Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer? - Chapter 74: From the Very Beginning (9)

My half-and-half hair would be rather eye-catching if I didn’t dye it, though it was also uncertain how my character would feel about it. After desperately deciding on what to do, I finally applied the hair dye to myself with great irritation.

For your information, I ended up stopping for a while because I was the only one as tall as Lukkwan, so I had to help her. Deb let out a sigh of relief.

“The concoction will take effect in about thirty minutes. After the coloring takes effect, it will remain like that until dawn. Ah, while we’re at it, let’s change our clothes, too.”

“But about Sir Knight…”

After everyone had the dye applied, they decided to also change into other clothes as part of their disguise. In an instant, four slaves and three Demon Worshipers were born.

What about me? I absolutely couldn’t wear those things. Dying my hair was still a safe option, but disguising myself as a slave or a Demon Worshiper was completely and utterly out of character for the Demon Knight—especially the latter.

“Then, as planned, we’ll take care of the lower parts.”

Anyway, now that even the final task we’d been putting off was complete, we quickly moved to the other end of the secret passage and reminded ourselves of our respective duties.

The four thieves, including the Inquisitor and Deb, would search the city for places where people might get sacrificed to summon Demons or places where the Demons stayed and destroy them. Lukkwan and I would search through the main buildings to kill the leaders of the group as well as Vipurit.

This was the perfect way to divide our tasks. However, I should add that we didn’t know where those leaders were within the city or the buildings, nor how the place had changed.

“Looks like you don’t have a constitution compatible with Arcane Power, seeing that your hair still hasn’t changed color.”

It seemed Deb wanted to come along with me but said it would be better for me to go along with a native knowledgeable of this place’s geography.

So Lukkwan, who was subsequently assigned to me, quietly spoke to me. However, it didn’t seem like she really expected an answer from me. It was more like she was speaking to herself.

Actually, I was curious about that, too.

I mean, seriously, why didn’t my hair color change? As time passed, the kimchi dumpling’s hair turned reddish-brown all the way down to her roots.

“Let us go now.”

Anyway, she led me out of the secret passage. I didn’t even have to look at the map made by the Treasurer and guard captain.

She navigated the countless hallways as if the map was already completely in her head.

“I worked here before the city fell into this state, so I know my way around somewhat.”

I hadn’t really asked anything, but I supposed she was just making small talk. I thought she had a photographic memory or something.

“Of course, I’ve no clue if those damn Demons changed anything, though.”

As she said that, she almost effortlessly picked a locked door and led me through it.

Katchack. We silently locked the door again before hearing footsteps on their way to the hallway we were in.

Tak, tak.

I fully knew something was coming toward us thanks to [Detection]. However, this method of evading others was entirely new to me.

The way she hid so smoothly along with me and entered a room the moment she heard the footsteps pass by sure didn’t make it seem like she’d only done this once or twice before. I had no intention of bringing it up, though, as that skill helped us out big time. I actually felt like giving her a thumbs-up.

“This.”

But no matter how good a thief she was, she wouldn’t have been able to move around this castle so freely if she hadn’t researched where and when patrolling guards would appear.

We hid in there to avoid those chained servants. Our physiques were both quite substantial, so this closet that could hide us both within itself deserved some serious applause.

However, those guys who came into the room presumably to make the bed and clean up were completely undeserving of applause. Was this room actually in use?

“Who was in charge of cleaning Mr. Vipurit’s room today?”

“No one. We were told not to send anyone in there for any reason. Didn’t you hear?”

“H-Huh. Really?”

Still, there was something we could gain from them. The servants started chattering as they tidied the room.

Of course, it was nothing more than idle chatter. Well, more like venting laments, saying they had to do the best they could even if they might die soon. Their voices were drenched in fear, sadness, and resignation while they dusted the place.

Lukkwan and I then looked at each other. It had only been a day and a half since we began working together, but I felt I knew what that look meant without her saying a single word.

Lukkwan spread out her fingers and slowly folded them, starting from the thumb, then the index finger, and the middle finger.

“I bet you’ll only find another corpse when you go there to clean…”

And when she finally folded her pinky finger…

Rattle!

“…!”

“Urgh–!”

We burst out of the closet and overpowered the servants one after the other.

Both trembled as if about to faint when they saw they were attacked by a big man dressed entirely in black and a big, black-colored Shaggi. Frankly, I was quite happy they didn’t actually pass out.

If it were me, I would have absolutely fainted.

“Shh. We aren’t your enemies.”

After tightly covering their mouths to keep them from screaming, Lukkwan gently comforted the servants.

“We’re here to kill Vipurit and those Demons to take back the castle.”

It worked rather well. The servants’ eyes widened, and their voices fell silent. They showed no signs of wanting to scream anymore, so we slightly relaxed the hands over their mouths.

“Then, can we untie your hands? Promise me you won’t scream.”

And after they gave us their word, we freed the two servants’ hands, breathing softly.

“Y-You two…”

“We came from outside.”

I fully believed Lukkwan was better suited to handle this part than me.

Having quickly come to that conclusion, I went to stand close to the door. I was standing guard in case someone approached us while she was trying to persuade them.

Listening closely to what was happening in the hallway, ignoring their conversation as much as possible, it still seemed surprisingly quiet outside.

“…That’s why I want to know Vipurit’s location and where the important people are staying. Or a place where they do things.”

Meanwhile, her persuasion continued. It was about a minute later that the hesitant servants finally closed their eyes and opened their mouths.

They gave us the information we needed the most first.

“We should have taken one more person with us here. If we had, we could have sent him as a messenger to inform the others.”

Well, that was alright. It would have been pretty dangerous for that person if we used them as a messenger.

There was a high probability Demons were also roaming this castle. We were just rather lucky not to have encountered anything like that. An argument for that possibility was the unidentifiable dirt smeared all over the ground on our way here.

“First, Vipurit is staying in the room the Lord had stayed in. No one is in charge of that place, so we’ll have to break through their security.”

Things were going smoother than I’d expected. I was a bit uncomfortable because of that, quite contrary to what I should be feeling.

My thoughts were roughly: ‘If the path to it is easy, either the boss will be very difficult, or something will go wrong and doom us.’ Or maybe I was just anxious about someone or something preparing to attack us from the back.

But should I not go just because I felt a little anxious? If I didn’t get my head in the game, this dungeon would never get cleared.

“Let’s move.”

“I’ll guide you.”

Judging that we had gained everything we needed from the servants, we left immediately.

I showed a little bit of goodwill—some food—to those two who cooperated so well. It wasn’t like I was worried about their thin faces or anything.

“As expected, the security on the upper floors is quite tight. Unless we scale the outer walls from here on out, we’ll run into a guard sooner or later.”

Ultimately, based on the information we’d obtained, our target was the Lord’s room. It wasn’t like there weren’t any secret passages connecting to it, but when I checked earlier, they had already been closed down completely.

Now, we had no choice but to break through with force.

“What would you like to do?”

Well, this wasn’t a stealth or assassination game, so I never expected us to reach the Lord’s room through some hidden way in the first place…

I clenched my fists as my right arm started itching.

“Worry about yourself.”

“What?”

“I’m going alone from now on.”

Although she had seen the same map as me, it didn’t describe the upper floors, so she had lost her usefulness as a guide. Lukkwan also didn’t seem to be of any use in a fight, either.

It seemed rather unlikely we could assassinate Vipurit covertly. I mean, wasn’t our opponent someone who joined hands with the Demon Worshipers and took over a whole city?

I was certain they’d prepared for these kinds of situations, but it would still cause some unrest. In that case, leaving behind Lukkwan, who was at a disadvantage in melee, was the only correct choice.

“…Alright.”

Fortunately, Lukkwan was neither stubborn nor the type to think we had to stick together no matter what. She instantly melted into the shadows.

Now it was my turn.

The dumplings were probably busy with their mission in the city, so they probably wouldn’t come rushing here even if there was a commotion in the castle.

* * *

* * *

“Looks like Mister finally got it.”

The torches suddenly appearing all over the castle splendidly announced that something happened. Deathbringer clicked his tongue as they approached where the slaves were kept.

“It seems he found Vipurit.”

“I think he just flipped the table before he could find him, though…”

“What did you just say?”

“Just change your clothes. You don’t have to pretend to be a slave anymore.”

“…Got it.”

He kicked out the iron wall and turned to the cage containing the slaves.

“You’re…?”

“Wait a second. We’re here to save you.”

They only found this place after pretending to be escaped slaves and the guards who caught them, and they then bought some time by giving the real guards some sleeping pills.

There was no time to waste idling about. They didn’t know when the sleeping pills would lose their effect.

“You came to save us?”

“We can’t save everyone right now, though.”

It was difficult even for those specialized in infiltration to move about covertly while avoiding the Zombies roaming all over the city. It would be completely impossible to do that with even more people added to their group.

He began explaining the reasons and clarified the situation they were in. Fortunately, there was someone who could be considered a leader among the imprisoned slaves, so the conversation went rather smoothly.

“So, there’s a favor I want to ask of you…”

“No worries. We’ll do anything if it means we can drive out these damn Demons…!”

“Great. In that case, we need someone to switch with one of us to provide directions…”

“I’ll do it.”

Deathbringer glanced at the person who just volunteered, the leader. He couldn’t have shaved or washed himself in a while, considering the mud caked on his beard and curly hair.

He didn’t think it would be so difficult to switch him out for someone in their group. He had the typical physique of someone from the Yabad region, after all. Soon enough, the thief dressed in slave clothes and closest to his stature was already preparing a disguise. If they just put on a fake beard, no one would notice the difference.

“Okay, we’ll pretend this guy is you. I would like to ask the others to cooperate, as well.”

“No worries.”

“Rather, didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to burn down the ritual site?”

Clack.

Deathbringer crawled to the cage’s door and opened it.

“And?”

“There’s something even more urgent than that.”

“What is it?”

“They summoned a Dragon. Not only that, but they’re also holding another ritual within the castle. I heard it was to awaken a certain great Demon—”

The lock held in his hand fell to the floor.

“What?”

* * *

“Ene—Mrgh!”

Surrounded by noise, I moved quietly.

I slowly advanced through the hallway, killing everyone I came across. Less than thirty minutes later, I reached the last path I had to cross: the hallway leading to the Lord’s room.

“Get your weapons! There’s an intruder!”

It was already too late, however. I grabbed the guy standing guard before the Lord’s room by his neck and crushed it.

It might cause an uproar after they discover his body, but that couldn’t be helped, I guess. The only thing I could pray for was that the surveillance over the city would loosen as all their security personnel focused their attention on this place.

“Sir Vipurit, please evacuate imme—”

My feet swiftly carried me across the hallway, enabling me to instantly pin a man against the wall with one leg.

When my foot charged with Arcane Power directly hit his body, his back bent backward and embedded into the wall, his bones and internal organs were crushed, and his skin burst, letting blood splatter out.

It was pretty brutal. There were three more left after I took care of that one. I deflected the approaching sword with my hand before grabbing its wielder’s neck. It broke with a crunch, effectively turning this body into a massive piece of meat or a meat club.

Bam!

As I catapulted the corpse with the broken neck through the air, the other two helplessly dragged along with it as they collided. The next thing left to do was stab a knife through their throats.

Bam!

Even before reinforcements could arrive, the door to the Lord’s room opened on its own and…

“My, my.”

Clap. Clap. Clap. I could hear claps coming from the darkness of the room. An ominous sensation seemed to grab at my ankles.

“You came by earlier than I expected. I just heard that a sacrifice would come by to offer itself.”

Having great trust in my intuition, I immediately moved away from where I stood.

Hmm, whether through the traitor’s report or some other means, the other side already knew of our intrusion long before now. Even worse, rather than escaping, he acted normally and waited in his room.

That couldn’t be good.

“But it is already complete.”

However, it seemed I was too late. The ground beneath me and to the end of the hallway and even the walls radiated with an ominous red light that seemed almost black.

It was similar to what I’d seen in the sewers.

“It’s time for you to stop rampaging about, Gretchen.”

Shit, this is the second time this happened to me. Should I be grateful no chains popped out of the ground this time? Huh?

“I’ve done this much, so you won’t be able to break out this time, right?”

What gratefulness? This was the second time I’d had my movements restricted by someone with ill intentions. I felt like shit.

But back then, what restricted me was a somewhat material object, namely chains. There was nothing like that around me now, yet I was completely bound. This was just too unpleasant.

“When you wake up…”

I fell to my knees with a thud.

“You’ll be the first one I’ll take care of.”

I didn’t even lower my eyelids, but my vision was engulfed in darkness as if black paint were being painted over my eyes.

‘How boorish.’

「Curse!」

Craaack.

Suddenly, I vaguely heard something breaking in the pitch-black.