Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 53

Defensive Battle

「Oi, did you hear?」

「The defensive battle at the Capital of Temperance right? I’m at the Capital of Love right now so I’m hesitant to join.」

「You’re still at that kind of place?」

The inside of the classroom was full with Pandora’s rumor.

(Even though the topic didn’t come up this much before.)

The topic of Pandora was flying all around in the classroom compared  to before. Akito was talking with Riku there about the sequence of  events until now.

How he met Shela, how the event progressed, and how it became the earth dragon’s invasion toward the Capital of Temperance.

When he reported to the guild, he was asked to meet the queen and made appointment for the meeting time at the guild.

It seemed to be an event that rarely happened. The event would start if he met with the queen Shela during the time period.

However, even if Akito didn’t login and meet the queen, the advance  of the earth dragon would still get proclaimed and the event would start  automatically.

「Is it a hidden event? No, well……VR game itself is few in number.  Even though it’s modeled after MMORPG, the dev can do something  different in various aspects.」

The game was modeled after MMORPG that was played through computer  screen. But, this game could be experienced immersively in a virtual  world, so the management had been doing various trial and errors.

Riku fell into thought. Akito didn’t know what to say in front of him.

He recalled how after reporting he couldn’t find Shela at the inn.

(I wonder if we’ll be able to meet again.)

She was just an NPC――a character that was being moved by AI. He understood that, and yet Akito felt that she was real.

Riku grinned.

「Hey, is it okay for me to join in too? I’ll bring my guild members  along so let us join with you guys. The chance to be able to join this  kind of big event from the special seat seldom come.」

Riku earnestly requested to Akito. Akito nodded stiffly to him.

「I don’t mind. Even so, this event is becoming a really hot topic  isn’t it? Even though the Capital of Temperance is a place that got  mostly ignored.」

Most players would advance to the next stage after the cleared the  designated quests in the Capital of Temperance. It was nothing more than  a checkpoint for many players.

It was a checkpoint in order to progress to the Capital of Discretion, Capital of Love, and Capital of Diligence.

The frontline was currently in the middle of clearing the World of  Arrogance. Many players were aiming to head to the Capital of Diligence.

Riku shrugged.

「This is a large event that the dev has generously prepared. Nobody  has ever experienced this kind of thing until now, so you should be  happier as the one who discover it. You might be able to get some kind  of amazing item if the quest is a success.」

It was such a big event.

Surely they could look forward to some lavish reward if it was cleared.

「Can we defeat it? Because, everyone has failed until now.」

Akito became uneasy. Riku patted his shoulder.

「The game didn’t let them defeat the earth dragon until now even  though some had come really close to do it. But now it’s a game event so  there should be a way to clear it. The quest has also been announced so  don’t get cold feet now.」

The event would start in three more days.

Aktio thought of doing everything he could to prepare until that time came.

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Ichinose residence.

Maya got called by her mother and now she was sitting facing her on a tatami room.

「Maya-san, what is the meaning of this?」

In her mother’s hand was the account statement of the credit card that Maya had been using.

The details of the small transactions that she had been doing every day were listed there.

Maya was sitting with seiza posture while sweating coldly. She was desperately keeping her expression blank.

(This is bad. I thought that my parents won’t check and yet she  actually did……how do I get myself out of this? Should I explain to her  that it’s an important period right now? No. Okaa-sama absolutely can’t  understand, and if she actually understands she will confiscate my game  device.)

She thought of relying on the uncle who she was acquainted with――Jun,  but as expected that would make her feel bad so she gave it up.

The eyes of Maya’s mother turned sharp seeing Maya looking so uneasy and wouldn’t answer no matter how long she waited.

「I should have instructed you to buy items of better quality when  buying the utensils for your training and practice. The other students  will laugh at you if you are using items that only cost several hundred  thousand.」

Maya got the wind taken out of her sail.

(That’s what you meaannnn! Thank goddd!)

Maya regained her composure, and then she answered elegantly.

「I decided it after discussing it with my teacher. It will simply be  gaudy for the current me to carry tools in the price range of several  hundred thousand. And most of all I will stand out like that with how  different my utensils are compared to everyone else.」

Maya’s mother reluctantly accepted the explanation if that was what Maya’s teacher in her lesson said.

「One day you will have to use the utensil that befits your station.  Anyway, there are many small amount transactions in this list. What  could they be?」

Maya felt slightly trouble when the direction of the talk was heading toward the particulars.

She tried to make some kind of excuse but, Maya’s mother didn’t seem interested and only said 「Is that so?」 before leaving.

Maya was tired from the tension and stopped sitting with seiza posture inside the Japanese room. She sprawled on the spot.

「……I’m tired.」

◇

The Capital of Temperance.

The number of players who gathered there had reached several times more than usual.

There were also players who went out of their way to change their  login time, and also players who came here from the frontline at t eh  Capital of Diligence.

The casual players who had continuously challenged the earth dragon  were also present. They were showing unprecedented motivation.

Ponsuke’s party was looking down on such bustling Capital of Temperance from the queen’s room.

Ponsuke, Mariela, and Alfie showed themselves on time for meeting  Shela, and then they were given permission to enter into her private  room.

The queen Shela was wearing a distressed expression.

「This is the second time I meet you as the queen.」

「Y-yes.」

Ponsuke was nervous. He kept glancing at behind him.

He had told Mariela and Alfie about the circumstance, and now he was paying attention to their expression.

The two of them were crossing their arms while acting irritated. It  seemed they were displeased with how Ponsuke had been secretly meeting  the queen at night.

(What’s the problem? I didn’t get hit with bad status from lacking sleep. But they hit me when I told them that.)

He caused the two of them to be angry, and then after that they came to this meeting with the queen.

He was getting stretched to the limit with various things.

「Ponsuke……no, adventurer Ponsuke. The earth dragon is targeting this  Capital of Temperance――this holy tree. In the past the previous queen  repelled it at the cost of her life. But, I don’t have such power. The  knight order will also do their best but, the strength of the  adventurers are also needed.」

Ponsuke nodded.

Shela smiled sadly and said to Ponsuke.

「However, come back alive no matter what. Don’t do anything reckless. Do you understand?」

「E-err」

This was a special big event where the players wouldn’t get death  penalty even if they died. The players would be able to return to the  shrine right away even if they died.

「Let’s talk again at that inn’s courtyard.」

Shela said that and smiled. Then her lady-in-waiting called her and  she headed toward the place where the adventurers had gathered.

The start of the event was announced.

The NPCs looked really menacing. They looked to be at their wits’ end.

But, the players looked like they were having a lot of fun.

They knew that they wouldn’t die. It was clear that they were going to enjoy this.

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Defensive battle.

Battery was set up at the rampart that the earth dragon was  approaching. A force was also dispatched to approach the earth dragon  and attack it.

Other than those there were also traps that were set up. They were damaging the earth dragon.

In this event player could receive reward by inflicting a certain  amount of damage on the earth dragon by using the traps and gun battery  that the Capital of Temperance had prepared.

There was also competition between guilds to see which guild could inflict the most damage, so many guilds were participating.

The number of guilds big and small that were participating was more than four thousand.

「The dragon is still outside the cannon’s range!」

「I should choose placing traps rather than here.」

「Let’s go outside.」

The adventurers left the rampart protecting the Capital of Temperance and went outside.

Ponsuke was looking at the gathered members while the surrounding was hectic.

「So Sololy-san also comes. Blaze-san too.」

Ponsuke got acquainted with the solo player Sololy when subjugating the fire dragon before coming to the capital of Temperance.

「As expected I’ll only get in the way of the other players even if I  participate alone, or rather……well, it’s because the frontline look  terribly chaotic.」

Blaze was using an avatar with the form of a good young man. He was participating with his party.

「I was reforming my party at the Capital of Hope until not long ago.  Because of that we’re still in the middle of leveling up after coming  here……I’m not sure whether we’ll be able to be useful here.」

It wasn’t just them who gathered here.

「Ma――Alfie, you look well.」

The one talking with Alfie was the gnome Lighter who specialized in production job.

「Unc――Lighter also comes here huh.」

Alfie looked happy. Lighter introduced to her the fellow artisans who  he brought with him. Their number was easily more than ten. Ponsuke was  surprised by Lighter’s capability.

「Us with production job is troubled at this kind of time after all.  Even if we want to fight, we can’t do it like the players with combat  job. That’s why it’ll be better for us to work together with other party  to deal damage.」

There was a reason why they gathered like this.

That was to participate as a guild.

「Err, then please take care of the procedure for participating as guild.」

They made a temporary guild with Ponsuke as the leader. Sololy, Blaze, and Lighter along with his artisans joined it.

And then――.

「Shit! How stupid I can be……I still haven’t met the high elf queen.」

Prey who was leading the orc group was holding his head while terribly regretting his failure.

「Just how good it’ll feel if she hit me with that golden staff before grinding it on me!」

――They were Ponsuke’s acquaintances, or rather they often adventured together so he had no choice but to contact them too.

They too ended up joining the guild.

Mariela sighed.

「You guys are really……by the way, Sierra and Nanako-chan will also join us too?」

Sierra bowed her head with a nervous look.

She must had not expected that there would be this many players gathered here.

「P-please treat me well!」

Nanako was showing eagerness.

「This is my first time joining a large scale event but, I’ll also do my best!」

Nanako was being all smiles. At her side the orcs stood up, looked around, and started discussing.

They seriously folded their arms, put their hand on their chin,  taking the pose of a thinking person……and the topic that they were  discussing with such seriousness was,

「By the way gentlemen, about the matter of getting trampled by the  enlarged earth dragon, it won’t be good if we become a bother for other  players. And so, I want everyone to offer your wisdom so we can have fun  to our heart’s content without being a bother.」

「Being the tanks against the earth dragon’s attacks is a must.  Apparently it sends mud and rock flying with every single step. It will  be a real party of beating. I won’t be able to get enough of that.」

「It’ll be great if the one giving us instruction and the people around us can call us pigs.」

「Oi wait a second. ……You also can’t discount dog. I also want to get stepped on by the femboy newcomer.」

Yes, there was one player there who kept to himself.

Ponsuke ignored the orcs and talked to [Guruguru], the player who was using a male high elf avatar with lovely appearance.

「Are you alright with joining us at the last minute like this? No,  there’s nothing better than having a lot of helpers, so we greatly  welcome you, especially if you’re a high elf.」

He was the player that Ponsuke’s party previously saw at the corridor to the audience hall.

He was wearing a risqué outfit despite using a male avatar, however  such appearance looked good on him. It troubled even Ponsuke.

「I planned to participate in this event with my acquaintances from  RL, but I’m thinking to maintain a distance from them. Hey, rather than  talking about that, orc avatar is really cool isn’t it? Is the sample  avatar also looks brawny like that? I’m not good with fiddling with the  avatar’s appearance, so I’m concerned about that.」

Standing in front of the high elf who was deeply interested about orc was Mariela and Alfie.

「Oi kid……don’t get near Ponsuke.」

「You feel dangerous. Ponsuke might get awakened if he’s near you.」

The two were wary. In contrast Guruguru was exasperated.

「What are you aunties saying? We’re inside the game so who know what  kind of person is inside the avatar. Eh, could this be perhaps a  gathering of acquaintances in RL?」

Ponsuke calmed down the two who were seriously enraged from getting called auntie.

Ponsuke shook his head.

「No, we don’t know each other in RL. We’re following the manner when it come to personal information.」

Guruguru said 「Then that’s good」 and grabbed Ponsuke’s arm with both hands.

「Is orc a joke race just as I thought? I tried using it but, it got too many demerit that I hesitated a little.」

Guruguru was really curious. In respond Ponsuke looked toward his gathered friends even while looking troubled.

A guild with more than thirty members had been formed although only temporarily.

Rook and the others arrived at that timing.

He brought with him around twenty of his friends.

Rook had blonde pointy hair. He was wearing black colored equipments  and a large great sword. He approached while waving his hand.

「Ponsuke, I got news about the frontline. Looks like everyone there  is scrambling to attack that they crushed each other instead. Apparently  there’s even player who got caught by other player’s trap and  self-destructed.」

Ponsuke covered his face with his left hand when he heard the ifnromation that Riku brought. He pondered about what to do.

(What now? Should we head to the frontline, or go outside and prepare to ambush it when it come……or stay here.)

There would be no death penalty no matter how many times they died.  In other words, doubtlessly they had to plan with the premise that they  would die that many times.

「……Let’s wait along its route and ambush it.」

Rook put his hand on his chin and made a conflicted expression.

「The big guilds are doing the same thing, so I guess that’s feasible……got it. I’ll support that strategy too.」

Then Rook started giving instructions to his friends.

He looked really serious, very different from how he was usually acting at school.

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Ponsuke and co thought about setting up trap on the earth dragon’s route and then waited for it to come.

The big guilds were constructing an encampment that looked like a  fortress, meanwhile Ponsuke and co were creating a normal encampment.

Lighter fell into thought when he saw that.

Ponsuke talked to Lighter while making progress with his work.

「What’s wrong?」

「Hm? No, how should I put it, seeing them making something like that  make me realize once more that such thing is actually possible. They’re  amazing. Are they clearers?」

Lighter watched the artisans building a fortress with enjoyment. And  then he was also deliberating whether they could also do the same thing.

「According to my friend they aren’t clearer, but a guild of mid-ranked player that’s on the way to the frontline.」

「So even they are just mid-ranked huh. That’s even more amazing.」

Like that after they finished their encampment to some degree, more than a hundred players came marching in.

The face of the player who was standing at the forefront looked exactly the same like a famous model.

Surely it wasn’t the actual model, but the player was using an avatar with a really polished look.

He had blue eyes and blue hair.

His body was wrapped in a white armor. The group that he headed  looked like a group that was formed by multiple guilds working together.

They were in an alliance just like Ponsuke and Rook.

「We’re using this place. Go away to somewhere else.」

Mariela raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

「Haa? Are you stupid? We were here first.」

The group smirked and pulled out their weapons in respond to Mariela’s attitude.

The young man avatar who seemed to be the leader raised his hand.

Surely the rest would attack if he swung it down.

「Then you small fries can just vanish.」

Ponsuke and the other orcs stepped forward. Rook and his friends  immediately drew their weapon too. They were surrounded by players that  had more than twice their number while the earth dragon was approaching.

Rook looked around and whispered into Ponsuke’s ear.

「Ponsuke, it’ll be just a waste of time if we return to the capital from here.」

「But!」

This group was trying to snatch away the encampment that they had been preparing.

「Listen! That’s far better than getting exhausted here. We can make a new encampment slightly at the back.」

Rook strongly grabbed Ponsuke’s shoulder, so he yielded to Rook’s opinion.

「……We’ll give you this place.」

The blue haired player swept up his hair, and then he looked at Ponsuke with a grin.

「A lowly player like you who are using a race like orc shouldn’t get  carried away. We aren’t attacking you guys just because it’ll be  troublesome to become PK (player killer). Live on from now while  apologizing to society you lowly bastard.」

Ponsuke made everyone lowered their weapons and they started moving away from the encampment.

Mariela glared at the group while Alfie was watching their faces expressionlessly.

Ponsuke too was feeling frustrated while moving away from that place. Then Blaze talked to him.

「Ponsuke-kun, you did well holding back. You don’t need to bother about their words.」

Hearing those words made Ponsuke switched gear even while still feeling frustrated.

「There are that kind of players everywhere. We’ll walk back a little and remake the encampment.」

Those players laughed at the leaving Ponsukea nd co. Then they began strengthening the existing encampment.

The blue haired player used paid item and then he generously distributed some to the surrounding.

Blaze was watching that with a bitter smile.

The defensive battle started with a shaky note. The earth dragon had also gotten really close to the Capital of Temperance.

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