Episode 005
Clap!
The moment she claps her hands,
soldiers spring out from everywhere and surround my body in an instant.
This can't be happening…
"Se... Seria, how could you... me?"
This is a dream. Right?
"Saint Candidate Seria. Thank you for your cooperation in apprehending the dangerous criminal. I will report this to the Order immediately."
Suppressing my confused mind, I barely managed to shout as if my heart were being squeezed.
"Seria?!"
"What. It was only natural as a citizen of the kingdom."
With those final words,
she turns away without a shred of hesitation, shaking her pink hair.
"Seria! Seria!!"
Why? Is this a lie?
Whack!
"You beastly bastard, did you think you could kill the princess and get away!"
"For this guy to be a hero... our kingdom is doomed."
Seria
You've really abandoned me.
Even if everyone else leaves, all I need is you...
Thud!
"Die! You son of a bitch!"
"A disgrace to the kingdom!"
Why me, of all people?
Whack!
Thud!
Even as the soldiers beat him, he had only one thought.
"……."
Regret gushes forth like a spring from deep in his heart, sweeping through every corner of his body.
...Why did I end up like this?
To think that the comrades he trusted would abandon him like this.
Following Rurein, Areusye, and Rein, even Seria.
It wasn't like this at first.
Everything started after it was revealed that he couldn't use the divine relic...
But even so,
he had lived his entire life earnestly, so is this all the result?
'For an inferior hero.'
'Can't even use a divine relic.'
'Weakling... what can you even do?'
All that contempt and persecution.
And then he finally realized.
Ah...
To think he hadn't known something so simple.
...It was that he lacked power.
So he prayed.
Desperately.
Even more than when he had wished to become a hero.
'Anyone is fine... anyone, so please give me strength...!'
Do you know?
That when you are in darkness, you long for the light all the more desperately.
At the moment of despair,
a voice resonates in his head as if it had been waiting.
It was...
Chiiiiiiiiiiiiik-
'Another shitty hero's memory, huh.'
At the pain of my whole body burning, my consciousness snaps back once more, and as I slowly raise my head,
"……."
my eyes meet those of two women together with a stench that pierces my nose.
'The fact that these girls are here again means...'
Is it already morning?
I must have dozed off in the meantime.
They don't have to come wake me up every day like this.
A man who receives unceasing attention from women.
That is me.
A woman wearing luxurious magic robes pushed up her glasses and opened her mouth.
"Interesting. As expected, it seems beings called heroes possess extraordinary resistance to magic. I wonder if the other heroes are like this too?"
"As the Vice Tower Master said, your body itself must undoubtedly be blessed with special protection."
'At this rate, I'll die.'
I draw up inner energy from my dantian and slowly circulate it.
It was nothing more than a stopgap measure, but the only reason I've been able to preserve my life until now is all thanks to a pitiful amount of internal energy.
"It's concerning that our samples are insufficient. At this level of magic, you should have been reduced to ash... look at this. It's severe, but it ended as just burns, right?"
"Truly astounding vitality."
They seem to think it's the Goddess's blessing, though.
Stab!
They stab here and there at my body with a sharp awl, as if observing a lab rat.
"……."
"As expected of a hero. Not even a single scream..."
Ha.
Frison Prison, where only the worst criminals in the kingdom are brought.
Roughly a month since I was imprisoned with the bold aspiration of catching the real culprit.
"Shall we proceed with the next experiment?"
"We will prepare."
Because of these stalker fans who visit every day, not a single day passes intact.
Tortures performed under the name of purifying the soul...
Judging by their actions, one might wonder if they are demons in human skin.
Since only a passing explanation came out in the game, I didn't know it would be this bad.
However,
should I call it a silver lining in misfortune?
'If I hadn't mastered the Reverse Blood Demon Art, I would have been dead by now.'
The efficiency is poor, but
since I can accumulate pain as internal energy, I'll take that as comfort.
"Shall we examine your physical durability today? Prepare yourselves."
"Understood."
The moment the Vice Tower Master finished speaking, an assistant pulled out a huge axe from behind.
"……."
"It will sting a bit! Don't worry, we'll reattach your limbs properly after the experiment, Hero."
Please, all of you just go away.
*
*
*
'Thankfully, my limbs are still attached.'
Very thankful.
Inside a pitch-black room where not a single ray of light enters,
the damp, filthy solitary cell, uninhabitable for a human, is my only place of rest.
So humid that a drop of water brushes past the bridge of my nose.
"……."
Black, ominous handcuffs that bind my entire body... a custom-made product created just for me.
As if that weren't enough?
With a gag in my mouth and sharp long nails driven into every meridian point in my body, the effects are exactly as can be seen.
'It's hard to even breathe.'
Even if I had truly killed the princess, they wouldn't have tied me up this much, would they?
Bastards.
'I think it's about time.'
If it were most people, they would lose hope and give up in a situation like this, but
not me.
Originally, in the game, there were only three endings waiting for the inferior hero, Tanaseu.
The first is an ending where he is beheaded after being branded with a petty false accusation.
He had somehow escaped that one.
The second is an ending where he loses his ego and becomes a living mana battery.
A terrible end no different from death.
The third is none other than...
Creak—
'They're here.'
Along with the sound of the solitary cell door opening,
"Hmph, you leech-like bastard, you're still alive? Just drop dead already."
A pig-like swine, his flesh bulging, crawls in.
"……."
"*Ptui!* Because you weaseled out of the trial like this, I suffered huge losses!"
The one who made a bet on the trial is the fool.
Of course,
it wasn't this pig bastard I wanted to see.
"That's enough, Baron Jeffrey."
"C-Count, pardon my rudeness."
From behind the pig, a middle-aged man with a fine appearance walked out.
"Hero Tanaseu, you're in quite a state."
"……."
"Why isn't this bastard answering when the Count is speaking?"
Whack!
The pig's flabby flesh struck his face with all its might, but
"Kkhuk! Wh-why is it so hard!"
It didn't even tickle.
'My body is already starting to harden... Reverse Blood Demon Art is at its limit at 3 stars.'
I guess I'll have to master another martial art immediately after getting out.
Because if I mishandle it and end up suffering from qi deviation, it won't end as a joke.
Even with the rampaging pig before him,
the hero remained silent, not saying a word.
"That's enough. I wish to speak alone, so leave us."
"Are you speaking to me now?"
"Baron Jeffrey, do you intend to defy my will?"
The pig baron sweated profusely for a moment before barely opening his mouth.
"N-no. I didn't see anything."
"That's good."
As the fellow jumped in surprise and rushed out of the solitary cell, the Count approached me acting like a big shot.
Finally, you've come.
I've been waiting for you.
"Who are you?"
I opened my mouth, feigning ignorance.
"Hehe... you must be curious. Beating around the bush isn't my nature, so I'll get straight to the point."
"……."
Without a word, I urged the Count on with a motion of my chin.
"Do you have no intention of leaving this place? ...It is easy to say, but the Magic Tower is torturing you for the sake of experiments, is it not? Trash-like bastards... to do such things to a hero!"
The Count clenched his fist as if unable to bear the current situation.
As if he himself were an ally of the hero.
"I'm grateful you would even say that. ...But how do you intend to get out? This is the worst prison in the kingdom, after all."
"There is always a way, so do not worry."
How far had I gotten?
Right.
The third ending waiting for Hero Tanaseu,
"The deputy warden here, Baron Jeffrey, is my subordinate, so I shall have the prisoners released. Escape in the confusion."
"The price?"
"It's nothing much. Just grant me one simple request."
...That is to be remodeled into the Demon King's vessel.
Copy Demon.
A lower-class demon that mimics human appearance like a doppelganger.
Originally, the Sword Hero, being the player, should have handled this guy, but
seeing as he didn't even appear at the trial, he seems completely incompetent...
"……."
I hope that's not the case.
If it really is,
my head already hurts.
The Count continued speaking with an amiable smile.
"How about it, Hero?"
I pretended to think for a moment before reluctantly nodding my head.
"I suppose there's no other way. Please."
Hurry up and release me.
"I like your refreshing personality."
With a clanking sound, the black restraints that had bound my entire body fell away powerlessly.
'Magic restraints, huh... they could be useful.'
Creak—
After picking up one of the restraints, I opened the door and moved outside.
"Follow me."
"Hm?! Hero, where are you going!"
"Why are you already...?"
Ignoring the pig bastard who was staring with a blank face, I answered the Count's question briefly.
"Would buying time with the prisoners be possible? Since I know the location, release the demons as well."
"Demons, you say? ...That's a good idea. Baron, it is earlier than expected, but proceed according to plan."
"Ah, understood."
Down the spiral staircase,
down even further.
"……."
Eventually, I stop before a black iron door at the lowest level.
"To think there was a place like this beneath Frison Prison... I didn't know."
"They say demonic crossbreeding experiments took place here."
Of course you wouldn't know.
They're released in the mid-story, after all.
"It seems to be sealed with a very powerful seal. How do you intend to open it?"
Still, let me ask one last time for confirmation.
"Count, I'm sorry, but I need to borrow something."
"Just say it, aren't we in the same boat!"
He acted friendly, sticking right up next to me.
Even though he intends to erase my personality and use me as the Demon King's vessel...
How shameless.
"It's nothing much."
I slowly infused energy into the magic restraints.
"I need a demon's neck."
"Wh-what did you say just now?"
I'm asking for your neck.