WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

[Translator – Aren]

◈Chapter 293 Something Convincing (9)

“You damn—”

Ah, shit, if this were reality, I would’ve hired a lawyer and ruined that goddamn lunatic for pulling this kind of crap on a child.

「I-I’m sorry……」

“This isn’t your fault. Stop apologizing."

I barely suppressed the rage boiling inside me and stopped the boy from apologizing more.

「I-If I had thought it through a little more……」

“Not many people can stay level-headed when their hometown is in danger. And unless you’ve been taught how to deal with someone exploiting loopholes in a contract, it’s hard to defend against.”

Was there anyone born already understanding everything? And even if there were, was this boy one of them?

Absolutely not. The child wasn’t stupid, only ignorant. He wasn’t dull-witted, but he had never been given the chance to learn.

“So stop apologizing. This isn’t your fault. That rotten bastard is the one in the wrong, not you. Never you.”

This was not the boy’s fault. Being born, then growing up without ever being given the opportunity to learn, could never be a child’s sin.

The only people whose ignorance deserved condemnation were those who had the opportunity to learn and refused to do so.

[You’re putting an awful lot of the blame on me… That’s a bit hurtful.]

“You’ve lived that long and still want to swindle a kid? What a waste of all those years, you damn moron.”

[Wouldn’t the foolish one be the person who fell for it?]

“Ah, right. I’m so jealous that you’re smart enough to survive by swindling kids. But you know what? Usually, the people who talk like that blame everyone but themselves the moment they’re the ones who get screwed over. In other words. They’re too stupid to even remember what they said. Wow, I’m sooo jealous.”

[If you’re jealous, why don’t you do it too, Gretchen?]

“Ah, I’m good. I’m the kind of person who can pave my own road with banknotes without scamming pocket money from children and still have enough left to pave someone else’s. Unlike some pathetic loser who can only survive by parasitizing others.”

I did my best to vent the anger rising inside me through words and placed a hand on the child’s shoulder. I had told him not to feel sorry, but he looked as though the weight of his mistake might crush him to death, so I had no choice.

I pulled the trembling child back into my arms.

「I’m…sorry…….」

His ragged breathing no longer made me angry. How thoroughly had that forked tongue deceived you? How much pain had you endured?

If all the tears and blood you had shed while walking here alone were gathered together, how high would they fill this world?

“Don’t apologize. Not until we get rid of that Demon bastard and sort out what you actually did wrong. Until then, don’t apologize for anything.”

Even now, I could not forgive the child. The wounds I had suffered ran too deep for that. Far too deep, enough that even an adult would have struggled to bear them.

“Don’t apologize for things that aren’t your fault. Understand?”

But I would not leave the boy lying in the mire simply because I was hurting.

Wanting to withhold forgiveness was not the same as wishing for his misery, and pity and hatred were emotions that could exist side by side.

“Answer me if you understand.”

「…Y-yes.」

Holding the sobbing child close, I quietly buried my face against the top of his head. I could feel his warmth.

“It’s okay.”

It was a warmth that only barely came into being when two lukewarm things pressed together.

“We’ll be okay.”

And within that warmth, I quietly raised my eyes. Beyond the world breaking apart once more due to the unfulfilled promise, flames were roaring.

[Oh my, will you really be okay?]

And standing straight-backed before those flames was the white-haired Demon.

[Will you truly be okay, Gretchen?]

“…Explain it to me. Start with what I need to hear first.”

If I ever got the chance, I would make that bastard pay for everything she had done. I swore it sincerely.

* * *

“Don’t stop! Keep running!”

At the Inquisitor’s shout, the foaming horse let out a long neigh. Thud! The mace filled with light illuminated the first at night. The bodies of the Demons hiding in the darkness burst and crumpled immediately afterward.

Neeeeigh.

The horse, whose foul temper resembled that of its former owner, suddenly twisted its body like a bucking rodeo bull before lashing out and kicking the head of an approaching Demon.

With a single kick from its hind legs, the spider-like Demon staggered around in a daze.

“Take this, Demon!”

What was newly thrown at the spider Demon was a small earthenware bottle. Crash. The instant the bottle shattered and sprayed its contents, the Demon’s body began to melt, if only slightly.

“Nice! Rude bastard, give me one more!”

“Yeah, because asking me like that really makes me want to give you one, right?”

Though Meister hurled a string of vicious curses hearing Deathbringer’s words, he still obediently handed something over. It was an Arcane bomb he had hastily cobbled together while riding.

Deathbringer might have had less raw strength than Meister, but his skill at hitting targets was far superior. He quickly took it and threw it.

Another Demon screamed as its eyes melted.

Kyaaaargh!

However, the Demons were not approaching from only one direction. Another Demon charged toward Meister, who could not protect himself while making the Arcane bombs.

It seemed to have been turned into a Demon under the influence of Demonic Energy, as traces of its former beastly form still remained.

Slash!

“Not so fast!”

Daniel stepped forward with a shield and longsword gripped tightly in his hands. He urged his horse onward until he reached Meister’s left side, blocked the Demon’s hoof with his shield, then cut its ankle with his longsword and forced it to stumble backward.

“O Thunder!”

The brief opening Daniel created was followed by the Archmage’s spell. Somehow managing to condense Arcane Power even while riding at full speed, the Archmage brought lightning crashing down onto the Demon’s head.

“Damn it. After fighting nothing but Skeletons, dealing with things like these feels strange.”

“Haha, this is hardly becoming of Knights.”

There were also those protecting the Archmage. The Knights and elite soldiers from another city who had joined them while they raced toward Munmund wildly swung their spears and kept the Demons in check.

“Break through!”

However, they never focused on killing the Demons. They knew that the moment they stopped to take down even one, they would be torn apart and killed.

The force, prioritizing their charge over the hunt, raced wildly through the forest.

“3 o’clock! I can see a wall!”

“Oh!! Is it Munmund?!”

“Probably not. We changed direction a little earlier to avoid the Demons, and the time doesn’t match the distance either. It’s too soon for us to have reached Munmund.”

“Hero! What should we do?!”

“…For now, we’ll head there!”

She wanted nothing more than to keep riding all the way to Munmund, but she had to consider the stamina of both the soldiers and their horses. Furthermore, so long as she sensed nothing sinister within the walls, it was undeniably far more advantageous to fight with a wall at their backs than without one.

Having made that judgment, the Inquisitor leading from the front guided everyone toward the walls. The golden light shining brightest in the darkness looked as though a fragment of the sun had been cut away and carried there.

“Open the gates! We are not your enemies! Please, open the gates!!”

Preparing to fall back to the rear, she raised her mace high. Radiance filled with Divine Power spread from the mace, proving her identity.

“…A priest?”

A face cautiously peeked over the top of the wall, which had seemed deserted.

“Please, open the gates!!”

“…Ticha! Prepare to open them!”

“But, soldier. There are Demons behind those people……”

“We’ll all die if we stay like this anyway!”

Whatever had happened there, the blood-soaked people began bustling about. Creeeeak. Soon, the gates opened.

“I’ll remain behind and hold off the Demons, so everyone else, get inside and take your positions!”

“Yes!!”

The Inquisitor, the Hero, signaled her horse after confirming that the gates were opening. The horse, which might have been smarter than a person, gradually slowed and carried her toward the rear.

Its timing perfectly matched the moment the walls opened and the soldiers began entering through them.

“O Lord, grant me strength!!”

After confirming that, the Hero offered a prayer. A golden barrier spread outward from where she stood and enveloped the entire wall. It was a barrier that prevented the Demons from entering.

“Shit, we’re alive……”

While she guarded the rear, the rest of the group hurried inside the walls.

The person who had opened the gate had wisely moved off to the side of the road, so they had no trouble entering without slowing down.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

Of course, that meant some of the fields inside the village were trampled. But they were fields without any vegetables in them anyway. Those who entered first rode well inside before finally stopping, leaving plenty of room for those behind them.

“What in the world……!”

Truthfully, they would have been forced to stop even if there had not been enough room. The sight of the village as they entered was that shocking.

“They’re eating their own flesh……”

Under cover of night, Hunger was creeping in.

* * *

「I don’t know… I don’t know where to begin.」

Trying to explain a broad subject while so overwhelmed that tears were pouring out would be difficult even for a professor who had stood at a lectern dozens of times.

So I called out to the vermin standing some distance away with a displeased glare.

“Hey, Demon.”

[Don’t ask me. The one responsible for giving you answers is the boy, not me.]

“I never said I was asking you for answers. I don’t know anything, and he’s panicking, so I was only going to ask what kinds of questions would be appropriate. Or can’t you even do that? Ah, is your brain simply not capable of offering advice?”

[…That’s rather unexpected, Gretchen. I didn’t know you were capable of speaking quite this viciously.]

I had heard that a lot. Maybe it was because I laughed off most situations. Or because I usually tried to let things pass without getting angry. Whenever I deliberately let my tongue loose, everyone seemed surprised.

But was it really that surprising?

“Maybe it just means you’re that much of a piece of trash.”

The reason I usually tried to swear less was because each word I spoke determined the impression of me engraved in the listener’s mind.

“Courtesy and manners are things you observe in front of beings worth showing them to. Of course, certain oh-so-noble people might remain perfectly proper even before complete trash, but I, for one, have no desire to do that.”

But even that had its limits. There was no reason to treat trash with respect. I didn’t even want to give her the feeling that she was being treated like a person. I displayed my contempt without restraint.

“Anyway, are you saying you’re too stupid to do it?”

[Oh, Gretchen. That ploy is far too obvious. If I provide you with questions, you’ll use them to determine the minimum amount of truth that must be revealed, won’t you? I have no intention of wasting one of my cards for nothing.]

“Ah, so you’re saying you’re too stupid. Got it.”

Damn, she caught me.

I swallowed my disappointment without letting it show and stroked the head of the child, who had mostly calmed down. What could I ask that would fulfill the promise while destroying as little of the world as possible?

“What happens once the entire truth has been conveyed?"

There were so many things I had wanted to ask if I ever came face-to-face with them like this.

「…According to the rules, I’ll become unable to stop the Demon.」

“What exactly do you mean by ‘stop’?”

For now, however, I set aside what I truly wanted to ask. Considering the possibility that the Demon bastard might run wild the moment I heard everything, there were things I needed to prioritize so I could at least prepare countermeasures afterward.

「…For one thing, I’ll no longer be able to confront the Demon the way I did earlier. It won’t become completely impossible for me to fight, but I’ll be placed under so many restrictions that I’ll probably be beaten without managing even a single proper attack.」

“Beaten?”

「I’m bound by contract, so I won’t die.」

The hurried addition was not comforting in the slightest. I narrowed my eyes.

「You also…probably won’t die, according to the terms of the contract. But you can still be attacked like you were earlier. Even more so once I’m no longer able to stop her.」

“Being attacked…Isn’t that something I can avoid by simply not entering this mental world?”

「No… Being attacked doesn’t apply only to this place. It includes times when you’re awake as well.」

Rumble. With every sentence, the world crumbled further.

「The fact that I’ll no longer be able to fight the Demon means some of the functions I put in place to protect you will disappear. For example, your pain sensitivity will return to normal.」

“Ah…….”

So the adjusted pain sensitivity had been a measure intended to protect me. I recalled all the injuries I had suffered until now. If I had been forced to experience every last one of them without any reduction, my mind probably would have been thoroughly wrecked.

「You’ll also begin hearing the Demon’s voice directly. Though it seems she has already been slipping messages to you behind my back……」

“She did buzz around like a fly.”

[…So you were listening, Gretchen?]

“The way you whispered as though the thoughts were my own certainly showed how hard you’d worked that little brain of yours. But you should probably improve your grasp of my character. Though that may be difficult when you lack even the intelligence required for basic empathy.”

At an angle where the child couldn’t see, I raised my middle finger at the Demon, then lightly patted the boy’s head. It meant for him to continue.

「She’ll also try to seize direct control of your body. She’ll frequently inflict burning pain to torment you.」

“…Was that what I’ve been feeling these past few days?”

「…I’m sorry. I failed to stop her properly. I should have kept my head clearer……」

“…I told you not to apologize for things that aren’t your fault. Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault.”

How many people could remain unwavering when confronted with their hometown or family? That would be difficult even for an adult, let alone a child.

I understood why he had faltered. It wasn’t even something that required forgiveness. The fact that he normally prevented that pain meant he had already done everything he could regarding the matter.

“What else?”

「Beside that…she may suddenly release Demonic Energy around you to draw the priests’ hostility.」

“Draw their hostility?”

「…Your body dying completely would be a loss for her as well, but being driven to the brink of death is another matter.」

However, as he explained the second possibility, the boy’s voice gradually grew harder.

「Because the moment you lose consciousness, it becomes easier for her to take your body.」

It was a voice so grave that it contrasted sharply with his youthful form.

_________________________________________________________________________

Join our Discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/wetried