Ch.28Raid Boss NPC Who Gets Unfairly Blamed (4)

No, no.

If the result of 30 minutes of contemplation is “Kuk, kill her,” then what’s around my neck isn’t a head but a container for udon noodles.

Or maybe it’s a container for pickled tadpoles in my eyeballs. Either way, it means I don’t have a particularly good brain.

Right. 30 minutes. During that time, I was able to draw several conclusions.

1. This woman doesn’t fully understand her own skills.

To put it bluntly, her raid isn’t just her fighting alone. More precisely, it’s a battle with knights who are subordinate to her, and when that ends, there’s a groggy phase where we need to deal massive damage to her at the right timing, and this repeats. However, she’s not entirely a non-combat entity either, as she incorporates patterns that mimic our skills.

But right now, she’s nothing more than a visibly fragile woman. As if her strength stat of 10 is truly all she has.

2. She’s been cornered faster than the story intended.

This is probably because of me. Well, not exactly because of me, but I’m involved.

Originally, her story was about her father, the Emperor of the Empire, who couldn’t stand the continued inhumane choices and tried to kill her, only to have his head taken and his position usurped.

And afterward, she leads the country far better than her father did.

Of course, the process wasn’t smooth, and her methods were deemed wrong in the end. Anyway, before she could gather enough power to defeat her father, she’s already facing a crisis due to her choices in the Ponia incident, which is why she’s chasing after me.

3. Her personality is still much more fragile than in the game.

This is actually the most important point.

Knowing my age, Ray’s age, or Ira’s age honestly wouldn’t have helped.

Even as a combat-capable NPC, Ray’s current appearance is almost fully developed, and it wasn’t much different in the game. So I couldn’t determine the timeline.

Moreover, in my case, I was just a copy-pasted village NPC, so that says it all. But this woman is different.

Her external appearance almost matches the game, but I had a feeling she looked a bit younger, and now that she’s raising her arms, it’s clear.

The size of her bre… heart that rises with her arms is much smaller than in the game, and she gives up quickly.

The original her from the game would torment the player until her dying moment, curse her father, and die resenting the people of the Empire.

But now…

“What are you doing? Thinking about something again? If you’re wondering whether you can make some deal with the Emperor while holding me captive, then—”

“…No, no. Wait. Please be quiet for a moment. I’m not very smart, and noise really slows down my thinking.”

“Then let go of my arm. It hurts.”

“……”

I let go. And when I really did, she just rubbed her arm while looking at me.

She’s clearly given up.

Her eyes show resignation, as if she knows it’s impossible to escape from me and has accepted whatever fate awaits her here—eyes that look enlightened, detached.

A look similar to what the criminals I encountered in the mountains showed in their final moments.

Is this really the Queen I knew?

“You’re not thinking I’m not even worth violating, are you? I’ve taken good care of myself. I’m at least decent-looking.”

“No. I’m not thinking anything like that, so please…”

“Then what was that action just now? No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand what you did. It’s the first time I’ve experienced something like this.”

[Skill: Wisdom of the Blue Ruler.]

[Skill Wisdom of the Blue Ruler: Activated. (Target: Mountain Keeper Jack.)]

Is this for real? She’s using her full power to analyze me, but she can’t read my actions? I sincerely thought even my status window was being manipulated by her, and that’s why I’m in this state.

…Could it be that I’m too stupid for her skill to read?

“…I’ll give you two choices as well.”

“What?”

Anyway, the situation has changed. And my options have increased.

Right. I don’t care what happens to your life or to the ep.5 villain’s end.

Moreover, if this woman explodes prematurely because of me, the Empire will likely move in a better direction than it is now.

Good for you, good for me, good for everyone. Killing two birds with one stone. The world should be grateful to me.

If the snowball that changed because I left the mountain erases one boss before it starts, wouldn’t the world become more peaceful?

Hmm. Am I kind of amazing?

“One. We go to the next town, you sign a covenant with me, and then you leave. The covenant will state that you won’t speak about the acidic slime or about us at all. Then, I’ll let you go safely.”

From a situation where she was threatening me to one where I’m threatening her. But her eyes don’t show much agitation. Rather…

“What merit do I have in accepting that? If I lose you, I die anyway. Didn’t you hear what I was saying just now?”

I feel miserable at the sight of her raising the corner of her mouth and sneering as if my words are ridiculous.

However, this misery isn’t about my inability to overwhelm this fragile woman.

“I see. Then, finally, the second…”

At my resolute voice, delivered with as much emotion removed as possible, she finally swallows dryly.

Yes. If option 1 was “go die by your father’s hand,” then the second option would naturally be more tense.

And at my words, a new expression—one never seen in the game—was added to the Queen’s repertoire.

Clearly, the misery I felt wasn’t my own, but the misery she had been feeling all along.

*

“Um, here it is. You write your name here and put it around the neck. While I’ve confirmed you’re a gold-rank adventurer, I’ll say it once more. If you use this on an innocent person, you’ll become a wanted criminal worldwide without exception.”

“Yes. Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

After being caught in an absurd situation, we arrived in the city after sunset.

The person who sold me the item emphasized its dangers repeatedly, and I promised several times on the spot.

Don’t worry. I’m really only going to use this on one person.

And.

“…R-really?”

“Yes, really. You chose this, didn’t you?”

In the inn room where Gorga had taken Ira out.

Just me, Princess Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman.

And Rayman, I slowly approach her with the item in my hand.

And she closes her eyes tightly and starts trembling. Yes, I would tremble like that too. It must be frightening.

But if I don’t do this, this woman…

-Click.

With the sound of the necklace closing around the princess’s neck, fitting perfectly, she exhales a deep breath.

And.

“…C-crazy. Did you really just make me your slave?”

“Yes. You are now my slave. Not a princess, not a queen, just ‘Ragni Bluemoon’.”

“W-what are you going to do to me?”

“What are you talking about? You chose this, didn’t you? What would I do?”

“…Are you planning to ruin me completely?”

You crazy woman. Saying things that could be misunderstood! I clearly just gave her a second option.

Yes. I decided not to kill this woman with my own hands, just told her not to be a queen, not to be a princess.

I didn’t want to kill this woman who doesn’t even know her own skills yet and who desperately followed me by carriage because she wanted to live.

So I put the [Collar of Subjugation] around her neck. The symbol of the slave system that exists only in this empire.

“Haa. Haa. Y-you. Do you think you’ll be safe after doing something like this…”

“I will be. The Emperor has abandoned you, hasn’t he? You were kidnapped by a commoner who doesn’t even know who you are and became a slave. While it might be slightly disappointing that I couldn’t kill you as the Emperor wished, it’s not an entirely bad situation.”

She, who had been breathing roughly, closed her mouth tightly at my words.

Yes, if I leave her here and run away, she’ll die anyway.

A body and emotions that are clearly less developed than in the game.

In other words, it’s evidence that ep. 0, the tutorial of Ponia’s destruction, is still more than 1-2 years away.

And during that time, she should have been gathering strength, but because of my arbitrary movements, she was crushed by the snowball I rolled and sent directly to the death route.

It took me another hour to realize this fact. My brain is legendary.

And.

“…Gulp. Um, Jack?”

“Yes?”

Perhaps because she’s someone who can’t stand injustice.

I had explained things adequately to Ray, but there were certainly some gaps in my explanation. Well, how could I explain memories from a past life? It was hard enough organizing what I knew with my stone of a brain.

And she was watching this situation with furrowed brows.

Perhaps our journey might end here…

“D-did you only buy one collar? What about mine?”

Facing the blonde beauty within the blue wall, who was looking at me with a flushed face and excited breath, I quietly closed my eyes. And.

“You crazy woman, what the hell are you saying?”

My honest feelings were expressed without any lies.

*

In the dead of night when everyone was asleep.

She, Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman, who had never slept in such a small inn before, couldn’t fall asleep.

‘…That man.’

Touching the collar fastened around her neck, she looks at the man sleeping with his sister on the opposite bed.

Calculating his past actions, she had thought he was a person of weak character who would accept the conditions she offered.

After all, with those skills, he chose to flee rather than seek revenge in Ponia.

Moreover, seeing that he hadn’t killed anyone so far, she thought even more so.

Additionally, she thought what she proposed would be necessary for him too.

Truly, if he had taken her side, she had even considered giving him a territory.

‘…But to make me a slave?’

…It’s absurd. To think this would be the outcome—one of the scenarios she had imagined when she met the attackers earlier today, but to experience it from the person who saved her.

She was reverse-owned by the person she had tried to make her own.

Today has been a day of unexpected events.

How long has it been since predictions have gone so awry? Surely since she grew up and started calling her father “Your Majesty” to his face, she hadn’t experienced such a failure.

But.

‘…Foolish human.’

Yet, why doesn’t this failure, this humiliation, the feel of the collar around her neck, bother her?

No. She already understands.

For that man, this was the best decision he could make for the safety of his sister and himself.

But.

‘This isn’t the best choice.’

The best choice would have been to return to the carriage, kill her, and leave. And that man clearly knew that.

Though he seemed a bit stupid, he didn’t appear ignorant enough not to think that far.

Yes, he refused to kill her. Despite there being a clearly better choice.

This choice might strangle his neck later.

‘…I.’

I, who had always lived making the best, perfect choices, survived through his best action.

His sister and the woman with them didn’t seem to like the way I joined them. Yet he didn’t kill me and wants to take me with him alive.

Of course, I don’t know how far he, a commoner, will go. But still.

‘…It might not be bad, and the fact that I’m thinking this is the most surprising.’

I, who always wanted to be the best, to be at the top as the princess of this country, was always called a monster.

Yet he subdued me so forcefully, while showing so clearly that it wasn’t what he wanted.

Yet the actions of that man, who didn’t kill me and is taking me along as a person… his clumsy heart feels so grateful.

And now, having submitted to him and become a slave, I can’t return to being a princess.

Thinking about it, my chest feels a bit hot, and my lower abdomen tingles.

As I stroke the collar while looking at him, somehow my hand moves to my lower abdomen, and even lower.

‘Mmm…?!♡’

Something I had knowledge of but had never done directly. To think I would do it in such a small inn room, even with other people present, I… could it be.

‘…Could it be that I have such a fetish?’

She arbitrarily interprets her body and mind, understanding why certain parts feel good and why she’s doing this now.

Having a good brain is truly troublesome, she thinks, while carefully moving her fingers.

And

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

[♡: 1 time.]

Ragni’s status completely changed that night.

——————

Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman, character design.