Lost Child of the Dawn Read online

  Copyright

  Log Horizon, Volume 6

  Mamare Touno

  Illustration by Kazuhiro Hara

  Translation by Taylor Engel

  Cover art by Kazuhiro Hara

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  LOG HORIZON, VOLUME 6

  Lost Child of the Dawn

  ©Touno Mamare 2013

  First published in Japan in 2013 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.

  English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo, through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.

  English translation © 2016 by Yen Press, LLC

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First Yen On eBook Edition: February 2020

  Originally published in paperback in November 2016 by Yen On.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-1-9753-0989-3

  E3-20200204-JV-NF-ORI

  1

  Just as she always did, Akatsuki passed through the narrow door to enter the shop.

  The place was deep within the Production Guild District, set in a corner of a ruined building’s remodeled basement. It was filled with stacks of crates.

  This store “zone” was the sales area for the production guild Amenoma. As proof, Japanese swords were out on display, status set to non-retrievable. Among the many guilds that forged weapons, Amenoma was an eccentric one that specialized in Japanese swords.

  Naturally, the members who ran this eccentric guild weren’t normal either, and as a result of their enthusiastic manufacturing, tools and materials flooded from the relatively large forge at the back of the sales area. Swords and materials that were midway through the production process had overflowed into the sales area and were piled messily in crates, such that the place looked like a storehouse.

  Still, as far as Akatsuki was concerned, this was all for the best.

  Being greeted with a round of “Welcome!” when she entered a store made her feel pressured, and having products recommended to her by over-friendly salesclerks was a turnoff. Akatsuki was fundamentally shy. She’d grown able to talk quite casually with her guild mates Naotsugu and Nyanta, and she thought she’d managed to make friends with Touya and Isuzu and the others, but she was still pretty uncomfortable around other people.

  In that respect, at Amenoma (even though it was because they just weren’t concerned with sales), she was able to relax and size up the items on her own, and she was grateful for it.

  “Okay…”

  Relying on memory, Akatsuki made for a corner of the shop.

  It was an area that held highly versatile Japanese swords.

  In this other world, glass showcases weren’t common.

  Here, the swords simply hung from hooks on the wall.

  Since the sales zone was controlled by the guild and many of the items were set to be non-retrievable, Akatsuki could touch the items, but she couldn’t pick them up or move them anywhere. It was, however, possible to look at them and examine them carefully, so the item properties were displayed. The result was that customers who came to shop weren’t inconvenienced, but there was also no danger of theft. It was a clever system.

  It turned out that there were several dozen swords on display.

  As it happened, a few of these were items that Akatsuki was keeping an eye on.

  In Elder Tales, the conditions that made it possible to equip an item were set on the item itself. For example, the Green Steel Short Sword—Ornate Black Katana Mounting right in front of Akatsuki could be equipped by six of the main classes: Guardians, Samurai, Assassins, Swashbucklers, Bards, and Kannagi.

  Samurai were able to equip almost all swords, but if the weapon’s equip settings didn’t include them, they weren’t able to make an exception and equip it. Conversely, Monks weren’t able to equip most swords, but if special permission was granted on the item’s side, it was possible for them to equip that particular sword.

  Major equipment for Assassins—Akatsuki’s main class—consisted of bows, whips, and both Western and Japanese swords, but since Assassin was fundamentally a weapon-attack class, it was possible to equip many other types of implements as well, if desired. In the days when this had been a game, Akatsuki had used a short sword simply because it had looked kind of cool, but after the Catastrophe, she’d continued to make regular use of it for more practical reasons. Akatsuki had experience in kendo, and it seemed like the easiest, most comfortable weapon to use.

  Choosing weapons was a difficult affair. Akatsuki ransacked the familiar list in her memory, which she’d gone over many, many times already. Elder Tales might have tens of thousands—or maybe even hundreds of thousands—of weapon items, but it was common knowledge that, for a specific Adventurer trying to find the perfect weapon, there weren’t all that many options.

  To begin with, there were the weapon categories. These categories included one-handed swords, two-handed swords, spears, axes, pole-type weapons, bows, staves, cudgels, brass knuckles, throwing weapons, whips, and special weapons. Quantities varied by category, but if there were about a hundred thousand weapons in all, each category would, presumably, have about a tenth of that number.

  There was also the issue of equipment levels. In Elder Tales, higher-level equipment appeared every ten levels or so. Furthermore, without exception, all Adventurers were compelled to update their weapons and switch them for new ones every ten levels, simply because if they kept using low-level equipment, they’d handicap their companions who were supposed to be on par with them. Skilled Adventurers tended to review their gear even more frequently because of that. In the end, with the level limit apparently set at 100 at current, if an Adventurer updated their equipment every five levels, that meant switching weapons a total of twenty times.

  In addition, Adventurers were divided between twelve main classes. While it was possible for one weapon to be equipped by multiple main classes, different weapons would naturally fulfill different needs. For example, a Kannagi looking for a short sword would want one that provided magic power amplification and attribute defense, while most Assassins would want a short sword that focused on agility and attack power. In addition, even if a piece of equipment was geared toward Assassins, equipment choices could still vary depending on whether it emphasized the force of single attacks or attack speed.

  These myriad conditions kept narrowing the field of weapon candidates for any one person by increments of one-tenth. By necessity, no matter how vast the total number of weapons was, the options that appeared as a result were limited.

  Right now, for Akatsuki, there were probably about ten potential choices.

  On top of that, th
ere was an even greater problem:

  Whether it was possible to obtain them.

  In Elder Tales, powerful weapons were only granted as rewards during raids, almost without exception. Akatsuki had no raid experience. She flattered herself that, as an Adventurer, her level and skills were by no means low, but that was in terms of party Adventurers. In addition, 90 percent of the weapons from raids were nontransferable. In other words, it wasn’t possible to trade ownership to someone else. Unless you participated in a raid and acquired one there, you’d likely never get one.

  There were about ten weapons that Akatsuki wanted, but only two could be acquired without participating in a raid—or, in other words, could be purchased.

  “…Welcome.”

  Hearing a voice, Akatsuki turned around.

  A girl about as small as Akatsuki stood there. Of course, Akatsuki was a human whose height had been set to be short. The standard height for dwarves like this girl was about the same as a child to begin with, so the implications were a bit different. Since the race had unique abilities that were useful to several production classes, they were seen fairly often in production guilds.

  Her name was Tatara. She was the guild master of Amenoma, a craftsman who’d mastered high-level Blacksmith skills, and one of Akatsuki’s acquaintances.

  In response to the voice, Akatsuki nodded.

  She might be an acquaintance, but they weren’t so close she could make small talk with her.

  “Hmm…”

  That said, as far as Akatsuki was concerned, Tatara was a pleasant person to deal with. The general opinion was that she poured all her affection into her swords, and as proof, her subclass was Swordsmith, a high-level Blacksmith class that was rare on the server. Possibly because she was indifferent about human relations, she wouldn’t actively try to sell anything to customers even when they were standing in the sales area. She was one of the few acquaintances that Akatsuki never had to be afraid of.

  …Not that that was the reason, but Akatsuki asked the question on her mind:

  “Um, I know this is abrupt, but could I ask…? What happened to the sword that was on display here?”

  Her voice had gone a little tense. As she asked the question, she thought to herself that people besides her guild mates really did make her nervous. Tatara had flopped her upper body down over the counter carelessly, and she answered from that position: “It sold.”

  The words astonished Akatsuki.

  This was because, by that point, she’d been coming to Amenoma for two months.

  The sort of high-level equipment Akatsuki wanted could get terribly expensive. This was particularly true of the rare raid weapons that were transferable. Some were displayed at Amenoma because they’d been reforged, but as far as Akatsuki knew, there weren’t that many secondhand short swords. As a result, since it hadn’t sold for two months, she’d thought that as long as she didn’t buy it herself, it wouldn’t sell for a while.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, for real. They went all out and paid in full with cash…if I remember right.”

  “Uuu…”

  Words failed her. She really hadn’t seen this coming.

  That said, when she looked at the swords on the wall again, the one she really wanted, Ringing Blade Hagane-mushi, or “Iron-Devouring Insect,” was still there. Of the two short swords that had been for sale—Haganemushi and Hail Blade Byakumaru, or “White Snow Devil”—the latter was the one that had sold. That sword had a “proc,” or programmed random occurrence ability that inflicted cold-air ranged damage. Attribute damage was effective against opponents with high physical defenses, but range damage could be difficult to use. In that sense, she might just have been lucky that the one she was really after was still there.

  “…Gonna buy it?”

  “Uuu…”

  That question found her speechless, too.

  Of course she wanted it. She wanted it so badly she could taste it.

  In any case, as a weapon-attack class, compared to other classes, a larger percentage of Assassins’ combat abilities depended on their weapons. In addition, Akatsuki was currently dealing with some personal circumstances.

  She wanted a high-performance weapon.

  However, high-performance weapons were expensive.

  The remaining weapon, Ringing Blade Haganemushi, was the one she really wanted, and if things were like this, there was no telling when it would sell. That said, the figure written on its price tag was twice as large as Akatsuki’s total assets.

  She really couldn’t say she’d buy it.

  Of course, Akatsuki was going out to the fields day after day and battling monsters. It had been that way ever since Shiroe began shutting himself up in the guild house after the Zantleaf sweep. However, since the Catastrophe, this world changed as it pleased, and there were limits to how much money a player could earn alone.

  For Shiroe, or possibly Marielle, or any of the other guild masters whose names were linked to the Round Table Council, the amount might have been something that they could pay on the spot. However, right now, for Akatsuki, the burden was too great.

  Tearing her eyes away from the beautiful short sword in its black sheath, Akatsuki shook her head several times, communicating her intent.

  Tatara didn’t seem all that interested in boosting her sales, either. When she saw that Akatsuki wasn’t going to buy anything, she lay down over the counter again, making noises that sounded like “Mukyuu.” Apparently this was where she slept.

  As if to shake off her regrets, Akatsuki squeezed the handle of her current favorite short sword in its lacquered scabbard and left the Amenoma shop.

  She wanted to improve her combat abilities as quickly as possible, and there was somewhere else she needed to go.

  2

  It was December, and winter had fallen upon Akiba’s landscapes.

  Summer in Yamato had been cooler than summers in Japan in the old world, and apparently, as anticipated, winters were harsher than they’d been in the old world as well. Snow had fallen several times since the beginning of December. There hadn’t been enough to stick, but every time, the wind had gotten colder.

  That said, Akiba was an Adventurer town.

  While the People of the Earth population had grown, Adventurers still accounted for two-thirds of the traffic in the streets. Adventurer bodies were tough; a little cold was nothing to them, and if necessary, one ring set with a small aquamarine gave them enough resistance to the chilly air to easily repel natural cold.

  Akatsuki cut through the morning streets, walking rapidly.

  She was headed for the outskirts of town.

  At the southern edge of Akiba, Akatsuki blew her summoning pipe, leapt onto a swift black horse, and galloped off.

  I want to get stronger…

  Once again, Akatsuki murmured it to herself, silently.

  Lately, it felt as if she thought this every day… No, several dozen times a day.

  One more time, Akatsuki put a hand to her hip, tracing the sheath with her fingers.

  It held a kiln-turned ceramic stained short sword. It was a high-level production-class weapon that Akatsuki had obtained before the Catastrophe. It certainly wasn’t a weak short sword. Of the types that could be acquired when adventuring as a party, it was the highest grade.

  Akatsuki thought that this weapon was exactly like her.

  In a six-person party, her skills were high-level. She could carry out the role she was given flawlessly and efficiently. However, in Elder Tales, there was a world beyond that one: raids. Akatsuki had never taken part in a raid. She’d shied away from the long times spent on standby and the complicated human relationships.

  In addition, no one had called her for the task.

  However, no matter the reason, the fact was that Akatsuki had no raid experience. That meant she hadn’t acquired the high-level treasure-class and fantasy-class equipment that could be obtained on raids. Akiba was home to major combat guilds like the Knights
of the Black Sword and D.D.D. Their members probably included super-top-class Assassins who were more skilled than Akatsuki, and who had equipment she could never obtain no matter how much she wanted it.

  Shiroe, Naotsugu, and Nyanta were like that as well.

  They’d belonged to the Debauchery Tea Party, a group that hadn’t been a guild but had once dominated the world, to the point where it had become a legend. They were super-top-class Adventurers who’d competed with the major combat guilds for victory.

  Compared with friends like that, her own abilities seemed far too shaky.

  She was a skilled Assassin, certainly: a modest top-class, or at least the very top of second-class. However, she wasn’t a super-top-class Assassin.

  That was Akatsuki’s reality.

  The very top of second-class.

  She was a lot like the weapon she used.

  As a result, she’d started going to Amenoma in search of a top-class weapon, even if it was at the very bottom of its class, but top-class weapons were—as expected—expensive, and they were out of her reach. The way she let her regrets accumulate and went back every day was absurd.

  When she reached the Dovature Birdlands, Akatsuki dismounted. She wasn’t planning to do anything bad, but from this point on, she needed to conceal her presence.

  She advanced, slipping between the dense trees, and before long, her vision was blocked by a wall of greenery.

  Of course there were trodden paths as well, but that sort of animal trail had inherited the game’s design intent, and they meandered. It was a design technique used to make small places look bigger.

  The Dovature Birdlands were a type of field dungeon. Although it was an outside zone, the small paths that ran every which way formed a labyrinth, and it had been designed to make it possible to fight lots of monsters.

  However, after the Catastrophe, if you didn’t mind losing some speed and taking a little trouble, you could skip the suggested routes and cut straight through the brush. You had to climb up and down small cliffs, and it did take work, but for the petite Akatsuki, slipping through the brush was comparatively easy.