Ch.26Raid Boss NPC Who Gets Unfairly Blamed (2)

I’ve already mentioned this several times, but the online game “Eight” is a dark fantasy world depicting a continent ravaged by demons.

So what comes to mind when you think of dark fantasy?

According to my past life’s memories—not as Jack the Caretaker—it’s the ugliness of humans who put countless demons out of work.

In Eight, there were many humans who were more demonic than actual demons. Just from what I recall, there were countless side quest stories that made me think demons should apply for jobs under humans to learn a thing or two.

For example, an NPC asks players to help rescue a fallen noble’s daughter whose parents had died.

When you complete the quest, the screen briefly shows the husband and the woman you rescued just before she was about to be raped. They talk about erasing bad memories and spend their first night together.

Of course, only silhouettes appear without any sound, but well… it’s that kind of suggestive scene. And then afterward…

[I’m the one who killed your parents.]

I still can’t forget those words from the husband who had desperately tried to save his wife.

After the scene ends, only the husband appears, saying his wife isn’t feeling well, and we turn away with our reward.

Even now, I find the story utterly disgusting. Of course, this is just one small example.

[(!) Quest—Rescue a carriage being chased by thugs. (Time limit: 2 minutes 15 seconds)]

“And here’s the point. Let’s keep tragic sex acts and gang rape scenarios in our eyeballs only. That stuff is too horrific in reality.”

“Kuhack?!!”

After punching the man in the carriage three more times in the face, I drag him outside.

“Are you alright?”

“Who are you?”

“Just a passing traveler. I saw the carriage had fallen over and came to help, but this isn’t a normal situation. Stay still.”

I look around at the men surrounding us without turning back to the woman.

[-Occupation: Noble Family Assassin- Level: 56]

[-Occupation: Noble Family Assassin- Level: 54]

[-Occupation: Noble Family Assassin…]

[-Occupation: Noble Family Heir- Level: 21 (Unconscious.)]

These are enemies that could have captured me too if I’d encountered them before leveling up. Six in total—one just collapsed, so five remain. Looking at them, I raise two fingers.

“You have two options.”

“What?”

When I speak, they look at me with confused eyes, but I continue anyway.

“One. Take that unconscious SM pervert and run away. Never show yourselves in front of me again. Then, everyone will be happy. A world where no one gets hurt.”

“……”

As soon as I finish my first option, the men all raise their swords and spears with incredulous looks.

Sigh. Still, I should finish what I have to say.

“Two. Everyone here gets a kiss on the philtrum from my stone fist…”

“Kill him.”

“Oh come on. At least listen until I finish.”

Two of them throw their spears while three charge at me with swords.

A coordinated attack to kill me whether I block or dodge the spears.

Feeling the sensation of weapons cutting through the air—is this what killing intent feels like? I leisurely catch each flying spear with my hands.

The eyes of the three charging men widen at the sight.

I immediately swing one spear to strike one man’s solar plexus, and use the other to hit the throat of the man behind him.

‘Oh. I’m surprisingly good with weapons.’

Since the blades were facing me, both men collapsed spitting saliva rather than dying. When another man saw an opening and thrust his sword sharply, I calmly watched before slapping the flat of the blade with my palm.

“Huh?!!”

“Too slow.”

Ah. This line that suddenly came to mind. It feels familiar.

As promised, I stole his first kiss on the philtrum with my fist.

Wait a second. Is this really his first kiss? Or is it more like my fist had its first kiss stolen?!!

“You bastard! Give back my fist’s first kiss!!”

“Kuhuk?! Wh-what?!!”

My left hand avenged my right hand’s stolen first kiss by crushing the man’s jaw, and I immediately charged at full speed toward the men who were drawing their swords behind me.

“Head!!”

“Heuk?!!”

When I suddenly approached and shouted while raising my hand, one man made a deflating balloon sound as he tried to block with his sword.

And then.

-WHACK!!

“Aagh!! My, my l-leg?!!”

“That’s right, leg!!”

When I tried to kick the next guy’s leg, he swung his sword first. But again…

“Too slow! Didn’t I say leg?!!”

“Aagh!!”

I kicked his leg with full force, as if kindly asking why he didn’t block where I told him I would hit.

The sensation at the end of my shin tells me his leg is completely shattered. Feels like a Cuchdaras cookie? Didn’t drink milk as a child, huh?

And then.

“To finish what I was saying earlier, two: everyone here gets a kiss on the philtrum from my stone fist and goes to Hong Kong.”

I planted my fist into the philtrum of each fallen man.

*

“Come out now.”

“…Thank you.”

[(!) Quest—Rescue a carriage being chased by thugs. (Cleared!)]

I help the woman out of the overturned carriage, and she calmly looks around.

“…You didn’t kill them all?”

“Well, after showing such a difference in skill, I doubt any monkey would try again.”

Blue hair with a glossy sheen, and red eyes with a unique hue.

Her clothes seem deliberately designed to say “I’m a commoner,” like some kind of cosplay.

After briefly examining this woman who gives me a strangely familiar feeling, I immediately move to tie up the men’s hands and feet with the ropes they had been carrying.

“But why are you tying them up?”

“Because sometimes humans can become beasts worse than monkeys.”

“…That’s true. But wouldn’t it be better to kill them?”

“I don’t want to kill people carelessly.”

“I guess you’ve never killed before?”

“……”

Ignoring the woman’s irritating comments, I finish tying up the men and put them inside the overturned carriage.

The carriage is large enough that they won’t die from being crushed.

After I put all the men inside and blocked the door with a rock, the woman spoke.

“You won’t kill them? It would be easy to burn them.”

“…Your ideology is dangerous. If you want to kill them, just break their necks. Why bother tying them up neatly and then burning them?”

“…True.”

I turn my back on the carriage. I can sense the woman following right behind me.

I’ve cleared the quest, but this woman must be related to the story. Who exactly is she?

I try hard to recall the nagging memory, but nothing comes to mind.

The status window is strangely quiet too. I’ll have Gor display it when he arrives. With that decision made, I move toward where Rei and Ira are waiting.

*

“…Another woman?”

“What do you mean ‘another’? There’s only one woman around me besides you, Rei.”

“Oppa! I’m a woman too!!”

“Yes, our Ira is a beautiful woman too! Sorry, sorry!”

After bringing the blue-haired woman, I worked hard to appease Ira, who seemed increasingly irritated. We waited for a while.

And then.

[Huh? Master, who is this woman?]

Shortly after, Gor returned with a pocket full of magic stones and asked about the situation. I quietly ordered him to display the status window.

And then.

-Flinch!!

“Oppa?”

“Huh? Jack, what’s wrong?”

“…Ah, um. No. It’s just…”

[Master. This is…]

Cold sweat runs down my back. The reason the status window didn’t appear immediately was simple. It’s the same as when I first met Gor, the mime golem.

The status window automatically displayed the information I wanted, but for certain targets, it wouldn’t show immediately. I had to directly tell Gor to display it.

Yes. This woman too…

“So it’s true. You are Jack, the Caretaker of Ponia?”

“Gulp.”

“Jack?”

“Oppa? What’s wrong?”

I swallow hard and push the two behind me, while Gor naturally embraces Ira and steps back two more paces.

“J-just a moment. Let’s t-talk, just the two of us. Could we… I mean, would you mind if we moved somewhere else?”

If that’s not possible, I’ll make all three of them retreat from here. With that intention in mind, the blue-haired woman simply smiles by lifting the corner of her mouth, nods, and starts walking ahead.

I follow her with my body tensed to the maximum.

*

“Is this far enough?”

“Yes.”

“So, can you tell me why you suddenly wanted to talk after seeing me?”

Though I’ve been practically ignoring her until now, she hasn’t said anything either, so I just left it alone.

But after seeing her status, I can’t keep her around the others. Since I can’t tell her that’s the reason we moved away, I say whatever comes to mind.

“…H-how is someone as noble as you in a place like this?”

“Strange. You seemed completely clueless until just now, but suddenly you know? How?”

She answers my question with another question.

Damn it. I can’t win a battle of wits against this woman. But still.

“Blue hair and red eyes. It’s been bothering me all along.”

“And that alone was enough to identify me?”

“The people who attacked the carriage earlier seemed quite formidable too.”

“…Really? That doesn’t seem to be the only reason. And aren’t you more formidable for defeating those ‘formidable people’ with your bare hands?”

“……”

Sensing her attempt to dig deeper into my circumstances, I clearly indicate my refusal.

Normally, silence might be taken as tacit agreement, but with this woman…

“Fine, I’ll stop prying if it bothers you that much.”

“So, are you not going to answer my question?”

“Hmm? Oh. You didn’t know?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve been looking for you.”

“…What did you say?”

Suddenly, she approaches me with a smile.

I instinctively back away. Amused by my reaction, she pulls up the corners of her mouth even more and speaks.

“Thank you for saving me just now, Caretaker Jack. And since you’ve helped me, I’d like to ask for one more favor.”

Her glossy blue hair and heterochromatic eyes look straight at me as she continues.

Please, stop. No! Not beyond this…!!

“Help me.”

My brain freezes for a moment. I hear it rebooting.

It sounds like Windows 98, which probably indicates my intelligence level is stuck in that era.

‘Why, why? Why on earth?!’

Is this woman really saying these words to me? This conversation was supposed to be part of a story where she asks her knight, a man, for help.

And the outcome of that…!!

“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to hire you without knowing who you are.”

“…W-what exactly do you know…?”

I desperately try to find a way to refuse immediately. But whether she knows my thoughts or not, the woman naturally begins to recite facts about me.

“The Caretaker of Ponia. A man who completely sealed off a mountain with monsters stronger than Ponia’s ordinary monsters while honing his skills. Then you fled after suffering something like abuse in that village and became a gold-rank adventurer. You’ve already defeated over 200 monsters before coming here. And recently, you even solo-cleared the Hyper-Acidic Slime raid? That golem, the female-shaped one from earlier, wasn’t originally in that form, right? It seems like it evolved after consuming materials from that slime, am I wrong?”

Why? How does she know everything without even seeing it?! Is this really her skill?!

“And those assassins you easily defeated earlier. They have skills equivalent to our empire’s regular knights. Yet you knocked them down as if playing a game. Indeed, my calculations were correct.”

“…L-let’s say that’s all true. What’s in it for me if I help you? It only seems dangerous no matter how I look at it?!”

I put strong intent of refusal in my voice, and she speaks with seductive eyes.

“One. I’ll clear your wanted status.”

I don’t need that. Ponia will be destroyed anyway. And it’s not even an international warrant. This isn’t enough to bind me.

“Two. You need money to live with your sister, right? I can provide that. If necessary, I’ll give you safe and good land too.”

I don’t need that either. I can earn my own living, and I have no intention of putting down roots in the Empire.

“Finally. Three.”

Having already noticed that I wasn’t swayed by the two conditions at all, her red eyes looked at me as if she thought this would make me move.

“The fact that you defeated the [Hyper-Acidic Slime] and completely monopolized its materials. I’ll keep that secret to the grave. How about it?”

“……”

…I’m screwed. Gor, this is really your fault. What am I going to do now?!

Monopolizing raid drop compensation and materials that should have been distributed to at least 50 gold-rank adventurers.

This… is worthy of an international warrant.

So, what’s left for me is… damn it…!!

“…Please. I really don’t want to, but isn’t there some other way?”

No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t find an answer.

All I could do was kneel and beg.

And then.

“Hehe. No. I won’t change my mind. You must help me.”

[-Occupation: Raid Boss (Queen of the Ottoman Empire)- Level: 450 Name: Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman: 16 years old.]

[Strength: 10+?????]

[Agility: 10+?????]

[Intelligence: 330+??????]

[Luck: 200+????]

[HP: 210,000]

[MP: 100,000]

[Skill: Wisdom of the Blue Ruler.]

[Skill Wisdom of the Blue Ruler: Active. (Target: Caretaker Jack.)]

[Skill: Aura of the Ruler.]

[Skill: Quality of the Emperor.]

[Skill: One Who Stands Above.]

[Skill: Heaven-Blessed Talent.]

The Episode 5 story raid boss cruelly rejected my plea.

…Someone, please change my world line…!!!