Volume 2: Samurai Hunting

Chapter 14: The Remains of Samurai Hunting, Part 1

An MMO game with many Players online at the same time, these types of synchronized online games with multiple people playing at the same time had a variety of special features that differentiated them from typical Offline Games.

From among those features was the concept of “Time” being incorporated into the game itself.
“Morning”, “Noon”, and “Night”. The flow of time would continue to proceed regardless of if you were Online or Offline. There were many RPGs that used this concept. For example, the same town or village would have different Events depending if you went there in the morning or at night, and in the Field you would encounter different kinds of enemies based on the time of day.
If you happened to finish the daytime event, and wanted to play the nighttime event, then in an Offline Game there was often a function that allowed you to instantly change the in-game time from day to night. However, such a feat wasn’t possible for an MMO game where many Players were online at the same.　If it takes 30 minutes of real world time for 1 day to pa.s.s in the game world, then no matter how much you struggled you would have no choice but to wait 30 minutes for the next day to come.

「……Maybe it would’ve been better if we waited until it was morning huuh」

While watching the silver moon illuminate the heavens, Usa let out those words as she swayed on her horse’s back.
Several hours of in-game time had pa.s.sed since they left Myune.
Leading at the vanguard was Edgar. Having previously traversed the Veroon Grand Duchy Area a countless number of times, he used his knowledge to avoid groups of Mobs by traveling down routes with relatively few of them. Trekking down the western bank of the mountain ridge, they were enroute to the Saradin Basin.

「It will be entirely alright. By the time we reach the border of the Saradin Basin where Usa-san was attacked, I believe the sun will most likely have risen by then. Conversely to that, if we were to leave Myune during the daytime, it would be nighttime when we arrive, so it is convenient that we were able to depart as quickly as we did」
「Is that so」
「There’s quite a bit of distance to reach the Saradin Basin afta all. I also think it was a good decision to leave when we did ya know」

Paralleling Sonya’s words, Momo answered in a whisper-like voice as he rode on Usa’s shoulder.
Unlike when Edgar was headed to Myune in the first place, they took their time and slowly rode on horseback, leisurely making their way towards the Saradin Basin.
When they were headed to Myune, they were in a hurry because they used the horse’s leg strength to outrun the Mobs until they were safe inside the town.
However, this time was different.
The place where the aforementioned Wizard had attacked Usa, it was in a Field surrounded by Mobs.
If they attracted Mobs on the way there, then they would have to fight them on the spot, otherwise it will become an all out war when they reach the border of the Saradin Basin area. In the worse case scenario, the Wizard might be waiting around the area’s border, in which case the might be struck in a pincer attack between the Wizard and the Mobs.
Therefore, although they were traveling down a relatively safe route, Edgar proceeded carefully on horseback to not alert any Mobs.

「By the way Edgar-san, how come you’re so knowledgeable about the Veroon Grand Duchy area? Even though you’re level isn’t much different from mine」
「Well actually, It’s because I retired from this game once before. For various reasons I’ve started playing again」
「Eh? Edgar-san, you are a restarting player!? No wonder why, I had a feeling that you were way too calm in this sort of situation」

“I somehow understand now”, Usa looked back with a smile
However, on Edgar’s side of things he had an expression like He was the one who couldn’t understand.
Me? Calm?
I think you’re mistaking my desire to not communicate with other people as that “calmness”

「Before you retired, what Cla.s.s did you playing as?」
「The same as now, a Samurai」
「Is that true!? Edgar-san perhaps… Did you pick it because you’re also a fan of Aran’s!?」
「…… Just because I chose Samurai, how did it end up like that?」

As Usa continued happily chatting, Edgar felt a strange sense of unease on his back.
I’ve been told these type of things over and over again, but as expected I just can’t get used to it. I have no idea how I should respond.
In the past, during a livestream he went around and asked Players if they were his fans, those Players would end up posted on their SNS comments along the lines of「Aran is an unsociable and conceited guy」. He couldn’t interact with them besides in a blunt and awkward manner. Since he was sponsored by DICE, Aran thought that he should at least strive to be more sociable while he was in Dragon’s Krone…… But no matter how many times he tried, he was only left with embarra.s.sing experiences.

「Haa~ His technique is amazing, but the best part about Aran is how cool and stylish he is, isn’t that right……」
「Ara. I believe that Edgar-sama is just about as cool as Aran is though, Usa-san」
「……Pff」

Then suddenly out of the blue, of all things, Sonya made a completely outrageous statement.
Edgar reflexively turned and gave her a menacing stare, but Sonya nonchalantly brushed it off as she responded back a small wink.

「Going out of his way to help out an unknown person, Edgar-sama is a kind gentleman」
「Well, it’s true that he’s the type person who would hand a random person like me a bunch of money without a second thought huh. I think that Edgar-san is a pretty nice person as well but…… Wait, even though you’re about the same level as me, how come you had such a large amount of money like that?」

With Sonya’s ridiculous statements setting him on edge, and having Usa suddenly asked a question that was difficult to answer, Edgar wore an expression of anguish on his face.
It would be great if we could just hurry up and find out the Wizard’s true ident.i.ty so I can just go back to Crescendo.

「……We should hurry」

Edgar change his horse’s gait from a walk to a canter; he increased it’s speed.
With a dash, Edgar’s appearance grew ever so smaller, he went ahead and blended into the darkness of the night.

「Edgar-sama」
「Aaah! Hold on a-! Please wait for meee!」

Feeling that they might be left behind, the two of them pull back on the reins in a panic. They hastened to catch up to Edgar.

From beyond the darkness, you could faintly tell that the scenery was changing. Before they had realized the once desert landscape change to that of a mountain ridge.

Little by little, a whitish glow started to brighten up the eastern sky.

By the time Edgar and his group reached that place, the morning sun had started to peek out from above the mountains.
The dryness of the place sucked the moisture out of the air, and the overall temperature was lower than it was in Myune.

Contrary to an ordinary Field, it was better to think of the mountain district as more like a Dungeon. The places you could reach on foot were few, so there was pretty much only one set path.
Essentially, if you were to encounter Mobs then it wouldn’t be possible to avoid battle and run past them.

「Just in case I’ll ask you again. Usa, you’re sure that the place you were attacked was just barely within the border of the area, right?」
「Yup. No mistaking it」
「There’s no mistaking」

With his eyes on the MAP that displayed the surrounding area, Edgar asked for confirmation as Usa and Momo answered back.
Since Dragon’s Krone required the exchange of ma.s.sive amounts of data, larger than any MMO game before it, instead of being Open World without any demarcations for Areas, it went with the traditional method of clearly marking off each Area’s boundary.
According to Usa, the place where they were attacked was around where the Area changes between the Veroon Grand Duchy and the Saradin Basin.
In other words, once we move into the Saradin Basin Area, the instant our Avatars recognize that change, we will be in danger of being attacked.

「That would mean, there’s a high possibility that the Samurai Hunter is waiting around the Area Change to ambush Samurai who pa.s.s by」
「The Players who enter this Saradin Basin are all beginners going through something like a rite of pa.s.sage after all. You don’t often see high level players going through here either. If you wanted to PK people then I think this would be the best spot」
「Alright. Let’s get off the horses and proceed with caution. That Wizard might still be around here after all」

If that Wizard really is there, then it would be fine if they attacked us, but the most troublesome thing would be if they ran away.
If they waited in the Saradin Basin Area Change, while hiding in the shadows, then they could just Fast Travel away before we can even find them. Afterwards I doubt they would ever come back to this place.
But, our members only include 2 low-level Samurai, a Companion and an Animal.
……Well, I doubt they would choose to run from that.

「Woow~, it’s soo pretty」
「It’s a pretty nice view, huh」

Accidentally letting out words of admiration were Usa and Momo.
Edgar’s group was slowly making their way by foot while in the shadow beneath the vast Veroon Grand Duchy Area.
Beyond the morning mist, the morning sun glistened and sparkled as it shone upon the largest city in the Veroon Grand Duchy Area; The City of Vernewt could be seen in the distance. Surrounded by rampart walls was an enormous black castle, and the contrasting misty earth made the sight look like exactly like a phantasmal illusion
It couldn’t be described with words alone, the surreal sight was incredibly beautiful.
── How wonderful would it be if Suzu-san and I came here with just the two of us…

「Edgar-sama」

Then, from behind them came the voice of Sonya.

「Over there is…」

Sonya pointed out her finger.
The thing over there was…… No, 「The Things scattering there」, the first one to react to them was Usa.

「……ッ! Those are…… Items dropped by Players?」

As they proceeded down the road to the Area Change, carelessly scattered on the ground, were Player Items that had converted into Objects.
Items that were converted into Objects… that would mean that this was a place where a Player had died.

However, up until now they had not seen any Items that had turned into Objects. Perhaps, if they were defeated by the Mobs that sp.a.w.n in this mountain district, then it wouldn’t be strange to find a number of dropped Objects along the way.
But the place where this item was dropped, it was just barely within the Area Change── It was just like where Usa said she was attacked.
In other words, there is something other than the Mobs waiting to ambush and hunt down this many Players.

「Sonya, be ready to provide Support. Usa and Momo, watch our surroundings」
「U-Understood!」

Silently, Edgar drew his Katana, and carefully made his way to the scattered items.
From the looks of it, there isn’t anything there but the scattered items. No signs of Players or Mobs. That Wizard that attacked Usa, did they already leave… or are they still out hunting──

「This is, it’s Samurai equipment」

Edgar placed one of the scattered items into his item inventory.
One of the Samurai’s specialty weapons, a two-handed katana, the「Nodachi」. Nodachi were among the initial katana you could craft. If they had this equipped, then the original owner must’ve just about graduated from being a beginner.

But, why were the items just left here.
I could understand if they left behind the beginner equipment that won’t go for much, but they even left behind the money and healing items.
The Samurai Hunters, their objective isn’t money or items.
If that is true, then the reason behind the Samurai Hunting── What exactly is it?

「Edgar-saaan!!」

Suddenly, the sound of Usa’s scream rang out and reached Edgar’s ears.
As Edgar quickly turned his head, reflected in his sights was Usa holding her katana in a fighting stance.

「Edgar-sama, an enemy」

Sonya called out as she readied her bow and pointed it at a boulder.
And, facing Usa, on the opposite side of the Saradin Basin[1], was the Wizard── No, it was a Mob you often see in mountain areas, the「Plateau Lizardman」.
A Mob resembling a humanoid lizard, Plateau Lizardmen were said to be the mountain version of their waterbound Lizardman brethren. They possessed powerful poison, and were a difficult Mob to defeat with just physical attacks.

「Usa, stand back. I’ll take it down」

As long as we still need to search this area, we can’t have anyone getting hit by the Plateau Lizardman’s poison attack.
If even one of our party members gets poisoned then we will have to retreat back to town.
To defeat it, it will have to be “No Damage”.
Fighting with the least amount of members in the shortest amount of time is Best.

Edgar kicked off the ground.
With the 「Nodachi」from earlier in his hands, he changed into the【Lower Stance】. Edgar’s body jetted forth as if clinging to the earth.
By the time the Plateau Lizardman let out a roar, Edgar’s katana had already clashed against it’s hard scales.

Footnotes

1.

TL note: The raws say “Rabasta Basin” here but since that makes no sense at all (the RabastaWoodlands being where Suzu+Megu were attacked) I a.s.sume it was a typo and changed it to Saradin Basin.