Chapter 38: Better Next Time (3)

Is It Bad That the Main Character's a Roleplayer

Chapter 38 Better Next Time (3)

"You didn't kill them all."

I crushed the legs of those who surrendered just in case and thoroughly searched the rest of this area.

After capturing everyone I didn't kill, the others joined me after a short while. They took longer than I expected.

"Can't you walk faster?"

No, seeing Deb bring people bound by rope along with him, they might not be that late. Behind the Inquisitor were people embracing each other. They seemed to have also managed to rescue the prisoners.

I just glanced at them from the rock I was sitting on.

By the way, the pose I was doing was the so-called 'mood-setting pose,' my waist bent with my legs slightly apart and my forearms entirely on my thighs.

"But this..."

Wait, the Archmage, did he really notice the people I spared before seeing those murals? Weren't the murals much more obvious than them? I guess not. Did the groaning sounds make them more noticeable?

"These murals are strange."

It seemed that was the impression of those with more worldly knowledge than me. I listened to what they had to say while sneakily checking over the murals.

Although they had been greatly damaged over time, the majority were still recognizable.

"Is that a dragon on that mural?"

"A dragon..."

"It's probably the Sea Dragon, the Divine Beast of the Porsen region."

"That earthworm-like thing?"

"Yes, that earthworm-like thing is the Sea Dragon. These horns and long body are characteristics of these types of dragons."

Incidentally, beings such as dragons, fairies, and spirits, called 'Ancient Beasts' or 'Divine Beasts' often appeared in the original.

They were somewhat different from Demons... One could think of them as beings who had lived on the continent long before the current races appeared. They were transcendent beings who could at times vaguely be seen as enemies or allies.

In reality, their creation was just a capitalistic move by the company to add more Raid Bosses to the game.

"This picture shows it floating over the sea, bringing rain and wind. This is the basic explanation of what the Sea Dragon is. So that should be the start..."

"What's that next to it?"

"They seem to be people attempting to soothe its anger, seeing how they are offering something to the dragon. And the results of these actions are seen in the next mural."

I focused on where the Wizard was pointing. It was an image of people catching fish with nets in a calm sea.

Even without the Archmage's explanation, I could tell that the people's offerings were very effective.

"The next one is destroyed, so I can't tell what happened next... The one after that seems to show the dragon and its cub, I believe...?"

There was a mural of two dragons after the destroyed one. However, one was smaller, so it could be assumed to still be young.

"This one is also destroyed, but the last shows a single dragon again."

We couldn't tell what happened to the young dragon. With the penultimate mural destroyed, our only option was to hypothesize.

Did the adult dragon die and the young one became an adult, or did the young dragon die and only the adult remained?

"I really would like to restore them and investigate further, but... Right now, it's impossible."

These ruins couldn't have been created for nothing, so if I were to dig a bit more, there was a high possibility I'd find a Quest.

However, as the Archmage said, the Main Quest was more important. If my character was overflowing with curiosity and enthusiasm, I might have done something, but a bastard obsessed with killing Demons should ignore it even more.

"I guess I'll have to settle with simply contacting the Magic Tower."

At that moment, I lifted myself off the rock I had been sitting on.

With those two concentrating on the murals and Deb focused on tying up the bandits, the people left behind—those who had been taken prisoner by the bandits—flinched in surprise.

Looking at them closely, some weren't just supporting others but straight up carrying them. Considering they were completely limp and pale as snow, it seemed they had already died.

"What about these guys?"

After tying up all the bandits, Deb tapped them as he asked.

"Don't tell me you're gonna spare them..."

"They kidnapped people, drove them to commit crimes, and even harassed and killed some of them. Of course, their punishment will be death."

The bandits began screaming at the Inquisitor's strict voice and begged us to spare them just this once. However, the Inquisitor was extremely stubborn...

"Looks like you said something worth listening to for the first time, huh?"

Deb also didn't have any intention to raise objections this time.

"Die."

The perpetrators were decapitated right in front of their victims.

By modern ethics, even this could be seen as violence toward the victims, but fortunately, the people didn't look too bad. Rather, they even looked like they wanted to rip apart the bandits themselves.

"These aren't all of them."

One even said such things after all the bandits were dead.

"There are more in the valley beyond here who are like brothers to these guys."

He had red eyes as if a vein had burst. He seemed unusual, to say the least, hugging the body of his dead sibling—who had similar features and seemed about the same age—and practically spat out these words as if expelling something disgusting. Who wouldn't be like that if their blood relatives ended up dead like this?

"We'll take care of this first before we leave."

The Inquisitor, who had just crushed another person's head with her mace, spoke as she wiped away the blood that splattered on her face.

"The road we took is used often by travelers. We can't just let this go."

The Archmage added his neutral opinion. He seemed to be hinting that he would follow whatever we decided on.

"It's good to clean up these kinds of trash. Please leave the pathfinding to me."

Fortunately, even the person who usually liked to argue with the Inquisitor was entirely for it. I had no reason to object, either.

Instead, I would be taking the initiative here.

"We have no use for this cave, so you people should use it. The same goes for the food and goods. However, don't destroy the ruins. Rest and return to your town."

"Th-that's..."

"We don't really need any of these things. Isn't that right?"

While I was already moving to leave the cave first, the Archmage behind me made some suggestions to the people before turning to us. Of course, it didn't matter to me, so I didn't even turn my head toward him.

"I don't know if we should leave them alone like this."

"We can't afford to worry about that now, so there's nothing we can do."

"Will they be able to climb down the mountain on their own? We did give them food, but..."

The conversation I heard as we headed out of the cave was quite surprising.

Despite being quite merciless to them not too long ago, the Inquisitor was the most concerned about those people's well-being, whereas Deb, who was quite adamant about saving them, reacted quite coolly.

"You're quite cold, aren't you?"

"Clearing someone's name is one thing, but we can't be responsible for their lives, right? It's easiest to help others by clearly defining what they can and can't expect from us."

What I could determine from their conversation was that Deb was someone with clearly set boundaries, though I was still pretty unsure why someone like him was following us on this journey.

We were soon able to see the end of the ruins.

* * *

* * *

"We finally reached the end of this mountain range."

Did we actually get rid of all the mountain bandits? Anyway, we finally managed to descend these mountains.

We could see the coastline in the distance.

"Based on that smoke rising into the air, it seems there's a village over there."

There wouldn't be any problems if Grü Teltz were right beyond the mountain range, but this world wasn't such a convenient place.

"Considering the way we must go, it seems we have to spend our night there."

"Sigh, I can finally sleep under a roof."

To reach Grü Teltz, we first needed to stop at another village to replenish our supplies. It wasn't that urgent yet because we got some food from the bandits, but the fatigue accumulated from camping outside was quite something.

I had finally realized that after sleeping outside for an extended period, one's fatigue gradually accumulated.

"Let's go."

We hurriedly headed toward the shore.

"That rotten smell..."

"This stench..."

However, a stench comparable to a Draugr's penetrated our noses. I could feel something ominous coming not from the village but the coast.

"Is there a problem?"

The Inquisitor was the only one who didn't notice anything, perhaps because this was her first time near the sea. Although she apparently thought the smell around here was a bit strange, she'd assumed the sea normally smelled like this.

However, this wasn't the smell of the sea the three of us knew. The faces of Deb, the Archmage, and I hardened.

"Could it be they managed to catch a whale and dumped its intestines on the beach? Otherwise, it wouldn't stink like that."

"I don't know. Whaling is supposed to be done in the East Sea, though."

"I can't see any fish around to claim it could be because of a mass fish death..."

There was a high probability I would encounter a Quest around here. No matter whether it was part of the Main Quest or just a Sidequest, it would most definitely involve investigating the cause of that stench!

"Sir Archmage?"

"Ah, Inquisitor. We were simply puzzled by this odor because it isn't the usual smell of the sea."

"Oh, so the sea doesn't usually smell like this?"

"Yes."

"Then why is it like this now...?"

"Well, if we ask the villagers, we might be able to find something out. Maybe it's the reason why those people went up the mountains."

"Is that so...?"

"Rather, Inquisitor, can you feel any Demonic Energy around here?"

The kimchi dumpling shook her head slightly at the Archmage's question.

"I'm not sensing anything yet."

"Hmm."

If she couldn't feel any Demonic Energy, that might mean it wasn't related to Demons. However, it was also possible that someone who could conceal their Demonic Energy was behind this, like in Somon. We could only clarify this matter by looking into it more.

And the mere possibility of a Demon being behind this would definitely drive my character crazy.

"We'll know if we go there."

"What?"

I gave a signal to my horse. The beast, who had been leisurely walking on the sandy ground, started to run while frothing at the mouth.

"Mister Knight, are you trying to leave us behind again?!"

If I ran forward, could those three sit still? Our positions immediately changed as we began moving forward.

As if they had just noticed us, the people standing around the edge of the village started to tremble.

"The people are probably scared. Shouldn't we get off our horses and approach them more slowly?"

"They won't even dare to say that they're scared."

"However, won't they not speak to us at all, then?"

As this was a matter of efficiency, I had no reason to argue. If I were just looking out for my bodily safety, I would refuse, but this would make finding clues a lot easier.

I clicked my tongue and gradually lowered my speed.

"It looks like they are already scared, though."

"But isn't this still better than rushing all the way to the village?"

"True."

Thirty meters from the village, I started approaching them slowly. I could see some people in the middle of it. Most of them were hiding in the various buildings, only their eyes visible.

"..."

"If we get stabbed, it'll be all your fault."

In this ominous atmosphere, the Inquisitor's face stiffened as Deb joked around. The Inquisitor widened her eyes as if trying to ask him whether he really had to make these kinds of jokes now. Well, anyway.

[Detection] didn't alert me, even though they were already within a 30-meter radius. They weren't particularly hostile toward us for now, but depending on the outcome of our conversation, that might change rapidly.

They all looked scared, but they seemed more concerned that we would hurt them rather than them wanting to hurt us.

"Wait, those people....?"

"Oh."

Had we actually entered their village?

By chance—or maybe not—we came across some familiar faces.

"Th-those people...!"

"Our benefactors...!"

They were the people we parted ways with yesterday. They appeared to have safely descended the mountain and returned to their village.

"You're safe, thank goodness. But... what brings you to this village...?"

I saw some people behind them attached to them like tails.

Most were kids, siblings probably. They didn't just go up the mountains because they couldn't fish; they couldn't help but do so because there were so many mouths to feed here.

"What's going on here?"

At that moment, I saw someone running over from the beach. Their hair and clothes were completely drenched as if they had just come out of the sea.

"Chief!"

"The people who helped us came here."

"Those are the people who saved us. They were also the ones who gave us the food."

"They treated us, as well."

After listening to the villagers, her eyes grew wide.

"Let me thank you as the representative of this village."

The village chief immediately bowed and said she had heard a lot about us but asked why we had come here. She seemed rather young, so she likely rose to her position thanks to her quick wit and flexible actions.

Her words were neither too long nor too short but spoken with an incredibly polite and pleasant voice.

"We came here to see if we could stay for a day before commencing our journey."

"Is that so? Then you came to the right place! We felt rather unpleasant already that we had no way of repaying you appropriately."

Well, it wasn't me who had to deal with that. While the Archmage negotiated, I looked around. Perhaps because of the cold atmosphere I was giving off, most people avoided looking at me.

Among them were some dressed in all black as if they were in mourning.

"I heard the sea had become rather tumultuous. However, it seems the reason for that isn't a normal one."

As I looked around the village, Deb, who did the same, suddenly fell into thought.

All I could tell was that the people here were extremely skinny and the fishy smell covering this place was really intense, but he seemed to have figured something out.

"We were told that some unusual rumors were circulating this area. Could it be related to that?"

I had no idea, either. However, my gamer's intuition told me it was 100% like that.

"See, we'd only heard that the sea had become strange and that it became impossible to fish, and when we came here, the smell of the sea was completely different from what we knew."

Coincidentally, the conversation between the Archmage and the village chief had also reached that point. Deb, who had asked me a related question I couldn't answer, also shut his mouth.

"Can you tell me the details about this incident?"

"That's not difficult to do, but why do you ask...?"

"I was wondering whether this was related to the cases we are looking into."

"In that case... Sure. I can tell you. This will take some time, so would you mind coming to my house?"

"I don't mind at all."

"I don't mind, either."

"I'm also fine with that."

Deb and the Inquisitor agreed, so the group's gaze finally fell on me.

What kind of reaction would be good this time? After thinking for a moment, I wrinkled the area between my brows like a piece of paper.

"Do you want me to gouge your eyes out?"

The three people immediately looked away at my extremely fierce response.

"He's also coming."

"Since when did threatening to gouge our eyes out become an affirmation...?"

"He didn't say he wasn't coming."

"He also didn't say he was coming along, though?"

Though Deb and the Inquisitor were slightly confused about my reaction, the Archmage was completely calm.

I was certain now: that guy actually figured out how to handle me.