Asahi added one last thing.
“The trial will end at sunset on the third day. However, if you can wipe us all out before then, that’s fine too. If you kill everyone who can fight, the trial is cleared at that moment.”
At this, Asahi grinned, and I couldn’t help but want to retort, “Where’s your ‘sense of justice’!” But in reality, it was impossible. More than that, there was no benefit to doing so.
With “Nekoneko,” besides individual favorability, there’s also favorability per faction. This is what’s known as hidden data; since it’s not a clearly displayed numerical value, I can’t go into detail, but for example, if you constantly harass townspeople, you might not be able to shop in the city. If you cooperate often with the Knights’ Order, the castle guards might become friendly, and if you frequently hunt thieves, you might be pelted with stones in the slums, with shouts of “Vengeance for my father!” out of them. Well, now that I think about it, that last example might be a bit off, but it’s generally like that.
Among those actions, the behavior that is most disliked by most factions is “killing characters belonging to the same faction.” However, the “Hisame Dojo personnel” faction is different. This “Hisame Dojo personnel” faction is the only group where killing members of the same faction doesn’t affect favorability at all.
This event is a continuous event, and in the Game, it’s impossible to leave the Hisame family midway through. Furthermore, since there are no save points in the Hisame family’s residence, it must be completed in one go until the end.
The duration of this event is three days in game time. Although the Game allows for skipping unnecessary time between events, it was a grueling event where one is exposed to a threat to their life for at least several hours.
Given how long the event was, there were times when my concentration wavered, and I accidentally killed a disciple. Of course, at that moment, I knew I’d messed up and was prepared to reset, but surprisingly, there was no change in the Hisame family members’ attitude. Their words, “We won’t resent the one who kills us if it’s in a fight,” were not a lie.
Of course, even if they didn’t resent me, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. But it happened when I was steadily progressing through the long, continuous event. I felt it would be a waste to reset then, so I proceeded without redoing it. It was likely the result of tens of retries. I continued to progress smoothly through the event, and in that playthrough, I finally cleared the “Hisame Family Visit Event” for the first time.
If it had ended there, it would have been fine, but “Nekoneko” is notorious for setting traps in precisely such places. After clearing the Hisame family event, I rushed back east towards the nearest city, the Capital City, eager to save. As I approached the Monolith in the Capital City, which served as a save point, I noticed that the townspeople’s behavior was different from usual.
Sensing an ominous premonition, I temporarily stopped saving and went to talk to the townspeople. After all, I had completed the Game, so my favorability with the townspeople was quite high. I expected them to explain if something was wrong, but…
“You murderer!”
The moment I approached, the townspeople started throwing stones at me. I was shocked. Hastily trying to ask someone else for an explanation, I was met with,
“Don’t enter the city!”
Indeed, the townspeople threw stones at me just as before. Dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, someone must have reported me, because a large group of city guards rushed in.
“You criminal!”
“We can’t forgive someone who would harm the Hisame family, who are our great benefactors!”
“Don’t let murderers into our city!”
The sudden accusation of being a criminal startled me, but these words finally allowed me to understand the situation.
Faction favorability doesn’t only change based on actions taken directly towards that faction; it’s also linked to actions towards other factions. For example, if you steal in Ramur, you’ll be disliked not only by Ramur but also a little by the people of the Capital City. Conversely, if you suppress thieves, you’ll be disliked by the thief faction but liked by the townspeople.
In other words, when I killed a disciple of the Hisame Dojo, the favorability of the “Hisame Dojo personnel” faction didn’t drop, but I could imagine the favorability of all other factions plummeted.
Now that I’ve heard the setting that the Hisame Dojo has produced many Knights’ Order members and famous adventurers, I can clearly understand the situation. Although the martial artist-like Hisame Dojo members didn’t resent me for killing a disciple, the townspeople and knights associated with the Hisame family who heard about it must have gone mad, thinking, “How dare you kill someone from the Hisame Dojo!” Of course, even without direct involvement, if you kill someone from a highly reputable dojo, you’ll be disliked. At least those subtle situations seem to have been properly reflected in the numbers. Looking at the townspeople, who reacted more strongly than if I had killed a townsperson directly, I looked up at the heavens.
If such detailed circumstances are reflected, I wish they would also consider things like “It was self-defense!” or “I saved the world by defeating the Demon Lord,” but such protests are powerless against the Game system. Seeing the swarm of guards approaching, I returned to the Monolith and reluctantly chose to load my save data.
Incidentally, it took me another 10 or so retries to clear it without killing a disciple.
Well, I suppose I was lucky to realize it right before saving and restart, but I learned online that saving at that point would have been disastrous. I read a player’s diary of someone who killed Asahi to overcome the Hisame family’s “final trial” and then saved, and it was a truly gruesome state.
First, not just the Capital City, but all townspeople became hostile, making shops unusable and preventing most events from triggering. Even so, the player persevered through the townspeople’s insults and stone-throwing and went to meet their companions, who they had shared hardships with, only to find them also hostile. That would break anyone’s spirit.
In such a situation, the only companion who remains is Mitsuki, Asahi’s biological daughter. While shaken by her father’s death, Mitsuki apparently delivered a cool line: “I’ve already decided to walk the same path as you,” and accompanied him. That player, tears streaming down, apparently walked a path of carnage with only Mitsuki. But I have no intention of choosing such a path. Therefore, “I will absolutely not kill anyone from the dojo” is a prerequisite for me.
Conversely, it has also been confirmed that overcoming the Hisame family trial without killing anyone from the dojo significantly increases favorability with many factions. After clearing the Game, faction favorability in cities is usually maxed out, so it doesn’t matter much, but for us, who have only been playing for about ten days since the Game started, this is a significant benefit. If faction favorability increases, new items may appear in shops that weren’t previously available, and more events will occur. Well, since most of the events that increase in that way are not very good, it’s debatable whether they are a positive element, but without some reward like that, it would be impossible to undertake such a murderous event.
In my estimation, there are only three potential outcomes from this event: being able to recruit Mitsuki, gaining favorability with many factions, and…
“Excuse me for a moment, Soma-kun.”
Asahi, no longer exuding the oppressive aura from before but with the gentle demeanor from when we first met, spoke to me. This must be his “outward face.”
“Yes?”
I knew what he wanted, but I replied out of politeness. Yes, if the Game proceeds as expected, the next event is…
“The preparations for the welcome party should be ready soon. Could you go to the rooms and call Mitsuki and the others?”
(Honestly, what a pain.)
I leaped over a pitfall (which looked like a normal wooden floor but was a trapdoor that flipped over when stepped on, revealing a number of bamboo spears below), cut a piano wire stretched between two pillars at neck height with the Fire of Sh, and happily proceeded down the corridor.
This event, where I’m supposed to call Mitsuki, is one of the “Mitsuki’s romantic comedy events” that run parallel to the Hisame Family Trial. It’s the one I’ve talked about so much – the one where “Mitsuki was in her underwear when I entered the room.”
(I really want to avoid this. If I don’t, I don’t know if the event will proceed as in the Game. I have no choice.)
With a heavy heart, I reluctantly headed towards Mitsuki’s room. However…
(I’ve messed up.)
I had carelessly dismissed Asahi’s explanation, thinking I couldn’t possibly get lost. But I hadn’t done this event in a long time, and since it wasn’t a life-threatening situation, my memory wasn’t very clear. I couldn’t recall where Mitsuki’s room was.
(I think it was two or three rooms past the piano wire…)
Well, I had a general idea, but all the rooms looked similar. There were no nameplates or anything to help me distinguish them.
(…Well, it’s fine.)
There wasn’t any life-threatening event set up here. I had made mistakes in the Game too, and the rooms inside were all empty. I concluded that going through them one by one would be fine.
(First, this one.)
I placed my hand on the sliding door of the second room from the piano wire and slid it open in one go.
“…Ah.”
A clumsy sound escaped my lips. In a word, I had hit the jackpot. The sight of a partially undressed woman flashed before my eyes. She must have been in the middle of changing; she was wearing nothing on her upper body and looked at me with wide, surprised eyes.
“R-Ringo…”
It was Ringo, my travel companion.
However, in a way, opening Ringo’s room was a lucky guess, a correct choice. Ringo has no shame about being naked. If it had been another woman, she would have screamed and caused a scene, but with Ringo…
Or so I thought, but then,
“Huh?”
Under my gaze, Ringo crossed her arms as if to cover herself and turned her back, shrinking away. And then,
“…Soma, you pervert.”
Hearing those words, I finally realized I had been staring intently at Ringo’s body and flustered.
“Wh-what, no, this isn’t what it looks like!”
More than that, being made to feel shy somehow made me embarrassed too. Suddenly, Ringo’s unbelievable state flashed in my mind, and my heart pounded. This was bad. First, I bowed deeply.
“I-I’m sorry! What I saw was bad! I really think it was bad, but I only came to call everyone because the welcome party preparations were ready. This was purely an accident!”
“…An accident?”
Ringo’s tone seemed to soften slightly. I never wanted to be called “a man who commits sexual harassment” again. I desperately tried to explain.
“Y-yes! An accident! I thought this was Mitsuki’s room to begin with, so it wasn’t intentional at all!”
“………”
“Um, since it wasn’t intentional, then… Ah, y-yes, by the way, do you know where Mitsuki is?”
“………”
“Um, Ringo?”
Although the interaction had been going well at first, Ringo had fallen silent midway through. I had a feeling I had made the wrong move. I looked at Ringo, who had fallen silent, with an anxious expression. I couldn’t see her face from where I stood, as she was looking down with her face turned away.
“…Next door.”
After a while, Ringo finally spoke. She probably meant Mitsuki was in the adjacent room.
“I-I see. Thank you, Ringo.”
I said a single word of thanks and left the room. Then, as I closed the door,
“…Idiot.”
A small whisper reached my ears. Why? “Ringo…” For some reason, that word seemed to pierce my heart more intensely than any words I had heard before.
—Well, that’s that. I have a mission to complete the Hisame Family Trial. My life is at stake. I have no choice but to do it, even if it’s against my will! With a determined resolve, I stood before the room one door deeper than Ringo’s.
“Knock knock!”
With a line that sounded like a dojo challenger, I flung open the sliding door.
“Huh?”
An unexpected sight greeted me. Not just in the middle of changing. The travel companion who was there was in her birthday suit, shamelessly exposing herself to me. But then, as if noticing my gaze, she crossed her arms as if to cover herself and turned her back…
“No, you don’t wear clothes to begin with.”
As I dryly retorted, the creature smiled with delight. Indeed, a truly skilled Bear.
Incidentally, Mitsuki’s room was one door before Ringo’s. When I went there, Mitsuki had already finished changing at her leisure. …Damn it!
