Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 79 – I guess it can’t be helped

“It takes roughly ten minutes to run to the nearest venue.” One Pioneer commented.

“The people who ran away took all the carriages…” Another commented.

“People will probably have finished clearing up the mobs by the time we arrive there.” A third one said.

“Seems like the enemies on the Amethyst Palace have just been wiped out.” A fourth person commented.

“Guess there is no point in going to the other venues then.” A fifth Pioneer said.

“Pretty much.” A sixth one replied.

It’s good that we were able to quickly take care of the mobs without taking major damage, but the same couldn’t be said for the other venues.

However, as the venues are too far apart, we just wouldn’t be able to arrive there in-time before the enemies were cleared out, so after checking the forums and doing some calls, everyone concluded that relief aid was unnecessary.

“By the way, didn’t this new enemy feel like a variant of an existing mob, but with a fog of sorts covering it?” A Pioneer commented.

“The specific type of enemy seems to be different on other venues, but they do indeed seem to all be variants of existing mobs.” A different Pioneer replied.

“That fog is troublesome. It’s hard to handle them due to their resistance to attacks without attributes on them.” A third one commented.

“I thought we’d get a new event eventually, but not this fast.” A fourth one said.

“I mean, we can’t be sure if it is an event or not.” A fifth Pioneer replied.

“It’s definitely an event.” The previous person said.

“Maybe, but we don’t have confirmation yet.” The other person replied.

“The timing is too perfect. This has to be it.” Seems like they’ll keep this back and forth for a while…

The monsters who appeared from the Shadow Crystal seem to be similar to an already existing mob, then? I don’t know much about them since I only saw monsters during collection tours, but the other Pioneers here are all combat-focused, so I guess they have a better reference than me.

Just as the last event was ending, we now see a strange variant of an already existing mob… I guess it’s natural to expect a new event at this situation.

<A change has occurred in the Capital City Sabrina of the Zabrina Kingdom.>

“It came!” One person explained.

“Just as I thought!” Another said.

“This isn’t a declaration of the end of the previous event, but of the beginning of the next one!” A third one exclaimed.

“Event! Event!” A fourth one shouted.

“It appeared as soon as all monsters finished being cleared up from the remaining venues!” A fifth person shared this information.

“So, essentially, this was just our first skirmish with these new mobs?” A sixth person asked.

As expected, the Goddess’ Announcement suddenly made the Raid Party Call become very hectic.

Seems like the announcement came at the same time as when someone posted on the forums that final venue had been cleared of mobs.

And then, a message appeared on the corner of my view… When considering this timing…

“An official message from the management team!” One Pioneer exclaimed.

“A strange Shadow Servant?” A second Pioneer commented.

“So the variant of the existing mob is a Shadow Servant?” A third one said.

“Are we going to be competing for points again?” A fourth one asked.

“Yeah, but this time we can actually exchange our points for good.” A fifth one said.

“So our points can be consumed…” The previous one mused.

“If you’re aiming for the top spots though, then you can’t consume your points!” A sixth Pioneer exclaimed.

“Looks like the mobs are starting to appear on the normal field areas, by the way.” A seventh one said.

“Event start!” Someone exclaimed.

“Yeah! Let’s go, everyone! Those who can use attribute magic should hurry up!” Another person said.

“Then, let’s dissolve the raid party.” Mika told everyone.

“Roger that!” One person said.

“You saved us this time!” A different person commented.

“See you again, Bucket.” A third Pioneer said.

“Hime is the best!” A fourth one said.

The message we received indeed explained the start of this new event… It also said that this was the end of the Demon Tree woodcutting event, but we’d have to check the official website for the rankings.

Well, even if I don’t look at it, I’m sure Hime got the first place.

The temporary raid party was also disbanded, but before people left, many ended up thanking and greeting me.

Hime also got many thanks from everyone… I’m glad that they properly acknowledged that, for Hime was definitely the most important person in this raid.

I just provided the Magical Formations, after all. She was the one doing all the support work.

In any case, the auction was cancelled because of this issue… There were still some materials left to be exhibited, but it can’t be helped.

Most of the player Pioneers are already leaving the venue, and all the other participants have long escaped by now.

“What a timing for a new event!” Mika exclaimed.

“I’ll participate.” Hime commented.

“Of course! That’s why we’ll be dissolving the party now, Yuri!” Mika told me.

“Got it, got it… But tomorrow you two have school you know? Don’t overdo it, alright?” I told them.

Mika gave me a troubled laugh, “I can’t promise anything!”

“It’s impossible, after all.” Hime commented.

“Good grief, you two…” I sighed.

School is restarting, but the two of them seem to have full intention of spending as much time as they can in this event.

The event will last until the end of September though, so it’s not like they need to hurry too much on it… But well, I guess it can’t be helped since it’s Hime and Mika that we’re talking about.

As for me, I don’t go to school, so my login time will remain unchanged even after tomorrow.

So, let’s see the two of them off, then go my own way.

On a side note, the mildly injured auctioneer was handed to the guards, as they didn’t escape.

In any case, there doesn’t seem to be any carriage available, so I guess I’ll have to walk back to my workshop? Mika and Hime certainly ran off, so they probably came to the same conclusion.

… I guess it can’t be helped.

******

I was now walking home while looking up at the starry sky. The path was reasonably bright due to the street lamps powered by magical tools, as well as by the bright starry jewels up above.

Quite a few people are moving through this road even though we are already in the middle of the night. Some are the player Pioneers who are hurriedly moving towards the field areas, and some are the guards who are heading to the auction venues.

Me? I’m going to my workshop, so I’m going in the same direction as the other player Pioneers, while the guards are going in the opposite direction.

Even though we already cleared the monsters there, quite a few guards are heading to the place where the auctions were held… But as far as I know, nothing in particular happened in Capital Sabrina yet.

Well, if I think about it, something pretty drastic happened actually, which is why so many guards must be gathering at the site of the incident.

If the player Pioneers of Guild rank 5* did not participate on this battle, the NPCs would have surely suffered heavy damage from the mobs that suddenly spawned.

On the other hand, this wouldn’t have been very dangerous if the monsters spawned in a guard outpost. People with their full gear equipped wouldn’t have much trouble getting rid of those mobs even with their resistance against attacks without attributes in them.

The only reason there was a big struggle at the venues was because all player Pioneers were using formal wear and could not equip their usual gear, which ended up leading to quite a few deaths.

I wonder if this means that the event won’t be quite as easy as one might think.

Well, it doesn’t really matter to me in the end.

Combat-focused player Pioneers will be getting points from defeating event mobs, but those of us who can’t fight can still get some points by making items with the drops that come from the event mobs.

Also, it seems like the drops of those mobs can make weapons and offensive consumables that can counter the monsters’ resistance against attacks without attributes in them, so crafters like me can still enjoy the event by making this kind of item.

Well, if you’re aiming for the top ranks, it would still be ideal to fight, but as I have no intention of doing that, I’ll instead try exchanging the event points for items.

And of course, I’ll still be crafting steel gear and try leveling other skills to get Skill Points.

Besides, we don’t even know the prizes of the event yet. The management team said that they’ll announce the prizes tomorrow and that we’ll also be able to start exchanging our points for items at that point, so I guess I can start worrying about the event then.

Also, the server won’t be down for maintenance this time around. The people on the forums were quite happy with these news.

But well, most of the discussion is still revolving around the type of enemies that are appearing on the event. Quite a few people are giving detailed information on the mobs as they defeat said enemies.

They’re fast… It’s been less than thirty minutes since the event started.

Everyone seems to be having fun though.

I also want to set up the store to purchase event drops as soon as possible, but… Well, there is still a fair amount of time until the store opens, so I guess things will start moving at full speed tomorrow!

******

It has been 31 days since the game has been released, or 90 days on in-game time.

Our life at Frontiers has now entered a new phase.

Although it was because of an event, an incident has now occurred within the city area, which was safe until now.

The response methods from both NPCs and player Pioneers will change from now on, for we can no longer be absolutely sure that we’re safe just because we are in a safety area, such as in a city.

This precedent will definitely bring big changes with it.

Moreover, there are still three incidents that have yet to be resolved… Or rather, the player Pioneers haven’t even been able to reach the incidents yet.

It’s easy to imagine that reaching the next incident location will be further delayed by this event as well.

In other words… Doesn’t this mean that the other incidents are even more difficult?

I don’t know the details behind them as this is information that the Guild doesn’t share with us, though this might change as our Guild rank is raised.

Our pioneering has only just begun.

There are lot of problems ahead of us that we haven’t even seen yet, but for now, let’s enjoy the event that is affecting us right now.

Let’s start the day by making more steel gear!