Chapter 99

[You have received a Message.]

“Wh-who is it...?”

Colson opened his inbox, his face pale. The uproar the Black Dragon’s appearance had caused across the continent had bought him some time, but he was still utterly despondent.

[The leader says he will personally check on those who have not paid their fare.]

[The leader is looking for you, Colson.]

[By tomorrow...]

As the Messages piled up without pause, Colson’s face grew paler still.

“D-damn it...!! I’m finished!!”

Unable even to return to the Church, he had been hiding in the forest near Thorn Bach. He clutched his head, on the verge of tears.

“Just dying won’t be the end of it... What am I supposed to do? Fuck...!”

[You have received a Message.]

“I get it!! Fuck!!!! Stop sending them already!!”

Seething with irritation, Colson looked at the latest Message.

[This is Mark, the manager of Yorka Village.]

“What?”

Unlike the Messages before it, this one made Colson relax his scowl and tap the screen.

[Someone in possession of the Dead Soul’s Fare wishes to meet you, Colson. He is waiting in Yorka Village.]

“Wh-what...?! Is this real?”

He felt as though he had come back from the dead. Colson slapped his own cheeks several times, rereading the Message.

“Heh, hehehe...!! Heaven hasn’t forsaken me after all!!”

He dropped to his knees before his inbox and shouted, bowing over and over.

‘Taking him on alone would be insane. Right... Staying alive comes first. I’ll get on his good side and get the fare back. There’ll be time for revenge afterward.’

Colson vowed revenge as he put together a hopeless plan.

* * *

“H-he replied... He says he’ll come right away.”

“I thought he would.”

Woojin closed the window he had left wide open.

“The drug smell is finally starting to clear out. Well... it’s not as though the stench outside is any better.”

He righted an overturned chair, sat back in it, and looked at the five people bound before him.

“Behave yourselves until Colson gets here.”

“Mmph...! Mmph!!”

“Mmph! Mmph!!”

Everyone except the man who had just sent the Message nodded. All of them had had their limbs severed and were hanging from the ceiling in bindings.

“It works, but... it’s pretty grotesque.”

Weden muttered uneasily as he looked at the dangling Genesis Corps members.

“It’d be more trouble if they respawned at the shrine.”

After Ruen killed them, they had revived several more times and attacked Woojin. Every attempt had ended with them hanging from the ceiling.

“True, I suppose there’s no other way to keep them here. They can’t attack or kill themselves. Another lesson learned.”

“... Don’t learn things like this.”

Watching Weden nod in apparent sincerity, Woojin let out a faint, exasperated chuckle.

“How’s the mana stone mine?”

“For now, I’ve sent all the laborers working inside out of the mine. Judging by their condition... they’re worse off than those guys.”

“They’ve been working in fumes even more potent than the hallucinogens every day.”

At Peron’s report, Woojin ground his teeth, still struggling to contain his anger.

“Do people know this is how mana stones are supplied?”

“Well... they probably do. Everyone just keeps quiet about it. Mana stones are worth that much.”

“I wouldn’t care if they hired people fairly to work here. But they pulled this vile shit to force them into the mines, then went so far as to cut out their tongues to keep it secret. Do you think that makes any sense?”

“Well... maybe they’re trying to imitate the Middle Ages.”

“They’re just acting like vermin.”

Peron gave an awkward smile at his answer.

‘... Something’s going down today.’

The look in Woojin’s eyes convinced him of it.

“Hey. How long did he say he’d take?”

“Y-yes!! He said less than an hour.”

“Good.”

At that answer, Woojin rose from his seat.

“Won’t he bring his men?”

“He was alone when I saw him in Thorn Bach. It probably won’t be easy for him to mobilize anyone. The fare should have him in a pretty tight spot.”

“Hmm... I see.”

“But what are you planning to do?”

“First, I’ll meet him and have him cancel all the villagers’ contracts.”

His inquiries had revealed that Nomura Shun had drawn up the village’s deed, but its manager, Colson, had written the villagers’ contracts.

‘Even if I can’t take over the village, I need Colson to at least set Lea free.’

Ruen was looking after her now. Her tongue had been cut out so long ago that ordinary treatment seemed unlikely to heal it.

‘Could something like the Fairy Queen’s healing do it?’

Woojin recalled how the Fairy Queen had restored his severed arm.

‘That’s another reason I need to get her out of this village.’

He also wondered: Had Raoul never returned to the village after leaving?

Or...

‘Things might be different in the other world.’

After all, players like them did not exist there. Yorka Village in the other world might have been peaceful.

They were the ones who had changed this village.

‘I should leave a sign so Raoul will know when he comes back.’

Woojin was now using the sword that should originally have belonged to Raoul. That meant the Raoul in the game might walk a different path from the Raoul of the other world.

‘I wonder what he’s like now...’

He felt anticipation, but worry as well. What if taking the sword had sent Raoul’s life astray?

‘I need to find him... before that happens.’

That was the second thing he needed to do here, after all.

‘He’s here.’

Woojin emerged from his thoughts and raised his head. There was a commotion at the village entrance.

“Peron, keep an eye on them. I’ll be back.”

“Understood.”

It was a gesture of consideration on Woojin’s part. Peron had once worked for Colson, and an encounter between them might cause needless trouble.

“I’ll come with you.”

As though he had been waiting for the moment, Karlan stepped up beside Woojin.

“You said you’ll be fine, but he could still try something. Even an Outlander wouldn’t dare treat the Sword Emperor’s family lightly.”

He had loathed his father’s prestige, but now he could use it without hesitation for Woojin’s sake.

“I appreciate the thought.”

Woojin smiled and lightly ruffled Karlan’s hair.

* * *

“We meet again.”

Colson stood anxiously in the village square. At Woojin’s voice, he spun around.

“You... really are here?”

“Of course.”

“I owe you quite a debt for Thorn Bach.”

“A debt? You haven’t even started owing me yet.”

Unlike Colson, who was gritting his teeth, Woojin was perfectly calm.

“You need the Dead Soul’s Fare, don’t you?”

“...”

“My demand is simple. Cancel the contracts of everyone bound to work in the mana stone mine.”

“... Impossible.”

“Why?”

“The leader will notice the moment I cancel them.”

“He’ll also notice if you don’t bring back the fare. Which do you think is better?”

‘... You evil bastard.’

Colson bit down hard on his lip at Woojin’s words.

“... One person.”

He held up a finger.

“Mark told me you caused all this over an NPC in the village. I can’t release everyone, but I can sneak one person out.”

“So you don’t want the fare?”

“Th-that’s the best I can do!!”

“Fuck off.”

‘Damn it...!!!’

“Killing me won’t cancel their contracts either. Why don’t we settle this so everyone wins? I get the fare, and you save your NPC.”

Colson began speaking faster.

“Then you can raid the village and take it later. I promise I won’t put up any resistance.”

“... Raid it?”

“Y-yes!! If you form a clan and declare war, you can raid an enemy faction’s villages and seize them. When that happens, I’ll hand the whole village over.”

‘I just need to get the fare first. After that, I don’t care what this bastard does. I can report him to the leader.’

The Genesis Corps already rivaled the ten great clans in size. With plenty of high-ranked players in its ranks, Colson believed that once he got through the [Hell’s Gate] quest safely, he could gather the members and take revenge on Woojin.

‘Hurry up and hand it over, you bastard... Just give me the fare, and next time I’ll chew you to pieces.’

“Fine.”

“...!!”

When Woojin agreed, just as he had hoped, Colson nodded repeatedly.

“Yes!! Now we understand each other. Isn’t it so much better to end this amicably? Right?”

“There’s an NPC named Lea. Destroy her contract.”

“Lea? Hold on, let me look...”

Colson summoned a system window.

SHRRR.

When he clicked her name on the list, a window opened and an old document appeared.

“This is the contract for the NPC you mentioned.”

FWOOSH...!!

As he brought his finger to the document, it turned to ash and vanished in an instant.

“She’s free now.”

Woojin looked at Ruen, who was supporting Lea. Ruen confirmed that the contract mark on the back of Lea’s neck had disappeared, then nodded.

TING.

Only after catching the [Dead Soul’s Fare] Woojin tossed him did Colson sigh in relief.

“Well, then.”

He hurriedly began running out of the village, as though afraid someone might chase him.

“...”

Woojin watched him go in silence.

“Heh heh... Save the village? Look at the big hero. Who the hell do you think you are, taking on the Genesis Corps?”

Once he had put some distance between himself and Woojin, Colson held up his index finger and shouted, as though he had been waiting for his chance.

“Watch your neck, you bastard! The moment I get back, there’ll be a kill order on you!!”

‘Just as I thought.’

Woojin sighed, no longer even surprised. Ignoring Colson’s shouting, he approached the trembling Lea.

“I think she’s going into withdrawal.”

“You brought the drugs, right?”

“Yes. I saved some so we can have an antidote made. We should find an alchemist as soon as we reach Tekan.”

“All right. Please look after her until we get there.”

“Leave it to me.”

Woojin expressed his gratitude to Ruen.

“But... are you sure it’s all right to just let him go? Shall I go after him?”

“No. I left him alive on purpose. He can’t watch if he’s dead.”

“... What?”

“It should be... just about ready by now.”

Ruen tilted her head, wondering what he meant.

That was when it happened.

KRA-KA-KA-BOOOOM!!

KABOOOM!!!

With thunderous blasts, flames began erupting from the mana stone mine’s smokestacks.

“I told Setsuna to destroy every mining machine in there.”

Even if the mine collapsed, she would be able to escape safely using Mist Step.

RUMBLE...

The shattered smokestacks tangled together and began crashing down.

“It’d be a shame if he died and missed something this spectacular.”

Woojin smiled coldly at Colson, who would be watching from somewhere.

‘With the mine destroyed, the villagers should have some relief from the addiction for a while.’

He could not set them free, but he wanted to help them, even a little.

He had heard that there were many mana stone mines across the continent. Surely plenty of other places were in much the same condition. People were dying, one after another, in places he knew nothing about.

“Are you worried about them?”

“... I don’t know.”

Ruen asked as though she had read his thoughts.

Woojin did not understand it himself. More and more, the NPCs felt like real people to him.

Was he gradually being absorbed into this world?

Or was the game simply that well made?

Or... was he losing his mind?

“You need power.”

Was it the temperament of a queen? For a moment, her voice changed slightly.

“The power of a ruler.”

In that instant, her words made Woojin’s heart tremble in a strangely powerful way.

“Are you telling me... to become a king?”