<685 – Shocking Confession (3)>
Alpha’s once-shut mouth didn’t seem to have any intention of opening.
“Ugh, come on! What’s with stopping in the middle of a sentence? One of the top two reasons that get people riled up is when someone just shuts up mid-sentence!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Ugh, this is frustrating! You won’t even budge without me giving you the second reason. How much patience do you even have?!”
Unlike the modified legionnaires beside him, who were squirming, tearing at their hair, and pounding their chests in agony, Alpha stood tall like an ancient tree that had rooted in place for a millennium.
“I’m not such a bad person! I’m a [Good Child] and [Kind Child] too, you know?!”
“The moment you cooperated with the survival of the Demon King’s Four Kings, you became an enemy of humanity. Those who have fallen into the path of demons receive no helping hand.”
“Well, at least you’re talking! That’s an improvement!”
It seemed like Snowball was rolling over with the delayed assault on the Gift Academy.
“But Uncle, if you wanted to be human’s ally so badly, why didn’t you help Professor Destroyer? Why were you stuck in jail? Isn’t that a bad thing too?”
“…”
“Hmph. You won’t talk to me. I hate you!”
Secret finishing move, act cute!
Effect did not work!
‘This Uncle is such a strong enemy. My cuteness doesn’t work at all!’
Since he possessed both new character traits and newbie traits, I couldn’t just hit him and make him listen, which left me quite perplexed when Sing asked from behind.
“Do you want to open that man’s mouth?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll help. Leave it to me.”
Sing stepped forward to show something.
Alpha’s eyes, glowing with [Eye Technique], were drawn to Sing’s doll-like outfit, particularly to the exposed underboob.
“Alpha. I heard you’re the ‘Warrior’ of the Previous Hero Party. A warrior must decide whom to follow according to the law of warriors when their wills conflict.”
Sing placed a hand on his sword sheath and lowered his posture.
Ready to draw at any moment, he said,
“Bring it on. Prove that your name isn’t just a nickname.”
“Swordsmen are not warriors.”
“…”
Alpha dismissed it with a single word.
I had to hold back a chuckle.
Uh-oh, Sing is getting mad!
“What’s the difference between a swordsman and a warrior? A warrior surely wields a sword!”
“A warrior wields a great sword.”
“Swordsmen can wield great swords too.”
“Have you ever heard of anything other than a great sword warrior? A great sword swordsman?”
“…There’s the term ‘master of medium swords,’ and ‘swordsman using medium swords’ exists.”
Sing effectively managed to retort, albeit a step late, in the face of the counterarguments.
“A warrior has honor.”
“Swordsmen have honor too.”
“A warrior possesses bravery.”
“Swordsmen possess bravery as well.”
“Then, answer me. The skills and body of a warrior are meant to overcome adversity. It’s not just about killing enemies. What can a swordsman do without a sword?”
The modified legionnaires moved restlessly upon hearing that.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means to sacrifice the body. Looking at her, she’s definitely something else.”
“No wonder she wanders around in that dark robe. Did she get kicked out of the Warrior Party for messing with women?”
“She’s undoubtedly a sinner, isn’t she? Not just any sinner. She could’ve taken the lives of her rescued women as payment.”
“What a trashy vibe. Truly a great sinner!”
“…”
Alpha plucked some weeds from the roadside.
The weeds he tossed flew straight through the necks of a couple of the scheming modified legionnaires.
Gulp!
Ugh!
“T-That was just a weed!”
Whether the attacked or the one who parried it, everyone who witnessed was in shock.
Even a piece of grass could be a weapon in the right hands.
This was the warrior of the Warrior Party.
“Where’s the honor and bravery in that action?”
“To speak ill of me is a dishonorable attempt to tarnish the name of the Warrior Party. I don’t know how the Destroyer would have acted, but no one can insult us in front of me.”
“I see. So if you insult you, or rather, the Warrior Party, you’ll accept the challenge then.”
Alpha’s eyes turned grim at Sing’s daring provocation.
“You’d better think clearly. A warrior threatened with dishonor shows no mercy with their blade.”
Not one to back down, Sing radiated a chilling aura unique to killers as he began to draw his sword from the sheath.
Seeing this, I quickly rolled over and bit Sing’s ankle.
“Ow!”
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“What are you doing?!”
“I said to talk, not to start a life-or-death match!”
“Swordsmen converse with swords.”
“If you say that while Sing is my delegate, it makes me look like a madman intent on fighting! I’m not that foolish!”
Was I being persuasive?
With a flustered face, Sing returned the sword to its sheath.
Then he held the sheath close, propping one knee up, resting his elbows on it, and curled up.
As if to say,
“I’m watching you all. So don’t do anything foolish.”
I could charge in at any moment again.
It was almost a declaration.
…After finishing my grand act, I felt a hand on my bitten ankle with a pained expression from behind his wide garment.
Stuck on the concept of performing a swordsman while being a woman? That’s a tough gig!
Sing should be thankful he didn’t level up that biting skill much!
“So who are you, then?”
“Huh?”
Alpha wasn’t fooled by any pretense or facade.
With sharper eyes than any thief, he seemed ready to penetrate only the truth of subjects, objects, and phenomena as he unfolded [Eye Technique] and stared down Oknodie.
As if swearing on his very soul never to let his guard down again.
As if he had been so deceived that he could no longer trust anyone.
As a veteran player, I had seen this spectacle countless times.
– “A scroll costs 100,000 gold? Wow, I’m thrilled! Seems like our viewers are thrilled too, just laughing around. But why is there a seal on the outside of the scroll? Huh…? Guys… is this really a 100,000 gold item…? Just reattach the seal and pretend you didn’t see it, and you’re good to sell it off?!”
– “Guys!! And they said if you want to make money, go fish 1000 times during vacation. So I boarded a deep-sea fishing boat, but it was hell! My stamina stats went up, but the captain took all the money! What?? You mean I’m supposed to be the one to fish… then why did you mention the fishing boat? What? Just for kicks?! Damn it, you trash!”
– “They say if you give dry ice to the Northern Grand Duchess Irene, she’ll love it. So I gave it to her and took a pic, and what was her reaction? Some jerk commented for a review, saying he’d send his address…”
Poor newbies, toyed with by the veteran player’s games!
Just reading the comments shows the depth of wounds they’ve inflicted upon their hearts.
They’re just like Alpha now.
“You killed revolutionaries, contributed to the death of the empire’s emperor, opened the Underworld, and provided for the deaths of numerous popes and saintesses. If you’re not someone mad to fight, then what kind of person are you?”
“I’m the most humanity-friendly veteran player!”
“…Veteran player?”
“I’ve seen every route branch that exists, and tested every possibility. I didn’t have newbies do it for me; I tried it myself! So even if a new event opens up, I’ve got a general idea already. Oh, this should taste like this. This is probably the most fun!”
“Fun…?”
Alpha reacted sensitively to the keyword ‘fun’.
“Ni’alatotep used to say, ‘Interesting,’ quite often. You feel just like him… gender, age, and looks completely different, though.”
Ooh. It’s been a while since I heard the name of the Previous Hero.
“He also said, ‘This is a setup. It will lead to future enjoyment.’ I’m looking forward to the ripening fun. That’s how he continued the [Incomplete Journey] with us.”
“I heard from Professor Destroyer! He never solved anything completely and just skimmed the surface, right? Even while roughly guessing the truth!”
“Now I understand. The reason was that due to our party’s specialty of being unable to detoxify [Dark Mana], if we insisted on a complete journey, we would never have gotten far and would have ended much earlier.”
The more you kill, the more [Dark Mana] forcibly accumulates in the body from possessing a Dark Mana bearer.
Alpha must think that the Previous Hero Ni’alatotep sent out an incomplete journey to delay the exposure to Dark Mana as much as possible and to face even greater evil.
“Are you like that too?”
“!”
“Butler of Foundation. Direct subordinate of the Foundation. Are you trying to avoid exposure to Dark Mana so that your sharpness as humanity’s protector and as a weapon pointed at the alien isn’t dulled?”
I was about to casually respond with “…Yeah! That’s all part of my plan! You’re quite observant!” when I hesitated due to a foreboding feeling.
Alpha was waiting.
Just like prey waiting to catch its food.
The look in his eyes.
That demeanor.
Reading the atmosphere, I realized.
“So Alpha, you and our professor thought differently, huh? You don’t believe the Previous Hero was being passive due to exposure, do you?”
