Kapitel 356: Hidden in the Fog

Kiro asked, "Why did you reveal that Respectable Elder?"

Juon laughed, "They agreed to the contract did they not? We will be fine!"

"But-"

"Worry not Kiro, I have already lifted the fog around the village. I have something I must gather, fill him in on the details."

"Yes Respectable Elder. . ."

Kiro lead Jarvis to the exit. Once he walked through the door he was granted the sight of several Tanukis gathering at the front. They all stared at him, speaking among themselves.

Kiro pinched his arm and pulled him to the side, "What did you say?!"

"What do you mean?"

"Less than five humans ever made it into the village in the past century. You are the first to have been revealed this secret!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know why he did it. . ."

Kiro released a defeated sigh, "I can't disobey the Respectable Elder. Follow me, I'll inform you of what this is."

Jarvis trailed behind her, listening intently.

"This is—as you know—the village of Tanuki. We all live here under the protection of the Respectable Elder."

"In secret?"

"We are nearing our extinction, so yeah I suppose so."

"Oh."

"Worry not about it, we're getting by fine. Now let me get back to what I was saying. Under the Respectable Elder's protection, we silently grow our power to transform. Once we are able to turn into a human, we undergo further training to meld into society."

"Why?"

"To maintain the living of this place. A select few become informants, those of high status know us as Ninjas. For the right price we can gather any information you desire."

"What about the others?"

"They are free to choose as they please. Many become instructors, others choose to live as a human."

"What did you choose?"

"To indulge in drink."

Jarvis shook his head and laughed slightly, "I see."

"Don't laugh at me! Alcohol is the drink of heavens. Am I wrong to enjoy it?"

"No, I found the difference to be amusing."

"Hmph."

Kiro stopped, "Now your turn. What are you?"

"I'm certainly no Tanuki. I'm human."

"Yeah yeah ok sure, I can believe that. But that's not what I meant. You have some of the finest food and drink on your person casually. You have beasts of vast power under your control-"

"They aren't under my control.", Jarvis quickly corrected.

"It sure doesn't seem that way."

"It's a beneficial exchange. I let them free if they no longer wish to stay with me."

Kiro examined his expression, "Alright, but you aren't someone ordinary. You broke through to Second Star easily, yet you didn't blink at it."

"Uh, Ruyi was there. I've never seen a Kitsune before."

Kiro sighed, "The way you speak is like a child surrounded by candy."

"What? I'm sorry I guess?"

"Listen, I don't know what the Respectable Elder has planned for you. Just don't question him too much alright? Everyone has a limited amount of patience."

"I won't."

"Good, you can speak with the others. I'm sure they're interested in you."

Jarvis didn't need any further permission and skipped off. Soon enough he was surrounded by Tanukis, some were in a human shape. He conversed happily and patiently with them.

As she watched this sight Kiro couldn't help but frown. Jarvis was a strange individual, for the Respectable Elder to hold so much interest in them. . . . Something wasn't right. Dusting off her palms she pinched her chin. As she struggled to come to a conclusion she instead shook her head.

"Out of my league that's for sure!", reaching into a bag she pulled out a stone and it puffed into a jar.

Uncorking the jar she sipped its contents with a gleeful expression, "Mister makes good stuff!"

~ ~ ~

Givale landed on an obscure location. She then collapsed, 'Eugh. . ."

Akiol and Para slid off her, leaving her to rest. Para was chewing her lip, "Such power, we can't face against that!"

"We aren't going to. We should probably head to the Eastern half of the continent. Regroup with the others."

"They survived?!"

"Only a handful, what does the forums say?"

Para opened the forums and scrolled through the various posts, "There's a lot of chatter about the Hydra. Outrage being most common."

"Did the death by the Hydra prove to be troublesome?"

"It seems to have extended their revive period. You have to wait two hours before coming back. However the penalty stays the same."

"That's nice. Better than I feared."

"Oh- the developers released a statement just now. Should I forward it?"

"Just give me the basic information."

"Give me a moment then."

Para skimmed through the post, "Ok, it's a mostly apologetic approach. Saying that due to certain circumstances the requirements for both the event of Perina and the Hydra were met simultaneously. Thus they overlapped. They recommend that players flee however."

"So the west is free, but are faced with something more troublesome in return."

"Yeah."

Akiol leaned back and rested against Givale, "This is quite the problem."

Waving his hand Akiol advised, "Rest for now, we'll have to strategize with the others when we meet again. No point in racking our brains now."

Agreeing with the advice Para sat down. As time began to pass during their resting, the ground occasionally vibrated and a faint boom could be heard. Every time Akiol felt this, the void in his heart widened. Another city fell whenever that boom occurred, and countless lives were lost.

If. . . he still had the strength of the Hero. If he still was the Hero, could he have stopped that calamity? With the power he once called his own, could he have triumphed the limitation of Stages?

Attempting to soothe himself, he fell asleep.

~ ~ ~

"Is there seriously not a clue on this?!"

"We've been searching everywhere but the only data we have is the video!"

Uranium sighed, "At this rate we'll have to deal with the wrath of Dot."

"We may not have to."

"What do you mean?"

"We could make a public statement, rally the public on our side. Make it seem like Dot is the enemy."

"Dot has made many enemies, do you think he'll care?"

"Well, those experts have recently become Second Stage too. Perhaps the fight won't be so one sided."

Uranium shook his head, "We must not get complacent. From the video it was clear that the ones targeting Dot were of a high caliber, while also being Second Stage. Dot is a being we must not cross easily. I have already learned this mistake."

"Then, why not get the help of Six Lights?"

"What?"

"Our personal experts couldn't stand a chance. But each of them had high praises with the video from the Competition. Most of them claim they wouldn't be able to fight Six Lights easily, and it looked like they didn't even try."

"Six Lights. . . no wouldn't work. They aren't Guild players, probably side with Dot's actions as well. Regardless we don't have contact with them."

"I hear Jumpstart Pavilion does."

Uranium furrowed his brow, but the single sentence made ideas sprout. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want revenge. Sending a message with a single hand he instead continued to contact his channels to research further into the identities of Dot's Assassins.