| Author: Starving Wind | Original Source: Joara | Word Count: 4473 characters |
| Translator: Anonymouss | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 2275 words |
| Editor(s): Silva | ||
Liverpool city.
The actual Liverpool city that exists in real life is near the Irish sea, which was built around the 8th century, acting as one of the main important port cities that helped England to become the powerful nation it came to be. By the 18th century, trading with the newly found continent began in earnest, which made the port town even more important than before, making it the most important trade town in the world in the 19th century, dealing with heavy amounts of immigration numbers and slave trade.
Liverpool, which played a leading role in the development of modern port facilities, transportation systems and port management, was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2004 and selected as a detailed area, comprising 136 hectares1 of core area and 750.5 hectares2 of buffer area, divided into six wharf districts.
In this area is the St. George’s Plateau, where there are many public buildings and important businesses. At the Pier Head near the Merseyside river is the symbol of Liverpool, the Royal River Building, built around the beginnings of the 1900s that has two towers, being the head office of the Cunard shipping company and location of its Customs building, together with the Port of Liverpool Building, all of them having deep rich history behind them.
The Blue Sky game also allows you to experience the simulation of managing over the towns and cities which you have ownership of, which is quite unique compared to other games. For guild masters who have some free time on their hands, it gives them something to work on to micro or macro manage the cities they own, which is actually more satisfying and fun than expected.
I also did once take over a small village of sorts in the past, letting me have a taste of how that goes. Even though it’s not a large city block or anything, the village with a population of 300 was still a handful to manage properly all the time.
However, the number of NPC that lives inside the Liverpool of Blue Sky is at least 300,000. Even though they’re mostly NPCs that don’t give any quest to the players or anything, it’s still an enormous amount. Managing all their needs and worries is probably a huge deal.
“How is it, coming to the Liverpool Castle?”
Standing at the highest watchtower within the Lord’s castle in the Liverpool city, Katalina asked me. Her voice was filled with slight hints of pride and confidence.
“It’s amazing!”
I complimented the beautiful scenery of the middle age city spread out in front of me, with genuine enthusiasm. Looking at the realistic city spread out in front of me, I felt like for a moment that I was genuinely living in the middle ages.
“Looks like it was worth all the trouble.”
Katalina looks over the city with a pleased smile on her face.
“I bet a lot of work had been put into this. Those tall castle walls, extremely organized residential areas and many decorations all over the place, it must have taken immense work to complete it all. Right?”
“Yep, you’re right. You may have lost all your memory, but you seem like you didn’t lose your sense of scale in the game at all. It’s amazing, really.”
“Ahaha…”
Though she meant nothing by what she said, it had still struck inside my heart, making me feel slightly awkward.
“Just like you said, Ellie. Construction AI is high-level stuff. I even commissioned actual architects to come and help me out whenever I wanted to extend the city.”
“Really?”
Just as I thought, the bourgeois differs from normal people. In my case, I would just build anything that I had scrounged enough materials of, and would always just think of ways to make sure I spend the least amount of money. I never even really thought about expanding or increasing the size of the village I had.
“Yep! There were only 30,000 in the population when I first arrived here in Liverpool. I developed it to this size within 2 years. It really requires lots of patience.”
“I see. Then I’m curious how you could manage the other cities.”
“That’s simple. I assigned each of them to other major executives. The problem is easily solved once I put them as deputy lords. Those deputy lords could betray me and take over the ownership of the land, but since they would be taken back in less than a week by my army, no fool would ever think about stealing it just to lose all their power and wealth quickly later.”
I nodded as I heard Katalina’s explanation.
The Volcano guild owns many cities and castles, such as Manchester or Leeds, totaling up to 24 locations to my knowledge. Considering that the total number of territories that have at least a castle within their lands are only 100, it meant that the Volcano guild owned 1/4th of the entire land. Since it would be impossible to manage all those cities personally, doing it that way was the best method.
“Guild master!”
At that moment, someone from below the watchtower called up to Katalina.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me. Colin. The officers are gathered at the Civil War zone, so they told me to come as soon as possible.”
“All right. I’ll be going so you go off first.”
“Okay! Make sure to come quick!”
The player who looked to be of mage variety with their hood pulled to cover their face, sounded definitely like a female just from their voice. She also sounded young…
“Who is it?”
Although honestly speaking, I shouldn’t be asking such questions, but I couldn’t stop my curiosity.
“Ah, she’s Coline. You know her pretty well too.”
“I’m not sure who she is.”
I definitely don’t remember a Colin of sorts in my memory.
“Oh yes, that’s right. I forgot that you had lost your memory.”
“Well, it’s good that you realized it now.”
“Awww~ Come on, it was just a mistake, please don’t be so cold to me like that.”
“All right, just tell me who she is.”
“Okay. So, she’s a collateral blood relative. I guess you would call her a younger cousin. Her name is Colin Esgar. The second daughter of the historic Count Esgar family. She’s 15 years old, and it hasn’t even been 3 years since she started playing, so she’s floundering between mid to high tier level. Her position is something like an assistant secretary for the guild.”
“Your cousin?”
“Yeah, the Volcano guild is a guild in name but is more like a company. I ended up putting her in that important position since I only picked people I could rely on. Colin seemed to enjoy being in that position. It brings lots of benefits for both sides.”
“But it didn’t seem like you were close to her.”
Hearing my remark, Katalina made a bitter smile.
“That’s right. Well noticed. Honestly, this is the closest I’ve been with her since I met her. I’m sure you know that… Wait, I guess you don’t. The family members who are direct descendants often have problems with family members of branch families. But after playing the game together for a while, we got close, and I relied on her a bit, so that’s why I gave her that position.”
“But it sounds like you’re still distanced with her.”
“Because that’s the truth. Now now, let’s go to the Civil War zone now, the officers will get angry.”
“Like our butler in the mansion?”
“Pfft…”
“Hehe.”
And so, we changed the worsening mood to a better one as we went down the watchtower. After crossing the bridge above the castle wall that leads to the Civil War zone, Katalina was greeted by the guild members.
There were some guild members who suspected me since they were seeing my face for the first time, but since I was next to Katalina, I could continue on without too much trouble and arrive at the entrance of the Civil War zone.
“You’ve arrived, guild master!”
A user that was guarding a tent made of cloth smiled as they greeted Katalina.
“Yep. The person next to me is my guest, so I’m going to go in together with her.”
“Ah! Is she an external personnel?”
“That’s right, if a problem occurs, I’ll take all responsibility. If someone asks, tell them I let her in with my permission, you understand?”
“Of course.”
And so, I entered the Civil War zone of a gigantic fortress. I’ve played the game for 5 years, but it was the first time I was entering a Civil War zone, so I looked around the unfamiliar surroundings with a captivated look on my face. I saw many NPC guards placed in many locations, along with a red carpet laid out in the middle and dozens of people all crowding around. There were so many people around that Katalina and I wouldn’t have been able to move, if not because the middle passage where the red carpet was laid out doesn’t have anyone standing on it.
Finally, the user who was guarding the door yells out as loud as they could.
“Guild master Merlin has entered. Everyone, please sit on your designated seats!”
Everyone’s attention immediately gets focused on me. It happens often now, but I still can’t really adapt to the feeling. I keep trying to maintain a low profile while avoiding their looks.
“Who’s that next to the guild master?”
“Doesn’t seem like a guild officer…”
“Was there such a beautiful person in our guild?”
“Looks like an outsider…”
People murmured around me. Thanks to the game’s enhanced acoustics, I could make out some words of people talking between themselves around me.
“Everyone, you’re being rude to my guest.”
Katalina’s warm smile just a moment ago was completely gone, and was replaced with a cold expression as she spoke with an authoritative voice.
Silence.
And so, the halls became completely organized with just a single sentence. There was not a single soul that was whispering anything. Though it wasn’t like Katalina’s voice was loud either.
“That’s better. Now, please sit down everyone.”
Only then did Katalina’s cold expression become more relaxed. And so people started sitting down one by one.
Passing those people, we head towards the seats of honor in the middle of the hall.
At the point where I nearly reached the seats of honor, I thought about what I should do, being slightly flustered. If it’s like usual, I should have gone to some empty seats I can see and sit down there, but I do not see any empty seats. I didn’t want to stand in some corner of the room like some barley bag left on the ground either.
Understanding my concern, Katalina suddenly stopped. Her eyes then headed towards someone.
It was the young girl wearing the familiar blue robe, Colin.
“Colin. Could you bring a chair?”
“Of course.”
And so, Colin stepped out while Katalina stood at the seat of honor. Perhaps due to the fact that she brought me along with her and made it awkward to sit on her seat before me, she kept standing until Colin finally brought the chair in. Katalina then asked for the seat to be put right next to hers.
“Right next to yours? Looks like you’re real close with her. Actually, she looks very similar to someone I… Ah!!!”
Colin turned to look at me while smiling, before studying my facial features closely and then gasping out loud in shock.
“No way!”
“Colin, I’ll tell you the details later, go to your seat for now.”
“Okay.”
As soon as Colin noticed who I was, Katalina ordered her to go back to her seat, as if the mood would become worse if this continued.
She then spoke to those people gathered in the hall.
“Dear officers of the Volcano guild. Before we begin the 45th official guild officer meeting, I would like to introduce to you the special guest I have brought forth today.”
Everyone that had been courteously listening to Katalina’s words turned their gaze towards me. Expressions filled with curiosity. Even among the many faces, I could make out some of them whom I was familiar with. A few people like Anubis and Joker who I had met in the hunting fields. I wasn’t sure whether they were made to swear not to talk about me by Katalina’s orders, but they smiled as they looked at me and others all just had a curious expression.
“I’m sure people who are quick to notice things probably already know, but there probably isn’t anyone here who doesn’t recognize this sword and armor she’s wearing right now. Now then, who could be the female user wearing them?”
It was a slight jab at everyone. However, no one answered first. They may actually not know what she’s talking about, or are staying quiet so they won’t break Katalina’s enjoyable mood in her questioning.
However, I couldn’t help but notice that a few of them had their eyes widen in surprise, not being able to believe what they were seeing.
“Then I shall introduce her to you all. She is Madam Artoria, the unrivaled number 1 officially ranked player of the Blue Sky within the England server.”
“It’s nice to meet you all. My user name is Artoria. I hope we get along.”
A moment of silence passes. They all looked around at each other as if they found this situation to be unbelievable, but then suddenly all erupted in surprise.
“Whoaaaaa!!!”3
