Log Horizon - Volume 9 - Chapter 2.5

5 
It was true all over this world, but at night in Aorsoi, the sky was particularly clear. Possibly because of the dry air, the sky was high and incredibly transparent, and the stars glittered like crushed white sand. 
Unlike the night skies of Midtown, which were polluted with smoke and neon, there was no light from the earth, so even tiny stars that gave off a very faint light shone proudly against the thick cloth of the heavens. 
This was night in Thekkek. 
Somewhere, an insect sang in a voice like a shaken silver bell. 
The sun had been down for two hours. Even though it wasn’t yet late enough to call it “night,” the village was already quiet. Orange light seeped from the square windows in the sun-baked brick walls, which were fitted only with wooden shutters. 
It was about the time when most families had probably finished their evening meals. 
Leaving the shed that had been assigned to their group, Leonardo emerged into the cool night wind. 
As he stepped out onto the dirt road, a sky full of stars unfolded above him. 
Even though it was a September night, a cold wind blew across the plateau. 
Yet Leonardo was an Adventurer, so the cold didn’t affect him that much. On the contrary, the bracing air was pleasant. 
In the midst of that night air, Leonardo walked through the village. He wasn’t plotting anything in particular, but his footsteps made almost no sound. This was partly because, since he was an Assassin, the movement was habit for Leonardo, and partly because he didn’t want to disturb the still night and its peaceful-looking village. 
The settlement didn’t have an especially solid defensive wall. The only thing encircling it was a fence meant to keep the sheep together and to prevent animals from getting in. Beyond that, there was a region of cultivated fields. That said, even if they were “cultivated,” the soil was rough and dry, and it was enough to make even amateurs worry that it wasn’t suitable for farming. 
Leonardo climbed up onto a large boulder beside the road that left the village to the south and sat down. 
The rock was huge. In terms of height, it was about two meters. It was a funny shape, as if it had been polished all over, softening its edges, and its flat top seemed bigger than a bedroom. 
Shepherds apparently used the rock as a lookout post. There was a threadbare cloth spread in the spot that overlooked the upper plains. 
Far in the distance, the mountains stood like a folding screen. 
He couldn’t say where they started or ended. The mountains ran to the edge of what he could see, and they really did look like the wall of the world. While they were eating dinner, elderly Yagudo had told them that the mountains were called Tian Mai. He’d said it meant “the seat of heaven.” 
In the moonlight, even at night, the snow on the ridgelines glimmered slightly. I see, he thought. The sublime atmosphere about them did make them seem like heaven’s chair. 
The wasteland of Aorsoi spread all the way to the foot of those mountains. There were patches of brush in places, and some things which could safely be called forests, but at this point, all of it slept in the damp night wind. 
With the light crunch of footsteps on dry earth, Coppélia approached. 
Leonardo registered her presence before he could see her. He turned easily and looked down at her small figure from the top of the boulder. She came up to the big rock with ladylike steps, then looked up at Leonardo. 
“Are you acting as a sentry?” she asked. 
“Nope,” he replied. 
This was a People of the Earth village. It wasn’t like taking a nap in the depths of a dungeon. He wasn’t planning to get careless, but there was probably no need for the sort of wariness that would require a night watchman. 
Leonardo simply hadn’t been able to sleep this early, so he’d slipped out of his room. He was a true New Yorker, and he loved staying up late. 
Besides, he’d needed time to think. 
Talking with friends was fun, and he didn’t hate cooperating with companions to get jobs done, but if he didn’t get some time alone, he got depressed. Leonardo knew being a geek meant having a place like that somewhere in your heart. 
“Is that so.” 
“Yep.” 
The conversation petered out. 
Aorsoi’s September night wind slipped past the two of them, caressing them. 
They heard the low whinny of a horse and the songs of insects. A cloud covered the moon, then passed by. 
Quite a long time had passed, but Coppélia only stood there quietly. She seemed to be gazing at the mountains that towered in the distance, the same ones Leonardo had been looking at a little while ago. 
“Want to come up?” 
“Yes.” 
After hearing Coppélia’s response, Leonardo stretched out a hand. 
She took it, and he pulled her up to the top of the rounded boulder. She brushed the dust away with her fingertips a few times, straightened up properly so that her skirt wouldn’t get wrinkled, and sat down. 
Leonardo didn’t speak to her, and Coppélia didn’t pester him with unnecessary words, either. The night was quiet, and the only noises—the low hums of insects and the rustling from the wind—seemed to protect the stillness around the pair. 
More time flowed past. 
The stars twinkled, and in the distance, they heard the drowsy-sounding bleat of a sheep. 
“You’re not bored?” 
“No, Coppélia is not bored.” 
Leonardo felt slightly bewildered. 
As a geek, he didn’t have much experience talking to women. If he’d been doing something game related—in other words, fighting or training to improve his skills, doing some sort of production activity, or pursuing a quest—he would have had something to talk about, but situations like this were outside his area of expertise. 
However, on the other hand, he didn’t feel uncomfortable. 
He was all alone with a girl, a situation in which feeling stressed would have been perfectly understandable, but he was calm, and he didn’t feel ill at ease. 
“What did you come out here to do, Coppélia?” 
“To hunt.” 
“Hunt?” Leonardo asked. 
The term hunting wasn’t unusual. It was actually pretty common in MMOs. In general, it meant defeating monsters in battle. The narrow definition was taking down single creatures to get trophies, as opposed to defeating quest-specific monsters. 
“Yes. Coppélia intended to go to the plains to the south of the village and search for prey.” 

“Uh, it’s night.” 
“In terms of nocturnal monsters, Coppélia determined that that would be convenient.” 
“What about sleep?” 
“Coppélia does not need much sleep.” 
Leonardo was a little startled, but he shook it off. She might be telling the truth. Every now and then, there was that sort of player in Elder Tales. They typically thought, rather than wasting time, it was better to subjugate even minor monsters and get a little money. 
Coppélia hadn’t looked like that much of a battle fiend, but experience had taught Leonardo that players’ appearances and main classes didn’t necessarily match their personalities. 
And so the words “Want some company?” came out naturally. 
They’d encountered monsters a few times on their way from the Tekeli Ruins to this village, and the average level had been around 20. They’d be no match for level-90 Coppélia, even though she was a Recovery class and low on attack power. 
However, if they were emphasizing efficiency, since he was an attack class, Leonardo thought things would go much better if the two of them worked together. 
“That will not be necessary. Coppélia’s plans have changed.” 
“They…have, huh?” 
“Yes.” 
Coppélia’s answer was matter-of-fact. He couldn’t pick up any particular emotion from her tone or expression. 
If she said it wasn’t necessary, then it probably wasn’t. Leonardo promptly gave up on pursuing the matter further. The question of whether a player earned money or just killed time should be up to them. If Coppélia wanted him to keep her company, he would, but he had no intention of being pushy in a misguided attempt to be nice. 
Leonardo got to his feet. 
Coppélia’s eyes followed him, but when he told her, “Don’t worry about it,” the indigo-haired girl nodded, seeming satisfied. 
Leonardo tested the texture of the rock with his toes. It felt massive, heavy, and hard. Reassured that it would be all right to jump around a bit, he slowly leveled his swords. 
The technique he activated from the icon that surfaced in his mind was Deadly Dance. He thrust out his left hand sharply. From that stance, with a shrill sound cloaked in cold air, the sword in his right hand flashed. The recast time for this skill was one second. A second later, he visualized selecting the icon again. Once again, he swung his right hand. This attack was sharper than the previous one. 
Deadly Dance was a unique skill. When used back-to-back, its power gradually increased. It reached its maximum level on the eighth attack, and at that point, the damage inflicted was roughly three times what it was on the first attack. 
The first attack inflicted only as much damage as a normal attack, and because of its stance—with the left hand thrust out and the hips lowered—its damage efficiency was fairly bad. If you planned to stop with one attack, you could inflict damage more effectively by using some other special skill. This attack skill was based on the assumption that you would be attacking several times in a row. 
Leonardo repeated this a few times, putting his body through its paces. Over the past few months, he’d grown completely used to the sharp motions, and nothing about them felt strange. However, he sensed that this time would be a breakthrough. 
Movements he wasn’t used to made his elbows and knees ache sharply. 
Now that he had an Adventurer’s body, both his physical strength and his stamina had greatly increased. It wasn’t just a boost; he felt as if he were a completely different person. After all, this Adventurer body was exactly what Leonardo had dreamed of: the body of a hero. 
However, when he put stress on muscles from angles he didn’t normally use, apparently heat did build up. 
“Healing Light.” 
Leonardo had been rubbing his elbow, and Coppélia chanted an instant recovery spell for him. Adventurers’ sturdy bodies would recover from a problem of that level in about ten minutes, but even so, the healing spell drew the heat away, and it felt good. 
“Do you wish to be healed?” 
“No, I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” 
In response to Coppélia’s words, Leonardo thanked her, stretching as he spoke. As he spread his legs again and lowered his hips into the stance, he asked her a question: 
“What do you think about the new patch?” 
“Coppélia hears it has been introduced on the Japanese server.” 
“Um… Okay, so, what do you think about going to that server?” 
“As it is Master’s wish, it has been assigned a high priority.” 
The conversation really didn’t seem to mesh with Leonardo. 
Between Elias and Coppélia, this party was well stocked with mysterious characters. Well, to be accurate, Elias wasn’t human, so his eccentricity made sense. Besides, the greatest source of bewilderment was Kanami. It wasn’t often that you met somebody that loony. Leonardo thought that, since Kanami was the one who’d brought these members together, they were pretty much bound to be weird. 
That said, he was completely overlooking the fact that he’d been included in that selection. 
“About that ‘Master’…” 
“Yes. It refers to Kanami.” 
According to what he’d heard that afternoon, Kanami had spotted Coppélia fighting on the plain and had made her a companion. Maybe Kanami had saved her life or something, then. Over these past few days, he’d noticed that the attitude Coppélia took toward the woman was different from the one she used with her other companions. It was deferential, almost as if she was an actual maid. 
Leonardo was open-minded about the way others chose to play, particularly with regard to how they spoke or dressed. After all, he himself habitually wore a cartoon hero costume, a green hooded mask and suit. During the game, everybody had the right to be a hero or anything they wanted. 
For that reason, he had no objections to Coppélia’s attitude. 
“What sort of person is Kanami?” 
“?” 
Up until now, Coppélia had answered Leonardo’s questions instantly, but for the first time, she looked as if she was thinking. Leonardo stretched, slowly swinging his swords, and waited for her to speak. 
Even he didn’t know how he could be this calm. 
He didn’t think he’d really seen a cute adolescent girl since high school, and a memory of having talked companionably with one at this distance wouldn’t even have shown up in a recommender system. Even so, right now, he didn’t feel any more tension than he did when he was changing out a PC graphics board. He didn’t want to scratch up the terminal, so he had to work slowly and carefully, without hurrying—it was that sort of tension. Either that, or it was a mood that resembled consideration for others, which would have been even stranger. 

“Master is like first light.” 
“Huh?” 
Coppélia pointed at the eastern sky. 
“Right now, beyond that horizon, the sun is racing this way. It has only just set, but tomorrow morning at four thirty-eight, it will begin to pale.” 
Coppélia’s eyes reflected the night sky, where the moon had just risen. They were an endlessly deep blue. 
“At night, the sky is dark. Before dawn, it gradually begins to turn deep purple in the east. After purple comes indigo. Then ultramarine. It gradually grows more blue, but there is still no light. However, the blue alone is proof enough, and no one doubts that morning is on its way… That is the sort of person Master is.” 
Leonardo didn’t really understand what she meant, but it was clear that Coppélia recognized Kanami’s value. 
Storing that lone bit of information in his memory, Leonardo began tracing the movements of Deadly Dance once more.