Chronica Chronicle (Part 2)

It was early April, about a week after the cherry-blossom party. All the anime series that began in January were nearing their final episodes, with a whole bunch of new series kicking off to replace them. Haruto Fuwa’s series, Chevalier of the Absolute World, was one of these new spring anime, and episode one was airing on TV late that night.

Haruto was heading over to Itsuki’s place to commemorate the occasion. He, Itsuki, Nayuta, Miyako, and Chihiro were planning to spend the evening playing their tabletop RPG while eating dinner, with Chihiro leaving afterward since school loomed the next day.

Kawabe, Haruto’s editor, had been set to take Chihiro’s place, but a sudden business trip prevented him from attending, so the remaining four decided to spend the night drinking beer (or root beer, in Nayuta’s case), wait for the anime to air, watch it, then drink until morning.

That was later, though. It was still five in the afternoon, and Haruto took the seat of honor at the kotatsu low table, joined by Itsuki, Nayuta, Miyako, and Chihiro. Before them was a spread of light snacks to game with, from crackers topped with cheese and ham to veggie sticks and small sandwiches.

“’Kay, how ’bout we get started?”

He passed out character sheets for the four players, acting oddly fidgety about beginning the game. They would be continuing where they left off with their RPG session last month, which ended rather abruptly when Haruto had some sudden business to attend to, so everyone was looking forward to starting it up again.

The adventure was set in the land of Gagagia, a small kingdom in what seemed like a generic fantasy world, no special twists to it. The party was a group of four adventurers, all sisters and former heiresses to a noted noble family in another nation. They had grown weary of the aristocratic power struggles that came with life in nobility, so they ran away from home and became adventurers instead.

The eldest sister: Miyako Midfield, played by Miyako Shirakawa.

Gifted in long-range attack magic, her Thor’s Bullet skill let her shoot out mithril bullets with an electric burst.

The second sister: Tsukiko Midfield, played by Itsuki Hashima.

A frontline fighter wielding sword and shield, her unique Phantom Smith skill let her copy any weapon that appeared in the game and perform that weapon’s intrinsic action.

The third sister: Sen Midfield, played by Chihiro Hashima.

A thief type who had mastered bow and dagger–driven attacks, her Jaldabaoth skill let her nullify any magic with a single touch, as well as destroy potions and other magic items.

The fourth and youngest sister: Deathmask Midfield, played by Nayuta Kani.

A monk type who had mastered healing magic and melee attacks with blunt weapons. Her Lilim’s Kiss skill let her vastly boost the stats of anyone she kissed or otherwise made skin-to-skin contact with.

GM (Haruto): Okay, let’s recap the story so far. We’re in the town of Aegis, in a remote part of the kingdom of Gagagia. The four of you have arrived here, only to get caught in a fight with some local adventurers. You made it through the battle, but after Deathmask used Lilim’s Kiss on Miyako, you both wound up naked and caused such a huge furor that the local constables arrested you for public indecency and placed all of you in jail.

Miyako (Miyako): Ohhh, yeah, that did happen, didn’t it? I wish I didn’t have to recall that…

Deathmask (Nayuta): Honestly, I can’t believe how shameless a woman my big sister Myaa is.

Miyako: You’re the one who stripped me down to nothing!

GM: All right, no infighting, guys… As the four of you discussed what you’ll do next, here in this dungeon on the edge of town, you were approached by an elegant and beautiful blond-haired woman, one who looked quite out of place in this prison. She introduced herself as Sylvia, daughter of the lord of town, and she apparently had a favor to ask you.

Sen (Chihiro): Yeah, and I think we had just agreed to hear her out when we got interrupted.

Tsukiko (Itsuki): Right, yeah… All right, Sylvia, or whatever you call yourself. Go ahead and say your piece.

GM: You guys sure like acting cocky, considering you’re locked in a prison cell. Um, taking up your invitation, Sylvia begins to speak. “About a month ago, a horde of orcs took up residence in an old fort in the forests to the north, using it as a base to attack the nearby villages.”

Deathmask: Ooh, orcs!

Miyako: …Why do you sound so happy about that?

Deathmask: Well, when you think of orcs, they play a big role in pretty much any sexy scene in a fantasy game. I look forward to the classic fan service when Tsukiko gets assaulted by one or two or three of them.

Tsukiko: Oh, God, not if I can help it! …That’s not in the script, right?

GM: That depends on how you play, doesn’t it? Moving on… “What I want you to do is defeat this orc horde for us. If you are willing to take on this mission, I will free you under my name as the lord’s daughter. We will also pay you a reward, albeit a small one, and you may do what you like with any treasure the orcs have stockpiled.”

Miyako: If it’ll get us out of here, then we’ll gladly accept! Right?

Sen: Hmm… I think this is kind of fishy.

Miyako: Oh?

Sen: There’s a ton of other adventurers in town, right? Why is she enlisting us for this instead of them? She doesn’t even know how strong we are.

Miyako: Well, it’s just to keep the story going along, isn’t it?

GM: …That’s some perceptive thinking, Sen. Sylvia explains her motives: “There are a lot of accessible opportunities for adventurers in the lands around town, from dungeon looting to monster hunting. Most of them opt for that low-hanging fruit instead of daring to challenge the terrifying orcs in the dangerous northern forest. I have offered them what reward I can, but I was flatly refused.”

Deathmask: So you’re having us do it since we’re in jail for public indecency? And you’ll let us out, too? That makes sense.

GM: “Do you accept, then?”

Tsukiko: …Hang on a second. That does make sense…but given Haruto’s writing style, I’m thinking there’s some kind of crazy twist waiting for us.

GM: Huh?

Tsukiko: You know, you generally go with the norm, revving the plot up with this or that event, and then you add some kind of twist to keep it from being too orthodox. That’s the pattern with every Chevalier of the Absolute World volume ever.

Miyako: Wow, really?

GM: No, um, Tsukiko…

Tsukiko: Like, just off the top of my head—this Sylvia lady is beautiful and acting nice to us and all, but she might actually be the main villain.

GM: …!

Tsukiko: The orc hunt’s just a pretext, and she’s got some other hidden goal… Like, maybe one of Sylvia’s political rivals has an opium field or a secret lab in the forest that’s one of their main financial sources, and she’s trying to have us blow the door open on that. We’ve just come to town, we haven’t registered with the Guild yet, and her rivals wouldn’t know a thing about us. If we mess up, she could just kill us and cover her tracks, so we’re the perfect pawns for—

“Um, Itsuki?” Haruto scowled, cutting off Itsuki’s speech.

“Mmm?’

“Professional authors are not allowed to guess at plot developments, all right?!”

Haruto had finally exploded.

“Oh, was he right?” Nayuta asked.

He silently nodded. Itsuki had almost perfectly guessed the full scenario his GM had developed.

He mumbled sulkily to himself. “…Like, maybe it’s my fault. Maybe that’s what I get for thinking up something you could guess at, but still… Like, going all meta and using the GM’s writing style to guess at the story kind of makes it hard to run a game, you know…”

“Oh…um…yeah… Sorry,” Itsuki said awkwardly. He was a little-sister-obsessed maniac, generally naive, weirdly proud of himself, easily riled to anger, incredibly gullible, and more than a bit spoiled, but his story-analyzing skills were truly professional level.

Haughty, naive, easily riled, but useful in a pinch. That reminded Haruto of something.

“…Why do you have to be such a princess-knight type, man?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Haruto told the confused Itsuki.

“Anyway, quit guessing at the story and just have fun playing in the game world, okay? All I’m thinking about is having sex with my big sis!”

“Think about some other stuff, too, you perv.” Itsuki jabbed at Nayuta as he nodded. “…But all right. From now on, I’m just Tsukiko the tizzy-headed princess fighter. And I completely believe Sylvia’s story! She’s such a neat and elegant lady; there’s no way she could be hiding something!”

“You don’t have to be that cooperative for me,” a somewhat embarrassed Haruto commented.

GM: “So you accept, then?” Sylvia says, smiling warmly at you. Itsuki saw through all of it so it’s kind of moot now, but you could try rolling for Charisma or Intuition to see if there’s anything fishy about her tale.

Deathmask: Let’s do that, for the heck of it. Maybe it’ll give us an advantage later, if we see through it.

The four sisters rolled their dice—for either Charisma or Intuition, whichever one each of them was better at. Tsukiko and Miyako had two dice, while Sen and Deathmask, with their superior Intuition, had three. If any one of them rolled high enough, they’d be able to detect Sylvia’s true motives…but none of them managed it.

GM: So you decided to trust Sylvia at her word.

Sen: I guess we’re gonna take this job, but I’d like some more information first.

GM: “I would be more than willing to tell you what I am aware of.”

Miyako: Oh, that is so barefaced…

Deathmask: Knowing she’s got an ulterior motive like this makes it kind of frustrating, huh? If I could create some kind of unique temptation skill, I could’ve forced her to ally with us no matter what she’s plotting, but…

It’s worth noting, by the way, that Protea, one of the players in the Grancrest Replay: Live Factory book, actually does have a “temptation” skill like the one Nayuta mentioned. This lets her not only extract information from people and carry out infiltration jobs, but also lets her “tempt” enemies, allies, random NPCs, and other player characters—everyone she runs into, letting her probe the far edges of good taste.

Good thing Nayuta doesn’t have anything like that, Haruto thought.

Sen: Well, first, just to make sure, how strong are the orcs in this world? Could we handle them right now?

GM: That’s a good question, but Sylvia doesn’t know what you’re capable of, so it’s hard to say. Let’s do a Wisdom check.

Deathmask: I’m in the intelligentsia, so I’ll go first… for 13.

GM: I dunno about “intelligentsia,” Deathmask, but in that case, you know enough about orcs. This is an extremely belligerent race; they’ve got tons of brute strength, but they’re slow and low in intelligence. I say low, but they can still communicate with speech to their friends, and they can handle simple weapons like swords and bludgeons. Also, for some reason, they love human women. If you fight ’em, a group of four adventurers at level one can handle a single orc without any problem, but one-on-one would be pretty dicey. They’re weak against heat and lightning.

Sen: How’s their sense of sight and smell?

GM: …Didn’t think about that… Umm, let’s say their sight, hearing, and smell are around the same range as humans.

Sen: How tough is their skin?

GM: About as tough as a real macho human being. A blade could pierce it okay.

Sen: All right… So how many of these orcs are there in the forest?

GM: “I’ve received a report that there’s at least ten of them.”

Deathmask: So a frontal assault probably wouldn’t work.

Miyako: If they’re weak against heat and lightning, my magic would probably help a lot.

Tsukiko: Pfft. Bring ’em on! I don’t care how many there are; it’ll just be more blood for my sword to taste!

Sen: We just said, bro… I mean, sis. A frontal attack isn’t gonna work.

GM: “Are there any other questions?”

Sen: Umm… How far is it to the northern forest, and is there anything dangerous on the way? Like, any monsters besides the orcs there, or animals or plants… Any edible plants, for example. And maybe if there’s any freshwater. And what’s the climate like in the region…? If it tends to rain a lot, that’ll make it hard to use fire, but easier for us to hide ourselves…

Tsukiko: ……

Miyako: ……

Deathmask: ……

GM: ……

Sen: …? What?

Tsukiko: …My little sister’s so capable, it’s kind of scary.

Sen: Oh, no, not really. I just read some fantasy novels and TRPG replays to prep for this, is all.

GM: Well, I appreciate that enthusiasm, but I’ve got a lot to live up to, I see… To answer your question, it’s a half day’s hike from here to the forest. There’s a well-built road along the way, so no particular dangers are expected. The forest is populated with deer and wild boars, along with a few weak monsters besides the orcs.

Sen: Do we know what kinds of monsters?

GM: Goblins, slimes, big rats, that kind of thing. I’ll go into detail if you run into any, but either way, you’re almost guaranteed not to have any trouble with them. The forest has a lot of edible fruits and nuts, and you don’t know exactly where any watering holes would be, but they’re definitely around, given all the wildlife. It’s mild in the forest, and judging by the clouds, you don’t anticipate any rain for the next few days. That’s about all Sylvia can give you.

Sen: All right. Thank you.

Explaining matters to the dungeon guard, Sylvia set the four sisters free, providing them with some advance payment to prepare for the adventure. Over in town, they purchased Potions to replenish their HP, Magic Potions to fill up their MP, and some flint, rope, torches, and oil flasks.

Spending the night at the inn to maximize their HP and MP, the quartet set off for the northern forest the next morning.

GM: So the four of you have reached the entrance to the forest, marking the real start to your adventure. You’re aware of the general location of the fort the orcs reportedly took over, but there’s no real road that leads there.

Sen: We’re gonna have to keep careful track of our direction. Leaving landmarks along the way, that kind of thing.

Miyako: Hey, I’ve been thinking…

Tsukiko: Hmm?

Miyako: …Maybe I could use a Fireball to just burn down the forest…?

Deathmask: Ooooh, my big sis Myaa takin’ it extreme!

Tsukiko: That’s pretty off the wall…

Miyako: Maybe not…

GM: Well, judging by what you can see from the entrance, the forest is densely packed with trees and growth, and the air is dry. If you started a fire, it’d probably spread pretty well.

Miyako: Oh, so I can?

Sen: Tabletop RPGs give you a lot of freedom…

GM: That’s the appeal, yeah. I’m willing to let you players do whatever you want in the game, as long as it’s within the rules.

Tsukiko: Perfect, then! We’ll just roast those orcs along with the rest of the forest.

GM: As you discuss this, the vegetation in front of you begins to shake.

Tsukiko: Oh! A monster?!

GM: Out from the brush hops a cute little wild hare. It turns its big, beady eyes toward you, full of curiosity.

Miyako: …So the forest has little creatures like this, too…

Deathmask: What should we do, sis? You wanna burn up all these cute li’l guys, too?

Miyako: Oh, of course I can’t! That’d be so mean! All right, I guess we’ll just have to blaze a trail through the forest.

Tsukiko: Yeah.

Sen: …So what about this bunny?

Deathmask: What about it, how?

Sen: We could take it for food, you know…

GM: Sen’s really taking a hard-boiled approach to this quest… I wasn’t expecting you to eat this guy.

Sen: Well, I mean…I heard rabbit tastes good, so…

Tsukiko: It does. I’ve had it before.

Deathmask: Let’s hunt it! This could be a long slog, so we better have some extra food to work with.

Miyako: Aww…

Tsukiko: Okay, li’l sister, do it!

Sen: S-sure… Um, I attack the rabbit with my bow.

GM: …Okay. You’ll have to roll to see if you hit it, just like in battle.

Sen: Um… Dexterity plus 5, so three dice… 16.

GM: That’ll do it. Sen’s arrow plunges into the wild hare. No point rolling for damage; it’s dead.

Miyako: Poor guy…

Sen: I use my dagger to skin and dissect it.

GM: Whoa, you’re a wild man… I don’t think we need to roll for that. You can add rabbit meat to your inventory if you like.

Sen: All right.

With the rabbit hunt behind them, the party ventured into the forest. Along the way, they encountered a deer and another hare, Sen brutally hunting both of them down.

“…This is sounding less like fantasy and more like a survival story,” Miyako observed.

Chihiro tilted his head. “You think? You see people going on hunts a lot in fantasy novels, too…”

“Something tells me that you two see the fantasy genre in two really different ways,” Haruto said with a chuckle.

GM: So… Now I’d like all of you to roll for Intuition for me.

Tsukiko: What’s up?

GM: Oh, you’ll see.

Tsukiko: Hmm… 7.

Deathmask: 14.

Miyako: 6.

Sen: 13… Wait, that’s a critical if I roll at least two sixes, right?

GM: If you do that on an accuracy roll, you’re guaranteed to hit; if you do it on a damage roll, you get a bonus. In this case, it means you always pass the roll check… So as they walk through the forest, Sen and Deathmask detect several different presences nearby, tracking their party from a distance. Deathmask can only tell there’s something there, but Sen can see that those things are goblins, and that there’s six of them.

Deathmask: Oooh. Good one, big sis.

Sen: H-hey! Don’t pat my head like that! So the goblins have been following us?

GM: The goblins in this world are hostile against the human race. They’re all but guaranteed to try and prey upon you.

Sen: How strong are goblins?

GM: Pretty wimpy. A newbie adventurer can take one on solo and pretty much always win. Getting ambushed by a group of ’em can be dangerous, though.

Tsukiko: I see… So they’re waiting for us to let our guard down so they can attack, huh?

Deathmask: I’d like to hit ’em first, before they can do that…but are they bunched up enough that some of Myaa’s magic can hit them all?

GM: They’re a little too spread out from each other to strike all of them.

Tsukiko: Hmm… Let’s aim for when they all bear down on us.

The group discussed the strategy they would take against this pursuing goblin horde. Soon—

Tsukiko: Oops! One of my shoelaces is untied. You go on ahead while I tie it again.

Miyako: All right.

GM: As Tsukiko takes a knee, the rest of the party advances about thirty feet ahead. Just then: “Gob gob gob gob!” From the underbrush, six goblins fly out en masse, advancing upon Tsukiko from the rear.

Tsukiko: Bah-ha-ha! Gotcha, you low-level beasts!

GM: So it’s off to battle. You guys were expecting them this time, so I’ll let you attack in any order you want for the first turn.

Tsukiko: Okay, I’ll take one of them out!

Just as battle began, Tsukiko quickly whirled around and charged upon Goblin 2, stabbing right through it with her sword.

“Gobboooooo…!”

With a final scream, the goblin fell, just as Miyako traveled to Tsukiko’s position.

“Energy Bolt!”

Lightning cracked from her staff, whipping through three of the goblins in a straight line. They collapsed, smoldering with black smoke.

Sen followed this up by taking out Goblin 3 with an arrow. “G-Gobuuu…”

The rest of its friends decimated in an instant, Goblin 5 emitted a low, guttural scream and tried to run. Just then:

Bssh!!

An arrow from Sen’s bow thudded into the back of his skull, ending his life.

*   *   *

Deathmask: Wow, Sen, no mercy, huh?

Sen: …I thought he might call for help if we let him go.

GM: Totally hard-boiled… But anyway, you defeated the goblins without taking any damage at all, and so you delve deeper into the forest. After about an hour’s hike, the way ahead becomes brighter as the forest opens up.

Miyako: Are we at the fort?

GM: What you see before you is a small, attractive-looking lake. It’s a watering hole for the local fauna, and you see deer and boars and rabbits drinking or basking in it.

Deathmask: Well, we’ll need to take a bath, won’t we?

Tsukiko: Hmm… I suppose this would be a rest point, if this was a video game. We’d recover energy if we rested and stuff, right?

GM: You would.

Miyako: Well, how about we do that? All I’ve lost is a little MP, but…

Sen: Hmm… I dunno…

Deathmask: Oh, it’ll be fine! It’s such a pretty lake, there couldn’t possibly be any danger!

Tsukiko: …If this was a movie about sharks or crazed ax murderers, that’s exactly the kind of thing the airheaded chick in the swimsuit would say before she got dismembered and eaten first.

Sen: …In all the RPG replays I’ve read, whenever a female character takes a shower or something, she almost always gets attacked by monsters or has something else awful happen to her.

GM: Yeah, probably one of the Cthulhu RPGs, huh? Fan service and gory horror scenes seem to go hand-in-hand with those books.

Tsukiko: What a crappy world!

GM: That’s what’s good about it, though. We could play one of those sometime…but for now, we’re in a peaceful fantasy world, so you really don’t have to worry about dangers like that cropping up.

Tsukiko: Reeeeeeally…?

GM: Well, if you’re that worried, you could always do an Intuition check. If there’s any danger around, you could probably pick up on it.

Following the GM’s suggestion, the players all rolled against their Intuition stat. None of them rolled well enough to detect anything.

Deathmask: See? It’s totally safe! So it’s time for some bathing action, guys! Everybody, clothes off!

Miyako: Mmm… Well, all right, if it’s safe.

Sen: Do I have to disrobe, too?

Deathmask: What’re you acting so bashful for, big sis? It’s just us family here, nobody to bother us as we frolic in the water! There’s nothing to be ashamed of! C’mon, Tsukiko, you too!

Sen: Um, okay…

Tsukiko: …Just don’t do anything weird, all right? Promise?

Despite their hesitation, Sen and Tsukiko joined the other two in disrobing, and the four sisters began bathing in the lake.

GM: Just then!

Miyako: Huh?

GM: Out of nowhere, an innumerable number of tentacles float up from the water’s surface, wrapping themselves around the party’s bodies!

Sen: See, I told you…

Tsukiko: Ngh! Attacked by tentacles while we bathe… Talk about clichéd…! You put a lot of tentacles in your books, too, don’t you? I should’ve expected this.

Deathmask: What’s so wrong with that? Let’s enjoy the opportunity for some tentacle play while we can, my sisters.

GM: With a giant plume of water, a large, cylindrical body shoots out of the water, bristling with tentacles. It’s a Roper, and there’s a gigantic mouth in the center of its torso that it uses to consume whatever’s caught in its tendrils!

Tsukiko: It’s gonna eat us, guys! Now’s no time for talk about tentacle play!

Deathmask: I’m not gonna let any tentacles do me in! I let out a moan as the tentacles grope around my body. Aiee. Oh nooo. Don’t go in there… Eeee.

Tsukiko: She’s succumbed to them…

Sen: Can we cut through the tentacles with a knife?

GM: Sadly, all your equipment’s left on the shore.

Miyako: What about attack magic? I can fire that off, right?

GM: Sure. It won’t be as strong without your staff, but it’s doable.

Miyako: Okay, I throw an Energy Bolt at the tentacle that’s curled around me!

GM: Got it. It’s point-blank range, so no need for an accuracy check. Roll for damage. One less die than usual without the staff.

Miyako: 2d plus 5… 13.

The bolt of lightning frizzled the tentacle, freeing Miyako’s body from its grasp. Scrambling to shore, she picked her staff back up.

It wasn’t clear whether the Roper had any sense of pain or not, but following the attack, it grew more frantic, its tentacles pursuing Miyako up to land.

“Okay, one more Energy Bolt!”

Miyako fired off another bolt at the tentacle that grabbed at her hand. The Roper sacrificed another feeler to protect it. A third bolt met the same fate—and even worse, new tentacles began to grow from the burnt stumps left by the ones she struck.

Miyako: I can’t handle it by myself!

Tsukiko: Heh-heh-heh… Looks like it’s time to bust out my trump card!

Miyako: Huh?!

Tsukiko: I use Unlimited Blade Wor— Wait, no, Phantom Smith to copy a longsword!

Focusing, Tsukiko summoned a longsword out of nowhere in her hand, surrounded by a swarm of glowing particles.

“Hyahh!”

Instead of swiping at the tentacle holding her down, she slashed the one holding the nearby Sen instead. The longsword she summoned performed just as well as a real one, slicing right through the appendage and freeing Sen from the scourge. Immediately afterward, it faded into a mass of light and disappeared.

“Th-thanks, sister! But why me first?”

Tsukiko, still restrained, flashed a cheerful smile at Sen’s confused question. “Heh… It’s my job as an elder sister to help out my younger ones first!”

“Tsukiko…”

“…Hey, I’m your sister, too?” Deathmask complained.

“I thought you were enjoying the tentacle play.”

“I—I’ll help you in a second, Deathmask…”

Able to move freely again, Sen quickly picked up her dagger and bow, striking at the Roper alongside Miyako.

Unable to fend off the double-barreled attack, the monster released Tsukiko and Deathmask in short time.

“Right… How dare you probe us with your filthy, disgusting tentacles! You deserve no less than a thousand deaths!”

“Sorry, but our little tentacle foreplay session is over.”

The Roper was not that gifted of a fighter, and with four against one, it was dispatched quickly.

GM: So despite the unwanted company, you can rest for real now. Good job.

Tsukiko: Ha! You shameless, tentacle-obsessed…!

Deathmask: I’m gonna have to call him Prince Tentaclewhore from now on.

GM: Please don’t, thanks.

Their HP and MP healed from the Roper encounter, the four sisters plunged back into the forest.

Before long, they uncovered the fort the orcs were using as their stronghold. Avoiding a direct confrontation, they decided to wait until sundown. Binding the torches and oil they’d brought with them in rope, they set fire to the fort. Deathmask contributed with Lilim’s Kiss to let Miyako pitch in with a barrage of powered-up Fireballs. The orcs were fried before they ever got to fight.

The strategy made Haruto sweat bullets. “…I never expected that from the player side,” he griped.

After wiping up the straggling orcs who managed to escape the flames, the four sisters explored the burnt-out fort. In its basement, they discovered evidence of some terrifying research that took place here—forbidden experiments into controlling monsters like soldiers, with the orcs serving as their test subjects.

According to the orders they found in the same room, this was all masterminded by Lloyd, son of the town’s lord and Sylvia’s elder brother.

Tsukiko: Whoa, what a shocking revelation.

Deathmask: Yeah, big surprise.

Tsukiko: Maybe this was Sylvia’s aim the whole time, huh?

Deathmask: Quite the schemer behind that pretty little face!

GM: ……You don’t have to rub it in, guys.

Delving deeper into the fort, the four sisters recovered the most obvious nearby treasure. It included some mithril Miyako could use for her Thor’s Bullet attack.

“Nice! Now I’ve finally got a railgun!”

“Yeah, even if Sylvia wants us dead, we can always get her back with that.”

“…It’s called ‘Thor’s Bullet,’ remember. Not a railgun.”

The party then returned to the town of Aegis, handed the written orders they found to Sylvia, and reported on what they saw. Lloyd was arrested for making the orcs attack the nearby villages, and Sylvia was thus placed next in line for the title of town lord.

GM: As he’s trundled off by the constables, Lloyd shouts: “I was trying to protect this country! We have to complete that research and strengthen our military forces, or else the Empire…the Empire of Horn River will conquer us all!”

Sen: Horn River?

Tsukiko: Horn…River… I’m too boneheaded of a princess to know what that means, but I never knew there was an empire named that! Certainly not an empire associated with any real-life groups or publishers!

GM: The Empire of Horn River—a fairly pat name for a country, perhaps, but it’s actually one of the largest nations on the continent, boasting what’s easily its most powerful military. It is served by several well-trained army corps, allowing it to steamroll over any neighboring countries with awe-inspiring force. The principality of Midfield that the four of you ran away from was annexed by Horn River several years ago. One year back, it forged an alliance with the kingdom of Godwan, essentially absorbing the kingdom into its own empire. Using Godwan’s unique technology, it has grown into an even more formidable force. Some say it could conquer the entire land sooner or later.

Deathmask: Wow. That has nothing at all to do with reality, I’m sure, but it definitely sounds scary.

GM: Anyway, Lloyd continues shouting. “Sylvia! Please, you must continue my research and keep this country safe! Please…!”

Miyako: Um, was he actually a good guy, or…?

GM: Watching sadly as her brother is taken away, Sylvia turns to you. “I think my brother did what he did out of genuine concern for his native land. But he still dared to dabble in the forbidden arts, sacrificing the lives of innocent people for it, and that cannot be condoned. Thank you, adventurers, for stopping him…” And with that, she begins to cry.

Tsukiko: Oof… A younger sister, having to put her own brother in jail? What a sad ending…!

Sen: Yeah… Hope that doesn’t have to happen again…

Miyako: Hmm… This doesn’t really feel like it’s over to me. I wish we could’ve slain some bad guy and really put a final period on this.

Deathmask: It’s all Horn River’s fault. Even though it has nothing to do with real-life organizations, we cannot let this be forgiven! If only someone would smash it down.

GM: Well, I’m sure we all have our own opinions of it, but that’s the end of this scenario. Well done, everyone.

And so…the four players gave their GM a round of polite applause.

GM: Now it’s time for you all to level up.

Sen: Level up?

GM: Every time you wrap up a scenario, the player characters gain a level and become stronger. You can adjust how you grow stronger to some extent, so think back to your previous adventure and figure out which stats you want to boost and which weaknesses you want to cover for.

Miyako: So there’s going to be another scenario later?

GM: I’d sure like to have one, yeah… I guess you’re not interested?

Miyako: Oh, no, I’d love to join in!

Tsukiko: Yeah. The story’s starting to insinuate a buncha stuff, too.

Deathmask: I will continue to fight until the Empire of Horn River is well and truly defeated.

GM: Well, whether you fight the Empire or not, the four sisters’ adventures have only just begun. So as part of the level-up process, all of you will see stat boosts that are dictated by your character type. You’re then given five bonus points, which you can assign to any stats you want, except for your resistances and Movement. You can also elect to save some bonus points for the next level-up session. Another option is to select a new skill to learn, which costs you five bonus points.

Sen: I see… Pretty important, then.

Miyako: I can’t boost my Movement at all? I’d like to run around more in battle…

GM: Not by leveling up, but there’s magic you can learn that’ll let you temporarily boost that stat.

Carefully deliberating over their characters, each of the players performed their level-up bookkeeping. Here are their stats after the dust settled.

Being able to do more with Phantom Smith meant that Tsukiko decided to use her bonuses to prop up her stats. Sen obtained a skill to make use of the ingredient items she found. Miyako obtained magic to boost her Movement and Deathmask got a defense spell.

So the four sisters successfully completed their first adventure. How would their future quests unfold? And what fate would befall this magical land, which was totally fictitious and had nothing to do with the real world?

Nobody can say…since Haruto hadn’t thought about it yet.

To be continued…