Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?
Chapter 218: This World Is (3)

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

Chapter 218 This World Is (3)

「I-it’s okay to sleep more. There’s no need for you to step in anymore… You can rest now.」

No! Get up! You still have work left to do! So get up right now…!

* * *

…Still, she couldn’t just let this go.

> [Not coming? Are you really just going to back off like this? Aren’t you supposed to be a Hero?]

The Inquisitor shut her burning eyes tightly and then reopened them. The stimulation moistened her eyes, slightly blurring her vision.

> [The Great Demon you’re supposed to kill is right here.]

That was true, but she couldn’t let her guard down. With the Great Demon waiting for her so openly, the possibility of a trap was far too high.

> [Ah, so you turned out to be a coward, not a Hero? How disappointing.]

…But if she didn’t go, what else was she supposed to do?

If she didn’t confront that Demon, there would’ve been no reason for Berserk to face that monster on her own. If she didn’t protect the people, there would’ve been no reason for the Demon Knight to come here alone…

Ah. The Demon Knight.

The Inquisitor raised her head, which she’d unconsciously lowered at some point.

She couldn’t feel the Demon Knight’s energy anywhere. Of course she couldn’t. Amid this overwhelming amount of Demonic Energy, there was no way she could sense his presence.

But, but still…

She couldn’t even hear the sound of fighting. What could that mean? Did it mean he was already too injured to fight? Or… could it be that h-he…

“No!”

There’s no way he could be dead. He couldn’t be. He was probably just seriously injured and had retreated somewhere to recover. That had to be it.

There’s no way he could’ve died…

Really?

What came to mind was the back of a man who seemed like he’d die without even so much as a struggle if the time ever came. The back of a cold, unyielding person who wouldn’t even grant her the chance to reach out to him.

『Just, don’t be too late. Fate won’t wait for you.』

The Inquisitor bit her lip so hard it tore.

Bang. The next moment, her gauntleted hand slammed against her forehead. Unable to let go of her mace, she struck herself with it still in her hand before her eyes shot open.

> [My. Deny it all you want, but you look like a coward no matter how I look at you.]

Meanwhile, misinterpreting her denial, the one before her sneered. It didn’t matter.

The Inquisitor’s green eyes sparkled like gold, ignited by the fiery sparks in the air.

“Run your mouth all you want, Demon!”

Whether the Demon Knight was dead or alive, what’s certain was that he was immobilized. What’s also certain was that she couldn’t do anything for him at the moment.

The Inquisitor barely managed to accept that harsh truth. She couldn’t save the Demon Knight right now.

“I will not be swayed by your forked tongue!”

However, just because she’d accepted this reality didn’t mean she’d succumb to despair.

It only meant she couldn’t afford to stop now. Behind her stood countless people she had to protect.

The ground beneath her feet was covered with those who’d sacrificed themselves to create this very moment, so she could never allow herself to retreat.

Boom!

So, the first thing she did was strike the nearby Mimic with her shield. Perhaps because it was following the orders of a superior entity—the Great Demon—it didn’t move at all, making it an easy target.

After taking the Mimic’s life, her hand instinctively shifted back into a defensive stance.

“If you’re going to come anyway, reveal yourself now!”

A Gargoyle flying through the air collided with the Divine barrier she’d created and plummeted to the ground.

Crash! The fallen Gargoyle’s head exploded as it connected with her mace. Its decapitated corpse naturally crumpled to the ground.

“I won’t let a single one of you get through!”

> [Hah. So that’s how you want to play this.]

The Great Demon chuckled. However, the Inquisitor didn’t even flinch.

Her priority was to buy time for people to evacuate, not to fight the Great Demon. Unless the Great Demon moved to attack the people first, she had no reason to confront it directly.

Bang!

There were more urgent things to defeat.

The Inquisitor struck down as many Demons passing by her as she could, intercepting them to reduce their numbers by even one. The fewer Demons that got past her, the less harm those evacuating would suffer.

> [You’ll pay dearly for making me move myself!]

Boom!

And with that, the Great Demon finally moved.

A lava giant smashed a building with its massive hand, flooding the streets with what looked like molten metal.

> [With your death!]

And rising from all that was a faceless Demon.

As Berserk had told her, this was the Great Demon of Greed and Avarice, Pandemonium.

One of the pillars of evil that must be eradicated one day was now reaching its grotesque fingers out toward her.

Chunks of rock imbued with a fiery aura began pouring down on her. Each one was so dangerous that she doubted whether she could block them all.

“O Lord.”

However, this was the moment she’d chosen over the Demon Knight, over Berserk. With such stakes, how could she say something as weak as she couldn’t do it?!

“Your lowly servant beseeches you.”

The Inquisitor threw aside the lingering doubts she’d been carrying all the way here.

“Let the ground I stand on be your ground. Let the hands I extend be your hands.”

She’d definitely do it. She had to.

“And may all evil upon this land perish! I humbly dare to pray!”

The Divine Power spread around her like a tidal wave, illuminating the world.

“So please stand with me!!”

It almost seemed like a second sun had been born on the ground.

A sun so bright, it could even evaporate a young man’s tears.

* * *

「Shut up, you wretch. He’s already done more than enough.」

You brat—! Do you even realize the consequences of what you’re doing?!

* * *

* * *

“Turn that way! There’s something I need to grab from the workshop!”

Deathbringer’s blood boiled at the man making bold demands even in the midst of this urgent situation.

“You think your research is important right now?!”

“Of course it is!”

This lunatic! This insufferable bastard!

Hearing the shouts of this guy, who’d clearly grown up doing whatever he pleased without knowing a single hardship, made the back of Deathbringer’s neck ache. If the man weren’t someone the city regarded as an invaluable asset, Deathbringer would’ve just kicked him off the horse right then and there.

“But I’m not trying to grab my research materials right now. It’s something else!?”

“Whatever it is, just leave it behind!”

“What do you even know…!”

“Goddammit, I might not know how valuable your oh-so-important research is, but I sure as hell know how precious the people risking their lives to buy us time are!”

How many people had already died just to give others a chance to evacuate?

And those who’d gone to the most dangerous places were all his comrades: the Demon Knight, Berserk, and even that iron wall.

Every single one of them had gone for their own reasons.

And yet, this damn brat wanted to waste the precious time they’d bought with their lives on the line on his selfish whims?

Dangerous impulses filled Deathbringer’s mind, serious thoughts of whether he should throw that damn bastard off the horse right now.

“…Do you think I don’t know that?! I’m insisting because I need to grab something that purifies water! The water near Zwerg Hill is so polluted that drinking it will give people serious stomachaches!”

However, those impulses were soon suppressed. It would’ve been a different story if he’d wanted to grab something purely for personal greed, but if it was something for the survival of the evacuees, it was worth it.

“It’s better than letting those people we’ve sacrificed so much to save suffer from stomachaches!”

“Then why didn’t you just say that in the first place, you damn bastard?! Tell me where it is!”

“Turn to the side! And by the way, you’re the one who didn’t give me any time to explain! Don’t go flaunting that half-witted brain of yours!”

As Deathbringer received as much as he gave, he turned the horse in the direction he’d been told.

Fortunately, the workshop wasn’t far off the escape route, so they didn’t need to make a substantial detour.

“Here!”

In a rush, Meister jumped off the still-moving horse and flung open the workshop door before running inside.

The moment he entered, the lights flickered on, illuminating the place.

“Damn it, I should’ve tidied up beforehand…!”

The place was in an utter mess, with all sorts of things scattered everywhere.

Deathbringer, who’d just tied the horse to a post outside and snuck inside, couldn’t help but grimace. Would he ever find what he was looking for in this mess?

Thud.

At that moment, something Meister had brushed past while rushing inside fell to the floor. It seemed to have been teetering precariously on the edge of a desk before eventually falling to the ground, unable to support its weight any longer.

“Listen, if you can’t find it in five minutes, we’ll leave.”

“I know where it is. There’s just a lot to clear away…!”

Ah, sure. Good for him and his excellent memory. Deathbringer sighed as he followed Meister inside, looking around to find something to help with. Thud. He bent down to pick up the item that had fallen earlier, setting it back on the desk.

Vrrm. The object was shimmering faintly, pulsing with a soft vibration. It was pretty strange. What on earth was that thing even used for?

“Anything I can help with?”

“Move that stuff to the side. What I need is in the white box over there.”

How much junk had that guy piled up? Deathbringer frowned but did as Meister requested. With two full-grown, sturdy men working together, dozens of boxes were quickly cleared out of the way, revealing the item they’d been searching for.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as big as he’d expected.

“Alright, let’s get out of here…”

Meister, starting to turn as if he had no more business here, suddenly stopped.

“Why is that thing glowing?”

“What?”

“That! The Arcane Battery!”

Meister was pointing at the “thing” Deathbringer had casually picked up earlier.

* * *

「Don’t listen to them. Just sleep a little longer. When you wake up…」

* * *

“People just keep coming.”

“Well, Bemurchen is a major city, after all.”

As a wizard, she was granted the privilege of casting spells from the safest place and even priority when evacuating.

But no matter how much she wanted to return, reality wouldn’t allow it. Helping others evacuate was one thing, but one problem all wizards shared was the frailty of their bodies.

With such a feeble body, going back would only result in a meaningless death. The Archmage stared at the land where so many young people remained, her heart weighed down with complicated feelings.

The steady stream of evacuees looked like an endless wave.

“Don’t push! Don’t push! Keep calm and leave in an orderly manner!!”

Fortunately, most people were obediently following instructions.

Rechecking her spell, she couldn’t help but admire the lord’s foresight in organizing a civilian militia to maintain order in the absence of the military.

The protective barrier she’d created around the main gate was a precaution for the worst-case scenario.

“The water is rising…”

“Everyone, spread out! Prepare for the Merfolk!”

She then noticed the rising water in the waterways, to which the nearby soldiers grew even tenser.

They were tasked with rearranging the troops, guiding the chaotic crowd of residents, escorting the wounded to the Temple, and watching for riots or sudden attacks, but they now had one more thing to do.

“I wish I could set up another barrier for them…”

But wishes were completely separate from reality. Setting up the barrier had already depleted her Arcane Power, and whatever she recovered needed to be saved in case of an emergency.

She couldn’t act right now. The Archmage lowered her head in helplessness once again.

“You’re still alive.”

At that moment, someone limped toward her, supported by another person. It was Surging Azure Lake, his figure battered but still unyielding.

The startled Archmage rushed to help the young wizard guide Azure Lake to a nearby chair. “You’ve done well. You may go now.” The wizard who’d been gently dismissed bowed deeply before scurrying away.

“Are you sure you should be moving around already?”

“Of course not.”

…Right, there was no way that he was fine. He had a head injury, and he’d suffered severe internal damage from Arcane recoil.

The Temple’s response was to refuse anyone not fatally wounded—naturally, since those currently receiving intensive treatment were even worse off—so he’d only been given emergency treatment. It was a miracle he was already conscious and walking around.

“Then you should rest…”

“If I could rest, I wouldn’t be here.”

“…”

“What about the ones you were with?”

“They’re still fighting over there.”

“Right. That was a stupid question.”

Still, she could understand his feelings. From what she’d heard, Azure Lake’s grandson was also still in the danger zone.

The two elders who’d left their loved ones behind could only clench their trembling fingers and swallow down the emotions threatening to well up.

Kiaaaargh!

At that moment, a tremendous scream tore through the evacuation line. It came from a little distance away.

“Stay calm and keep moving forward! If you panic, you’ll only delay your escape, so stay composed!”

The soldiers urged the anxious residents while some ran to the rear where the sound had come from.

“We should go too.”

“Are you really sure?”

“…I was planning to at least see my grandson before I close my eyes.”

“‘Closing your eyes’ sounds too much like you dying, so that’s banned.”

“If a certain someone misunderstood my words, that’s their problem, not mine.”

They also joined the soldiers’ ranks. While the soldiers did voice their concerns, unfortunately, no one could stop these two great sages once they’d made up their minds.

Kiaaargh!

“Uwaaaargh!”

“Save us!”

“Run! Go over there!”

“All units, take formation!”

When they finally limped to the scene, what greeted them were screeching, bloodied Harpies and some helpless citizens.

“Demons…”

They gritted their teeth.

“More are coming.”

Despite the young warriors’ sacrifices, the Demons’ claws had still managed to reach the people.

“…This is the end.”

One civilian wailed, their voice so clear that it reached even their ears.

* * *

「The place where you truly belong will welcome you with open arms.」

____