Reunion with the Ninja

「To be honest, if it was Kizuna-kun, he might have shown a bit more enthusiasm.」

「I’m all for pranking on Onii-chan!」

「Yeah.」

…Hmm.

I seem to need some self-reflection as well.

I’m all for pranking my sister! I was about to respond with something like that, but it seems like I’d get scolded again, so I’ll stay silent this time.

「Considering what’s happened these past few days, I can’t deny that.」

「Well…」

「Alright you guys, let’s begin!」

「Start the mischief in darkness shadow!」

Sheryl! Don’t suddenly speak fluent English at times like this!

So, with that, Alto approaches Yamikage (already filmed) lying horizontally on the beach and releases her from its paralysis.

「Wh-Where is this? The beach!?」

「Yah-har! Na-kama na-kama! Ki-zuna teki-dou-me!」

Why me?

It was Romina who called you here, you know.

Don’t try to create a common enemy.

「Hih-ohh-hoh!」

「Hahh-ohh-hoh!」

「Soh-soh!」

Yeah… from what I can see through the gaps in the leaves, a somewhat half-hearted threat has begun, with everyone but Alto lacking motivation.

「U-Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What are you going to do to meeeee!」

Ah, Yamikage has forgotten to stay in character and is screaming.

And she stood up and ran away at an incredible speed!

「Dou-me hai-re! Na-be na-be!」

Alto is taking the lead in trying to lure Yamikage towards the pot, but of course Yamikage isn’t an idiot.

「Th-That’s right! I shall use the Tome of Return!」

Doesn’t she seem quite calm? She’s back in character.

And just like with Alto, Yamikage teleports to the beach.

「A f-forced save point?!」

Alto seems to have anticipated her using that, getting ahead of her.

How motivated is he?

「Ni-ge ni-ge mu-da mu-da!」

Alto and the others chase after Yamikage as she tries to escape.

But…

「Here, escaping is the way to win! Doron!」

Yamikage lets out smoke and escapes.

And she even hid using a concealment skill.

Her acting has completely recovered.

That’s not ‘Doron’, you know.

「Toh!」

Tsumugi flushes out the concealed Yamikage.

Otherwise, she would get away for sure…

「Ma-te ma-te! O-e o-e-e-e!」

Ah, that guy Alto is the only one falling behind, unable to keep up with Yamikage’s high stats.

Among this group, the only ones who can keep up with Yamikage at full speed are Tsumugi, and maybe Sheryl as second.

「For now, I must assess the situation!」

Having found some breathing room, Yamikage keeps escaping.

It’s only now that Tsumugi and Sheryl are finally showing some motivation, beginning to surround her.

Her nimble movements do make you want to corner her, I suppose.

In terms of difficulty.

「D-Damn… Drain won’t… I can’t designate it?!」

「O-to-na-shi-ku tsu-ka-tsu-ka!」

「GET!」

「Wh-?! Stop it! Is this some kind of event?!」

「Peckle is not a monster-pen.」

It seems they managed to capture her somehow, and the exhausted Alto is leading the captured Yamikage towards the campfire they set up, but… a working Peckle happens to pass by nearby, killing the atmosphere.

It’s like, too casual, creating a somewhat surreal scene.

「Ja-ma ja-ma!」

「I understand-pen.」

He’s forcibly moving the Peckle away with the Peckle Counter, but there are quite a lot of Peckles around now…

Moreover, the island has been developed much further than when Alto was summoned, and when I look towards the island, I can see buildings.

It has more of a tourist attraction vibe than before.

Also, Peckle, what did you understand?

Well, he was probably just following the orders from the Peckle Counter.

「So it has finally come to my turn?! D-Does anyone have my back here?! Someone, please help me!」

Hmm… I think it’s about time to reveal the truth.

I was about to stop keeping the rhythm when, at that moment…

「Hide Behind from Shadow Dash!」

Once again, Yamikage uses magic and skills, moving like a shadow to get behind Alto and the others before escaping.

Coming up with new skills in succession like that… not bad at all.

「…How should I put this, Yamikage really moves around a lot, doesn’t she?」

「Yeah. Is she pretty calm?」

「She does keep asking for help, so I think she’s definitely confused.」

Unlike Alto, she does have combat abilities.

The first time we met, she was running away from a Lizard Man Dark Knight too, so I guess she has a way to escape.

It seems she’s taken movement and evasion skills as well, giving her that ninja vibe.

Alto… you must have realized how difficult it is to capture and startle Yamikage, huh?

「Ugah! Shu-dan erabaan!」

Ah, Alto has stopped holding back and throws a fire bomb he seems to have made at some point, blocking Yamikage’s path of advance.

Of course, attacks can’t hit players, so she should be able to slip through.

But the visual effect must have been impressive, as Yamikage dodges the flames and gets cornered.

「D-Dammit, this is as far as I go!」

「Heheheheh! Dou-me dou-me!」

You want her to join the victims’ alliance, but this is backfiring, Alto.

「A ninja must not falter here! Now! let’s explain what kind of event this is!」

「…」

She’s completely over it, huh.

Wake-up pranks only work when you’re just waking up, you can’t fool someone who’s already awake.

The execution was really sloppy overall.

「Ah… Alto, I think you’ve lost this one, yeah?」

「D-Damn… this ninja…!」

Alto seems to lose all strength, dropping to his knees dejectedly.

I don’t know what drove him to go that far, but he might have unexpectedly good commitment.

Well, he did roleplay as a merchant, after all.

But I don’t get what that last line about a ninja was supposed to mean.

So what if she’s a ninja?

「Th-This voice…! Kizuna-dono?!」

Emerging from the shadows of the leaves with Shouko, I call out to Yamikage.

Of course, Tsumugi and Sheryl have also taken off their disguises and changed clothes.

「Wh-What is this?! What is happening here?!」

「Well, you see…」

I explain to Yamikage what has happened since I washed up on the island.

As a result, Yamikage lets out a cry of astonishment unlike any before.

「It’s cruel, so cruel! To leave me for last like that is so cruel! Kizuna-dono, you should know how much anguish I went through because of you!」

Yamikage starts hitting me with childish punches.

Are you a kid?!

Since she’s a game character, her actual age is a mystery, but Yamikage often displays childish behavior.

The sight of someone taller than me hitting me like a child is painful to watch, so from now on I’ll treat her as my junior.

「Yamikage, how have you been doing?」

「It’s been dreadful!」

That’s what I figured.

Yamikage begins to explain, complaining as she does.

She was working together with Shouko, but one day Shouko suddenly disappeared without a trace. After going to Sheryl’s place, Sheryl also went missing… so she had no choice but to go to Romina’s place, only for the same thing to happen.

By this point, bad rumors had already spread, and whenever she walked through town, people would distance themselves from her.

Shady players would even harass her, so it was a really tough time.

On top of that, after participating in the waves and getting good results, she was accused of cheating and forced to log out, and was cursed at for being a cheater and such.

That’s on them. I’ll report them to the management later.

There are aspects of the event that could lead to such misunderstandings.

Though really, you couldn’t even access the game until it started, so there’s no way anyone could cheat.

Well, I had already heard this sequence of events from Alto, so it’s as I imagined.