* * *
BOOOOM-!
Along with a deafening blast that seemed to tear at my eardrums, a flash of light erupted for an instant.
CRACKLE, CRACKLE-.
‘A barrier?’
Through the cloud of dust that had obscured my vision and was slowly beginning to disperse, a translucent hemisphere came into view, its center half-shattered and riddled with cracks.
“W-What the hell?! Did a defensive magic tool activate? What in the world is going on……!”
“It’s a terrorist attack! Look on top of the building! There’s a masked man standing up there!”
The entire area descended into chaos in an instant.
[Multiple individuals have become aware of you.]
[Recommendation! - If the ambush fails, immediately withdraw from the area-.]
I immediately drew out my spear and aimed it downward.
Through the shattered barrier, Ferdi’s empty eye sockets stared up into the air.
“…….”
The dark-red hollows where his eyes had once been turned toward me.
He stared blankly in my direction for a moment before his mouth suddenly spread into a broad smile, as though it might split his face apart.
‘……He realized we came for him.’
I watched him for a moment, then hurled my spear downward with all my strength.
WHOOSH!
The spear flew from my hand, pierced straight through Ferdi’s mouth, and embedded itself firmly in the ground.
A brief convulsion followed.
Then his body fell still forever.
[Ferdi returns to the Goddess’s embrace.]
[Special Achievement Unlocked!]
[The will of Cú Chulainn residing within your body grows stronger!]
[Vitality 8 → 9]
[Strength 15 → 16]
[Agility 7 → 8]
[Intelligence 6 → 7]
[Wisdom 7 → 8]
[Charisma 9 → 10]
‘……It’s over.’
The system windows appearing before my eyes cluttered my vision.
……Just as the legend of my Unique Myth dictated, I, Cú Chulainn, had killed Ferdiad.
And as a result, my stats had increased.
I had done this kind of stat grinding countless times before, but this time, it did not feel particularly satisfying.
[Hidden Route progress increased!]
[Hidden Route Progress: 5.5%]
-『Bring Rest to Ferdi』 (Complete)
-『???』
-『???』
…….
Shouts that sounded almost like screams, along with furious jeers, rang in my ears.
The platform had become utter chaos.
Enraged citizens of the Empire broke formation and surged forward.
“Capture that bastard immediately! It’s the masked man on top of the building!”
The blue-cloaked knights had already begun moving as well.
……Some of the bastards who destroyed the Underground City were probably among them.
‘This isn’t the time to get sentimental.’
I had to get out of here quickly.
If I ended up on a wanted list, it would interfere with everything I needed to do from here on out.
I immediately turned around to make my escape.
SLIP.
“……!”
Perhaps because all my attention had been focused on the dead Ferdi, I misplaced my footing and nearly slipped.
‘Damn it……!’
Just as my body tipped sideways—
GRAB!
I hurriedly reached out and seized the Imperial flag planted on the rooftop.
CRACK!
Unfortunately, that caused the Imperial flagpole to snap cleanly.
“Th-That vile terrorist! How dare he break the flag of our great Empire-!”
“How……! How can such an outrageous man even exist?!”
What?
I only grabbed it because I slipped.
Somehow, though, it seemed to have turned into a grand performance of me deliberately breaking the Imperial flag.
‘Since I already broke it, should I make the finale a little more spectacular?’
I immediately grabbed the flag with both hands.
RIIIIIP-!
Then I tore it straight down the middle.
“Th-That madman……! He tore apart the sacred flag of the Empire!”
“AAAAAAAH……! The flag of our great Empiiiiire!”
[Multiple individuals now harbor intense hatred toward you!]
As cries of despair erupted from all around me—
DING!
[Achievement Unlocked! - 【One Who Scorned the Imperial House】]
[Your stats permanently increase according to the Achievement.]
[Charisma 10 → 11]
‘Huh?’
I had somehow unlocked an Achievement I had never seen before in my life, even as a veteran player.
‘An Achievement for insulting the Imperial House?’
Ah, was this perhaps an Achievement exclusive to the Hidden Route?
I had somehow managed to complete that supposedly difficult stat grinding twice in succession.
‘Charisma doesn’t directly affect combat, but it’s still a useful stat with plenty of applications…….’
Either way, it was a gain.
I had accomplished my objective.
All that remained was to escape safely.
As for my spear…… unfortunately, I could not exactly go back down there to retrieve it, so I would have to abandon it.
The only weapon I had left was the Hero’s Longsword that the Hero had so generously donated to me.
“You goddamned Ailant remnant! You dare disgrace the Imperial House?!”
Just then, a knight climbed onto the rooftop.
He was carrying a rather sturdy-looking spear.
“My spear shall pierce your heart and restore the honor of the Empire!”
“Oh, thank you for the donation!”
“Wha……? W-Wait?!”
[You have acquired 【Sturdy-Looking Spear】.]
I immediately closed the distance with the knight, snatched away his spear, and shoved him straight off the roof.
With a single scream, the knight plunged toward the ground.
‘For now, heading toward the eastern commercial district should be best. It’ll be easier to shake off my pursuers there.’
I also gave a single nod toward Rian and Aileen, who were staring at me from a distance with utterly bewildered expressions.
We were temporarily disbanding the party.
CLATTER CLATTER-.
I immediately sprinted across the rooftops.
Several of them were already hot on my heels.
At times like this, it was best to avoid fighting whenever possible. If overly strenuous physical activity caused the Recognition Suppression Magic cast on me to wear off, I would be in trouble.
The last thing I wanted was a composite sketch of my face circulating on wanted posters.
‘The pursuit…… I should’ve shaken them all off by now, right?’
How long had I spent running and running, going around the map in circles?
Before I knew it, I had arrived in front of a chimney atop a green roof.
* * *
[The Checklist has been updated.]
[Hidden Route Progress: 5.7%]
-(New!) 『Escape the Capital While Evading the Imperial Army』
-『???』
-『???』
…….
I successfully infiltrated the house through the chimney and emerged from the fireplace.
Fortunately, only a few dying embers remained inside, so I managed to get in without much trouble.
‘There’s no sign of anyone. Fortunately, the owner must be out.’
I glanced around.
The interior was neat and pleasantly decorated, and there was even a shower room.
There was even a magitech device installed to regulate the temperature of the entire house using mana stones.
The owner must have been fairly wealthy.
‘This is way too different from the Underground City, isn’t it?’
Looking at all this, I could almost understand why we needed to drive bamboo spears into the guts of the imperialist invaders and seize our independence.
Anyway, enough pointless thoughts.
I quickly stripped off every piece of clothing I was wearing and tossed them into the fireplace.
WHOOSH!
The remaining embers immediately spread and began consuming the worn-out clothes.
‘It’ll be troublesome if they identify me from my appearance and clothing. I’ll borrow some clothes from the owner later.’
First…… I needed a shower.
I headed straight into the shower room, turned on the hot water, and washed all the soot from my body.
The citizens of the Empire tended to assume that anyone who looked shabby was an Ailant.
If I wanted to evade the Imperial Army, looking clean and presentable would be far more advantageous.
[Warning! - Recognition Suppression Magic is about to wear off!]
‘Ah, I need to get out of here as quickly as possible.’
It had been so long since warm water had touched my skin that, for a moment, it felt as though I had returned to my original world, causing me to relax.
But I quickly collected myself, stepped out, and began rummaging through the wardrobe in earnest.
Fortunately, I found a set of outdoor clothes that fit my build.
‘……Come to think of it, what was I thinking when I burned all my original clothes?’
If this wardrobe had been filled with nothing but dresses, I would have been in serious trouble.
How was I supposed to walk around wearing one of those with this huge, muscular body?
I shook my head.
Enough horrifying thoughts.
I hurriedly gathered several more sets of clothing for the others as well.
After finishing my free clothing spree, I stepped out through the front door.
“Huh? Mr. Oliver! What brings you out at this hour? And why are you carrying so many clothes?”
“……!”
A woman who appeared to be a neighbor suddenly called out to me.
The Recognition Suppression Magic was still active, so she seemed to perceive me as Oliver, the owner of the house.
‘Don’t panic. Stay calm. Calm…….’
I took a moment to steady my breathing.
Then, suppressing my ‘Ailant accent’ as much as possible, I answered.
“Something came up, so I need to go somewhere for a while. Then, I’ll be-.”
“Wait! It’s dangerous that way. I heard there’s complete chaos right now……! Apparently, some terrorist set off a bomb and caused a huge disturbance…….”
“Ah.”
That was me.
[Warning! - Recognition Suppression Magic is about to wear off!]
Damn it, I did not have much time left.
I was about to give the woman some vague reply and continue on my way when—
“Huh? Why is…… Mr. Oliver over there too?”
The woman pointed into the crowd with a startled expression.
Then she looked back and forth between the man among the crowd and my face.
Gradually, all the color drained from her face.
“D-D-D-Doppelgänger.”
“Hmm……? Well, I’ll be going, then!”
Leaving the stunned woman behind, I hurriedly dashed into an alley.
Fortunately, the Recognition Suppression Magic wore off at just the right moment, immediately after I disappeared from her sight.
‘Whew. I would’ve been in serious trouble if she’d called the guards.’
Just as I breathed a sigh of relief—
『Setanta, you thief! You swindler! You heinous traitor who insulted the Imperial House!』
SQUEAK!
Charles’s shrill voice suddenly rang through my head.
‘What now?’
Wondering what this was about, I looked down at my pocket.
The Hero had poked his head out and was squeaking indignantly at me.
『How dare you insult the Imperial House! And then you trespass into an Imperial citizen’s home and steal from them!』
『Someone like you should be tied up in the square and flogged!』
“……And massacring people who were living perfectly normal lives, then cutting off their arms and legs and putting them on display is acceptable?”
『Th-That’s……!』
I gave Charles’s rump a little pinch.
SQUEEEEEAK!
He immediately trembled all over and crawled back into my pocket.
Maybe being trapped inside the body of a Silk-Furred Rat—a species famous for having poured all its stats into cuteness at the expense of Intelligence—had affected him.
Charles seemed noticeably less intelligent than when he had been human.
More importantly…….
‘Where am I supposed to find the heroes from my three-pull now that we’ve split up?’
I also wondered whether their mental states were all right.
This game was fairly realistic in that regard. Whenever a Hero suffered severe psychological distress, all sorts of negative Traits would start piling up on them.
‘I hope there isn’t anything seriously wrong with them mentally.’
As I walked along worrying about one thing after another, I eventually found myself on a street lined with open-air stalls.
‘So this is the shopping district. Seeing something in reality that I’d only ever seen in the game feels strangely new.’
Red and blue fruits were displayed across the stalls, along with meat and fish.
……And then—
‘Huh?’
There was also a silhouette that looked awfully familiar……?
“S-Se…… Lord Setanta?!”
“Ah.”
Rian called out to me from a distance.
Beside him stood Aileen, her eyes still completely unfocused.
[TIP - Heroes connected to you through ‘Weaving Hero Bonds’ have a higher chance of becoming entangled with your fate.]
‘So because they’re Heroes from my early pulls, there’s also a higher chance that I’ll happen to run into them?’
I approached them and handed over the clean clothes I had looted earlier.
I also made sure to offer a few words of consolation regarding Ferdi’s death.
It might not seem like much, but even small choices like these had an important effect when raising Trust.
“Don’t let yourselves grieve too much.”
“…….”
“Someday, we’ll get proper revenge on those bastards and build a new place where we can live. For now, let’s focus on the future.”
For the sake of stabilizing the party’s mental state, I fed them nothing but hopeful and encouraging words for the time being.
‘Even in the original game, how well you managed the party’s mental state was what separated beginners from veterans.’
A mentally shattered party suffered a ridiculous drop in efficiency.
Sometimes, beginners would lose a companion and immediately push ahead with the dungeon anyway.
They had no idea that repeating something like that a few times would completely wreck the Heroes’ mental states and eventually cause the entire party to collapse.
“L-Lord Setantaaaa…….”
“Ah, please don’t cling to me too much. Anyway, let’s all do our best, all right?”
I somehow managed to calm down the teary-eyed male character by patting him gently.
As for the female character whose glare was still just as vicious…… I was about to start tending to her mental state as well.
[The target Hero is under extreme stress.]
Hmm.
How am I supposed to deal with this Hero?
If I handle this badly, it might actually make things worse.
I pressed a hand against my forehead and pondered the problem.
Just then—
“……Have you heard? There was apparently a bombing at the execution grounds up ahead.”
“What? A terrorist attack? What are you talking about?”
About ten paces away, beside one of the stalls, a butcher who had been cutting meat suddenly raised his voice while speaking with a customer.
Perhaps he had been tending his shop the entire time and had not heard the news from outside.
His eyes widened in surprise.
“Don’t tell me the condemned prisoner escaped in all that chaos? What happened to that damned Ailant criminal?”
“No, of course he couldn’t escape. They cut off all four of his limbs and gouged out his eyes, remember? Unless he somehow crawled like a worm and burrowed underground.”
The customer continued with a mocking sneer.
“……Ah! I suppose there isn’t even an underground place for him to hide anymore. That filthy Underground City has been thoroughly purged now.”
The shopkeeper and the customer exchanged glances.
Then they burst into roaring laughter.
On top of the stall lay chunks of meat with their limbs severed from them.
Cut apart into convenient pieces and put on display…….
A sudden sense of foreboding came over me, and I turned toward Aileen.
“…….”
Her pupils were dilated.
Her breathing had quickened, and her eyes gleamed unnaturally.
The pale-violet eyes that had once been clear and translucent were now clouded with a murky light, like the eyes of a vengeful spirit, as they fixed themselves upon the two men.
DING!
[Aileen’s new Trait, 【Intermittent Madness(-)】, is on the verge of awakening!]
Her silver arm slowly moved toward her ironwood sword.
* * *