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

─ What…? –

─ What’s this about droughts? –

“Could you explain what exactly you mean by that?”

Instead of answering them directly, I tossed the leaf scroll to Lord Ednium.

“This…”

“It’s the response I received from the priests serving the Descendant of the Land Turtle.”

“…! The Land Turtle!”

─ Isn’t the Land Turtle… a Primordial Beast that dwells in the Great Forest? –

─ I heard the Great Forest is so closed off that it’s difficult to communicate with them, though…? –

“Demon Knight, you…”

The Archmage immediately realized the meaning of my actions.

Lord Ednium quickly but gracefully unrolled the scroll.

“This is… the writing of those of the Great Forest. I can’t read it; ah, there’s a translation.”

He spread the leaf scroll on the center of the table so that everyone could see it and began reading the translation aloud.

“To the benefactor of the Great Forest, the Black Thunder Snake. I heard the news from the messenger you sent. Just as you have saved the Great Forest, it seems you are now saving others as well…”

The letter was quite long, but not too long.

Aside from the praise directed at me—which made me feel pretty embarrassed—and compliments toward the party members, wishing for their well-being and luck, only a few paragraphs were actually important.

“…The Mountain Lord told us that the Primordial Beasts are not tied to the natural order of the world. Although they possess immense power, which enables them to interfere in the flow a little, their death or departure would not cause life in that region to cease existing.”

Yes, that was it. It was exactly what I had been hoping for: confirmation that even if the Skyflow Tiger died, the land wouldn’t face extinction. That was what I had hoped to get when contacting them.

“Additionally, a word of caution. We have heard that the western lands suffer from inexplicable droughts at regular intervals. It had not always been like this and only began after a certain Primordial Beast who had settled in the area left. So the cause of these droughts might be related to this beast…!”

─ What! –

─ Wait, what does that mean…? –

Although he stopped reading for a moment, seemingly overcome with emotion, Lord Ednium raised his hand to calm the room.

He then continued. His voice, stronger than before, reverberated through the banquet hall in a deeper tone.

“As mentioned before, Primordial Beasts have the power to interfere a little in the natural flow of the world. Usually, they can either accelerate or decelerate the natural course of things. Although they cannot halt it entirely, they can temporarily prevent the birth of new life.”

His voice slightly trembled as he read.

“Of course, this might not be the case. However, the Mountain Lord seems quite certain. So, dear benefactor, please be careful. We are sure that you, protector of the young, liberator of the oppressed, and judge of the unjust, will act accordingly and punish them after learning this truth. But your opponent is a beast who has lived on this land since ancient times. It will not be an easy foe.”

But did you have to read it until the very end, Lord Ednium? I was getting quite embarrassed.

“And yet, knowing you will step forward to save everyone, I pray that victory will follow the Black Thunder Snake’s every step. Signed, Warchief Ekuah.”

Fortunately, he didn’t read out the postscript.

The messenger I sent to them—from the Information Guild—also asked whether they could expect some cooperation (in terms of sharing information) in the future. That was the gist of it, anyway.

Had he read out that much, I would have seriously doubted his judgment. It was wholly unnecessary for this meeting, after all.

“…I believe further explanation regarding this letter seems necessary.”

Did they really need any more explanation?

“Th-This is…”

“That’s all there is, and no further explanation is required. So decide. Will you resist this unjust and irrational power, or will you submit to it by sacrificing the blood of others simply because you want to avoid spilling your own?”

Sorry, but I really couldn’t phrase this any more nicely, so let’s just leave it at that.

“Let this be a warning: just because the blood shed today isn’t yours doesn’t guarantee it won’t be tomorrow.”

Ultimately, this left them with some choices.

─ H-How do we know this isn’t a lie…? –

Still, it seemed someone feared the immediate bloodshed so much that they were driven to deny this clear evidence.

“It’s true!”

─ And you are…? –

“She is the Hero.”

─ Gasp. –

But the Inquisitor immediately shut them down. Those who had been about to side with the lord who spoke up first quickly shut their mouths as well.

“We passed through the Great Forest before coming to these lands and saved its people! At the center of all these events was the Demon Knight, so they have every reason to respond to his message!”

That confirmed the letter’s credibility. Now, only two choices were left for them.

Hesitation or inaction were no longer options.

─ If this is true. –

At that moment, a voice clearer than anyone’s rang through the hall.

─ Then Camborough will fight. –

It was the young lady of Camborough.

─ Young Lady Camborough! –

─ Camborough will never back down. No matter the outcome. –

─ Lord Camborough, aren’t you going to say anything?! –

─ Th-This is… –

─ Sir, please speak! –

─ Erm, I’m… –

─ Is this truly what the citizens want, Lord Camborough?! –

Of course, she was immediately put into a tough position. The lords tried to silence her by using the fact that she was just the young lady.

However, the lord of Camborough, who stood right next to the young lady, only hesitated and stuttered.

Seeing how his eyes were going between the young lady and the others, it seemed he was trying to gauge everyone’s reactions.

─ Ah, I had no idea you all cared so much about our city’s citizens. Seeing how quick you were to suggest offering up the young lord of a city, I thought you would just dismiss this as nothing of import. –

The young lady of Camborough wasn’t going down without a fight, either.

She smirked, her body looking like it had been set to about 80% opacity.

─ Young Lady! –

─ So, I should ask our citizens for their opinion? –

─ Th-That’s right! The opinion of the citizens is what matters most here! They will surely be against it! –

─ Wizard, can you transmit the sounds coming from outside? –

─ Ah, without preparation, that’s a bit tricky… –

─ I heard you’ve been short on research funding as of late. –

─ But it’s not like it’s impossible. Let me try. –

Wait a second, did that opportunist just…

* * *

─ It’s done! –

Fortunately, just before my mood could sour, the wizard of Camborough succeeded in their Subquest for research funding. “Now, let’s listen.” As soon as those words were spoken, a tremendous roar followed.

─ Kill the Skyflow Tiger! –

─ What has that damn tiger ever done for us?! –

─ The young lady has given us a future! Our rights are made by our own hands! –

─ Primordial Beast or guardian, whatever! I just want justice for my child’s spilled blood! –

─ Kill the Skyflow Tiger! No matter whether it’s some type of god, there’s no reason for us to suffer such injustices endlessly! –

The banquet hall was filled with thunderous cries.

“Young Lady Camborough, this is…”

─ Rumors have spread that the real culprit behind the beast attacks is the Skyflow Tiger. I had no choice but to confirm them, which led to this. Although we’ve tried our best to ignore their cries until now, fearing the Skyflow Tiger’s death might cause other cities harm… if what we’ve just heard is true, I have to wonder if we really must do that.

─ Young Lady! How could you, as heir to the city, allow such rumors to spread…?! –

─ That is our city’s problem. It is not your concern. –

─ …! –

─ In any case, if the Skyflow Tiger’s death won’t affect the East, and if it truly is responsible for the annual droughts plaguing our lands, Camborough will hold that wretched tiger accountable for all the damages we’ve suffered because of it. There will be no compromise on this. –

And amidst all those cries and roars, the young lady of Camborough declared as such with absolute clarity.

─ We will fight for our rights. –

As a modern person who had learned the history of fights for dignity, freedom, and rights, this truly was a heart-stirring declaration.

Of course, we should overlook for a moment that the one making this declaration was of noble rank. However, just as a single flaw didn’t cause a jade to cease being a jade, the meaning of a message didn’t become worthless just because of slightly different circumstances.

─ …If it’s really true that the Skyflow Tiger caused the droughts and killing it will result in no further damage, our city will also support this decision. –

─ Lord Bemurchen! –

─ Every year, the famine accompanying the drought claims the lives of dozens of our soldiers. These lives have piled up to over a thousand after all this time. A stitch in time saves nine, as they say. Considering the situation, we can’t afford to back down. –

─ This… –

Now that she’d metaphorically opened the gates, others also began changing their opinion.

While the cities that hadn’t been affected by the droughts remained skeptical, those that had were quickly possessed by Camborough’s burning fervor.

“This information hasn’t been fully verified yet, so I was holding it back… I always learn something new from you. I only tried to collect some similar cases from the West.”

At that moment, the Archmage whispered to me. Without standing very close to us, it was extremely difficult to notice that she was even speaking to me.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we now have a way out.”

So, the Archmage had been collecting case examples from the western region?

Well, she was no fool. She had probably been preparing for exactly this outcome.

I found it somewhat surprising that she hadn’t thought to ask the Mountain Lord of the Great Forest, but I supposed it wasn’t too hard to understand.

Was it because she already knew a lot or because the Magic Tower was a literal treasure trove for knowledge? The Archmage only really sought knowledge from places other than the Magic Tower.

More precisely, she seemed to think there was nothing to gain from doing so.

─ But weren’t these just the words of the Descendant of the Land Turtle? The Descendant’s thoughts may differ from the truth…! –

“Now, now, calm down and listen to me first. I also have something to say about this matter…”

With her gathered evidence adding weight to the discussion, the tide continued to shift in our favor.

Of course, according to the Archmage, the cases she’d gathered from the West hadn’t yet been fully verified… but the Mountain Lord’s letter supplemented this lack of credibility. The opposite was also true.

─ Ahem… So, if we were to kill the Skyflow Tiger… how many troops would we need to send…? –

“That’s…”

“No need.”

“I also… Huh?”

And crucially, they didn’t need to risk anything by capturing the Skyflow Tiger themselves.

“Taking down that filthy beast will take just enough time for some tea to cool off.”

I would be the one to take it down.

─ Who is that young man over there…? –

─ He’s the Demon Knight. A rather famous adventurer in the Northwest. --

─ An adventurer? So a mere adventurer just… –

“He is also one of the Hero’s chosen Companions.”

─…So, he’s so bold because he’s the Hero’s Companion.

By the way, who was that noble just now? It seemed like he had maxed out his evasive tactics skill.

─ But still, he isn’t the Hero himself. How can he be so confident as just a Companion…?

“Erm, well, about that…”

─ He’s someone who hunts down Demons no matter where they appear, chasing them to the ends of Hell as soon as they crawl out of whatever hellhole spawned them, and whenever a mortal wielding the power of such Demons appears, he cuts off their head without hesitation, creating towers of corpses. –

However, I failed to identify that evasive noble, and the Inquisitor, seemingly having trouble finding the right words, was immediately cut off.

Because one person spoke up and continued talking, their gaze locked on me.

─ He uses cruel methods and shows no mercy, but his clear conviction is shown in how he never harms or kills the innocent. His elusive movements are shrouded in quite some mystery and are heavily speculated, but his actions alone are enough to warrant the word ‘hero.’ –

That person even smiled when our eyes met.

─ They even dared to bestow upon this mere adventurer the title of ‘Knight’ in the name of Osla. –

His narrow eyes, so thin that you couldn’t see his pupils, curved as he smiled. At the top of his head were broad, triangular ears like those of a fox.

─ It happened during my time in Osla. Ah, of course, it wasn’t my idea. Back then, I was but a squire. However, for that reason, I had the opportunity to witness your feats with my own eyes during practice. –

My mind went blank for a second there.

What did he say he saw?

─ I had always thought it would be nice to meet you properly someday, but I never thought it would be under circumstances like these. Life certainly is unpredictable, isn’t it? –

─ The title of Knight… in Osla. –

─ Well, it’s not that important, right? It seems he doesn’t even remember me, either. But at the very least… it means this adventurer truly deserves to say these things, right? –

“…He was also one of the people who suppressed the Great Demon. You could hardly call it arrogance for the one who defeated a Great Demon to talk about slaying the Skyflow Tiger.”

─ That is true. It seems I just meddled unnecessarily. –

“I-I will join as well!”

“What’s this? Are we talking about hunting the Skyflow Tiger? Berserk will also join! Let’s go tiger hunting!!”

─ Since the Hero has made her intentions clear, I don’t think there’s anything more to discuss. –

I barely managed to keep myself from blinking my eyes in confusion and instead just lightly bit the inside of my cheek.

The Demon Knight’s past.

The bomb I had been trying to ignore using all kinds of hasty excuses had somehow come right at me without giving me any time to prepare.

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