Otherworld TRPG Game Master chapter 109

109 – Tracking The Grudge -6

“…The Knights of the Capital?! I heard they were disbanded, but some of them remain…?!”

At first, that was the only thing he could think of. However.

Wiiing-!

Roderus’s ears quickly detected the discomfort. The engine noise was not smooth. When the Knights of the Capital entered combat mode, they made a noise that scratched the eardrums.

It wasn’t this gentle.

The only possibility he could think of was that the mage in the tower was also reaching out to the magic of the Golden Tower. If he had sent the armor rolling around to the earth golem.

The power of the Knights of the Capital came from their power armor and the enormous amount of magic power that powered the armor. Judging from the weak engine noise, they wouldn’t be able to use the full functionality of the armor.

If that was the case, they weren’t a fearsome enemy. There were three of them, but he could handle them.

He thought so until the armors used the strange martial arts that the mage had used.

Booooong-!

“Ugh…!”

As if it knew where his rapier was aiming, the hand that had been extended a while ago changed its trajectory.

He tried to step back with magic power, but another armor deftly tripped him and scattered his strength. He swung his arm to shake it off.

Another armor dug into the narrow gap and pushed his upper arm. His axis shook, so he couldn’t make a proper hit. His fist made a thud and stopped just short of slightly denting the helmet.

Puck-!

A gauntlet was embedded in his jaw. It was nothing. It wasn’t a big deal if he protected himself with magic power. He held the rapier in reverse and stabbed at the armor behind him.

At that moment, a low kick hit the back of his knee, and a shoulder was pushed from the front. His trajectory was off. A failed attack created an opening. A knee was embedded in his side.

He gritted his teeth and slashed hard. The armor receded like an ebbing tide and approached like a flowing tide. It was like being stuck in a swamp. Roderus was floundering in the swamp created by the three armors.

If he attacked one, the other two would block it. They had a thorough understanding of the structure and workings of the human body, and they neutralized his attacks with minimal force.

“How the hell…!!”

It was a tabletop discussion.

From Noble mtl dot com

The idea that three weaklings could take on one strong person was nothing more than nonsense from those who didn’t know how to fight. 1+1 does not equal 2. Cooperation inevitably leads to a waste of energy, so there was no such thing as perfect cooperation in the world.

No matter how elaborate the cooperation, one mistake. It was like a sandcastle that collapse would once one domino started to fall. It should have been that way⋯⋯!

Three into one.

The armors were embodying that phrase.

Roderus was gradually pushed back by the organic interlocking cooperation. One step to avoid it. Another step.

The distance from the mage was increasing. He was being led!

Creepy.

An alarm bell rang in Roderus’s mind. He couldn’t give the mage time. Especially not that man.

Look, he had created these golems in such a short amount of time.

He turned his head. The mage stretched out his hand. The glowing red eyes between the jet-black hair were looking straight at him. Something was coming… He didn’t know what it was, but something that would be fatal to he was coming!

Roderus ignored the armor’s attacks and ran out. As if it wouldn’t let him go so easily, the armor reached out and grabbed his limbs and hung on.

“The shadow cast at your feet.”

He tore off the arm that was walking on his joints with force and took the flying fist on his forehead. He didn’t shake off the armor that had grabbed his ankle and continued to run.

“The darkness peeking through the closet gap.”

An ominous magic power was stirring. Should he stop the breakthrough and focus on defense, even now? No matter how powerful it was, magic was magic. As long as he maintained his grace, magic was nothing more than a projectile.

“The solitude of the black night.”

Attack or defense. At the crossroads of choice, Roderus chose the correct answer. Attack. That mage was no fool. If he had prepared the magic at the last moment, he would have also finished calculating how to hit it.

He had to kill him first. Before the magic was complete!

Roderus thrusts his rapier with all his might. Just before the sharply sharpened awl pierced the mage’s forehead, the incantation ended.

“‘Shattering Heart Profound Arrow’.”

The black arrow shattered all the mental barriers provided by the artifact──

⋯⋯⋯⋯.

—- —-

What the hell did I just get hit with.I felt dizzy. No, it felt like half my head had been torn off. I didn’t feel anything. No, maybe I am feeling too many things.

My ears were deafening. A faint noise was blocking my ears. Roderus wriggled his body. A pile of wet dirt was being rubbed against his own cheek. The rain wouldn’t have come.

“────!”

His body was convulsing. It was a reaction when I was extremely stressed. It reminded me of the hellish training, the time when I received training to break my mind in advance, saying I shouldn’t be subjected to mental magic.

From that day on, I thought the word ‘heartache’ had been erased. Even though I killed a bunch of people according to the duke’s orders, I didn’t feel anything anymore.

“──────!!”

My heart feels like it’s being torn apart, my nails break and scratch at the ground, and no matter how much I struggle, it doesn’t go away. When he became aware that the emotion that filled his head his was resentment.

Only then did Roderus realize the identity of the noise.

“aaa!!”

It was his own scream.

I am.

I couldn’t save my loved one.

I was terribly betrayed by someone I trusted.

I couldn’t find someone like my father.

The clumsy justice that supported his heart his was broken.

Even the glimmer of hope that remained was reduced to ashes.

In the pain of his heart his being torn apart, Roderus felt an indescribable fear.

For he had no one he loved, no brother he trusted, no father who was kind and trustworthy, no justice, no faith. Although he was screaming in sorrow and sorrow, he could not understand why he was screaming.

It is a terrible phantom pain in which there is no cause of pain. He had no wounds to heal, so he could not even hope that this terrible pain would get better.

If I have to live like this for the rest of my life, I…

“aaa!!

The ring on Roderus’ finger gave off a faint light. My mind was healed, and the pain was slightly reduced. There was hope.

Hope this damn magic won’t last indefinitely. Roderus shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of memories that were not his own.

He barely got up from his seat, tears streaming down his face.

A limp wizard was seen. Since the first effective hit was landed properly, the wizard was probably mortally wounded.

It has to be dealt with. The order must be completed. If he fails his mission and returns, he will be locked in solitary confinement. I pounded his trembling legs with my fist and advanced step by step.

Ten steps forward.

Just as Roderus picked up his rapier and was about to finish him off, a beep was heard. It meant that Jatapju had been released.

“…Lucky, you’re an outcast.”

It becomes a problem if you are captured by the owner who returns to the scene. Roderus clutched his head and broke away from his position. He instantly disappeared into the shadows of the alley.

The wizard who remained at the scene and pretended to be unconsciously muttered as he disarmed the magic trap that had been laid invisibly on the ground.

“You’re the lucky one, you bastard…”

If Roderus had come just one step closer, the battle would have ended in the wizard’s victory. The information would have been sucked out as soon as he was captured.

The wizard mumbled to remain conscious, trying to open his growing eyelids.

“…Should I get some armor or artifacts? I think the puppet master meta is really good…”

A hologram with weak physical power. Since you have enough physical strength lack to wear equipment, the idea was to make up for the strength of strength with items.

The wizard shrugged his shoulders.

“…Si, it’s cold.”

He thought force was enough. But when I saw the world trying so hard, I felt like I had to be strong enough to overturn whoever came and escaped.

In a way, it was a natural story. Wouldn’t those who want to harm the self-reliant owner do so with such force and basis?

He thought about various methods in a daze.

“This, this. What’s going on, are you okay?!”

As soon as he heard a familiar voice, he lost consciousness.

—- —- —- — —-

This was the first thing I checked when I opened my eyes.

“…You didn’t have an accident, Magic Tower Lord, right?”

“…You’re awake?!”

Matabju held my hand tightly and pressed my cheek against his palm. Pingvalez, who was standing next to me, answered my question for me.”He never left the sickroom because he was nursing me. Also, he said that if he left, someone might target the crazy wizard.”

Whew.

I opened my eyes and wondered if the empire was burning.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Pinkbales hospitalized?

“…Are you all right?”

“Yes. The crazy wizard slept for about three days.”

“Oh my.”

“The crazy wizard was so badly injured that…”

I waved my hand and told him not to say it. I didn’t want to hear it, and I stopped it because I felt like my palms were getting wet.

It seems that the Red has stopped pressing. I guess he didn’t know that the water I sent would come back to me. I heard that we have entered a tacit ceasefire with the Second Prince’s forces.

The rest of the black mage bases I had identified were completely empty. I was disappointed that I didn’t get anything, but I decided to be satisfied because I had cut off the tail.

According to the priest, I needed a few more days of recuperation, so I decided to just go back to the academy and rest. It wouldn’t be a good idea to stay in Crown Hall any longer and get into trouble.

In retrospect, it was a good decision for the Martop Lord to tell me to go back at the last minute. If I had set foot in the mansion, I don’t know what kind of traps would have been set.

“…Oh my.”

I didn’t get nothing. I got my hands on the suspicious statue that the black mages were using, I confirmed my suspicions about the traitor, and I learned that the Red Duke was definitely an enemy.

The second son that he sent, whatever his name was, must have been hit by the Paralysis Curse, so he won’t be okay. So I wasn’t the one who was being attacked⋯⋯.

Still, didn’t I just end up playing around? I got beat up, and Pinkbales got hurt.

When my mood seemed uncomfortable, the Martop Lord blinked his eyes and said, ‘Should I kill them all, Master?’ but I stopped him. If we fight a full-scale war now⋯⋯ I think one of our allies will die.

A wizard is a flower that blooms using time as fertilizer.

Let’s wait and see. These kids will tremble with fear when they see how far I can prepare.

So I went back to the academy.

—- —-

At the end of the long carriage ride, I arrived at the academy.

“…C, can you help me?”

“Oh, yes. Please.”

First, I finished the facility inspection. The power had never been cut off, there were about two intrusion records, but they were repelled, and all the data was intact. That’s good.

The reason I finished the security check first is because I remember that there was a student with the last name Red at the academy. If the Red Duke is using his sons as manpower, isn’t it likely that the student is also on the Duke’s orders?

Like, trying to get information out of my lab at the academy.

My mind was troubled.

Where did I go, thinking about what session to open when I got back, and thinking about spec-up and fierce fighting?

But if I just play around without thinking and get attacked again, it’s my fault now. I couldn’t help but prepare.

If there was a way to read their… movements, I would be a little more at ease.

“…?”

“Oh, Martop Lord. Why? What’s wrong?”

“W, well. I caught a strange frequency. You haven’t played any other TRPGs, have you?”

“Oh, yes. I’ve done it all with the Martop Lord.”

I looked beyond the monitor. When I looked at the part that the Martop Lord pointed at with his finger, I could see that a strange signal was definitely coming in. Two of them.

One was the faith flowing into the main NPCs such as Centra, Pero, and Abraham.

The other was the faith flowing into the giant mutant, which was strangely out of place.

“…Hmm. Hmm?”

“Oh, yeah?”

The Martop Lord and I made expressions as if we knew what it was at the same time. And we looked at each other and spat out our guesses.

“I hit the second son of the Red Duke with the Paralysis Curse, and some of his memories got mixed in… I think he’s become aware of the existence of the main NPCs.”

“I…I hit the captain of the Knights of the Capital with a huge mutant, and I guess that memory left a deep impression on him…!”

Oh.

Ugh… Huh?

My head was spinning. The Martop Lord and I continued our discussion, our foreheads pressed together.

“It’s faint, but it’s faith, so it’s like a connection to magic power.”

“If it’s connected⋯⋯ it might be possible to backtrack it. It depends on the distance.””Not only backtracking, but it seems like I’ll be able to shoot long-distance illusion magic as well. We’ll use the giant magic circle in the academy’s basement for this.”

“That, and… Yuri, ask Yuri. It’s about using the nature of sleepwalking. If we use dreams as a medium, we’ll be able to greatly extend the effective range.”

What happens then?

It means I can give the guy who fed me bread some candy. No, not only that⋯⋯ If we repeatedly strengthen the connection, we might even be able to use him as a spy without him knowing.

I uttered words filled with dreams and hope while trembling.

“Long-distance TRPG!!”

“W, Water Knight Commander. Punish him too!”

I held hands with the jumping-around Ma Tap-ju and spun around while thinking. What kind of session should I open? What should I open that will convert the guy while also giving him candy and extracting information?

The scream of an evil god (7% content) passed through my head. I flicked my finger.

“TS magic girl session.”

“?”

My mouth is watered.