I Didn't Know That (1)

I didn't know that.

Getting to the northwest forest meant riding a carriage for what felt like well over ten hours.

It was pretty much hell. The ride quality was one thing, but the game company hadn't bothered putting in a skip function at all.

On top of that, for the sake of that damned cool image of mine, I had my arms crossed, legs crossed, and even my eyes shut, locked into an uncomfortable pose the whole way.

Figuring we'd arrive any minute, I held that single posture mindlessly for hours on end.

Thanks to that, I started wondering if I'd stepped into the Room of Spirit and Time.

Only upon arrival, watching the sun sink low, could I tell it had actually taken two or three hours in real time. But if the feeling of it ran to ten hours—or even +n hours—and still felt believable, you get the idea.

Still, I endured those brutal conditions all the way to the end, to a degree that surprised even myself.

Of course it was closer to pure spite than any triumph of patience. After roughly an hour of travel by feel, I kept going because I'd already invested that hour. After roughly two, because those two hours would go to waste otherwise.

Anyway, getting off was much the same. The time I'd already toughed out was too precious to waste by showing even a flicker of discomfort.

As a result, I earned looks bordering on awe, which was at least some consolation. Consolation, and nothing more.

That deep-sea pearl bastard…

I checked the quest window with a sour face.

The contents were nothing special, but my whole body ached like I'd been beaten black and blue, so even this text managed to sour my mood.

Damn it. I take back what I said about the travel system being trash yet still not enough to kill the game. Travel times of N hours are bad enough, but a ride this rough?

If they don't patch this, the game is guaranteed to flop. Even a longtime fan like me is ready to quit, so most newbies will bail for sure!

"My lord…"

In the end I pretended to sling my sword over my shoulder—it was too long, so I'd had to draw it from the scabbard just to sit—and finally straightened my back a little. I'd clenched my teeth and played it cool, claiming the time already endured was too valuable to waste, but I was past my limit.

Crrk. The sound of my spine giving way reached my ears.

"Was the journey… peaceful for you… heh heh."

I twisted my face further at the noise and glanced over. The coachman was wringing his hands and looking at me. Clear as day he was angling for a tip.

"What answer are you hoping for?"

Why me of all people. That thought was unnecessary. Before we left, I'd tipped the boy who'd found me the coachman rather generously.

So of course the coachman who'd witnessed that would pin his hopes on me. Perfectly natural. Natural, and yet…

"I already paid for the service you provided. Perhaps more than that."

Expecting a tip after a ride that rough? That wasn't a person—that was a thief.

I hadn't planned on giving him anything extra to begin with, and after surviving that ordeal of endurance I sure as hell wasn't adding more. My expression hardened at once.

"If you've got no other business, get lost."

Just in case, I clenched my hand as well. My left fist creaked, and the coachman yelped and fled.

Serves him right.

I blew out a soft snort and turned. The moment I took a step forward, the people nearby began edging away for some reason.

The timing didn't feel coincidental… maybe scaring off just the coachman had worked a little too well. The genuine feeling behind it must have carried.

"Hah."

But even if it hadn't been intentional, the scene didn't clash with the concept.

I cracked my neck with a series of soft pops, staying within the bare minimum that wouldn't damage my dignity, and pressed on. The goal was to cut straight through the village and enter the forest visible beyond it.

"Th-there's no inn that way…!"

Around then some brave soul called out to me. It wasn't advice I'd wanted, but the thoughtfulness itself was genuinely appreciated.

"There really isn't…"

But playable characters staying perfectly fine without sleep is a universal rule. That existed separately from the sleep function itself.

So I had no intention of stopping at an inn to rest. If I got tired I'd flip into sleep mode, but why bother when I could still hold out?

If you're going to sleep on a proper schedule, why even bother with full dive.

Whatever mental stamina I'd burned enduring the carriage would refill once I started hunting. What exhausted me was boredom, not actual fatigue.

"If you mean to enter the forest, give it up."

These people here, though. Far too kind. Complete strangers, yet stepping up to worry about me.

"Demons have been appearing."

But? Right now I was a prickly city guy… no, a cold-blooded bastard.

I passed him without so much as a glance. The man flushed red and veins stood out on his neck.

"I said demons are coming out! And you mean to enter a forest like that—not even by day, but at night!"

At that I slowed my steps, just a fraction.

"Day or night, what difference does it make?"

Usually night monsters ran stronger than day ones, sure. They'd bulk up the HP pool or jack the attack power a little to keep the balance.

"If the mere fact that it's night is enough for me to lose to those vermin that crawled up from Hell, that would be the real problem."

But even then. In games built around hunting, they never set the day-night difficulty gap too wide.

And with the weapon attack power I'd gotten from the pre-order bonus, it should at least work on mid-game mobs. Could I really fail to take down a single early-game night monster with that?

Years of gaming experience let me make that call. And I set my foot toward the darkening forest.

The dense woods that refused even light swallowed my body whole.

"To be honest, when I first heard that a bounty of seven hundred thousand galleys had been placed on the demon's head, I thought the sum was far too exaggerated."

A woman smashed her mace down on the body of a goblin blocking her path.

Her red hair, loosely tied and hanging over one shoulder, was such a vivid scarlet that it was impossible to tell whether blood had spattered it or not.

"Understandable. The visible number of victims is not large, after all."

A well-built old man followed the path she had opened. Beneath snow-white hair lay a face that was not that of an ordinary human, but one resembling a lion. Soft white fur gave him an elegant, refined air.

"Even so… I believe my thinking was far too shortsighted. Even without direct harm, stealing away the ground on which people live can kill them just the same."

"Recognizing that much is enough. You have only just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left the temple and begun learning of the world, have you not?"

At the old man's words the woman faintly knit her brows. Displeasure aimed at herself, and a touch of anger at the present situation that showed no sign of improving.

"For the sake of the young lambs as well, we must root out the evil that works in secret as quickly as possible, yet it refuses to show itself."

"Which is precisely why the bounty has swollen so large. Do not grow impatient. When the heart is hurried, even things that would succeed often fail."

"I know. But…"

She let out a sigh at the demon that still refused to appear no matter how many days they wandered.

Her chest was that stifled. She had never imagined things would turn out this way when she received the oracle and left the temple. The outside world she was experiencing for the first time was this complicated, this difficult.

No fixed daily routine. No ready answers. She had to judge and decide entirely on her own as she pressed forward.

"Hah. As you say, Archmage, fretting like this will not make evil reveal itself. I will collect myself and sweep through the forest once more."

"A sound decision."

The woman crushed another goblin that sprang out with her mace and steeled her heart again.

"…This dense Demon Energy!"

As if answering her, a thick malice she had never once sensed while roaming the forest until now brushed against her senses.

"Archmage!"

"Yes, I felt it as well. Go on ahead, Inquisitor."

"Pardon me!"

Leaving the old man who was still gathering his staff behind, the woman raced in a single breath toward the source of the Demon Energy.

"Found you, demon!"

At the end of that path stood a man with a lantern hanging at his waist and a massive greatsword resting on his shoulder.

Thick Demon Energy flowed from the right hand that looked as if it were sheathed in a gauntlet.

"A human, yet you dare betray the gods!"

She could no longer endure it.

For a human to hold Demon Energy in his body. That was only possible if he had contracted with a demon. It meant he had turned his back on the gods and betrayed humanity.

"In the name of the gods, I shall strike you down!"

She would never let this traitor, who deserved execution, leave alive.

She gripped her shield tightly and poured Holy Power into her mace.

"…?"

Then, the moment the gloomy eye not covered by the eyepatch locked with hers—

Kaaang!

Sword and mace clashed.

Because it was night and the demons were hard to see, I had just finished putting a single point into the lifestyle skill Enemy Detection. Trusting the description that said it would mark any hostile target inside a 10 m radius.

"…?"

I never expected to put the Enemy Detection skill I'd just learned to use this quickly.

"A human, yet you dare betray the gods!"

And the target wasn't even the demon I'd wanted. It was a person.

"In the name of the gods, I shall strike you down!"

I barely suppressed my fluster and swung the two-hander. I knew full well that meeting a mace with a sword was a good way to ruin the blade, but there was no other option right now.

Kaaang!

From the sound, a Perfect Parry had at least activated.

Unlike a regular Parry that only removed 90 % of damage when you timed the weapon strike correctly, this defensive skill erased 100 % of the damage.

Thanks to that I could hide my bewilderment and swiftly ready my next stance, prepared to answer whatever attack came next.

"The Order, is it."

At the same time I spun my thoughts hard.

The opponent who had appeared… judging by the shouts invoking the gods' name and the white light lingering at the tip of the mace, it looked for all the world like a priest-type class.

Wearing plate armor over a shield yet still not moving like a slug, the level was probably decently high too.

"Yes. I have come to strike you down."

But once I identified her that way, the confusion only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deepened. A priest… why me?

No new quest or update marker had popped up, so it didn't feel like an event or story beat.

Then a field boss? But for a field boss the design clashed badly with the map. A priest guarding a forest seemed odd, and there was no related backstory either.

So it really was story or event after all? The original never had anything like this, but with the remake you never knew, so I couldn't guess. I was left blank-faced.

"The Order I knew were those who performed good deeds and mercy under the gods' name, yet today it seems that is not entirely the case. Judging by how they swing violence without a second thought."

Hmm. Still, now that it had shown up I might as well enjoy it. It wasn't like I was roleplaying just to live a long, winding life.

"A demon dares speak of violence!"

Separately, listening to the lines made it clear the conversation's pin was completely off.

Why was she screaming "demon" at a perfectly normal human.

Had she somehow mistaken me for a demon? What exactly was she looking at?

What about me even related to demons…

I wasn't even carrying a cursed item… wait…

Uh…

Could it be my right arm?

"…!"

The realization came in an instant, and freezing my expression into something cold was pure roleplayer instinct.

Of course—the setting was that I wore the gauntlet because I hated looking at the arm possessed by a demon. I despised demons, yet at the same time, staring at the demon dwelling in my arm, I agonized: am I still human?

And that guy hears a priest call him a demon? Yo, isn't this the switch that flips every button?! Eyes rolling guaranteed!

"Do not call me a demon, you fanatic!"

Absolutely unforgivable. I had to raise my voice and roar it out at the top of my lungs!

I was already wandering with my self-esteem at rock bottom, unsure whether I myself was even human—how the hell was I supposed to let this slide!

"How dare a traitor who has fallen to evil—!"

The fact that the enemy was higher level than me and also a priest with type advantage? Didn't matter. In games of this kind level alone never decided victory or defeat, and even if I died I could just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠try again.

To a roleplayer, dying was content too. Either way it was fun.

"Submit quietly to judgment!"

I expertly suppressed the corners of my mouth that wanted to twitch with excitement and dodged the priest's mace. Then I raised my sword straight so that it pointed to the heavens and performed the promised rite.

"Victory to my blade, glory to the heavens above…!"

"Playing at being a knight, are we!"

Yeah, playing at being a knight. But I wasn't a real knight who'd received a formal investiture, so I wasn't going to fight all noble and pure either, you know?

I switched off the lantern hanging at my waist and melted into the darkness.

Her whole body glowed because of buffs; mine did not. Turning off the light would shrink my own field of view, but unlike her I could still track my opponent.

"You cunning—!"

Just as expected, she lost her target immediately. On the surface the situation favored me.

"I'll cut out that tongue and offer it to the gods…!"

Then how about giving this ambusher a taste of something sharp. I wondered whether the attack would even land, though.

"Breaker…!"

The offensive skill Breaker I had taken before Enemy Detection wrapped the two-hander in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠black effects and cleaved the night air.