Chapter 186 : Campaign - 3
Chapter 186: Campaign - 3
Murmur. Murmur.
Cold sweat ran down my back as I forced a smile.
“I'm not sure what you're trying to ask.”
“You're only pretending not to know. We've been watching the participants' performances for the past two weeks.”
“…….”
“We know that you and Edgar have each obtained four first-place rewards.”
“We also know that becoming an MVP requires obtaining a total of eight first-place rewards.”
“…….”
“There are only four Quests left, including this one.”
“That means you have to take first place in this Quest.”
“If you don't, becoming an MVP will be impossible from that very moment.”
And yet, why was I standing here telling them to vote for the Ordinary participants?
That was what the monster meant.
Even I thought my excuse sounded pathetic.
“Well... how should I put it?”
“Out of love for humanity...”
“Hah! What nonsense.”
“So you really don't want to become the MVP.”
“…….”
“Or perhaps you simply lack confidence?”
“You don't think you can take first place in every remaining Quest, so you're trying to interfere with your rival Edgar instead?”
'That bastard... Could he actually be one of Edgar's supporters?'
The surrounding crowd became even noisier.
“Hear, hear!”
“So he's not just a coward, but a hypocrite too!”
“Get out of here!”
“Why did Lord Jehar even allow that guy in here?”
“He didn't.”
“They came here on their own.”
“They're trespassers.”
“We won't throw you out only because of Lord Jehar.”
“So disappear from our sight.”
In the end, not only did we fail to accomplish anything, we only lost even more support before retreating.
The same thing happened at several other campaign sites.
Eventually, I reached a conclusion.
'The monsters' way of thinking has no place for things like love for humanity.'
[To be fair, neither does yours, Mr. Mason.]
'Well... that's true.'
'Maybe it doesn't resonate because I'm saying something I don't actually believe.'
[Wow. You admitted it.]
[I was only joking.]
'More importantly... what do we do now?'
A week passed.
After campaigning for an entire week, we concluded that we should stop doing something that only cost us votes.
Then, like guilty criminals, we shut ourselves inside the house Jehar had provided for us.
We practically stopped eating and drinking as we desperately racked our brains.
Various ideas were proposed among our group.
Sienne spoke first.
“Mr. Benjamin.”
“What if you use your gloves to forcibly control the monsters, like you did during the Intermediary Trade?”
“That time I only had to control Beat.”
“Controlling every one of those monsters individually is completely unrealistic.”
That idea was immediately discarded.
Next, Karin spoke.
“Why make it complicated?”
“Let's just threaten them.”
“You know, that magic we used against Helena.”
“What was it called again?”
“Kanesella?”
“…….”
“Just threaten to set it off with a bang.”
“Tell them that if they don't want to die, they should distribute their votes evenly among the Ordinary participants.”
“That's such a Karin-like idea.”
“What?”
“What's wrong with it?”
“Nothing's wrong with it.”
“It's just very much like you.”
Armelia cut in.
“If someone threatened you like that, how do you think you'd respond?”
“Think from the perspective of the monsters in the Fifth Territory.”
“They'd do what we said.”
“No.”
“They'd cast all their votes for Edgar.”
“The moment the gap between first and second place exceeds twofold, the game ends immediately.”
Then Magireta would declare the game over and return the successful participants to the locations they had requested.
Of course, according to the rules, Edgar would be the only one to pass in that situation.
Even if we detonated Kanesella afterward, it'd accomplish nothing more than venting our frustration.
We probably wouldn't even have the chance to do that.
Finally, Aina spoke.
“What if we aim for a Revote instead?”
“If it doesn't seem like we can persuade them this time.”
“Just skip this round.”
“…….”
“We probably don't have enough time to convince them with only one week left.”
“But if there's a Revote, we'd gain another whole month.”
“No.”
“As I said before, if there's a Revote, we'll be eliminated almost instantly.”
The Goddess's Tears I'd duplicated and handed out had long since disappeared.
The monsters of the Second Territory were probably furious by now.
If a Revote happened, they'd cast all their votes for Edgar out of revenge.
The gap would immediately become more than double.
After I explained that, Aina let out a sigh.
“This is why people should live honestly.”
“In the end, everything comes back to you.”
“That's an excellent saying.”
“It would've been even better if you weren't the one saying it.”
“Wow... Seriously?”
“Hm?”
“Wait.”
Suddenly, a bolt of inspiration struck me.
I shot to my feet.
“Aina!”
“I knew you weren't an idiot after all!”
“How many times do I have to tell you I'm not?”
“But why?”
“What happened?”
“Because of you, I just realized something.”
“The monsters of the Second Territory are furious right now.”
“So what?”
Instead of answering, I took out a bead.
“Let's head to the Second Territory immediately.”
Drod Kuhalim's palace was in complete chaos.
We arrived on the palace rooftop.
Looking down in secret, countless angry shouts echoed below.
“Hand over that damned swindler Mason!”
“The gems that bastard gave us disappeared after only three days!”
“Just like that!”
“You filthy rat!”
“Give us our votes back!”
“Lord Drod!”
“Stop protecting Mason!”
It was complete pandemonium.
Armelia let out a groan.
“The atmosphere is terrible.”
“Well, that's only natural.”
“They're such idiots.”
“Hm?”
“They sold their precious votes for jewels.”
“And now they're crying about being scammed.”
“Their shamelessness knows no bounds.”
“Uh...”
“At this moment, I think you're the more shameless one.”
“Anyway, it's convenient that they've all gathered here.”
“I think we can begin immediately.”
I expected my companions to ask,
'Begin what?'
But none of them did.
Because someone else asked first.
“What exactly do you intend to begin?”
Drod Kuhalim!
'Damn it.'
'I wanted to finish this quietly and leave.'
Turning around, I saw Drod standing there with a stiff expression.
Renia and Beat were behind him as well.
Putting on my business smile, I said,
“Mr. Drod.”
“It's a pleasure to see you again.”
“Shouldn't you have something more important to say before greeting me?”
“I do.”
“Then speak.”
“I'm listening.”
“Why are the monsters down there making such a commotion?”
At my words, a vein bulged across Drod's forehead.
After calming himself with the patience he'd cultivated over countless years, he finally spoke.
“That wasn't the question I expected.”
“Shouldn't you be apologizing to me first?”
“Apologizing?”
“I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to.”
“They're screaming because the jewels you gave them disappeared.”
“And you already knew.”
“You knew that anything created with the Replication Bag disappears after three days.”
“…….”
“Last time, I supported you.”
“In other words, you smeared mud across my name.”
Maintaining an utterly shameless expression, I replied,
“Hm?”
“The jewels disappeared?”
“You little...”
“No.”
“I truly didn't know.”
“I never imagined duplicated items would disappear after only three days.”
“…….”
“When I received the Replication Bag, the only explanation I was given was that it duplicated items every ten seconds.”
“No one told me they'd disappear after three days.”
“If I'd known, do you really think I'd have tried bribing people with them?”
“I only have one life, you know.”
Drod slowly shook his head.
“I too was once a participant in the game.”
“One who obtained more than sixty percent of the first-place rewards.”
“…….”
“Every time Lady Magireta gave me a first-place reward, she explained everything about it without hiding anything.”
“I suppose the game was still entertaining back then.”
The word entertaining made Drod hesitate.
I licked my lips before continuing.
“That was an incredibly long time ago, wasn't it?”
“The Dragon Era and the Human Era are separated by an immense span of time.”
“…….”
“Isn't it possible that Magireta's state of mind changed during all those years?”
“That can't be.”
“As you know, Magireta will do absolutely anything for the sake of entertainment.”
“For example...”
I continued in a subtle tone.
“Just like how she hid the fact that she herself was the one who planted madness in your wife.”
Those words carried tremendous persuasive power for Drod.
He remained deep in thought for quite a while.
Finally, he spoke.
“Should I ask Lady Magireta directly?”
“Go ahead.”
“Though even if you do, I can't say whether she'll answer honestly.”
“…….”
“If you trust Magireta's words, then by all means summon her and ask.”
Last time, Drod had already been disappointed by Magireta.
He'd undoubtedly lost much of the trust he once had in her.
After all, she had been the one who destroyed his family.
'Please work.'
Outwardly, I remained perfectly calm.
But my heart pounded as though it were about to burst.
At last, Drod spoke.
“...I'll believe you.”
'I survived.'
To hide the smile spreading across my face, I lowered my head deeply.
“Thank you very much for trusting me.”
“Listen carefully.”
“I didn't say I trust you.”
“I said I will believe you.”
“…….”
“Whatever the truth may be, I'll act under the assumption that your words are true.”
“After all, I owe you a tremendous debt.”
I raised my head.
“Yes.”
“That's more than enough.”
The atmosphere relaxed.
Below us, the uproar still continued.
But at least here, a warm spring breeze seemed to blow.
Taking advantage of the moment, Beat spoke.
“That's good.”
“I didn't want to see you and Dad fighting.”
“You'd die in less than a second.”
“……That's certainly true.”
“So why did you come here?”
“To pay Lord Drod a friendly visit.”
My companions desperately maintained straight faces.
They all knew that wasn't the real reason.
'It couldn't be helped.'
If we hadn't run into Drod, I'd have gone straight to the main point.
But now that things had turned out this way, I had no choice but to improvise a little.
I spoke.
“Still, after arriving, I can see the situation is quite chaotic.”
“Although it wasn't my intention, I'm truly sorry for causing all this.”
“Hoo.”
“It's alright.”
“Anyway, I'd like to resolve this problem.”
“You're going to resolve it?”
“The angry mob surrounding your palace must be disturbing your peace, Lord Drod.”
“I'll disperse them.”
A gleam appeared in Drod's eyes.
“Disperse them?”
“How?”
“If you're planning to use force, forget it.”
“Nothing like that.”
“Then?”
“I'm already the villain anyway.”
“So I thought I'd play the role properly.”
“Of course, only if you permit it.”
He let out a small chuckle.
“As I said before.”
“You really are entertaining to watch.”
“I'm honored.”
“Very well.”
“Go ahead and do as you please.”
I bowed in gratitude.
Then turned around.
My companions grabbed my sleeve.
“Mason.”
“What exactly are you planning?”
“Just watch.”
I climbed onto the Fortress Wall and stood looking down at the monsters below.
One of them noticed me.
“Ah!”
“Wait!”
“Isn't that him?”
“Mason...”
“You've got some nerve showing yourself.”
“Get down here!”
“You bastard!”
“Give us back our jewels!”
I signaled to Berseum.
He immediately cast Voice Amplification Magic.
With my voice booming across the area, I shouted,
“Mwahahaha!”
“You fools.”
“You really fell for it.”
“Y-You bastard!”
“You were so blinded by greed.”
“I merely promised to give you jewels.”
“And I most certainly did.”
“You son of a...”
“I neglected to mention they'd disappear after three days...”
“But that's hardly my fault, is it?”
“You never asked.”
The already furious crowd exploded.
“You dare say that!”
“Even if Lord Drod stops us, it won't matter!”
“You die here today!”
“There's nothing left to discuss!”
“Kill him!”
These were beings who had lived for countless ages.
Yet despite all those years, they fell effortlessly for my shallow provocation.
'Perhaps they're even angrier because they were deceived by a mere human.'
Right in front of them, I deliberately took out the Replication Bag.
“Now, now.”
“Everyone calm down.”
“See this?”
“The original Goddess's Tear is still inside this Replication Bag.”
“……!”
“If I want to, I can duplicate Goddess's Tears and hand them out all over again.”
“Hah.”
“Trying to appease us now?”
“They'll just disappear again after three days.”
“Oh, no.”
“When duplicating an item with the Replication Bag, the owner can set how long the duplicate remains.”
“I simply have to set it to 'Permanent Duplication.'”
Of course, that was a lie.
The Replication Bag had no such function.
Every duplicate disappeared after exactly three days.
This lie was essential for my plan to work.
'And judging by the expressions on their faces...'
It seemed they had completely believed me.