Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 143

Episode 143

"Right. Is there anything uncomfortable about staying in the Imperial Palace? I haven't been able to pay you much mind."

"You've already provided a place to stay, so you don't need to worry."

Elaine didn't even have a chance to answer the Emperor's question.

Because Kassel abruptly cut in and answered for him.

"A, hem! Have you heard about the monster in the Imperial Palace's forest? If you are having any difficulties with the hunt, don't hesitate to speak freely."

"If you truly wish for the hero's monster hunt, then getting rid of that insane ritual altar would be the first step."

"Kassel Ludwig! Are you truly trying to pick a fight with me!"

Bang!

With the fierce shout, a tremendous roar, as if someone had roughly slammed the table, echoed out.

"Haa..."

At the sound of the table breaking for the third time already, Elaine let out a small sigh.

It was the same for me.

'How on earth did it come to this?'

Ever since Kassel suddenly appeared at the luncheon with the Emperor, the two had been fighting a war of nerves, like a cat and mouse.

No, perhaps it wasn't a war of nerves, but closer to that Male Lead bastard's one-sided tantrum.

Because every time the Emperor tried to ignore that bastard and talk to Elaine, he would cut in and taunt him.

Thanks to that, Elaine had to maintain an uncomfortable silence, unable to even take a single bite of food, let alone answer.

"Keuhm-heum!"

Did he hear the sigh that echoed softly in the frigid atmosphere.

The Emperor, who had been fuming as if he would explode at any second, suppressed his anger with difficulty and opened his mouth.

"I've been rude in front of my guest. Please, continue to eat comfortably."

"Yees..."

Elaine, who was hearing those words for the fourth time already, answered awkwardly.

Clatter.

A brief moment of peace arrived with the sound of attendants rushing over to clear the scattered dishes.

'If you're going to be like this, just let us go and fight amongst yourselves...'

But knowing it would soon become chaotic again, I thought with annoyance from inside Elaine's dark pocket.

I couldn't guess for the life of me why the Emperor had summoned Elaine.

And Kassel, too, who had burst in without warning.

I was well aware from the game's setting that Kassel did not have a good relationship with his father, the Emperor, but seeing it in person was a different dimension.

'This is definitely an episode I'm seeing for the first time.

Even if it's a hidden route, why do I have to watch someone else's family fight...!'

It was when I was vowing to discipline the developer bastards with a summons-terror for the first time in a while when I got back.

"You said you were Green Mask."

The Emperor opened his snout again, shattering the peace.

"How is the food? Does it suit your palate? Is there anything else you need? Just say the word."

"Yes, well..."

Elaine answered flatly.

No matter how much of a feast was prepared, in such a murderous atmosphere, one wouldn't be able to eat a single bite properly.

But that was my mistake.

A moment later.

Chomp, chomp!

"Wow! What kind of meat is this? Awesome, it's so delicious!"

Seizing the gap when the battle of wills between the Emperor and the Crown Prince had briefly subsided, that Elaine-bastard lost his mind and frantically inhaled the food.

The Emperor, unable to watch any longer, said a word.

"Haha. I heard you placed in the rankings in the tournament preliminaries, and your way of eating is just like a valiant hero!"

"Of course! I was born with an amazing stroke of luck when it comes to foo... Ugh!"

Whack!

I quietly whispered 'Onslaught' and punched the inside of the pocket with all my might.

As if it was quite a blow, Elaine stopped talking with a low groan and regained his departed senses.

"It is a great honor to be invited, Your Majesty the Emperor."

He answered composedly, fitting the bourgeois concept we had agreed on beforehand, and the Emperor laughed heartily.

"You must have many questions since I called you so suddenly. If there's anything you'd like to ask, feel free to bring it up, feel free."

Fortunately, that Kassel-bastard didn't pick a fight this time.

I furrowed my brow, mulling over the Emperor's words.

'The person who called should state their business first. Telling the person who was suddenly invited to ask questions first. What kind of mindset is that?'

Since I was hidden in the pocket, I couldn't see the Emperor's expression, so it was very difficult to grasp his intention.

But listening to his words, the Emperor seemed eager to curry favor with Elaine.

Plying him with delicious food and praising him with pleasant words, it was just like...

'It's just like trying to lure and devour a fool, isn't it?'

It was around the time I was running my brain at full capacity due to an unknown sense of unease.

"Ahem, since you've said so... then may I ask just one question?"

Elaine gulped down the food he was mumbling in his mouth and cleared his throat.

The Emperor's face brightened.

"Oh, yes. What is it?"

"The... mages stationed near the lake, what are they?"

Of course, I knew of those bastards' existence.

As long as we didn't know the Emperor's intention for inviting him to the banquet, there wasn't much Elaine could say in a private audience with the Emperor.

Just answering questions, or bringing up an obvious topic that any hero might mention.

And that topic was nothing other than the Imperial Palace dungeon or the monster.

Unless one was blind, there was no way not to know that those mages were guarding the lake.

Because of that, Elaine applied that fact and dealt well with the Emperor's unknowable leading questions.

However,

"..."

There was no answer.

Despite being stuffed in a pocket, I could clearly feel the banquet hall's atmosphere turn cold in an instant.

'What? Why is it like this?'

I, who had pricked up my ears to gauge the situation outside the pocket, felt a sudden sense of foreboding.

Because the mages positioned around the lake, the Emperor, and the Imperial Palace's main quest.

Those things were completely unrelated to the current tournament.

Unless the Emperor was a fool, there was no way he would pull some stunt during the tournament that Kassel had organized with his eyes wide open.

That's why I thought that as long as we didn't go out of our way to stir up the lake, a question of this level wouldn't be a problem...

"...There's no need to pay them any mind."

Fortunately or unfortunately, the silence wasn't long.

"They are simply those who protect the forest."

"Aha."

"But, why the mages? Did they make some mistake toward you?"

The Emperor subtly asked Elaine, who was laughing awkwardly.

"No. Rather than that... I have to fight the monster anyway, but it's just that those people seem to be constantly hovering around the lake."

"Have you seen the monster already?"

Before Elaine could even answer, the Emperor pressed him in a changed voice.

The Emperor's rough breathing could be heard even from here.

It seemed like he was surprised, and also like he was excited... it was a strange sign that couldn't be defined as just one.

"Well... I think I may have seen it in passing. Haha."

Elaine responded quite well with a vague answer.

I thought it was a good thing I had mentally trained him to just play dumb if the answer was difficult.

"Then that sounds like you still haven't dealt with it."

It was then.

Kassel, who had been silent for some reason, abruptly cut in.

"Half the tournament period is already over, aren't you being too carefree?"

"Since I'm the only party member, it's inevitable that there will be difficulties."

Even at Kassel's sharp criticism, Elaine retorted glibly, like an eel.

I shrugged, picturing a riled-up Kassel, and swallowed a triumphant laugh.

However, the Male Lead, who had built up karma with his snout, was, as expected, not an easy opponent.

"Tsk. It seems I overestimated your skills."

"Uuht... Don't you think the assignment was too harsh in the first place?"

"Or, maybe the grass looks greener on the other side, so you don't feel the need to clear your own share?"

"The grass on the other side?"

"Right. Are you just too busy, like a petty thief, going around robbing other dungeons?"

Elaine's voice cut off at the following question, which seemed to hit the nail on the head.

He seemed flustered.

I figured I would have been the same, so I couldn't blame Elaine this time.

Instead.

'Adam, that loose-lipped bastard...'

Of course, even without Adam, as the organizer, Kassel would hear a lot, but this all felt like his fault for running into him in the Siren dungeon.

And as Kassel's number one lackey, there was no way that bastard hadn't reported what happened yesterday.

It was the moment I was contemplating how on earth to overcome this moment, when our slightly sneaky tournament plan was about to be exposed faster than expected.

"...The grass looks greener, whatever, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"..."

"In any case, as far as I know, there's no rule that says you must clear your assigned dungeon."

Elaine fought back unexpectedly well.

He seemed to have decided to ditch the polite bourgeois act and had reverted to his original crooked way of speaking.

However, I clapped and cheered him on.

'Go, go! My ba... no, our green-headed bastard!'

Just as he said, there was no such rule.

It's just that the higher the grade of the assigned dungeon, if you don't clear it, you miss the chance to easily get points, so it's only your own loss.

That's why the heroes assigned to the Siren dungeon asked Adam for help.

Because it's beneficial to clear the dungeon, even if it means borrowing another participant's strength.

"Ha."

Kassel let out a dry laugh, as if he'd been struck by Elaine's bold retort.

"It seems the rankings don't matter much to you?"

"Yeah, I don't care if I get last place."

"..."

As if he had nothing to say, Kassel's snout finally clamped shut.

'That's a KO, you bastard!'

I clenched my fists and cheered.

Just for today, I couldn't have been prouder of that shameless and indiscriminately argumentative side of Elaine.

The image of that bastard shouting for first place until my ears hurt, saying he'd never lose to the Empire bastards, had long since been cleanly erased from my mind.

Thanks to that Kassel-bastard being completely knocked down by Elaine's thoughtless remark, a round of silence fell over the room.

As if finding it equally satisfying, the Emperor burst out laughing again.

"Hahaha. He's my son, but this bastard is unnecessarily hostile at times. If your feelings were hurt, I apologize."

The Emperor mercilessly disparaged his own son, the Crown Prince, in front of someone he'd just met and who was far below him in status.

I was happy he'd landed a blow on Kassel, but...

For some reason, listening to those words, I felt strange.

"Don't be like that, have a drink. To commemorate inviting you today, I've... the only wine, offered as tribute from the western region..."

"Right, just as you said, those are the rules of the tournament."

It was at that moment.

Kassel rudely cut off the Emperor, who was naturally offering Elaine a drink.

"Th, this...!"

Anger instantly laced the Emperor's voice.

But regardless, the Crown Prince placidly continued his words.

"Perhaps because of that, I hear there's a growing trend of despicable bastards who single out and raid only the bosses of other dungeons."

I was flustered by that bastard's words.

Because there was a bit of a contradiction.

'A growing trend? We're the only ones!'

Logically, when targeting someone else's dungeon, one would normally aim to clear that dungeon; there was no way there was anyone else who just attacked the boss, like us.

Because boss mobs, being the leaders, are high-level and tricky to catch.

Just as I was getting anxious, unable to understand why he was telling such lies.

"So, I'm thinking of changing the rules."

He added in a rather relaxed voice.

"For those who do not clear their assigned dungeon, regardless of how many monsters they've caught, they will not be included in the ranking aggregation."

The one knocked out...

Wasn't that Kassel-bastard, but us.