WE TRIED TLS
Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer
Chapter 250 | Is There Meaning? (4)
The promised third day came, but my body still hadn’t fully recovered. The muscle aches had lessened a bit, but the fever refused to go down.
“Huff.”
I could move, though. Yes, I could at least get out of bed now. That was enough.
I got up to leave the Great Forest.
> [Sir Knight, are you leaving?]
“It’s time…”
> [Are you really going?]
However, that attempt was blocked right from the start. The Mountain Lord, who’d been curled up in the cave, suddenly raised its head.
> [We barely managed to save your life, and you’re just going to leave like that?!]
That wasn’t the end of the Mountain Lord’s eccentric behavior.
The cave rumbled with a deep “Gruuuuu” sound, overlapping with the voice that only I could hear. My mouth slightly opened in shock at the sound ringing in my ears.
> [Goodness, goodness gracious. I grew herbs and berries all by myself just to save your life, Sir Knight! I took care of you day and night! So how could you just say you’re leaving just like that?!! How could you?!!]
…Rather, why was he saying stuff like that?! Just listening to those words made me sound like some shameless, ungrateful bastard!
> [I didn’t know you were that kind of person, Sir Knight. Oh my, oh my.]
I found myself utterly stunned at the sight of the Mountain Lord crying and wiping its face with its tail.
Wh-why was it crying so hard over this…? Objectively speaking, if you only looked at the surface level of this matter, I might actually come across as a shameless jerk, a cold-hearted bastard even.
But if you so much as peeked beneath the surface, weren’t my actions pretty understandable?! What was going on underneath was far more important! It wasn’t like the Mountain Lord didn’t know that, so why…?!
“Black Thunder Snake, what is the meaning of this?”
I must’ve been a little too dumbfounded by the Mountain Lord’s strange behavior. I couldn’t react fast enough to prevent the priests awakened by the noise from rushing here before they surrounded me on sight.
I was well and truly caught.
“…Let me leave.”
Noooo, you guys! It wasn’t like I was doing this because I didn’t like you, but because I cared for you! That’s why I was doing this!
If you guys continue to hide me, you’ll be the ones to suffer for it! You’ve just started interacting with the outside world; this would make things so much messier, you know?
Listen, you guys, hmm? Even if your beliefs differ, aren’t you even a little scared of making enemies with the Temple? Were you thinking that if things go south, you could just isolate yourselves again?!
“I’m someone who bears a curse and betrayed the greater good for my own purposes.”
Still, I forced myself to speak with what little brainpower I’d recovered—the words were sharper than three days ago, but they were nowhere near my usual level.
I had to leave. Over the past three days, I’d come to realize that those trying to protect me were doing so with sincerity. I didn’t want to become the one who brought harm to those who’d helped me.
“I’m not someone you should be protecting.”
I didn’t want to lose the warmth I had felt these past few days by unnecessarily clinging to them and causing the ruin of this place.
> [Sir Knight…]
“We are not trying to protect you.”
Before my words could overwhelm anyone, a clear, steady voice cut through, parting the priests. Revealed in this created space was a boy I hadn’t seen in a long while, but who’d left a deep impression on me. The first thing I noticed was that he’d grown taller and his limbs longer compared to when I’d last seen him.
“We simply wish to be a cradle you can rest in.”
“…I don’t need that.”
“No, there’s no life in this world that doesn’t need a shelter to rest their heart.”
“That is just your opinion.”
“And one that many people would agree with.”
It hadn’t even been that long since we’d parted, but… kids really did grow fast. I felt strangely uneasy looking at this kid, or rather the Warchief, who seemed to have grown at least five centimeters. Did… kids usually grow this fast…?
“Was it presumptuous of me to speak up, perhaps? However, Benefactor of the Great Forest, if we consider the debt this forest owes you, such greed is inevitable.”
Wait, before that… Did the Warchief always know how to speak this language?
“…Everything I did in this forest was solely of my own will. You owe me nothing.”
“Is that so?”
Maybe he’d learned it after that incident? But even then, wasn’t he a bit too fluent? It really hadn’t been that long.
Then again, if he’d already known how to speak it back then, we could’ve just communicated directly… So he had to have learned it after we parted, right?
“We sent letters and allowed outsiders into the forest at your request to repay our debt to the Black Thunder Snake, but now we’re learning there was never even a debt to repay, hmm?”
Suddenly, the Warchief’s eyes sparkled like stars. Having been too busy marveling at his linguistic skills, only now did I feel a subtle foreboding.
Wait a second, could it be?
“Then, would it be fair to say this is a debt the Black Thunder Snake owes the forest?”
…This was a total scam!
“That’s quite far-fetched…”
“I trust the great Black Thunder Snake won’t be so petty as to go back on his word like incompetent people would.”
“…”
I once again realized it.
Yes, this kid was the Warchief. He had just been brought in and appointed by the Mountain Lord, but he was still the Warchief…! He might be young, but he was more than capable of fulfilling his role…!
“Lie down, please.”
I felt my spirit drain as I watched the Mountain Lord openly laughing, the priests smiling broadly, and this Warchief politely extorting me.
No, I really thought they’d just keep pushing with emotional appeals… B-but this was just a trap they’d been waiting to spring from the start…
“…I will leave in three days.”
“Shall we discuss that again when the time comes?”
I closed my eyes tightly at the sight of that boy smiling slyly. My fever had yet to go down completely, and I was too exhausted to keep arguing or even think straight.
“And, Black Thunder Snake, please give up on lying.”
“…?”
“If you’d truly abandoned righteousness for your own personal goals, wouldn’t you have made use of allies like us long ago?”
Maybe… I was even more fired up because this kid had gotten the better of me.
* * *
WE TRIED TLS
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Whether because he felt the need to keep his word or just out of stubbornness, the mortal tried to escape yet again three days later, which the Land Turtle observed, flicking their fins. Had the Mountain Lord and the Warchief not already been lying in wait, he really might have succeeded this time.
“You again…!”
“I’d assumed the forest’s effort on the Black Thunder Snake’s behalf would buy us at least a month of your presence…”
“Stop being so stubborn.”
“So that line isn’t working on you anymore, huh?”
The day after was no different. The Warchief had already expected the Knight wouldn’t simply give up after a single attempt and prepared accordingly. In the end, the mortal’s escape was thwarted once again. The Mountain Lord even coiled his whole body around the Knight, saying he’d never let him escape.
“Here, please try this. It’s a fruit that only grows during this time of year…”
> [Hehe, I used a bit more of my power this season, so it should taste even better than usual.]
And the day after was no different.
“…Don’t you have work to do?”
“The priests of the swamp have been helping me quite a bit, so I’ve had some free time as of late.”
> [Catching Sir Knight is the most important job, right? Those dimwits can handle all the small stuff anyway.]
And the day after that went much the same as well. Although the Knight looked about ready to go crazy, with two of the swamp’s strongest teaming up, he couldn’t even dream of running away.
In the end, the mortal stayed in the swamp and rested until the wounds on his feet were completely healed and his fever had fully subsided. More accurately, until the Mountain Lord and the Warchief started to let their guard down.
> […Are you leaving?]
They’d thought he’d completely given up, but as it turned out, he hadn’t. The Land Turtle pushed aside that random thought as they glanced at the mortal.
The man, getting dressed under the cover of night, let out cold and sharp breaths. It was hard to imagine that he’d been bedridden for nearly twenty days.
“I’ve stayed long enough.”
However, despite that blunt exterior, the Land Turtle concluded that this guy was either completely soft inside or seriously sly.
They narrowed their eyes at this mortal who could’ve left long ago if he’d really wanted to, but hadn’t.
> [Why are you sneaking off like this?]
Since he hadn’t left despite being able to, the Land Turtle had wondered whether he was planning to use this place. In other words, once he made sure he could stay here safely, he’d just plant himself here.
However, as of now, that theory was utterly shattered. If he’d truly done this to confirm the reliability of the people here, he should’ve just stayed put, but he’d chosen to leave again instead. His decision to go now that he’d recovered seemed rather suspicious, though.
> [If you’d just told them you felt good enough to leave now, they would’ve probably been sad, but they wouldn’t have stopped you.]
Because there was no reason for him to sneak away like this.
“I know.”
The knight wasn’t acting like this because he didn’t know that, though. The man shoved his feet into his boots, pulled on his vest and coat in turn, then put a gauntlet over his right hand.
> [Then why are you sneaking away like a filthy rat?]
Clink. The metal plates shifted as he flexed his fingers, letting out soft sounds.
“Were you that interested in me?”
> […Since you fall outside the realm of ordinary.]
The knight lowered the corners of his mouth at the Land Turtle’s answer. He hoisted his greatsword in one hand and slung it across his back, securing it in place.
“…If you answer my question, I’ll answer yours.”
> [A trade? Interesting.]
They didn’t have that much time to invest in this, but even then…
> [Fine, let’s do that.]
The Land Turtle agreed. After all, they were curious about why this mortal was trying to sneak away like this, as well as what kind of question this man had for them in return that he would pause his escape.
“Ask.”
> [Why are you sneaking off like a rat?]
“…I figured they might try to stop me again if they found out what I was looking for.”
> [Alright. What’s your question?]
“How do I conceal Demonic Energy?”
That question was a little unexpected.
> [You have quite the guts. I may tolerate you now, but I’m not exactly friendly toward those possessing Demonic Energy. Or are you asking me this because you know I’m currently unable to kill you?]
“Was that your question in return?”
The Land Turtle gave a deep sigh at the other party’s response.
Well, that mortal had already left behind all his mortal companions for his own goals—at least, according to his own words—so if he were to leave the swamp now, it made sense that he’d want to know how to remain hidden.
> [No, so you don’t have to answer. And to answer your question…]
After debating whether to answer his question or just play dumb, the Land Turtle eventually decided to say what they knew. After all, there wasn’t much of anything in their knowledge that this mortal could make use of.
> [Sealing’s the most common method, right? Of course, you would need sufficient knowledge to perform it, and there’s always the risk of being discovered by those who know how to detect such things.]
“…Any methods besides sealing?”
> [That’s a ‘question,’ isn’t it?]
“Do you have anything to ask?”
> [Your goal. What made you escape from the mortals and sneak away from this place without letting others know?]
At that, the Knight stayed silent for a moment. It seemed he was weighing the opportunity to ask another question by answering this one against the weight of that answer.
“…A way home.”
And.
“I’m looking for a way to return home.”
And it seemed that honesty had won.
It was an answer so different from what they’d expected that they needed some supplementary explanation.
> [That’s a bit too short, don’t you think?]
“…Swear… that you won’t tell anyone.”
> [You’re asking me to swear over something like that…?]
However, with such a puzzling answer followed by such a demand, the Land Turtle couldn’t help but feel curious about the depth of his circumstances. Besides, even if they swore something, it wouldn’t really have any binding power over them. It would just be a verbal promise.
For that reason, the Land Turtle readily agreed. It was a decision they made with a light heart, believing there was no harm in doing so since it was just a verbal promise.
“I’m not this body’s original soul. I got dragged here because the original owner made a contract with a Demon.”
Well, if they’d known that was going to be his answer, they would’ve made damn sure not to get involved in the first place.
The Land Turtle thought back to their past self. A time when they just lazed around, saying, “Whatever that mortal’s circumstances are, it’s none of my business.”
None of my business, my ass! Damn it. Of course it’s my business!!
They suddenly wanted to go back in time and throttle their past self by the neck.
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