WiseMaster667: “Aside from May’s terrible impression of me, I am indeed impressed to have found us all in custody. I have not ever been arrested in this game before, so this is certainly a unique experience.”

Krafty: “You step away for one moment, and Amulet somehow drags us into prison!”

May: “To be fair, we did all agree that Amulet would take over in talking with the NPCs…”

MC: “That’s right! Also, like I said. I’m 99% sure this is part of this event.”

Krafty: “This isn’t even a real Journey Quest, right?”

MC: “Yeah it’s not…but I’m sure something will happen. Just wait a moment.”

Just as I say that…I see 3 guards rushing into this jail room we are in. The guard in the center is a dwarf who is now opening the jail cell we are in.

WiseMaster667: “Oh well, I’ll find out a way to escape from this scenario next time…”

Krafty and May: “You were looking forward to this?!”

MC: “Guys, looks like I’m in a conversation mode with these guards. Are you too?”

Krafty, May, and Wise: “No we aren’t”

WiseMaster667: “What can you tell them? Or what are they asking?”

MC: “Exactly what I imagined. They basically admit that they were wrong to capture us because Eseli seems to have woken up…they are telling me to…go to the CASTLE?”

May: “They said that they wrongfully captured us, but they are also saying you should go to the castle?”

Krafty: “Only Amulet?”

MC: “Uh, I guess so? But if you want, we can all go together I think.”

WiseMaster667: “Why not. Friends, let us all continue to go at once.”

Krafty: “I don’t know man… I was technically kidnapped to this place; I think I should at least have the right to explore this city first by myself- “

May: “That is, you want to either log of right now or find a place here to chill at.”

Krafty: “Aww come on May! Didn’t you see the way the city looked? It’s 5x cooler than Susana!”

May: “Yeah I saw, lots of fruit trees, big fountains, fully paved roads, cute NPC characters etc.… but speaking of Susana, I particularly remember a certain Krafty mentioning how he’s going to be playing this game all night with us?”

WiseMaster667: “I also have a feeling this will turn out interesting. If we are all going to the castle, it likely means we are going to speak with the duke.”

Krafty: “Eh? Fine let’s go!”

The duke!? Oh right, this place is something like a duchy…it didn’t hit me that the duke could be living in that castle. But it makes some sense…but we’re kind of being summoned to the castle and this is still part of Eseli’s event line. So does this mean Eseli has a connection to the duke of this place?

Leaving the prison, we just entered, the guards apologized again for forcibly arresting us. Now that I think about it, the situation was unnecessarily chaotic. Mostly on their end but it’s still funny that I asked May to stab Eseli. If Eseli knows about that, I doubt she’ll be too pleased to know.

Our wagon is stationed nearby the prison room, which is actually a temporarily jail house above the city’s gates. I asked my friends what I should do with the wagon driver, and I basically ended up telling him to do whatever he’d like. I think he went to the city’s stables, so like in Susana I guess players hire their rides from there to travel somewhere else.

The guards which freed us were 2 Lumenians and 1 dwarf, the dwarf seems to be some sort of captain. And they are leading us towards the castle apparently. Unlike Susana, this place called Malus-Seversi is definitely larger with a lot more NPCs wandering around this early in the morning compared in Susana. There is no single “main street” but several. Nonetheless, we are pretty much heading straight until we’ll reach that hill over there. The hill is still far away in the distance, but you can tell it’s a hill because the trees are gradually rising over each other until you could see the castle’s walls and gates resting on top of the hill. While that place seems far away, I think we’ll get there pretty quickly because unlike other NPCs, these guards are rushing. In Susana all the guards seemed generally relaxed. But these 3 appear very tensed and are practically running. So, all of us (me, May, Krafty, Wise) are really trying to run there instead of walking. Krafty is surprisingly faster at running than us, I guess he has the feline race or whatever. And guess who is the slowest? Yup, that’s me! Shortest in the whole group.

May: “Amulet, why did you choose to be a Dwelf?”

MC: “What do you mean?”

Krafty: “She thinks that Dwelfs are a ‘lame’ race.”

MC: “Why? Isn’t it neat being both a dwarf and a elf?”

May: “I think that’s a bit stupid because it doesn’t make sense that Dwarves and Elves in this game are similar or whatever.”

WiseMaster667: “Worry not Amulet, I believe you picked a fine choice. One of the hallmarks of this world is that it has its own spin to the classic fantasy genre. Not you May, but some players are unintelligently criticizing aspects of Divine Mortality that they shouldn’t since those aspects are what gives this Overworld life!”

May: “Oh boo hoo. It’s just an opinion, it ain’t got anything to do with intelligence”

Krafty: “Yeah it doesn’t have anything to do with intelligence but your wrong anyways May.”

May: “Why?”

Krafty: “Just because hehe”

WiseMaster667: “And that is a hallmark of unintelligence”

MC: “Uhh, anyways, I don’t think Dwelfs are lame. I just think of them as fancier dwarves, that’s all.”

May: “So because they are a bit taller and have pointier ears?”

MC: “Basically I guess...”

Krafty: “Hey, how come I haven’t been seeing any cat people, or even elves here?”

WiseMaster667: “I haven’t been in Orchard Hills before, but I assume it has something to do with this region or area. I know that in the Free Counties, where I spent most of my time playing this game in my previous character, there is more or less an equal mixture of all races.”

Krafty: “So the center of the map has all the races?”

WiseMaster667: “Indeed.”

MC: “I remember reading on the internet that the southwest of Divine Mortality’s world is basically made up of mostly Lumenians.”

WiseMaster667: “That is true. It is lucky for my character because I am technically a Lumenian, but it really doesn’t matter for me combat-wise.”

Krafty: “So in this game’s world if there are many Lumenians in the southwest, does each corner of the map have its own race preference? Like if Elves are only in the southeast or northeast?”

MC: “I think most of the NPCs on the east side are mostly Himenians, Elves, and Dwarves. Elves and Dwarves are pretty much all over the whole world.”

WiseMaster667: “Not exactly true! “All over” besides in the Hinterlands.”

Krafty: “Then who is at the Hinterlands?”

MC and WiseMaster667: “Primarily Snowmel, Lumenians, and some dwarves”

Krafty: “Then about Amulet’s character, where are the Dwelfs from- “

May: “YAAAAWN. OH LOOK! Eseli and Orana are waiting for us, and they are waving at us! Come on boys, wave back!”

Oops! Our chat about the races must have annoyed May.

While we basically ran here with the guards and while chatting about the game’s races, I did notice that I have only seen Lumenians (humans) and dwarves around. No other race. At least in Susana the crazy mayor was an elf, and I generally saw more elves and dwarves around. Is this place…there are only humans and short humans!

Eseli is standing in the middle of the road leading up to the castle. To the side is standing Orana, and then on the other side is a group of several young-looking NPC people dressed in uniforms.

The guards ran straight up to Eseli, bowed, and ran off somewhere else again. I wonder what’s happening.

MC: “I’m now in conversation mode. Is anyone else?”

Krafty: “Uh kinda?”

May and WiseMaster667: “We are but we can only see.”

MC: “Wise is this normal?”

WiseMaster667: “It is when you are in group activities like this. Since Eseli is your companion, then the game automatically assigns you in charge of our conversations.”

MC: “I’ll start talking to them then”

Krafty: “Don’t get us sent back to prison again!”

MC: “Alright I know!”

Eseli: “Amulet Pond!”

MC: “Yes?”

Eseli: “You shall now be addressing me as “Master Eseli”! “

I could go along with what she’s saying, but I still don’t understand or like this!

MC: “Alright Eseli”

Eseli: “I said… Master Eseli!”

*Eseli makes a Wink*

(Krafty: “Is Eseli flirting with us?”)

(May: “No you idiot. It’s called acting.”)

Ah so it’s like that?! Then I should have gone along without rebelling. I guess she is acting in front of the 3 other NPCs I don’t know. Now I feel like an idiot, and May wasn’t even referring to me.

MC: “Sorry! Yes, Master Eseli?”

Eseli: “I did not drag you all the way here to the Duchy of Malus-Serversi for you to fool around! Anyways, with your special scholarship you shall follow me alongside your peers, and we shall personally meet the duke!”

So, we are meeting the duke…

We are now all walking up this hill. Orana is staying silent. Then there are the 3 young NPCs with us, all of them are Lumenians (I think) and they are all whispering to each other.

Krafty: “Peers?! Scholarship!? Master!? Oooh I know this…this is the academy arc!”

May: “So this trip seems to have ended up being exactly what Krafty is looking from a game. I thought it wouldn’t exist…but here we are…”

MC: “So everyone here thinks that Eseli is some sort of teacher?”

WiseMaster667: “Indeed. My suspicions are actually higher. She is likely not a mere teacher but something of a high official in the academy.

Krafty: “Really?! My ESELI…!!!”

WiseMaster667: “I understand, I too wish to have had the chance of becoming friends with Eseli like how Amulet has, so that I would obtain a unique companion.”

May: “Er- no, Wise, I don’t think that’s what Krafty meant when he screamed out Eseli’s name.”

I have gained a realization!!!

I can’t believe it took me this long to learn. After playing with Eseli with a while, I’ve finally come to understand who she is. It’s not like she was hiding her background, but she never told me straight away who she was. Until now!

Wise said his “suspicions were high”, so does that mean he predicted this and that’s why he suddenly wanted us to go to Orchard Hills? It all makes sense now.

Orchard Hills and the Marchdom of Sonder were two of the regions in this game that Wise told me in the beginning at the best places to learn magic. If Eseli is some sort of important magic-academic-official person in Orchard Hills, it would only make sense to go here to learn magic. I was aiming to do that anyways and Wise was waiting for me to decide when I wanted the both of us to set out to learn magic. But since Wise is some sort of annoying know-it-all expert in Divine Mortality, he really wanted to meet my companion since having legit NPC companions is rare in this game.

So, what awaits me now is not only the duke of this duchy, but also my magical school life in this virtual reality video game?!