High School Hack and Slash - CH 55.2

「I wonder if Shizuka-chan is still staying in bed?」

「Haru-chan and Saki-chan are there with her.」

Natsumi, who was sitting in the corner, had a stiff tone in her voice.

Of the members who logged into the raid domain, with the exception of the strayed Touma, all of them had settled down in the lighthouse base.

However, just as in the previous supplementary lessons raid when she was separated from Touma, only the distraught Shizuka ended up getting down.

It was not only Natsumi, but also for Miharu and Saki, what was most important above all else was Touma and Shizuka.

The gazes pointed toward Asura and Kaoru, who had made unnecessary meddling, were cold.

「I’m sorry… Asura-chan too, you see, she usually isn’t a selfish girl who can’t read the air like that. Well, she’s certainly a glutton, but she does have enough sense not to bother people.」

At that point, Seiichi was so jealous that he wished to ask for a swap.

「She’s basically a shy girl, you see…. Though, I’ve heard that you weren’t scared of Asura-chan?」

「Compared to what I’d heard in the rumors, she seemed like a totally normal girl…. She was dressed in a really cute manner, though.」

Otoha, whose memory of their first meeting was for some reason hazy, pressed her temples.

「Ahaha. She’s more of cute than scary, but that’d be impolite to you seniors, right?」

The core members of Black Honey consisted of third year students, including Asura.

「It’s okay. I hope you can continue to treat Asura-chan, and if possible me as well, the same way. I bet she was happy to be accepted. I think she got excited and did something like that.」

Seiichi and Mai exchanged looks with awkward faces.

「Rather than scared.」

「I guess it felt more like we were about to get eaten.」

「I see. That’s normal, you see. It’s the influence of Asura-chan’s class, 『Gluttony』. That’s why she was looking for someone of her kind who wasn’t scared of her.」

「Ah, so that’s where Touma comes in, huh.」

True enough, that incomprehensibleness seemed to be of a kind.

「It’s just that, I don’t know the reason why Mikan-chan and the others are all right with her, but… I’d be grateful if you can get along with her.」

「I have no particular intention to get along with her, but if she approaches me first, I have no intention to refuse her either.」

Kurumi, who was simmering a pot in the kitchen booth, snorted.

「I see. Thanks…. For the time being, let me give you a hand with this quest. I’ll give you my full support.」

「That’d be a life saver. Honestly speaking, I don’t know what’s what.」

「Certainly, even in the category of raid quests, the『Lore (Legend)』 type is quite the special type, you see.」

The countless shipwrecks that had washed up on the shore were also a mountain of materials for the girls.

As expected, there wasn’t enough room for all of them, nearly twenty in number, to sit together, but on the tables and chairs that had been created in an impromptu manner, food was being served.

「It smells so good. So amazing. I never thought I’d be able to eat such delicious food during a raid quest.」

The bright red soup, boiled in a large pot, was made of small fish caught from the reef.

The tomato sauce and the scent of garlic give an accent to it, and the rich umami of marine products was melting into it.

Nevertheless, what was caught from the mysterious sea was a mysterious monstrous fish, whose type they couldn’t be sure of.

It was a type of Null MOB that occurred in areas with a high concentration of miasma.

Such Null MOBs, like many other monsters, could be deliciously eaten as long as they did not possess poisonous attributes.

In fact, monsters and Null MOBs that couldn’t be eaten were the rare ones.

There was no mistaking Kurumi’s eyes when it came to appraising toxicity.

The large monstrous fish had been subjected to fileting and fried.

The large ammonite-like Null MOB had its legs chopped up and roasted on skewers, while its curling shell had been turned into a pot to cook itself as it was.

Not only did they promptly find a safety zone, a base, they were also able to secure plenty of food.

For some reason, there were no monsters that attacked them either.

And yet, the air of the members gathered for dinner was heavy.

「Ah, yes. You can do it while eating, but I hope you could tell us about Lore (Legend) type raid quest, I suppose.」

Rinko, who asked as such in an attempt to change the air, had already learned about the general knowledge of raid quests in class.

However, in the categories of『Royalty (Diadem)』, 『Tsukumo (Regalia)』, 『Origin (Primitive)』, 『Lore (Legend)』, and『Invasion (Barbaroi)』, the one with multitude of quest conquering methods was『Lore (Legend)』.

Unlike『Royalty (Diadem)』 and『Origin (Primitive)』, which could only be conquered by brute force, if they didn’t conquer 『Lore (Legend)』 step by step following its arrangements, they wouldn’t even be able to get to the boss.

This was the reason why it was said that what ought to be conquered was not the boss, but the worldview.

Instead, as long as you could conquer the mysteries of that worldview, even if the boss was superior in rank, the chance to defeat it would be born.

「Let me see. First of all, in order to conquer a Lore (Legend) type raid quest, I guess we need to know what kind of world that was created based on what this place is.」

「Um, I don’t get what that means, though….」

「Each and every raid domain has a core, and the area is formed with that core serving as the center. If the core is a Diadem, the area will turn into an environment convenient for the boss, if the core is a Primitive, it will match that element, and if the core is Regalia, it’ll turn into a world related to the core item, something like that.」

「I see. Seiichi, pass.」

「… You need to use your head a little more.」

Mai, who had abandoned her understanding, bit into the octopus legs skewer.

「Fufufu. You guys are really close. Now then, the core of a Lore (Legend) type like the one this time is the story itself, you see. There are many cases where there exists a boss that serves as the core, but it is no more than a symbol of the story. A world materialized from the story of a movie of a book, that’s the impression of it, I guess.」

「Hau… It’s so complicated.」

「Right. It’s not a quest where all you have to do is kill monsters. Unless you proceed in accordance with the story that is serving as the core, you won’t be able to get to the place where the boss is. According to what Asura-chan and the others say, you have to trigger the flags.」

「Ah, it’s not an RPG, but more like an ADV, huh.」

Scratching his head, Seiichi let out a sigh.

「Then, that town for instance, are those human-looking ones the so-called NPCs?」

「Yes. Those are things akin to a stage set. Somewhere in the town, there should be a key to advance the story.」

Until the scene changed, they would simply repeat the limited scenario forever.

「… Even those girls over there, who look like students from our academy?」

「… Yes. That’s right.」

As they explored the inside of the town on the first day, they saw Asian’s slaves wearing the academy’s uniform.

A foreign body that was clearly out of place in this worldview.

These girls ending up vanishing like smoke in front of them, who had rescued and brought them out of the town, was the same as the other residents of the town.

「I think that’s seriously too much of a bad taste, though.」

「I think so too.」

「— I couldn’t care less about such a thing. Where’s Danna-sama?」

A cold voice and a dry gaze.

The spiral staircase leading to the upper floor where Shizuka was resting.

Switching places with Natsumi, Saki had come down to eat, but she didn’t even put her hands on her plate.

Sitting on the stairs while still holding her katana, Saki didn’t even stir.

No one could get close to Saki, whose usual smile was gone, and even Mikan could only look at them alternately in a fluster.

「Given that he’s not in the town of beginning (scene), I think he must have gotten lost in another scene.」

「And the way to get there?」

「We’ll have to proceed with the quest conquest. That’s the rule of this raid world, after all.」

Saki, her mouth twisted in abhorrence, tightened her grip on her katana.

「If I kill them all, can we proceed ahead?」

「It’s no use. We can’t proceed to the next scene that way. Once tomorrow comes, I bet everything will be back to how it used to be.」

「… What, should I do?」

「The only way to proceed ahead is to solve the mystery. In order to do so, we need to grasp the story serving as the basis of this worldview. On the flip side, as long as we know that, conquering a Lore (Legend) quest is by no means difficult.」

Saki was so tense that bloodlust could even be sensed from her, but to Kaoru she looked like a child who was lost and about to cry.

「At any rate, the story on which the worldview or whatever is based doesn’t seem to be Japanese, huh.」

「Yeah. The clothes are old-fashioned, and didn’t those guys have pistols or something?」

「The language was English. It had an accent, though, so it was hard to understand. It’s just that, they spoke in Japanese when they called out to me, so that got me surprised, I suppose.」

Unlike other raid types, the Lore (Legend) quests always had a path to follow in order to conquer it.

That was because they followed the fundamental rule that a story was connected from the opening to the ending.

And all the conditions for conquering the story must be provided.

「I mean, the hints are too few, duh. The place is somewhere around America or Europe, perhaps? The period is also probably between 18th and 20th century, but I can’t narrow it down.」

「I wonder if I should go to the town and appraise things out. Maybe I can get some clues.」

「I’m coming with you. The more information we gather, the better, right?」

「I can read English, German, Mandarin.」

「Hmm.」

As long as they had a clear idea of what their objective was, these girls wouldn’t remain being their dispirited selves.

Some fish sandwiches were also pushed onto Saki as she remained crouched down on the stairs, gulping down her meal as if saying that one was unable to fight on an empty stomach.

「Let me help you with that too…. Though, I totally see you in a different light. Maybe 『Craftsman』 is better suited for raid quests.」

Leaving beginner and intermediate classes aside, it was a common belief that Lore (Legend) raids of Advance class and above took a long time to conquer.

Above all, not only did it take a lot of time and effort in the investigation and identification of the worldview, even the conquest itself was not something that was in the bad as long as you had enough combat power.