RD | Chapter 11

Ian was floating in ecstasy when suddenly someone spoke.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy who shot the arrow?”

“Yeah! He was trying to signal our position! To the demons!”

“Typical traitor race. A traitor to his own kind!”

‘Who’s making all that noise?’

Ian wanted to find the idiots spouting nonsense and uproot them, but there were too many to deal with. Everyone glared at Louise. Some even pulled out their weapons.

Amidst all this, Ian’s thought was singular.

‘I have to get him.’

Anyone who’s played a mobile game in Korea knows this fact; useful characters start from 4-star. 5-star is a jackpot. There are games with 6-star characters, but in <Reverse Dungeon>, 5-star was the highest tier.

Anyway, there was this rule in games, and <Reverse Dungeon> followed suit by granting special abilities starting from 4-star characters.

In Ian’s case, it was <Purification>, Keith had <Transcendence>. For Louise, it was <Deadly Poison>.

[Skill]
Deadly Poison LV.5

Inflicts poison damage that ignores <Poison Resistance>.
Not resistance reduction, but resistance ignored.

Everyone would know how amazing this skill is, so Ian didn’t even bother writing an explanation in the Louise route strategy guide.

Louise also looked at the people with uneasy eyes.

“I… I didn’t mean to do that. I was trying to attack the demons…”

“How did you know where we were hiding?”

“Wait, how did you know there were demons here to attack in the first place?”

“Isn’t this guy the one who brought the demons here?”

The clear hostility was evident on the people’s faces. In the end, Louise’s hand moved towards his bow. Seeing the determination on his face, Ian realized:

‘This bastard really did guide them here.’

But even if Louise hadn’t, the Demon Archduke would have found the dungeon, and Ian would have had to wake the dragon. Before things got out of hand, Ian stepped in front of Louise.

“Lord Ian! It’s dangerous!”

During this, Sema was being a nuisance, but Ian brushed his hand away.

“Fine. Let’s ask. You shot the arrow, right?”

“…Yes. But I really shot it to attack! If I wanted to signal, I could have just shouted. Why would I shoot an arrow at the Demon Archduke?”

“Demon Archduke?”

People started making a fuss. Ian glared at them until they shut up, then looked at Louise. Despite his defense, his face was already resigned, hinting at the thought, ‘They won’t believe me.’

Ian couldn’t let him give up.

Because Louise had the skill to kill everyone here and escape…

“Everyone, be quiet. You all saw him shoot that arrow to distract the Demon Archduke. Thanks to that, the two monsters started fighting each other.”

“……?”

“If it weren’t for that arrow, we’d all be dead. In which country is it the law to insult someone who’s done a great deed?”

“……!”

Louise’s eyes widened. Ian watched tensely as his hand hesitated to leave the arrow.

Louise’s arm lowered.

‘That’s it.’

Then someone shouted.

“But, Lord Ian! It’s suspicious that he even came here! If he didn’t bring the demons, why would he be here?”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“You mustn’t be fooled, Lord Ian!”

People murmured. Ian closed and opened his eyes. Louise’s arm moved at an invisible speed, placing an arrow on the bowstring.

If he shot now, wouldn’t the first to die be Ian, standing right in front of him?

Ignoring this, Ian spoke calmly.

“No. The fact that he came here proves he’s not on the demons’ side.”

“What?”

“Why…?”

“You saw the momentum of the demons breaking into the cave. They were here to kill everyone. If he was with the demons, why would he enter the den of those doomed to die? He must have come here to hide from the demons.”

Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. Ian looked at Louise, signaling for his agreement.

“Ho, how did you know what I was thinking…” Louise was taken aback.

Ian grew impatient. Why wasn’t he continuing his defense?

“How did you end up here? Explain it yourself.”

‘You’d better explain well.’

Ian wanted to live together but he was also curious why Louise came here.

When a player chooses the Louise route, they start the tutorial from the now-destroyed community of the traitor race.

These traitors were allowed to live parasitically in demon lands by connecting the human world and the demon world with a ‘sphere’, but they were wiped out for minor faults by the Demon Archduke.

Among the survivors who escaped, the game begins with them urging, ‘Louise, do something!’

‘Is there a traitor community near here?’

Ian was curious. He wanted to know if this was before or after the start of the Louise route.

Seeing ‘Keith came to save from the Vatican’ confirmed that the Keith route hadn’t started yet…

Louise swallowed hard.

“Uh, suddenly the Demon Archduke came to our village. They demanded a guide to lead them through the forest. I was brought here as that guide. I swear I didn’t know they were after you all! If I knew, I wouldn’t have guided them! Please believe me!”

He threw himself at Ian’s feet.

Ian immediately realized he was putting on an act. Louise wasn’t the type to sincerely beg anyone. He was cunning and good at self-preservation.

Of course, whether he was genuine or not, Ian didn’t care.

‘Is the village still around? That would be problematic if it’s before the route starts.’

There was a risk of losing Louise back to the traitor village.

“See, he did guide them!”

“Kill him! Kill him!”

The enraged crowd jeered. Ian turned to look at them.

“Who’s raising their voice in front of whom?”

Everyone quieted down.

“But…!”

Ian looked at the man who spoke. Under his intense gaze, the man shut his mouth.

“Being oppressed by a tyrant isn’t the fault of the people. I understand you were forced to come here. I’ll forgive you.”

“……!”

People murmured but didn’t dare say anything. No one wanted to be Ian’s target.

‘Being a tyrant has its uses here.’

Ian wasn’t done yet. He helped Louise up and gently dusted off his clothes.

“……?”

What is our fearsome master doing? While people watched in confusion, Ian asked:

“By the way, didn’t anyone from your village help you? It’s clear what happens to someone taken by the Demon Archduke.”

“Yes… No one… No one helped.”

Louise seemed to choke up, biting his lip. His shoulders shook.

“If I go back to the village, no one will want me. I’m really… I’m sorry. Thank you for sparing me. I should have greeted you first…”

Louise wiped his tears and hurriedly bowed. He seemed to think he’d shown too much of his inner self.

Ian had no intention of letting him regain his composure.

‘Even so, he has only one place to go. It would be a big problem if he decided to return to the village.’

Ian feigned a kind voice. “You can’t go back to the village? You have nowhere to go.”

“Ugh…”

“Then stay here. I’ll accept you as one of my subjects for killing the demon.”

“……!”

Not just Louise, but everyone looked at Ian in shock.

‘With a good reason, loyalty doesn’t drop much.’

Ian looked around at the people.

“Any objections? Anyone think we should kill this poor child who saved us?” No one answered.

Ian nodded in satisfaction.

“Be my subject. How about it?”

“I, I…”

Louise nodded slightly, looking dazed.

Ding!

[4-star hero ‘Louise’ joins the dungeon.]
[The dungeon level increases.]
[Dungeon LV.1 → LV.5]

‘Got it!’

Ian was about to clench his fist when another alarm sounded.

Ding!

[The people think of you as a tyrant!]

“……”

‘Why on earth?’

Ian had made sure to justify his actions…

Anyway, reputation was less important than a 4-star hero and a dungeon level, so Ian didn’t care.

He clenched his fist in satisfaction..

At that moment, a noise came from behind.

Grrr…

It was the sound of a beast growling. It was the sound of the dragon waking up.

‘Ah, the dragon.’

“……”

‘Isn’t it dead yet?’