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

Chapter 96: But There is Still Hope (5)

The Red Mane, Kankan, sighed as he looked at the door before him.

He was hesitant about whether he should go through with it.

He just wanted to leave. Why did he have to meet with someone who’d killed several innocent servants and even attacked a friend of more than 30 years? He’d always had a nasty temper, so there were times when he’d wondered if they really were friends.

But what of their damn friendship? What was the point of swearing on his pride as a Norda warrior only for him to go against it again and stand in the same spot he had a week ago?

By his own will, with no one coercing or forcing him.

“Hah, damn it.”

Of course, he didn't sympathize with going out and killing innocent civilians. The strict principles of a Norda warrior were to never touch a civilian except when they tried to rob you, and anyone who violated that principle was absolutely disqualified from being a warrior.

However, the reason he stood here once more was indeed those 30 years of friendship they’d shared. He couldn't stand watching his good friend fall any further.

“…That bastard should be grateful to me.”

He was blocked from spreading any reports, threatened to cover up any incidents, and even physically attacked.

Despite enduring all these hardships, was there any friend in this world who’d still try convincing the other to surrender himself rather than cutting all ties or cutting off the other's arms to prevent them from falling any lower?

He even offered to always be there for them and share the punishment if they confessed all their sins.

In that regard, at the very least, he was a good friend to that bastard, Martial King. Thus, Kankan had even sworn such things to him with his own name on the line.

“Hey, hey. Are you there?”

And so, he stood here once more, knocking on his front door.

Even though he knew it would be in vain, it was just the right thing to do.

“Hey, heeey! Heeeey, hey!”

However, despite having such a friend, that bastard would never choose to repent until the very end.

“Son of a bitch…!”

Kankan ended up kicking the door. Had he kicked it with all his might, the door would surely have broken down, so he restrained himself.

The last time he did that, people asked him to pay for the door—they’d also condescendingly asked if he knew how expensive wooden doors were—so he held back this time.

“I'm not coming back here again, you hear?! You damn bastard! Today's the last time. It really is!”

Instead, he just let out his anger verbally. Despite knowing he’d end up wandering around this place again tomorrow, he couldn’t bear to admit that now.

At this point, this friend of 30 years was certainly more like an enemy than a friend.

Bang!

Kankan kicked the door one last time before leaving. Maybe because this part of town was mainly inhabited by fighters, no one paid much attention to the commotion he caused.

“Did you get pissed off again?”

Instead, some people who somewhat knew his situation poked their heads out, letting out a few giggles. Those bastards were just as shitty.

Kankan’s face crumpled.

“Shut up.”

Although those people were as close to him as the stars in the sky were to the ground, they liked poking at him like this.

Back then, the first few times he came to visit, there weren’t many who acted like this, but these days, there were a lot of idiots like them. They even acted more like drunk braggarts than actual fighters, too.

“Speak for yourself.”

Kankan raised his middle finger and just walked out of the street. The smell here worsened over time, so he didn’t want to stay long if he could help it.

“…It seriously stinks.”

Those bastards didn’t even bother to clean up their crap.

A few people still didn’t give off this smell, but all the newbies who seemed to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere stunk to high heaven. And so did that goddamn close friend of his.

Anyway, there wasn’t a single thing he liked about this place.

He grunted as he wrinkled his nose a little.

He was then suddenly reminded of that newbie fighter he’d seen during the day. It was his first time seeing someone with half-black, half-white hair, so the man stayed prominently in his mind. But at the same time, he remembered the uncomfortable feeling he’d gotten due to the scent coming off the man being subtly similar to this street’s.

Still, he looked pretty strong. Would they meet in the arena soon?

He left, thinking it would be better if that didn’t happen. Today was truly an unlucky day.

“Erm, aren’t you the one I saw earlier today…?”

“What is it?”

A really unlucky day.

He’d prayed that they wouldn’t meet in the arena, but they ended up meeting in the Temple instead.

* * *

* * *

I sat inside the Temple’s chapel, feeling a tingling sensation moving through my body.

I had nothing better to do than waste my time like this in broad daylight. I couldn’t really help it, given the situation.

Anyway, I had been told not to take any personal action just in case. That automatically meant I couldn’t enter the Demon-filled desert beyond the city walls.

Even after I went to the Adventurers’ Guild to get quests, the only ones they had were related to Demon hunting, and because of that incident a few days ago, entering the arena to scout potential talents for our party had become quite difficult.

Since I hadn’t started the fight, we weren’t asked to reimburse them for the damage, but we were banned from entering the arena as spectators.

If I wanted to go in, I would have to do so as a fighter—they actually wanted that and even said they would always welcome me as one—but was there even a need to? So, I ended up stuck in the Temple.

Well, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Maybe because the Temple itself could suppress Demonic Energy, none of my party members complained if I walked around here by myself.

The Archmage thought it would be good for at least one person to remain with me, but… there wasn’t anyone available to do that, so he didn’t insist on it. That was the benefit of having a smaller group.

Regardless, even this limited freedom was freedom, nonetheless. I was just going to stay here all day and meditate. There were a lot of people who came here wanting to pray to their god. It wasn’t much different from my world.

“Oh God, who art in heaven, please have mercy on us. Hear our prayers…”

There was actually one thing I was desperately praying to my God for.

“Oh God almighty, in your endless kindness, mercy, and love to your faithful servants.”

I prayed earnestly in my heart while attending the evening mass.

Please, in your endless kindness, mercy, and love, please do not let Berserk enter our party… I don’t care about anything else, but please let that person stay far away from us… Please protect my poor body and the Archmage’s head…

If God had even a semblance of a conscience, they would grant this earnest wish of mine.

“We seek your endless wisdom more than anything, so please help us overcome all trials and adversities we might face.”

Of course, I’d have nothing to say if I was told I was too against Berserk. But quite honestly, I thought it was fine to pray like that even if I wasn’t against her specifically.

I mean, my character already filled the role of uncommunicative damage dealer well enough! I was the only one they needed who couldn’t coordinate well and just did straight frontal assaults!

Our daily life would also be quite problematic.

It might have been different if our fight had a clear outcome, but since it had been stopped midway through, the tension between us would be substantial. It was rather obvious that if we ran into each other again, we would definitely try to fight. Once she joined our party, we’d be unable to avoid each other anymore.

I-I didn’t want to get stuck with her… It was easier to fight enemies because I didn’t need to hold back or control my strength, but that wouldn’t work against Berserk. I didn’t want to fight her again.

“With this, we shall conclude today’s prayer.”

However, she would join no matter what… Of course, considering our group’s current opinion of her, this seemed unlikely, but this was similar to that time with the thieves. Sob.

I got up while swallowing my tears. It seemed the other person sitting in the chapel with me also made to leave.

“Erm, aren’t you the one I saw earlier today…?”

But why was that guy here?

I looked at the other person’s reddish-brown hair as I wracked my brain for his name… Was it Kankan?

I didn’t really care about who was around me and just prayed, so I didn’t even realize the person sitting next to me was this guy. He might not have been able to recognize me either since I was wearing the—consecrated—clothes the bishop had given me before mass.

“What is it?”

Apart from that, it didn’t particularly matter much to me whether he was sitting next to me, in front of me, or behind me. This coincidence was completely meaningless because my character wasn’t one to probe for information or the like.

I glared at him sullenly.

“Huh? A-Ah…”

It seemed Kankan only pretended to know me without actually knowing me. When I looked at him, he just scratched his head as if feeling a bit embarrassed. The expression on his face, as if it had aged a bit, became slightly more subtle.

“…It’s just, you stink… and I haven’t seen you in the Temple before…”

He then managed to mumble something, and what he said was quite rude.

What did he say just now? I stink? I stiiiiink??

Did I actually smell bad?!!?

I was seriously shocked. One reason was how Kankan quite politely yet very bluntly told others they stink, and the other was that I smelled.

Huh, I thought I was pretty clean. We were in the desert, so the bathing fees were ten times higher than anywhere else, but I still washed myself regularly. I even washed myself not too long ago, too!

How could I stink?!!

I felt like I was about to go crazy… I really wanted to say something to that guy, but I couldn’t, so I just tightly clenched my fists.

I was going to take another one… I was definitely going to take another bath, damn it. As a civilized person living in modern times, I simply couldn't accept being called smelly.

“If you don’t have any business with me, get lost.”

Rather, I’d noticed people here rarely even washed their hands, so I wondered how bad I had to smell for others in this place to call me smelly and dirty.

Hah, wow. Hahaha, seriously. Was there a problem with the soap or something? Or maybe it was because I wiped myself too gently, given all the bruises across my body.

I was seriously going back now.

“Erm, sorry.”

With a huge sigh of frustration, I covered myself even more with the blessed clothes.

Since they were clean, I would probably stink less that way. I felt somewhat sorry for whoever would have to wash them, but I couldn’t just sit still after hearing someone call me stinky right to my face. I couldn’t even buy any perfume because of my character settings.

I gritted my teeth as I noticed Kankan kept glancing at me as he left. While I felt grateful that he let me know I stunk, it was still incredibly rude.

“Ah, Red Mane. To see you here in this Temple again.”

Ah, my poor, weak mentality… My pride as a civilized person…

“You…! Did you follow me again?!”

“Aah, that’s a misunderstanding. It’s just a coincidence, you know?”

“A coincidence, my ass…!”

But how did that guy get involved in another strange incident before he could even leave?

“You must have been watching me from somewhere…!”

“Such preposterous words! How could I even dare to monitor the great Red Mane? I also don’t have any reason to do so.”

I knew it was rude to eavesdrop on other’s conversations, but those two were talking loudly enough for anyone nearby to hear, so wasn’t that a bit more problematic?

Of course, they stood closer together and started whispering after some time, not wanting the people of this Temple to hear their conversation, either… However, how could they not expect someone with slightly better hearing to be around? How was that talking in secret?!

They should do something like that someplace with no one else around! Not in a damn chapel!

“Even if you follow me around like this, I have nothing to say to you.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“Just stay out of my sight from now on. I won’t get anyone else involved in this!”

Uwaaah. Why did I have to read so many novels to the point where I could recognize these clichés at a glance?

I had no intention of getting involved in this, but this was all just too predictable, you idiots! Damn it, this was a side quest, wasn’t it?! I was right, wasn’t I?!

“Haha, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but I definitely know you’re the champion’s friend, yet you want to simply turn your back on him?”

They even mentioned the champion.

I sat back in my chair and lowered my head so the cloth covered my face. My face looked quite cold as I quickly shook my head.

There were rumors floating about that the champion had gone crazy.

There were also numerous rumors that his madness had resulted in many deaths and injuries.

And Kankan seemed to be that champion’s friend. He even got monitored and threatened by others for some reason…

This was just, wow.

It seemed the Martial King was fated never to join our party. After all, he was the one who smelled to high heaven, not me.

“You bastard!”

After that unknown person left, Kankan vented his anger by slamming his fist against the Temple’s door. Seeing how there weren’t any cracks or broken parts, it seemed he still had the presence of mind to hold back his strength.

“Brother, what happened?”

“…! I-It’s nothing, Sir Priest.”

“While I’m not sure what you’re so angry about… could it be that you’ve gotten into a disagreement with that Grindana merchant?”

“How could that be?! How could a fighter like me have any trouble with some merchant?”

No, but considering the situation earlier, anyone would think they were having a dispute. Did he perhaps suck at lying because he was a fighter?

“…In that case, I’m relieved to hear it.”

The priest likely felt the same way I did but pried no further. He just wanted to give Kankan the opportunity to consult him at any time if something was troubling him.

“Hey, Sir Priest.”

Was he actually going to take that opportunity?

“Could you… Could you give me just one blessing?”

Oh, that wasn’t it.

“What kind of blessing do you wish for?”

“So that I can win… No, I heard these things aren’t allowed to ensure fairness. Then…”

I secretly watched Kankan, the Red Mane, pray to the priest who was shorter than him.

“Please bless me so that I can help someone precious to me, so I can at least still find hope.”

I could see his red eyes shining with resolution as if he had come to a decision.

I wasn’t too sure what was wrong with the champion, Martial King, but I could tell at this moment that this man before me had lost a friend.

The next day, a match was scheduled between Red Mane Kankan and the champion Martial King.

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