There Is No Hidden Villain in This Novel Chapter 108

“If we happen to encounter that thing, it would be unfortunate, but how about we use the Rversa as sacrifices?”

“…What did you say? You crazy bastard!”

The Vice-Commander, now incensed, began to huff and puff. However, Ivan Karpin maintained a calm and gentle tone.

“If the strong ones remain, won’t the others be able to hold onto their lives for longer? In that respect, you all are the most perfectly suited meat shields…”

“What! What did you just spout…”

“You’re not going to call it bullshit when you were the ones who spouted it first, are you? Mr. Meat Shield.”

“How dare you!”

What’s with that guy? Is he trying to become complete enemies with de Millang’s subordinates? Just as Ivan Karpin finally lost his patience and this whole mess was unfolding, I let out a sigh with the same listless voice as before and said.

“I will do it.”

“…What?”

“That thing. Be it a meat shield or a sacrifice.”

“No, what did you just…”

“I said I will do it.”

Uh, is that really such a shocking thing to say?

“…”

“…”

In an instant, the crowd fell silent.

The fact that, in that moment, baby Ryuseong and adult Ryuseong simultaneously grabbed me by the collar is something I find a little funny. The fact that Kirill and Ivan Karpin’s mouths were hanging open wide enough for their jaws to drop is also funny. But I didn’t like seeing the surprised look on the Rversa’s faces.

Why are they acting like that when they’re probably happy on the inside?

Anyway, I continued speaking peacefully.

“Do not worry. I am saying this because I am confident I will come out alive.”

“What are you talking about! That’s enough. Do not listen to this man. Dammit. It’s all bullshit. He must be heated, he’s just spouting delirious nonsense. Cassis de Millang! I told you to stop. Don’t open your mouth again!”

As the adult Ryuseong angrily told me to shut up, baby Ryuseong placed his tiny hand over my lips and held it there firmly, preventing me from speaking.

But I was truly being serious. This Ryuseong bastard calling my words delirious nonsense because I’m ‘heated’ is really pissing me off.

“No, why, you…”

As Ivan Karpin stammered and asked, I overpowered baby Ryuseong’s palm with force and smiled. Although the overpowered baby Ryuseong growled and bit my arm, the adult Ryuseong couldn’t stop him, and I could understand his hurt feelings, so I just…

“Does a person need a reason to save another person?”

I said something I didn’t mean and gave a faint smile. Then, the strength in baby Ryuseong’s jaw slowly began to release.

“St-still, you don’t need to do that…”

“What difference is there between you and me?”

“…How can you even say that…?”

Ivan Karpin had a look of complete incomprehension on his face. But the words that followed were quite cheerful.

“Didn’t we come here to save them? Us?”

I absolutely do not think this way.

“I was afraid there might not be any survivors, but was I the only one who was thinking that it’s a relief so many have survived, all things considered?”

You should not expect warm humanity from me.

“Surely you weren’t thinking of deploying all our manpower to the raid on the left point, were you?”

“…”

“That’s not why we came in here, is it?”

Still, because there is something I want.

BAM!

I slammed my fist down on a flat rock we were using as a table.

It hurt like hell.

Still, I had to say it straight.

“We must save the survivors under the bridge. They are people who have been waiting for us for months. To do that, we must stand guard for a long time so that the thing in the wasteland cannot attack us.”

Sound reasoning. Morality. Ethics.

And above all, the stratagem that could only be salvation.

“The most suitable person for that role.”

I said.

“Is Cassis de Millang, me and me alone.”

It is easy for a person to overwhelm another. One can have great power, be incredibly wealthy, or at the very least, be tall or large in stature. With just that, a person is easily overwhelmed. To be specific, one could offer the tip that people are easily overwhelmed by fear. However, being overwhelmed by goodness is difficult. This is because the concept, value, and meaning of being good are, at first glance, often mistaken for something soft and weak.

And now.

“…”

Everyone was overwhelmed by goodness.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Ivan Karpin did not know who that phrase, welling up from the depths of his heart, was referring to. No, more than that, Ivan Karpin did not even know to whom he wanted to say it. Merely by the measure that Ivan Karpin was a man who knew shame, we can surmise the reason for the flush that rose to his face.

Because, because… the reason we gathered here was…

‘To save people.’

That was the priority. Not starting the raid to defeat the boss monster and go home.

They were people gathered to save people.

That was the justification, the cause.

And yet.

“Now… that’s not what we gathered here to talk about, is it?”

The hunters began to protest. With a moderately smiling face and a moderate tone, they suggested they move on moderately.

“First, we must prepare for the raid. We are hunters, not rescuers, are we not? We can plan the rescue after the dungeon has collapsed.”

“That’s right. For now, we need to ensure our own safety…”

Let’s just move on moderately and save ourselves first.

And at that moment, a gaze like the hard edge of a sword pierced through the dim dawn, seeing through everything.

“If that’s what you’re going to do, then shout it at that cliff.”

“…”

“Shout that we are going to live, so you all can die wedged in the gap between the otherworld and the original.”

“…”

When a dungeon collapses, the otherworld and the original world, that is, reality, merge, and a collapse occurs.

So, to shout that to the survivors gathered below the cliff was to…

“Shout it to their desperation, to their will to live! Shout your cowardice!”

Cassis de Millang’s voice, which no one could have imagined would say such things, rang out clear and sharp along the cliff and echoed several times. Even his butler stared up at him, mesmerized. As he finally looked, he saw clear eyes that seemed like those of a young boy, or perhaps a sage with his face hidden, and he smiled with lips as humble and noble as the son of a god who had intuited everything.

“To the survivors who barely made it out alive, to those who struggled to live tenaciously even in the face of this disaster, are you telling them that it’s all over now, that they should all die?”

But his words were different from his smile. The words he uttered were all daggers. They cut, swung through to pierce, and stabbed through everyone’s hearts.

Then he threw his head back and burst into a bright laugh, and it was impossibly terrifying.

“If there is anyone here who came to gain mere honor or fame, get out and die right now. You filthy vipers. This place, this land beneath the cliff, is a temporary sanctuary that people have earned to live. It is proof that people have striven to live. You have no right to look down upon it!”

At those words, several people unconsciously took a step back. They couldn’t help it. This place was a dungeon that was considered impossible to raid from the start, even when there was only one Named being, which was why the situation had gotten so out of hand. Because things had gotten so big, no matter how much they requested help from other countries, the replies were lukewarm, and in the end, there was not a single proper hunter among those recruited. They were all just planning to dip a spoon in, get some good treatment, then pretend to have a stomachache and run away, but the dungeon break was forcibly initiated, and that’s how they ended up in this mess. Among them, the only ones with any real substance were the soldiers, and even they were only here because they couldn’t run away due to strict military discipline or patriotism.

Furthermore, these days, with the lack of military resources making it difficult to even patrol the surrounding area, public security had gone to shit.

At such a moment, when it was announced that Cassis de Millang was coming, what self-deprecating thoughts had Ivan Karpin had?

‘It’s going to be a headache having to pick out a separate escort team to protect the great Young Master…’

H-how shameful.

This situation, where the only one talking about saving people was the Young Master he had so disdainfully ignored.

How lamentable.

Suddenly, Ivan Karpin looked up at the sky. And he met the crimson sky.

He also confirmed the distorted hologram of the otherworld, or the glitch-like clouds.

He also confirmed the tears that welled up and rolled down to his temples.

He wiped them away as if stealing them with his wrist. And he said.

“…I am sorry. I made a misjudgment.”

A few of the hunters, shameless once again, tried to protest, but Ivan Karpin shook his head firmly. Then he slowly knelt down.

“The rescue is the priority, that is correct. I am not qualified to be a commander. Therefore, you must.”

He pulled out the flag slung on his back. He held it up with both hands as if offering it to Cassis de Millang.

“Please command us.”

He thought that by returning what should have been yours from the beginning, he hoped it could at least somewhat assuage the shame in his heart.

It was the sincere heart of the iron-blooded general, Ivan Karpin.

Meanwhile, Cassis de Millang was feeling a bit nonplussed.

‘I’ve never commanded anyone before.’

What do I do?