CH 37.2

“So you’ve returned, Roseline.”

There’s an uproar as the surrounding players look in our direction. Huh? That’s weird. Why does the king know about Roseline?

“I have returned, Father.”

“Are you the mastermind behind this? Have you sent these people to kill your own father?”

He doesn’t just know her. He views her as his daughter. Did Roseline trigger some sort of event that actually made her a princess in the game? But I’ve never heard of an event or a quest like that. Maybe it only occurs during the “Evil God’s Invasion” event?

“Father, I cannot allow you to harm the nation and tyrannize its people any further. If you feel any shame for what you’ve done, then please take your own life.”

Take his own life? Is she telling him to commit suicide? I don’t think this king would ever do something like that. But this isn’t the sort of atmosphere that would allow me to butt in with a trivial comment like that.

“Hmph. You’ve become quite eloquent, Roseline. Or should I say ‘fraud’? You, who are attempting to dethrone the king and plunge the nation into chaos, are the one who should know shame. Everyone, do not be fooled. She is the true culprit. She is a heinous vampire who is attempting to take over this country by impersonating the princess. Now, avenge the nation and point your blades at this traitor!”

“It’s a lie! That man is the culprit who is neglecting his kind vassals and tormenting the people! Do not be deceived!”

“Now, who would all of you believe? This country’s king or a false princess? If this girl is the true princess as she says, then why has she shown herself in this place unaccompanied by her attendants? The real princess would never personally come to the front lines. In other words, she is nothing but a false princess who has deceived the Duke of Charante!” the king incites the surrounding players, as if they’re spellbound.

Wait, there’s no way anyone believes this stuff. They’re just so surprised that they’re dumbfounded. It starts to seem so funny that I sort of feel like laughing at it.

“You over there, what is so amusing?” the king says, questioning why I’m smiling. Everyone’s eyes are on me.

Shrinking back a bit, I answer, “Because it’s funny, isn’t it? What kind of farce is this?”

“Farce, you say?”

“I mean, you’re a vampire and Roseline is human, right? I can tell just by looking. Nobody’s gonna fall for a farce like this.”

The king in front of me shows up as a red marker on the map. In other words, he’s obviously a monster. Similarly, Roseline is a green marker. That’s proof that she’s a player. Any player would know immediately after checking, so nobody would be fooled aside from beginners.

“Chaos…”

“Chaos? That boy who Lord Raoul mentioned?”

See, everyone’s pointing their swords at the vampires, they’re not fooled at all.

“An unexpected obstacle has entered the picture. Well, no matter. I will simply carve out a path myself.”

The king stands up. The queen follows suit. There’s tension in the air as the battle inevitably begins.

The king leans forward for a moment and, with a single leap, closes in on a soldier in the front line and sends him flying with his fist, even though the soldier also made a split-second judgment and put up his shield to fortify his defenses.

With that, all the players begin moving at once. For now, I stand in front of Roseline, battle-ready, and observe the situation.

As the king and queen fight against multiple players, an equally-matched battle unfolds. They’re stronger than the other vampires. This seems like a boss event.

Even from my amateur perspective, the king and queen are making large, careless swings with their fists and the players are dodging their attacks. Just as you’d expect of players fighting on the front lines, they really know how to fight.

But unlike the other vampires, their blows are heavy. The shield of the soldier who was sent flying just a moment ago has a huge dent in it. If they get hit with an attack like that, it won’t be pretty.

I guess there are no Magicians around, because there’s no backup from them. Though, even if they were here, they wouldn’t be able to do anything in all this melee.

The queen grabs someone in the front line. Yanking him towards her, the queen puts her arms around him and bites his neck. Blood gushes out like a fountain. The soldier screams. With an expression of ecstasy, the queen thirstily sucks at his neck.

A vampire. The classic blood-sucking monster. It’s just the sort of action you’d expect from it, but it’s so gory that I look away. The smell of blood is so strong that it fills the air around me.

Coming to his senses, the soldier swings his sword down at the queen with a whoosh. Her unprotected back sliced open, the queen collapses. The bitten soldier is released, but after several spasms, he stops moving.

He’s dead. Even in previous events, I’ve seen it many times before, but seeing someone die up close like this is has me shaking in terror. That time with Alexia, my mind sort of went blank. No matter how strange the opponent is, even if it’s just a game, it’s incredibly shocking. No matter how many times I experience this, I can’t get used to it.

Even if the others are disturbed looking at such a grotesque scene, they don’t stop fighting. They’re really tough. …So tough that it seems almost unnatural. But they’re right. Players can revive at the portal, and NPCs revive after a certain amount of time. Over and over again. Even if several soldiers have thrusted their swords into the bleeding, writhing queen, if we stop here, we’re the ones who will be killed by the vampires.

Now alone, the king roars like a beast, breaks through the encirclement, and runs away.

“Wait! Don’t run!” Roseline shouts, chasing after the king. The other players and I follow suit. The king is fast, but while we were fighting, the others were taking control of the castle. Even if he escapes outside, players will be ready and waiting for him. There’s nowhere for him to run. The king probably knows that too. The king continues climbing to the upper floors. But even if he runs up there, he would only be buying time.

The king flees to a wide castle balcony, but that’s as far as he goes. Cornered into the railing, the king stops and looks back.

“There’s nowhere else for you to run. Just give up,” Roseline says, and the king laughs fearlessly.

“Hmph, it may be true that this is the end for me.”

“Then answer one last question! What did you do with the real king and queen of the Allied Commune?!”

“You haven’t realized? I am the king of the Allied Commune. I, the one you are pointing your blade at right now, am the real king.”

“You’re wrong! My father isn’t a monster like you!”

Hearing this, the king laughs loudly, as if he’s gone mad.

“It’s the genuine truth. Although, a certain someone gave life to me as a vampire. In other words, my body and memories are unmistakably the king’s. Therefore I am, by nature, the king. This power that goes beyond humanity is simply wonderful. Vampires are a noble race, superior to all humans. We should rule over humanity.”

“But… Then my mother and father are already…”

Roseline grits her teeth as if she’s enduring something. I can’t understand what the heck she’s talking about, and all I can do is watch, dumbfounded.

“Roseline. I will have mercy on you alone. If you so desire, I will even make you one of us. How about it, do you want to change this world with your true father?” the king says, reaching his hand out to Roseline. But Roseline sternly glares at the king.

“Don’t touch me, you lout! Just as I thought, my mother and father are proud people who never surrendered to the monsters even if it cost them their lives! Why would I, their daughter, take the hand of a fiend like you?! Vampires, a noble race? Don’t make me laugh. Just how is a monster who would get cornered by a human like this in any way superior?! You’re just a filthy monster who’s only capable of stealing the bodies of humans!” Roseline declares. Hearing Roseline’s words, the king is enraged.

“You lowly human!”

Appearing to have completely lost his senses, the king attacks Roseline. Roseline can’t withstand a hit like that!

In terms of speed, the king is higher, but I’m closer to Roseline. Without a moment’s delay, I push Roseline out of the way. Our momentum is so great that we both fall to the ground. The king’s hand cuts through the air uselessly.

“Tch! Yet again you get in my way, Chaos?!”

Now I’m the target of the king’s rage. That’s terrifying. But I can’t just stay scared. I stand up and wield my staff.

The other players also start attacking the king. Surrounded by a crowd of people with his back to the railing, the king devotes his efforts entirely to defense. Wary of the enemy’s attacks, our allies are also unable to go on the offensive. Alright, in that case… Now that I’m a certain distance away, I can give them backup.

“Mana Explosion.”

I unleash the explosion spell that I finally learned. My allies put up their shields, guarding their faces from the aftermath of the explosion that suddenly occurred before them. They all turn to me, the only Magician here. Oh, sorry. I should have been more careful.

After the effects of the explosion subside, I see the king, injured and holding one arm. Weaker than before, he glares at me in provocation.

“This is the end for me. But even if I die, there are many of my brethren here in Clermont. And not only in the royal palace. Among the people as well. We are lurking everywhere in this country. You will never find us as we hide amongst the people. Even your close friends and relatives may be turned into our brethren. And one day, my brethren will avenge me. Until then, succumb to fear.”

With that parting threat, the king jumps over the balcony railing and falls. No way, he really committed suicide?! Since he’s a monster, I thought he would fight to the end. What’ll happen with the event in a situation like this? We won… didn’t we? Normally, you’re supposed to win by defeating the boss, but it ended in an unsatisfying way that leaves a bad aftertaste.

And why did that monster king think of Roseline as his daughter? Everyone from Raoul’s guild can have fun roleplaying together because they’re all fellow guild members, but a monster NPC treating Roseline as his daughter is too unnatural.

I met Roseline on the first day of the official release. Also, not much time has passed since the game came out. Even if this was some sort of event, even if there was an event like this where you can become the princess of the Allied Commune, how could she receive that event in such a short amount of time?

And in the first place, since “The Evil God’s Invasion” is a limited-time, large-scale event, I think it’d be difficult to have it be connected to a permanent event. Is it a hidden event that’s limited-time only like “The Evil God’s Invasion”?

No, then there’d be a contradiction. If that was the case, then it’d be impossible to explain Roseline’s character. Her character’s name is Roseline du Commune. In addition, her appearance was based on the queen. In other words, I can only imagine that she created this character with the intention of making her the princess of the Allied Commune from the very start of the official release. If so, then ordinary players shouldn’t know about things like hidden events where the details are unknown. A player that’s roleplaying a princess coincidentally receiving an event that makes her the princess of Commune? Can a coincidence like that even happen?

With my game knowledge, I can’t come up with an answer that’ll resolve this contradiction. All I can do is ask her directly.

“Hey, Roseline? I’ve got a question.”

“Sorry, Chaos. Could you leave me alone for a while? I’d like everyone else to leave as well so I can be by myself here for a while,” Roseline says as she looks down over the railing. She didn’t even turn to look at me when I spoke to her, she just kept staring down at the scenery below. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere as she rejects others while turning her back to them, I keep my mouth shut and walk away.

After turning my back to her and walking away for a while, I look back.

Watching her from behind, she looks lonely in a way, and her shoulders are shaking the entire time.