WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

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

[Translator – Aren]

◈ Chapter 299 Proof (4)

I moved my tongue, my throat suddenly feeling rough and scratchy.

"...Inquisitor.”

The title, one that felt as though I hadn’t spoken it in a long time, or perhaps had never once said aloud, rolled across my tongue like a spiked ball.

[She’ll kill you as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Of course she will. Why would the Hero let you live?]

Had I hesitated for a moment after being pricked by those spikes? The Demon answered smoothly. The mask fashioned from a goat’s skull smiled without any curve to its mouth.

[You didn't just blow away half a city. You also have a prison break on your record.]

"...You were the one who did the first one."

[True. But does that matter? The damage was far too great for anyone to stop and sort out the cause before assigning responsibility.]

The problem was that every word she spoke was grounded in truth. Not everything she said was entirely correct, but neither could I completely deny it.

[Of course, the Hero did regard you as someone special. Admiration for your strength, the bonds that had awkwardly built up between you, trust forged over time, a chivalrous desire to save you… She really did follow you with unusual devotion.]

[But do those feelings still exist now? Hm?] 

I couldn’t think of a single thing to say in response. It couldn’t be helped. I was no longer more certain than she was about how the Inquisitor would act.

[The Hero may be naive, but she isn’t stupid. By now, she must have realized that the strength she admired was actually something seeped in self-loathing and abuse.]

"...She."

[And the bonds and trust you accumulated throughout your journey practically came crashing down the moment you broke out of prison. Sure, fragments probably remain, but who knows? Isn’t that far too uncertain a thing to stake your life on?]

"She…would try to save me until the very end.”

[Oh, really? You truly believe that?]

"Yeah."

No, not really. I did have some confidence in predicting what she would choose. She would definitely try to save me, to save the ‘Demon Knight.'

[That’s right. She’ll try to save you. But you know this already, Gretchen.]

She would definitely try to save me.

[You were the one who kept saying that death was the only salvation.]

I simply couldn’t be certain that saving me would mean keeping me alive.

That was the problem. I had no way of knowing how the Inquisior’s thoughts had changed while I was gone.

Would she still suggest that we try imagining a future for me? Or would she accept the ‘Demon Knight’s best possible outcome’ that I had been acting out all this time? I had absolutely no idea.

[Being too good at acting causes problems too, doesn’t it?]

Still gripping the violently trembling Ratel, I felt my fingers stiffen. Thud, thud. Even now, Behemoth’s entire body shook as it thundered across the earth.

[Fortunately, we have no reason to stay with the Hero. What matters is surviving nine years, not killing Satan. Right?]

"...That’s true."

[Then just leave this one alone and go. If you get down now and take a wide detour, the Hero won’t catch you either. Just disappear again, like you’ve been doing for the past few weeks.]

...Ah, shit. Now I understood why that kid had been played by this bastard.

I glared uselessly at Ratel as I listened to words that felt like a trap and yet sounded so damn convincing. It felt like holding an apple that looked bright red and ripe from the outside but was actually rotten.

「If the reason you’re hesitating is because of me.」

But before I could take a bite, a voice flowed into my ear.

「Please don’t. You don’t need to.」

Something silently appeared on my forearm immediately afterward.

The boy I had seen in the mental world clung to my forearm at one-sixteenth his actual size.

「I’ve already prepared myself to fall into Hell. Long before now, on the day I decided to make a contract with the Demon.」

"But........"

「You’re a kind person. I’m truly grateful that you’re thinking of me. But I really am alright.」

When I raised my forearm for him, the boy released his grip and stood upright. Standing upon my arm as though it were the ground, the boy wore the faintest gentle smile.

「Please do what is right. Enough people have already been killed by this Great Demon.」

The apple in my hand was finally thrown away.

* * *

Having purified the entirety of the wall, she still had a little strength remaining and looked beyond the Demonic territory. Rumble. It was around then that the fleeing monster’s legs buckled.

"U-uugh.”

She slowly sensed the shape of the Demonic Energy turning the monster’s brain into mush. Given the distance and fact that it was happening inside the beast, there was nothing she could actually see, but that posed little problem. Her body, filled with divine power, could perceive with extraordinary precision the Demonic Energy that was its absolute antithesis.

Thanks to that, she could tell how repulsively it blazed and how ravenous it consumed. Demonic flame. No other flowery description was necessary.

"The Demon…The Demon fell……”

"Th-the Demon……”

But those incapable of sensing what she did simply rejoiced at the Demon’s fall. They cheered because that enormous calamity, the beast that had left wounds upon them that could never be erased, had collapsed as though it were dying.

"It’s Sir Amber……”

Or perhaps they had guessed why the Demon had stopped and raised their voices.

“Sir Amber did it.”

After all, they had seen someone clinging relentlessly to the enormous Demon until the very end, keeping that flame burning. If asked what had caused the Demon to suddenly collapse, they knew who would be the first person to come to mind.

"Sir Amber did it!”

So how could they possibly keep themselves from crying out that name?

"Sir Amber brought victory to Munmund!!”

But someday, their expectations would be betrayed. She didn’t know who Sir Amber truly was, but at the very least, the person they were searching for could not possibly be the Demon’s vessel.

"Munmund won!!!”

As someone who knew that truth, the Hero felt desolate. Thud. Stones seemed to fall inside her chest, beginning to bury her heart.

"Ironwall, ironwall.”

Actually…she actually had hoped they would never meet again. There were certain things she wanted to ask him, but even so, she hoped there would never come a day when they crossed paths again.

"Ironwall, what in the world is going on……?!”

Because if they met again, she would undoubtedly have to make a choice.

"...Ironwall."

But fate was cruel, and trials were merciless.

The Hero quietly recalled the command of the being she worshiped. 『Kill the one who has lost their way.』She repeated the command that she, as God’s representative, couldn’t refuse.

At that, the heart buried beneath the stones stopped beating.

"Are you really going to kill him?”

"What else would I do?"

No, perhaps it hadn’t stopped completely. “The Great Temple may be in danger.” Yet she had already turned her back on the place where she began under the convenient excuse that ‘There was nothing she could do.’

She had come too far to suddenly start panicking and flailing over the life of a single person.

"It’s him we’re talking about! No one else!”

"So?”

That was precisely, why it had to be done.

She dropped yet another stone atop the pile that had become a grave. The stone bearing the names of faith and greater cause was so heavy and enormous that it completely smothered whatever faint heartbeat might remain. Now she could neither laugh nor cry.

"I am the Hero."

Ah. Would there ever come a day when she could regard this moment as peace? As tranquility?

"That’s why I have to do it."

...Probably not. But she would have to accept it. Because that was the duty she carried.

"So after all this, you’re really going to—!

"Were you the one who erected the wall, eliminated the insects, and healed the people?”

The Hero withdrew her gaze from the person shouting angrily at her. Instead, she looked toward the person who had come running up to her, panting heavily.

The first thing that caught her eye was his leg, whether it had been severed by a Demon or devoured by insects, she couldn’t tell. The second was his bloodstained dark-blue hair and pale cheeks.

"Thank you for your aid. Had it not been for you, this city, this place……”

With his bloodless face, he bowed deeply to her. His swaying body nearly toppled over, but the knight standing beside him caught him. A fine fish remained a fine fish even when spoiled. Despite having a broken arm, the Knight still supported another person with impressive ease.

"If it wouldn't be too much to ask, might I request a little more assistance? I know I have no right to impose—”

"I apologize, but I still have something left to do.”

But she couldn’t grant every request merely because someone stubbornly pleaded with her despite being in no condition to do so.

The curse of hunger and thirst had already been lifted, and the filthy insects Erysichthon had unleashed had crumbled to ash the moment the divine power swept through them. That made the city difficult to consider the immediate priority.

"Is that so……?”

"Then, if you have a request, please tell the others who will arrive after us. Since they have come as reinforcements, they will provide as much assistance as they are able.”

Aside from that, what remained would probably amount to tending to the wounded soldiers and comforting the residents who had suffered under the curse for some time. But neither of those two tasks was something that specifically required her presence. Others could handle them as well.

Therefore, the place where she was needed immediately… The thing that only she could do……

"Do you have a rope?”

She stared toward the horizon. The beast, whose enormous size made it difficult to gauge the distance separating them, still carried blazing Demonic Energy along one side of its body.

And it wasn’t the beast’s Demonic Energy, but rather that of the being who had killed the beast.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a rope. Do you have anything I could use to get down there?”

However, the Demonic Energy that had once been so overwhelming was now rapidly dwindling, as though it had never been powerful in the first place. She couldn’t tell whether its strength had run out or whether it was preparing to flee.

"...Why do you need that?”

"If you don’t have one, never mind.”

If it was the former, that would be a relief, but if it was the latter, she couldn’t simply stand by and watch. She had to reach that place before the Demonic Energy escaped. Even if doing so meant coming face-to-face with someone she wanted to see, yet didn’t want to see.

The Hero lowered her eyelids, half hoping that Demonic Energy would disappear this very instant and half hoping that it wouldn’t. The glare of the one who couldn’t bring himself to join the conversation was terribly sharp.

“They’re here at just the right time."

"......?"

But even if she couldn’t be understood, there was nothing she could do about that.

She pointed toward those who were arriving after her—having dealt with the aftermath in her stead while she had raced ahead without looking back to stop the Great Demon—taking care of the castle gate they had smashed apart to enter the city, dealing with the lesser Demons attempting to pour through that gate, and so on.

"Inquisitor Daniel."

Naturally, the first among them to climb onto the wall was someone just as impatient as she was.

"...Yes."

Had he sensed those flames as well? His voice, more subdued than usual, addressed her directly. There was no need to say what was burning deep within his eyes.

"I leave the rest to you.”

But he was weak, and therefore had no right to go to that place.

"Please give this person your full cooperation.”

"...Yes."

"Hey, ironwall!”

The Hero entrusted the remaining work to him. The one who had stayed out of the conversation and merely glared finally opened his mouth.

"I’m going to deal with the Demon."

"Are you kidding me? What's over there isn’t a Demon, it’s—!”

"Stop."

"...A Demon? What do you mean?”

Whether Inquisitor Daniel restrained Deathbringer or not, whether the dark-blue-haired man became confused by her mention of a Demon or not, she hurled her shield over the outside of the wall. Thud. The enormous shield crushed the corpses of Demons beneath it and shook the ground.

"Shit, you think I’m just gonna stand here and watch that happen?!”

She could throw the shield down like that, but what was she supposed to do with her own body? Should she simply jump? But leaping roughly 20 meters while wearing armor would undoubtedly subject her to quite an impact.

"......! Wait, brother—!”

"I’m not you brother!”

Since there might be additional fighting, she wanted to conserve as much divine power as possible.

While she was contemplating that, someone far lighter than she was jumped down the wall. He slipped away from the Inquisitor and bounded down through the collapsed section, displaying agility truly befitting the king of the back alleys.

"Don’t go.”

But she couldn't simply allow him to leave. Lamenting that she had ended up using divine power after all, she trapped Deathbringer inside a wall of divine power she created.

"You crazy ironwall! Let me out! Let me out, damn it!”

"Inqusitor Daniel, please.”

Still, thanks to him, she now knew how to get down. Just as Deathbringer had done, she made her way through the collapsed wall and set foot in the Demonic territory for the first time in her life. The faint Demonic Energy she could feel beneath her feet was profoundly revolting.

"I’m asking if you're sure you won’t regret killing him, you idiot!!”

But not as revolting as what she would have to do next.

After retrieving the shield she had dropped, she advanced toward her destination.

The flames that had melted away the entirety of the beast’s brain remained there as embers, neither fleeing somewhere nor departing.

_________________________________________________________________________

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