Chapter 56 — The Call
[Hohoho, what a wonderful greeting.
I would like to follow your example as well.]
It was not just the voice that had been distorted.
Even the pitch and length of the words had been altered, so although I could understand what was being said and could vaguely sense the emotions hidden in his words, his way of speaking was extremely strange.
He was probably doing this so that no characteristic of his voice or speech could be used to identify him.
But if he was this thorough, why had he made the mistake of allowing Jamani to get caught?
Had his philosophy of action not been passed down to his subordinates?
Hmm.
Maybe the Fanatics organization itself was just a mess.
They had gathered because of something religious, but none of them really knew each other.
Was it something like that?
“Your voice is unusual.”
[I hear that often.]
“What made you answer the call?
Didn't you think you might be traced?”
Sure enough, Eroll had taken some strange device out of his pocket.
Since Grandpa Alo was not stopping him, it was probably some kind of tracking device.
Was it one of those things from movies where you could track someone's location after they talked for about thirty seconds?
Just what kind of world was this setting?
I had definitely thought this was nothing more than a traditional fantasy world.
…Was it impossible to survive in a modern world without things like this?
[The Great Hero of Salvation, Eroll.
The Great Hero of Judgment, Eiearlo Grand National.
And you, Madness.
I have already understood everything about the situation there.]
“Oh my.
It is quite an honor to be known by such an amazing person like you.
Why don't we have a drink together sometime?”
Perhaps Eroll had wanted to stall for a little time because, due to Grandpa Alo's suspicion, he had thought he might not get another chance to speak until everything was over.
Or perhaps he simply thought there was no point hiding it anymore now that they had discovered that they were together.
Whatever the reason, he leaned forward and spoke directly into the communication device.
[I will have to decline.
If I drink with you, I feel like I might tilt over along with the glass.]
“I'm rather charming, you know.”
[Let's stop with jokes that do not suit you.
I only answered today's call to apologize for what happened and to negotiate.]
The apology was obviously a lie.
As for the negotiation, I assumed he wanted Jamani back.
Although it was probably less about friendship with his comrade and more about his concern over the secret information Jamani might reveal.
There would probably be threats exchanged during the process.
But why were these Great Heroes leaving everything entirely to me?
Take it already!
I'm out of this!
You guys handle it yourselves!
Eroll could not be trusted because he was from the Union, which was the source of this device.
But Grandpa Alo wasn't!
Was it because Eroll might interfere if Grandpa Alo handled it?
Or did they want to see how I would handle the situation?
Aaaah, this was driving me crazy!
“Forget the apology.
You have no intention of apologizing anyway.”
[Of course not.
This incident was truly outside the scope of my plans.
I really should have explained everything to Jamani in detail.
I never imagined he would act so irrationally after being captivated by Madness.
Hohoho.]
“You think this is funny?”
[Isn't it amusing when things do not go according to plan?
Unexpected situations are even lovely, aren't they?
Although this was outside my plans, I quite like the result.
So naturally, I cannot help but laugh.]
As our conversation continued, I tilted my head because of a strange sense of discomfort.
Something was wrong.
It was more of an instinctive feeling than something I could explain with evidence, so I couldn't really put it into words.
Was it because his way of speaking and his intonation were completely messed up?
“Anyway, I have no intention of accepting your apology.
If you want to apologize, come here and compensate me with money along with your neck.”
[Hahahaha!
My apologies!
It seems I have hurt Madness's feelings quite badly!]
“You're only realizing that now?”
Eroll took another communication device out of his pocket, which seemed to have everything imaginable inside it like Doraemon's pocket, and began contacting someone.
When I saw Grandpa Alo nod as if everything was fine, it seemed he had successfully tracked the location and was contacting someone to send people there.
“Don't you have a self-introduction?
Both Great Heroes introduced themselves when I first met them, so why are you keeping your mouth shut?
The boss of an evil organization is supposed to be talkative, you know.
You don't understand style.”
[I am, as you know, the leader of the Fanatics.
I am also called the High Priest or the Butler.
But I, we…!
We are merely your followers who have waited for you for a very long time.
That is all we are.
Therefore, I did not feel the need for an introduction.]
“What's your name?”
[I have none.
If Madness wishes to know alone, I can tell you.
However, there are currently two Great Heroes, the strongest and the youngest, in that place.
Therefore, I cannot.]
“How old are you?
What's your gender?
How tall are you and how much do you weigh?
What's your favorite food?
What kind of clothes do you usually wear?
Do you speak in a dialect?
Do you like rainy days?
I do.”
[Hoho.
Nothing exists for me.
Age, gender, height, weight, preferred food, preferred clothes.
I do not use a dialect, and I also like rainy days.]
Strange.
Something was strange.
But what exactly was strange?
Aaaah, I couldn't figure it out!
Was the system trying to give me a hint again?
There was no way my instincts were this sharp.
He was far too calm for a fanatic.
Even in his words, which were difficult to identify any characteristics from, I could not feel any fanaticism at all.
It simply felt as though he was calmly and mechanically dealing with me.
When he mentioned being called the High Priest or Butler, he had sounded slightly hurried before speaking.
I did not know whether those titles had some important meaning or whether there was some reason he had mentioned them that way.
Judging by the way he had acted this time, he was actually an extremely aggressive person.
The moment he learned that I was Madness, he had exposed Jamani almost immediately.
He had even said that he would follow me and so on.
Hmm…
For now, let's just watch him.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Are you that thing?
The one that can't be known until you observe it?
Schrödinger?”
[If that is how you wish to interpret it, then that is fine as well.]
“Can't you speak properly?”
[Hoho.
I will be careful.]
“Seriously.”
Except for when he had spoken to us for the first time, Eroll had been quietly communicating with someone in such a low voice that I could barely hear him.
Then he accidentally let out a sound.
Eroll shook his head with an awkward expression.
Something seemed to have gone wrong.
Given the situation, the obvious development was probably that there was nothing at the place they had gone to search.
[Ah, it seems they have arrived.
What do they say is there?
I left a few bombs there as a small gift.]
“The people who went to catch you aren't going to get into that much trouble.
You really have a big nose for other people's business.”
[I wish that were the case.]
The screen of the device Eroll turned toward me showed countless dots scattered across a vast continent.
There were now so many possible locations that it seemed impossible to find the real one.
There was nothing we could do.
Then let's talk about the negotiation.
I couldn't decide Jamani's fate on my own, so I would use Grandpa Alo's name and act tough.
“What do you want to negotiate?”
[The fourteen seeds you have taken.
I do not care what happens to Jamani, but I would appreciate it if you returned those seeds.]
He's even worse than I thought.
He didn't care what happened to Jamani?
This wasn't some dysfunctional organization.
They were simply fanatics.
Right.
Their name was Fanatics.
Ugh.
I hated them.
“Seeds?
That's what you call them?”
[Yes.
Madness, do you perhaps know about it?
In this world, there are several enormous pits where the remnants of the things used when the world was created have gathered together.]
…
Good grief.
So, while living as a tester in the Forest of Labyrinths, had I actually seen something that I should only have gotten a clue about much later in the game's story?
The Forest of Labyrinths existed on top of something that would only be revealed near the very end?
And Pastien was guarding the Witch's Relic on top of something like that?
No.
What the hell had I experienced when I was a tester?
What had the Chairman shown me?
[If you perform a ritual in that pit using a pure child who has not been tainted as the medium, three days later, it becomes a seed and walks out of the pit on its own.]
“I see.
So that's why they didn't speak and their armor couldn't be removed.
They weren't wearing armor.
They were twisted living beings that merely looked as if they were wearing armor.
You disgusting bastards.”
Unable to endure it any longer, Grandpa Alo finally spoke.
His heavy voice carried such force that a small crack appeared in the table we were sitting at.
Yet the man simply laughed softly.
[They are incomplete beings, so they are inconvenient to use for now.
However, I thought they would be suitable for this operation.
Hoho.
If I had known a Great Hero would personally come there, I would have deployed the ‘Roots’ instead.]
So the beings that were an upgraded version of the Seeds were called Roots?
If he had considered fighting a Great Hero, they must have been extremely powerful monsters.
It seemed that the members of the organization had divided themselves according to how the original Seed grew.
As it grew, parts of it became roots, branches, and a trunk.
But then, was Root supposed to mean something that supported everything?
Or did it mean something at the very bottom?
It was difficult to immediately understand the meaning.
Once again, I felt that strange sense of discomfort.
This part should have contained something like pride.
But he had spoken far too calmly.
He was saying that he would deploy the Roots because he expected to fight a Great Hero.
We have monsters powerful enough to fight a Great Hero.
How amazing is that?
How impressive are we?
That kind of confidence should have been overflowing from someone speaking to me so boldly.
But his emotions were far too calm.
Yes.
For someone called a fanatic, even his attitude toward me, whom he openly introduced as Madness, was too bland.
He was a fanatic, yet he wasn't particularly fanatical at all.
“What are you going to give me in return?”
[What price do you want?
I am willing to pay for most things you desire.]
“Hmm.
How about the lives of every single one of you Fanatics?”
[That would be rather troublesome.
Hoho.
If you insist on this, we will have no choice but to force our way through.]
At those third-rate villain-like threatening words, the strange sense of discomfort I had been feeling finally exploded.
These people considered their very identities to be their greatest secret.
So why were they acting so impatiently and so poorly?
“…What are you?
Who are you?”
It was something I threw out casually to test him.
I simply couldn't endure the strange feeling anymore, so I asked without much meaning behind it.
Yes, honestly, I had also wanted to do something like they did in manga.
I wanted to pretend that I knew something too!
I wanted to act like I was someone important!
But why was Dolphin giving me a thumbs-up while Jin was nodding?
What exactly did those two know?
Were they also pretending to know something, just like me?
Moreover, the two Great Heroes looked extremely flustered.
They probably had different thoughts running through their heads, but that meant my words had struck the strongest people in this world that hard, right?
Wow.
I could practically hear my value going up.
But please, no excessive expectations.
[What do you mean?]
I needed to prepare myself before speaking again.
At this rate, I might get dragged into something completely beyond my level.
Being a low-level player and receiving a high-level quest was nothing but troublesome.
“Are you seriously asking me that?
‘What do you mean?’
You said you're the leader of the Fanatics, right?
The people who are in positions similar to yours in front of me are all making a huge fuss over one word I said.
And you're asking me what I mean?
Huh?”
[…]
“…Hey.
I'm Madness.”
[…Yes.
I have heard that.]
“Mr. Eroll.”
“…Hmm?
Yes?
Are you talking to me?”
“I was once a Great Sinner of Madness, and now I am an Indomitable Knight.”
“Yes.
I am the Great Hero of Salvation.
Unfortunately, I ended up possessing power far greater than I deserve.”
I answered almost unconsciously.
Only afterward did Eroll and Grandpa Alo seem to realize the strange thing I had noticed.
