Chapter 17: The Price of Ignorance (3)

Chapter 17: The Price of Ignorance (3)

I was tempted to blink rapidly, confronted with this unexpected development.

I mean, I knew the Draugr case was somewhat connected to a Demon Contractor or worshipper in the original, and I didn’t actually hate these types of events. Rather, I found them really interesting.

Why Gretchen all of a sudden, though? I didn't name anything Gretchen.

“If you're being held hostage by those heathens, I'll help you out. Let us both drown in the pleasures of slaughter."

The event itself wasn't that surprising. Most games had similar events in their early stages, after all.

But 'Gretchen' was a bit too much. I had no idea why they had to choose the name Gretchen. It was not very cool.

“Gretchen?”

Still, it wasn’t me who decided on the name but the game company, so it would be better to put my personal opinion aside. Maybe there was some meaning behind it.

Anyway, there were a few noteworthy points in what the Demon Contractor said. There was no way that an NPC mentioning the name of the Demon in my right arm would appear for no reason.

In that case, this was most likely a character event exclusive to Demon Knights, right? Oh, if I accepted their offer, would I be able to betray humanity and stand on the side of the Demons?

“Your mouth is fluttering so much that it’ll soon rip apart.”

I did wonder what would happen if I accepted their offer. However, considering my character setting, that would be stretching things, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, it didn’t really matter that I wouldn’t be exploring that story branch right now, since I planned to play this game multiple times. The grip on my Zweihänder tightened.

“...I made a mistake. My apologies. There’s no way someone as great as Gretchen would get captured by some mere heathens.”

My inner thoughts aside, the other party immediately calmed down upon seeing my blood vessels protruding and my eyes opening wide. My character was showing extreme anger toward that person, but they didn’t seem to particularly notice.

“But... Gretchen. That person isn’t just a regular heathen, but an extremely dangerous existence called a Hero. Stop with your games and slit its throat. If you bring their head along, the king will be positively pleased.”

Well, fine. I guess I’d heard enough.

If I were roleplaying as a more rational person, I would have tried to extract more information from them by pretending to be on their side, but that was practically impossible with my current character settings.

I would have captured and tortured them if I could, but I couldn’t act so shrewdly according to my setting.

“I can help yo—?”

“[Breaker].”

So the only thing I could do as one might expect was beating the crap out of them first.

Baam!

“Gretchen?!”

Damn it. Words wouldn’t help here.

They didn’t help back when the Inquisitor misunderstood and attacked me, either. However, she was a priest, the antithesis of all Demons. I had now been mistaken for a ‘fellow Demon’ by a ‘Demon Contractor,’ so why wouldn’t I just talk it out?

It was rather unlikely that my words would have gotten through to them even without this misunderstanding. It would be lucky if they didn’t aim their sword at me as soon as they could, after all.

“Wh-what...?”

So unlike that time with the Inquisitor, I sent that bastard flying and would continue to beat them even if they asked for forgiveness or something. They just had to stay still.

“Eeek!”

Perhaps because I put too much force into it, the skill I was using failed to hit. However, the Draugr, who moved in front of the robed person to protect them, got hit properly this time.

Wuooooooh.

The fog split apart, revealing the specter which let out a grotesque sound similar to a cry.

“I-I was wrong. Please forgive me!”

The robed person looked contemplatively at the crying Draugr—I noticed even through the hood covering their face—before prostrating themself on the ground.

Their reaction was a bit bizarre.

“Forgive?”

Now that I thought of it, the Draugr never really attacked me, despite having had the opportunity to do so twice already.

Was it because this was just an event? Considering what happened with the Inquisitor, that shouldn't be the case. The game wasn't so easy as to do something like that just because it was an event.

“Even death will not save you."The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

It was quite the mystery, but I just glossed over it for now.

I looked at the Draugr, who was the most threatening to me here. Frankly, I should probably get rid of the support first, the Demon Contractor, but it didn't seem like I could get past that Draugr so easily.

“I-I didn't mean to touch the Mabel Company! I would have never done something like that if I knew that you had your eyes on them, Gretchen!"

What were they talking about? Why did they suddenly mention the Mabel Company?

I furrowed my eyebrows as I used my skill to strike the Draugr. That sudden mention of the Mabel Company was interesting.

Baam!

“P-please forgive me!"

I lowered my head and tilted it.

Why would they mention that company out of all the ones in the city? It was the name of the group I had received three Quests from.

While I had already expected something like that, this was the guy behind it, huh?

“Draugr!"

The Draugr crawled out once more and the Demon Contractor used it like a shield. The fog condensed to form limbs, swords, and shields.

I continued to think as I fixed my posture. Tak, tak, tak. I could hear footsteps from a distance, accompanied by heavy breathing.

“...!”

Did someone come here after hearing this commotion? I glanced over at the Demon Contractor whose head was turned, clutching their bleeding chest.

“Sir Demon Knight!”

“...Damn, the heathens!”

Ah, right, there were those two.

“...! A Demonic person who sold their body and soul to the Demons! I shall join you, Sir Demon Knight!”

“Oh my, you were already fighting.”

The Inquisitor, whose eyes were focused on the Demon Contractor, raised her shield and mace, while the Archmage raised his cane.

All of a sudden, the Demon Contractor was surrounded, with me in the back and those two in the front.

“Damn it, how dare you betray us, Gretchen?!”

“...!”

In the end, the Demon Contractor just shouted in a resigned manner. Judging by her expression, I thought the Inquisitor would misunderstand again.

“Why—!”

“How dare you speak of betrayal when you turned your back on the world?!”

Fortunately, she didn’t. She didn’t point her weapon at me, nor did she become hostile toward me.

“Why?”

Anyway, just standing around and listening to that person talk didn’t fit my character setting at all, so I wrinkled my nose and swung my sword. Of course, I didn’t think that they would die or anything from that.

“How dare you ask me for a reason, you worm!”

Anyway, a new objective to capture that person had appeared, so there was no way the Quest’s target would die. Instead, they would probably only let me capture them after first draining them of all their HP.

Ah, of course, this game didn’t have a single cutscene except at the beginning, so I had no idea what would happen after.

Baam!

However, my attack missed as a flying magic bullet hit my sword, successfully redirecting my attack.

For that reason, my blade struck the ground right next to the Demon Contractor. The ground splintered as the Demon Contractor screamed.

“Why are you interfering...?!”

I didn’t know the reason for his interference, but for now, I should just get angry.

Tsk, I heard all kinds of disgusting things from that damn Demon (Contractor) bastard and was even accused of betrayal, so how couldn’t I get angry and irritated. Even my attempt to vent my anger had been blocked.

“Calm down. We get more out of capturing that person than from killing them.”

“I can’t just let that Demon bastard live!”

“There might be other Demon Contractors besides them in this town!”

The Archmage struck the end of his cane against the ground, casting {Binding}. Both my arm and the Demon Contractor were tied by it.

“Draugrs aren’t ordinary Demons. They are even harder to summon in a town like this alone. There is a high possibility that there are more of them.”

It wasn’t that hard for me to break through these {Binding} chains. However, the Archmage just wanted to buy a little bit of time to talk.

“So, please, calm down and be a bit patient. If you kill that person now, you may relieve your anger momentarily, but you won’t be able to save the victims who might appear as a consequence. Don’t get blinded by your anger.”

“...”

No, I mean, I knew that. I was also trying to subdue that guy. I really didn’t mean to completely kill them...

Was I not supposed to drain all of their HP to clear this capture Quest?

「Capture │ One can only attempt to capture a target after some of their stamina has been reduced.

If the target dies in the process, you will fail to capture them.」

“...Damn it!”

Kick!

“Urgh!”

How about letting me know these things in advance, Mr. Game System?

I kicked the Demon Contractor and sheathed my Zweihänder. Fortunately, no one stopped me from kicking that guy, at least.

“...They mentioned the Mabel Company.”

“Hm?”

Ah, right. I had to tell them about this as well. I wasn’t sure if they would react to my words or if it would affect the story, but I sure was curious.

“That... That’s very important information.”

As I thought, this divine game was very different from anything I knew. Of course, I had no idea if my words really changed the plot somehow, but I at least got a response.

“I shall arrest you.”

The Inquisitor, whose eyes had been trembling quite rapidly until now, bound the Demon Contractor once more with her Divine Magic.

It was time to return to the Temple once more.