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

─ So, we’re going to hunt the Skyflow Tiger… –

─ But what if the residents become agitated…? –

─ If you can’t calm your own people, you don’t deserve the title of Lord… –

They wouldn’t have to take any risks during the hunt nor suffer any damage after it was killed. Furthermore, once the Skyflow Tiger was dealt with, the annual droughts would disappear.

Who would back down under such circumstances?

The consensus was inevitably leaning toward hunting the Skyflow Tiger.

The only remaining problem was whether to inform the residents to calm them before the hunt or to simply do it and tell them after. This started yet another argument.

─ We won’t be able to come to a conclusion like this. How about we take a break to cool our heads and continue this discussion afterward?

─ I agree. We also still need to discuss relief measures in case of an emergency. –

Maybe it was for that reason that the face of Lord Ednium, who’d said he was willing to make any sacrifice, had become somewhat blank.

Of course, he didn’t forget to do what he had to.

“…Then let us resume the meeting in about thirty minutes. What do the others think?”

─ That sounds good. –

─ I believe that should be fine. –

─ Well then, let us reconvene in thirty minutes. –

After quickly gathering the others’ opinions, he convinced them to agree to a break. Some immediately cut their magical connection as if they had been waiting for this.

No, actually, most of them did. After hearing the wizards muttering about wasting Arcane Power, it seemed they felt bad for making them waste their power.

─ I hope you’ll get the chance to visit our city someday. –

Even the lord with the narrow eyes swiftly disappeared after giving me a wink.

I kind of wanted to hold him here somehow and speak with him, but at the same time, I didn’t. It was the height of contradiction.

─ Sir. –

Meanwhile, the only ones left were those physically in the hall and the young lady of Camborough.

Silent longing and joy flared in their eyes.

“…When Leon first told me about this, all I could think was, ‘I can’t stop this.’ I believed I couldn’t save that child anymore, and even if I could, as a lord, it wasn’t a choice I could make.”

The lord grabbed his legs, which he couldn’t use to walk without the help of others. His withered hands tightly gripped his bony legs covered by a blanket.

“But now you’re telling me I don’t have to make that choice.”

Instead of staring at his legs as he had until now, the lord suddenly raised his face to look at me. Thankfully, the distance between us was enough that he didn’t have to awkwardly strain his neck.

“You’re telling me I don’t have to abandon my son.”

At those words, I also snapped out of my muddled thoughts.

Faced with a parent who’d been more than prepared to sacrifice his child but had now found new hope of saving him, I couldn’t dare get distracted by those miscellaneous thoughts.

─ Sir… –

Fortunately, the lord didn’t look at me for too long.

He turned his gaze slightly toward the young lady of Camborough. His aged face seemed to cloud over.

“However, I’m not sure my citizens will think the same way.”

The warmth suddenly disappeared from his expression.

“While I do feel sorry for my son and you, Young Lady Camborough… our city is currently full of people who do not wish to incur the Skyflow Tiger’s wrath.”

─ Similar rumors are also spreading in our city. –

“It’s not just at that level.”

The lord glanced toward the window. For security reasons, all the windows inside the banquet hall had been covered with thick curtains, so there was no way that one could look outside.

“Ever since the Great Demon was defeated and the gigantic vines appeared within the forest, the faith in our city has risen to extreme levels.”

Even so, I thought I could still faintly hear noises outside. I still remembered all those muttering people I had seen on my way to the manor.

“Of course, given time, I might be able to persuade the people. However… just when exactly would that be? And would Leon remain safe until then?”

After saying that, the lord closed his eyes. “How ironic that I’m speaking like this now after forcing him to make such a sacrifice.” His infinitely composed expression might have actually been his own way of mourning.

“But what’s the problem? Wouldn’t the end of the droughts also benefit the people?”

“There will always be those who don’t want to accept the truth.”

“And?”

“He’s worried about the backlash, so…”

“Then he should just crush them with force and go ahead with it, right?”

“That would make him a tyrant.”

“Erm, Berserk. Even if the result is good, if the means are wrong, the outcome will also lose its value.”

“Berserk doesn’t understand. The weak who don’t even have the will to fight aren’t worth listening to.”

“No, that’s not…”

“My lord.”

At that moment, the person who had stood silently behind the lord finally spoke up.

It was the very strict-looking butler with a white beard and neatly combed hair.

“Forgive my boldness, but may I say something?”

“I always listen to what you have to say.”

The lord responded lightly. At the same time, he glanced our way, but I wasn’t sure whether he did so to check our mood or to seek our permission.

“If it’s something we are allowed to hear.”

However, judging by how the Archmage answered, it was probably the latter. The butler nodded and continued.

“Long ago, you once said that it wasn’t right to ignore the sacrifice of one for the peace of all.”

“You, that’s…”

“We chose you as our lord because you were someone capable of saying such words. And I believe your sentiments haven’t yet changed.”

“That was before I took this position. Standing here and demanding everyone shed blood is…”

“If the person taken by the Skyflow Tiger wasn’t the young lord but another resident, would you have made the same choice, my lord?”

The lord pressed his lips together tightly at the butler's words. “That can’t be true, can it…?” His voice was thick, as if he was suppressing his emotions to the limit.

“I know you’re being strict on yourself and the young lord because of what happened to the former lord. However… when the residents learn of this, they will certainly say, ‘There is no need for that.’”

The lord gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

“…So the green hair has brought bloodshed yet again. Isn’t that right?”

“…!”

Did they just fire an arrow at us?

* * *

I was focusing on the conversation between the butler and the lord to shake off the unnecessary thoughts in my head, but this sure startled me.

Judging from the soft gasp behind me, Deb heard what he said as well. Well, that much was inevitable.

“S-Sir Butler, that’s…”

“Blood that washes away injustice.”

“…?”

The butler chuckled softly before his expression shifted, realizing his misstep. His gaze fell on Deb, who had now also become part of this conversation.

“My apologies. This must have sounded quite strange to our guests.”

“…No, it’s fine.”

“But I hope you aren’t offended by these words. Although it mentions blood, this superstition is by no means negative.”

The old man smiled kindly. The lord, barely lifting his head, also joined in the conversation.

“…Yes. It doesn’t mean anything bad. It’s more a signal of change and transformation.”

It was quite different from anything I had heard before.

At that moment, Deb shuddered slightly and lowered his head.

“…Doesn’t it just mean blood will be spilled again?”

“No, it’s not so simple.”

The lord shook his head slightly and quietly continued.

“It stems… from a grave mistake we made a long time ago, when we allowed someone’s death to maintain the illusion of peace.”

“…If you’re talking about the assassination of the former lord, I’ve heard about it. I also heard how, after that, the family of the former lord started massacring innocents.”

“So you already know. That makes it quicker.”

Seemingly suppressing his emotions further, the lord stroked the armrest of his chair and whispered calmly.

Those were things I hadn’t heard of before. It seemed I missed it when storming out of the restaurant that day and hadn’t had the chance to hear about it since.

“After that day, we realized the true fault lay with us. The suffering of others is not separate from our own, and ignoring evil is the same as condoning it.”

However, I somehow didn’t feel like stopping him.

“That is why we decided to make green hair, the hair color of the one who caused the previous lord’s death, a symbol. If the one with green hair appears before us again, it would mean we had once again been silent in the face of evil, and blood must be spilled to reverse it.”

“…!”

Probably because I felt the lord’s words wouldn’t impact Deb negatively.

“So the blood brought about by the one with green hair is absolutely righteous. It represents the weight of the courage to resist injustice.”

Or maybe it was because I knew my intervention would be meaningless.

“In that sense, the Hero and her Companions have brought us great fortune. Not only have you reminded me of a truth I had long forgotten, but you’ve also lessened the blood we must shed.”

Wondering why he had forgotten that fact and had even demanded his child’s sacrifice, the lord sighed.

“…Erm, Lord.”

At that moment, Deb, who had quietly pulled his hood over his head, quietly spoke up.

“What is it?”

“Do you not… hold any grudges?”

“What do you mean?”

“The person… who killed the previous lord.”

“Of course not.”

I couldn’t quite tell what expression he was wearing.

“We have no right to do so.”

But it didn’t seem to be a bad one.

“But many people died because of that person… They might also have done it because of some trivial personal feelings, too…”

“It doesn’t matter what their motives were when they acted. Whether for survival or revenge, the fundamental reason as to why they could no longer bear it and picked up the sword was because no one stopped the lord.”

If the assassination that signaled the massacre was truly Deb’s doing, this wouldn’t completely fill the dark hole inside his chest…

“Surely, had we stopped the lord’s tyranny from the start, would they have ever been forced to pick up the sword? If the residents, given their rights, had gathered as one to restrain the lord, would that incident have ever occurred? By just standing by to let evil run its course, we essentially signaled: ‘This is fine. We will just remain quiet.’ A mistake we almost made this time as well. So, that blade was ultimately born from our original sin, and the massacre resulting from its swing was ultimately our karma. As such, we have no right to condemn them.”

At least one shovelful. Surely, this was enough to fill that endlessly deep hole by at least one shovelful.

“Some of the ignorant may defend the former lord, and those who suffered too greatly from the losses caused by this incident may harbor grudges despite knowing it’s wrong to do so. But at least those who stood up back then will think differently. We won’t blame the one who exposed our original sin.”

That certainly would mean something, at least.

* * *

Mia, the young lady of Camborough, looked at the place where the illusion had just disappeared from. The place where the Hero, her Companions, the lord of Ednium who was hosting the meeting, and his butler had been standing.

“Wow, being a lord is no joke. Having to sacrifice one’s own son.”

“It’s just the easiest option.”

Johanna wasn’t present. After all, there was no reason for her assistant to attend this meeting.

Instead, there was a wizard who was quite easy to talk to. Her mind somewhat more relaxed, Mia leaned back against her chair.

“Isn’t it a fact that you need only consider yourself when shedding blood for others, but when someone else sheds blood for you, you start thinking about the price you must pay for the weight of their sacrifices?”

“Well, that’s true. You can’t buy anything in this world without money, after all, and you can’t buy others’ blood and lives for free. But you have a lot of money, don’t you?”

“But we’re also the ones who hold power. In incidents like this, power is nothing but poison. If we make just one mistake, we’ll be accused of abusing it.”

“You could just ignore those accusations, though.”

“Normally, that would be the case. However, Ednium has a history of having its lord replaced at the hands of its very citizens. Of course, the current lord isn’t acting like this because he’s afraid of that… but still.”

“He’s too nice. If I were him, I wouldn’t be like that. Living like that sounds too difficult.”

Mia blinked at the wizard’s words. Difficult? It was indeed difficult, moving forward with only your moral compass to guide you, with no one to lead the way. Constantly questioning and reflecting on yourself was definitely exhausting.

“But if the reward for that hardship is the people out there, isn’t it worth it?”

Yet she did not regret it. She could not.

“If the lord and I hadn’t lived like that, neither our people nor the lord’s butler would have come forward like this.”

How could she regret it when the reward for leading such a difficult life was echoing incessantly outside the manor?

“Charlotte.”

“You called?”

As Mia rang a bell to call a servant, she closed her eyes for a moment.

『There are times when the answer is faster than words. It’s the sword in your hand.』

Her mother, a knight who hadd graduated from the Munmund Knight Academy, gestured to her in her memories of days long gone.

Then she opened her eyes again.

“Bring me my mother’s sword.”

“…Yes!”

“No one knows where the Skyflow Tiger’s lair is, so finding it will probably take a few days. I will join the others before then as a representative of this city.”

Although she wasn’t an official knight, she could still hold her own.

Even if she couldn’t participate in the hunt directly.

“With everyone by my side, I can be a little greedy. Isn’t that right, Wizard?”

“…Even if you ask me, I’m not even from this city, so how would I know? But, well. I suspect that, rather than trying to stop you, they’ll probably happily follow you.”

If it meant she could see her beloved and that damn beast trying to steal him from her, she would gladly head there.

.

.

.

“Found you.”

> [You…!]

“I won’t let you escape you this time.”

She would gladly witness the downfall of that arrogant beast.

____

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