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

Chapter 59 | If There is a God (2)

Dealing with the Golem wasn’t that difficult.

Its massive body just provided a lot of areas to attack, and its movements were very slow and easy for me to avoid, so I could cut it down with a single [Slash].

I also wasn’t incapable of dealing with the disturbances around me. Pulling the Patchwork Golem’s aggro wasn’t bad, either; that way, I could open a path for the others.

Yeah, everything was fine up to this point.

It was just that the Patchwork Golem’s vitality was extremely high.

Shouldn’t it die after having its body cut through, its huge limbs amputated, and its head separated from its body?

I looked at the severed body parts still writhing and struggling despite no longer being connected to a body. Finally, my eyes turned to the head I had cut off. In the center of its sunken face and sagging skin, bloodshot eyes glared at me.

“What a disgusting Demon.”

So, I stepped on the round head and raised my weapon.

“You dare look at me with your dirty eyes.”

Pierce!

I sunk my blade right between its eyes, just above its snub nose.

Black liquid began flowing from the wound. Inside the head, I could vaguely see a bizarre creature like an embryo but a hundred times the size.

Alright.

I shook off the black fluid from my blade and checked whether the Golem was still alive: its eyes had blurred over, and its writhing limbs ceased moving. 

It was completely dead.

“Th-The monster is dead…”

“The monster is dead!”

“Hurry and push the Zombies back!!”

“Kill those bastards!”

While the situation wasn’t completely resolved, the biggest menace was now dead. From the moment I’d appeared, those people about to lose hope had their spirits lifted again.

Kyaaargh!

I tore apart the Gargoyles trying to attack me and took care of enemies the people might find difficult to fight.

Because of that, I fought a few more aerial battles, which wasn’t possible in the original…

It wasn’t too bad an experience. Maybe it was because I had to fight a Sea Dragon at sea before, but I was feeling quite relaxed right now. Back then, falling into the water meant certain death, after all!

Uwaaargh!

“Heeek!”

While doing that, I also saved those getting attacked and killed the pirates belonging to Vipurit.

After killing all the Gargoyles, all that remained were the humanoid enemies.

“Uuh, urgh, gargh, gag.”

“…! Finn, Finn?!”

“You crazy bastard, let go!”

However, I wouldn’t call that easy, either. I actually wished there were just a second Patchwork Golem. Those things only caused temporary material damage, but once killed, that would be the end.

However, that didn’t apply to Vipurit’s gang, much less the Zombies. I thought they were simply victims possessed by Demonic parasites, but they were also just like regular zombies in that they’d infect the person they had bitten. There was also a brief period between being infected and when the victim showed symptoms.

They were the most difficult to take care of, and killing them left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. With the regular people and the Zombies now basically mixed together in a huge crowd, it was impossible for me to wipe them out all at once.

“Finn, come to your senses!”

“Let go of him! Do you want to turn into a Zombie as well?! It’s already too late for Finn!”

“Finn!”

Take that as an example.

Kaaargh!

I caught the thing trying to attack its former companions as it squealed.

Craaack. By putting just a bit of strength into my hand, I managed to break its neck. The sensation of breaking through its skin and crushing its bones felt incredibly vivid.

‘It’s a Demon.’

However, it was a Demon in the end. Even if I wanted to give this guy a chance to regain his sense of self, I had to consider my circumstances first.

The Demonic Energy Neutralizer might help, but I wasn’t so sure about that. Even if it would work, I didn’t have any on me right now.

“Finn!!”

All I could do for now was ignore their resentful gazes and focus on something else. There were still many enemies I had to kill.

“Damn it, why, why did this happen again?!”

“Y-You weren’t bitten, right?”

“Those who’ve been bitten, tell us immediately! This is different from forty years ago! Report right away if you have been bitten!”

“Gather at the castle gates! We’ll reorganize there!”

For now, I only dealt with those wearing red clothes and those showing symptoms of being bitten. There may be some infected among those remaining, but I had no time to search through them individually.

Since Windhand had asked me to look for the Lord, I still needed to do that.

“Hey.”

So, I grabbed one of the people checking others for bite marks. Although his clothes were that of a civilian, his ability to command those around him suggested he wasn’t just someone ordinary.

Someone in a higher position was more likely to know certain things.

“Ah, you…”

“Where is the Lord?”

“Th-The Lord?”

However, it seemed I had chosen the wrong person. The guy only showed he was thinking over my question, but he didn’t provide an answer.

Of course, I wasn’t sure whether it was because he was suspicious of me or because he truly didn’t know.

“The Lord is in the castle, no, she should be!”

Fortunately, someone else answered in his stead. Judging by his soldier’s uniform, it seemed he worked in the castle.

He was seriously injured, but as someone was supporting him, it seemed he was less likely to have been infected.

“She probably tried leaving through the secret passage, but Vipurit and his gang entered the castle suddenly, along with the Zombies! They’ll most likely target the Lord!”

He either had quite the wit or was highly loyal to the Lord.

Anyway, I got what I wanted: knowing the Lord was still in the castle and that it could be rather dangerous inside was pretty helpful.

“Understood.”

My next stop would be inside the castle.

While walking toward it, I grabbed some people showing symptoms by the neck. Their bodies writhed in strange ways.

Bam!

When one bit into my gauntlet, I just threw it forward and split its body in two as I passed by. Clank. A curved, scimitar-like sword fell to my feet. It seemed quite useful.

“Wait, are you going into the castle?!”

Soldiers and people in clothes I couldn’t quite place looked at me as one of them asked. Kick. The next moment, I kicked up the scimitar and caught it in my hand.

It was more than obvious that wielding the Zweihänder within the castle would be quite awkward, so I was thinking of borrowing this blade for now.

“W-We want to come with you.”

I didn’t really care, so they didn’t have to ask for my permission or anything. Actually, since I didn’t know how to get inside, it would be somewhat helpful if at least one of them came along and explained how to enter.

However, there were still many Zombies and pirates left. Could they even afford to follow me? Didn’t they have to take care of their own first?

Although the situation was slowly calming down, shouldn’t there be at least one person in a high enough position commanding the others to stay behind? Those who asked whether they could come with me seemed like they would just follow, no matter what.

“If you get in my way, I’ll toss you aside.”

However, that didn’t mean my character was one to discourage them. I respected their choice and broke down the gate so I could enter.

Suddenly, my right arm started itching when facing a certain direction.

“Kill all the pirates! After that, hunt down whoever was bitten and protect the castle gate! If any of the Zombies approach, kill them all!”

A few of the people who said they’d follow me gave some orders to those staying behind and hurriedly went after me.

Although I was walking pretty quickly, they somehow managed to keep pace, though their faces were distorted in pain because of their injuries.

“Where’s the secret passage?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Useless.”

Now that I thought about it, it would be even weirder if he knew where it was. Anyway, if he didn’t know, he was useless to me. I then noticed people moving about in rather jarring ways.

Soon, those infected by Zombies began attacking us. Some who weren’t infected just turned into pieces of flesh decorating the floor.

Kang, Ching! Kakang!

“…!”

Then I heard the clashing of blades from one place. I increased the pace of my steps even further.

* * *

Reaper Scans

[Translator – KonnoAren]

[Proofreader – Loopin]

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* * *

“H-Hold on!”

I eventually ran across people dressed in armor fighting against hordes of Zombies, pirates, and Demon Contractors wearing robes. I shifted the curved sword I’d just borrowed.

Kuargh!

My sword cut through the Zombie furthest in the back and pierced the heart of a Demon Contractor in the middle of chanting spells behind it.

“What?!”

There wasn’t just one guy, but two? I grabbed the head of the next Demon Contractor I saw with my right hand.

Baaam!

I slammed the hand against the stone wall, leaving behind a massive splatter of blood before the guy slid down. 

“What just—?!”

“Damn it, kill him!”

“Hurry up and kill him!”

This curved blade was pretty good.

I filled it with my Arcane Power and swung it around, satisfied with the grip. It was rather satisfactory as a substitute. I fired a very small [Slash] forward and eviscerated the upper torsos of several members of Vipurit’s gang.

“They’re here!”

“Are you part of the reinforcements?!”

“Let’s hold on just a bit longer! Rescue has come!”

“Reinforcements!”

“W-We’ll survive!”

Was this all there was to these enemies? There were quite a few of them, but none were especially strong.

I narrowed my eyes and looked over the survivors. The knights, who had been defending all this time and fiercely holding on to hope, could finally catch their breath.

However, no one among them appeared to be this castle’s Lord.

“The Lord?”

“Her Lordship… Ah!”

One of them urgently pointed in one direction. Following the outstretched finger, I saw what seemed to be a fireplace.

“We must save Her Lordship! A mist-like monster followed after her through the wall!”

A Draugr. I looked at these people who could easily identify my target and were tough enough to survive this ordeal.

“Open the door.”

After hesitating for about three seconds, a knight pursed his lips as he pressed some things, at which point a secret passage opened.

“Uwaargh!”

I could hear a scream from within.

“Your Lordship!”

Since I could still hear clashing blades, that likely meant the Lord was yet to be harmed, right?

I kicked the ground with these thoughts in mind. It felt like some traps were triggered here and there, but I was moving so fast that they didn’t affect me. Whenever I reached a crossroad, all I had to do was follow the sounds of battle.

Of course, those who chose to come after me would probably have quite a hard time, but… I figured it was far better for them to suffer than the Lord to die.

“R-Run—”

“Tia!”

Whuuuuuuuh.

As I arrived at the source of the fighting, I came across a materialized Draugr raising its weapon against a woman.

Directly below the Draugr, I could see a fresh corpse and the torch it held.

“You.”

With a crunching sound, my sword immediately cut off the Draugr’s head.

Thinking back, this had taken me two strikes before. It was probably because my level had risen, or maybe because I swung my blade with more force than usual. The Draugr’s body melted and scattered like dust.

“Are you Pion, the castle’s Lord?”

After dealing with the Draugr, a woman with pointed ears and a slightly wrinkled face appeared before me.

The eight braids in her hair momentarily caught my attention, but realizing the situation, I quickly refocused my thoughts.

“…That’s right. Who are you?”

I-I saved her by a hair’s breadth. Although all her guards seemed to be dead… Without their sacrifice, I wouldn’t have been able to save Pion. 

I prayed for the deceased, hoping they may rest in peace, before moving my sword to my right hand. I then stretched out my empty left hand.

“I came here after receiving a request from Windhand.”

Pion’s eyes glazed over for a bit. 

“Suriya?”

“Get up.”

I waved my hand slightly as if to clarify its presence before Pion grabbed it, small tears gently flowing from her eyes.

“Did that kid succeed?”

“Are you really asking that after seeing the results with your own eyes?”

“…Right, indeed.”

I helped her up and turned around. I wasn’t sure where this secret passage would lead, but I thought it would be better to just return to the castle. The soldiers were there, after all.

“The knights outside…”

“Your Lordship!!”

“…They are alive.”

The voices echoing through the secret passage were explanation enough. Not paying the Lord any heed, I sped forward as fast as I could.

Since I could judge the distance between the Lord and myself by the sound of our footsteps, I didn’t need to occasionally turn around to check. 

“I-I…!”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Your Lordship!”

Joining up was good and all, but hey, how can we proceed if you keep blocking the already narrow road? I glared at them with pursed lips.

“Make way, right this instance.”

The knights immediately stepped aside.

We had to get out of here.

“What’s the situation? How many of you are alive?”

“Only three knights left, myself included… Of the soldiers, only five remain.”

“What about the situation outside?”

“It’s a complete mess. Fortunately, that gigantic monster, most of the Zombies, and pirates were taken care of by him… But the infection rate is much too fast. The town is probably in pieces.”

We walked down the pathway, which felt longer than when I’d entered. I started to think about my next move.

Now that I had saved the Lord, should I just lead her to where Windhand was? That seemed far too inefficient to me.

How about dealing with the remaining enemies outside? I saw plenty of Gargoyles flying around the city earlier when my main priority had been to get to the castle.

Or it might be even better to investigate the castle wall where that Patchwork Golem had come out from. There might still be Demon Contractors present there.

“Lord.”

However, I didn’t have enough information to choose the latter option. Just going around looking for something alone would waste a lot of time. 

“Let me ask you, are these all the enemy troops that entered the castle?”

“According to my knights… Yes.”

“When did those Demons appear? Is there anything more dangerous than the Patchwork Golem around? Which place needs the most support? Can you answer any of these questions?”

I just decided to ask her coldly. I usually didn’t talk that much, but there was no one around who could ask in my stead.

Moreover, there wasn’t anyone around who knew about my character setting, so they wouldn’t freak out at my barrage of questions, and the likelihood of others finding out later was also minimal.

I should stop worrying about breaking character and focus on dealing with this situation.

“I should know more about this than Her Lordship. I watched everything happen from start to finish, after all.”

However, someone in civilian clothes stepped up instead, interrupting the conversation between the Lord and me. He was one of those that followed me into the castle.

“Please, explain.”

At the Lord’s command, he continued while counting with his fingers.

“It started at the Amsen dock. While those flying monsters distracted the harbor’s forces, three ships arrived… The monster you dealt with not too long ago appeared after. Vipurit and his crew also disembarked from their ships at that time.”

Hmm, hmm… I see. I didn’t know where Amsen was, though…

“The pirates released something, after which some people turned into Zombies. Then, some spread out on the city streets, and that giant monster broke through the castle walls.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes. I don’t think any monsters more dangerous than that giant monster are around. However, Zombies and pirates are scattered all around the city…”

I didn’t really know this place’s layout, so I wasn’t too certain about the enemy’s movement path. However, as long as there wasn’t anything at the level of a Patchwork Golem around, that was fine. That meant there was no place needing my immediate attention.

So for now, I had to set my priorities, move from place to place, and clear them out…

“Where’s the Amsen dock?”

Seeing that there weren’t more enemies in the castle, I had to rush to that dock where the Demon Contractors and pirates first landed.

Given the unpredictability of the Demon Contractors, I had no idea what they were planning to do now. Just as the Zombie invasion started from the dock, further incidents might happen there, too.

“If you leave the castle and go south… Hmm? Wait, why don’t you know where the Amsen dock is…?”

“Go through the hole that monster came through, turn right, and go down the hill, or go out the castle gate, turn left, and go further south. You will soon reach the dock that way.”

The Lord, knowing I was an outsider brought in by Windhand, added to the previous description. A very useful addition.

“Stay inside the castle until I return. I’ll clear the place out.”

I left the secret passage and approached a window of the room where the secret passage’s entrance was located.

“Where are you going?”

Crack.

The sound of a window breaking followed the Lord’s words.

“I’m going to kill Demons.”

“Wait just—”

My body fell straight down from the fourth floor.