The Main Character is the Villain

The atmosphere was uncomfortable. Unbearably so. Karin was trying not to even make eye contact with me, and Erina couldn't keep still next to AA. AA was just walking silently without saying a word. If he'd lost his mind and tried to stab me, I could have at least killed him, but seeing him act like someone who'd been through something terrible made me feel uneasy.

It was almost as if I were the one who had done something wrong.

We went back up the stairs and arrived in front of the door. The golem was still blocking the exit. Whether we had a knife fight or a contest, it was something we had to do after getting out, so we now had to figure out a way to open this door and leave.

"Let's try breaking it."

I said. AA didn't answer properly and just nodded his head. His movements were as stiff as a traffic guide doll, so I called AA's name once more.

"Sir Hero?"

"Ah! Yes. Yes. What did you say?"

"I said, let's break this."

I pointed to the door the golem was blocking. What part of the golem was I touching? Its buttocks? Its back? I fiddled with the golem's smooth surface. Karin and Erina drew their swords. I, too, took out my mace. Seeing me take out my mace, Karin asked.

"Aren't you going to use the holy sword?" "I'm not used to swords."

"Still, why not try hitting it with the holy sword? It might have some special effect."

Since I had just checked the holy sword's status window, I was certain no such function existed, but explaining it was truly a pain. So I just decided to do as Karin said. The sword itself was sharp, so it seemed like it could even slice through stone.

I brought the sword to the golem's hard surface. Was it because it was a famed sword? The moment the blade touched the golem, it was sliced as if it were tofu. When I touched it, it had a hardness reminiscent of iron, but was this because the sword was a famed sword? Seeing the blade dig into the stone, I pushed it in even deeper.

"Aaaaaaaaaargh!"

At the same time, a massive scream echoed out. My party and I all covered our ears and collapsed to the floor. It was because the cave had shaken for a moment. And then, a status window appeared before my eyes.

- The Mega Golem is instantly killed by the effect of the trait, A Just Price.

I couldn't understand those words. What was instantly killed? Fuck, I thought it only worked on humans. Is a golem a human?

But I didn't have time to argue about it. The golem was truly collapsing. The golem, which had been made of hard iron, was melting away like a slime. The 7th floor revealed itself before our eyes again. The golem melted into a puddle, spreading out across the floor. And the floor was endlessly absorbing the viscous fluid the golem had spilled.

"This is…"

Karin covered her mouth and slowly approached the golem's remains. The golem's body, which had been enormously swollen, was gradually shrinking. The golem, whose limbs had been indistinctly massive, was gradually taking on a human form. A human. Yes, this was a human. I called up the status window.

* The status window of the dead cannot be checked.

Fuck. Right. The continuously shrinking golem finally became a cold corpse in the form of a man. A complex magic circle was drawn on its back. Karin brushed a hand over the magic circle. Below the magic circle, there was a deep sword mark that seemed to have been made by me just now.

"It's a magic circle. Perhaps someone was transformed into a golem through magic."

"Transformed into a golem?"

"Yes. Assuming this is from the time of the ancients, that would be correct. It is said that in ancient times, there was magic that forcibly modified a criminal's body into a golem while keeping their self intact."

It was a fucking horrifying magic. If that was true, it meant this bastard had been sealed here on the 7th basement floor with his sanity intact until now. Waiting for a hero searching for a holy sword that might never come. Endlessly, without promise, unable to die or sleep.

At this, another question arose in my mind. In the first place, was it really the holy sword that was sealed like this? If it was the holy sword, shouldn't it have been stored in a place like the royal palace basement? Why was it kept in a dungeon like this? And using these untrustworthy criminal bastards, no less. Karin drew the knife from her waist.

"Karin? Why the knife?"

"Shouldn't we take the magic circle? We can't carry the corpse up, so it seems best to peel off the back skin and take only the magic circle for research."

"…There are soldiers upstairs, so how about we hand it over to them?"

"That seems like a good idea as well."

Karin's expression looked strangely disappointed. From the looks of this bitch, she seemed to have developed a taste for skinning criminals. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for her to carry a skinning dagger at her waist. To have prepared a potato peeler and a dagger, if she hadn't become a knight, she definitely would have become a serial killer on the level of Eve.

We decided to leave the corpse here for now and looked up to the upper floor again. There were six more golems above. A frightening thought suddenly occurred to me. Seeing everyone in the party eyeing the floor levels, it seemed they were all thinking the same thing.

"Perhaps, the… the people who were in the rooms here…"

AA pointed to the lowest floor with a trembling hand. Four rooms on the lowest floor. Two beds in each room, a maximum of eight people could sleep there. There were a total of seven golems in this dungeon. That means seven people. A number that roughly matched the number of beds. A space with no toilet and no food storage. A clean space with no guard force.

A man with a magic circle drawn on his back. Transformed into a golem.

They hadn't all died or disappeared. From the very beginning, we had been facing the people who stayed in this basement. Erina collapsed to the floor, her body trembling. It was a rather creepy and unsettling story. AA looked at me.

Right, the holy sword was in my hand. No, honestly, I couldn't tell if this was the holy sword or not. Perhaps this sword had been placed here to hope torture the criminals. If so, what we had to do was simple. To liberate all the golems by stabbing them.

I held the blade forward and said.

"Let's liberate them, one by one."

Since we had brought the holy sword, they no longer needed to perform their guard duties. People who came in out of curiosity could die, and it didn't seem like we could use those golems for any other purpose, so we had to eliminate them anyway.

We couldn't have AA accompany every follow-up investigation team, after all.

I went up the floors—6th floor, 5th floor, 4th floor—stabbing each of the golems' buttocks one by one. Each time, the golems shrieked piercingly and their bodies shriveled up. Did they feel immense pain as they died? No one thanked me for liberating them. Not that I expected any greetings in the first place.

As I stabbed each golem one by one, I had a thought. So if the original is human, the sword's effect works even if they've transformed. This sword has surprisingly good applications. If it worked on a golem transformed from a human, it meant this sword could also work on types like werewolves or zombies, who were originally human.

I thought the first effect was just for betrayal, but it turned out to have surprisingly good versatility.

When I gave the golem on the first floor a deep stab in the buttocks, the last golem let out a bizarre scream and transformed into a person. Just like that, this dungeon transformed into a space like a mystery-themed escape room cafe, with seven gaunt men collapsed on every floor.

A magic circle was drawn on the back of every man, and they all had their heads shaved clean and ugly marks on their hands as if they had been in handcuffs. After confirming the last man was dead, I offered a prayer in the Archdeity Church style. Erina spoke.

"You know how to mourn the dead?"

"Because I'm a high priest."

AA seemed to fall into thought watching Erina and me. Honestly, I wondered what the point of Erina's lie was at this point. No matter how much of a crazy bitch Erina was, she wouldn't spout bullshit like the 'secret art of child-making' in front of that AA.

Thus, with our own different thoughts, we went outside.

Karin, on behalf of the group, told the soldiers guarding the dungeon about the corpses on the lower floor, and the soldiers quickly took them into custody. I hadn't really noticed inside the dungeon, but now that we were outside, the corpses certainly had a different impression from the people of this kingdom.

Watching the corpses depart for the royal palace, Karin asked.

"For now, won't you all go to the royal palace? If you go with us, there will be a report and a large reward."

As the owner of the holy sword, I had to go no matter what, but Erina and AA had no particular reason to. Their mission was just the exploration of the dungeon, after all. In the first place, they were people who had no reason to be concerned with royal commands or reports.

So Karin tempted them with a 'large reward.' Erina shook her head and said.

"Ah, no. I'll be returning to my kingdom now to use the secret art of child-making…"

"Ah, yes."

Karin cut her off cleanly. I also shook my head. Erina was the type who wouldn't back down from her lie unless someone slapped her. It seemed Karin already saw Erina as a complete rag. She had been staring at Erina with such a cold gaze ever since that incident in the dungeon.

Karin looked at AA with a pitying gaze. She said.

"And you, Sir Hero?"

"Ah, I…"

"Of course, AA will come with me to Ahildern…"

AA grabbed Erina's shoulder. Erina's eyes widened as she looked at AA. Both Karin and I unconsciously reached for our weapons. It was because we naturally thought AA was going to hit Erina.

However, AA didn't do that.

"Erina. I forgive you."

"W-What?"

"It's because I'm a woman that you can't be satisfied, isn't it? Right?"

"Th-That's…"

Erina's eyes darted around, searching for something to say. But there was nothing she could say. AA smiled brightly and said.

"Still, you love me, don't you, Erina?"

"O-Of course. I've always only…!"

AA hugged Erina tightly. And then said.

"I'll come back as a man. Definitely."

Then, she kissed Erina's cheek and disappeared into the forest. Karin narrowed her eyes even more as she looked at Erina. Erina, with a dumbfounded face, watched the forest where AA had disappeared and stroked her own cheek.

I should fuck Erina one more time before I go back.