I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 398

In truth, Mason had long since broken free from Salome’s enchantment.

He was released from the charm when he fell from the bridge into this bottom village. As death approached, his instincts shook off the shackles that had bound his consciousness.

However, Mason deliberately hid the fact that he was free from the enchantment and was faithfully following Ash’s orders.

“Hey, bear! Put some muscle into it!”

“You’re so big! Hurry up and move it!”

Here in the bottom, Ash’s order to Mason was to do as the two highway robbers of the Lost Home Gang—Sword Demon and Spear Demon—told him.

So, Sword Demon and Spear Demon were gleefully bossing Mason around.

He was called upon for everything from cleaning the village to repairing collapsed houses and all sorts of heavy labor.

Mason found these tasks annoying and cumbersome, but he didn’t show it and carried them all out.

And perhaps because Mason was considered a reliable and taciturn worker.

Sword Demon and Spear Demon quietly dug up a secret vault buried in their yard, with Mason in tow.

Then, they had Mason carry the vault and headed to a corner of the village.

Each time the vault moved, the sound of metal coins clattering inside could be heard.

Mason easily realized that the vault was full of gold coins.

Where were they moving these gold coins?

Mason, puzzled, soon found the answer.

In a corner of the bottom village, a small well had been dug. In the well, where black water was shallowly pooled, a pile of heavily rusted gold coins was submerged.

“Pour it.”

“Into here, quickly!”

As instructed, Mason opened the vault and poured out its contents.

Clatter, clatter!

Splash…!

The gold coins, covered in the grime of ages, sank into the well, bubbling.

After confirming that the vault was empty and the newly poured gold coins had reached the bottom of the well, Sword Demon and Spear Demon turned away without a second thought.

《……Why?》

But Mason couldn’t understand.

《Why throw away the gold coins they worked so hard to collect?》

It was the first time Mason had spoken since coming to this village.

Sword Demon and Spear Demon turned around in surprise, but soon chuckled and answered.

“Before the Lake Kingdom became like this, everyone in the village worked hard to save money. There was a rumor that if you collected gold coins, you could buy ‘citizenship’.”

《And?》

“Well, it turned out that was a false rumor. There was no such system. There was never a way for us non-citizens to become citizens of the Lake Kingdom.”

“Right after we, the couple, found out that fact, the Lake Kingdom sank and was destroyed. We were cursed and became beings who could neither live nor die.”

Sword Demon and Spear Demon looked at each other and giggled.

“After much hardship, we barely managed to gather the villagers again in this hellhole, but what are we going to do here?”

They knew it well.

That even if they died and came back to life, they could not become citizens of the Lake Kingdom. And that the Lake Kingdom could never return to its former beautiful state.

“In this life where we can neither live nor die, we still have to remember.”

“The goal we had when we still had the drive to dream and live.”

To collect money and enter paradise.

Even though they knew it was an impossible goal, both five hundred years ago and now. Even though they knew it was a foolish and futile dream.

“If we don’t have even this vain hope, how else can we live in this hell?”

Their bodies might be immortal.

But if there is no purpose in living, the mind… the soul, dies.

So, the people here collected gold coins to survive.

Searching the bottom of this hell, continuing like a habit.

And to maintain that habit—when gold coins are collected, they are thrown down here.

The vault becomes empty, and people, to fill that vault again, with a new goal… endure another day.

《……Hahaha.》

Mason, who now understood the principle of how this bottom village worked, let out a hollow laugh. Sword Demon and Spear Demon glared at Mason.

“You think we’re funny?”

“It might be a bit difficult for a living friend from the outside world to understand.”

《No.》

Mason shook his head.

《I think this hell and the outside world aren’t that different.》

With the empty vault on his shoulder, Mason walked between the two old men.

《I learned to wield a sword to support my family. My parents and relatives were old and sick, and I was the only one in the family who could do a proper job.》

“……”

《At first, it was enough if I could just eat without going hungry. But once I no longer had to starve, other problems arose. It was cold in the winter with only rags to wear, and without a proper house, I was afraid of thieves and had trouble sleeping.》

He needed clothes. He needed a house.

So, Mason easily fell into temptation. Instead of loyalty to the McGregor family, who taught him the sword, he began to associate with others who filled his pockets immediately.

《It wasn’t enough to live as a human just by not going hungry. So, I kept moving my body, looking for a master who would pay me a lot of money.》

And—he met Fernandes.

Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, when he came to his senses, Mason was already completely Fernandes’ dog.

But.

《One day, my master said this. That the human world is going to be destroyed anyway. That everyone will die, but he will try to save only the people inside the Imperial Capital.》

Fernandes had his own firm cause.

In the face of the world’s destruction, he tried to save as many people as he could.

He wanted to save at least the people living in the Imperial Capital, New Terra.

The problem was that Mason’s family was not wealthy enough to live inside the Imperial Capital. They lived in the suburbs, far from the Imperial Capital.

《I hurriedly sold my family’s house in the suburbs, but the money was not enough to live inside the Imperial Capital.》

Mason chuckled bitterly.

《No matter how hard I tried my whole life, my family and I still couldn’t become people.》

“……”

《So, I went to my master, knelt down, and begged. If he would let my family live inside the Imperial Capital, if he would make us ‘people,’ I would do anything for him.》

Mason looked down at his hands, which had turned into those of a beast.

《And so, it became like this.》

He wanted to live like a human.

For that simple purpose, he gave up being human.

He betrayed the family that taught him the sword, he instigated the death of his benefactor, he drew his sword against his benefactor’s son… and finally, after receiving the serum, he degenerated into the appearance of a beast.

He had run his whole life to become a human.

But when he came to his senses, he had become something far from human.

Mason smiled bitterly.

《Perhaps living is like pouring gold coins into a dry well…》

To collect gold coins, you throw away gold coins.

To live as a human, you give up being human.

In the end, both gold coins and humans lose their original value, and only the series of processes become the purpose, like a treadmill…

As he pondered the irony, Mason, who had arrived at Sword Demon and Spear Demon’s house, raised his head forward—

“I listened to your good story…”

Ash was standing right in front of him.

Mason’s shoulders stiffened in surprise. Ash picked at his ear with his finger, then glared at Mason.

“But when did you break free from the enchantment?”

Mason laughed hollowly.

…He was caught.

***

Mason and I were squatting together in front of the sewer.

Even though he was free from the enchantment, Mason didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me, and I had no desire to deal with him either.

We sat side by side, quietly killing time together.

After a long silence, Mason rummaged through his furry body and suddenly pulled out a pocket watch. I was horrified.

“Whoa, what?! Where did you get that!”

No, when we searched him before, nothing came out! Where did you get it!

《Since I became like this, there are many places to hide things thanks to the twisted bone structure and fur.》

Then, he handed me the pocket watch. I recoiled, startled.

“You didn’t put it in some dirty place, did you?”

《It’s a precious item to me. I kept it in a relatively clean place.》

Relatively clean…?

Without letting go of my suspicious gaze, I accepted the pocket watch. Mason gestured for me to open it, and I flipped open the metal cover of the pocket watch.

Click.

A pocket watch that showed the time normally, and… a portrait of a woman inside the cover came into view.

Mason’s gaze as he looked at the portrait was full of affection.

“Who is this person?”

I asked cautiously. Could it be Mason’s wife?

The answer that came back was a bit unexpected.

《She’s my girlfriend.》

“Huh.”

Considering Mason looked at least fifty, I never imagined she would be his lover, not his spouse.

Blaming my own preconceptions, I laughed awkwardly.

“You must have been together for a long time? You even carry her portrait around so preciously.”

《No. Have we been on five dates so far? We haven’t been together long.》

“……”

Cough! After clearing my throat, I asked cautiously.

“Still, she must be a very precious relationship. How did you meet?”

《I had to go to a couples party during a mission, and since I was a hopeless romantic who had never held a woman’s hand in my life, I was at a loss. So, I found a service that would act as a fake lover for a fee.》

“……”

《I continued to meet her often after that mission, with good feelings.》

“……For money?”

《She wouldn’t meet me if I didn’t pay.》

“What a sucker move, you old man!”

This isn’t a romantic relationship, it’s… something a bit more sinister!

But Mason nodded with a serious expression.

《Our feelings are genuine. Before I came down for this mission, I even!》

“Even?”

《…Held her hand!》

“You don’t look like it, but you’re a real hopeless romantic, you old man!”

If the person is happy, then okay, but it’s still so unexpected that it’s a real mood killer! I’m a hopeless romantic too, but this old man is way worse!

《…I’ve only ever supported my family my whole life.》

Mason muttered, staring at the other side of the sewer with empty eyes.

《I had no life of my own. Even until I left for this mission, I had to spend every last penny to move my family and relatives into the Imperial Capital.》

“……”

《So, this time, I said that I didn’t have any money, so she didn’t have to meet me, but on the day I left, she came to see me off… and gave me that portrait. She told me to think of her when things were hard.》

Mason paused for a moment, then continued slowly.

《Your Highness. I will die soon.》

“……”

《Due to the excessive overlapping of forced beastification, I suffered too many injuries on the way here and was forced to recover. I won’t last long and will die. I probably won’t see the light of the outside world again.》

“So?”

《If you see that woman in the Imperial Capital… please return that portrait to her.》

Mason smiled awkwardly with his beastly face.

《It’s too beautiful an object to rot with a guy like me.》

“…Why are you asking me for such a favor?”

What kind of good relationship do we have? Do you think I’ll grant such a bothersome request?

Then, Mason shrugged.

《What can I do? In this hell below, you are the only person I can ask for a favor right now.》

“……”

《I’m just struggling to grab at any straw.》

I silently tucked the pocket watch into my pocket.

“Any words for Fernandes?”

《No.》

Mason shook his head.

《I have completed my mission. His Highness Fernandes said that I only needed to deliver the message to the Demon King. If I don’t return, he will assume that the Demon King refused.》

“……”

《His Highness Fernandes believed that I would surely succeed in my mission, and I succeeded. There is nothing more needed.》

Silence fell.

I was about to say something more, glancing at the profile of this furry civil servant, whose thoughts were impossible to read.

Thud.

Suddenly, something cold fell on my cheek. I looked up. Mason also looked up.

Thud, thud-thud, thud-thud-thud—

Raindrops began to pour from the sky.

“This is…”

I held out my palm.

The color of the water pooling in my hand was black.

“……Black rain.”