Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?

‘Hey, Emmitte.’

‘I used to think that if I ever fell into despair, it would be because of the limits of my abilities.’

‘Or this unchangeable reality and its inevitable exceptions would break my resolve.’

‘Just like Sir Knight.’

‘But that wasn’t it.’

‘What really brings me despair are neither of those things…’

“Gasp!”

Deathbringer abruptly opened his eyes. How long had he been unconscious after getting cursed by that Demon?

In this tilted world, the sky visible to him was extremely dark.

Panicking at that fact, he sat up. Rustle. Something slid off him.

“…A blanket?”

Why a blanket?

“…??”

It wasn’t even cheap. Though not made of silk, it was still quite soft, similar to what the Hero and the wizard used.

“Could it be…”

Could it be that the Demon had covered him with this blanket after he fainted? Really? Seriously?

Who would do something so crazy?

Beyond puzzled, Deathbringer stared at the blanket with disgust, as though he’d bitten into worms. Then, his hand, which had been resting on the ground, touched something.

“What is that now…?”

Where his hand was, he found a small leather pouch about the size of his fist and picked it up. Its opening was slightly agape, so some of its contents spilled out.

“This is…?”

Candies. Made from precious melted sugar.

“What the…”

It left him a blanket and even candy? The Demon? The same bastard who forced him into a temporary contract when he hesitated?

“Huh.”

At that moment, the whole thing felt beyond confusing, almost absurdly comical. Wasn’t it strange for a Demon to show such care?

It wasn’t cold enough yet that he would freeze without a blanket.

However, it was also hard for him to imagine anyone else doing it. If not the Demon, who else would show him such favor?

Especially given he was lying on a roof, far out of sight from the streets below.

Deathbringer was left with only questions, completely unable to make sense of the situation.

“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

He reached out to discard the candy left by that unknown person.

He didn’t know if this was meant as a warning or something. Just imagining that Demon bastard, one who’d cursed him at that, had left it behind made his skin crawl.

“…”

However, strangely, his hand wouldn’t let go of the pouch. It was almost like it had been cursed.

“Ah, dammit. If you’re going to leave something, at least leave a note with it…”

But… these sweets were rare. Far too rare. As rare as a favor with no strings attached.

That was why he couldn’t throw them away.

“Damn it…”

Deathbringer’s hand trembled as he clutched the candy. Eventually, he gave up on discarding it. He couldn’t do it.

“Damn it.”

Yeah. As if that Demon would have given him these things.

Maybe, just maybe, some wealthy passerby happened to climb up on the roof, happened to find him, and happened to have some candy and a blanket on them, which they left behind.

…What nonsense.

He knew his explanation was nonsense, but he kept the candy anyway. He was already cursed, so was there even a point in poisoning him, too? It was a very spontaneous decision, he knew.

But had he ever had a proper plan since joining this party?

Even now, if he’d had a proper plan, he wouldn't be in this mess.

“…What should I do now?”

However, dwelling on what had already happened was the act of a fool.

So, he started thinking about what he had to do next.

Unfortunately, he couldn't return to the party. As the Demon said, his entering into a provisional contract—or rather, having it forced upon him—wouldn’t get past the Inquisitor.

Furthermore, they definitely wouldn’t accept him back.

Even if he tried to explain to save his life, he couldn’t reveal the reason for this contract. Doing so would spell his death.

This was a complete disaster.

“Maybe it’s for the best. I was planning on leaving, anyway…”

Then, what else could he do? He had no choice but to turn his back on the Hero’s party and leave.

“Yeah, it’s probably for the best.”

As long as he could leave the city without running into them, this provisional contract wouldn’t be a major issue.

After that, well. If he was lucky, the Demon might annul the contract, and if not…

He had no intention of entering into a full contract, at least. Things might work out if he carefully lived his life while avoiding the Temple. If he researched enough, there was even a chance he’d find a way to break this provisional contract.

And if the Demon tried forcing him into a full contract? He would just die.

From the instant the Demon forced this provisional contract on him, wasn’t his death already half-certain? The only question remaining was whether it would be at the hands of the Church or the Demon.

“It’s probably for the best…”

So, it was only right for him to leave.

It was the right thing to do.

“Probably…”

This was his fate. Whether voluntarily or involuntarily, he had always been fated to leave…

Drip.

“Huh?”

Right.

So, why did these tears just keep flowing like this?

“Damn it, what did I ever do right…”

How many people died because of him? How many people were harmed just because of his foolish actions?

Why was he so sad about giving up something he’d never even had the qualifications for…

“Damn it…”

Deathbringer finally sank to the ground. He couldn’t bear to stand any longer, feeling so guilty and sorrowful as he cried.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Had he known it would come to this, he would have never picked up the sword. Had he known, he would have just suppressed his desire for revenge.

Why, why did he ever think he was doing it for her…

“I’m sorry…”

She should have lived instead of him.

“Emmitte….”

She should have lived…

* * *

Rustle.

“Emmitte…”

As the moon slipped behind a building, Deathbringer finally fell into a deep sleep. Or maybe he’d passed out from exhaustion.

Either way, he wouldn’t wake up for a while.

He showed no signs of waking even when I got closer.

“Where do you think you’re going, meat dumpling?”

So, I carefully adjusted the blanket that had slipped off him. Since it seemed he’d taken the candy, I didn’t bother looking for it.

“Seriously. It’s not good to just accept stuff that strangers left for you…”

While it was fortunate that he didn’t throw away what I’d given him, it was a bit too worrying for me to be overly happy about.

In the end, there was no guarantee the bad guys wouldn’t try something similar in the future. And they certainly wouldn’t leave behind something as harmless.

“Should I be happy about this or not?”

I wanted to scold him but couldn’t bring myself to do so.

Watching him sleep, his face swollen from crying, I sighed softly.

Seeing his face like that reminded me of when I first found him, making my heart race all over again.

“You’re just making people worry.”

Not that I had much room to talk, but still. Sprawled out on a roof like that, how would the others feel when they saw it?

Given our past encounters with that Demon, I initially thought he was dead. If I hadn’t heard his breathing just then, I would have been panicking.

“Meat dumpling.”

I lightly tapped this annoying guy’s nose before sitting down nearby.

There was an alley next to the building where I could quickly hide if needed, and from where I sat, I could see him, but he couldn’t see me.

This was the same spot I’d used during the day. Despite knowing he wasn’t dead and was physically okay, I couldn’t bring myself to leave him alone.

I’d gotten used to landing silently when jumping down to avoid detection—because if I got caught, people would notice I was breaking character.

That he hadn’t noticed me when he woke up earlier proved it.

Well, it was probably just a coincidence that I hadn’t been caught hiding in that alley yet.

“Emmitte…”

Ever since he fell asleep, he’d been calling the name Emmitte. Could it be the name of his deceased friend or someone similar?

I entertained a few theories but soon dismissed them. It felt kind of rude to speculate about someone’s personal life.

However, just sitting around here was boring, and I was getting sleepy, so my thoughts wandered to all kinds of places.

For example, why Deb was planning on leaving, or the information I’d recently gotten from the Information Guild.

One particularly interesting tidbit was that the young lord’s parents were newly appointed after a particular incident ten years ago.

Perhaps because the townspeople had ousted the previous lord’s family under the pretext of tyranny, their ruling had since been very citizen-friendly.

Recently, they’d even been called saintly rulers due to their consistent governance.

However, that didn’t exclude them from being the masterminds behind this incident. I had seen enough twists and turns in these kinds of situations.

But… As some reports said, ‘Only the young lord sometimes behaves unusually,” I suspected it might just be him.

In any case, it was too early to be sure of anything.

“Hmm.”

So, I continued thinking about it.

“Ah, dawn is breaking.”

Finally, morning had come. I could hear Bers shouting for Deathbringer in the distance, hopping around like a puppy with its tail on fire.

* * *

Deathbringer felt his body floating in his sleep. Something hard and sturdy was supporting him, and he could feel some warmth coming from one side.

Slightly uncomfortable but cozy, he blinked his eyes drowsily. He wanted to sleep more, the desire making his eyelids heavy.

But… Who was carrying him?

At that moment, as if he’d been splashed with cold water, his mind snapped back to reality. His green eyes darted around.

“Oh, young hunter. You’re awake?”

“Uwaaah!!”

His last thought before falling asleep was to leave this town without meeting any of his party members. Yet here he was, being carried by Berserk.

“P-Put me down!!”

Deathbringer thrashed around like a freshly caught fish. However, Berserk was a highly skilled fighter, so her reflexes were excellent.

Looking quite puzzled, she carefully held him to prevent him from falling.

“We’re almost there, though?”

“Huh?”

Deathbringer blinked at her words. He reflexively looked in the direction Berserk was heading.

It wasn’t the Temple, but their quarters within its grounds, just thirty meters away. The Inquisitor had already kicked open the door, perhaps because she’d heard the screams outside or sensed the Demonic Energy.

“There’s Demonic Energy outside…!”

The Inquisitor’s and his eyes met.

“You, you…?”

“Uwaaaaaah!!!”

This was a really, really, really serious crisis.

Deathbringer twisted his body with all his might. His movements were more frantic than before, and he managed to shake off Berserk.

“What… Young hunter, your strength…”

Thud.

His boots hit the ground.

“No, wh-wh-why are you…”

“I’m out of here!!”

“Huh!”

He had to run. He knew running away would only deepen their suspicions, but he had no choice. He couldn’t even make any excuses if he tried.

So, since he’d already been discovered, he could only run away to save his life.

“C-Catch him, Berserk!”

“Huh?”

“Inquisitor, just what…”

“No, erm, Sir Archmage, ah! W-W-We need to catch him…!”

If anything, it was somewhat fortunate that only the Inquisitor knew, and Berserk had no idea what was happening.

Crucially, Mister Knight was also missing.

If he was even a little slow and this story reached Mister’s ears? Yeah, that would be the moment he’d have to abandon all hope.

The Inquisitor was a little slow, but the Demon Knight could easily overwhelm him even now.

“Miss Envoy, there’s a Demonic presence inside the temple—! What?!”

But why did it seem like this situation was getting increasingly worse—for him?

Deathbringer spotted priests rushing toward him, their faces twisted in anger as they looked at him. Shit.

“Catch him!!”

“Wh-What’s happening? Why are you suddenly trying to catch the young hunter?”

“Inquisitor?”

“Th-There’s…”

Fortunately, Miss Priest was still hesitating, likely due to the strange bond they’d formed during their time together.

“I can sense Demonic Energy coming from him.”

Deathbringer swallowed down the bittersweet emotions rising up when he saw the Inquisitor, who was more shaken than he’d expected.

It turned out she didn’t hate him as much as he thought. It was something he realized only now, as their relationship was on the verge of becoming adversarial.

“Capture him!”

“Quick, after him!”

“Don’t let him leave the Temple grounds!”

However, thanks to their relationship, he was able to keep his life for now. Whoosh. Now that his body had become a little more agile, Deathbringer easily climbed over the wall.

“Ah.”

“…?”

Unfortunately, the Demon Knight was right on the other side of the wall.

____

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