"Understood." "too." "I'll contact you again later." "Rieze?" "I-I'm sorry..." "It's nothing." "I know this is an important time." "You don't need to put up a brave front." "Would you like to tell me what happened?" "Takayama's weapon went out of control?" "And Crusty disappeared?" "and he isn't responding to telepathy." "We also have that murderer to think about." "D.D.D. doesn't want word to get out." "it may be best to wait before we tell the Round Table." "too." "either." "Thanks." "as if nothing happened." "You're right." "big trouble!" "What's going on?" "I need to talk to you about the flavor text." "1)}The Maidens of Watermaple" "The Maidens of Watermaple." "The flavor text is becoming real?" "it was just backstories for items." "the stuff in the text is coming true or happening in reality." "Then we'll also need to be mindful of the flavor text in the future." "we don't know what will happen." "Which means Misa's weapon's going out of control might be related to that." "And..." "The murderer's Byakumaru... too." "That means the murderer possesses not only a Royal Guard's armor as well." "isn't it?" "it's from a raid monster in the tenth expansion pack the Death Warrior Rugrius." "It was his katana." "Rugrius?" "What does its flavor text say?" "and how he became a monster." "a hero of the Ice Wall" "Sutu Inaw." "who fought for a century." "He fought to protect the happiness of the people of Susukino and he drove away the evil giants." "He was truly the Ezzo Empire's hero." "But..." "He was betrayed by the Daughter of Elm and poisoned to death." "Rugrius was described as angry and hateful." "That's quite a dark story." "Then that hateful spirit has become real and is giving the murderer power?" "That's ridiculous!" "I just... we can use it to our advantage in our planning." "No..." "No!" "I'm not Rugrius!" "I am a proud Defender!" "Nelreth." "You aren't the town guard dog." "with the power to surpass the adventurers." "we shall avenge ourselves upon the Daughter of Elm and the humans..." "The flavor text is becoming real." "what would have happened to me?" "With that ugly jealousy I felt toward Minori..." "{\an8\cH2B3636\3cH8E9EA4}Amenoma" "Are you sure?" "I think it's better to stay out of it." "His little friend will find the answer on her own." "Will it really be in the Teachings?" "Thanks." "but they are the Teachings." "I believe in the strength of girls." "we're going to begin training." "Our goal is to take out the murderer." "the raid teams will train to learn about each other and fight effectively." "right." "She wants to know the Teachings." "Everyone teach her what you know." "but I look forward to our time together." "That sounds like you want to get married!" "she'd be freaking out!" "too!" "Akatsuki!" "right?" "Is everyone ready?" "you need to be able to judge distance by sight." "Teachings?" "I'm not sure..." "Anything you know would help." "Please." "It's not something you can get by clearing a raid or getting an item..." "That's right." "It's nothing that special." "And it's not something you can just teach someone." "our guild master's Teachings give him an ability called Eyes of the Void." "even if he can't see them." "With this ability so it's pretty handy." "I see!" "But only the guild master can do it so I don't know if you can learn it." "That's fine!" "Teach me anyway!" "Again!" "The Teachings..." "If only I had more of a clue." "Akatsuki!" "This is especially for you!" "Especially?" "You {\cH336C3E}Can {\cH5B88CB}Do {\cHA0E6E8}It" "The murderer is a Person of the Land he has the movable armor's power." "as well." "the Byakumaru can deal blizzard and cold damage." "right?" "Yes." "Taking that into account it has three effects." "freeze status from the blizzard." "all of his stats are buffed for every additional person he fights." "For every adventurer within fifty meters his attack and defense increase." "huh?" "So the plan is... we'll use teams of two or three." "We'll deploy them around Akihabara like a net." "We'll need twenty-four people." "huh?" "Rieze is amazing..." "I'd heard she was the leader of Crusty's guild's training division but she's explaining her strategy to these men without the slightest hesitation." "Aren't those teams a little too small?" "How will you coordinate them?" "We'll use the raid party chat for communication." "They'll be distributed so that they can move in as soon as the target is found." "what is Byakumaru's third effect?" "What I think it is?" "Yes." "A huge boost to his HP." "Depending on the number of people in the zone his max HP will change greatly." "That's another troublesome one." "Then what's the plan?" "I'd like to issue a curfew confining people to their homes until New Year's." "Please have the Round Table ask the People of the Land to stay inside." "but..." "Will it really work?" "That's right." "he can teleport through Akihabara." "we can't do anything." "The key to that is in Princess Lenessia's hands." "You want me to cut off the power to the large magic circle?" "Yes." "if we shut off the magic supply the movable armor would cease to function." "it would disable the city's magic defenses allowing monsters to enter the city." "C-Can't you reboot it?" "You can't just turn it back on?" "All I can say is that it would take decades." "I'm well aware of the risks." "Lenessia..." "Princess..." "The mission might succeed." "I'll make it succeed!" "Does that mean you're asking me in my official capacity?" "I believe it does." "No matter what your answer no one will blame you." "it won't affect your friendships with us." "There's nothing to worry about." "I couldn't say whether I'd do it or not." "I want to do it." "But as the Marquis's ambassador..." "What should I do?" "There isn't much time left." "What should I do?" "How's it coming along?" "When's the operation?" "New Year's Eve." "I see." "yes?" "but I still don't know anything." "Is there anything I can do?" "Thank you." "I'm all right." "Okay." "But I think you may be trying a bit too hard." "why not take a break?" "Thanks." "But I want to do everything I can." "But you don't have to push yourself too hard." "I'm not pushing myself too hard." "476)}I can try hard because I want to." "I don't know why my lord is trying so hard." "But he is." "too." "I can't worry about my own pride if I want to defeat the murderer." "Because I'm weak." "and go around." "Don't let those buffs wear off." "What's important is to truly know your enemy." "Know exactly what they can and what they can't do." "I'm weak." "But..." "There are things you can only learn by accepting your weakness." "losing..." "These aren't pointless things." "I can't do anything on my own." "But... do you use these?" "They're good for defense." "Thank you." "Akatsuki." "but we had some leftover." "Thank you." "I can become strong with everyone." "You are small..." "But that's actually an advantage." "right?" "He won't be able to keep up if you dance all around him." "It makes it easy to get in his blind spots." "Let's try." "I've always been ashamed of my height." "But I never thought that weakness could also be a strength." "Know exactly what they can and can't do!" "This is it!" "right?" "I heard about it from Michitaka" "Seine/ Adventurer" "Shironiji/ Adventurer and decided I wanted to help." "Are you still recruiting?" "Of course." "Seine?" "Y-Yeah." "it's nothing..." "This gives us twenty-four members." "I'll ask you to take care of that other matter." "As a twenty-fifth member." "Understood." "Princess Lenessia!" "are the rice balls ready?" "huh?" "It's hardly "already"... you won't make it in time." "Sorry!" "U-Um..." "Please let me help with something." "Princess?" "Do you have the cooking skill?" "I don't know..." "Want to try?" "I'm starved." "Let's dig in." "Let's eat!" "May I sit here?" "Y-Yeah." "I made that." "but it's good." "I'm glad." "I'm sorry." "I thought it was convenient for me." "What was?" "When you tried to defeat the murderer that day." "It was only for a second but I thought that if you defeated the murderer" "I could avoid a conflict between adventurers and People of the Land." "I thought of crying to my grandfather or to Crusty." "But that would be no different from before." "like the man from the Kunie who told me about this." "But I'm still uneasy." "I can't make a decision." "When you said I was your friend it made me happy." "I don't know why you're uneasy but everyone is here." "I'm here." "I'm your friend." "Akatsuki... we're going to get started!" "Okay!" "Friends..." "Well?" "Getting close to figuring something out?" "The real Teaching is being able to say that Teachings are stupid." "Tatara?" "If I'd known..." "I never would have sold it to him." "Of course not." "I know that." "Everyone does." "I can't run away." "If I turn this over to someone else because I'm weak but also inferior." "I couldn't be their friend." "Princess Lenessia... too!" "You'll be the twenty-sixth maiden of Watermaple." "1)}Ringing Blade Haganemushi or "metal-eating bug." Any blade it clashes against grows duller with each blow." "I didn't learn a single Teaching." "But..." "Now I have everyone with me!" "Off you go." "Let's do this!" "Yeah!" "It's finally time." "Time to smash faces." "Just two?" "I've been underestimated..." "It's not enough." "Gather many subjects make them kneel and take their lives." "The Daughter of Elm..." "The humans who betrayed me..." "I'll destroy them all!" "Let's go!" "the raid begins." "The murderer's blade shines within the blizzard." "thinking of the twenty-sixth maiden." "and her fate is about to be sealed." "the twenty-seventh maiden appears." "Akatsuki's Teaching is about to be unleashed." "Next time:" "Akihabara Raid." "Akihabara Raid" "Rise up once more."