ギルド「渡り鳥」と新イベント
石で出来た堅い床を、コツコツと音を鳴らしながら進んで行く。
無駄に太い柱を手でペシペシと叩きながら、前日までの出来事を思い返す。
王宮から程近くにある、血統が途絶えて久しい貴族の屋敷跡。
俺達はここにギルドホームを構えることにした。
そもそもギルドホームには二つの種類があり、トビが言っていた中身が異空間となっている「集合住宅タイプ」のものが一つ。
そしてもう一つが、俺達が買った高額で初期設備が整っている「一軒家タイプ」のものだ。
一軒家タイプは見た目通りの広さだが、設備レベルMAXの状態に最初から対応した広さになっている......そうだ。
この物件を見た時のメンバーの反応はこんな感じだった。
「デカくて見栄えが良いな! 私はここが気に入ったぞ!」
「集合住宅と違って実体を伴った広さなら、改造して忍者屋敷に......むふふ」
「あの、私、一軒家ならなんでも......集合タイプで他のギルドの人と会うのは、その......」
派手好きなユーミルと弄り甲斐のある広さを求めるトビ、それと人見知りのセレーネさんの意見を考慮し......。
結果、クエスト報酬の大金を惜しみなく注ぎ込んでこの屋敷を買うことに決めた。
今はまだ王都ワーハに他のプレイヤーが来る気配はないが、集合住宅タイプはいずれ誰かしら購入するだろうから避けることに。
リィズもこの決定に特に反対しなかった。
ギルド名も元「砂漠のフクロウ」ヤイードさんによる資金の後押しでホームが完成したことから、鳥繋がりということで「渡り鳥」に決定。
そこでようやく正式に、ギルド発足ということに相成ったわけだ。
ギルドマスターの選定にも色々あったが......
「ハインドだろう?」
「ハインド殿に一票」
「ハインドさんで」
「ハインド君で良いと思う」
と、恐らくパーティでの戦闘時に指揮をしていた流れでこうなったのだろう。
しかし、俺としてはギルマスなどやりたくないし向いていないと思うわけで。
「言っちゃなんだが俺がギルマスだとつまんないことになるぞ。安定した方針の上に全く冒険しない――とかそんな感じで。積極性のあるユーミルかトビの方が良いと思うんだが」
「忍者が表立った組織のトップとか、
から笑われそうでござる。そういうことなら、拙者としてはユーミル殿にお願い致したい」
「だとよ、ユーミル。頼めるか?」
「......フン、ギルマスか。悪くない響きだ。やってやろうじゃないか!」
という訳で、満更でもなさそうなユーミルがギルドマスターに。
昨日はこうしたギルド設立とホーム選定に時間が掛かり、少し夜更かしをしてしまった。
なので、今夜はアップデート内容の確認程度の軽いプレイで解散になると思われる。
そんな状況で俺がログインした直後から、鉄を叩く軽快な音がホーム内に響くのが聞こえている。
長い廊下を進むと、ギルドホームの工房へと足を踏み入れた。
ちょうどセレーネさんが手を止めたところだったので、俺は近付いて声を掛けた。
あれはショートソードかな......?
セレーネさんにしては売れ線で普通の武器をチョイスしている。
「どうです? 新しい木炭高炉の使い心地は」
「あ、ハインド君。もうすっごく快適だよ! 特にこの水車フイゴが最高で」
「それは何より。これで俺も、息を切らしながらフイゴを踏む必要が無くなったわけですか」
「ふふ。村でやってた時から苦手だったもんね」
この貴族屋敷購入の決め手になったのが、贅沢にも敷地内に水量の豊富な川が流れていることだったりする。
この川......というよりは用水路と呼ぶべきだろうか。
これは生活用水として街中を通って住宅街まで緩やかに流れているのだが、この場所はその中でも上流に位置している。
水車自体は街で作ってくれるという業者が居たので、委託してフイゴに動力が行くように――と、細かいところまで思い出す必要はないか。
ともかく、首尾よく水車を設置することが出来たわけだ。
鍛冶の他には製粉などにも使えるようにもう一台設置してある。
水車本体に加えて設置の工賃と費用はそれなりに掛かったが......それはそれとして。
「どうです? 現在の武器の売れ行きは」
「タートル武器も局所的にはこの一週間で攻撃力が不足してきたらしくて、上位層だけは買い替えが始まっている様子だよ。ただ、一番多い中間層はまだタートル系で充分みたいで......」
「ありがとう。次はPvPのイベントなんだよね?」
「そうなんですけど、詳細がまだなんですよね。また例によって、ゲーム内で告知を行うんでしょうけど」
続けて炉を使う様子はないので、片付けを手伝いながら話す。
魔王ちゃんが連続で登場ってことはないと思うのだが......となると、誰がPvP大会の開催者になるんだろうな?
そもそもPvPと言っても個人戦なのか、はたまたグループ戦なのかすらまだ分かっていないのがなんとも。
プレイヤーもTB世界のあちこちに散ってしまっているし、どうやって一箇所に集める気なんだろう......?
疑問は尽きない。
「――ぉぉい、ハインド! ハインド、何処だ!? セッちゃーん!!」
「あれ、この声......ユーミルさん?」
「本当だ。マップを見ればここに居るって分かるだろうに......」
工房のドアを開けて顔を出すと、走って通り過ぎそうになるユーミルが慌ててブレーキを掛けた。
何をそんなに焦って――
「来たぞ、イベントの詳細! 街に立札が設置された!」
「立札......?」
「とにかく一緒に来い! セッちゃんも!」
「う、うん......分かった」
片付けもそこそこに、俺達はギルドホームから街へと繰り出した。
ユーミルに連れられてマーケットの中央通りに行くと、そこにはNPCによる人だかりが出来ていた。
セレーネさんに服の裾を掴まれながらそれを掻き分けて進むと、立札を守るように立つ兵士達の中に見覚えのある姿が。
「あれ、もしかして国境砦に居た眼帯の兵士じゃないか? どうして帝国兵がこんなとこに」
眼帯の兵もちらりとこちらを見たが、黙して立っているのみだ。
職務中ですと言わんばかり......これは話し掛けても無視されそうだな。
ええと、立札には何て書いてあるんだ?
告
一、グラド帝国首都「オルドル」にて、来訪者・現地民問わず武の極みを目指す大会を開くものとする
一、但し皇帝グラド・アルディ・サージェスは、個の力による凡庸な戦いを望まない。よって、二人一組での参加を必須とする
一、大会期間中の移動は各街に配備する帝国の魔導士が行うものとする
一、大陸全土を巻き込んでの大会となるが、出身・所属国・身分全て問わないものとする
一、優勝者には賞金百万Gに加え、名馬「グラドターク」を与えるものである
一、大会中、皇室公認の賭博以外は厳しく取り締まるものとする
立札――じゃなく高札だな、これは。
要約すると、帝国で二人一組による武術の大会が開かれると。
二人一組......最初だし、個人戦だと思ったんだけどなぁ。とんだ変化球だよ。
そして更に意外だったのが、大会にはNPCも参加してくると。
ジョーカー的に強いNPCでも居るんだろうか? この点に関しては少し楽しみではある。
高札の最後には皇帝のみならず、各国の代表者らしき名が全て連名で記載されていた。
つまり他の国も大会を公認しており......これって、もしかして実質的には国同士の代理戦争にあたる大会なのでは......?
Chapter 59 - Guild[Migratory Bird] And New Event
I continued walking through a solid floor made of stone while the sound of my steps echoed.
Feeling the pointlessly thick pillars with my hand made me think of the event that occurred yesterday.
Close to the royal palace, there was a residence of nobles that ceased to be a long time ago.
We set our guild home there.
To begin with, guild homes come in two types, one of them is the one that Tobi mentioned that it had another dimension within it, that one is called [Apartment type] .
The other one is the one we bought, a [Single house type]  where we paid a large sum of money and it had come with some initial facilities already prepared.
A single house type is as big as it looks, but it comes with the facilities already at level MAX...right.
When the party members saw this property they reacted like this.
[It's huge and it looks nice! I like this place!]  (Yumir)
[If compared to an apartment type it is just as it looks, I can remodel it to a ninja house...mufufu.]  (Tobi)
[Eh, I don't mind that it is a single house type...but using it for meetings and meeting people from other guilds is...]  (Selene)
The flamboyant Yumir and Tobi who wanted to mess around with it because it was so big, then I had to consider Selene-san's opinion due to her fear of strangers...
In the end, we decided to just use the large sum of money we got as a reward for the quest to buy this mansion.
Right now, there's no signs of other players having come to the royal capital Waaha, but someone will eventually buy the apartment types and we want to avoid them.
Riizu also didn't oppose this decision.
For a guild name, since we received funds to complete the home from the former [Desert's Owl]  Yaido-san, we decided to call it [Migratory Bird]  as a name related to birds.
That made it official and we formally started the guild right there.
Lots of things also happened when we were deciding on a guild master but...
[It's Hind, right?]  (Yumir)
[One vote for Hind-dono.]  (Tobi)
[I'll leave it to Hind-san.]  (Riizu)
[I think it should be Hind-kun.]  (Selene)
So, I guess they followed the flow like when I give commands during fights and it ended like that.
However, I don't want to be the guild master and I don't think I'm suited for it.
[I'll take stable decisions and won't be adventurous at all...it'll be something like that. So I think it's better if it's someone like Tobi or Yumir who are assertive people.]  (Hind)
[A ninja as the leader of a public organization, huh? Other people would laugh at me.
[In that case, I'll ask that Yumir takes the position.]  (Tobi)
[So he says, can I leave it to you, Yumir?]  (Hind)
[...Fuun, me as a guild master, huh? It has a good ring to it.
With that being said, the unlikely Yumir became the guild master.
We spent the time yesterday like that, establishing the guild and selecting the home, and we stayed until late at night.
That being the case, tonight, I think we'll just check the contents of the update and do some light playing.
Right after I logged in under those circumstances, I heard the light sound of something hitting iron resounding from within the home.
After proceeding through the long hallway, I walked into the guild home's workshop.
Since it was just when Selene-san had stopped moving her arm, I drew closer to her and talked to her.
Is that a shortsword...?
For Selene-san, that's quite the popular and normal choice of weapon.
[How is it? The ease of use of the new charcoal blast furnace.]  (Hind)
[Ah, Hind-kun. It's really comfortable! Especially these water wheel bellows, it's the best.] (Selene)
Though that means that there's no need for me to run out of breath while stepping on the bellows anymore, huh?]  (Hind)
[Fufu. You weren't particularly good at it since that time in the village, right?]  (Selene)
The deciding factor for buying this noble's mansion was because the plot was luxurious and a river flowed here with abundant water.
This river...though maybe I should call it an irrigation canal.
Its water is used for daily life and it goes downtown passing through the residential area, but this place is located in the upper stream.
The water wheel was made thanks to there being a manufacturer in town, we asked him to make it so that it went to the bellows...well, guess I don't need to go into the little details here.
Anyway, we successfully installed a water wheel.
Apart from the one for blacksmithing, we also installed another one for milling.
The water wheels themselves plus the cost of installing them was quite high but...let's leave that aside for now.
[How is it? The current demand for weapons.]  (Hind)
[It seems like during this week, the offensive power of turtle weapons became lacking, the high leveled players are starting to replace them.
[The next event was a PvP one right?]  (Selene)
[That seems to be the case, but there are still no details out about it yet.
Since she didn't seem like she was going to keep using the furnace, I helped her clean up while we talked.
I don't believe Maou-chan will appear twice in a row but...in that case, who will announce the opening of the PvP tournament?
To begin with, even if we know it's a PvP event, we still don't know if it'll be about individual matches or group matches.
The players of TB are scattered throughout the world of TB, how do they plan to gather them all in a single place...?
There's a myriad of questions.
[...Hey, Hind! Hind, where are you!? Secchan!!!]  (Yumir)
[Eh, this voice...Yumir-san?]  (Selene)
[Even though she would know if she just looked at the map...]  (Hind)
When I opened the door to the workshop and showed my head through the door, Yumir braked in a panic since she was running too fast and was going to overshoot.
Why is she in such a hurry-
[It's here, the details of the event! It's on the town's bulletin board!]  (Yumir)
[Bulletin board...?]  (Hind)
[Anyway, come with me! Secchan too!]  (Yumir)
[Y-Yeah...understood.]  (Hind)
We tidied up in a hurry and headed to town from the guild home.
Yumir took us to the center of the market, there was a crowd of NPCs there.
While Selene-san was grasping the hem of my clothes, we pushed our way through it and we saw the figure of a guard we knew standing guard beside the bulletin board.
[Hmm? Isn't that the eyepatch guard that was guarding the border?
The eyepatch soldier glanced at us, but he stood there in silence.
It was as if he was saying that he was currently working...even if we talked to him now he would probably ignore us.
Let's see...what's written in the bulletin board?
Notice.
-A tournament that accepts both visitors and current citizens will be held in the Grado Empire's capital [Ordol] . The objective is to aim for the peak of military arts.
-However, the Emperor Grado*Ardi*Sajis doesn't wish for ordinary fights that show individual strength. Therefore, it'll be required for people to participate in pairs.
-During the duration of the event, imperial mages will be deployed to each town.
-This tournament will involve the whole continent, but we won't inquire about your origin, the country you belong to or social status.
-Including the 1.000.000G prize money, we'll award you the fine horse [Grado Turk] .
-During the tournament, we'll oversee gambling that's not recognized by the imperial household.
The bulletin board...nope, this is more like an official bulletin board.
Summarizing, the Empire is holding a duo martial arts tournament.
A duo...I thought they would do a single match tournament first since it's still early. This is quite the curveball.
What was more surprising was the fact that NPCs will participate in the tournament.
Will there be a joker like strong NPC in it? I'm kinda looking forward to that bit.
At the end of the official bulletin board there wasn't only the Empire's, what looked like the signatures of the representatives of each nation was there.
Which means that the other countries approved of this tournament...this, could this tournament be a proxy war between the countries...?
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/
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https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都