A Dangerous Meeting and an Unexpected Arrival

“Please speak, Awakener.”

Perhaps it was surprising that I, who had been quieter than the occasionally clinking wine glasses, opened my mouth, but no one particularly stopped me.

“I interrogated the Varg yesterday. He has more talents than I thought, so he’d be perfect for putting to work! Let’s, let’s use him as a s*ave, shall we?”

“How fierce their tempers are. I’d rather take another canine beast-kin and use them instead of trying to tame that.”

“The Coliseum is opening soon, isn’t it! Wouldn’t it be better to have diverse races for the sake of the spectacle?”

Before I knew it, I was defending the Varg, my voice rising.

“There are already so many applicants for the Coliseum that it’s bursting.”

But despite my desperation, the Empire vampires looked indifferent.

“And Awakener, you may not know this, but we Empire vampires and the Varg have been on bad terms since our origins…”

In One-Card, you cannot play a Joker as your last card.
It’s a cheat key that can be played ignoring any other card. Because it’s a guaranteed winning move.

“…Skollcat-nim likes Vargs!”

But this isn’t One-Card, so I recklessly pulled out my last Joker.

“He said he’d like it if you brought the Varg into Midvalen!”

I placed the ‘Divine Outcast’ on the table, who had been enjoying my combing with his eyes narrowed happily.

‘…What? Who’s doing what to whom?’

The Skollcat, realizing my intention too late, raised his fur and hissed, but it wasn’t very threatening.
Because he had shrunk himself to the size of a marten to get on my lap.

“Gst plsy alg wth ths.” (Just play along with this)

‘What do you mean ‘play along’?! How dare you try to use me! Do you want to die?!’

“…He doesn’t seem very pleased, however. Awakener. Are you correctly conveying the oracle?”

But Baalzeph was no fool.
As the blood-red eyes looking down from the seat of honor narrowed suspiciously, I quickly whispered into the long fox-like ears in the beast-kin language.

‘Please. I’ll comb your fur three times a day.’

‘You, you definitely said yesterday you’d forget that male… Ump.’

‘I-it’s not exactly because of him! You said you lived with the Vargs for a long time. They’re already ostracized like me, and I’d feel bad if they were rejected even in this neutral city.’

‘Let go! What’s the big fuss about those exiled wolves?!’

‘They’re practically family to me! I won’t tell you to get down even if you sit on my documents. I won’t pull you out of the box when I’m organizing my inventory. Please? Just this once.’

As I babbled away, stuffing a cherry tomato into his pouting mouth shaped like a ‘3’ and carefully scratching his puffed-up chin while pleading, he glared at me before reluctantly nodding.

‘…Only this once, nya! You frivolous thing.’

“S-see? He agreed!”

I quickly picked up the Skollcat and held him high so everyone in the room could see.
‘I’m dizzy! Let go of me, you rascal!’
Of course, I had to put him down right away because he was struggling and hissing.

“O Cat God. We fully understand your noble intent to look after all beast-kin.”

On the other hand, the Empire vampires’ expressions were not good at all.
They were trying to smile, but it was obvious they were troubled by this unexpected variable.

“However, as you know, the Varg are those who were banished from this sacred land due to their laziness….”

“Skollcat-nim is an outcast too, you know?”

“Ahem! How dare you compare the Cat God to those lowly mutts!”

“That’s harsh!”

In reality, I also called him a canine bastard all the time, but hearing someone else insult him made me feel inexplicably bad.
While glaring at the Empire vampires, I suddenly felt a gaze and closed my mouth.

“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Baalzeph, resting his chin on his high chair that looked like it was suspended, was staring down at us intently.

“For causing an unnecessary commotion,”

“Oh, no. It’s always entertaining to watch a heated debate. Please continue.”

He seemed somewhat detached, or perhaps he was taking a step back to mock us, not wanting to get involved.
How should I put it? He looked like someone watching users have a childish keyboard battle in global chat.

“Midvalen is truly a sacred city. A land where even gods cannot interfere. A place where not even the Grim Reapers can enter.”

As even the Empire vampires, who noticed late, fell silent all at once, Baalzeph began to speak slowly.

“In Midvalen, no gods intervene. They merely watch and stand by. As this tradition continued for hundreds of years, a question suddenly arose in my mind. Aren’t you curious as to how far they will leave this city alone in the name of ‘freedom’?”

‘When does he breathe? He sounds exactly like the narrator in the trailer.’
As I was having random thoughts while listening to Baalzeph’s clear voice, I flinched when I met his blood-red, gleaming eyes.

“Awakener Shinbi.”

“Yes? Yes!”

“What do you think is the difference between freedom and neglect?”

Freedom? Neglect?
Like a student caught daydreaming and called on to present, I stuttered before barely squeezing out an answer.

“…Uh, wouldn’t it depend on the perspective of the one receiving it?”

I wondered why he was suddenly asking this, but thinking from my perspective, it was like that.
It’s considered a kind of freedom that users aren’t penalized for using skill bugs, but not caring whether one of those users is trapped in the game and suffering because of that bug felt like neglect. Like that.

“I don’t think the essence is much different.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, depending on how you take it, you could feel it’s freedom, or you could think of it as neglect….”

“You speak well. Awakener Shinbi. That is exactly it.”

A somewhat excited voice cut me off.
The expressions of the Empire vampires, who had been looking at me disapprovingly as if to say I was spouting nonsense, changed instantly.

“The essence of freedom and neglect is ultimately the same. Abandonment, indifference, lack of communication, failure to convey intent….”

The fully dilated, blood-filled eyes turned towards me.
The look in his eyes, as if he had found the only person who understood him among beasts, made me feel momentarily proud.

“In the same vein, I too once thought this Midvalen was blessed with ‘freedom’, but lately, it feels like neglect every day.”

But I soon had to put on a dubious expression.

“Therefore, I wish to draw the attention of the gods.”

…What is he talking about now?
As if they had the same thought as me, the Empire vampires gathered in the meeting room also began to murmur, looking at each other’s faces.
Their pale faces scrunching up made them look like crying statues.

“Who knows. Perhaps if we commit a sin heinous enough to incur the gods’ wrath, they might look down upon this lowly servant.”

‘…Look. He’s completely crazy, nya. He acts like he’s dying to be killed, doesn’t he?’

For the first time, I agreed with the Skollcat’s words.
Baalzeph, muttering as if intoxicated, was a bit strange.

“Even a Grim Reaper would be fine, I would be overjoyed if they would just listen to my words even once.”

‘I’d like to introduce him to the Observers who followed me around like my hardcore fans.’
I thought as I glanced at his profile, illuminated by the faint light coming through the window.
‘He’s gotten too comfortable, staying in this cozy neutral city without taking a single step outside.’

“Awakener, Shinbi.”

“Yes? Yes!”

“Then please continue your hard work. You are highly praised for communicating well with the ferocious beast-kin.”

“…Ah! Oh, it’s nothing. Haha. Just leave it to me.”

Feeling as if my inner grumblings had been discovered, I quickly swallowed my breath, then waved my hand and smiled awkwardly.
The man, who had been staring at me intently, smiled and said.

“Ah, and also, if you find a chief or an alpha during the inspections, please be sure to send them to me.”

【A quest from the Empire Lord <Baalzeph von Bloddyhen> has arrived.】

…To get a perfectly normal quest like this, does it make sense to say this isn’t the dead game I knew?
Then what the hell is this!
I motioned with my eyes to the Skollcat sitting on my lap, who was making an expression that said ‘You’re suffering dealing with a crazy guy’, as if to ask for an explanation.

【A quest from the Empire Lord <Baalzeph von Bloddyhen> has arrived.】

But what returned was the quest window popping up one more time, as if urging me.
I reluctantly asked.

“Why the chiefs?”

“If we offer up the greatest hearts of all races one by one, wouldn’t even the noble gods wonder what’s going on and look down upon this Midvalen?”

My dumbfounded face was reflected in his eyes, which were curved like half-moons.
The eyes that met mine were flashing like warning lights.

“So I ask for your cooperation as well, Shinbi-nim.”

Did he drink some weird blood while I wasn’t looking? Why is he acting like that?
Looking at Baalzeph’s eyes, which looked dreamy as if drenched in madness, I nodded dubiously.

“Yes, I will.”

It was a quest I had no intention of completing whatsoever, but he was staring at me so intensely that I accepted it for now.

【You have accepted the quest from the Empire Lord <Baalzeph von Bloddyhen>.】

I felt pathetic for feeling relieved amidst all this.

Because no matter what, Baalzeph is a fixed NPC in Midvalen and can never go outside, and Karvan won’t come here either.

It was the afternoon a few days later. I was working at the checkpoint as usual.

“Yes, you can go that way for the Coliseum. The people in uniform over there will guide you.”

More and more beast-kin were visiting Midvalen.
Normally, I would have thought it was because of the Coliseum opening soon, but Radugan’s words kept bothering me.

‘I heard he’s going around destroying the towns of all races.’

Looking closely, they all seemed injured or strangely exhausted.
Like defeated soldiers.

I looked sympathetically at a muscular bear beast-kin with a large piece of wood splinting his arm, then scribbled ‘low-ranking’ in the position section.

‘Looow-ranking?! Hey, my rank isn’t low! Speaking of me….’

“Ahhh, I don’t want to hear it. Can’t you see what’s written there? Neu-tral Ci-ty! Everyone is equal and fair here, so you have to leave your old rank behind.”

‘You could at least record it, couldn’t you? I am a… of the Bear Tribe!’

“Ahem! Shh! One more word and you’ll be classified as having a bad attitude, uncooperative! A dangerous individual!”

‘Ugh, a-alright. I got it.’

When I firmly cut him off, the bear beast-kin eventually closed his mouth and obediently gave the rest of his personal information.

‘Please be sure to send the beast-kin chiefs to me.’
‘I intend to try offering the hearts of all races.’

I had intentionally stopped asking for the beast-kin’s positions ever since Baalzeph’s bizarre request.
Even if I got caught later, I planned to make excuses like ‘I didn’t hear’ or ‘I forgot to ask’.

Actually, I didn’t need to go this far, but maybe I had developed a sense of kinship with the beast-kin monsters or something.
Just seeing ears and a tail made me want to treat them well, and especially if they were canine, I felt as glad to see them as if I’d met someone from my hometown.

“Take this and go over there, the knights will guide you. The control handcuffs are for the safety of other races, so please don’t be too offended.”

I handed the paper to the bear beast-kin, who had a sour face, and pulled the string on my desk.

“Next please!”

Ding, a clear bell rang, and I heard the sound of the bear beast-kin grumbling as he passed in front of the desk.

“Please state your name and race.”

Thud. Thud.

I felt a large shadow approach over me as my head was bowed, but no answer returned.

Either they didn’t understand, or they were being stubborn because they didn’t want to talk to an Awakener.
Since I was used to either, I didn’t even look up as I picked up a new document, placed it on the desk, and spoke clearly again.

“Where are you fro….”

‘Bahalgras.’

Tap, tap, roll.

Was it the sound of the quill pen bouncing and falling to the floor? Or was it the sound of my heart dropping and rolling away?

“…Ra, race….”

‘Varg.’

A cool, uninflected voice.

At the tone that sounded as if it had been thrown out, I stuttered, picked up the quill pen, and slowly raised my head.