༺ Prelude to Total War ༻
Though situated in the heart of the imperial city, it was considered the farthest outskirts — the “back alley.”
“…Where is this?”
“How long will you keep addressing me informally, even when you’re my maid?”
“S-shut up…!”
I had brought Alice into the most secretive area within this back alley.
“In the back alleys… to such a place?”
Alice, who was intently eyeing me from behind, seemed unaware of this place, indicating that security was rigorously maintained.
Indeed, this location was where I had been most meticulously prepared for this role. Naturally, security there was thorough.
– Creak… Creak…
“You… How much influence did you have in this empire?”
As I touched the sturdy and solid iron gate, as robust as the main gate of the Imperial Palace, and it began to open slowly, Alice looked at me with a frightened expression and asked.
Indeed, anyone would be frightened upon seeing the vast space beyond the open door.
Also, the one accompanying her was Frey, the most wicked villain, and rogue in the Empire… Well, no need to say it; anyone could imagine that feeling well enough.
“In the end, the Moonlight Lord’s exclusive assassin is an ordinary woman. Just looking at this sight makes you shrivel in fear.”
“S-shut your trap.”
Amid the chaotic atmosphere coming from the prison, she, drenched in cold sweat, straightened up, perhaps wounded in her pride, and confidently stepped forward.
“Sav… save me… please…”
“F-forgive me…”
“…..!”
However, as anguished screams echoed from all directions, her tense expression revealed a sense of nervousness.
“This isn’t your first time seeing such a sight, is it?”
“…Kreuk.”
Addressing her in a calm voice, I urged her forward with my footsteps while quietly thinking.
‘Indeed Clana. She’s quite skilled at managing things.’
Of course, this place wasn’t intended for my amusement. It was simply a “Secret Prison” where we gathered and detained all the Empire’s trash.
It was tricky to imprison them in the imperial prison since the emperor and the crown prince managed it. And, sending them to the Church’s prison was like entrusting fish to a cat.
Hence, I had to create a new prison.
“P-please… just kill me…”
“Spare me…”
The ones screaming over there were nothing more than trash beneath human worth, not even worthy of a fresh start.
Therefore, someone like Isabel, who once made a deal with the Demon King and initiated the attack on the commoner dormitory, Empress Ramie and Rifael, and my shadow friends, who used to manage the young slaves now owned by Lulu, were imprisoned here.
While it might be tempting to just kill them, to fix this corrupt world, I needed to use them as much as possible.
However, they seemed frail recently.
Lulu often brought Miho here. So, was that the reason behind this change?
“So… why did you come here… sir?”
“Of course, I have someone to meet here.”
Looking around at the wretched individuals unworthy of pity, I glanced at Alice, who had been watching my reaction and adjusting her tone to formal speech. Together, we headed deeper into the prison.
“Wait here.”
“…?”
“Why? Do you want to come with me?”
“No.”
“Then stay there quietly. It’s an order.”
I left Alice outside and quietly entered the room at the far end.
“…Ebub, eub.”
Before me was a miserable-looking woman.
“Eub! Ebub!”
The one with covered eyes and mouth was none other than Vener.
“Could you be a bit quieter…?”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Uuuuuugh!”
After silently observing her, I whispered something in her ear, and Vener began to thrash violently.
“What’s wrong, Ms. Vener, the eldest daughter of the ‘Hylin’ family?”
“……!!!”
Upon hearing my words, she stopped and took a deep breath.
“If you keep thrashing around, I might reveal your secret to the world.”
“………”
“Right, now this is better.”
As expected, her weakness was quite useful.
“You’ll have to keep being good like this.”
It seemed like the foundation for completing the “Make Friends” mission had been securely in place.
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A few hours before, Roswyn went to find Ruby.
– …You are the most despicable person I’ve ever known.
She was staring blankly at the system window floating in front of her.
“Frey…”
Roswyn had repeatedly paused and played back videos for a few days, watching everything Frey had done.
– Boom! Booom…
– Hooo…
As she reached the final moments of the video, what she watched was Clana, who was denouncing Frey and preparing for the upcoming battle with the Demon King’s army.
– Sizzle…
The scene quickly passed by, from Clana being killed by the Demon King to Frey holding her chilling body as they headed to the altar, only to be attacked in the eye by the canary, possessed by Clana’s soul.
– Knock, knock, knock…
– Roswyn, are you there?
Soon, the screen showed Frey, looked like he was about to die at any moment.
– Creak…
When he knocked on a dilapidated cabin, Roswyn came out.
– Th-the p-p-poison I-a-a-asked for…
– Here.
– Th-th-thank..
– Forget that. Now just get lost.
After examining the poison with trembling hands, Frey took a flower from his pocket and offered it to Roswyn. However, she merely spoke in a cold voice.
– You plan to use that and then commit suicide? In that case, hurry up, take it, and get lost.
Frey’s eyes dilapidated upon hearing that. He then lowered his head and asked.
– Since this is the end, just tell me one thing. Do you like yellow flowers? Or red flowers?
Then Roswyn replied with a smirk.
– I hated everything you gave from the beginning. It didn’t matter what color it was.
– Ah…
– You clueless bastard.
She slammed the door at the end of the words.
“…………”
The current Roswyn stared at the scene with lifeless eyes.
In the so-called Cycle 1, Frey always visited Roswyn when he committed severe wrongdoings.
Because she was the only one he could do any good deed, and since she was a system-assigned helper, doing good for her didn’t count toward the karma needed to unleash the Hero’s Armament.
Frey visited her when Serena, Irina, or Ferloche died. But Roswyn always treated him coldly.
Frey knew it too, so as he grew older, his visits to Roswyn, which had been daily when he was young, gradually became less frequent.
Of course, Roswyn’s dislike for him was inevitable.
It was because, in Cycle 1, Frey was truly a wicked villain.
So, not only Roswyn but everyone else would naturally treat him that way.
– You’ve suffered because of me all this time, right…? I’m sorry, Roswyn…
However, fraught with guilt and self-reproach, the last time Frey visited her, he walked along the blazing street with poison in hand, staggering and muttering.
He appeared even more pitiful to anyone who knew his truth and circumstances.
– Gulp, eeee…
It was heartbreaking when she saw him banging his head on the kitchen table after he committed an “immoral sin” by poisoning his father.
– You bastard, why…?
– …It’s to get the system.
In the final moment, seeing him embrace the Demon King and unleash the Hero’s Armament by gathering all the evil deeds he had committed, the scene became even more poignant.
Even those unrelated to him would be sad witnessing his chronicle. However, as she looked at the whole thing, Roswyn only had a vacant expression with dried tears.
“That…?”
As she absentmindedly stared at the screen, which had turned white for a while, something caught Roswyn’s eye.
– Kugugugugu…
The Demon King’s disguise was unveiled as the Hero’s Armament went berserk.
“…………..”
Having seen that, Roswyn quietly got up from her seat.
– Ssk…
Then, she grabbed the top-tier potions meant for Frey, in case she might be able to save him, various offensive scrolls, and escape scrolls, and then stood up from her seat.
“I need to confirm…”
She had delayed it until the end, but it was an inevitable hypothesis that needed to be verified.
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Back to the current moment.
“Are you… in a lot of pain?”
“Oh, did you come here because you worry about me…?”
“Heik.”
Roswyn timidly asked Ruby, who was lying on the bed. When Ruby responded with another question with an unsettling expression, Roswyn involuntarily shuddered.
“What are you so afraid of, Lady Roswyn?”
“I-it-i-it’s nothing…”
“Hmmm…”
Ruby Examined her from every angle and eventually spoke with a softer expression.
“But what are you holding in your arms…?”
“Th-th-this is… a reproduction of the potion I gave you last time? I brought it for you…”
“Ah.”
Ruby’s soft expression instantly froze upon this.
“Is it the same as you gave me last time? The ingredients are completely identical?”
“Y-yes, it’s exactly… the same. O-only the bottle and color are different.”
“Oh… I see…”
Nodding quietly , Ruby’s stern expression gradually deteriorated.
“Here, please take it… You need to improve quickly since you’ve already improved from the previously incurable disease…”
“Hmm, I still have some of the effects of the potion I took last time, so I don’t need to…”
“But still, please…”
Looking down at Ruby with a terrified expression, Roswyn tried to forcefully give her the potion with trembling hands.
“Well, I said I really didn’t need it, didn’t I?”
“Ouch!”
“…Oh my.”
Suddenly, the potion bottle she was holding shattered, and Roswyn looked dazed.
“The potion bottle broke all of a sudden…”
“I-is that so…”
“…That’s a shame.”
There was no way the potion bottle would have suddenly broken.
The potion bottle she bought, which cost the highest price, was so sturdy that it wouldn’t break even if an entire cart passed over it, thanks to the powerful magic protection.
“Oh, are you hurt somewhere?”
– Throb…
With a worried expression, Ruby held her hand, and Roswyn felt a throb in her heart.
“Ah, ah… ah…”
As a result, Roswyn quickly withdrew her hand, turned around with a pale face, and muttered.
‘Ruby… is the Demon King… She was the Demon King!’
The pupils and facial features that were briefly visible in the last moments of the video matched the current appearance of Ruby.
Because of that, the belated and horrifying shock that hit her was so great.
‘I-I have to tell someone… no matter what, I have to let anyone know…’
Roswyn’s legs trembled greatly, and she broke into a cold sweat. Though she knew she had to move them, fear paralyzed her.
“Hmm…”
Ruby observed Roswyn moving slowly like a tortoise, tilting her head inquisitively.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re certain…?”
Wondering what had happened, Ruby tilted her head, her expression unscathed from not receiving any penalties.
‘Even so, what’s her plan in leaving me alone…?’
It was because the “Penalty Nullification” from the Helper System also applied to the Path of Pretender system.
– Swish…
As the Demon King contemplated Roswyn’s stance, she quietly reached out her arms.
“Well then, goodbye… huh? W-why won’t the door… open?”
At the same time, the door was locked.
“Well, I’m not sure why… Why would that be…?”
“Heik… eh…”
“Lady Roswyn?”
So, with a terrified expression, Roswyn thought about going all-in by pulling out an attack scroll from her pocket, preparing for anything.
‘I already left the information that she’s the Demon King in my room… but… but…’
– Ding!
“…Huh?”
Then, as she hesitated without being able to decide, the moonlight system window appeared before her.
Reward: Intelligence +1, Mana +1, Stamina +1
“……!”
Seeing that, hope flashed in Roswyn’s eyes.
‘M-maybe…!’
– Thud!
“…..?”
Then, the door opened, and someone entered. Thanks to that, just as she entertained the thought of her fate being resurrected, she looked down with a puzzled gaze.
“Stay behind me, sister.”
“Eh?”
“Go down to the first floor. I have some business here first.”
Wearing the robe backward, the person who entered the room pulled Roswyn behind her.
“Hurry up.”
And it was none other than Glare.
“Huh…?”
Staring at the familiar system window in front of Glare, Roswyn’s gaze became vacant.
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