Chapter 13
On the Boundary Between Humans and Monsters (6)
“Show your face once in a while.”
Just as I finished packing and was about to leave the village, the priest who had come to see me off said this.
…While his words sounded too much like something a father-in-law would say, I decided to ignore them. It seemed pointless to offer excuses anyway; they just wouldn’t register.
I had heard him entrust his daughter to me countless times.
“You should… come visit once in a while too.”
The priest chuckled as he said this.
Lien smiled brightly in response to the priest’s farewell and shared a warm hug with her father.
What a strange feeling.
It’s like the relationship between people who, according to the original story, would have ended in tragedy has somehow transformed.
I felt a twinge of pride as I watched their farewell with a contented expression… Then suddenly, something popped into my head, and I rummaged through my bag for a moment.
Fortunately, what I had created last time was still there.
“…This is.”
The priest’s eyes widened in surprise.
It was probably to be expected.
What I handed him was a map of this world.
A map drawn by me, a hardcore gamer who had poured my life into Blood and Bone.
Sure, there might be some discrepancies because of the time gap between previous work and this one. But still, there’s nothing in this world as accurate as this.
What kind of surveying tools could they possibly have in this era?
And how could anyone hope to map out the terrain of dangerous areas crawling with monsters?
‘Thank goodness I made an extra one to give to Siel.’
Maps are a breeze for me to make, so they aren’t particularly significant for me, but it’s a different story for these folks.
They’ve been marked by the empire.
It seems their location has been exposed.
In any case, they need to leave here and find another safe place.
“You might want to consider moving somewhere around here. There’s a monster habitat nearby, but if you keep your wits about you, there’s a route that you can safely navigate.”
I suggested a place where they could relocate, away from the empire’s prying eyes.
Having played the previous game and evaded the empire’s pursuit myself, giving advice didn’t feel too challenging for me.
“What exactly do you do?”
The priest looked at me and asked.
…Indeed.
Even I found myself suspicious.
What kind of person carries around such information?
‘But still, I can’t just keep quiet, right?’
Especially when it concerns people like Lien’s family.
It’s just wrong to let someone perish out of suspicion when I could spare them with a mere scribble.
Just passing along a hastily scrawled note could increase the survival chances of dozens.
I quickly devised a reasonable excuse in my head, but it never made its way to my mouth.
“…No need to answer if you don’t want to.”
The priest spoke before I could utter a word.
“Whoever you are, I know you care deeply for my daughter. That’s enough for me.”
He truly is a kind-hearted soul.
It’s a shame he’s caught up in a strange cult.
To think that such a person could have been led to kill his own daughter.
The dangers of cults are genuinely terrifying.
“Should you ever need help, just say the word. We’re all on your side.”
With those words, the priest nudged me toward Lien, encouraging me to go to her.
Looking at his expression, it seemed he genuinely meant what he said.
Have I just been acknowledged as an honorary member of the tribe?
Having the backing of a cult village is a bit of a mixed bag… but let’s call it a good thing.
Having more people ready to offer help can never be a bad deal.
“Well then, shall we head out?”
I asked, and Lien nodded.
As I watched her, a sudden realization struck me.
“Now that I think about it, you haven’t even heard my name yet, have you?”
Hearing this, Lien looked bewildered for a moment before noticeably panicking. It seems I hit the nail on the head.
“I-I’m not that kind of person! I didn’t just decide to follow you without knowing your name… It’s just that it’s you…”
“…It’s because it’s me?”
I prodded, and it made Lien’s cheeks turn a deeper shade of red.
Ah, she’s still so easily flustered.
Her reactions are so delightful, and now she’s even providing her own material for teasing.
I feel an urge to tease her more, but maybe it’s best to hold back this time.
“Ian. Just Ian. No last name.”
Upon hearing my name, Lien softly repeated it.
Her face was so cute that I got lost watching her, and before I knew it, the plains began to emerge into view.
We had finally come out of the mountains.
Only then did I feel that this entire ordeal had reached a conclusion.
Sure, things had gotten a little tangled along the way, but looking at the outcomes, I felt pretty satisfied.
I had successfully recruited Lien. Not only that, but I had also gained an unexpected ally and verified the superior performance of the Emperor Might characteristics.
It was a result that exceeded any expectations I had.
‘…Well, there’s still a long way ahead.’
I still needed to meet up with Siel, build strength in various ways, find and thwart the cause of impending doom, and recruit Yuli…
There was still plenty left to do.
Thinking about it was a bit overwhelming, but when has it not been?
The plan is to face challenges head-on and figure things out as we go along.
As I continued chatting with Lien on our way to the guild, I started organizing my future plans.
‘At this point, I’ve definitely gathered quite a bit of strength.’
Two companions—Lien and Siel—along with my mental resilience secured.
With this, we could certainly make our move.
To the imperial capital.
To the heart of the empire, where all its forces are concentrated and monsters are swarming.
This is finally going to allow me to do what every protagonist possessed by another soul inevitably does: ‘outsmart the opposition using foreknowledge.’
A smile crept onto my lips naturally.
Maybe, just maybe, my luck was finally changing.
Things were going smoothly.
*
The man grimaced as he smoked his cigar, irritation flooding his face.
That annoying tribe.
The forces he had dispatched to obliterate those who could potentially derail the empire’s plans had gone silent.
Wondering if it was an act of insubordination, he attempted to trigger the self-destruct runes tattooed on the necks of the soldiers during their enlistment as a test, but there was no response.
The implications were crystal clear.
They had been overwhelmed.
That entire battalion wiped out.
‘How many times has this happened already?’
Things had been spiraling out of control since the last incident.
In the man’s mind, the reason was simple.
Those despicable scoundrels who dared to oppose the empire’s leadership, the ruler of the empire, deserved nothing less than a brutal demise.
The Black Fangs.
‘What on earth are they trying to accomplish?’
Their intentions and objectives were a total mystery. However, their power was undeniably excessive.
Even the dark mages hired by the empire now refuse all requests to investigate the Black Fangs.
The empire doesn’t offer second chances when its own bloodhounds don’t comply, yet here they are.
They feared uncovering information about those fiends more than the thought of dying.
All those who sought to dig up intel on that organization received the same dreadful fate.
They would laugh maniacally, their bodies so mutilated that they were unrecognizable, before succumbing to their fate.
Every corpse was left bearing nothing but the bite marks of the Black Fangs.
If the troops sent to assault the village were completely eradicated, there could be no other suspect.
Only those damned Black Fangs could conduct such atrocious acts.
It’s maddening.
Utterly maddening.
Thus…
“Is there no other choice but to invoke it?”
The man, the empire’s second prince, slowly made his way forward.
The temple, a locale off-limits to the public.
Technically it belongs to the Sacred Imperial Court, but it’s all in cahoots with the empire anyway.
They exchange benefits and share secrets harmoniously.
Walking through the temple, filled with secrets that must never see the light of day, including the remains of former heroes and the devices powered by their corpses, the second prince finally arrived at his destination.
There lay the Holy Grail. Or more accurately, it would be more appropriate to call it a counterfeit of the Holy Grail.
Not a miraculous creation but a replica made by sacrificing children who were filled with faith to create something rich in divine power.
This particular creation was the purest of abominations among them.
A factory that turned children into mere creatures that could only recite prayers to create top-notch divine offerings.
From these, only the finest quality was meticulously selected, resulting in a one-of-a-kind supreme product made from a thousand corpses.
However, that was of little consequence.
If it could eliminate that wretched organization, even this would not be deemed too high a cost. The Second Prince was prepared to use even the precious artifacts he had preserved.
With that in mind, he smiled and prayed to the Grail.
He prayed for the demise of the traitor of the empire, the ‘commander overseeing the Black Fangs’ who dared to go against the empire.
And then…
Nothing happened.
The Grail merely sparkled before losing its power, as if such a person didn’t exist.
At that moment, the Second Prince’s face paled in shock.
The implications were glaringly obvious.
‘Could it be that this too is easily deflected?’
Before the powerless Grail, the man laughed hollowly.
The Black Fangs.
He was flabbergasted by just how frighteningly unconventional the commander overseeing this shadowy organization was.
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