Chapter 44: New party member and crossing the border
Selena-san was still hiding behind my back, but the conversation progressed…
As for Yumir, there was that case with the greatsword, so she was ready to accept her into the party.
Tobi welcomed having more girls in the party so in his case he also consented to having her join us.
To begin with, you guys…if you weren’t going to oppose it, why were you surprised in that exaggerated way…well, it’s true that it was my fault for not telling them anything before the fact.
This only leaves Riizu, who seemed reluctant, even when she asked me why, I was unable to give her a firm answer.
Even now, she was staring daggers at Selene-san.
…Just as I was thinking that, she got closer to Selene-san and picked up her glasses. With movements fast enough that I was unable to react to them.
「Kyah!」 (Selene)
「What are you doing!? Give them back!」 (Hind)
「…」(Riizu)
Having lost her unfashionable glasses, she now stared at Selene-san’s face.
When she did, Riizu made a cruel unpleasant face.
After that she returned the glasses, but this time she started to touch Selene-san’s body in a rude manner.
「Iiii! S-Stop-」 (Selene)
Other than Riizu and the victim Selene-san, no one was able to react.
After staring dumbfounded for several seconds, having returned to my senses the fastest, I yelled at Yumir.
「Hah!? Y-Yumir, stop her!」 (Hind)
「-O-Oh! Leave it to me! So you finally have gone mad, huh!?」 (Yumir)
In a panic, Yumir tried to stop Riizu.
While she did that, I pulled Tobi, who still had his mouth wide open and turned him around.
The sight was poison to a man’s eyes.
I waited until the commotion died down and turned to look again.
What I saw was Selene-san with her cheeks flushed and her clothes disordered.
In front of her was Riizu with an indignant face and Riizu was being pinioned by Yumir.
What did just happen…?
「Riizu…what are you doing…?」 (Hind)
「I apologize. However, there was something I had to ascertain no matter what.」 (Riizu)
「Hah!? I get the feeling I’ve just seen an incredible view!?」 (Tobi)
「That was just a dream, forget about it.」 (Hind)
It was also for Selene-san’s sake.
「So, what was it? That thing you had to ascertain.」 (Hind)
「That’s a secret. However, I got to understand that they are better than Yumir-san’s.
「As a result, I’ll leave my disapproval of her joining.」 (Riizu)
「Ah? I don’t get it, but are you making fun of me?」 (Yumir)
「It’s the opposite, I believe she was complimenting you while comparing you to me…ah.」 (Selene)
「「「「Eh?」」」」
Selene-san finally opened her mouth even though she was still in that state.
We all gathered our sights on her in shock and this time she looked away embarrassed.
「Hey, aren’t you talking normally now?」 (Yumir)
「Eh, ah, eh.」 (Selene)
「You don’t have to be that afraid. It’s not like we are going to eat you.」 (Tobi)
「E-Eh.」 (Selene)
「I apologize, Selene-san. My little sister made you go through that…」 (Hind)
「D-Don’t worry about it. I can kind of understand the…well, I can guess the reason she did it.」 (Selene)
「Selene-san, right? What you have in mind…is fine if you say it, but I hope you are prepared for what’s coming if you do.」 (Riizu)
Against Riizu’s smile, Selene-san nodded her head countless times.
Then she took a deep breath and she looked a bit calmer than what she had been before.
It seems like she has made up her mind.
「I-I’ll say it again…I’m Selene. My job is archer and I mainly do blacksmithing. Everyone, I’m looking forward to working with you…」 (Selene)
Alright, she said it! Even though it was just this, I was really as happy as if I had done it myself.
「H-Hind-kun. Why are you fist bumping?」 (Selene)
「Don’t mind me.」 (Hind)
It was like a parent bird watching his daughter leave the nest.
Though Selene-san was older than me.
After that, they all unanimously showed they welcomed the addition and we all welcomed our new party member.
Selene-san was still acting a bit awkwardly…but let’s hope that fixes itself over time.
Seems like she can’t really look at people in the eye but she’s able to hold a conversation.
「However, those were some drastic measures you took there Riizu. Thanks to you, it seems like Selene-san’s nervousness was dispelled. Though it was quite forceful.」 (Hind)
When I said that, Riizu didn’t change her expression but she did look like she was slightly thinking about something.
Hmm? By any chance, did I say something strange?
I thought that her actions just now were done expecting it to end like this.
「Yes, that was what I was aiming for. So, Hind-san understood my actions.」 (Riizu)
「…I don’t know how to explain it, but wasn’t it strange?」 (Yumir)
「I agree. Riizu-dono is not that kind-cough cough!」 (Tobi)
「I-Isn’t that a bit too dense of you, Hind-kun?…It’s not like you.
Do you have like a little sister filter…?」 (Selene)
Eh, Riizu is saying that it was like that though…is it not like that!?
Since we settled down, I received the things they bought from Tobi.
Once that was done, it was finally time to depart.
It was currently 10 pm.
The plan is to log out after 2 hours, but how much we’ll be able to progress in the remaining time?
「Alright, let’s go everyone!」 (Yumir)
「Why is Yumir-san taking the lead?」 (Riizu)
「I’m looking forward to them, those unknown fields!」 (Tobi)
「Hind-kun, about the position I should take during battle…」 (Selene)
「…」 (Hind)
However, our current party was a complete mess.
I was slightly worried about our future.
We exited through the western side of Heathrow and we arrived at Latera lake shore, the place we visited yesterday.
Regarding the area boss called 「Gigantic buffalo」, there’s not much to say about that.
Being a monster that Yumir and me already defeated with Siesta-chan and the others aside, Selene-san had firepower that didn’t make it seem like there was that much of a difference in levels between them.
With five of us, we were able to defeat it without much problem.
If I had to talk about something that did happen, it would be that Tobi obstructed Selene-san’s line of fire and received a bolt in the buttocks. It was instant death.
Regarding this lack of coordination, I believe it’ll get better over time.
Once we came out of Latera lake shore, we found a highway that was well maintained and walked parallel to that.
The path continued between mountains and we could see up ahead, something that looked like a checkpoint.
There wasn’t much green on the mountains and we could feel the temperature rising as we kept walking.
Seems like the information saying that there’s a desert up ahead wasn’t false after all.
Having arrived at the checkpoint, we saw that the gate was open so we tried to just go through it-
「Stop right there! Show me the permit for leaving the country!」
Once we tried to, a guard stopped us.
Well, if you thought about it, this was normal.
I somehow thought that since it was a game they would let us through. It was just my imagination though.
Yumir who was at the front tilted her head.
「Permit to leave the country…? What’s that?」 (Yumir)
I made Yumir step back and showed her that I’d be talking with them instead.
The guard that talked while standing still, was a middle aged man wearing an eye-patch on one eye.
Somehow, he looked like a soldier that had gone through many battles, that’s the feeling he gave.
「No, we don’t have one. Where can we get said permit?」 (Hind)
「…Hmm? Are you guys those so called visitors?」
「That’s the case but…」 (Tobi)
「In that case, wait right there! Hear me? Don’t you dare do anything unnecessary!」
Once he said that, the guard with the eyepatch ordered another guard to stand watch.
Then, he entered what looked like a building for the security guards.
After some time passed, he came outside holding some kind of crystal.
「All of you, touch this crystal one by one.」
We didn’t know what this was all about, but we all obediently touched the crystal like he had instructed.
The clear crystal emitted a blue light whenever we touched it.
Once the guard saw that he said 「You can all pass through」.
…I see, I can sort of guess what sort of device this crystal is.
I had some interest in it and there was nothing to lose, so I asked the guard.
「…Do you mind if I ask you a question?」 (Hind)
「What is it? As you can see, I’m free. I don’t mind.」
Since his tone was harsh I thought that he would refuse, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Like he had said, I couldn’t see anyone coming apart from us.
What I was interested in was the number of players that went to the desert.
Other than that, about the country called the empire, the stance they had regarding the visitors.
「I believe visitors can become part of the empire’s military strength. Without keeping an eye on them, is it really fine to just let them go outside the country like this?」 (Hind)
I’m not sure what the strength of a player is compared to that of an NPC, but the number of players is big.
I don’t think they’d be useless as military strength.
「What, so it was about that? Our majesty is very friendly.
「He stated that even if someone went to another country temporarily, they wouldn’t have as many rich lands as the empire so they will eventually come back.
「Visitors are no exception to that.」
「That’s quite the self-confidence to have…」 (Hind)
Seems like the emperor is quite the big hearted person.
Well, even if he let us go, the starting point for players is the empire.
As long as nothing much happens, the fact that a big amount of players will stay in the empire won’t change.
「If you asked me, I don’t understand why people like you would go to dangerous lands on purpose.
「Especially the desert area to the west.
「The visitors that pass through here, can’t be compared in number to the ones that pass through other borders…you sure have strange tastes.」
「…So you are saying that oddballs like Yumir-san and Tobi-san are in the minority, right?」 (Riizu)
Riizu threw that sarcastic remark but Yumir and Tobi acted as if they didn’t care.
In fact, they looked happy at the fact that they were being called weird.
「Isn’t it fine. I’m OK with being part of the minority! We follow our own path!」 (Yumir)
「Yeah yeah! D-degozaru!」 (Tobi)
「Yes, I’m so envious of their positive attitude…if it was me, I’d probably have gone to the mountain.」 (Selene)
「This is called being reckless. Well, leaving that aside…」 (Hind)
As expected, the number of players that go through here is not high.
That’s why they left the crystal somewhere where they could get it right away.
That crystal is probably a device to distinguish between players.
I saw it emit a white glow when the guard touched it slightly.
Regarding the color of that light, I believe it corresponds to the color of the player name on top of our heads.
Since it seems like NPCs can’t see the player name on top of the players, so instead, they use the crystal to do it.
Probably players with a yellow name due to having a past criminal record, won’t get permission to pass.
In that regard, they can’t really pass through the country unless they go through the border. huh…it’s quite troublesome.
In any case, that has nothing to do with us.
I thanked the guard with the eyepatch and informed him that we were leaving and we safely passed through the gate.
Immediately after passing through the gate, a scenery that looked as if it came from another world spread out before our eyes.
「Uwah…it’s all light brown…」 (Hind)
「It all turned reddish brown.」 (Riizu)
We siblings murmured our thoughts. The whole surface was light brown and there was close to no green.
Even though I say that, this was still not the desert.
What was in front of us was a scenery that would be more appropriate to call it a 「Wasteland」.
The dry wind brought a sense of loneliness with it and it blew up a cloud of dust in front of us.
