Log Horizon - Volume 9 - Chapter 1.3

3 
“Hey. You. If you sleep out here, you’ll mess up your stomach.” 
All of this was why, when he heard those words, he thought it was some kind of joke. 
Plus she had a dynamite figure—something just short of a fantasy. 
A black-haired woman stood above him. 
In what had become an almost unconscious habit, Leonardo checked her status. 
Her name was… It looked like “Kanami.” 
Her class was Monk. Level 90. 
She had Asian features, and her hair was pulled back into a thick braid. Her eyes brimmed with curiosity, and her lips seemed vaguely amused; they made her look young, and he couldn’t immediately figure out her age. After all, people said Asians tended to look younger for their ages than Westerners like himself. Her equipment was light, as you’d expect in a game world, and her risqué outfit showcased her feminine charms with abandon. 
In DC, she might have gotten hauled in and admonished, but for the San Fran coast, she was probably still in the permissible range. When his thoughts had gone that far, Leonardo shook his head. That stuff was common sense from back on Earth. 
At any rate, she was a cute beauty with a great figure. All the women in this world were beautiful, but this girl also had an energetic, musical voice, and just from the few words she’d spoken, he sensed a charm that was more than skin-deep. 
“Hey!” 
Leonardo had been planning to introduce himself, but he yelled involuntarily. 
He’d intended to tell her about the temple but had realized he was too late. 
The temple’s detection area covered the entire ruined town. 
That meant this woman had already fallen into its clutches. 
“What?” 
“Uh, nothing. Sorry for yelling. I’m Leonardo. I’m an Adventurer from the North American server.” 
“Hmm. I’m Kanami.” 
Saying this, the woman shook Leonardo’s hand, and he got to his feet. 
Once their eyes were on roughly the same level, he realized that Kanami was about 170 centimeters tall—taller than Leonardo. He didn’t have much confidence in his height, and this sort of thing never made him happy. 
 

* * * 
“You came here from the North American server to take a nap? You’re pretty awesome.” 
“Uh, no. That wasn’t it…but… Come to think of it, how did you get into these ruins?” Leonardo asked. 
“Hmm? I just walked in.” 
Reflexively, he glanced at the distant end of the broad avenue. 
His eyesight had been enhanced through high-level correction, and he could make out a slight, wavering warp in the landscape of the boundary region on the outskirts of town. His expectations had been betrayed. 
In short, those Daylight Shades didn’t attack anyone who came in from the outside. They trapped Adventurers inside, then annihilated them. 
Apparently, it was that kind of event. 
“I want you to listen to what I’m about to say without getting too bummed out, or panicking, or taking it out on me.” 
“Hmm?” 
Braid swinging, Kanami turned her large black eyes on Leonardo. Having those mysterious Eastern eyes gazing at him disconcerted the man, but meeting this colleague had been a minor miracle, and he didn’t want to shock her, so he chose his words carefully as he went on. 
“Umm, see, from what I can tell, these ruins are currently caught up in an event.” 
“An event?” 
“Yeah. A raid event, at that.” 
“Ooooh!” 
Kanami’s eyes sparkled in obvious delight. 
Leonardo didn’t think it was anything to be happy about, and he lowered his voice and continued. 
“The situation’s hopeless. There’s a temple in this town. In other words, the moment you stepped in here, um, Miz Kanami, you also got…” 
“Registered?” 
“Yeah. And obviously…” 
“We can’t get away by resurrecting or using the Call of Home spell?” 
“Right. You catch on fast. That’s a huge help.” 
“Okay, great! I got it! I’m all fired up!!” 
Kanami’s naïve response bewildered Leonardo. 
Did the woman really understand? 
It looked as if she was just getting excited over the word raid. 
Was it possible she was a newbie? 
In Elder Tales, leveling up wasn’t that hard. Quests were as abundant as an enormous Manchu Han Imperial Feast and generously distributed across all level demographics, so if you chased after them, your level would practically rise on its own. 
The game itself boasted a long history, and that meant the difference between veteran players and new players was a serious problem. That difference was particularly noticeable in levels, and it was an element that kept gamers from playing together. Things such as the Coach System had been added with that in mind, but the quickest way to solve the fundamental problem was to eliminate the level difference between players. 
To that end, the Elder Tales administrators had set a policy of helping new players to level up. 
In other words, even for newbies, it wasn’t very difficult to grow to level 90, the maximum level. Ordinary players could reach level 90 in less than a hundred hours. 
On the other hand, it wasn’t easy to get a complete set of equipment suitable for a level-90 player. It took ages to improve all your special skills to esoteric-class and to acquire a full array of treasure-class items. 
Kanami’s equipment was nothing for a level-90 player to be embarrassed about, but unlike Leonardo’s, its specs weren’t hard-core. From the look of her gear, Kanami probably hadn’t been playing for very long. 
“Do you really get it? This town is surrounded, and we’re probably not gonna be able to get away.” 
“Huh? Why not?” 
Kanami asked the question as if the idea completely mystified her. As she tilted her head, the word blank suited her expression perfectly. 
“Well, I mean, it’s a raid… Oh! I see. You’re Chinese?” 
Catching on, Leonardo felt relieved. 
He was from the North American server, and he couldn’t contact his friends, but if Kanami was from the Chinese server, it was very likely that she’d be able to get in touch with hers. The post-Catastrophe world was filled with chaos and malice, so there was no telling whether any of her friends would come to a place this remote to rescue her, but even so, it was much better than not being able to contact them at all. 
If this was level-50 full raid content, meant for twenty-four players, then ten level-90 Adventurers with ordinary equipment would probably be able to break through it. Even Leonardo thought that, if there’d been five or six of him, they’d at least have managed to run away. 
“What are you talking about? I’m Japanese. I live in Rome. On the Western European server!” 
However, Kanami’s words shattered Leonardo’s hopes. The automatic translation system was too good, and because it translated everything perfectly, he’d completely failed to notice. 
“Then…” 
“Never mind. Why are you wearing that?” 
Leonardo shook his head a few times before answering Kanami’s question. 

“No skin off your nose, is it? It’s a hobby.” 
As a matter of fact, he was very used to hearing that question. 
“What is it?” 
“A frog.” 
For that reason, Leonardo was able to answer even rude questions with the slickest attitude imaginable: What are you dressed as? A frog. What does it stand for? It stands for a frog. Why is it wearing a red mask that only hides the area around its eyes? Because it’s a ninja. 
Why a frog? Why a ninja? 
Don’t be ridiculous. 
Because it’s cooler that way. Obviously. 
“Wow, you… You’re fantastic! Fantastic!” 
However, although ordinary people were usually completely disgusted by his responses, Kanami’s reaction was different. 
“That’s part of the costume headgear series, isn’t it?! It’s less a frog than a fuhrahhg, huh!!” 
He looked funny dressed as a comic book character, possibly even absurd, but as Kanami took several more good looks at him, smiling brightly, she seemed delighted. Getting laughed at this much should have made him feel insulted, but although Leonardo was taken aback, he felt no anger. 
This was probably because, as Kanami grinned, there was absolutely no derision or contempt in what she said. The sense that she was simply intrigued and entertained came through loud and clear. For that reason, although Leonardo’s twin swords had routed many PKs and insolent individuals he didn’t like, for once, they kept their silence. 
“What I look like shouldn’t be a problem.” 
“Well, but I mean— It’s just awesome!” 
“Lemme alone.” 
“C’mon, c’mon! Pose with your sword! Show me, show me!” 
“I’ll fillet you.” 
“S-so cooool! That’s super-cute!! I want to pet you!” 
Laughing brightly, Kanami hugged him. On top of Leonardo’s leather armor—which he’d coordinated in green—and his exclusive Assassin’s tunic, he found a soft body that smelled like young grass clinging to him. 
“Uh, a little modesty?! Control yourself, would you?!” 
“Wow! You’re kinda great!” 
“What’s ‘great’?!” 
“Come with us!” 
Huh? 
“We’re headed for Japan. It’s a long way, you know? We’re getting pretty bored. So, listen, want to come with? Besides, if you nap in a place like this, you’ll just mess up your tum-tum.” 
Why Japan? 
Wait, no, I wasn’t napping. 
Never mind that, didn’t she get the part about not being able to get out of here? 
That’s not it. 
Leonardo’s thoughts were on the verge of overloading, and he pulled them together. 
Us. This lovely girl, who was probably about the same age as Leonardo, had just said us. 
“You’ve got friends here?!” 
“Yep. Oh, right. Since you’re coming with us, I’ll introduce you.” 
In the end, Leonardo’s objection—No, hold it, I didn’t say I’d go with you yet—disappeared without so much as a murmur. 
Although it probably wasn’t because they’d heard what Kanami said, a man and woman had come over the rubble of the ruins, and the man at least was so famous that even Leonardo recognized him. 
“Mistress Kanami. I see you’ve found a survivor. Hmm… Your appearance is quite bizarre, but you look like a seasoned Adventurer. I’m glad to make your acquaintance.” 
This young man, whose lips were curved up in a charming smile, and who was so handsome it made you want to crack a joke on reflex, was Elias Hackblade. 
“Elias Hackblade…” 
“Ah. You know me? My thanks, Sir Adventurer.” 
Elias didn’t seem to have any qualms about Leonardo’s cosplay gear. He smiled good-naturedly and held out his hand for a handshake. 
Elias Hackblade. 
He was one of the handful of people who were globally famous in the world of Elder Tales. 
He was a hero affiliated with the Knights of the Red Branch, one of the thirteen global chivalric orders that were said to keep the peace around the world. He was a Blademancer and a Blue-Blood Ancient. 
Ancients were one of the game elements that had existed since this world was just an MMO known as Elder Tales. Most of the NPCs—in other words, the game characters who weren’t players and who filled supporting roles—were known as People of the Earth. 
Townspeople and nobles, victims and Adventurer clients: In most cases, all of these were People of the Earth. 
In this world, People of the Earth were designed to be “less” than Adventurers in a variety of ways. 
By doing battle again and again, Adventurers grew rapidly, and their levels rose. Ultimately, they gained vast combat abilities and were able to fight dragons or giants. 
Even if they were lethally wounded, instead of dying completely, they returned to the temple and were resurrected, so it was possible to consider them immortal. 
However, this wasn’t true for the People of the Earth. 
An overwhelming majority of them had levels in the single digits, and if they died, they didn’t revive. After all, you didn’t need levels or combat abilities for “game functions,” such as working at the bank or running an inn. 
In addition, since this was a game, the protagonists of the adventure had to be the players—the Adventurers. The idea of journeying in another world that was swarming with villagers who were stronger than the players was enough to give anybody chills. 
The People of the Earth were weak because they had been designed that way, due to a variety of interconnected elements like these. However, from the perspective of the game’s story, when it came to building drama or constructing quests, it would be inconvenient if all NPCs had zero combat ability. 
Of course, if the NPCs stole the Adventurers’ part of the action, they’d be stealing the thunder. However, sometimes people wanted scenes where NPCs and Adventurers fought shoulder to shoulder. 
It was probably these circumstances that had given rise to the beings known as Ancients. 
In short, Ancients were exceptional NPCs. 
They had high combat abilities, and not only were they the Adventurers’ equals, they occasionally surpassed them. They appeared in a variety of quests; sometimes they saved Adventurers, and sometimes they asked Adventurers for help. 
As in all RPGs, in Elder Tales, the scale of adventures expanded, growing from trivial, low-level quests to high-level conspiracies involving nations or whole regions. 
On low-level adventures, the best you could hope for was guarding a village or hamlet from wolves or goblins. While they were on adventures like those, no Adventurer would ever get the chance to interact with an Ancient. 
However, as Adventurers’ levels rose and they began to face invading evils that shook entire nations, these beings appeared within the background lore to introduce new quests. 
Most—or rather, nearly all—of the Ancients were affiliated with one of the thirteen global chivalric orders. These thirteen orders were organizations made up of Ancients, and there was one per server. Their role was not to intervene in national or regional power struggles but to protect the world of Elder Tales from evil overall. 
For example, on the North American server where Leonardo had spent many years adventuring, there was a brigade called the Wen Keepers. They helped out with the sort of quests that led to raids and acted as the backbone of such stories. 
A high-level Adventurer would hear from the Wen Keepers that a member of their brigade had vanished while away on an investigation. In searching for the missing knight, the Adventurer would close in on the mystery of a terrifying ancient secret concerning the Sedona Ruins… That was how it usually went. 
Naturally, there were far fewer Ancients than there were People of the Earth. However, since there were many chances to meet them on high-level adventures, it was possible for some Ancients to become famous among the Adventurers. 
Elias Hackblade was, without a doubt, the greatest hero and most famous person in the world of Elder Tales. 
He was an invincible hero raised by the fairy tribe and had been taught fairy sword techniques; there was an introductory article on the official site that said so. Elias Hackblade actually appeared on the package art of the version of Elder Tales that was sold in stores. 
He had chestnut hair and eyes, and he wore a pure white, armored coat with indigo accent lines. His weapon was Crystal Stream, an enormous two-handed sword, and he used the absolutely invincible sword technique Fairy Arts… He was a hero so cool, and so typical, that it made you wonder what middle schooler had dreamed him up.