Chapter 123

Chapter 88.2

C88.2: A looming crisis and me firing the third arrow (2)

–A few weeks ago.

After the phone call with the Goddess of Fate, I feel like taking a break, but not yet. I picked up my wallet from the corner of my desk and pulled out a business card. The name written on it is Habata.

He was the player from the Evil God’s side that I had negotiated with on the ferry and had a car chase with in Hokkaido. I took out the business card that Habata had given me back then and checked it. It was a business card with his name and phone number written on it. There was even an email address on it.

“What to do? I don’t know if this number is real.”

Direct contact with me from the other side was forbidden by the discussion between the gods, but contact from me was not restricted. Having gotten a lot of information from God, I can call Habata without worrying. After quenching my thirst with a cup of tea from a plastic bottle, I typed in the phone number written on his business card.

“This is a different kind of tension.”

But it’s a lot easier than talking to God. I told myself that and waited for the other person’s response. The ringing was repeated, and I decided to hang up after five more seconds. I started the countdown, and then I heard a voice…….

“I never thought I’d hear from you.”

The condescension was palpable even over the phone. It was definitely Habata.

“It’s been a while. Thank you for your time.”

“That’s a good counter with a touch of irony. You seem to have grown stronger since then.”

Why is he so happy about this? His aloofness is still the same, isn’t it? I almost felt relieved that I could make the call, so I pulled myself together.

“I don’t think there’s any need for useless preamble, so I’ll be blunt……I want you to withdraw from the Forbidden Forest.”

“Hohoho……Your jokes have gotten better in the short time I haven’t seen you around. Do you have any proof that I’m messing with the Forbidden Forest in the first place?”

“No, I don’t want you to play games with me now after all the attacks.”

It must be Habata who has been attacking the village at the time of the [Temptation of the Evil Gods] for the past few months. I don’t have any evidence, but the monsters look the same every time.

“So you’re saying that I’m the culprit who’s been attacking the village with a pattern of attacks every time because I’m too broke to hire monsters properly?”

“Isn’t that already a confession?”

“Well, you’ve got me there. Hahahahaha.”

This jovial tone of voice returned. It seems to have been an intentional slip of the tongue. I guess he didn’t want to play dumb from the start.

“Can we please stop with the silly word games?”

“So let’s assume that I’m attacking you, but I don’t think you should ask your opponent to retreat, do you? There’s no benefit to me.”

“Mr. Habata, you’ve been working with other people in the Forbidden Forest recently, haven’t you? With multiple people, too.”

Although I still didn’t have enough information, I took a chance on the possibility that there were more than one of them. When I attacked the enemy’s base, I found a wide variety of monsters, some of which were controlled by Habata, who I’ve messed with many times before. So there must be a high possibility of that.

Besides, I had seen him in one place. –In the Utopia company. That wasn’t a coincidence or anything. Perhaps, President Chosokabe is one of the players who are attacking my village. I’m not sure, but him trying to recruit Seika and his connection to the company my sister works for. I can’t say it’s all coincidence.

I’m not sure if this is the power of fate or not but I made a bold hypothesis that President Chosokabe contacted Habata, who had attacked my village many times, and invited him in as an employee……. If I’m wrong, I’ll only embarrass myself.

“……You say some really interesting things. Please continue.”

He didn’t confirm or deny. The tone of his voice, which had been jovial, dropped. He is now ready to listen to me seriously.

“Are you willing to betray them? But I’m not going to ask you to fight a player from the Evil God side.”

I’ m going to be direct. It’s better to be clear about your objective than to go in circles trying to persuade someone. It’s not that I don’t know what I’m talking about.

“Betrayal? And you don’t want me to fight? Perhaps you’d like me to pass on information about my partners to you. It sounds like a fun way to spy on people.”

His voice sounds like he’s ready to go, but he’s a tricky guy. If I’ m not careful, I might be tricked.

“I don’t think there’s any disadvantage to Mr. Habata if it’s just a matter of passing on information. And isn’t the profit margin low when you team up with them to attack the village on the Lord God’s side?　I don’t know about the distribution rate, but it will inevitably reduce the profit per person. So what if there is an easier, safer, and more comfortable way to make money?”

“That’s an intriguing offer, but as I said before, even if I were to betray them, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit.”

“There is a benefit. I will make you a proposal that will ensure that only you will profit.”

“That’s interesting. I’d love to hear the details.”

I understand from previous contact that this person is sloppy with money and is obsessed with it more than anything else. He is not a trustworthy person, but his high dependence on money is a characteristic of players on the Evil side. If I stimulate that, I can get…….

“Then if you are willing to betray them—“

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Now I have three arrows in my quiver.

–I suggested betrayal to Habata, he readily agreed, and here we are. I’ve been in contact with him a few times since then, and I’ve been able to get a lot of information about the Evil God side including their rules and regulations for controlling monsters. Knowing that, I was able to come up with this plan.

At that time, I still wasn’t convinced that President Chosokabe was the boss of the enemy force, but it was certain when Habata gradually disclosed the information. So when he revealed it to me in the break room, I pretended to be surprised, but inwardly I was not. I didn’t expect that he was……aiming for Seika, though.

“I offered your player…”

So I switched off the PC microphone, which was connected to the God of Nature player.

“It’s a dark elf village. They’re not going to resist, so you can take it alone.”

By inviting them into my village, there was no one left to defend that village. So Habata led a small group to take over the village. This is the reason why I recommended that they move. I feel bad for the God of Nature, but I had no other choice.

“What the hell! I told them I was going to destroy that village after I destroyed this one……”

“If the other village would’ve been destroyed first, I’d be out, but thank God you attacked me. It was worth the provocation.”

I’ve been forcing myself to treat him with an attitude that doesn’t suit my character, but it’s worked out better than I expected. This was thanks to the information Habata had given me about Chosokabe.

“Hey, Habata! Don’t think you’ll get off scot-free for disobeying my orders!”

“Oh, scary, scary. You were going to abandon us, how dare you? You know that the players on the Evil God side are all greedy for money. And besides, what I hate the most is the happiness of others. When I see people like you who are blessed with everything going well, it makes me sick, even though we are on the same side.”

Habata snickered, not caring about the president. This guy’s personality is quite something. I don’t think we’ll ever get along. In fact, when Habata turned, I was wondering what to do with the other two players on the Evil God side. Because of Chosokabe’s self-destruction, things took a different turn from what I had planned, and I was able to achieve more than I had imagined.

Originally, it was going to be Habata who would use the money he gained from taking over the Dark Elf village to persuade them.

“I’m sure you’ve been thinking of betraying…….I think it’s possible that you’ve been using my money to build up your forces, saying in a good tone that you, my employees, will take care of this attack…….”

“Oh, did you finally notice? You let your guard down and reduced your own strength. We increased our strength at no cost to our pockets. So that’s it, we’ll withdraw. Well, we were able to increase our strength with other people’s money, and we also got some coins. I’m satisfied and content. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Let’s talk about this! That’s an order from the president!”

He is yelling at them, but the call has already been cut off. 　As if to prove what Habata had said, most of the monsters that had been closing in on the village retreated. Only the monster summoned by Chosokabe remained. It seems that the other employees have decided that they no longer have a duty to the president and that it would be a shame to see their own strength reduced any further.

“Damn, you incompetents, you’re getting carried away. The idiots are still in the conference room. Don’t think you’ll get out of this building…….I’ve got guards on the way.”

Maybe he was peeking into the conference room on the monitor in the president’s office. It seems that he gave instructions to catch the traitors…….Unfortunately; I think it will be in vain. Just when I thought he had calmed down a bit and his voice was back to normal, I could hear him yelling right away.

“Hey, what’s going on? Habata and the others aren’t in the conference room? Don’t be ridiculous! The cameras are showing them!”

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It’s an illusion caused by the miraculous power of Habata. A miracle that creates the illusion I was shown on the ferry and in Hokkaido. He made it look like everyone was in the conference room, but from the beginning, the employees were in a different place.

“I told you that you would have realized it if you had played along with the others.”

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! I don’t care what the trick is! I’m just going to fire them anyway! However, you may think you’ve won, but my strength alone is enough to deal with you in your weakened state!”

Although their numbers have decreased considerably, there are still nearly a hundred monsters left. And they’re not just little green devils, they’re much more powerful. At the end of the line is a……red-skinned dragon that looks vicious.

In addition to that, there are hardly any points left. I could only operate for five or six minutes at most. Even so, I’m going to win!