WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

[Translator – Aren]

◈Chapter 272 Tell Me (2)

At the last village I passed through. I had been told, ‘A few more days and you’ll reach Munmund.’

Following what one could barely call a road, I really did come across some walls on the third day. They were too solid to belong to a mere village and yet too low to really be a city’s wall.

“I don’t remember hearing there was another village on the way……”

But there was no need to be confused. Assumptions like ‘These walls are far too strong for a village’ only applied to regions where Demons rarely appeared.

After all, just because a stone wall or a wooden barricade could stop people from climbing over it, did anyone really think it would stop a Demon? Stone walls were usually short, and wooden barricades, being what they were, were quite flimsy.

“Traveler?”

So this was indeed a village. One that had simply fortified its outer walls to last against Demons slipping out of the Demonic Realm.

While they had solid walls, they didn’t have any formally trained soldiers.

“Ah, yes! But could this be Munmund by any chance?”

“What? Haha. Of course not! This is Behen! We’ve got a village chief here, not a Lord.”

“Ah… So this isn’t a city?”

“That’s right. You’ll need to go farther to reach Munmund.”

And there was proof to support my thoughts. For example, look at that sentry peeking his head out over there. He wasn’t even wearing leather armor, just plain clothes.

“May I ask about how much further I would have to go?”

“Hrm, to Munmund? If it’s the travel time you’re asking about… If you take some shortcuts, about a day. If you stick to the main road like you are now, usually about three.”

“Shortcuts…? There are shortcuts?”

“Yeah, of course. But it runs through the mountains, so it’s pretty easy to get lost if you’re not a local.”

The friendly Q&A continued like that.

He spoke as if it were nothing important, but if he’d had the slightest bit of formal training, he wouldn’t have acted like that. He would have been more cautious and might have asked why I was here or what my name was first.

That was what a guard was supposed to do.

“Besides, that pass sometimes has Demons from the Demonic Realm popping up… With how active the Demons are lately, nobody’s been going through it at all. So it would be better if you just stuck to the main road. Not that the main road’s completely safe either.”

But he didn’t think of any of that and just kept chattering. Simply put, he was more of an ordinary civilian with a weapon than an actual soldier.

“Are the Demons really that active?”

“…Hmm, well. By the way, haven’t you heard any other news?”

“Other news……?”

“I heard that the merchant caravan heading for Munmund disappeared without a trace.”

“…That’s news to me.”

“It happened four days ago.”

“…It seems like I missed it. I probably set out before word about this incident spread.”

“…I suppose so.”

That the sentry of this village was closer to being a civilian than a soldier might be quite the misfortune for this village. Someone like that was much more likely to make a catastrophic mistake.

However, for me personally, it was a rather fortunate fact.

“Hmmm. If there are Demons appearing frequently up ahead… Then, hm. Is there somewhere in the village where I could rest?”

“You want to rest here? Well, I guess sleeping out in the open would be rough. But our village doesn’t have an inn.”

“I’ll leave again first thing in the morning. It’s just one night. Would that be alright?”

“Hm… Hmm. Hold on a bit. I need to check whether you’re carrying anything dangerous first.”

“Okay.”

That much was only natural. Getting questioned by a properly trained soldier was always a real pain for me. Sometimes when they slip some sharp questions in, my head would throb just trying to come up with a convincing excuse.

“…Oh.”

“Is something the matter?”

“No, no, it’s nothing. You’re just taller than I expected……”

“……”

“Anyway, first hand me your bag. I’ll check it right in front of you, so don’t worry about anything being stolen.”

“I wasn’t really worried about that.”

Compared to the usual inspections, this sloppy one was quite the blessing. With my permission, he took my bag and opened it.

“Huh? This is it? You came all this way here with just this little?”

“Haha……”

“You don’t even have a weapon in there… And why is there another bag inside the bag? Anyway, it’s amazing that you even got this far. Forget Demons, even one wild beast could have killed you if you were unlucky.”

Of course, all the important things were stored in my inventory—not in that bag, but in my subspace bracelet—so there wasn’t really anything much for him to see. His eyes were filled with pity and bafflement at my bare belongings.

“Hey, don’t tell me… You’re some noble who ran away from home, right……?”

“How could I be a noble? Why would you think that……?”

“Well, looking at you up close, your skin’s pretty fair, and you’ve got a jewel in your ear… and you don’t even know how to pack properly for a journey……”

Well… I guess it was understandable for him to misunderstand.

I suddenly thought back to the other towns I had passed through. At the checkpoints, soldiers often looked at me like I was some spoiled little kid. Maybe they had similar thoughts like this guy?

“…I just happened to inherit a bit of money, that’s all.”

“So you are some rich family’s young master……”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I just have enough to take care of myself.”

“Right, whatever, young master.”

“I told you, I’m not though……”

Yeah, I guess that would explain it. I scratched my head, thinking, ‘No wonder those checkpoints felt surprisingly easy to pass through.’

Rustle. Like that, my bag that had been thoroughly rummaged through was returned to me.

“Alright, I checked through it. Your big frame had me a bit worried, but it turns out you’re someone who lives up to his face and not his body type.”

“Live up to my face……?”

“You look gentle is what I mean.”

Well… I guess my expression is more on the plain side these days.

As I responded awkwardly, the guard grinned. Tap. He nudged my arm with his elbow, showing just how easygoing he was.

“Come on in, come on in! Our village doesn’t have much, so it’ll probably look quite shabby to a young master like you.”

“I said I’m not a young master……”

For some reason, I had this feeling that I’d be treated like this the whole time I stayed here. Was that really okay?

While I was still thinking about that, the guard slipped through the half-opened gate.

“If you don’t hurry up, I’m closing it, you know?”

“W-wait a second.”

Well, at least he wasn’t mocking me or treating me like some pushover, so it should be fine. I followed him into the village. Clank. The gate immediately closed behind me when I stepped inside.

“Unngh.”

The inner lock was an old-fashioned one. A heavy plank running across the middle of the gate. Locking the gate properly alone without help seemed to require quite a bit of strength.

“Alright, come with me!”

“Huh?”

“What’s with that face? You thought I’d just leave you to wander through the village all alone?”

“No, I mean… Shouldn’t you stay at your post……?”

“No one ever comes here anyway. Besides, if I let you go off on your own and something happens, what then?”

The guard chuckled.

“How funny. You’ve just arrived here today, and yet you sound more worried about this village than me, who’s lived here for more than twenty years.”

I had nothing to say to that. All I could do was rub the back of my neck awkwardly.

“If you’re that worried… Hey! Misha! Watch the wall for me for a bit!”

“All of a sudden?”

“We have an outsider here, so I need to show him around.”

“Huh… An outsider!?”

At the guard’s call, a boy came running. A Middle boy, barely up to my chest, with silver-gray eyes that were startlingly pretty.

“Whoa. He really is an outsider. But you sure are tall!”

“Kehehe. That’s a height you’ll never reach if you keep refusing to drink milk, Misha.”

“That’s not true! I’m gonna get that tall as well! I can grow without any stupid milk!”

“Oh, really now?”

The guard chuckled again at the boy’s shout, carrying a clear ‘Oho, is that so?’ with it. The boy’s eyes spun, showing how flustered he was.

“I can grow without milk… I really can……”

“We’ll see. Go ahead and try, but don’t come crying when you stay that short.”

“U-urgh……”

He obviously was a picky eater. I watched the boy’s eyes dart around nervously and slipped my hand into my pocket.

Ah, I had no candy left. Since the one I wanted to give it to wasn’t by my side anymore, I hadn’t bought any more. That realization made my fingers freeze in place for a moment.

“Um, Mister.”

“…Huh?”

“Did you drink milk……?”

At that moment, the boy tugged at my sleeves with a sulky pout. It was so adorable that I instinctively covered my mouth. The guard beside me was already clutching his stomach, trying not to let out a laugh.

“…Of course. I drank a lot of milk when I was your age.”

“Really……?”

“Yeah.”

“Then if I drink milk, will I grow as tall as you are, Mister?”

“…If you’re lucky, maybe?”

Actually, my height would be considered very tall even by Earth standards… For a Middle, whose average height probably didn’t even hit 170 cm, it would be nearly impossible to reach.

Still, I gave him a vaguely positive answer. I had no intention of forcing him to eat or drink things he hated, but encouraging him a little like that seemed harmless enough to me.

Especially in this era, when distribution was so poor that food options were severely limited. All the more reason to make him eat when he still could……

“But that doesn’t mean you should drink it until you get sick. You have to eat other things too, not just drink milk.”

“Okay!”

I scraped together what little I knew and tried to give him some advice before softening my eyes and smiling at the boy. He smiled back at me before dashing off toward the wall, saying, “So I just have to watch the wall, right?!”

“You’re smart, young master.”

“Like I said, I’m not a young master……”

Watching the guard laugh at my half-hearted protest, I let out a soft sigh. It wasn’t as if he was serious, only doing it to tease me since my reactions seemed to amuse him, so I didn’t really mind all that much.

These kinds of casual conversations never seemed to get old. As simple as they were, I enjoyed them.

“Anyway, come on inside. There’s no inn, but… I’m sure someone will lend you a room.”

“Haha……”

“And if not, you can just sleep at my house. My family won’t mind.”

“I’d be grateful if that’s alright, but… are you sure?”

“Of course! Oh, right, my name’s Til. Ticha, Tisha, Tasha, call me whatever you want.”

“Ah, Erm. Tisha then?”

“Yep. That works.”

I followed Tisha deeper into the village. A row of houses came into view first, followed by fields spread between them. These weren’t the only fields, of course. The slash-and-burn fields I had seen outside the wall were probably part of their farmland as well.

“Hmm. It doesn’t seem like you have a temple here.”

“Ah, yeah. It’s just a small village after all.”

If there was no temple, maybe I could spend the night here without having to keep up my Disguise skill. The coloring I had put over my brows with Disguise active would stay for quite some time even if I deactivated the skill, so as long as there was no priest around, it should be fine.

I pulled down my sleeves that were already covering the backs of my hands, then asked.

“And no one here can use Divine Power either?”

“Pffft, of course not.”

Click. With a sound that only I could hear, my constantly draining condition slowly returned. While I still felt some anxiety of being caught, it was quickly replaced by the comfort seeping into my body.

“But why do you ask?”

“Oh, I just thought I’d offer a prayer for safety before leaving. If there isn’t anyone here, I’ll just do it silently in my mind.”

“Hehe. That should be enough. I’m sure God will hear it.”

I wonder if that was true. I probably was the one God wanted dead the most.

I pondered over that for some time before simply smiling.

“Ah, right. I’ve been meaning to ask this earlier, but how’d you even find our village?”

“I just followed the road here……”

“Huh, the road?”

“Is there a problem?”

“How’d you even know to come this way? Even our villagers get confused about the path sometimes.”

“Huh……?”

What did he say just now?

I was quite taken aback by Tisha’s words. Then I quickly explained the route I had taken. If that wasn’t a road, then what was it? It didn’t really look much like one, but still. I laid all of that out in my explanation.

“Aah, I see. You were supposed to keep going straight from that rock, but you must have gotten turned around there.”

“……”

“Well, that’s a relief at least. If you had kept on going that way, you would have ended up at Munmund eventually, but the situation isn’t the best right now.”

Oh well. Whether I went there immediately or stayed a night here before heading out, the main road’s safety wouldn’t change much.

But I swallowed that thought after rolling it around on my tongue for a little. From my perspective, stopping in this village was far better than spending six days camping under the open sky. And about the roads not being that safe… Well, it was better to be warned of possible trouble than to get ambushed unprepared.

“Here we are. That’s the village chief’s house.”

“Is it really alright to ask him this favor?”

“Since his is the biggest house in the village, there’s bound to be an empty room or two in there. Even if not, I should still report to him that I brought in an outsider.”

“Ah, I see.”

I understood where Tisha was coming from. No matter how small the village, it was always wise to report things like that to the leader—whether elected or otherwise.

“However… Now might not be the best time.”

“Huh?”

“It looks like something’s happened.”

“What??”

But even that could be quite challenging under certain circumstances. I realized that my senses that I had relaxed the moment I had entered the village were now clamoring again, making me raise my finger again unconsciously.

The place that I assumed to be the village chief’s house was crowded with people.

“Huh! Huuh?!”

Tisha let out a panicked cry and ran forward. I ran after him. It wasn’t for any particular reason, but staying behind like this without a single person with me might make me look suspicious.

“Chief! What’s going on?!”

“Oh, Tisha. Good timing. A bunch of injured people have just been brought in……”

And then I saw them. Three people groaning in pain covered in various wounds.

The heavy smell of blood made me crease my brows, and my gaze naturally swept across their injuries. I still had some medicinal herbs left from the Great Forest. I figured I should look up how much I had and see what I could spare.

“……?”

But then, my eyes locked with someone, while I clutched my arm.

“Atya?”

Crack.

My arm, or maybe my entire body. Even beneath the surface of my skin…

Was beginning to burn.

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