Log Horizon - Volume 10 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: Prince of Maihama 

1 
“Isn’t this town sorta starting to look like Akiba?” 
“We Adventurers must be influencing it.” 
“You think that’s what it is?” 
Hearing Lezarik’s explanation, Isaac folded his arms and cocked his head. 
The town of Maihama, which abutted the spring, was bursting with energy. The wind was still cold in the mornings and evenings, but these days it felt warm when the sun was out, and the townspeople and the shops had grown more cheerful. 
Well, that was fine; it was a good thing. The Adventurers had influenced the town in many ways, both tangibly and intangibly, and it was probably true that it had generated energy. However, that “we Adventurers” bothered him. 
Calasin turned back, and Isaac glared at him steadily. 
“What’s the look for? It isn’t all Shopping District 8’s fault.” 
“It’s your fault.” 
That was true. 
The words on the banner over there read, BARGAIN PRICE—INARI -ZUSHI BOX LUNCHES, and the one next to it said, BIDET TOILET SEATS MADE HERE. Akiba-made hoes and plows were the reason the shops on the broad avenue were overflowing with foodstuffs. After all, plain farming tools wouldn’t have been imbued with magic. 
But even if that was understandable, the 1/6 FIGURE—PRINCESS RAYNESIA (OUTING VERSION) and the 1/6 FIGURE—PRINCESS RAYNESIA (WINTER ROSE VERSION) were clearly the fault of Calasin’s Shopping District 8. 
Isaac wanted no part in that “we.” It was “you.” 
Even though he’d glared at Calasin, the guy was still talking cheerfully: “It sure is lively, isn’t it? That’s great to see. What do you think, Master Iselus?” 
The small boy who was walking with Calasin, in front of Isaac, was Iselus El Aldo Cowen. He was Raynesia’s little brother, which made him a noble of Maihama. He was only eight years old, and he was still as small and innocent as one would expect from a child that age. Meanwhile, Isaac didn’t know anything about kids. All he knew was, at that age, Iselus would be about ready to start elementary school… Or were kids starting elementary school younger than that? 
“Grandfather says that, in the coming era, it will be important for People of the Earth to incorporate the Adventurers’ culture.” 
For all that, he was terribly serious, and the things he said were oddly mature, which made him really hard to deal with. 
No matter what Isaac did, when he talked with Iselus, the doubt Was I like that when I was eight? welled up inside him. 
“…Why are you tagging along?” 
“I want to know about the Adventurers, like my elder sister. Please tell me all you can.” 
He’d heard this several times before. 
Apparently, this kid Iselus (he almost thought “this brat” but stopped himself. Lezarik had gotten terribly mad at him and told him that speaking like that would be bad for the boy’s education) was interested in swords and knights and combat. It was the only aspect of the kid that was actually childlike. 
When Isaac was training, he sometimes came over and scampered around his feet. The way he looked up with those eyes of his, like large marbles, made him impossible to handle. The big sister was a luxurious cat type, but the little brother was a lapdog type. He couldn’t deal with him. 
“Come, Isaac the Young. Personal security work is one of our duties as well.” 
“Pain in the butt…” 
“Wah-ha-ha. You’ve tired yourself out pretty thoroughly again. Men who like child-rearing get high ratings, Isaac.” 
“That ain’t my thing.” 
But apparently, he wasn’t going to get away with that. 
As Lezarik had said, guarding the Cowen family was one of the requests Isaac and his group had undertaken. Training Maihama’s Glass Greaves, and guard duty. Those were the requests. Shiroe hadn’t said which request was the main one, and Isaac hadn’t asked. Up until he’d come to Maihama, he’d thought it would be an easy mission. 
Even now, he didn’t think the difficulty level had gone up. Adventurers had far greater combat abilities than the People of the Earth, and although Isaac’s companions might be dumb, they were skilled. They’d probably manage both training and guard duty. However, “difficulty” and “complexity” weren’t the same thing. 
He didn’t think it was hard, but he did think it was complicated. Unlike a game quest, it didn’t have an easy-to-understand display: “SUCCESSFULLY PROTECT WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED TO GUARD FOR THREE DAYS! (0/3).” And that wasn’t all. There probably weren’t any relationships you could easily pigeonhole as “just work” in this world, the way there had been in the game. After all, it wasn’t a game anymore; it was another world. Isaac remembered the solemn, bespectacled guy who’d said those lines. 
Iselus, the main factor behind the annoyance, started walking with the springy motion unique to children; he seemed to be in high spirits. Probably due to his good upbringing, he hadn’t broken into a run. He was practically marching, though. He was so cheerful that, to Isaac, it looked like he was playing. In other words, it was embarrassing. 
“This is good. It’ll strengthen the relationship between Akiba and Maihama. Besides, eventually, that boy will be the lord.” 
“Hey, hold up. We don’t know that yet.” 
“True, it won’t be for a while. However, the future is something you plan for in advance, no?” 
Iselus was visiting a textiles store, and Lezarik and the maids had gone with him. Isaac had no intention of tagging along, so he’d folded his arms and was watching them when Calasin spoke to him. 
Well, they said he was the successor and the first grandson, so sure, he might end up being the lord. If Calasin said so, there was a good possibility that would be the case. However, the word lord didn’t really seem to fit the little kid who was listening to the shop owner’s explanation. 
“…Yeah, well, maybe,” Isaac answered morosely. 
“What you’re saying is entirely correct, too, Isaac. Power relationships in Yamato are unstable. We don’t know what the future will bring. Westlande is threatening war, and there are reports of mysterious monsters. Akiba has troubles, too, internally. And actually, Shiroe’s reported that we may have found a clue regarding how to get back home.” 
“Huhn.” Isaac gave a noncommittal response. 
“What’s this? You’re not homesick?” 
“I’ve never cared about places or houses and stuff. Home is where my comrades are. I’ve got lots of those right here with me now. I’ll think about trouble when it shows up in person.” 
Frankly, if trouble showed up in front of him, Isaac’s policy was to just pick a problem and eat his way through it, so he had no intention of doing any thinking. In the first place, “thinking” was a move for guys who could come up with decent answers that way, and Isaac wasn’t one of them. On the contrary, he thought it was fine if he made an on-the-spot call and chose the best option when the time came. 
After all, a lottery winner could think about what to do with the money after collecting the prize. 
Thinking about what would happen if they returned now, or what he’d do after he got back, was counting his chickens before they whatevered. 
“That’s pretty manly of you. Just what I’d expect from that eighty percent.” 
“What about you, playboy? Do you want to go back?” 
Those were Isaac’s personal thoughts, though, and he wasn’t denying other people’s desire to go home. After all, it wasn’t as if he didn’t understand. That said, he’d only asked Calasin that question on a whim. Iselus was listening to the shop owner’s detailed explanation of a dyeing technique that had recently been imported from Akiba. As a result, Isaac was bored, standing there in the road. That was the only reason. 

“Yes, a little. There are a few girls I’d promised to take out to dinner over there.” 
Still, the answer he received was so shallow that asking had been a complete waste of time. 
“I’m real close to actually respecting you,” Isaac replied sarcastically. 
Calasin was just about as carefree as he looked; in response to Isaac’s threat, he gave a thoughtless smile and began making excuses. 
“If I don’t get my feelings about it in order, I’m likely to fall to pieces when we actually do get to go back, you know? I’m talking myself around so that I’ll be all right no matter which way things go.” 
“Hmm. Can you get stuff like that in order?” 
“Well, of course. Even if we do get back, though, I’ll probably quit my job.” 
“What, seriously? Weren’t you at some fancy ad agency?” 
This was information he’d heard when they’d disclosed their situations to each other over the course of several parties. The difference between their respective circumstances had been so great that they’d cracked up. He’d said he worked a bottom-rung job in a big building in Akasaka or somewhere like that. 
“Yes, but…now that I’ve tried out my own skills here, I can’t very well go back, can I? I’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to persuade people and work together and do business on my own. Drafting flimsy PowerPoint proposals and trimming budgets would just be a chore after that; I couldn’t get fired up about it. Do you think this world has poisoned me?” 
Isaac gazed at Calasin steadily. 
He was still smiling foolishly, but as he acknowledged and returned Isaac’s look, his expression was somehow impudent. 
Even the flashy Young Gent had a few manly bones in his body, then. Isaac was impressed. To be honest, he didn’t know anything about ad agencies or PowerPoint, whatever that was, but Calasin probably meant he was going independent. This guy was saying he was stepping out from under that big roof—yeah, leaving the protection of the “first section market” or whatever it was called and taking a gamble. 
There was something entertaining about that, and Isaac thumped him on the back with all his might. “Sounds like a plan,” he told him. 
Calasin choked and coughed. “Quit messing with me. What are those blazing eyes of yours, you meathead? Are you a primitive gorilla?!” he asked with a laugh. Even when Calasin cussed people out, it sounded like he was playing around. 
“Ah— Hey!” 
Abruptly, Isaac stepped forward. 
While their attention was elsewhere, Iselus had moved on to the next store. He gazed at the items on display in the storefront with shining eyes, and before long, he’d picked up a sword. It was more of a dagger than a short sword, but paired with Iselus’s hundred-centimeter height, it looked large and impressive. 
It probably seemed that way to Iselus, too. The dagger’s blade was about fifteen centimeters long, and he examined it closely. 
“This is very dashing.” 
Iselus wore clothes suitable for the child of aristocrats. They weren’t showy in terms of Maihama’s culture, but compared with what the common people wore, even the quality of the cloth was different. The plump shopkeeper had probably seen this and understood that he’d be a good customer: He bolted out of the depths of the shop. Disgusted, Isaac stopped him with the palm of his hand, shutting him up. 
“Kid, that sword’s nothing but shiny. It’s completely useless! Leza, you too. Stop him, wouldja?” 
“You see, Master Iselus? Isaac the Young says he’ll lend you his expert judgment.” 
“!! Dammit. You people…” 
Lezarik must have known and been watching the whole time, smirking to himself. Aiming a kick at his shin (Lezarik was wearing plate-armor greaves, so something on that level wouldn’t even hurt), he took the dagger from Iselus. 
The boy gave a disappointed sigh. “Aw…” 
He really was a child. He must idolize stuff like this. 
That was something Isaac understood, too. If he’d said his heart hadn’t beat faster at the weight of armor and the gleam of heavy swords when the Catastrophe brought him here, he would’ve been lying. It had been the same way when he’d ridden his motorcycle around. Steering a big hunk of iron wherever you wanted got people all excited, no matter how old they were. On top of that, this was an elementary-school-aged kid. He wouldn’t be surprised if Iselus got so worked up that he gave himself a nosebleed. 
“Fine, okay. Here, get this one.” 
“…But it’s… It’s expensive.” 
With no help for it, he’d picked out a hunting dagger for him. Iselus had looked delighted, but then his face fell. When he looked at the price, yeah, compared with the earlier, gaudy dagger, there were a couple more zeros. That was the difference between something the People of the Earth had made and an article from Akiba. Not only that, but for being in a weapons shop on this broad avenue, the dagger Isaac had picked out had pretty good properties. 
“Well, yeah: It’s one of Tatara’s mass-produced numbers. If you’re not interested, that’s fine,” Isaac said. 
He had no intention of forcing him to take it, but although Iselus had turned his back on it promptly, Isaac had seen that he regretted it, just a little. Even Isaac thought it was true that Iselus was intelligent, brave, and a good kid. However, he was still only eight years old. It was impossible for him to keep his feelings out of his eyes and the way he walked. 
Isaac shrugged, and Calasin spoke to him: “In that case, Master Iselus, Isaac will pick one out for you one of these days. Won’t you, Isaac the Young?” The words sounded contrived; he’d meant for the boy, who’d turned his back, to hear them. 
Iselus turned around again, and Calasin spoke to him, his face perfectly composed. 
“It will be a present, Master Iselus. Don’t stand on ceremony now, all right? I’ve started wanting to do something aristocratic myself, that’s all. Yes, I’m playing at being a noble. Isaac the Young is more than willing as well. It’s the dependability of merchants, you see.” 
Nah, I’m not into this at all, you pain in the butt, Isaac thought. 
Yet, Calasin looked nonchalant. True, winks did go well with that perfectly unsarcastic smile, but even so. This guy was incredibly slippery and frivolous. 
“Well, we’ll have him pick it out next time. We’ll get a reward for the gorilla, too, while we’re at it. Now then, let’s continue the inspection. The sun’s still high.” 
Iselus, who was elated, broke into a run. On reflex, Isaac caught him by the back of his collar. The boy didn’t weigh much, and his shoes kicked in midair as Isaac hoisted him off the ground like a puppy. 
“Don’t start running just because your blood pressure’s gone up. What’re you, a kid?” 
“Erm, yes, actually, he is a kid.” 
“That’s indeed a child.” 
Calasin and Lezarik answered respectively, but Isaac ignored them and set Iselus on his own shoulders. 
“It’s so high!” the boy exclaimed, sounding deeply moved. 
Yeah, it probably is high, Isaac thought. 
It was easier to carry their ward around on his shoulders than have him running wild all over the place. And that made Isaac realize something: When parents carried their children or pushed them in strollers on their days off, they weren’t being overprotective. It was just that letting the kids free-range used up a lot of unnecessary energy, and it was rough. 
Feeling resigned, Isaac started walking. 
Guard duty really was a pain. 
But, well, as far as vacation day walks went, this wasn’t bad.