Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?

Chapter 105: Existence (7)

“It looks like you’ve completely cleaned up the city. While I can't say that this was a wise decision… Good work. Thanks to you, losses have been minimized.”

The two of us spent the whole night hunting Demons in the city.

The rescue team that joined us later also killed some, but the number was incomparable to those we’d hunted. The path we’d taken was littered with Demon corpses.

“It seems the Great Demon didn't reappear. Thank goodness. I was worried they might be plotting something back there since it's been so quiet around here.”

The reason for that was pretty simple.

While not overly competitive, my character had so much pride that it could pierce the skies.

And when Berserk, who was endlessly aggressive and unyielding by nature, was added to the mix, the answer was more than evident.

We competed fiercely over who could kill a Demon first or who would kill the most. As a result, we ended up spending the whole night killing those things without any rest.

“Except for those with serious injuries, most of the injured have regained consciousness after being treated. Now it’s time to repair the wall and buildings… Thanks to you, we no longer have to worry about the Demons.”

I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t been exhausting. However, hearing that our efforts successfully reduced everyone else’s suffering was enough to satisfy me.

Honestly, the fatigue wasn’t the most difficult to deal with, but Berserk’s wild shouts and roaring challenges—something like: “Wahaha, come at me!”—all night long seriously strained my ears.

“Good job.”

Anyway, I turned my head slightly while listening to the Archmage’s words. I didn’t do it specifically for the Archmage, so he didn’t need to thank me; that’s what this was supposed to mean.

Seeing this, rather than smiling contentedly, the Archmage sighed softly. He reacted a bit differently from before. Had he been worried?

“Ah, here come the bodies.”

The people who’d gone out for repairs returned with corpse-laden carts. They were all civilians who’d volunteered for this, all wearing thick boots to prevent Olgoi-Khorkhoi bites.

“What a mess…”

“That’s how it is in the rear. Hardly any there died cleanly.”

Most of the bodies were torn apart or mangled due to Demon attacks. It was unavoidable, given how many were devoured by Olgoi-Khorkhoi or crushed by the Sandworms.

As for those who’d died after becoming Demons due to Demonic Erosion… Even if their limbs were intact, they weren’t pleasant to look at either due to the Demonization they’d been undergoing.

“The faces of those guys are completely smashed. It’ll be impossible for us to find out who they were…”

…For the record, that wasn’t my fault. Not to blame the others here, but I certainly killed them very cleanly!

“It’s the Martial King!”

“The Martial King? He’s dead?!”

“The Martial King is dead?!”

At that moment, a corpse with its head half cut off was unloaded from one of the carts. It was a dark-skinned member of the Curety race. I couldn’t really tell, but judging by the reactions of those around me, that appeared to be the Martial King.

“I don’t know if you heard, but it would seem the Martial King really made a deal with the Demons. Since we have many eyewitness accounts of him using some strange powers, no one will be able to cover up this incident.”

With the corpses laid before us, the Archmage spoke up again. It seemed like he knew that I hadn’t heard about that yet.

More importantly, hmm. We’d originally planned to find some flaws in the Martial King, ruin his career, and have him punished… But that’s just how the world worked.

At least he didn’t die a hero. With how many criminals I’d already sent off, I shouldn’t care too much about the Martial King’s judgment, but at least this was better than nothing.

“As Demons are involved, the Lord can’t avoid an investigation. Ignorance also won’t absolve him of responsibility. In the process of investigation, I believe the murder concealment will also be uncovered.”

On another note, I wondered why he was telling me about all this. I wasn’t particularly interested in that stuff.

“As soon as this becomes known, not only will he have to pay a fine amounting to half his fortune, but he’ll also lose his status. If this were any other region, he'd just get dismissed without even a need to look into this any further, but the circumstances of this place are a bit different.”

This kind of comeuppance is something any person would applaud, but it didn’t exactly matter much to my character. It wasn’t any of his business, after all.

“That’s all?”

Ah, he wasn’t talking to me, huh?

I quickly glanced at Deb, who’d suddenly spoken up. The signs of Demonic Erosion had disappeared completely, perhaps because he’d taken some medicine after I left. His arm was still in a splint, but the Inquisitor said she would treat him once she had time.

“He covered up someone’s death and only gets dismissed?”

“Concealment of a crime isn’t punished that harshly. You’re already aware of that, aren’t you?”

“Someone who hid something as bad as murder wouldn’t have just stopped at that! He must have been involved in plenty more, so if they just investigate him further…!”

“That’s a possibility. However, this isn’t under our jurisdiction, nor do we have the luxury to look into this further. You also know that.”

“…!”

The Archmage spoke quietly while stroking over his staff.

“Our job is to stop the Demon Worshipers and exterminate Demons, not to rid this land of corruption. That is up to the people of this land.”

“…But.”

“Yes, yes. It’s frustrating, I know. How couldn't I know that there’s nothing more infuriating than having to overlook a criminal’s actions? As much as I’d like to, we can’t take care of every city or person’s issue we come across.”

“…”

“Didn’t you mention this before? It’s easier to clearly divide what we can and can’t do to help. I know it’s hard, but you have to accept it. Anything more is beyond our capabilities.”

“…I got it.”

Deb didn’t look entirely convinced. He seemed to have some problem with the Lord, and knowing the Thief’s back story, I knew precisely what nerve this situation touched.

While what the Archmage said wasn’t wrong, I couldn’t really side with him, either.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“…No need for that.”

“Well, thank you anyway.”

Still, it was fortunate that the Archmage was good with his words. If he hadn’t been in our party, we all would have been in real trouble.

“That aside, it’s rather unfortunate. We came all the way here, traveling for at least four months, to recruit some talents, but those we thought were talented individuals turned out to be sinful traitors. But that doesn’t mean we can just hire someone who isn’t up to par…”

Blatantly trying to change the subject, the Archmage brought up something else. Considering our purpose for coming to this city, it was something that needed to be brought up at some point.

As someone who knew Berserk was around, I felt a bit nervous.

Was Berserk not even on the Archmage’s radar or something? Despite my not actively wanting to encourage Berserk to join us, her skills certainly weren’t lacking. Was it because of her personality that he didn’t even consider her from the start?

“Uhm. well. There is one decent person, though.”

“Oh, really?”

At that moment, Deb cautiously interjected. Although his expression did not change drastically, I could clearly see how complicated his emotions were.

“Uhm, I mean… She caught a Sandworm solo, you know? Taking that into consideration, her skill level seems to be pretty decent…”

“Ooh, someone skilled enough to kill a Sandworm alone. Seeing that you mentioned her, there’s no need to worry about her being a traitor. Is there any other issue?”

“Well…”

I could guess the reason for his hesitation. Would it be too narrow-minded to bring it up?

“Well, not really. I’ll tell you after I become more certain.”

“If that’s how you see it, then so be it. Just let me know once you’ve confirmed everything. I guess we can wait a little longer to prepare for any further invasions… Though the likelihood of that seems quite low, to be honest.”

“Got it.”

Fortunately, Deb didn’t mention that name. Well, I wasn’t even sure if he meant her, though.

“Oh, right. With things how they are, Demon Knight, I suppose you should also rest a bit now. I was a bit short-sighted here. Let us go. If there are any other attacks, you’ll need the stamina to fight off those Demons. Even if it doesn’t happen, we need to leave this city pretty soon.”

Berserk, who’d kept me up despite my building fatigue, briefly appeared in my mind.

“Oh, and regarding the seal, I’ve already arranged to have a new one delivered. It should arrive before we leave the city, so don’t worry too much about it.”

As for my bet with Berserk, I barely managed to win… Rather, I didn’t want to come across her again because of that.

I felt like she would complain about her loss and try to settle it with me again.

“There you are! I wondered where you disappeared to!”

“…!”

* * *

* * *

“You…”

“Let’s go, buddy! What should await you after every battle is meat and drinks!”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Not even ten seconds had passed since I’d thought about never wanting to meet her again before Berserk suddenly popped her head in.

Unlike me, who looked relatively clean thanks to my clothes’ self-cleaning function, she was still covered in various Demon fluids.

“Berserk got us a great spot! Come on, let’s go!”

I couldn’t hide my disgust when Berserk approached me. Deb didn’t seem all too enthusiastic, either.

“Get lost.”

“Ahaha. You’re quite the shy friend! No need to show any restraint!”

“…”

“Wow, you’re even more stubborn than the iron wall…”

“Oh, the young hunter was also here. Let’s go together! There are some people who want to see you!”

“Huh? Me??”

Ah, that’s also why I didn’t want her in our party. I was pretty confident I could handle her quite well If I discarded my character settings, but my character’s personality was just too extreme and overly tense.

I clenched my fist tightly in frustration, faced with Berserk refusing to listen to me. She was laughing loudly while pounding her chest.

“Worried that the food won’t taste good? No need to worry about that! Kankan told me who the best chef in town is! I asked that guy to cook, so I’m sure we’ll get delicious food.”

I found it hard to believe that a restaurant was still operating in this situation, but it seemed she just hired the chef outright. How bold.

“…I told you to get lost.”

Either way, I had no intention of going with her, character settings or not.

I tried to speak even more sternly as a type of final warning.

“Hmm. Ah! Is this too burdensome for you?”

However, it didn’t seem to work on her.

“If that’s how you feel, there’s no need. We spent the whole night fighting side by side, after all! Norda warriors don’t easily abandon those they fought together with, even if it was for just ten minutes, let alone someone like you, buddy. There’s no need for you to feel burdened at all! The same goes for that young hunter over there!”

“No, I’m not really…”

“Let’s go!”

“Just listen to me!”

No, that wasn’t it.

While it was certainly good that she didn’t outright rechallenge me after I defeated her yesterday, I never asked her to invite me like this…!

“Wait, wait.”

At that moment, the Archmage, who was watching us, intervened. For some reason, his eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Did you two fight together last night? I mean, to handle the remaining Demons in the city.”

“Huh? Yeah! It’s been ages since there was a warrior who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with this Berserk! Oh, that young hunter was also good. Such hunting skills are a rare sight even in my hometown.”

…That sounded somewhat ominous.

“…Let’s put aside the talk about the hunter for a moment. So, I’m to understand that, by standing shoulder-to-shoulder, you mean that you fought alongside the Demon Knight all night without rest, correct?”

W-Wait a second. Sir Archmage, please stop. Stop!

“That’s right!”

Aaaaargh!!

“Is that so? Hoh, indeed. Understood.”

I bitterly screamed on the inside at the sight of the Archmage’s eyes sparkling as if he’d come across an extraordinary talent.

I had been wondering why he hadn’t thought of Berserk, but it appeared that it was because he didn’t know the extent of her strength…!

“Do you have any other companions?”

“Companions? I’m traveling with my sister.”

“Is she strong as well?”

“Wahaha! Very strong! But she’s shy, so she doesn’t show her face often. It’s pretty hard to catch a glimpse of her.”

“Hoh. I see. So, do you have any other purpose for your journey?”

“Not really! I just go wherever there are strong opponents.”

No matter how I viewed it, this conversation definitely felt like a recruitment interview. This had been a trap!

I had felt so relieved when he’d shown no sign of wanting to go through with recruiting her, but then this betrayal…!

“Uhm, Mister Mage.”

At that moment, Deb, wearing a somewhat grim expression, grabbed the Archmage by the arm. Was he trying to stop him? Or oppose him?! For a moment, hope gripped my heart.

“That’s the person I was talking about, but… You should consider this carefully.”

“Hmm.”

Perhaps because he was conscious of people with good ears, Deb added some words by writing them on the Archmage’s arm. His fingers were tapping so lightly that even I couldn’t make out what he was writing.

“We should definitely think more about this.”

“…?”

However, it didn’t seem to change the Archmage’s mind completely.

“So, when do you plan on leaving this city? This old man has something he wants to ask you.”

“Leaving, huh? I have no intention of leaving yet. But you want to talk with me? About what?”

“Oh, it’s nothing too serious. I can say that much. How about we talk about it tomorrow or the day after?”

“Hmm. Tomorrow or the day after? That’s okay. But if it takes any longer, I might end up leaving first. I don’t stay in a city too long after I finish fighting.”

“It shouldn’t take that long. Don't worry.”

…I should have known. Ever since Berserk appeared before me, I expected this fate was inevitable.

Uuurgh.