#028. The Sleeping Princess of Roun (1)
Back when I played *Otherworld* in the past, there was this part in a conversation with Hellsing, whom I had met as a companion.
“Hellsing, what do you regret most in your life?”
“Regret? What the hell kind of stupid question is that all of a sudden? Obviously, meeting you.”
“…….”
“Hey, don’t make that face at something like this, please. Anyway, why are you asking? You trying to ruin my mood?”
“Even a madman is curious about something called regret.”
“I’m human too, so of course I have them. I’ve got a fuckton. If I had to pick one… hmm, besides meeting you… yeah, Roun.”
“Roun?”
“Yeah, the late King of Roun requested a job from me once. He asked me to kill his daughter, who was possessed by a demon.”
“Ahh, I heard about it… The one trapped in that spire.”
“Tsk, if you’d known, would you have stepped in? Fuck, your eyes were probably spinning over witches again, so you wouldn’t have cared.”
“Hellsing, Roun would have fallen without me. You know that, right?”
“I’ll give you that, Warrior of the Sun. You must’ve been fucking busy again.”
“Please, stop calling me a warrior.”
“Embarrassed?”
“Shut up and continue the story.”
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I took the request and went to see her. You know what I thought the moment I saw her? Ah, it’s too late. I have to kill her no matter what. This isn’t the curse from the Blood Cult that I had in mind.”
“And so?”
“I killed her. Risked my life to kill her. Here, look. This scar is from back then. Fuck… but you know… I kept thinking about it after that. If I had used a different method, couldn’t I have turned her back without killing her? If I had made that thing sooner and used it, I wouldn’t have had to kill her.”
“Sounds to me like you’re saying you didn’t do your best.”
“Maybe… Fuck, no. If you had seen that child’s eyes, I would have killed her even if that shitty Sun God himself had shown up. That much is certain.”
“Cheer up.”
“Goddammit, if it hadn’t been for that, there might be more knights standing by our side right now.”
“We’re dying today anyway. Apologize to her in hell.”
“You son of a bitch. So you really were trying to ruin my mood.”
“You’re only noticing now? You’ve gone past your prime too.”
“From now on, watch your back during fights. Every single one of my bullets is going into your head…”
“Here comes Biche. Go wake everyone up.”
***
The time when the sun had risen to its highest point.
There were still no customers at Old Man Jang’s Happy Workshop.
Knock, knock.
“Who is it.”
“The Demon Hunter.”
“Alright.”
The door opened, and Virgil entered.
“Why have you come? Wasn’t the appointed date the coronation?”
“I need something.”
“Speak.”
“Is it possible to work with silver?”
“Of course. Don’t even ask.”
“Then I have a request.”
Virgil handed the blueprint he had drawn himself to Old Man Jang.
“This is…”
He stared hard at the blueprint.
“Is it possible?”
“…Impossible.”
“Hm, why is that?”
Old Man Jang slammed the blueprint down onto the counter.
“I can’t make out what the hell you wrote. How can your handwriting be this bad?”
“Ah… I’ll just explain it in words. Please make it right now.”
***
The time when the sun had hidden behind the mountains and the two moons were gradually becoming clear.
The inn where Virgil’s group was staying had also lost its bustle and found quiet.
“I want to go with you.”
“No.”
“You know you’ve been ignoring me ever since we got here, right?”
Hanna said with a hurt expression.
“I’ve never ignored you.”
“Then what is it?”
“Have you learned everything I told you to learn?”
“More or less.”
*More or less.*
Virgil hated that word.
Especially since his traveling companion on this life-threatening journey was showing such an attitude.
He felt the need for urgency.
“Hanna.”
“Yes.”
“If you live like that, you won’t last long.”
“…….”
“I told you before. This world is not a beautiful place. Looking at you, it’s like you’re visiting a tourist spot.”
“Then please tell me what I should do…”
“Work hard. Don’t rest. Keep moving and try to do something. Do anything as long as you don’t overstep my plans and boundaries. I don’t need a partner who falls behind.”
Leaving Hanna sniffling behind him, Virgil continued his hunting preparations.
He sheathed all ten daggers into his armor.
He also stuffed the item he had received from Old Man Jang into a belt pouch.
Now what he needed were potions and pills.
But Ekirna was nowhere to be seen.
“As I thought, she’s useless…”
“Me?”
“No.”
“Liar… You were talking about me.”
Tears formed in Hanna’s eyes.
Her stomach churned because he only scolded her without teaching her anything.
“Hoo… It’s a misunderstanding.”
“Whatever.”
Hanna forcefully placed the silk pouch she had been hiding behind her back onto the table and left the room.
*Slam!*
“Geez…”
He looked at the table.
A silk pouch embroidered with a teddy bear.
Underneath it, the name “Virgil” and a heart were engraved, and upon opening the pouch, he found four cookies inside.
A heart shape, a mushroom shape, a human shape, and a greatsword shape.
Looking closely, the human seemed to be a ghoul rather than a person.
As expected, was Hanna taking this place lightly?
He sighed and put the pouch into his bag as well.
Then, suddenly, he spotted a small rolled-up parchment stuffed at the bottom of his bag.
A general grimoire obtained after catching a black magician in Denrip village.
Aka *Berserk*.
He had planned to give it to her later, but seeing her current state, she seemed to need to grow.
He placed it on the table along with a short note.
“Please, Hanna…”
He shook his head and hung his helmet on the greatsword’s hilt.
***
The Hour of the Moon.
The time when yin energy grew strong and monstrous beasts and demons ran even more rampant.
Even now, when most were going to bed, there were people moving busily.
Some were roaming about with fire in their eyes to catch witches, and others were lying in ambush in front of the witch detention camp, forgoing sleep on their father’s orders.
And Virgil, who did not sleep, stood in front of the spire that emanated an eerie atmosphere.
Located roughly at the center between the royal palace and the Temple of the Sun, this place had received great attention when it was first built, as it was an auspicious site with plenty of sunlight.
What could it be that they built it so tall and sturdily?
However, even after its completion, its purpose had not been revealed to this day.
This spire, which seemed like a monstrosity yet at times mystical, had before long settled into people’s minds as a natural part of the scenery.
Like a massive golden statue.
Virgil looked around.
The central plaza where the spire stood was always crowded with people, but today there was not even a single rat.
It seemed Virgil’s warning had been properly conveyed.
The large brazier that burned every night was also dead and dark today.
“Hoo…”
He looked up at the spire.
It wasn’t as tall as the royal palace, but it was very high.
He slowly circled around once.
As expected, there was no entrance door.
There were two ways to go up.
Ride the pulley with small planks tied together, or climb up.
He tried pulling on the pulley.
It looked so flimsy that if Virgil climbed on, it would collapse instantly.
According to the butler, it was used by very young maids with small builds.
“It can’t be helped.”
Virgil equipped the wall-climbing hooks he had prepared beforehand onto his gloves and boots.
They were used by scout soldiers for covert operations, and he had obtained them by asking the butler.
He rotated his wrists a few times and then jammed them into a crack in the spire’s wall.
*Crunch.*
It seemed possible.
*Crunch, crunch.*
Virgil climbed the spire without resting.
Time passed.
Before he knew it, he had climbed to about the height of the golden statue’s chest.
The inn where Virgil was staying could be seen small in the distance.
He looked down.
*Dizzying.*
If he fell, he would die instantly.
Still, he had the single-use spell scroll Ekirna had given him yesterday, saying she was sorry.
Relying on that alone, he had begun this reckless climb.
*I hope I don’t have to use it.*
He looked up.
A railing large enough for about three people to stand on came into view.
The pulley also ended there.
“Damn.”
When he stepped onto it, it wasn’t the end.
A spiral staircase clinging to the wall extended further up.
“Bastard.”
Virgil didn’t set off right away but leaned against the wall.
“The scenery is nice.”
The night view of the city lit by torches was quite beautiful as well.
Although he didn’t know what deeds those torches were lighting the way for right now, they were beautiful when viewed from above.
Virgil looked around and stopped at a certain part.
“Hm?”
He was bewildered.
The height of the spire matched exactly eye-level with King Roun’s room.
It matched perfectly, as if it had been made so that he could see this spire at any time.
In Virgil’s field of vision, with his developed five senses, King Roun standing on the balcony was visible.
He, too, was looking this way.
Though the distance was far, he felt their gazes meet.
It was possible because King Roun was also a superhuman who used mana.
Virgil spoke with mouth shapes.
*Don’t worry.*
King Roun answered.
*I’m counting on you.*
After the short exchange, he went inside and drew the curtains.
“He’s putting pressure on me.”
Virgil felt that much of his strength had drained.
It was only natural since he had climbed that tall tower with his bare body.
At times like this, he should drink a stamina potion or chew a pill, but since Ekirna wasn’t here, he couldn’t obtain any.
He should have bought some even if he had to go to the temple.
Who was there to blame?
He scolded his own lack of preparedness.
“Ah.”
Hanna’s cookies suddenly came to mind.
Right, I’ll eat these at least.
He opened his bag and took out a cookie.
The mushroom shape was the first one he grabbed.
Shaped like a mushroom growing on two stones.
“Hm?”
It really smelled of mushrooms.
It might unexpectedly be tasty.
With an expectant heart, he took a large bite.
“Kuh.”
It was seriously tasteless.
Like dipping a raw mushroom in dirt and eating it.
As expected.
Thinking of the clumsy Hanna, he raised his hand to throw it away.
At that moment.
“Huh… look at this…”
Strength entered his arm more than before.
Though not as much as right before climbing the tower, he could feel that strength had returned.
He looked again at the cookie he had been about to throw away.
Could it be?
He put them all in his mouth and chewed.
He wanted to spit them out immediately, but he chewed doggedly.
“…Damn.”
His suspicion was correct.
This was a pill disguised as a cookie.
It was indeed made using a fortifying mushroom that boosted strength.
Smiling faintly, he took out the other cookies and smelled them.
They all smelled musty and damp.
The scent was incredibly strong, as if advertising that they were made from medicinal herbs.
The mushroom cookie was a stamina pill that replenished strength, so the remaining ones were…
Hoping they had effects he needed, he slowly smelled them.
The ghoul cookie and greatsword cookie smelled exactly like the stimulants he knew.
“Not bad…”
He felt a little sorry for scolding her before coming here.
Deciding to praise her when he got back, he began to climb the spiral staircase.
“…….”
Here and there on the walls along the staircase, there were scribbles presumed to have been written by maids.
— I want to die!
— Die!
— I have to kill!
— Should I kill?
— Kill me!
— Die! Die! Die! Die!…
It was full of messages of hatred directed at someone.
All in different handwriting.
The tool used to write was red blood.
Before coming here, Virgil had asked the chief butler to let him meet a maid who delivered food.
The answer he got was “impossible.”
He hadn’t asked detailed questions, but now he could guess. Suicide or homicide, no doubt.
Going further up, he saw a trapezoid-shaped door.
It was made of something with a hard and smooth texture.
On the outside was drawn the symbol of the Sun God, similar to what he had seen at the witch detention camp, and over that was overlaid a bluish magic circle.
On top of that, thick chains wrapped around it layer upon layer, and a lock as large as a person’s torso.
With not a single window, the only gap was a very small groove that a child could barely crawl into.
It emanated a horrifying and dreary atmosphere that would make even an ignorant fool want to flee.
*I should stop impersonating a Demon Hunter as of today.*
Virgil gripped Somnium instead of his greatsword.
He had already loaded two silver bullets.
He rummaged through his bag and took out a small lump.
It was medicinal herbs with anesthetic effects, ground up and formed into a round shape.
When he ignited it with a flint, it burned well thanks to the oil coated on the outside.
He immediately shoved it into the small hole.
After some time passed, he could see faint smoke leaking out of the hole.
This should be enough.
He opened the lock with the key the chief butler had given him.
*Click.*
The thick chains fell to the floor.
A strong wind blew and dried Virgil’s sweat.
At the same time, the door that hadn’t opened in years slowly revealed what was inside.
“Hup.”
He held his breath.
After confirming all the smoke had escaped through the open door crack, he inhaled.
A smell even more pungent than the burning herb stung his nostrils.
A very unpleasant scent, a mix of human excrement and something rotting.
He scrunched up his face and entered the room.
The room was very dark.
He tossed Somnium to his left hand and gripped a silver dagger in his right.
His darkened vision brightened.
Though he couldn’t see colors, he could distinguish forms.
Virgil approached the bed sitting alone in the middle of the tower.
He took one step, then another carefully.
On the bed, something was covered and wrapped in bed sheets.
The princess had probably covered her entire body with the sheets so as not to inhale the smoke.
However, seeing that there was no movement, it seemed the herb had worked very well.
Relieved that things were going smoothly, he took out the item he had requested from Old Man Jang.
A long rod made of silver.
The principle was that when inserted into the host’s mouth and the bottom was pulled, small silver beads inside would enter the body.
This was something Hellsing had designed in order to save a person possessed by a demon instead of killing them, and at this point in time, he had only conceived it in his mind.
Virgil recalled the conversation he had with Hellsing in the past.
“My friend, do you know what this is?”
“Ha… so that was your sexual preference?”
“You crazy bastard! This is a sacred object used when hunting possession-type demons!”
“I misunderstood. So what’s the principle?”
“Hoo… simple. You drive the demon to escape outside on its own through excruciating, maddening pain.”
“How barbaric.”
“Kuk, but what can you do? Possessed demons don’t come out unless you kill the host or beat them until the brink of death.”
“Fine, say you shove that into their mouth. Can the host survive?”
“They survive, sure. But with serious aftereffects. For example, they might not be able to speak, or shit. And basically, they lose their mana.”
“You’ve definitely gone mad.”
“Of course! I’m Hellsing! The man who killed a king!”
Virgil gripped the blanket tightly with the deadly weapon Hellsing had created in his hand.
*Hellsing, this time, I’ll be the one to save her.*
He quickly threw off the blanket and aimed Somnium.
“Damn it…”