CH 39.1

“Phew, is there still more? When will it end?”

In an office in the Clermont royal palace, Roseline is busy approving documents. Although they were able to retake Clermont from the vampires, the damage was great. Since almost all the vassals in Clermont were turned into vampires, there’s a chronic labor shortage in the royal court. There aren’t enough councilors in charge of domestic affairs, which places a heavy burden on Roseline, who is the princess. She wants to complain, but seeing the councilors who are even busier than her, she has no choice but to endure. Also, from Roseline’s perspective, she was saved by that business in a way.

The death of Raoul, her uncle. The fact that her uncle, who was her emotional pillar, died filled her with immense sorrow. But she has no time to wallow in that sorrow. As the princess, Roseline has a duty to prioritize rebuilding the nation. While her duties are keeping her occupied, she has fewer opportunities to remember painful things.

Since there’s a possibility that humans killed by monsters could be turned undead, performing cremations has become standard. The duke, Raoul, is no exception. Although it’s much too modest for a duke, Raoul’s body has already been cremated. Since he was a duke and a central figure in Clermont’s liberation, she intends to hold a proper funeral for him, but that wouldn’t be possible as things are now.

Aside from the labor shortage, another thing that’s been troubling her is the feelings of Clermont’s residents.

There are still some vassals left who didn’t become vampires. However, even if they didn’t know, the fact that they were assisting monsters is still very serious. After all, the city was unable to function for almost a month.

The people didn’t stay silent about it, either. Riots occurred sporadically and, although all of them were suppressed with military force, the damage was considerable. In addition, the fear that there may still be vampires hiding within Clermont hasn’t gone away entirely. The residents are letting their suspicions run wild, fearing they may not only be among her vassals, but the populace as well.

Even so, Clermont’s residents didn’t go out of control due to the fact that the princess, Roseline, took back Clermont from the vampires. Even if Clermont’s soldiers can’t be trusted, Roseline and Charante’s soldiers are trustworthy. Thanks to that, she has somehow managed to maintain order.

However, she can’t keep Charante’s soldiers in Clermont forever. She had them stay to maintain public order, but as soon as she rebuilds Clermont’s army, she plans to have them return to their own territory. Charante is now ruled by Raoul’s son, Roseline’s cousin. How should she apologize to him about her uncle? This is another headache for Roseline.

And the last thing that’s worrying Roseline is Chaos.

“I never thought he’d be this upset,” Roseline mumbles to herself.

She didn’t expect Chaos to be so shaken up by her uncle dying before his eyes. After seeing his unsightly behavior, she was able to calm down again.

“Now that I think about it, he probably hates fighting.”

No matter how brilliant of a mage he is, that does necessarily mean he has a warlike personality. She originally met him in the woods near Clermont. She came across him while he was running away from Clermont to stay out of trouble. But his power clouded her judgment. His exceptional power which allowed him to bravely fight back against the vampires and even use teleportation magic.

She doesn’t know why he decided to participate in the battle. All things considered, it’s strange that he would assist in retaking Clermont even though he’s a foreigner. The fact that he participated anyway means he must have had a reason not to give up. However, Roseline regrets taking him with her to the royal palace.

As a result, Chaos is haggard. The death of her uncle may have taken an even heavier toll on him than on Roseline. Thinking back, Raoul was rather worried about Chaos, and the two met privately. Roseline wonders if the two grew closer without her knowing.

She wants to cheer him up, but she has no time to spend with him. She can’t make time to talk or abandon her duties as a princess, thus leading to this frustrating situation. Instead, she gave him some money on the pretense of thanking him for his assistance in freeing Clermont, hoping that it would make him feel at least a little bit better. She made a suggestion to him through one of her servants to go sightseeing in Clermont, but will he really be able to recover from her uncle’s death?

“Lady Roseline! I have urgent news!”

Roseline shifts her focus towards the councilor who has arrived with an urgent report. She never anticipated that the councilor’s report would be of yet another unprecedented catastrophe threatening Clermont.

***

This isn’t a virtual game world. It’s a real alternate world.

Even knowing this, I’m still coming to this world. No, I might still be in doubt, somewhere in my mind. Part of me still wonders if this really is a game and I’m just misunderstanding something. Thinking about it normally, nobody would imagine that playing a game would connect you to another world. The filter known as common sense makes you want to deny it no matter what the circumstances are.

But no matter how much I looked it up in the real world, there were no bugs where players were unable to revive. Even if there’s a limit to the number of people in possession of paid items, there’s no way there are no other players who have them. It’s been a while since the official release. If there was a bug, then the players would complain and the admins would put out an update. At the very least, I’m almost certain that I’m in a situation completely different from other players. But I don’t want to accept it, so I’m in this world to prove that it’s not actually another world.

I can’t talk to anyone about it. Who would believe a story this unrealistic? Even I’m still skeptical. Even if I explain it to someone in the real world, they’ll just think I’m crazy if I can’t prove it. And if I explain it to someone in this alternate world, this is a medieval fantasy world to begin with, so even if I say that I came here through a video game, it would be beyond their understanding.

I can’t leave the city to investigate, either. If I go outside the city, there’s a high chance I’ll be attacked by a monster. I have absolutely no intention to fight right now. If this world is real, then that means I’ve taken countless lives, even if they are monsters. Some of them were even humanoid monsters like vampires. Whenever I think about it, I feel like I’ll go crazy.

My character’s hands, my own hands, which once looked normal to me, now seem as if they’re stained with blood. And I was mostly calm in front of monster corpses, so even I’m wondering what the h**l I’m doing saying stuff like that now of all times.

Although, monsters are treated basically like vermin in this world, so no matter how many I kill, nobody would criticize me for it. I know that. To the people who live in this world, it’s a matter of life and death. But logic and emotion are different. Even if they’re harmful creatures, if you ask whether they were harmful to me, it’s not like I’ve been particularly harmed by them. You could say that the fact that they attacked me counts as harm, but if anything, I was the one who deliberately invaded their territory, so I was facing the consequences for my actions.

I defeated them because I thought it was a game, but if I knew that they were real, living creatures, I definitely would have hesitated. For example, let’s say there’s a shooting attraction at an amusement park where you defeat zombies that are attacking you. If you knew that it was all real, would you be confident that you’d be able to fight without hesitating?

That’s why I’m taking a walk around Clermont. I’m here to obtain proof of whether this world is real or not.

Clermont is full of activity. Even so, scars from the battle still remain. People are busy repairing that damage. The city’s residents have various expressions, both light and dark, but they’re all trying to move forward. I envy them. I have no clue what I’m supposed to do now.

For now, all I can do is protect myself. I use the money I got from Roseline to buy potions and other medicines, as many as I can get my hands on. Battles can occur even in cities, like the ones that happened here and in Brandenburg. Definite safe zones don’t exist. There’s no telling when my HP will hit zero. I have to be prepared for anything.

But the fact the shops are only selling intermediate potions is a real problem. Aren’t there any higher-level potions for sale in this world?

“Huh, isn’t that Chaos?”

Just as I’m leaving the store after I’m done shopping, someone calls my name. I look around for the source of the voice.

“Liam!”

“Man, it’s been a while. How have you been?”