Finally cutting off the connection to the capsule that lasted much longer than usual, I stepped out and looked at Katalina who had a face just as exhausted as I did.
"Pfft…"
"Hehe…"
Both of us giggled the moment we saw each other's faces.
"That went way too long, right?"
"Yeah! But we raised a few weeks' worth of experience points, so I'd say that though it was exhausting, it was worth it! I'm worried about the guild thing… But for now, let's rest a bit."
"You're going to shower as well? Then how about a can of beer after the shower?"
"Beer sounds nice but I'm worried that I'll gain weight."
"Then I'm gonna drink it alone."
"Hehe… No, I'll drink as well."
Katalina made excuses saying she'll get fat, but just as I thought, she must have really wanted some since she eventually gave up.
"Ugh… I'm drenched in sweat."
Looking at my completely wet shirt, I thought I should shower already.
"Ehh, me too."
"Hm?"
Is she saying she's wet as well? Not being able to completely understand what she meant, I looked at Katalina with a confused expression.
"I'm saying let's shower together."
"… There's plenty of bathrooms to shower in though?"
Hearing her thinly veiled seduction yet not seduction at the same time, I would yell out 'Yes, that's what I wanted to do!' and lead her to the bathroom to… Ahem.
A delusion went through my mind but the part of my body that should have reacted by that thought didn't show any reaction at all, so that kind of thought went away immediately.
"We're both girls and engaged as well. Why are you so embarrassed?"
"S…Still."
"Jeeze. Come here!"
Katalina thought I would agree right away and when she saw that I was making excuses, Katalina grumbled and pulled my arm as she dragged me.
"W-Whoa…"
While I was in a state of confusion, I was already being dragged to the shower room.
My heart isn't ready yet though!!!!!!
I don't have any memory of when I arrived inside here. Katalina and I were sitting down in a spa that was located in the corner of the bathroom, facing each other.
As opposed to what I imagined would happen, we were both wearing a single layer of tower around our bodies. Thanks to that the psychological damage was lessened, but the fact that she was wearing nothing but a single layer of wet towel on her body was a problem for me as well.
Just staring at her silky white legs was hard enough for me, the shape of her beautiful body already made me reach the limit in terms of common sense.
Katalina of course doesn't know anything I was thinking about as she sat in the spa enjoying the bubbles, closing both her eyes and humming a tune.
Splash.
Moving across the water in the spa, Katalina's face came close to mine.
With her cheeks blushing red from the heat of the water and glistening wet blonde hair, she looked way too seductive.
I unconsciously started to back away a bit, but since it was such a small space, I didn't have much space to maneuver.
"Ngh…"
Her moist eyes felt as if they were longing for something. Should I embrace her? And what if I did? Numerous 'Adult Only' thoughts kept swimming through my mind.
"Ellie… Can you do me a favor and close your eyes?"
"Huh? Oh okay"
After closing my eyes, I felt her lips on mine. It was magical. After a few minutes, we finished washing ourselves and left the spa.
Pssh!
As I opened up the can lid, the unique sound of carbonated drinks fizzing rang out. As I always had the theory that beer should always be drunk from a can, I had a fridge filled with the Corona brand beer that I usually enjoyed.
"And what do you want, Lina?"
As Katalina dried her hair with an absentminded expression, I asked what her preference was.
"The same one as yours~"
Maybe she didn't have any particular brand she likes? I didn't know, but I felt that I shouldn't really ask any deeper since she would probably answer if she likes what I like anyway.
"Here you go then."
"Wow! It's really cool as well, thanks."
"I'm sure they're all up in arms at this moment."
"What is? Oh! You're talking about Blue Sky. Well, of course, right? Wait a minute."
She spoke as if she just remembered what had happened, and picked up the phone she had left at the corner of the table nearby. As she is the guild leader, she always has a phone ready to pick up any emergency calls about the guild.
"Wow! I have over 100 missed calls."
"I knew it would be like that."
I nodded, understanding why that would happen.
"Let's see. I'll have to make some important calls first. I'll call them and come back."
"Okay."
I decided to turn on the TV.
I turned it on just in time for the breaking news about Blue Sky to be aired on TV. On top of that, a familiar-looking TV caster was excitedly talking about the latest news.
"Her name was Silvia, right?"
She was definitely the main TV caster for the show "I love Blue Sky".
[… and because of that, numerous guilds within the server have suffered massive damages. Every guild is denouncing this incident, causing an uproar in the community. Mr. Edin?]
[Yes! I'm Edin, you're a special guest caster, reporting to you in real-time video of what's happening in Blue Sky world. Right now I've arrived in the London capital inside of Blue Sky, within the England server. The plaza is so filled with small and medium sized guilds who are complaining about having received harm. There are so many people that I barely have any room to move.]
[You're right, there really are a lot of people! The tensions are very high compared to the usual as well.]
[That's right. The siege war that had ended just a few moments ago, which the users dubbed as the 'Ianus Incident', had blown up in the news due to the fraud that both guilds had committed, prompting a movement to form a coalition that will stand against the two guilds. So far, no guilds of similar size to Chaos or Shining has announced to make any moves in relation to this incident.]
[I guess the most important thing right now is what the biggest guild in the server, 'Volcano', would do next?]
[Majority of the users are having cautious speculation that the coalition against the guilds that committed fraud would be built around the Volcano guild. Now then, we'll get an opinion from one of the users.]
The caster called 'Edin' caught one of the users that gathered in the plaza and explained something to him.
It seemed like they were convinced, since he agreed to start an interview with the caster Edin.
[Hello, this is the special guest caster, Edin, from 'I love Blue Sky'.]
[Nice to meet you. I'm Oxford. I'm really nervous since I'm going to be featured on a show that I often enjoy viewing.]
[You're a fan! Thank you very much. Sorry to burst your bubble a bit but could you please answer a few questions that we have?]
[Ah, of course, it's fine. Please ask anything.]
[Well the thing is, we gathered that the users are extremely angry about this incident. Mr. Oxford, did you join the said siege war as a mercenary role yourself?]
[Yes, that's right. I joined as the attacking side of the siege against York city which was one of the cities locked in the ferocious battle.]
[I see. Could I ask you for more details about it?]
[It was a siege war that was just like any other. At first, the mercenaries would clash in the front, and slowly the main forces would join them… But several times they were seen to be hesitant in battling each other, and once the number of mercenaries started dwindling, they showed their true colors. The guild members attacked the remaining mercenaries instead of each other's guild members.
There was no one that survived that battle. I also died there and lost a vast amount of experience points and proficiency. Thankfully, because of the mercenary system I didn't lose any items, but some of my friends and acquaintances had completely lost their skill that they spent so much time grinding.]
[Goodness, you must be extremely angry about this.]
[You can't even describe it. I mean, how could they abuse the mutual trust system of mercenaries and backstab them like that? From now on, they set the precedent where mercenaries will no longer be able to join any guild wars without being worried about such a thing occurring first. Considering from a long-term point of view, both of those guilds will pay dearly for the betrayal of our trust over time.]
[But some people are saying that the two guilds were able to gain much from this war, and that they'll continue to gain even more through that.]
[Of course that's true. I'm sure that it wasn't only me but many other users that received harm as well. On the other hand, they received an immense amount of experience points and profits. They may even receive even more in three days when 'Siege day' begins. That's why we have gathered here in this place.]
[So you're all trying to form a coalition?]
[That's right. We know that even large guilds had suffered huge damage from this as well. So I am calling upon those guilds to show signs that they will form the coalition now.]
[Ah, yes! I see. Thank you for your meaningful opinion.]
It was a long interview but it allowed the viewer to understand the general gist of the situation. A 'Siege day' in 3 days, huh. Considering that the penalty you gain from dying lasts a whole week, it definitely means a lot of users are at a serious disadvantage.
[Yes! Thank you for the report and interview, Mr. Edin. I myself think that what has occurred is a real tragedy. While it certainly is a strategy you can take, it's definitely not a good one to take, right? In any case, I'm hoping that the situation is solved without a problem. Now, what is this other issue that's brought up?]
[Thank you for waiting so long everyone. I'm Cruise, the one to solve everyone's curiosity. The hot topic that came up was this video called 'GG, Crusaders' that's become as popular as the 'Ianus incident' itself. It's a video of the Crusaders, the most powerful squad that's known all over the world that belongs to the Shining guild, being utterly decimated by a single user. Are you curious? Now please keep your eyes peeled!]
"Tsk! They showed a highlight video last time, but this time they show an ad first? Whether it's the USA or England, these guys really love to profit off others…"
After making me all anxious to watch the video, I became angered at seeing that they instead turned to ads right afterwards, while wondering who would be the one that recorded the video of my fight.
Indeed, there were less than 100 mercenaries that survived at that point, but there was plenty of motivation for one of them to start recording. On the other hand, that means it's nearly impossible for me to figure out who could be the one that took the video.
I'm not particularly trying to criticize them for doing so, but even though I did feel a little iffy that someone took a video of my actions, getting to see the video in which those high and mighty Crusaders get completely obliterated felt really satisfying.
In that battle which they were supposed to have absolute dominance over, they didn't expect to lose a whole chunk of their main military force so it must have been a painful experience from the Shining guild's point of view.
"Sorry for making you wait too long."
Katalina just finished making her calls and spoke as she sat next to me on the sofa.
"The beer's all lukewarm now. I'll bring you a new one."
"Ooh, you really are so nice, Ellie."
And so I replaced the lukewarm beer can with a fresh cold one from the fridge and brought it to her.
"Huh? Isn't that Ellie?"
Watching the TV while sitting on the sofa, Katalina pointed at the TV where I was being shown.
"Ah that? Someone said that they recorded a video of me. I think one of the mercenaries submitted the video to the channel."
"How dare they!!"
"Why are you going to go after them for my right to have my appearance in public? It's just Artoria. She's in full mercenary outfit as well, so it won't matter even if you assert that claim."
"Hmph. Are you underestimating the law firm associated with my family name right now?"
Then again, I have forgotten that in this society where if you don't have money, they can even fabricate crimes in your name and steal all of your money for the smallest thing.
"They fought alongside us so we should forgive them for at least that much. And we also got to make those bastards in the Shining guild look like complete fools and weaklings, so shouldn't we thank the person who took the video instead?"
"No way, did you think I took the video or something?"
"Nope."
was about to say that there was a reasonable possibility but decided not to. In the end, I didn't want to drag this on too long and fight over such a trivial matter.
"Now then, shall we have a toast to completely eradicating the Shining and Chaos guild?"
"Of course!"
As I had already finished drinking a whole can already, I had brought Katalina's new can of beer as well as mine, to which I opened alongside Katalina, and we had a toast together.
"Now! To the fall of the two guilds!"
"Cheers!"
On the TV, the video of the Crusaders being completely obliterated was playing. As if that was going to be the future that Shining and Chaos guild will experience.
"In any case, that skill is way too overpowered, isn't it?"
I thought I heard Katalina mutter a complaint under her breath as well.