Chapter 19 - Tell Me What You Want
* Hero and Champ. Our house pups who hadn't earned their keep even once since moving into the bunker. Finally discovering their true worth, I quickly laid out the battle plan.
"Alright, see those knights back there? You're gonna clear a path so they can get to that old guy up front. Transform into your big forms and open the way first. Once the path is clear, we'll get those three inside the bunker. After they're in, we retreat too. Got it? No running off excitedly somewhere else, okay? You understand?"
"Woof!"
The two barked vigorously, as if to say they'd gotten the message loud and clear. They never listened otherwise, even if you beat them... Seeing them obey perfectly when it mattered most felt kinda weird.
I grabbed the K-2C1 rifle I'd left by the entrance and got ready.
"On three? One!"
No need to wait. I flung open the bunker door and charged into battle.
"You repulsive scum...! Get out of the way! Clear the path!"
"Damn it, Senior. Looks like we have no choice. I'll throw you to His Majesty the Grand Emperor... Wait, what the hell is that?!"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
"Awoooo!"
The moment the door opened, Hero and Champ charged out howling. As the two pups glowed and grew massive, I opened fire.
Bang! Rat-tat-tat! Bang-bang!
While they barreled forward, my bullets tore into the undead clustering around Grand Emperor His Majesty. Skeletons had their pelvises shattered, forcing them to crawl on the ground, while gargoyles exploded into pieces, neutralized. Since they were undead, regular hits probably wouldn't kill them outright, so I'd aimed for spots that crippled their movement—and it worked perfectly. But ragtag undead like the corpse golems took zero damage anyway.
No worries, though. Those scraps weren't my problem—they were for our house pups.
BOOM--!
Now fully giant-sized, the pups swept away the meaty horde surrounding Grand Emperor His Majesty.
"Cough... cough, hack."
Even though the encirclement was mostly broken, His Majesty kept coughing nonstop and couldn't move.
The two knights glanced back and forth between him and me, clearly racking their brains to assess the situation.
"Goddamn it, what kind of knight are you, judging the situation that slow?! Hurry up and stick to His Majesty!"
"...!"
This was already a rescue op with a ton to juggle, and their hesitation was pissing me off. I finally yelled, and they finally decided we weren't enemies, rushing over to support him.
"Your Majesty! Are you alright?!"
"You carry His Majesty and fall back! I'll handle that lich!"
With minimal safety secured, one knight immediately eyed up an angle for a heroic charge. For real? We were in a rush, and he was posing?
"That lich is the priority?! Wouldn't it be better to get inside right now?!"
I shouted at the knight in disbelief.
"It's tough, but taking that thing down means no more imperial forces heading our way this Wave! It won't take long! You get His Majesty inside now!"
Oh ho, is that right? I grinned at the good news and swapped magazines—perfect timing, it had just run dry.
"I'll reload for you, so just finish it off!"
"What? No, you get His Majesty inside..."
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Full-auto burst, emptying the 30 rounds.
"...!"
Liches had life vessels, right? Probably hard to kill outright. So I figured shredding it first would make things easier and unloaded a full mag into it.
The knight, seeing the mangled lich, spotted something glowing ominously and smashed it with his sword to finish the job.
Grand Emperor en route to the bunker, pups bounding around blocking undead approaches, and the strongest undead here—the lich—down. Aside from a few stragglers, everything solved.
The pups could handle the leftovers, easy.
"Hero, Champ! Clean up those knights' stragglers and come down! Got it?!"
Low and heavy, damn.
The plan had veered way off course from the original, but battle plans were fluid anyway—I'd ignore it.
Handing cleanup to our house pups, I headed down to the bunker with Grand Emperor His Majesty, who was still coughing up blood.
"Lay His Majesty on the sofa there, and I'll grab a wet towel from the bathroom, whoa..."
I gestured around to prioritize the injured, but one knight shing! drew his sword and pressed it to my throat.
This ungrateful bastard... I was their lifesaver!
His Majesty stopped the knight.
"Hack... Stop, stop."
"Your Majesty, but we don't know who this is. He commands massive wolves and wields unknown weapons. Until we confirm he's no threat to Your Majesty's sacred body, we can't—"
Guess my display was too outlandish; they'd gotten wary for no reason.
How to explain this? If I didn't, my head and body might part ways unpleasantly.
I racked my brain for a solution, but with movement blocked, options were nil. This could end in death...! Gotta live...! There had to be a way.
And His Majesty provided it.
"That man is the Moderator. Manager of the Gallery system. Cough... Didn't you see the post about taming the previous Silvaraes, hack...?"
"! The Moderator?!"
The knight flinched in shock, sheathing his sword. If he was gonna freak that hard, he could've done it after pulling the blade away... My throat got a shallow cut.
* Living room sofa. Sprawled in the one and only single-seater like it was the comfiest throne, Grand Emperor His Majesty laughed heartily, slapping the armrest.
"Kahahahaha! We nearly had a disaster! Who knew choking on blood at that exact moment? Uhahaha!"
"..."
After all that effort to save him, he looked way too fine. Apparently, it wasn't even that serious. Tears of laughter in his eyes.
Good thing, right? Totally good... So why was I so annoyed?
"This is no laughing matter, Your Majesty! Choking aside, you did vomit blood!"
"Indeed! Please... please treasure your sacred body!"
And now these two burly adult men were yelling loudly beside him.
I fetched a wet towel to wipe the blood, then waited for the trio to calm while feeding treats and kibble to our hardworking pups. Leaning against the wall, I browsed Gallery posts.
"Sora, I feel weird. It's a good thing, but I'm kinda pissed."
Stay strong, Rain.
A bit later, after some comfort from Sora, Grand Emperor His Majesty addressed me.
"Well, Moderator. Thanks to you, I escaped peril. What's your name?"
No point hiding identity now. Bitter about my choice but steeling myself, I answered.
"Jin Rain. Grand Emperor His Majesty."
"Jin Rain, eh. Resting so comfortably thanks to you, I must repay the favor."
Nothing I wanted, but curious what he'd offer, I waited.
"Hmm... Seeing where you live, hard to guess what would satisfy you. Anything you desire? Note: my granddaughter's off-limits."
Nothing desired. The Gallery system had stripped me of greed. With it, I could do anything—it's godlike, I'm invincible. And claiming the Crown Princess? That human weapon would turn me into her show pony. Hard pass.
"Nothing specific. But I'd like to ask some questions. That okay?"
Wish tickets had no use anyway—perfect for curiosity.
"Questions? I'm retired but still the Empire's sun. Sure you want to waste this chance?"
He tilted his head, offering another shot. But I'd decided, so I nodded.
"Heh heh, unusual fellow. If that's your wish, so be it. What intrigues you? I'll answer fully."
"No, it's about you, Your Majesty—but I'd like to ask those knights."
"The knights? No issue... but what on earth?"
Question about Grand Emperor His Majesty, directed at the knights.
I turned and asked them.
"Why His Majesty got sick—that's what I'm curious about."
Health questions go to those around the patient. Overwork? Age? Malnutrition? He didn't look it. Not the type to suddenly spew blood.
I asked his diehard loyalists.
They glanced between us, hemming and hawing. His Majesty smiled awkwardly.
"Heh heh, busted on an old man's shame. Promise is promise. This is awkward for my knights, so may I answer directly?"
"Yes. Fine by me, Your Majesty."
"Truth is... wanted to look cool for my granddaughter, overexerted my sick body. Senile folly."
He blushed, answering softly.
But that's not an answer. Not why the body was sick in the first place.
So I asked the knights.
"Any guesses, you two? Anything. Just really curious."
They pondered, then the senior-looking one spoke.
"Well... what bothers me is this. Seen the Gallery concept post on the Empire's food crisis?"
Ah, that one? Tree roots to corrupted magic beast meat. Massive wall of text—I noped out.
"Yeah. Too long, didn't read, but saw it."
"Right. Mind opening it again?"
At his suggestion, I asked Sora to pull it up.
"Opened. But why?"
Tree roots, weeds, corrupted magic beast meat. Stuff that screamed "inedible."
The knight bowed his head, brooding, then looked up decisively.
"Everything in there. Who do you think tested it?"
"Huh? The citizens? They gathered the info, right?"
Who'd eat that willingly? Starving folks forced into it, obviously. Corrupted magic beast meat? Insane.
I stared; he sighed.
"Everything in there. Grand Emperor His Majesty tested it all himself."
"...?"
Himself? Psycho?
My gaze swiveled. The psycho in question puffed out his chest proudly.