Ch.20Wanted Order (2)

[Play Time: 8,860 hours]

In Grim Darker, there wasn’t really anything like alignments, but there was content that could be described as alignment play.

For example, playing as a bandit or a plunderer.

Robbing merchants you encounter, committing highway robbery, or working in the criminal underworld and spreading mayhem in otherwise decent cities.

It’s a path usually chosen for profit, but personally speaking, it wasn’t particularly efficient.

Contrary to common preconceptions about evil alignments, being evil actually offered very few benefits.

You’d be hunted by extermination squads, and due to your bad reputation, you could only trade with the criminal underworld who would overcharge you, while having to say goodbye to all sorts of quest rewards.

Even main quests would have you working with evil characters, leading to rather unsatisfying endings most of the time.

If you were a concept-focused player who enjoyed that kind of gameplay, that would be one thing, but as someone quite performance-oriented, it was a playstyle I generally avoided.

That’s not to say I never tried it. I needed to know just how inefficient an evil alignment was, and whether it was truly inefficient in every aspect, to properly execute speed runs.

I completed the game with an evil alignment about four times.

If I had to pick the most challenging aspect of such playthroughs, there was one clear answer.

Justice Magistrates.

Civil servants responsible for upholding the Empire’s justice.

And one such person was right before my eyes.

“I can’t say it’s an honor to meet you.”

A blunt statement. Given what I’d done, or what they thought of me, one might mistake it for hostility.

But that wasn’t the case. I knew better.

With all my hours playing Grim Darker, how could I not know? I maintained my silence within the armor I had forcibly grown accustomed to.

Beside me, Isla was quietly taking snacks from the table and munching on them.

“Even for a Black Knight, such atrocities cannot be permitted. This isn’t a fortress of the Anti-Magic School, and according to imperial law, this is considered imperial territory.”

The man sitting before me was visibly well-trained.

A sharp curved sword hung at his waist, and his well-fitted doublet couldn’t hide his muscular physique.

Anyone could see he was an excellent warrior, but thanks to various magical items and some education, he would also be versed in magic.

That was a Justice Magistrate.

Skilled in both magic and swordsmanship with a high level, they were the nightmare of evil-aligned players—tirelessly traveling day and night to exterminate villains, kill monsters, and enforce the law in the name of imperial justice.

Even in the late game, they were entities you’d prefer to avoid if there were three or more of them.

An adversary that felt not just difficult or strong, but troublesome.

And the reason why most speed run records chose good alignments.

I stood confidently before such a being.

“Yet you killed this city’s steadfast patron. Not just one, but two of them.”

Despite Isla chewing as slowly as possible, the crunching sound still echoed. While this would normally draw attention, the magistrate’s focus remained solely on me.

It wasn’t that he was particularly interested in me.

Though he didn’t know how dangerous I truly was, he mistook me for another incredibly dangerous entity.

He spoke to me while remaining vigilant, ready to draw his sword at any moment.

“Beohrt Tomula, top graduate of the Imperial University and a mage of the Imperial War School, though excommunicated.”

The magistrate’s gaze swept over the crimson-red cloak draped around my body. The eye behind his monocle narrowed slightly.

“And Ethan, captain of the Star Blade mercenaries and a first-class contractor of the Stars.”

Now his gaze brushed past my waist. Along with that glance, the man said:

“I can see you’re from the Anti-Magic School, a Black Knight. But I must ask.”

Why did you kill them?

Though I’d never stood in a courtroom before, I tried to maintain my composure, recalling scenes from dramas or comics.

“It was unacceptable.”

A crude statement that normally wouldn’t qualify as an explanation. Yet the man who was both mayor and Justice Magistrate pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Then he quietly sat down in his chair and shook his head with another sigh.

He neither drew his sword nor ordered the guards outside to imprison us.

[Reputation]

[Stubborn Black Knight / Servan

-You are now a widely known Black Knight in the city. You hate magic, destroy it, and even the most tolerant of your kind curse mages to die terribly in anguish someday!

Though this may not be true, the city believes your killing of two mages was simply ‘punishment for magic users.’]

He didn’t have the luxury for that.

I felt sympathy for him while thinking:

How did it come to this?

It all started three hours ago.

When this Justice Magistrate’s subordinates were knocking at the door.

*

[Play Time: 8,857 hours]

Soldiers were knocking at the door outside.

With my strength, I could easily push past them and leave, but that wasn’t an option.

This city was one of the few safe strongholds in this new continent, and it was the first place I needed to consider utilizing for gathering information or whatever else.

I couldn’t cause trouble and leave such a place.

But I couldn’t meekly surrender either.

While I could trust the Justice Magistrate’s skill, judgment, and devotion to the law, I couldn’t entrust my safety entirely to others when various factions were hunting me.

So what should I do?

Was there a way to calm these angry soldiers and prevent the city’s ruler from immediately expelling me?

Fortunately, my intellect was exceptional. With my transcendent intelligence, I searched through past memories and vague knowledge of the world’s lore, finding a suitable identity.

So I immediately told Isla to help me don my armor.

Thankfully, due to gained proficiency, I was quite good at putting it on myself, and I could cooperate with Isla’s diligent movements as she helped dress me.

Thanks to that, when they finally kicked down the door, I was standing majestically in full black-tinted armor.

The soldiers immediately showed reluctance upon seeing me.

Furthermore, they politely requested my company and brought me to the mayor.

They had no choice. Even if they were residents of a city in the new continent, they must have heard of the Anti-Magic School and Black Knights.

They were rabid dogs that even the Empire couldn’t control, fixated on magical disasters caused by the Three Clans, monsters overrunning the continent, and various magical incidents large and small.

Magic zealots who flew around in massive airships, intent solely on capturing and killing mages.

Their anti-magical paint gleamed black and deflected magic, and their honed methods easily crushed mages.

The entire continent knew of their infamy.

Despite being remnants of an ancient era when battlefields were filled with mages, they remained active.

I exploited that notoriety.

This was the result.

The Justice Magistrate, whom I couldn’t even make eye contact with during evil playthroughs before completing my build, was now pinching his brow and sighing as if he had a headache.

I spoke to him in a solemn voice.

“Baron Beohrt Tomula was practicing cannibalism. His daughter was a human weapon of the Three Clans, acting as the lord of cannibals. Moreover, they were abusing magic for all these acts. They systematically used magic to track their prey, then eliminated and devoured them with magic.”

Only then did the Justice Magistrate’s eyes lower from his brow to focus on me.

His face revealed almost no emotion. It was evidence of his skill at concealing feelings, but…

I sensed something else. For instance, the reason why such a Justice Magistrate had allied with such notorious forces.

Meeting his gaze, I continued.

“The Star Blade wasn’t as evil, but they were hostile and aggressive toward outsiders. I tried to avoid conflict with them, but… it wasn’t possible.”

“What are you trying to say?”

This was the critical moment. In a game, I would have pressed quick save, but reality had no such function.

However, there were plenty of helpful elements. For example:

[Reputation]

[Useful Human Resource / Vetus Servan

-You inevitably destroyed two factions Vetus Servan was allied with and claimed it was due to your beliefs. Whether true or not, Vetus Servan thinks you might be of some use.]

The reputation that initially made me frown in displeasure actually contained more facts.

“There was a vampire. Not just any vampire, but a monster who called himself a Blood Knight. The Star Blade saw me as his accomplice and attacked without allowing any explanation.”

The fact that this new continent was promoted with a focus on the faction known as the Three Clans.

The fact that the cannibal baron, who should have been captured and executed in the old continent, had safely escaped, and his daughter was a homunculus—a blood bag for the Three Clans.

And the fact that a vampire, who normally neither takes action nor shows himself, appeared before me, personally acting as a hunter.

From all this information, I deduced one fact.

“I came for purification at first, but seeing a Blood Knight I’d never encountered before and human weapons like the ‘Grand Duke Slayer’ changed my mind.”

That many forces lurking in this new continent likely had connections to the Three Clans.

“I suspect there are some in this city as well, am I right?”

At my solemn tone, the man who was mayor, Justice Magistrate, and abandoned by the Empire removed his monocle.

He soon closed his eyes in resignation.

“Follow me.”

I followed him, stopping Isla who was stuffing a handful of snacks into my cloak.