I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 296

The first dream I had was of a familiar chat window.

‘Hey, bro!’

It was a message I’d seen so many times, I felt like I’d memorized it.

‘Bro, you’re amazing. How did you clear that?’

The first chat message someone had ever sent to my stream, which had been ignored by everyone for almost half a year.

Even though it was just a few lines of text, a knock without any voice.

It was a powerful experience.

Like a visitor suddenly appearing on a deserted island, handing me a bouquet of flowers.

‘I’ll add you to my favorites. You’ll stream again, right?’

That’s why I still dream of that day.

I still… regret it.

***

The problem was the dream that followed.

A wide, red, unfamiliar room.

‘I’ was lying in bed, breathing heavily. My body felt hot, as if I had a fever, but the air on my skin felt freezing.

Then.

Softly.

A cool, gentle hand stroked my forehead.

The hand brushed back the sweaty hair from ‘my’ forehead, and ‘I’ desperately moved my body, which was too weak from the fever, to rub my cheek against that hand.

‘Mommy… don’t go…’

A faint sob escaped ‘my’ lips, and the owner of the hand whispered warmly.

‘It’s okay. My lovely Bonehater.’

The hand seemed to stop, then I felt the soft touch of slightly dry lips kissing ‘my’ forehead.

‘Mommy will always be by your side.’

‘I’ struggled to open my eyes.

And then-

The face of a woman, somewhat haggard, smiling kindly. Right in front of me.

The woman smiled brightly and kissed ‘my’ forehead once more-

‘I promise, Ash.’

That’s what she said.

***

I suddenly opened my eyes.

‘……Huh!’

Belatedly, a dry breath escaped my lips.

‘Hah, hah……’

Thankfully, I saw a familiar ceiling.

The lord’s bedroom in Crossroads. The ceiling with the antique wallpaper (which Evangeline had painted pink and then restored).

‘Ugh……’

I barely managed to sit up, feeling a heavy sensation on both of my legs.

What is it? I looked down.

‘Snore… Phew…’

‘Koo…’

For some reason, Evangeline and Damian were sleeping soundly with their heads on my legs.

‘……What the heck is going on?’

My legs were numb, probably because they had been using them as pillows for quite a while. I slowly pulled my legs out.

Evangeline and Damian tossed and turned, then continued to sleep soundly, using their own arms as pillows.

I looked out the window and saw that it was sunset.

Only then did I roughly grasp the situation.

‘I passed out earlier, huh.’

After the defense battle ended, I suddenly collapsed as if I had fainted.

Maybe my body couldn’t take it because I had been sleeping less and pushing myself too hard these past few days.

I didn’t think I was such a weak character. Although my stamina stat is terrible……

Anyway, so they must have carried me to this bedroom after I fainted, and these two, who were sticking by me to nurse me, must have fallen asleep together, exhausted from the hard work of the past few days.

‘……’

I carefully raised my upper body. The wet towel that had been on my forehead fell off.

I touched my forehead with the back of my hand and felt a slight fever. I guess I was sick.

‘I should reflect on my unintentional overwork, but before that.’

What was that dream?

I recalled the images I had just seen.

Clearly, the first dream was a dream that ‘classic otaku’ me would have.

My guilt, which often follows me. The debt I bear. A familiar nightmare related to the wish I’m trying to achieve at the risk of my life.

But what about the second dream?

‘That dream isn’t my memory.’

I mulled over the vivid images.

No doubt about it. The palace I stayed in when I went to the Imperial City. And… the face of the woman I saw in the frame.

Ash’s mother.

In other words, that dream is Ash’s memory.

‘But why… how could I recall that memory?’

When Ash was sick as a child, his mother taking care of him.

I’ve never seen or experienced such a scene. But such a scene appeared clearly in my dream.

‘A memory left in this body? Or…’

Or… what?

I was lost in thought, staring blankly,

Squeak-

The door opened carefully, and Junior and Margherita came in.

They were surprised to see me awake (and the two sprawled out), and quickly rushed inside.

‘Your Highness, you’ve regained consciousness!’

‘I’ll check your condition again right away. This way…’

Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious illness, just overwork.

‘No, you rested well during the festival. How can you collapse like this after pushing yourself a little for a few days?’

As I grumbled, Margherita hung a pack that looked like an IV drip next to my bed and replied ominously.

‘Have you really been resting?’

‘Huh…?’

‘The body is honest, Your Highness. Collapsing from overwork is just the result of the accumulated strain.’

Margherita waved her hand, and a thin tube made of divine power connected the IV pack to my arm. They don’t use needles in this place.

‘I suspect you were working even during the festival.’

‘Well… I couldn’t just play, so of course I did the lord’s work…?’

Playing is playing. I also handled major tasks in between and planned for the future at night. Isn’t that normal?

‘That’s why your fatigue has been accumulating since you took office here.’

Margherita, who had been flustered in front of me for the past few months. She became strict as soon as I became a patient.

‘I repeat, the body is honest, Your Highness. Collapsing this time is a sign from your body. If you push yourself any harder, I’m going to die.’

‘U-uhm.’

‘If you ignore these signals… something worse could happen.’

The saint’s threat, which wasn’t really a threat, was polite but terrifying. I shivered involuntarily, getting goosebumps.

‘You must put down all work and rest for three days.’

‘What?! Is that even possible?!’

‘It is possible. In fact, I’ve already informed the others.’

Margherita gestured to the side.

‘Don’t you have capable subordinates? You don’t have to worry, everything will run smoothly.’

Then, Evangeline and Damian, who were standing next to my bed, nodded in unison. Hey, you two, wipe the drool off your faces!

‘Your Highness. You are indispensable to this city.’

Margherita left my room, leaving only those last words.

‘So you need to take better care of yourself. Don’t overdo it in the future.’

‘……’

I tasted the bitterness as I watched the saint’s back as she left the room. Then I turned to the side.

‘Thank you for taking care of me and worrying about me.’

I spoke softly to my party members, who were looking at me with concern.

‘But today is the day we need to clean up after the defense battle, so I’m sorry, but please help me with the work.’

‘Leave it to us!’

Evangeline said enthusiastically, rolling up her sleeves. Judging by the fact that they fell asleep using my legs as pillows, they must be tired too, but let’s share the burden.

‘First… where’s Lukas?’

‘Lukas is cleaning up the monster corpses outside the castle walls! He said it’s the top priority…’

I chuckled. It seems Lukas is aware of his role as acting commander. He knows what needs to be done while I’m down.

‘Damian, go help Lukas with his work. Divine power purification is also needed for cleaning up the monster corpses… and let him know that I’m awake.’

‘Yes, sir!’

‘Junior. Go to Lily and get the artifact status report. Check the condition of the artifacts with your own eyes. You might be better at it than me, since you’re a mage.’

‘Leave it to me, Your Highness.’

‘Evangeline. Take charge of the victory banquet preparations and the celebratory speech. I don’t think I’ll be able to attend the banquet today. I’m counting on you.’

‘Yay! I really wanted to do that!’

As I assigned each of them a task, the three of them nodded and scurried out of the room.

Standing in front of the door, they kept turning back to look at me and nodded.

‘You need to rest well, Your Highness! Don’t do anything else, just rest!’

‘I’ll deliver the report tomorrow morning. There shouldn’t be any problems.’

‘I’ll take care of the banquet! Senior, take your medicine and get some sleep! Okay?!’

I waved my hand at the three of them, telling them to go quickly, as they kept nagging me.

The three of them kept chattering until they finally disappeared a little later.

‘……’

In the room that had finally become quiet, I leaned back against the headboard of the bed and fell into thought, my mouth shut.

The worry of how well the city could function without me. And.

‘I promise, Ash.’

…Ash’s biological mother.

About the smile of the second empress of Dustia, whom I saw in my dream.

‘Why is that?’

She is irrelevant.

To my existence, and… to my goal of clearing the game.

However. I had a certain feeling that I couldn’t explain logically. You could call it a gamer’s intuition.

There’s a connection.

Everything is connected.

Everything I’ve encountered on the path to the true ending is connected in some way.

It’s not a coincidence that I dreamed of her. It’s just that I haven’t found that link yet…

‘……’

Ignoring Margherita’s words to rest, I frowned and fell into thought.

About everything I’ve encountered and experienced since I fell into this world.

Trying to find the connection that seemed visible but wasn’t.

***

That night.

The corpses of the Skeleton Legion were scattered from the forward base to the front of the Crossroads castle walls, so it took quite a while to collect and incinerate them.

It was when the moon was high in the sky that Lukas finished all his work and came to visit Ash.

He was planning to just drop off the report if Ash was sleeping, and to ask how he was doing if he was awake.

So he walked towards the lord’s mansion with a stack of reports-

‘Oh my.’

Almost at the same time, the Winter Silver Merchant Guild’s carriage arrived and stopped at the entrance of the mansion.

Serenade, who had stepped out of the carriage, smiled awkwardly. Lukas also bowed awkwardly, sweating.

‘……Miss Serenade.’

‘Sir Lukas.’

The two exchanged greetings in a subtle atmosphere.

They were acquaintances. Acquaintances, but not close friends.

In their childhood, at the second empress of Dustia’s palace… they grew up with Ash.

Ash was always between the two of them. Their relationship was all derived from Ash.

Even if there hadn’t been this time gap of several years since they last greeted each other, they would have been awkward from the start if they had to meet and greet each other separately.

‘……You’ve changed a lot, Miss Serenade.’

In other words.

‘You, who were called the cold wave of Winter Silver because you were so cold. You’re smiling so brightly here, like spring. It’s quite… disconcerting to see.’

‘……’

When Ash in the Imperial City was a broken-down trash of a scoundrel.

The two of them, who were stuck in the memories of that time.

‘You’ve changed a lot too, Sir Lukas.’

Clearly.

They don’t get along.

‘You, who were called the ‘mad dog of the Bonehater,’ are now such a fine knight. It’s amazing.’

Serenade smiled softly and replied gently to Lukas’s pointed words.

‘No, it’s been so long that I don’t remember properly. So… was it ‘a mad dog that bit its master’?’

‘……’

The two stared at each other silently.

There was no hostility in their gaze, and their voices were soft.