The Victory Feast

We hurried to the place where Iris and the Lizardmen were supposed to be fighting. What we saw there were the Toadmen fleeing with their backs turned, and the battered Lizardmen raising a cry of victory.

Not a single one of them was uninjured, and several lay motionless on the ground. It seemed there had been fatalities as well. It was a painful sight, but after a battle of this scale, there was no way to avoid casualties. In fact, the fact that there were only a few was surely thanks to their valiant efforts.

"O-oh! Bone Dragon-sama!"

"Bone Dragon-sama and the others have slain the general!"

"Thanks to you, we were saved!"

"We defeated the Toadman Prince ourselves, though...?"

Saved? What did they mean? ...No, I had a pretty good idea. Judging by the frenzy of the fleeing Toadmen, they had somehow learned of their prince's death, causing their morale to completely collapse.

"Bone Dragon-sama, you have our gratitude for your efforts."

"Warrior Chief. We certainly won. ...And the fallen?"

"Four. Thanks to Iris-sama's valiant efforts, it was only that many."

"I see..."

We almost laughed at the Warrior Chief's praise. Who wouldn't be happy to see a comrade praised?

"And Iris herself?"

"Over there."

When we looked in the direction the Warrior Chief pointed, not one of us could utter a sound. Iris's HP bar was bright red, and she was in critical condition. That wasn't all: most of her several hundred tentacles had been severed, while those still attached were covered in wounds.

Her hard outer shell had even cracked, with some of it peeling away to reveal what lay inside. She was covered in injuries, the kind of grievous wounds that made it a wonder she was still alive!

"Iris! Are you all right?!"

Ruby rushed forward in a panic, but not one of us tried to stop her. In fact, even the three men hurried toward Iris.

"Ah... Ruby... We won, right?"

"Y-yeah! We won!"

"I see..."

"I-Iris?!"

Iris answered in a weak voice, then fell silent. Ruby and the others were frantic, but I had a vague idea of what was happening to her.

"Iris! Iris!"

"Calm down, Ruby."

"But!"

"I think Iris was forcibly logged out."

Forced logout is a safety feature installed in every VR device except illegally modified ones. Full-sensory VR devices allow users to experience things that are not real, but are as close to reality as possible. As a side effect, users can encounter accidents in the game—falling from great heights or drowning, for example—that would result in death in the real world.

When such an accident occurs, the user may lose consciousness, or in the worst cases, suffer lasting psychological trauma. Overseas, there was even a case in which a woman who had enjoyed bungee jumping fell to her death in VR and developed a fear of heights afterward.

Since then, it has become mandatory for full-sensory VR devices to include safety features that monitor brain waves and forcibly log the player out when necessary. This time, Iris must have accumulated too much mental fatigue from one battle after another. I presumed that the device detected her exhaustion and logged her out.

"I guess she's okay, but..."

"The problem is getting this body to the Lizardmen's village."

As you know, logging out anywhere other than a designated space leaves the body behind. No doubt you remember how I logged out on a chair instead of in bed, and spent that time continuously exposed to light, lowering my 【Light Attribute Vulnerability】.

"I can carry her and put her on the raft."

"You can't! You can't just touch a girl's body without permission!"

Ruby immediately rejected Jigoro's suggestion. As a rough man like me, I thought that since it was only an avatar, there shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps this was simply how women felt about such things.

"That's why I'll carry her! The raft can serve as a cushion, too."

"Ruby says so. Let's simply do as she says."

And so we returned to the Lizardmen's village with Iris, whose occupant was still logged out.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

"This is... a ceiling I recognize."

"Oh, looks like you managed to log back in."

"How are you feeling?"

Assuming it would take some time for Iris to return, we took turns resting. Iris logged back in soon after Jigoro and I had returned.

"Ah, yes. I'm sorry for causing trouble!"

"Don't thank me; thank Ruby."

"We didn't do anything."

We then told Iris what had happened since then. Though I say we told her, there wasn't much to tell. Once we had returned to the village and reported our victory, the Lizardmen began a feast to celebrate. It seemed to double as a memorial for the fallen, and they asked us to join them if possible.

However, we couldn't leave Iris alone. When the other two rested, only Genzuro attended; when it was Jigoro's and my turn, I was scheduled to participate.

"In that case, let's all three go. If no one is there, those two will figure it out."

"All right, let's go! They're serving booze, right? I'm looking forward to the Lizardmen's local brew!"

"Don't drink too much, all right? Technically, drunkenness counts as a status ailment."

It was irrelevant to me, since I had 【Status Ailment Immunity】, but drinking too much alcohol in the game would make you drunk—in other words, intoxicated. The sensation of drunkenness was reproduced using a system borrowed from a VR educational program designed to teach minors about the dangers of drinking.

It was reproduced quite realistically. Staggering around from drinking too much was only the beginning; apparently, you could eventually die from acute alcohol poisoning. Drunkenness had no effect on me, and in the first place, I couldn't drink alcohol anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry! It's a given that demons love alcohol and are heavy drinkers, right? A little too much is just about perfect."

That's exactly why they get hunted down in old stories... The demons of Onigashima in Momotaro and Shuten-doji in the Otogi Zoshi were both defeated because of alcohol, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, back to the subject. In FSW as it currently stands, food can restore you when eaten. Alcohol is one kind of food, too. Everyone except me needed food, and Iris, who had the 【Cooking】 Skill, had been preparing meals for all four of us.

Since this was a feast, the food was unlimited, and Iris didn't have to cook. How convenient.

"Um..."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

For some reason, Iris was hesitating to leave the house. Oh! That scoundrel Jigoro had already gone ahead! Was he really that excited about the alcohol?!

"Am I really allowed to go?"

"Hmm?"

Huh? What on earth was she talking about?

"I did my best, but... some people died, right? I was wondering if their families might resent me..."

Ah, this was a common scene in stories about war. A commander struggles under desperate circumstances and is hailed as a hero for ensuring that as many of their troops as possible survive. However, the relatives of the soldiers who died blame them, shouting, 'Why did you let so-and-so die?!'

Iris was in precisely the position of that hard-fighting commander. She was worried that people might blame her.

Even though this was a game, it was common for players to become emotionally attached to NPCs because the AI was advanced enough to respond flexibly in conversation. If the Lizardmen I had become so deeply involved with were killed by another player, I would probably be furious too.

However, Iris's worry was meaningless. I had to make that clear to her.

"Iris, let's go. It'll definitely be all right."

"Y-yes..."

I more or less forced Iris to come with me. She followed at a sluggish pace, her voice barely audible. She was clearly walking more slowly than usual. She must not have been looking forward to this.

"Oh, Bone Dragon-sama! Iris-sama!"

"They're our heroes and benefactors! Everyone, give them your best hospitality!"

When we joined the feast, the mood instantly grew more lively. Not to brag, but we had been the key figures behind the victory in the battle. Naturally, everyone was excited to see us.

"Here you are, both of you."

"Ah, thank you."

"Th-thanks."

A Lizardman woman who approached from the side handed us drinks. I couldn't drink them because of my Race, but I accepted mine out of courtesy, and Iris timidly accepted hers as well.

Hmm, this was a good opportunity. I might as well tell Iris.

"The woman who just came over is the older sister of one of the dead Lizardmen."

"What?!"

Iris was surprised. That was only natural, since the woman hadn't shown even the slightest hint of hostility.

"Do you remember what Agnaslerim-sama said? About the dragons' view of life and death?"

"Um, that the person who died simply lacked the strength... Oh!"

"You understand now? It's the same for the Lizardmen."

They had fought, suffered defeat, and exhausted their strength. Their way of thinking was that defeat was caused by the individual's lack of strength, so resenting the person who defeated them was misguided.

That was why they did not even resent the person who killed them. Consequently, there was no way they would blame Iris.

Of course, they could not shake their negative feelings toward the Toadmen, since the two races shared the same territory and were constantly coming into conflict. That couldn't be helped.

"If anything, your worry seems insulting to the dead. It would apparently sully the fact that they fought with their lives on the line."

Each person had to take responsibility for their own life. It was both an individual's duty and their right. Therefore, taking responsibility for someone else's life was an act of disparaging the dead.

I'm just repeating what the village chief told me, but I think that's rather too severe. Still, perhaps that was simply the way of life of those who lived in the wild.

"Ah! So you were here after all!"

"Now, now, Ruby. Do calm yourself."

Oh, Ruby and Genzuro had returned, too. That meant everyone was finally together.

"Now, let the feast begin. Eat and drink as you please."

"All right!"

Mm, Iris's voice had regained its energy. Good, good. Now, I could enjoy the feast myself. Though I couldn't savor anything with my tongue.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

'Hey, the feast is lively.'

Around dawn, when the feast was at its height, Agnaslerim-sama arrived. The Lizardmen hurried to prostrate themselves, but he stopped them.

'It's a joyous occasion, so let's not be so formal.'

Agnaslerim-sama said that, but the Lizardmen would not raise their heads, insisting that such a thing was unthinkable. Seeing this, Agnaslerim-sama shook his head sadly.

I had been thinking this for a while, but was this Dragon Lord surprisingly lonely? I felt like he wanted to have an ordinary conversation with the Lizardmen even more than he wanted anything else.

'Whew. Well, never mind. First, allow me to thank you for saving my people. Thank you, my little friends.'

――――――――――

You cleared Emergency Quest: 'Save the Lizardmen!'

You acquired Title: 'Friend of the Water Dragon King.'

――――――――――

It had been an emergency quest given to us by the village chief, but Agnaslerim-sama was treating it as completed...? More importantly, I had obtained a new Title. 'Friend of the Water Dragon King.' I wanted to become strong enough that I wouldn't feel embarrassed being called that.

'I'd like to give you something as thanks. You can ask for anything. Well, there are some things I can't do, of course.'

Could we choose our reward? Just as I wondered that, a screen displaying a list of various items appeared before us. This aspect was very game-like. Were we supposed to choose one from the list?

...Amazing. Every weapon and piece of armor had a rarity of either L (Legendary) or T (Treasure). ...Could these be the possessions of fools who had challenged Agnaslerim-sama? I couldn't shake the feeling that they were.

Hmm, what should I choose? To be honest, I felt like I had enough weapons and armor already. If I gathered materials and had Iris make them, I could get the finest equipment anyway.

Oh? What's this... a book? Yet its category is listed as a weapon. Let's take a look at the details.

――――――――――

Dark Book Quality: Excellent Rarity: L (Legendary)

A grimoire written by a legendary sage. Fourteen volumes in all.

A grimoire is a support weapon that reduces mana consumption.

The Dark Book grants resistance to darkness and has the power to amplify 【Dark Magic】.

Equipment Effects: 【Reduced Mana Cost】

【Dark Attribute Resistance】

【Dark Attribute Enhancement】

――――――――――

This is it! It has to be this one! I hurriedly selected the 'Dark Book.'

Every effect was appealing, but the one that attracted me most was 【Dark Attribute Resistance】. Why? Because even though I was Undead, ordinary 【Dark Magic】 still worked on me. Apparently, being Undead didn't grant me resistance to elemental attributes.

You'd be thinking, 'What kind of villain is vulnerable to dark magic?!' Right? That's why I wanted 【Dark Attribute Resistance】 as soon as possible!

'Yes, it looks like everyone has chosen. Then, please accept them.'

When Agnaslerim-sama said that, pale blue orbs of light appeared before us. When we touched them, the light faded, and the items we had chosen materialized.

I received a book, Jigoro a belt, Iris a greatshield, Genzuro a katana, and Ruby a rapier. Everyone seemed to have chosen something that suited them.

'Will this do? If you'd like to change it, now's the time.'

Agnaslerim-sama said that, but none of us wanted to change our choices. We had taken our time selecting them.

Oh, right! I had something I wanted to ask Agnaslerim-sama if I ever got the chance to meet him. I had to ask before he left!

"Agnaslerim-sama. This isn't about the reward, but may I ask you one thing?"

'Sure. If it's something I can answer.'

"First, please look at this."

What I took from my inventory was the Dragon Orb I had received as a reward for the 'Azure Moon Trial.'