79 – It was all your plan!
With a perplexed expression, I hurried my steps with the two children.
“Oh my! My mistake!”
A large flowerpot fell right behind us. The flowerpot hit the head of another man passing by accurately.
“Uh huh!”
The mosaic-covered man began to cool down, becoming chillingly cold.
“Oh my, how did this happen?”
The middle-aged woman who had dropped her flowerpot hurriedly came downstairs and examined the body. After a moment of contemplation, she brought a mat from inside the house and covered the man with it.
“Hu, huheung.. huheuheung..”
She went back into the house, humming an awkward tune. All sorts of incidents, like a natural disaster, were pouring down as if they belonged in a comedy world.
“Let’s quickly go to where the Nest organization is.”
I thought that way, but my steps were gradually slowing down. It felt like someone was grabbing my ankle, causing me to stumble. The slowing steps eventually came to a sudden halt.
“…”
I turned around and looked at the chaotic street.
This is the land of the Demon King. A cruel land where the weak are exploited and the strong enjoy everything.
Those who committed evil deeds in this land were all sinners.
“But…”
That should only apply to the sinners who committed evil deeds. It was not necessary for children like Iris and Gesture, who were enslaved, to suffer such a cruel fate.
Because of a few weak individuals, I couldn’t move forward as my ankle was held captive.
In the world of dark fantasy, the one feeling that should never be harbored is “guilt.” There is no device as effective as guilt in triggering sweet potatoes, especially when it is not one’s own fault.
That’s why I had to find a rational reason to prevent this disaster.
“…If I leave like this, the residents of the eastern land occupied by the Deviatan organization will be annihilated, leaving the land empty. If a sudden disappearance of that many residents occurs, Ervoan, the right-hand man of the Demon King, might come.”
Ervoan, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. He can be considered the strongest among the Four Heavenly Kings and the strategist of the Demon King’s army. Unlike the other Four Heavenly Kings, he was a man who would question even small incidents and have doubts.
Even if the territory of the Deviatan organization disappeared in a few days, Zisuna or Laina would probably think, “They had an interesting fight!” and move on. But Ervoan was highly likely to send his subordinates with doubts.
Ervoan is, according to the original work, a mid-boss that players encounter just before facing the final boss. And it’s incredibly powerful.
If Iris, who is still at a squeaky level, crosses paths with Ervoan or if Ervoan starts to suspect Iris, she would be killed before becoming an official warrior. Or she might be brainwashed and corrupted.
“So, don’t make the incident too big.”
When a plausible reason came up, my shoulders felt lighter. I spoke to Jess and Iris, who were standing still, just like me.
“I think I need to go somewhere for a moment… Wait over there—”
“Should I… leave you?”
“Hmm…”
Iris looked up at me with a plaintive look, and Jess widened her eyes and filled her pupils with tears.
“Grr…”
I crumbled under the two’s attacking puppy eyes.
“Going to a dangerous place… Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Yeah!”
“Great! I’m going, and it’s all good!”
In an instant, the two stopped their tears and nodded vigorously. I had no choice but to take them with me.
To the headquarters of Deviatan.
***
Finding the headquarters of Deviatan wasn’t difficult.
“hehehe… No matter what you say, I will never open my mouth…”
Clang!
“Ah! Th-That’s a limited edition Elieju 82 vintage!”
Crash!
“aaah! No, it can’t be! That’s a 172-year-old!”
Jess walked past the place where the alcohol was beautifully displayed, knocking over and smashing expensive bottles like a cat. The tightly bound man spoke with a pale face.
“I-I’ll tell you! P-Please, stop-“
Crash!
“aaah! It’s a 327-year-old?!”
A special world of comedy.
He claimed that he didn’t care about his life as he broke things related to his hobby, shedding tears of blood and suffering.
“Sob… Please, please, stop bothering our children… I-I’ll tell you everything…”
He gestured to Jess while foaming at the mouth, as if biting his tongue. In response, Jess swiftly returned to my side.
“So, where is the headquarters?”
“The headquarters is… in the ‘Dawn Dew Tavern,’ close to the city wall… in the underground… sob…”
The man started to suffer, shedding tears. And then, eventually, his eyes rolled back in shock and he died.
After the small sacrifice, we immediately stormed into the headquarters.
Crash!
“I never liked this bastard from the beginning!”
“Ugh! This son of a b*tch!”
Clang, clang!
The Dawn Dew Tavern was in a state of chaos, no different from any other place. No, it was even worse than other places. Half-eaten corpses were scattered around, and there were even humans being devoured by monsters.
“Perhaps it’s worse because it’s the headquarters.”
I looked at the lobby of the bar, which seemed like hell had arrived, and headed towards the kitchen.
“Isn’t this strange? It should be right, shouldn’t it?”
A pretty woman was flipping through a recipe book, and behind her, something with tentacles was wriggling… something new was being created.
“Ah! It should be fine!”
She quickly poured something she had prepared and started stirring with a ladle.
Sizzle!
The sound of the ladle melting was accompanied by the woman’s humming. I gestured to Iris and Jess to keep quiet, then quickly crossed the kitchen.
“Here.”
From Noble mtl dot com
As I pushed the long cabinet behind the kitchen, stairs leading downwards appeared. But on the stairs… banana peels were scattered everywhere. There were even a few bloody footprints.
Creak.
As we descended one step, the cabinet we had pushed closed by itself. I swallowed my dry saliva and said to Iris and Jess.
“Sit here and try going down slowly.”
“Huh?”
“…?”
After seating Iris on the stairs, I gently pushed her down like a slide.
Swoosh!
Banana peels flew through the air, and Iris smoothly descended as if she were sliding down a slide. Jess followed behind her with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Phew… even in the world of comedy, it’s the same for little girls.”
Usually, people hit their heads on the ceiling and walls and roll down the stairs, but when a little girl slips, the gentlemanly reaction like now returns.
I followed the open path as the banana peels disappeared and went down.
“Joo-in! Joo-in! Just one more time!”
I saw Iris and Jess sitting on top of a pile of Deviatan organization members’ graves that stretched down below. It looked like they had safely landed.
“We don’t have time, so we can’t do it.”
“Aw..”
After comforting the dejected Jess, I passed through the crowded organization members and headed inside. There were doors along the long corridor, but they didn’t look like the boss’s room.
I opened the most splendid-looking door slightly. I could hear rough noises coming from the slightly opened gap.
Bang, clang!
A man who seemed to be the boss was banging on the conference table.
“If it’s not a curse or widespread magic, how can you explain what’s happening right now?!”
“W-Well…”
“Don’t just keep saying you don’t know. Think of a solution!”
Unlike the bloody chaos outside, the place that seemed to be the conference room looked quite intact.
The Deviatan executives were raising their voices with serious expressions, as if they had noticed that the current situation was artificial.
“If those people don’t threaten me, this commotion will end.”
Everything that happened was because Deviatan threatened me. If they don’t threaten me, everything will be resolved!
I straightened my posture and whispered to Iris and Jess.
“It seems like I need to have a conversation with the people inside… They might dislike me and try to threaten me. So, if I feel in danger, can you guys help me by hiding here?”
If I just told them to hide because it might be dangerous, they would definitely refuse. So, I gave them a plausible reason. The two nodded with determined faces.
“Yeah, I’ll protect you, Oppa.”
“Me too!”
“sh*t.”
I covered Jess’s lips with my index finger to silence his loud response, and he opened his eyes wide, listening intently.
The two of us hid our bodies next to the door, in the blind spot. I adjusted my clothes and summoned my dark sword.
[Hee hee hee…]
“…?”
With a dazzling impact, the summoned dark sword let out a strangely unpleasant laugh.
[So, you also think ‘Blood Wave’ is cool, right?]
“…”
To be honest…because the dark sword kept shouting ‘Blood Wave! Blood Wave!’ so much, I got used to the name of the technique. Is that why my ancestors told me to be careful when making friends?
As I recalled the appearance of my ancestors that I met during the ceremony, I snapped back to reality at the sound of a loud crash. When I opened the door a little wider to see inside, I saw a large, ornate vase shattered on one side of the spacious conference room. And on the floor…a baseball was rolling around.
“Enemies, enemies!”
“Damn it! How did they get in here?”
The serious atmosphere quickly turned chaotic, and the people in the conference room started rushing towards the entrance.
Click.
I quickly opened the door before they could escape.
“Nest, it’s the Nest bastards!”
“The exterminators of Nest have appeared!”
The people who were running towards us in the front started screaming and falling down. As a result, those following behind them also started tumbling on the floor.
Crash, thud! Thump! Crunch!
Amidst all sorts of brutal sounds, the roughly twenty people in the conference room all fell over and got tangled up. The elegant tables and chairs toppled or broke, and the chandelier hanging from the ceiling creaked and swayed ominously.
Staring blankly at the swirling dust clouds, I pondered on what to say.
“Everything!”
“…?”
“It was all part of your plan!”
A man with a bruised face and disheveled hair pointed at me with his index finger and shouted.
