◈ Episode 55. Aesthetics (1)
───────Current Contribution: 11,600p───────
Breaking past ten thousand points.
Just as before, there was no way to know how high that was.
Nothing to compare it to.
In my heart of hearts.
I wanted to grab the player beside me and ask what their contribution was.
But clinging to trivial achievements was also beneath the pride of Grangpel.
"I merely cleared away some trash."
Adjusting my attire, I said,
"Contribution, you say? How absurd."
That was the sum total of my sentiments.
Indeed.
This, too, was only natural.
But if I were to look at it coldly.
'No, I ought to praise myself even out of spite.'
As the risen contribution showed.
I had fulfilled my role as a passenger on the bus.
The players occupying the top of the walls thanks to the stairs I manifested.
They were reliably supporting our allies from long range.
'Needless to say, they were keeping the enemy in check.'
Going beyond support, they were even launching preemptive attacks.
'The rest is all second nature.'
Blocking the enemy's attacks with barriers.
It was a manifestation as familiar to me as breathing.
And who was receiving my support?
"Thanks to Your Grace's aid, my movements have grown much easier!"
Thus, I could stand proud and unashamed.
'I definitely paid the bus fare.'
I had absolutely not free-loaded...!
Clack─ Thus, even at this very moment of entering Frost.
Not a single speck of dust.
Nor a drop of blood had stained me.
Then, a message rose in my vision.
[You have entered 'Frost,' plummeting into hell.]
From a northern city to plummeting into hell.
To the point that its epithet had changed.
Frost was a scene of carnage.
Corpses of guards were scattered throughout the streets.
All around was drenched in blood.
"......Damn it all."
At the horrific sight, the Lion Heart Knights, including Harkon, trailed off.
Among them were several knights.
The sound of them grinding their teeth was audible in my ears.
Harkon opened his mouth in an icy voice.
"Frost is counted among the finest cities in the Empire. There are quite a few in our order for whom this place is home. It will not be easy to fathom their feelings."
Indeed, their restraint was nothing short of remarkable.
For this was truly a cruel sight.
'This is reality, not some virtual reality game.'
The sprawled corpses were no longer NPCs.
They were the residents of Frost.
The blood-soaked streets.
The stench of blood stinging the nose.
All of this was real.
The old me would have been unable to hold back the vomit.
Like those players over there.
"......Wait, I feel sick. Ugh."
"Don't push yourself too hard."
"Did we really have to do this...... Damn it!"
I was someone who used to grimace even at draining blood from meat, let alone at corpses.
Yet, I had my pride.
The pride of Grangpel, unbending in any situation.
That meant not retching.
Not furrowing my brow.
Not turning my head away in the face of such a horrific sight.
I spoke.
"Let us collect the bodies."
I would collect the bodies.
At my words, Harkon asked back in apparent shock.
"Collect the bodies......? My lord, are you serious?"
It wasn't just Harkon.
The Shadow Mercenaries, including Kichi, were staring at me as if I were a madman.
It was a reaction I could fully understand.
I, too, thought I was mad.
'We don't know when or where the Demon King Army might strike.'
From its very entrance, Frost was filled with buildings.
Every building, every alley.
It was a situation where ambushing Demon King troops could launch a surprise attack at any moment.
And in such a situation, collect the bodies?
It truly could only be the act of someone mad enough to want to die.
But I knew.
It wasn't just once or twice.
All of it was because of this damned pride......!
『Grangpel Claudi Arpeus Romio is noble. No matter the opponent, he never bows his head. His pride is immeasurably heavy and unshakable. Even if he were to sink and drown under its weight.』
Yes, that pride was telling me.
That turning away from those who died protecting Frost would be contrary to my pride.
Contrary to my pride?
Even if I were to sink and drown.
I could not defy that pride.
However.
'......Did you think I would quietly sink and die?'
As I said, it wasn't just once or twice.
Even when I stood before Count Ascura with nothing.
Even before that great villain.
Because I had survived near-death experiences.
I hesitated no longer.
I bent my knee and lowered my waist.
I approached a soldier of Frost who had breathed his last while leaning against a building.
As if he could not yet close his eyes.
I shut the eyes of the soldier, wide open.
"I shall inherit your pride."
Yes, if you want to sink me, then try!
There was one thing I was more confident in than anyone else: struggling.
At my actions, Harkon nodded.
The Lion Heart Knights moved with perfect discipline.
They gently laid out the sprawled corpses.
They closed their unshut eyes.
Then, someone approached me.
"......Thank you."
Though I could not see their face beneath the helmet, I knew by the voice.
Yesika, who had guarded me while I struggled in the office of the Golden Palace of the Kingdom of Yusra.
"......And I'm sorry for everything until now. Truly."
Yesika was sobbing beneath her helmet.
'......I don't know what you're sorry for.'
Did she badmouth me behind my back?
I could fully understand something like that.
After all, the feeling of not being able to go home because of your boss.
'I know it very well.'
Still, I was fairly perceptive.
I realized at once.
That Yesika's hometown was Frost.
There was no way I could know the feeling of losing something precious to demons.
But Grangpel would know better than anyone.
"Do not be swayed by emotion."
I stood up and continued.
"We must press on nonetheless."
......
Couldn't you just comfort them a little? Would it kill you?
At times like this, the old me.
I want to nag Grangpel.
People of this world.
Do you think they all possess superhuman mental strength like you?
Fortunately, Yesika nodded.
Perhaps Harkon's mental training had been effective.
The moment such a useless thought crossed my mind.
"......!"
Suddenly, the quest window flickered.
I flinched.
...... Wait, what is this?
*Ten castle gates.
A siege war being conducted simultaneously.
"......We got it!"
"Yeah, if they had any conscience, they'd open! You bastards!"
"How many potions did we pour into this!"
The gates that had shown no sign of breaking finally began to collapse.
Excluding the gate Hoyeol had breached, the speed was all fairly similar.
"Damn, those guys are no joke?"
The Demon King Army revealed themselves from behind the collapsed gates, as expected.
But there was one thing different.
The presence of players atop the walls.
"......Wait, aren't those players?"
"I think so. How did they get up there?"
"No way, did they already come over from somewhere else?!"
That was it.
The stone stairs Hoyeol had manifested.
They were the players who had climbed those stone stairs and seized the top of the walls.
They ran along the walls and reached the gates in other areas.
They began to help suppress the Demon King Army.
"Good thing we moved, right?"
A cold-hearted world.
Naturally, there was no intention of helping others.
Everything was for their own EXP and contribution points.
"We were fools to think we'd get any scraps."
"Seriously. That place is on another level. You saw it too, right?"
"We can't keep up with their hunting speed. At all."
Hoyeol and the Lion Heart Knights.
And even the Shadow Mercenaries.
Where they went, there wasn't even room to stick a spoon in.
So a quick judgment was made.
They decided to move to the other gates instead.
Swish-swish-swish─!
The support fire from such players.
It was enough to shake the Demon King Army's ranks.
And not only that.
"......There aren't as many as I thought?"
As expected.
The number of Demon King troops that rushed out was fewer than anticipated.
The reason wasn't hard to find.
"Lee Hoyeol. They concentrated their forces on him."
Then the story became simple.
This was an opportunity.
Because they did not miss the given opportunity.
Rox, who had been racking his brains, made a decision for Shining, which had maintained its place at the top until now.
"Let's quickly advance to the center of Frost."
"Okay~ I feel kinda sorry for them though."
"Sorry my ass. We're busy trying to survive ourselves."
"......By the way, where did our princess go again?"
Camilla, drawing her bowstring, looked around.
Jessie, who had been firing skills until just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.
Rox and Dmitri thought nothing of it.
It wasn't like Jessie disappearing on her own was a rare thing.
Lee Hoyeol. The moment that name came up, she vanished.
"Hmm...... I think I know though~?"
But Camilla kept her mouth shut.
Like hell.
What good would come from being hated by Jessie?
The Demon King Army's forces had concentrated on Hoyeol.
For some, this news was an opportunity.
For some, it was a bolt from the blue.
"......?!"
Gaon and Berserker.
Since the Kingdom of Yusra could not be completely emptied.
The two guilds had been forced to form a joint front due to their dispersed military strength.
"......What?"
"Shit."
Nam Taemin and Leonie stopped at the same time.
To think they had been able to enter Frost more smoothly than expected all thanks to Hoyeol......
Leonie gritted her teeth.
"Sorry for bailing. I'm the type who can't stand owing anyone."
Leonie intended to join Hoyeol immediately.
......
Should I say this is out of worry?
'No, absolutely not.'
Where was Hoyeol the kind of person to receive worry or help from anyone?
This was simple stubbornness.
My pride of not wanting to just keep receiving.
"I'm totally in favor, unnie."
"I support that decision, that resolve, to the end."
"Just shut up."
Nam Taemin also spoke to her guild members.
"We're joining Mr. Hoyeol as well."
Hoyeol and the Lion Heart Knights.
And even the Shadow Mercenaries.
She was well aware of their level, but......
There is no bargaining with numbers.
Even if they couldn't be of great help, they needed to match them in headcount.
The moment the two guilds' opinions aligned.
There had to be no hesitation in moving.
But for some reason.
It kept nagging at her eyes.
In the end, Nam Taemin stopped.
"Go on ahead. I'll catch up right away."
The ruined Frost.
She couldn't just pass by.
She couldn't look away.
"......."
Nam Taemin silently collected the bodies.
Worried there might be a familiar face.
Chewing on her boiling rage.
Nam Taemin's quest window was flickering as well.
[You have met the conditions.]
[A quest has begun.]
[Class Quest: Proof of the Wild]
"......!"
Twice over.
───────Current Contribution: 3,300p───────
*Even though I had merely collected the bodies.
My contribution had increased.
And the increase was substantial.
───────Current Contribution: 19,600p───────
I thought.
So good things happen when you live kindly......!
Naturally, I hadn't done it expecting contribution.
In short, it was like eating mustard while crying.
It was a mad act done because of the pride dominating my body.
'Is it because I had no expectations?'
It wasn't a bad feeling.
But I didn't show it.
It wasn't the situation for it.
A member of the Shadow Mercenaries spoke from the rooftop.
"They're just coming at us out in the open. Damn, this got annoying."
Even though I had merely closed the corpses' eyes.
Laid them on the ground.
Nevertheless, the delay was unavoidable.
Because of that, the Demon King Army's follow-up forces were swarming in.
Soon, the Demon King's Army entered my sight.
They were different in appearance from the featureless [Demon King Army Infantry].
But it didn't matter.
Because I knew.
Their levels from the additional update notes.
[Demon King Army Monster Cavalry: Lv.400]
[Demon King Army Hundred-Man Commander: Lv.420]
[Demon King Army Champion: Lv.420]
......
It didn't even need to go far.
They were demons weaker than Baek Iseol I had hunted not long ago.
No, weaker than a Succubus.
'So what if there's a lot of them?'
Their numbers didn't matter either.
The most efficient means of dealing with multiple enemies.
I had 『Magic』.
So come at me.
My experience points, my contribution points.
Of course, the battlefield filled with buildings was cramped and complex.
Not to mention allies, but the buildings could collapse if I wasn't careful.
But even that was no problem for me.
I straightened my attire.
Even the shape of my disheveled [Handkerchief].
"There is no time to waste. Let us finish this in one go."
Yes, now was the moment.
To confirm the effect of the new stat, [Aesthetics].