Side Story: A Day Off in Gideon — Noon

Side Story: A Day Off in Gideon — Noon

Journalist, Marie Adler

"Here are your luxury box tickets for tomorrow's event," the tian scalper told me. "100,000 lir each makes 300,000 lir. Instant payment."

"Okey dokey," I replied as I gave him the money. I'd already confirmed the legitimacy of the tickets by using my Truth Discernment and Identification skills.

I paid from the reward money pool the three of us had decided to split as a group yesterday.

"A pleasure doing business," said the scalper. "Y ou're in luck, lady. Those are the last box seat tickets I had."

"Quite a popular event, isn't it?" I commented.

Not every show can get scalpers to sell out while pricing their tickets at three times the original cost, I thought.

"Well, obviously," he nodded. "After all, the thing going on at the central arena tomorrow has never happened before."

"True," I agreed. "It's only to be expected for a battle between Superiors to get this much attention."

The tickets in my hand had the words "The Clash of the Superiors" written on them. That was the name of the main event that was happening at the central arena tomorrow.

The participants were two Superiors.

One was a Superior of the Kingdom of Altar and the undisputed

champion of the central arena: Over Gladiator, Figaro.

The other was a Superior from the hermit Empire of Huang He, summoned here to participate in this event: Master Jiangshi, Xunyu.

The idea of seeing a match between such distinguished personalities excited both players and tians alike.

Despite Dendro having hundreds of thousands active players, the total number of Superiors didn't even exceed a hundred. Due to that, opportunities to see two Superiors fight were few and far between. Since none of Altar's Superiors had participated, not even the war with Dryfe had had such a fight. Though Figaro's battles were a common sight at Gideon's arenas, all of his opponents so far had been either tians or non-Superior Masters.

As far as I was aware, Superior fights involving the kingdom's Masters had never gone beyond rumors that the furball (AKA The King of Destruction) had fought Caldina's "Magically Strongest" (The Earth), and one of the Great Seven Embryos of Granvaloa. Those fights were said to have happened in a secluded mountain area and in the middle of the ocean, meaning that there were few people who had seen them. Due to all that, this event was a golden opportunity for people to witness and find out just how intense Superior fights were. It was only natural for the tickets to get sold out. In fact, when they had officially gone up for purchase two weeks ago, they had been snapped up in less than ten minutes.

I silently looked at the ones in my hand and tried imagining what would happen if either of the participants boycotted the event. Count Gideon, the one managing the arena, would surely flip. Of course, considering that I'd spent most of the reward on these tickets, my situation wouldn't be too good, either.

I really hope the event happens without much trouble and that Ray and Rook enjoy it.

"Take care, now!" I said.

"Y ou too," replied the scalper. "Come to me any time you need a ticket for something."

Silently praying that the event would start as intended, I left the scalper.

It was now past three in the afternoon, and I no longer had anything to do.

My job as a Journalist wouldn't start until tomorrow's event, while my other job didn't have any activity at all right now. I checked my friends list and found out that Rook was offline, while Ray was somewhere outside Gideon. I didn't have any other friends here in the kingdom.

Even if I wanted to do some observation and kill time while on a basic party quest, I couldn't get one because they normally rejected all Journalists. The job was of no use in battle, after all. It was a wonder why Ray had even accepted me.

Not having anything to do, I walked around the fourth district's bazaar while eyeing the wares with Identification. Every now and then, you could find some real bargains here, but nothing I saw today really caught my eye.

After a while of such walking, I saw the shop belonging to Alejandro, the man we'd met during yesterday's quest. I considered stopping by and saying hello, but the building seemed to be ridiculously crowded. From what I could hear the people say, the gacha machine there had just dropped an MVP special reward, causing many who were feeling lucky to try and hit another one.

Having only two special rewards in my possession, I could fully understand what drove them.

Y esterday, Ray had happened to become the MVP in a UBM fight when we'd run into Gardranda. But it rarely went as smoothly as that.

Encountering UBMs was rare even if you searched for them, and even the Epic-tier ones were really tough. Masters with high-rank Embryos and jobs would have to form a proper party just to stand a chance, and it was unthinkable to take them on solo without having a Superior Job. Even then, battles against Legendaries and Ancient Legendaries would be truly challenging.

Indeed, getting a special reward was no small task. Soloing UBMs while being like Ray — a high-rank job with a low-rank Embryo — was nearly unheard of, and it happened mostly because of luck and compatibility.

Nemesis's abilities were heavily focused on battle, countering, and giant-killing, making me quite excited to see how they'd grow.

Anyway, with the store being so crowded, going in just to say hi would probably make me nothing but a nuisance, so I decided to leave it for another day.

"I'VE WASTED A MILLION! AAAAHHH!" I heard someone scream as I slowly distanced myself from the shop.

As I aimlessly walked around and began thinking about killing time in some shop popular with cute boys and girls, a certain sound entered my ears.

A young girl was shouting something from behind the corner, in a secluded back alley between the buildings. With my curiosity piqued,

I approached the source of the voice, stuck my head out to take a look and was presented with one of the most cliché scenes ever.

Four vulgar-looking men were surrounding a girl who didn't even seem to be ten years old. Though the blonde, coiled, drill-shaped hair made it obvious that she was Western, for one reason or another, her face was covered by a Japanese fox mask.

"Let's take this brat. She looks noble. Selling her off will get us some serious gold," said one of the men as he grabbed her wrist.

"Unhand me, you insolent cur!" the girl shouted as she did her utmost to struggle, but she simply wasn't strong enough to resist.

How cliché, I thought. Truly the most of generic of incidents.

It was even embarrassing to interfere, since that would make it even more cliché. However, that was exactly what I did.

"Now, wait just a moment, fellas," I said as I walked out from behind the corner. "Are you seriously trying to take this helpless loli away? Should I be concerned?"

"The fuck are you?!" one of them shouted.

"Just a passing Journalist," I answered while getting a better look at the men's faces. "Y ep, those are the expressions of true criminals. Could you morbid-looking folks leave the loli alone and go home? Or would you like to go straight to jail?"

As I expected, my provocation made one of the men's foreheads twitch as he charged at me with a raised fist.

"A Journalist?! Who do ya think you're talking to?! C'mere and I'll...!"

"Aaand... there." I grabbed the man by the wrist and did a one-armed shoulder throw on him.

Hitting the stony path below instantly made him lose consciousness.

As always, this move is very useful against tians who don't know about judo, I thought. They can never land safely.

Of course, it would probably do little good against those who were aware of martial arts or simply had high stats. But these hoodlums weren't much better than the usual newbie.

"B-But she's a Journalist!" one of them exclaimed. "How can she

fight?!"

"Oh come now," I said. "Journalist or not, everyone is capable of throwing people."

Not to mention that I'm... Oh, there's no need to say it, I thought.

Then I repeated the same thing with the other three.

As a result, the four hoodlums who had been about to kidnap the girl were all spread out across the alley.

"Heh," I chuckled. "Once again, I went and threw something worthless."

"Amazing! Y ou're so strong!" said the blonde girl as she looked up at me. The blue eyes I could see under her mask seemed to be gleaming. How adorable.

"Y -Y ou bitch! We're not done yet!" Staggering, the hoodlums stood up and were about to charge at me, but...

"Hey! It's time to get paid! Stop messing around!" another hoodlum from outside the alley called.

There were more of them? I asked myself. Five hoodlums, huh? Why couldn't it be five heroes, instead? That would've been far better in every possible way. Also, "paid"? Are they the underlings of some mafia or something?

"Crap... We'll let you off this time! I know your mug now! Remember that!" one of them shouted a particularly stale phrase as they all ran away.

"Do they have some debuff that forces them to keep saying overused phrases?" I said as I casually waved them goodbye. I really didn't want to see them again. Not only were they awful as characters, but they were far too basic to be useful to me.

"Wow, that crest is the sign of a Master! I know why you're strong

now!" said the girl upon noticing the back of the hand I was waving.

Oh, the purity in her gaze is far too dazzling for a creature like me, I thought.

"Oh no," I said. "That was just judo. Anyone can learn how to do it. Even you."

I'd only taken a few real-life classes, for instance. For a while, I had dabbled in a lot of various martial arts for my work. I was now unemployed... and dropping such sports certainly wasn't good for my weight.

"Truly?! I can learn that?! Could you teach me?!" asked the girl.

"Of course. First, we..." Suddenly, I realized that a stony pavement definitely wasn't a suitable surface to teach judo.

We should find a patch of grass or get a soft mat and...

"We found her!"

"She's over here! There's a suspicious-looking woman with her!"

Before I could finish my thought, a few guards ran into the alley and shouted those things.

How rude! I'm not suspicious-looking! I wore a black men's suit, had a properly-tied necktie, covered my eyes with sunglasses, and always had a grin on my face.

All right, okay, I look suspicious.

"Oh no! We must escape!" said the girl as she grabbed my hand and started running away from the guards.

"And why am I being dragged into this?" I muttered as I realized that things could get really messy if we got caught. But I quickly decided play along with her.

I took the girl into my arms, faced the wall, and jumped upwards, instantly putting us on roof-level. Then I jumped from building to building to get as far away from that alley as was necessary before going down to street-level in a place where no one could see us.

"That was riveting!" said the girl, bright-eyed and looking like she'd just gotten off a roller coaster. "I felt like I became the wind!"

"Oh, it was nothing, really."

"Could you do it because you are a Master or because you are a Journalist?"

"The latter. Journalists are amazing. We can fly, carry buildings, and reverse time by making the Earth spin in the other direction."

"Wow!"

Okay, fine, that's limited to a certain man who is particularly "super," I thought. "By the way, about those guards..."

As I was about to continue, I heard an adorable sound coming from the girl's tummy.

"Shall we eat something?" I asked.

"We shall!"

And so, I decided to help her fill her empty stomach.

Coming out as we were and letting the guards see us wasn't the best idea, so I had to do a little messing around. Using two of my skills, Disguise and Illusion, I changed her appearance, making her look like a plain girl of a normal upbringing. People with Truth Discernment, Reveal, or Mind's Eye skills would be able to see through the disguise, but it wasn't like every guard here had one of those, so it didn't matter too much.

As for me... Saddening as it was, I had to remove my sunglasses.

With that, I was no longer a "shady woman in shades." Truly a shame.

We walked out of the empty alleyway and made our way towards the stalls on the main street. It was a popular place, so, naturally, there were food stalls, as well.

"Do you have anything in mind?" I asked.

"I want something I never get to eat!" she answered, and then noticed something. "There! I want those clouds!"

Clouds...? Oh, the cotton candy, I thought. What an adorable choice.

I went and bought some of the white cotton candy, which looked exactly the same as the ones we had on Earth. The only real difference was that they weren't covered in wrapping displaying some character.

"Enjoy," I said.

"Very well! Thank you very much!" she said as she took the cotton candy, took off the mask and began eating. "Such sweetness and fluffiness!"

"Heh heh. Glad you like... it...?" I paused.

Her exposed face was very cute, making it more than obvious that she would be a real beauty someday. But the fact of her adorability meant nothing next to the fact that her face was familiar to me.

I reached into my inventory and took out my Information Notebook, a must-have item for Journalists that allowed the filing and managing of info, and followed the index to a certain part of it. Specifically, the list of this country's important people and the entry about the second princess, Elizabeth S. Altar.

It had all the information I'd collected about her and displayed her

portrait photo, which showed a little lady bearing the exact same facial features as the girl right before my eyes, the one still eating cotton candy.

"Well, this sure smells like trouble," I muttered as I became fully aware that I'd gotten myself into something both exciting and dangerous.

"Hm? But it smells sweet," said Elizabeth as she smelled the cotton candy, making me momentarily discard the bad thoughts and merely enjoy the adorable presence of Her Majesty.

A journalist and a princess... Reminds me of a certain movie, I thought.

◇

Anyway, we'd distanced ourselves from the crowds, and it was time for me to take in the situation.

I had been strolling around.

A girl had been about to get kidnapped, so I'd helped her.

She'd gotten attached to me.

I had been about to be caught by the guards. I'd taken the girl and ran.

The girl was actually the second princess of this country. And that was the jist of it.

Conclusion: I was now officially a kidnapper of not only a child, but an extremely important person.

Oh, dear.

"In the worst case scenario, I might even get sent to the gaol," I

muttered.

"Gaol?" the princess tilted her head to the side.

The gaol was a separate area where players were sent if they committed one too many grave Dendro crimes. Grave crimes in Dendro were primarily those against tians. Player killing and the like didn't count, and for me that was nothing but good news.

Going in and out of the gaol was completely impossible, and so far, not a single player had left it. According to what those who were sent there wrote on discussion boards, the gaol had equipment and dungeons, just like the rest of the game, allowing them to have a proper Dendro experience.

However, leaving simply wasn't an option.

No one knew its location, making many assume that it was the only separate Dendro server besides the worldwide one, but the truth behind it was still unknown.

Anyway, it took more than grave crimes to send a player to the gaol.

When criminals got on a country's wanted list, they could no longer use its save points. Save points were places such as the fountains here in the Kingdom of Altar, and they existed in all the cities, towns, and villages of all the seven countries. After getting a death penalty, players respawned at a save point they'd already "marked."

Getting a death penalty while not having any available save points would have the player respawn at the gaol.

I found that to be completely reasonable.

We Masters could get the death penalty, but besides that, we were completely immortal. The system needed a way to deter players from repeatedly committing crimes every time they respawned.

Mind you, for the wanted lists to work, the tians had to know the offenders' names, faces, and crimes. Also, even if they were put on a wanted list of one country and died there, players could always respawn in any other country, provided they had marked save points there. Such "escaping" was currently being used by Goblin Street — the clan responsible for besieging the west side of the capital, and the only group that had gotten on the wanted list because of it.

From what I'd heard, strong Masters who were criminals in some countries were sometimes kept as potential soldiers in case of a war by the other ones.

Now, some crimes were so grave that they got players on the wanted lists of all the seven countries at once, banning them from all the save points everywhere. Such cases were extremely rare, and few people had to worry about that happening. However, being someone who'd seemingly kidnapped royalty, I was now one of those "few."

Oh, what am I to do? I thought as I looked at the princess as she continued eating the cotton candy.

"Hm? What is it? Why are you staring at me so? Do I have something on my face?" she asked.

"Just a bit of cotton candy," I answered as I took it off her cheek and ate it myself. It really is sweet.

Anyway, for now, she was under the effects of my Disguise and Illusion combo. It wouldn't be easy for people to notice that she was the princess. I could've also used Presence Manipulation to make us stand out less, but that might've had the opposite effect due to stronger people realizing that something was off, so I refrained.

All right, now why did the princess wander about the city all by herself? I thought.

From the fact that the guards were searching for her, it was safe to assume that she had sneaked out for some sightseeing.

Well, that would be another way this situation is similar to the one in Roman Holiday... I wonder if this city has a Mouth of Truth. I'd do what they did in the movie, put my right hand inside and...

No. I'm a tremendous liar, so it'd instantly get bitten off.

"Y ou haven't said anything for a while. What are you thinking about?" asked Elizabeth.

"Oh, nothing," I answered. "Just some things that might be slightly comedic to the audience."

"Comedic?"

All right, now back to why the princess is here, I thought. At this point, talking to her seemed like the best way to find out.

"Oh, we've yet to introduce ourselves," I spoke up, being careful not to make it obvious that I knew who she was. "I'm Marie Adler."

"I see! So your name is Marie! I am Elizabeth, the second princess of this country!"

...She actually had no intention of hiding it.

Why the mask, then? Did she just want to wear it?

"Umm, why were you in the streets, princess?"

"I was told that Gideon is an exciting place!" she declared. "However, my attendants did not let me go outside, so I escaped to have a pu-pleasure jaunt!"

And thus, it was confirmed that she really was just sightseeing. Not only that, but she'd done it without even trying to hide her identity, like any normal child just walking out to play.

How bold of her.

"That must've been quite the great escape," I said.

"Indeed! Timing it was hard."

Would the timing really have been enough for her — a princess — to successfully slip through? Should I be worried about this country?

I thought. Well, I obviously should, considering it's been on a decline ever since the war....

"Today, I intend to spread my wings! However..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"When you found me, I was actually lost... Thus, I would appreciate it if you guided me around..."

It now made sense why she had been in that back alley.

As for her request...

If I stayed with the princess, they might assume that I'd kidnapped her and arrest me. However, the idea of leaving this adorable, socially-unaware girl all by herself was far more worrying to me than getting arrested. I also felt that there was more to this than it seemed.

"Why, certainly. I'll guide you around," I said.

"Really?!" asked the princess.

"Y es. I never lie."

Apologies. That line itself was a lie.

When asked about what kind of places she wanted to go to, Elizabeth said simply, "Anywhere that's riveting!"

As was natural for duel city Gideon, the most popular tourist spots here were the arenas, but I was quite apprehensive about bringing a little girl to a place so thick with the reek of blood.

Well, it wasn't like the arena barriers let any smells reach the audience. Also, no matter how severely damaged the participants

were, they would come out completely unharmed once the battle was over.

The barriers sure are useful and convenient, I thought.

According to the setting, the barrier-equipped arenas hadn't been made by the kingdom's tians. All thirteen of them had been there since ancient times, and a city had merely happened to be built around them.

A barrier that could make the most critical of wounds simply disappear was extreme tech for both magic and science, and being able to replicate it would cause far too many people to take advantage of it. That was surely the reason why the devs had made it into a lost technology that no one could copy.

The barriers weren't the only pieces of such tech, either. There were the relics from the pre-ancient civilization and Granvaloa's underwater ruins, among many other things.

Anyway, with the arena being out of the question, I decided to bring the princess to the nearby plaza.

Just like on the main road, stalls were placed all across the area, but that certainly wasn't all. I could see street performers such as musicians, artists, and fortune tellers, as well.

"Wow! Is this a festival?!" the princess voiced her excitement.

"Many people with various impressive skills gather here," I answered.

There were the staples such as jugglers and people balancing on balls, but I could also see Masters entertaining people by using their Embryos.

What I found particularly eye-catching — or, rather, ear-catching

— was the musical ensemble. It consisted of four people — no, one person and three creatures. A man wearing a bird-like hat was

swinging a conductor's stick, a centaur was playing a violin, a cat sìth was blowing into a flute, and a kobold was hitting a drum. Quite a peculiar band of performers, indeed.

What was even more peculiar, however, was the fact that, despite there being only three creatures playing, the resulting music was like that of a large-scale orchestra. Their act enchanted not only the passersby, but some of the other street performers, as well. Indeed, the music was downright beautiful, especially once you got over the fact that it was an orchestral arrangement of a classic super robot anime opening.

I felt like I was listening to an elementary-to-middle school orchestra contest or a Koshien cheering song.

"Such a powerful melody," said the princess.

"Indeed it is," I agreed. It's Mazinger Z, after all.

"Are those monsters and a horse-man?" she asked.

"No, I believe it's a Type Legion Embryo," I answered.

"'Legion'?" she asked.

Legion was an Embryo type that evolved from the base category of Guardian. Its main feature was the fact that it was basically multiple Guardians in one. That multiplicity was exactly what made the type interesting.

For example, you could have an Embryo that was basically a "We are the Something's Elite Four!"-kinda thing, where they were few, but strong. Y ou could also have an Embryo that was hundred-strong swarm of weaker creatures. They both would be categorized as "Legion." Quality and quantity meant nothing for this type.

This band was definitely focused on quality.

My Embryo — Arc-en-Ciel — was Legion, but I wasn't quite sure

what it was focused on. It could go both ways, honestly.

"So that is an Embryo," said the princess.

"Y es," I nodded.

"I always thought that Embryos were only meant for fighting."

"Embryos are based on their Master's minds, so they're not always created with battle in mind," I said. There were actually quite a few Embryos that didn't have a single fighting-related skill.

It wasn't particularly surprising, really. After all, they always reflected people's personalities and experiences. However, with that considered, I couldn't help but grin in self-derision at the fact that my Embryo was so battle-focused and what it implied about my mind.

The band was done performing, so after we gave them their due applause and money, we went to do other activities.

That included eating ice cream and scooping goldfish-like monsters, both of which were common things in the Japanese festivals I was familiar with and didn't seem the least bit special to any common citizen here. And yet, the princess looked like she was having tons of fun, as though these seemingly meaningless activities were a true treasure to her.

"Let's go to the painter next! I want to be drawn!" she squealed.

"Don't you get portraits regularly?" I asked in response.

"I do! But they look too serious! Also, they don't look like me! I'm not that scary!"

Apparently, the little princess had a little trauma going on.

I guess that's how most portraits appear to children, I thought. That Beethoven in the music room is a good example, but let's not get lost in thought again.

"I can draw you, princess," I said. In fact, I was the only one that could. She was under the effects of my Illusion skill, so if we let a random street artist draw her, the person on the result wouldn't even be her.

"Hm? Y ou can draw?" she asked.

"Y es. Not only that, but I'm quite confident that I'm better than the average Painter." That was a non-battle job that had Drawing within its skill repertoire. Its effect was technical support that helped Painters draw lines to form pictures as they desired. However, people who already had the skill in real life didn't need any support from such skills. I was one of them.

Skills such as Drawing and Cooking, ones that players could replace with any technique and flair they had in reality, were called "sense skills."

Another example of this would be the Detective job's "Inferring" skill. It allowed the user to understand the tricks, clues, and evidence surrounding various incidents. But people who were skilled detectives in real life had no need for it.

Not like I was aware of any such players, but still.

"Anyway, you can trust my drawing ability," I said confidently. "I'll make you look very cute!"

"Very well! I shall believe you!" The princess sat down on a bench in the plaza and straightened her back. That bearing made her seem truly princess-like.

"And you are very right to do so," I said as I reached into my inventory to take out a sketchbook and my drawing equipment.

The sketchbook was opened on the page with a shirtless dog-eared Ray sketch.

...The princess must not see this, I thought as I skipped a few pages.

I put a lot of effort into drawing her, so it took me about ten minutes even without coloring, but I was quite satisfied with the result. It had to have her likeness, but since she didn't seem to like proper portraits, I avoided making it too realistic and just used my usual art style.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked as I sat down next to her and showed her the sketch.

"Wow! It's so cute! Is this really me?" she cried.

"Y es."

With the original being so adorable, making the drawing cute was easy, and the result had come out very naturally.

"Marie, you're amazing! Y ou beat scoundrels! Run on walls! And can even draw!"

"Oh no, I'm really not that impressive."

"Are you able to do this because you're a Journalist?"

"Ah, no. My drawing ability has nothing to do with my job."

"Why can you draw, then?"

The reason for my artistic ability? Well...

"I used to be a manga artist on the other side."

◇◇◇

Nagisa Ichimiya

I began drawing manga — or, rather, simple illustrations — when I was in the later years of elementary school. It all started when a friend invited me to join an illustration club.

Naturally, the club had books that described the proper ways to

draw manga illustrations, so I began reading them and put the knowledge I received to the test. As I repeated that, I eventually became able to draw manga in a proper format.

At first, I tried drawing a story that was far too grand for a newbie such as myself, and I ended up giving up after about three volumes' worth of pages. Two of those volumes were actually nothing but setting descriptions...

Despite my first work being so shoddy, I didn't give up on drawing manga, and after learning from my mistakes, I began drawing ones that were complete with just single chapters.

The only people who saw them were my friends in the illustration club, which became the manga association when we entered middle school. However, as I continued drawing those shorts, I eventually became good enough to have my friends suggest that I send my works to a contest.

Figuring I had no reason not to, I sent one out, and though it didn't make the cut, I didn't stop sending my contributions.

This continued for about five or six years, until the winter of my second year in high school, when a certain award chose the work I submitted.

It was the first shonen manga I'd ever drawn. My previous works had all been shojo manga heavily focused on love, and this shonen work had merely been something I'd drawn on a whim.

It had gotten put in a certain magazine as a non-serialized story, and, supposedly due to good ratings, the editorial department had approached and invited me to ask whether I'd like to serialize it. At first, considering that I'd drawn it on a whim, I didn't actually think that I could continue it. However, when I gave it a try, the drawing went so smoothly that I felt as though my pencil was moving on its own.

The story continued without a hitch, and by the time I graduated,

instead of going into higher education, I decided to become a manga artist.

I was worried whether I'd made the right decision, but my parents were fully supportive of my choice. They told me to live the life I wanted and offered to help me whenever I needed it.

That moment made me cry a bit.

Thus, I became a manga artist with a series in a monthly magazine.

At first, there were a lot of things I wasn't used to, and adjusting to them was quite a challenge. I even had to do research for my work by getting into martial arts and buying airsoft guns. When my parents happened to visit me, they said that I was being very boyish, but that was one of my very dear memories now.

The serialization went smoothly for more than two years. My work was pretty popular, too. Not enough to be the magazine's flagship title, but definitely in the top five. I even had hopes that it could get adapted into an anime after a year or two.

And that was when the magazine's publisher went bankrupt.

The cause was a business failure in divisions besides the one responsible for manga. And yet, the magazine was canceled, forcing my first series to end with its first part.

I was absentminded for a long while after that. There were entire hours... days... when I was just lying around and whispering, "What do I do now?" to myself.

However, there was a silver lining, as I got approached by an editor from a different magazine, offering me to continue my manga there. With the publisher's bankruptcy, other magazines began competing for the newly-unemployed artists and their works, and my manga happened to be among those.

I asked the editor to give me time to think, but definitely not about the answer to the offer. The answer to whether I wished to continue my series was a resounding, "Y es! Of course!" But I had another major problem I had to consider.

It was the fact that I could no longer draw it.

I had simply become unable to continue my manga series.

Right after the forced end of its first part, my vision of the work's protagonist, Marie Adler, had gone completely still. No matter how hard I tried, drawing her just didn't feel the same as before. She seemed to have become completely inanimate. Forcing myself to draw her made me feel as if I was a puppeteer using strings to move a corpse.

I was going through a so-called slump. As though I'd forgotten something I could do as easily as breathing, I became completely unable to continue drawing my manga... Marie's story.

Eventually, this extended to any other stories I attempted, rendering me incapable of completing the simplest of one-shots.

I'd spent my entire life being absolutely serious about manga. I'd drawn my works with all I had. And yet, that had gone away in a flash.

I did everything I could to try and regain my touch. Thinking that it would help me gain a new perspective, I used my money to travel the world and made attempts to gain new skills, like cooking, handicrafts, and koryu. However, all of that failed me, making me more than aware that I could no longer draw stories as I was.

"Oh, God. Please give me a possibility that isn't my own. Let me draw her story... Help me understand her," I prayed.

Almost the moment I began asking for that, I became aware of a certain game.

"Infinite Dendrogram will provide you with a new world and your very own unique possibility!"

A VRMMO that bore the promotional line, and that didn't betray it, Infinite Dendrogram.

I believed... felt... hoped... that a game which provided countless different possibilities and lives would help me find the continuation to my story that I'd seemed to have completely lost.

With that hope in me, I began Infinite Dendrogram.

I made my avatar's name the same as hers — Marie Adler.

I gave my avatar a similar appearance: long black hair, tall, pretty, and always wearing sunglasses.

I even went as far as to talk the same way she did — unique in tone and superficially polite.

I finished it up by matching my behavioral patterns to hers, becoming a proper Marie Adler roleplayer.

I felt like and hoped that doing so might help me notice something that could breathe life into her again.

A year had passed since then, and I'd yet to draw her story's continuation.

However, I could feel her breathing every moment I spent in Infinite Dendrogram.

That alone was enough reason for me to stay here.

◇◇◇

Journalist, Marie Adler

"Nhh..." The princess stretched. "It's been so long since I had such an enjoyable time."

"That's good to know," I said.

After I'd drawn her, she'd continued to enjoy the many activities available in this plaza. Enjoying the food that she was likely unfamiliar with and the activities she never got to do, the girl had obviously had a very good time. Now, she was sitting on a bench while licking a candy that had the shape of a cute animal.

Why are the stalls here so much like the ones in Japanese fairs? I casually wondered.

"Gideon really is a lively city," she said. "Count Brittis was telling the truth."

"Count Brittis?" I asked.

"Y es. He often talks to me about how fun Gideon is."

"Oh?" Shady. "Well, he's not wrong," I said. "As you probably already know — or have heard from him — Gideon is quite a feature-plenty city."

It was a popular center for trade with the nearby nations of Legendaria and Caldina. The western port city was just a few days away on foot. Its arenas also gave it a powerful tourist industry, making a popular resort city for both rich tians and Masters.

Also, when it came to the kingdom's main cities, Gideon was the one that was farthest away from the northern country of Dryfe, so there was little fear of them endangering these parts.

"It's probably the most prosperous city in the kingdom," I concluded.

"Y es," said the princess. "Even the people's faces are more cheerful than in the capital."

Does she manage such escapes in Altea, too? I asked myself.

Seemingly remembering the state of the capital, the princess suddenly looked a bit down.

The people there had to live in constant fear of war, and the recent PK incident that had resulted in the complete immolation of Noz Forest surely hadn't helped at all...

"My heart hurts a bit," I muttered.

"Hm? What's wrong, Marie? Do you feel ill?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine. Also, you seem to be thinking about the capital's people, but I don't believe there's any need to worry. They should cheer up sooner than later. That's what the castle's people are working for, right?"

"...Y ou're right! I'm sure my sister will take care of it all!"

"Indeed she will."

...Not like I believe that, I thought.

A good governing body was enough only when there were no international relationships to consider. When a country had a very clear enemy, not even the greatest ruler could do anything to take care of the people's fears.

I simply didn't have the heart to tell her that the capital's people's woes would continue for a long time. Thus, I told a comforting lie, and considering that it cheered her up, I was confident that I'd done the right thing.

"I will do all I can to help my sister in her work!" she declared.

"Excellent. Do your best, princess," I said.

"Mrrgh."

Oh? Why did she suddenly turn sulky? I thought. "Is anything wrong, princess?"

"That's what's wrong!"

"By 'that,' you mean...?"

"Y ou've been calling me nothing but 'princess' for a while now! It makes you feel de...distant!"

"Distant," huh? I thought. Well, I guess avoiding her name and calling her just by her position wasn't very friendly. Also, the word "distant" was more fitting than she'd ever imagined. After all, I was full of lies.

"Very well. I'll call you 'Ellie.'"

She said nothing.

Oh? Why the silence? Did I close too much distance?

"Ellie," she muttered.

"Don't like it?" I asked.

"No! I love it! From now on, I am Ellie!"

So she likes it. "Good to know, Ellie."

"Heh heh."

My, what an adorable smile. I wanted to take her home, rub my cheeks on hers, and sleep with her.

All right, no no no no. Not only would that be cause for concern, it would also be a kidnapping of an important individual.

Remembering that she was important made me curious about something.

"By the way, Ellie, you said that you escaped the place you were staying at," I said. "Why are you in Gideon, in the first place?"

"To enjoy it, of course!" she answered proudly.

"Sorry. Poor wording on my part. I meant the official business." I was confident that I already knew the answer, but it didn't hurt to confirm.

"Oh, I came here to observe the arena event tomorrow."

Sure enough, it was The Clash of the Superiors. The event was an absolute first, after all. It was only natural for royalty to come in and make it even more prestigious.

"My elder sister should come tomorrow, too," she added.

"...Eh? Elder sister?"

"Indeed."

The elder sister of Ellie — second princess of the Kingdom of Altar. The only person that could be was the first princess and the current acting ruler of the country, Altimia A. Altar.

It didn't make sense. After all, a single member of royalty was more than enough to give an event prestige.

...Is there something more? I thought.

"So you and your sister entered Gideon separately, huh?" I asked.

"I acted as her representative yesterday. I met Count Gideon and we made preparations for tomorrow's banquet. It was very hard!"

I would prefer it if they didn't overwork such a little girl. However, that was probably part being royalty, so I couldn't really say much.

"That's why I'm very glad I got a chance to relax and enjoy myself today!"

"Well, and I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself, Ellie... Oh, I have something to take care of. May we go?"

"We may! I had enough fun here in the plaza."

I took Ellie's hand, helped her stand up, disposed of the stick from her candy, and began walking away. While doing so, I looked at one of the city lights — specifically, the image reflected on its metallic surface.

"We're being followed by... three people," I muttered.

"Did you say something?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, never mind, Ellie." After leaving the plaza, we entered Gideon's DIN office.

DIN, Dendrogram Information Network, was one of the news companies of the continent. Just like Knights got their job from the kingdom's knight orders and like Ninjas or Onmitsu got theirs from Tenchi's shinobi villages, Journalists got their job by becoming associated with one of the many mass media companies all over the world.

The protagonist of my manga, Marie Adler, was a journalist, so it had already been decided that I would take this job.

The news company I decided to join was DIN. It wasn't the biggest in the industry, but it was notable for having offices in every important city of each country. Then there was the fact that it also acted as an information peddler without borders, which I liked because it was very "manga-like."

Naturally, DIN had a branch office here in Gideon, as well. In fact,

I had found out about the scalper that sold tickets for tomorrow's event by asking my colleagues here.

By the way, every single Master working for DIN was treated as a special correspondent. After all, we could travel all over the place.

I had started in Tenchi, and I'd already been to Granvaloa, Huang He, and Caldina before ending up here in Altar.

We Masters made great special correspondents because we had the dynamism, fighting ability and — most importantly — the power to survive after getting the required information.

Of course, due to the skill "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" preventing all combat action, pure Journalists had extremely high death rates.

However, just like Paladin's Aegis, it was the type of skill that only worked while having a main job from that grouping, making it perfectly possible to fight after nullifying it by switching to a job from another grouping.

That was why many Journalist Masters chose to travel after switching to another job, changing back to Journalist to do the relevant work and then switching to a fighting job when traveling again.

The problem with that was the fact that job switching could only be done at save points, which only existed at towns and cities.

Sure, there was also the option of using Job Crystals, which allowed the user to instantly change their main job no matter where they were, but they were both expensive and disappeared after one use.

There were pluses and minuses to both staying a Journalist and constantly switching jobs. That was why I'd chosen neither.

But enough about that.

Once we entered the office, Ellie looked like an elementary schooler that had just gone through an educational field trip. Well, not like anyone could tell, considering that I'd had her wear a mask. Many of my fellow Journalists had skills that allowed them to see through Illusion's visual trickery and Disguise's fake stats, so I did it to make sure no one realized who she was.

"I didn't know news companies were so active," she commented.

"They're really busy with the preparations for tomorrow's event," I said. "Even I got a job."

Once I thanked them for telling me about the scalper, they'd given me many various data devices. They'd wanted me to make the best of my special seat and get the best recordings I could.

Some might think it unnecessary, considering they'd reserved the media seats, but I could fully understand wanting to have shots from many different angles. It was especially important in fighting matches. I used many such photos as references when drawing my manga.

We didn't stay in the office for too long. I merely said hi, asked for two sets of information, and left.

◇

The information I got was everything concerning two noble families.

The first family was the rulers of Gideon: the Gideons. The current head of the family, Count Aschbarray Gideon, was a fifteen-year-old youth.

He'd inherited his position from his late father, who had lost his life to an illness about two months ago. However, his coming-of-age ceremony had been only a month ago, so there was a bit of a lag until he officially inherited the title and became acknowledged as the count.

Speaking of coming-of-age, the Kingdom of Altar had a custom where the ones to be sent to war weren't the current heads of noble families, but their heirs. Many would assume that it should've been the other way around, but apparently, they believed that the ones who lived through such pain and trials were the ones who were truly worthy of becoming the nobles of the next generation.

However, the war had happened half a year ago, when Aschbarray

hadn't been of age, so he'd ended up avoiding having to participate in it. The military officer the Gideon family had sent to represent him had died in the war, so it was safe to say that the Count was quite lucky.

Still, it wasn't a bed of roses for him.

The city of Gideon was still being terrorized by serial kidnappings at the hands of a group known as the "Gouz-Maise Gang." They had been happening since the rule of the previous count, and even after Aschbarray took over, it still didn't seem like it would be taken care of anytime soon.

The continuation of this terror made the people question the young count's ability to manage his lands and keep the peace. Apparently, the more critical nobles were talking about leaving the rule to someone else.

However, the first princess and the nobles who had a say in national politics trusted Gideon's name and had no intention of relieving him of his duties. That might change if the Gouz-Maise Gang continued its activities for longer than they could tolerate, but for all we knew, someone could just pop out of nowhere and simply take care of them.

In any case, the other family was the one bearing the name "Brittis." They ruled the area between Gideon and the port city facing the West Sea. The head of the family was Count Alzar Brittis. Though sixty years of age, he was still in good health.

Alzar had told Ellie about how fun Gideon was, but he had actually been on bad terms with the Gideon family ever since their previous generation.

They simply didn't get along. There were many reasons for that, one of which was the fact that, despite having similar amounts of land, the Gideons were far more influential simply because they had the duel city.

That was enough for me to find the situation suspicious.

It was odd that Count Brittis — who supposedly hated the Gideons

— had told Ellie about how fun the city was. Most people wouldn't have anything good to say about those they hated, not to mention that a list of bad things about Gideon could have been pretty lengthy. And yet, Count Brittis had only told her the good things. That was enough reason to believe that he'd intended for her to become interested, walk out, and see for herself. I had my guesses, but I still wasn't confident about why he'd done that.

There was even more interesting info about him.

While getting up there in years, Count Brittis had had his first son. The man was an extremely doting parent and loved his son very dearly. Once his son came of age and became his official heir, he had naturally become excited about what the boy would become in the future.

Indeed, his son had gone through his coming of age ceremony. It had happened before the war half a year ago.

Following the custom, the son went to war to represent his father.

Good father that he was, Count Brittis spared no expense to give him the soldiers he needed to come back in good health. He also did some political maneuvering to have his son's army fight alongside the kingdom's strongest: the Knights of the Royal Guard. All so he would come back to him in good health.

And, after all he did for his son, all that Count Brittis got in return was a right hand with the family's crest on it.

Hell General, Logan Goddhart.

A Master sitting at the top of Dryfe Imperium's rankings, infamous for commanding numerous devils.

During the war, he had focused only on killing the Royal Guard's

commander.

Naturally, the Brittis army, positioned near the Royal Guard, had been overwhelmed by the three thousand or so man-eating devils who had left barely any identifiable corpses. Thus, Count Brittis had lost his only heir — his beloved son.

The tragedy didn't end there, for not only had he spent great quantities of funds to gather the soldiers for the war, he also had to pay condolence money for those who'd lost their loved ones. To top it all off, the Brittis County got hit with a plague, causing the count to use the very last of his riches to prevent it from spreading all over the kingdom.

Though his efforts had been successful, they'd come at the cost of his county's bankruptcy. Count Brittis had bowed before the royal family and relinquished his territory to them. When managing a territory became difficult, it was rarely impossible to continue it, but I couldn't deny that the path to recovery would normally be harsh on the people.

Anyway, Count Brittis hadn't gone with that option. That could either have been because he wished to save his people by putting them under the royal family's wing or because — having lost his heir — he simply didn't have any attachment to his lands anymore.

Thus, Count Brittis became a noble without land, and he now worked at the royal palace as a common civil official.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind these days.

◇

"I must say, I'm impressed by the detail of their info on these nobles," I muttered to myself.

As expected of a news company. They sure know their bigwigs, I thought.

Anyway, all this info gave me a better grasp of the full picture. Still, if things really were as I assumed them to be, the plan really lacked thoroughness. It required a great bit of luck to produce the results he seemed to want.

"Ellie, what kind of person is Count Brittis?" I asked.

"Count Brittis? He's very diligent," she answered.

Diligent, huh? I thought.

"However, he sometimes seems to be very lonely," she added.

"Lonely?"

"I'm lonely, too, so I can see it," said Ellie. Her face fell, and she looked into the distance... in the direction of the capital.

"I have an elder and a younger sister," she continued.

"Y es, I'm aware."

"They both have it very difficult."

I had heard that her elder sister — first princess Altimia — was overwhelmed by her work as acting ruler, while the younger sister — third princess Theresia — was very sickly and could only live in a certain sterilized environment they had.

"My elder sister is much older than me, while Theresia is always in bed. We've never had a chance to play as sisters, and this past six months... we haven't even spent time as a family." Ellie breathed a silent sigh before continuing. "I always felt so lonely. I was no longer sure if I was even loved."

"Ellie..."

Before meeting her today, I'd believed that the second princess was a selfish little girl. Elizabeth S. Altar was said to be whimsical, excessively vigorous, really insolent, and so full of curiosity that it was

troubling.

That wasn't really wrong. After all, she had escaped the place she was staying at just to go sightseeing around Gideon, completely neglecting to take any retinue with her. However, her actions could have been spurred by the loneliness caused by not having any family time with her sisters anymore.

"Today, however, I was very happy!" she burst out. "I had lots of fun playing with you, Marie! This was my first time partaking in such activities!" Ellie grabbed my hand in both of hers and gave me a smile reminiscent of a Sun peeking out from behind the darkest clouds.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," I said.

"I enjoyed it very much! It was a wonderful time! Like from my magic picture books! However..." She cast her eyes down and momentarily fell silent. "However... this magical time is ending."

Ellie let go of my hand and turned her back to me.

"I think I will go back now."

"Are you satisfied, Ellie?" I asked.

"Very! Thanks to you helping me cheer up, I will be able to do my duties better." Still turning away from me, Ellie put her hands together. "Someday, when I become really good at my duties, I will take over for my elder sister and give her some time to rest!" she said before turning around and giving me a full smile. "Then, she and I will walk around Gideon, just like we did today!"

Albeit filled with determination, Ellie's words displayed nothing but the dream of a little child. Considering her and her sister's positions, it was really questionable that it could come true. However...

"Great. I'm sure you'll be able to do that."

That wasn't a lie, but my very own desire.

From the very bottom of my heart, I wished for this pure girl's dream to come true.

That was why I decided to help her.

◆◆◆

???

"The target and the accompanying person are on the move. Likely heading for Count Gideon's residence in the first district... the place she is staying at."

"Our Magic Cameras got them on record. We have enough 'proof' to frame that Master as the culprit. The time is right."

"Inform the parties responsible for spreading false information all over the city. Once we gather, we will assassinate the second princess of the Kingdom of Altar — Elizabeth S. Altar."