Free Life Fantasy Online-Chapter 14: 14 Premonition Of A Festival

14 Premonition of a Festival

I finish a meal with Mom and my little sister, take a small break, then log in for the afternoon.

It’s morning game-wise.

When I log in, in the place I had my stall there was a stall of an unknown man. Is that «Sewing»? The cloth crafting-type.

“Ah, welcome back. You can put out your stall next to me.”

“I’m back. I’ll do so then.”

“Oh and nice to meet you. I’m Dantel. I do «Sewing», let’s get along, Princess?”

“Yes, please take care of me. By the way, my name is Anastasia, but I don’t mind being called Princess.”

“It’s not unusual for a nickname to stick with everyone faster than one’s name, yeah.”

“Back in school I was called by a nickname, and did not get to be called by name either. Good times.”

“Yeah. And there were some nicknames that have nothing to do with the person, too.”

“There were indeed.”

Salute-san and Dantel-san are working adults it seems. They look very nostalgic as they speak in past tense.

“Still, that’s a nice dress… the coloring is a bit sad, however...”

“I think so too, but the item name has Faded in the name, so it’s on purpose.”

“I see...”

By the way, Dantel-san and Salute-san seem to be the top of their fields as well.

They line up with Ertz-san and Primula-san, so I imagined that must be the case.

And by top, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the absolute best, but… that they are at within a certain range from the top, so “among top players” would be the most correct term.

In an MMO… it’s hard to say who is the absolute top. But they are without a doubt famous and they create great things, so they are being called top crafters.

When I put out the stall next to Salute and diligently work on cooking, Ertz-san and Primula-san, then Alf-san and Ske-san returned.

And at such time, my little sister came. Not alone, but bringing her entire PT.

The limit of party members in this game is 6, but… there’s about twice that?

“Yahoo, Onee-chan! Ol’ man, repairs!”

“Sure, wait a moment.”

Rina charged straight to Ertz-san, who is currently on the opposite side of me.

There, two familiar men have approached me.

“Stasha, right?”

“Yes, you are Tomo and Sugu?”

“Yeah. Finally we can register as friends.”

“Heya-hey.”

In real they are Tomohiro and Suguru.

Friends #1 and #2 with whom I get along since kindergarten.

I heard in school that their character names are Tomo and Sugu, but it’s actually the first time I meet them in-game.

Tomo was a black-haired human. It appears that he was a magic attacker who used a book as a weapon.

Sugu was a red-haired red-eyed Giant… I guess? Appearance-wise, a power fighter holding a two-handed hammer.

Rina and Tomo’s two parties came, which is why there were so many people.

Each of them headed to the crafter they had business to do with.

“You got guts to put out a stall among these members, Onee-chan...”

“Hm? These four are my friends, after all. Though, I only met Dantel-san and Salute-san today.”

“Most likely, Princess’ «Cooking» is top level in the game at this point, y’know? How much is it now?”

“My «Cooking» is… 23.”

“Yup, I knew it. According to the BBS team they can’t get Eastern forest’s meat so they are stuck at around 15.”

“I mean, the number of cooks themselves is small at this point. I wish there were more.”

“I see, Onee-chan does hunt solo in the Eastern forest, after all… so she has ingredients.”

“The cooking is really tasty, y’know?”

“I’m eating it in real, so I know Onee-chan’s cooking is delicious… Still, these are some high prices… Which soup do you recommend?”

“Bear soup.”

“Bear soup, yeah.”

“Yes, bear soup.”

“Bear”

“Bear soup is the most delicious. Satiety-wise it’s steak. Price - boar.”

“Everyone’s recommending… then let’s have bear and steak.”

I think cuisine is really delicious in this world. Even if you make a bear hot pot in real life, it won’t become like this. It was worth picking «Cooking» up. If there is a problem with it, it would be that it was still the prelude and the choice of ingredients is small?

Looks like everyone is selling their materials, have their equipment repaired and head out to hunt. It’s a day off so they’ll be going hunting hardcore. I plan to cook hardcore myself.

The Skill evolution is… impossible today? Ingredients-wise, the second half of twenties will have a hard time going up.

“Oh, there she is. That’s the girl I bought steaks from.”

“I see. She’s cooking in a dress, looks kind of surreal...”

...Ohh, it’s the Elf man who bought his party’s worth of steaks before.

“Yahoo, Cecil-san.”

“Hey hey, Akirina-san. You’re energetic as always.”

Next to the Elf man there was a human man, it appears he’s Rina’s acquaintance.

Well, the Elf… Nobert-san, was it? The human man must probably be the PT’s leader, and Norbert-san his party’s member.

Seems like Rina wants to make him buy my cooking… well, let’s ignore it. It seems like they came with the intention of buying some in the first place.

“Ertz-san, could you repair these?”

“Yeah, just wait.”

“Primula-chan, hereee.”

“Okaaay.”

One after another repair requests come in.

Which means… everyone is thinking about the same thing.

“Tomo, Sugu, is your party one of the top?”

“I guess?”

“Aren’t we about in the middle part of it?”

“Rina’s up higher.”

“Hee… Those two… that fox Beastman and rabbit Beastman girls are Rina’s RL friends, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. Surprised you noticed.”

“They often came over to play… I haven’t seen them recently, but looks like they get along as always.”

“That’s because they were doing this game lately...”

"I see. No wonder.”

There, Rina and Norbert-san came over, together with… the person called Cecil. Norbert-san turned toward Tomo and Sugu.

“Heya, Tomosugu-san.”

““Split them!””

“It does feel like one name.”

The Elf man, Norbert-san cackled.

Certainly, when joined it does feel like a person’s name. Tomosugu.

“I’ll introduce you, Onee-chan. This is the winner of the tournament I won a prize from before.”

“Hello, I’m Cecil. Umm, Anastasia-san, was it?”

“Yes, I’m Anastasia. Let’s get along.”

“Same here. I’m Norbert’s party leader, who is playing on the side over there.”

Just like I mentioned earlier, Norbert-san is an Elf man whose main weapon is an instrument.

He has a Skill called Musical Performance which is his main. It’s a skill granting area of effect buffs, but during the play it causes a constraint in movement, which makes it a quite difficult Skill to use.

By the way, the instrument he uses seems to be a mandolin.

Cecil-san seems to be using two swords, so he must be quite deft.

Although it’s strong against both monsters and humans, apparently they are difficult to use.

People who aren’t used to it only end up using one… and so on.

“Speaking of difficult weapons, your rapier is also counted as one, Onee-chan...”

“Ohh, it’s a rapier? I could tell it’s a slender sword-type, but...”

“I matched the dress appearance.”

“Ah, I see. Certainly, a rapier matches the dress well.”

It’s not a bad thing having a conversation while cooking.

Everyone is buying my food, too.

I greeted Cecil-san and registered as friends, and he headed to Ertz-san’s place.

〈«Cooking» reached level 25.〉

〈«Cooking»’s【Knowledge of Smoking】was acquired.〉

“Ohh… boar and bear need to have the scum removed so they won’t work… Which means, Rabbit and Wolf Meat. For simple ones I can use ingredients on hand… the problem is...”

That seasoning and drying takes time?

Humidification and drying are «Alchemy»’s level 5 skills… should I raise it a little?

Distilled Water + 2 Herb + Stimushroom seems to be a recipe for HP Potions.

...But I have no Distilled Water.

There, I look to the side and… I see Salute-san making Distilled Water for herself.

It seemed like there was a distillizer in Mixing Kits, and she said she could lend it to me if I lent her the firepower of my charcoal brazier.

“How many do you want?”

“I just want to raise «Alchemy» to level 5, so I guess about 20?”

“Distilled Water is something you can buy in stores, so well… price-wise it’s about 120 for 1 steak.”

“Is that fine? Let’s go with that.”

“You know how to use it, right?”

“No problem.”

I set it above the charcoal and poured water with【Water】. All that’s left is to wait.

Once I poured the finished water into empty potion bins, the Distilled Water was complete.

I diligently repeated the process, then passed Distilled Water beyond 120 bins and the distillizer back to Salute-san.

And then I took out the Beginner’s Alchemy Kit.

On top of a large cloth with a magic circle drawn on it, I placed materials and used【Synthesis】.

…*Poof*! With such a sound my materials turned into trash.

“HP Potions are a fairly high-level recipe...”

“Is that so?”

“The ones that you get from tutorials and similar are marked as “initial” ones, they can be used 50 times. The non-marked ones - 150. And you can’t use them unless you raise your level above the basic one.”

The ones from the tutorial and ones that you have from the start are treated differently from Beginner’s Potions and are sold in the stores as Initial Potions.

Apparently the way to make them is to take the markless ones… and water them down with Distilled Water.

It’s possible to make them with synthesis, but they are made with HP Potions and Distilled Water, so it would be costly to level Alchemy up with them. And there aren't enough HP Potions to buy anyway.

At first it is recommended to create fertilizer and wooden arrows. They require grass and soil, branches and some feathers.

You get experience even if you fail, so I will do HP Potions for which I have large amounts of materials.

Whoops, before I start raising my «Alchemy», let’s do the seasoning beforehand. I don’t know how long I need to marinate for smoking to work.

First, let’s prepare empty bottles that I bought along with Cooking Wine. They also sold sugar, it was expensive… but I still bought it.

[Tool] Empty Bin　Rarity: No　Quality: C

A fairly big empty bin for storing something.

Big bins are difficult to make, so they cost a fair amount.

Inside I dissolve salt and sugar in water.

And next, I take out Wolf Meat and cut it into thin slices… because it was difficult, I sliced them with my rapier, which had a perfectly sharp blade.

“About how Onee-chan started cutting meat with a rapier...”

“Don’t mind it, it’s a sight we see often.”

I ignore my little sister and Ertz-san.

Then I slice onions and garlic with the kitchen knife

I put sliced meat, onions, garlic, bay leaf and pepper inside the bin.

Let’s leave it be for the taste to permeate.

Now, let’s mass produce trash with «Alchemy».

About when I finished making 20 of trash.

〈«Alchemy» reached level 5.〉

〈«Alchemy»’s【Hydration Control】was acquired.〉

I safely learned the thing that was my goal.

What’s left is to wait for the meat’s seasoning to prepare.

About the afternoon in real, as expected of in-game morning - there was quite a lot of people in the Starting Town. Of course, there was just as much hustle and bustle… and yet, a war cry that shook the earth was heard by everyone.

"...What’s that?”

“A premonition of a festival?”

The war cry was heard once again, it came from the South.

And this time, a “hoo hoo” was heard from the sky, which caused all players to look up to it.

“Owls… is it?”

“I think so… but I can’t see them.”

The moment I thought so, a ball of light descended from the sky, which flew in our direction. The ball of light has turned into an enormous white owl in flight, which passed past the town before flying up to the sky again.

Ahead of our gaze there was light left in the sky, which slowly changed its shape.

“Are there enemies coming or something?”

“A bird… moreover, an owl, huh. Effect-wise it feels like it could be a divine messenger...”

“Ahh, that is possible...”

The light changed its appearance with a pop, and along with a sound effect our logs are updated.

《A world quest has occurred.》

《Location: Starting Town.》

《Outsiders who are within applicable area will be automatically moved to state of participation.》

“『“WHATTT?”』”

Voices are raised all over the town, but… seems like Residents are surprised by them.

Which means… the thing above us is only visible to us players.

Written in the sky with HUGE letters is “WORLD QUEST”.

At the same time, help was updated with information on World Quests.

However, there was no time to read help, since a log has flowed along with letters in the sky.

《Confirming the quest scale…… Complete. Setting as WQuest.》

《Searching Outsiders for positions required for WQuest...》

《Commander… Complete. Officers… Complete. Sending requests to each player.》

Dear me! Is this my imagination?

In front of me, there is text saying “World Quest: Commander Request" and “Yes/No" choice? Are they telling me, who has yet to play in a party, to be the Commander?

“Woah… a request to be Officer came...”

“Relegated to an officer, Cecil?”

“Well, I’ll do it.”

When I looked to the sky, it was on hold… so I guess it won’t start unless I push either...

Might as well, let’s do it.

《All requested members have confirmed their participation.》

《Remaining PT leaders will be set as Squad Leaders, and split between Officers.》

《Outsiders who are currently in a party, please confirm the WQuest help page.》

“『”Gyaahh! My sigghtt!”』”

Yes, I agree with your screams. This is horrible, looks like we need to tweak settings.

Umm… during WQuest… I should take a look at my own party and the Officers’ information. Ah, ignore the Squad Leaders. There are too many of them.

“Whoa, there’s a crown above Onee-chan… ah, the Commander...”

“Yup, a request came my way telling me to be the commander.”

“Oh, really. Congrats?”

“Most likely, it has something to do with Race or Skills? I mean, the leadership-type skills sound necessary.”

“I have leadership-type Skill myself. There is a high possibility of that.”

“I have a high-tier leadership Skill among my Monster Skills, which is probably why I was made the Commander”

“I see. For now, let’s go to where the minimap color has changed.”

“Agreed. The time… there isn’t even 30 minutes in real time left to prepare.”

《World Quest: Defense of the Starting Town.》

《Location: Starting Town》

《Scale: WQuest》

《Victory Condition: Extermination or repelling of the army led by Goblin General.》

《Defeat Condition: Allowing the enemy to invade the town.》

《Remaining time until the start...》

The quest information was summarized on the sky, and the countdown had proceeded.

“Princess, let’s form a party?”

“Can a Commander even form a party? ...We’ll know once we try it.”

I sent a PT invite to Alfreet-san and Ske-san, and managed to form a party without problems. With this they will receive both «Immortal Royalty» and «Royal Authority» buffs.

Well, let’s put away the Cooking Kit and the stall, then head off to the plains in the South.

Everyone started moving toward the South.

“The WQuest scale, from what is written on the help page, it seems to mean a War Quest. It’s not a short of World.”

“W of War, is it.”

Looks like Alf-san was looking at the help page.

“Still, that was sudden for such a large-scale happening...”

"...Did we hunt too many goblins? The boss is a Goblin General.”

“I wonder… the problem is, just how strong is a general… right?”

“So in short, WQuest is a raid battle?”

“According to help, it’s on a level above raid battle? It’s literally war-class.”

“I wonder if there will be a few thousands of goblins? Or maybe tens of thousands, since it’s war?

Based on Cecil-san’s and Ske-san’s conversation, it seemed like it would be of a fairly large scale. I didn’t think something this big would come without prior announcement.

We still haven’t even done even a raid battle.

World Quests are the so-called main story in other MMOs… apparently. They are quests that influence the world… was it?

If this Starting Town was conquered by goblins, it could be said that without doubt it would influence the world. If it was taken away, it would turn into a recapture battle… maybe?

World Quests seem to be fairly sudden and whether you can participate in one depends on luck… but they will have a fairly high chance of happening.

“Hmmm… WQuest… in other games it’s something like a field bosses?”

“Ahhh, yeahh. And that boss brings his henchmen to attack the town? That’s harsh.”

“If this was not a goblin but a dragon, will they tell us to block a breath attack from reaching the town?”

“The first thing we need to do is to make him turn away, or it would all end with one breath.”

While listening to Cecil-san’s and Alf-san’s conversation, we arrived at the Southern plains and saw a large amount of Outsiders.

“Quite a lot have gathered.”

“Well, the timing was perfect.”

“Oh, the Bloody Moon is up...”

“You’re right. Was that the trigger?”

“I bet...”

“Well, what do we do? Commander.”

“No matter how hard we try, there is no commanding these numbers...”

“Yeaah...”

There’s clearly over ten thousand of people...

In which case, goblins will come not in thousands but in tens of thousands.

While we looked at the Outsiders, three people with icons above their heads came over.

“Hallo! ...Can it be you’re the rumored Princess?”

“Ooh, with this, the commander and officers are all here. The squad leaders… not happening.”

“Good day. I am called Anastasia.”

“““Ohhh… more princessy than I thought…!”””

"...Well, the curtsy comes from the system assist, though.”

“Ah, is that so. I’m Kotatsu! Nice to meet you!”

“I’m Ruzebarm. Nice to meet you!”

“I’m Musasabi. Nice to meet you!”

Kotatsu-san was a cat beastwoman. She only had ears and the tail of a cat.

And Ruzebarm-san was, surprise, a talking bear on two legs. He was cartoonized in a cool manner. Beastmen can select the level of how much of a beast they want to be, so they were part of humanity with a fairly large amount of appearance freedom.

Musasabi-san was a ninja who had no intention of being stealthy... a so-called NINJA. A human man in ninja outfit.

“Yup, it looks like Princess was correct about leadership-type skills.”

“I see. So having a leadership-type Skill AND high level?”

“I think so. Now, there is no time, so I’d like to decide what we need to decide.”

“““.........These numbers are impossible.”””

“Yup, I knew it. What do we do, Commander?”

"...I don’t think there will be flying enemies this early in the game. If there were Goblin Riders on flying mobs we would be done for. How about we divide people based on weapons?”

“With these many people, I guess there’s only that…?”

“Yeah, simple is best. Tanks in front, bows in the middle, magic in the back.”

“While I don’t think there will be any, since such a possibility came to my mind, as the Commander I need to prepare some countermeasures or I would be really incompetent...”

It appears that ever since this quest has emerged, the participants could select the role based on their skills.

Beside their name there was an icon with role they have chosen, so I could tell at a glance.

And when I looked at the UI, as the Commander, I could see the number of people in each role. It looks like the number of the participants is nearly twenty thousand. Isn’t it pretty much all of the first batch of players?

"...Musasabi-san. Could I leave anti-air to you, if flying enemies come? Your division seems to have the most ranged attackers... although marginally.”

“Yes!! Your wish is my command, Princess!”

“Aren’t you eager. But with these numbers, there will definitely be people who act on their own. What about them?”

“We can’t do anything about them. Treat them like they aren’t there from the start. It’s a pain to even bother with them. What happens, happens.”

“Yup yup, sounds great. You sound like you played a fair amount of online games, haven’t you? Princess.”

“One way or the other, but just the 2D ones. My little sister loves games, after all.”

“Cause they’re interesting!”

“I guess.”

“Ah, you’re Rina-chan’s onee-chan?”

“Yes I am.”

“Ohh, so the prize serves its purpose.”

We decided on the plan that could hardly be called one… honestly speaking, not only there is no prior information, but also the area is a grassland. There is no choice but to fight from the front.

Not only we can’t confirm the enemy, but also our own fighting strength. It’s a huge mishmash.

“A War Quest? Sounds great. From our perspective, it’s a festival.”

“Truly a festival.”

“Well then, please relay the plan to squads.”

““““Roger.””””

Everyone’s really into it, aren’t they?

The Commander’s voice reaches all Officers.

Officers’ voices reach their squad leaders.

Squad Leaders have the same thing as normal party chat.

So, the Commander talk with Officers. Officers talk with Squad Leaders.

In other words… The officers are in middle management roles.

And Officers seem to be able to name their Vice-Officers… several assistant members for themselves. It would be troublesome to do it all alone, so they each receive squads for themselves to manage.

Thanks to these rules, Officers can speak with each other regardless of the distance. It’s the WQuest-limited Officer Chat.

It’s possible to switch chats with thought controls, so it’s extremely helpful. If this wasn’t VR and we would have to switch between channels, we would definitely screw up at some point.

Officers have relayed the plan and everyone moved into positions.

Let’s have my PT members, Alf-san and Ske-san go to the front.

“Speaking of which, what about we do some streaming? I thought, but it seems like everyone decides to stream on their own.”

“Streaming?”

“This game has a live streaming and video capture function.”

“Speaking of which, there was something like that in the options… I didn’t know what it was, so I ignored it.”

“You should at least do the recording setting, y’know?”

“There is some time before it starts so… Let’s do it now...”

“It’s not like there’s much to set. Should I teach you?”

“Please do.”

As recommended to by Kotatsu-san, I was taught about the recording settings.

There was a setting for live stream as well, but it required an account on a video streaming site so I can’t link to it now.

Make the first perspective small and put the window into the corner, make the third perspective full screen… there.

Looks like this is the most stable, template way. With just the first perspective it’s easy to get drunk on video. And on the third the sense of presence is lacking… is what she said. So while mainly looking at the third perspective, you can confirm on first where the player is looking in the first. This is kind of amazing.

Only the base UI was displayed on video, like HP and MP.

Otherwise, our Skill builds would be revealed to everyone.

“Yup, looks like there are people who are streaming already. See the fairy with a camera behind that player? That is it. Green is streaming, red is video. By the way, Residents can’t see it.”

“I see. So that’s what it was.”

“It’s a festival, maybe I should stream as well?”

“So you had an account, Cecil-san?”

“All of Officers here got one, y’know?”

“Oh, is that so.”

So everyone’s a streamer.

A green fairy suddenly appeared behind Cecil-san and started holding camera. Other people also started streaming, won’t they end up fighting over viewers when they are in the same place? Is what I thought, but it seems like even in the same place, every point of view is different and interesting.

Apparently some viewers split them into multiple windows and watch them at the same time.

“Akirina-san also has an account, she doesn’t stream however, and only puts up videos sometimes.”

“Is that so, so it’s not just live streams.”

“Well, you can make one if it becomes necessary. Now, it’s about time...”

Occasionally there were war cries coming from the forest, and they were growing louder every time one sounded. It must have meant that they are approaching.

When the countdown went down to about 1 minute, Goblins started to pour out of the forest.

It’s my first time seeing them, Goblins that is. Looks like they’ve got the orthodox fantasy appearance.

Here and there I can see Goblins an entire size larger…?

Goblins were holding stone spears, stone axes, bows and staves...

“I report! The bigger goblins appear to be Hobgoblins!”

“Hey, NINJA, you’ve turned into a knight. How about you stealth more...”

“HAHAHA, I don’t get what you mean-degozaruna~...”

“Hobgoblins… another staple, isn’t it. Probably level 10 evolution. The general is… probably Level 30… 40 at most?”

“I don’t think General is a direct evolution from a Hobgoblin. Considering, there are some in between, I guess that would be it?”

“It’s just a prediction, but looks like his level is twice higher that of top players, huh.”

And when the count has reached 0, “Ready” text has appeared in the sky.

“It stopped at Ready, which is kinda troubling for us...? Commander, got something on your side?”

"...There is, but… are they telling me to say this…?”

“Is there a keyword to commence it?”

“Looks like an order from the Commander is required to start. Well, it does seem to be army-like?

On the window that suddenly appeared, there was a line to tell.

When I say this, the battle will probably begin. There is no countdown, so most likely it won’t start until I say it… It can't be helped. It’s no time to act embarrassed here. It’s acting, ACTING. RP RP.

“Aa--...aa-... alright, let’s go.”

Let’s try a little and do a good voice.

This line should be cool and commanding.

“『“O’ gathered Outsiders, it is time for battle. Do not let a single one of those creatures pass. May the blessing of the Goddess of Battle, Sigrdrifa-sama be with you! All troops, begin attack!”』”

At the same time I finished my line, all players who were participating have been enveloped by a red light, which was then sucked into their bodies.

《«Royal Authority» activated. During this quest, all stats have been increased.》

《World Quest: Defense of the Starting Town begins.》

The shouts of players and those coming from the forest have overlapped, and the land shook.

At the same time, Goblins and Hobgoblins started to move, and charged in.

Following Officers’ instructions, the long and medium-range distance attacks have begun.

Magic and arrows fell on Goblins like rain.

And the Goblin side also seemed to have bows and staves, so magic and arrows came from their side as well. Although weak 1 vs 1, it’s another thing in battle.

"...Those Goblins’ moves are completely different.”

“Oh, you think so too?”

“They weren’t this smart.”

“Looks like they took a formation similar to ours-degozaruna~.”

I see, the general’s… enemy commander’s existence must be a big factor.

The close combatants who got past the magic and arrows have clashed, and the main battle has begun.