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

Chapter 147

It seemed my worries were unfounded.

We crossed Whitecat Ridge without any issues. There was no poison hidden in the mist, no enemies launching surprise attacks, and no traps. Nothing strange happened.

Of course, the beast attacks continued, even escalating at times. But as soon as we crossed the ridge, they gradually began decreasing…

It wasn’t like no animals were around, but they just seemed to ignore us.

This assumption was based on our occasional encounters with wild animals, which glanced at us before just going on their way.

“Are you alright, young hunter?”

That wasn’t to say we were all in perfect condition. Deb clearly had some bad memories associated with Ednium, as his complexion worsened the closer we got.

Considering the groaning in his sleep, he was likely suffering from nightmares.

“I-I’m fine.”

I started to worry, no, I was already very worried. Deb, who could usually maintain a poker face even in critical moments, was struggling to control his expression.

Just looking at his pale face was enough. What good was a blank expression when his eyes were so dark and hollow?

“Do you… need a blessing?”

“…No, thank you. What’s the point of a blessing when I don’t even worship God.”

I’d always regretted having to maintain this character, but I especially regretted it right now. If not for my character, I could’ve comforted our little meat dumpling and made him happy.

“God is gracious, even to those who do not believe.”

“I said no.”

“I see…”

Even the Inquisitor failed this time. Considering how she dealt with me, I thought she might push harder, but she looked unsure. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help, but rather, she was wondering whether she should, like someone trying to gauge the boundaries of a budding friendship.

“Receiving a blessing feels nice, though…”

“Why are you more disappointed than I am?”

Hmm, I shouldn’t find the sight of the sulking kimchi dumpling amusing, but she was just acting so cute. Seeing the meat dumpling looking all flustered because the kimchi dumpling was disappointed was equally endearing.

“I’m not disappointed.”

“Don’t lie. Anyone can see you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Aaargh!!”

And like that, it ended in a fight.

Honestly, it was better that way. Squabbling kept them from dwelling on strange thoughts.

“You troublemaker!”

“Iron wall!”

“Jerk!”

“Stubborn idiot!”

“Fool!”

“Hah, didn’t expect to hear that from a Temple thug!?”

“I’m not a thug!!”

Seriously, why did it feel like their mental ages just dropped by ten years? Was it just me?

“Haha, everyone seems to be in good spirits today.”

“Wahaha. The young hunter seems lively again.”

I barely stifled a laugh, unlike the Archmage and Bers, who were laughing openly.

Then, we finally set our sights on the end of the forest, stepping toward the edge where the trees abruptly stopped. Beyond that line, a sloping plain came into view.

As we reached the plain, the horizon opened up, revealing a series of rolling hills and faintly visible, stony mountains in the distance.

Nestled within them, we could see a small glimpse of a city.

That was Ednium.

“There’s the city. It looks like we’ll arrive there sooner than expected. I thought it would take another day.”

“Oh! Can we finally get some alcohol, then?”

“The plain is larger than it seems, so we won’t arrive as early as you think.”

“…”

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Since camping out had long become second nature for us, arriving a bit later wouldn’t have been a big deal…

But I couldn’t help but notice Deb’s heavy breathing. It had grown increasingly labored and shallow, and his complexion looked pale.

I obviously shouldn’t leave him alone in this city.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of hoofbeats resumed as we gauged the city’s approximate position.

* * *

“The land here really is dry, just as they said.”

Upon closer inspection, what had seemed like green plains from afar were tinged slightly yellow.

It wasn’t because the harvest season had arrived, but rather because the land’s evident dehydration had caused the vegetation to wither and dry out.

In some areas, the aridness had gotten so bad that the grass had withered away entirely, exposing patches of soil. With each gust of wind, sand mixed with the breeze sweeping around our ankles.

“…So.”

“Hmm?”

“That’s why we need to be careful. If a spark were to fall anywhere in this place, it could easily become a wildfire.”

“Ah, true. A fire would be dangerous in these conditions.”

Speaking in a hoarse voice, Deb gave a quiet warning before urging his horse forward. We were now approaching the city gates, where we’d need to pass through a checkpoint.

Deb pulled down his hood, covering his face to his nose.

“We’re adventurers from Camborough. As for our travel permits…”

At the checkpoint, Deb was even more subdued. While the Archmage handled the matters with the guards, Deb kept his head down, not even glancing up.

His demeanor starkly contrasted with his usual mischievous self when teasing the Inquisitor, indicating he was clearly tense.

“Green hair, huh?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“N-No, not at all.”

Fortunately, the gate inspection ended quickly. Though the guard's gaze lingered heavily on Deb, it didn’t lead to any problems.

At least, they didn’t seem to recognize him.

“Berserk’s hungry.”

“Let’s head to the Temple quickly.”

“Then we can drop off our things and get something to eat.”

“But the Temple only has wine. I don’t like wine.”

I could try giving him something sweet to lighten his mood with sugar… But I couldn’t. Damn it, why did I have to choose this kind of character setting?!

“But this city is rather quiet. The streets are clean.”

“Does this look clean to you? To Berserk, this place seems even dirtier.”

“The streets themselves aren’t particularly clean or quiet. You might just feel this way because… fewer beggars or children are trying to solicit visitors, Inquisitor.”

“Ah! I see! That makes sense.”

I stopped thinking about Deb’s unease. The city did appear unusually calm compared to others, and there were indeed fewer children around.

Usually, the first people you’d encounter when entering a city were children trying to guide you to a good inn or something.

“Why are there so few?”

“It’s not that they’re completely absent, just fewer in number, which means their presence here probably isn’t prohibited by law. Plenty of children are still playing in the streets, so it doesn’t seem like the city has fewer children overall…”

The Archmage stroked his chin as he finished his sentence.

“Typically, the children who work as guides are either the innkeepers’ children or street orphans. Perhaps there are simply fewer of the latter.”

Deb was visibly shuddering. Since he was standing behind the group—close to where I was—the others couldn’t see his reaction.

“A city with fewer street orphans. Then, this is probably a good place.”

No, it likely wasn't that simple. It most definitely wasn’t.

“Interesting. Are there really places with fewer orphans?”

Bers, you also stop, stop!

It felt like I was watching people pouring fuel onto a fire rather than dousing it with water.

I screamed internally, feeling my face flush with anxiety.

The atmosphere around Deb was steadily worsening, making me even more uneasy.

“Well, it might not necessarily be a good sign. It could be due to the lord’s good governance, but there’s also the possibility of someone taking the children elsewhere.”

“Ah. Could it be Demon Worshipers…?!”

“We can’t be sure of that yet. There don’t seem to be any traces of Demonic Energy around here.”

“They could be hiding.”

“Exactly. That’s part of why we’re here. Of course, we also need to deliver the message from the young lady of Camborough.”

In the meantime, we still had to deal with our reason for visiting this city.

Because of the matter that might be secretly occurring in this city, we had no choice but to investigate that, too.

I already felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns.

* * *

“…I’m hungry. Shall we get going? Or do you want to stay here?”

“I’m hungry! Let’s go!”

Fortunately, Deb’s direct comment brought this conversation to a close. I headed toward the Temple, feeling increasingly anxious.

The streets, with fewer beggars and orphan pickpockets, gave off an eerie feeling rather than a sense of security.

“There really aren’t many beggars here…”

“Can’t we just eat first?”

That might be because people of a certain age on the streets carried scars. Not just any scars, but the kind typically acquired in battle.

“…There’s a good restaurant down that alley.”

“Huh?”

“Oh!”

“It might not be there anymore. I heard about it a while ago.”

At least there’s still some room for conversation. Deb calmly pointed to one side, causing both Bers and the Inquisitor to perk up with interest.

It seemed the kimchi dumpling was also quite hungry.

“Then, let’s stop by there first.”

In the end, the Archmage conceded. He could use magic to handle the horses and baggage, and this job wasn’t extremely urgent.

“Give me the horses.”

“To you?”

“There aren’t any stables there; it’s an alley restaurant. I’m not that hungry, so I’ll take them to the Temple instead.”

Ah, it seemed he only had enough energy left to talk.

“…If you leave, how will we find the restaurant?”

“Ah.”

Really, just enough to somewhat hold a conversation.

“Seriously…”

“Let’s just go and check. Didn’t you say it might not be there anymore?”

“Yeah.”

Was this really okay…?

“Ah, if it’s about the horses, I know of an open area. We can have an errand boy watch them.”

Fortunately, the restaurant Deb knew was still there, and there was even a place to leave the horses.

However, the Archmage, distrustful of the errand boy’s ability to guard these expensive horses, especially since he appeared too small and weak to fend off any determined adults, set up a protective barrier around the area.

“I could have just watched them myself…”

“There’s no need to skip a meal for that. It’s not far away, and the barrier should be sufficient to deter ordinary people from stealing them, so don’t worry.”

“…”

“Alright, here’s a soup made from a secret family recipe handed down through generations.”

“Oh! Secret soup!”

If only I could be as simple as Bers, getting excited over a few words… I wouldn’t have to suffer like this, then. Damn it.

I took a spoonful of the stew, feeling the rich broth envelop my tongue. It was surprisingly flavorful, more than I’d expected.

“…This is delicious!”

“The ingredients are very fresh. I expected the quality of the vegetables to be poor due to the arid condition of the land.”

“Haha, our young lord has quite the skill. Whenever he tends to plants, they come back to life, so we don’t need to worry much about being short on vegetables. We still have a tough time getting meat, though, so there isn’t much in this.”

“That’s fine.”

I liked it even better because it used tomatoes as its base. I slowly filled my stomach by dipping rye bread into the soup.

Even Deb, who’d been really tense, seemed to relax a bit after taking a few bites of this delicious food.

“Owner, one more bowl, please!”

“Sure! Looks like you liked it.”

“I really did!”

“I-I’ll have another bowl as well, please!”

This place was truly a gem. Deb had said he’d heard about it, but it was more likely he’d personally come here before. It was great that they seemingly hadn’t changed their direction in taste, either.

Trends and the like didn’t really exist in this place, and industries couldn’t easily undergo change—thanks to this, most people considered continuing the family business their fate—so it was understandable.

“You all seem to be enjoying our food.”

“It’s really delicious.”

“Berserk likes this place now!”

However, perhaps because we’d paid an enormous amount upfront for taking care of the horses and meals, or maybe because we were the only customers here at this odd hour, the owner lingered near our table whenever he wasn’t serving others food. He even started conversing with us from time to time.

“Come to think of it, there seem to be fewer beggars or kids trying to attract customers here… Is there a reason for that?”

“You seem like a respectable person, so please feel free to speak comfortably. As for why there are fewer of those people… well, it’s been that way for a long time now, haha.”

“Oh, for a long time, you say?”

“Yeah. Something happened a while ago.”

Because of that, this type of information exchange became possible.

Of course, Deb, who usually handled such matters, didn’t appear to be in any position to do so now, so the Archmage had to step in.

“Oh, by the way. Erm… Sir?”

“Hmm?”

“You all are… adventurers, right? Just arrived in the city?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, erm. I hate to say this, but could you please advise that member of your group to be cautious…”

“Is there some sort of problem?”

While receiving information was generally helpful, I wasn’t sure if hearing things like this was good.

“Some people in this city… They don’t particularly like green-haired individuals.”

Deb put down his spoon.

“Green-haired individuals… you say?”

“Yeah.”

“Why is that?”

The Inquisitor’s question left the owner slightly uncomfortable. As he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, a prominent scar became visible on his arm.

“Well, it’s not something I should say in front of someone with green hair.”

Upon closer inspection, one could see that his movements were somewhat unnatural, possibly due to an injury.

“In our city, there’s a superstition that people with green hair… bring nothing but blood.”

I set my spoon down after hearing the owner’s words.

The owner didn’t seem to mean any harm, blaming it on something that happened in the past. He probably didn’t intend to attack Deb directly, either.

Still, if you think you shouldn’t say something in front of someone else, you shouldn’t.

“That seems a bit illogical…”

“Is this superstition related to the incident you mentioned earlier?”

“Erm…”

Clatter!

While the owner deliberated whether to say more, I pushed back my chair and stood up.

I’d noticed Deb about to do the same, so I had to act quickly.

“You…?”

“Customer?”

I knew Deb would most definitely not stay here after such remarks, but it would be disastrous if I pursued him after he left…

“I lost my appetite.”

In that case, I just had to head out first.

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