Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer? - Chapter 77: Don’t Do This (2)

“We’ll aim for the Dragon first.”

“…Are you saying we should abandon the Demon Knight?”

“Look at this more realistically. Mister Knight is in the castle.”

Did he successfully mask himself? Deathbringer tried to speak as coldly as possible, contrary to his true feelings.

“And the castle is brimming with guards to protect Vipurit and his troops. Do you think it’ll be easy to break through all that and find Mister Knight? Even if we managed to do that somehow, what should we do if Mister Knight has already been devoured by the Demon?”

However, his efforts weren’t in vain. He smoothly gave arguments as to why they should do as he said.

“You know very well how strong Mister Knight is. It would be incredibly difficult to deal just with him. If he’s surrounded by lots of Demon worshipers, it’s pretty much impossible.”

“There’s no way the Demon Knight will give in to a Demon so easily. If it’s him, I’m sure he’s still battling its consciousness and enduring.”

“Shit, you think I haven’t thought the same thing?”

He let these words out quickly, but his head was thrown into chaos. His mind, which had just barely cooled down, heated up again.

“The situation is what it is. We can’t risk our lives for something uncertain in favor of other alternatives. Just like you said, we are in the middle of the enemy camp!”

Deathbringer raised his hand and wiped his face. He lowered his furious voice again and started speaking in a hopeless attempt to persuade this stubborn person.

“Regardless of whether Mister Knight got devoured by the Demon, our infiltration has failed. However, retreating doesn’t mean we’re abandoning him.”

There were just too many negative consequences of them going to look for the Demon Knight, especially seeing that the Hero’s life was at stake here.

“Look at this realistically. We failed, and we can’t save the Demon Knight on our own.”

As such, they had to wait for the main forces to arrive. Only after the Archmage rejoined them with the others would they have a chance to save the Demon Knight.

“…So, taking care of the Dragon… would be in preparation for when the main forces join back up with us?”

“Now we’re talking.”

Fortunately, the iron wall wasn’t someone to act stubbornly during moments of crisis.

He didn’t want to admit it, but… once he convinced this Inquisitor, the conversation would become incredibly easy.

“That’s right. That’s why I said we should deal with the Dragon.”

There was one thing the Dragon and the Demon Knight had in common: both could inflict enormous damage to the main forces if left unattended.

“If we kill the Dragon, the damage we suffer can be halved, and if the Demon Knight overcomes the Demon, we can reduce it to zero.”

However, unlike the Demon Knight, who was in a very difficult place to target, the Dragon seemed to be located somewhere completely isolated on the city’s outskirts.

According to the guy they’d brought along as a guide and informant, it seemed they’d not only kept it isolated but even restrained it completely under the pretext of preventing any disturbances.

Some people were likely guarding it, but that was probably better than storming the castle. If it was restrained, it actually might be quite easy to kill it.

In that case, it might be worth the gamble.

“Understood.”

“Great. So, let’s start by going over the route. You prepared one, right?”

“Not just one. All you must do is decide on which.”

Deathbringer took out the information he had requested in advance. As a result of those four natives putting their heads together, they managed to mark down the dragon’s location on the map and drew several paths to it.

“Hey, Thief.”

“…there are like five Thieves here, you know?”

He retorted to the Inquisitor’s stubborn words. However, all the displeasure on her face disappeared when she spoke again.

“Is he fine?”

Well. Was he fine? Seeing that there hadn’t been any further commotion or disturbances from the castle ever since they lit the torches… was it okay to hope he was doing alright?

“…He’s Mister Knight, after all.”

The two turned their eyes from the obvious truth. They were 20 and 21. It was far too early for them to talk about the downfall of the person they admired most.

* * *

I checked the Window that had just popped up.

(Rage). The effect of ‘Nullifying all status conditions’ was quite attractive, though the final line of its description was a bit disturbing.

The more I perform certain actions, the more the madness gauge will fill up. What actions did they mean, and what would happen after the gauge was filled up?

Moreover, I had no idea why this condition had suddenly appeared. If it was just because I got a little angry, shouldn’t it have shown up long ago after I went through ‘despair’ and bouts of ‘frustration’?

I also didn’t know why Arcane Power was flowing out of my body even though I didn’t want it to. It was even stranger because it was exiting my body through the arm the Demon was said to be sealed within.

“Give them to me.”

However, although I didn’t know why this happened, I could still use it.

“That’s…”

After checking my madness gauge, which was still resting at 0%, I looked back at the people standing silently before me, unable to ask even a single question.

The moment I started smiling brightly again, the Arcane Power in my right arm burned even brighter in line with my intentions. The atmosphere around me was even more intense than usual.

“You won’t?”

Looking like that, I approached the person standing in the center of those three, Fo-something. He was about a span shorter than me, so when I was about 30 cm away from him, I had to lower my head a little to make eye contact.

Even then, it didn’t work out properly because the Fo-something guy was staring straight ahead, but anyway.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

For a moment, I wondered whether I should really be acting like that, but I calmed down when I saw the children shivering.

How could I keep those kids in this slaughterhouse when even the older civilians almost lost their minds? I should just push them like a tyrant would until they moved the children somewhere else.

“Who could stand in your way if Gretchen wishes for it? Please take whatever you want.”

Fo-something answered me calmly. It seemed I had somehow succeeded. However, I felt that if I continued acting like this, I would actually get accused of being a Great Demon and end up with swords pointed at me.

“Then I’ll only take the kids.”

“The kids. Understood.”

“Move them. I don’t like open spaces.”

“The castle dungeons are empty. We shall move them there.”

Hmm. From my point of view, I didn’t think that anything resembling a prison would be a good place to stay. It hurt my conscience to put kids in a place like that.

However, the risk of them getting caught up in something happening outside was simply too great… Regarding their safety, there wouldn’t be any better place.

“You speak quite well.”

I deliberately used my right arm, which was overflowing with Arcane Power, to brush away Fo-something’s long hair.

“…I’m honored.”

Only then did Fo-something meet my gaze. Those black eyes I could see this close for the first time were burning with an ambition and boldness that even an ignorant person would feel.

“What is your name?”

I used the opportunity to ask his name again.

I knew such an ambitious person would feel rather pleased with having his name remembered fondly by his superiors.

“It’s Focalor, Sir Wrath.”

“Focalor.”

And if a person of higher status asked for someone’s name again, even though they should already know it, it would clearly mean something like, ‘I have you in high regard, so I’ll remember you.’

As I‘d expected, the look on Fo-something’s, or rather Focalor’s, face changed. My heart felt completely cold as I witnessed his naked greed.

Just what did he want— No, it was actually pretty obvious. Strength and authority, and if I looked into it a little more, he probably wanted something like eternal life.

Well, that was none of my business. The moment Focalor traded his homeland and its people’s lives for his goals and created this mad world to butcher people mindlessly, his ambitions became completely incomprehensible to me.

I didn’t know whether I was qualified to say this, but he would pay the price for his actions.

As did anyone who slaughtered people like this throughout the history of the world.

* * *

* * *

“Gretchen, I can show you something you’d rather enjoy.”

Those with no idea what I was thinking shook their tails before me in various ways. In particular, Naberius and Bifrons, who were of the same standing as Focalor.

They seemed to prioritize pleasing a Great Demon over their own fear.

“How about going on a Hero hunt? She’s completely isolated within this city. Her colleagues are nothing but insignificant insects.”

However, while Naberius only moved about excitedly and didn’t open his mouth, Bifrons came forward quite boldly.

I couldn’t believe she would propose hunting a Hero for entertainment. Did she want to catch my eye that much?

“Hey.”

After confirming the kids were being led away by the guards, I opened my mouth.

“Did you just ask me a question?”

Asking for one’s thoughts was also considered a question. Bifrons’ face went pale as she realized her mistake.

“Th-That’s…”

“Bifrons is a Knight directly chosen by ‘Greed’. Please calm your anger.”

However, before I could break Bifrons’ neck, Naberius jumped into action. The new information he provided was a bonus.

“Greed chose her?”

I looked down at Bifrons as if thinking, ‘This?’.

Since I was already half-convinced that the Great Demons were based on the Seven Deadly Sins, I focused on the ‘chosen by Greed’ part.

Alright. With this, I found out that the Great Demons probably selected the members of the 72 Knights. Or there was some kind of power structure among them.

While I couldn’t make use of that information now, it didn’t hurt to know.

“That’s right.”

“Yes… Well…”

I mumbled slightly as I approached Bifrons. As she kept her head lowered, I began circling her step by step.

“But isn’t that a pretty strange thing to ask of ‘Wrath’?”

I circled her while debating whether I should cut her throat. Hmm, while cutting her throat would weaken their immediate power, I couldn’t help but think about what would happen afterward.

In other words, if I killed Bifrons, there was a greater chance they would go, ‘You killed your teammate!’ rather than, ‘Oh well, can’t be helped,’ which would lead to them ordering my death somehow.

“Please have mercy.”

“Asking mercy from a Demon is also rather strange.”

Of course, thanks to the nullification of any status abnormalities, I was able to overcome (Arcane Overload) and use my skills.

However, I was a little worried that the madness gauge would rise if I tried it.

From my extensive experience with fantasy works of any kind, I inferred that combat was the most likely trigger for filling up the gauge.

Furthermore, given the nuance of the word ‘madness’, it seemed I would go berserk or on a rampage if it were to fill completely.

It seemed this game went a different route from other works where only my damage (Attack power, critical hit chance, critical hit damage) would increase if I went berserk.

As I thought, I shouldn’t act carelessly.

“Gretchen, we have moved all the children.”

At that moment, Focalor intervened. It was rather good timing for Bifrons. Not for me, though.

“Is that so?”

Sigh, but since it would put the children’s lives on the line, should I just stop here? It was pretty urgent, so I only went and saved the kids, but there were still so many civilians left in this place.

The problem was how they would react if I asked for the others to be given to me as well—

Kabooooooom!!

Suddenly, the sound of a massive explosion reached my ears. It wasn’t deafening, but it seemed to be some distance away.

It didn’t come from inside the castle, at least.

“What?!”

The three shocked people gave various instructions to the subordinates around them. Mostly to find out what was going on.

Bifrons, who heard something from Naberius, looked at me and Focalor and immediately left the area. I didn’t bother chasing after her. I had to find out what had happened.

Roooooaaaar!!!

But what was that roar that followed? It was very fierce and vicious, but it clearly came from a living being.

“Could it be the Dragon…?”

Naberius, who was close to me, frowned. Only then did some of the puzzle pieces come together in my head.

“Did you fail to take proper care of your little pet?”

They said that all these people were sacrifices for the Dragon, but something seemed to have happened to it.

“I-It shouldn’t be a big deal. We thoroughly secured the area around the Dragon…”

“Divine Power!”

Naberius’ excuses didn’t last long. Although we couldn’t see the city from here because it was obscured by the castle, we could clearly see the pillar of light rising from the other side.

“…The Hero?!”

How could there be a pillar of light made entirely out of Divine Power in a city filled with Demons? That was the only answer, in my opinion.

My kids were alive and well! The corners of my mouth pulled my mouth into a sincere smile.

“It’s become… quite fun.”

If that was what had really happened, then the situation was completely different. I gave up worrying about the madness gauge and its implications.

Now that the Inquisitor had begun the Dragon raid, there was no more need for me to sit still.

“You there.”

“Y-Yes?!”

“Please stop slitting the prisoners’ throats.”

More precisely, I shouldn’t keep sitting still.

I mean, in Raids, it was standard practice to block minions from joining the battle. After that, all I needed to do was help the Inquisitor.

“P-Pardon? A-Aah, that wasn’t a question! I’ll follow your instructions immediately!”

I sneakily stopped the three members of the 72 Knights, who seemed to be part of the next wave, from collecting blood. I then walked up to Naberius, who was currently giving out orders to the soldiers, and put my arm around his shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

“…I’m quite worried that I might be troubling you by not providing adequate service.”

“You’re also pretty perceptive.”

“I’m too undeserving of these words. I shall carry them in my heart for the rest of my life.”

If I killed them here, the guards might realize I had betrayed them and start slitting people’s throats again, so I would have to kill them on the way.

As I disrupted Naberius’ commands, I followed the path Focalor and Bifrons had taken.

And right as we left the castle and reached the entrance leading past the wall into the city…

I took away the arm I had wrapped around Naberius’ shoulder. He caught up with Focalor and Bifrons without even realizing I had fallen behind.

They were talking to an executive—the security captain or something—who had sensed something was wrong and rushed over.

“Focalor. What’s the situation?”

“Naberius? Why didn’t you stay in the castle…?”

And three steps away from them…

“It seems that Gretchen has agreed to—”

Slash!

“–Huh?”

A huge {Slash} that seemed even rougher than usual cut everything 30 meters away from me.

The sky between night and dawn was entirely dark, without even the moon’s light shining down, blocking even the gushing streams of blood.

「Madness Gauge: 1%」

It truly was a pitch-black night.