Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 98

Madness

Ponsuke had resolved Anri’s problem, but her a big problem occurred.

No, there were two problems.

He was inside the classroom after school, sitting face to face with his friend Riku.

Riku was looking at the door.

There wasn’t anybody there. And yet, Riku knew that there was somebody hiding there.

Akito could also sense that.

Riku sighed.

「Did something happen with president?」

Maya had stopped being the class president, but she was still being called president eve now between the two of them.

「A-a lot of things happened……」

Riku scratched his head. It seemed he wasn’t dyeing his hair recently. The root of his blonde hair looked black.

Akito’s reliable friend gave him advice.

「This is just troublesome. Just talk to her. There’s still time until the part-time work right?」

Akito held his head when he heard the words part-time work.

「……Oi, is there still something else?」

It wasn’t just with Maya. He was also having a difficult time to face Yakumo.

They hadn’t contacted each other ever since he forcefully separated the two of them inside the game.

And in a stroke of bad lukc, he had gotten invited by the other  members these several days――they hadn’t conversed with each other for  nearly a month inside the game.

Even in the part-time work he had only talked about work-related things with Yakumo.

(I don’t think I’m being hated but――)

「Human relationship is really difficult.」

Riku responded to this kind of talk with composure, perhaps because  he had started going out with woman. If this was a talk with another  boy, it would surely become a little problematic.

It was a famous story among the boys in Akito’s classroom that there was a pretty lady in his workplace.

His classmates had come several times to his workplace in order to  ascertain it. They would become jealous to Akito after seeing Yakumo.

「What, did you perhaps two-timing?」

「I’m not going out with anyone in the first place.」

To go out with someone whether in the real world or the virtual world  meant that if a problem occurred in one side, a problem would also  occur at the other side.

Both the real and virtual worlds were filled with troubles.

(President and senpai……other than them my acquaintance is just Nanako-chan――Nanami-chan.)

The number of friends that he knew in real life could be counted in one hand, but some of those few friends had caused problem.

Akito’s feeling felt heavy.

Riku stood up and picked up his bag.

「Eh? There’s still time until your shift right?」

Riku laughed.

「She looks like she want to talk with you, so this nuisance will  leave now. I don’t know what happened between you guys but, I think  it’ll be better if you talk it out.」

When Riku left, Akito sensed Maya’s presence hurriedly hiding inside  the neighboring classroom. Riku pretended to not notice her and walked  away through the corridor.

After a while, Maya opened the classroom’s door.

Akito was shocked seeing her appearance.

Her hair was slightly messy and her expression looked cornered.

(It’s like she’s a different person from the usual president.)

Her expression looked sad and she looked like she wanted to say something, but she was faltering.

Akito stood up from his chair. Then Maya started crying on the spot.

「I’m sorry……I’m sorry……」

She started crying for real that her tears even spilled on the floor. Akito hurriedly ran toward Maya.

「O-oi, president!」

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They moved away from the classroom.

They sat on the bench behind the school building where people rarely  came. The two were drinking juices that they bought from a vending  machine.

Maya finally stopped sobbing and calmed down before she apologized to Akito.

「I-I’m sorry for before. Somehow it was hard to call out to you for nearly “a month”.」

Akito smiled wryly.

「It’s fine. I was also at fault.」

(Well, it’s just around “three days” in real world. And the  atmosphere was so awkward that it wouldn’t be strange even if we became  distanced from each other.)

Maya spoke bit by bit.

「I-I……didn’t have any friend in school. I sometimes talked with  children from family that is associated with my family, or children who  took the same lesson with me but, I was hopeless in school.」

She was seen as an elite in school and other students distanced themselves from her.

Recently that distance was shrinking, but the problem wasn’t there.

(Was president really that happy to make a friend in school?)

Alfie which was Maya’s ideal was always in high tension and liked to  fool around with her friends. Surely she was seeking for something like  that.

Akito arbitrarily imagined that her friends through her family and lessons were people with more class.

Maya was trembling in front of Akito.

「I-I’m sorry. If possible……I want us to return back like before but, I don’t know how to do that.」

Akito felt warmth in his heart.

(So president also has this kind of side to her. Well, it’s not surprising if you look at Alfie though.)

Akito placed his hand on Maya’s hand as a friend.

Maya reacted with a jerk but, she didn’t brush off his hand.

「Then, let’s have a reconciliation handshake. It’s better if there’s  no quarrel and everyone can get along but……I think it’s also important  that we can speak out what’s in our heart.」

Akito too had true feeling that he concealed in his heart.

Like his feelings that were common for male high school student, or his anxiety and discontent about his future.

This was a world where one’s life had been mostly decided ever since they were born.

He also had things that he wanted to say.

Akito and Maya shook hand.

Maya looked happy.

The setting sun at the background made Maya’s expression looked magical.

(President……even though she’s really pretty when she’s like this.  Come to think of it, she almost didn’t modify her avatar at all so  looking closely like this, they look exactly the same huh.)

Maya wiped her tears with her empty hand.

「T-thank god. I’m so happy.」

「You’re exaggerating.」

「I was really really worried. I don’t know what to do if I’m hated. I……won’t be able to live if Akito hate me.」

Akito laughed.

(She’s a bit exaggerating but, I guess with this we’re now friends who can be open with each other.)

He didn’t think much about her words of not being able to live and glossed it away.

Maya puffed out her cheeks a little.

「I couldn’t even eat much because of this.」

「S-sorry for that.」

Akito too felt guilty when he learned that she was that stressed over this.

Maya smiled.

「It’s fine. Somehow I’m feeling refreshed now.」

And then Maya looked like she was slightly hesitating about what she  was going to say next. But, she took a deep breath before she talked to  Akito.

「S-say, Akito……have you decided on what to do for summer break?」

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At the part-time workplace.

The university students who were in charge for the next shift came  right in time, so both Akito and Yakumo were able to leave right in  time.

Akito called out to Yakumo when they left the store.

「Senpai, can I talk with you for a bit?」

Akito saw the dark circle under Yakumo’s eyes when she turned toward him.

(What, is senpai also feeling stressed?)

Akito scratched his head to hide his embarrassment.

「Ah, err……movie! Yes, do you want to go watch a movie with me!? We  have a break tomorrow, and that movie that senpai wanted to watch is  screened today.」

Yakumo opened her mouth to reply but, she faltered and could only nod.

「That’s great. I also want to apologize for before. Look, I already bought the tickets here.」

He remembered that Yakumo wanted to watch this movie and bought the tickets before they became awkward with each other.

Yakumo who was looking down covered her face with her hands.

「I-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I……that time, I really couldn’t stop myself.」

A salaryman who was on his way home.

A housewife who came to buy spices that she lacked.

They were staring fixedly at Akito who were making Yakumo cried in front of the store.

「S-senpai! Let’s go. Anyway let’s go! Come on, the good seats will all get taken away at this rate.」

「Y-yeah.」

Akito pulled the hand of Yakumo who stopped crying and headed toward  the movie theater. He was fearing that bad rumors about him would spread  not only in Pandora but also in real world.

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The movie was a really old work.

It was the remake of a movie from Shouwa era――the past thousands of years ago.

The movie was filmed by a famous director of that era. This remake seemed to be created in great detail.

The whole series came out from the colony and caused revelry among the maniacs for a time.

「Katana is really cool isn’t it?」

There were few people inside the dark theater.

Yakumo muttered.

「……I-I think it will be cool if you also use it.」

Akito tilted his head.

(Did I mishear what she said with the movie’s voice? But, katana is  too small for orc, and it won’t be katana anymore if it’s too thick……I  guess katana just isn’t for me.)

As expected katana would be more suitable for normal sized avatar.  Thinking that Akito looked toward Yakumo and found her hand reaching  toward him before she pulled it back.

He grasped her hand just like with Maya.

Rather than feeling excited like what other high school boy would feel, Akito felt calm and relieved instead.

(As I thought, our relationship is like friends I guess.)

But same gender friends wouldn’t hold hand right?

He thought such thing and imagined himself holding hand with Riku. The image made him sick.

He kept watching the movie for a while before he heard the small sound of sleeper’s breathing.

Yakumo’s head rested on Akito’s shoulder.

(Senpai, she must be really sleepy.)

He thought that he had blundered by inviting her like this, but he saw that her hand didn’t let go even while she was sleeping.

(Well, this outing still helped out with us making up, so it’s fine I guess.)

He even got a wild idea that perhaps they could get even closer and come to watch movie as lovers.

But, inside Akito, Yakumo was a senior and friend inside game.

He couldn’t imagine their relationship going any further than that.

Akito let Yakumo sleeping like that until the movie was over.

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「You should wake me up! D-did I say anything strange in my sleep!?」

The movie was over and Yakumo acted really ashamed on their way home.

Akito teased her.

「Senpai’s sleeping face was really cute. I even took photo with my phone.」

「Erase it!」

The embarrassed looking Yakumo didn’t feel like the usual reliable and capable senior.

It was fun interacting with her like this.

It was like he was talking with Mariela inside the game.

(Is senpai also wanting to be protected just like Mariela?)

Mariela was fundamentally a middle ranged fighter.

Akito arbitrarily imagined that perhaps she wished to be protected by someone.

(Well, no way that’s true.)

「Fufufu, if you really want me to erase it, you know what you need to do right?」

Akito jokingly threatened while grinning. Yakumo blushed.

「……Eh?」

Akito realized that his joke didn’t come through and spoke honestly to Yakumo.

「No, I didn’t take photo or anything in the theater. The flash would  bother the other audiences, and senpai also didn’t say anything while  sleeping.」

Yakumo looked relieved, but she also looked a bit disappointed.

「I-is that so. Thank god.」

Akito also looked troubled.

「I was just joking. It’s troubling if senpai take it seriously.」

It was Yakumo’s turn to tease him then.

「What? Theeen, what are you going to ask me if you actually really  had that kind of photo? You didn’t think too deeply about it because you  were just joking right? Tell me.」

At best he would just invite her to have tea or something.

Akito didn’t have the guts to go any further than that.

Threatening a girl using a recording――as expected, that kind of development would hurt his conscience.

「I’ll just invite senpai to have tea or something.」

「What’s with that. You’re a chicken. I thought it would be something more extreme.」

Yakumo had returned back to her usual self.

Akito switched the topic.

「Umm, I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize after that time, but I kept missing the timing.」

Yakumo shook her head. The dark circles under her eyes had disappeared and her expression was also bright.

「It’s fine. I was also wrong. In exchange do you want to go have tea next time? It’ll be my treat.」

Akito recalled his talk with Maya there.

「Ah, in that case, do you want to go to sea together during summer break?」

Yakumo’s face turned red.

「S-sea? Y-yeah. That’s okay. I’m absolutely okay with that.」

Akito smiled wryly.

「No, as expected there’s no need for senpai to be that――」

◇

The next day.

Ponsuke’s party took a quest with the three of them together after so long. They were bringing mercenary NPCs with them.

It was a quest to defeat monsters in the amount that was specified by the request.

Their party was focused in attack power, so they brought a cleric NPC  with the appearance of a young man to be in charge of healing.

The good looking youth was wearing glasses. It also had a setting that was relatively kind to orc.

Mariela and Alfie looked at that NPC.

「I know that we’ll need to use NPC to clear the stages from here but, as expected I can’t get used to them.」

Alfie also agreed with Mariela’s words.

「The party leader has it hard to adjust their setting and give them  order after all. Being able to handle them in large scale is also a type  of skill.」

The clearing group didn’t simply order the NPC to charge forward. They were seeking effective to use NPC at the frontline.

This time they were using NPC was also practice for that.

Ponsuke talked to the NPC.

「Thanks for the healing.」

「Your welcome. Well, if this isn’t a job then I’ll burn an orc like you to ash.」

The youth said such scary thing with a smile, but this was still better than the beginning.

These NPCs had their own friendship meter.

Ponsuke thought.

「……As I thought, the setting of orc’s friendship meter is  problematic. Perhaps it’ll be better if I entrust the command over NPCs  to someone else.」

Mariela opposed that.

「It’s Ponsuke’s guild so nobody will complain.」

Alfie also had the same opinion.

「We’ll just discipline those complainers with our whips.」

Ponsuke laughed at Alfie’s words.

「That’s a funny joke but never do that okay? Or rather, you aren’t  doing anything like that right? Really, don’t do anything like that.」

Alfie looked shocked when Ponsuke was suspecting her at the end there.

「I’m not! What kind of person do you think I am!?」

Ponsuke immediately replied inside his heart.

(One’s habitual act is really important. To me you look like a queen who always swing around her whip everyday.)

They had leveled up and finished almost all the necessary quests in the Capital of Diligence.

Mariela looked at Ponsuke.

「Come to think of it, “Kind Heart” is it? You already collect five of them right?」

The monster that was their extermination target attacked a monster that wasn’t their target.

Ponsuke received that key item after helping the attacked monster.

Ponsuke was investigating about these stones.

「None of the walkthrough ever mentioned about this item, so I guess  that this is a hidden event. I think that there’s some kind of meaning  behind it but, I don’t really understand it.」

The stones had helped him out several times before.

Because of that, when there were quests that seemed like related to it, he took them.

Alfie put her hand on her chin.

「Pandora has a lot of incomprehensible events after all. There are  also a lot of undiscovered events, and on top of that there are also  events that aren’t typical of online game……is this also a hobby of the  dev?」

There would be no problem if these quests were something that the developer made just because of their personal hobby.

They could just be happy by considering it as a one-time event that nobody else knew about.

Ponsuke set the NPC to follow behind them, then he took out a flute from his item box and summoned donkey and horses.

They were for returning to the Capital of Diligence.

Mariela and Alfie looked really dashing when riding on horses.

「……I’m always getting donkey.」

A huge orc riding on a donkey that was smaller than a horse.

「It would be better if it’s an ox instead.」

The donkey seemed to react to Ponsuke’s words and spat on Ponsuke. And then it immediately started running.

「Wait you bastarddddd!」

Ponsuke chased after the donkey. And then Mariela and Alfie followed while laughing.

The cleric also summoned a horse and followed after the party.

But――he opened his mouth.

「………………The true orc warrior shall be awaken soon. Not much time  remaining until all the warriors are assembled. The time of arbitration  is near.」

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The sightseeing area.

Inaho was looking up at the sky with ice cream in hand.

Today she was having a day off inside the game.

She was together with Lily and Anri enjoying the sightseeing area.

Anri was eating crepe.

「Inaho, what’s up with you?」

Anri was badmouthed but, she was just being candid without any ill  will. Recently she was often playing together with Inaho and Lily.

Lily looked up to the sky that Inaho was watching.

Today too the sky was sunny with some white clouds――the sky was also clear blue because it was summer in real life.

「Did something happen?」

Inaho slowly lowered her gaze, and then she shook her head.

「No, somehow it feels like someone called me.」

Anri checked her status screen.

「Was there a message? I have none at all. Is it your acquaintance?」

Lily looked at Anri in admiration.

「You have become really familiar with this world compared to before. Or perhaps you were simply too awful at the beginning?」

Anri objected.

「Even I can do anything if I put my mind to it!」

Inaho watched Lily and Anri arguing while tilting her head.

(What’s this I wonder……it’s a strange feeling.)

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