Chapter 343: Chapter 201: Reaching for the Heavens Part 7 Part 1

「…… Well then.」

「Ah……」

「Oho, if it isn’t Rei.」

I only wanted to log out in order to take another sip of Riot Blood and eat some snack real quick. I was always a part of the vanguard, so I was used to things like that. But surprisingly enough, once I logged back in I saw that Rei was already here as well.

「Good morning. Or should I say I’m back? Talk about a quick break, Rei.」

「L-Likewise……」n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

「Well, I just needed to eat something and recharge my batteries a little bit……」

And then there was silence. That really awkward and nasty one. No, no, no, wait, wait! Think! Think about a topic that you can talk about! There has to be something! I mean, we’ve been doing basically the same quest for almost a week now…… Ah, I forgot. Rei was absent for most of that time.

「………」

「………」

「Oh! That’s it! I know!」

「Yes!? What is it!? What did you think of!?」

「I forgot their names already, but…… That sword and armor you have been using all this time. Are you not going to use them anymore?」

「Eh? Ah, umm, that’s right! You see, the thing is, I wanted to change my image a little bit…… Ah, but you are probably wondering if I am going to wear it for the final battle against Kutanid, right? Please, don’t worry, I am going to wear it properly when the time comes!」

「I, I see. So that’s how it is.」

While we are on the subject, soon my Scorpion Gauntlets should be done charging as well. Thinking about it that way, the timing for us to be undertaking that quest and its climactic battle could not have been better in more ways than one.

「………」

「………」

Well, that just sucks…… Even though I tried my best to keep the conversation flowing, but still we have arrived at yet another awkward silence. With such low conversation skills, I should probably worry about my future love life. That, and I can already hear all those dating sims that I have played in the past laugh at me.

「Umm……」

「You know……」

「Hmm?」

While I was going through the process of forcing my brain cells to work full throttle while thinking of a good conversation topic for us to partake in, it was Rei who actually spoke up to me first. That works for me as well, I am not going to complain. So let us continue with the conversation from this point forward.

「Umm, you see, the thing is…… There is one thing I would like to ask you. If you don’t mind me asking, that is.」

「As long as it is going to be something that I will be capable of answering.」

Rei then shakes slightly in her armor, and makes a weird sound. While wearing that particular suit of armor it made her seem like it was nothing more but the growling of a very angry and hungry beast. What, what was that reaction just now? Is this going to be one of those topics that’s going to be really uncomfortable to answer? Or that I’m going to regret ever agreeing to answer it in the first place?

「Umm…… It’s about that Guild of yours…… about the ‘Travelling Wolfgang’……」

My brain, which is operating at a really high speed for the moment, makes a connection between Rei’s current state and the words she just spoke just now. Based on all that information, there are few possible reasons why she wanted to ask me about that. Those possibilities are:

AREN’T YOU GETTING OVERLY CONFIDENT AND LUCKY RECENTLY? LOOKS LIKE I NEED TO CRUSH YOU.

WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION ARE YOU HIDING? SPILL THE BEANS OR I’LL CRUSH YOU WHERE YOU STAND.

IT WILL BE QUITE A HASSLE IF YOU BECOME TOO OVERPOWERED LATER ON, SO I MIGHT AS WELL CRUSH YOU RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW, SO TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.

「…… Nnh, fuuuuuuhhhh……」

When it comes to pure player skill, Rei should not be nearly as powerful as Silvia Goldberg, but she would easily make up for that with pure destructive power.

However, this here is not a fighting game, and what makes the player overpowered in here is not all skill dependent, but it is more thanks to the player’s stats. And in terms of stats, it is safe to assume that Rei more than surpasses Silvia Goldberg by a huge margin. Rei does not need to know how to jump or bounce around, how to chain combos and aim and shoot properly. In other words, what Rei may be lacking player skill-wise, she can easily make up for that with sheer stats coming from her weapons and armor, not to mention her destructive power lurking within her skills. And even if this does not guarantee her a perfect score, it more than enough gives her a passing grade. I bet that if she wanted to get rid of all of us right now, she would have absolutely no trouble with doing that, and she would not even break a sweat while being at it. That being said, even running away from her should be out of the question here……

「Um, ummm……」

「If possible, can you use non-lethal force, I’m begging you……」

「???」

Hmm, what’s this? I was sure that she was going to beat the living crap out of me and squeeze every single bit of information out of me that she could, but I guess that was not the case here? I mean, were her previous actions not just a form of intimidation, growling like that and shaking her armor, so similar to wild predator displaying its full physical prowess to the poor prey it was stalking?

「Umm…… You see…… I was wonder if…… right about now your guild…… is maybe looking for new members to add to your ranks……?」

「New members?」

What the hell, it was all about recruiting new members? Please, don’t scare me like that! I mean sure, having new members would be nice and all that, but there is just now way that our little guild could possibly be able to compete with the top dogs of ShangriLa Frontier. Nope, not a chance.