"Look at the time! It’s down to the wire, and I need to get some sleep, so I’m logging out for the night!"
"Understood, uo! Thanks for the treat today, dao!"
"Don't worry about it; it was an apology. You two should get some rest soon as well. It’s a weekday, after all."
Just as I was wondering what she meant by that, Penpen chimed in.
"Mahariku-san, it doesn't look like you’re using the Restriction Release Code, ssu?"
"Restriction Release...? What’s that, some kind of Unofficial MOD? I’m not looking to get banned, so I’ll pass. It might be fine for a local game, but this is an Online Game, technically."
"It came in an official email from the developers, so you don't have to worry about that, ssu," Penpen assured her.
"Is that right? I’ll check my mail later, then. If it’s there, I’ll give it a shot tomorrow. See you later."
With that, Mahariku-san vanished.
She didn't even wait for an explanation. With that code, a single night in the real world would feel like three days in here. It certainly sounded suspicious, though.
"...Huh? Mahariku-shi just vanished, uo? Why, dao?"
"Wait, isn't it normal for a player to vanish when they Logout? This is a game, after all."
"But... don't we usually just switch to Auto Mode, dao?"
"Maybe she used a warp, ssu?" Penpen suggested. "Or maybe she went to give her subordinates instructions before she dropped."
"Oh, right. That makes sense, dao."
Well, it was probably something like that. Nothing worth dwelling on.
"Anyway, it’s gotten pretty late. Should we go check in on that Merchant?"
"Crap! I completely forgot about him, uo!"
『Leave it to me! I'll be your guide! Go straight through that corner!』
I didn't think it was possible to go "straight" through a corner. Was she telling us to walk through the walls?
Then again, Miti-chan could just climb over the buildings. I see.
＊ ＊ ＊
After several errands at the shop, we set up our Home and slept for the night. The next morning, I remembered our original purpose for coming to Suriado.
Of our various objectives, we had already achieved two. We had registered a new Fast Travel point and found another player.
Actually, if Mahariku-san had a Home, I wanted to link up with it. That would let us travel to even more towns.
Wait... if we stayed here waiting for Mahariku-san to come back, how would the time difference work? Would several days pass here without her, or would a "future" version of her suddenly appear from her perspective? The latter was a frightening thought. It felt like something that would cause the world to collapse.
"Mahariku-shi said we were the first players she’s met, too, dao," Alto noted. "I guess players really don't travel between Towns much, uo."
"If you die in this game, you're Lost. I suppose people aren't very keen on adventuring, ssu," Penpen added.
"Imagine playing a game and not adventuring."
"Just because it's a game doesn't mean everyone wants to go on a journey, ssu. Mahariku-shi treats it like a management sim."
"True, dao. Also, the Wiki is full of stories about people dying as soon as they leave Town. Mostly people trying to map out the world, uo."
Even as Alto said that, she had traveled quite far from her starting point. So had I, for that matter. Besides, we hadn't even fully explored Tsudon yet; there was still plenty to do there. As long as there was content left, there wasn't much reason to move on.
"I'm going to the Magic Shop today to see if they have any Golem Magic, ssu!" Penpen announced.
"Have fun. Alto, what about us?"
"Hmm, maybe we should head to the Adventurer's Guild and see if they have any interesting requests, dao."
"Won't Mahariku-san get mad if we take quests in her territory without asking?"
"Eh? Aren't Adventurer's Guild requests meant to be taken by anyone, dao?"
"Oh, that’s right."
The system would probably replenish them automatically anyway. It wasn't something to lose sleep over.
"Well then, let's check out this Town's Adventurer's Guild."
"Let’s go, dao!"
And so, we arrived at the Adventurer's Guild, only to be greeted by...
"Eeeek! The Jack-of-all-trades!"
"H-help! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Why are you here?!"
"Moooommyyyy!"
Wow. People were absolutely terrified. Grown men were cowering and screaming at the mere sight of us.
"Just what on earth did Mahariku-san do to these people?"
"I bet she put the heat on them, thoroughly, uo."
So she really was that kind of person. She seemed like a professional career woman, but I suppose that was just her character's vibe. I had no idea what she was like in real life.
Regardless, I approached the counter. The Receptionist here was an Elf as well.
"A-a-a-ano! We don't have any requests for the Jack-of-all-trades right now... Did we do something wrong? As per our agreement, we're giving you priority access to every request except for Nominated Requests, so there's nothing left..."
They had a priority queue for every single quest? The Jack-of-all-trades was a powerhouse.
"We aren't with the Jack-of-all-trades. We’re just ordinary adventurers from Tsudon, dao."
"Wait... really?"
"Really, uo. Honestly, why would you think... ah. It’s the Halo, dao."
The Receptionist’s eyes were glued to the space above our heads. It was clear she considered the Halo to be the guild's signature mark.
Still, monopolizing requests like that...
"Isn't a monopoly a bit much?"
"What are you talking about, uo? It’s perfectly normal for players to have priority for quests, dao."
"...You’re right!"
In fact, unless it was a scripted event, you rarely saw NPCs snatching up quests before a player could get to them.
In the end, since there wasn't anything worth taking, we decided to head back empty-handed.