EP.113 32-3. The Unmelting Heart of the North.
***
There was something my gigolo friend told me once. A conversation we had via in-game voice chat during a raid.
“Yo, did the Saintess fetishist arrive?”
“Why did you invite me to catch the Harmless Demon Lord? I've already looted all the rewards here.”
The place I entered after accepting the invitation message showed the Harmless Demon Lord, the first boss to appear in <Black Heart>.
A demon lord in the form of an ashen knight.
Seeming to do no harm at all, he was like a tutorial, the first to reveal what kind of power a demon lord possessed.
“I just discovered a new gimmick.”
“That guy secretly spreads poison, doesn't he? There's more to it?”
The power of Harmful, the opposite of Harmless.
He invisibly and odorless spreads poison without the player knowing, and once the poisoning is complete, he suddenly cuts down health with a damage-over-time effect.
Because this was a power, it had to be blocked with artifacts or Masterpieces, and even status ailment debuffs didn't appear.
The reason I always identify the powers of the demon lords before fighting them is because of guys like this.
“Alright, hurry up and bring the chess pieces. Dark Knight.”
“This is why gigolos are no good. It's ingrained in their habits.”
I brought out a transparent chessboard and pieces made of crystal. Normally, just beheading him would clear it, but,
“I've won at chess before, you know.”
“If that were the case, I wouldn't have called you. Who am I?”
To get additional hidden rewards, you had to play a game with the demon lord and win. Especially games of intellect like chess or Korean chess.
“..Right, the self-proclaimed best brain in the North.”
The reason was that the Harmless Demon Lord was a hero chosen by Akasha, the God of Wisdom, or something. I'd read an analysis of it in the game community.
“Soo-hyun, what do you think is most important in a game?”
The gigolo friend conceded the first move to the demon lord, who began to move a white chess piece without any response or change in expression.
“..Wasn't it memorizing patterns?”
“Of course, you're right too. It's just that you play games with only physical skill, without any sense.”
Tak. The gigolo countered with a black chess piece.
In contrast to me, the man with striking white hair and red eyes sat in his chair, maintaining a relaxed attitude.
“I think it's more important to understand your opponent, Soo-hyun.”
“Don't tell me….”
Even though he was playing chess while talking to me without looking at the board, he kept hitting the opponent's weak points.
“You've memorized all of this guy's patterns?”
“Hey, there's a limit to doing things haphazardly like you do. This is why knight classes are…”
Clack, clack. The black and white pieces seemed to be taking each other's pieces, but unlike the gigolo, whose pace hadn't changed much from the start,
“Everyone has a unique chess notation.”
The Harmless Demon Lord was taking longer and longer to think, and was constantly trying to game over the Duke’s Husband with his power.
Whether he was unconsciously spreading poison, or whether it was intentional, he was a truly mysterious demon lord. Because he didn't take direct attack actions such as wielding a sword and rampaging.
“Like moving the pawn or the knight first, things like that?”
“That's right. You're afraid of people, but.”
But he took out an hourglass from his inventory to block even that trick.
“At least I'm not.”
As the gigolo turned the hourglass over, the sand grains falling downward made a rattle sound.
“For example, do you know what our princess did to me when we first met?”
“What? Say hello to you for the first time?”
When I thought of Phine's first line when I was the Saintess and said it, he shook his head and laughed. Then what did she do without even greeting me?
“No, she invited me to dinner and tried to poison my character.”
“What..? Are you lying?”
Now in a completely advantageous situation. With the time limit set, the demon lord's notation became obvious. In a match that was gradually coming to an end,
“She's a really hot-blooded person. Our princess.”
The movement of the white-haired man, who was parrying simple attacks and gradually tightening the white king, became strange.
“In fact, originally, lords would either purge enemies, or remove their power base….”
I couldn't understand the gigolo's action of throwing away the Queens. Why put it there now? It's going to be disadvantageous.
“Or they take a binary choice of co-opting them to their side, right?”
Tak. Instead, he saved the knight and was sending checks in some strange way. Was he aiming for checkmate?
“Well, it's a bit of a metaphor, but that's how it is. Lee Soo-hyun.”
Thuk, the man finally moved the rook, cornering the opponent's king.
At that moment, the demon lord's hand stopped. What? It wasn't a state where the check was off. Wondering what it was, I carefully looked at the gigolo's chess pieces.
“Stalemate. It's not always important to win.”
As he spoke the short word, he got up from his chair, and as if the strategy was over, the demon lord's movement stopped.
Stalemate is when the king dies if it moves in a non-check state.
The story that there is no other way unless he moves his own king and commits suicide.
“In the current case, it looks like a draw because it's chess, but.”
Even if all cases were calculated, there was no number that the Harmless Demon Lord could make except for a draw.
In terms of rules, this case is not a defeat, but a draw.
“In actual combat, you can only commit suicide or join my side. Isn't it just like our princess's personality?”
The player with the nickname Duke’s Husband, who emphasized his enjoyment by even using an emoticon that raises a V sign.
“..You're also severe. I shouldn't live like that.”
Click, a treasure chest that was locked behind the chair where the demon lord was sitting opened.
“You really need to date. You're a castrated bastard who doesn't understand women's psychology.”
“Okay. Kwon Ki-seok.”
He quickly checked the contents inside, then closed the box again. Did the reward he was expecting not come out?
“Oh, and don't interpret people in a dichotomous way. You're going to get hurt.”
“Why are you doing that again all of a sudden?”
The gigolo, who changed the subject of the conversation, spoke to me as if he was scolding me. Why is he suddenly scolding me like that?
“Do you remember the NTR Golden Knight, by any chance?”
“Of course I remember.”
He was the guy I banned before for telling me to take the harem or NTR route instead of our Saintess's route, or saying things that were hard to even say.
“That guy posted on the community saying he was wronged.”
“He was a creepy guy whose nickname was similar to mine.. Is he getting worse?”
"No, it's not like that."
When I clicked on the link he sent me, there was a post saying that he admired me, so he made a similar nickname and just made a joke, but he didn't know he would be banned.
“That guy was actually just a concept-lover in his nickname and what he said.”
“..What? No way.”
The gigolo showed me the ending record written on the player card.
“Here, the player card. Check it out with your own eyes. You really need to fix that personality of yours?”
The player card had all the information such as the route, ending, achievements, and class type that the owner took, so,
“I should have thought it was contradictory to join our guild, which only digs one character. You really have no sense.”
It was also something I checked in advance when recruiting people to join the guild. Because I couldn't have scammers or players who used hacks come.
“He really didn't take the harem or NTR ending..?”
“Yeah, I picked him as a newbie in the first place. He's a skilled player, even if he's foul-mouthed.”
“Did you really have to bring such a strange guy into the guild? Ki-seok?”
But he was the guy who told our Saintess to make a harem, so wasn't it right to cross the line?
“Because he's also a knight class. I picked him because I thought he would be helpful when you were looking for a strategy to catch Magic Hat. Are you done?”
“Then you should have said so.”
“Who was the guild leader who banned him before I could say anything~? I don't know.”
It was an abuse of the guild leader's authority, so it was definitely a bit of an excessive method.
Because I was usually calm, but when it came to our Saintess, I became emotional.
“The ban was too much, even after thinking about it again. Soo-hyun. You could have just challenged him to a 1:1 duel with your skills and beat him up once.”
He took an action of attacking my character with the spear he had on his back. The PVP setting was turned off, so it was an attack that cut through the air.
“Anyway, from now on, look at people's true nature a little bit. Pure Love Dark Knight.”
“Okay, Duke’s Husband bastard.”
When I sighed and admitted my mistake, the Duke’s Husband handed me the reward item.
“Uh..? Are you giving this to me? The one that came out as a stalemate reward?”
“You really have no sense…. No, Hyung is going to go work out now.”
It was Kwon Ki-seok, whose real name was, who logged out, saying it was time to open the gym.
His character had a chuunibyou-like appearance with white hair and red eyes, but,
“…”
He was a friend who always gave me advice when I was having a hard time and enjoyed the game together. I suddenly think of it when I come to the North.
***
Don't think of people in a dichotomous way.
'What you thought was black may be white. Games don't always have to be won….'
Thinking about those words and the actions Phine had just shown me, I made a slight assumption that she might like me.
'Could it be that she likes me?'
In reality, the emotion of love is not an emotion that can be divided into like or dislike, and it is difficult to make someone understand it even with someone's interpretation or explanation.
'Yeah. Let's ask Phine how she feels about me when I have time later.'
There is still a lot of evidence lacking. But her actions were clearly treating me differently from others, and,
“Phine, please move away a bit.”
“..I don't want to. I'll be by Licht's side. The North is too cold.”
Since the distance from Phine Gransia became too close after the battle with Head, it was necessary to put some distance between us.
“You can use warmth magic.”
“Eup, don't stroke my tail.. Licht-eu..”
“Phine, even so, you have to stay away when you see Asha.”
If this continues, it could interfere with the Grand Route strategy. At least it wasn't too late to worry about my relationship after catching all the demon lords.
Above all, Phine Gransia's happiness was my priority.
“Otherwise, it will be difficult to help Nex senior and Charitines senior.”
“..Okay. Licht.”
When I put my foot down, she let go of her tail and covered her cheeks with her hair. Her red face looked like it was steaming.
“Ugh.. you're such a pervert-aah..”
I wonder what tails mean to beastkins. When she was the Saintess, I think she was briefly surprised and liked it even if I touched it.
“We're here, so please be careful with your actions now. Licht.”
So I didn't think much about it and moved on. I remember that she didn't like it when I stroked it in the opposite direction.
“Phine, I know that we have a special relationship with each other, but we have to distinguish between public and private matters.”
Inside the palace that followed the Northern Princess.
Opening the door inside the building, a woman with golden hair was seen sitting.
“Welcome. Drake, and…. Princess Phine Gransia?”
I felt a sense of déjà vu when I saw the golden phoenix seal shining in the sunlight like Nex's.
The woman who hurriedly put down her cup after drinking tea.
Asha Aureus.
One of the Ten Greats, possessing the alias of a living sun, and handling spiritism using phoenixes.
“Why is Princess Phine Gransia in the North.”
“That's what happened. Asha Aureus.”
My first encounter with her was a success. How can I, an outsider, persuade this person to successfully marry Nex and Charitines?
“Nice to meet you. Living Sun.”
First, I politely greeted her to ease Asha's wariness.
Well. If I deal with the apostles and talk well, I thought I would be able to communicate to some extent. Because I knew why Nex's hair color was purple.
The reason why I definitely thought Phine had black hair when she was working as Mardol was because of that.
Come to think of it, why is our Phine white-haired? I suddenly turned to the side without thinking it was strange until now, and our eyes met.
“..Ah, Licht. What's wrong?”
“It's nothing. Princess.”
She was startled and perked up her ears. When exactly had she been looking at me?
Her action of awkwardly turning her head to hide the fact that she was staring at me was even more suspicious.
“My name is Licht. I came to support you to prevent the monster attacks in the North.”
“Ah, are you the hero who defeated the Demon Lord of Omniscience?”
I ignored Phine's stinging gaze that I had been feeling since earlier,
“Yes, I am ‘Hero of Wisdom.’ Licht.”
First, I lied to Asha and revealed my aspirations in order to put out the urgent fire.