The Knights of the Round Table was already one of the largest clans in the game when I first started playing. And they were one of the prominent.

I dont know exactly what kind of activities they do, but whats unique about them is their membership requirements.

According to Touka-chan, their clan only consisted of swordsmen. And that meant only players with the [Swordsman] profession were allowed to join.

And one other unique thing, there is a title given to the top 11 players in their clan.

The Knights of the Round Table hold a PvP tournament once a month to decide the ranking, and then the 11 top players are called the Round Table that will act as their executive members.

Shuya, who fought alongside me during the , came third. He had a hidden skill no one knew about, the [Dual Great Sword] skill. He was a hard-to-read person. {Changing Twin GS -> Dual GS}

And this young girl in front of me is the clan leader of The Knights of the Round Table, Arthur. I call her A-chan.

So, why were A-chan being chased by monsters?

Thats because I killed a Light fox.

You mean the [Shiny Fox]?

Yeah, I think thats what its called.

The woman in knight-like attire standing behind her looked furious.

Oh right, shes Suryuu. The holder of 11th rank [Round Table] title.

The [Shiny Fox] is a trap monster that summons many monsters around it when you kill it, and I once killed one out of curiosity in the Magical Forest and got into a terrible situation. But thanks to that, I met Kohaku.

Oh, youre streaming. Am I interrupting?

No, not really. I was just trying out [Mumei] to pass the time.

< Its around nine oclock, so you should be able to do wood chopping soon, right?>

Thats right. Now that weve leveled up lets go home What about you, A-chan?

If its the oni village youre going back to, Id like to go with you. Im sure Suryuu has reached her limit by now.

Surprised at the sudden subject change, Suryuu freaked out for a moment and then nodded silently.

She had been shouting so energetically just a moment ago, but now she suddenly became quiet.

Whats wrong with you, Suryuu? You havent spoken since a while ago.

Shes never been much of talker, has she?

Oh, really? But she was shouting a while ago?

Ah, right, Suryuu is role-playing as a mute in front of everyone but me. But I think shes also embarrassed to be seen yelling.

Is that so?

Suryuu looked shocked by A-chans sudden revelation, but she nodded her head and blushed.

< Im not going to blame her for that reaction.>

< Ill only show my true self to the Lord. Ha! (and disappear).> {mimicking ninja?}

{tln1}

<How can they become a master and a servant in the first place?>

Sorry for my thoughtless question.

I feel like I broke her roleplaying with my question, so I give my sincere apology.

I dont know how Suryuu viewed this, but still, she patted me on the head while smiling and blushing.

I was puzzled, then A-chan chuckled and spoke for Suryuu.

Dont worry about it, then.

Im really sorry about that. I was inconsiderate.

Its okay, dont mind it. Suryuu already says its okay, and youre our benefactor who saved us. Well, since Suryuu already recovered, why dont we get going?

Yeah, I guess so. It probably wont take more than twenty minutes from here, so lets get to the village.

Although my blunder almost made things a little awkward, we were able to get back into a cheerful mood thanks to their consideration, and we decided to head for the Oni village with the guide stone in hand.

Btw A-chan, wheres your katana? Ive never seen you with another sword before. Did you change your weapon?

Well, that one is currently in the process of being enhanced. Im just using this for fun since I recently met the requirements to acquire the sword skill.

I see. Still, Its a nice sword.

Its a hand-me-down from one of our members. It was given to me by the second-ranked person in our clan.

Oh, so thats why the size of the sword doesnt match A-chans height.

The weapons size is not automatically adjusted by the players height, but the size can be set at the time of creation, like the difference in size between the [Yoiyami[ and [Mumei].

While some minor restrictions depend on the weapon type, for example, the minimum size for a two-handed sword, it should be possible to make a sword that fits A-chans height.

I wondered why she was using a sword that didnt fit her, but if it was a gift, it was probably made to fit the previous users height, so it was only natural.

But if its not your real weapon, why did you deliberately get into trouble? You know how troublesome Shiny Fox is, dont you?

Thats why I killed it. That my way of training.

Training?

Thats right! You see, Suryuu lost the battle for the rank just the other day. Of course, she was stripped of her rank and is no longer a Knight of Round Table.

Hearing A-chans amused words, I couldnt help but turn my head at Suryuu.

She looked away awkwardly, and I couldnt pursue it since I still felt guilty about my earlier blunder.

Just as the atmosphere was about to become indescribable, A-chan suddenly retorted.

Thats why I did what I did!

Im sorry.

Good grief. Theres no need to be so down about that. Weve already decided on the date of the next monthly battle for the rankings, and if you lose and fall, you can always win the next time and take it back.

Ce-certainly.

So thats why Suryuu is training like this, and its not my place to worry about her.

The only thing I can do is to support her. Please work hard and become strong.

So, youve come to the Lost Forest to train?

That was my intention. And Ive heard that the number of monsters appearing in this forest is increasing, so Ive spent the last few days leveling and training. I was hoping that the glowing fox would be the culmination of all our training, but it seems that Suryuu is still not ready.

A-chan scolded her regretfully, and Suryuu nodded as if she had given up. I could feel the aura of [Its not over yet] emanating from her entire body, but I decided not to mention it.

Yes, you said earlier that there were more monsters, but do you know anything about this forest anomaly?

No, Ive only recently arrived in this village, and today was the first time I fought monsters in the forest. I only thought that this forest had a lot of monsters unusually.

A-chan asked me, but I didnt have any information to answer her question. She then put her hand on her chin and pondered.

Hmmm, I see. Ive heard that the number of monsters has almost doubled in the past few days. Its fine for us since we could go back from the dead, but this situation is very troublesome for NPCs since for them, death means their end.

Yeah, thats probably the case. I wonder whats going on?

Looking back at the black dragon incident of the other day I believe theres a reason for this, but

Well have to wait and see.

Something strange happened in the Lost Forest. Apparently, from the way A-chan talks about it, it might be quite a problem outside the forest too.

But there is no sign of it at all in the onis village.

While the three of us tilted our heads, we concluded that there was no point in thinking about it now, so we decided to head for the oni village.

====.

A note:

A chain reaction because someone is spreading youki throughout the forest, the ecosystem was disrupted by the monsters that trying to escape

I wonder who in the world is responsible for that {tln: I KNEW IT.}

TL note:

Tln1: its a Master-Servant Yuri relationship, just a more complicated one. Dont have the energy to even describe it.

So be honest, guys was my English is that bad?

I read the comment from the last LDM chapter, and that one particular comment shocked me.

I always use Grammarly to double-check my translation, it might not be the best assistant there is, but I thought that was sufficient was it not?

Anyway please tell me that comment practically stuck in the back on my mind. I do try to improve bit by bit every day, but if thats still not enough, time to raise the effort one step higher.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks to the time you guys gives me to resolve my burnout, I think I can go back to my usual schedule now.