「ね〜んねん、ころ〜り〜よ」
四肢と両目を失ってなお息がある聖騎士長さんの襟首を掴み、そのまま引きずりながら歩きます。
彼女が途中で『お父さん! お母さん! 助けて!』なんて叫ぶものですから、母の事を思い出してしまいました。
そのせいなのか、幼い頃に母から唄って貰っていた子守唄をいつの間にか口ずさんでしまっているではありませんか。
意識して歌っているものでもなく、ただ何となく口を動かしているだけの歌っているとも言えないクオリティのものでしかありませんが、通路内に反響する事でまぁまぁよく聴こえているのが少し微妙な感じですね。
母はいつも独特で変なアクセントを付けて唄っていましたから、その癖が私にまで移ってしまってこの歌だけは正規のメロディで歌えないのですが......それが良く聴こえるというのが変な感じです。
まぁだからと言って何かが悪い訳ではないのですが、自分の歌から母を感じ取れないのが少し寂しくありますね。
母がよく目の前で唄ってくれていたこの歌だけは、私が少し下手に歌えて、母がすぐ側で唄ってくれている様な気持ちにさせてくれていましたから。
そろそろ聖騎士長さんが失血で死にそうですね......まぁもがれた四肢もくり抜いた目玉もそのままに、大した治療もしていないので当然ではありますか。
いつまでも両親の名をぶつぶつと呟くこの肉塊にも飽きてきたところですし、ちょうど目の前に現れた扉の先で太郎さんの餌にしてあげますかね。
そうと決まればさっさと開けてしまいましょう。
「......いい唄だな」
「おや、こんな所に居たのですか」
少しばかり驚きですね、開けた扉の先にはロン老師が待ち構えていたではありませんか。
あんまりダンジョン内を探索した気がしませんが、おそらくある程度は内部の構造を弄れるのでしょうし、彼がわざと私だけをここに来るように道順を変えたと見るべきですね。
聖騎士長さんを投げ捨て、その血肉に群がる花子さんと武雄さんの眷属達を視界から外してロン老師を見据えます。
「居た、というよりは招いたが正しいのう......思いの外上手く邪魔な二人を排除できたのでな」
「邪魔な二人......あぁ、マリアさんとブロッサムさんの事ですか」
「然り。ワシの目的はあくまでもお主ただ一人よ......それに、お主にこれ以上人の命をおもちゃにして欲しくないのでな」
まるで痛ましい物でも見るかの様な表情で聖騎士長さんの遺体を見詰めながらロン老師が語っていますね。
それに釈然としないものを覚え、首を傾げながらも彼の言葉の続きを待ちます。
面倒だとは思いますが、どうやら人は戦う時に内心の憂いを取り除かねば全力を出せないみたいですから。
「どうせこれが最後になるのですから、気になる事があるならどうぞ」
何かを躊躇しているらしいロン老師にそう水を向けてやれば、数秒の逡巡の後に彼は顔を上げて真っ直ぐに私を見詰めて口を開きます。
「最期にお主に問う──なぜ尊い命を弄ぶのか」
そう問われても私は首を傾げるしかありません。
自身と同じ人の命だろうが、蟻だろうが私にとっては何も変わらないからです。
では何も変わらないのに、なぜ人を積極的に狙うのか、それは自分でも人の命を特別視している証拠ではないのかと以前にも指摘された事もありましたが、それもまた違います。
私はただ目の前の物で遊びたいだけなのです。
何気なく机を指で叩く、蟻の巣に水を注ぐ、何となく服のボタンを弄る、......まるで小石を蹴りながら下校する小学生の様に私はただ遊びたいだけなんですよ、そこに深い意味はありません。
あぁ、そうですね......私はただ小石を蹴りながら下校がしたいだけなのです。
自らが蹴っていた小石を途中で友達に奪われると嫌な気持ちになるでしょう?
私は社会が、倫理観や常識と言ったもので自らの小石を奪われるのが酷く悲しいのです。
現実世界でも、犬や猫などの小動物の命を弄んでもそう注目されません。路地裏などに捨て置けば勝手に処理されますから。
ですが人の命はそうは行きません......犬猫と違って人の死体はよく目立ち、一度誰かに見付かってしまえば絶対に当局からの捜査が入ってしまうからです。
そうです、人の命を積極的に狙っている訳でもありません......ただ
「──ただ、それだけです」
ご満足して頂けましたか、と、そうロン老師に問えば彼の瞳から甘さや躊躇いの一切が消えたのが分かります。
どうやら私の答えは彼から躊躇い等を消すくらいには満足させられるものであったようで、何よりですね。
「......もう、よい......お前さんの性根は充分に理解した......その様な考えでロノウェの命を奪った事も......」
「? ......あぁ、ロノウェさんですね、確かに彼との『遊び』はとても楽しめましたね」
何故でしょうか、ロン老師が愕然とした表情で私を見ています......そんな顔で見られる様な憶えは全くないのですが。
他人と会話をするといつもこうです......勝手に相手が理由の説明もなく憤ったり、泣いたりと、突然感情を荒立てるのです。
せめて何かあったのか、私に原因があるのなら何処が悪かったのかくらいは教えて貰いたいものなのですが。
......ですが、それを尋ねるとさらに相手を怒らせてしまうのですよね。
「そうか、そう、か......お前さんはもう本当に......ワシでは救えはしないんじゃな......」
「救う、ですか? ......特に今は困っていませんよ?」
海底ダンジョンの場所が分からなかった時は確かに少し困っていたかも知れませんが、マリアさんの爆発で呼び出して案内して貰ったのでもう解決していますしね。
あと私が困っている事と言えば......何故ロン老師が感情を荒立てているのかが分からないという事くらいでしょうか?
まぁ、それを聞いても教えてはくれないのでしょうね。
「いや、もう多くは語るまい──今ここでお前を殺してやる事こそワシが唯一してやれる事じゃ!」
左拳を前に突き出し、右腕を折り畳んで腰辺りに付けるという空手っぽい構えをとったロン老師から強烈な殺気を飛ばされます。
いいですよ、そうこなくてはなりません......よく分かりませんが、躊躇なく私と『遊んで』くれるのであればコチラからは文句はありません。
クエストNo.番外
ワールドクエスト:老司祭の反逆・√甲
依頼者:ロン老師
依頼内容:条件を揃え、秩序を守護する戦士の一人としてなんの憂いもなく戦える様になったロン老師とその仲間達を撃破せよ。
→一切の甘さと躊躇いを捨てた全力のロン老師を撃破せよ。
七色の貴神の眷属が一柱、海神クレブスクルムを信仰する最高司祭が聖地で権能の一部を振るう為、敗北するとアカウントデータが消去され、文字通りこの世界で死にます。
報酬:10レベル分のスキル含む経験値・5000万G・???
注意:ワールドクエストはゲーム内のシナリオや今後に深く関わるクエストです。その成否に関わらず受け直す事も何度も受ける事も出来ません。
受注しますか? Yes / No
──こんなの、もちろんYes以外に有り得ませんよ。
▼▼▼▼▼▼▼
"Hush, little baby, don't say a word~"
I grabbed the Chief of the Holy Knights by the collar, who was still breathing even after losing her four limbs and both eyes, and dragged him along as I walked.
She was screaming things like "Mom! Dad! Help me!", which for some reason reminded me of my own mother.
Perhaps because of that, I found myself humming the lullabies that my mother used to sing to me when I was little.
It could hardly be said that I was fully aware that I was singing. In fact, I was merely moving my mouth, and although my voice came out very subtly, it felt as if it could still be heard because it echoed in the aisle.
My mother always sang this lullaby with a unique and strange accent, a habit I ended up picking up myself, so I can't sing this song with its usual melody. ...But this strangeness felt good.
There's nothing wrong with the way she used to sing. Still, I normally can't feel my mother through my own singing, which makes me feel a bit sad.
But only through this lullaby she used to sing to me, I could feel safe to sing it even a bit badly, and still I would feel like my mother was singing right next to me.
The Chief of the Holy Knights seemed to be about to die from blood loss... Which was only natural since neither her torn limbs nor her hollowed-out eyeballs had been treated at all.
But I was starting to get tired of this lump of meat's incessant cries for mom and dad, so I figured I'd go feed Tarou right in front of this door that had just appeared before my eyes.
Having decided that, I opened the door.
"...That's a nice song."
"Oh? I didn't know you'd be in a place like this"
To my surprise, it was Old Man Ron who was waiting at the other end of the open door.
It didn't look like he had explored much of this dungeon, so he must have tampered with the internal structure of this place to some extent, deliberately making it so that only I can see he had done that in order to get here.
I threw away the remains of the Chief of the Holy Knights and wiped out the blood from Hanako and Takeo's faces before fixing my gaze on Old Man Ron.
"It would be more correct to say that I was called here... I see you were able to get rid of those two people who had gotten in your way quite splendidly, I must say."
"Two people who have gotten in my way... Oh, are you talking about Maria and Blossom?"
"Correct. You are my ultimate goal... I don't want you to continue to use human life as a plaything anymore."
Old Man Ron spoke while staring at the corpse of the Holy Knight Chief with an expression as if he were looking at something painful.
He then tilted his head to the side, seemingly displeased, before continuing his speech.
I think that, while it can be troublesome, it seems that people can't put out their best unless they get rid of their inner worries when fighting.
"This will be the last time anyway, so if you have any concerns, go ahead."
As I offered him a proverbial glass of water before sending him to the gallows, Old Man Ron stared straight at me after a few seconds of hesitation before opening his mouth once again.
"I only want to know one thing. Why are you toying with precious human lives?"
I could only tilt my head to the side in response to that question.
It doesn't matter if it's the life of someone like me, or that of an ant... It doesn't change anything for me.
I've been asked before things like "Then why do you actively target people even though there's no difference? Why not just kill ants?", as if to try to point out that this proves that I do actually regard human life as something special, but that is also not the case.
The truth is, I just want to play with what's in front of me.
I would casually tap on top of a desk with my fingers, pour water into an ant's nest, fiddle with the buttons on my clothes... There's no deep meaning to it. Just like an elementary school student who kicks pebbles on the way home from school, I simply want to have fun.
Ah, that's it. All I want is to kick pebbles on my way home from school.
But it feels really sad when supposed friends end up trying to take away the pebbles you've kicked.
I am terribly saddened by the fact that society is robbed of its own pebbles by ethics and common sense.
Even in the real world, playing with the lives of small animals such as dogs and cats does not attract much attention. If you throw them away in a back alley, they will be disposed of basically on their own.
But it's not the same for human lives don't go that way... Unlike dogs and cats, human corpses stand out, and once they're found by someone, they'll definitely be investigated by the authorities.
That's right, it's not like I'm actively aiming for people's lives... It's just that they're rare, so I'm just actively playing the game.
"...That's all there is to it."
After asking Old Man Ron if he was satisfied with my answer, I could see that the softness had disappeared from his eyes, as well as his hesitation.
It seemed that my answer had been good enough to at least remove his hesitation, so I was thankful for that.
"...That's enough... I fully understand your nature... That's the kind of mindset you had when you took Ronowe's life as well..."
"...? ...Ah, Ronowe, yes, I remember having a lot of fun 'playing' with him."
For some reason, Old Man Ron was looking at me with an astonished look on his face... I don't remember ever seeing him with that kind of expression.
It was always like this whenever I had a conversation with another person. The other person would suddenly get angry or start to cry without an explanation as to why.
At the very least, I would like to know what's wrong with them, and if I was the cause of whatever's making them suffer.
...But whenever I ask them that, they get even angrier.
"I see, I see... You really are... beyond saving... Even for someone like me..."
"You want to save me? ...But I don't think I am in any kind of trouble."
I remember being in a bit of a pickle back when I didn't know the location of the undersea dungeon, but Maria's explosion summoned me and guided me, so I've already solved that problem..
Besides, the only thing that bothers me is that I don't understand why Old Man Ron is getting so upset.
Well, even if I were to ask him, I don't think he'll tell me.
"No, enough talking. Killing you here and now is the only thing I can do now!"
Old Man Ron took a karate-like stance with his left fist forward and his right arm folded right next to his waist. There was an intense bloodlust in his eyes.
So it had to come to this. It was fine by me, honestly. I didn't really understand what that was all about, but so long as he didn't hesitate to "play" with me, I wouldn't have any complaints.
Quest No. "Extra"
World Quest: Old Priest's Rebellion
Client: Old Man Ron
Quest details: Defeat Old Man Ron and his companions, who can now fight without any worries as warriors who protect order.
- Defeat Old Man Ron, who has thrown away all softness and hesitation.
One of the descendants of the Seven-colored Gods, the supreme priest who worships the True Sea God Krebskulm, wields part of his authority in the Holy Land, so you are defeated, your account data will be erased and you will literally die in this world.
Rewards: Enough experience points for gaining 10 levels, including skills + 50,000,000 G + ? ? ?
Note: World quests are quests that are deeply involved in the in-game scenario and its future. After accepting this quest, whether you succeed or fail it, you will not be able to attempt it again.
Would you like to accept this quest? Yes / No
...Of course, there was no other way for me than to say "Yes".
VVVVVVV
Genocide Online ~Playtime Diary of an Evil Young Girl~
ジェノサイド・オンライン 〜極悪令嬢のプレイ日記〜
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/genocide-online-playtime-diary-of-an-evil-young-girl/
Action Adventure Fantasy Psychological
Adapted to Manga Aristocracy Assassins Beautiful Female Lead Cold Protagonist Cruel Characters Dark Depictions of Cruelty Evil Organizations Evil Protagonist Famous Protagonist Fearless Protagonist Female Protagonist Gamers Gods Gore Lack of Common Sense Level System MMORPG Modern Day Murders Overpowered Protagonist Psychopaths R-15 Royalty Ruthless Protagonist Sadistic Characters Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Wars
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7796fc/
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