Chapter 83 – I’ve Never Thought About What Comes After
What a pain.
Honestly, everything happening right now was just incredibly annoying.
Since I had met Pie in the real world anyway, couldn't I just drop everything and spend some unexpected time alone with her?
Now that I thought about it again, forget curiosity and all that.
I just wanted to relax and play games without worrying about anything.
“Hahaha! Our hero has returned!”
Warships were forming a battle line above the sea, yet the fishmen welcomed me with bright smiles.
Meanwhile, I was internally making a face that screamed, I'm so damn sick of everything.
And yet they were still this happy to see me.
I suppose being able to breathe underwater again really was that enormous of a miracle for them.
“…Hello~!”
“Hahaha! Welcome back!”
Ien looked at me suspiciously.
“Mister, are you really okay?”
How would I know?
The fishmen had already seen my condition and worried that I wasn't exactly normal, so I figured coming down here would probably be fine.
That's right.
These guys weren't like the nobles of the Empire who viewed everything I did with suspicion.
Unlike the Alliance, which would chew me up and throw me away once I was no longer useful, these people would probably continue treating me like a hero even after they stopped needing me!
...
Thinking about it that way made me feel surprisingly good.
Wasn't this basically compensation for everything I'd suffered through until now?
Yeah.
That had to be it.
“You said we'd meet again, but I didn't expect it to happen this quickly.”
“Things just ended up that way. Haha!”
“Hahaha!”
Whew.
For now...
I needed to get myself together and continue playing the game like usual.
It might be a little difficult with my mind in its current broken state, but...
Yeah.
I could do it.
Cheer up!
Haha...
Just a moment ago, it felt like my entire world was collapsing.
And now everything felt peaceful again.
There was definitely something very wrong with my emotions.
And even though I knew something was wrong, I was too lazy to bother fixing it.
That lazy side of me had reached its absolute peak.
They weren't lying when they said people couldn't really be fixed.
“Still, I doubt a human like you came here to fight the humans above. What is it that you wish to say? Did something happen up there?”
I gave him a simple explanation.
The so-called Great Heroes of humanity had received incomplete information, made the wrong judgment, and accidentally ended up coming all the way here.
“Hahaha! It seems humanity's Great Heroes aren't anything special!”
“Hahaha! You're absolutely right!”
Well...
Most of this was my fault.
If I'd known Erol would blow the situation this far out of proportion, I would've acted more carefully.
But if I had done that, I probably would've discovered much later that Lucy was actually Pie.
I also would've learned about the Chairman, the truth behind this game, and all the other information I honestly would've preferred not knowing much more slowly.
Unfortunately, life was never that kind.
Whether in the past or now, fate seemed absolutely delighted to torment me endlessly.
I could almost imagine it grinning from ear to ear and shaking its ass in excitement.
So here's a toast to you, fate.
Drink until you choke to death.
Ien sighed.
“Mister, what are you going to do if you keep talking carelessly and something goes wrong again?”
“…It'll work out somehow. This mister is tired of thinking about what happens afterward. Give me about a day, and I think I'll be able to return to pretending I'm smart again. Can you wait until then?”
Ien stared at me in disgust.
“Why are you talking like that? It's creepy. Are you seriously sick or something?”
“My head hurts.”
“If your head gets any worse than it already is, isn't that dangerous?”
“…Seriously. Why do I keep doing things that make people insult me?”
I temporarily ignored Ien, who now looked genuinely shocked and worried about me, and turned back toward the fishman hero.
“Can we just get straight to the point? My reward. Let's talk about the reward.”
“Yes, yes. I suppose we should settle that matter before moving on. What do you want?”
A system window appeared.
[Deep Sea Sword]
[A famous sword created with great care by Karantlia's master greatsword craftsman. It contains the power of water forged within the deepest parts of the ocean.
Underwater, it is approximately the size of a one-handed sword, but when used outside the sea, it returns to its original gigantic size.]
[Strength +223]
[Defense +367]
[Charm +58]
“Ohhh. Is this good?”
“It's quite decent. It is also a sword that grows along with its wielder the more it is used. As time passes, it will become an even greater sword.”
“Really?”
Honestly, I'd experienced so few genuinely game-like moments in this game that I couldn't immediately tell whether the weapon was good just by looking at it.
Like the equipment Spotty had shown me before, its appearance was incredibly beautiful.
But I had no idea whether Ien, who didn't care much about that sort of thing, would actually be impressed.
“Will this be enough?”
“Not yet. Equip her completely from head to toe.”
The hero raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? Is she your lover?”
“No!”
Normally, this would've been the moment where the girl turned bright red.
Instead, Ien looked so disgusted by the idea that she practically glared at the hero like she wanted to kill him.
Both the hero and I instantly became awkward.
Hey...
You didn't have to hate the idea that much.
I don't have any interest in kids either...!
The hero cleared his throat.
“Ahem. If that's what you want, then of course I can equip her entirely with items made by our craftsmen. However, that will conclude the matter of your reward.”
“Hmm... Fine. Do that. And make this sword usable on land too.”
“Very well. Then leave this girl with my subordinate and come with me for a moment. I'm sure there are things we need to discuss.”
I sighed.
“…Fine. Let's go.”
Ien followed the hero's subordinate away while repeatedly looking back at me.
Meanwhile, I walked after the hero.
It wasn't even nighttime yet, but I was already exhausted and sleepy.
I probably wouldn't be able to sleep properly in the real world anyway.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to sleep here instead.
As we moved through the palace corridors, soldiers wearing full combat equipment occasionally passed by us.
They looked ready to rush into battle at any moment.
They were probably still waiting for orders.
For someone like me, who had come here to stop this conflict entirely, it wasn't exactly an encouraging sight.
Still...
Thinking back to my military days, whenever a scheduled training exercise was suddenly canceled or delayed, everyone felt unbelievably happy.
Maybe I secretly had quite a lot of allies here.
Perhaps every soldier passing me right now was silently praying,
Please make this whole thing disappear.
We soon entered another section of the palace.
“Ohhh. This really is the Dragon Palace.”
The hero glanced at me strangely.
“What do you mean by ‘really’? Everywhere you've been walking this entire time is part of the Dragon Palace.”
“Huh? Then were all the fishmen living inside the Dragon Palace?”
“Yes. Through magic, we somehow managed to keep water out of the Dragon Palace. But we couldn't do the same for our other residential districts, so those places became unusable.”
He sighed deeply.
“Just imagining the amount of work required to restore residential areas that have been maintained by only a small number of people for hundreds of years makes my head hurt.”
“Sounds like you're going to be very busy.”
“You think so too?”
The hero gave a bitter laugh.
There clearly wasn't enough time even to restore this place properly.
He probably hated the fact that he couldn't spend his time where it was truly needed.
There's no doubt about it.
This hero is against a battle that could escalate into full-scale war.
In that case, maybe it really was fortunate that I came here.
If I hadn't, and Erol or Grandpa Aro or whichever two impressive Great Heroes decided to grit their teeth and invade this place...
Karantlia would've been crushed before it could even decide what to do.
Two Great Heroes falling directly onto a Dragon Palace that was smaller than the Imperial capital?
There probably wasn't a greater disaster imaginable.
I scratched my head.
“So... what do you call them again... the leadership? Anyway, what are those people... those fish saying?”
“Many of them want to fight even if it means dying. They say the ocean now belongs completely to us again, so there is nothing left to fear.”
I stared at him.
“Did they say that while knowing there are two Great Heroes right above us?”
“For a very long time, our people haven't had anyone who could be called a Great Hero. Because of that, even when they hear the words ‘Great Hero,’ they don't truly understand how terrifying someone bearing that title can be.”
This man, being a hero himself, probably understood it perfectly.
He knew exactly what the title Great Hero meant.
I was only barely approaching the very edge of what could be considered a Hero, so I couldn't accurately judge how enormous the gap was.
But using Pastien as the standard, someone I'd already fought once...
I had the impression I wouldn't be able to defeat him even if I challenged him a hundred times.
Maybe after around a hundred attempts I'd eventually start seeing some way to counter him.
But a Great Hero wasn't some simple monster AI.
They were monsters capable of thinking, moving, and judging situations for themselves.
Analyzing attack patterns wouldn't work.
If I discovered a way to counter them, they'd simply find another method to counter my countermeasure.
That was why fighting a Great Hero usually wouldn't be about directly defeating the Great Hero.
Instead, you'd have to destroy something they valued even more than their own lives.
That was the best strategy against those mentally unstable lunatics who possessed an absurd level of righteousness.
...Not that it would be easy either way.
Eventually, the hero stopped in front of a massive door.
“Once you pass through this door, our king will be waiting inside.”
“Hmm... I'm actually getting a little nervous.”
The hero lowered his voice.
“…He may listen if the words come from you. Please. Karantlia still needs time.”
I nodded.
“That's why I came here in the first place. But if the conversation drags on too long, we're finished, so make sure you're prepared.”
The hero sighed.
“Haah... How did things ever become like this?”
Because of me.
Obviously.
Fortunately, neither this hero nor the other fishmen seemed to think that way.
Maybe they thought they'd regained their strength and the humans immediately came rushing over because of it.
I faced the huge door.
“Ahhh, I really don't want to do this!”
With that firm declaration, I opened the door to the room where the king was waiting.
Was this what people called an audience chamber?
Inside stood several ministers.
They had gloomy expressions that looked like they'd complain the moment I failed to follow proper etiquette.
And if I said something they didn't like, they seemed ready to angrily argue back.
At the center sat the king.
Like Spotty, he had a somewhat humanoid appearance.
However, his sheer size was enormous.
He was practically as large as a massive building.
His coloring looked strangely similar to an orca.
He sat there in an arrogant posture.
Something resembling soft white seaweed was draped over his shoulders.
Was that expensive or something?
Was it some deep-sea version of those magical feather robes you saw in fairy tales?
The king spoke.
“Hmm. It is good to meet you. I am Keiler Wael Olsa, the thirty-second Emperor of the Karantlia Empire.”
I smiled.
“Wow, that's a really impressive name, Emperor Kei. I'm Ingwang. Kim Ingwang.”
And so began my first meeting with an emperor whose bizarrely long name I would never remember after hearing it only once.
I could clearly feel the ministers whispering among themselves and glaring at me because of my casual attitude.
But...
That wasn't really my problem.
Seriously, cut me some slack.
I was not born with the ability to smoothly pronounce ridiculously long and complicated names.
The Emperor looked toward his ministers.
“Forgive my ministers for causing such a disturbance. I cannot understand why they dislike someone who devoted himself to helping our people despite being human.”
He looked fairly young.
And he seemed to possess that particular tendency young people sometimes had...
Oppose something first.
Rebel against it first.
Honestly, considering I wasn't showing proper manners in front of the Emperor, it would've been stranger if nobody complained.
The Emperor looked straight at me.
“So, in the coming battle, will you help us?”
Wow.
Seriously?
