Proofreader: Me!

My mouth was dry, and my mana tank was practically empty. The minotaur’s face began to falter, as it puffed out less and less steam.

“Heh, you getting tired too, aye?” I huffed out some provocations.

I wanted to get it to use more energy so that I could kill it myself. In essence, this was a war of attrition.

We repeated the cycle of charging and dodging a few more times, akin to when I stalled Iveen for a while. Finally, the minotaur didn’t have enough strength to pull its head out of the wall.

“Hah, hah…” I wanted to make some remark, but I was barely standing too.

I picked up my sword and thrusted it into the minotaur’s leg.

Chik!

“Ha. Ha. Hahahah!” I lost my mind.

The sword’s tip broke off, displaying the hide’s thickness. Neither I nor this monster could kill each other anymore.

I lay down on the cold concrete floor, closing my eyes.

“Time to wake up.”

A voice resounded throughout my ears, yet there was no source.

‘Lisana?’ I could hear her voice, but didn’t I tell them to stay back at the entrance? ‘I did take quite a while thanks to this, but…’

I couldn’t finish the thought, of being wrapped in a warm light.

“Sorry buddy, we can have our rematch another day.”

I looked at the minotaur who stopped struggling to escape the wall. It simply sat there, accepting its existence.

-x-

Lisana’s peerless face was atop mine as she spoke, “You’re awake.”

“Yes, but first…” I glared at the duke first thing after getting up. “Lisana, kill him.”

“Understood.”

“We had a deal didn’t we!” It screeched before being splashed with holy water. “Ugahhhhhh!”

He didn’t die, but he cowered in the corner of the room.

“Are you okay?” Lisana held me down as I tried to stand up. “You were hyperventilating.”

“Ye-yeah,” I tried to reply, but my body fell.

I held my head as things split apart, “Is everything spinning?”

“No,” She cradled my head, burying me into her chest. “Rest.”

I forgot mental fatigue existed, opting for a man’s dreams. It wasn’t as large as the other girls, but- why am I thinking about this?

She stroked my hair, with a familiar care my sister or mother would give. I wanted to ask, but small sounds escaped from behind us.

“You- you delinquents! Giving each other affection in a duke’s chamber!”

Hearing the murmurs of Razel’s curses, I remembered the backstory to the duke you could find within the game.

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After completing five waves, he would come into the dream himself and congratulate your fighting spirit. Then, he would give you a short explanation of what happened to him and give you the hidden piece.

It was a pity, falling into this chamber and being cursed with an eternal dream of fighting. He died of malnutrition even if in his mind, he was alright. His ducal family was forgotten and was replaced by the eventual uprise of the De Gracia’s.

Perhaps, part of the reason Julia’s family received such a horrible reputation began with Razel’s downfall.

“Lisana, I think I’ll suffocate if I stay like this any longer.”

“Suffocate?”

I took off her hands that stroke my head, and rose upwards slightly regretting it.

“Duke, either we douse you in holy water or you hand over the elixir.”

“How did you know?” He looked on in fear.

Lisana held the holy water vials in her hands.

“Yes!” The duke opened the small box at the end of the chamber. “Here it is!”

“Thank you for the patronage,” I happily thanked the spirit. “I’ll also give you one piece of information.”

“Hmmm?”

“Your lineage lives on, under a different name.”

“May I know the current heir’s name?”

“Her name is Julia De Gracia.”

Lisana’s eyes pierced me, curiosity filling them. I’d explain later.

“That last name, haha!” He burst into uncanny laughter, “I can’t believe they would change from Wynnard to that joke!”

“Joke?” The name De Gracia was simply what the developers chose, so I was keen to hear this lore drop.

“The name De Gracia was the last name of a character my daughter drew back in the day! I still remember how happy she was when she showed it to me and my wife.”

The name of a ducal family was a character’s? The gall of his daughter was commendable.

“That daughter of yours fought hard to maintain the title of Duchess according to the history books.”

“I… I can only be sorry for not being there when they needed me,” He teared up slightly even if in an intangible body, “But, thanks for telling me that. Even if you… did almost kill me.”

“All good, I know why you were down here anyway.”

“You came here for the elixir I presume? Well, since you relieved me of something I’ve regretted for decades, I’ll give you another gift,” Razel smiled with a gait unbefitting his previous cowering. “Within my territory, if it still exists, you can go to my office. Within it, is a small present when you activate a small contraption. I’ll let you figure it out, but there’s some nice stuff inside my vault.”

“Hmmm… I’m sure that the same mansion you created all that time ago, is still being used as the main building.”

“Haha! Guess she could never forget us in the end.”

“Yeah, we’ll… let you continue to be here I guess?”

“Of course not! I’ve finally been relieved of my biggest regret, any spirit needs to pass on at some point.”

Another hidden piece, within a hidden piece. Who would’ve known, it wasn’t like you had the option to tell the NPC about some other lore.

“We’ll accept your gift in stride,” I bowed. “Goodbye, Duke Razel Wynnd.”

He smiled, as his body fully began to shimmer in light. His form merging with the natural flow of mana in the world.

“How did you know?” Lisana whispered, presumably referring to my knowledge of this guy’s relation to Julia.

“Intuition, it was never explicitly stated in the history of the Empire, but at the same time the Wynnd’s collapsed, an unnamed fallen noble overtook the territory as other nobles desperately tried to take advantage of a missing duke. Who else could the noble been, but his child?”

It was a bit of a stretch, but I hid the knowledge that you could meet this person in the flesh through a specific part of this game. Within the final year exam, they would shove students into the turbulent times of the past, of course as a simulation.

“Plausible,” Lisana nodded accepting my explanation.

“Yup, let’s go get the final herb,” I suggested, but she didn’t follow. “What’s wrong?”

I was on the stairs, but she remained on the floor.

“Did something happen!” I ran back down, crouching to her level. Her being scared only happened when everyone would die in a bad ending, so I had to have missed something.

“No- nothing,” She denied it, her face reddening.

I inched slightly closer, “You can tell me, it’ll be fine.”

She flicked her head away but remained stuck in place.

“If you don’t want to, tell me what you need me to do.”

She didn’t respond, only pinching the ends of my shirt. I looked at her for a few moments, eventually deciding to rise the stairs again. My mind blanked initially until I remembered the complaints I had about this world.

‘Seriously, the game being in the Hell’s Paradise difficulty is too complex.’ I heaved my body forward, ignoring the spirit that grazed my shoulder.

“Kyah!” Lisana shrieked, leading me to sacrifice my leg holding onto her.

“Are you alright?” I barely remained stable but managed to ask. In my head, the main cast being safe was just as important as the survival of this world.

“...”

“If you’re not okay, I can just carry you on my back.”

She nodded, yet her face remained blank. Except the only difference being the tears in her eyes. It betrayed the older sister-like behaviour she showed earlier, but…

‘It’s cute.’

I could only nod at the sudden thought.