episode_0005

“Lia Attack!”

Thwack!

“Lia Shield!”

Clang!

Ah…

So this is the true meaning of offense-defense unity.

Good.

This is an excellent weapon.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Masteeeer!”

“You’re so meeeeaan!”

“If you don’t like it, fight them yourself.”

“Too scaaaary!”

“Then lend me your body quietly.”

“I’ll take care of the rest for you!”

“Waaaaaah!”

Lia was crying, but she didn’t resist.

Does that mean she gave permission?

Good.

Let’s wreck things even more spectacularly!

“Lia Whirlwind!”

Grabbing Lia’s legs and spinning like a cyclone, I unleashed .

The effect was devastating.

“Argh!”

“Gyaaah!”

“Ughh!”

Bandits flew back with every blow from Lia.

Truly a broken-tier weapon.

The performance is amazing.

…Or so I thought, sweeping them all aside.

But the bandits weren’t complete idiots.

“Everyone, fall back!”

“Attack with arrows!”

Realizing they’d just get wrecked up close, the bandits switched to ranged attacks.

But.

I had a ranged attack too, obviously.

“Lia!”

“One Million Volts!”

“Waaaaaah!”

Still crying, Lia unleashed an electric magic spell.

The basic spell .

It didn’t do much damage since it just randomly discharged electricity,

but it was an AoE debuff attack that inflicted on all enemies.

But.

Mix that with , a trait from Baby Mode?

—It becomes an AoE instant-death spell.

A ridiculously overpowered spell capable of wiping out even Demon Army troops.

No way bandits like these could withstand it.

“Gyaaaaah!”

“Aaaaagh!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

Every last bandit collapsed in a paralyzed, state.

“M-Master?…”

“I-It’s over, right?…”

“No.”

“It’s not over.”

“Huh?…”

“The boss who killed your mother hasn’t come out yet.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Who’s there?!”

Speak of the devil.

Here he comes.

The bandit boss who slaughtered the villagers.

And his name…

—Doesn’t matter.

Why?

Because this ends now!

“Lia!”

“Water Cannon!”

“Ptooey!”

Lia spat out a jet of water.

At which point…

The bandit boss sneered.

“Pfft!”

“You call this an attack—GYAH!”

Bam!

Mid-taunt, the boss was blasted off his feet by the water jet.

Nice!

And so ends the tutorial.

—

“Master?”

“What will you do with the bandits?”

“Killing them all would be the cleanest solution, but…”

If the soft-hearted Lia witnessed murder, she might develop .

—Not great.

Then…

What if I killed them?

—Still not great.

If this were a game, killing people would be trivial,

but this is reality.

As an ordinary modern person, actually killing someone isn’t easy.

‘Even if they’re scum…’

‘Getting blood on my hands is just…’

So I considered .

Throw them in jail,

or sell them off at a slave market.

That was an option, but…

‘Haul them all the way there?’

‘Is that even possible?’

Even if I tied them all up, managing this many bandits with just Lia and me would be near impossible.

If Lia were a strong warrior who could reliably handle them,

maybe we could drag them along…

‘But she’d probably just cry if something went wrong.’

‘Forcing them along isn’t realistic.’

So my next idea was .

‘If I bind them so tightly they can’t move, they’ll either starve or get eaten by monsters.’

Ergo,

this counts as .

Definitely not murder.

…I was about to start dragging them off when—

[Hey.]

[Mind if I take over for a bit?]

“Huh?”

“Who are—?! Who’s there?!”

[Cain.]

[The rightful owner of this body.]

“??????”

The real Cain suddenly spoke up.

I froze in shock, but—

[Don’t worry.]

[Grant me two requests, and I’ll hand this body over to you.]

“Two? Like what?”

[I want to kill the bandits myself.]

Oh.

That works.

I get to offload the dirty work,

and Cain gets his revenge—mutually beneficial.

…So I nodded immediately.

“What’s the other one?”

[I want to hold a funeral for the villagers.]

[Once it’s done, I’d like my soul to be sent off as well.]

Not a bad deal.

The body goes to me,

and Cain’s soul peacefully departs with the villagers.

Honestly, I’d felt guilty about possessing Cain’s body in the first place.

Getting it handed over like this suits me just fine.

So I accepted.

“Alright.”

“I can do that much.”

[Thank you.]

“But…”

“You’re not planning to keep resisting when I give your body back, right?”

[No.]

[A world without Bella means nothing to me.]

Bella.

The woman Cain loved so deeply he swore to give everything for her.

And she was murdered.

Of course he was furious.

Chasing after the bandits for revenge, he encountered the protagonist.

Together, they slaughtered the bandits, and Cain ended his life while embracing her corpse.

…That was Cain’s ending in the game.

Though they parted ways smiling during the tutorial,

returning later would reveal .

If they couldn’t be together in life,

he’d follow her to the afterlife—that was Cain.

…Considering that,

him refusing to relinquish his body was a near-zero possibility.

So I allowed it.

“Use it well before giving it back.”

[I will.]

—

I sent Lia home.

Watching people die wouldn’t do her any good.

“Call me when it’s done.”

[Got it.]

I switched places with Cain.

I also severed my connection to the body.

‘Don’t need to experience killing someone firsthand.’

Cutting the connection blocked all five senses—sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste.

So I wouldn’t feel the act itself.

…Which was fine, but—

‘What now?’

No way to pass time until Cain gave the body back.

‘Should I plan ahead?’

The tutorial was over.

All that was left was reaching the town where my beloved character resided.

…But.

That town was far.

‘Thinking about it, this is a problem.’

Playing as the protagonist made the trip trivial.

Dangerous monsters?

Just experience points.

Bandits?

Just captives to sell off as slaves.

But.

For Cain, an E-rank adventurer?…

‘Monsters, bandits—all deadly threats.’

So I brainstormed.

A safe, fast, easy way to reach that town.

‘Maybe I’ll grab a few hidden items for myself?’

Since Lia was a cheat-powered character,

she could casually solo the Demon King without any hidden gear.

Taking a few things wouldn’t hurt.

‘Then…’

‘With these items, I can take this route while…’

…I was mid-plan when—

[Done.]

So soon?…

‘Well, whatever.’

I could figure out the rest en route.

…Taking control of Cain’s body again, I spoke.

“Finished the funeral?”

[Yes.]

In Prophecy RPG, funerals involved burning all corpses,

then smashing any remaining bones with a hammer.

Huh?

Why?

Because in this world, uncremated corpses could turn into zombies or skeletons.

That was one reason.

Religion played a part too, but anyway…

The funeral was over.

Time to say goodbye.

“Off you go?”

[I must.]

“Safe travels.”

[Yeah.]

Cain’s soul departed for the afterlife without hesitation.

Thus,

the body was now fully mine.

Oh.

Nice…

…With that settled, I headed to Lia’s house.

Knock! Knock!

“Master!”

Lia burst out with an exuberant smile.

“Here.”

“A bag?”

“I packed essentials for traveling to another town.”

“It might help.”

Money, rations, a map, camping gear—

things scavenged from the bandit hideout.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“A book?”

“Think of it as a guide.”

Even as a Baby Mode character, Lia could effortlessly crush the Demon King—if she wasn’t completely brain-dead.

But just in case,

I threw together a noob-friendly guidebook.

“Read it when you have time.”

“It’ll help.”

Good.

With that, my role here was done.

So then—

Tutorial NPC ‘Cain’, time to exit stage left.

From here on out, I leave it to you,

Brave One.

…I gave Lia a casual wave and turned to leave, but—

Grab!

“Master?…”

“Where are you going?…”

She seized my wrist.

Hmm…

How to put this?

Maybe just say it straight?

“My part’s done.”

“Time to go our separate ways.”

“Separate?…”

“Yeah.”

You’ll go slay the Demon King.

I’ll go reunite with my favorite character.

Since our goals differ,

our paths diverge.

…I tried to pull away, but—

Squeeze!

Lia tightened her grip.

“You’re not… helping me to the end?…”

“You won’t… come with me until I defeat the Demon King?…”

Tears welled in her eyes.

Ugh…

Emotional blackmail, how cheap…

But.

Nothing would stop me from reuniting with my beloved character.

“Sorry, but my role ends here.”

“Ends… here?”

“How am I supposed to get to another town alooneee?…”

“Follow the map.”

“If monsters appear, just ki—”

Wait.

What would happen if monsters appeared?

‘With Crybaby Lia…’

‘She’d probably break down crying the moment she saw them…’

Things were fine with a party member present.

They’d protect her.

But alone?…

‘Wouldn’t she just get pummeled to death?’

A spike of dread hit me.

‘Ugh…’

‘Maybe I should stick around until she finds at least one ally…’

If Lia died, Bad Ending guaranteed.

World annihilation = me and my beloved character dying together.

‘Grr…’

‘I wanna see them so badly though…’

Hence the saying—More haste, less speed.

Tch.

Fine.

I’ll stay until she gets one party member.