Episode 135
"Hey, I have a question."
"Ah, yes! Please speak!"
"Why is this place in such chaos?"
Before the plan began in earnest, I asked a question to a staff member who was busily moving about while carefully observing the market.
"Ah, well, you see... there was an explosion accident..."
"Explosion accident?"
"Yes, apparently a magical tool used to suppress the slaves was mishandled and caused an explosion. Fortunately, there were no casualties, so you can rest assured and continue to enjoy your time."
The staff member was speaking with a smile, but behind him, I could see guards who had fainted and were slumped over.
If guests were to see this sight, it would be quite troublesome, but seeing how late their response is, it seems those guys are also cornered.
'Time to start the plan soon.'
Thinking that, I sensed the moment had come and opened my mouth with a slightly hardened expression.
"Understood, so move aside."
"Yes?"
"I came to retrieve the slave I left in the waiting room, but you're blocking the floor that leads upstairs."
When I spoke in a quite annoyed tone, the man answered with a troubled expression.
"I-I'm terribly sorry but... the slaves are currently located elsewhere, not on the upper floor."
"...Elsewhere?"
"Yes, as I just mentioned, an accident occurred on the floor where the waiting room was located... so all facilities on that floor have been moved to other floors. Of course, the waiting room as well."
The staff member pointed to a place far away where people were standing in a long line.
"Therefore, if you wish to go to another floor, you must use the elevator using the floating stones over there, not these stairs."
"...This is the first time I've received such treatment."
When I glared at the staff member with a cold expression, he looked around for a moment and then began whispering to me in a low voice.
"Don't worry, there is one more secret elevator for VIPs like Lord Frey."
Saying that, the staff member took out a map of the building from his pocket and pointed to a certain spot with his finger.
"If you go here, a staff member waiting there will confirm Lord Frey's identity and guide you. So please, let go of your anger."
"...Hmm."
"According to what I heard from headquarters, all VIPs will receive appropriate compensation. Not for regular members, but only for VIPs."
I stared at the man who spoke quite pleasantly and winked, then took out a gold coin from my pocket and said.
"Take it."
"Th-this isn't necessary but... hehe."
"Keep it, it's pocket change to me. By the way, I'd like to borrow that map you're holding for a moment."
"The map? Ah, understood!"
The man, slightly puzzled, handed me the map and then bowed his waist.
"Then, goodbye!"
"...Hmm."
Leaving behind the man smiling broadly while holding the unlucky gold coin I had retrieved when I saw it, I began heading to the place he had guided me to.
"Damn, what exactly happened that they're controlling entry?"
"Can we really trust this? With this many people..."
"They say it's fine. Would the Jang Chi guys really treat us nobles' lives carelessly?"
Passing by nobles who firmly believed in the slave market that was willing to bury nobles' lives whenever they wanted by colluding with the imperial family, waiting for the elevator.
"This is driving me crazy, what on earth is going on."
"What we were assigned to was slave surveillance, why are we being called for this kind of thing too?"
"Hey, they said they'd give us plenty of extra pay. Stop complaining and just go."
Having pushed through the guards who were busily heading somewhere and hiding their armed weapons from people.
"...Lord Frey, hello."
"Are you the guide?"
Having found a staff member waiting in a secluded place, I spoke in a low voice.
"Then, let's begin."
"Yes?"
"The guidance, I mean, the guidance."
"...Understood."
She tilted her head for a moment, but when I added words, she quietly nodded and began guiding me.
- The cabinet's magical reinforcement is almost complete. We'll probably be able to finish it on time.
- I've ordered the Imperial Knight Order to bring out the weapons. We can intervene at any time.
- Lord Frey, I, Demirkan, will carry out my assigned mission to the best of my ability.
Of course, the 'begin' I said had a double meaning.
.
"This is the temporary waiting room."
"Thank you."
Guided by the female staff member, the place I arrived at had a room with an ordinary-looking door.
It seems the situation was so serious that they crammed slaves into an ordinary room.
"Then, have a nice day... hmm?"
While I was thinking that, the female staff member suddenly started tilting her head.
"Mmm, mmmm..."
Wondering why she was doing that, strange groaning sounds were flowing in from the slave waiting room.
"Please wait a moment, Lord Frey. I'll check... ack!"
I knocked out the male staff member who was trying to enter the room with a tense expression by hitting the back of his head with the staff I was holding, and entered the room with a calm expression.
"Hello, Lord Frey."
"...Hello."
Then, Demirkan and the Demon King's Army staff officer Lemerino, who were in the waiting room, greeted me.
Lemerino didn't seem particularly happy to greet me.
"I've strengthened the slaves as you ordered, but..."
Demirkan, who was glancing at Lemerino who was still looking at me with wary eyes, spoke in a polite tone and pointed to the slaves.
"Ugh, uuuugh..."
"My chest is... burning..."
"Haa, haaa..."
When I turned my gaze to where he pointed, the powerful slaves I had personally selected while going around were groaning.
"...As expected, it seems there won't be many slaves entering the final stage."
And Demirkan was looking at that sight with a calm expression.
"Still, if even one person enters the final stage... they'll become strong enough to compare with the combat executives."
"That's right. Originally, they're slaves Lord Frey selected, and since they received strengthening magic and a berserk curse, it's only natural."
Demirkan, who chimed in with my words with an equally calm expression, soon began speaking with an expectant expression.
"Then, all that's left is to raid the slave market."
"...Yes."
"If we coordinate attacks with the Demon King's Army combat executives, the berserk slaves, and the remaining slaves... we can smuggle out the slaves and take the nobles as hostages."
Despite my indifferent reaction, he spoke with a voice full of expectation and spoke to me again with sparkling eyes.
"To come up with such an excellent plan, Lord Frey is truly amazing."
"Lemerino could also come up with a plan of this level."
"...You flatter me."
When I said that casually to Demirkan, Lemerino, who was next to him, quietly answered.
Still, with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
"By any chance, do you have some complaint?"
"About this operation, it's still somewhat..."
When I asked Lemerino in a roundabout way, she was about to start speaking as if she had been waiting.
"Hem, hm."
"...Nothing."
When Demirkan, who was looking at me with respectful eyes, coughed, she quietly bowed her head and stopped speaking.
"Hwaaaaa!!"
...Oh?"
And at that moment, screaming began to be heard from among the slaves.
"It seems success has finally been achieved."
"...Hmm."
When I turned my gaze there, a girl was clutching her chest and trembling while face down on the floor.
- Shuuu...
...Oh ho?"
But that was only for a moment, smoke began to rise from her body.
"Ughhh..."
Her appearance began to change in an instant.
"...Did you perhaps already predict that too?"
"Well."
Demirkan, who was blankly staring at that sight, laughed hollowly and spoke.
"Having Lord Frey in the Demon King's Army is nothing short of a blessing."
"You flatter me."
"No, really."
At my words, Demirkan spoke with a serious expression and pointed to the Miho who had slowly started to rise from her spot.
"Mmm..."
Her eyes had turned red, her height had grown, and she now had 8 more tails sprouting from her body.
"I thought we'd just gain a few strong slaves... who would have thought we'd get our hands on a spirit creature of the Eastern Continent?"
Demirkan, who said that, then looked coldly at the slaves slumped behind Miho and spoke.
"Now that things have turned out this way, the rest don't catch my eye. How about we just throw those ones into the sacrifice magic circle along with the other slaves?"
"...We should utilize them as much as possible."
"Understood. Then I... will go gather the young boy and girl slaves when the operation begins."
"Yes."
Having finished those words, Demirkan left the waiting room with Lemerino.
"Soon, the world will prostrate before Lord Frey's feet."
Leaving behind quite regrettable words.
"........."
I, left alone in the waiting room with the transformed Miho and the unconscious slaves, fell into thought while murmuring quietly.
"...This is where the problem starts."
Miho, a fox beastperson from a mountain village in the Eastern Continent.
She's neither a main heroine, a sub heroine, nor a helper NPC, but... she plays a quite important role in this quest.
Because in the original work, she, whose name wasn't even revealed, is a branching point of this quest and.
"Mmm, uuu..."
One of the 'gatekeepers', called the mid-bosses, one of the various elements that drastically increased the already difficult difficulty of Blacktail Fantasy 2.
"No wonder she looked strong somehow..."
The information about her written in the prophecy book is as follows:
- Regarding the mid-boss of the third main quest [Slave Market Liberation Mission].
The first mid-boss appearing in the third main quest, the tentatively named 'Gumiho' who made many users despair, has as her hometown a mountain village in the Eastern Continent where 'spirit creatures' who firmly believe they are fox beastpeople live.
She came out into the world to find the reason why their clan dies young and for freedom, but was kidnapped to the slave market for some reason, and there she accumulated negative emotions while undergoing various tortures, abuses, and injustices.
And as a result, on the day the slave market opened, unable to contain her accumulated emotions, she went berserk and began to suck the life force of 'all' living things in the market.
"...So you were the mid-boss after all."
And the ancestor's comment about her was written quite densely.
- I almost quit the game because of this kid. Ah, I should have quit then. Anyway, this damn fox is the hero's natural enemy and counter. You absolutely can't win with normal methods.
According to the ancestor, Miho's ability as a mid-boss is handling life force.
And the source of my power, 'the hero's power', works by burning life force.
In other words, she's my complete counter.
That's why in the original work, multiple sacrifices were essential.
In other words, if I had been on a route other than the Evil One route, the game, which had been cozy and bright after this quest, would begin to darken in earnest.
- Even if I tried to sneak her out beforehand, the date she enters the market is completely random so I couldn't figure it out. Even if I somehow saved her, she breaks into the slave market to save other slaves and goes berserk. If I try to kill her, I die. I thought I was going crazy when I was strategizing for a while.
The ancestor's records, who wrote down her strategy saga as earnestly as his own adventure stories, showing how much resentment he had.
- ...Then one day, I finally found the strategy.
It ends only after continuing for several more pages.
- And only after finding that strategy method could I realize.
Erasing the usual friendly and humorous feeling, speaking with a serious feeling wafting from it.
- The true strategy of this damn game.
According to the ancestor, finding Miho's strategy method was said to have made a huge contribution to discovering the 'Evil One route'.
Her strategy method, important enough to that degree, is...
"You, you..."
"...Ah."
Lost in thought for a while, Miho, who had revealed her complete form as a spirit creature, finally came to her senses and began glaring at me.
Alright, time to act again.
It's time to throw away the peace I've had until recently, comfortable and happy, and be hated by the majority of people once again.
"W-what!?"
Thinking that, I began to make a panicked expression.
With the door slightly open, as if I had just entered.
"You... what is that appearance...?"
And acting as if I still didn't understand the situation.
"......."
Acting with all my might, Miho, who was blankly looking at her transformed body for a moment.
"W-what!?"
Came toward me with a cold expression.
"Si-sit!!"
"...Ha?"
When I urgently shouted at her as she approached right in front of me, she, who was raising her hand with an expressionless face.
"H-how dare a slave... look at me with such insolent eyes..."
"Slave?"
Hearing my words, she began glaring at me with cold eyes.
- Turn the berserk Miho's anger solely toward you. Not the slave market, not the nobles, but only toward you.
"Y-yes... you slave bastard. I don't know what exactly you did but..."
Looking at her, I engraved in my mind the only method to control her written in the prophecy book.
"...You still have the 'curse of submission' remaining, don't you?"
I finished speaking in an arrogant voice.
- Shwk!!
And the next moment.
"Kuhek!!!"
Miho, who reached out her hand at tremendous speed and grabbed my throat.
"Say that again..."
Looked down at me, who was thrown face down on the floor, with cold eyes.
"...Who is a slave?"
And began to strangle my neck.
- Ps. Turning her anger is good, but don't let her suck your life force.
"...Ugh."
At the same time, the last piece of advice the ancestor wrote in small letters began to bother me intensely.