DATEN QUEST EVENT PART 1
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To those of you who arrived here as a result of your courage and wisdom, please grant us our wish, that our hearts will be filled with the strength of the people who have come before us, and that we will be able to live our lives in peace and happiness.
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EVAN : What a noisy city!! CROW : Haha, just look around, isn't it fun? Daten is one of the most advanced countries in the world~! EVAN : It's all so... bizarre... WELCK : Evan, I know the feeling! My eyes rolled to the back of my head when I first saw it, too!
It really was as Crow said. Daten was by far one of the most technologically advanced countries in the entire world, with vehicles, household utilities and the city’s very infrastructure being based on magical science. Surrounded by cars, monitors, and skyscrapers, Evan was fidgeting constantly.
EVAN : I'm more restless here than I was in Woodman or any other town for that matter. WELCK : Haha, you'll get used to it. I learned a lot about it from that man in the Gamer guild. EVAN : "That man"? EMMA : Welck! WELCK : I'm sorry, Emma. I shouldn’t have mentioned Cinis. EMMA : Yeah. He's supposed to be a demon king with no name. EVAN : What are you two whispering about? EMMA & WELCK : Nothing! / Nothing at all! CROW : Hey, guys. I know you're all excited, but let's get going! EVAN : I am not excited!
From the collar of my boot, I pull out the request form that arrived at the end of last month and read it once more.
EMMA : Well. From what I’ve been told, the newly discovered ruins are rumored to be from the ancient dynastic period of Daten, and should be located north of the city. It’s said that the mystery of these ruins has caught the attention of other explorers, too. CROW : I like it, sounds exciting! I wish Itsuki and the others could have come.
EMMA : They wanted to, but work got in the way. We do, however. have a message from Gran : "Don’t do anything reckless, and don’t blow anything up!” CROW : Yeah, he told me that, too, before I left. A lot, actually. I guess he's really concerned...Oh well, it’s nice to be working with you again! EMMA : Nice to be working with you!
With renewed enthusiasm, Crow and I fist-bumped.
MIKOTO : Kuhahahahaha! EMMA : Hey, Mikoto? What's up? MIKOTO : My subjects. I know you want to worship me, but wait a minute, I can feel a presence. Mm-mm, this way! EMMA : Mikoto, where are you going!?
I chased after Mikoto, as he ran as fast as he could toward the Sun.
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MIKAGE : ......…….... EMMA : Mikage!? MIKOTO : Kuhaha! I knew it! MIKAGE : ......…….... MIKOTO : Mikage, be not distressed! Raise your head high!! MIKAGE : ......…….... MIKOTO : Kuhahaha! There is no need to revere me so! It may be true that I am your superior, but I have a great deal of respect for you! MIKAGE : Emma, you've got to do something about Mikoto, because I don't think he has the slightest idea that he's being ignored. EMMA : Mikage, what brings you to Daten?
MIKAGE : For public relations, of course. EMMA : Mikage!? You’re here for work!? MIKAGE : Well, that was a pretty rude thing to say. Whenever I stay at the villa, I get forced to work alongside everyone else. So I took on the easiest job I could find that would give me an excuse to flee the country. EMMA : But you don't look like you're working at all? MIKAGE : I needed to take a break and rest. I didn't expect to see you here.
EMMA : We came to investigate an archaeological site. MIKAGE : Ah, you mean the recently discovered ruins. That's a lot of work. CROW : Do you know anything about the ruins? MIKAGE : Sure. Sleeping in the park all day long, you hear all kinds of rumors. CROW : Oh, thank goodness! Mikage, right? Can I ask you a question? I'm Crow, the explorer. There’s a lot of questions surrounding these ruins, so I'd like to gather as much information as possible. MIKOTO : Kuhahaha! All right, I'm in a good mood at the moment. You can ask me anything you like!
CROW : Uh... What? Why are you answering? MIKOTO : Mikage is my sword! Mikage is mine, and the information he holds is mine too! EVAN : Oh, you are a vassal of this fox? Are you saying that a human is serving a black fairy!? MIKAGE : ......…….... Mikage lets out an incredibly deep sigh. EMMA : (A text message? Who’s it from?) CINIS : "My servant, do you plan to visit Daten anytime soon? EMMA : (Cinis......!) I'm in Daten right now. We’re here to to explore the ruins.
CINIS : "The newly discovered ruins? Then, my servant, come to Magen Castle right now." EMMA : (Cinis wants me to go to his guild?) CROW : What's wrong? EMMA : Oh, I just got a message from the "Demon King" of the Gamers Guild. He seems to know something about the ruins. MIKAGE : "The Demon King"? I think I remember talking to Tamayura about him. He said he was an incredibly strong player on a network called Magic Line or something like that. MIKAGE : I don't really know him at all, but then that's exactly what I like about him.
EMMA : (Hmmm. If it is about the ruins, I really would like to hear him out, but...) EMMA : (...It’s not like we can all just barge in there when Cinis is trying to keep his identity secret...) WELCK : Why not ask Cinis himself? EMMA : What? I don't know about that... WELCK : He always seems so happy whenever you or I play games with him. Wouldn’t he be even happier if he had more friends like us? I know he doesn’t show it, but he does get really lonely sometimes... EMMA : ...Yeah, that's a great idea! EMMA : (And I'd trust Mikage and Crow not to leak Cinis’s identity...)
I grabbed my phone and messaged Cinis, telling him about everyone. After a short pause, he replied...
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CINIS : Here I am, servant! EMMA : Long time no see, let me introduce you all. These are the meisters, Crow and Mikage, and Evan and Mikoto are their Black Fairies. CROW : Nice to meet you! MIKAGE : Nah, I was just roped in by Mikoto over there. MIKOTO : Kuhahaha! A demon king, you say? I've come to see the face of someone who would dare call themselves by such an arrogant name. CINIS : ............
EMMA : Cinis...? CINIS : Ha! -- I got lost in thought with all this real-life conversation. Welcome, my servant friends! I am Cinis, the master of this magical castle. EMMA : (His voice sounds a little shaky... I guess I should have just come with Welck after all...)
CINIS : Long time no see, gray wolf. Have your chess skills improved since last we met? I'd be happy to play with you again. WELCK : Well, you're still a pompous little thing, aren't you? EMMA : Cinis. Thanks for having us all here!
CINIS : As they say, a true servant cannot be ignored. And the more hands on deck, the better.
EMMA : So what do you need? CINIS : You said you were going to investigate the ruins, didn’t you? CROW : Yeah. The whole reason we came here was to see if you had any extra info before we got started.
CINIS: As a matter of fact, just the other day, a magic "riddle" was cast upon the site, and, if you can’t solve it, you won't be able to enter the ruins. CROW : Whaa--!? MIKAGE : Yeah. That checks out with what I heard, too. The explorers around here are really struggling to wrap their heads around it. CINIS : Yes. The site is entirely under the control of the person who cast it, it seems. Now the entire Magic Line is trying to find a solution to the riddle.
WELCK : Hmmm. So we can't go into the ruins yet? CINIS : Actually, I’ve already solved the riddle. But I’ve yet to tell anyone about it to keep everyone's fever at bay. EMMA & WELCK : As expected...! / As expected. EVAN : What's with the serious look on your face? CROW : I just got a bad feeling that if there was a puzzle like that at the entrance, well... Inside the ruins we’re probably gonna run into even more puzzles just like it. And likely some traps as well. CINIS : I came to the same conclusion. The rule of thumb in games is that the entrance is like a test of one’s intelligence, and as Crow said, there must be an even more complex mystery hidden deep inside that we’ll need to solve. It's just like a dungeon in a game, and that makes my heart tingle. CINIS : I had initially planned to ask my servant here to help me search inside, but it would have been dangerous for us to go alone, so it's a good thing you're all here. EMMA : That would be great! But what exactly do you need from us? CINIS : ...I can't go out during the day for... Various reasons. Therefore, it is not possible for me to explore with you guys right now, and time is limited.
CINIS : Even as we speak, someone might be solving the riddle, and I, as the Demon King, want to enter the ruins and solve the mysteries hidden inside before anyone else can. I'm not going to let anyone spoil it for me. So, here it is!
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CROW : I finished getting dressed like you said. EMMA : What are you wearing? CINIS : Well done, let the adventure begin! MIKAGE : Why do I gotta go...