WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

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

[Translator – Aren]

◈ Chapter 332 If Only I Could (18)

'Get lost. You think I don’t know that you’re trying to drag innocent people into this again?’

The boy instinctively covered his ears and lowered his head the moment he heard the voice. “Kid?” The two people who had been keeping their distance to keep their promise to him looked quite confused, but he was in no state to pay any attention to them.

The boy clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

'I will never believe a single word you say anymore.'

He had learned from what had happened with the inquisitors. No matter how sweetly the Demon spoke, no matter how convincing its words sounded, he could never do what it said. Before believing anything it told him, he had to stop and think about it, and then do the exact opposite.

-Gurgle.

Maybe it was because he finally had a proper meal sitting in front of him after so long. His stomach, which hadn’t even felt hungry before, growled like a starving beast.

-Clatter.

But instead of filling that hunger, the boy got up, leaving the food untouched. “Kid?” Startled by his sudden movements, the two called out to him again. The boy didn’t answer.

"Wait, where are you—?”

"...I have to go. Right now.”

He couldn’t know exactly why the Demon was telling him not to leave. But even with his limited, shallow thinking, it seemed obvious to him that nothing good would come of staying here.

Especially considering the cabin wasn’t all that far from where the incident had happened.

Whether they found his trail or not, this place would still fall within the search radius simply because of the distance. In other words, if he stayed here too long, the pursuers were bound to find him. And if there were priests among the search party, it went without saying that he’d be discovered even more easily.

"But……”

"I’m sorry. But I really have to go.”

There were two reasons he’d chosen to stay here for a little bit even though he knew covering his tracks would only buy him some time.

The first was that he had no idea when he’d ever get another chance to learn skills like these. The second was that no matter how fast the pursuers were, they wouldn't come here within a day or two. Those were the reasons.

"...If anyone asks about me, don’t hide anything. Please just tell them. That way you won’t get dragged into too much trouble because of me.”

He had reasonably solid grounds for being confident about that second point.

Since everyone in the group had died, it would take at least two days before anyone even realized they were missing, and a search party would only leave the city after they learned of their disappearance.

Also, a pursuit squad to hunt down the culprit would only be formed after the search party finished investigating, after they became certain the group had been murdered.

Considering the hunter had erased his trail and caused at least some confusion, that gave him a little more time.

That was way, even though he was in such a hurry, the boy had been willing to spend half a day here.

"Kid........"

But not three days. Absolutely not three days.

Because the Demon had told him to stay, the boy resolved to leave even sooner. I can’t let them suffer from disaster just because they were kind to me. That resolve was actually closer to obsession.

[Hey, kid. If you leave now, you’ll run straight into the priests, you know?]

'...I don’t believe you!'

[I can swear on it. If you run now, you’ll only end up meeting the priests anyway.]

'Who would believe an oath that’s nothing more than empty words? And if I’m going to run into the priests no matter if I leave or stay, then I’ll choose the option that keeps these people from getting hurt.'

The boy gritted his teeth, and the Demon, reading his thoughts, only let out a sigh.

[I swear. If you leave, there is a very high chance you’ll run into priests. And if you agree not to leave this cabin for three days, I’ll use magic to conceal your Demonic Energy so the priests won’t be able to find you.]

'And how am I supposed to believe—’

[I’ll swear on my own name.]

'...I still don’t believe you.'

[Ah. Trying to convince a kid who doesn’t know anything is such a pain. So damn annoying……]

The Demon let out an even deeper sigh and pleaded with him to just trust it this once. The boy didn't want to accept, but the Demon just kept on begging so relentlessly that he finally muttered some words.

'Trash.'

[Brat.]

'Vermin.'

[Hey.]

'Moron.'

[...Ah, come on. I really didn’t want to use this.]

The boy’s defiance finally made the Demon play a card it had been hiding. Burning agony swept through his body. Thud. The body that had been hurrying out of the cabin collapsed to the floor.

"Kid!”

The two who had been watching him with worried eyes from behind immediately rushed over. They reached out to support him, but the pain was so overwhelming that the boy couldn’t even refuse their touch. Cold sweat began pouring off him like rain.

[Choose. Do you want to spend all three days like this, or accept my offer where you won’t have to feel this pain at all?]

'...You bastard, you're worse than a rabbit.'

The boy used a curse he’d often heard in taverns, but the Demon didn’t seem particularly fazed. [Do you even know what that means?] Refusing to even give that thing an answer, the boy merely clenched his mouth shut.

"Let’s get you inside first……”

Meanwhile, the elderly couple led him back inside. The room wasn’t dusty, but there was a faint chill in the air. It looked as though no one had used it in a very long time.

"I have some herbs that can be used to bring down the fever. I’ll get them.”

“Please."

They laid him on the creaking bed and carefully covered him with the bedding they’d brought. Apparently still not able to relax, they also closed the window tight. From the practiced way they stuffed cloth into the gaps to keep the wind from getting through, it didn’t seem like this was their first or second time doing it.

"I-I have to go……”

[Not now.]

But he couldn’t just lie there and let them care for him. The moment he lost consciousness from this agony, forget the priests, they’d be in immense danger.

"No. If you go out in this condition, you could die!”

"I-it doesn’t matter. I can’t die anyway…so I have to leave right now……”

[I knew this would happen. You’re already managing to move again. This is why I wanted to save this for later……]

Somehow, the boy gradually adapted to this pain and slowly began moving his body again.

The hunter pressed down on his chest to keep him still, but she was of the Sland race and also quite old. Even with his feverish body unable to exert its full strength, resisting her wasn’t entirely impossible.

Tears streamed down the boy’s face because of the intense pain, but he still struggled desperately.

"I bought the medicine!”

"Good. Old man, hold the kid down for me.”

"Huh? Yes."

But the moment the hunter stepped aside and the Shaggi man, who was relatively strong, took over, things got harder. To be precise, the boy could no longer struggle carelessly, because if he seriously tried to shove him away, he might hurt him.

In the end, the boy let his strength leave his body.

"Here, medicine.”

Even then, they still gave him the medicine.

"So you decided to obediently take it, uh? That’s good. You’re a good boy.”

The boy obediently opened his mouth and swallowed the little clump of medicinal herbs. It was quite distressing that they wouldn't let him leave, but lowering his fever was good for him too, so of course he accepted it.

"Now if only you’d stop forcing yourself to move.”

"I-I have to go. If I don’t, things will become really dangerous. So please, please……!!”

"At least wait until your fever has gone down a bit. You won’t get far in this condition anyway!”

The old hunter stroked his head before adding.

"If your pursuers do show up, I’ll hide you in the cellar. It’s a cellar built by a former manhunter. They’ll never find it.”

The pursuers aren’t what I’m worried about. The boy squeezed his eyes shut as tears fell, though he couldn’t tell whether they were from the pain or from sadness.

[Just accept my offer. This really isn’t a bad deal for you either.]

Meanwhile, the Demon kept whispering to him.

[Are you worried they’ll find you once the spell wears off after three days? Then I’ll make it five… no, ten days.]

'Get…lost.’

[Ten days isn’t enough either? Then how about years? Right, one year. How does a year sound? A year should be enough that neither you nor those two will get connected to this incident anymore. Whether you leave before then or not is up to you.]

There was no way the Demon would simply offer such good terms for nothing. He was sure that there had to be something hidden between the lines, so the boy stubbornly refused to give in.

Jingle.

A bell rang inside the house.

"...Someone entered the edge of the forest.”

"What?"

"When I was covering the boy’s tracks, I set a few alarm traps you made. One of them just went off.”

Already? Someone came after him already? The boy instinctively realized that whoever was approaching had to be the pursuit party.

"How did they get here so fast……?”

But how? The boy panicked. He hadn’t expected the pursuit party to find him this quickly.

"...Should we move the boy to the cellar?”

"That would be best.”

There was one fact the boy didn’t know, however. Among the group of Inquisitors killed by the Demon inside of him, there had actually been one survivor, and that young man had run without rest until he managed to reach the city and report what had happened.

With a survivor’s report, there had been no need to send out a search party first. A pursuit party had been formed immediately.

"N-No.”

If the pursuit party was already here, and there were priests among them, hiding in the cellar would be pointless. He had to leave. The boy immediately tried to sit up.

"It’s alright. They’ll never find our cellar.”

That’s not the problem. There’s one absolute trace I can never hide. The boy tried to move his lips to tell them the truth. “It’s alright.” But in the face of such kindness, he simply couldn’t get the words out. “It’s alright, kid.” The thought of this kindness disappearing, replaced only by contempt and hostility, made it impossible for him.

"Philemon."

"Yes, Baucis. I’ll get ready.”

At least I don’t want you to remember me as a Demon. The boy laid an arm across his eyes to hide his tears.

‘C-Can you keep the people coming this way from discovering me as well?’

[Of course. I’ll put up a barrier centered on this house. You just have to stay inside.]

'...And these people won’t end up being harmed either, right?'

[Right.]

The boy bit his lip once, then slowly nodded. ‘Do it.' The Demon answered. [Alright.] Strangely, there wasn’t much amusement in its voice.

"Alright, I’m going to pick you up and move you now……”

"...You can’t go outside."

The boy grabbed the hunter’s sleeve as she tried to lift him.

"Don’t go outside. No matter what……”

"What……?”

Naturally, neither of them understood the warning he had suddenly uttered. But instead of trying to explain, the boy repeated the word the Demon had whispered to him.

"Ratel."

Thick white liquid dripped from the center of the boy’s palm. It looked almost as if his pain itself had taken physical form and was being drawn out of his body. The agony crushing his entire body vanished, and in its place appeared enough of that viscous white substance to make up a person.

"You......."

But the hunter’s eyes widened at the dense Demonic Energy released in the process. The Demon had never said it would be this obvious, so the boy was startled too.

[I think this every time, but manipulating Ratel really is a pain in the ass.]

But the bowl was already overturned, and the water had spilled everywhere. The white slime quickly transformed into an animal resembling a badger.

"Th-this is……”

"What’s going on?!”

The badger dashed out of the house in an instant. The elderly man who had been preparing the cellar hurried back upstairs, frantically looking around to figure out what was happening. But even he fell silent when he saw the hunter abandon her attempt to support the boy and take several steps back.

'Y-you never said anything about all this. You never told me they would find out who I am……’

[They weren’t harmed though, right?]

'...You liar!’

The boy was so flustered and furious that he couldn't even force out an explanation. Though in his case, it might have been closer to feeling too ashamed and at a loss for words to open his mouth.

The boy trembled under the gazes that had changed in an instant.

[███ ████... There. Even that bastard shouldn’t be able to see you now.]

Even then, the Demon cast spell after spell in quick succession. The boy could feel several layers of Demonic Energy and Arcane Power spread over the entire cabin. The hunter's and her husband’s expressions hardened even further.

[That damn bat bastard…he’s scarily quick on the uptake.]

And once all the spells were complete, the Demon slipped through a tiny gap in the barrier like slime and returned to the boy’s body. That only made the boy feel even more humiliated and hopeless.

"So this is why you’re being hunted.”

"Baucis.”

"So this…this is why you’re being hunted.”

"...Calm down.”

"You......!"

A range of emotions flashed through the hunter’s eyes, and the boy could only watch them all pass by. I should’ve run after all. I shouldn’t have accepted the Demon’s offer. Irreversible regret steadily dripped through him.

"...I won’t do anything. I won’t cause you any trouble. Just three days… no, just let me stay until those people leave.”

Ah. It had been better when they were the ones trying to keep him here. The boy almost laughed at how their positions had reversed. You said you’d help me. You said you’d help me no matter what my circumstances were. The sorrow he couldn’t bring himself to express leaked out without ever becoming words.

"I’ll make sure absolutely nothing happens to you, so please, please…”

The boy pleaded and begged desperately. With every word, another wound seemed to carve itself somewhere into his heart. He didn’t know what had hurt him. It simply hurt, again and again.

"...Leave within a day.”

But this was something he deserved to endure.

Instead of feeling hurt by their sudden change in attitude, the boy simply expressed his gratitude. As if she couldn't stand the sight of him any longer, the hunter shut the bedroom door and left. Her husband said nothing, but his silence seemed to show his agreement.

The boy was left alone in the room that now felt chilly cold. The terrible pain had passed, yet somehow this moment was a lot more agonizing.

* * *

「Still, they didn’t throw me out right away. I tried to tell myself that was enough. I thought one day would be enough for them to finish searching around the cabin, so I really thought it would be fine.」

But it wasn't. I should’ve just gotten up and left right away.

* * *

The boy sat curled up in the corner of the room, clutching his empty stomach. One hour, maybe two, perhaps four. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. The closed window didn’t even let in the moonlight.

Creeak.

But at what must have been quite a late hour, the bedroom door opened. Whoever opened it seemed to have done so as carefully as possible, but the door was old so it inevitably creaked. The boy flinched.

"......"

And yet no sound followed. What? The boy raised his head. With no light at all, he couldn’t see anything. Nor could he sense anyone’s presence.

"......?"

Had he only imagined the door opening? No, that couldn’t be. With the room silent except for that first noise. Step. He took one step toward the door.

"......!"

A split second later, a blade buried itself in the boy’s shoulder. Yes, it was a blade. The boy realized who had attacked him.

"Even though you said you’d help me.”

At that moment, one piercing emotion decided to surface.

"Even though you said you’d help me……”

It felt as though something inside his heart had shattered.

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