CH 79

—————The image I have of her, Roze, is of her in bed, only her upper half raised, with a fragile smile on her face.

This is because, although she’s in good health now, as the Event progressed, a Vampire’s “curse” is placed on her and she becomes so weak that she can’t move from her bed.

Because I have seen her in that weakened state for too long, my image would inevitably be drawn to that rather than to her in good health.

(Roze was a character I had to care about constantly once the event started.)

The event she’s involved in, “Frelia’s Vampire”, is a Chain Event that’s so long that it’s difficult to keep track of, and the players are very divided in their evaluation of this event.

First of all, in the First Era, that is, in the early stage of the game, no major events occur when visiting the “House of Roses”.

You can only meet and talk with a woman named Roze, who lives there alone.

However, if you advance the Era by conquering the <Twelve Dark Ruins> and completed other events, after visiting the <House of Roses> when the Second Era arrives, an event will occur there.

The “uncle” who raised Roze returns and tries to take her away.

The player is given the choice of stopping him or to wait and see, but the result is the same no matter which option you choose.

Even if you do battle him, there’s no way for the party to win against the <Vampire Lord> “Uncle” in the early stages of the game, and even if you do win, it will be meaningless.

————–After all, the opponent is a Vampire, an Undead monster.

Putting aside what will happen if you choose to wait and see, even if you reduced the “Uncle”‘s HP to zero, he will just calmly revive, use the “Demon Lord-sama’s Relic” to carve a “Curse Imprint” into Roze, and then leisurely left.

Roze, who had had a dubious pattern magically engraved on her chest, however, outwardly showed no signs of abnormality.

However, late that night, as a group of concerned Adventurers attended to her, just as the date changed, the pattern on her chest pulsated black, and she suddenly began to groan.

As she groans in distress, her eyes turned red, long fangs sprouted from her mouth, and losing her senses, she attacks the “Hero” and their party!

[—————-Adventurer-sama?]

At that moment, my memory and the real Roze mingled together, and I involuntarily took a step back.

But of course, there was no need for me to be so frightened.

There was no imprint on her chest as she looked at me curiously, her eyes not red and her mouth not having fangs.

No, in the first place, even if she were to attack me, I would easily gain the upper hand in the first exchange.

After she comes to her senses, rather, that’s when the Chain Event really begins……

[……Please stop with the Adventurer-sama. I have a name, Rex.]

I said this while shaking my head, as if to shake off the illusions in my mind, and after a pause, Roze happily smiled.

[Fufu. I understand. You have finally told me your name, Rex-sama.]

Hearing her words, it was me this time whose eyes widened in surprise.

[Have I not told you my name? However……]

[Of course, I know who Rex-sama is. After all, you’re famous. You’re very popular among the children at the orphanage.]

At those words, I finally remembered that Roze’s in-game setting was that she was helping out at the orphanage when she was healthy.

[These days, playing the role of Rex-sama is very popular among the children’s pretend Adventurer game. Everyone has this twinkle in their eyes……]

However, it was Roze-san, who was telling me that, that seemed to be the one with a longing glint in her eyes.

[Do you admire Adventurers?]

[Eh……?]

When I asked her this, she froze, seemingly startled.

However……

[I suppose I do.]

The expression on her face seemed to indicate that she had comprehended the fact that she was being confronted with the truth.

Briefly glancing at her slender hands, she looked up to the skies and fluently spoke.

[I was born weak, and my body isn’t very strong. I’m sure I’ll spend the rest of my life in that building within the town. ……Perhaps, that may be the reason why. I was just dazzled by all of you who are active freely outside the town.]

Hearing Roze as she looked outside the town with somewhat distant eyes, I secretly used <Inspect>.

(This thing is as blatant as usual.)

Unlike random characters, the initial ability values of Unique Characters are arbitrarily determined by the devs.

There are many characters whose initial ability values are determined by “Initial Growth Value x Number of times ability value is increased”, such as Nirva, but there are also many cases where characters are made stronger or weaker for the sake of the setting or Events related to them.

For example, if the HP of someone who has to be escorted in an Event is as thin as paper, the difficulty level of that Event will unnecessarily increase, or if a former General-type Character who retired from active duty due to physical decline has a higher ability value than an active General-character, it would bring a contradiction to the story.

The fact that all of Rex’s ability values are 200 is an example of this, and it is possible to tell if he has undergone such “adjustment” or not by whether or not his ability values are very high……

(In Roze’s case, this is enough for me to tell that she’s one of the “adjusted”-types.]

HP and MP are critical in her event.

And so, it’s likely that her ability values were adjusted so that it would take that solid 50, which makes it easier for both sides, the players and the devs.

After all, in her “cursed” state, the amount of HP and MP remaining determines her “remaining time”.

If it were any more than that, it wouldn’t be consistent with the cutscene of her Event, and I too have many times wished Roze would have some more HP and MP…… Hmmm?

————-At that moment, just like a revelation, a thought came to my mind.

It was a very silly thought.

However, as I watched her look up at the sky, somewhat wistfully, my mouth naturally moved.

[In that case, should I test that out?]

※　※　※

[Wow! Amazing! You can see the whole town at a glance from here!]

[Yeah……]

Outside the town, on a small hill.

As I looked at her brightly cheering, I was still shuddering faced with this deviation from the game.

(I never thought I could take her out so easily……)

At least, as far as I could tell from Roze’s monologue in the game, she has no history of having been outside the city.

And so, I had been wondering if she had some kind of compulsion that would keep her from going out of the city.

But to my surprise, I was able to get her out of the town with surprising ease.

The town’s gate guard almost gave me a face pass when he saw me, and when I told him that I was going to show her out of the town, he just smiled cheerfully, with a face and voice that didn’t seem to be worried at all, before sending us off with a smile.

(Well, I may be rotten, I’m still an A-Rank Adventurer.)

Perhaps, I may have gained more trust from the townspeople than I thought.

Thinking of such things, feeling like escaping reality, I watched over her.

[Please look over there! I went to that church today! For that church to look this small from here……!]

Acting in a way I’ve never seen in the game before, her innocent, childlike glee, I’ve also resolved myself.

(In for a penny, in for a pound. If I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna take this to the extreme!)

Approaching Roze, who was happily overlooking the town, and immediately searched through the items in my inventory.

In this world, there’s a clear distinction between “Adventurers” who are born with high affinities and have an initial “Class”, and “Civilians”, who have no Class and low affinities.

In the game, Adventurers are adventuring on their own and gaining levels along the way, but ordinary people remain at their Initial Level all the time.

No matter how much time advances in the game, they never, ever become stronger.

……I guess it’s no wonder.

Unlike Adventurers, who already have an average of about 20 abilities at Lv 1, their initial abilities average about 6.

It would be suicidal for them to challenge monsters with abilities like that.

And if they can’t beat the monsters, their level will not increase, and of course, they will not become stronger.

In this world, the wall that separates “Adventurers” from “Civilians” is a big one.

However……

[I’m sorry, but I would be troubled if you think I’ll be satisfied with this.]

……I’m going to break down that wall today!

I don’t know if it will work.

However, I at least have the knowledge and the preparations to take on that challenge.

[Rex-sama?]

As Roze looked at me curiously, I pushed protective gears, several rings, and a “magic wand” to her.

Then, as Roze reflexively received them, I smiled.

[—————Let’s begin Rex’s Adventurer Experience Course.]

Now!

Let me teach you about the concept of power leveling!