"So, We have safely retrieved Fiona. On the way, there was some woman… Vernal? She said she was a Seven Grimms of Destruction or something and was really annoying, so We killed her. Be at ease."
"…Just what was all our effort these past several years for…"
After retrieving Fiona, I once again visited the Nobles district to see Juvia.
I was wondering how I should convince the guards, but it seemed that when we came through before Juvia told them to let me through, so we were allowed in on a "face pass." (I didn't reveal my face, though.) It was a happy accident.
As for Fiona, in her original form and her human form, her impression was way too different from that monster sheep, so she was let in without any questions whatsoever. I mean, who would even imagine that over-100-meter class giant sheep could be a girl that looked this cute?
She currently wearing an olive green sleeveless coat with dark brown lapels. A green long-sleeved shirt with a white orange trimmed breastplate over it. An orange belt, which holds her coat tightly around her waist. Dark brown pants tucked into gray under the knee boots with the tops folded over revealing the white lining. The soles and toes of the boots are a darker gray. To complete her outfit she also wore dark fingerless gloves accompanied by white and gray forearm leather armored pads with the left arm covering up to her upper arm whilst the right only partially covers her forearm.
"What happened to the monsters?"
"We have added them all to our forces. We have given them the order to not attack people without reason, so as long as your side does not provoke them you should see no troubles."
"There should have been over one thousand monsters in that castle, but… I guess even after one thousand years the Black Emperor's leadership ability hasn't declined. How scary."
Ah, sorry. It's probably actually declined greatly. I mean, my insides are completely different. As if I could say that, so for now I just smiled confidently.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"Of course, We will return all the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians to our side. Next is…"
Next is… Where should I go? I'm not familiar at all with this era's geography. I'd be able to decide if all the cities were the same as the game, but unfortunately, since my country Zodiac got destroyed and all the Seven Maidens of Midgar started their own, I had no idea where anything was. And so, I looked over at Haruka, trying to draw an explanation out of him.
"Our next destination is the 'Grave of the Black Empress.' It's around 500 km away from here. It's being guarded by one of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, Penny of Libra Constellation".
"…From the name, it sounds like our grave."
"Not sounds, it actually is your grave, Big Sis. It was completed 900 years ago. It's a giant pyramid that is also the world's largest building, at 1000 floors total. All the people that were close to you, Big Sis, took a hundred years to build it. At the top floor, all the equipment, weapons, and treasures you used and hoarded while you were alive are stored, and it's been guarded by Penny, one of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, without rest all this time."
"Oh? That maid?"
One of the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians, Penny the Goddess's Scale. She was most likely the single most powerful golem in all of Xgate Online. For her materials base, I used an item that dropped off an official event boss, one that had no duplicate in the world, the "Scales of Selection." Furthermore, I had Jenny, whose Alchemist level was 200 (she paid for it), build her instead of me to raise her level.
I've said before that a golem's max level depends on the materials used to build it, and the max level for the Scales of Selectionbwas 1000. And, with Jenny's 200 Alchemist levels, the formula for the golem's level went:
[1000/2 + 200]. In other words, we managed to create a level 700 golem. (Golems are treated as objects, so their ownership is transferable). On top of that, we used a rare item of limited number, "Orichalcum" (a paid item). Its effect was to, at its creation, raise a golem's final level by 10-30% at random. Luckily, we got +30% and raised the golem's level by 210.
In other words, Penny had a vaunted level of 910 even as a golem, and through the combined efforts of Jenny and I, was something that should truly be called a "super golem."
Well, she's still under the "can't be stronger than its owner" rule, so if I were to give Penny to a weak player she'd still get downgraded. It wasn't a problem with me and my 1000 levels, though.
Also, in terms of attacks, Penny is most likely the strongest out of all the Twelve Zodiac's Guardians… In fact, if I mess up she could be even stronger than me. And that's because she straight-up inherited a boss's unique skill. That boss being the "Goddess's Scale" who dropped the "Scales of Selection" in the first place.
Said "Goddess's Scale" was the guardian of the divine territory that the Goddess Haru Heartfilia occupied (that was the lore setting of the super-difficult dungeon), so it required a corresponding amount of strength from all the players that challenged it. It was a fearful guardian that blew away all weaklings without question. And the name of its deadly skill was "Brachium." Its effect was to apply a set amount of damage, 99999 to be exact, through all defensive skills and at perfect accuracy.
Of course, any normally raised character wouldn't be able to live after taking this attack. Even the flugels or vampires, with their relatively high stats, would only reach around 70000 HP at level 1000, normally. In other words, it was a broken skill that assumed that all opponents were using stat-boosting items, meaning it mercilessly killed all but high level players. It even killed Juvia, who was a specialized backliner and thus had low HP.
It was a fiendish boss, as if its very existence was saying, "If you can't overcome this, you don't deserve to see the Goddess." If I'm remembering right, the basics of the event were to defeat the fiendish guardian, overcome the crazily difficult dungeon, and meet the Goddess for a reward.
So, even as a golem, that fiendish skill was alive and well. Though as one might expect, it got weaker. Unlike the boss, who would shoot it off over and over from the start of the battle, Penny was limited to only once every 24 hours. And even then, it was a fearsome threat. I vividly remember the chills I got, even as a friendly, after seeing Penny kill everyone in the first move by using the "Preemptive Strike" skill at the start of the battle to shoot it off right away.
The only problem was… The CPU's thinking must have been bad, since Penny would use it even against small-fry if it was available. Thanks to that, there'd been trouble more than once since she was unable to use it when it was most important.
Well, the skill clearly broke game balance, and people had complained a lot to the devs about their balancing mistake, so… I mean, I agreed with their opinion, too. I figured it would get fixed with the next update patch, but in the end, the final battle happened before that, and I ended up here.
So she's the guardian, huh…?
I'm not sure if there'd be any grave robbers, but if there were, I can only offer them my condolences. As it is, in this entire world probably only Levia could break past that skill.
"I've heard the rumors about Penny, too. It seems she's turned into a killing machine that massacres anyone that approaches the top floor. Apparently there were people that tried talking, but I hear it was like talking to a wall," Juvia said, looking troubled as she heaved a sigh.
Personally, I think she's better since she isn't on a rampage like Fiona was, but I guess Juvia thinks differently.
"Then, would it not be fine to leave her? Is there a reason you want to rob our grave so badly?"
"There is; that's why it's a problem. People aren't the only ones that have degraded over these one thousand years. Tools and weapons, and even Alchemists, have all been decaying in quality. In particular, almost all the legendary class magical weapons and armors were destroyed in the battle with the Grimm King, and the only ones left are all in your grave."
Legendary class weapons probably meant all the weapons made by players or rare-drop weapons. Particularly, items and weapons from official events were especially valuable since they couldn't be obtained again.
"Right now, as we're being cornered by the grimmfolk, those weapons are valuable enough for people to give up an arm and a leg for. I'm not justifying grave robbing, but even so, all the weapons you have stored there could hold the key to a reversal of humanity's fortunes.… But, thanks to that golem no one can lay hands on them."
Well, of course, thanks to that stupid skill that does 99999 set defense-piercing damage.
It does have a sort of weakness in that it can't be used repeatedly, but in this age, one probably already had to risk their own life just to get up there. I seriously doubt anyone would truly be willing to deal with an attack that deals instant-death levels of damage on top of that.
"Hmmm… We can't really bring ourselves to blame Penny on this. It's true that humanity is in trouble, but from our perspective she has simply been loyally protecting our property until our return. It should be praiseworthy, not something to condemn her over."
"I know. But if you can, I'd like it if, after you've retrieved Penny, you'd leave just what you don't think you'll use behind in your grave. I know this is a completely absurd request, though."
"…Well, We don't mind a request of that level."
It's funny, the owner of a grave who's currently alive is allowing people to rob it.
Well, for now, my next destination is set. I need to go and commend Penny for working 900 years without rest.
I tied up my hair into a ponytail and put on some glasses. Even doing that much changed my impression considerably.
As for clothes, I changed out the black dress I'd been using up until now for a black tunic and black slacks and wore my usual orange cloak on top. However, unlike before, I simply wore it, instead of using it to cover my entire body.
Lastly, Haruka wrapped my black wings in some bandages to hide them. When she did, the wings themselves mysteriously disappeared from sight, and it was no longer obvious that I was even a flugel. The bandages were something Juvia had prepared, a camouflage item that she created with Alchemy. Apparently, it was imbued with "Stealth" magic, and anything wrapped in it would blend into the surroundings.
"It'd be hard to keep moving around looking as you have been, right?" Juvia said before generously gifting me some new clothes and the aforementioned bandages. I was really grateful.
"Hm… What do you think, Juvia? Does it suit us?"
"Yeah. Anything you wear suits you, Naru."
Thanks to Juvia I didn't have to do this self-binding play anymore. It was an escape that I couldn't wish for more.
Man, honestly I didn't think she'd go this far for me. To her, I'm a swornenemy from the past that just suddenly revived, so being enemies should have been normal. But instead, she's supporting me like this. It's so nice I'm actually starting to wonder if it's a trap.
"Say, Naru."
"Yes?"
"Do you… Not resent us? Back then, you were unmistakably within arm's reach of your dreams. You were just about to achieve the future you wanted. And we were the ones who betrayed you and ruined it all… Don't you… think that's detestable?"
I sunk into thought for a small while at Juvia's question. I didn't feel any of that hatred or resentment or whatever. Of course I wouldn't. To me, that fight was just a game, and I wasn't the one that actually experienced it. So instead of answering the question, I decided to reply in my own way.
"If the people rose in rebellion, that only meant that We were not fit to be king. If you rose to action because you were unsatisfied with us, then that just meant that We were not worthy of kingship, as We drove you to that. There is not a single reason to resent you all."
I checked myself in the mirror, striking several poses from many angles. Yeah, this is pretty nice, isn't it? It's easy to move in, and more than anything, it doesn't make me look haughty or arrogant. As always, I wouldn't be able to avoid attention given my ridiculously good looks, but it's ten times better than being a suspicious person fully covered in a golden mantle.
Man, I shouldn't be saying this about myself, but it's unfair how good I look without even any makeup… I make an idol after being photoshopped look plain.
"So stop blaming yourself. Honestly, it hurts to even watch you."
Lunaru Fenris was an invader, and she was one of the heroes that defeated her. That was all that mattered one thousand years ago, and that's probably how it should be.
The victors always decide everything. So the moment I lost, I lost the right to say anything, and I don't want to either. So seeing the winning side all suffering like this is like putting the cart before the horse.
"You are a hero to the people of this country. Be proud. Like you were one thousand years ago."
"I'll take your advice to heart… Thanks." A slight smile returned to Juvia's face.
That way too serious side of her will probably have her worrying even more in the future, but I'd like to think I just made it a little better. In fact, our side is the one that needs to apologize, especially a certain sheep that's like a walking jailbait and is currently curled up in a corner…
But Fiona threw a fit, saying, "I don't want to apologize to anybody who betrayed Master!" And as of now, she still hasn't uttered a single word of apology.
"Now then, it is about time for us to set off. Levia, who Fiona weakened, should be fine now."
"You have my thanks. As I am now, I can't bring back the HP that was lost."
It seemed that as long as there was water, the max HP that Levia lost due to Fiona's attack could be recovered. However, even though Juvia could repair Levia, she wasn't able to alchemize more material to completely recover the lost HP, so I had to do that part.
Still, being able to recover with just water is really simply convenient. For now, all the problems with Levia should be solved.
"Naru."
"Hm?"
"…Nice travels."
"Of course."
Having been encouraged by Juvia, I couldn't help but smile. And, waving goodbye, we left Juvia's residence.
We went straight out of the Nobles district towards the Trade district. On the way, I noticed Teuchi's unique, viking helmet, so I approached in order to say goodbye.
"Teuchi!"
"Wha—oh? Huh? Woah! A super hottie?! H-Hey miss, what do you need?"
"Now now, there's no need for that kind of speech. Look, it's us. Naruko. You took care of us when We just arrived, remember?" I said, turning Teuchi speechless. Then, the next moment, he started screaming. "…Huh? Wha-WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Oh yeah, I never showed Teuchi how I looked. I started to think, This might have been a mistake. But I immediately corrected that, since we'd be leaving anyway, so it didn't really matter.
"N-Naruko? The super suspicious-
looking one in the orange mantle?! You were this hot?!"
"Hahhahhah, stop! Don't flatter us like that. We simply came to say our goodbyes. We are leaving the country now."
"You've taken good care of us, Mr. Teuchi. We're returning to our travels now."
I laughed, seeing Teuchi so surprised, and Haruka also said her goodbyes. Fiona was… She must have been feeling guilty, since she hid behind me and didn't even try to show her face. She's totally turned into some sort of small animal, hasn't she?
"O-Oh, I see. You're leaving already? You two take care. That goes for the cute little lady behind you, too."
"Yeah. Let's meet again, if the fates will it, Teuchi!"
"Y-Yeah… Naruko… No, never mind. Be well! And be careful, too!" After saying our goodbyes, we left Svel.
At the end, it seemed like Teuchi wanted to ask me something, but he never ended up saying anything. Most likely he wanted to ask about me kicking Fiona back in that fight, but he probably figured we had our own problems, so he decided not to. Or, he might actually have instinctively noticed my identity.
In any case, he was a nice guy. It'd be great if he lives a long time.
"So, Haruka. You said that our destination is 500km away, so what do we do? We do not mind walking."
"Yes, I have an idea! What about creating a golem for us to ride?!"
"What, you don't like walking?"
"I don't! It's tiring!"
After leaving Svel, we were currently on a plain so big I couldn't tell where it ended. At the very least, there was something resembling a road made, and thinking that I'd have to walk down it was killing my motivation.
Although, I wasn't even sure how long I'd have to walk to even start to feel tired, so it was still kind of fun in a certain way.
More than that though, isn't there a sense of romance in journeys like these?
But Haruka seemed to hate the idea, and asked that I make a vehicle golem. This was something I learned after coming here to this world, but in here, golems weren't nearly as dumb and actually had some ability to adapt. For example, in the game, golems would charge in as they pleased and use whatever attacks they liked, but here, golems are pretty smart. For example, Levia properly listened to Juvia's orders. There were also no limits to the shape golems could take. So in other words, if I made one shaped like a car I'd get a self-driving car.
So, if I were to classify Haruka's request as possible or impossible, it would easily be possible.
"Hm, then We will try making one."
"If you're going to be at it anyway, make one with, like, a bed and bath and stuff inside so we don't have to camp out in the open." Haruka just smoothly upgraded her request with no hesitation.
I was going to just make some sort of open topped car, but I guess now I'll have to make a motorhome.
I looked over at Fiona, and although she wasn't making any requests herself, she was looking at me with eyes full of expectations. So I guess that means she's looking forward to whatever I make?
"Well, it's worth a try…"
First, for the iron that would make up most of the car, I just used whatever ore I could find lying around.
I can probably figure out furniture later. For the bath, I can just make a room for it for now and make a Goemon bath or something later. Actually, the baths in this world are all normally Goemon baths. There's no way convenient, modern baths would exist, and I don't know how those are made, either, so I can't recreate them.
For the bed… I can use a random tree for a frame, but the problem is what to put on top. That's the only part I can't make out of trees or rocks or any of the materials for concrete that are just lying around. Things would change if I had some cotton or feathers, or maybe even wool…
"…Ah."
"…? What's the matter, Lady Naru? Is there something on my face…?"
I had them right by me, the materials. Great. I can just have Fiona turn back into a sheep later and take some wool off her.
I wouldn't say we have enough materials, but we do have the bare minimum. With this, I'll be able to make a fairly comfortable ride.
"Transmute!"
First, turn some ore into iron.
Changing material into something else that can also be used as material was one of the basics of being an Alchemist. However, the range of things a player could create depended on their class level, and there were a lot of transmutations that were unavailable to a starting Alchemist.
Alchemists at level 200, like Jenny, could get legendary class metals out of a random rock on the ground. It's truly scary. I stopped at level 100, so I can't go that far myself, though.
I transmuted the iron I just made again and made a motorhome. Well, I'm not well versed on how cars are made either, so it's really just a car-shaped lump of iron. The movement would rely entirely on the golem's ability to move itself. There wasn't even a driver's seat.
Next, I transmuted glass from sand that was nearby to make windows. I placed several walls inside, and in one of the rooms, I put in a huge pot to serve as a Goemon bath.
While I'm at it I might as well make a kitchen, too. I can't make something nice like an electric stove, though. Instead, I made a kitchen that would fit in a bygone era, one that conformed to the level of this world's culture.
"Next is… Fiona, go back to being a sheep."
"Huh?"
"We need your wool."
Given Fiona's size as a sheep, I can just cut a little bit of it off, and it'll grow back later, anyway.
I jumped on top of Fiona, who followed my order and turned back into a sheep, and used chops with my hand to cut off a good amount of wool. This time I'd be using it as material for a futon. Given the level of this world, it'd be a surprisingly fluffy and luxurious bed. While I was at it, I put in some wooden chairs, too, and I also used Fiona's wool to make cushions for those.
"Okay. For now, this should be fine."
There was a lot it was lacking, but it'll be fine if we just buy what we need in some city later. All it needs to do right now is move.
Let's see, I might as well check this car's stats, too. Oh, I need to give it a name, also.
Golems could be named at the moment of their creation, and in the game I'd seen several golems around the place that had some familiar names. Like Gundam or Getter. Stuff like that.
Right then, what should I do about this thing's name? It shouldn't be too pretentious, but also not too easy to forget…
…Oh it's not worth it. Honda's fine.
[ Honda ]
[Level]: 200
[Race]: Artificial Life Form
[STR (Strength)]: 555
[DEX (Dexterity)]: 120
[VIT (Vitality)]: 658
[INT (Intelligence)]: 9
[AGI (Agility)]: 1020
[MND (Mind)]: 75
[LUK (Luck)]: 100
Apparently the form affects a golem's stats a little. This was something that'd be impossible in the game.
Its speed was really high, probably because I made it car-shaped. Still, AGI as a stat represents the speed of one's actions in combat, or "Agility," rather than movement speed, so the number doesn't necessarily mean that something is fast, no matter how high it is.
At any rate, if I were to race with it I'd still have the confidence to win, anyway.
"Wow! This is amazing, Big Sis! With this, the journey would be easy." Haruka, who was complaining until just now out of self-interest, stopped on a dime and switched to complimenting me.
Fiona was nodding quickly in agreement with her, but in her case it looked like honest praise, so I decided to accept it graciously. But still, you need to go back to your human form. Nodding this quickly with your size is causing some serious wind.
After we all got inside, I ordered the motorhome to "Head north." When I did, it must have understood me, because it started moving in the right direction. Now it should be smooth sailing until we get where we're going.
"Ah, right. Then I'll be procuring the furniture we'll need. I'll go teleport off for a bit and buy it, so please wait," Haruka said, before disappearing in a golden flash without even waiting for my reply.
It's as convenient as always, that teleportation magic. I'm so jealous. Actually, this might be a bit late, but if Haruka could teleport why did we have to ride a carriage all the way to Svel? I could have just flown there.
Even if I left her behind, she'd just catch up with teleportation, anyway. Well, it's too late now, and Fiona is here, too, so that option is no longer on the table.
Oh man, why did it take me so long to realize? I'm really dropping the ball, aren't I?
Well, whatever. For now let's keep messing with this interior.
***
"Hahhh!… Hahhh…!"
At the foot of the Gheil Volcano.
There, a woman was forcing her body to move, crawling along on the ground while leaving behind a trail of blood.
It was just one hit—as if swatting away an annoying bug—the woman only took one hit like that.
Even so, she was left unable to even stand up. Like a bug, she crawled along, desperately and embarrassingly, trying to run away from an opponent who was already long gone.
"L-Lunaru Fenris is… The only Grimm King ever feared, is back… She, she's a nightmare… This, this is…"
She was lucky to be level 300. Either that, or she was only alive because Naru honestly didn't care about her and only bothered to use a minimum amount of power. Naru didn't even recognize her as a proper enemy. That was certainly humiliating. But it was also undoubtedly good luck. Thanks to that, right now she was still alive.
Although that luck wouldn't be continuing for long.
"So you were still alive Vernal?"
She heard a voice, condescending and so cold it chilled deep into her bones.
Vernal used all her remaining might to turn her malfunctioning body towards the owner of the voice and saw a blond haired girl standing before her. Thanks to the sun behind her, she couldn't see her face properly, but somehow the modest, black robe she was wearing seemed much finer than it looked at first glance.
Maybe it was thanks to her elegance? Or maybe it should be called the sheer weight of her presence?
At any rate, there was something mysterious about the black haired girl that couldn't be fully explained in words.
However, her face—no, the ends of her mouth were drawn up in a semicircle like a half moon. Her expression was filled with joy.
"No no, that's no good at all. Actors whose parts are over need to leave the stage cleanly. No one benefits from a piece that should have been defeated coming back later to try to earn points. Once your role is done, you should leave. Those are the rules of the game."
"Y-You are…! Just what are…"
With a cold laughter, the black haired girl ridiculed the poor clown who lost her place on the stage. She had no words to waste on answering her questions.
There was the idea of "a present for the afterlife," but unfortunately, she didn't have that sort of troublesome spirit of customer service.
Simply, quickly, and beautifully. As if plucking weeds, she made the idiot who failed to even die disappear.
The only disposition the black haired girl had was of cruelty. "Goodbye, Vernal. You pitiful NPC."
Several seconds later, there was no Vernal there. All traces of her were gone, as if she had never existed in the first place. There wasn't even a strand of hair left. And the blond haired girl who made that happen was also, similarly, no longer there.