Finding the Bad Guy
Bang— Bang— Bang— Gunshots rang out three times. I turned my head toward the barn. Is the meeting not going well?
A moment later, about ten muscular Dark Elves entered my room. Among them was Dotamund.
“Is there a problem?”
Dotamund bowed his head. “I apologize for the commotion. There was a spy among the leaders who were supposed to gather here. Your existence as the Proxy has been exposed. The enemy may arrive soon.”
“So what do you plan to do?”
“These here are my longtime subordinates. They’ve been with me since before I entered the royal castle, so they’re trustworthy. If you allow them to escort you, we can get you to safety—”
“I don’t need an escort.” I cut him off. I had already planned to leave in search of the king anyway. Extra baggage would only get in the way.
“How many can you trust?”
Dotamund carefully counted before answering. “At the moment, fewer than twenty.”
That was enough. From my perspective, I only needed to leave behind a reliable few who could absorb the kingdom and keep the elves under control. I pulled out twenty rifles and magazines onto the desk.
“You know how to use them? Figure it out yourselves. I should go meet the missing king.”
“Pardon? Our king is… Ah, don’t tell me?”
“That’s right. There was supposed to be a legitimate king here. It seems he went missing for some reason. For now, focus on surviving with the people you can trust.”
“Understood, Proxy.”
Once outside, I summoned the Snail Knight. Ju Giju looked around and let out an impressed whistle.
“Whoa, Stage 6? We finally escaped the ocean.”
“Yeah. Have your injuries healed?”
“More or less? I didn’t think the Lobster General’s attack would linger this long.”
“Save the small talk. There’s a Dark Elf named Dotamund. He’s the protagonist of this story. Keep him alive, just in case.”
“Got it. Understood.”
Since Ju Giju had already cleared Stage 6, no further explanation was needed. I left the rest to him and spread the Swallow’s Wings, soaring into the sky. My destination was the temple—the main base of the Goddess Cult.
Balancing things is surprisingly tricky.
Once Dotamund resolved his conflict and received some form of reward, the story would end. That meant I had to ensure he neither won nor lost against the villain. But simply locking him away wasn’t an option either—it risked turning me into the villain instead.
If I waste too much time, problems might arise.
I reached the temple. A large number of Dark Elves had gathered, waiting for me. Judging by their appearance, they were all members of the Goddess Cult. Since they showed no signs of hostility, I landed at a suitable spot.
Thud—
The lead Dark Elf stepped forward. Draped in flowing robes with a jeweled mask covering their face, they spoke in a courteous tone.
“Welcome, Proxy.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the Prophet, a fragment of the administrative program acting as the Priest’s proxy. I have been waiting for you.”
Huh?
“Weren’t you… corrupted?”
The Prophet tilted their head, then clapped their hands as if understanding.
“Long ago, there was an erosion directed at the Priest. After a prolonged battle, we overcame it. However, the Priest suffered severe injuries in the process and entered dormancy. I am currently handling affairs in their stead.”
What is this…?
I racked my brain to piece the situation together. Cross-referencing Dotamund’s words, the Prophet’s testimony, and the information I already knew, I arrived at a surprising conclusion: everyone had been telling the truth.
So in the end, there was no bad guy?
No one had tried to deceive me—I was the only one who had been deceived.
To summarize, it was surprisingly simple. The Priest had been attacked by the System. The powerful Priest had succeeded in overcoming the System’s corruption on their own. But the aftermath forced them into dormancy. In their place, the Priest created the Prophet, a sub-master, and fell asleep.
And that was what created the problem.
With the all-powerful Priest gone, the Dark Elves developed a sense of self that should never have existed. That’s where things started to go wrong…
Once they gained self-awareness, factions like Dotamund’s began to harbor discontent with society. The Prophet, unable to exert the same perfect control as the Priest, had no way to suppress the phenomenon. Fearing the future, the Prophet initiated the “Honorable Sacrifice” operation, hoping to find a way to continue the Goddess’s will even in a future without them.
And that became fodder for the System.
The elves who left the Prophet’s domain were naturally corrupted by malice. A new rider began, and those dispatched to the maze appeared before users as enemies. Finally, Dotamund, who had awakened self-awareness and was discarded by Dark Elf society, was sealed away in the library as a Blue Label story.
Though it failed to consume the Priest, the System had ultimately achieved what it wanted.
It’s a truth that’s hard to grasp from only seeing part of it.
The System had set up multiple layers of prevention to keep users from accessing the Goddess’s gift. Once something was recognized as an enemy, it was extremely difficult to reclassify it as a gift. If I hadn’t experienced the Destination, I too would have seen them as nothing more than targets to eliminate.
“I understand the situation. Let’s start with the important part. What is the gift left by the Goddess? Does it include something like a branch of the World Tree here as well?”
“Ah… There are two gifts. The first is, as you mentioned, a branch of the World Tree. However, its characteristics are slightly different. You may think of it as a local specialty of this place.”
The World Tree branch had been a great help in stabilizing and absorbing the power of former users. If they were offering something similar, I had no reason to refuse.
“The second is our military force, meant to assist you in the current stage. Since the power left to us here is greater than elsewhere, it will surely be of help.”
“So that’s why you became fodder…?”
“Pardon?”
I explained how their existence had been functioning as enemies to the users. All the Dark Elves listening were horrified. Some even shed tears, grinding their teeth in anguish.
“We… We were acting against our sacred mission? No, dear Goddess. How could something so terrible…”
“In that sense, you’re fortunate. I have a way for you to atone for your mistakes.”
“What is it?”
“The Goddess’s will is to help us achieve victory in this world, is it not?”
“It is.”
“I have the means to take you to the next world. Your role here isn’t over—you can march with me to an honorable battlefield.”
Hope spread across their faces.
“Is… Is that truly possible? If so, we wish to follow you. Please lead us.”
They’re volunteering to become my subjects. How convenient.
Things had gone smoothly. I had expected days of trouble, but every problem was resolved in a single day.
“Prophet, prepare for migration to the Equator. And cease the hunt for those who have awakened self-awareness. They too have the right to fight on the honorable battlefield.”
“Understood, Proxy of the Goddess.”
I accepted the Dark Elf kingdom as immigrants.
***
Bang— Bang— The barn was in the middle of a battle. After finishing my business at the temple, I returned to where I had left Dotamund. Nearby, I spotted Ju Giju lounging around.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, you’re back? I didn’t have anything to do.”
“Explain in detail.”
“No, seriously, there was nothing. Thanks to the rifles you gave us, the kingdom’s nobles can’t even approach. It’s just been the same standoff over and over.”
I grabbed Ju Giju by the head.
“I get it. But watching you slack off like this is making me unreasonably annoyed.”
I squeezed with my fingers and stored him away.
“Aaaagh!”
After dealing with Ju Giju, I headed for the barn. The Prophet’s orders hadn’t reached them yet, so the troops maintained their siege. As I approached, Dotamund’s voice rang out from inside.
“Halt! Halt! It’s the Proxy!”
Inside the barn, riflemen were posted at every window, taking cover. They had figured out how to use the weapons on their own. Upon hearing I was the one who provided them, they gave small nods of gratitude before refocusing outside.
“Dotamund. I have something to discuss.”
“Yes, Proxy.”
I gave him a brief summary of the long story. The true enemy was someone else, and both the noble faction and the Goddess Cult had been played by their schemes. I also asked whether those who had awakened self-awareness wished to join me on the future battlefield. There was no reason to take in those who didn’t want to come.
“Of course we do! Our only complaint was that the Goddess’s revelation was being misused. If there’s a true enemy, my brothers will gladly join the fight.”
I nodded once, then looked at him again. In a serious tone, I asked, “Dotamund. Setting the story aside, you’re currently harboring great anger toward someone, aren’t you?”
“Ah…?”
Swallowing nervously, he answered with trembling eyes. “That’s correct… I cannot lie before you, Proxy. I desire revenge.”
It was about why Dotamund had been taken as a sacrifice. Someone had reported him to the Goddess Cult, claiming he held rebellious ideas. That someone had been the Dark Elf who lived next door.
Next door… A Dark Elf…?
As I listened to the explanation, I was dumbfounded. In a way, this made sense. Blue Label stories and below typically dealt with personal or small-scale conflicts. To put it simply: Dotamund and the neighboring Dark Elf had both fallen for the same woman. Meanwhile, Dotamund had risen to the position of great warrior, clearly gaining the upper hand. Feeling threatened, the neighbor reported Dotamund to the Goddess Cult for holding rebellious ideas. Having awakened self-awareness, Dotamund was technically a target for the hunt and became an honorable sacrifice. As a result, the female Dark Elf ended up with the neighbor—an absurd plot.
I set aside the ridiculousness for now and approached the story’s conclusion. So who was the worse villain? It was ambiguous. Even if I wanted to side with Dotamund emotionally, the neighbor had essentially followed the law, hadn’t they?
Haah…
Despite the serious worldview, the story’s progression was trivial and insignificant. Or perhaps that was intentional. Dotamund was an existence the System had sealed in Stage 6 to celebrate like a trophy. The less noble and serious the story, the better material it was for them.
“So, where is that neighboring Dark Elf? Don’t tell me you’ve already killed him?”
Dotamund turned his head toward the outside. Through the barn window, I could see one of the Dark Elves urging the others to continue the attack without stopping. He had come to the front lines to take this opportunity to finish Dotamund off for good.
“Is that him?”
“Yes…”
Dotamund lowered his head, seemingly ashamed. At that moment, the noise outside ceased.
Crunch—
“He’s not there anymore?”
“Pardon?”
When Dotamund raised his head and looked again, a headless Dark Elf lay collapsed on the ground.
“What do you mean, ‘there’?”
“Uh…”
The important thing was this: the relationship between Dotamund and the neighboring Dark Elf was genuinely ambiguous in terms of who was at fault. It was certainly a matter worth deep consideration. But the Prophet had surely issued the order to stop hunting those who had awakened self-awareness. Nevertheless, that guy had been forcing the attack out of fear that Dotamund would return. And the one screaming at the top of his lungs to attack the barn where I was inside?
Summary execution.
My first principle was simple: anyone who attacked me would be captured and killed.