Chapter 222 – Chapter 222 ― Unexpected Gift (3)
Episode 222 ― Unexpected Gift (3)
Anmut.
A beastman with a foundation for growth superior to anyone here.
The main character of the game.
It is only natural that the goddess knows the hero, Anmut. Because it’s god
But this guy…
How far does he really know about the real Roan inside Naor’s body?
Anmut is still a new chick.
Although he has a high name among Merde’s mercenaries, he is still far from being comparable to the Demon King.
Of course, it would be impossible for him to confront me or the Grand Duke at this point.
In the game, the player’s experience and knowledge are necessary to eliminate the demon king he has to deal with and the enemy ‘devil’ in the second half.
Waypoints, quests and leveling up, main character capture and artifact collection.
Without it, the hero is just a level 1 hero.
Roan knows this, of course.
But what does the (former) demon king know?
“What do you mean it’s not enough to deal with?”
It was an ordinary question that concealed surprise. However, I opened his mouth a little and then closed it. With an expression as if he had made a mistake.
The body of the demon king, who is used to hiding his mistakes or embarrassment, belongs to him in the first place. The laxity that appeared on Naor’s body disappeared in an instant.
In such a short moment, it would have been an illusion if it hadn’t been for the help of the skill.
I shrugged his shoulders as if to hide my embarrassment.
“To take my place. Since he’s a beastman, he can become the king of the demons, but he doesn’t have enough time to grow. I have to become strong enough to subdue everyone by wielding only a sword like me, but the Grand Duke and other great lords can’t stand still in the meantime.”
A reasonable explanation.
But it didn’t come to Roan’s ears anymore.
Naor knows who is behind Eleanor and the Grand Duke.
If it were just to carry out the duties of an emperor, Naor would have done it roughly. As he said, he is a position where he can survive even if he only wields a sword.
The reason he gave up the position was because behind the Grand Duke, he saw an opponent too formidable for him to resist.
How could he have known whether the hero was a savage enough to fight against ‘greed’? Even the Goddess never told Roan whether Anmut would fail or succeed.
What did he know and what did he foresee?
As if trying to stop Roan’s thoughts from penetrating further, Naor hurriedly filled Roan’s glass and said.
“It was the Goddess’ idea to find someone to replace. Just as evil draws its strength from others, so we seek someone to oppose it. The beastman whom the Goddess first marked was not enough in the end, and he decided to give up my body as a last resort and use a method to fill it. That way the enemies won’t know.”
“Because you wanted to quit?”
“Uh. Because I wanted to stop.”
Naor’s voice was light when he said that.
“Are you even doing quite well?”
It’s an unexpected compliment.
“You captured all the great lords who seemed to be quite troublesome, and all the small meetings became your hands and feet, clinging to you and working hard. I didn’t know they liked their job that much. I will roll hard.”
Nao, who tilted his glass with a giggling, continued.
“It seems like I even made all the human women fall in love with it, and of course my body plays a big role in it, but it also made the humans who fought the war shut their mouths. Great I wasn’t expecting this much.”
“What were you expecting?”
“A soft landing of destruction?”
Is the Demon King a pessimist?
As Roan slightly furrowed his eyebrows, Naor spoke in a nonchalant tone. With the same expression that Roan shows when he has a lot of thoughts.
“What are you doing with that face? Nothing lasts forever. Even the Goddess acknowledged that. It’s just that the units are different. All the people you’re hugging disappear too. The achievements you made will be forgotten. What’s more, you won’t be there in 100 years, or 200 years at the most. Don’t be greedy.”
It was as if he was trying to calm Roan, or was it intended to discourage him. Naor, who spat out gloomy words like advice, continued by asking:
“Where the hell were you and what were you doing? Have you ever been into politics?”
“Me? Hmm…”
Roan scratched his head.
It seemed that the Goddess hadn’t told Naor about that. Thank god. Investigating someone’s background, stepping on powerless people. If anyone knew, it would be embarrassing.
“It was bullying.”
Upon hearing Roan’s answer, Naor smiled and replied casually.
“… So are you good at it? Emperor.”
A faint smile filled his face.
“Maybe you have hope that I don’t have.”
“I want you to help me with that.”
“What?”
At Roan’s continued words, Naor’s smile disappeared at once.
He gave an impression of coming out as if he really hated entering the imperial castle.
But Roan didn’t care.
“You don’t have to hang around me like this. Why don’t you just work close by? Now there is no need to hide your identity.”
Fiora had said.
He pretended not to, but he would still be watching over Roan.
He is consumed with guilt.
Failure to keep what his parents passed on to him.
Even handing over my body to someone and running away leaving my last name behind.
About living a leisurely life while entrusting all the people to a stranger.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed near Roan and watched what he was doing in the first place.
Tsundere.
“The way you do things is frustrating. You want to see that? Besides, Eleanor is by your side? Didn’t I say I didn’t want to see your face?”
But Roan didn’t back down.
“I need advice. What have you been through, how did you deal with it and why did you make mistakes? There I will make a better result. When this is all sorted out, I will ensure you have what you need.”
Upon hearing that, Naor’s eyes shone sharply. He looked at Roan with his eyes narrowed.
“What do you think I want?”
Roan responded immediately.
“Peace.”
His amethyst eyes turned to Naor.
“You cannot find peace by running away.”
“Escape. Watch your mouth.”
“Eleanor said it was a problem. Then we have to solve that problem.”
Naor’s searing eyes looked menacingly at Roan. However, Roan continued his words with a calm voice that was not different from before.
“I thought about it. People think you’re blood-mad. I did too. But it was strange. Why didn’t you just stab the Grand Duke and Eleanor? It’s the quickest solution. In the end, all I could think of was that you knew it too. That it doesn’t solve the problem.”
While talking to Fiora,
And while listening to Rumbe’s story at Swin Lake, Roan felt like putting a puzzle together.
A puzzle that forms a guy called the Demon King.
Of course, it’s true that the Demon King is a more delicate guy than I thought, but he wasn’t the guy who would give up his position just out of guilt or burden. If you are a weak person who would give up the position of emperor with such detailed emotions, he cannot even kill others in the first place.
There was a reason why he did the sword dance.
“People planted by the Grand Duke. That power. I don’t think you changed the staff or coaxed them. I tried, but it didn’t work. The cause would not have been known. Wasn’t he doing it because ‘there was no other way’ to kill him?”
Naor’s eyes began to sink heavily.
I didn’t say anything
Roan’s skill convinced me that Roan’s words were the right guess.
“It must be for the same reason. There was no point in killing the Grand Duke and Erennier. I even found out that it was the devil’s power that prevented you from even opening your eyes, but didn’t you let go in the end because you didn’t know where to start? So rely on the goddess.”
Naor’s expression changed.
The feelings he showed when he had just started talking to Roan.
It was a mixture of resignation and regret.
Naara asked as if arguing.
“Are you saying you can solve that problem? Do you know what that is?”
“That is ‘greed’.”
“… Avarice?”
It seemed that Naori did not know even the smallest details. Roan wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t gone to the Eastern Emperor himself, hadn’t met and asked Fiora or the forest fairy, or hadn’t talked to the goddess.
“That’s his name.”
A light of admiration passed across Naor’s face for a moment. He admired Roan for finding something he couldn’t figure out.
All the Demon King was able to find out was that the source of the demonic art she used was connected to the back of the Grand Duke’s Erenia, and that the Grand Duke wanted to use it to take control of her demons.
It was unclear whether the Grand Duke was ‘using’ the Devil, or whether the Devil was using the Grand Duke.
Traces of the devil were everywhere. After a long investigation, the demon king found out that it was a trace of the devil, and he, driven into a corner, decided to borrow the power of the goddess, dubious even though he was a demon.
But the new guy who took over my body figured out a lot more than I did. Because he received holy power as small as dust, he was able to know that too. That he already has strong enough holy power.
The last time I saw him and now that guy is quite different. At that time, he was boiling with power, but now his power is much sharpened. Besides, he has the power of a goddess.
As Fiora said,
You have talent, but you are a great student who works hard.
I swallowed the bitter laugh that came out.
He still doesn’t know everything.
It is still too early to have hope.
But even this conversation is fresh because it’s the first time. He asked in a lighter voice than before.
“So, what is a fundamental solution?”
“It’s blocking the power he receives.”
Roan hesitated for a moment.
Would Roan be able to tell all the stories the Goddess hadn’t told him directly?
But the hesitation was short-lived.
He knows a story that Roan doesn’t.
He has much more experience with the Grand Duke and Erennier. To ask for help, you have to reach out his hand.
Fortunately, Roan has a skill that allows him to detect whether a sword or a flower is in the opponent’s hand.
“Like you said, killing Eleanor or the Grand Duke won’t end the story. The devil is not a being that just sits and washes his hands. We need to cut off the connection that allows him to exert his power.”
And Roan began to organize the story.
The malice experienced in the Eastern Emperor and Swin Lake,
The conversation I had with Fiora in the desert beyond Virectum and the story I heard when I met the Duke of the Forest Fairy.
Rumors collected through human mercenary guilds.
Naor looked surprised, but listened intently to Roan’s story.
“You mean we have to find the contract that draws power from the ‘gap’?”
“I think so.”
“But it is said to be in the land of men. How did you find out about that? What is the basis?”
Roan touched the glass.
The story to be told is a guess based on Roan’s knowledge of the game.
I can say the basis, but I can only express the basis as ‘the story I know’.
In the end, it’s a story that you don’t know whether others will believe it.
Will he still believe in me and help me?
Roan, who was rolling the glass in his hand, squeezed it tightly. After passing the hot but fragrant liquor at once, Roan opened his mouth.
“The power that the Grand Duke uses is similar to the power that humans want to have. The king of men will probably summon demons.”
“… You say ‘maybe’ you’re going to call it out?”
“There must be such power in that contract. I can’t be 100% sure that the artifact I was thinking of was a contract… The human king intended to use it. And I also have a similar… He saw things like gathering power.”
Naorga frowned at him.
“What do you mean? It seems certain, but it’s all speculation. I have to tell you how much is clear and how much is your imagination so that I can combine what I know.”
Naor was silent for the last time.
Because he noticed that Roan was sorting out the words in his head. He is also at level 0, but has ‘detection’.
Roan looked into the glass without taking his hand off the empty glass and made a decision.
“I’ve seen something similar to the future.”
Naor’s eyes widened.
