WE TRIED TLS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

Chapter 190 | If I Can Remain Here (6)

There were often times when reality was stranger than fiction.

It couldn’t be helped. In the end, nothing was more erratic and chaotic than the real world.

“Do you really think just saying it’s a coincidence would make this okay?!”

The problem came when you were forced to somehow explain it.

When you were forced to somehow assign cause and effect to situations that had simply unfolded like fate or an inevitability, essentially trying to explain the inexplicable.

“If you could explain the reason for a coincidence, would you still think it's a coincidence?”

But could you really explain such things? Was it possible to explain something that had happened for no reason, something without cause but still had an effect?

“Come back when you're properly prepared. I’ve no intention of talking to someone who’s unwilling to listen.”

Demanding a reason for a coincidence was almost like asking why the word “Why” exists.

In other words, a foolish act. It was like saying God’s wrath was what led to natural disasters, even though they happened without intent or purpose.

“You…!”

So, in that vein, let’s not blame me for everything, okay? As creepy as this might seem to you, I was just as shocked.

“He said it’s a coincidence.”

“You expect me to believe that?!”

“Brother, you promised to talk this through.”

“You just don’t want to admit it, so you're being stubborn.”

“I'm not being stubborn…!”

Geez. Had I known it would turn out like this… Well…

Wait. No matter how much I thought about it, there really wasn’t anything I could’ve done differently to avoid this.

Well. If you said it was my fault for crying in the street, that would be a bit much, wouldn’t it? I wasn’t the one who’d approached the kid. Anything that happened afterward was beyond my control, too.

“Let’s just go back to your family! We should hear their side of the story as well!”

“Yes. Let’s do that. We must hear all perspectives in these kinds of situations, after all.”

“…What would be the point of that?”

“The point? What? Do you think you’re always in the right? If you’re just going to be stubborn anyway, why don’t you just leave?”

“…”

So, none of this was my fault. It was just that the situation and everyone’s position were less than ideal.

…Probably.

“Fine, let’s go. Let’s go.”

“The longer this drags on, the harder it’ll be on your family. So let’s hurry!”

Wait a second, if they went back to hear the whole story from his family… wouldn’t that mean they’d find out that I cried? That would be troublesome.

“Once we hear their explanation, I’m sure your misunderstanding will definitely clear up, Brother!”

No, that would actually be really troublesome…!

I was so doomed!

* * *

“Danny! How could you just run off like that all of a sudden?! I was worried!”

“Just what was all that about earlier… Ah, guests?”

Daniel slowly opened the door. He then saw the people who’d been waiting for him, even going so far as to light precious candles.

They were the only family he still had left in this world.

“…I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“As long as you weren’t hurt, that’s all that matters. I know that your work is dangerous, but… Please, try not to do something like that again, okay?”

“Yes.”

To him, their concern felt bitter but was incredibly gentle. Daniel couldn’t help but smile slightly at the warmth of their affection. It was so comforting.

“But who are those people behind you…?”

“Ah… They are…”

From this point, he was clueless as to what to do. He had no idea how he should introduce those two.

One was too high a rank to just casually reveal her identity, and he didn’t know the other well enough to say anything about him.

“Good evening. I’m an inquisitor like Daniel. I’m very sorry for coming to visit you so late at night.”

Fortunately, one of them stepped forward before he could say anything. Daniel simply let her take the lead here.

“Ah, I cannot reveal my name due to the nature of my job, so please understand. Please refer to me however you prefer!”

“Ah, that makes sense if you’re an inquisitor. We understand completely.”

Demon Worshipers sometimes used people’s names to curse them.

Of course, curses cast only by using someone’s name were incredibly weak—almost negligible—and could very easily be traced, making them pretty rare… but you never knew what would happen in this world.

For someone like an inquisitor who dealt with Demons directly, there was nothing wrong with a little extra caution.

It wasn’t a rule that had to be followed, and there were some people—like Daniel—who decided to reveal their name to use for their advantage.

“We’re not usually like this. It’s just that we worry about that boy so much…”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“You can just call me… Adventurer or something.”

“Understood, Adventurer.”

Knowing their circumstances, Daniel’s family didn’t pry any further. That was the end of their brief introductions.

“Well, please come inside.”

After that was over, they led the group into the house. After hearing that they’d come to ask some questions, the couple offered them a seat.

The already lit candle and some cups with Vin Chaud were brought to the table.

“Let’s use this light instead.”

At that moment, Deathbringer replaced their light source, placing down an Arcane Lantern instead of the candles.

Although the couple was quite happy at this subtle consideration, they pretended otherwise. Even for them, who had multiple candles at hand due to their nephew’s job as an inquisitor, candles were still precious.

“Erm, so what did you come to ask about…?”

“It’s nothing much… Uhm, do you remember the guest who visited you today?”

“Yes, of course. But, is there a problem…?”

“Our boy also ran out after hearing about him. Could it be that this adventurer is a criminal or something? He didn’t seem that way, though…”

“No, no! That’s not it.”

“Then…?”

The Inquisitor and Deathbringer exchanged glances at the couple’s questions. Then, they slowly started to speak up, being careful with their words.

They asked how they happened to meet the Demon Knight, what they’d talked about, whether the Demon Knight had displayed any strange behavior, etc. They were careful with their choice of words to avoid prejudiced assumptions.

“Please tell us in as much detail as possible, Aunt. This is important.”

“That’s nothing too difficult, but, well…”

But really… the two seemed to find the couple’s gray hair rather similar to a certain someone’s. Their facial features were completely different, but that gray hair, very rare in most regions, felt oddly familiar.

Deathbringer and the Inquisitor kept glancing at it.

“Schutz approached that adventurer first. Ah, Schutz is my child. He’s still quite young and fast asleep, so I didn’t call him over.”

“I see.”

“Well, anyway, it seemed the adventurer was crying on the street, so Schutz approached him…”

“What? What did you just say?”

“Crying??”

What they heard was something completely unexpected. The Inquisitor’s and Deathbringer’s jaws dropped. Daniel was equally shocked.

The revelation that the Demon Knight had cried was so incredibly shocking that it stunned both those who knew him well and those who didn’t alike.

“I-in what way did he cry…?”

“He wasn’t crying noticeably. I only realized he was because Schutz got close to him. His expression was completely blank with just a few tears falling down his face…”

Oh, so he wasn’t actually crying. No, but he did shed tears. They’d thought he would only ever shed blood, never tears.

Their image of the Demon Knight was in utter dissonance with what they just heard, throwing their heads into confusion.

“D-do you know why he was crying…?”

“I don’t know either…”

Well, they hadn’t expected the couple to know. The two of them, feeling rather gloomy, waited for their next words.

* * *

WE TRIED TLS

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* * *

The rest was fairly predictable.

The Demon Knight had accepted their invitation, talked with them a bit, and left before the sky turned red. That was all.

It seemed like too much of a coincidence for any of that situation to be intentional.

Of course, the Demon Knight described by this couple was extremely gentle… unusually gentle… so gentle that it bothered them.

“So the Demon Knight actually explained all that…!”

“Well, erm. He is rather kind to kids, right? So maybe it’s not entirely impossible… Right…?”

“…?”

They desperately tried to calm their confused minds, putting their heads together before trying to persuade Daniel.

However, that wasn’t easy. What they’d heard just now was so different from the Demon Knight they knew.

“But has he ever been like this before…?”

“I don’t know either. There were times when he treated people other than us surprisingly comfortably… like when he received a request or visited the guild…”

“S-so, it’s just with us…?”

“Probably, yes…”

“As expected, we’re…”

So, in the end, they stopped thinking and spiraled into self-loathing. Even Daniel, who was still struggling with doubts about the Demon Knight, was taken aback by their sudden mood change.

“Wh-why are you suddenly like that?”

“Erm, did the adventurer do something wrong…?”

“N-no, it’s not that! He just… well, he didn’t do anything wrong…”

The Inquisitor stopped talking in the middle and slumped her shoulders again.

She wanted to help him, just as the Demon Knight had helped her… but she couldn’t even ask why the Demon Knight had been so sad.

“We…”

She’d also never received the level of kindness this couple had.

It was probably for the same reason as before… It was karma brought about by her ignorance, foolishness, and weakness…

But even so, it still hurt. The Inquisitor’s face became even gloomier.

“Well, just to confirm, the adventurer didn’t do anything to harm you two, right?”

“Of course not. Rather, he got along so well with Schutz … and he was also incredibly polite. But are you sure there isn’t some kind of problem?”

“Absolutely. Well, he’s someone who travels with us. It’s just that this insa—I mean, this person was highly suspicious of Mister… so we came here to clarify.”

“Ah, I see…”

Meanwhile, Deathbringer, wearing the same gloomy expression as the Inquisitor, managed to bring the conversation to an end.

No matter how dense he might be, this much should dispel his doubt. Even amidst his confusion, he glanced at Inquisitor Daniel.

“I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you had, but let it go. I might not know much about what’s going on, but… he didn’t seem like someone dangerous to me.”

“Yeah. I didn’t interact much with him because I was watching the store, but… I got a similar impression of him. He didn’t seem like the type to start trouble, although he might end up on the receiving end.”

“…”

Hearing these defenses and testimonies, Daniel also had no intention of doubting any further.

He still didn’t want to believe it, but… that was just his own stubbornness. That was something he had to solve on his own.

“…Yes. I think it was just my misunderstanding.”

So, suppressing his instinctive disgust and anger, Daniel gave that answer. It was at that moment this incident, which had occurred due to a collision of circumstances, came to an end.

“Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, we’ve no more reason to stay. Sorry for taking up your time so late at night. We’ll take our leave now.”

“Ah, I… also want to thank you for your cooperation, and I’m sorry for disturbing your night. I hope you have a good night.”

“It was no trouble at all. More importantly, are you sure you’ll be alright heading back like this? It’s pretty late. Do you have anywhere to stay…?”

“We’re staying at the Temple, so we’ll be fine.”

Anyway, with the conversation concluded, they had no reason to stay any longer.

Deathbringer was preparing to leave while also taking care of the Inquisitor. Although Berserk must have told others about this, staying out too late was never any good.

“Goodbye.”

“Feel free to visit us anytime, Inquisitor.”

“…I’ll see you off.”

The two left the house as Daniel’s family saw them off. Daniel, out of a sense of responsibility, followed them a short distance away.

“I apologize for today.”

“Save your apologies for Mister.”

“…Okay.”

“By the way, I won’t apologize for making the first move, you know?”

“…That doesn’t matter to me.”

Courtesy like that wasn’t necessary for him. Once a grudge had taken root, it was pretty difficult to uproot. Daniel also hoped that they wouldn’t cross paths in similar circumstances again.

“…That person.”

However, Daniel still seemed like he had something to ask. Deathbringer pouted his lips and picked at his ear. It was a completely disrespectful attitude, no matter how you looked at it.

“You told me you didn’t know what kind of person he is. Or how he’s able to hold himself up, or what kind of emotions keeps him standing.”

But Daniel wasn’t one to back off so easily, either.

No matter what attitude Deathbringer showed toward him, he continued stubbornly pressing for an answer.

“What did you mean by that?”

He sought to uncover something with this question… something that might resolve his stubborn doubts.

“Why should I share someone else’s situation with you?”

“…That’s true.”

But it wasn’t something he absolutely needed answered. He was also aware that his question was somewhat crossing the line.

So Daniel just nodded quietly and tried to back off. He didn’t realize just how much that bothered Deathbringer, though.

For him, this was something that shouldn’t be discussed lightly, something very painful—something that might be called a hardship.

“But… what I can tell you is that you’re not the only one who’s lost his family.”

“…!”

“Also, you still have relatives left… but some might not even have anything left.”

“…I see. You’re right.”

At those words, Daniel lowered his gaze, realizing he’d refused to face and overlooked this information.

He’d experienced loss, but he couldn’t grasp the weight someone felt the moment they lost everything. He couldn’t say anything in response.

“…I’m sorry.”

“I told you to save your apologies for Mister, didn’t I?

“Right.”

Daniel slowly exhaled as he looked up at the dark night sky.

“I will definitely… apologize.”

What they’d told him before, about how abandoning his stubbornness and prejudice would broaden his perspective, finally made sense to him.

“…There’s one more thing I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“This whole incident was certainly my mistake. But don’t just think that everything I said was wrong.”

“Are you still telling me not to trust Mister? Seriously?”

“It’s not that… I just want you to remember that Demons are far more cruel, cunning, and abominable than you can imagine.”

He cleared his throat before continuing.

“I just… sincerely hope you won’t underestimate them.”

At those words, both the Inquisitor and Deathbringer, who’d been feeling down, looked at him. One’s eyes were sparkling, while the other looked at him with disdain, as if he were thinking, “Urgh, what a stuck-up bastard.”

“Don’t worry! I know that well enough!”

“Don’t worry, I know that better than you do, trust me.”

“Right. Then I’ll… see you next time.”

He was uncertain whether his advice had reached them, but even if it did, there was little that they could do themselves.

Just as Daniel only understood after seeing all the evidence laid out before him, they wouldn’t be able to fully grasp his words without having faced it themselves.

“I hope you stay safe.”

He simply wished they would realize their mistakes before making them or, at the very least, could safely fix their mistakes after committing them.

Daniel prayed for those with less experience. It was a prayer from someone who’d lived in this world for a bit longer.

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