(L) Log Horizon (novel)

[Krono]

Originally Posted by LystAP

Speaking of which, has anyone asked Mamare if the Catastrophe caught any federal agents, not just in the US, but around the world? If the NSA is doing, it's not that far of a leap to presume everyone else is; especially in a game like Elder Tales, where people can "easily" cross servers and interact with people around the world (that superb universal translator that Elder Tales has also helps). I imagine a fair proportion of the player base of that India/Pakistan server have government connections, as well as certain Asian and Middle-Eastern servers.

I believe there would also be Japanese agents monitoring cross-server travel from the Asian mainland, and vice versa. You don't know if they're coming over here to partake in the amazing dungeon and loots, or if they are here to meet a contact. Thinking about it, Elder Tales would be espionage heaven, especially if it is the only game of its kind and the servers are locally controlled; if it's all being controlled from America, the NSA must feel like it's in a wonderland.

You don't need matters of espionage to get government agents caught in Elder Tales. You just need them playing the game normally in their free time.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Krono

You don't need matters of espionage to get government agents caught in Elder Tales. You just need them playing the game normally in their free time.

that would be a lot of NSA agents then.

[SoloPanda]

just curious from the images I saw of volume 6. is this an Akatsuki book? Or a book about the girls in general? I'd really like to see a book about Akatsuki's growth... not physical though.. she has to stay a chibi..

[tsunade666]

Its about Akatsuki's growth. So far, she's being left behind by Minori. Here on this volume. we will see the insecurities and doubts of Akatsuki and her stupid side too -_- going one on one against a raid boss >_> of course you'll die >_>

[Nvis]

Finished reading vol5.

Just how much Nureha said were lies/the truth?

At first when she was talking about her real self, then said it was a lie. And then I'm confused later on.......

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Nvis

Finished reading vol5.

Just how much Nureha said were lies/the truth?

At first when she was talking about her real self, then said it was a lie. And then I'm confused later on.......

she was telling the truth.

[Myssa Rei]

Just read how Nureha narrates her story. The "you see, this happened to someone else, not me" is a very common way of deflecting embarrassment or blame in narratives.

[Chaos2Frozen]

I'm not entirely sure what just happened in the last two chapters- be it how the crisis was resolved or what the heck was going on with Nureha 0_0

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I'm not entirely sure what just happened in the last two chapters- be it how the crisis was resolved or what the heck was going on with Nureha 0_0

short answer

she is very very broken.

[Myssa Rei]

The crisis at the Libra Festival was resolved by essentially making the outside party making trouble give up. The united front the Round Table showed made it too much trouble to continue.

As for Nureha, she's a VERY broken girl who's basically throwing herself at Shiroe.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Sorry, to be specific I meant how did Shiro and the others pulled out a warehouse at the last minute to cover the Princess?

Okay I gathered that much from the OVERWHELMING seduction But why did he say it's better that they remain as enemies?

[Elshama]

chap 1 of volume 6 is up at skythewood's pastebin

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Sorry, to be specific I meant how did Shiro and the others pulled out a warehouse at the last minute to cover the Princess?

Okay I gathered that much from the OVERWHELMING seduction But why did he say it's better that they remain as enemies?

they didn't pull it out, it was already there.

[Myssa Rei]

It's better for them to remain enemies because it would give Nureha something to focus her attention. Besides, the competition between the two cities (Akiba and Minami) will be healthy in a way.

As for the warehouse, it's more like they deflected the blame from Raynesia, and brought the issue to the attention to someone who can do something about it -- Michitaka. Who as the leader of the biggest production guild actually HAS refrigerated warehouses ready.

[WhiteJoker]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Sorry, to be specific I meant how did Shiro and the others pulled out a warehouse at the last minute to cover the Princess?

Okay I gathered that much from the OVERWHELMING seduction But why did he say it's better that they remain as enemies?

The issue wasn't that Akiba didn't have space, the issue was that Mavis pulled some bureaucratic bullshit so that he showed up in Akiba before Rayneshia got intel that he was coming and that he had struck an agreement with Eastal. The goal of the entire plot was to drive a wedge between Eastal and Akiba by making them resent one another through a series of minor incidents; Mavis' plot likely had to do with securing Eastal's co-operation, showing in Akiba without getting it, and then blaming Eastal. Eastal in turn would likely blame the Adventurers for the loss of prestige by not being accommodating and so forth. So the solution to that was to basically change the "battleground" of paperwork and bureaucracy and instead default to autocratic decrees: the paperwork got lost along the way? Oh well, here's a storage unit anyways.

The warehouse in any case wouldn't have been hard to find even if Akiba's existing storage facilities were full: the city is full of empty buildings and sorcerers and summoners could easily surround a building in several feet of ice to create instant insulation and refrigeration.

I'm not entirely certain why Shiroe went out of his way to pick on Rayneshia though, beyond reinforcing the character she has of him.

[Estavali]

Originally Posted by WhiteJoker

The issue wasn't that Akiba didn't have space, the issue was that Mavis pulled some bureaucratic bullshit so that he showed up in Akiba before Rayneshia got intel that he was coming and that he had struck an agreement with Eastal. The goal of the entire plot was to drive a wedge between Eastal and Akiba by making them resent one another through a series of minor incidents; Mavis' plot likely had to do with securing Eastal's co-operation, showing in Akiba without getting it, and then blaming Eastal. Eastal in turn would likely blame the Adventurers for the loss of prestige by not being accommodating and so forth. So the solution to that was to basically change the "battleground" of paperwork and bureaucracy and instead default to autocratic decrees: the paperwork got lost along the way? Oh well, here's a storage unit anyways.

The warehouse in any case wouldn't have been hard to find even if Akiba's existing storage facilities were full: the city is full of empty buildings and sorcerers and summoners could easily surround a building in several feet of ice to create instant insulation and refrigeration.

I'm not entirely certain why Shiroe went out of his way to pick on Rayneshia though, beyond reinforcing the character she has of him.

The real goal is actually to weaken the faith the people of Akiba (especially the Adventurers) have in the Round Table. They are after all a governing entity that was semi-forced onto the other residents of the city. If they are seen as inefficient, the other Adventurers would start to question whether they should continue to entrust it with their affairs.

The attempt to sow chaos and ruin the Libra Festival is imho just the first strike to dethrone the Round Table, made by Plant Hwyaden to remove this rival of the East. Once the foundation is shaken, follow-up attempts will no doubt follow until the Round Table is dissolved and Plant Hwyaden gains control over all the Adventurers on Yamato.

[WhiteJoker]

Originally Posted by Estavali

The real goal is actually to weaken the faith the people of Akiba (especially the Adventurers) have in the Round Table. They are after all a governing entity that was semi-forced onto the other residents of the city. If they are seen as inefficient, the other Adventurers would start to question whether they should continue to entrust it with their affairs.

The attempt to sow chaos and ruin the Libra Festival is imho just the first strike to dethrone the Round Table, made by Plant Hwyaden to remove this rival of the East. Once the foundation is shaken, follow-up attempts will no doubt follow until the Round Table is dissolved and Plant Hwyaden gains control over all the Adventurers on Yamato.

I agree with the overall goal but not the intention of that particular attack.

Their antics during the Libra festival weren't aimed at destabilizing the Adventurer support of the Round Table as the main goal but merely as a pleasant secondary outcome. The main objective was to poke holes in the Eastal/Akiba alliance in order to isolate the Adventurers and render Akiba's surroundings more hostile to them; in essence to begin weakening Akiba back towards it's position at the beginning of the series. A direct attack on the Round Table would only serve to unite the Adventurers against an outside threat, especially right now since they're riding high on their relatively recent victory over the goblins. Instead you would start by removing support bases and allies in order to get them vulnerable enough that they'd be more willing to consider abandoning the Round Table. Note that most of the issues that cropped up during the Libra Festival had to do with Landers against Adventurers or vice versa.

Without Eastal Akiba loses access to a large number of quests, they lose a lot of trade and economy, and they have to actively worry about a potentially hostile neighbour. Yes, the Landers would lose to the Adventurers if it came to outright aggression but not having them as allies limits the activities of the Adventurers and serves to limit their overall options. There's also the mental pressures of knowing that your neighbours are pissed with you and somebody out there is trying to get you.

This isn't even the opening salvo in a war, this is feeling out your enemy and looking for weak spots. Destabilizing the Round Table is a later phase in the war and right now Hwyaden's more at the proxy war phase.

[Nvis]

Is the Nureha 4koma official?

[Estavali]

Originally Posted by Nvis

Is the Nureha 4koma official?

The one where Nureha acts all cute and fluffy? Alas, no.

Originally Posted by WhiteJoker

I agree with the overall goal but not the intention of that particular attack.

Their antics during the Libra festival weren't aimed at destabilizing the Adventurer support of the Round Table as the main goal but merely as a pleasant secondary outcome. The main objective was to poke holes in the Eastal/Akiba alliance in order to isolate the Adventurers and render Akiba's surroundings more hostile to them; in essence to begin weakening Akiba back towards it's position at the beginning of the series. A direct attack on the Round Table would only serve to unite the Adventurers against an outside threat, especially right now since they're riding high on their relatively recent victory over the goblins. Instead you would start by removing support bases and allies in order to get them vulnerable enough that they'd be more willing to consider abandoning the Round Table. Note that most of the issues that cropped up during the Libra Festival had to do with Landers against Adventurers or vice versa.

Without Eastal Akiba loses access to a large number of quests, they lose a lot of trade and economy, and they have to actively worry about a potentially hostile neighbour. Yes, the Landers would lose to the Adventurers if it came to outright aggression but not having them as allies limits the activities of the Adventurers and serves to limit their overall options. There's also the mental pressures of knowing that your neighbours are pissed with you and somebody out there is trying to get you.

This isn't even the opening salvo in a war, this is feeling out your enemy and looking for weak spots. Destabilizing the Round Table is a later phase in the war and right now Hwyaden's more at the proxy war phase.

Ahh, I see your point now =3

As to Shiroe picking on Raynesia, aside from what you've mentioned, I think it could also be his way to reducing the blame on Raynesia.

Contrast the following:

1. A person who deliberately snubs you by acknowledging your requests and then pretends to have forgotten all about it with just a "Ahahaha, Raynesia didn't know~♥"

2. A muddled-headed little girl who really doesn't know her job and is in the first place not the person you should have directed your requests to.

It's obvious imho that the former is an act of malice or at least arrogant disregard, while the latter can be handwaved off as simple incompetence. Mamare mentioned in volume four that women in Yamato's upper classes are no more than trophies and trade goods that the men deploy in their diplomatic maneuvers. That means despite her position, most Landers probably don't really expect Raynesia to have any control over the affairs of the consulate, just a figurehead that's there to smile, listen and then pass the real work to the consulate staff.

Before Shiroe came to her rescue, Mavis was accusing Raynesia of 1, with serious implications. By making fun of her in public, Shiroe was attempting to change it to 2 and take the pressure off Raynesia by putting the affairs straight into the hands of the Round Table.

Of course, this only reinforce that public image that the Sly Glasses is just too eager to bully her whenever the occasion arises

[WhiteJoker]

Ahh, the "she's just a silly woman, what'd you expect?" defense. I'd forgotten about that mentality.