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

Chapter 124: If I Could Leave (6)

【How pitiful. If it hadn’t been for that outsider, the rebellion would have succeeded.】

【You madman! How can you say that out loud…!】

【It’s just kids here. It’s fine, it’s fine.】

【Don’t you know the quietest forests are the most dangerous?】

【I said it’s fine.】

On this strangely sleepless night, Akata bit her lip hard as she heard the guards’ chattering.

She was filled with both anger and sorrow. The night, which should have been serene, was instead filled with the echoing screams of her family, who’d been executed just a few hours ago.

【Come to think of it, the outsider is staying at Taposhaka’s house, right? To think he’d get the second-best house right after the chief’s, just like that. It seems he really cares for that outsider.】

【…The warrior is one thing, but that white-haired furball is also a priest. With all the village priests having joined the rebellion, it’s understandable. Especially with Katina approaching.】

【Is he planning to take the outsiders to Katina?】

【No way…】

Taposhaka was her father’s name. That detestable outsider had not only caused the death of her entire family but also taken over their home.

【I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all.】

The girl, biting down on her lips, vowed to take revenge.

Those outsiders, who’d interfered in their affairs and gotten her family killed, and Atarte, who’d nearly beaten her sister Samar to death before taking the position of chief. All of them.

【…Still, I’m glad the chief brought in that outsider, regardless of whether he plans to take him to Katina.】

【Why?】

【I mean, you know. Taramba… My son got taken away today. If it weren’t for the outsider…】

【Ah…】

【What kind of leader would someone who takes children hostage become if they succeeded in their rebellion?】

【That was so unexpected. To think Taposhaka would take children hostage…】

【Some of Taposhaka’s supporters turned against him because of that. Those children they took almost died.】

Meanwhile, those guards started spouting nonsense, claiming her father had taken children hostage.

【Bullshit…!】

There was no way her proud father would do such a thing. He would never resort to something so petty.

Right! That whole thing about the rebellion also had to be a lie! Her father, who cared so deeply for the Vigabol, would never start something like a rebellion! That all had to be false accusations by that vile bastard Atarte to secure his power!

The girl dismissed everything those guards said as mere slander. It was the desperate struggle of a child who couldn’t bear to face the truth.

【In that sense, I also kind of… like the outsider warrior. Even though we don’t speak the same language and he has fewer arms, I’ve never seen a bad person who’s kind to kids.】

【Really?】

【Haven’t you seen Tuba’s youngest daughter playing with a ball? I was told the outsider warrior gave it to her to stop her crying. The other kids captured this time also got a toy and are playing with them.】

【But if they are things brought in by the outsider, aren’t they foreign products? I feel a bit uncomfortable about that…】

【I initially felt the same way, as well, but watching the kids play, it seemed like nothing. They only look like pretty decorations and the like. Some are quite fascinating, even. Are these types of things popular on the outside?】

Somehow, she couldn’t hear these words as genuine praise for the outsider but as just sweet talk from those whom Atarte had swayed.

Tap, tap.

How long had she been staying awake, grinding her teeth? She could feel a presence beyond the prison wall. They made themselves known with a faint sound, barely noticeable had she not been leaning against the wall.

【Shh. Just wait a bit longer.】

The unknown person began scratching at the floor a bit, keeping her quiet.

Around when the moon had wandered far over her head, the ground right next to the girl started to move.

【The rest is up to you.】

Someone had dug a small hole for her. She would have to dig a bit more to escape, but it was a start.

【Who are you?】

This might be a trap, so Akata asked cautiously, having doubts about this situation. But as she got no reply, it seemed the person had left already.

Should she stay here like this? No, she didn’t want to do that.

Akata carefully dug through the earth, watching out for the guards. Her fingernails broke and her skin tore as she kept digging with her bare hands, but it wasn’t anything serious.

Thanks to that stranger doing most of the work, it didn’t take her long.

The girl quickly escaped the prison. The kids who were in the same cell? She didn’t wake any of them. Any commotion during her digging could alert the guards.

Moreover, if this was indeed a trap, it would be best if she were the only one caught in it. The children in the cell were also only five years old, far too young.

【What should I do now?】

However, once she was out, she didn’t really know what to do. She just stood there blankly before vigorously shaking her head.

Escaping the village alive was highly unlikely. The Great Forest at night wouldn’t let her.

If she would die either way, she at least wanted to take revenge beforehand.

『What kind of leader would someone who takes children hostage become if they succeeded in their rebellion?』

…She had to avenge her family.

Akata hurriedly moved.

【A white-necked spider!】

In the process, she also came across an effective weapon. Fearlessly, she caught the spider and disassembled its body. The venom of a white-necked spider was a highly effective paralytic poison.

【Those bastards…】

Should she kill Atarte or the outsider? After some thought, Akata chose the latter. The former was too heavily guarded.

She obviously held more hatred for Atarte, but she only had one chance. Whether she succeeded or failed, her head would be on the line the moment she went for it.

With that in mind, she decided to take the path that would let her get revenge on at least one of her targets.

Akata’s small feet took her to her old home under the cover of night.

Swish.

【Is there a problem…?】

Unfortunately, at that very moment, someone stepped outside. He wore a black coat that almost blended into the night, with hair that seemed unnatural and, most importantly, only one pair of arms.

Although she had never seen him in person, it wasn’t hard to figure out who it was. It was the outsider warrior.

【Sigh, in our village, the chief is the only one who can speak the outsider’s language.】

【Erm, are you going for a walk? Should I follow you?】

The outsider warrior seemed to be heading somewhere away from the building. One of the guards keeping watch tried to follow him, but the warrior gestured for him to stay away.

【Damn it, I’ll report this.】

After hesitating between whether to follow or stay, the guard eventually left to make a report. This was a great opportunity for the girl.

Wasn’t a priest easier to kill than a warrior?

【Woah, I shouldn’t step on that.】

However, the girl’s plans quickly turned into broken twigs on the forest floor.

The building seemed to be surrounded by some magic, seeing how the guard made a fuss after barely stepping inside.

【Damn it.】

Considering how all the priests had been imprisoned for treason, it had to be the outsider priest who cast the spell.

In that case, killing the priest was nearly impossible. The moment she crossed that line, the guards would notice something was amiss and rush in. Even if the priest were asleep, he would awaken immediately and prepare for an enemy.

So, what she should do was…

Akata’s gaze followed the departing figure. The chances of succeeding were meager yet also pretty high. He was heading into the forest in the middle of the night, as only an outsider would do.

Into that forest filled with poisonous insects and all manner of beasts.

【…I can do this.】

She didn't even plan on ambushing him. All she hoped for was that the beasts got the warrior.

Clenching her teeth, the girl followed after the warrior. Crunch, crunch. The faint sound of stepping on grass was the only thing audible in this silence.

Scrrrratch.

Then, she heard something scratch against a tree. Reflexively, the girl lowered her body.

Scrrrratch.

The noise came at regular intervals. Akata narrowed her eyes and touched the spot she had heard it coming from. It was a knife mark.

Why was he leaving marks? She once again considered whether this was all just a trap.

However, the outsider warrior’s gait was too rough for him to be leading her into a trap. Even now, she was nearly ten steps behind him, even after hesitating for a moment.

Akata quickened her steps so as not to lose sight of the warrior.

Their distance from the village was gradually increasing.

* * *

【Chief. I’ve confirmed that Akata is following the guest.】

【Is that so?】

At the time Akata had left the village, Atarte narrowed his eyes as he listened to the aide’s report.

【Yes. Fortunately, the warrior of the guest group decided to go on a night walk…】

【Lucky us.】

Yes. They were indeed lucky. While it wouldn’t particularly matter whether she succeeded or failed, it would have been a shame if the child hadn’t moved how he wanted because of the guards.

They had enough reason to punish her after she escaped once, but using that as a pretext to execute her would be difficult with the outsider’s threat still hanging over his head.

He wanted to create a more definite excuse…

【Even though she’s smart, she’s still just a child.】

【…Indeed.】

【To fall for this so straightforwardly without suspecting a thing.】

There would be more than enough reason if she attacked their guest. But Atarte wanted even more.

His eight eyes narrowed.

【It would be perfect if she died at our guest’s hands.】

The offer to spare the children was meant merely to chain the guests. It was partially to maintain his reputation and other smaller benefits, but the main reason was to see how far the guest would go for the children.

Knowing he would do anything to help these children doomed to die as relatives of traitors, Atarte could use him even more.

『Know your place.』

But looking at the current situation.

【…Damn it.】

Just thinking about that ice-cold voice made Atarte rub the back of his neck.

How dare he? How dare he threaten him? Not just anyone, but him, the one with the highest authority in this place.

『The only reason you’re still alive is because the promise you made before aligns with my goals.』

Despite feeling such intense displeasure, he couldn’t bring himself to act on it directly. The guest’s words weren’t just a bluff.

『And I didn’t want to unnecessarily dirty my sword with blood.』

Indeed. Being the strongest warrior of the tribe, he was sure of it: if that man became hostile toward them, they wouldn’t have a single way to defend against him.

The disparity between them was as great as between a sapling and a tree, a torch and the sun, gravel and a mountain. Resistance was utterly impossible.

Bang!

【Sammar! Sammar… Ah, she’s dead, right? That useless idiot.】

So he was begging, hoping the escaped kid could drag that man’s mood to rock bottom.

He didn’t even expect her to kill the man. That wasn’t why he let her go, to begin with.

【Well, it can’t be helped, then.】

He simply hoped that child would cause the man some discomfort. To make this man, who supposedly cherished children, soil his hands with a child’s blood and feel even the slightest shred of discomfort from it.

As trivial as it was, that was the only way he could exact his revenge against a target he couldn’t oppose.

【You’ll have to bear the punishment instead.】

However, there was no need for him to hold on to this lingering resentment.

If his opponent was simply too strong for him to vent his anger on directly, he’d just direct his rage toward someone weaker instead.

【Brace yourself.】

He grabbed the hair of the aide, who was sweating profusely. He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth as if expecting something to happen.

Pow, pow, pow!

【…He’s at it again.】

【Shut up. Unless you want to be next.】

【…As great a leader as Chief Atarte is, at times like these, I can understand why Sammar made that choice.】

The sound of beating echoed through the building for quite some time. However, since the only people there were accomplices to whom this was a daily occurrence, the night passed without any disturbance.

* * *

* * *

【We went out so far…】

Meanwhile, Akata found herself in a bit of a predicament. Although she had grown up in this forest, she wasn’t yet experienced enough to navigate the forest at night easily.

She could still find her way back by following the markings the outsider warrior had left behind, though…

She looked back. The dense forest blocked out most of the moon and starlight, making it incredibly dark.

Akata swallowed nervously.

【Damn it, how far is he going…】

As they got deeper into the forest, it became harder for her to see her target.

She’d already lost track of the sound of his footsteps, so without the marks he’d left, following him further would have been impossible.

She bit her lip in frustration.

Whoooosh.

Then, at that moment, she heard a waterfall. A map appeared in her mind. She knew this place.

【Are we over there?】

How did this outsider know about the waterfall? With that in mind, Akata quickened her pace.

The trees thinned out a bit, finally allowing her to see the warrior she’d lost sight of. He was sitting on a rock near the waterfall.

There were a lot of wild beasts near the water. Despite her unease, Akata clenched her fists as she cautiously approached the outsider.

Whoooosh.

The sound of the waterfall grew closer.

Sob.

Faintly, amidst the waterfall’s crashing sounds, there was a faint sound of crying.

【…?】

And then, when Akata was only a few meters away from the warrior, she saw something unimaginable.

“I want to go home.”

The outsider was crying.

“Please, please let me go home…”

Under the pouring moonlight, he wept so sorrowfully, tears streaming down his face.

“It’s so hard to keep ignoring it any further…”

The one who truly wanted to cry was her.

“Don’t leave me in this world…”

Silvery teardrops flowed continuously down his pale face. Even as his ungloved hands wiped and rubbed at them, the tears wouldn’t stop.

“It’s so hard, Mom. I can’t…”

The man was sobbing as if the world was ending. Just as she had cried when she lost her parents, the outsider was sobbing like someone who had lost everything.

“I don’t want to live by killing others…”

Even though she couldn’t understand his words, they sounded utterly heartbreaking.

“No matter how I look at it, this all just feels too real, so how can I…?”

She didn’t want to see this, but witnessing her enemy at his lowest point brought out a peculiar mix of emotions within her.

A mixture of indignation, wondering what right he had to cry like that, and sympathy she couldn’t help but feel.

However, even so.

That outsider was her enemy. He was responsible for her parents' death.

『Taramba… My son got taken away today. If it weren’t for the outsider…』

He was the one who killed her parents.

『Some of Taposhaka’s supporters turned against him because of that. Those children they took almost died.』

Her parents…

No. Everything they’d said was just nonsense.

Feeling her resolve weaken, the girl steeled her heart and gripped the stone knives she had prepared. Two of the five knives were coated with white-necked spider venom. With a bit of luck, she might kill the outsider.

Swish.

However, she had focused too much on her target. By the time she felt another presence, it had already been too late.

Roar!

【Aargh!】

A leopard pounced on her. She narrowly avoided having her throat bitten, but its jaws managed to clamp down on her middle forearm. It felt like her arm was about to be torn off.

【Let go, let go!】

Instinctively, the girl swung her limbs and the knives she held wildly. It was all futile. The leopard's eyes glowed fiercely, its teeth sinking deeper into her flesh, and its claws dug into her body, causing excruciating pain.

She wondered if this was what dying felt like.

Slash!

In that instant, a fierce wind swept over her, and the leopard that had been shaking her body suddenly stopped moving. More than just stopping, it actually fell over on its side.

Blood sprayed across her face, warming her body.

“Are you hurt…!”

It hurt; it hurt so much. The girl was crying in agony, experiencing pain like never before. Unfamiliar yet comforting words hit her ears. Yes, they were comforting.

“Hang in there. I’ll take you back to the village.”

Clumsy, kind, gentle.

“You’re bleeding too much… I’m going to tie this around your arm, so don’t move, okay?”

Repulsive.

Akata felt herself getting lifted. She felt the coldness of his body against half of hers.

It was humiliating. She had come here to kill this man, but instead, she had failed and was now even being helped by him.

And the worst part was that his embrace reminded her so much of her father’s.

“Just hold on.”

The words he whispered in her ear brought her a strange sense of relief. She found comfort in her enemy’s kindness, and her fear of death began to fade.

Just like when she was in her father’s arms.

【No…】

She hated this. Even though she was being helped so greatly, she still hated it. No matter how kind or gentle he was, he was still the one who had killed her parents and siblings.

“…!”

Akata swung all her arms she could. Since the outsider only had one pair of arms, she thought at least one of her strikes might land.

However, one only grazed his cheek and another his shoulder, and it ended with her instantly getting thrown away. Her body rolled on the ground.

Ah. Even sneak attacks didn’t work on real warriors like him. Even with fewer arms, he still countered her attack.

As she rolled over the ground, she realized the pain from the fall hurt far less than the frustration of failing yet again. A sense of helplessness and injustice overwhelmed her entire being.

At the same time, she didn’t want it to end like this. She reached for stones or sticks to replace the knives she’d lost when she was thrown.

“Ah!”

She decided to throw them to vent her anger.

“Careful!”

But strangely enough, the one she’d attacked approached her first. Not only that, he pulled her into his arms once again despite knowing she’d attacked him.

Why?

No, the reason didn’t matter.

Akata instinctively knew that this was her last chance. Consumed by rage, she focused only on fulfilling her desire rather than assessing her opponent’s actions or her surroundings.

【Die, die!】

The first knife pierced between his chest and shoulder.

【Dieee!!】

The second and third knives stabbed toward his heart. Though they were just stones carved into the shape of knives, they managed to penetrate his skin forcefully.

Bang!

Suddenly, a huge roar and a powerful gust of wind struck her ears.

【…?】

She reflexively turned her head.

“Urgh.”

And then she saw it.

“Cough.”

A giant anaconda.

“N-No injuries, right?”

Which presumably had tried to swallow her.

“N-None, right?”

Lay there, dead, with a massive hole in its neck.

“Cough.”

The man holding her spat blood onto her shoulder.

『I also kind of… like the outsider warrior. Even though we don’t speak the same language and he has fewer arms, I’ve never seen a bad person who’s kind to kids.』

D-Dad.

He taught her to repay a grudge twice over and a favor tenfold, so what should she do in this situation?

* * *

“Cough.”

Wow. Seriously. That kid's aim was something else.

I moved forward, lost in some useless thoughts. The child who’d attacked me stopped resisting after I saved her from another wild animal attack.

Thanks to that, moving had become a bit easier.

“Urgh.”

The problem was that my head kept spinning from the constant bleeding.

As I stubbornly kept moving, I couldn’t help but think I had gone a little too far into the forest.

The stab wounds throbbed dully with pain and kept bleeding, but I couldn’t treat them myself. The bandages I’d applied were compressing them, somewhat stopping the bleeding, at least… but I didn’t have any potions or anything.

Besides, I didn’t have the medical knowledge to treat these wounds properly.

【Why, why…?】

Meanwhile, that kid in my arms kept muttering. She seemed to be in shock.

Maybe she was shocked I had saved her and was even carrying her now, even though she had attacked me.

Well, honestly, I also felt like I was being a bit of a pushover here.

But what could I do? How could I abandon a kid who didn’t look much older than a middle schooler?

“It’s… okay.”

I didn’t know what had driven her to attack me, but since she’d stopped stabbing at me after I saved her again… I felt that this was enough for now.

Despite knowing it was wrong, she must have been so frustrated and overwhelmed that she couldn’t help but do it.

Kids this age found it hard to stop themselves from doing things, especially when they didn’t have a guardian around to guide them.

So…

“It’s alright.”

Even if she made a mistake after getting carried away by her emotions, she was still a child who managed to stop herself and realized she had done something wrong.

I forgave her.

Just like when I once set the house on fire while cooking or hit someone in the head with a baseball while playing, but I was still able to grow into a proper adult thanks to the forgiveness and consideration the adults around me had shown me.

I could forgive her because I was an adult and because she could cry so bitterly out of guilt.

So it was alright. Everything was alright.

I didn’t blame her.

“Don’t cry.”

【Why, why…?】

“Don’t cry, kid…”

I walked while comforting the child in my arms. Although my vision was becoming blurrier, I could keep moving forward.

【Ah, the village…】

Then, very faintly, I could see a crimson glow that I couldn’t miss even with my blurry vision. It was probably torchlight.

That meant we’d reached the village, right? Ah, thank goodness. I half relied on luck to find our way here.

We somehow made it.

【Just… Just a little further…】

But… I couldn’t walk any further. My one-time death immunity skill had already been used up…

【Ah, no, don’t! We’re almost there!】

Ah. This was my last step. I couldn’t walk any further.

Finally, with a ‘thud,’ I fell to my knees and collapsed.

【I-It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault…】

Hmm. Was I going to die like this? Would this be my first retry?

Hah. I really didn’t want to retry…

【S-Someone, please save him!】

Ah.

At least the kid was safe. What a relief.

【Someone was injured!! Here, this man, this man!!】

I was really relieved…

【Please!!】

Suddenly, my vision went completely black.

I could faintly see a white ceiling and the faces of my family.

* * *

「I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…」

Damn, just like last time. The seal became loose again.

「I’m really sorry…」

That seal is causing trouble again.