Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 111

Murder Case in High Class Hotel

「Why isn’t she picking up!?」

Jun was walking with a smartphone in one hand. He was trying to contact Maya.

He had also sent her a message, but there was no reply. She didn’t pick up even when he called her.

He also headed toward her room, but the three were currently outside and weren’t inside the room.

And there was also a problem.

The customers had noticed the restlessness between the hotel staffs.

He told the hotel staffs to return to their normal duty in order to deal with that.

「……Don’t tell me, Maya-chan and the others are getting involved with  something? No, perhaps they are the one getting other people involved.」

Annoyingly he lacked manpower.

Jun stopped walking and fell into thought for a while. Then he gave  up on participating in the offline meeting that was scheduled for today.

There was a plan for the craftsman players to hold an offline meeting in other hotel.

He sent them a message about his inability to come. Then his acquaintances inside the game replied back to him with worry.

He got fed up with sending message back and forth and phoned them.

『Is this Lighter-san? What’s the matter? Even though you were really looking forward to this offline meeting before.』

「I’m sorry……actually there is a problem at my end.」

Jun explained the situation as a fellow guild member, but the craftsmen players also had solid bond between them.

『……Don’t be so distant like that. Guild master is in trouble isn’t  he? We will help out too. What, please don’t worry about it. We still  haven’t started drinking so it’s alright.』

Jun almost burst into tears when he heard his comrades’ reliable voices.

「I’m sorry. ……And, thank you. I am really blessed with wonderful friends.」

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At other hotel.

The craftsman players who were gathering inside the party venue had been listening to the conversation just now.

「Did everyone hear?」

It was a gathering of people from all walks of life, from an uncle with severe expression until a gyaru.

The majority of Ponsuke and His Happy-Go-Lucky Friends was craftsman player.

Because of that there were a lot of them.

「Yeah, guild master is in danger. We have to save him!」

「To think that they will cause bloodbath IRL……」

「Those girls might really do it. Eh? Perhaps they already stabbed each other?」

「We still don’t know that. Or rather, even if they haven’t started it’s just a matter of time.」

「Right you are. Perhaps they still haven’t started stabbing, so we better hurry.」

Mariela and Alfie who were thought by their fellow guild members that  「Those girls might really do it」……and the other girls around Ponsuke.

The craftsman players stood up and immediately prepared to head toward the high class hotel where Jun was waiting.

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Inside the hotel.

Naoto and his group were being restless at the lobby.

「Oi, don’t you think there are too many people here?」

「Just when I thought that I can’t find the staffs anywhere……」

「Are they regular guest? No, they don’t seem like it.」

This time it wasn’t the staffs, but people in plain clothes gathering inside the hotel with conspicuous number.

As expected even Naoto felt like something out of ordinary was going on seeing that. Then his smartphone rang.

「……Murder case you said!?」

Naoto’s eyes snapped wide open. The people around him were surprised.

「W-what’s wrong?」

When the plain woman asked him that, Naoto spoke with a pale expression.

「……Apparently the guys who are doing offline meeting at other hotel  coincidentally heard a news. They said that Ponsuke got stabbed. There  was a crowd and when they asked what happened……they said that it was our  guild members.」

The other five couldn’t hide their shock.

「T-that mean……」

「Weren’t it just a talk of getting devoured or not!?」

「No……surely they ran into each other and they devolved into heated argument. Then the guild master surely tried to stop it.」

Ponsuke got between the arguing girls, but the girls had become  emotional and one of them stabbed him. Such scene formed inside  everyone’s mind.

It wouldn’t be strange for anyone among those girls to do such thing.

Mariela, Alfie, Noin, Fran……yes, they wouldn’t be surprised if any of them turned out to be the culprit.

Players who often teamed up with Naoto’s group were having offline gathering at a different hotel.

When he learned that, there was talk about meeting up tomorrow but then this commotion occurred.

Naoto felt horribly despondent.

「T-this is my fault. I was too optimistic……if only I dealt with it properly」

The plain woman grasped Naoto’s hand.

「W-we still don’t know for sure. Police and ambulance will come if  there really is an incident. As far as we know there’s still nothing  like that so……」

The other party members also agreed.

「That’s right. We can still make it in time. Let’s search for guild master for now!」

「If only we know where they’re staying!」

「The staff won’t tell us when we aren’t even related to them. If it’s like this we should split up to cover more ground.」

Naoto nodded.

「The other members in other hotel will also come here. Someone should  wait here in the lobby for them. After that we’ll exchange contact with  each other――」

Naoto’s group was also converging in the hotel.

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「Big trouble! Ponsuke-kun got stabbed!」

The former minister who was drinking barley tea choked from the words of his comrade who ran into the room.

「W-what!?」

The former executive was also astonished. The detective who was present there slowly stood up.

「Did he get into accident? Or is it the doing of the management?」

The man who came reporting didn’t have that much information.

「I can’t confirm it. But, it seems that the stabbing really did happen.」

The former executive turned pale.

Was the management aware of their presence here? And then, he  considered the possibility of Ponsuke――Akito who was necessary for their  plan getting targeted.

「C-could it be that our plan got leaked……oi, what now! The enemy might already be nearby!」

The former minister wiped his mouth with handkerchief and then he shut up the former executive with his gaze.

And then he slowly gave instructions.

「It looks like we were slightly too optimistic. It’s possible that  this is also the doing of the management. Let’s gather information while  being careful. After that, we’ll move away from this place.」

It was also possible that the management had sniffed out Ponsuke――no, sniffed them out.

The orc players immediately started moving away with such possibility in mind.

The former minister looked at the only woman there.

「I’m sorry but please go check. Confirming Ponsuke’s condition is our highest priority.」

The woman nodded and immediately checked her equipments before leaving the room.

Her trained body didn’t look like supermodel but there was beauty in it.

There was a rigorous training that would make even adult male cried and ran away.

This woman had finished such training and joined a special force――and then she climbed up until she became the field commander.

She was such a strong woman like a soldier who would come out in movie.

――But, she was a hardcore M.

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Yakumo returned to her room with small vinyl bag.

There was ketchup inside.

Akito talked about omelet rice during their drive, so she asked about it in detail――.

「So this is the ketchup used for the omelet rice that his mother made.」

By the way, there would be fluffy omelet for breakfast tomorrow.

Yakumo went out of her way to buy ketchup for Akito’s sake.

「Even so, it feels like the inside of the hotel is noisy for some reason……」

Next it was Maya who entered inside the room.

「……So Akito isn’t here.」

She acted like someone like Yakumo wasn’t even in her sight.

Yakumo realized something when she saw Maya’s glossy skin.

「You really put in effort there even though we’ll just go to sleep  today. I think it’s pointless for you to get beauty treatment like  that.」

Maya was unperturbed.

「Getting beauty treatment is something I often do, not just this  time. Ah, wait……perhaps it’ll be better if you yourself start caring  about such thing.」

The two were provoking each other.

But, the two of them were bothered that Akito wasn’t here.

「But really, just where is Akito right now?」

Maya searched for the smartphone that she had forgotten to bring――.

「Eh? It run out of battery.」

Not only she forgot to bring it, she had also forgotten to charge the battery.

Yakumo was also the same.

「Ah, come to think of it this afternoon――」

They had browsed a lot to learn about this tourist area. They also  took photo. They did all that using smartphone, so they forgot to charge  the battery while continuing to use it.

The reason was simple. They got too absorbed with interrogating Akito about his attempt to hit on girls.

The two started charging their phone.

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Standing while reading magazine in a convenience store was Akito who was being searched by everyone.

He discovered a local sweet that was sold in this store only for a  limited time during the drive with Yakumo and Maya. A lot of things had  happened so he couldn’t buy it until now, so he went outside when he had  the chance.

The magazine that he was reading seriously had an article about game information.

「Pandora adopting new technology……the shaking of the breasts is more  realistic now? The feel is also just like in real life……kuh! Even though  it’s not something that I can confirm, why is it making my heart dance  like this?」

The game’s rating was for 18 year below.

Sexual harassment and the like were also forbidden.

Because of that it wasn’t possible to touch. Perhaps it would be  possible somewhat if the player used female avatar, but lewd way of  touching was also restricted.

Akito had no way to confirm it currently.

There was no way but, it was an information that really bothered him.

「Yosh……let’s buy this too.」

Two people entered inside the store when he closed the magazine.

One of the pair was Riku wearing very casual outfit and shorts.

The other person was a tall and slender beauty.

They entered inside the store while holding hand. Akito and Riku’s eyes met at that moment.

――Akito dropped the magazine in his hand.

「……Riku, you」

Riku looked down for a short while, and then he put his arm around the woman’s waist.

「Yeah, that’s right. I’m in a trip with my lover. I didn’t expect that I would run into you here.」

The beauty with short black hair smiled at Akito.

「My, so you’re Akito-kun? Nice to meet you――though not for the first  time . We have run into each other many times in Pandora. After all.」

Akito tilted his head, but then he remembered the slightly mysterious woman who was often together with Riku――Rook.

「Aa~……Mira-san?」

Mira――Kagami nodded with a smile.

「I’m Kagami. Best regards. I’m Riku’s girlfriend.」

She was beautiful, but her atmosphere felt somewhat strange. It felt like she had a screw loose in good meaning.

Akito looked at the embarrassed Riku.

「C-congrats.」

Riku too.

「Y-yeah.」

He replied but the conversation didn’t continue.

Akito spoke.

「You should tell me if you come here.」

Riku was at a loss of how to answer. Kagami chuckled.

「I’m sorry for that. Actually we have been staying here since two  days ago. I’m usually busy so I can’t really make time. But he  forcefully took me here.」

Akito looked at Riku and Kagami’s faces alternately.

「Just the two of you?」

「Yes, just the two of us.」

「From two days ago?」

「From two days ago.」

Akito asked and Kagami answered.

Riku was listening to that from the side with an embarrassed look.

「You two……stayed in the same room?」

「That’s right. We are lovers after all.」

Kagami hugged Riku’s arm――Akito thought that his friend had gone far  ahead of him while making a twitching smile. He could only say  「Congratulations」.

At the counter, the cashier was looking at Riku with clenched fist and grinding teeth.

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「What, so you’ll go home tomorrow? You should stay here for one more day.」

「That’s impossible. After all it’s only thanks to president’s connection that I can stay here.」

On their way back to the hotel.

Akito was talking with Riku while walking together.

There were sweets and magazine inside his vinyl bag from the store.

「Ah, can I ask you one thing?」

「What?」

「President and your senpai from work……did you do it with either of them?」

Riku asked that question with a smirk, so Akito told him about what  happened yesterday and today. He spoke with a slightly self-depreciating  smile.

When Riku heard that…….

「M-my bad. I don’t know what to say. In the first place why did you  hit on other girls even though you came here with those two huh? Or  rather, I can’t laugh with how horribly you failed there.」

Riku couldn’t laugh with how horrible Akito’s failed attempt in hitting on girls.

「Their words, it was just like the NPCs in Pandora when dealing with orc――」

Kagami was smiling while listening to the two. Then she suddenly turned around and took a stance.

A woman came out from between the trees.

「I apologize, I want to ask a question.」

The woman raised both her hands in surrendering pose. But Kagami didn’t let her guard down.

「Eh? ――Eh?」

Akito was confused. Riku too started to panic.

「Oi, Mira?」

Kagami placed herself in front of Riku and bent her torso.

「I’m sorry. I might not be able to split my focus here. For now――it might be better to run.」

Riku grasped Akito’s hand and started running when he heard that.

「No, wait!」

「Just shut up and run!」

Akito didn’t know what was going on while Riku was leading him away  from that place. The woman who just appeared looked slightly anxious  seeing that.

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The woman who came from between the trees――one of the orc players  wanted to chase after Akito who was being led away, but she couldn’t.

(Who in the world is this woman? Could it be she’s a player targeting Ponsuke-kun? Then, the boy with him……)

From the information that came next, it said that there was a high possibility of Ponsuke getting stabbed.

It mentioned that the culprit was a fellow guild member.

The female orc player couldn’t move seeing Kagami who was in front of her in a fighting stance.

She put her finger on her ear and reported.

「I’m sorry. I got caught up with a troublesome opponent. Also, Ponsuke-kun is alive. Send someone after him――woah!」

Kagami shortened the distance and attacked her.

「Who are you contacting there?」

The woman slightly smiled in respond to Kagami’s piercing gaze.

(Aa, this is a type of person who can beat me up and give me a  treatment like in doujinshi. If only we aren’t in emergency like  this……as expected it’ll be impossible to experience that kind of thing  right now.)

This woman had found herself in the special force before she realized  it simply because she kept placing herself in an extremely painful  situation that cornered herself.

She wanted to get insulted by her fellow trainees with 「You impudent woman!」 or the like.

She also harbored a longing for a situation where she failed in  mission and got captured by enemy who would then torture her while  saying something like 「Hehe, I’ll give you a lot of affection girl」.

She was without a doubt a hardcore M orc player.

However the woman’s surrounding called her 「Nee-san!」 when they saw  her passed through the training that would make even trained man run  away.

She was able to destroy the enemy organizations that she faced during her mission without any problem.

Anyway she was a female soldier who was unable to obtain the situations that she dreamed of.

The two observed each other’s stance.

They had similar stance――either they were both affiliated with  special force or equally strong corps. They could sense that from each  other.

(……Or rather, why is this woman getting in my way?)

The woman blocked Kagami’s sharp kick with a bit of excitement while thinking such thing.

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Akito returned to the hotel.

He was running out of breath. Even so he questioned Riku.

「Oi, why did we leave Kagami-san behind!?」

Riku grabbed Akito’s collar while saying,

「She’s far stronger than someone like me. We’ll just get in her way!」

「Why should we run away in the first place!?」

The two were in confusion.

But, rather than that――.

「No, that’s……oi, the situation seems strange here.」

Riku noticed the abnormality and looked around. There were too many  people. That in itself wasn’t a problem, but it felt like the people  were searching for something.

Akito tilted his head while calling out to a glasses wearing woman who seemed to be flustered.

The woman was being absorbed in exchanging messages through her smartphone.

What’s more she was crying.

「Umm, did something happen?」

The woman took off her glasses and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

「Guild master……Ponsuke-san got stabbed because of love quarrel……」

Akito and Riku looked at each other’s face.

「……Eh?」

They could only say that.

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