers in one of the main quests in Chapter Four. Actually, there wasn’t even confirmation that an evil god existed in the game from the overall progress. Being that this was only a world resembling the game, there wasn’t even confirmation about a group of followers, so he had only briefly mentioned this detail.

「Well, with that being said, I kinda git it.」

「Get what?」

「The reason why Princess Katrina and her flunky were so pained to hear Haruna-san’s song at the party last night.」

「Oh great, so it really was my fault there…」

Haruna looked down as if receiving a shock. For Haruna, who enjoyed singing and having others listen in, it must have been shocking for the opposite thing to happen.

「Well, if they weren’t defiled by that there miasma, it was supposed to power ’em up, so they probably got what was comin’ to them.」

「So…?」

「I’m thinkin’ it was the effect of Song of the Gods. If Ki○Ki○Dancer were there, it mighta just took one move to round ’em up.」

「Yeah, but I don’t think being compared to them is going to make this shock go away either…」

「You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine. Just try singin’ when we find a buncha monsters teamin’ with miasma.」

Haruna nodded with a grimace at Hiroshi’s strangely determined words.

「Now, last on the list, from how ya been actin’ earlier it seems like somethin’ happened. What happened?」

「Well, this isn’t easy to explain at all, but……」

It took Haruna a bit of time to figure out how to answer after Hiroshi asked her, so she decided to explain one part of it that she knew to be factual.

「Well, a grimoire that was sealed in the restricted section seemed to take a liking to me and made me learn extra skills from Alfemina.」

Haruna spoke of it as a mere burden, but everyone other than Tatsuya stiffened upon hearing that. Even in such a situation, the sky still managed to be a clear and pretty blue.