Harbingers of Change

Peroroncino ran after his sister, who stormed out of the throne room.

"Sis! Wait!"

The pinkish, bubbling mass ignored him, running who knows where. He still remembered the general layout of the ninth floor and his guess was that she was running towards her quarters.

"Akari, slow down!"

His screaming didn't help stop Buku one bit, who reached her quarters and ran inside, slamming the door behind her. Pero first knocked and when there was no answer, slammed his fist into the door.

"SHIT!"

Pero continued to pace back and forth in front of the door for a while and finally slumped down into a sitting position next to the wall opposite of the door to Buku's room and exclaimed again,

"SHIT!"

Slowly, a realization of what had happened crept in. He was still in the game, or more accurately, some kind of fever dream resembling the game. He could see his feathered, talon-clad arms when he looked down. His vision improved a thousandfold.

Peroroncino lifted his arm and inspected the tiniest details of it. He could see the small imperfections on the barbs of the feathers. He could also hear someone coming through the long hall he was sitting in currently.

An elderly man in a butler's outfit was coming his way, with two maids following him. He turned away to ignore them for now. Probably just some NPC routine.

"I apologize for my intrusion, Lord Peroroncino, but Lady Albedo sends a maid to be assigned to cater to your needs and be your personal guard within the Great Tomb of Nazarick." A strong but gentle male voice said.

Pero turned and saw the elderly butler and the two maids standing right next to him, all three with deep bows. A sound from above made him look up, and he saw the spider-like eight-edge assassins assuming positions around him on the ceiling.

Guards, maid, lord! NPCs talked like humans. Come to think of it, Albedo was the same way. Pero quickly concluded that playing along would be the best option and stood up.

"Can someone look after my sister?"

"Yes, of course, Lord Peroroncino." The elderly butler answered, still bowing.

"I will go to my quarters then. Notify me if Buku comes out or is looking for me."

"I will notify you personally if Lady Bukubukuchagama leaves her quarters or sends for you."

Peros turned and started walking in the direction where his private living space should be, with the guards and the maid following him.

'So they think I'm some kind of bigshot... I need to talk with Suzuki about this.'

His quarters were just like he remembered. The expensive furnishing, the posters that danced on the line of what was permitted in the game. A walk-in dressing room with all his in-game costumes.

Pero inspected each and every corner of his expansive living space. The big jacuzzi and bath, the king-sized bed. At least he could bless the roleplay-obsessed guild-mates who made all this just for the fun of it. If he was to live here for now, at least the living space was nice.

A stomach growl reminded him of his hunger, it was all but forgotten in the stressful event. A perfect moment to find out if the maid would follow his orders.

He turns around and looks at her. Braided red hair, big golden eyes, and brown skin. A black hat on her head didn't fully conceal the movement of the maid's animal ears. Pero's gaze moved lower to her maid's outfit. How much he enjoyed girls dressed like this. Even though she was a bit too curvy for his 'perfect woman', she was still a stunning beauty. Finally, his gaze stopped at the slit in the maid's dress where the long white stocking ended and the bare brown skin of the shapely leg peaked out.

Quickly realizing that he was staring at her, Peros looked up and noticed that her pupils had dilated and her breath had changed a bit. A very faint scent of arousal hit his beak. Was the maid excited about him checking her out so unashamedly?

Maybe not the best time to see how it would go if he flirted with her.

"I didn't catch your name?"

"It's Lupusregina Beta, my Lord." She answered with a bow.

"Ok Lupu, you don't have to be so formal around me. Can I ask you to get me something to eat?"

"Of course, my Lord. What would you like?"

"I don't know. Pick something for me."

Lupu bowed once again and rushed out of Pero's quarters. The plate parts of his armor were mildly irritating. Changing into something more casual sounded like a good idea. If he remembered correctly, he had an enormous pile of various cosmetic outfits for his character.

He settled on loose pants and an open shirt. Changing clothes with talons in place of fingernails took some time to get used to.

'Note to self, don't scratch your own balls without thinking.'

While he admired the casual look in the mirror, Lupu came in with a knock, followed by four other maids, each pushing a food cart. Just how much food was there? From the looks of it, there was enough to feed about fifty people.

"I apologize for the delay, my Lord. I hope the meal will be to your liking." Lupus said.

Pero looked at the piles of food, then at Lupu, and then back at the food. He did not know what most of it was even called. Instead of a sandwich or maybe some fries, there was a slew of fancy plates filled with something a rich snob would eat at a very high-end restaurant.

"Lupu, I think you overdid it a bit. You will have to help me eat all this. Take a plate of something you like and come join me at the table."

"J-Join you?"

"Yes, come sit with me. It would be weird to eat by myself while you just stand there." Peros said. He took a plate with a steak on it and sat at a table. Lupu quickly put tableware next to his plate and then sat down at the table as her Lord instructed. She was a bit confused about what to do. On one hand she was not supposed to be so casual with a supreme being, but on the other, it was a direct order, and breaking it would be unthinkable.

"So, Lupu, tell me about yourself."

"Myself? What should I tell you, my Lord?"

"What do you like? How is life in Nazarick? That sort of stuff."

"Um, life is great in the Nazarick. I have my sisters. I can play pranks."

Suddenly Lupu is thinking deeply about something.

"Lupu?"

"I'm sorry Lord Peroroncino, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"I tried to remember when I last played a prank on anyone, but I don't think I have ever done it."

"Everything feels weird, huh?"

"I guess."

Both continued eating in silence as the conversation ended and an awkward silence filled the room. There was no way denying that Lupu was a person and likely most of the NPCs were as well. Pero tried to wrap his head around what was going on, but the only conclusion he could make was that Nazarick was somehow real and the NPCs were just as confused as he was.

Maybe Momonga had some answers already? With eating out of the way and Lupu packing the leftover food, he could try to use [Message].

{ Hey Momo, how's it going? }

{ I'm fine. How is Buku? She seemed pretty upset. }

{ No idea, she is in her quarters, better leave her be for now. I wanted to ask, do you have any idea what is going on? }

{ Only thing I could gather is that Nazarick is real and we are in our avatar bodies. I do not know where we are. Scouts reported Nazarick is in some kind of cave and there is no exit nearby. }

{ Do all NPCs also treat you like some kind of royalty? It's so freaking weird. }

{ Tell me about it. Just play along for now. Who knows how they would react if we tried to explain that this all was just a game before. }

{ Yeah… anyway, I think I will take a nap now and wait for Buku to calm down. }

{ Take care. And if you speak with Buku, tell her I am sorry for dragging her into this. If I hadn't sent that invite, none of you would be here. }

{ Don't blame yourself, buddy, at least we are in this together. And the food, man it was fantastic, so thanks for that alone. }

{ Food… right. Anyway, [Message] me when something changes and I will update you on what I know. }

{ Sure thing. }

Right after the conversation with Momonga, Pero plopped onto his bed and spread out his arms and legs.

'How can a bed be so soft? I just need a girl for company and then this place is a paradise.'

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Lupu quietly tidied the quarters of Lord Peroroncino as he slept, trying to not make any noise. So many thoughts fought over each other in her mind. Why didn't she remember doing pranks to others, even though she knew she loved doing them? What has happened to her home and why were even the Supreme Beings confused?

Even her memories felt hazy. Lupu could clearly remember only ever being on the ninth and tenth floor of Nazarick. Despite that however, she knew what the rest of the floors looked like, who were the floor guardians and who assisted them, but she did not know how she knew that. Was she created with all this knowledge already there? She knew that every being started from birth, but there were no childhood memories whatsoever. She just always was like this, an adult. Her creator had made her like this from the very start.

Then her mind wandered back to how Lord Peroroncino looked at her. Did he find a maid like her attractive? His gaze clearly showed he enjoyed what he saw. But then again, Lord Peroroncino was rather notorious for being a pervert. He probably would have looked at every female crossing his path in such a way.

The realization dampens Lupu's mood a bit. She wasn't that special, after all.

For a moment, a mischievous thought of doing a minor prank came up. But she quickly dismissed it. To do something so disrespectful to a Supreme Being would be unforgivable.

Better to do something productive and tidy up while the Lord rested. Her gaze fell to various items as she dusted them off. Most curious were the various posters with rather scantily clad girls on the walls of his quarters. Some even had similar ears to the ones Lupu had.

'Hmm, maybe I should get an outfit like this when I get the honor of serving Lord Peroroncino again.' Lupu thought while looking at a poster with a wolf girl dressed in just a decorative plate bikini.

A light stirring from Pero made her get back to work in a hurry. Can't get caught slacking off after all.

With the time-consuming task of catching even the tiniest speck of dust to make the living space of a Supreme Being perfect occupying her mind, Lupu didn't even notice that Pero had woken up and watched her as she worked quietly humming.

As enjoyable as it was to watch the maid work as her butt swung with each of her movements, Peroroncino wanted to get more of a sense of how things worked. If this was his new reality, weird as it was, it was better to start figuring out the details rather than laze around in bed.

Somewhere on the ninth floor was a dojo and an archery range. With the UI not being a thing anymore, there was also no mini-map, or map function in general, left. He was ready to ask Lupu where everything was until he realized that he instantly knew the entire layout of Nazarick.

"Hey Lupu, I'm going to the archery range. You coming with me or staying here?"

The startled maid swung around and then instantly bowed with a reply.

"I will come with you, Lord Peroroncino."

'Still very formal. I guess I need to get used to this.'

The archery range was about a ten-minute walk away from his quarters in what he remembered as the training district. The ninth floor truly was a city-sized place on its own. Unlike before, the long corridors bustled with action. Replying to polite greetings got old really fast.

The immense floor clearly housed far too many NPCs. Even the archery range housed some of them. In this case, they were seven masked elves once used as storages for ranged weapons. Although their presence was his own fault this time.

As a creator of this particular part of Nazarick, he was also the one who put the NPCs there. Pero could remember that they were level forty-five generic mercenary units. Since they were generic leather-clad units in-game, they didn't have an unmasked model.

All seven were kneeling in response to his presence. Curiosity got the better of him and Pero needed to see how they looked unmasked in this new circumstance.

"Rise and take off your masks."

He half expected them to deny the request, but that wasn't the case. All seven stood up and took off their masks one by one. Four men and three women. All are generically attractive, blonde and with blue eyes. Just like one would imagine how a fantasy elf would look.

With his curiosity satisfied, he could return to the reason he came here, to see how well he can use the bow. As an archer/sniper, it was paramount to know his limitations, especially since it was currently unknown what awaited them outside, beyond the cave Nazarick was in.

"Give me a base training bow and iron arrows," Pero said to the closest elf.

There was no better way to test his abilities than using the worst ranged weapon in the game. With its limited range and pathetic damage, he shouldn't even be able to hit the target from the farthest available distance.

Pero started with mid-distance and drew the first arrow. Right away the bow felt like an extension of himself. He could see and feel how the arrow would move and where it would hit its target. With a bit of hesitation, he released the arrow and saw it hit the target dead center.

Not wanting to slow down, he drew another and shot again. It hits the first arrow and splits it.

Then he took a few steps back and tried again with the same results. Ten arrows later, Pero stood at the farthest distance and could still hit the target in the center with arrows bouncing off from the destroyed arrowheads that filled the center of the target.

Wanting to test his true limits, he shoots arrows at other targets that are at an angle compared to him. Still, every single arrow hits its mark, and that is even without his special abilities.

Pero quickly realized he will have to go to the sixth floor at some point and test the true distance of how far he could shoot without using the enchanted damage and precision abilities.

When the time to go outside comes, better be prepared.

Edited by Edgy.