Chapter 14: I Don’t Really Get That Stuff, Nya…

What part of this was supposed to be “modest,” exactly?

Inside a vast, high-ceilinged hall within the royal castle, illuminated by numerous intricately glittering chandeliers, groups of gentlemen and ladies—nobles and wealthy elites dressed to the nines—had gathered here and there, chatting amiably. In one corner of the hall, a small ensemble played soft music, quiet enough not to interfere with conversation.

I stood there dumbfounded, staring at the extravagantly splendid party unfolding before my eyes, feeling as though I’d somehow wandered into a Di◯ney movie.

Ririka, Natsumi—and I as well—had all been dressed in gowns and made to attend this party.

Naturally, I didn’t own a dress. I’d never worn one in real life, nor even inside the game. But the castle’s maids had half-forced me into a beige dress they’d prepared—simple in color, yet unmistakably well made.

Given my experience in Glassport, I hesitated to remove the full-body, bodysuit-like electromagnetic barrier suit. However, following Erika’s perfectly timed transmission, I operated the touch sensor on my wrist, and the suit—magi-tech modified beyond recognition by Erika herself—shifted with a simple command into an almost completely transparent, see-through state. Even though they were palace maids, Ririka and Natsumi stared at me with exasperation as I effectively ended up naked in public yet again.

I could only hope they weren’t jumping to bizarre conclusions about me awakening to some strange new fetish.

Even so, transparent or not, the suit’s electromagnetic barrier was still active. If I moved carelessly and the barrier deployed, it would probably blow this expensive-looking dress away in an instant. I’d already launched a corset into oblivion during the changing process, so I had to be extremely careful with my movements.

When I looked toward the center of the hall, Ririka—wearing a luxurious pink dress she’d apparently won from an outfit gacha—was surrounded by well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, being bombarded with questions from all sides. She was clearly struggling. It was probably the price she paid for getting carried away and spreading all kinds of tall tales. Serves her right.

That said, despite Ririka being a member of the Cait Sith—a race with cat ears and a tail—no one seemed particularly bothered by it. From the way they interacted with her, it appeared that people in this country, even among the nobility, weren’t especially prone to racial prejudice. That was a relief.

Natsumi, a cross-dressing shota elf who looked no more than a delicate young girl in a pale blue dress, was in a similar situation, though not quite as intense as Ririka’s.

Thanks to the sloppy backstory Ririka had fabricated—casting me as a former slave and lowly servant—no one tried to speak to me at all. Watching Ririka and the others from a distance, and being careful not to damage the dress, I relaxed alone in a corner of the hall, sampling whatever dishes caught my eye.

As expected of a party held at the royal castle, the food was genuinely impressive. Still, while I appreciated that a noble gathering like this was buffet-style, I couldn’t help wondering if that was actually normal. Maybe this, too, was something the world had conveniently filled in when it changed.

While I was pondering that, the hall suddenly grew noisy.

"His Highness Prince Ernest and Her Highness Princess Evangelin are now entering!"

At the voice—presumably the master of ceremonies—nearly everyone in the hall turned their attention toward the large open doors. Instead of her usual outrageously revealing outfit, the knight-princess Evangelin entered wearing a blue dress—simple in design, yet clearly of far higher quality than the ones Natsumi and I had been given. Accompanied by a handsome man dressed in dignified, important-looking attire I couldn’t quite identify, along with several attendants, she stepped into the hall.

"Thank you all for gathering here today. Tonight’s celebration is not only to commemorate my triumphant return, but also to honor and entertain my dear friend and benefactor—the Great Archmage, Ririka, Divine Cat Princess, Milk-chan. I ask that you show her and her two attendants the utmost courtesy and respect."

I really had no room to criticize others, but once again I was reminded how giving characters ridiculous names could become a serious problem once a game world turned into reality. Wasn’t there anything that could have been done about that name? And did none of the assembled ladies and gentlemen think anything of it?

The nobles responded to Evangelin’s declaration with thunderous applause.

Even with the princess making her appearance, I had no intention of joining the party’s social circles. I continued nibbling at the lavish but vaguely incomprehensible dishes in my corner when a man approached me.

"Not a fan of parties like this? I’m still not used to these kinds of gatherings either. I get how you feel."

He actually talked to me. How annoying. I really wished he’d just move along.

"Still, it seems you handled things cleverly. With a title like ‘former slave,’ even nobles apparently won’t get close. I don’t know how that backstory came about, but even at level one, there’s no way a player would get sold off by a slave trader, right?"

So he was a player.

Not being able to check someone’s info via a status screen at times like this was inconvenient.

Looking more closely, the man clearly tried not to stand out, but his outfit was distinct from the surrounding nobles. He wore something like a mantle, yet beneath it was a modern-style suit and glasses. Compared to the many strikingly attractive players I’d seen, he had a distinctly Japanese, fairly unremarkable appearance.

"Are you a player too? Sorry—my data seems to be corrupted, so I can’t check statuses properly."

I offered a convenient excuse.

"Clarice-san, is it? You’re right—part of your status text is garbled. I suppose things like that can happen. That’s unfortunate. Forgive me—my name is Masato. After discussing things with the other players in town, we decided to cooperate as a single guild. I’m attending this party as its representative."

"So that’s what happened. Sorry, I was away from town for a while."

"Apparently so. It wasn’t just you—others had already left town as well, and of course there were those who refused to cooperate with the guild. Don’t worry about it. And you don’t have to pretend to be a woman around me, you know. Well, unless it’s a hobby—then by all means."

"No, it’s not really a hobby… but given the setting."

"Haha, fair enough. I even considered making a female character during creation, but honestly, I’m relieved I stayed male. It’s one less thing to worry about."

"I’m genuinely jealous of that."

"Since we’re all caught up in this incident together, I hope we can pool our strength to resolve it. If you run into trouble, please don’t hesitate to consult the guild."

"Thank you. That helps a lot."

Up until now, every player I’d met since coming to this world had seemed like some variety of deranged pervert or lunatic. Masato, however, appeared genuinely level-headed. If someone like him was organizing the players, that would be a huge relief.

As I continued talking with Masato, another person approached and addressed him.

"Masato, so this is where you were. There are quite a few ladies who wish to greet you as the representative of the adventurers. Won’t you come over and do me the courtesy?"

The speaker was a slender, handsome man wearing a lavishly embroidered outfit clearly designed to appeal to women—undoubtedly the prince who had entered alongside Evangelin earlier.

Masato had already established friendly relations with the prince? He was more impressive than I’d thought.

"Sorry, Ernest. This young lady looked like a wallflower, so I got carried away."

"I’m glad to hear you have a normal interest in women after all. And as for this young lady…"

As he said that, the handsome prince looked at me—and then suddenly flinched. His body twitched slightly as he fell silent.

Is this prince all right? Does he have some kind of strange illness setting?

Then again, the frail-prince trope was pretty common for handsome royalty.

While I eyed the prince suspiciously, wondering what had caused him to freeze like that, he finally recovered and muttered softly,

"…Lovely."

What did he just say?

"Masato, is this young lady also, um, an adventurer? A friend of yours?"

"No, she’s probably an adventurer, but she seems to be associated with that cat-eared archmage. Wouldn’t your sister know more about her?"

"I-is that so? My apologies, fair young lady. I am Ernest Strife Grandsiel, First Prince of this kingdom. Please, feel free to call me Ernest."

"Uh… well… y-yes, um… nice to meet you, Your Highness."

"It’s customary to offer your own name as well in situations like this, Lady Clarice."

"N-no, it’s fine—really, Masato. Even I am unfamiliar with adventurer customs. I introduced myself of my own accord. But Lady Clarice, your name is beautiful as well. It would be a shame to let this encounter remain nothing more than a fleeting moment tonight. I would very much like to have opportunities to see you again."

"There you have it. You’re lucky Prince Ernest is such a magnanimous person, Clarice-san."

Masato was grinning from ear to ear as he looked back and forth between the prince and me. Damn it—he was clearly enjoying this.

With my counterpart being actual royalty, I couldn’t exactly refuse outright. In the end, all that came out was a lukewarm response.

"Ah… yes. Thank you."

After that, an attendant gently admonished them, and the prince and Masato returned to the center of the hall. Even so, until the party finally came to an end, the prince kept sneaking glances in my direction. I hated to admit it, but knowing that I was a former man on the inside made the whole situation deeply unsettling and exhausting.

"Luckyyy! A handsome prince falling in love at first sight—how romantic! I’m so jealous!"

After the party ended, we were guided to a room in the royal castle where we were told we would be staying for the night. It was there that Natsumi cried out in envy.

"That’s easy for you to say, but I’m a man on the inside. And you’re still male on the outside right now too, aren’t you?"

"What are you talking about?! The real romance is taking a proud, high-and-mighty pretty boy like that and having my cute little Mekemeke-kun absolutely wreck him until he falls into bliss and turns submissive! Right?! Ririka-san?!"

"R-Ririka doesn’t really understand that kind of thing, nya…"

It seemed Ririka had been utterly drained by the nobles’ relentless questioning. The moment we returned to our room, she collapsed face-first onto the bed, completely spent. Honestly, she had only herself to blame.

"Ugh! What’s even the point of becoming an elf boy if I can’t go after a handsome prince’s ass?! Oh! But if that prince liked Clarice-san that much, he might even sneak in for a nighttime visit! In that case, we can welcome him together and tease him from the front and back!"

"Don’t say creepy stuff like that. You’ve got to be kidding."

Natsumi’s bizarre comments lingered in my head, and despite being given an absurdly luxurious bed, I had trouble falling asleep that night. Still, as expected, no prince appeared for a midnight visit, and morning arrived peacefully.

The next day, finally freed from the castle, the three of us headed straight for the Adventurers’ Guild, just as Masato had suggested.

When we told the receptionist that we wished to meet someone named Masato, she asked us to wait and led us to what appeared to be a waiting hall. While we were there, I casually asked the other two,

"That receptionist earlier—she’s an NPC, right? Isn’t the Adventurers’ Guild supposed to be managed by NPCs, or the system itself? Are we sure this is the right place?"

"There were actually two meanings to ‘guild,’ nya. One was the guild as a facility where you accept quests and requests, and the other was a player-made guild—a clan, basically. If you belonged to a player guild, that guild’s master was set as the representative of the town’s guild, nya. There used to be several guilds, nya, so Ririka doesn’t really know how things are now, but if you ask that Masato guy, he’ll probably know, nya."

"So neither of you belonged to a guild?"

"Don’t underestimate me. I was solo the whole time. Elementary school, middle school, high school, university—even at work, I’ve always been solo. Do you have any idea how it feels to be ostracized every time you post? In games, on social media, even on anonymous message boards?"

As Natsumi declared something deeply depressing with unwavering confidence, Ririka followed up with a wry smile.

"Nyahaha… well, the game was about to shut down anyway, remembered? Ririka’s close friends were probably… all retired by then, nya."

"I guess that’s how it is. The three of us really are a bunch of strays."

While we were talking, the receptionist returned and told us everything was ready. She led us to a room on the second floor labeled Guildmaster’s Office. We sat down on the consultation sofa with Ririka in the middle, and shortly after, Masato entered, dressed a bit more casually than the night before. After exchanging greetings, he took a seat across from us.

"Thanks for coming. Since we’re all players here, there’s no need to be formal. Just relax."

"So you’re the representative of this town’s guild now, nya? Didn’t the people from the other guilds object, nya?"

Ririka wasted no time pressing him.

"So, about that—at first the NPC woman was completely confused. She said she suddenly couldn’t tell who the guildmaster was anymore. But as you all know, S Sword B Blaze Online was right on the verge of service shutdown, so there weren’t that many active guilds left. The guild I represented—the ‘Cheesecake Friends Society’—ended up being the largest. Well, the one with the most members, anyway. That was mostly because we put out a call to gather one last time before shutdown. Of course, there were people who objected, but most of them left the city. That part’s on me."

"It can’t be helped, nya. Gamers aren’t exactly known for discipline or unity, nya. We were away from the city too, nya."

"That’s kind of you to say. So our guild took the initiative and petitioned the king, hoping to make the city a more livable place. Apparently, the king himself didn’t pay it much attention, but Prince Ernest came to see me right away. He said he’d cooperate if it meant improving the lives of the people. I guess the ‘benevolent, people-loving prince’ setting really did become his actual personality."

"If I remember right, it was something like an inept king, and a kind-hearted prince and princess who inherited their excellent mother’s blood, nya. The younger sister, the knight-princess, turned out like that too, nya."

"Exactly. So the first thing we decided on was installing a proper sewer system. Luckily, one of our guild members—Rick—is a civil engineering specialist in real life."

"That’s a lifesaver, nya! The toilet situation in this city is the worst, nya!"

"Haha, I know exactly what you mean. That bothered me too. Especially for the female players—there were endless complaints about the toilets and baths. Apparently the water supply already reaches the castle, so it should start being usable in the city before long as well."

Masato had noticed the problems of this world early on and seemed to be handling things remarkably well.

"Before I knew it, I’d been pushed into the role of the city’s adventurer representative. That said, even back in the original game, I was more focused on keeping the guild friendly and enjoyable than on hardcore progression. Honestly, staying in the city and working on infrastructure suits me better than fighting monsters."

"Hmm, nya… a level 150 Alchemy Mage, nya? Even so, that’s still higher level than us, nya."

"Alchemy Mages excel at item creation and support magic, but they’re not really built for frontline combat."

"A class for connoisseurs, nya. Still, we appreciate it, nya."

"I’ve managed to build a good relationship with Prince Ernest, but Princess Evangelin—true to her setting as a kind yet valiant knight-princess—regained her free will and immediately ran off out of the city. So I’m honestly very glad you became close with her. Maintaining friendly relations with the royal family is crucial in this country."

"We just happened to meet her on the way to Glassport, nya. Pure coincidence, nya."

"Haha, you’re too modest. Saving a member of the royal family is a huge advantage. I really hope you’ll continue getting along with Her Highness. And if possible, I’d like you to cooperate with us as well."

"Understood, nya. There’s still a lot we don’t know either, nya. Until we figure out how to return from this world to our original reality, we should all work together, nya."

"…Yes. That’s exactly right."

For just a moment, Masato’s expression seemed to stiffen. Maybe he had complicated feelings about the real world.

Considering he’d been a hardcore MMO player, that wouldn’t be surprising.

After exchanging a bit more information—mostly about high-recommended-level monsters sighted nearby—we left the guild.

Walking along the main street, we wondered where we’d be staying now that we’d effectively been kicked out of the castle. That was when we passed a six-person adventuring party heading in from outside the city.

"Hey! If it isn’t Milk-chan! We haven’t seen you since we got separated in the forest, so I was worried about what happened! I’m glad you—and the elf young lady over there too—made it out safely!"

Among them was Siegfried, the level 80 knight known as a so-called “direct-connection creep,” who had been forcibly teleported away after spouting delusions and getting sent flying by an ogre back in the forest.