How a Nuisance Character Survives a Horror Game Chapter 44

“S-Save me! Please save me!”

Even while I agonized, Alhulf’s screams continued.

Worse—

his voice came from every direction.

This is driving me insane.

Fine.

I’ll choose the recommended option.

If he isn’t there, I can always turn around.

Holloway’s trust matters more.

I firmly pressed number 2.

[You selected option 2: ‘Go left. (Recommended (b˙ ˙ )b) ◁’]

“No. Let’s go left. Holloway said he heard him on the left.”

[All emotional values increased by 0.5%.]

[Holloway is happy because you trusted him.]

[Trust between you and Holloway has increased.]

[Trust has been unlocked.]

[‘Future Conqueror of This World’ Holloway’s Emotional Values!

Affection: 33%

Attachment: 35%

Possessiveness: 40%]

[‘Future Conqueror of This World’ Holloway’s ★★!

Jealousy: 5%

Anxiety: 10%

(=Linked Emotion: Possessiveness)

Obsession: 42%

Trust: 11%]

So not every hidden stat is bad.

Thank goodness.

Trust was definitely welcome.

They could give me dozens of stats like that and I’d happily accept them.

If Trust increased, Holloway might eventually stop doubting me over every pointless little thing.

Anyway, I held Holloway’s hand and practically ran left.

“Alhulf! Are you there?!”

“L-Lady Evelyn? Lady Evelyn!”

What……

He actually told me where Alhulf was?

Then why did he distort my hearing?

“Lady Evelyn! W-Where are you?!”

The voice sounded close.

Yet Alhulf was nowhere in sight.

“Alhulf!”

“W-Where……! Please appear! Her Highness is……!”

Her Highness?

Cynthia?

“Her Highness?”

“Huh? Holloway, what did you say?”

“Nothing.”

We kept running.

But it felt as though we were running in place.

I opened the map and checked my position.

So right now……

I’m in front of the small banquet hall on the fourth floor.

The map itself looked simple and compact.

But in reality, this hotel was enormous.

Even standing in a hallway, the candles provided barely enough light to see ahead.

The corridors themselves were long and wide, making them seem even darker.

I’m standing in the middle of the fourth-floor corridor.

Where the hell is he?!

“Please! Please……! Lady Evelyn! Her Highness is dying……!”

“Holloway, hurry! Let’s find him!”

“Who is ‘Her Highness’?”

“That……”

C-Can I tell him?

Should I?

For some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.

“Lady Evelyn!”

Alhulf called again.

I tore my attention away from Holloway and changed the subject.

“Alhulf! Holloway, hurry!”

“…….”

When I began running, Holloway had no choice but to run with me.

If we kept going forward, surely we’d meet him eventually.

But something was wrong.

“Hah, hah……”

“Lady Evelyn!”

Am I under some kind of spell?

I searched the entire fourth floor.

His voice kept coming from the hallways.

I went back and forth several times.

Still no Alhulf.

Whenever I reached the end of one hallway, his voice came from somewhere else.

Not from a room……

Definitely from the corridor……

Wait.

The system said Holloway distorted my hearing.

Then maybe—

he’s in a room?

Maybe he’s much closer than I think.

I abruptly opened the door directly in front of me.

―……Grrrk.

I met the monster’s eyes.

―KRAAAAAAGH!

“Aaaaaagh! Save me!”

“……L-Lady Evelyn?!”

I scooped Holloway into my arms and immediately ran.

Then I rushed into the nearby small banquet hall and locked the door.

―Hiss……. Hss……

The monster’s rough breathing lingered near the door.

When we remained quiet, it eventually moved past.

W-We survived.

I set Holloway down and quietly caught my breath.

Then Alhulf suddenly appeared behind me and threw his arms around me.

“Lady Evelyn!”

“Alhulf! You were here?!”

“N-No……. I kept hearing Lady Evelyn’s voice coming from different rooms, so I kept going in and out……! I finally found you!”

He hugged me with all his strength.

“Can’t breathe……”

“I missed you, Lady Evelyn……”

I didn’t.

I tried pushing him away.

He was hugging me so tightly that escaping was difficult.

Come to think of it……

There’s blood all over Alhulf’s face.

“Alhulf, this blood on your face……”

Just before my hand touched his blood-covered face, Holloway caught it.

“That’s enough.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t touch him any more than that.”

Holloway grabbed Alhulf by the back of his neck and threw him away from me.

Crash!

Alhulf looked bewildered after being tossed aside.

“H-How……”

“What are we supposed to do with a body that loses even to a child?”

“…….”

Don’t become suspicious of Holloway yet.

You’ll die too.

Saving Cynthia came first.

Ignoring Holloway, who had already wrapped his arms around my waist, I opened my mouth.

Alhulf shook his head violently as though finally returning to his senses.

Then he shouted,

“I-I’m…… No, Lady Cynthia! Lady Cynthia is in danger!”

“Take me to her immediately!”

If it had been Friedel, I might have hesitated.

But Cynthia needed to be saved.

I didn’t know why Alhulf was alone again, screaming for help.

I could ask after rescuing Cynthia.

Alhulf tried standing.

His legs gave out and he collapsed again.

Not funny.

“That kind of joke isn’t entertaining.”

“……It isn’t a joke.”

I urged him to get up quickly.

Apparently he understood Cynthia was in danger too.

He bit his lip and forced himself upright.

One thing surprised me.

Was he actually planning to guide me all the way to Cynthia instead of running away?

Normally, he would’ve fled immediately.

Was this a trap?

My contemptuous gaze contained not even a trace of trust.

Alhulf muttered in a tiny voice.

“I-I realized something after Lady Evelyn lectured me.”

“What?”

“I-If I run away again, I was afraid you’d look at me like that……”

Is my gaze worse than death?

Whatever.

If Cynthia survived, that was enough.

I followed him.

When we arrived, no one was there.

Alhulf spun around in panic.

“L-Lady Cynthia……? S-She was definitely here……”

I looked down.

A clear trail of blood continued along the corridor.

The marks showed someone had been dragged.

“I-I wasn’t lying, Lady Evelyn!”

“I know.”

I crouched and ran a finger through the blood.

It smeared wetly across my skin as though freshly spilled.

Alhulf recoiled when he saw it.

“Eek……!”

The blood hadn’t dried.

Then……

[Sub Quest <Confirm Her Highness the Princess’s Life or Death!>]

[Objective: Follow the blood trail and confirm Her Highness the Princess’s life or death.

If she is alive, send her peacefully on her way.

If she is dead, quietly pray for her soul.]

……Huh?

I narrowed my eyes and read it again.

The words didn’t change.

‘If she is alive, send her peacefully on her way’……

What the hell does that mean?

If Cynthia is alive, you want me to kill her?

With my own hands?

I had never received a quest this extreme.

The moment I read it, my heart pounded like someone beating it with a club.

Sweat soaked my clenched fist.

[Clear Reward: Gain a demon’s trust and increase your probability of survival.

Failure: Your location will be changed, and current Hotel Difficulty will increase.]

I relaxed slightly when I saw the failure penalty wasn’t death.

As long as I wasn’t the one dying, fine.

The hotel difficulty increasing bothered me.

But saving a person came first.

For some reason, the system seemed to want Cynthia dead.

Or……

Maybe the opposite?

The penalty wasn’t particularly severe.

Maybe it was torn between wanting her dead and not wanting her dead.

“First, we should follow it.”

“Y-Yes?”

Alhulf hesitated.

Without looking back, I added as I walked forward,

“You don’t have to follow me.”

Not that I expected you to.

As expected, I heard no footsteps behind me.

***

“Ugh, cough……”

Blood filling Cynthia’s throat prevented her from breathing properly.

Lying on a hard bed, she spat out the blood pooled inside her mouth.

The blood flowing beside her face soaked her neck and shoulders.

A wound ran from her shoulder down to her abdomen.

Its ragged flesh made it obvious the saw blade that caused it hadn’t been particularly sharp.

‘……I guess this is the end.’

Cynthia’s body twitched like an animal with death looming directly before it.

Her unfocused eyes stared blankly at the red lighting.

Had she ever been in this much pain in her life?

A single tear slid down Cynthia’s temple.

“You’re crying.”

Suriel approached and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Cry.”

He wiped away her tears with elegant fingers and murmured,

“They’re warm too.”

Cynthia could neither spit out nor swallow the blood filling her mouth.

Barely, she spoke.

“……Ugh, what…… the hell…… are you……?”

“What am I, what am I……”

Suriel repeated the words several times.

Then he pulled a dagger from its sheath and tilted his head.

“A monster you created?”

Cynthia frowned at those meaningful words.

Seeing the raised dagger, she immediately knew.

‘This is the end.’

But the dagger pierced—

her palm.

STAB!

“Aaaaaagh!”

Suriel pulled the dagger back out.

Blood surged from the wound.

“I can’t let you die that easily.”

He gently lifted Cynthia’s trembling hand.

Then placed the dagger against her index finger.

“Scream.”

Like I did.

Suriel’s clouded eyes never left Cynthia’s hand.

The dagger moved slowly.

Very slowly.

It began cutting into Cynthia’s finger.

The stinging pain spread gradually.

‘……Fucking bastard.’

I should’ve cursed freely like Evelyn at least once.

I should’ve acted however I wanted at least once.

I should’ve shaved every last hair off this man’s head……!

As those regrets filled her—

BANG―!

The room door flew violently open.

A clear young woman’s voice rang throughout the room.

“You bastard! You, you, you…… knife-cut-hair bastard!”

Evelyn came charging in carrying a frying pan from who-knew-where.

She swung it into Suriel’s head with all her strength.

CLANG―!

A cheerful sound rang out.

Then……

“Pfft.”

Holloway burst into laughter.

Suriel stared blankly at Evelyn.

He was less bothered by the impact than shocked by the situation itself.

She had definitely hit hard.

Yet Suriel’s head wasn’t bleeding.

He hadn’t even fallen.

As he stared at her with wide black pupils, Evelyn’s expression instantly turned serious.

“Please spare me.”

My life, at least.

Please.