コンテスト結果の発表当日、ギルドホームの談話室には俺を含めた渡り鳥五人とヒナ鳥三人の計八人が揃っていた。
広いテーブルに備え付けられた椅子に、ほぼ全員が固まりつつも適当に座っている。
俺達の場合は、代表してユーミルのメニュー画面から拡大した映像を壁の辺りに投影している。
サーラに居るので王宮に入れないかと思ったのだが、残念ながら発表を直接見ることは不可能な仕様のようだった。
なので、現在はみんなでテレビ中継を見ているのに近い状態である。
魔法による投影ということになっているだけで、実質的には同じだ。
「ずずーっ......ぷはぁ。先輩、お茶もう一杯ください」
「うーん、中々始まらないねー」
「予定時間まであと五分だよ。あ、ハインド先輩、リコと私にもお願いします。すみません」
シエスタちゃんはお茶のお代わりを要求し、リコリスちゃんは出品しなかった方の枕を抱きながら足をバタつかせ、サイネリアちゃんは淡々と自分のメニュー画面を開いて時間を確認した。
その様子にセレーネさんがやや引きつった笑みを俺に向ける。
「ハインド君。リコリスちゃん達、随分とリラックスしてるね......」
「自分達のギルドホームに居る時間が極小な気がします、この子達......」
これだとギルドを分けた意味がないような......いや、良いんだけどね。
全く寄り付かないよりは、こうやって積極的に馴染んでくれた方が嬉しいし。
「お二人も立ってないで、座ってリラックスして見るといいでござるよー。今日は特に、のんびり結果を眺めるだけなんでござるしぃー」
「おや、意外ですねトビさん。いつもみたいに、女王様にウッヒョーってしなくて良いんですか?」
「それはあれだろう、リィズ。単に女王がこいつの好みではないと!」
「ユーミル、正解!」
「ハインド殿、勝手に正解にしないで!? 拙者、何も言ってないよね!?」
「じゃあ違うのか?」
俺がそう問いかけると、トビは分かりやすく黙り込んだ。
こいつの好みは確か「つい守ってあげたくなるような女子」だったはずなので、恐らく女王様はストライクゾーンから外れている。
あの女王様、どう見ても気が強いからな......そういうのとは無縁だろう。
「そういえばトビさん、魔王ちゃんが一番のお気に入りでしたよね? やはりロリコ――」
「それは違うでござるよ!? 魔王ちゃんが好きなこと自体は否定しないでござるが!」
「だがフィリアには無反応だったではないか、こいつ」
「フィリアちゃんは親父さんに似て男前な性格だからなぁ......ちょっと好みと違うんじゃねえの?」
「だからそういうのじゃないでござるよ!? ねえ、聞いてるみんな!?」
「トビ君......どんまい」
「セレーネ殿まで!?」
ギルド唯一の良心であるセレーネさんにまでからかわれ、トビが本格的にショックを受けた。
その情けない表情に、ヒナ鳥達三人は堪え切れずにプッと吹き出した。
ゆるーいゆるーい空気が充満した談話室に、突如として緊張が走る。
開きっぱなしだった画面がノイズを発し、ざらついた映像が徐々に鮮明になっていく。
崩していた姿勢を直し、一斉にそちらに注目する。
や。これでは妾は来訪者どもの笑い者ぞ?』
『魔力の波長が安定するまでお待ちくださいませ。姫は幼い時分より少々、気が短いきらいがございますな』
『アルボル殿、お言葉が過ぎますぞ! いくら元教育係のお役目を賜っていたとはいえ、女王陛下に向かってそのような――』
『よい、ミレス。爺や、さっさと致せ』
音声も途切れ途切れだが、耳を凝らした結果こう聞こえた。
意味のある単語を拾って繋げている部分もあるため、一字一句違わず正解とはいかないだろうがおおよそ合っているはず。
ややあって安定した映像の中で、女王は二人の男を横に立たせ、自身は玉座に座った状態で登場した。
向かって右側、恐らく「爺や」と呼ばれていたのは魔導士のローブを身に纏った老人の方だろう。
反対の左側は引き締まった体をした褐色の青年だ。
王宮戦士団「砂漠のフクロウ」の現団長ミレス。
女王に心酔しており、確か近習の役目もこなしていたような。
『聞こえているか? 来訪者の諸君......妾がサーラ国女王パトラ・アデニウム・サーラである』
と微笑みながら足をゆっくりと組み替え、女王がプレイヤー達に向かって言葉を投げる。
その見えそうで見えない絶妙な所作に、俺とトビは思わずゴクリと喉を鳴らす。
瞬間、俺はテーブルの下に入れていた足に多方向からの一斉攻撃を受けた。
「いでででで!? 何!? 何!?」
「? どうしたんですかハインド先輩?」
「いや、今――」
俺はリコリスちゃんに言いかけた言葉を飲み込んだ。
本能が警告を発している。
それ以上言うな、また蹴られるぞ――と。
「......何でもないよ。ちょっと足がつりそうになってね」
「ええ!? 気を付けて下さい、ゲーム内でも足がつると痛いですよ!」
「リコリスちゃん経験済みなの?」
「リコはそそっかしいので、ログイン直後の戦闘で必要以上に力みまして......はぁ......」
「ほう、ゲーム内でも足ってつるのでござるか。危なかったでござるな、ハインド殿」
俺の勘は正しかったようで、そのまま周囲に漂っていた謎の緊張感がゆっくりと解けていった。
でも今、明らかに四方向くらいから足を蹴られたんだよな......。
勢いの良いやつと、ぐりぐり抉り込むようなやつと、遠慮がちで全然痛くないソフトなやつと、取り敢えず踏んでみましたっていうやる気のないやつ。
今、会話に加わらなかった面子は全員怪しい。
それぞれ誰がやったのか分かるような、分かりたくないような。
「む、やっと挨拶が終わったな。勿体つけおって!」
「無駄に長い前説でしたね。全くこれだから年増は......」
ユーミルとリィズから発せられた棘付きの言葉に、俺は視線を画面へと戻した。
女王がパチンと指を鳴らすと玉座の周囲が暗くなり、もう一度鳴らすと何やらスポットライトのような光に照らされたアイテムの山が出現した。
量を考えると、一カテゴリの全出品物がそこに集められているわけではなさそうだ。
ということは......。
『初めは来訪者の申すところの『アイテム・その他』と呼ばれる物品の結果発表を行う。ここにあるものは既に
その言葉に俺達は一斉に椅子から立ち上がり、画面に向かって近づいて注視した。
このカテゴリに出品しているのはユーミルの『アデニウム』とヒナ鳥達の『木綿の枕』である。
「ねえねえ、あった!? 私たちの枕はあるの!? サイちゃん!」
「この白っぽいのが、そうなような違うような。ちょっと自信ないけど」
「んー......私の枕センサーによると、あれは私達の出した枕で間違いないと思うよ」
「「「枕センサーって何!?」」」
リコリスちゃんとサイネリアちゃんだけでなく、自分以外の全員からツッコミを受けたシエスタちゃんだが気にした様子もなく大あくびをした。
そんな枕の有無に関する真偽はともかく、俺達の鉢植え! アデニウムの鉢植えは!?
「駄目だハインド、見えーん! というよりも、微妙に遠くて小物はほとんど見えん! これでは在るのか無いのかさっっっぱり分からん!」
「もっとカメラ寄ってくれ! これじゃデカいアイテムしか判別できねえよ!」
『では、これより上位10品の発表に移る。そのまま暫し待つが良い』
「「ああー!!」」
俺とユーミルの叫びも虚しく、映像はアイテムの山から遠ざかっていった。
The day they were going to announce the results of the contest, in the lounge room of the guild home, including me, there were five members of Migratory Bird and three members of Baby Bird, for a total of eight people.
We placed chairs around the table and most of us were seated down around it.
In our case, our representative, Yumir, had expanded her menu window and projected it onto a wall.
We thought that we might have been able to enter the royal palace since we were in Sala, but unfortunately, it wasn't possible to watch the announcement directly.
That being the case, we ended up in this situation that was close to watching it on TV.
With it being projected as if it was magic, it was pretty close to watching it in person.
[Susu...puwah. Senpai, another cup of tea please.] (Siesta)
[Hmm, it's not starting yet...] (Lycoris)
[There's five minutes until the scheduled time. Ah, Hind-senpai, me and Lyco want a cup too. Sorry about this.] (Cineraria)
Siesta-chan was asking for another cup of tea, Lycoris-san was walking around while hugging the pillow they didn't submit, and Cineraria-chan just opened her menu window to check the time.
Selene-san, who was sitting next to them, gave me a smile.
[Hind-kun. Lycoris and co seem to be quite relaxed...] (Selene)
[I get the feeling these girls are hardly ever at their own guild home...] (Hind)
With this, there's like no meaning in us splitting the guild...well, not like I mind.
I'm happier if they approach us proactively like this instead of avoiding us.
[You two, just relax, sit down and watch it. Especially today, it's just us watching the results in a relaxed manner-] (Tobi)
[Oh? This is quite a surprise, Tobi-san. Is it OK for you to not go "It's the Queen, Uhyooo" like you always do?] (Riizu)
[It has to be like that, Riizu. Simply, the Queen is not to this  guy's liking!] (Yumir)
[Yumir, that's correct!] (Hind)
[Hind-dono, don't just go saying it's correct on your own! I haven't even said anything, right!?] (Tobi)
[Then, are we wrong?] (Hind)
Once I asked him, in an easy to understand manner, Tobi just stayed silent.
If I remember correctly, this guy's type was [A girl that just makes you want to protect her] , so the Queen was probably outside his strike zone.
That Queen, she's quite strong willed no matter how you look at her...so she's probably not that type.
[By the way, Tobi-san. The one you liked the most was Maou-chan right? As I thought you are a lolic-] (Riizu)
[You are wrong! Didn't I deny liking Maou-chan already!?] (Tobi)
[But this guy, he didn't have any reaction when it came to Philia-chan.] (Yumir)
[Philia-chan has a masculine personality that's closer to her dad after all...maybe she's just a bit different from what he likes?] (Hind)
[I'm telling you guys that it's not like that! Hey, are you listening to me!?] (Tobi)
[Tobi-kun...don't mind it.] (Selene)
[Selene-don, you too!?] (Tobi)
Being teased by Selene-san, who was the only one in the guild with a conscience, Tobi seemed to genuinely be shocked.
Seeing him look so miserable, the three members of Baby Bird couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The relaxed atmosphere in the lounge room was suddenly filled with tension.
Noise could be heard from the screen and the blurry image gradually started to clear up.
After correcting her posture, she looked towards us.
{Not done yet, Jiiya? If this goes on, you'll be a laughing stock to myself and the visitors, you know?} (Queen)
{Please wait a moment until the magical wavelength stabilizes. Princess, there sure are times where you act childish and short tempered.} 
{Arbol-dono, watch your tongue! Even if you are her former educator, that's not a tone you should address her Majesty wi-} 
{It's fine, Miles. Jiiya, just do it already.} (Queen)
The voices kept cutting off but if you concentrated enough, you were able to hear quite a bit.
You just connected the words you could make out and while you wouldn't be able to know what they said word for word, you could guess what they were talking about.
When the picture sort of stabilized, the Queen sat down on her throne while two men stood next to each other.
The one on the right should probably be the one she called [Jiiya] , he was an old man wearing a mage robe.
Opposite to him on the left side, there was a young muscular man with tanned skin.
He was the current leader of the Imperial Soldier Squad, the[Desert Owls] .
It seems like he admires the Queen and has also taken the role of her attendant.
{Do you hear me? Visitors...I'm the Queen of the Kingdom of Sala, Patra*Adenium*Sala.} (Queen)
Fixing the posture of her legs and giving a sweet smile, the Queen looked towards the players and threw those words.
Watching those movements that gave you the feeling that you would be able to see but at the same time not be able to, Tobi and I unconsciously gulped and made a sound with our throats.
In an instant, under the table, my foot was attacked in unison from multiple sides.
[O-Ouch!! What!? What's going on!?] (Hind)
[? Did something happen, Hind-senpai?] (Lycoris)
[No, just no-] (Hind)
I refrained from saying the words I was going to say to Lycoris-chan.
My instincts are telling me that I shouldn't do it.
Don't say anything more, you are going to get kicked again...or something like that.
[...It's nothing. My leg just kind of cramped up a bit.] (Hind)
[Eeh!? Be careful, even if it's inside the game, if your leg cramps up it'll hurt!] (Lycoris)
[Lycoris-chan, are you speaking from experience?] (Hind)
[Lyco is quite hasty, so she strains herself more than needed on the first fight after she logs in...hah...] (Cineraria)
[I see, you can get leg cramps even inside the game. That was dangerous, Hind-dono.] (Tobi)
It seems like my instincts were right, like that, the mysterious feeling of tension in the air dissipated.
But right now, I'm pretty sure kicks from four sides hit me...
One with great vigor, one that grinded against my foot, a reserved and soft one that I couldn't feel any pain from, and one that felt unmotivated but just thought "Well, guess I'll just start by stepping on it".
Right now, all the people that haven't participated in the conversation looked suspicious.
I get the feeling which one was which but at the same time I kinda don't want to know.
[Muh, she finally finished the introductions. She sure loves putting up airs!] (Yumir)
[The introduction was unnecessarily long, right? Good grief, this is why middle-aged women are...] (Riizu)
When Yumir and Riizu let out those thorny words, I returned my gaze towards the screen.
With a snap of the Queen's fingers, the surroundings of the throne darkened, when she snapped them again, a light akin to that of a spotlight illuminated a mountain of items.
Judging from the amount, it seems like all the items from a single category were there.
Which means...
{First off, I'll announce the results for the items called {Items*Others}  by the visitors. The items here are the top one hundred...if you are able to see yours within these, you should feel happy.} (Queen)
Hearing those words, we all stood up and approached the screen to look more closely.
Showing in this category were Yumir's {Adenium}  and Baby Bird's {Cotton Pillow} .
[Hey hey, did you see it!? Is our pillow there!? Sai-chan!] (Lyco)
[I get the feeling it's this white one, but also not at the same time. I can't say it with confidence.] (Cineraria)
[Hmmm...according to my pillow sensor, I believe there's no doubt that, that's our pillow.] (Siesta)
[[[What's a pillow sensor!?] ] ] 
Not only Lycoris-chan and Cineraria-chan, but everyone retorted and when she heard that, Siesta-chan acted as if she didn't care and just let out a big yawn.
Leaving aside whether there's such a pillow sense or not, what about our potted plant!? Where is our Adenium!?
[It's no good, Hind, I can't find it! Or rather, I can't see the small items further in the back! Like this, I can't tell at all if it's there or not!] (Yumir)
[Zoom in the camera! Like this, the only thing we can see clearly are the big items!] (Hind)
{Well then, we'll now proceed to announce the top ten. Just wait there.} (Queen)
[[Aaaaah!!] ] (Yumir and Hind)
My and Yumir's cries were in vain, the mountain of items just disappeared from the screen.
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