Volume 3: Let’s Make a Clan!

Chapter 21: A Showdown Between Men

This Itou Yos.h.i.+zumi…… He is a man by the name of「Yos.h.i.+[1]」here in Dragon’s Krone. Being from the cla.s.s next door, even the loner Edgar who tries to avoid other people knows about him. A rather famous male student renowned for being quite the「Carefree[2]」type of guy.
Good at Sports, A Smooth-talker, Life of the Party.
He belonged to the upper caste of the school’s hierarchy, popular amongst both boys and girls.
Yos.h.i.+ had everything Edgar did not; he was the complete opposite of Edgar.

「Every since then you’ve never talked to me. I was worried about it you know, Suzu-chan」

Making it seem like an overreaction, Yos.h.i.+ raised his shoulers as he looked at Suzu with a wry smile.
What the h.e.l.l’s he mean by “Suzu-chan”.
Don’t get overly friendly.

「Ah, did you perhaps take that whole『Let’s make a clan』thing seriously? Ha ha ha, that was just a joke, a joke. Suzu-chan is so cute so I just wanted to tease you a bit」
「For being just a joke, it sure doesn’t seem that way to me though?」
「…… Hmm?」

As Yos.h.i.+ let out a carefree laugh, Edgar stepped forward and obstructed his view.
It seems like he never noticed that Edgar was there in the first place, having a guy randomly show up beside Suzu and block his way, Yos.h.i.+ wore a quizzical expression.

「Huh, and you are?」
「I am Suzu-san’s friend」
「…… “Friend”?」

Hearing those words, Yos.h.i.+ glanced over at Edgar and ran his gaze over him, as if sizing him up.
And Edgar did the same, he thoroughly scrutinized Yos.h.i.+’s appearance.
If I were to guess from his level and equipment, I have a feeling that Yos.h.i.+ started playing Dragon’s Krone much earlier than Suzu-san and the others. It wouldn’t be strange to see players on his level making their debut at the Metropolis City of Vernewt in the Veroon Grand Duchy Area.
In spite of that, he is here in the beginning town of Crescendo for some reason.
Is the reason why, because of Suzu-san?

「”Edgar-kun”?…… Never heard of ya~. You say you’re Suzu-chan’s friend, but does that mean friend in real life?」
「That’s right」
「Are you cla.s.smates? I’ve never even seen you before」

Placing his hand on his chin, Yos.h.i.+ dug through his memory.
Whether it be his own cla.s.s, or the students in the cla.s.ses around his, Yos.h.i.+ pretty much knew everyone. But for some reason he couldn’t recall seeing Edgar’s face before.
Not remembering the loner student from the cla.s.s next door, it was obviously he wouldn’t know.

「Well, whatevs. And so, you have some business with me?」
「No, nothing in particular. However, I’m in a bit of a hurry to get a job done with Suzu-san you see. So…… We don’t have the time to be messing around」
「…… Hmm, a job huh? Sounds interesting」

Perhaps he couldn’t accept the thought of Suzu being together with some unknown man, a slight sign of annoyance showed in Yos.h.i.+’s expression.
Sensing his change in att.i.tude, Suzu tightly gripped Edgar’s clothes as she stood paralyzed.

「Sorry but could you please back off? You’re scaring Suzu-san」
「Huh, scaring her? What’s the matter, Suzu-chan?」

Hearing that Yos.h.i.+ looked over the Suzu who was hiding herself behind Edgar.
Is he acting like this on purpose, or is he just an airhead.
Either way, he’s a really stubborn guy. From Suzu’s standpoint, the situation hadn’t escalated so far that they had to report it to the admins, but it’s better the strongly tell him to step off.
Hearing Yos.h.i.+’s verbal advances, Edgar was slowly getting more and more irritated.
But surprisingly, the first one to act was not Edgar, it was Suzu

「…… It’s because Yos.h.i.+-kun keeps trying make advances on me like this」
「Eh?」

Gathering her resolve, her eyes peered out from the shadow of her hood, and Suzu boldly fired back at Yos.h.i.+.
A similar thing had happened before. Just like when she told off those colluding players from the Grand Mission several days ago, although she is normally quiet, Suzu will say what she has to when the time is right. This was an unexpected side of hers.

「I know that Yos.h.i.+-kun is from the cla.s.s next door, and you’re probably saying these things because we know each other, but……I’m sorry, to put it frankly, it is really annoying」
「What do you mean by “it”? You mean when I invited you to make a clan?」
「Yes. I won’t make a clan with Yos.h.i.+-kun, and I never will」
「Hmm? Why is that?」
「It’s because I’m going to make a clan with Edgar-kun」
「……W-What did you say!?」

The carefree expression on Yos.h.i.+’s face dramatically changed, as if he had become a completely different person.
And, for some reason, Edgar’s expression was also frozen stiff after hearing that.

Suzu-san, don’t you think you should’ve worded that more carefully.
You meant to say, Edgar-kun「and the others」, right?
If you say it like that, I think Yos.h.i.+ will likely get the wrong idea.

「……What is the meaning of this? Why is Suzu-chan going to make a clan with this guy?」
「You heard me, Yos.h.i.+-kun. It’s exactly what you think it is」
「……W-Wait a sec, Suzu-san!?」

As Suzu firmly exclaimed such an inconceivable idea, the one who was thrown into discord was Edgar.
By “it’s exactly what you think”, what is that suppose to mean, Suzu-san?
You should tell ME of all people first.

「ha, haha, you ignored all my invitations…… And you’re going to make a clan with this plain-looking guy?」
「That’s exactly right」
「ッ!!」

As if he had taken a 「Critical Hit」, Yos.h.i.+ was taken aback as his face looked towards the sky. Hearing Suzu’s words caused his body to stagger, and he could only manage to keep a forced smile on his face.
At school he was outgoing and popular, for Yos.h.i.+ who had a playboy att.i.tude, those words brought an unthinkable amount of humiliation upon him.
Suzu-chan didn’t choose me, but for who knows what reason she chose this mediocre, plain guy instead──

「…… Unbelievable…… Suzu-chan, There’s no way I can accept this. Absolutely not!」
「Eeh?」

The easy-going air about him had disappeared, Yos.h.i.+ was burning up with the fires of jealousy.
And the one to take the brunt of Yos.h.i.+’s jealous flame, was of course Edgar.

「You there, Edgar-kun」
「W-What」
「How about we have a contest」
「…… What kind of contest?」

Together with a gaze as sharp as a knife, Yos.h.i.+ fired off those words. In Edgar’s mind an unpleasant hunch started to form.

「Of course, Me or You. We’ll have a contest to decide which one of us is the man most fit for Suzu-chan」

Yeah… I knew it would come to this.
In response to Yos.h.i.+’s all to antic.i.p.ated reaction, Edgar’s spirits came cras.h.i.+ng down.
The optimal way to deal with these troublesome type of guys is to just「Not Partic.i.p.ate」.
By using the fact that we are busy and an excuse, we can just leave and report him to the admins for hara.s.sment later. Letting the admins take care of this would be for the best, but──

「Hey wai-, Yos.h.i.+-kun, what do you mean by “the man most fit”!?」
「Suzu-chan, be quiet. Listen up Edgar-kun. I’m fine with fighting you in PvP, but our levels are too far apart. I don’t have a hobby of bullying those weaker than me」
「Oh, is that so」

For me, I’m also okay with some PvP though.
I rather welcome the idea.

「And that is why, I have a proposal. A Fair contest」
「Stop acting n.o.ble and just spit it out already」
「……Hmph. You said that you were on your way to make a clan, right? That’s what the contest will be. 2 hours from now. You have until 11 pm to establish your clan. If you can do it within the time-limit then you win. If you can’t do it then it’s My win. If you are victorious, then how about I obediently resign to you. But if I am victorious…… Then I’ll have Suzu-chan join My clan instead」
「……ッ!?」

The h.e.l.l? How is that even a contest.
Upon hearing Yos.h.i.+’s proposal Edgar grew even more apathetic.
We’ve already accepted the Clan Quest, and we also now what items we have to make. We even bought the Recipes already.
No matter how you think about it, at most it would take us only 1 hour to clear the quest.

But, something seems fishy.
If he is challenging me to this kind of contest, then Yos.h.i.+ must have some way of winning.

「The odds are in your favor, but maybe that’s making you have cold feet?」

Although Yos.h.i.+ wore a smug grin on his face, Edgar continued to calmly a.n.a.lyze the situation.
Yos.h.i.+ probably thinks that I am without a doubt a beginner player.
Also, he probably thinks that it’s only me and Suzu-san making a clan; that there is「only 2 of us」.

I see now──
It’s true that if there’s only 2 of us, then it wouldn’t be strange to a.s.sume that it would be difficult for us to hunt Mobs and also clear the quest within the time-limit.
Yos.h.i.+ looks like he’s been playing Dragon’s Krone for quite a while now, so he probably has a lot of money on him.
If he finds out the required items for the current Clan Quest, then he could go and buy out all the ingredients before we get the chance to. So he secretly plans to sabotage us like that huh.

「Edgar-kun」

Suzu apologetically whispered into Edgar’s ear.

「…… I’m sorry. Because of me, you-」
「No, it’s alright. However, I’ll let Suzu-san be the one to decide whether we should accept this contest or not」
「Eh?」
「It’s alright if we accept the contest, and I also think it’s fine if we ignore it and leave. But you know, I’ll say one thing, this might be a really good opportunity」
「Opportunity?」

Hearing Edgar’s words, Suzu slightly tilted her head looking puzzled.

「Even if we ignore the challenge and report this to the admins, he still goes to the same school as us. Suzu-san, as long as he knows you in real life, it will be difficult to get Yos.h.i.+ to give up on this matter. Taking that into consideration, if we accept the challenge he proposed himself and are able to clearly draw the line, then it’s possible to change the current situation for the better」

This guy is the type who cares his own popularity and status.
If you consider that, then even though he always acts aloof and carefree, he won’t go back on his word especially since he suggested it himself.
Because of he did go back on his word, it would cause his reputation at school to crumble.

「That’s true, but……」
「I’ll definitely win this contest. You don’t have to worry about that」
「Edgar-kun……」

At Edgar’s clear declaration, Suzu’s chest welled up, and she felt an indescribable feeling of rea.s.surance.

「Okay. Edgar-kun, Thank you」
「Yeah, just leave it to me」

Gently nodding her head, Edgar answered back with a smile.
If it is Edgar-kun then he will definitely come to my rescue.
Just like he did during the Grand Mission──

「Now then, what will you do? Edgar-kun, how about we have a showdown, fair-and-square」
「……Very well. That contest, I’ll take you on」

Looking straight forward and meeting Yos.h.i.+’s gaze, Edgar decisively fired back.

「Good. Okay then, you have 2 hours. If you can clear your Clan Quest before then, it’s your win. If not, then it is my win」
「Fair enough」

Not even 2 hours, We’ll finish this in less than one.
As Yos.h.i.+ glared back with a sharp scowl, Edgar calmly nodded his head.

──However, so quiet that Edgar and Suzu did not notice, Yos.h.i.+ grinned as he let out a small chuckle.

Footnotes:

1.

TL note: Yos.h.i.+zumi’s in-game name is Yos.h.i.+ spelled out in hiragana as 「よっしー」. As a side note, I’ll add to his character’s page in a bit.

2.

TL note: I had quite the hard time trying to figure out the appropriate word to use here. The original word is 「お調子者」 which would can mean many things such as “a frivolous person”, “someone who gets ahead of themselves/carried away”, in some senses it could mean “extroverted”, etc.

In the end I decided to go with “Carefree/nonchalant/laid-back” here and vary the different uses throughout the chapter.