Recommencement of Time

Chapter 1: Setting the Setting

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Original Title: Log Horizon / ログ・ホライズン

Original Concept by Touno Mamare

Written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: This story will contains OC, and will take place after the events of Vol. 4 of Log Horizon.

Author's Notes: This story is based on the Light Novel by Touno Mamare, 'Log Horizon', and is scheduled to be released as an Animation in the Autumn 2013 Anime Season on October. It's naturally a fanfiction, which in this case, will contain an OC for it that I hope to expand the general storyline with.

The necessary introductions to the setting of Log Horizon will be covered within the story itself, I'll do my best with them, seeing that the light novel has not been really covered, or translated by the western community, but first a general introduction of Log Horizon.

Log Horizon is a light novel written by Touno Mamare, which one might recognize as the author of Maoyū Maō Yūsha, and the most basic summary would be it details the story of MMORG players who was whisked away into a fantasy world that was identical to the game itself.

One might draw comparison with the recent, and very successful light novel/anime adapation: 'Sword Art Online', but there are many differences within the setting, the premise, the delivery as well as the plot elements of the two stories.

So before the fanwars begin, I decided to take up this challenge to write about Log Horizon, my absolute favorite Light Novel of all time. If this could generate some interest on the premise, I would be very happy.

That said, due to the lack of Western Coverage (that I am aware of anyway), till the official translations are out, I'll be using my own (very limited), translation capabilities to bring to you, the reader, the world of Log Horizon, as such, the specific bolded terms would be subject to change when the official translations are made available. Or if someone could point me to the right terms, I'll be even happier!

So please bear with me for now, and when FF. Net takes the time to make the categories, and I'll do the best that I can do introduce the world of Log Horizon to all of you. There would be certain elements which would consist as spoilers, but I couldn't help myself!

-Regards

wrathie

Additional Notes:

Updated 08/10/13

The kneejerk response to the release of the Anime has been overwhelming, and since the Anime's release has released some terminology for me to work with, I'll be updating the chapters accordingly. Thank you for your patience.

And if it wasn't obvious before, SPOILERS WARNING.

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Akihabara, the one of the leading electronic and homeland of animation, game and otaku goods in Japan was not what it's frequent visitors, and travellers thought that it would look like.

Gone was the metropolitan city, busy streets, and the many shops that demanded attention. Instead it was replaced with a scene straight out of an apocalyptic scenario where humanity had abandoned it altogether.

The entire city, although rebuilt, still bore signs of being reclaimed by nature, with trees, vines and various shrubberies growing between the gaps of the buildings itself.

It was an abandoned city, one which had been left to rot, that has now been reclaimed by the people that now live within it again, trying their best to accommodate to the changed city landscape as best they could.

Most of the city's buildings were still standing, the few that had collapsed were yet to be cleared, all in all creating a veritable maze within the city that would cause any normal traveller to the city to be lost if one took a wrong turn.

Welcome to Akihabara, one of the 'beginner cities' of the popular and oldest MMORPG, Elder Tales. With an estimated one hundred thousand players in japan alone, twenty million worldwide, and with a twenty year old development history, it boasts of complex histories, riddled with in-game lore, great system mechanics that has spawned it's own share of legends and stories within the community itself.

It wouldn't be a stretch to call it a parallel world in some aspect, as there were individuals within the game itself who lived, and breathed the game.

This was very fitting, for right now, as around fifteen thousand players in Japan were literally living their lives out in Akihabara. Elder Tales, which had been a source of entertainment, and to others, a way of life had been a game, only now, the 'players' were living out their lives within it.

Welcome to Akihabara, the setting of a fantasy world, where players became citizens, the Adventurer's and inhabitants of セルデシア(Seldesha). To the Adventurers, this fantasy world was a familiar face; one could almost say that the two were almost identical, with the same mechanics, the same monsters, with their individual levels, equipment, guilds, friend lists all intact when they were all whisked into this fantasy world.

The Adventurers were stuck into this world due to what they term as the Apocalypse, where the players who were logged in Elder Talesfor the latest and twelfth update of Elder Tales, The Novasphere Pioneerswere all transported into Seldesha.

As one would have expected, the entire city and it's inhabitants of Akihabara descended into chaos, and despair for quite some time after the players discovered that they were unable to leave this Fantasy World. Or was it really a fantasy world? The debate continues even till now.

As Adventurers, they were unable to truly die, even if they died in combat, where their HP was reduced to zero, they would be respawn at the cathedral of the nearest City, naturally with a penalty of a drop in EXP as per the norm of the game.

No matter what method they tried, players of all levels and age were unable to escape this living nightmare of 'immortality'. Apparently Adventurers were pretty long lived by default, does this meant that they, the Adventurerswere living immortals?

The answer to that was a resounding: 'No'. Even if they would never truly die in battle, there were other penalties of 'dying' in this world. It had to do with the way resurrection worked for Adventurers and the world in general.

With each death, they were at risk of losing something precious from them that they could never reclaim.

That fact was currently kept away from the general public by the Roundtable Council, a self-ruling and self-appointed group of 11 guilds that had gathered together to govern over Akihabara.

The Roundtable Council was formed out of necessity in response to the spiralling circle of chaos, despair that the stuck Adventurers were going through. With an seemingly immortal body, and only subject to the problems of sustenance as well as the normal 'needs' of people, the Adventurers as a whole was losing their reason to live in the world.

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It was a common saying that there were two categories of things that people wanted, the 'need' as well as the 'want'.

'Need' would be the things that were necessary for human sustenance, while 'want' would be things that motivated people, things that kept them going throughout life itself.

'Needs' were simple things like the air one breathe, the water that one drank as well as the food that one ate.

'Want' was a little more complicated, but simple in theory as well. They were unique to individuals, but they served as things that encouraged people to do things, things that one look forward to. Examples of 'want' were things like good food, books, or even games.

With plenty of ways to obtain the former and with absolutely nothing of the latter, the stuck Adventurers were unable to even find a motive, goal or a reason to keep living. There was simply a lack of 'motive, 'reason', for them to keep them occupied, or having goals to work towards.

However it was common knowledge and sense that if one found themselves stuck in a scenario like this, one's would naturally try their best to find a way to escape from this world.

Many tried and all failed, so when the reality that they were truly stuck in this fantasy world with no way to escape, society started to collapse as a whole. It didn't happen over the course of a month, no, it took less than a day for society to start unravelling.

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If one has a goal to work towards, in this case, getting out of this fantasy world, it would at least be a relief, but without it... it would just bring out the desperation in people.

As observed by the founding member and instigator of the Roundtable Council, like the real world, the entire world of Seldesha was one's oyster. One could do anything, and it seemed to be too 'free' for its own good, it was also true that a cornered rat would do anything to save themselves, even if it was at the expense of other people.

That was simply true as there was no law and order, without respect for laws or simply having deterrence to keep things civil, society itself would degrade itself into a more primeval, one could even argue, medieval age.

It was also ironic that the setting of Seldesha itself was also eastern medieval in nature, but it was indeed true that society itself was breaking apart at an alarming rate.

With the absence of established rules and order, as well as the lack of force to enforce the rights of people in the world, Akihabara was on the verge of being destroyed from the inside by the worse of human nature. There were instances of PK (Player killing) towards lower levelled Adventurers, rampant looting, fluctuating market prices for necessitates and the like within and outside of Akihabara.

There was perhaps a 'reason' driving them on in doing something, but was that reason 'right'?

Was it acceptable?

As there was no one to give judgement on that, no standard to be measured at the start, the strong would definitely weed out the weak without mercy to sustain themselves and only themselves, to maintain that fragile grip of power that might have eluded them.

The abuse and trampling of human rights by several guilds to benefit themselves, the enslavement and kidnapping of 大地人 (People of the Land), had been the straw that had broken the camel's back.

As the founding member of the Roundtable Council had declared passionately, they were a civilized people, and he for one, would never agree or accept that the society that they had all shared, and enjoyed, be built on such shameless acts.

It had taken a long sequence of events, and careful manipulation before the Roundtable Council was set up, it's eleven members was carefully selected by the founding member to consist of the top five leading raiding guilds based in Akihabara, the top three production guilds, and three selected middle-sized all-purpose guilds to act as spokespeople for the smaller guilds. That was not including the guild of the founding member as well.

Despite the manipulation by the founding member to chair, and to even coerce the other guilds to join the Roundtable Council, eventually all of them agreed with what he proposed to setup and the necessity of the Roundtable Council's existence. In a nutshell it was basically the return and enforcement of law and order within Akihabara itself by the Council members and their guild members.

The world was free, like what was mentioned before, but it was also rift for abuse. With the setting up of the Roundtable Council, it was hoped that the entire city would be able to form a more cohesive society for the entire good of the people. It was a noble goal, but as citizens of Japan, who was more familiar with a democratic electoral system, it all hinged on whether the Adventurers themselves could accept the Roundtable Council, who was selected and 'sworn' into power without their proper consent.

Adventurers was a race, a being, a unique class within Seldesha that could not be coerced, or influenced into following what they do not wish to accept.

They were in essence, 'free', and so it was thankful and a relief to the members of the Council that the majority of the Adventurers were willing and happy to accept them as the 'ruling' body of Akihabara. This meant that their faith in their fellow humans were not lost, that they too, believed in the same ideals, a world where everyone had equal rights, just like what they had in their homeland.

However, they too knew that if they lost the people's trust, they would no longer accept them as well. However, it was also through this that a semblance of the society that they had lived in was recreated in Seldesha within Akihabara.

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As Akihabara had been an Adventurer's city, the citizens of the city consisted of mainly of Adventurers;there were however, another group of people living together with them, the People of the Land.

The Adventurers could be called a different class or race from the inhabitants of the Seldesha, 大地人or People of the Landin that they could be considered truly immortal. If an Adventurer dies, they could be resurrected at the cathedral, the People of the Land however did not have the luxury, they were in essence, normal people to the Adventurers, people that did not naturally possess their strength, their skills without extensive training. They named themselves as such for they were people who were born of the land, lived off the land, and would die by the land, hence, People of the Land.

In the days of Elder Tales being an MMORPG, the People of the Land were simply NPCs, beings who were programmed to repeat an instruction, to offer lore and setting to the world while giving their users quests.

However, when the Adventurers were whisked into Seldesha, the NPCs were subsequently 'transformed' into People of the Landand each one of them was a living, human beings with their own rights, their lives and societies as well. Maybe transformed wasn't the right word, no, it really wasn't.

It had become somewhat of a shock to the more veteran players, who had after experimentation, established that Seldesha was identical to the world in Elder Tales, and as such declared that the People of the Land were just NPCs. NPCs were in essence, to put crudely, programmed artificial intelligence who had set actions, like to man a shop, to provide quests and etc.

They did not know how wrong it was, and it was a common occurrence for all the Adventurers who were 'transported' here. This bombshell, which on hindsight was quite an oversight, had also been a very important reason as to what the Roundtable Council had been established for. That was, the establishment and commencement of trades, and talks between the People of the Land themselves. It also raised important and critical questions of what really was Seldesha.

It was wrong for the Adventurers to give up on the hope of returning to their home land, but at the same time it was also wrong for them to abuse their power, and ability to the mostly helpless People of the Land as well.

The founding member argued that they were in fact the ones who had intruded into their world, and not the other way around. If abuse was not curtailed, society itself would also crumble, for allowing such abuse to continue was just a step away from it happening between higher level and lower level players.

The People of the Land themselves were not fully helpless, they were still able to achieve the similar powers, skills and the strength of the Adventurers if they trained hard. A common denominator was that they were all compared with the same statistics, their equipment, level, statistics and skill distribution.

However it was also established that the People of the Land themselves had different skill sets, mechanics as well as different growth rates. Added on with the fact that could not use the same method of endless experimentation to challenge stronger monsters like the Adventurers, meant that their growth was severely limited.

There was however, another type of the People of the Land, the 古来種 (Ancient Type) who for all manners and purpose, were similar to the Adventurers. They possessed similar skills, strengths, and abilities of the Adventurers but were also People of the Land. The theory was that they were mutants, or simply a race of People of the Land that were born out of necessity to combat the scourge of the monsters brought to the world in general.

Like the MMORPG that spawned the world, Seldesha, was plagued by monsters that would respawn indefinitely. That was an established fact in the MMORPG that was called a staple, but when that translated into the world of Seldesha, that meant that the monsters were a scourge that the normal folk, the People of the Land, were simply unable to handle normally.

When Elder Tales, was still a game, the Adventurers would commonly take on quests to hunt down the monsters to help the citizens of the town, one could play the part of a 'hero' or a 'wandering mercenary', where one would repeatedly take the same subjugation quest to accumulate wealth as well as EXP from those quests.

With the 'emergence' of the players turned Adventurers, into Seldesha, those roles were ignored, partly due to the confusion as well as the Adventurers' own understanding of the situation. As a result, there had been a large increase of reports of small villages and towns being attacked and raided by monsters, monsters that were supposed to be kept in check by the Adventurers. There was only a limit to what the lower levelled People of the Landcould do after all.

The situation had escalated to a point where a major plot-related quest, which was usually easily dealt with by Adventurers had been neglected, and subsequently turned into a continent wide invasion by goblins, led by a monster adeptly named as the Goblin General.

It was Akihabara and the Roundtable Council's first ever decision as a single entity, and subsequently a 'quest' issued to the people they were 'governing'. Their mission, to protect the People of the Land from the scourge of the Goblin Invasion, on the behest of a young Princess; レイネシア=エルアルテ=コーウェン (Renesha Elard Cowen), of the 自由都市同盟イースタル(Istal Free City Alliance).

The Istal Free City Alliance was an alliance that was created, and maintained by the rulers of several large cities belonging to the People of the Land. Princess Renesha was the grand daughter of セルジアッド=コーウェン (Sergiad Cowen), one of the established Lords, and the chairman of the Istal Free City Alliance itself, but due to her own gender, as well as her upbringing, did not have any say in the political scene.

In her own words, she was simply an empty vessel, a show-piece of nobility, and did not have the same rights or status granted to every Adventurer. As Seldesha itself was modelled on a western medieval setting, the concept of monarchy, and even different social classes was quite common in the People of the Land.

As compared to the deeply rooted concept of democracy and free rights within the Adventurers, the values of the People of the Land were a horrible match to the Roundtable Council and Akihabara in particular. It was difficult for the two parties to agree on a common ground, or a consensus on the matter regarding the Goblin Invasion.

On one side, the Istal Free City Alliance believed that as the Adventurers were immortal, they were indebted, and honor bound to protect the land by default due to the land granting them those abilities to do so. The Roundtable Council on the other hand, did not believe they had the same obligation and negotiations were very close to breaking down.

It had been Princess Renesha who had managed to bridge the gap, and allowed the Roundtable Council to mobilize, to send, as well as to protect the pride of the Adventurers while saving the People of the Land, and the Istal Free City Alliance as a side effect.

Due to the successful campaign, the relations between the People of the Land, and the Adventurers had been restored quite amicably. The end result was Princess Renesha being appointed as official Ambassador of the Istal Free City Alliance to Akihabara to repay the favor that she had asked of the Adventurers.

That role itself was a great coup both by the Adventurersbut to the People of the Land as well due to the various advances in technology as well as knowledge that the Adventurers had with them as they came from a more technologically advanced era then they did.

..

Besides the campaign to crush the Goblin Invasion, there was also another skirmish further out in the continent that helped with the relations of the Adventurers and People of the Land. That was the defence of 銚子町(Choshi Town), a small town that was besieged by 魚のサメの (Shahuagin) a shark-man type monster. Those monsters swarmed the beaches surrounding Choshi Town, and with their higher levels, and sheer superiority in number, meant that the town would be annihilated, and the citizens killed within hours if left unchecked.

That was not even considering the raiding party sent by the Goblin General to raid the town as well.

Incidentally, it happened around the same time Akihabara and the Roundtable Council were hosting a summer training camp for the newbies whose levels were below level 40. All of the Council guild members had sent representatives to the summer camp to train the newbies after one of the council members, マリエール (Marielle) the Guild Leader of the Crescent Moon Alliance, had mooted the idea to the Council during their inaugural meeting.

Due to the majority of the players in Akihabara being senior players, with over fifty percent of the fifteen thousand Adventurers in Akihabara at the level cap of ninety, there hadn't been the need to train seriously or grind in Seldesha, but it was a different case for the newbie players who found the going tough as they were unable to get used to the mechanics, or have access to the best areas to farm for EXP and the like.

Combat was a way of life in Seldesha, as it was the easiest way to earn cash for one's daily survival, be it lodging or food. However it was easier said than done, as back when Elder Tales was a game, all the players needed to do was to press and click in order to stimulate 'combat'.

They were in a completely different environment where in order to engage in combat, one who have to actually engage in combat for real. Even if one knows that they would not essential 'die' if they fail, and their HP (Health points), ran out, they would still have to combat the instinctive fear that one would feel when facing a monster. Not to mention that it was actually painful when one was dealt damage, and even if one never truly 'died', one would still experience the experience of 'dying' once.

Facing a weak and defenceless 'monster', like deer, squirrels, and slimes, were nothing compared to facing monsters like Goblins, Feral Wolves, Orcs or Dragons for example. Even the most 'hardened' and high levelled Adventurersneeded some time to get used to combat, as well as to get familiarize themselves with their new body, skills and new point of view when engaged in combat.

But a portion of the players had also forsaken combat and went into the production line, be it with essential services like providing food, repairing equipment, being tradesman or by making potions and armour. It had led to a great change of variety in the shop houses as well as the dynamics within Akihabara as well. Thanks to the Roundtable Council being present to deter as well as to enforce the law and order, Akihabara was slowly but surely turning into the most technologically advanced city due to the Adventurer's being used to modern comforts as well, fuelling the need for development of the creature comforts that they were used to.

But that aside, the group of newbie Adventurer'swere caught between the crosshairs of the goblin raiding team as well as the invasion of the shark-men. They knew, like the Roundtable Council, that they were in no way obliged to help them if they did not wish to. The Adventurers were 'free' citizens, they were not bounded to the laws that they did not made themselves, even their compliance to the Roundtable Council was not mandatory. Even if the People of the Land, tried to stress or to impose on them that with the power they were gifted, and subsequently wielded, they were naturally 'obliged' to help them, the Adventurers were in essence, beings from a different world.

They did not have any obligation to the People of the Land to help them, but the newbie Adventurers offered their help without hesitation, without questioning, and without even being asked. They were new to the 'game', and thus responded for the call for help even without it being actually raised.

That itself was heartening to see, as to the Roundtable Council, it meant that their decision to impose law and order for the 'sake' of the people was the right decision. They had decided to gamble on the 'good' in people, overcoming the 'bad' of people, and it had been a successful gamble. If they had failed, there would be no doubt that a few of the Top guilds would have left Akihabara for good.

If the campaign against the Goblin Invasion was nothing short of a rout of the goblins, the defence of Choshi Town was anything but that. It was partly due to the sheer numbers that the newbie Adventurers were going against, as well as the Adventurersthemselves for the difficulty.

By default, their levels were still lower than the Shark-men, and even if they were still stronger than the villagers of Choshi Town, they still struggled to take the monsters down. Taking into account that they were still unused to combat as their more experienced counterparts who were much more high levelled and experienced, it was tough going. The battle ground was also severely spread apart, due to the Shark-men's spawning spot to be an entire stretch of beach.

The higher level, and more experienced Adventurers were thus stretched thin, and if not for the enthusiasm and courage of the newbies, the line would not have held as well as it did till reinforcements arrived.

However, both campaigns were very successful, and the Istal Free City Alliance, their respective cities, as well as Choshi Town, was successfully spared from destruction.

This brings us back to the City of Akibahara, barely a week after the two campaigns, within the Guild House of the Guild: Log Horizon.

..

The Guild Log Horizon, was it really called a Guild? There were only seven members in the guild and with that size, it barely considered to be a full-fledged party. As half the members were at the level cap of 90, and the others were in the 20s-30s, it was difficult to imagine how the Guild was formed in the first place. However, the members of Log Horizon was happy to keep it this way as all of them joined the guild due to the founding member, the 腹ぐろ眼鏡 (Sinister Shades), Shiroe.

Shiroe was most well known as the strategist in several landmark and legendary battles, and had the misfortune to be called with that title due to his seemingly underhanded methods to obtain victory when Elder Tales was still a game. He was however, a masterful strategist even though he was playing in a unpopular class, and had reached the level cap despite refusing to join up with a guild.

That title and mantle has been expanded and firmed up in Seldesha due to his role in forming the Roundtable Council and his strategy in defeating, and routing the Goblin Invasion. Despite Log Horizon being initially formed for the operation to form the Roundtable Council, Shiroe was glad to have all their current members with him, making it his second home away from home.

But first, an introduction to the guild proper:

The founding member, and level 90 Enchanter,Shiroe.

The second founding member, the level 90 Assassin, Akatsuki.

The third founding member, the level 90 Guardian, Naotsugu

The fourth founding member, the level 90 Swashbuckler, Nyanta

The fifth member, the level 35 Samurai, Toya.

The sixth member, the level 28 Shaman, Minori and finally,

The seventh and final member, the level 37 Black Mage, ルンデルハウス=コード(Lundhaz Code Rundelhouse).

..

The guild headquarters of Log Horizon was situated in an abandoned complex a short walk to the north part of Akihabara, it was remote enough to ensure some privacy, but not far enough to make entering Akihabara a chore. As an added plus, the rent was quite reasonable as well considering the size of the complex.

It needed some fixing up, but since the members themselves were quite laid back by nature, they were currently happy just tidying up the first two floors of the complex. There was a long way to go if they wanted to fix the place up for winter, but that did not mean that they needed to hire a maid specifically to clean the place, right?

'Erm, Nathiru-san...'

Minori, the lowest levelled individual within the Guild itself asked the maid timidly even as she watched the maid, Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir continue patching up the holes in the complex. To be honest, she was more than apprehensive for Nathiru was not only older than her; she was of a higher level than her as well.

That was also not considering how Nathiru had played a crucial part in saving her and many of the newbies during their defence of Choshi Town. She, Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir had lent her powers to all the Adventurers in Choshi Town when they had needed it most, and with her spells and abilities, was able to fend off the biggest wave of Goblin Raider without any causalities.

It was also during that particular skirmish that Minori found out that Nathiru was not an Adventurer, she was one of the People of the Land,a very high levelled Bard who had a different set of skills than an Adventurer would have as a Bard.

The telling signs were when she activated her skills, she would actually be singing them out loud, and would also thus be rendered almost ineffective if not for her skill with her bow, taking out her own share of goblins by herself.

From how Nathiru despatched the goblins with relative ease despite being a bard, the lack of fear on the battle front as well as how she was able to turn the entire battle field by re-shuffling the order of the defensive front, it was obvious that besides being high levelled, she was very experienced as well as powerful.

Thus, Minori's own unwillingness as well as disbelief in seeing her senior in so many ways, there really wasn't any other way to describe her, serve them in such a humble manner.

'Yes, Minori-sama.'

Nathiru quickly hid the hammer and nails she was using to fix the holes to give Minori a picture perfect curtsey that she really, really shouldn't do, not for her!

'Is there anything that you needed, Minori-sama?'

Nathiru repeated patiently, her voice carefully controlled but nonetheless cheerful even as she smiled at Minori.

'A-Ah, no... Y-Yes, I mean... would Nathiru-san please join us for breakfast?'

Minori was once again caught flat-footed by Nathiru and she squeaked her reply even as she bowed to the older woman in front of her.

'I thank you for the invitation, Minori-sama, but, a maid should not join the master and mistresses for breakfast. I sincerely apologize, but such an honour is simply beyond mine to accept.'

Nathiru refused the request with the same refined smile that she showed Minori the first time they met, and that left Minori unable to rebut her words, despite how outrageous they were.

Thankfully for Minori, she was joined by reinforcements who couldn't quite accept the way Nathiru was behaving and treating all of them.

The sad and stressful part was that Nathiru wasn't even officially accepted as a maid here in Log Horizon, she more or less forced herself into the role, something that was causing the Guild Master, Shiroe, no small amount of headaches.

'Nathiru-san, would you please join us for breakfast?'

The boy who entered the room was Lundhaz Code Rundelhouse, a dark mage that had recently joined Log Horizon due to unique circumstances. Even as he smiled at Minori, nudging her to get even more reinforcements to help, he tried to persuade Nathiru to drop her duties to join them for breakfast.

'Nathiru-san, we would just like to have breakfast together, as fellow guild members and as friends. Please, why don't you drop the formalities as well as your role, and let us enjoy a delightful breakfast together?'

Lundhaz himself knew that it was a lost cause; this was the third day that they had tried to persuade Nathiru to drop the maid role, and to be one of their comrades again.

Sure, the sequence of events that had resulted in Nathiru taking this role was odd, even odder than what had happened for him to become part of Log Horizon. But to be so dedicated to being a maid, well, that was something that he did not know how to wrap his mind around.

'I thank you for your invitation, as well as your sentiments, Lundhaz-sama, but as I told Minori-sama before, we servants would shame our lords if we share the same table, please, do enjoy breakfast and do not mind me.'

Nathiru gave Lundhaz a smile before returning to her assigned 'duties', at least she tried to till the Guild master, Shiroe himself stepped into the room. Flanking him was his ever faithful companion, the assassin Akatsuki.

'Nathiru-san...'

Shiroe gave a long suffering sigh at the sight of Nathiru giving him her customary curtsey, him feeling a headache growing from staying up late last night.

'Nathiru-san, I already agreed to your request, but before we make this a formal agreement... could you please stop behaving in that way? Naotsugu… was probably kidding.'

'In what way, Guild Master-sama, I am merely fulfilling my role and duty as the maid of the Guild.'

Nathiru answered with a big smile even as Shiroe felt another headache growing.

..

'Ahhh... She's still at it.'

Even as Shiroe crossed his arms in exasperation at the sight of Nathiru going back to her duties of fixing the floor boards, Shiroe's best friend, the ever reliable guardian, Naotsugu, walked into the room as well.

'Baka Naotsugu, this is all your fault.'

Before Naotsugu could react, Akatsuki had landed a flying knee into the poor guardian's nose, causing him to stagger backwards a few steps before finding himself being steadied from behind by his disciple, Toya.

'Master, are you alright?'

'S-Somehow... Toya, when the day comes that you were able to block an attack from this chibi here, is the day that you would have homed the best reflexes in the world.'

'Ooohh! I'll do my best, Master!

'Milord, Naotsugu was being an idiot and I took liberty to remind him of that fact.'

Even as Akatsuki reported to Shiroe about her initiative, causing him to dryly deadpan at the reoccurring act between the two of them, Naotsugu on the other hand was wearily rubbed his nose while speaking to Toya instead.

Chaos was prevented from developing as the last member of Log Horizon, Nyanta called out from the corridor together with Minori.

'Let's just have breakfast in that room nya~ If we wait even longer, the food will get cold nya~'

..

Due to her courageous actions in the defence of Choshi Town, as well as her assistance given to the Adventurers, the bard Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir had been invited back along with the Adventurers to take part in the celebrations that would be held due to the successful campaign.

She had accepted, but she had spent the time hiding away from prying eyes together with the newbie Adventurers who she had helped during the skirmish.

The Adventurersthemselves were unsure how to make of her weird behaviour, but they were polite enough to at least not pry into her business. Some of the higher levelled Adventurers who had seen her in action had even tried to invite her to join their guild, but she had rejected every one of them politely.

At least, until she approached Minori, Toya, Naotsugu and Nyanta when they were about to leave for Akihabara.

..

'Please, I would like to speak to your guild leader. Would he be able to grant me an audience?'

..

Unfortunately for Nathiru, the campaign to crush the Goblin Invasion wasn't fully resolved yet.

And as the appointed strategist of the campaign, Shiroe was still busy and engaged with the flow of information, the troop distribution, as well as the assignment of the follow up, after action review and many other tasks to ensure that the proper lessons could be drawn from this campaign.

He was the founding member of the Roundtable Council after all, and he had the obligation as well as the responsibility to do his job well.

The guild members, knowing that it would be a few days till Shiroe would be back, had asked Nathiru about the matter which she seek to speak with Shiroe about. However, the bard had refused point black to reveal her intentions, saying that it was a sensitive issue.

However, due to her being unable to gain access to the teleportation spell that would return all of them to town; she was one of the People of the Land and thus couldn't cast that particular spell.

All of them had to escort Nathiru back to Akihabara. It wasn't that it was a chore to do so, but the fact that she was one of the People of the Land, made the trip a little awkward for they didn't know how to interact with her. It wasn't uncommon for the common villagers to look up to the Adventurers due to their higher level, but it was very unnerving for the two Level 90 Adventurers, Naotsugu and Nyanta to not feel a little cautious of this Bard that suddenly asked for a meeting with Shiroe.

The two of them knew Shiroe's capabilities, but despite his achievements and abilities, he was rarely truly acknowledged or recognized for the feats that he had performed. That said, it was also very rare for a People of the Land to reach a very high level. If Naotsugu was to gauge, for he had been on the front lines with her, he estimated that Nathiru's level was at least in the higher 80s, if not at the level cap of 90. The two of them had their suspicions that Nathiru was one of the Ancient Type of the People of the Land, that would dwarf and even compete against the Adventurersthemselves.

The lore of Elder Tales had described the sheer strength and abilities of the Ancient Type, and many adventurers had at least heard of their exploits throughout the game's lore. They were the heroes that heroes look up to.

Every adventurer would also have taken quests that would enable them to pick up relics of the Ancient Types, many of them legendary or mythic level artifacts. That showed that the Ancient Type were powerful, so why was one of them looking for their Guild leader?

..

'Ahem, my name is Nathiru Shuthural Ryrir, I am, as many of you would know, one of the People of the Land. However, I would like to clarify that I am one of the イズモ騎士団(Izumo Knights).'

As Nathiru introduced herself to Shiroe together with the rest of the Guild, her introduction was enough to cause everyone to freeze.

The Izumo Knights were one of the thirteen knight orders that were responsible to safeguard the People of the Land from invasion and large scaled attacks from the monsters. They also comprise entirely of the Ancient Type, meaning that they were able to achieve things that Adventurers could only dream of. In essence, they were like GMs (Game Moderators) with immense power to stop any horde from harming the balance of the game. The Thirteen Knight Orders existed to keep the balance between the People of the Land and the monsters, and for the game's sake, to ensure that any event would not go out of order.

The Izumo Knights was the Knight Order within the Japanese Server, but from their knowledge, the entire Izumo Knights had gone missing. So why was one of their members here today?

Shiroe was the first to regain his composure even as his mind started running through the different possibilities that this conversation could lead into as he revealed that he already knew about the disappearance of the Izumo Knights.

'The Istal Free Alliance had revealed to us that the Izumo Knights had gone missing, are you really part of the Izumo Knights, Nathiru-san?'

Shiroe's question made Nathiru nod before she requested permission to join in the party with Shiroe, or with any members of Log Horizon.

'You would be able to check my race, as well as my level. You will believe me then.'

Nathiru's answer was reasonable, and what Shiroe saw on the status screen was enough for him to wince.

'You're... a level 100 Bard?'

..

The level cap within Elder Tales before the twelfth update was up to Level 90, and as with every new update, it was tradition for the limit cap to be lifted. In this case, the consensus was the possibility that it would be lifted to level 100.

Since there were guilds who were trying to break the mythical barrier of level 90, Shiroe knew that it was only a matter of time before that theory was proven. He himself was not in a hurry to reach the next level, there were tons of things to do, things to research as well as to investigate. Besides, for players who reached level 90 like themselves, they were destined to only gain EXP from monsters who are around 5 levels lower then themselves, and that meant they had to challenge monsters who were level 85 or above.

Shiroe's team-mates had trained extensively with each other over the past few months, and all of them were very familiar with each other and their own capabilities. In theory, all of them could form quite a decent small size raid party to grind some EXP, but it would prove to be severely draining on their resources with very limited gain on their side.

The large raid guilds had not reported on any real signs of success so far, none of them managing to fight on the same level as they would when Elder Tales was a game, and thus to be able to see a Level 100 player, even if it's a support character, as well as being an Ancient Type, was still a shock.

Once again, Shiroe recovered first even as he noticed that the younger members of the guild had turned as white as sheet, Minori cupping her hands over her mouth while the boys simply looked uncomfortable and nervous.

Shiroe was relieved to see that his team mates from the Tea-Party days had regained their cool just as easily as well. Naotsugu was retained that cheerful smile even as he started fidgeting with his shield. Nyanta however was eyeing Nathiru speculatively. The individual who was the most shaken was Akatsuki, who had stepped one step closer to Shiroe, her hands no doubt preparing her knives even as Shiroe cleared his throat.

'So you were part of the Izumo Knights. Could you fill us with what happened? And... why did you approach me?'

None of the Adventurers had ever seen, or mad contact with the Knight Orders, this was certainly their very first encounter with one of the Ancient Type.

'You are Shiroe, one of the few Grand Sorcerers amongst the Adventurers, just as how all of you had heard of our legend, we too, have heard of the elite 放蕩者の茶会（デボーチェリ・ティーパーティー(Debauchery Tea Party). Would you lend me your help?'

..

'I see, so you are the Panties Warrior, Naotsugu of the tea-party? That must mean you must be the Class President, Nyanta. I apologize for not recognizing the two of you. The two of you have starred in many of the Tea-Party's battles as well, I am honored that I am able to see two legends like yourself in active duty.'

Nathiru politely gave Naotsugu and Nyanta a bow before turning her attention to Shiroe again.

'So you know of the Tea-Party? That is a surprise, please forgive us, but we do not know that... news travel that fast.'

Shiroe tried to cover up the shock that he felt from having his 'legend' being named not once, but twice. He had been told of his 'legend' and title by another researcher, リ=ガン (Lee Gan) during the leaders retreat held by the Istal Free City Alliance. But to think that those stories had been spread to the Izumo Knights as well. It was also embarrassing to know that they were elevated that much as well.

Shiroe's first impression of Nathiru was a very straight, polite and serious woman. As Shiroe was 23 years of age, he couldn't call himself as a teen any more, but Nathiru was definitely older than her for she appeared to be a woman of around thirty years of age.

Like almost all the People of the Land, she was of the human race, with a petite figure and surprisingly normal brown hair, which she held with a side pony-tail.

The only thing that both separated and blended her with the normal villagers was her dress and clothing's. Her clothes were simple things, a cloak with cheap leather armour and accessories that could be bought or made by newbie players. It was not fitting of her level, which was a dead giveaway considering the weapon that she wielded.

It was the Bow of Hrunting a mythical bow that could only be equipped by individuals who were level 85 and above. In order to obtain that bow, one had to go through the raid, Hunt of Nibelihiem, and since it was a mythical level weapon, it could only be gained by being the one who obtained the last attack bonus.

..

'Shiroe-san gives yourself too little credit, the feats that the tea-party has achieved is nothing to scoff at. I assure you, that the honor is all mine.'

Nathiru gave her another smile while surveying the entire place again, her almond colored eyes rested on Akatsuki before she tilted her head in confusion.

'And... if I may be so rude, may I know who she is?'

Nathiru gestured to Akatsuki, who reacted by jumping a little and turning to Shiroe for his guidance. Akatsuki had always been a little shy, especially to strangers. But Shiroe knew that it was also partly due to Henrietta, the accountant and secretary of the Crescent Moon Alliance who had caused Akatsuki to be wary of females.

Having been subjected to hours of playing dressing up with a room full of excitable female fans was enough to cause the normally composed assassin to be more than a little flustered and wary.

'Ah, she is Akatsuki, one of the guild members. She wasn't part of the Tea Party. But I can vouch for her strength.'

Shiroe answered for Akatsuki, who seemed to realize that Nathiru did not mean any harm, and she bowed to her politely as well.

'Nathiru-san, I am Akatsuki, Shiroe-dono's ninja.'

Akatsuki answered with a straight face even as Shiroe smiled helplessly at her introduction.

'And I guess you had met the other three before, seeing that you had participated in the Defence of Choshi Town.'

'Yes, I have. The party that the three of them belonged to was exceptional; I am very impressed by their team work together. Most importantly, I am honoured to witness the bond of camaraderie that had been formed between all of them. But it is to be expected, after all, Minori-san was a very impressive field leader, if not for the fact that all of you were exhausted from your earlier skirmish, it would not have resulted in the loss of Lundhaz-san in that particular battle.'

Nathiru's words made some of the guild members freeze in shock, the members being Shiroe, Lundhaz himself, Minori as well as Toya.

Had Nathiru witnessed the most important and probably game-breaking act that had been done by Shiroe? The very same act that had caused Lundhaz to be part of Log Horizon, and would also change how everyone viewed the world in general.

'You, saw what happened then?'

Shiroe whispered softly, and the change in tone made his team-mates tense, and all of them watched on tersely as Shiroe adjusted his glasses to study Nathiru closely again.

'I did, and I am here to request a favor from you, Great Sorceror, Shiroe, please, lend me your strength to avenge my fellow members of the Izumo Knights.'

..

Author's Notes: Definitely the longest first chapter I ever wrote, but tell me your thoughts and comments.

There, I fixed most of the terminology to fit with the official English translations