“Yes, guild,” Nem confirmed. “I found it necessary to have one in order to settle things with you, Iris.”

“W-Wait a minute...” Iris panicked as she saw the challenge in Nem’s eyes. “I, um, I don’t see what I’ve done to earn your... wrath...”

It wasn’t that she was trying to back out. If this woman was going to throw down a gauntlet, she’d have no choice but to pick it up. But she wasn’t going to do that without understanding the reason why.

No, that’s a lie, Iris thought as she analyzed herself objectively. She did want to back out, a little. To be honest, seeing Nem’s design sense on display like this — with Amesho’s swimsuit, Nem’s outfit, Taker’s swimsuit, and Sorceress’s swimsuit all in a row — made her realize all the more acutely how distant the prospect of victory was for her.

“I feel no wrath towards you whatsoever,” Nem insisted.

It was hard to believe, though. There was something very black in the woman’s gaze whenever she looked at Iris. What could it be, besides fury or loathing?

“Then what’s your problem?” Iris asked. “It’s got something to do with the young heir, right?”

As Iris said that, Nem fell silent, and the emotion in her gaze grew even more intense.

“Just what did he do to you?” Iris pressed.

“He...” Nem began, staring intently at Iris’s swimsuit. “He likes the brooch and the clothing you design very much, doesn’t he?”

“Y-Yeah,” Iris said. “Well... Yeah.”

Iris’s noncommittal answer stemmed from her mixed emotions on the matter. The fact that the young heir liked her designs was one of the few things Iris could take pride in; at the same time, she was ashamed that the only one who liked them had to be someone so odious. She would have preferred to have the approval of the world at large, but that wasn’t to say she wasn’t happy about his approval. It was a complicated feeling.

But what problem, exactly, did Nem have with that?

Iris waited patiently for a response, but Nem said nothing more.

Just as she was beginning to find the silence unbearable, Felicia finally tilted her head, and spoke in Iris’s place. “Um, is that it?”

Nem looked up with stern eyes, glaring first at Felicia, then at Iris. “It is a very serious problem for me!” Her frenzied cry caught the attention of the various men playing around on the beach. “After all, it’s bizarre! And I am not the kind of person to criticize the design work of others!”

“But you said ‘It’s nothing’ before, didn’t you?” Iris asked.

“Because it is nothing!” Nem cried.

And yet, the fact that she had said that was far from nothing.

Iris was aware that the difference between her designs and Nem’s was like the difference between a mud puddle and a cloud. But having the woman sneer like that to her face was a serious shock to her system. The force of it just left her with her mouth flapping uselessly.

“Um...” It was Felicia who ended up speaking for her. “So what you’re saying is, you can’t understand why Itchy likes Iris’s designs?”

Nem fixed her eyes on her, then gave a single, emphatic nod.

“I d-don’t know what you want me to do about that...” It took all of Iris’s presence of mind just to wring those words out from her throat.

Damn, she cursed internally.

Nem was being utterly unreasonable. It should have made her furious, but when she tried to respond, that was the best she could muster. It was pathetic, yet the phenomenon she had seen so often in battle manga — where an overwhelming difference in power sapped a hero’s will to fight — appeared to have some truth to it. After being shown Nem’s polished design sense, and hearing words like that, there was no way that her soul could fail to break.

Nem probably had recognition from many more people than Iris did. She had the talent to earn the acceptance of herself and others. Why should she care so much about the opinion of the young heir? Why was she so obsessed with that man, to the point of picking a fight with someone so far beneath her?

“Being judged on your talent is an awful, cruel thing...” Amesho said, almost as if to answer Iris’s question.

That was when Iris realized the true nature of the emotion she was seeing in Nem’s eyes. She had thought the blackness in her gaze was hatred or anger, but thinking about it rationally, it was an emotion much closer to Iris’s heart.

Jealousy.

In school, Iris herself had looked this way at girls who were at the same grade level, yet produced better work than her. At times like that, people lost the ability to look objectively at their work and became obsessed with their preconceived notion of “I’m supposed to be better than you.”

Oh, no, Iris thought. It was the Edward incident all over again. But this time, it was different. This time, Nem really was far, far better than her...

“Iris,” the woman said.

“Y-Yes?!” Iris shot ramrod straight under Nem’s unwavering glare. She knew how pathetic she must look right now. She was just glad that man wasn’t here to see it.

“What I want to know is, what is it that Ichiro likes about you so much?” Nem asked.

“H-How should I know? Ask him!”

Damn, she cursed internally once more.

Damn that young heir. Ever since he had told her that he knew this woman, she had had a bad feeling about what was to come. But she hadn’t thought it would be this severe. She knew what this was, now: some kind of mad infatuation.

You take the reins of this madwoman! she wanted to cry.

Of course, that assumption came purely from Iris’s own biases and preconceptions, but knowing it was the result of Ichiro’s totally lassiez-faire attitude towards everyone suggested she couldn’t be completely off the mark. Really, both women were victims here.

Iris’s mind continued to churn, struggling to find a way out of this fire, either by running or breaking through it, when...

“A-Amesho...” Felicia asked the cat-eared girl, with an air of hesitance.

“Mmyeah?”

“D-Does this atmosphere seem a little dangerous to you?” Felicia asked.

“Mm, guess so.”

A situation this serious, dismissed with, “Mm, guess so”? Iris looked spitefully towards Amesho. She was the one who’d proposed they “talk it out,” yet here she was, watching the situation with only the mildest of interest.

Amesho wasn’t going to keep Nem in line. There was no way of even knowing what she was thinking.

What about the two Nem had brought with her, then? Iris looked towards the two avatars, apparently named Taker and Sorceress. As usual, Taker was standing bolt-upright, holding his shark inner tube with a sour look on his bizarre, beast-like face. Sorceress was casually twirling her parasol, sipping a Tropical Potion she had picked up at some point through a straw. Frankly, neither of them could be counted on, either. They were on Nem’s side to begin with.

“It looks like the situation has become rather complicated,” a voice said.

Iris was just starting to think that if things got really bad, she could just log out, when help arrived from an angle she had previously completely forgotten. It was the tea-serving silver fox, the Knight Sir Kirschwasser.

Iris turned back to him, her expression suddenly brightening. Even the sight of that Full Plate Armor of his, so stifling under the hot summer sun, did not change how reassured she was to see his gentle smile.

Nem cast him a suspicious glance.

“Pardon me for interrupting, but I fear I cannot let this continue,” Kirschwasser replied.

“We met before at Iris’s guild house, didn’t we?” Nem asked. “Who are you?”

“I am a servant to the house of Tsuwabuki. My name is Kirschwasser.” The clench of his gauntleted hand was accompanied by a heavy clink of metal. Then he smiled, a teasing smile of a sort Iris and the others rarely saw from him, and continued. “Oh, and I am his live-in servant in real life, as well.”

Nem was taken completely off-guard by his words. Her eyes opened wide, and she glared at Kirschwasser anew.

This reaction... yes, it was definitely infatuation. Iris felt a bit weary about it all. First Felicia, now Nem... didn’t any of them have proper taste in men?

Either way, Kirschwasser was male, and couldn’t be any kind of proper rival to her. Still, Iris was a little surprised; she hadn’t expected to see him say something that would further stir the pot.

“Me-wow,” Amesho exclaimed. “Kirsch, are you like a butler?”

“I am.” Whether he was aware of Iris’s surprise or not, Kirschwasser answered Amesho’s question calmly. “But all that aside...” He returned things to the main subject as he stepped in between Iris’s group and Nem’s. “...if we are to talk, it seems appropriate that we should cool our heads first. It seems to me that you are both failing to communicate with the other.”

“This is none of your business,” Nem snapped.

“That is untrue. Tsuwabuki himself told me that if anything was to happen, I was to keep things under control in his stead.” Kirschwasser’s words seemed to be especially directed towards Nem, who kept trying to label him as an outsider.

The emotion in Nem’s eyes grew more intense as she glared at the Knight. Kirschwasser’s in-game combat role was primarily that of a tank, and while that was more or less irrelevant here, he seemed rather skilled at drawing interpersonal aggro, as well.

“For now, it is just about noon,” Kirschwasser said. “Why don’t we have some lunch? I believe it’s necessary that we cool our heads, Lady Nem.”

His calm suggestion that they disperse for an hour seemed to be an attempt to diffuse the situation. Iris put a relieved hand to her chest, grateful to Kirschwasser. If the young heir had been here, he might have just poured oil on the flames. How nice it was to have a mature man around!

Nem seemed less enthusiastic about Kirschwasser’s suggestion, which must have seemed to her more like an escape plan. It was only natural; if she let them leave now, there was no guarantee they’d log in again.

But...

“Let’s do as he says, Leader.” The man who had been quiet the entire time — in other words, the strange Anthromorph, Taker, who was hugging the shark inner tube — said to Nem, without mincing words.

“I’m in favor, too,” replied Sorceress, releasing the straw of the Tropical Potion in her mouth long enough to agree. “If they had just wanted to run away, they could have already logged out with the press of a button. I think we should be grateful they even made the offer.”

Her two guild mates both seemed quite a bit more level-headed than Nem was. A more penetrating consideration of them would suggest that they weren’t very deeply connected to Nem — they were in the same guild, but they were less like friends and more like hired hands.

“...Very well.” It seemed Nem’s two mercenaries had convinced her to show some restraint. “I agree to your offer. We’ll meet here again in an hour and a half. Is that acceptable?”

“Certainly,” Sir Kirschwasser said. “Does that seem agreeable, Iris?”

“Um, y-yeah. Yeah. I’ll be here.” Iris was rather taken aback by the question, since Kirschwasser had completely taken over the discussion otherwise, but she agreed.

Nem turned her eyes, still lit with malice, towards her once again, and spoke. “I shall take my leave, then. Good day, Iris, Kirschwasser.”

“What about me?!” Felicia cried out hysterically, still holding Gobo-Two. Naturally, she received no response as Nem, Taker, and Sorceress all logged out.

The only ones left on the beach now were Iris, Kirschwasser, Felicia (with Gobo-Two), and Amesho.

Well, and also a few rubberneckers scattered here and there who had been watching the proceedings. After all, just seeing women in the game was rare enough, and here there had been tons of women in swimsuits all in one place.

“I have a feeling this isn’t going to go away...” Iris said immediately after Nem left.

“Indeed,” Kirschwasser said. “And from the way Lady Amesho and Lord Matsunaga were acting, I suspect that they wanted it to happen.” Kirschwasser cast a glance at Amesho, who was just flashing peace signs at them unconcernedly. “Is Nem your friend, too?”

“Hmm, nyota friend yet, I guess,” said Amesho. “Nem’s the kind of person who’s gotta be careful how she chooses her friends. I decided not to put myself in the running.”

Her tone was matter-of-fact, but also suggested some consideration for Nem. Which part better reflected the cat’s true nature? Iris, who had only been her “friend” for about half an hour, couldn’t say.

“Mr. Kirsch... Um, wh-what are we gonna do?” Felicia asked timidly. Iris was curious about that, too, but Kirschwasser just shrugged.

“I cannot say. If it comes to it, I shall bear the brunt of her wrath. But first, I feel we should hear her out. Isn’t that right, Lord Matsunaga?” Kirschwasser looked towards the smiling, nasty Elf who was eating a Shaved Ice Potion near the cabana.

“Now, why would you ask me that?” the Elf asked. As usual, there was something sticky in his smile. The strawberry milk concoction seemed painfully unsuited to him.

“Did she receive not only Lady Amesho’s sponsorship, but yours, as well?” Sir Kirschwasser asked.

“I won’t claim that she didn’t,” he shrugged. “But there’s not much that I can tell you... In the end, this is between Nem and Iris.”

Iris would have liked to raise an objection to that. It was the young heir’s fault that Nem was picking a fight with her, so how was she supposed to know what to do? If Nem had a problem with anything, she should really ask the young heir about it.

It was all such a murky business.

Noting Iris’s scowl, Kirschwasser smiled wryly. “Were you bothered by Lady Nem’s attitude?”

“Yeah...” Iris said. “I mean, who cares that the young heir likes me?”

“I care!” Felicia insisted, hugging Gobo-Two.

Iris could understand the sentiment, certainly, but... “She’s so talented compared to me. Why is she worried about that one minor thing?”

“That is another reason I wanted you to both reflect upon the matter with cooler heads,” said Kirschwasser. “It is just as in the incident with Lord Edward. You are not at fault, and therefore, you may comport yourself with confidence. That is how Master Ichiro feels, as well.”

“So who is at fault?” Iris demanded.

“It would not be my place to say,” Kirschwasser responded. “Regardless of with whom the fault lies, I will follow my orders.”

“I thought you’d say something like that...”

Kirschwasser’s refusal to speak ill of his master stemmed from unwavering loyalty — an admirable trait, perhaps. But knowing Kirschwasser would shield her — literally — did made Iris feel better.

“Now, I believe it’s just about lunchtime,” said Kirschwasser. “Let us log out and eat. Cliché though it may be to say, one cannot wage war on an empty stomach.”

“You think there’s gonna be a war?” Felicia asked unhappily.

“It would only be responsible to prepare for one, although I wonder if it could be avoidable...” Kirschwasser murmured, all the while staring into the distance, knowingly.