Volume 3: Let’s Make a Clan!

Chapter 19: A New Way to Have Fun

The calming sound of a small brook brushed against the ear, The trees rustling in the wind.
As sunlight shone past the leaves and blotched the gra.s.sy field, a soft wind blew and brushed against the man’s hair.

He was holding on to the hilt of the katana that hung from his waist.
Focusing his weight on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet, his heel spread out horizontally.
Lowering his body, he stirred into action.
The man turned the mouth of his saya, and in the moment the katana was drawn, a dazzling light came forth, and the man’s figure had vanished.
Flowers began to dance, a number of lights dashed across the gra.s.sy land.
To the Right, To the Left.
Every time the man disappeared, the flowers drifted and fluttered into the air. As if being freed from the constraints of gravity, they continued to drift about in the sky.

「…… Fumu」

After that light had run about several times, the man returned to the spot where he began── As if he had firmly grasped that sensation, Edgar returned the katana to it’s saya.

「If I include an attack skill then I can activate it 4 time…… If I don’t include it then 5 times is the limit huh. The next time I level up should I put stats into DEX[1], or should I put them into Stamina, it’s a tough choice」

What Edgar wanted to confirm, was the drawback which he noticed during his PvP with the Samurai Hunter a few days ago. He wanted to better understand the Stamina consumption from using the Moon Step several times in succession.
If I were to raise my DEX, then not only will the accuracy of my attacks increase, but my movements will become quicker and sharper.
In terms of the usage of Moon Step, DEX is an extremely important stat.
However, if I don’t have any Stamina, I won’t be able to use Moon Step in rapid succession. Just like with the Lizardmen from a few days ago, if I were to go up against a large number of Mobs then I also have to consider the fact that my Stamina might be depleted in just a few moments.

「……Since I can supplement my DEX with equipment, I guess I should focus on Stamina for now」

Muttering this to himself, Edgar picked up a twig that had fallen by his feet, and he threw it into the air.
Drawing an arc in the sky, the small branch spun as it descended back to the earth.
Edgar immediately extended his hand and reached for the hilt of his katana. With his index finger and thump pressed hard against the crossguard, It cut loose from the saya.
In an instant.
Light ran forth.
The disappearing blade sliced forth as if it was a mirage, and it once again returned to the saya.
The fastest strike, The 【Iai】Tree’s 【Razor Blaze】, the branch was a.s.saulted by it again and again.
A single branch became 2 branches, and then 3, and 4.

「Fumu」

Finally it fell down to the ground, in Edgar’s hands were 9 fragments of a former branch.
A feat which required an astounding level of precision and timing.
Although some of the cuts revealed a margin of error due to his low DEX status, Edgar had displayed an overwhelming level of technique.
However, the expression Edgar wore was not one of satisfaction.
So this is Edgar’s limit huh, if it was Aran then he could have cut it into 16 pieces at most.[2]
As I thought, there is a major need to supplement my DEX.
Around this level wasn’t there a belt or something that could increase my DEX……

「A-Amazing……」
「Hm?」

The pleasant sound of a voice brushed against his ear.
Watching the spectacle from within the shade of a tree was the figure of a person.
A Cleric clad in a white robe; Her name is Suzu.
As if watching a brilliant dance, Suzu let out those words as she watched Edgar transform the branch into tiny fragments within the blink of an eye.

「…… Oh, Suzu-san」
「P-Please excuse me, I didn’t mean to spy on you」
「No, it’s fine…… I don’t really mind」

Being a bit embarra.s.sed that he was seen diligently practicing, Edgar scratched the tip of his nose as he made a somewhat awkward and forced smile.
This beautiful gra.s.sy plain was not within a ‘Field’ in Dragon’s Krone.
It was an area you could access through your Home House, a so-called「Training Grounds」.
This Training Ground was an Area that resembled your Home House, and although no Players can enter it unless you give them access, you could use Skills and Magic which normally can not be activated in a Home House.

「Edgar-kun, That thing from before…… Was that the Moon Step?」
「Yeah. Earlier when I fought against the Samurai Hunter I ended up running out of Stamina, so I just wanted to check out a couple of things」

There were a variety of functions in this Training Area.
For the purposes of practicing combination moves you could set your Stamina to infinite, and you can create a 「Doll」or so-called copy of yourself to practice fighting against. If you allocate Skills for the doll to use, then you could even practice some PvP with this function.
Many players spend several long hours here in this Area, making full use of the Training Ground’s functions. When he is playing as Edgar and Aran, Ran would spend expended periods of time caged up in this training place; perhaps for even longer than he spent going out hunting.

「Wow, so the Moon Step also its weak points」
「There is no technique in this world that doesn’t have its weaknesses. If there was one then the admins would patch it after all」
「I see. I suppose that makes sense」

Although Moon Step is a technique that utilizes several Skills, unlike the Combination attacks that use skills from the same skill tree, the mechanic of「Stamina Reduction for successive activations」 did not apply. The Moon Step burns off Stamina like no tomorrow.
That was one of the few weaknesses of the perfect offensive and defensive technique: Moon Step.

「……Are you not interested about the Moon Step, Suzu-san?」
「Eh?」
「I mean, ‘How do you use it?’, or something like that」

That was something that somewhat perplexed Edgar.
Andou and Yamabuki, and also Megu, although those kind of questions haven’t been asked recently, and there hasn’t been much opportunity to bring it up like they are right now, but when they first started playing together those type of questions were endlessly thrown Edgar’s way.
However, whenever Suzu was with Edgar she had never once asked about that subject.

「Hmm~, I don’t know about Megu and the others, but I’m not that great at those kind of complicated things…… Also I’m not a Samurai so there’s no need to know it, right?」
「Fumu」
「Oh, but there are a few things I’m curious about, you know? Like, since you are one of Aran’s acquaintances, umm-…… What kind of person is Aran-san? stuff like that」
「Eh? That’s what you want to ask?」

An unexpected question that came from Suzu’s mouth.
Is Suzu-san a bit interested in Aran as well? She never behaved like she was interested in the past, so I thought she was indifferent about him.

「But, it’s fine. I’m having lots of fun playing Dragon’s Krone with Edgar-kun after all」
「……Eh?」

Continuing on, the words that came from her mouth caused Edgar to instinctively do a double take as he looked at Suzu.
Fun? Playing with ME is?
It can’t be.

「Uhmm, by that, what do you mean?」
「……? Ah」

After thinking a while, Suzu finally realized the meaning behind the words she had just said.
As if it had been set ablaze, a bright red color quickly rose up and flushed her entire face.

「I, I didn’t mean it like that! What I meant to say was, Playing with Ran-kun or Megu or Andou-kun, I meant that it’s fun when we all play together, okay!?」
「…… What about Yamabuki?」
「Y-, Yamabuki-kun too」

“Of course him too,” Suzu replied in a panic.
The out-of-place playboy, Yamabuki. I shouldn’t be one to talk, but I pity the guy.

No, who cares about Yamabuki.
More importantly, I was dangerously close to getting the wrong idea about the meaning behind Suzu-san’s words just now.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it is that Suzu-san doesn’t hate having to talk to me, or doesn’t seem that way.
At the very least it isn’t「In order to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Mission, I’ll put up with having to deal with the gross Edogawa-kun」, and it wasn’t 「I, I always wanted to talk with Edogawa-kun」either. It was a very “Neutral” kind of feeling.[3]
Since I have no idea what she’s thinking, I end up misunderstanding things by accident.
Please spare me from that.

「…… I see. So that’s why, Suzu-san suggested we do that thing huh」
「Suggested? You mean at school? Yup, that’s right」

As he was remembering the past Edgar muttered those words, Suzu answered back with her cheeks still slightly flushed.

「Hey, how about we get going soon? If we don’t get the job done then-」(Suzu)
「……I guess so」

Edgar scratched his cheek as if it was a bit bothersome, and he opened up the Menu so they could leave the Training Area.
Seeing Edgar that way Suzu also showed a look of worry, so Edgar flashed a smile for her to see.

What Suzu had suggested back at school──
It was… Honestly speaking it was a topic that Edgar was not very enthusiastic about.

「……Eh? You want to make a clan?」(Ran)
「Yeah. A Clan, that sort of thing…… Wouldn’t that be like we’re on a Team? That’s why I want to make one with everyone」(Suzu)

It was on a rainy afternoon, during lunch break as the cold rain continued to gently poured down.
As the usual members were gathered to discuss their afterschool Dragon’s Krone activities, Suzu suddenly brought up that suggestion.
As Suzu had said, a Clan is somewhat of a 「Team」; it was a group of people gathered together with the same purpose in mind.
In Dragon’s Krone, there was a Clan System implemented into it, so Players could freely create Clans as they wished.

「Suzu, that idea sounds awesome! Let’s make a Clan! That way we’d all look like comrades, I’m getting excited just thinking ’bout it!」

Promptly voicing her approval was Megu.

「It sure would. Yamabuki and I only play with Megu and the gang anyways」(Andou)
「Yea, I’m cool with it either way though?」(Yamabuki)
「……」(Ran)

Giving their endors.e.m.e.nt, Andou and Yamabuki each in turn added to the tension
However, among them was one person; only Ran didn’t show any interest.

A Clan in game terms was an「Organization」that you were「Affiliated」with.
Each Clan had a purpose, and if you belonged to such a Clan, then it shows your own approval of that Clan’s objectives. It also acts as a declaration that you will contribute towards that purpose.

In the past, there has only been one time when Ran was part of Clan.
The purpose of the Clan was not for socializing. It was created in order to defeat the most powerful Mobs; A Clan founded on the principle that strength and ability ruled supreme.
This was before Aran had made a name for himself as a popular livestreamer, he entered the clan in order to polish his own techniques. One of the clan rules was that if you couldn’t handle being around another clan member then you should withdraw from the clan immediately.

Once you enter a clan gain a responsibility, one that says you must follow the rules
For Ran who has a strong loner’s spirit, that is something that he wants to avoid the most. Clans were a detestable existence.

「But ‘cha know, there’s one thing first, how do we make a clan anyways?」(Megu)
「If I remember…… I think we need to clear some kind of quest first」(Suzu)
「Hey Ed, do you know?」(Megu)
「……ッ」(Ran)

Not wanting to be involved, Ran was trying his best to become one with the air.
If there was something they did not know then before consulting the Wiki they should ask the re-starting player who is Ran; the group had grown accustomed to this process.

「……If you clear a『Delivery Quest』, the so-called Clan Quest, then then you should be able to make one」
「Delivery Quest?」

“What’s that?” asked Megu.

「It’s a quest where you deliver specific items to the Hunter’s Guild. You can accept the quest anywhere that there is a Hunter’s Guild, and the rarity of the delivery items shouldn’t be that high either. If the work is split up, then you can finish the quest in a day」
「Wow! If so then it’s perfect for us. We won’t even have to travel far for it」

Clapping her hands together, Megu looked like she was in high spirits.
The Clan Quest is a so-called「Busywork Quest」. It primarily consisted of crafting goods, and the ingredients you had to gather for it were nothing but a ha.s.sle to obtain.
Busywork quests had no fun in them, and although the majority of players loathe doing them, right now their group seems to feel the opposite and welcome the challenge.

Recently the「Lunch Break Meeting」of Ran and the others had many things on the agenda. From ‘What may have sparked the Samurai Hunting’, to ‘How they are suppose to have fun while waiting for the video uploaded by those colluding players to be deleted’, those type of subjects.
Crescendo has continued to be their base of operations, but considering that Suzu and Megu were attacked at the「Rabasta Woodlands」that was a bit separated from Crescendo, they haven’t been playing in areas too far just in case they need to take shelter in city.
Because of this their actions were restricted. Recently they have taken to enjoying the port city’s specialties; they spend most of their playtime lazing around while 「Fis.h.i.+ng」.

「Edogawa, what kind of goods will we have to deliver?」
「It changes every time. Most of the time it’s something like weapons or armor. More or less as the Story goes, it is apparently like a form of payment for having the Guild approve the creation of a Hunters Team, something like that」
「I see. So in other words, we accept the quest at the Guild, and then gather the ingredients and craft the items huh. Sounds great」

Having finally found something to do other than fis.h.i.+ng, Andou was getting excited.
If you are going to craft goods then you are going to need ingredients. Although they can’t go too far from Crescendo, they will still be able to do some long-awaited Mob hunting.

「Then, should we all gather at the Hunter’s Guild today?」
「Totally! I’m getting real pumped up about this now!」

In response to Suzu’s suggestion, Yamabuki’s eyes lit up with the same flare they possess when he comes across a girl that suits his fancy.

However, Ran was the only one who seemed indifferent; he continued to emit a melancholic aura.
Up until now Ran had held a principle to never partic.i.p.ate in these type of organizations.
However, Ran was tormented by inner conflict.
Everyone seems so enthusiastic, so if I’m the only one to oppose then it would only ruin the mood. I guess I should help out. I’m a bit happy that I can be in the same clan as Suzu-san, but I can only hope and pray that things won’t end up like the last clan I was in, huh.
But still-

「So it’s come to this huh, ‘a clan’…」

Letting out a sigh, Ran turned his gaze over to the window.
As if reflecting how he felt down inside, the thick clouds blocking out the sky continued to pour down heavy rain.

TL Side Note: A rather gloomy end huh.

Footnotes:

1.

TL note: The original word here is [俊敏性]/ “Shunbin-sei”, which means “Resourceful”, “Cunning”, “Swift Judgement”, etc.

I went with DEX since the only direct conversion I could find was “Speed” but I suppose it could be referring to something else like WIS or INT, or even just Speed. If anyone knows for sure/has a better suggestion then please feel free to let me know.

Just thought I’d point it out since the original text doesn’t directly say “DEX”.

2.

TL note: So to point out some math, Edgar cut the branch into 9 pieces, meaning that he used Razor Blaze a total of 8 times. In comparison, Aran can cut it into 16 pieces for a total of 15 Razor Blazes, so about twice as many times.

3.

Side Note: Both of these lines “In order to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Mission, I’ll put up with having to deal with the gross Edogawa-kun” and “I, I always wanted to talk with Edogawa-kun” were thought up by Ran in chapter 3.