Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer? - Chapter 73: From the Very Beginning (8)

Regarding how we’d moved before—so, how we decided where to go and the like—our final goals were the locations Windhand mentioned, but if we found some gang bases along the way, we would destroy them.

However, Vipurit’s newly revealed location was, to exaggerate a little, right around the corner. There was no need to rush back to get the others.

In other words, going for the head now was far more time-efficient than going back and regrouping.

Well, I wasn’t 100% sure that Vipurit would be there, though. However, the route would have been the same anyway.

There was no harm in moving forward after making proper preparations and regrouping. Even if Vipurit wasn’t there, a castle was still a castle, and to attack one, you would need to prepare.

“We’re not leaving right away, right?”

That’s why I wanted to rest and work together with everyone…

“We leave at dawn.”

Really. I wasn’t joking. I seriously wanted to do that.

“Our enemies have taken over a whole castle! Do you really plan on advancing just like this? What about the main party?!”

Of course, Deb was incredibly shocked.

“Erm, Demon Knight. The way I see it, it would be better to join the main forces and fight together. They should currently be about two to three days from us.”

“Mister Knight, how about we just be a little more patient? We never know what kinds of Demons they may throw at us. Of course, there’s the information we got from those who have escaped or infiltrated the place, but that should only be the tip of the iceberg… It’s just a bit too reckless to just rush into things when this situation requires caution…”

Internally, I agreed with those absolutely reasonable opinions.

Yes, I knew this was common sense. This was a siege event, after all.

And a siege also involved knowing and utilizing the topography, the places we can attack, and having the right weapons. This wasn’t something a small party could take care of.

“Even at this very moment, Demons are being summoned. And yet you are telling me to give them even more than a single day?”

But look here, they’d already summoned many of Demons and would do it again.

Assuming the lower-class Demons were their main forces, wouldn’t that mean this would be a battle of numbers? And these battles tended to consume a lot of manpower on both sides, correct?

However, what was the point of our side even having more troops? If the other side kept summoning Demons, even more islanders would ultimately have to die.

The longer the battle took, the more lives would be sacrificed! And what would happen if that many civilians died during this kind of Quest?

Usually, it would lead to a GAME OVER…

If they were to summon a raid boss like the Kraken, that would also be a problem.

Even if I stepped up and dealt with it, I could already see countless people getting involved in the fight and dying. The same went if they threw around those newly invented cursed jars we’d seen a few times.

“But…”

“The weak will only serve as hindrances.”

In other words, as I’d said, waiting for the main forces to arrive would only increase our damages. That was my opinion.

And if the damages dealt to our side were too high, I bet the game would sprout something like, ‘No problem, just do everything again!’

Hah, that was entirely out of the question. I absolutely didn’t want to do that.

“However, no matter how right you are, if you just take them head-on, even if it’s you, Mister…”

Of course, we would be at a significant disadvantage if we just went against them with this number of people. Windhand was also pretty useless in a fight, and while that wouldn’t usually be such a big problem, he wouldn’t be any help in a direct assault.

“I don’t know what the Archmage saw in you.”

However, what if we didn’t go for a head-on battle? What if we infiltrated and assassinated our targets? I thought we would have a pretty good chance of winning if we did that.

Also, although they escaped the city, we had quite a few (high-ranking) people from Ayu Hin here. Wouldn’t they know of some secret passages no one else knew about?

“Where are Ayu Hin’s treasurer and guard captain?”

“What?”

Of course, this also carried substantial risks. Our opponents weren’t stupid, so they’d probably already prepared for this. If discovered, we wouldn’t be able to escape safely as we would be completely surrounded by enemies.

Furthermore, we also had a traitor in our midst. If the traitor were to discover our plan and report it back, this would be like throwing our heads into a tiger’s jaws.

On the other hand, what if we avoided or deceived the traitor? One could assume that secret passages usually enabled someone to flee from the city’s center to the outskirts without detection. In other words, if we knew the exit of such a passage, we could penetrate the city’s core without any opposition.

High risk, high return. This was a gamble worth taking, in my opinion.

“Why are you looking for the treasurer and guard captain…?”

“Secret passage…?”

I mean, wasn’t the choice rather obvious if one possibility assured the survival of four people at the cost of thousands while the other assured the survival of thousands at the cost of four people’s lives?

It was pretty obvious to me, at least.

“Mister, are you thinking of infiltrating through a secret passage?”

Deb, who was pretty perceptive, immediately asked to confirm. Since I’d already made up my mind anyway and didn’t want to engage in arguments, I didn’t bother answering but instead glared at him in response.

“I’ll… I’ll take you to them right away. Ah, no. Just wait here. I’ll bring over some people.”

His dark green eyes sparkled in the shade of his hood.

“Security and infiltration are my specialties, after all.”

Now that we’d come all the way here, it was time to slow down a bit.

* * *

* * *

I wanted to get some sleep around midnight to relieve my fatigue somewhat. Alas, it was an unreasonable wish.

Still, I managed to relax a little, so it was worth it.

We established an infiltration route after successfully gathering those in charge of the city and members of the Information Guild who knew the back alleys like the back of their hands.

About the traitor… Well, it should be fine. I think we met as many security measures as we could. If anyone wasn’t of any use in our planning, we immediately excluded them.

Even so, wasn’t it pretty much inevitable that our strategy would get leaked? If we brought in someone useful when making our plan and they turned out to be a traitor, everything would have been in vain.

Well, I should stop these dark thoughts for now. We’d received a lot of support.

Of course, despite currently being in a situation where supplies were severely lacking, our mission’s success was directly linked to everyone’s lives. So, there was no way that anyone would talk about saving resources.

Although, the person in charge of the inventory looked rather shaken when reviewing the list of things we needed.

“May the sea breeze push you forward.”

“Haha, good luck.”

Anyway, we left at dawn with Windhand, who didn’t know where we were going but what we were leaving for, sending us off.

Why was Windhand seeing us off? Of course, because he had been removed from the group.

I mean, his combat power was pretty low, his excellent navigation skills were rendered useless on land, and he wasn’t native to Ayu Hin, so he couldn’t be our guide, either.

On the other hand, if he remained at the port, he could act as a buffer between the main forces and the people here. There were far more reasons to leave him behind than to take him with us. I didn’t have to force myself to drag him everywhere I went.

“Get me my share, as well.”

Even more so when the person himself didn’t object; of course, what he took from this was probably something like, “You’re weak, so you’ll have to stay here.”

Anyway, while he didn’t know our plans in detail, he probably figured out we were breaking into Ayu Hin. Knowing Windhand, that probably was the case.

I mean, I didn’t even tell him we’d be leaving at dawn, yet he came to see us off at the exact moment we were about to leave.

“Will Mister Windhand be able to deal with the main forces?”

However, that was already two days ago now. I shouldn’t think about that anymore.

“Sir Archmage will also be there, so it should be fine.”

“However… Won’t there be problems because the guys from the Magic Tower are also there?”

“Rather, I’m more worried about these horses. Do we just release them into the forest when we arrive?”

“I guess so.”

“They’ll die.”

“The probability of that happening is quite high. I mean, we’re getting attacked by those beasts even now.”

“I want them to live.”

“I don’t want them to be Demonized like those things. Sigh.”

By the way, the many horses given to us by the secret port had also become consumable items, as the forests were filled with Demonized beasts.

I wondered whether it really was okay to use these horses, which were expensive on the mainland and even more so on these islands, as if they were consumables, but that was the reality, so what could we do about it? Because time was of the essence, we couldn’t walk all the way to our goal.

As expected, this game seriously needed to patch its transportation methods. While they were at it, they should also add some day-to-day conveniences. No, the most urgent thing was obviously the Logout bug.

“It seems you have enough time for useless chatter.”

Anyway, as I was throwing away the corpse of the Demon I’d just stabbed to death, I spoke to the two dumplings who were having fun chatting among themselves.

“I can’t even relieve myself properly in this place.”

Meanwhile, Lukkwan, who stood behind me, trembled exaggeratedly, completely ignoring my words. Who was Lukkwan, you ask? She was the one who entered the party in Windhand’s stead.

“I’m surprised you have the guts to even go alone in this place, sis.”

We didn’t only bring Lukkwan. We also brought along some more people who weren’t only natives of Ayu Hin but were also good at infiltration.

“You make a living by spying and the like, but you’re afraid of going by yourself?”

As such, five more thieves of the Information Guild’s ‘Ayu Hin branch’ were added to our party… Since they were competent, I just let their discussion slide.

The problem with the Inquisitor was that she wasn’t only hard to deal with but also quite charming in her own way. I knew she acted a certain way because she made a vow, so I couldn’t treat her like Deb.

We had one swordsman, one paladin, and six thieves… Since this place had become pretty close to reality, wasn’t this actually a doomed combination?

“Wait, I see some traces.”

“Looks like a patrol route.”

While I wasn’t so sure about our DPS (damage per second), our efficiency at finding enemy traces and detecting enemies had become a lot better.

“We’ll have to stop talking now.”

That we’d stumbled upon a patrol route meant our destination was nearby, and our destination being close meant our infiltration mission was about to begin.

Hah. Did we have to walk now? I looked toward Deb. I roughly tried to ask him if he thought so, too, but it seemed he found my look a bit off-putting.

Catching my gaze, he twitched his lips and nodded.

Thud.

My boots were the first to hit the swampy ground. My eyebrows knitted slightly as I felt the soft, slippery mud beneath my feet.

Thud.

The second heaviest after me was the Inquisitor, although she wore cloth armor for this infiltration.

One by one, the thieves who came with us also dismounted their horses and gathered their reins.

“Run away.”

They were also in charge of removing any traces left by the horses after they were set free. While they were doing that, I checked over my skills one last time.

Of course, that didn’t really mean much. I could use whatever combat skill I wanted without activating it first, and I’d already gotten all the passive Defense skills.

I also added all those that increased the amount and speed of HP recovery, at least. All that was left were negotiation and tracking skills…

I already overhauled myself completely before we came here, but I’d gone up one more level along the way. I used those points on a skill in the tracking skill tree.

「Silent Walk │ A good hunter knows how to hide their presence. The sound of one’s footsteps becomes more silent.」

I’d tried leaving such skills for later because I’d thought they weren’t that useful early on, but having them in my current situation might be advantageous.

However, was this skill actually working? Why didn’t it sound like my footsteps were quieter?

I sighed, thinking, ‘Great, the system is bugging out again,’ and slowly began to move forward.

Our infiltration finally commenced at the sign of the black panther-type Shaggi—Lukkwan. Our destination wasn’t the castle itself but rather the entrance to a secret passage somewhere near the castle walls.

“Amazing… I could never have imagined something like that being here.”

Did the thief who cleaned up any traces of entry or exit also clear away any obstructions? The entrance opened without much hassle. Of everyone present, the one with the rawest reaction was the Inquisitor.

“There are probably one or two such passages in the Temple, as well, but you wouldn’t know, being an Inquisitor and all.”

Although they were cooperating, it seemed their resentment hadn’t completely disappeared yet. One of the thieves subtly brought up this topic to gauge her reaction.

“Yep. I have never heard anything about this.”

“…Do you have that much trust in them?”

“There were probably very important and good reasons why they didn’t tell me, so why wouldn’t I trust them?”

“…”

However, our kid was just as consistent as ever. Deb laughed silently. Lukkwan, who was like the thieves’ representative—it seemed she lacked the authority to order as she wasn’t part of the same group—was also laughing.

“Now, now, don’t waste your energy on such unnecessary things.”

She finished covering the entrance and tapped the back of the guy who had utterly failed to provoke the Inquisitor.

「Ayu Hin: Hole in the Castle Wall」

「❖ Fangs Aimed at Jacrati

∎ Move to Ayu Hin occupied by the enemy

∎ Liberate Ayu Hin

∎ Optional: Kill Vipurit」

The Quest had finally updated.

“Let’s move.”

No matter how hard we’d worked to reach the passage entrance, it would be completely meaningless if we lingered here for too long.

We entered the passage. The path, which seemed like something one might find in a crypt, changed as we progressed, eventually becoming a tiled road made of piled stones.

“Can I light a fire?”

I could feel my breath getting heavy. That usually meant there was a low level of oxygen. Was it possible to suffocate to death if one used an oil lamp in that kind of situation?

We’d left behind most of the oil lamps we had. Instead, Lukkwan used the lamp I’d had for a long time, ever since I accessed this place.

While it wasn’t exactly an electric lamp, it didn’t burn oxygen since it was a magic item. Perfect for these kinds of situations.

“I got this while going around with Mister.”

While Lukkwan and the thieves were moving about, Deb handed us something.

“This is a medicine that removes one’s body odor, and this here can dye one’s hair for a day. Those are the slave garments from those we rescued. It would be a bit weird if we posed as slaves and looked completely clean, so you should make yourselves a bit dirty.”

Although our purpose was to eliminate our enemies, it seemed necessary to disguise ourselves just in case. I’d just silently taken a backseat, thinking these guys would handle those things themselves.

But Deb sure was well prepared…

“Do I have anything to do?”

“You just need to stay still.”

An expert was an expert, after all. The Inquisitor silently followed his instructions, leaving everything to the experts.

As she put on her disguise step by step, her face, which had looked like a white steamed bun, quickly became scruffy. Considering her clothes were completely clean, it sure was funny that only her face looked like that.

“Your hair… Ah, could you stop shaking so much?”

“I-I’m doing my best!”

“The top of your head, the top!”

Since there wasn’t much of a height difference between Deb and the Inquisitor, Deb had to walk on his tiptoes to dye her hair completely.

It would have been easier if she just sat down, but unfortunately, we didn’t have the time for that.

The magic hair dye also took some time to show its effect. However, that didn’t mean we could just wait here right before the castle for another hour.

“Mister Knight, would you please for a moment?”

However, I didn’t hear that I also had to do this. Gaaargh.