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

Chapter 36: Better Next Time (1)

After leaving the canteen, I exited the Temple completely.

That seemed like the correct response, and even if it wasn’t, I still needed to get some more food. I wasn’t full yet.

“Welcome!”

Furthermore, I hadn’t yet replenished the supplies I’d consumed in the sewers two weeks ago. This time, I had plenty of time to do some shopping.

“I’ve been looking for you!”

However, was it after wandering about for an hour or so? Deb approached me quietly. I already bought everything I needed, so I didn't really care that much. I wondered if the next Quest had already arrived.

“Our next destination will be Grü Teltz.”

…I thought he just came to deliver a message from the Archmage or Inquisitor. However, I didn't expect he would include himself in the message.

「? To the Porsen region

? Move to Grü Teltz」

“…You're going to come, right?"

It was my Quest, after all. It seemed the Archmage somehow managed to persuade Deb while I was away.

* * *

“You're here!"

Those were the first words I heard after following Deb to the meeting point, trying to keep my face as emotionless as possible. It appeared that the kimchi dumpling didn't think I would come.

But her worries were pretty useless.

My perspective as a player aside, this made sense from even a roleplaying perspective.

The Demon already succeeded in temporarily commandeering my body once… So, it might happen again in the future, right? There was no guarantee the Demon, once in possession of his body, wouldn’t cause harm to others.

On the other hand, the Archmage and Inquisitor could handle themselves quite well. They wouldn’t be overpowered so easily.

That said, they would be perfect insurance for me in emergencies. Even if anger clouded my mind, they wouldn't just let me go. That was how my character would think.

“I thought you wouldn’t co—”

Of course, the psychological distance between us was now greater than ever. So don’t even try to talk to me, Inquisitor!

I passed her, giving her my coldest shoulder. Hmm. The Inquisitor seemed to shout something from behind me.

“Sigh…”

I even ignored Deb, who didn’t really do anything wrong, making him sigh. He had tried talking to me several times on our way here, but I kept ignoring him. Wahaha.

“Is this really okay, Mister Sage?”

“Your throat hasn’t been cut, right?”

Was it just me, or had the Archmage somewhat figured out how to treat me?

If so, that would be very good. I might be upset from a roleplaying standpoint, but I was still worried about the Archmage. To me, he seemed like the leader of a party of nothing but trolls.

“Then, let us depart.”

With that, the slightly sullen kimchi dumpling announced our departure.

The horses advanced while snorting. Those we’d ridden on our way back to Tatara were already returning to their original owner, so our current horses had been prepared by the Temple.

There was no one to see us off. We didn’t leave with a merchant company this time, nor did the Temple send anyone out.

“Hey, wait!”

That was how it was supposed to be until a voice sounded out behind us.

“They are…”

“What are those adventurers doing here?”

Unlike me, who didn’t even consider turning around, the red and green dumplings, both very interested in their surroundings, immediately stopped talking and turned to look behind them.

Like that, I could also learn who was yelling behind us without looking.

“Wait!”

“Hold on!”

It seemed the adventurers were calling out to us. That had nothing to do with me. Unlike the other three who stopped, I continued toward the road.

The sound of horse hooves clicking against the ground was like music to my ears.

“Did something happen?”

“Hello, Miss Priest, Mr. Sage.”

“We came rushing because we had something to give to Mr. Demon Knight. If we had been a little later, we probably would have wasted our time, huh?"

“Ahaha."

“Rather, hey. Could you wait a minute?!"

However, they mentioned my name.

“We're here for you."

For some reason, the ursine Shaggi from before blocked my path. I silently frowned at his actions. It was a look saying that if he didn’t have a good reason to do this, I would have to blow him away.

Then the Shaggi adventurer and the one wearing that red cross emblem burst out laughing.

“We won't hold you up for long. Please, just accept this from us."

The one with the red cross held something out to me. At a closer look, I could see it was a medal smaller than the palm of my hand.

A blue gem was embedded in the piece of black metal, with the emblem of the Adventurers' Guild engraved in its center.

“I, Agathe, the exclusive healer of the Tatara Adventurers' Guild, would like to express our infinite gratitude on behalf of the Tatara Adventurers' Guild."

Oh, that looked kind of cool, but wasn't this rather sudden?

Was it the Quest reward? They said they wouldn't give me any, but they still gave me this medal?

“That's from the Adventurers' Guild, and this is from those whose lives were saved thanks to the medicine you handed out."

As my thoughts moved between 'They still gave me a reward' and 'Is it really alright to take this?', the Shaggi also handed me something.

It was a bundle even bigger than my head. Because the opening was closed tightly, I couldn't see what was inside.

“Unnecessary.”

“Haha…"

“There is no adventurer who can simply ignore a life debt. There were some soldiers among them, too."

“It may be insignificant compared to the incident you resolved, but… just see it as a token of our deepest gratitude. I mean, it wouldn’t be appropriate to not give at least a bit of honor to the adventurer who fought so valiantly without expecting anything in return.”

Personally, I thought this Quest reward was more than enough, but it was a bit hard to accept due to my character setting.

As I thought about somehow refusing them, the adventurers quickly retreated. I was actually rather astounded at their actions.

“So, we’ll decline your refusal.”

The Shaggi adventurer even threw that bundle toward me. Only after I reflexively caught it did I begin to regret it.

“I wish you good fortune on your adventures.”

In the end, I put it in my inventory while clicking my tongue.

I didn’t know what was inside the bundle, so I just stuffed it into my inventory, but what of the medal? I wasn’t the type to carry something like that on me, so I just put it in my inventory, as well.

I really didn’t like cluttering my inventory. I didn’t feel that bad about it since these items were given with good intentions, but still.

“When did Mister hand out medicine?”

“Probably when he went into the sewers on his own. And, as expected, they repaid him with goodwill.”

“And what was that thing he received first?”

“I’m not all too sure about this, either. It seemed to be some kind of medal… Do you know?”

“…It’s probably the Adventurers’ Guild Medal of Honor, given to adventurers who have achieved great, meritorious feats. It’s usually only given to those who have completed requests seen as impossible, enough to make them famous across a whole region…”

While the adventurers laughed as they retreated, Deb gave some explanations from behind. Since the item’s information didn’t appear, I was glad he explained it.

“Mister Knight definitely deserved it, then. Didn’t he kill dozens of Demon Contractors, break through the sewers alone, and kill countless Demons?”

I wasn’t so sure one could say that I deserved it. Was breaking through the sewers on my own such an explosive achievement…? Shouldn’t the Inquisitor who defeated that Plague Demon receive this medal?

If not for my character setting, I would have asked about it. What a shame.

“As expected…!"

At that moment, the Inquisitor, who probably defeated that boss, spoke as though it was just a matter of course that I received this award without even a hint of jealousy.

I then made the horse speed up. My conscience was pricked a little because I felt I’d received an award that should have been handed to someone else instead.

* * *

* * *

The distance to our destination, Grü Teltz, was twice that of Somon to Tatara. Well, we had to cross over a mountain range, so it certainly wouldn't be closer, at least.

The good news was we could pass right over them instead of climbing along their ridges.

Also, thanks to the Wizard, we didn't have to worry about losing our way or establishing a night watch whenever we set up camp. We had even less to worry about after being joined by Deb, an expert at concealing and setting traps using nearby topological features to his advantage.

That meant even without a barrier, we didn't have to worry about getting attacked.

However, I would still wake up early. Just like how a swan only looked as elegant as it did by paddling under the water with all its might, I built my character's reputation by working hard in places no one knew.

Well, another reason was that after sleeping six hours, the amount of fatigue reduced wouldn't change much, even if one slept seven or even twelve hours.

Crackle, crackle.

For those reasons, I always woke before dawn and sharpened my blade, the campfire my only companion.

Unlike the True Zweih?nder of Destruction, whose durability didn’t tend to decrease much, the Longsword’s durability dropped a lot, so I had to maintain it like this every day.

Even so, its durability was already below 70, so it was about time I got it repaired or replaced.

I flicked the scratched sword with my finger and sheathed it again.

The next thing was to check that bundle of gifts I still couldn’t really understand, even after rummaging through it for several days.

“What else is in there…”

Accessories like amulets would have been easier to understand.

Spices, such as salt and sugar, would have also been fine. They were ridiculously expensive but could be used in various ways.

But what was with thoseJapanese pepper-looking black grains, dried grasses, and shiny rocks?

Some had item descriptions, but many didn’t, making it quite difficult to determine what they were. Also, my inventory was almost completely filled.

After we reached the next city, I would definitely sell all these things. Since we had already crossed the mountain, it shouldn’t be much longer.

Crackle.

As soon as I put away the bundle, the bonfire in the shallow hole we dug out started to crackle. Now that I looked at it, it seemed the flame had weakened.

Toss.

As such, I threw in some more firewood to strengthen the flame once again. If I had nothing to do, maintaining the fire like that was the best way to kill some time.

The crackling flames and the quiet night made for quite a uniquely sentimental scene.

“Log out.”

「This command cannot be carried out.」

As expected, the wish I unconsciously uttered remained unfulfilled.

I waved that floating Window away. Since I didn’t expect anything, I also didn’t feel all that disappointed.

Hooooowl!

However, I suddenly heard a howl unique to a certain canine.

I blinked slowly. It sounded like a wolf, but why was it howling so close to this place?

This was my first time getting attacked by a wolf at night in this game.

Neeeigh.

I didn’t think there was much to worry about as it was just a common mob, but I still shouldn’t let my guard down completely.

I eventually stood from where I was sitting and comforted the horses, which had awoken from the wolves’ loud howling. Even then, the howling persisted.

“…”

Hearing those sounds, whether they were giving signals or receiving them, didn’t feel too good.

I glanced at my sleeping companions.

With {Alarm} magic and Deb’s traps set up around the camp, they would probably awaken before those things got the chance to bite their necks.

Abandoning my party with these thoughts, I took out my lamp. I didn’t take it for my own use but instead hung it from the tree the horses were tied to.

Even if it was dark, I could detect their presence, so I could actually see better like this.

Rustle.

「A hostile existence has entered a radius of 30m.」

And then our unexpected nightly guests finally arrived. Riiiing. The alarm rang out.

“Enemies!"

“That's…"

“Wh-what!"

“Shit, I told you not to touch the knight…!"

A stranger's voice mixed with those of my just awoken party members, showing this wasn't just a simple attack.

I threw myself into the darkness and pulled out my dagger. After leveling up, I could finally see one of the two target marks provided by the system moving toward me.

I didn't have to worry about the distance between them as they were basically rushing toward each other from both sides. What I did have to worry about, however, was whether I could hit a moving target with a dagger.

Stab!

Fortunately, I could.

“Shoot your arrows…!"

It seemed the night raiders weren't prepared for this kind of development. I could feel panic spread through them even without seeing them. I didn't hold much sympathy for them, though.

Jump!

Then, another wolf pounced on me from behind in an instant. However, although it wasn't marked with a target, there was no way I would miss it if it made its presence that clear.

I tossed away the wolf I had penetrated through the back of its head to its chest, spreading blood everywhere.

“Protect us!"

At about the same time, a golden membrane in the shape of a half-globe spread over parts of the area. Analyzing the situation just by sound, it seemed the Inquisitor used one of her skills immediately after I killed the pouncing wolf.

Swoosh!

In any case, the golden membrane expanded its radius, encompassing not only the Archmage and Thief but even me and the horses.

“Wh-what is this?!"

“M-magic?"

“Th-the knight is awake! Let's run…"

“Oh, merciful Lord Sea Dragon, please protect us…"

However, those attacking us were pushed away by the golden membrane and fell backward.

Tok, Tok, Tok!

The same went for their arrows. I spotted some crudely-made arrows fall to the ground after hitting the golden curtain.

“Shit, why isn’t anything happening?!"

“Oh Lord Sea Dragon, have mercy on us…"

Wait, wasn't that supposed to be a defensive spell? Why was I losing HP?

I was slightly displeased at seeing my HP dropping like that, so I left the barrier. At that moment, a target mark came rushing toward me.

“Do you think I'd let you go…?!"

Some huddled together, staying completely still. However, it wouldn't be too late for me to pursue them later.

I shouted, completely immersed in my roleplaying. I heard some screams as an answer.

However, unfortunately for them, I was a lot faster.

I cut down the two running away and also chased after the first to try fleeing. The blood flowing down my sword seemed unnecessarily creepy.

‘This was necessary.'

Yes, this was absolutely necessary. I knew it was, but still…

“Jeez. Not only do we have some bandits here, but they even managed to tame some wild dogs. How, though? How unlucky."

I could see Deb slaughtering out attackers with his daggers and kukri on the other side. He was moving very stealthily. Even though I could hear him talking, his presence seemed very faint at best.

The Archmage was the last to awaken but quickly understood the situation, immediately chanting a spell. The Inquisitor stayed motionless, as her most important job was maintaining the barrier.

Claaaatter.

Soon, I saw something vaguely resembling white chains emerging from the darkness.