WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

[Translator – Aren]

◈Chapter 283 Tell Me (13)

“Access to the rooftop is strictly prohibited.”

The words came with a soft, almost sarcastic low tone, not harsh enough to be called unpleasant, accompanied by a tap on Gunther’s shoulder.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know that, Tiya?”

“Damn it, I told you not to call me that.”

“Relax your face, or you’ll get wrinkles.”

“You’re the one who started it……!”

A shamelessly sullen expression, as if he was acting like he hadn’t done anything, immediately appeared on the other’s face.

Gunther turned his head, looking at the drooping green eyes framed by brown hair. Hehe. A languid chuckle drifted past from beside him.

“So, did you get another scolding?”

“…That’s none of your business.”

“So you did see the Lord, then. I wasn’t sure, but now I am.”

“…Tsk.”

He had been exposed by that guiding question. Gunther slapped his own forehead.

“Honestly, I don’t see any problems with your grades… Your father’s far too strict.”

“…That man’s always like that. If you’re not in the top three, he won’t even look at you… Did I just give myself away again?”

“Sure did.”

Another slap. That damned bastard. He sure had a talent for acting like he knew everything and for prying information out of him. Truly world-class.

“But I’m not lying. Balancing your duties as the young lord and knight training is no small feat.”

“…Father managed it.”

“And you’re not your father. Just like how I’m not my father.”

And yet, despite that.

“If blood guaranteed that talent was completely inherited, the world wouldn’t be the way it is… So don't take it too hard. The Lord’s just an outlier. You’re not lacking. Even your cousins can’t keep up with him in that regard, Tiya.”

That guy was fully on Gunther’s side. And that brought him some comfort.

“…You’re just as good as your father, though.”

“Me? How?”

Though sometimes… He did make Gunther’s sense of inadequacy flare up. He was a prodigy after all, proving that a wolf begot another wolf and never a dog.

“I know I’m quite good, but I doubt I could ever match my father.”

“You’re the top student.”

“Did you know? Someone who answers 1000 questions correctly and someone who answers 100 correctly both still show up as perfect scorers on the record.”

“So what? You can get a hundred right, but not a thousand?”

“That’s about it.”

Gunther thought otherwise. He knew he would probably be able to get all thousand correct.

But he didn’t say it out loud. Praising that guy would only strengthen the line of thought that a son could do just as well as his father.

And Gunther absolutely refused to acknowledge the label ‘failure’ his father liked to use when describing him.

“Enough of this. Let’s go home. Just sitting here and whining isn’t going to make you feel better.”

“…I don’t want to go home.”

“Oh… I’ll make sure to tell Pasha and Rinya that their brother Tiya won’t be coming back anymore.”

“Ah, damn it. I mean, I don’t want to go back to the castle! Not your house!”

“Since when was the castle ever your home?”

It had been ever since the day he was born. Gunther swallowed those words back down.

“Let’s go home.”

The kindness he was showing him right now was almost too sweet. Yes, that castle had never been his home. His place, which he considered his real home, was actually……

“Ah, Tiya. By the way, tonight’s dinner is—”

“Tomato stew and roasted rabbit. And the two of you are in violation of the school rules. I’ll make sure to report this to the instructor.”

“That would be troubling. I only came in to console a classmate who was feeling down, Alya. If anyone deserves to get demerits, it should be Tiya.”

“I perfectly observed your betrayal of said classmate. I’ll make sure to report that statement as well.”

“Oh……”

“Additionally, I distinctly remember Senior Gunya quite openly telling you that you weren’t to call him Tiya.”

“It’s just a little joke between friends.”

“Given that every year there’s at least one case of these types of ‘jokes’ escalating into violence or bullying, that statement seems highly questionable to me.”

“That’s not it……”

In fact, they were his real home. “Pffft.” A suppressed laugh leaked out of him.

“Tiya… Do you enjoy seeing me be tortured like that? This betrayal– urgh!”

“Senior, I apologize on this idiot’s behalf. Or would you like me to hit him again?”

“…Yeah! Just one more time!”

“Wait, Gunya. I was only teasing you a little, seriously— Aargh! Alya, you’re breaking my bones! My bones!”

“Grit your teeth, you idiot.”

“We’re still in school— Aaargh!!”

Gunther watched while maintaining the strict demeanor of a senior, which made him an absolute in this school ruled by class hierarchy and seniority, but that soon melted away as well, revealing nothing more than familial affection for this one-year-younger little sister.

“If this bastard ever teases you again, please let me know, Senior. I’ll educate him properly.”

“A-Alya, I’m your older brother……”

“And so what? Just die.”

“How cruel……”

He loved this feeling. Being caught between those fierce siblings, arms draped over both of their shoulders. It felt like sinking into the warmth of a family’s embrace.

“That’s enough, Alya. You can stop now.”

“…You shouldn’t go easy on him.”

“It’s fine. You know he never actually crosses the line.”

“That may be true, but… he keeps calling you a nickname you hate. If I beat him just a little more, I believe he’ll stop.”

“…I’m pretty sure you bruised him enough, though?”

Taking a hit from someone who swung a mace one-handed, and occasionally even a morning star in the other, was bound to leave some marks. And honestly, considering his usual behavior, Gunther didn’t really feel any pity.

So he just ignored that whining brat and turned to the other person instead.

“Let’s go home, Alice.”

“Yes. Let’s go home, brother Gunther.”

“You two really are the worst……”

“Shut up, idiot Arthur.”

“Aliiiiiiiiice.”

It was time to go home.

.

.

.

“Psha, Rinya… I’m back……”

Gunther mumbled in his sleep, then opened his eyes at the chill and hunger gnawing at him. What met his gaze was heavy and unbroken darkness, with not a single light around.

“Ah……”

This was his reality. The warmth of that dream was completely swept away by the cold rising from the stone beneath him.

“…Damn it.”

He curled up as he shivered from the bitter cold, burying his head in his knees. The shadows seemed to flicker with the shapes of children running toward him, calling him ‘Brother, brother.’

“If only I’d woken up a little later.”

Then he could have tousled the head of the boy who came sprinting toward him. He could have picked up the little baby toddling toward him with those tiny feet, spinning her around once in his arms.

But he had to wake up just before he even heard their laughter.

“Clueless as always……”

Tap, tap.

“……?”

But his irritation didn't last long. Gunther narrowed his eyes at the slight light spreading down the corridor.

“Is it already time for my execution?”

“…How could that be?”

It hadn’t felt like he had slept all too long, but seeing that someone had come to see him, it meant morning had arrived at the very least. And morning meant it was time for his trial or execution.

“Then what? They’re going to bother with a trial just because I was once the young lord?”

“…Young Master.”

“If that’s it, tell them to just forget about it. Gathering people for something like that is nothing but a waste of manpower.”

“…It’s neither a trial nor an execution. I’ve come to release you by the order of the Lord.”

All the guesses he had deemed reasonable had been completely wrong. The Knight had come for the one reason he hadn’t even considered: to free him.

“Why?”

But why, though?

“Father’s not the type to let me go just because I’m his son.”

“Young Master……”

“Or what? Are you betraying him? Or is the Lord suddenly on his deathbed? Oh, wait. Did the old man have a dream about Mother last night? Did she scold him, saying something like, ‘That’s you son, raise him properly’?”

No matter how he thought about it, Gunther simply couldn’t fathom why the Lord had ordered for his release. As such, he kept on asking questions in his confusion.

However, each question he asked seemed to carve a deeper crack in the face of the Sapphire Knight, dimly lit by the torch he carried.

“…Does it not occur to you that you might be released because your innocence was proven?”

“There’s no way that man would ever bother to investigate something like that.”

If he were the sort of man to check such things, Gunther wouldn’t have been thrown into a cell to begin with. As such, it was absolutely impossible that he was getting released because he was found innocent. There was just no way.

“…I went to the Lord and spoke on your behalf.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered. I wouldn’t have cared even if I died.”

“Young Master.”

“Still, thank you. I never thought you’d go that far for me.”

As he had expected, it hadn’t been the Lord who investigated and decided on this matter. That man would have written it off as a trivial misunderstanding about someone worthless, not giving it even a second thought.

“So then, what do I do now?”

“…You’ve been summoned to the city walls.”

“I see.”

At least he had enjoyed a proper education for twenty-eight years. If they kept him alive, it would be because they were planning to make use of him somehow.

Thinking like that, Gunther felt no particular surprise at the order to come up to the battlements. It was just the sort of thing that man would make him do.

“And… Please eat. You haven’t had anything, right?”

“Where did you get this?”

The Lord, who never hesitated to pile more work on him even though he was already buried in tasks, wouldn’t suddenly have gone out of his way to send him food. That meant these rations had to have been taken from someone else’s share……

“Are those actually yours?”

“…Please eat.”

“Hah, you should eat that yourself. You’re a head Knight, so you should keep your strength up at all times……”

“I’ll be fine, so please eat.”

Gunther thought Sir Sapphire was being quite foolish, but he didn’t dare to refuse a second time, seeing how firm he was.

And on another note, he really was starving. The smell of food was so strong he almost wanted to chew through the pouch itself.

“What a waste.”

He quenched his thirst with the thin, watery wine and bit into the hard bread. Since he had only brought things that he could stuff into a pouch, there was no soup to soak it in. But it was still delicious. Hunger made anything taste good.

“Is that why you came in person?”

“…I am your Knight, Young Master.”

“You’re his Knight before mine. You know this will only earn his ire, so why did you do it?”

But the sweetness didn’t last long. The black bread, hardly bigger than his palm, was gone in an instant, leaving only crumbs. And he was still hungry.

“That damn Erysichthon’s curse really is vicious.”

How could he feel his stomach briefly be satisfied only for his mind to be overrun with the thought of wanting more? A curse remarkable in the worst way.

With such thoughts running through his mind, Gunther licked the crumbs from his fingers. For a moment, the thought that he might be able to alleviate his hunger by eating his own hand crossed his mind.

“…I feel like someone’s bound to start getting strange ideas the longer this curse lasts.”

“Pardon?”

“Like trying to devour their own body, or perhaps someone else’s. We’ll have to watch out for that.”

Even he, trained in knightly discipline and patience, was having such thoughts. How much worse was it for the civilians? And what kind of monsters were the northerners, to endure this for centuries?

Gunther furrowed his brow as he stepped on the steps leading up to the city wall.

Ding– Ding– Ding–

At the same time, the alarm bells rang out, warning of the Demons’ suspicious movements. Startled, Gunther’s and the head Knight’s legs carried them faster up the stone steps.

“Where is the Lord–”

And just as they reached the top of the battlements, just as the rising sun dyed the western sky in pale violet hues that filled their vision.

He saw the Lord, his father.

“I knew I could never become the foundation of this city. But I never thought I’d be treated like an outcast.”

Standing beside him was Dame Emerald.

“It’s disgraceful, truly.”

Slash!

An amber-colored blade cut across the Lord’s throat.

* * *

“Hmm……”

“Are you awake?”

“…Ah, yes.”

After the one who had claimed to be Atya’s friend, who, according to the soldiers, was the Young Lord of Munmund, had left, I had spent the night pondering over what he had said.

“You’ve woken rather early.”

“I’m not much of a sleeper……”

Of course, that didn’t mean I had really stayed up all night thinking. I felt like staying up for too long might appear suspicious in the eyes of the guard.

And the guard I had barely managed to build some sort of rapport with had rotated out at midnight. With a new one whose disposition I didn’t know, I wasn’t about to take any chances.

“Would it be possible to open the window?”

Instead, I tried to prod at him a little, pretending like I had simply woken up early. The dim light streaming through the window cast a muted glow across the soldier’s stern face.

He seemed a lot stricter than the one before.

“I’ll open it for you.”

Still, he granted my request. They were so wary of me, because I was supposed to be a wizard, that they did even the simplest tasks for me. It was an uncomfortable kind of luxury, but regardless, I got what I wanted.

The cool morning air spilled in through the open window. The sky, not yet bright with dawn, was a deep bluish-black.

“Refreshing……”

The air had just the right temperature. Not too cold, but just enough to chase away the last bit of hazy drowsiness. My head, dulled by cycles of sleeping and thinking, cleared up.

“What time is it now?”

Without leaving the bed, I sat up straight as I asked quietly. The soldier, having opened the window and returning to his post, hesitated.

“The sun will rise soon.”

That wasn’t really what I was trying to ask about… So I corrected my words as I smoothed the strands of hair that had fallen across my forehead and temples.

“When will the morning rations be distributed……?”

I usually didn’t have such a big appetite, but perhaps because I stayed up all night, my stomach was grumbling and my throat felt parched.

In the former case I could rely on my inventory, but in the latter case, I didn’t have enough left in there, so if I didn’t receive any rations, there was no way to solve this problem. Which was why the timing of the morning rations distribution was so important to me.

“The soldiers are fed once the sun is up. You should be able to receive your portion then as well, Sir Wizard.”

That was a relief. The reassurance that it wouldn’t be long made me slightly squirm under the blanket. I wasn’t fully stretching, but after lying down for such a long time, I couldn’t resist moving a little to chase away the stiffness.

The soldier, who had been quite wary at first, noticed what I was trying to do, at which he relaxed.

“Excuse me……”

It seemed that now was the perfect time for me to probe a bit more. With a neutral tone and a peaceful expression, I asked something that held quite some significance to me.

“Could I hear any news about Sir Richa?”

After my conversation yesterday with the Young Lord, I had concluded that there wasn’t much more I could get out of him.

Partly because his knowledge stopped at the time of that family’s disappearance, but also because his station was simply far too high up.

“I heard he was receiving treatment, but I haven’t been told of his progress after that……”

More precisely, I thought he might open up if I asked, but setting the stage for that conversation would be far too difficult. He was the Young Lord after all, and I also had to take the current situation into consideration.

“…I also have something to return to him. But I suppose that’s not possible, is it?”

“…No. Passing along an item wouldn’t be permitted. But I may be able to pass you some news after my watch ends, if the situation allows it.”

So, it seemed even targeting Sir Richa, who said that Atya was his nephew, wasn’t going to work out… If even simple item delivery was prohibited, then meeting him was completely off the table. That meant I was pretty much stuck.

“I see… Thank you for telling me.”

However, this problem didn’t block my path forward completely. From what I had found out yesterday, the information I could gain here in Munmund was the sort that would be nice to have but not strictly necessary.

“…Would it be alright if I stand by the window and look out?”

“Please don’t get too close to it.”

“Yes.”

After all, what good would it do me to learn information about the real Demon Knight’s family? If they really were all dead, then I had nothing to bargain with anyway.

Even if I dug into what happy days the Demon Knight had once lived, it wouldn’t bring me closer to clues about what deal he’d struck with that Demon, or how I ended up getting summoned into this world.

No, the only useful thing here might be this……

Ding– Ding– Ding–

…The fact that this city was under threat.

I watched the alarm bells ringing across the whole city, the soldier’s face stiffening, and the battlements beyond the windows bustling, while inside me, the heat that had quieted for a moment flared back to life.

‘What will you do now?’

Even faced with your homeland’s crisis, will you stay silent?

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