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

Episode 294: Understandable (10)

「It is in the same context to inflict pain by stabbing and cutting someone in the image of not dying, and tormenting them with burning pain when they are awake. The more the mind is exhausted, the easier it is to break down… because pain is an effective means of breaking down a person’s mind.”

Originally, he would have prevented it as a watcher, but the boy closed his eyes tightly, saying that it was meaningless now that he had lost his power. .

“And its essence is flame. I probably would have died easily when I was covered up by the concealment of ignorance… But now that I heard about this, even if I rip my heart out and explode my whole body, I won’t die.” My eyes,

older than a fallen veteran and more tired than a street beggar in the middle of winter, are covered by my eyelids. lost.

“And that pain means nothing to him. “Unlike us.”

“…So that means.”

“…Even if my whole body crumbles, even if I burn alive, I can’t even doze off for a moment. The moment he loses his mind for any reason, unlike us, he will wake up without any agitation.”

The eyelids of the person who has endured it all alone so far are infinitely heavy.

“…sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut until the end.”

Boom. A corner of the world has been torn off once again.

“I shouldn’t have said that…”

I still couldn’t understand the weight of the boy’s words, but I collapsed mercilessly. Cooung. The falling fragments reached my heart little by little.

“That’s right.”

I rolled my creaky head.

Even if your heart is torn and your entire body exploded, you will not die.

Even if your whole body crumbles, even if you burn alive, if you can’t endure even a moment of drowsiness, you will be taken away.

[It means that physical death can no longer be the answer for you.]

The moment the two lines reached out to me like a swamp, the sound of shoes came closer.

[Because the restrictions are gone, no death can chew this body.]

It was approaching me. He placed his hands on the back of his head and waved his white hair gently as if he had no intention of fighting.

[Well then, what should we do now? There is no more boy to protect you from pain. Are you confident that you will stay conscious until the end?]

The red light emerging between the goat bones continued to capture my attention.

[9 years until the end of the contract. In an environment where the whole world is trying to kill you, without sleeping, without being overcome by the burning pain that I frequently cause. Gretchen asks if he is confident that he can survive those nine years in pain that can no longer be hidden.]

“Don’t come near!”

The boy grabbed his sword and tried to block the devil. “Don’t come closer!” But the devil didn’t stop walking.

Phew! Instead, she reached out, grabbed the boy’s knife, and plunged it straight into her abdomen. Blood, lye and flames flowed.

[I have it. I can do that, Gretchen.]

And when the sword’s guard dug deep enough to touch my abdomen, the devil looked straight at me with the boy in the middle. The blood-red color smiled strangely.

[I can do anything because I survived in that mud for 300 years. Unlike you, who has the threshold of an ordinary human.]

Grumble. The devil retreated again. As it retreated, its wounds were prickled, but its expression did not change. This was true even if you only looked at the part that was not covered by the mask.

match. Gloved hands clapped and laughed on her behalf.

[yes. What did you say earlier? Did you say that it was my fault for stealing the child and that it was not the child’s fault? But Gretchen, you know what? You signed a contract with me because that child couldn’t last 8 months?]

The black and white world shattered for the first time. “…I am!” A voice that was almost like a scream pierced the center of the empty world.

[He tells me to stop bothering him so he can get some sleep. I’ll bring someone who can hold out for me.]

「I…!」

[That’s it for now. Let’s say so. But Gretchen, at least that kid knows how painful that environment is. You know that the moment you tell me the truth, you will be thrown into a hell that you could not overcome.]

“I…”

The longer the words continued, the pitch black disappeared and the child’s head fell. Is this a good exchange rate? That was something I didn’t know yet.

[But still, that child chose his family over you. Even though you are just a person caught in the act, and the pain you have experienced so far is painful enough, you also cry because you miss your family! Even though he knew that, that child pushed you into an even greater hell to protect his family.]

“Ah…”

[Isn’t this really a sin?]

The other person was clearly giving us something, but at the same time, he was receiving something in return. . Something bigger.

[Answer me, Gretchen. Can you say that even this is okay?]

The poison spread throughout my body.

It was deadly poison.

* * *

After the demons retreated, the Inquisitor ordered the soldiers to rest for three hours. It was to wait for the morning when the clock widened and to replenish the stamina to run to Munmund.

“It’s endless hunger…”

Deathbringer decided to investigate why the village became like this during that time with Daniel. There was no need to go far. There were those who opened the gates to them.

“Can I ask for more details?”

However, among them, there were only a few who were in good enough condition to be able to provide an explanation.

Deathbringer and Daniel shared some water and gently talked to a man named Munmund’s soldier and a woman named Ticha.

“please.”

The two people, who were hesitant at first, finally parted their lips in front of the church’s emblem.

“I started feeling strange early yesterday morning. “People complained of unusual thirst and hunger.”

“Thirst and hunger….”

“But it was pretty good until the morning. However, an abnormal phenomenon occurred in the afternoon. “Some people were particularly hungry, so they ate all the food in their houses and even plucked vegetables from the fields.”

“Even the vegetables in the field?”

“yes.”

“…Are you saying that I just ate it without even cooking it?”

“That’s right.”

When Daniel asked back with a bit of confusion, the soldier calmly nodded. He said that for some reason he is here instead of Munmund, and is looking at his not-so-old injury.

“Then what did you do next?”

“hmm. This sounds more like something I would hear from Ticha than from me. “She was the first to discover it.”

The soldier who was leading the conversation as someone familiar with reporting passed the baton to Ticha. A woman with a shadowy face bit her dry lip.

“…At first, I tried to resolve it through conversation. But he didn’t even listen to what I said. Even though I tried to stop it by holding onto my body, I kept shaking it off. So, I decided to bring in the soldier and lock him in the house. Whatever the solution, the field had to be protected. But while everyone was working together to keep crazy people in their homes, the number of people eating vegetables increased.”

“…There was no distinction between old, young, and young people who suffered from mania. Even among my colleagues, there was one guy who was recklessly looking for food.”

The soldier described the situation at the time, saying that even though his stomach was so full of food that he even vomited, he kept trying to put something in his mouth. Their expressions distorted with each word.

“If you lock up a person who has lost his mind, another crazy person will come out. If you lock that person up, he or she will appear again. There were even people who fell into wells because they were thirsty… I thought this was impossible, so I suggested that only the sane people stay outside and distribute food while the rest wait at home.”

“…yes.”

“It seemed to work quite well until after midnight.”

And when they reached the last part, the two people closed their eyes with miserable faces.

“…While making a pilgrimage to the village to guard against demons, I heard screams coming from one of the houses where the residents were trapped. The moment I opened the door to check… I discovered a resident eating his own body. “Not just one or two, but many.”

It was like hearing a silent scream.

“Even if there’s nothing to eat. “Does it even make sense to eat one’s own body?”

Ticha slowly shed tears.

“Then the reason you are here…”

“…was because we thought that, just in case, there would be someone who would try to eat someone else instead of themselves.”

Humans who eat themselves are hell enough, but attacking others is even more hell. The soldier said with a trembling voice that it was a decision he made to avoid that hell.

“Of course, we didn’t know what would happen, so we decided to gag each other.”

The soldier also pointed to the scarves draped around his and Ticha’s necks. I asked why everyone had cloths tied around their mouths, and I wondered if this was the reason.

“That priest.”

After all the explanations, did they remain silent for tens of seconds? The soldier spoke carefully, as if he still had something to say.

“I abandoned the villagers…”

While explaining, his calm voice wavered and his eyes began to flutter.

The cruelty of having to callously abandon the residents. The fear of being reprimanded because the priest heard about it. The fear of the ruined reality.

All of that was felt in the soldier’s trembling.

“Their deaths were not your fault. “It’s not your fault.”

Also, the priest’s low voice cut through the tremors.

“Really? “Really, I…”

“I swear in the name of God, you did the best you could at the time. As an Inquisitor, I can guarantee this. So don’t worry too much. “They did not die because of their brothers and sisters, but everyone here survived because of their brothers and sisters.”

Since he was a priest in his own right, his comforting words were even more effective. Through the power of faith, the two men relieved their burdens. He was a Heretic Questioner, something I normally didn’t like, but I thought it would be very helpful at times like now.

“Hey you old man. As expected, this is…”

“…It is the curse of the Great Devil. “I heard the story, but Eric Sikton was really around here.”

Separately, Deathbringer asked quietly. His eyebrows furrowed at the answer that did not go against his expectations.

“How can you not know that the curse is spreading so widely?”

“I know this may sound like an excuse, but there is really nothing we can do about that curse. Endless hunger and eternal thirst are not a curse imposed as a sacrifice, but rather a movement along the territory of Eric Sikton.”

“It’s a fucking scam.”

“…Instead, there are no cases where we stay this long. “Even if it’s long, it usually only lasts one day while the battle takes place.”

Influencing such a large number of lives in such a radius is not an easy task, even for an archdemon. This was a fact proven just by recalling that the northern part of the country had not been devastated until now.

If Eric Sikton had been able to use this curse freely, he would have sat there until a city fell.

“That’s a good thing.”

“…yes. “Thank goodness.”

“But why has it been going on for more than two days now?”

“Well…”

However, Daniel could not easily find an answer to the question that Deathbringer had just asked. This was especially true because there was a lack of clues about Eric Sikton since he had never been active in the North.

“They might be looking for something…”

So he stopped in front of a hypothesis that anyone with a reasonable head could guess.

“It’s something I want to achieve even if it costs me this much.”

“hmm.”

“Of course, it’s strangely unprofitable for just Munmund to be one, so there must be a bigger plan than that… but I’m not sure what that might be.”

This was a hypothesis that some articles once put forward.

“Münmund is a famous city, but looking at it calmly, it is a shameful place to risk another life and cause its downfall when two of the great devils are dead…” “

…Are you confident that you will return alive?”

“well. Even if the Great Devil survives, the ones below him will definitely be consumed. Just because you’re a demon doesn’t mean your troops will be replenished right away. Moreover, aren’t there warriors in the East? The moment the warriors join, the more room there is to reclaim the areas that the demons have invaded. You wouldn’t know that it’s the devil….”

“Then it’s targeting Saenim…? No, this doesn’t make sense. If you were going to target Saenim, wouldn’t it be more effective to target him by surprise?”

“…Or maybe the other one came down secretly just like Eric Sikton came all the way here.”

“So that guy was used as bait to bring in a hero? When the hero comes, the two will join forces, right?”

“yes. “If we kill the warrior, we will be able to recover the northern front that has been pushed back so far.”

“It’s not that it doesn’t make sense, but… does it work?”

Since the topic was a topic, the two people put aside their resentment toward each other for a moment. “Probably not.” Then Meister intervened.

“I don’t know whether the hero will come to Münmund or not, so how can two archvillains stick together?”

“…Then what makes you think I’m such a mess?”

“How do I know that?”

“what the. “I don’t even know you—”

“But it’s clear that the fact that countless manpower is concentrated in the east and that by the time they are almost gathered, everyone’s eyes are focused on Münmund is the sight they were hoping for.”

The glasses covering his eyes twitched with the tips of his fingers.

“Has the guy who handles information noticed yet?”

“…?”

“The timeline was distorted.”

“What kind of timeline is that…”

“…yesterday morning.”

Also, at Meister’s words, Deathbringer unconsciously dilated his pupils. His head spun furiously for a split second, searching for the twist he had missed.

“…Ericsikton came here early yesterday morning.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Damn it! Please think about the date we set off after hearing the news of the appearance of the Great Evil and the date of Eric Sikton’s actual appearance! You also said earlier that the hunger and thirst that people experience moves along Eric Sikton!”

“…ah?”

“We heard about the Great Evil before Eric Sikton appeared! “Probably because of a scheme to concentrate manpower here!”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

* * *

[I should have kept my mouth shut until the end. Only concealment of ignorance could have let you go back more easily. Even if I couldn’t pay you back for your sacrifice, I should have done right by sending you home.]

I looked at the round back of the child’s head with the poison flowing into my ears. The lights that stood to protect me were slowly falling apart.

[Selfish child. He abandoned his benefactor to protect his hometown and family. Someone was separated from their family because of him, but he pushed his benefactor into hell to protect his surviving blood relatives and blood brothers. Isn’t that really shameless?]

Was that a pity?

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

Or is it hateful?

“…Do you have a disease that requires you to use your tongue even for a moment? Shut up. “I’m losing my mind right now because of you.”

suddenly. I remembered the first day I met Richa.

[what’s the matter? It’s not like I said something I didn’t mean to say. Some people can no longer meet their families, but the real reason is that someone was clearly jealous and angry that they found a family.]

“I—”

[Grethen There is nothing that can fool me in the face of anger.]

A thought came to mind at that time. Since it was distilled into this sentence and being recited right now, I couldn’t help but think of it.

[This is justified anger.]

Oh, if I collect the tears and drops of blood I shed, could it be deeper than what the boy shed?

“….”

I held my palms together with the child with his head bowed in front of me. It felt a little weird not to have feeling in my hands and feet. White breath was exhaled.

“It’s not okay.”

「…!」

Let’s admit what we must admit. This was definitely not okay.

“It’s not okay at all.”

A person who had been silent despite earnest appeals finally spoke out for the safety of his family. However, because of that, I was driven to hell. That really wasn’t okay.

“It’s not okay.”

But, but…

“…But it’s not his fault.”

Does the boy have the right to be angry at me because his choice is selfish? I am the one who put my precious person’s safety on the negotiating table. It was definitely me who pushed the boy to this point.

Why am I saying this? Is it okay to be angry?

“Because loving your family is not a sin.”

This happened because the boy prioritized his family over me. However, I wouldn’t have been happy about the boy just because he prioritized me over his family and stayed silent.

[So you forgive?]

“No.”

So it’s just a catastrophe.

“I’ve come too far to forgive.”

From the moment I was called here, we had no choice but to be like this.

“So Pasha.”

「…!」

“When everything is over, apologize for this.”

“Ah…”

“That’s enough.”

Just as knitting with a wrong first stitch can only be undone and knitted again, our relationship had to be broken and rebuilt.

“I lasted 8 months well.”