Chapter 45

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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Previously, I saw something very ominous, but I focused on the problem in front of me for now.

The request from the Dwarf Republic still remained, and I had no intention of just taking it lying down.

However, what I didn’t expect was that they actually called us back.

According to that guy’s expression, he politely invited us onto the stage or something.

I read the letter in my hand.

It was paper with a strange texture, and on it were letters written in red.

It was obvious at a glance that it was written in blood.

“He’s pulling some petty tricks.”

“That’s right. Human skin and letters written in blood…”

“…”

“But the commander wouldn’t be swayed by this level of provocation, right?”

Because of Cluna, who casually spoke beside me, I almost dropped the letter I was holding.

Was this made of human skin?

Of course, the texture was strange, but I was so surprised that I couldn’t utter a word for a moment.

I hope you don’t just casually say such an incredible fact next to me.

Because I have a weak heart.

Instead of screaming, I sighed deeply and threw the thing made of human skin on the desk.

A slightly sticky feeling remained on my hand, but I ignored it, thinking it was just my imagination.

“A letter came from that trash I dealt with before.”

“A letter… Could it be?”

“He’s blatantly provoking us.”

“Ruby is right. He’s provoking us very deliberately.”

The letter was filled with so many figures of speech that it was hard to read properly.

But excluding all that and summarizing the main point, it said that if we don’t come to the stage he prepared, he’ll kill the hostages.

It’s not just one or two hostages.

Instead of the broken village I went to before, he had taken a whole different, intact village hostage.

If we didn’t come, he said he would kill everyone here.

“From the looks of it, he has taken a different village hostage, not the one I went to before.”

“Whether I like it or not, it’s my homeland. And to do that to my compatriots… It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

“I don’t like dwarves, but I have no intention of leaving innocent people to die.”

Ruby and Clara were the first to react.

Ruby was enraged by what had happened to her compatriots.

And Clara, perhaps because she had grown close to Ruby, agreed with Ruby’s anger.

“Be-before that, first, wh-what the other party is demanding…”

“You mean figuring that out is the priority. You’re right, Bayard.”

“Th-thank you! Commander!”

“I can explain from here.”

The Table of Equality.

Unlike in the past when it was just a fancy name, now everyone sat in the same place equally and expressed their opinions.

The one who spoke this time was Yuren.

“Do you know what that clown is scheming?”

“Of course. It’s humiliating, but… Some of the members, including myself, were captured alive.”

“I know that.”

“Eep…”

“…Commander Yuren?”

For a moment, I thought I misheard that sticky voice.

It was closer to a moan.

Yuren’s face turned red.

Her black eyes were fixed on me.

“Th-that’s right. It was a very humiliating moment. But for the commander to know that… What is this feeling…?”

“Commander Yuren, I hope you can focus now.”

“So-sorry. It was a slip of the tongue. We were captured, but in fact, the other members except me were barely alive. They were no different from living corpses.”

I focused on Commander Yuren’s story.

The demons captured the surviving Royal Knights, but what was important here was that the clown guy took them away, saying he would prepare a stage.

“My members, who were no different from corpses, were sliced up and transformed into grotesque forms. If their faces weren’t intact, even I wouldn’t have been able to recognize them.”

“They deliberately left the faces intact. So that their comrades could recognize them and react.”

“That bastard is trash!”

“Regrettably, I couldn’t keep my sanity at that time. The laughter around me didn’t stop. The children… They laughed at me. But that was definitely not an ordinary laugh…”

“That’s probably the power of hypnosis or mind control.”

I raised my hand to interrupt Yuren’s story.

She hugged herself with her own arms, and her voice was trembling with fear.

It must have been a terrible experience.

Her comrades turned into grotesque monsters right before her eyes, but she couldn’t do anything.

Powerlessness and anger.

That Comprachico used that to hypnotize her.

Originally, dragons were a race of benevolence, but at the same time, they were also the strongest race on the continent.

According to the setting, they were the only ones who could fight the demons above blood magic, the true demons, head-on.

“That guy has the power to control minds. Of course, if your mental strength is as strong as Commander Yuren’s, he can’t dominate you. But at that time, Commander Yuren was in a broken state.”

“…I’m just ashamed of my own powerlessness.”

“That’s enough. In the end, the only thing we can do for the dead is revenge.”

“Blood must be washed with blood.”

“I agree with the commander and Cluna!”

“Then let’s go save the villagers right away!”

At my and Cluna’s words, everyone rose with fighting spirit.

Except for Helia and me.

When everyone tilted their heads at the unexpected reaction, Helia asked,

“What do you plan to do, Teacher?”

I answered coldly with my arms crossed.

“We will not go on stage.”

A cold silence descended upon the round table.

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Let’s prepare the stage again.

A stage where everyone can laugh happily.

This time, I prepared the actors with even more effort.

I asked him and received even stronger power.

Simply in terms of specs, they were already close to blood demons.

Moreover, instead of artistic aesthetics like last time, I made them very similar to their appearance when they were alive.

They had no choice but to come in the end.

Because they were noble knights!

They would never just watch helplessly as the powerless and innocent were sacrificed!

Excellent, noble!

But what they face on stage are their former comrades!

To protect, they must fight their former comrades.

Will they choose the innocent?

Or will they choose to save their former comrades?

Whichever it is, it’s clear that it will be an excellent stage.

Of course, it’s bound to be a hit!

Of course, before that, I have to make sure the safety of the audience is ensured.

Yes, that was definitely the case.

Until the fireworks fell from the sky.

The hot breath of the dragon burned everything in an instant.

The stage that it had prepared diligently, the audience.

Everything turned to ashes and disappeared at once.

It stood there blankly.

It had prepared diligently.

It had prepared a stage where the audience could laugh.

But it all turned to ashes overnight.

Unable to bear that fact, it eventually let out a scream.

And someone walked toward it.

The sound of clanging armor echoed.

With a steel sword at his waist.

Short black hair fluttered covering his face which bore no helmet.

He was wearing an eye patch on one eye.

With a sneer on his lips, he mocked it.

“The moment we step on stage, we can’t beat you. No matter how that ending turns out, you’ll be satisfied. Even if you meet your death.”

“Ha, haha. That’s ridiculous. It’s not much different now either.”

“Not different?”

“In the end, you were never a noble hero or anything. For the sake of victory, for the sake of a moment’s satisfaction of giving me despair. You even burned all the hostages.”

It loved humans.

It loved the literature and tragedy created by humans.

And now, at this moment, a tragedy was completed.

One who sacrificed the small for the sake of the big.

How ridiculous.

How pitiful.

Look.

Is that your great hero?

The sight of you worshipping someone like that as a hero is a ridiculous tragedy!

That’s how it was in the end.

A noble hero who sacrificed for everyone!

It never existed in the first place.

I’m satisfied with that.

Even if I die here, I created a perfect tragedy by sacrificing myself.

So, I can gladly die.

However, he tilted his head.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Are you even lying now? How disgusting. That’s why it makes me even happier.”

“When did I say I abandoned the hostages?”

“…What?”

“I never abandoned anyone.”

“Th-that can’t be. In such a short time, there’s no way you could save everyone…!”

He stood with his arms crossed, quietly looking at it.

As if to say, if you can’t believe it, go and check for yourself.

Like a lie, it moved.

It was impossible to believe nonsense.

There’s no way it was possible.

Its authority was to create the stage.

On the stage it created, it could control everything with its power, from the props and actors to the audience.

That was its power.

Therefore, it, a Comprachico, could tell.

The fact that all the actors prepared for the highlight execution had disappeared.

Comprachico muttered blankly,

“How on earth? Unless you stop time, there’s no way you could have saved them…?!”

“A setting so obvious that even a mere audience member can see through it.”

Each and every one of those words pierced it like a dagger.

“Even that stage you prepared has turned to ashes.”

He spoke coldly and approached step by step.

“You couldn’t even protect the audience that loves your stage.”

Eventually, his steps stopped.

“You’re nothing more than a third-rate playwright!”

At those words, Comprachico lost its reason.

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