Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 98

Episode 98

"Kireuk, kireureureuk……"

The goblin hanging from Kassel's arm thrashed its snout, as if trying to tear off his flesh.

Dark red blood began to seep through his clothes.

'What do I do?'

He was a bastard I cursed so much.

But seeing him attacked by a monster right in front of me, my mind instantly went blank.

Fumbling foolishly, I saw his blood and, before I knew it, started chanting a skill.

"Onslau!"

"Stop making a fuss. Pick up that stone down there and give it to me."

But Kassel was faster. He cut me off without hesitation, released the hand on my shoulder, and pointed at my feet.

Following his gaze, I looked down. There was a rock the size of a fist.

'What's he planning to do with this……'

I wondered, but I quickly bent down, picked it up, and handed it to him.

It was partly because I belatedly realized I'd almost lost my mind and chanted a skill in front of him, and partly because this was no time to think.

But my worry about what he could possibly do with a single rock was needless.

Thwack! Thwaack!

"Kkeuak!"

"Kkek!"

I was forced to witness the bizarre spectacle of the Male Lead smashing the goblins' heads in succession with the rock, killing them.

"Tsk."

Blood splattered on him, and the bastard immediately threw the monster he was holding and brushed off his clothes with a displeased expression.

"Huh……"

I could only let my mouth fall open at the incredible sight.

'He could do this all along, so why……'

I couldn't understand why he'd volunteered to be bait earlier, claiming he didn't have a sword.

But I had no time to question him.

"Do you have a healing potion?"

Kassel held up the arm that was bleeding from the goblin bite.

Even at a glance, the wound looked quite deep.

I silently took a potion, whatever I could grab, from my pocket and approached him.

Pop!

I ignored the hand he held out, demanding it, and poured the potion directly onto the wound.

He raised an eyebrow, as if surprised.

"……Highest-grade."

Kassel muttered in an unreadable voice.

As he said, I was pouring the S-Grade Healing Potion I had sworn I'd never give the bastard.

S-Grade was S-Grade, it seemed. The moment I poured it, the wound began to disappear without a trace.

Honestly, I didn't need to use such an expensive potion.

A Mid-grade would have been fine, but......

It wasn't my fault he got hurt, but for some reason, I felt a strange guilt.

'It wouldn't have mattered if I got bitten.'

Of course, from Kassel's perspective, I, just standing there unaware of the monster creeping up, must have seemed pathetic.

He probably saved me because I looked like an idiot standing there with my eyes closed.

That was the problem.

I had believed that even if I were attacked, that psycho bastard absolutely would not move.

Honestly, the goblins' levels weren't that high, so it wouldn't have mattered if I got attacked by a few of them.

I was half-intending to look incompetent anyway.

"To check if you were the one I knew."

He had suspected me at the black market, but he didn't seem certain.

That's why this was a perfect opportunity to make him think I, using an artifact, was just an ordinary apothecary.

But for him to not only save me, who wasn't some damsel noble, but to get hurt in my place.

This situation was not in my range of expectations at all.

Driiip.

The S-Grade Healing Potion not only healed the wound but also washed away the blood cleanly.

After carefully checking that there were no other injuries, I finally let go of his hand.

Unlike me, he didn't even glance at his wound. He just flicked his hand once, looked around, and muttered calmly.

"Thankfully, it seems that's all of them that were hiding."

"Does it not hurt? Should I give you a pain potion too?"

"Hah."

I was just trying to fulfill my duty as an apothecary, but the bastard suddenly scoffed.

"Such a different tactic from before. When I was shredded with glass shards, you just sprinkled some Mid-grade and left it at that."

"Are that situation and this one the same? Back then, Your Highness was making a fuss, claiming it was self-harm. Right now, this monster could have had poison……!"

Because goblins are low-level, some specimens occasionally have deadly poison.

I was retorting, feeling a surge of anger, but I abruptly stopped speaking at the sudden quiet atmosphere.

"……"

I slowly raised my head.

Kassel was staring at me, his eyes gleaming intensely.

"……Ah."

I'm screwed.

As soon as I had that thought, a system window popped up.

[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig holds strong murderous intent toward you.]

"……As I thought. Shari Azrael. It was you, bastard."

Kassel ground his teeth and hissed lowly.

A chill ran straight down my spine.

I resigned myself, lowered my eyes, and begged.

"……Please just spare my life."

"Hah!"

The bastard let out a scoff.

Then, as if completely dumbfounded, he asked.

"Why the hell would you tell a lie that was so obvious?"

"……"

I was the last person who wanted to tell such a pathetic lie.

'But dammit, you bastard showed up at the temple way faster than I expected!'

I wanted to argue, but I couldn't, so I just kept silent.

"It would be best if you answered."

The bastard muttered darkly.

A wave of injustice washed over me, and I confessed in a mournful voice.

"Y-You, Your Highness…… You said you'd kill me, Your Highness……!"

"If I was going to kill you, I would have done it on sight."

He retorted, his face twisting fiercely.

"Don't you know that telling such an absurd lie that drives a person crazy makes me want to kill you even more?"

Of course I didn't know. I was just planning to bolt as soon as I escaped the immediate danger......

But Kassel also looked murderous, as if he had a lot pent up, so I quietly apologized.

"……I'm sorry."

"Hah. How absurd. You denied it so vehemently……"

Kassel kept scoffing, as if this situation, where I'd been caught in my own trap, was ridiculous.

[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig doubts your intelligence and mental state.]

I was no different from a defeated soldier. I didn't even have the energy to get angry at the system window that popped up.

More than that, I was tensed up, wondering when the bastard would grill me about what happened back then.

"If you're done gathering ingredients, let's go back."

Surprisingly, he didn't try to dig further into my identity.

And, as if he really meant to go back, he even turned his back to me.

At that, I felt a prick of guilt and asked first.

"……Aren't you going to ask?"

"About what."

"Back then, um…… what happened in the Tower."

"You mean how I woke up, the disaster was finished, and the monster sealed in the Hailey estate was dead with its stomach split open?"

"No!"

I had only asked vaguely, but at his extremely specific words, I shook my head in alarm.

"I'm talking about why I put you to sleep with the Sleep-Inducing Potion back then…… And also, I wasn't the one who did that."

Afraid he'd get the wrong idea, I added, without pausing for breath.

"I don't really know about that."

"Then who does?"

Kassel, who had been walking ahead, finally stopped and turned to look at me, his eyes gleaming sharply.

In the darkness, his two red pupils flashed strangely.

I suddenly regretted pressing the issue when the bastard had been willing to let it go.

But if not now, I felt I'd never get another chance to clear up the suspicion weighing on his mind.

'Who knows when another unexpected situation will pop up, forcing me to show my face without the robe……'

Should I just confess that the person acting as the apothecary and the person who takes off the robe and uses magic are both me?

I considered it for a moment.

But no matter how I thought about it, there was no way to explain why I, who wasn't even a hero, was so deeply involved in all the scenarios and quests.

Besides, given the suspicious natures of the Male Lead and the main characters, they would obviously find it strange if I acted like I knew all the quests.

One lie denying myself was easier than explaining every single one of those moments.

So, holding back tears, I decided.

I'll split myself.

"Why aren't you answering? Then who knows?"

Frustrated by my hesitation, Kassel pressed me, his eyes flashing.

[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig finds your behavior suspicious.]

[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig partially doubts your identity.]

I had no choice but to speak.

"……I was also acting on someone else's orders."

"Orders?"

"Yes…… That if the disaster couldn't be stopped, I should just put Your Highness to sleep for your own safety."

"Who was it?"

"Th-That is……"

I paused and hesitated for a moment. It was a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but I confessed a part of the truth.

"I only know that it was someone who came from a faraway land to protect the empire."

But for some reason, a strange light glinted in Kassel's eyes.

"Pink hair and purple eyes?"

"Th-That, I don't know for sure. The request details were delivered to me in writing……"

I replied reluctantly to his insistent questions about my appearance.

'Well…… I am receiving quests from the developers via chat, so it's not really a lie, is it.'

While I was having these ridiculous thoughts.

Kassel, likewise, seemed to be lost in thought, and a silence hung between us for a while.

I watched the space above his head with anxious eyes.

The bastard had a habit of obsessively digging into strange things.

I was afraid a "suspicion" system window would pop up and I'd be classified as an assassination target before I could do anything.

However,

"……Well. I didn't think an incompetent potion-peddler like you, bastard, would have taken care of them."

All my tension was for naught. I felt a bit empty at his mocking reply.

I thought he was just testing me when we met at the black market.

I belatedly realized that the 'one he knew' might not have been referring to me, the apothecary.

'Aargh. I got all guilty for no reason……'

As I was calming my pounding heart, Kassel suddenly asked.

"Are you still in contact with that woman?"

"No. As you can see, I'm currently employed by the temple for the time being."

"Is that so……"

I had clearly denied it, but for some reason, the bastard let out a 'pfft' of laughter and trailed off unconvincingly.

Then he suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked me up and down.

"You're not hiding anything else from me, are you."

"No, of course not."

"Understood. Let's go back."

Had he finally satisfied all his curiosity?

The bastard nodded and ended the conversation more easily than I expected.

'……Does he believe me?'

I watched the bastard intently, breaking out in a cold sweat.

But just by looking at his blank face, I couldn't tell if he'd fully accepted and believed my words or not.

"What are you doing? Not taking out the Teleport Scroll. I'm starting to get tired."

Finding my blank staring strange, the bastard suddenly frowned and ordered me.

"Y-Yes……"

Even as I fumbled in my pocket and took out the Teleport Scroll, I couldn't shake the strange, unsettling feeling.

Riiip!

Because right up until the moment I tore the Teleport Scoll, a system window like 'Suspicion temporarily lifted' never appeared.