Chapter 210

“Don’t bother stopping me; I’m going no matter what you t—”

“That sounds good. Raul, you go.”

“...Aren’t you going to stop me?”

“Why would I? No one but you can do this job.”

“What a cold-hearted kid. Aren’t you even worried about me?”

“Worry has its limits. Who am I to worry about you? You’re more experienced than me, after all.”

After saying this, Seojin added with a serious face, “You have a plan, right?”

“Of course.”

“Unfortunately, my plan isn’t running away.”

“Luckily, it is for me. I’ll be back.”

“If it gets dangerous, call me.”

“Will you come right away if I do?”

“I’ve already placed a standby at the entrance. Ready to jump out at any time.”

“Hmm.”

Raul grinned.

He had given the Red Lion Mask to Seojin as a gift, but now was slipping it over his face.

“What a terrible smell.”

It felt even worse knowing who had worn it before. A thing that had covered the faces of corpses.

Tch.

Spitting, Raul strode out of Alio’s territory.

“Hey. You heard the story, right?”

Raul spoke to the adventurer in front of him.

“Just heard it. It was impressive.”

“Don’t be alarmed by any strange sounds.”

“If I got scared by that, I’d have to give up being an adventurer.”

“Right, then.”

With that, Raul’s language changed.

His tongue twisted, he ground his teeth, and even his lips twisted up bizarrely. It was his own technique to fully use the ‘language’ he had just learned.

“Who sent you?”, Raul asked.

They didn’t attack. This mask made them recognize him as one of their allies.

“Our master. We must attack.”

“But this adventurer, you can’t attack.”

“We cannot attack.”

“Then you return. Attack later.”

“We must attack.”

Tsk. Raul clicked his tongue.

“Seojin, this won’t work. Can you pass that on, Mr. Adventurer?”

“He’s listening right now, so just say it out loud.”

“Typical of an adventurer. Anyway, it occurred to me, as far as I know, no one who has seen the face under this mask has lived to tell the tale?”

“He asks, not even one?”

“If they’re allies, maybe. But enemies, no. Even if they saw, by now, they’d be somewhere in the afterlife.”

At least that much was certain. No one targeted by them had survived, and that this situation was unthinkable in the past.

“Curiosity always gets the better of me. And having come this far, it only makes sense to get something out of it.”

“He’s telling you to stop.”

The sharp reply came back. Raul knew that the risk of his actions was his life.

But.

“Don’t you know already? The moment we give in to curiosity, is the moment we start really living.”

The next moment, Raul was already striding towards those masked men. Fortunately, there was no reaction from them. As Seojin had said, this mask made them recognize Raul as an ally.

“He says to come back now! It’s too dangerous...”

“Tsk, quiet. Are you going to take responsibility if they get provoked and attack?”

Of course, he knew that was unlikely. They were already dead, and dead people don’t much care for the shouts of the living.

Raul picked one and reached for their mask. There was no reaction. It was the touch of an ally.

And then.

“...Ugh.”

Raul groaned at what was under the hastily removed mask.

“Even I didn’t expect this.”

Under the mask was emptiness. Two red eyes glowed from under the crimson hood, but that was all. The red light shining in the void gave off a chilling feeling to the viewer.

But fortunately.

“They’re not attacking?”

Even after removing the masks, it did not attack Raul. His gamble was successful. Raul calmly turned around and returned to where he had been.

“How about it? Was it somewhat helpful?”

“...He says to come inside to talk.”

“I thought so.”

Raul’s smile, brimming with a wisdom similar to Seojin’s, from having walked a similar path, was knowing.

* * *

Crucial clue discovered

Main Quest: The Root of Evil is updated

*The empty void and two ominous red eyes are known symbols of the evil deity Gramaticus.

*The Red Lion. The grim truth behind this mask, symbolizing valor, was exactly that. An army of the dead, crafted by the evil deity from corrupted souls, aims to devour all living things as slaughterers!

A Sub-Quest is given.

*Eliminate all nearby enemies.

*Remaining targets: 107

The main quest was updated, and a new sub-quest was added. This all happened the moment Raul removed their mask.

‘I expected this, but.’

To think it would fit so precisely. It showed how meticulously the developer, who should be busy purchasing equipment somewhere, had planted clues.

‘But not all quests have to be cleared.’

That was the beauty of RPGs. One could skip quests due to “branching routes” or simply because they didn’t suit one’s taste. And to Seojin, the sub-quest that just popped up was one of those.

‘Defeat these enemies that have come looking for you. It looks simple at first glance, but it’s not that simple.’

This quest wasn’t something that could be finished with just a battle or two. If he were to take advantage of the enemies not attacking players in empire’s guilds, the battle would be very easy

But what after that? The news would reach those behind the scenes, and they would be better prepared for the next battle.

‘We have to assume they don’t know our situation yet. That’s the sensible approach. They could find out if they wanted, but they probably don’t want to increase the number of people who know about this incident.’

The conclusion was clear. Raul’s brash actions had gifted Seojin with clues, and he did not waste the opportunity.

And Raul, returning triumphantly, lost his composure upon hearing the name Seojin uttered.

“Gramaticus? Why does that name come up here? It’s an evil god.”

“Those are Gramaticus’s servants.”

“...I’m quite shocked.”

Gramaticus. The worst evil deity recorded from the dim past.

He was known as a disaster that would stop at nothing to achieve the extinction of humanity, adopting it as his very purpose for living.

“No, fine. The void red eyes. I understand that’s the symbol of the evil deity. But those are...”

“A combat unit dispatched directly from the imperial palace.”

“Exactly. Are you trying to say that the emperor is in cahoots with that side?”

“I don’t see why not?”

“If you say so, then it’s not impossible. But why?”

Raul furrowed his brows, finding it difficult to comprehend.

“He is the emperor. A person with enough power to move mountains with just a single word, dubbed grand emperor for his achievements. That person would join hands with an evil god? Without even attempting to subdue it?”

“If you think that way, true. It seems unlikely, but it’s not impossible.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“But Raul, he may not lack anything now, but was that always the case?”

“It was always the case. He was the crown prince, without any siblings to compete with, why would he take such a risk?”

At least, that was what Raul thought. It wasn’t like he had a bloody competition with his siblings—he had none. Why would the emperor, who had grown up without lacking anything, have any reason to associate with an evil god?

“Right. There’s no reason, no matter how you look at it.”

“If you know something, speak up. Don’t let me keep speaking.”

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know anything at all. But I feel like he would.”

Raul’s brows narrowed even further.

“What does that mean?”

“That’s why I said I’m being honest. I don’t have any logical evidence to put forward. None, but it feels like it might be true. An adventurer’s intuition, perhaps?”

“Is that reliable?”

“I don’t bet on low odds.”

Sometimes Seojin would take a gamble, but even then, he would have a backup plan.

The reason for appealing this to Raul now was simple.

‘There were clues everywhere.’

Throughout their journey from Valaran to Camilton, Seojin had encountered numerous events, encountered clues, and pieced them together to achieve successful outcomes.

And now was just another one of those moments.

“The general atmosphere of the Empire rejects adventurers, and an emperor who achieved feats never seen before in history, enough to allow him to gain the moniker the Grand Emperor.”

“He’s an impressive man, objectively speaking.”

“Not yet. There’s more. There was moonstone, which, it turned out, could exhibit tremendous efficiency when imbued with divine power.”

“Right.”

“While Luna is a god who loves humans, her level of intervention is unusually high. Have you ever heard of a god directly meeting with humans?”

“Never.”

“That’s normal. They sometimes give out random revelations or toss out a cryptic prophecy. That’s about the extent of what they’re allowed to do. So...what I’m getting at is, if we think about it logically.”

“What are you trying to say? That it’s the will of the gods?”

Raul hit the nail on the head. It was a great excuse for Seojin, who couldn’t say this was all a game.

But a bit more.

To persuade this man, stuck in his ways, something more was needed.

“I’m non-religious.”

“And?”

“There’s such a thing as causality, Raul. When something that shouldn’t happen... or hasn’t happened before does, there’s always a reason... Anyway, that’s it.”

“...”

“The reason Luna is so deeply involved with humans must be because it has to be that way. And in my opinion, the only being that could move a god like that is someone of equal standing.”

“And that’s Gramaticus? Okay, we’re back to square one.”

“But even the greatest evil deity can’t directly interfere in the world of humans. That’s why we’re still here, standing on this land.”

“A tool is needed, then.”

“And that would be humans. Beings with the strongest desires, and the most easily swayed.”

Seojin presented him with a plausible wrapping for his theory.

The content was ultimately the same, but the key question was whether Raul could be satisfied with that packaging. And fortunately, Raul moved as Seojin had hoped.

“There are different levels to tools too. Alright, that changes the story then. That is, if it wasn’t the emperor who chose the evil deity, but the evil deity who chose the emperor.”