『のおおう! 何をする!? 私はまだ何も言っていないではないか!』
「うるせぇ! 魔王ちゃんを出せぇぇぇ! で、ござるぅぅぅ!」
サマエルの体を庇うような反応からして、各所で他のプレイヤーも石を投げているんだろうな......。
それも、トビと似たような声を上げながら。
残念ながら(?)、ここ農業区から他のプレイヤーの様子は見えない。
以前より増えたとはいえ、他の地域に比べてサーラは未だに過疎地域だ。
ただし街中ならば、大量とはいかずともそれなりに石が飛んでいる様子が見えるかもしれない。
『ええいっ、いい加減このパターンはやめないか! まずは私の話、その後で魔王様の御出ましだこの愚か者どもが! 魔王様は細かい説明が苦手なのだ! 必ず舌をお噛みになられるからな! 察しろ猿ども!』
『サマエルッ!? 今、さり気なく
「そもそもお前が出るなって話でござるよぉ! 声だけ!? 声だけなの魔王ちゃん!? 近くに居るなら映せよぉ! 一分一秒でも魔王ちゃんを長く見ていたいのにぃ!」
「「「うわぁ......」」」
トビの魂の叫びに女性陣はドン引きである。
奴は怒りに任せてインベントリ内の石を投げまくっている。
随分と石ころを溜め込んでいたもんだな......苦無や焙烙玉を投げないだけ、まだ理性が働いているようではあるが。
『ウォッホン! 良いか、来訪者ども! 今回我々が魔物を放つエリアは――マール共和国、セーピア水域である! 今まさに、テュンヌス水揚げの最盛期だな? ククク......魔物に漁場を荒らされることを防ぎたくば、大陸南に急ぐのだな!』
「予告してから魔物を放つとは、なんて律儀な魔族達だよ」
「とんだ間抜けですね......」
ゲーム的な都合と言えばそれまでだが......。
それと、場所を明言したのはプレイヤーの移動の都合もあるからだろうな。
帝国での闘技大会のように、現地にワープできるなら話は別だが。
「ハインド、あいつが言ったテュンヌスというのは何だ?」
「ん? ああ、要は鮪だよ、マグロ。取引掲示板で売っているのを見たことがある。ってことは、どうやらマグロを餌にしちまう魔物を放つみたいだな」
「もしかしたら、海に出るのに船が必要になりませんか?」
「――うひょおおおお! 魔王ちゃぁぁぁん!」
俺達の会話をよそに、空をじっと見ていたトビが歓喜の雄叫びを上げる。
その声に視線を戻すと、言葉通りにトビ待望の魔王ちゃんが映っていた。
しかし、小さなテーブルセットの椅子に座った魔王ちゃんは何故か一言も発しない。
よく見ると血のような紅い目の下、口元にはバツマークの書かれたマスクをしている。
意味が分からない......だが、魔王ちゃんは目の前の机をバンバンと叩くと手元に注目するようなジェスチャーを見せる。
映像がスッと魔王ちゃんに向けて寄ると、今度はテーブルの下から厚紙の束のようなものを出した。
「何だ?」
「ハインド君。あの紙、絵が描いてあるよ」
「むう。紙芝居......か?」
「どうもそのようです」
テーブルに立てた紙束のやや上から、こちらを見る魔王ちゃんのパッチリお目々が収まる絶妙の距離で投影映像が静止する。
その距離感にトビもご満悦だ。
静かだと思ったら先程からカメラ機能を作動し、ひたすらスクリーンショットを撮りまくっている。
魔王ちゃんが示した一枚目の表紙には「みなみのうみのくらあけん」と丸っこいひらがなで書いてあった。
『今を遡ること、300年前――』
魔王ちゃんが一枚目を捲ると同時に聞こえてきた声は、映っていないサマエルのものだ。
それに対してユーミルが首を傾げる。
「魔王ちゃんは喋らないのだな」
「冒頭でサマエルも言っていましたけど、前回、話している最中に盛大に噛みましたからね」
「プレイヤーからは噛み噛みなのがカワイイって意見が大多数だったけど......」
「本人は嫌なんでしょう。しかしこうして見ると、TBのAIの学習能力ってやっぱすげえな」
つまり、噛まないように喋らずに済むこういう方式にしたと。
魔王ちゃん、何という涙ぐましい努力。
『群れの中で特に泳ぐのが遅く、しかも他と姿が違ったクラーケンは周囲の仲間から馬鹿にされていました』
描かれた絵の一枚目は、群れの中で馬鹿にされて落ち込む幼クラーケンのものだ。
かなりバランスの怪しい絵だったが、どうにか判別することはできる。
にしても、差別は辛いよな......俺も幼い頃、未祐や理世とばかり遊んでいたら男子にハブられたことがある。
『それでもクラーケンは群れの中で必死に耐えました。耐えて、耐えて、耐えて......どれくらいの年月が経ったのでしょうか? ある日、彼は自分が群れの中で誰よりも大きな体になっていることに気が付きました』
魔王ちゃんがぺらりと紙を捲ると、そこには最初の一枚よりも大きく立派に成長したクラーケンの姿が。
おお、クラーケン頑張った! 偉い!
『そしてクラーケンはこう思いました。この大きくなった体なら......今まで馬鹿にしてきた連中に、仕返しすることができると!』
あ、あれ? 急に雲行きが......。
群れのリーダーになって見返すんじゃ駄目なの?
もしくは群れを離れて、まだ見ぬ大海原へ旅立っていくとか。
そして次に出現した絵には、怪しく目を光らせるクラーケンの姿が。
『クラーケンは群れで自分を馬鹿にしてきた連中に襲い掛かりました! すると......』
触手を使って襲い掛かるクラーケン。
その襲い掛かっているかつての群れの仲間の姿は......どう見てもクラーケンと相似の種族ではなかった。
『そうです! 実はクラーケンが長年過ごしていた群れは、蛸ではなくテュンヌスの群れだったのです!』
......しかし、よく蛸がマグロの速度についていけたな。
確かマグロは遊泳速度が10Km弱、最大速度80Km前後だったと記憶しているが。
『何コレうめえええ!』
ムシャムシャとかつての鬱憤を晴らすかのように、群れのマグロを次々と貪る大蛸。
魔王ちゃんが紙芝居のページを進める度、その体はすくすくと成長していき......。
『こうして南の海の覇者となったクラーケンは、魔王に封印されるまで近隣を通る船や辺りの生物、それこそ同族の魔物に至るまで全てを喰らい続けました。魔王が封じた壺の中では、腹を空かせたクラーケンが今も封印を破ろうと暴れ続けているのです......』
壺に蛸を詰め込む魔王ちゃんの絵を最後に、紙芝居が終了した。
魔王ちゃんは満足そうにむふーと息を吐くと、紙の束をトントンと整え、それを下げると今度は絵にそっくりな壺をドンとテーブルの上に置いた。
その拳大の小さな茶色の壺は、中で何かが動いているようにカタカタと揺れている。
『......理解したな! 以上だ!』
そうサマエルが締めようとした瞬間――ユーミル、リィズ、トビ、俺の石がサマエルの幻像目掛けて鋭く飛んで行った。
分かるかっ!
『ぬおおっ!? まだ説明が足りないというのか! 要は再封印が面倒だから、お前達来訪者に処理を押し付けようという――』
『サマエルッ!!』
『はっ!? し、しまったぁ!』
本音と建前でも取り違えたのか、サマエルが頭を抱えて叫んだ。
魔王ちゃんがマスクを取りつつそんなサマエルの向こう脛を蹴り飛ばし、ポカポカと体を叩き始める。
『せ、せっかく我が描いた紙芝居を無駄にするような失言をして! これでは普通にお願いしているのと変わらな――くぅぅ、我の威厳が!』
「あの紙芝居、魔王ちゃんが描いたのか。なぜ幼児がクレヨンで描いたようなタッチだったのだ?」
「それ以前に、魔王ちゃんに威厳なんてものは最初からありません」
ユーミル、リィズからツッコミが入る。
その横ではようやくまともに話した魔王ちゃんにトビが大興奮していた。
そして空の映像では、サマエルが青い顔で必死に魔王ちゃんに頭を下げ続けている。
『も、申し訳ありません魔王様! お許しを!』
『何でも良いから上手く纏めて、サマエル! 我はもう嫌なの! あの壺、夜中にもカタカタ鳴るから最近は寝不足なのっ! かといって我から遠くに置くと封印が弱まるし! もう! もう!』
『うぐ......と、とにかくだ! 最初に貴様らに言ったように、クラーケンの好物はテュンヌスだ! セーピア水域でテュンヌスを追い、その先に現れるクラーケンを討伐するのだ! 以上!』
サマエルの苦し紛れの言葉を最後に、空の像がフッと搔き消えた。
{Nooooooo!! What are you doing!? I haven't said anything yet!} (Samael)
[Shut up!! Bring out Maou-chan!! D-Degozaruuuuu!!] (Tobi)
Samael reacted as if he was protecting his body, probably, the players in other places were also throwing stones at him...
Furthermore, they were probably also shouting at him like Tobi was doing.
Unfortunately(?), we can't really look at the reactions the other players have from the agricultural area.
Even though it was better than before, compared to other areas, Sala was still rather unpopulated.
However, if we were in the middle of town, while you wouldn't be able to call it a large amount, you probably would be able to see quite the amount of stones being thrown.
{Ugh, stop with this kind of pattern already! I'll be speaking first, then Maou-sama will talk with you visitors! Maou-sama is bad at giving detailed explanations! She will definitely bite her tongue! Inconsiderate monkeys!} (Samael)
{Samael!? Just now, did you just casually disrespect me!?} (Maou)
[To begin with, you should start talking after making your appearance! Only your voice!? Are we only going to hear your voice, Maou-chan!? If you are close by, please make your appearance! Even though I want to look at Maou-chan even if it's just a minute or second longer!] (Tobi)
[[[Uwah...] ] ] 
Listening to Tobi scream his heart out, the girls started backing down.
In his rage, he kept throwing the stones he had in his inventory.
He sure has quite the amount of stones in there...though I guess the fact that he's not using kunais or bo-hiyas attests to the fact that he has not gone crazy yet.
{Gohon! Hear me out, visitors! The area we have released monsters at this time is...the Mahl Republic, Sepia water area! Right now, it's the season for fishing Tunnus right? Kukuku...in order to protect the fishing grounds from the monsters, head to the northern region right now!} (Samael)
[Releasing the monsters after making an announcement, how sincere are these demons?] (Hind)
[They are really dumb...] (Riizu)
Well, we could say this kind of circumstances are because we are inside a game though...
Other than that, if they announce the place, I guess they want the players to plan a way to go there.
It would be another thing if there was a warp like back with the tournament though.
[Hind, what's that Tunnus that guy talked about?] (Yumir)
[Hmm? Ah, in short, it's tuna. I have seen it being sold in the trading BBS. In other words, they are probably going to release monsters that prey on tunas?] (Hind)
[Could it be that we'll need a ship to sail into the sea?] (Riizu)
[-Uhyoooooooooooo!! Maou-chaaaaaaaaaaan!!] (Tobi)
Close to us who were having a conversation, Tobi screamed at the sky in delight.
Looking at the source, like he had said, Maou-chan was displayed on the screen.
However, for some reason, Maou-chan didn't say a word while sitting down in her chair.
Looking at her closely, there was a bright red mask with a X on her mouth.
I don't really get it...but, Maou-chan was banging the table and making gestures with her hands to bring our attention to her.
The camera kept focusing on her and this time, she took a bundle of papers from under the table.
[What's that?] (Hind)
[Hind-kun. Those papers, they have drawings on them.] (Selene)
[Muu. Is this...a picture book?] (Yumir)
[Seems like it.] (Riizu)
From above the papers on top of the table, the camera settled down at the perfect distance where we could see the papers and also Maou-chan looking at us.
Tobi was delighted to be able to see from that distance.
Thinking that he had been silent for a while, I realized that he had been concentrating on taking screenshots with the camera function.
The cover on the first page read [Southern sea Kraken]  written in round hiragana.
{300 years ago-} (Samael)
At the same time that Maou-chan turned the page over, we could hear Samael's voice, which wasn't reflected on the screen.
Seeing that, Yumir tilted her head.
[Maou-chan is not speaking.] (Yumir)
[Well, Samael already said it but...she did bite her tongue while giving her speech last time.] (Riizu)
[Though a  large amount of players did find the fact that she was stuttering cute...] (Selene)
[She probably dislikes the fact that she can't speak. But looking at this makes you think again, that the learning ability of TB's AI is amazing.] (Hind)
In other words, they used this method in order to prevent her from biting her own tongue while explaining.
Maou-chan, she sure is doing her best.
{Especially when in a crowd, it would swim really slowly, on top of that, since he looked different from others, he was ridiculed by the companions around him.} (Samael)
Drawn in one of the pages was the depressed Kraken being made fun of by others.
It was kinda hard to see but you could somehow differ it from the picture.
That being said, discrimination is a painful thing...when I was a kid, I was excluded from the boys' groups because I was playing with Miyu and Rise all the time.
{Even then, the Kraken put up with the herd. Endured, endured, and endured...for how many years did he do so? On a certain day, he realized that his body was bigger than anyone else in the herd.} (Samael)
Maou-chan turned over the page, on that page, the Kraken was drawn having grown splendidly.
Ooh, the Kraken worked hard! He deserves praise!
{Then, the Kraken finally realized. If it was with this gigantic body...that he would be able to exact revenge on all those that mocked him until now!} (Samael)
E...Eh? The atmosphere has suddenly...
Wouldn't it be fine if he just proved himself worthy of being the leader of the herd?
Or he could just leave the herd, he could also just go on a trip and explore the parts of the ocean he hasn't seen yet.
Then in the next page, the Kraken's eyes were glowing with a suspicious color.
{The Kraken attacked all those that had mocked him in the past! Then...} (Samael)
The Kraken used his tentacles to attack.
The appearance of the members of the herd that the Kraken attacked...didn't look like him at all no matter how you looked at them.
{That's right! The herd the Kraken had lived with for so many years, it wasn't an octopus one but a Tunnus one!} (Samael)
...However, it's impressive how an octopus was able to keep up with a tuna's speed.
If I remember correctly, a tuna's swimming speed is around 10km/h, the fastest they can go is 80km/h.
{What's this!? It's so tasty!!} (Samael)
While munching on them, it was as if his pent up resentment disappeared and he craved for all the tuna herds in the ocean.
As Maou-chan flipped through the pages in the story book, the Kraken's body kept getting bigger and bigger.
{Becoming the supreme ruler of the southern seas, The Kraken devoured ships, living beings and even monsters of the same race as him until the Maou sealed him. Even now, the Kraken is starving inside the jar the Maou sealed him in and is trying to break free while rampaging inside...} (Samael)
THere was a drawing of Maou-chan cramming the octopus inside a jar and the picture book ended right there.
Maou-chan breathed out in satisfaction, then she organized the bundle of papers, after placing the papers down, this time she placed a jar that looked exactly like the one in the picture on the table.
Inside that fist sized brown jar, something seemed to be moving and it was currently shaking.
{...You understood right!? That will be all.} (Samael)
The moment Samael tried to wrap things up like that...Yumir, Riizu, Tobi and I took a stone and threw it at the image of Samael.
How are we supposed to understand it!
{Nuooh!? Was my explanation still not enough!? In short, because sealing it again will be too troublesome, we are just pushing the job on you guys, the visitor-} (Samael)
{Samael!?} (Maou)
{Ah!? O-Oh crap!} (Samael)
Having mixed his true feelings in there, Samael held his head between his hands as he shouted.
While removing her mask, Maou-chan kicked Samael in the shin and started to hit his body repeatedly.
{B-Because of your verbal slip, the picture book I worked so hard on has become useless! Like this, it'd be the same as if I was asking them for a favor normally--Kuh, my dignity!} (Maou)
[So Maou-chan drew that picture book? Why was it drew with crayons like those used by kids?] (Yumir)
[More importantly, Maou-chan didn't have a thing called dignity from the start.] (Riizu)
Yumir and Riizu retorded.
Next to us, Tobi looked really excited because Maou-chan had finally been able to speak normally.
In the projection, Samael was frantically lowering his head towards Maou-chan.
{I-I apologize Maou-sama! Please, forgive me!} (Samael)
{I don't really care how, summarize things properly, Samael! I'm already tired of this! That jar keeps shaking in the middle of the night and I haven't been able to sleep properly! Though, if I were to place it far away, the seal would weaken! Ugh! No more!} (Maou)
{Ugu...a-anyway! Like I told you at the beginning, the Kraken loves Tunnuses! Follow the Tunnuses in the Sepia water area and subjugate the Kraken that will appear there! That'll be all!} (Samael)
After Samael left those words in his act of desperation, the projection in the sky disappeared.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
ＶＲＭＭＯの支援職人　～トッププレイヤーの仕掛人～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vrmmo-no-shien-shokunin-%ef%bd%9etop-player-no-shikakenin%ef%bd%9e/
Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy Harem Slice of Life
Adventurers Beautiful Female Lead Blacksmith Brother Complex Calm Protagonist Childhood Friends Clan Building Cooking Crafting Curious Protagonist Dense Protagonist Elemental Magic Fantasy Creatures Game Ranking System Gamers Hard-Working Protagonist Healers Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Love Rivals Male Protagonist Misunderstandings MMORPG Ninjas Possessive Characters Priests Siblings Siblings Not Related by Blood Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Younger Love Interests Younger Sisters
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都