Mistress Lufas!
We got lucky with these orcs!
What do you mean by lucky, Dina?
Look at this!
This is the tenderloin!
If the tenderloin remains undamaged when orcs are killed,
- then their vitality remains in it. - Oh?
When you eat the tenderloin,
it enhances your own vitality.
So she's referring to the buff item that raises Max HP?
But orcs fight all the time,
so there's only a 3% chance of obtaining an undamaged tenderloin.
So that's the interpretation of the game's drop rate?
That's good to know.
From now on, we'll finish them off without damaging the tenderloin.
I'll cook them up later so they'll be fit for you to eat, Mistress Lufas.
Now, leave it to me!
What's this?
Teleportation magic.
I'll teleport all the corpses back to the tower and turn them into jerky later.
This advisor is quite talented, isn't she?
Mistress Lufas?
Irrelevant. Teleportation magic?
That sounds incredibly useful.
Yes!
Now, let's go free the village women that the orcs kidnapped!
EPISODE 2 / WE CAME TO SVEL!
- I was so scared.
EPISODE 2 / WE CAME TO SVEL! - Thank goodness! I'm so relieved!
- They were gross, smelly, and just awful! - All the girls are safe.
They seem quite tired, but...
None of them were defiled by the orcs.
It actually looks like they were treated with great care.
Well, naturally.
Orcs are actually quite the gentlemen in the end.
Huh?! Even with such pig faces?!
According to in-game lore...
They always handle women with great care,
trying not to sour their mood so that they might win their affection.
It looks like that still holds true in this world too.
Even so!
Yet to those who were kidnapped, they're still scary.
So in the end...
humans and orcs can never live in peace.
Alchemize.
Hrungnir's Right Arm.
There are no survivors.
Y-Yes...
Mistress Lufas, I could erase the memories of those women too,
but what would you prefer?
Is that necessary?
I think we should erase their memories of being kidnapped by pigs.
Hmm... how much control do you have over that?
If I felt like it, I could implant false memories and personalities too.
That's a scary thing to drop so casually.
Can that treatment be undone?
It rarely ever comes undone!
Meaning it can come undone.
With the right opportunity...
Hmm...
Well, there should be no need to go that far this time.
Understood!
Then let's return to the village!
Yes.
Defeating orcs is such a simple quest,
why did no one take it?
That's easy: there was no incentive.
Orcs themselves are the incentive though?
You can earn that buff—
that tenderloin.
Listen, Mistress Lufas.
Compared to two hundred years ago,
the standards of combat have declined.
What do you mean?
Uhh, well...
Take the nation that summoned you, for example.
It's called Laevateinn, or the Sword Kingdom,
but what level do you think their strongest swordsman is?
Well, if they're the strongest, then the same as us, one—
120.
Huh?! You jest!
There were lots of people who hit the one thousand level cap like I did in the game!
That's far too low a level!
The era you were a part of was an abnormality.
Just think about it.
People only have one life.
There aren't many monsters capable of reaching level one thousand without losing their life.
On top of that, to reach that point
you would have to fight like crazy, day after day, every day,
devoting every waking hour to training without any rest to finally reach it.
It's the peak of madness.
That era when there were hordes of rival heroes who accomplished that was absurd.
That makes sense. This isn't a game...
Huh?
Nothing. It seems this world is awfully different from the one we knew.
People only have one life, huh?
- Mother! - Thank goodness! Oh, thank goodness!
- I'm so glad you're safe! - Thank goodness! Oh, thank goodness!
We're truly grateful for what you've done.
Here's the 1,500 el we promised.
Yes, it's all here!
We'll never forget what you did for us!
- Yes, you're welcome! - We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Just keeping my identity hidden makes my reception so much different.
U-Umm...
What?
Well,
are you sure it's okay for us to accept this golem?
Yes. This will protect you if any orcs come again.
Please don't hesitate to use it as a guardian of your village!
You've truly done so much for us...
You must be a messenger from god.
That's totally not true!
Farewell.
We'll be going now!
Wait!
At least tell us your name!
We are L—!
Sfalu!
Lady Sfalu! Thank you so much!
Lady Sfalu!
Ouchie!
W-What was that for?!
What were you thinking with Sfalu?!
Well, you can't go around calling yourself Lufas, can you?
It's a fake name. An alias.
It was too simple for that!
- You just rearranged the letters! - Jeez!
Please don't nitpick me like that!
Now, let's get going!
H-Hey...
We've earned enough money to eat and fund ourselves for a while now.
Yes.
We also enjoyed orc tenderloin.
It's a good start to our journey.
Yes! Now our journey can truly begin!
Onward, to Svel!
Yes.
That's right.
I need to stop one of the Twelve Heavenly Stars, Aries the Ram,
who's been repeatedly invading Svel.
Also...
I need to verify if there are other players.
If there are any, they'd most likely be one of
the three surviving members of the Seven Heroes who fought me.
I'll start with...
Megrez.
Dina, what is that light?
It's mana.
This land is rich with mana.
That's also proof that we're getting to close to Svel!
Oh!
Mistress Lufas! I can see it now!
It's Svel! The City of Water!
SVEL
We can see it.
Calm yourself.
I can't help it! I'm excited!
So this is the nation founded by Megrez, huh?
Beyond this point is the land of Svel.
Show me your pass.
We need a pass?!
I don't have one!
Right! Here's our pass.
Go ahead and check it!
Hmm.
So annoying.
A free trader unaffiliated with any nation?
Dina and Sfalu.
Looks like your identification is real.
Of course!
It's not unheard of for people to try to sneak in with false papers.
Well, you'd have to be blind to be fooled by one of those.
I'm betting ours are fake.
The magic nation of Svel!
This nation was founded by one of the Seven Heroes, an elf known as the Wise King Megrez,
and it's unique for its extremely rich mana.
It's poured its energy into magic schools and the acquisition of knowledge,
so those hoping to become mages and scholars have come here from all over the world.
Thus the glow of this lake comes from mana?
Yes, that's right.
Mistress Lufas, the heaven-winged don't like mana, do they?
It's not hindering you, is it?
Oh yeah, that was part of the lore, wasn't it?
We are fine.
We don't know about other heaven-winged,
but we find it novel and pleasant.
That's good to know!
Now, as for our itinerary...
We're going to see Megrez of course.
There are lots of things we wish to ask him.
Are you planning to storm the castle?!
No, let's handle this peacefully.
Aries is already causing trouble for him,
so we don't want to cause further unnecessary commotion.
You said this was a nation of knowledge, right?
Then let's find a library.
A library?
Yes.
We know too little about the history of the two hundred years we were absent.
We wish to learn that history first.
A library would have books that recorded that in detail, yes?
I see!
A library?
Is this your first time visiting Svel?
The libraries are in the East Area.
The East Area?
Meaning?
Over there.
Come on, I'll show you the way.
Thank you so much!
Oh, right...
I'm Gantz.
GANTZ - I'm a mercenary who guards the borders.
I'm the free trader, Dina.
This suspicious person under the red cape is my employer, Sfalu—
Ouchie!
Hmm? Something wrong?
N-Not at all.
Again?!
Who goes around introducing someone as suspicious to a person they just met?
I'm sorry.
Hmm...
You certainly are wearing an odd getup.
Well, I assume you have your reasons,
so I won't pry too much.
Much obliged.
This country's nice and lively, isn't it?
Yeah, that it is.
Though since Aries, one of the Twelve Heavenly Stars
has kept attacking it for several years now,
not as many people decide to settle here.
Oh...
Oh, you don't need to worry about that, Sfalu.
The very lake surrounding this country
is actually a water golem that King Megrez created with alchemy.
- Wow! - Oh?
Incredible, right?
The whole lake surrounding the country is one golem!
We'll be fine, even if Aries does attack.
The country has its guardian deity protecting it!
Hmm...
GUARDIAN DEITY LEVIA LEVEL 500/ RACE ARTIFICIAL LIFE-FORM
GUARDIAN DEITY LEVIA - I see.
GUARDIAN DEITY LEVIA - Level aside, its HP is outrageous.
I suppose that's a testament to the Wise King Megrez.
Once you hop on this monorail, you'll be in East Area in no time.
Monorail?
This is suddenly sounding quite modern!
Thank you very much, Gantz!
You were a big help. You have our thanks.
Well, I hope we meet again if the chance comes around!
He was a pleasant man.
Yes!
GANTZ / LEVEL 82 / RACE HUMAN - Level 82.
That's low, but quite strong for humanity now, I suppose.
Mistress Lufas, shall we go?
Yes.
There were no monorails in the game,
but this is probably running on magic or something.
The Genesis of Mizgarz...
The Secret of the Birth of the Seven Races...
From the Appearance of the Devilfolk until Now, huh?
Guess I can ignore this section.
It's probably not that different from the lore I know from the game.
I want to know what happened over the two hundred years
since the Seven Heroes defeated me.
The Black-Winged Tyrant: Lufas Maphaahl's Life and Rule...
Great Persons of History: Lufas Maphaahl...
Was Lufas Maphaahl Really Evil? A Historical Inquiry...
Hmm... Should be around here...
Though...
Is this acceptable?
Is something the matter?
Take these books, for example.
The Glory and Foolishness of the Seven Heroes,
The Peak of Humanity and Its Fall. Did Humanity Make a Mistake?!,
Kill the Seven Heroes! Humanity's Biggest Mistake.
This is the nation founded by none other than Megrez, one of the Seven Heroes.
Hosting books so critical of him seems like it could easily be declared treason.
Treason?
He's not running an oppressive government, you know?
We suppose that's true, but...
Are you surprised?
You're actually not that despised, Mistress Lufas.
We thought we would be treated as the villain who invaded the land.
Well, there actually are books that treat you that way,
like this one,
or this one.
Oh, and this one too.
However...
The fear people felt fades with the passage of time.
Now there are many who believe the world might not have to live in fear of the devilfolk
if it was still under your rule.
So they've taken a better view of it.
They have?
This world isn't like the game...
Most importantly, you never created a tyrannical government,
so your reign was way better
than that of the current monarchs!
Well, we should get to reading.
Lufas Maphaahl.
The heaven-winged who suddenly appeared two hundred years ago
and united the world in the blink of an eye.
Her reason for conquering the world
still remains a mystery to this day.
However, she never reigned as a tyrant.
If anything,
she struck down tyrants
and ultimately saved the people of those nations
more than once or twice.
Well this is embarrassing...
However, humanity ultimately rejected her reign,
and broke free of her dominion.
Though, ironically, that only resulted in delighting the devilfolk.
The devilfolk had feared the great power of the Black-Winged Conqueror
and the Twelve Heavenly Stars she commanded.
Therefore, they bided their time.
With their greatest threat removed,
the devilfolk seized their chance and went on the offensive.
The Seven Heroes and other warriors rose up to fight them,
but their efforts ended in defeat.
Now the areas safe for humanity to live in are steadily shrinking.
It would be no surprise if the world we live in were to come to ruin any day now.
We still have yet to uncover a means to break through the present situation.
- Wait! - Hurry, hurry!
The world's on the edge of defeat?!
I mean, I already knew the Devil King was still alive and well,
and that humanity was in such dire straits it was summoning Heroes, but still!
It's my first time hearing that humanity's habitat has shrunk so much!
Well, I had found it a little suspicious, honestly.
The domain of this land seemed awfully small to be called a nation, for example.
But I didn't expect things to be this bad.
I only played the game for fun,
but this world's been plunged into a serious, dire situation.
Have you finished your research?
Yes. We've learned most of what we wished to know.
We're going.
Where to?
To Aries's castle.
Lead the way, Dina.
Yes! Leave it to—oh?!
Whoa!
Hmm.
That was a magnitude five, maybe a six.
You're quite calm, Mistress Lufas.
We're used to earthquakes.
Is anyone hurt?!
Is everyone safe?!
All mercenaries on standby are to take up arms and gather at the border!
Again—All mercenaries are to gather at the border immediately!
Dina.
Do you know how frequently this country suffers from earthquakes?
They rarely ever happen.
Hmm.
What's the matter?
There's a skill that intentionally causes earthquakes.
Aries has it.
Then this was...!
You're coming?
Aries is coming.
Mistress Lufas, you're probably correct.
I can sense a mana fluctuation over there.
Let's hop on the monorail and get there at once!
No, that would be too slow.
Huh?
We're taking a different route.
Alchemize!
Get on, we're flying.
Umm!
Is this safe?!
If you're worried, then just hold onto our back.
I will.
Okay!
Depart.
This doesn't feel right to me.
W-What doesn't?!
Aries is a rainbow sheep.
They're a harmless monster that hates conflict and prefers peace.
So why has he been invading them repeatedly?
That's because—
No, we know the reason.
It's because we were struck down by the Heroes.
Little crybaby sheep...
It happened again!
Memories that don't belong to me!
Mistress Lufas?
Not to worry.
Let's hurry, Dina!
Yes!
TRANSLATION: JOHN PICKETT TIMER: ANDY ELLIS
EDITOR: GABRIELLA RAMIREZ QUALITY CONTROL: MEAGAN SMITH