Chapter 567: Lingering Shadow of a Distant Regret
Author's Preface
I was finally able to write text related to ShanFro in the main story after a long time, so here's a consecutive update.
Silence lingered for a moment. I exchanged a slight glance with Rei-san, who similarly couldn't comprehend what this mimetic stationery was saying, and then stuffed some chashu into my mouth, chewing and swallowing.........
"Hello, state authority?"
"Stop looking at reality and let's talk about the game."
"You're right, but I feel like everything is wrong...... well, whatever. A coup d'état means rebelling against the established authority, right? Like the Kingdom... I forgot its name, though."
If I recall correctly, there's only one established "country" in the ShanFro world, and that's the nation that unified the Old Continent. Over on the New Continent, between the Color Dragons and the absurdly massive map, humanity hasn't developed past the level of mere settlements. Though the Merman race barely makes the cut as quite developed......
"Einwurf Kingdom. Regarding the current mess happening within this royal family, at least you aren't completely unrelated to it either, right, Sunraku-kun?"
"Hmm......... well, yeah, I guess."
Currently, the Einwurf Kingdom has undergone a completely baffling storyline where the First Prince, who was first in line for the throne, initiated a coup d'état. This resulted in an unprecedented development where the King and the First Prin...... that particular person, were exiled.
And I, having accepted a request from Saint-chan, rescued that royal father-daughter pair when they were about to be assassinated on the New Continent, and subsequently beat up the Climax Sword guy (forgot his name). In other words, as of right now, I've already practically spat in the current King's face.
"Changing the subject slightly, but did you know things are getting bad because Thirdrema is being attacked by Raid Monsters?"
"Umm, yes. I've heard rumors about it."
"Well, yeah."
Rumors or not, I'm the one who pulled off a hyper-speed Lucha Libre move on it. Wandering Great Azure Plague-kun and I are practically best buds at this point. True friendship is forged through violence......!!
"Actually, it seems the current King committed a massive faux pas, and the Grand Duke of Thirdrema is absolutely furious. To the point where he's angry enough to consider tearing up the alliance forged when the kingdom was first founded!"
"Ah, I'm starting to see the picture."
What she's talking about right now is the World Story that progressed as a result of clearing the Unique Scenario EX. The story of the consequences—or the process—of the world itself undergoing a shift. A conflict surrounding the royal family of the Old Continent...... I can probably assume that siding with the Grand Duke of Thirdrema equates to supporting the restoration of the former King and his daughter.
"So basically, this coup d'état is about beating up the current King and reverting things to how they were before?"
"Exactly. And it seems both the current King and the Grand Duke of Thirdrema are planning to hire players on a massive scale."
Whoa, a war phase that drags the players into it? It sounds exciting, but at the same time, I can't help but worry that doing something like that in ShanFro is going to create some insane toxicity.
"............And? What's your angle? You're not the type to move out of righteous indignation, right?"
"Hmm, I wouldn't mind siding with Thirdrema, selling them a favor, and maybe getting a town out of it......... but, well, that's not my 'main objective'."
Saying that, Kuon-something-or-other lowered the volume of her voice even further, speaking at a level that would be absolutely inaudible unless you were sitting at the exact same table.
"There's an After-Scenario related to Wethermon the Tombguard located directly beneath the royal castle."
"Mmph......... Seriously?"
"Wethermon, the Tombguard.........!"
That name is one I can't ignore either...... and even for this bastard stationery whose soul is dyed in the colors of fiendishness, as long as she uses the avatar named "Arthur Pencilgon", it's a name she absolutely cannot ignore.
Wethermon the Tombguard.
The very first Unique Monster defeated in the game Shangri-La Frontier, and currently the only known Unique Monster that has shown zero possibility for a rematch after clearing its EX Scenario. While the Tome of Truth suggests the possibility that even Siegwurm might not be truly dead, this one's scenario was cleared upon his complete and utter annihilation, meaning it was almost certainly a one-time-only, unique event.
"An After-Scenario... what exactly... does that mean?"
"Hmm, I'll explain it to the rest of Wolfgang later too, but......... you know how I got that floral hair ornament accessory as a scenario clear reward, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it actually has a hidden effect...... it acts as a locator that points out places related to Secchan, 'Setsuna of Distant Days'."
It hasn't even been a year, yet that name feels incredibly nostalgic. But I still wasn't getting the full picture.
"Explain specifically."
"Let's see... until a little while ago, it only ever pointed straight toward the New Continent. I investigated as much as I could, and there's probably something out in the western region of the New Continent."
"The west, huh... All I know about it is that it's dangerous."
"Yeah. But that doesn't matter right now. The problem is that after Siegwurm was defeated, four additional locations appeared on the locator."
Four... additional ones?
"Excluding the one that's been there from the start, the flavor text updated. If I just quote it directly......... 'The Blue Towering Arc, the Red Flame Steed, the White Nether Seeker, the Black Horned Edge. The lingering shadows of the Tombguard stand still. The dark clouds of dispelled regret spread out once more.........' Or so it says."
What the heck is that. As I tilted my head at the unfamiliar names, Rei-san, who had been messing with her mobile device, gently poked my shoulder with her finger.
"Umm... I tried looking it up, but......... the names she just listed, apparently they are different species of Kirin."
"Hah?"
Eh, I obviously knew about the oriental fantasy monster called Kirin, but it had color-palette swap variations? Wait, more importantly, what exactly is a "Kirin" in the ShanFro world.........
"The kanji is technically different, but four variations of 'Kirin' means......... it can only mean that, right?"
"The Wethermon rematch element we thought didn't exist......?"
The original Wethermon has already turned to dust and vanished. We, the ones who cleared it, witnessed it with our own eyes, so there's no mistaking it. If so, what exactly are these four "Kirin" that appeared alongside Siegwurm's disappearance... alongside the progression of the World Story?
"Out of the four locations, two pointed to the New Continent, and two pointed to the Old Continent. Actually, I've already found one of them...... the Flame Steed."
"Hah?"
"Eh."
According to Pencilgon, the Red "Flame Steed" was located at the deepest part of a hidden route that spawned in an area called the Great River of the Soaring Wind Tower Junction, which can be accessed via the Divine Age Iron Ruins route—one of the three branching routes from Thirdrema on the Old Continent.
"Did you fight it?"
"Eh? I'm not you, Sunraku-kun."
"I'll beat the crap out of you."
Stop using me as a bad example.
"What I want to know is something I can figure out just by looking at it... The New Continent side is untouchable for me right now, so I want to confirm the Old Continent side. Honestly, I couldn't care less how many differently colored knock-off Wethermons they mass-produce........."
"..............."
Her eyes, hiding emotions that went far beyond mere game-clearing objectives, looked at me quietly. Because she sealed her lips, her words were cut short, but I'm probably the only one—besides Katzo—who can understand what comes after. An NPC that this fiend, who doesn't even view player characters as human let alone ones with a 'Non-' attached to the front, gained a rare sense of warmth toward... in short, she wants to know if the appearance of the copy Wethermons also brought forth color-swapped versions of "Setsuna of Distant Days". And if you put everything we've talked about together, the picture becomes clear.
"I don't know what color it is... but the other one on the Old Continent is directly beneath the royal castle, huh."
"It's been rumored for a while now that 'there's some kind of field directly beneath the royal castle,' but I never thought it would be confirmed in this kind of way."
"Umm......... couldn't you just negotiate with the current King?"
"Eh? Assuming she is there, it'd be way too annoying to have to suck up to a King every single time I want to visit the underground area."
"Heh? Umm, well..."
Th-This girl, looking at us with such clear eyes.........! I mean, in short, what she's really saying is "I want to violently seize the authority to get a free pass into the royal castle"!!
"Besides, if we leave the current King unchecked, it's almost guaranteed to trigger a hostility flag with the New Continent side. He seems to be a Human Supremacist? Which is a character archetype you see fairly often in fiction, but still."
"Are there even going to be players who side with him?"
"Looks like he's going to brute-force it with money and pardons〜... At the very least, PKers can clear their Red Name status just by joining his faction, and I'm pretty sure there'll be indulgences issued for PK-ing players on the opposing faction......"
"This suddenly sounds a whole lot like Bakumatsu."
"Factional concepts that have become a mere hollow shell, and an ingroup solidarity more fragile than straw are customs exclusive to that place only〜"
She has a point, so I have no retort. That aside, if it means clearing Karma Values or wiping out debt incurred from being PK-Killed, there will probably be quite a large number of players siding with the Kingdom. After all, PK-ing isn't the only thing affected by Karma Values; PK-ing is just the threshold where Bounty Hunters are dispatched. Accumulating Karma Value and the accompanying negative disposition from NPCs is a completely separate issue. It seems there are various ways to reduce Karma Value, like repenting at a church, but there will absolutely be players who think, "If I can get the benefits of a Karma Value amnesty decree just by joining the massive authority that is the 'Kingdom'......"
It seems the realization of a desire born from Pencilgon alone is directly linking to a massive war that will drag the entire player base into it.
Author's Afterword
・Recalled Tombguards
Details unknown. Shadows of Wethermon that appeared—two on the Old Continent and two on the New Continent—due to some specific cause.
Strictly speaking, this is a phenomenon completely unrelated to Wethermon himself, but all four recalled entities are accompanied by a differently colored "Kirin".
The recalled entities accompanying each "Kirin" carry completely different armaments. It looks almost as if they are showcasing "the forms of combat never displayed by the former hero who was reduced to a Tombguard." The magical key left behind by that hero, and the myriad of supreme treasures stored within... were evidently never meant to merely be put on display.
If that is a Tombguard, then is the grave it must protect there as well? If so, if that is the case. If there is even a chance she could see her once more—and if not, then she has no interest. But for that sake alone, this woman is more than willing to draw her bow against the ruling authority of the heavens.
Comments
Post a Comment