Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?
Chapter 221: This World Is (6)

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer

Chapter 221 This World Is (6)

「Why, why, just why…?! They’re not your responsibility! Don’t fall for that damn Demon’s tricks!」

…Yes, that’s how it should be!!

* * *

Boom!

“Uwaaaah!! What are we going to do now?!!”

“What else? We just have to hold out…”

Bam! Another violent impact shook the building with a resounding crash.

Crack. Dust rained down as fractures spread across the walls and ceiling, and the ground shook.

They had no choice but to endure. That’s what Meister was about to say, but his mouth clamped shut as if it’d been glued.

“…Or maybe the building will collapse first?”

“Don’t even joke about that!! I refuse to be buried alone with you!?”

“As if I’d want to be buried with an idiot like you!? I wouldn’t even want you to leave flowers at my grave!!”

They were screaming at each other as if seconds away from grabbing each other by the hair, but then they grit their teeth upon seeing the Gryphon ram into the building again.

Unless they wanted to end up buried together, forever misunderstood as close companions in death, there was only one option left.

“…No choice, then! We have to kill it and go!”

“Okay, but with what weapons?!”

“Hah, don’t underestimate a grand master’s workshop!”

Meister’s hands darted to his crafting tools, typically used to cut metal, melt objects, or freeze things solid.

Boom, boom!

“We’re gonna die at this rate!!”

“Shut up!!”

Clang, clang. Meister frantically tightened bolts and attached an improvised handle to something. Clank, clank. After striking it a few times with a hammer, a burst of flames suddenly hissed from the front.

“Alright, let’s see how it likes a bit of fire!”

Fwhoooosh!

Meister unleashed the full blast on the Gryphon. The heat engulfed its beak and feathers that had pushed inside the workshop.

Kieeeeergh.

“Did it work?”

The Gryphon’s head jerked back, retreating outside.

And then…

Boom!

“Uwaaah! You just made it angrier!!”

“Damn it, the firepower’s too weak because I just threw some stuff together…!”

The Gryphon slammed into the building again as if mocking the idea of them fighting back. Instead of pushing its head inside again, it was attempting to bring down the entire structure.

Meister’s mind was racing.

“Damn it, isn’t there anything among your so-called brilliant inventions that can actually help us right now?!”

“You haven’t done a single thing, yet—Ah!”

At that moment, Meister’s eyes lit up. What they had narrowed in on was the Arcane Battery.

“Uwargh! Stop standing there like an idiot! If you don’t want your skull crushed, at least try to protect your head!!”

“Would you please shut that loud mouth of yours for just one second!”

Deathbringer lunged, pulling Meister close as debris rained down from above. Thud. Chunks of stone and wood crashed onto them at that moment.

If it weren’t for Deathbringer’s protection, a large rock would’ve smashed directly into Meister’s head.

“That could work… but still…”

Not that Meister had even the common decency to express his gratitude to him.

Instead of thanking Deathbringer, he kept muttering to himself while shaking his head.

If he could get them out of here alive, wouldn’t that be gratitude enough? At least, that’s the kind of feeling he was going for. Not that he’d asked the opinion of its intended recipient.

Kieeeeaargh!!

“Damn it!”

Meanwhile, Deathbringer gritted his teeth and whipped around as he protected Meister from the falling stones caused by the Gryphon slamming into the building again.

But this time, part of the wall had finally given way. The Gryphon continued ramming into the weakened structure as if determined to tear through it!

“Hey, how exactly am I using this?!”

At this rate, either the entire building would collapse, or the Gryphon would break through the wall and get inside.

And neither of those outcomes were in their favor.

Deathbringer gripped the flamethrower again. He knew its firepower wasn’t quite enough, but at this point, even a desperate effort was better than nothing.

“Say something, you insane wizard bastaaaard!!!”

Meister suddenly shot up from the ground, sounding like a crowing raven.

“Here! This goes here! And that goes there! Got it?!”

“Yeah, got it, you damn lunatic!”

“Then just hold that thing off, okay?!”

“What did you just say?!”

“I’m going to blow that damn bird’s head off, so buy me some time!”

“Then say that from the start, you condescending prick! You’re so damn smart, yet you never use your words!”

Still, it seemed he’d come up with a plan to overcome this situation. For the first time, Deathbringer felt a shred of hope at the mention of blowing off that bird’s head.

Boom!

…Even if he wasn’t sure whether Meister would finish it off first or if the Gryphon would break through the wall and shove them straight into its beak.

“Eat shit, you Demon bastard!”

But at this point, they were already stuck in the same ship (whether they liked it or not), and with said boat about to go under, he had to cooperate with Meister to survive, even if he didn’t trust him.

There was no way in hell Deathbringer would be dying the same day as that smug bastard, so he aimed the flamethrower and fired.

Kieeeaargh!!

Like a cat trying to catch a rat, the Gryphon shoved its head and front claws deeper through the hole and shrieked in agony.

Deathbringer had aimed for the most tender-looking flesh, so the result was pretty spectacular.

Boooom! Boom!

However, even as its feathers were singed and its flesh scorched, the Gryphon didn’t so much as think of retreating.

No, it lashed out even harder. Its eyes had nearly melted, and now, it was beyond furious. Its long, sharp, yellow talons, resembling those of an eagle, flashed dangerously.

Bam, bam!

The cracked walls, already riddled with holes, crumbled even further under its rampage.

If Meister hadn’t reinforced his workshop’s walls with rebar, they would’ve fully collapsed by now.

Fwhoosh, pfft, sputter.

“What the hell?! Why did it stop?!”

For some reason, this hunk of fire-spraying metal suddenly stopped. Deathbringer smacked its metal casing, but nothing.

After coughing up a final few weak flames, it went completely silent as if it had fulfilled its mission: “Uwaaaargh!” Deathbringer finally screamed, realizing his only weapon had just broken.

Boom, boom!

Meanwhile, the Gryphon’s attack grew even stronger. Without the heat keeping it at bay, it began slamming against the hole more persistently.

Crack!

“Sh-shit, fine! Let’s see who dies first, you overgrown chicken-headed bastard!!”

Deathbringer narrowly dodged the Gryphon’s talons and, in a desperate attempt, grabbed his cursed dagger. “Even if I die, I’ll tear your throat open first!!” His roar seemed to have some effect, seeing as the Gryphon took a step back.

Slash.

Or perhaps it was because of the damage caused by their clash. The cursed blade had sliced deep into its foreleg, and the beast, wary of further injury, kicked off the wall with its hind legs.

“Damn it, Mister Grand Master! How much longer?!”

“Almost done!”

While Deathbringer was throwing everything he had into blocking the entrance, Meister wasn’t just playing around either.

Clank, clank.

He was salvaging every last piece of metal and machinery in his workshop to forge into a single device.

“What the hell is that?!”

“A disposable item worth 610 million Gal.”

If he totaled up the cost of every piece of equipment going into it, this thing would be around 610 million Gal. And if it worked exactly as he’d theorized, that Gryphon’s head would go, along with the entire pile of machinery he used to make it.

“Damn, that’s insanely expensive…”

“Still cheaper than my life.”

However, a few ruined machines were nothing compared to what he planned to achieve in the future.

Without a hint of hesitation, Meister tore apart everything he’d painstakingly collected over the years. He stripped outer panels for parts, then used the panels as reinforcement, bolting, welding, and piecing everything together to somehow create something incredible.

Clang.

“Alright. Done.”

“It’s done?”

“When I give the signal, lie flat on your stomach. It’s the same thing I fired from the wall earlier.”

“Shit, you said that thing only cost 30 million Gal to make.”

“And a year of work on top of that. In a year, we’d get eaten a thousand times over. You wanna wait?”

“No.”

Most people didn’t realize it, but being able to trade money for time was a kind of privilege. After all, nothing was more precious than time.

“Alright, you parentless, brainless bird bastard. Since you melted the equipment I practically raised like my own children, I’m going to melt your whole head off.”

With that, Meister slammed the Arcane Battery into the final circuit. After all his shaking and charging, the Battery blazed with a blinding glow.

Boom!

“So open wide, you oversized buzzard! I’m about to shove the brightest light you’ve ever seen right down your throat!”

And right at that moment, the wall finally collapsed, and the Gryphon forced its head through the hole.

“Die.”

When Meister pulled the trigger, a colossal surge of Arcane Power pierced through the Gryphon’s open peak.

A beam of light melted through everything in a straight line from the earth below to the sky above.

.

.

.

* * *

* * *

Bam, bam, bam!

“Haah, it’s done.”

“Shit, it’s finally over?”

One wall had completely collapsed from the Gryphon’s assault, and the beam of light, which had torn through everything in its way, shook the ground once more.

As a result, the ceiling of the already fragile structure finally caved in, Deathbringer and Meister barely managing to escape from the rubble.

“Whew. For the next workshop, I’m definitely going to design everything myself, the foundation included.”

“Please do. So we never have to go through this again.”

At least it was only the ceiling that had collapsed. Had the entire building gone down, they wouldn’t have made it out.

“Damn.”

Well, calling this fortunate was a bit much, though.

Meister grimaced as he looked at his ruined workshop. Even if he cleaned up the mess, was there even anything left worth salvaging?

“Whoa…”

Deathbringer, on the other hand, was staring at something else entirely. The first thing he saw after crawling out of the wreckage was the Gryphon’s lifeless corpse with a perfect hole going through it.

“That’s one hell of a clean hole…”

It looked like someone had punched out dough with a cookie cutter. Its head was completely disintegrated, and a circular mark was seared into what remained of its body.

It wasn’t just the Gryphon, but the buildings as well. Even though the beam had been too blinding for them to look at directly, they could see its aftermath. A massive trench had been carved straight through the city, following its exact trajectory.

Not just Meister’s workshop, but the buildings beyond it and those even further beyond that were gone!

“…At this level, wouldn’t this even be effective against Great Demons?”

“No idea. I haven’t tested if this is stronger than the one fired from the wall. Hell, we never properly measured that one’s power either.”

With every shot costing a fortune, who the hell could afford a proper test? That said, this one was likely stronger.

The Arcane Battery alone wasn’t enough, so he’d embedded seven incredibly rare Arcane Power amplifiers into the device. Those alone were worth at least 300 million Gal.

“…It’s still intact?”

“What the hell?!”

“Not the Gryphon, this.”

“Damn it, say that first!”

Deathbringer had been about to poke at the Gryphon’s corpse when he jerked back in shock. Meanwhile, Meister reached into the molten scrap, pulling something out.

Most of the machinery had melted, but a few things were still salvageable.

“Five left… not bad…”

Three of the amplifiers were on their last legs, and two were more or less functional. The remaining two had melted completely.

But honestly, wasn’t this a damn luxury compared to what he’d expected? He’d been fully prepared for all seven to have melted.

“This one’s still good… and this one…”

Squatting over the pile of iron, he dug deeper, and surprisingly, most of the core components had survived.

Sure, their condition… wasn’t great, but they were technically still usable.

“If I play my cards right, I might be able to fire it one more time.”

Of course, that was a big if. He wasn’t 100 percent confident he could actually do it.

To use an example, even if a flight formula looked flawless in theory, in practice, you might still snap your neck before ever getting off the ground. That was magic engineering in a nutshell.

“…Are you serious?”

“I’m not sure. Too many components could melt instantly the moment I power it on.”

Rather than banking on something this unstable, it would be better to cut their losses and walk away. Of course, they couldn’t exactly carry all this and rejoin the city guards.

Meister only packed the purification device he originally planned to take and a backup weapon—a crude staff—just in case.

“What are you doing? If you’re just gonna sit there and—”

“Then why not build it and give it to me?”

“What?”

“You said it might fire one more time.”

“I also said I wasn’t sure. And even ignoring that, why, pray tell, would I give it to you?”

Even half-destroyed parts could be repaired with time. Did he not know how much they were worth?

Meister was about to say more, but his words stuck in his throat.

“I want to land a hit on that Demon.”

…Well, that was rather unexpected. Even if they went back to the city walls, they already knew this weapon wouldn’t work on that thing… Wait. Could it be?

“…You’re going after the fire giant?”

“Yeah.”

Deathbringer grabbed the discarded equipment, stuffing whatever he could carry into his bag. The way his hands roughly manhandled those delicate parts truly infuriated him.

“You’ll be marching to your death, you know? Are you out of your mind?”

“If I die, that’s my problem. It’s not like you’ll die, right? I’m going alone, so just build it.”

“You lunatic…”

Did this idiot forget that all the labor and materials would come from him? Sure, once the weapon was built, Deathbringer would be the one risking his life taking it to the Demon…

“Just why would you go there?”

“The iron wall, I mean, the Hero is there, isn’t she?”

Watching him fumble with the equipment was seriously getting on his nerves. Meister stormed back inside the building and snatched the parts from Deathbringer’s hands.

He didn’t resist, probably realizing that he, a layman, shouldn’t be messing with this stuff.

“Miss Fighter is fast, so I trust she can easily escape if things go bad… but Miss Hero doesn’t even have that.”

For someone clad in full plate, the Inquisitor was surprisingly agile… but only by ordinary people’s standards. Compared to the Demon Knight or Berserk, she was still slow.

“Besides… We don’t know how, but the fact that the Demons came to us means they’ve already spread throughout the city, right? In that case, it’d be better for the Hero to finish things quickly and regroup with the city guards.”

Moreover, the Inquisitor had the ability to protect many people at once with her barriers.

He wasn’t trying to say that “Berserk was less valuable than the Inquisitor,” but realistically, the Inquisitor could help more people in this situation.

“So please just hurry up and build it. I’ll blast that bastard’s head off and bring Miss Hero back.”

He despised himself for being too weak to protect everyone and having to choose who to prioritize.

Meister’s eyes darkened.

“You’re insane.”

“Oh, come one. You’re one to talk.”

“Even if I build it, do you think you can actually fire it?”

“Then just teach me how!”

“Do you know how likely it is to break while you’re on the way? Do you want me to teach you how to fix it, too?”

“Well, then what the hell do you want me to do…?”

“I’d rather shoot it myself than shove knowledge into that empty head of yours.”

Meister was trying to sound rational.

But this was pure insanity.

“And if you really want to help, do something more efficient, you idiot! Crack open the vault inside! Blow up the waterway and flood that district!”

It was truly nothing but madness.

* * *

There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding.

What's driving me isn’t, as one of the voices said, a sense of responsibility toward them. I’m definitely not stepping up because I feel obligated to act.

Well, being strong doesn’t automatically mean I have to save them.

「Then why…?!」

If I had to describe it using words, I suppose it would be something like morality. Or goodwill, kindness.

Because it’s the right thing to do, and my morals won’t let me turn away from them.

「That’s…」

Hah, what a saint. Well, I guess that works for now.

「But…!」

Ah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to say. I’m seriously relieved to know there’s a way home… but that doesn’t mean I’m letting you guys off the hook for putting me through so much bullshit.

「…!」

Sit tight. Once this mess is handled, I’ll have you tell me everything. Who you really are, why I ended up here, and every other secret you might be keeping.

So don’t even think about hiding anything anymore.

Hah, fine.

「You, just why…?」

I smiled faintly as both the mocking voice and the voice on the verge of tears slowly faded away.

I know, it’s stupid. But if I can go home anyway, wouldn’t it be better to push a little harder and save more people along the way? Wouldn’t that be the right thing to do?

If I just hold out for a little longer, I could save so many people.

「Sob…」

Teardrops splattered onto my cheek at my awkward muttered words. It was quite comforting for some reason.

I still don’t know why you’d been so silent, but at least you were someone who’d cry for me.

「I shouldn’t have brought you here… I sh-shouldn’t have…」

There was someone here who could express the grief I couldn’t bear to express…

And that was truly comforting.

____