57104


In _Log Horizon_ S2E12,

> Shiroe has won all the Kunie's money, with which he buys all the land in
> Yamato, and then though a contract reassigns it to the server permanently.
> He explains that this is so that other players can't buy the land and misuse
> it, e.g. locking people out of the bank.

I understand that. This means that in terms of land ownership, it will become
something similar to when Elder Tale was still a game.

However, doesn't this cause another problem?

> The whole reason why Shiroe bought the zone of the guild house in season 1
> was to maintain peace in Akihabara wasn't it? Other members of the Round
> Table said that there is no way to maintain law and order, and Shiroe
> revealed that he now owns the bank, which means he can just restrict the
> access to the bank for whoever breaks the "law" (effectively "kicking them
> out" of Akiba). And thus peace is maintained.

So what if someone starts to exploit new players again, like some guild once
did to Minori and Touya?

This doesn't seem like something Shiroe would do...

Note that I haven't watched past episode 12 yet.


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question
log-horizon
Why does Shiroe buy all the land in Yamato and give it to the server?


The Round Table cannot afford to hold onto the buildings forever so they are
going to lose control eventually. This means another guild could use those
buildings against the players of Akihabara. By buying all the land and making
it unpurchasable for the future this problem is solved forever even if it is
only a middle of the road solution.

Additionally, Shiroe isn't just concerned about players. Before he bought
everything and then gave it to the server, the NPCs couldn't buy zones but
players could. This means the players could buy a farm under an NPC's nose and
force them out of their home. This would definitely lead to war with Eastal.
Now property ownership is an agreement between people and not a function of
nature.

As for people going wrong and exploiting others, this is no different then the
real world. Most of Akihabara has learned to live in this world and is not
treating it like a game. Additionally, the Round Table can create licenses to
allow open trade in Akihabara, and since most would follow that order then not
being able to trade with other people is enforceable. They just have to create
new systems to organize and punish rather than relying on server systems.


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answer


[Critterfluffy's answer](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/49961/41895) hits
most of the in-universe notes. [In S02E12](https://log-
horizon.fandom.com/wiki/Kunie_Gold), Shiroe announces to Kinjo & Uru that he's

> doing all those things that you mentioned in the title but then spoilered in
> your question for some reason

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zNJHK.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zNJHK.jpg)

because

  * the Round Table doesn't want to keep paying 10,000,000 gold per whatever for its exclusive rights over Akihabara's guild hall, cathedral, and merchant facilities;
  * the new arrangement gives them just as much usage rights over what they already have;
  * the new arrangement protects them from hostile adventurers taking control of anything in Yamato that they don't currently possess; and 
  * the new arrangement protects the People of the Land from being exploited by hostile or selfish adventurers down the road, avoiding conflict between them and the good adventurers.

* * *

Now, I don't think that Critterfluffy really answered your question because
**(a)** you didn't tick it and **(b)** CF didn't get far enough outside what
Shinroe says in the episode, which you saw and said you couldn't really
understand.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFWFQ.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NFWFQ.jpg)

It's important to see this development in terms of the shutdown of Akihabara's
magical defenses in [S02E08](https://log-horizon.fandom.com/wiki/Akiba_Raid).
In-universe, it's a nonsensical overreäction given the ease with which
Akatsuki's new sword is able to damage Enbart's, which is the only needful
thing. At a meta level, however, **what's occurring is the partial
normalization of the world**. Instead of Akihabara being a protected haven
where the monsters cannot enter and homicide is near impossible, it's going to
be a normal part of a normal world. Monsters won't enter because there will be
defenses and patrols; homicide will be avoided (or answered) with policing.
This parallels Akatsuki realizing she had to discover her teaching/overskill
on her own (same episode) and calls back to [S01E05](https://log-
horizon.fandom.com/wiki/Return_to_Akiba), when they discovered food was only
flavorful _when you did the work yourself_.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/iuUi2.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/iuUi2.gif)

Similarly, your problem with Shiroe yielding control is that it's seemingly
nonsensical. There's no valid reason for the good guys to not keep the gold
cheat on, buy everything, keep it all, use the gold cheat to pay maintenance,
and use the leverage of univeral ownership to bring the bad guys and selfish
NPCs to heel. In other words, to pull off a still bigger version of Shiroe's
trick from [S01E09](https://log-
horizon.fandom.com/wiki/Round_Table_Conference) and be capable of crippling or
evading every major baddie. _Pace_ CF, a war with Eastal would be over before
it began as the opposing army found it couldn't access its armories, food
stores, banks, &c. until it stood down and agreed to some sensible terms.
Instead, **you have it exactly backwards: S02E12 shows Shiroe 'repay[ing]
everyone' by _eliminating_ gamelike powers and destroying every unowned field
zone in Yamato**. Instead of using the game interface to purchase complete
godlike authority over territory, every single piece of land will just be land
for the rest of time. It will be open to anyone. It will be used and held
according to legal rights established by the adventurers and the People of the
Land themselves. It will be protected by their own defensive operations.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXu38.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DXu38.jpg)

This is not _at all_ the munchken or powergaming move here, which shows you
that _Log Horizon_ (once again) is advocating real role playing and DIY even
when it involves making peace--as Shiroe does in this scene--with being
'weak'.

* * *

The move [can also be
seen](https://www.reddit.com/r/LogHorizon/comments/2pwev2/log_horizon_season_2_episode_12_the_gold_of_kunie/cn0wrsh/)
as libertarian/democratic and intended to preclude Akiba from eventually
degenerating into the inescapable tyranny Nureha established in Minami through
her own ownership over the cathedral &c. ([S01E25](https://log-
horizon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Libra_Festival)) Whether you buy that depends on
how much faith you have in a small town of immortal people being able to work
out equitable government amongst themselves. (Fwiw, in the real world with
real people, [_LH_ 's writer skipped out on his societal obligations and was
busted for tax evasion.](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-27/log-
horizon-author-mamare-touno-found-guilty-of-tax-evasion/.101506)) Of course,
in-universe, it doesn't hurt that Shiroe is basically trying to eliminate the
game's mechanisms of control and replace them with a society built on mutual
agreements and contracts... and he happens to be the only known mage to have
developed world-alteringly-powerful contract magic.


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answer