“What do you mean, what bet? The one you made with the demon...”

Meister pushed away from the bars and turned toward the Demon Knight. His rational mind, which had been irritably wondering why the man was acting so stupid, revised its assessment midsentence.

The Demon Knight he had seen so far was not Generic Idiot Number One, but Ordinary Person Number One, someone he could actually reason with.

And now Ordinary Person Number One had suddenly been downgraded to Generic Idiot Number One? There had to be a reason.

For instance, perhaps he had genuinely lost his memories, not his intelligence.

Meister recalled what his grandfather had relayed to him. [“Up until the moment I fired the flare.”] If those words had not left out some hidden circumstances, then they were the truth in their entirety.

In other words, the Demon Knight had no memory of anything between firing the flare and waking up here.

... He could remember neither making a bet with the demon nor even the warning he himself had given at the end.

Meister’s head began to throb.

“... From what I heard, some kind of bet kept the demon inside you from so much as harming us, let alone killing us. Everyone, myself included, assumes that bet was between you and the demon.”

Still, he had to say what needed saying.

He hurriedly explained the situation to the Demon Knight. Apparently quite surprised, the man turned slightly toward him as well, his lips parting a fraction before closing again.

“... Did it tell you the terms of the bet?”

At any rate, it seemed he had only appeared evasive because he could not remember, not because he had actually grown stupid.

Meister was rather pleased to see the Demon Knight refrain from wasting time with questions like “Is that true?” or remarks like “I don’t remember that.” If one of the few people he could reason with had turned into an idiot, he would have regretted it for roughly an hour. What a relief.

“It said it would come back out if we tried to kill you.”

“If that were true, keeping silent would have served it better.”

“I agree. The problem is that it claimed telling us that condition was itself part of the bet. If it was bluffing, fine. But if it was telling the truth, we would have had to face a Great Demon without anyone capable of fighting it.”

In that sense, it was truly a stroke of heavenly luck that the Demon Knight had awakened as himself. Not just for the Demon Knight, but for every human here.

“Besides, you left us a message telling us to make thorough preparations. We had little choice but to trust it rather than rush things and ruin everything.”

“... I left a message.”

“Yes.”

He had expected as much, but the man did not even remember leaving that message.

Facing a man whose face was concealed by his hair and the night, Meister brushed his own bangs aside once more. He wanted a smoke.

“... It said it didn’t want to lose the vessel it had finally obtained. That’s probably what started the bet. The problem is how the terms were negotiated. Does anything come to mind?”

“...”

But he had no fire. That was always the problem. Fire was still precious in this world. Fire that helped people instead of burning or tormenting them was so very scarce.

“You there, stop!”

Meanwhile, the knight standing some distance away, as though wary of the Demon Knight, straightened up.

So did the soldiers. They swiftly shook off their laxity and adjusted their grips on their weapons. Their attention was focused entirely on someone approaching hesitantly.

Judging by both clothing and posture, the newcomer barely qualified as an adventurer at best. The person startled and stopped short.

“This area is off-limits!”

Now that the newcomer had stopped, there was no need for further hostility. Maintaining a reasonable level of vigilance, one soldier stepped forward.

“Um...”

The newcomer’s eyes darted about. The sheer awkwardness almost made their caution seem unnecessary. Even Meister, who had not been nearly as on edge as the soldiers, felt himself deflate.

“Um, well, is there really no way I can go in?”

The voice was almost servile in its meekness. This did not seem to be someone who had come with any great resolve. A tiny tail of short, ashen hair, somehow gathered and tied together, swayed with each movement of the head.

“If you have business here, identify yourself first.”

“I-I’m an adventurer. I came with the reinforcements.”

“Your token.”

“Here.”

The newcomer looked for all the world like an ordinary civilian with no combat experience, yet possessed an Adventurer’s Token. Meister narrowed his eyes, studying the visitor.

He had time to do so because his conversation with the Demon Knight had petered out.

Well, he would much rather have continued that discussion than studied some novice... but the Demon Knight did not seem ready for that.

“Why did you approach?”

“Well, I have something to deliver...”

“To whom?”

“To, um, that gentleman over there...”

An adventurer with something to give the Demon Knight, then. Meister looked for the item the adventurer wanted to deliver. The large bundle in the visitor’s hands made it easy to guess.

It was just... wrapped and tied in leather, so he could not make out its contents.

“... Ah.”

A faint sigh came from behind him. It was the Demon Knight, though the sound did not strike him as negative. More precisely, the man seemed to recognize what the adventurer had brought.

“Is it important?”

“... Perhaps.”

He had asked in a near whisper, and the answer was not a denial. That was enough.

“Unverified items cannot be given to a prisoner—”

“Ah, looks like what I ordered is here.”

Meister spoke with exaggerated emphasis. Certainly, if even the Demon Knight had not recognized it, there would have been no reason to go out of his way to pass it along—it might be dangerous. But if he knew what it was, surely it ought to reach him.

That was a right the Demon Knight naturally deserved as a human being. Something he should not be stripped of for a crime that was no crime at all.

“Quite the work ethic you have. You could have given it to me later.”

Meister therefore brushed past the soldiers trying to stop him and approached the adventurer. The adventurer looked a little flustered, but quickly adjusted their expression.

“I heard it was urgent... It took me all day to find you, so I thought I ought to deliver it as quickly as possible after the delay.”

“Right. Thank you.”

Ah, that quick wit must be what made an adventuring career possible. Awarding extra points for perceptiveness, Meister accepted the bundle.

Of course, the soldiers looked as though they wanted to object. Even that was resolved when Meister glared at Sergei, who rolled his eyes about before giving the soldiers a pointed look.

“Meister, your conversation...”

“Just a little longer and I’ll be done. I don’t think I’ve been here all that long, do you?”

Meister waved the adventurer away and returned to the bars. He saw the Demon Knight lifting his head slightly to look at him.

The distant torch stand dimly outlined a painfully gaunt face.

“... You.”

“Here.”

Meister pressed himself as close to the iron bars as he could, concealing the handoff from the soldiers. It was fortunate the gaps were wide enough for an arm.

“...”

Now, however, the recipient was the problem. Even after Meister had gone this far, he hesitated to reach out.

Blending into the darkness, his figure barely picked out by the faint light, the man flexed his fingers. As they moved, his fingertips sank into pitch-black shadow or let orange light slide over them, like a night sky holding shooting stars.

“Aren’t you taking it?”

But Meister did not like shooting stars. In the most miserable days of his life, the only things that had given him hope were the stars visible through a little window. And did a shooting star not mean one of those stars falling to earth?

So he disliked them. He deliberately hurried the man along. At last, the hesitant man reached out.

“You wouldn’t have anything to put inside this, would you?”

Naturally, he had not handed over the leather wrapping as well. Having told the soldiers it was his, he needed something to show them when he left.

“...”

After taking the contents—which looked like a stack of papers—the Demon Knight remained silent for a moment.

“Take these.”

Then he held out things to fill the leather wrapping. There was quite an assortment: handkerchiefs, head coverings, regional specialties and handicrafts from several places. Meister had no idea how he had come by them.

At that point, though, Meister was too dumbfounded even to laugh. It struck him anew that the Demon Knight remained confined there solely because he wished to be.

Not because of the iron bars, the soldiers’ vigilance, or a lack of strength to escape. Purely because he allowed it.

“... Thank you.”

Apparently, that was also as much conversation as he would permit. Wondering what exactly those words of thanks were for, Meister turned away as the other man did.

He had gained few clues, but it was time to return and think them over.

* * *

“If you’re grateful, think about staying alive. Nothing disgusts me more than a pointless death dressed up as a sacrifice for everyone else.”

I smiled bitterly at Meister’s words. A sacrifice for everyone else. Could this really be called that?

Was it right to dress up my simple, overwhelmed desire to rest as a sacrifice?

“...”

Most people wanted to kill me, but that did not make me regret struggling for their sake. In the first place, it had been less an effort for everyone else than something I had done because I knew I could not bear watching people die.

Nor did I resent those who wanted to execute me. Of course not. Wasn’t it only natural to fear something immensely powerful that you could do nothing about?

Just as people of old had deified natural disasters or feared them as the work of demons. Just as they had preferred to blame someone’s wicked deeds for incurring heaven’s wrath rather than search for the principles behind them.

Humans were simply that sort of animal.

“Hey.”

But.

But...

“Don’t even think about getting out.”

There were moments when raw malice and rejection became emotionally exhausting, even when I understood and accepted the reasons behind them.

Even knowing that humans were simply that sort of animal, even knowing their behavior was perfectly understandable in these circumstances, there came a time when my heart could not accept it.

“Don’t worry.”

Still, I did not want to complain about how unfair it was that no one recognized my suffering. Nor did I want to look back on what I had done and regret it.

After all, if I admitted that, what would become of all the efforts I had made? Of my best? Of my struggle to face the present?

“I have no intention of leaving.”

I did not want everything I had done to become meaningless. So I endured.

But I was in no shape to endure the flood of negative emotions as well. I did not even want to withstand those. I lacked the stamina in the first place. I did not want to ask anyone to acknowledge my hardships, but even reacting to insults, whether with anger or a laugh, felt like too much trouble.

Yes, enough that living on while enduring their hostility felt like too much.

“Hah.”

Letting out a small breath, I drew up one knee and rested my head against it. In my hands was the information about the “Demon Knight” I had requested two months ago, but I had little inclination to read it. Even discovering things, interpreting them, and drawing conclusions felt like too much effort.

The strong likelihood that I would die if things continued this way only added to my lethargy. If death was going to render it all meaningless anyway, I did not want to bother using my head.

I wanted to rest.

I closed my eyes, my head buried against my knee.

My parents. I wanted to see my parents.

.

.

.

“Oh, Great Sage.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

... But the world apparently had no intention of letting me rest.

In my light doze, I sensed another commotion behind me. Someone had come to see me despite the late hour.

“What brings you here...?”

“The Lord asked me to check on his condition.”

Judging by their exchange, the visitor was apparently a Great Sage, no less. The voice sounded like someone other than the Archmage, though.

But did I really have to respond? Did I have to break the paltry peace this silence and stillness afforded me?

I curled up a little more around my hollow belly, having eaten nothing since waking. Once starvation passed a certain threshold and even hunger faded, the sensation was surprisingly comfortable. Provided, of course, that I did not have to move.

“You don’t seem to be asleep. May I speak to you?”

“How do you know he isn’t asleep?”

“Because he looked at me.”

“... But his back is turned.”

“In the world you see, perhaps.”

But the visitor showed no sign of giving up easily. Listening to the two voices go back and forth, I let out a faint breath.

I still did not want to deal with him.

“Hmm. Step away for now.”

“Pardon?”

“We need to speak alone. I mean go away, whether you wait nearby or head back first.”

“... Well, all right. If that’s how it is. I’ll wait over there. Give me a signal when you’re leaving.”

... I did not want to deal with him.

“At last, we can speak alone. I apologize for disturbing your rest. What I have to say would be troublesome if anyone overheard.”

I really did not want to deal with him.

“Well, then. Are you truly not going to speak to me?”

Really—

“Precious soul from another world.”

Huh?

Is It a Problem If the Protagonist Is Obsessed with Staying in Character? (Serialized)

Author │ Hae Inseol

Publisher │ Kim Juhyeong

Published by │ Jple Media Co., Ltd.

Marketing │ Han Jaehyeok

Address │ Suite 1101, 11th Floor, Ace Techno Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)

Email │ [email protected]

Website │ http://blog.naver.com/jayplemedia1

ⓒ Hae Inseol 2022

※ This work is published by Jple Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of its contents may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.

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