episode_0028

Cain let out a sigh.

“Haah…”

“I really didn’t want to say this… But if I don’t tell you, you’ll keep trying to stop me, so here goes.”

Lia and Elris listened quietly.

“The Grail of Sacrifice is an ancient magical artifact that requires a living being as an offering.”

“The key part here is ‘living being.’”

“‘Living being’?”

“What kind doesn’t matter.”

“As long as it’s a lifeform capable of sacrificing itself willingly, anything works.”

“Then…”

“Does that mean even something like a goblin could be used as an offering?”

That’s Elris for you.

Her immediate focus on efficiency is commendable.

But.

That won’t work.

“A goblin would never sacrifice itself for me.”

“What if you used mind-control magic?”

“Tried that. Didn’t work either.”

Mind-control magic itself is illegal, so hardly anyone knows how to use it.

But it’s not completely unheard of.

If you dig deep enough into the underworld, you can find one or two practitioners.

So, I tried it.

Used it on goblins.

Used it on criminals.

Result? Failure.

The Grail doesn’t accept sacrifices forced by another’s will—only those made willingly.

…Or so I explained.

Elris’ glare sharpened.

“Then it’s even worse to use!”

“If no one truly sacrifices themselves for you, you just die!”

She tightened her grip on me as she spoke.

“Even if there was someone, it’s still a problem…”

“Even if someone dies for you, you’ll just die a year later anyway…”

“Master…”

“No matter how I look at it, this isn’t right…”

Lia clung to me, tearful.

“Well…”

“If that were all, it really would be a dead end.”

“…There’s another way?”

“There is.”

“What is it?”

“……”

“What is it?!”

“Just say it already!”

“Lia… Elris…”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Promise me you won’t think I’m weird, no matter what I say next?”

“I promise.”

“Me too.”

“Then…”

I took a deep breath, centered myself, and spoke.

“Semen.”

“?”

“?”

“If you offer semen, that solves everything.”

“Wh… Semen?…”

“?”

Elris seemed to understand, but Lia just looked confused.

I pressed on.

“One sperm, one egg—together, they make a human.”

“So, by itself, a single sperm counts as ‘0.5 human,’ right?”

“Uh… sure?…”

“?”

“Then if you offer two sperm, it should have the same effect as sacrificing one whole human, shouldn’t it?… That’s what I thought, so I tested it…”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah…”

“Turns out, it does.”

“Th… then…”

“A single ejaculation contains about 100 to 200 million sperm.”

“So, even one offering would…”

“Well…”

“‘No need to do the math,’ right?”

Just one round buys me well over 500 years.

Since I’m not aiming for immortality,

500 years is more than enough.

“Uh…”

“Why… does that even work?…”

“No idea.”

I don’t know the exact mechanics.

But.

Who cares?

Important thing is, the Grail can be used safely now.

…Or so I said.

Elris, looking utterly dumbfounded, asked:

“Cain.”

“Just one question.”

“Sure.”

“How the hell did you figure out semen works as an offering?”

“……”

‘Because I had the male version of Lia—‘Lian’—jerk off into the Grail.’

…Was what I couldn’t say.

So, I pleaded the Fifth.

“Don’t ask.”

“……”

“Anyway!”

“Now there’s a safe way to use it!”

I held up the Grail of Sacrifice.

“Don’t stop me.”

“Dark trusted me and became the offering willingly.”

“Haah…”

“Fine.”

“Huh?”

“You’re okay with this?”

“Yeah.”

“If Cain’s telling the truth, then he shouldn’t die from using it.”

“That’s good, but…”

Lia looked at me.

“If it’s not even a life being sacrificed…”

“Then why…”

She gripped my arm.

“Were you running away?…”

“Why?…

Madness flickered in her eyes.

Hmm…

How do I explain this?

Should I just be honest?

‘Because if you and my favorite character met, it’d be a Bad Ending right away—so I had to escape.’

Or…

‘No.’

‘That was a last resort.’

The best outcome is keeping the hero’s party and my favorite character from ever crossing paths.

So, I went another route.

“Lia.”

“Yeah.”

“My goal is an ending where everyone is happy.”

“‘Everyone happy’?”

“At the very least, I want everyone I know to be happy.”

Not all humanity—that’s impossible anyway.

I’m no saint, trying to save strangers I’ve never met.

Just those I care about.

Just the people I love.

That’s all.

“To do that, I need to take a different path from you.”

I looked at Lia and Elris.

“You two will hunt the Demon King and save the world.”

“I’ll set out to save everyone I know.”

“Our goals are different.”

“So, we have to split up.”

I smiled gently.

But.

My persuasion didn’t land.

“We could still do that together.”

Elris met my eyes.

“Based on the guidebook, wrapping everything up would take about half a year.”

“Meanwhile, the Demon King’s full awakening takes at least five years.”

“That gives us roughly four years to spare.”

“Uh… Huh?…”

“Plenty of time to save everyone you know first, then deal with the Demon King afterward, right?”

“!!!!!!”

Hearing that, Lia tightened her grip on my arm.

“Master!”

“We’ll help!”

“We’ll help you save those people!”

“How’s that?”

“With the Hero and me helping, it’ll be way easier, right?”

“Uh… Well…”

She’s not wrong.

Sure, I’ve stacked powerful gear to boost my strength,

but I’m still capped at C-rank.

Not weak,

but not strong enough to bulldoze through problems.

I avoid direct combat whenever possible,

relying on money and intel to get things done.

But.

If Lia and Elris tag along?

They could brute-force most obstacles,

making saving everyone much simpler.

‘But…’

With them by my side, achieving happy endings for almost every character becomes trivial.

Except for my favorite.

Having them around makes her happy ending nearly impossible.

Not technically out of reach,

but way harder.

Still.

Escaping them isn’t really an option anymore.

Maybe this is the better choice after all.

‘Sigh…’

‘It’ll be tough, but let’s try.’

Looking back, if I’d coldly pushed them away like the in-game Cain did, things might’ve been simpler…

‘No.’

‘Don’t go there.’

Without my interference, Lia wouldn’t have gotten her ending.

‘Might as well aim for the ultimate happy ending where everyone wins.’

‘That’s ideal.’

…With that in mind,

I seriously pondered how to gaslight Lia and Elris into not killing my favorite character.

‘Take it slow.’

‘We’ve got time.’

After all, my favorite spends her days quietly in her village until the Demon King’s death.

So, if we delay killing him…

Best tackle urgent matters first.

“Grail of Sacrifice!”

“Answer my call!”

First, I revived Dark and his two lovers.

Dark.

He had fully expected to die.

Fated by the Grail of Sacrifice,

and with no will left to live.

But.

One man showed him a light.

A future where his fallen lovers were revived—

where happiness was possible again.

Of course,

it might’ve been a lie.

Maybe this ‘Cain’ was just a swindler using him as a sacrifice.

…That doubt lingered.

‘But if he were a fraud, those girls wouldn’t have stepped in.’

The moment he tried to use the Grail,

two women appeared, pleading with Cain—

desperate, sincere.

No con artist inspires that kind of loyalty.

Though,

they could’ve been scammers too.

He might’ve just died for nothing.

But.

None of that mattered.

‘My life was meaningless anyway.’

‘One gamble won’t hurt.’

The bet of his lifetime.

Win, and he’d reunite with his lovers.

Lose, and he’d join them inside the Grail.

Not…

too bad, really.

No matter the outcome, he’d be with them again.

…That’s what he thought as he became the offering.

“……?”

When he opened his eyes, sunlight greeted him.

“How does it feel to be resurrected?”

“‘Resurrected’?…”

He turned his head quickly.

“Ugh…”

“Where… is this?”

Beside him, two women—bare except for a shared cloak—were blinking at their surroundings.

“Ah… Ahh!…”

Them.

Their faces were younger now, closer to their mid-teens,

but they were unmistakably them.

“D…Dark?…”

“Dark?! Is that you?!”

They recognized him too.

“What?”

“What’s going on?”

“Why am I alive? And why are you younger?!”

“A dream?”

“Is this real?”

He’d regressed in age as well.

For a moment, the sheer impossibility of it all left him dazed.

But then—

reality hit.

“Jeanie! Lumi!”

““Dark!!!”

The three embraced, tears of joy streaming.

Then,

kneeling before the man who’d given them this miracle, Dark shouted:

“Brother Cain! Thank you!”

Just as his prophecy had foretold.