Ch.247Messing with the NPC That Shouldn’t Be Messed With (5)

Just as players can form 1:1 parties with NPC party members, the protagonist’s party can also be set up by the player. However, you could only select NPCs predetermined by the game company—Ray, Chikuyo, and other characters who were either central to the story or popular. Even after selecting them, there wasn’t much dialogue. It mostly just served as a way to switch party members in major cities. Yeah, that’s why I was worried about Ray’s potential NTR situation.

“What on earth did you do?! Did you make a move on her knowing she was a saint?!!”

“W-wait!! How did you know Liselotte is a saint…!!!”

“That’s not what matters!! How far did you go?! D-don’t tell me you went all the way…!!!”

“W-what’s wrong with you?! You’re getting passionate proposals from women and now you’ve gone crazy too?! Let go of me, you fool!!”

What the hell happened for the Green Stone, the deus ex machina of episode 2, to have that kind of relationship with Liselotte, the protagonist? Let go? No way! I’m dying of curiosity!! I won’t let go until you tell me…!!! Wow, look at this old geezer?! His level went up?!! The man whose level didn’t change even when fighting the Grand Elder is now over 500?!! What the hell did you two do in Ponia?!

“Ugh!! I-I didn’t go all the way!! We just held hands and slept together…!!”

“W-what? Y-you held hands and slept together?! That means you did everything!!! Did you trick her with that line? Seriously?!!”

“Enough!! Stop before I really get angry!!!”

-Snap!

Green Stone forcefully broke free from my grip, which had been quite strong, and irritably looked at me while rubbing his wrist. Heh, this is crazy. With an age gap of 4,000 years, isn’t he completely a thief?

“…Stop talking nonsense. The demon you brought along isn’t exactly young either.”

“That’s a long story, but to put it briefly, she’s a demon who waited and pursued me for an incredibly long time. I’d be the bad guy if I didn’t accept her feelings.”

“What’s good or bad about accepting a demon’s feelings…”

“Don’t change the subject! So, are you really dating? Are you two lovers now?!”

“…I don’t know.”

“…Huh?”

In response to my direct question, Green Stone frowned as if it wasn’t official yet and began to explain.

He first saw her, naturally, at the beastkin hospital where she had collapsed and was purified of magical contamination. While recovering there, they talked about various things and eventually found common ground.

“…Since you’re quite sensitive to people’s feelings, you must know that she carries something quite heavy.”

“Well, I suppose she would carry many burdens, being a saint?”

“It’s not that simple.”

At first, she had hidden the fact that she was a saint, but as Green Stone received her treatment, he noticed his arm—which had been severed below the shoulder—gradually regenerating, and he felt his strength and lifespan, which had been deeply eroded by magical contamination, being restored. He realized she wasn’t an ordinary cleric. Based on his past knowledge from wandering through human cities, he deduced she was a saint and asked her about it. And then…

“She seemed to curse the fact that she was a saint.”

“…Huh? There wasn’t such a chuunibyou setting in the game.”

“What? Chuu-ni? What’s that…”

“Never mind. Anyway, what happened next?”

“It took time for her to open up, but as we traveled together and conversed, she came to trust me. From what she told me, she felt disillusioned with the Holy Theocracy that raised her after coming to Ponia, and she felt frustrated with her role as a saint after seeing too many people die.”

“…Hmm, so while comforting her…?”

“Do you really want me to hit you?”

In summary, Green Stone explained that Ponia was the first place Liselotte set foot on this continent as a saint. Before coming to Ponia, she had received a [Revelation] that this country would fall a year ago. Wait, was the tutorial a year ago? A year ago… wasn’t that around when we Naties arrived? Anyway.

Despite that, seeing how humans, especially the Mountain Keepers, had sacrificed themselves to protect the country and overcome the monster parade even before she could make a difference, she began to strongly doubt the [Revelation]. Because of this, she questioned whether the god they believed in truly cared for them, and whether she, as a saint, was really saving people. Moreover, she began to doubt whether the [Savior] she was waiting for actually existed—developing this chuunibyou setting that was never shown in the game. And then, Green Stone took advantage of her vulnerability…!!!

“This won’t do. Raise your fists. Let’s fight.”

“Kekek! Ah, I’m sorry. Really, you tease others all the time, but when you get teased a little, you draw your sword?”

When I tried to joke around because I didn’t like the serious atmosphere, Green Stone actually drew his sword. After calming him down, I refocus my thoughts. So, the protagonist doesn’t know she’s the protagonist, but she knows there’s a player—a [Savior]—in this world. Well, it seems she’s doubting even that now. Anyway, she received such a [Revelation]. Whether the being who tricked Luxuria 8,000 years ago is the god she believes in or another deity, I don’t know, but this isn’t a bad situation for us.

“Green Stone.”

“I won’t forgive you if you joke again.”

“Come on, at your age… Alright, I won’t. I just want to say I support you two. And I have one request.”

If my thinking is correct, the reason Liselotte accepted Luxuria with such weak resistance is largely due to Green Stone’s influence. She probably believed his words when he defended not Luxuria, but me, claiming to be her guardian and telling her to trust me. So…

“You know that several countries are about to go to war against the Empire and the [Holy Theocracy], right?”

“…That’s actually what’s been troubling Lize.”

“Oh!! Liz…!! Ah, alright!! Put the sword down! I won’t joke around?!!”

This isn’t my fault! He suddenly shortened her name, and what am I supposed to do?! This is the kind of thing any person with otaku tendencies would want to point out! After calming down Green Stone, who looked ready to stab me at any moment, I immediately conveyed my request. Well, it’s not so much a request as passing along a quest that probably hasn’t appeared for him yet.

“…How do you know all these things?”

“Hey, I recognized you were an elf the moment I saw you. I have my ways. There’s also a demon over there who can provide information.”

As I pointed toward Luxuria, Green Stone turned to look at them. Hmm, I’m not sure how Luxuria ended up holding Liselotte’s hand and having a conversation with her, but anyway, I can use her as our information source.

“Haah, I see. Alright. This isn’t just your request—it’s something Liselotte would want too, so I’ll relay it.”

“Haha, thank you. And I have one more request, a real one this time.”

“Another one? What is it?”

“I mentioned earlier—the lord of that territory, Jace Goodwin. He wants to know the situation at the Poria Wall quickly and in detail, and he even gave me a small communication crystal. I’d like to contact him right away, but my companions are in that state…”

I complained to him about not being able to enter the city because of Luxuria, deliberately omitting the part about the reward of contacting Ira. Green Stone gave a bitter smile and nodded.

“I’ve already sent a dispatch, so I think we’ll be in contact within a day or two. But since it’s a request you received, I’ll gather information for you. So, are you going to camp here? It’s already lunchtime.”

“Hmm, camping right away would be fine, but since things turned out this way, I need to visit one more place.”

“Hmm? Where? If it’s too far…”

“No, it’s the mountain in front of Poria village… I mean, the Poria Wall, so it’s closer than here.”

“…Mountain? Don’t tell me.”

“Haha. I’m originally from the Mountain Keepers, right? That mountain is where we used to live.”

There’s no need to tell him that my father’s corpse rose as an undead here. I just want to repair our cabin and my father’s grave, which I built and which was probably destroyed.

“I thought you hated it there, having experienced nothing good.”

“I hated the Poria bastards, not particularly the mountain or the house. Ah, I’m not talking about the current Poria people.”

“Hmm? You seem quite certain that the current Poria people are not the same as the Poria people back then?”

Hahaha!! That’s because I legally beat the crap out of those rotten corpses that rose last night! But there’s no reason to say that, so I just laughed it off. After finishing my conversation with Green Stone, I returned to the women…

“Really? Is it that good?”

“I’m not kidding! Yesterday was my first kiss too, and I thought I was going to faint!! For the first time, I definitely recommend a bird kiss!!! I’m Lust, made of sexual desire and love!! I absolutely support pure first love! You can trust me!!!”

“Jack had a bird kiss with this woman… Sister.”

“Yes, I know. Don’t worry. This sister has quite a bit of knowledge about that.”

What’s this sense of déjà vu? I’m sure some demon was once feeding strange knowledge to a saint like this. And now it’s happening again? And Miho and Chikuyo are glaring at me like they want to eat me alive—I might actually die tonight if something goes wrong.

“…Gulp. Ah, I understand. But what if he doesn’t see me as a woman…?!! G-Green Stone?! Are you done talking?!!”

“…It doesn’t seem like they’re finished. Jack.”

“Huh? Um… Yes. Let me talk with them for about 10 more minutes.”

I never expected to see such a precious scene of a saint holding hands and talking with Luxuria. Anyway, it’s not a bad thing if they get along well. And…

“It seems like he’s quite interested over there.”

“…Do you really want to fight me?”

In the end, I ended up having to give them space along with a blushing Green Stone, even though I didn’t have much else to say.