I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 40

The sewer rats were all annihilated.

The monsters, having had their aggro [aggression] pulled by Margrave Cross, turned their backs to us.

Lukas and the soldiers, having opened the castle gates, struck their rear. Fire support from the walls continued as well.

The sewer rats were breached from the rear all the way to their core.

Sporadic resistance continued, but those that were no longer a wave but mere droplets were extremely weak.

The rat swarm was hunted down by the swords and spears of the humans. It wasn’t long before all the remaining sewer rats were eliminated.

However.

“…….”

I hurried through the field where the soldiers were clearing out the remaining sewer rats, towards where Lukas and the veteran soldiers were gathered. Along with Damian, who could use healing magic.

“Your Highness.”

Lukas looked at me as I approached.

Lukas’s new armor and new sword were both covered in sewer rat blood.

However, Lukas couldn’t even think of wiping it off, and instead, heavily lowered his head.

“It seems we were too late.”

“…….”

I pushed through the people and went to the center of the group.

Margrave Cross was lying there.

The old knight’s condition was terrible. The armor, torn apart by the rat swarm, was unrecognizable, and his limbs were almost gone.

Bones were visible in various places on his body, marked by the teeth of the monsters.

Damian rushed over and used recovery magic on the Margrave, but.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. This injury is…”

Immediately after, Damian closed his eyes tightly and shook his head.

It meant that there was no way to deal with it with his recovery magic. Even if an SSR-grade [Super Super Rare] healer came, such an injury could not be healed.

Still, I quickly took out a high-grade stamina potion from my pocket.

It was a high-grade potion from the last reward box. With this, somehow…

“Stop it.”

At that moment, Margrave Cross muttered with difficulty.

“It’s not an injury that can be healed by pouring that, and it’ll probably just hurt like hell.”

“Margrave!”

“Help me sit up a bit. I can’t see anything.”

Damian and I slowly supported Margrave Cross and raised his upper body.

Every time the Margrave coughed, blood flowed from his lips.

“…Is the battle, over?”

“Yes. Margrave. Your contribution was very great.”

“The walls… weren’t breached?”

“They were breached, but not a single monster was allowed inside. Everyone in the city is safe.”

“That’s a relief…”

Margrave Cross lifted his trembling eyelids and looked around.

The veteran soldiers who had protected this place with him all his life were standing around with miserable expressions.

A faint smile appeared on Margrave Cross’s lips.

“Don’t all look so grim. This is the monster frontline. It’s natural for someone to die. It’s just my turn.”

“…….”

“Don’t grieve over the death of each individual. Rather, rejoice in the victory, in the survival.”

The former lord, who spoke calmly, looked at me intently.

“This place is a city on a grave. It’s a derogatory term because there are many casualties, but it also means that people live even on a grave.”

I tried to listen carefully to his words.

“If you only grieve and mourn, the city will stop. Young lord. It’s good to take care of the funeral, but make sure to give everyone the corresponding joy as well.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Because what makes people live is hope…”

The Margrave slowly closed his eyes, which he had been struggling to keep open.

“So, if someone has to die, it’s right for me to die, who has no hope left to lose.”

The bleeding, which had barely stopped with Damian’s recovery magic, started again. Blood poured like water from the old knight’s entire body.

Damian looked at me and shook his head. The Margrave muttered with a pale face.

“Promise me just one thing, Prince Ash.”

“Tell me, Margrave. If it’s something I can do, I will do my best.”

“If my daughter ever comes here… tell her that her father was sorry.”

“…….”

“Tell her to live freely… to live as her heart desires…”

I nodded my head.

“I will definitely tell her.”

“…Yes, that’s enough.”

Death quickly fell upon his face.

The Margrave, who had been staring blankly into the air with his fading eyes, mumbled.

“I’m sorry, honey…”

He was apologizing to his dead wife.

“In the end, I couldn’t protect… the orchard, you… our daughter… anything…”

“No, Margrave.”

I carefully took his hand, which had no proper shape left.

“You saved the world. Not just this once, but throughout your entire life. You protected all the humans above the front line.”

“…….”

“This world owes you a great debt.”

There was no answer.

Whether he couldn’t hear my words anymore, the Margrave didn’t look at me even once. He just kept mumbling to himself.

“I’m sorry. In the end, I couldn’t… protect… anything…”

Only regret filled the Margrave’s bloodshot eyes.

At that moment, it suddenly occurred to me. I quickly took out a pouch from my pocket.

It was the pouch of dried fruit that the Margrave had given me back then.

I didn’t even know why I kept carrying this tasteless thing around. Perhaps it was for this very moment.

I opened the pouch and carefully put the dried fruit into the Margrave’s mouth.

“Ah…”

As he held the bitter and fishy fruit in his mouth, a faint smile formed on the Margrave’s bloodied lips.

“This grape is, truly…”

He couldn’t chew or swallow it, but a moment of peace crossed the Margrave’s face.

Was he seeing the scenery of the orchard from the happy days when his wife and daughter were with him?

“…Sweet.”

And the Margrave stopped breathing.

“…….”

I stared blankly at the face of the deceased old man.

I couldn’t understand.

This man who lost everything protecting the city, this man who hated the city so much that he tried to abolish his family’s legacy himself.

Why did he come back at the last moment?

What did he fight and die for?

What is it about this front line that swallows someone’s entire life?

“It’s heavy, Margrave.”

I muttered as I carefully closed his blood-soaked eyelids.

“The position of lord of this city… is too heavy.”

It felt as if a thousand pounds were pressing down on both my shoulders.

I couldn’t get up from beside Margrave Cross’s corpse for a while, feeling lost.

One by one, the soldiers who had gathered around me lowered their heads.

Ding- Ding- Ding-

A bell rang in the distance.

It was the bell signaling the end of the monster invasion and the lifting of the evacuation order.

The evening glow and the evening bell enveloped the empty battlefield.

***

[STAGE 2 – CLEAR!]

[STAGE MVP – Lukas (SSR)]

[Level Up Characters]

– Ash (EX) Lv.11 (↑2)

– Lukas (SSR) Lv.31 (↑2)

– Jupiter (SR) Lv.37 (↑1)

– Lily (R) Lv.21 (↑1)

– Damian (N) Lv.24 (↑3)

[Deceased and Injured Characters]

– Charles Cross (SR) : Deceased

[Acquired Items]

– Sewer Rat Legion Magic Stone : 562

– Ratman Champion Magic Core (R) : 3

[Stage clear rewards have been distributed. Please check your inventory.]

– N-Grade Reward Box : 3

– SR-Grade Reward Box : 1

>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE

>> [STAGE 3 : What Continues]

***

Crossroad City.

The Lord’s Mansion.

I walked into the entrance of the mansion, staggering.

“Ah, Lord!”

Aider, who found me, came running with a fuss.

“Are you hurt anywhere? I was worried and waiting.”

“…Aider.”

“You solved this stage well too. You’re really amaz…”

Without listening to the rest of his babbling, I grabbed Aider by the collar.

“Keck? Lord?”

I pushed the bewildered guy as he was and slammed him into the wall. Thud!

“Cough, cough. Lord, what…”

“Speak.”

I growled, tightening my grip on his collar. Aider’s face was clearly flustered.

“Huh? Cough! Huh?”

“Speak.”

“What, what are you talking about…”

“Don’t play dumb, you director bastard!”

I shouted, tightening my grip almost to the point of strangling him.

“The current situation is clearly strange. What the hell is this, this insane difficulty!”

“……!”

“I let it slide because the tutorial stage is supposed to be like that. I let it slide that a Living Armor came out in Stage 1, thinking it was just bad luck. But!”

I continued to press him.

“In Stage 2, an enemy NPC [Non-Player Character] appears and gives orders to the monsters? Even hell difficulty doesn’t do that!”

“…….”

“Speak! What kind of nonsense did you do? Why is the game so difficult? What kind of strange things will happen in the next stage?”

Aider’s gray eyes behind his round glasses trembled with bewilderment.

I now grabbed Aider’s collar with both hands and shook him.

“Why did you say you would help me, but hide these things? Tell me straight!”

“…You might not believe me, Lord.”

Aider, who had been biting his lower lip, slowly opened his mouth.

“I am helping you in my own way. Really.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Is this what helping looks like? And you’re helping, but you’re not telling me anything?”

Then Aider pointed to my neck with his fingertip.

“That necklace.”

I had a leather choker-type necklace around my neck. It was a reward item from the tutorial stage.

“That necklace you received when you cleared Stage 0, its function will be unlocked when you clear Stage 3.”

“So?”

“When that function is unlocked, you will understand what you are wondering about now.”

Aider muttered bitterly.

“You will know after clearing just one more stage. Why these things happened…”

“…….”

I couldn’t easily believe it, so I kept glaring at Aider.

“Please, Lord. No, Goduk.”

Aider called me by my nickname from Earth.

“I hope you can handle it. Even after you know all the truth of this crazy world someday, I hope you can fight as firmly as you do now. Sincerely.”

“What?”

“Because from then on, you really won’t be able to run away.”

I asked Aider, who was talking nonsense, with a sullen expression.

“Run away from what?”

Even though he was being grabbed by the collar and choked, Aider gave a thin smile.

It wasn’t his usual slick smile, but a complex smile that seemed to be filled with mixed emotions.

“…From this world itself.”