WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?

[Translator – Aren]

◈Chapter 294 Something Convincing (10)

「The reason she deliberately stabs and cuts us to inflict pain within this mental world where we cannot die is the same reason she torments you with burning pain while you’re awake. The more worn down the mind becomes, the easier it is to break…and pain is an efficient means of destroying a person’s mind.」

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, saying that normally, he would have stopped it as her watcher, but now that he had lost his power, that no longer meant anything.

「And her essence is flame. While the Concealment of Ignorance was hiding that fact, she probably would have died easily…but now that you’ve learned the truth, she won’t die even if you tear out her heart and blow her entire body apart.」

His eyelids hid eyes older than those of a fallen veteran and more exhausted than those of a homeless beggar on the streets in midwinter.

「And unlike us, that pain means nothing to her.」

“…So, what you’re saying is…”

「…Even if your entire body crumbles apart, even if you burn alive, you cannot allow yourself so much as a moment of drowsiness. The instant you lose consciousness for any reason, she’ll rise without the slightest disturbance, unlike us.」

The eyelids of the one who had endured all of that alone until now looked unbearably heavy.

「…I’m sorry. I really should have remained silent until the end.」

Rumble. Another corner of the world was torn away.

「I really shouldn’t have told you……」

I still couldn’t grasp the weight of what the boy had said, yet the world collapsed without mercy. Boom. The falling fragments began reaching my heart one by one.

“So, that means…”

I forced my creaking mind to work.

Something that would not die even if its heart was torn out and its entire body blown apart.

Something that would take everything from me if I failed to endure my body crumbling, being burned alive, or even a brief moment of sleepiness.

[It means the death of this body can no longer be an answer for you.]

The instant those lines of text reached toward me like a swamp, the sound of dress shoes drew closer.

[Now that the restrictions are gone, most forms of death can’t chew through this body.]

She was approaching me, both hands resting behind her head as though she had no intention of fighting, her white hair swaying softly with every step.

[So, what will you do now? The boy who protected you from pain is gone. Are you confident you can remain conscious until the very end?]

The red light rising between the bones of the goat skull continued to hold my gaze.

[Nine years remain until the contract ends. Without sleeping, without yielding to the burning pain I’ll inflict whenever I please, in a world where everything is trying to kill you. Are you confident you can endure those nine years amid pain that will no longer be concealed, Gretchen?]

「Don’t come any closer!」

The boy gripped his sword and tried to block the Demon’s path. 「I said, don’t come any closer!」 But the Demon did not stop walking.

Thud! Instead, she reached out, grabbed the boy’s blade, and drove it directly into her own abdomen. Blood, ashen fluid, and flames flowed down.

[I am here. I can do it, Gretchen.]

And when the blade had sunk so deeply that its guard touched her abdomen, the Demon looked straight at me with the boy between us. The blood-red light curved into a strange smile.

[I endured 300 years like that in that mire, so I can do it as long as necessary. Unlike you, with the limits of an ordinary human.]

Squelch. The Demon stepped backward again. The movement gouged the wound open even further, yet her expression did not change. Even the portions of her face not hidden by the mask showed no reaction.

Clap. Her gloved hands struck together, laughing in her place.

[That’s right. What was it you said earlier? That it was my fault for exploiting a child and that the one who fell victim wasn’t at fault? But Gretchen, did you know? That child couldn’t even endure 8 full months before making a contract with me.]

For the first time, the black-and-white world shattered. 「…I!」 A voice bordering on a scream pierced the center of the empty world.

[He begged me to let him sleep, to stop tormenting him. Said he would bring someone else to endure it in his place.]

「I……!」

[Up to that point, fine. Let’s say that much was understandable. But Gretchen, at the very least, that child knows exactly how painful that environment is. He knows that the moment he tells you the truth, you’ll be thrown into the same hell he failed to endure.]

「I…….」

The longer she spoke, the more the pitch-black darkness was erased, and the lower the child’s head fell. Was it a favorable exchange? That remained to be seen.

[And yet, even knowing that, the child chose his family over you. Even though you were merely someone dragged into this. Even though the pain you've already endured was more than enough. Even though you miss your family and cry for them just as much as he does! Knowing all that, he pushed you into an even deeper hell to protect his own family.]

「Ah…….」

[Can you truly say that isn’t a sin?]

The other side was clearly giving something to us. But at the same time, she was taking something away. Something far greater.

[Answer me, Gretchen. Can you still say even this is alright?]

Poison spread throughout my body.

Deadly poison.

* * *

After the Demons retreated, the Inquisitor ordered the soldiers to rest for three hours. She wanted to wait for morning, when visibility would improve, and replenish the strength needed to race toward Munmund.

“Endless hunger……”

Thus, Deathbringer decided to use that time to investigate with Daniel why the village had ended up in such a state. They did not need to go far. The people who had opened the gates for them were right there.

“May we ask what happened in more detail?”

However, only a few among them were in good enough condition to offer an explanation.

Deathbringer and Daniel shared a little water with a man who claimed to be a soldier from Munmund and someone named Ticha, then gently coaxed the story out of them.

“Please.”

The two, hesitant at first, finally open their mouths before the symbol of the Order.

“We first sensed something was wrong before dawn yesterday. People were complaining of unusually intense thirst and hunger.”

“Thirst and hunger……”

“Even so, things remained relatively manageable until the morning. But strange behavior began in the afternoon. Several people who were especially hungry devoured all the food in their homes, then started ripping vegetables straight out of the fields and eating them.”

“Even the vegetables in the fields?”

“Yes.”

“…You mean they ate them without even cooking them?"

“That’s correct.”

When Daniel asked again with a trace of bewilderment, the soldier nodded calmly. The man, who for some reason was here rather than in Munmund, was clutching a relatively fresh wound with one hand.

“Then what did you do afterward?”

“Hmm. I think you should hear this part from Ticha rather than me. He was the first to discover it.”

The soldier, who had been leading the conversation like someone accustomed to giving reports, passed the baton to the shadow-faced Ticha, who bit down on his parched lips.

“…At first, I tried to resolve it by talking to them. But they wouldn’t listen to a word I said. Even when I grabbed hold of them and tried to stop them, they kept shaking me off. So I called the soldier over and changed course, deciding to lock them away inside their homes. Forget finding a solution, we had to protect the fields first. But while everyone worked together to confine the crazed people in their houses, more people started pulling up and eating the vegetables.”

“…There was no distinction between old people, young adults, or children when it came to who succumbed to the madness. It got to the point where even one of my fellow soldiers began searching for food without any regard for reason.”

The soldier described how the man’s stomach had become so overfilled that he vomited, yet even then, he continued trying to put more things into his mouth. With every word, their expression twisted further.

“Every time we locked away someone who had lost their senses, another person went mad. While we were locking that person away, another would appear. Someone even fell into the well because they were thirsty… At that point, I decided this couldn’t continue. I suggested that only those still in their right minds remain outside to distribute food, while everyone else waited inside their homes.”

“…Yes.”

“It seemed fairly effective until after midnight.”

And when they reached the final part, both of them closed their eyes, their faces terribly contorted.

“…While patrolling the village for Demons, we heard screams coming from one of the houses where the residents had been confined. So we opened the door to check…and found the residents eating their own bodies. Not just one or two of them. Several."

It was as though a soundless scream could be heard echoing through the air.

“Damn, even if there wasn’t any food left, how does eating your own body make any sense……?”

At last, tears streamed down Ticha’s face.

“Then the reason all of you are here is……”

“…Because we feared that someone might try to eat another person instead of themselves.”

People devouring themselves was already hell, but attacking others would have been an even worse hell. The soldier explained in a trembling voice that they had made this decision to avoid that outcome.

“Of course, since we didn’t know what might happen to us either, we agreed to keep each other gagged.”

The soldier then pointed to the scarves wrapped around his and Ticha’s necks. So that was why everyone had cloth tied around their mouths.

“Um, Priest.”

After they finished explaining everything, several dozen seconds of silence passed. Then, as though he still had something left to say, the soldier cautiously began.

“The fact that I... that I abandoned the villagers……”

The voice that had remained relatively calm throughout the explanation began to shake, and his eyes trembled violently.

The anguish of having been forced to abandon the villagers so coldly. The fear that, now that a priest had heard of it, he might be punished. The terror of the ruined reality around him.

All of it could be felt in the soldier’s trembling.

“Those people’s deaths were not your fault, nor were they yours, Ticha.”

Then the priest’s quiet voice cut cleanly through that trembling.

“R-really? Truly, I, I……”

“I swear in the name of God that you took the best course of action available to you at the time. I guarantee it as an inquisitor. So please, do not torment yourselves over it. Those people did not die because of you. Everyone here is alive thanks to the two of you.”

Perhaps because he was still a priest in a way, his reassurance proved even more effective. Borrowing strength from their faith, the two managed to lighten the burdens they carried. Deathbringer normally found the inquisitor irritating, but at times like this, he had to admit the man was rather useful.

“Hey, priest. This really is……”

“…The curse of a Great Demon. I heard the stories, but Erysichthon truly was somewhere in this area.”

Separately, Deathbringer slipped in another question. When the answer matched his expectations, his brow furrowed.

“How could no one notice a curse spreading this widely?”

“I know this will sound like an excuse, but there was truly nothing we could do about this particular curse. Endless Hunger and Eternal Thirst are not curses cast through sacrifices. They move along with Erysichthon’s domain.”

“Damn it, that’s cheating.”

“…In exchange, it normally never remains in one place for this long. At most, it lasts a day. Usually it only persists for the half-day during which the battle takes place.”

Affecting such a vast area and so many living beings was no easy feat even for a Great Demon. The fact that the North had not already been reduced to ruins was proof enough of that.

If Erysichthon could use this curse freely, it would have simply settled in one place until an entire city collapsed.

“That’s a relief.”

“…Yes. It is.”

“Then why has it lasted for more than 2 days this time?”

“Well……”

However, Daniel could not readily produce an answer to Deathbringer’s latest question. Having never operated in the North, he possessed even fewer clues regarding Erysichthon.

“Perhaps it’s…aiming for something.”

And so he settled on a hypothesis that anyone with a reasonably sharp mind might reach.

“Something worth expending this much effort to obtain.”

“Hmm.”

“Of course, if its goal were merely Munmund, the cost and benefit would not quite add up. There must be something more it’s after…though I can’t say what.”

It was a hypothesis certain Knights had once proposed as well.

“Munmund may be a famous city, but objectively speaking, with two Great Demons already dead, it hardly seems worth risking another life just to bring it down……”

“…Maybe it’s confident it can make it back alive?”

“Perhaps. But even if the Great Demon itself survives, its subordinates will unquestionably be expended. Demons cannot replenish their forces instantly either. Moreover, the Hero is in the East, right? Any ground the Demons gain can likely be retaken the moment the Hero joins the battle. Surely the Demons know that……”

“Then maybe they’re after the ironwall……? No, that doesn't make sense. If they wanted her, wouldn’t a surprise attack be more effective?”

“…Or perhaps, just as Erysichthon came this far in secret, the other one may have slipped south unnoticed as well.”

“So that bastard is bait to lure the Hero? And once she arrives, the two of them attack together?”

“Yes. If they could kill the Hero, they could recover the ground they have lost along the Northern Front as many times as necessary.”

“It’s not completely impossible, but… Could they really pull that off?”

Given the subject, the two temporarily set aside their mutual resentment. “That’s probably not it.” Meister cut into the conversation.

“They don’t even know whether the Hero will come to Munmund. How are two Great Demons supposed to coordinate an attack around that?”

“…Then what do you think caused this whole mess?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Seriously. You don’t know either, yet—”

“But one thing is certain. Concentrating countless personnel in the East, then drawing everyone’s attention toward Munmund once they had nearly gathered there, was exactly the sight they wanted.”

The glasses obscuring his eyes shifted slightly beneath his fingertip.

“You deal in information, yet you still haven’t noticed?”

“……?”

“The timeline was twisted.”

“The timeline? What do you mean by……”

“…Before dawn yesterday.”

At Meister’s words, Deathbringer’s pupils widened unconsciously. His mind raced furiously for a brief instant and found the discrepancy he had overlooked.

“…Erysichthon arrived here before dawn yesterday.”

“Erm, I don’t think I quite understand what you mean……”

“Damn it! Think about the date we departed after hearing that a Great Demon had appeared, and the date Erysichthon actually showed up! You said it yourself earlier. The hunger and thirst afflicting these people move along with Erysichthon!”

“…Ah?”

“We heard about the Great Demon before Erysichthon had even appeared! Most likely as part of a scheme to concentrate personnel here!”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

* * *

[He should have remained silent until the very end. The Concealment of Ignorance was the only thing that could have sent you back with relative ease. Even if he could not properly repay you for your sacrifice, he should at least have made certain you returned home.]

With the poison flowing into my ears, I looked at the back of the child’s round head. The back that stood before me to protect me was slowly collapsing.

[What a selfish child. He abandoned his hometown and family. Someone else was forced into a lifelong separation from their family because of him, yet he pushed that benefactor into hell to protect his surviving blood relatives and sworn brother. Isn’t that utterly shameless?]

Did I pity him?

[Gretchen, you can’t even see your family.]

Or did I hate him?

“…So you have some illness that prevents you from keeping your tongue still for even a moment? Shut up for a bit. I can’t think with you talking.”

Suddenly I remembered the first day I met Sir Richa.

[Why? It’s not like I said anything wrong. One person can never meet their family again, while the one responsible found his own family. You were obviously jealous and furious.]

“I—”

[Gretchen, nothing can be hidden from me when it comes to the emotion of Wrath.]

The thought I had unwittingly entertained back then had now been refined into sentences and recited aloud, so I could not help remembering it.

[This anger is justified.]

Ah, if all the tears and drops of blood I had shed were gathered together, would they form something deeper than what the boy had shed?

“…….”

With the child’s bowed head before me, I repeatedly curled and uncorked my fingers. The lack of sensation in my hands and feet felt pretty damn awful. A white breath escaped my lips.

“I’m not okay.”

「……!」

Let’s admit what had to be admitted. This was definitely not okay.

“Not even a little.”

He had remained silent despite my desperate pleas, only opening his mouth when his own family’s safety was at stake. And because of that, I had been driven into hell. That truly wasn’t okay.

“It isn’t okay.”

But, but……

“…Even so, this isn’t his fault.”

Did the selfishness of the boy’s choice give me the right to be angry with him? I was the one who had placed the safety of those precious to him on the negotiating table. I was clearly the one who had pushed him this far.

Did I really have the right to be angry and ask why he had spoken?

“Loving your family isn’t a sin.”

This had happened because the boy prioritized his family over me. But even if he had prioritized me over his family and remained silent, I would never have held him in high regard either.

[So you’re forgiving him?]

“No.”

So this was simply a tragedy.

“We’ve come too far for forgiveness.”

From the moment I was summoned here, we had always been destined to end up like this.

“So, Fasha.”

「……!」

“When everything is over, apologize to me for this.”

「Ah…….」

“That will be enough.”

Like knitting begun with the first stitch wrong, leaving no choice but to unravel everything and start again, our relationship had to be broken and remade.

“You endured those 8 months well.”

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