The Price of Ignorance (3)

The sheer absurdity of the turn left me wanting to blink hard and just stare.

I already knew that in the original story the Draugr incident led into demon contractors and worshipers, and it wasn't as if I disliked events like this—I was having a great time, honestly.

But Gretchen, out of nowhere? What a random call. Not even the spinning-wheel kind of Gretchen.

"If you have been seized by a heretic, then we shall aid you. Come—let us go and savor the rite of slaughter."

The event itself didn't surprise me much. Early-game events mostly ran like this, so I was used to it.

The name Gretchen, though—that still rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't even guess why they'd settled on it, and it just didn't sound cool.

"Gretchen…?"

Still, naming was the game company's job, not mine. Better to shelve the personal opinions for later. For all I knew, it meant something.

More importantly, there was something else worth noting in the demon contractor's words. An NPC wouldn't just casually name-drop the demon in my right arm for no reason.

The likeliest possibility was a personal story line for the Demon Knight, then. Wait—if I took him up on that offer, could I actually betray humanity and side with the demons?

"You talk an awful lot for something with a hole for a mouth."

I was curious what would happen if I accepted. But with this playthrough's concept, that was completely off the table.

I'd be doing multiple runs anyway, so missing it now didn't matter. I tightened my grip on the zweihander.

"…That was a misspoken remark. I beg your pardon. There is no way Lord Gretchen would be seized by the likes of a heretic."

Regardless of what I felt inside, I swelled my veins as if I meant to flip my eyes clean out of my head, and the other party immediately backed down. My concept's actual rage trigger was something else entirely, but they clearly hadn't caught that yet.

"But… Lord Gretchen, that is no ordinary heretic—it is the one called the Hero, the most dangerous of all. Enough of these diversions. Sever that neck. Bring the head, and even the King will be pleased."

Mm. Good. I'd heard enough.

If I'd been running a more rational concept, I might have played along as an ally and milked him for more information. But that wasn't an option under the current one.

My temperament and setting only allowed for capture and torture—not that kind of clever scheming.

"I shall aid—?"

"Breaker."

So what I could do was, of course, strike first.

KWAANG!

"Lord Gretchen?!"

Nope. Not talking.

When the Inquisitor had misunderstood me and attacked, at least she was a cleric—the natural opposite of a demon. Right now I was being mistaken for a "fellow demon" by a demon contractor. Why on earth would I waste words?

Even without the misunderstanding, I doubted I would have chatted. Getting through a first meeting without swinging a sword at someone was already a win.

"W-what…"

So unlike the Inquisitor, even if you begged for mercy, your head was coming off. Bring it.

"Hiiik!"

Maybe because the skill had such a big motion, the hit itself missed. But I did manage to land a blow on the Draugr that had stepped in front to protect the robed figure.

Huuuuuuu…

The fog split in two, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the wraith let out a grotesque sound—a cry closer to a scream.

"I-I was wrong! Please, forgive me!"

At the Draugr's wail, the robed figure went deathly pale—somehow visible even with the face hidden under the hood—and flattened himself against the ground.

It was a slightly strange reaction.

"Forgive you?"

Come to think of it, the Draugr hadn't attacked me even once. There had clearly been two openings for it to strike.

Just because this was an event? After the Inquisitor incident, that seemed unlikely. This game was never soft enough to go easy on you just because something was scripted.

"Not even death will save you."

It was a little strange, but for now I'd just thrash them and think later.

I fixed my gaze on the Draugr first—the greater threat. Strictly speaking, killing the demon contractor, who was playing support, would have been the right call, but the Draugr didn't look like it would simply let me through.

"T-the Mabel Trading Company—that was never our intent! If we had known Lord Gretchen had an eye on it, we never would have touched it!"

What was he even saying? Why was the Mabel Trading Company coming up here?

I furrowed my brow even as I wrapped a skill around myself to deal damage to the Draugr. That sudden mention of the Mabel Trading Company was worth the pause.

KWAANG!

"P-please, forgive me!"

I brought the sword down and turned it over in my head.

Why bring up a trading company from a previous city now, of all times? And the very group for whom I'd accepted and cleared three separate quests.

I'd already half expected it, but so it really was your doing?

"Draugr!"

The demon contractor finally put the Draugr up as a shield, and the Draugr bared its teeth at last. It coalesced smoke into arms and legs, raised a blade and a shield.

The contractor must ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have cast some enhancement as well—the Draugr's eyes flared brighter, and a red light began to coil around its body.

"Pathetic tricks…!"

But I had no reason to lose to that. I couldn't read its exact level, but since I'd come prepared for the quest's recommended range, I wasn't about to be pushed back!

KKAANG!

Breaker. The sword I'd swung on a diagonal slammed into the Draugr's shield and skewed off course. Instead of planting into the ground, the tip scraped along the earth, and I flipped the hand that had been gripping the ricasso.

A blade halfway between an upward cut and a thrust knocked the Draugr's sword aside. Puhk! My foot shoved against the Draugr's shield as if to kick it away.

"…Hss."

In the opening I'd carved, I let out a breath and thought back to the skill effect that had just wrapped my sword.

When I'd cut down on the diagonal, Breaker had activated—so black energy streaming out in ribbons wasn't strange.

But the energy had still been trailing even on the upward cut. That was odd. Something new to test.

Huuuuuu…

While that thought ran, my body was already faithfully driving forward. I switched hands freely again and swung the sword.

Because the target was amorphous, the targeting mark floated only over its head—and the blade, black energy clinging to its edge, shot toward it.

Seogeok!

Kyaaaaaaak!

The Draugr's body split in two, then rapidly retreated and reformed. This was why amorphous enemies were such a pain.

"N-no—heal—!"

"A worm, thrashing about…!"

No healing for you. I pulled back the right hand that had held the sword and shoved it toward my chest. The dagger hung inside my coat came up between my fingers.

Puhk.

"Ugh!"

With decent aim, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a dagger was a pretty useful weapon. I checked the blade buried in the robed figure's shoulder—nearly the chest—then re-gripped my sword.

My aim wasn't bad, but I wasn't landing headshots every throw either, so that much was good enough.

Huuuuuu!

And before I could focus on the demon contractor, the Draugr was already lunging.

I dodged the murky haze that lunged for my ankle and raised the zweihander like a guard. Of course, holding only the hilt would get me shoved back, so I didn't forget to brace the blade itself with my gauntleted hand.

KKAANG!

The Draugr's blade slammed against the sword stretched between my hands, and I shoved the Draugr straight back. Amorphous or not, it had to materialize when it attacked—so this much was possible.

Puhk!

The moment the shoved-back Draugr gave me distance, I tested the question I'd just formed.

If the effect lingered for a few more seconds after a downward strike, would it carry through a rapid chain of moves as well? And if the effect carried, did the skill's power carry with it?

Or rather—how much leeway did a "downward strike" even have?

Until now, whenever I used Breaker, I'd thrown my whole body into a full-power slam. That was what had felt necessary for the skill to fire.

But just now, when the Draugr's shield had half-ruined the downward strike, the skill had actually stretched on longer.

Which meant I didn't necessarily need to slam with full force, right?

Working from that hunch, I cut down with less power. It wasn't hard. Because my right hand was holding the blade itself instead of the hilt, even if I put strength into it I couldn't drive the sword all the way into the ground.

Seogeok!

So my blade cut the Draugr—and even after that, the skill effect held.

Kiiik. I thrust the blade forward like a stab, sliding my gauntleted hand back along the flat so it wouldn't get in the way—and still the effect stayed.

KWAJIK!

Kyaaaaaaak!!!

Pierced through the center of its targeting mark, the Draugr collapsed downward like melting wax. The fog blanketing the area thinned noticeably.

Not just the skill effect—the actual power had carried through to deal that damage. Experiment: complete success.

"What?!"

Right on cue, the demon contractor screamed. If he'd been supporting the Draugr with offensive magic, it wouldn't have gone down so hollowly. Why he hadn't was its own mystery.

"Hah."

He must have had his reasons. Or maybe it was the game forcing his hand.

Thinking that, I re-gripped my sword. Tak-tak-tak. Rough breathing and footsteps approached from a distance.

"…!"

Had someone heard the noise and come running? I glanced that way, and the demon contractor—clutching his bleeding chest—turned his head as well.

"Demon Knight!"

"…Damn it, the heretic!"

Ah. Right. Those two.

"…! A wretch who sold both body and soul to a demon! I will join you, Demon Knight!"

"Hmph. Already fighting, I see."

The Inquisitor, catching sight of the demon contractor, bared her fangs and raised her mace; the Archmage lifted his staff as well.

In an instant we had the demon contractor surrounded—me at his back, the two of them in front.

"Damn it—why betray us, Gretchen!"

"…!"

At last the demon contractor cried out in resignation. The Inquisitor's expression hardened, and for a second I worried she might misunderstand again.

"Why—!"

"A traitor to humanity dares speak of betrayal?!"

Thankfully, no misunderstanding. The fact that she wasn't pointing a weapon at me told me that single ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠line wasn't enough to turn her hostile.

"Why?"

Either way, sitting still after hearing that didn't fit the concept. I scrunched the bridge of my nose and swung the zweihander. The idea that he might die never even crossed my mind.

"You dare ask me for a reason, you worm!"

Obviously—if a capture quest had popped up, the target wasn't going to die. More likely I'd have to drop his HP all the way before a cutscene of overpowering and binding him played out.

Though of course, this game had barely shown any cutscenes after the very beginning, so who knew how it would actually go.

KWAANG!

But my attack went wide. A flying mana bolt slammed into my zweihander and knocked the strike off course.

The blade smashed into the ground right beside the demon contractor instead. The earth split, and he screamed.

"You dare interfere…!"

I didn't know why the interference, but I got angry first and asked questions later.

Of course I was angry. I'd taken every kind of garbage from this hateful demon (contractor) bastard, and now even "betrayal"? And then someone blocked my outlet on top of it.

"Calm yourself. Capturing him will yield far more than killing him."

"I will not leave a demon whelp alive!"

"There may be other demons still in the city!"

The Archmage slammed his staff down and cast Binding. The chains wrapped both my arms and the demon contractor.

"A Draugr is no ordinary demon. Summoning one alone in a city like this is harder still. There is a high chance he has a backer."

Shattering the Binding chains wasn't difficult. But that brief window was exactly what the Archmage had wanted.

"So calm yourself, and endure. Kill him now and you may soothe a moment's rage—but you will not save the sacrifices that may yet come. Do not let anger cloud your sight."

"…"

No, I—I know that. I was trying to subdue him. I really wasn't trying to kill him…

Wait—was this capture quest the kind where you weren't supposed to drop HP all the way to the bottom?

"…Damn it!"

Puk!

"Keugh!"

Telling me that now. Legendary game design.

With a pull at the back of my skull, I kicked the demon contractor once and sheathed the zweihander. Fortunately, no one stopped a kick.

"…He mentioned the Mabel Trading Company."

"Hm?"

Ah, right. I should mention this too. Whether they'd react or whether it would affect the story, I had no idea—but I was curious.

"That is… extremely important information."

Truly, a god-tier game was different. Whether this actually bent the story or not was still unknown, but at least it acknowledged the lead.

"I will take him into custody."

In the meantime, the Inquisitor—who'd been glancing sideways—bound the demon contractor once more with a sacred chant.

It was time to return to the temple.