Put Those Hooks Away
"Put those hooks away."
Breaking the enemy's Core is the crowning glory of DeoEn. And to celebrate the arrival of Siege Warfare season, the Mock Siege Battle was about to unfold!
The Mock Siege would consist of three teams in total, each built around four elites — a Grand General and Generals among them — supported by seven Regular Soldiers…
"Nope."
"Huh?"
"Greatsword human… I mean, Vlack told me they're bumping the soldier count up to ten this time."
"That many? Won't that make it hard for the Generals to get anything done?"
No matter how professional a ranker holding a General position might be, once the balance patches came down, everyone ended up at roughly the same level.
Granted, skill would let them compensate to a degree, but if the number of soldiers ballooned, the game itself was bound to turn sluggish. At worst, the main characters of the whole event could change.
Devil shook his head firmly.
"But in exchange, they're putting weapon restrictions on the soldiers. Setting them so pathetically weak they can do nothing but gather resources and serve as meat shields."
At the end of the day, Regular Soldiers existed purely to hold back the Generals' advance.
To actually stop a General, you needed another General. That was simply how it worked.
"I'd be fine with it, but… there are a lot of people doing better than me lately."
"If it's between you two, I'll take the job."
"What was that, you little brat? You're a lost cause yourself."
"Hmph."
And that was that.
Yena's hand came down on Devil's head with a sharp knuckle-rap.
Oww! Devil's eyes flared wide with the yelp.
To an outsider it might have looked like child abuse, but this was a kid who could take down monsters above level 80. A knuckle-rap counted as affection.
"Anyway."
"A mere human dares… you're really asking for it?!"
"You're only here because you lost to me."
"…Am not! I'm here for the Dark Crystals!"
"Lily? You mean that human who's been famous lately?"
Devil shot a furtive glance at the chat window, then looked up at Yena.
He muttered his words dismissively, but his interest was written all over his face.
He'd only joined this collab in the first place because he'd heard she was close with Lily — picking a fight with Yena like he was spoiling for a duel. And once the fight was over, he'd brought up Lily as if changing the subject.
He probably thought he was hiding it as pure, innocent curiosity.
'It's written all over you, kid.'
Yena flashed a smile brimming with mischief.
"Why? Interested? Want me to introduce you?"
"Wh-what?! Don't say stupid stuff! I just think she's skilled, that's all. Being pretty has nothing to do with it!"
"Ohh~ is that so?"
"It's the truth!"
"Hmm… but nobody's ever called ME pretty."
"…Huh?"
"What. Did Lily look THAT pretty to you?"
Silence.
Beneath his spiky hair, Devil's face burned crimson.
The chat window flooded with "lol" until it scrolled into oblivion.
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!"
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Yena finally reined in her cackling.
About time to lay off. Keep this up and the kid would sulk for real.
"Alright! Chatting time is over! Now let's get started on picking the mock teams, shall we~?"
"……"
The donations were pouring in like madness.
And in true Twiitch-stream fashion, I couldn't even thank each one individually — I was just letting them stack up. I had no clue what I was supposed to do with all of it.
"Hmm…"
What had I done about this in the past?
Leaning back into my chair, I drifted a little way back in time.
'…Relief work, was it?'
Whenever I performed my duties as a saint — healing, monster subjugation — money would come to me under the banner of donations.
The official justification carried a somewhat grandiose framing, something along the lines of "sacred funds honoring the noble and righteous will of the Saint" — but in practice, I was just a mercenary. The only difference was that my work straddled the line between healer and exterminator.
The nobles would make their requests, and I would grant them. And then the donations would arrive.
Back then, money was never my first concern, and my life never suffered for want of spending it. So I would simply set it aside, then use it to rescue the children of the slums or improve the lives of the poor. When funds fell short, I would go out on my days off to run relief work and healing rounds myself.
"Hmm…"
And what about now?
Money got consumed just keeping me alive, but I didn't demand all that much of it. At this rate, I could easily move out of this cramped little place and set myself up somewhere comfortably livable.
Not that I had any intention of rolling in luxury like the nobles of old or the tycoons of the modern world.
"Relief work… would be a bit risky, though."
I'd only been able to wander around helping slum-dwellers and the poor because I had the strength and standing to protect my own hide.
But now, almost none of that remained. No — realistically, none at all.
Legally speaking, I was a foreigner of unknown origin, and unlike modern people, my looks were far too conspicuous. I also had to factor in that wandering into some blind spot of public safety could end very badly for me.
"…I should just order delivery."
Not that I'm too lazy to leave the house. Absolutely not.
Anyway. That was that.
I decided to shelve the matter for later and opened up Twiitch.
Between the violet backdrop and the white one, countless streams stretched out before my eyes. It struck me as it always did — just how many broadcasters were live again today.
The upper echelon alone drew tens of thousands of viewers apiece, and the current number one stream on Twiitch had a staggering 110,000 people watching. They were taking down some colossal boss — and judging by the swordwork and the sheer number of players swarming around them, the streamer looked to be a ranker of considerable caliber.
'I wonder if this one will show up in the Mock Siege too.'
Nursing that flicker of anticipation, I turned my gaze to the side.
"Oh."
It was Yena's stream.
The thumbnail showed Yena gesturing wildly behind a massive panel, mid-rant. Beside her sat a small child — someone I'd never seen before.
Quite cute, actually.
Something about him felt like he'd get along well with Leo.
Deciding to spectate a stream for once, I clicked on the thumbnail.
─ "…And so! First off, the Grand General position goes to Lily, obviously~"
─ "That doesn't seem right, though. No matter how pretty— I mean, no matter how good Lily's skills are, Grand General is a stretch."
─ "Why? Isn't someone at Lily's level more than enough? Am I the only one who thinks so?"
They were talking about me.
And not just that — they were debating the Grand General title, the highest among the Generals.
─ "Aigoo~ oppas, you're reading way too much into this~ It's not about who's better than who, it's just about seeing who fits. It might even end up being me, you know?"
─ "You?"
Question marks carpeted the chat.
Yena pressed one hand down on top of Devil's head and grabbed the camera with the other. Her two crimson eyes gleamed, throwing her pretty face into sharp relief.
─ "Put those hooks away, you lot."
"Hmm. Yena doesn't deserve quite this kind of treatment…"
I couldn't speak for everyone else, but Yena's skill was genuinely superb.
Setting aside all the finesse and technique, the fact that she'd imitated Spear's Roar in a single attempt earned her real credit in my book.
After much deliberation, I topped up my balance for a donation.
Things like this deserve to be rewarded — and besides, Yena's the reason my NewTube took off in the first place.
'A thousand dollars should be enough, right?'