Episode 182. Drinking Party (2)
Lyman Begilius.
Although he is famous for being a dirty character and a protagonist who will do anything, his actions cannot be criticized.
As he flaunts his overwhelming power as the world’s strongest, the darkness of his past is also proportional to it.
During the 300 years he lived desperately, unable to die for a certain mission, he encountered many terrible people.
The most painful of these was his own mistake. The wife of the boy who was once his colleague died because of him.
“You must know how I was back then. I feel a little better now.”
Lyman, holding a glass of wine, grumbled about the ground collapsing. It seemed like he was talking to me, who knew about the incident.
Of course I know that. But…
“Don’t expect that. I don’t know everything.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about? You said you knew everything.”
“That’s right. That incident was also in the story I saw. But the problem is that it was a brief scene.”
“….”
Most flashbacks are like that. It’s a backstory that you absolutely need to know to progress the main story, but it’s not described in too much detail.
If you make the flashbacks long, you will only receive bad reviews saying that the plot will drag on and become stretched out. That is why sometimes you put out a side story.
That is why a spin-off novel and a collection of settings that mixed media for ‘Devil Aka’ were published.
“You really don’t know?”
“It ended up being described as just sobbing.”
“This is ridiculous.”
Lyman drank his glass to ease the bitter taste.
I hope you understand though, because like all media, there are limits to how perfectly a story can be told.
If Devil Akagi had been a long manga like OneXs or NatXto, they could have made up a huge amount of the flashbacks.
“Then do you know the name of the holy sword I made as a test when I was young?”
“Palera. That’s the one that Instructor Jason used.”
The holy sword that Lyman himself created and destroyed. However, it was actually a test piece, so it was too shabby to be called a holy sword.
I remember making it out of curiosity a long time ago, but hiding it somewhere out of shame.
“I don’t know how it ended up in Jason’s hands, but he was so pissed off by the guy who proudly carried it around as the Holy Sword.”
“I know right.”
I killed him because he was a guy I didn’t like. He also destroyed the Holy Sword, which was a dark history from the past.
“Then do you know what pet I used to have?”
“The name is Leaf. The species is Junior Wolf. 30 years ago, you were the last one the saint entrusted to you, so I couldn’t abandon you.”
At that time, whenever Saint Maria was in distress, she would secretly visit Lyman. The two had a deep connection, so Lyman took good care of the animals she had taken care of.
Those animals existed regardless of whether they were demonic or divine, but after the war in the Demon World, only Leaf survived.
“Haaah… The more I think about it, the more disgusting it gets. I should have just thrown it on the street back then.”
Lyman, who was slurping down a new glass of wine that he had ordered again, wanted to completely forget those bad memories with the alcohol.
It was when I was out and about looking after the leaf, and I went to see how my colleague Gerard was doing.
That young boy had become the most powerful man in the empire, and had a daughter and a wife. Now, he was thinking that his teachings were no longer needed and was about to secretly leave the territory.
“And… I wasn’t going to that estate….”
There have been many people, past and present, who have been jealous of Gerard.
Those who were jealous of Chain Silver, who had been an outcast in the noble world, for being so self-made, released assassins.
Lyman happened to find the assassins just in time, so he was able to deal with them quietly.
I helped Gerard, thinking it was my brother’s last act of mercy, but I ended up letting my guard down because among the assassins was a sorcerer who controlled the devil.
Kwakjik!-
Lyman was bitten by the Leaf he was raising. After all, Leaf was also a demon.
Although the assassins were sorted out one by one, Leaf’s condition was not good.
The child seemed to be in poor health after biting himself. It seemed better to rest comfortably in the nearby forest that night.
I was sleeping like that, using the log as a pillow.
Lyman woke up feeling empty, but Leaf was gone.
“In fact, Leaf was a demon who became more ferocious the more he drank blood. He was raised by a saint and never tasted blood, but he ended up tasting it because of that sorcerer.”
It would have been okay if he had only tasted a little bit, but just one sip of the blood of a ‘monster’ like Lyman himself had turned Leaf into a mutant.
“I woke up late and started tracking Leaf’s whereabouts… and suddenly a chill ran down my spine.”
I could feel it as I followed the traces.
Leaf is no longer that cute dog. He has probably forgotten all the gentleness he was taught by the saint.
Unfortunately, that ominous prediction did not turn out to be wrong.
After tracking them down, they arrived and found a lycanthrope with the aura of Leaf intact. The monster had already attacked a noble carriage.
Even the carriage belonged to the Chainsilver family, and inside it were his wife and Youngae.
Swish-
A cold wind blew over the corpses of the Duke’s knights who had been murdered by Lycans.
For some reason, the ground surrounding Young-ae had become like an ice rink.
And then I saw my wife lying dead, her upper body pierced by the Lycan’s claws, her feet tied to the frozen ground.
“Jenny froze the floor to help her mother, but… it ended up being poisonous and caused an irreversible problem.”
Gulp gulp-
Lyman, who drinks the most alcohol instead of food, continued to say.
“At that point, I can only think of one thing. Why on earth do I live? Why can’t I die? Wouldn’t it be better to just disappear from this fucking world?”
After that, Lyman is depicted in the main story as having attempted suicide several times, but since he had been immortal for a long time, he could never die.
The target of his anger was this world. The more negatively he viewed everything in the world, the rougher his personality became.
When I saw something tangible in front of my eyes, my limbs were not safe.
“Yeah… damn it… why would someone like me be a teacher? Why would I take care of those guys? What right do I have to be called big brother by that guy?”
Before I knew it, the second glass was empty. It was a fairly large size, so I shouldn’t look down on it as just a few glasses.
However, Lyman is immortal and is immune to any poison. Toxic substances themselves are ineffective, so alcohol is no match for them.
“What a fucking life.
But what he was doing now was clearly the epitome of drunkenness. He was swaying and completely out of his mind.
It’s not even that I overdosed on it, as it broke my tolerance for toxins. But the reason I’m like this is probably because of stress.
Lyman’s past has caused him stress, and his hair has even changed color due to stress.
`Yeah, that’s right. She originally had black hair.`
Even though he had lived for 300 years, Lyman was tormented by time.
I’ve already lost the will to live for a long time, but I’m still holding on because I still have work to do.
If even that fails, it wouldn’t be strange if the accumulated energy eventually explodes and the entire continent is destroyed.
`That’s the bad ending of this game.`
My goal is to prevent that ending from happening. In some ways, Lyman’s and my goals are the same.
In fact, the commonality between me and this guy was clear in that we were both aiming for the Eternal Flame.
There is no entity that is more of a headache when you have it as an enemy, but when you have it as an ally, it is bound to be reliable.
Of course, it’s my job to remove the thorns around Lyman so that he can walk on a flowery path.
“It’s not all your fault.”
“what…?”
That’s why I said.
It was a guy who seemed scary at first glance, but as time passed, I got used to dealing with him.
He may have some loose ends, but he’s the main character. And I’m the player who’s controlled him over and over again.
It’s not something you can just be scared of because of that guy’s rough attitude.
“What did you say?”
“It’s not your fault.”
“….”
Lyman was silent for a moment after hearing what I said. Then he made a dumbfounded expression and burst into laughter.
“Haha… What are you talking about? You’ve never experienced it before.”
“I’ve experienced it.”
“What the f*ck.”
“Because I’ve been manipulating you for over 10 years.”
For example, it’s not just Lyman.
Jenny, Ruska, Mary, Mirona, Kent, Bayman, Krona, Radian, Adela…
Since I’ve controlled both playable and support characters, I could never deny them.
“That’s right, fart.”
“I told you. I know everything that’s going to happen to you.”
“This kid is no ordinary conman.”
Despite what Lyman said, I ate the fish and chips.
Ugh-
Damn… I left it out for so long that it was already cold.
“Still… thank you. I feel better now that you said it.”
Lyman suddenly smiled as if he was satisfied. He hadn’t forgiven himself yet, but it seemed like he wanted others to call him that.
“You know the whole story… How would I feel if you told me that?”
“….”
I was an observer looking from an omniscient point of view. To me, every word I heard was enough to touch my heartstrings.
Because even though it’s not perfect, I know his actions.
“Honestly, I still don’t know what kind of being you are. I don’t know if you came from outside the world… or if you foresaw the future through some forbidden book… but somehow I feel fortunate to have you.”
“….”
“So, thank you.”
I was honestly surprised by that.
I never dreamed that I would hear something like that from Lyman, whom I considered to be a very different person.
however…
“ZZZ…”
Lyman suddenly fell asleep.
I fell into dreamland with my face buried in the food I ordered.
Judging from the fact that his face didn’t turn red, it didn’t seem to be due to the effects of alcohol.
Because stress is more toxic than alcohol.
Eventually, I had no choice but to steal Lyman’s archive and send a message to my acquaintance.
It just so happens that Lyman is on the student council, and there is a feature that allows students to directly exchange text messages with each other.
‘How can this be considered a student ID? It’s just a smartphone.’
The great sage Dantia, who laid the foundation for this technology, is truly amazing.
The acquaintance who was called that was Lyman’s assistant. Just the appearance of his presence was enough to cause security guards to follow him in front of the store.
“Nice to meet you, Your Highness.”
“Your name is… Senior Radon Crowler, right?”
After greeting Princess Mirona who arrived in front of the store, she looked at Lyman’s condition and made a serious expression.
“How did this happen?”
“As you can see, I couldn’t tell if I was drinking or being drunk.”
“Are you drunk?”
“You could say that.”
[Erosion rate reduction: -4%]
[+400 Credits]
I’m not drunk. I just fell asleep because of stress.
“And your highness the princess.”
“yes?”
Just as I was about to drag Lyman away, Mirona turned around when I asked her.
“Do you sometimes have a hard time because of that guy?”
“….”
In reality, he was very strict with everything he did while assisting me, so I would get nervous every time I sat down at my desk.
But I felt kindness in Lyman’s eyes.
It was not the gaze of the palace people who always ignored him, but the gaze of those who would do anything for him.
“Still, he’s a good guy. He’s all doing this for the sake of the princess, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“yes…”
“Oh, and.”
I said one last thing.
“I hope you live until the `end`.”
It was a word for both of them.
* * * * *
Silvertown was famous for being surrounded by mountains.
It was also a famous place because the city was built on a place surrounded by high terrain forming a circle.
In addition, there was a river flowing all the way to the sea, so it was commercially impeccable.
Someone was quietly looking at that city from the bottom of the mountain.
“I thought I’d remember when I came here.”
Although his face was covered by a hood, the voice belonged to a middle-aged man.
And the man didn’t feel the temperature. Even though the cold wind was blowing from the high place where the ridge was visible, the man’s body temperature remained the same.
“No. It’s definitely around here.”
Something seemed to have occurred to him and he went down the mountain path. The path that a carriage would pass on was the place where the lord’s wife had died many years ago.
At that time, there was a strong speculation that he was killed by an assassin who summoned a monster, and for some reason, the man felt good every time he set foot on this place.
Just as if what he had ordered had come true.
“Still, it doesn’t come to mind.”
The man took off his hood and tried to recall his memories.
The face that was revealed was that of Talema, the King of Papyrus, who was probably already dead.
“What kind of person was I before I died?”
It was a look and tone of voice that was purely questioning.
Bam!-
However, he threw a dagger at the head of a lumberjack passing by on the mountain path, piercing his head.
Even though blood was pooling on the floor, Talema didn’t even blink.
“I still don’t know.”
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
