Chapter 701: Role

Screeeeech━

As they pushed open the heavy castle gates and stepped inside, the sound of old hinges echoed, revealing a bizarre interior landscape.

The expected lobby, decorations, and staircases were absent, leading directly into what appeared to be a bedroom. No, strictly speaking, it wasn’t a bedroom either.

It was just an empty space, devoid of anything but a massive bed.

Now that they saw it, the room felt more like a prison than a bedroom.

In the center of that ‘prison’, a girl knelt and bowed her head to welcome Oliver.

“You have arrived….”

Oliver, having walked through the door, silently looked down at the girl.

A girl with pale white skin and flowing honey-colored hair. Whether it was fortune or misfortune, Oliver knew her.

Although she appeared as a girl, she was a Dark Sorcerer who had lived for centuries and was once the beloved Princess, later forsaken by all.

That was, after all, because she had been scared by the Pied Piper and deceived by the 13 witches when betrayed by her people.

In their fear, the people, concerned for their own children’s safety, had condemned the once-praised Princess with their very mouths and, with the same hands that once honored her, dragged her as a sacrifice.

Yet, the ones who ended up sacrificed were those same people.

It was quite the ironic situation.

……

Oliver suddenly realized he knew quite a bit about the girl—although they had only met once. Of course, the same held true for the girl, who knew much about Oliver.

Oliver tilted his head in confusion.

Why had he come to this unpleasant place, and why had he entered?

He had just been walking when he arrived at a castle, and, upon seeing the gates, instinctively opened them and entered.

It was all unintentional, happening subconsciously.

‘Could it be that the Princess used some sort of trick?’

Oliver pondered for a moment but concluded that this wasn’t the case. The Princess didn’t have such abilities.

‘Then, maybe I subconsciously desired to come here?’

Oliver tried to deduce what might be going on in his head, but found nothing except weariness.

Indeed, thinking was such a tiresome, exhausting task. He needed a place to rest.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

As soon as he thought of rest, his eyes fell upon the bed. Using his quarterstaff for support, Oliver walked forward and perched on the edge of the huge bed.

Without permission from the owner.

But the owner seemed unbothered, only quietly adjusting the direction of her bowing.

The girl remained silent in that posture, and Oliver too said nothing.

He simply didn’t feel like speaking.

Because there was really nothing to say.

After all, he had only ended up here by chance while walking. All he wanted now was some rest.

He was so tired. He wouldn’t mind sitting here for eons. Perhaps, he might even find that way an ending—

“—The City of Randa is currently occupied by a crown-bearing army.”

A displeasing voice interrupted the quiet tranquility.

Oliver, who had been gazing into the void, slowly shifted his eyes down towards the girl prostrate on the floor.

Towards Sleeping Beauty.

Sensing Oliver’s gaze, she humbly asked for permission:

“May I raise my head?”

“…Do as you wish.”

Oliver’s response was indifferent. It truly didn’t matter to him—he wasn’t interested; he simply didn’t care.

When he gave permission, Sleeping Beauty raised her head and looked directly at Oliver.

Their gazes met.

Locking eyes with Oliver, Sleeping Beauty spoke again.

“Using the excuse that the undead army that fled underground might rise again anytime, the kingdom’s army continues to station itself in Randa.”

Oliver stared at her without saying a word.

“Randa couldn’t resist and had to accept it. They had already suffered too much from the undead army to have the means or justification to oppose the kingdom’s forces. And realistically, there is still the possibility of the undead re-emerging.”

Oliver continued to listen in silence.

“Fear governs Randa. Knowing this, the kingdom’s soldiers are running amok, infringing on the autonomy and freedom Randa fought so hard for, pulling it back under the royal family’s control.”

“For someone confined to the forest, you seem to know quite a lot.”

Oliver gave a rare proper response.

Sleeping Beauty replied:

“I read it in the newspaper.”

“…”

“It was a joke. I saw it in a dream.”

At her bizarre comment about seeing it in a prophetic dream, Oliver asked:

“I didn’t expect you to have a sense of humor.”

“I don’t particularly enjoy it. I can always predict what jokes people will make, which means I never find them amusing. Humor is about surprise, and I already know in advance… Because of that, you could say I lack the talent for humor.”

Oliver understood what she meant.

Unexpected answers. Surprising commonalities. Reactions you don’t see coming. Most humor relies on the element of surprise.

Every night before bed, Oliver would read joke books, which emphasized the same thing.

Maybe the reason he wasn’t good at humor was for the same reason.

Having grown up at the bottom—an orphanage and the mines—Oliver lacked common sense and knowledge to be genuinely surprised by anything.

That’s why, paradoxically, he could accept anything naturally.

Buying and selling workers for the mine, spiking food in an inn with drugs to knock someone out—it all seemed normal to him.

Only because he didn’t know any better.

Sigh… Oliver now understood why he had never had much success with humor. His way of thinking was too different from others, and the realization left a bitter taste.

It felt like a prophecy about his current situation.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I just realized how pointless it was to read joke books before bed every night.”

“It wasn’t entirely pointless. While you failed most of the time, you did manage to make people laugh a little on some occasions.”

“A little…?” Oliver shook his head.

“…It doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

“Speaking of the newspapers, there was an article from one about the kingdom’s army.”

“…What article?”

“It claimed the kingdom’s army was colluding with the undead army to strip Randa of its freedom. It was published by that newspaper.”

Oliver recognized the newspaper. He read it daily.

It was the kind of paper that reported on monsters living in Randa’s sewers, the birthplace of Eve being there (because Randa is a grand city), the beggars forming a secretive gang, or how one of the City Councilors supported women’s suffrage but pretended to oppose it for popularity.

The kind of paper more concerned with sensationalism than accuracy. This wasn’t Oliver’s assessment—a fact the newspaper proudly admitted as its business model.

Which is why the citizens loved it all the more.

Regardless, the greedy newspaper had crossed a line for profit this time.

It had written a cursed article accusing the royal army, the very ones supposedly protecting Randa, of being the true cause of all their disasters.

Anyone with a shred of conscience would never write such trash, but Gibberish Journalism™ did.

They had performed the forbidden transmutation of conscience into money. It was exactly the kind of thing Randa’s newspapers would do.

All of Randa’s papers were crazy for money.

“What happened next?”

“Accused of defaming the nation and kingdom, spreading malicious lies, and intentionally distorting information to incite chaos, the newspaper has been shut down, and the journalist, editor-in-chief, and owner are all under investigation. Oh, and they’re being audited for taxes.”

“That’s going to hurt.”

Oliver said with genuine sincerity. Given that the people running the paper had traded their morals for cash, a tax audit would be a deadly blow—especially with their notorious reputation for shady accounting.

“I wouldn’t know, but that seems to be the case. There have been protests as well.”

“Protests?”

“Yes, when the kingdom’s soldiers stormed into the newspaper and shut it down, some people started protesting. Aside from the newspaper’s staff and professional protesters they hired, some ordinary citizens joined as well, demanding that the kingdom stop infringing on Randa’s freedom.”

Oliver understood at once.

Randa’s greatest value was freedom, as befitting the ‘Free City’ label.

Even if they had been saved by the kingdom’s forces, the people wouldn’t react kindly to any infringement on their liberties.

Whether it became a major issue or not depended on how the situation developed.

“The protests are growing. The kingdom’s army has placed the City Councilors under de facto house arrest.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because some of the councilors wanted to seriously investigate the newspaper’s claims.”

Again, Oliver understood.

Bribery, corruption, incitement to violence, contract killings, blackmail, collusion, adultery—all the City Councilors were thoroughly corrupt. But that didn’t mean any of them were fools.

While they couldn’t avoid accepting the kingdom’s forces due to the circumstances, they wouldn’t stop questioning things.

Such as who stood to gain the most from the recent events.

Or how the kingdom’s army had managed to rout the undead army that had even stumped Randa’s Defense Force, armed with the city’s latest weapons—despite hardly engaging in actual battle.

When combining everything, the conclusion was obvious: it was a setup orchestrated by Puppet and the Royal Family.

Oliver knew this already, having heard from Merlin.

It was a conclusion anyone could reach with a bit of thought.

“Currently, the kingdom’s forces are sweeping through all crime organizations in Randa under the guise of maintaining order. Crime Firm, the Broker’s Guild, Contractors, Dark Magic groups, Sisterhood—any organization even remotely connected.”

Coincidentally, Oliver knew all those organizations.

“They’re planning to seize control of Randa. And they’ll crush the protesters while they’re at it.”

“It won’t be easy for them.”

Randa hadn’t merely allowed those groups to remain because they were incompetent or greedy.

Even excluding their bribes and roles within the city, it would be difficult to eradicate them entirely, so managing them had been the chosen strategy.

Even for the kingdom’s forces, which were clearly outsiders, wiping them out wouldn’t be simple.

“They’re accomplishing it more easily than expected. Puppet is providing support from behind the scenes, using a combination of Traditional Faction mages and the intelligence gathered from Randa itself. Many figures have already been apprehended or are about to be.”

……

“One of them is a woman named Marie from The Selectors.”

Oliver flinched, just the slightest bit, without anyone noticing.

“…Why are they targeting Marie? Did they discover she was a cult leader?”

Sleeping Beauty shook her head.

“No, it’s because numerous Dark Sorcerers have been seeking her out. Especially those affiliated with Black Hand.”

The news, though new to Oliver, made sense when he thought about it.

After all, everyone had seen him defeat the Pied Piper.

“May I ask one more question? Why are you telling me all of this without me asking?”

Sleeping Beauty gave a sad smile as she answered:

“Because that is my role.”