Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

As the conquest of the floating castle had taken them quite a lot of time, they decided to call it a day, and continue the rest of their sightseeing another time.

Maple decided to look up information on different tourist areas while she waited for the next day where she would have plenty of time. This was because she enjoyed exploration while moving towards a goal, and also being able to explore without any purpose and accidentally finding something interesting. And she wanted to be able to do both when the day arrived.

Since Maple had already gathered enough information for the day, she had come to the highest point on the fifth layer that was above the clouds. Here, she wore a white one piece dress and lay on the ground as if sunbathing.

As you could raise your level and gather materials without coming all the way up to such a place, there was no one else around. It was a good place that not many knew about.

“The floating castle sure was fun.”

While she thought about their next destination, images of that scenery still floated in her mind. Even though this place wasn’t as high as the top of the tower, she still had a good view of the field.

“Huh? Was there always a lightning area over there?”

As she often took her time looking at the scenery, Maple would occasionally notice such small differences. And so she put a hand over her forehead and squinted her eyes. Perhaps she had just thought that she’d seen the flash of lightning.

“I don’t think it was that...alright! Let’s go and find out!”

It wasn’t as if she had anything in particular to do, and so Maple decided to go to the area where she saw the light.

“I’m pretty sure it was around here...”

Maple’s eyes scanned the area. There were high walls made of clouds everywhere. Now that she had come down, it was hard to see if lightning was striking anywhere.

As she considered flying on Syrup in order to find it, an earth shattering crash echoed around her. It was unmistakably the sound of lightning.

“Over there!”

Maple relied on the occasional sounds to lead her as she walked closer to where the lightning struck. As her method of flying was not standard, searching from the air was likely to lead to her missing entry routes into events and dungeons.

“Yes, I’ve never seen lightning in this area before, so there must be something!”

Maple continued to walk for some time before stopping and waiting for the next sound.

“Hmm... It’s hard to tell when you can’t hear anything...wah!?”

The cloud wall that Maple had leaned against in order to rest. Instead of supporting her, she went right through it and was swallowed up. It was an invisible entrance, much like the one to the floating castle.

Maple went rolling down the slope made of clouds until she tore through another wall that was the exit. She landed right on her face as she came out the other side. When Maple raised her head in surprise, she saw that a female player was looking at her with a shocked expression.

“A-are you alright...?”

“...? Ahaha. I’m sorry. Yes, I’m fine!”

Maple adjusted her dress and since she still felt dizzy, she closed her eyes and calmed down a little. When she felt better, she opened them again and looked at the female player. She had blonde hair that was tied in a bun in the back, and her eyes were red. Perhaps she was also sightseeing like Maple, because she wore a white blouse and a long skirt and was holding a parasol. She didn’t have anything equipped that seemed like a weapon. There was something about her that was very lady-like, and Maple instinctively stood up straight as she talked.

“I heard the sounds of lightning coming from here. And since it’s usually quiet, I thought that it must be an event...”

She looked at Maple after hearing this, and sighed before replying with a smile.

“Hmm... I see. So that’s why. Well, I don’t think that there...is anything like that here. It might sound strange coming from me, but are you quite alright with having nothing equipped?”

After all, if there really was an event here, it would likely mean monsters, which would be quite dangerous.

“I’m fine! In spite of appearances, I put all my points into defense, so I’m quite confident in that regard!”

“...Do you mean...”

The woman seemed to be thinking about something. In the meantime, Maple scanned the surrounding area, but there really wasn’t anything of note.

“Hmm. Maybe it wasn’t here then.”

“Um, I come here often, so I can assure you. That lightning was not a rare event.”

“Huh!? Is that so!”

“Yes, it is. But it’s up to you to believe me or not...”

“I understand. I will believe you!”

“Re-really?”

“Yes!”

Maple wasn’t lying, and the woman looked at her with surprise.

“...I know. Maybe it was fate that we met here like this. Would you care to talk for a short while?”

“...? Yes! Of course!”

“Well, there is no point in staying here. Will you take a walk with me, Maple?”

“Sure! Wait, what!?”

Maple was shocked that this person knew her name, even though she hadn’t introduced herself. But the woman just smiled at her with amusement.

“Judging by your reaction, I was right.”

“Huh? Ah, ahhh!? I see...you surprised me.”

It wasn’t that her mind was read or some other strange skill. Maple realized that it was merely a guess.

“While you do look different from usual, if you look closely, I can still see the resemblance.”

Even though she changed her hair, clothes and color scheme, her height and overall air remained the same. And with the added information about her defense ability, well, most players who participated in the fourth event would be able to connect the dots.

“I was going through different tourist spots and...um...”

“Hmm? Oh, my name is Velvet.”

“Miss Velvet! Are you sightseeing too?”

She also wasn’t carrying any weapons and had no armor or shields equipped. Perhaps she was on the field for the same purpose.

“Well, you could say that. I was planning on meeting up with my friends after this so we could level grind. But our shield-bearer had other business to attend to.”

“I see.”

“Do you think that you could come with us?”

Apparently, that was one of the things she wanted to talk about. Velvet then waited for Maple’s answer.

“Yes! I don’t mind!”

It wasn’t as if she had anything important to do now. And so Maple nodded eagerly, with expectations of new friendships welling up in her chest.

“It’s...decided then. Well, we are to meet up on the seventh layer.”

“Got it!”

And like this, Maple suddenly found herself helping people level grind. And so she and Velvet headed to the seventh layer.