Golden Experience

“─Isn’t it a lot? Are there more coming from the forest than the town?”

“I don’t know about that. But it seems like there are more than earlier, at least. Maybe it’s some event where weak ones keep increasing in numbers gradually?”

From the way she spoke, it seems like during the first wave, Lyra was protecting Hugelcup.

The number of angels flying in from above is clearly greater than the first wave. Honestly, whether a few more come or not won’t change the outcome, and dealing with them won’t yield much experience for me and for Ubel. As of now, even if we obtain drop items, it’s uncertain whether we can effectively utilize them, making it somewhat of a waste of time.

If possible, I’d like to lead them somewhere and pass the problem on to other players, but unfortunately, there are no players around here.

The fact that the party we killed earlier hasn’t respawned in the vicinity means, for some reason, they teleported from the town without resting and attacked again. Whether they’ll reappear or not is unknown.

“─It’s still strange. No doubt about it. Those angels are irregular. There doesn’t seem to be any other towns or dungeons under attack. At least, there’s no information on social media.”

I thought she was sleeping while standing with her eyes closed, but it seems she was checking social media. Lyra seemed to have received a similar education as mine in general after all. Even if she was absent-minded, she wouldn’t expose a foolish expression.

“So, only this forest is under attack? ─Certainly, Rifure was attacked earlier than here, but now there doesn’t seem to be any other place under attack. What’s going on?”

“Rare-chan, did you do something? Like, did you do something noticeable during the previous attack?”

“Even if I did, well, I didn’t see it, so I can’t say anything. But probably, Blanc must have done something without holding back. There are many players there, and if they’re being attacked because of something they did, it should have been a topic on social media too.”

“Yeah, well, that’s true. Is there anything else noticeable…”

No, there was something else noticeable.

“─It’s the birth of the Evil King Lyra, announced to the entire world. Maybe those angels were ordered by their boss after hearing that?”

“Hey, stop with that wording; it’s making my back itch.”

Is the [Wicked Hand] stirring? If this hand also increases in number with added skills, it might be possible. (T/N: it could also be ‘Evil Hand’)

But for now, let’s focus on the angels.

The angels are probably minions of a greater angel, and no matter how many we kill, they should resurrect automatically over time. Even if we exterminate them here, it won’t affect the event, but if the original second wave is delayed because of this, it could be troublesome.

No, it doesn’t really matter. Whether the intervals of angel attacks are slightly off or not, other players won’t notice.

“If they sent angels after hearing that announcement, it’s certain that the Archangel’s faction has [Divine Wisdom]. Coming here means they heard the information about the Tore Forest with [Divine Wisdom], so, in other words, it either possesses at least the Archbishop-class [Divine Wisdom], or it has minions who do.”

“If there’s something like a floating object called the Sky Castle that can move freely, they might come this far. Especially with the Symbol Tower over here.”

What Lyra is calling a Symbol Tower is probably the World Tree. It does stand out.

“But even if they’re said to dominate the Sky Castle, is there a possibility that they can’t move freely?”

“Saying they dominate is only a legend of human nations. For example, it could be as simple as building a castle on a naturally floating continent that orbits the continent in a specific trajectory.”

In that case, it’s not entirely implausible.

Unless magical creatures like angels are launching attacks, there might not be any NPCs paying attention to the sky, even if a small island-like rock is floating there. They might only become aware of it when an Archangel builds a castle and attacks.

“─Could something like that happen? If a massive rock stood in the sky, enough to build a castle on, people would surely notice.”

“Until then, if it was shrouded in clouds and no one had seen it, well, the important thing is not there, so it doesn’t matter.”

Certainly, that might be the case.

If the Sky Castle doesn’t appear here as it is, either the Sky Castle can’t move freely, or Lyra doesn’t see enough value in moving the Sky Castle.

In the latter case, it means that Lyra deemed it sufficient to deal with the increased minions of angels, and considering it’s an entity significant enough to be announced to the world, it might be somewhat underestimating the situation.

“Well, never mind. Ubel, take care of them.”

“Abigor, please.”

“Abi… huh? Is that the Gargouille’s name?”

“I was thinking of naming him Eligos, but that didn’t work, so I gave him another name, Abigor. Maybe there’s a race or an important NPC named Eligos.” (T/N: both are demonology names)

The World Tree is already registered with the name [World Tree]. Naming a character with a race name is possible. If it wasn’t possible, it could suggest that NPC names must be unique, or it might not be allowed to give an existing race name to a character of a different race.

It might be unreasonable to disallow duplicate NPC names, but for important NPCs, it’s not entirely implausible. Trying to give an existing race name to a character of another race is an experiment that can be conducted immediately. For example, try naming a Hiers Newt “Aural Skink”. Since regular minions disappear and become materials eventually, there shouldn’t be an issue.

In the sky, angels are boldly attacking Ubel and Abigor.

Since they are unarmed, their main attack methods are body slamming, flying kicks, fists, and so on. However, they are knocked down by Ubel and Abigor’s breath attacks before they enter the effective range.

Although there are more than double the number from before, the time it takes for extermination won’t change much.

“By the way, I said you should do the body conditioning, didn’t I? What are you doing, taking it easy?”

“If it’s body conditioning, Abigor needs it too. More importantly, Rare-chan, is ‘Ubel’ a German word?”

“Yes, isn’t it cool?”

“Among players, there’s someone named Justiz. Do you know them?”

“─I’ve seen them somewhere. Come to think of it, I remember.”

I feel like I’ve seen them on social media.

Ubel means “evil” or something like that. In English, it’s close to “Evil”. On the other hand, Justiz is probably “justice”. In English, that name would be written as Justice. (T/N: this may seem redundant but it’s an issue of translating multiple languages)

“That player is in Aural. Or rather, in Hugelcup. They seem to want to become a knight and want to be a vassal to me, who is the lord of Hugelcup.”

“─Really.”

If a player becomes a vassal, or in other words a subordinate, to another player, would the one being vassalized realize that the other is a player? If a player becomes a vassal, and even if they later reincarnate or acquire some special skill, the vassal, being an NPC, cannot hear system messages, and the process progresses automatically.

In this case, if the master is a player, the process will proceed based on the player’s expressed will. However, if the player who is the master is logged out while the vassal player does something, it could pose a problem.

If the master is an NPC, the process automatically progresses regardless of whether they are awake or asleep. However, if the player is logged out, the process won’t proceed no matter what. It would definitely be exposed.

“You want to make someone your vassal, Lyra?”

“I won’t. The risk is too great, and there’s no benefit. But maybe I’ll consider it if it’s a vassal of a vassal. I might reincarnate the decoy I’m preparing later as a noble and try to [Subordinate] that child.”

However, the name, as if it were Ubel’s rival, bothers her a bit. There was indeed a memory of seeing it on social media, but she had forgotten until it was mentioned. Or rather, she doesn’t remember each player’s name that she comes across.

Ubel’s aura is truly fitting for something evil or demonic, and it can be said to be the perfect boss for a knight to defeat in a heroic tale.

“If Justiz indirectly becomes my vassal, let’s have a little battle. I’ll initiate it like some kind of hidden quest.”

“I don’t mind, but I won’t hold back.”

“That’s fine; there’s no need to. It won’t be a problem even if I lose.”

It’s just for fun. Saying this, Lyra laughs.

For example, if Lyra and I were to engage in direct combat now, it would be difficult given our positions. No matter who wins, it would likely cause chaos.

However, Lyra has been thinking about settling the score with a pseudo-war or something similar. After all, they first met at the Hugelcup, and they haven’t resolved the draw yet.

Replacing that with a duel between Ubel and Justiz might be surprisingly interesting.