Chapter 84. I Feel Relieved
“Uh, Mister.”
After finishing my short conversation with the Orca Emperor and stepping outside, 아이엔 appeared as if she had been waiting for me.
“Ohhh, did you choose that yourself?”
“Yes. It looks good, doesn’t it?”
Her armor was mostly dark blue.
Behind her back were several rectangular containers made from some hard material. They weren’t exactly a cape, either.
If this were an ordinary game, it looked more like something a male character would wear rather than a female character.
If she put on a helmet too, I could easily believe she was some named boss monster from a dungeon.
It was that intense of a design.
“What are those containers?”
“Ah, they’re support equipment that lets me use this sword outside the water too. I think I could even use it like a water cannon, just like that elf 레비.”
She had received equipment so elaborate and refined that I wondered if it was already close to endgame-tier gear.
Well!
Compared to what I did for them, I almost felt like the reward was still a little lacking!
Hah!
“They also said I’ll gain a special ability if I wear the helmet too.”
Swoosh.
The moment she put on the helmet, blue light flashed from the eye area.
Then the rectangular containers attached to her back suddenly began floating in the air!
I-Is that a Gundam?!
Is it really a Gundam?!
Whoa, this is insane!
M-Me too!
I want one too!
Screenshot!
I need to take a screenshot of this right now!
Woohoo!
“Whoa, that’s awesome! Seriously awesome!”
“Really? Isn’t it a little cumbersome?”
“You don’t understand romance! C-Can you ride those containers and fly around? Can you attach them to your arms and go bang-bang?! Like a Gatling gun?!”
“Mister, calm down.”
What was wrong with me?!
Even the fishman guiding us looked happy as if this were his own accomplishment.
Just look at that proud expression.
“How did the conversation go?”
“Hmm, it went well. Though we’ll probably have to talk with our great heroes upstairs again.”
“…Phew… Mister, I really never know where you’re going to end up next. I could’ve sworn that not long ago we were wandering around sewers.”
“And what about you? Ahahaha! Just trust me and follow along! I’ll make sure you live in luxury and riches!”
If she took off the armor she was wearing right now and sold it, just how much money would she get?
If she ever got sick of being a knight, she could probably sell this stuff, buy a huge house, hire a bunch of servants, and spend the rest of her life as a newly rich noble.
“Does the sword fit your hand?”
“Hmm, it’s too heavy for me to use right away. But they said this sword becomes tougher the more it’s used. It might be worse than my current sword right now, but I think it’ll become good later.”
“Huh? Really? Were you already using such a good sword?”
“The village chief gave it to me.”
Ohhh.
As expected…!
So the village chief had been taking care of things even when I wasn’t watching.
No wonder 아이엔 had been able to keep following me around even though I hadn’t specifically given her much equipment.
“Still, this armor is amazing. When I equip all of it, I can feel strength surging through my body.”
The blue glowing eyes and Gundam-like appearance really didn’t match 아이엔’s voice.
She looked like a berserker.
Tap, tap.
She tapped the neck area with her fingers.
The heavy armor, which had looked incredibly bulky just moments ago, suddenly transformed into lighter armor covered in a smooth-looking fabric similar to the material 스포티 had worn.
Ugh.
Transformation with just a light touch?!
Are you trying to kill me?!
“…Awesome…!!!”
“Right? I think this part is incredible too.”
If I had to describe her current light armor, it looked much closer to the type of armor female characters normally wore in games.
It had the feeling of metal plates attached over a school uniform.
Should I call it casual?
Anyway, 아이엔’s hair was blue too, so the whole outfit suited her surprisingly well.
“…Well, anyway.”
“You don’t like this version, do you? You immediately tried to change the subject.”
“No, it’s just that I’m used to seeing things like this. Yeah. That one suits you too.”
That was enough talk about 아이엔’s new equipment.
Now it was time to go back up and settle everything.
All I really had to do was tell the two of them about my conversation with the Emperor.
And inform them that I had taken the liberty of making the Empire and the Alliance pay compensation for this unpleasant situation.
If they paid compensation for the current confrontation and managed to reconcile properly, then the connection to 카란틀리아 that both of them wanted might actually become possible.
Of course, it would look like they were giving in, so it probably wasn’t exactly the kind of connection they had wanted.
But neither the Empire nor the Alliance were ordinary powers.
They weren’t the type to keep losing forever.
They could figure out the rest themselves.
The politicians can handle that.
This was repayment for dragging me into this mess without even asking me.
Besides, I had achieved what they wanted by establishing communication between the two powers and this place.
If anything, they should be thanking me.
And even if something went wrong, it was the fault of those two for approaching me on a day when my head was already a mess.
I did nothing wrong.
Hmm?
Wasn’t I the one who caused all this in the first place?
Well?
I don’t really remember.
I prefer forgetting about the past.
“All right, should we head back up now?”
“Mister, don’t you need to receive anything like I did?”
“Me? Well… I think I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Ah! Please wait a moment, 인광-nim!”
Just as I was about to pull out the bamboo again, 스포티 appeared wearing brilliantly colored clothing.
Several fishmen dressed in similar outfits followed behind him.
Hmm.
The smell of a seafood market drifted toward me, making things a little awkward.
They probably dressed themselves up for this occasion.
They’d get angry if I said that out loud, right?
“…What is it?”
“We cannot allow the hero of 카란틀리아 to leave without seeing him off. If you permit us, we would like to escort you all the way to the surface.”
“Uh, sure. Do whatever you want.”
It was kindness being offered by someone else.
And it wasn’t even kindness without reason.
They were simply returning what I had done for them.
There was no reason to refuse.
아이엔, standing beside me, stared intently at me for a while before changing back into the heavy armor that completely covered her face.
I had no idea why.
Soon, I felt a strange floating sensation as my body slowly rose through the water toward the surface.
It felt like some scene from a fairy tale where the Dragon King was making his grand appearance.
Honestly, it was a little overwhelming.
…Yeah.
It really felt as though some king had emerged from the sea.
Brightly colored attendants surrounded us on both sides as we surfaced in the middle of a sea crowded with warships.
…Uh, why does this suddenly feel embarrassing?
Feeling my face heat up, I quickly greeted the fishmen who had escorted me and jumped aboard the warship where Grandpa 알로 was waiting.
The two great heroes welcomed 아이엔 and me with complicated expressions after seeing how grandly we had been escorted.
…What now?
If I came back after receiving this kind of treatment, shouldn’t they be happy?
Why were they looking at me like that?
After learning that 도르핀 had actually existed in the real world, seeing those two standing in front of me with uncomfortable expressions gave me a strange feeling.
It was different from the sense of reality I had felt until now.
It somehow made me shrink back a little.
“You really do know how to appear in a way that invites misunderstandings.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you appear while being escorted so splendidly by the fishmen, people might think you belong to their side rather than ours. We know that isn’t true, but how do you think everyone else will see it?”
…Hmm.
Hmmmm.
That handsome Orca Emperor really screwed me over.
This was basically him marking me while saying, This one belongs to us!
Could it be that I had some strange quality that attracted the attention of powerful people?
Starting with the Chairman and continuing until now…
What kind of life was I even living?
“Well, anyway. Let’s talk for a bit. You have time, right?”
“Haha, we don’t have much time anymore. If we don’t hurry, even more people will gather here. I don’t know about the Empire, but the Alliance has some people obsessed with achievements. They have plenty of money, but supposedly not enough accomplishments.”
“The Empire isn’t much different. If you have something to say, it would be best to finish quickly.”
What was so special about achievements that people made their lives this troublesome?
If it were me, I’d be perfectly happy staying home and doing nothing but breathing.
Then again, maybe that was why I lived like this.
Anyway, if we didn’t have much time, I should get to the point.
“First of all, fortunately, the fishmen seem fairly positive about a peace agreement. A few of those political fish look like they’re itching to start fighting immediately, but I received a promise from the Emperor, so it should be fine.”
“Wow, 인광 씨, maybe you have a hidden talent for business. You actually managed to get a promise out of them.”
“It’s probably because the fishmen have a good impression of me.”
“So, what are the conditions for the peace agreement?”
I explained my idea to the two of them.
Give them some money, end the current situation, and use this opportunity to build a connection for the future.
This time, Grandpa 알로 frowned as if he were troubled.
Meanwhile, 에롤 nodded enthusiastically like things had gone perfectly.
As expected.
Their reactions showed the differences between the Empire and the Alliance very clearly.
I had expected something like this, so I wasn’t surprised.
The Empire’s position was probably something like:
The glorious Empire, which leads the continent with its long history and brilliant culture, paying compensation? Ridiculous!
Once people started bowing their heads, there was no telling where it would end.
The Empire was the ruler of the continent.
Naturally, they wouldn’t like lowering their heads.
On the other hand, the Alliance probably thought:
What? We just pay money and they open a trade route? Jackpot!
They would probably do anything for profit.
They were the kind of people who had even accepted someone as crazy as me.
“인광 군… Are you saying that the Empire should lower its head before 카란틀리아 down there?”
“What’s wrong with that? If the Empire bows its head a little, does that suddenly change the positions of the Empire and 카란틀리아? 카란틀리아 will still have to look up at the Empire, won’t they? And besides, 정견 is still supporting the Empire!”
“Your Alliance might think that way. After all, you are people bound together by profit and contracts rather than honor and pride.”
“How does lowering your head once damage your pride? Just let them win once, then win much bigger next time.”
“Once becomes twice. Twice becomes repetition. Repetition becomes history, and history becomes custom. Bowing your head easily and waiting for another opportunity is the behavior of the weak.”
“Well, the Alliance is a little like that! But because of that, haven’t we now become powerful enough to stand nearly equal with the Empire?”
Oh.
Ohhh…
I seriously wanted to run away.
If I left them alone, they might actually start fighting.
“Ahem! Grandpa 알로! I think this is just a difference in wording.”
“A difference in wording?”
“Yes. Even if they call it an apology payment, couldn’t we just think of it as a small gift from a powerful nation to a weaker one?”
“But 카란틀리아 will still consider it an apology payment. Would they not then try to place themselves above us in future relations? How long can a relationship last when both sides insist they are the stronger party?”
“For that… just hire someone flexible enough to manage it.”
“Would you do it?”
“…What?”
“If you agree to do it, then I will support your proposal.”
T-This old man!
He was subtly trying to strengthen my position within the Empire!
He was completely determined to tie me to the Empire!
He wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.
This was practically the same as directly telling me,
Come join the Empire.
“If you, someone who has already made a good impression on the fishmen, represented the Empire, 카란틀리아 would not be able to simply look down on us.”
“Haha, aren’t you rushing things too much? Someone who is one of 정견’s great heroes shouldn’t be this impatient. Look, you even startled 인광 씨.”
“As you know, I am no longer young. Naturally, I grow impatient because I want to do as much as possible for the Empire while I still can. That is different from someone like you, who is still young enough to carry the Alliance’s future for decades.”
“…Haha, why would you say something so sad…?”
“Hohoho.”
Just fight already!
Seriously!
Fight each other, settle everything, and get it over with!
Please stop doing this right in front of me!
“Um… I worked pretty hard to bring back a peace agreement. If you ruin it like this, it puts me in a pretty awkward situation.”
“You speak as if you have never done the same to me. Do you have any idea how many headaches you have caused me, 인광 군?”
“Wow, 정견-nim, that’s unfair! Are you seriously going to use that as an excuse to pressure him into siding with the Empire? I’m disappointed! 인광 씨, just come to the Alliance instead. If you join us, I can definitely support you properly.”
“Are you two seriously just looking for an excuse to fight? If so, I’ll stop caring, so go somewhere far away and fight.”
Anyway, we had found a justification to withdraw the troops.
That meant we could probably avoid a situation where nobles desperate for achievements started flooding in.
Did these two seriously have that much free time?
Don’t tell me they had been bickering like this the entire time I was underwater.
They weren’t children.
What were they doing?
“…Phew. Fine. For now, we will need to discuss this properly. The Empire’s great heroes do not actually possess that much political authority.”
I already thought he had plenty of authority.
Still, at Grandpa 알로’s command, the Empire’s warships began withdrawing.
The Alliance fleet followed soon after and moved a considerable distance away.
“Well then, I’ll be going too. Today really has been a day where I saw a lot. A whole lot.”
…So this guy had actually been refusing to move until the Empire moved first?
What was he really after?
“…인광님, what exactly happened down there? And the person beside you… is that 아이엔 양?”
On the ship heading back toward land, I met everyone again except 파이.
The moment I revived, I had jumped straight back into the ocean without explaining anything.
Naturally, the others must have been extremely shocked.
While I had been talking with Grandpa 알로, they had stayed a fair distance away, probably because they didn’t want to get involved.
So it made sense that I had to explain everything from the beginning.
What followed was a long, long test of patience.
At last, I explained why I had acted the way I did, everything regarding 파이, and even the situation in the real world that I could only talk about while complaining.
I didn’t particularly try to hide or soften anything.
Even so, everyone kept throwing questions at me, so it took a long time.
“Even if you were trying to shake that witch, do you know how shocked I was?! The person I serve suddenly started doing something like…! S-Something like that…!”
“Wow, 레비, you’re seriously awful. You saw me doing that and you were laughing?”
“Kugh! But!”
“But what?! What do you mean, ‘but’?! I hate you!”
“Hmm… This is incredibly shocking. I always assumed that outsiders could enter our world, but that we could never interfere with the outsiders’ world.”
“Then does that mean that, if we’re lucky, we could enter 인광 씨’s world too?”
Were they adapting so quickly because they were NPCs?
Or had meeting mysterious beings called outsiders so often made them more accepting of things that completely broke common sense?
They accepted something that had sent me into total panic far too easily.
…No.
If all of you accept it this easily, then what does that make me, the guy who completely lost his mind over it?
Can’t you at least react a little?
Something like,
“That’s impossible!”
Or,
“Y-You’re lying, right?! There’s no way something like that can happen!”
Couldn’t you say something like that for the sake of my peace of mind?
말랑이 even looked slightly amused.
Wait.
Was I the strange one?
Had I overreacted because I was a little paranoid?
Huh?
“Well, anyway. I don’t fully understand it either, but doesn’t this mean our relationship with the fishmen is in a pretty good state now? Without meaning to, Mister ended up becoming the center of peace.”
“…Does it really work out like that? Ahaha!”
Hmm.
I didn’t particularly like being the center of attention.
But maybe this wasn’t entirely bad either.
And perhaps this incident would bring a major change to the game itself.
A place that had previously been nothing more than a dungeon had now been recognized as an actual nation.
More importantly, the fishmen had regained complete freedom.
And all of that would count as my achievement.
Whoa.
At this rate, wouldn’t I be able to speed straight through that place called the Hall of Heroes or whatever?
“Oh, right. Village Chief.”
“Do you happen to know about a place called the Hall of Heroes?”
“Of course. There is probably no one on the entire continent who does not know of that place. It is also a place that remains neutral under all circumstances.”
Ohhh.
Because it was called the Hall of Heroes, I assumed it belonged to some country.
Apparently, it existed as an independent institution instead.
Then again, that made sense.
If it belonged to one nation, especially when it was a place every person had to pass through in order to become a hero, every country would probably try everything possible to claim it as their own.
Still, maintaining neutrality like that probably meant the facility itself possessed considerable power.
I was looking forward to seeing it.
“We’ve arrived. It is already quite late today, so I think it would be better to continue the discussion tomorrow.”
“Hmm. I think I’ll need to visit Grandpa 알로 at least once. There still seems to be more to discuss on the Empire’s side.”
“Oh… To think you would say something this reasonable… You truly must be exhausted today.”
“Even you, Village Chief… Just what kind of person did you think I was? It’s not like I’ve done that many strange things.”
“…Hahaha! Indeed! Hahaha!”
The ship reached land.
As I stepped onto solid ground that somehow felt like I hadn’t touched in ages, I heard soft footsteps approaching me.
Step. Step.
Perhaps because of what had happened in the real world, she seemed slightly hesitant.
파이 approached while covering her face with a veil, apparently conscious of the soldiers watching.
Hmm.
What should I say?
Seeing her like that reminded me of the tester days.
Back when she had lived in that Forest of Mazes.
…Those memories weren’t exactly good ones either.
But if I chose to remember them differently, perhaps I could still think of them as pleasant memories in their own way.
I wanted to remember 파이 in a good way.
And I wanted to maintain a good relationship with her.
So I approached her.
She only stared silently at me.
I spoke first.
“That took a while.”
“Why? Were you waiting?”
“I was.”
Somehow…
I felt relieved.
