Perhaps because I had cleaned up the monsters on the way there, we didn’t encounter many monsters back.
I was lucky enough to get A-chan and Suryuu’s help gathering some wild plants and then returned to the oni village without encountering any problems.
“Hou… So this is oni village? Seems peaceful.”
“Maybe it’s because there are only a few players here.”
“It might be so. Recently there have been a lot more players that can go beyond Griffith. Every town I visited now is crowded.”
<The oni village is certainly quiet.>
<is it unpopular?>
<I believe it’s because there’s no reason to come here except for the oni race characters.>
<Or to hunt the monsters.>
There are few people in the oni village because there is nothing to do even if you log in too early in the morning or late at night, as the viewer said.
In here, your playtime is limited during the day to the evening, so if you don’t have time during that period, there’s not much you can do in this village.
I guess this is the downside of being synchronized with the real-time clock. Maybe there will be an update to this element in the future.
By the way, I will leave no comment on the particular three oni-player who have constantly been playing during the said time.
“For the time being… what will you do?”
I could guide them to sightsee, but it’s still undecided, so I asked A-chan if there was anything she wanted to do.
“Right, first, I’m going to repair my armor and replenish items, but I think I have an acquaintance in this village, so I’m going to go there.”
“Acquaintances? a member of your clan?”
“No, a clan outsider. Just someone I know personally.”
A-chan’s personal acquaintance means they are players. Even though there are only a few players in this village, we’re still talking about the population density to the overall size of the village, so it’s unlikely to be someone I know.
As I was convinced with that explanation, I saw Kokuyo coming. She’s walking slowly while keeping her sight on the village condition.
I wonder if Kokuyo noticed me and came over to me without any hurry.
“Good morning, Sukuna.”
“Good morning. Are you on patrol, Kokuyo?”
“Yes, morning patrol. Are you hunting today?”
“Yeah, I’ve been killing some monsters.”
“That’s good to know. If there’s any food material left over, I’d appreciate it if you could drop it off at the gathering point or the restaurant.”
“Gotcha. I’ll bring it later.”
“Thank you very much. …by the way, who are these two?”
As we exchanged small talk in place of greetings, Kokuyo shifted her gaze to A-chan and the Suryuu as she broke off the conversation.
I looked at her fully intending to introduce them, but A-chan lightly restrained me with her hand, as if saying she would do it herself.
“I’m Arthur, the swordsman. This is my squire, Suryuu. I was a little too naughty in the forest. Thankfully Sukuna saved me when I was about to perish.”
“Is that so? My name is Kokuyo, a resident of this village. There’s not much to see here, but I hope you’ll enjoy your time.”
“I’ll do that.”
Unlike my first time here, Kokuyo was not on guard with A-chan and Suryuu. She also gives her hand to shake A-chan’s. I guess it’s a sign of her welcome.
<She’s smiled>
<She’s so short. It’s soothing to look at.>
<Loli will save the world.>
<Sukuna is not losing in terms of chest flatness.>
<If you put them together like this, you’ll see that Sukuna is at least a little taller than the average.>
“As I already told you guys, I’m not short.”
<The people around me are just too tall.>
<↑(now)The people around me are just too short. >
< Isn’t that mean that you’re shorty after all?>
<Strangely enough, you still look short.>
“No, seriously, it’s Rin-chan and Touka-chan that too bi— EH?”
As I was scolding my viewers with my stern look, suddenly I heard the sound of metal clashing.
I then looked back only to see Kokuyo catching the sword that A-chan had pulled out with her iron fan.
Next to me, Suryuu was fidgeting with her hands up, and I thought her reaction was kind of cute.
“Wait, what is this! What are you two doing?”
“Just playing around.”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s not like we’re fighting or anything, so please don’t worry.”
When I saw the two of them putting away their weapons as if nothing had happened, I knew that they were not serious.
If anything, they’re laughing happily.
“It’s nothing really. It just looked like Kokuyo-dono is trained in swordsmanship. I just wanted to see if she could react.”
“Oh, so you can use a sword too?”
“Yes, I used to use it a lot when I was younger, though I don’t use it much these days. ……”
That was an unexpected aspect. I had always thought that Kokuyo had a grappler-like fighting style, where they mainly beat you up.
Anyway, it seems that A-chan has been satisfied with the current exchange. Kokuyo wasn’t particularly offended either, so I didn’t pursue it any further.
“I would like to have a serious go with Kokuyo-dono during my stay here.”
“I was thinking the same thing. I’ll be at the training grounds from noon to dusk, so please come with Sukuna.”
“Eee? Why me too?”
“Fufu, I’d like to confront Sukuna as well. I’ll continue my rounds for now. Please take your time.”
In a slightly better mood than when she arrived, Kokuyo went back to patrolling the village.
“…… Do you want to go to the tool shop for now?”
“Mmm. Sorry to take up so much of your time.”
“No problem, no problem. Then let’s go to the tool shop.
Despite the unexpected encounter with Kokuyo, we headed to the tool shop to replenish A-chan supplies.
“The NPC store in the oni village has a different lineup than the city.”
“In a hidden village like this, the demand for both domestic and foreign goods is low, so there’s no reason to stock a wide variety.”
In WLO, there are different types of NPC shops, but they are not officially categorized, just from the player’s perspective.
The first is the “official store” that always sells a certain item, which is typical in RPGs.
Then there are the “unofficial stores,” such as the Sekka Talisman Shop, where the items change every time you visit.
I’ll leave the unofficial stores out of this discussion because there are too many of them, but there are several types of official stores as well.
For example, there is the unmanned NPC store in the city of beginnings. And then there are the NPC stores in every city, which for some reason have automata guarding them. And then there are the normal stores run by NPCs with AI.
Actually, I’ve never been to the automata-type NPC store because it’s always deep in the back alleys of the city. It’s hard to even find it unless you go out of your way to get there.
As for why they needed it, it is because there are people like Suryuu who roleplay as a mute, or people who simply don’t want to talk to NPCs, and automatons enthusiast.
It seems that about 90% of automatic dolls are female-type dolls, and at a quick glance, they look reasonably cute. I know many people enjoy dolls in real life, to the point there is even an automaton enthusiasts club.
The Oni village store is an unofficial one, so the variety of products changes from day to day.
The variety is small, but the potions seem to be more effective than those sold in Griffith.
As I was watching Suryuu trying to stock up on items, I heard the sound of someone running towards us.
“Sukuna-tass-sou! Good morning!”
“Himiko-san, good morning!”
“—Hidebutsu!”
Himiko comes running in with an incredibly happy expression on her face.
I thought to myself, [The usual, huh?] as I threw Himiko, who was jumping at me onto the ground, and she slid about two meters while making funny noises.
“I want you to accept me once in a while…”
“Sorry, I thought it was our scheduled routine.”
“I was scheduled to kiss the ground!?”
While brushing away the sand, Himiko said, [it’s a harsh world].
Seeing Himiko’s strange behavior, A-chan opened her mouth, holding back her laughter.
“Oh, my sister, you are as amusing as ever.”
“Geh, Arthur! Why are you here?”
At A-chan’s rather shocking words, Himiko’s eyes widened so wide they nearly popped out of her head, and she jumped back and took a defensive stance.
[Sister] she said, could it be that these two are real sisters?
I was surprised and wondered if she knew, but then I looked at Suryuu and felt a little relieved when I saw her incredibly surprised expression too.
====.
Arthur and Himiko weren’t using the same race, but they were actually sisters!
Tl note:
I will admit I did not expect them to be a sister.
Comments