Playing the Perfect Fox-Eyed Villain Chapter 152

Episode 152. Witch Hunt (1)

A moment of silence passes between them.

Kaldrak looked at Yurian, who had approached him and spoken as if it were nothing special.

'……what?'

20 repetitions?

There is no one in this world who knows this but himself.

I never told anyone.

Because it is something that no one knows.

'But how?'

The first time I started 'repeating' was when I started the revolution.

To restore the 'right to the throne' that was taken away.

Furthermore, to kill his brothers who took away his right to succession and his father, the 'Emperor'.

Kaldrak, blinded by power to the point of killing his own blood relatives, drew his sword even though he knew it was impossible.

fortunately.

His own dictatorship, which was close to a coup d'état, was given a certain justification with the help of the 'wedges'.

Advance, advance again.

However, Kaldrak's decision was rendered useless by the betrayal of the general he believed in and trusted.

[Noble blood as dew on the execution ground.]

A passage from a newspaper that I still remember.

With that as the last, Kaldrak stepped onto the scaffold and, as the phrase goes, became the dew of the execution ground.

The 'repetition' that occurred after the first death.

However, no matter how many times he repeated it, the ending Kaldrak met was similar.

Same old coup.

Similar betrayal.

Uniform death.

Even Kaldrak knew that giving up power was foolish.

His brothers.

The First and Second Princes were by no means stupid.

I will weed out the roots just to prevent something like 'what if'.

Even if a member of the imperial family gave up power, they were cold-blooded people who would kill their own blood relatives as long as they had the right to succeed to the emperor.

Of course I didn't mean to blame him.

Kaldrak also tried to kill the 4th prince, Yulsis.

'But why do we always end up with the same ending?'

To figure it out, Kaldrock started to gather information through 'iteration'.

The number of times is 20.

I tried to get as much information as possible and memorize it, except for a few times when I wasted my time in the beginning.

For the next 'iteration'.

It was clearly a secret that only he knew, so how could he… .

“Yurien.”

“Yes, Your Majesty Kaldrak.”

“What kind of person are you?”

Yurian smiled quietly at Kaldrak's question.

“I am a confidant of the royal family, a member of the ‘Closed Eyes’. And I am your sword. Have you forgotten?”

How can you say such things so easily?

I know all too well that that is the path this man has taken.

Normally, I would have laughed it off and let it slide, but this time, his words carried a different weight.

'I thought it was the same repeater.'

He never had the complacent thought that he was the only one who would handle this 'miracle'.

However, the Yurian in front of me now doesn't seem to be a 'repeater' like me.

'Can you use a miracle higher than mine?'

This sinister, cross-eyed Yurian seems close to the 'frame' of the world he felt.

Even if he was a 'repeater', he himself could not know the 'number of repetitions' of Yurian, and he could not even be sure whether he was a 'repeater'.

‘… … I really need to find out.’

Thinking so, Kaldrak made up his mind.

Even if it's just for a little while, Yurian decided to keep him in the 'North Pool'.

Find out what 'Yurien' is and go further.

'I need to figure out why I can know my repetition count.'

Kaldrak turned his head to Yurian.

“If it is the imperial sword, it should perform duties appropriate to it.”

“I am fully prepared to take on that role.”

The fake smile in my eyes and the smile on my lips that are only now starting to show properly.

'Talking nonsense.'

“The punitive force has now been deployed beyond the North Pool Wall, so we are not in a position to deal with the barbarians’ offensive.”

If he said that, Kaldrock thought, Yurian would notice it well enough.

Just because we left for the expedition, it is absolutely impossible for the North Pool to lack the troops to stop the barbarian offensive.

“I would like you to capture the outpost of the savage tribe that came to this gate.”

He probably knows too.

That this was to buy time to capture the bastard.

'So, what are you going to do? What answer are you going to give?'

If you 'reject', we will take appropriate action based on your status.

If you 'accept', we will take appropriate action.

Kaldrak knows that in a situation where Yurian cannot just casually refuse, whether he is a 'repeater' or not, there is only one thing he can say.

This is exactly what I'm saying.

“Yes, I understand. Your Majesty.”

***

The wedges also began to notice that Kaldrak's iron fortress-like calm was beginning to crumble.

And it was also well known that the reason for this was the presence of a species called Yurian who had trespassed into the 'North Pool'.

Because of this, there were talks of taking a hard line within the wedges.

“We should use this opportunity to make an example of him to other soldiers.”

“You saw it too, right? The soldiers carrying the bastard’s castle on their backs and swinging their swords around!”

“So, what do you want us to do?”

“This time, His Majesty the King has given him an expedition order. If something ‘unfortunate’ happens during the process, then it can’t be helped, right?”

They started rationalizing.

The reason Kaldrak captured Yurian here in the first place was to deal with him secretly.

Of course, there were those who opposed it.

“Wait. If Lord Kaldrak intends to deal with Sir Yurian, he must have told us something separately.”

When the oldest figure among the wedges said so, the others wavered for a moment, but those who had spoken first cut off the words with a single stroke.

“Didn’t the soldiers rise up because we left things alone with such complacency?”

Naturally, the wedges that had been fanatical about the figure of 'Kaldrak' began to lean towards the extremists.

“Yurien, that guy is a disgrace to the name of the royal family and to the face of the Third Prince, Kaldrak! What is the purpose of our existence?”

As they gathered, they began to remind themselves why they had been given the name 'Wedge'.

As the name suggests, the wedge is meant to be driven into the hearts of those who stand in the way of the Third Prince.

Eventually, the wedges, united as one, decided to do something.

***

[There is no longer an auto-save slot.]

[To enable auto-save, please delete the contents of the slot.]

It was simple for me to figure out Kaldrak's 'repeat count'.

Thanks to reading that 'system window' floating above the guy's head.

'There are 20 slots for auto-save in <Ji·Ma·Juk>.'

If you die in the game, the system will 'auto-save' the situation just before you die and then open a system window to ask the player.

'Do you want to load the auto-save from just before you die?'

If you are unable to answer that question, the existing game saved in slot 1 will be loaded.

'Perhaps, the time stored in slot 1 is the point in time when Kaldrak returns.'

If you do this kind of repetitive 'auto save'.

Naturally, the limited save slots will fill up and you will end up in a situation where you can't load 'if you die'.

That's the situation Kaldrak is in now.

'He probably didn't know.'

This time, even if I die, I can't go back.

I could tell for sure.

The guy can't see the 'system window'.

Because of this, he was not fully aware of the situation he was in and showed 'bewilderment' at what I said.

furthermore.

'Looking at the repeated points… … .'

Perhaps, he doesn't know the future exactly as it is now, when 'Black Star' has started to go astray.

If so, then it is more likely that you, like me, or rather, have only a fragmentary knowledge of this world than I do.

by the way.

'Occupy the barbarian outpost.'

What kind of imperial tyranny is this?

I, an outsider and not even a member of the punitive force, am supposed to help with the work at the North Pool Barrier.

'That's not the real purpose, is it?'

As I passed through the gate and headed towards the 'savage outpost' that Kaldrak had mentioned, I glanced at the wedges that had followed me.

Three wedges that followed him to complete the mission.

These are the guys that Kaldrak gave us, saying that sending them alone is dangerous.

'Are you planning to bury me here?'

The murderous intent they were spewing at me was not ordinary.

The emotions of those who were shown through the 'color of negativity' far surpassed 'anger'.

'This… … is not Kaldrak's idea.'

It's just a guess, though.

I was confident that the wedges' murderous intentions were not due to Kaldrak's orders.

He must have sent me here to test me, as he suspected me of being a 'repeater' like him.

To find colleagues with whom you can share information and join forces.

'I saw the future, you know.'

If you witnessed with your own eyes the resurrection of the demon and all the disasters he caused across the continent, it would be more than enough.

'Even so, this could be an opportunity.'

At first, I prioritized leaving the 'North Pool' barrier, but now I've changed my mind a little.

Kaldrak, who has been revealed to be a 'repeater', would be helpful if subdued.

Not only does he know the 'future', but he also has the title of 'prince'.

'He was originally a difficult man to mess with because of his title as prince.'

These wedges actually created opportunities.

I thought so and stopped walking.

As I looked at my footprints left on the snow, I turned my head and looked at the wedges that had followed me.

“……What, why did it stop?”

“Isn’t this the outpost that Lord Kaldrak spoke of?”

“There’s no need to pretend not to know.”

As he said that and smiled, the three wedge members flinched.

“Well, for someone like you, you don’t even need to give your full name.”

The wedges, who had been revealing their murderous intent without hiding it, drew their swords and rushed at once.

Although his skills were far beyond those of ordinary soldiers, it was not a problem.

To begin with, it didn't seem like there was an opponent who could defeat me.

“Huhhhh!”

I made Pelkor follow me without them knowing.

Pelkor jumped out of the bushes with a roar and struck the wedge with his fist, causing the creature to fall down unsightly.

What tremendous power.

“What, what is it!?”

The rest of the wedges were startled.

Crunch.

I quickly drew my sword and cut off the waist of one of them.

widely.

He struck the other one's neck with the handle.

“Kuaaaah!”

dump.

One fell, and the other fell backwards, blood splattering across the pure white snow.

I have to run away.

A familiar purple haze began to bloom above the guy's head, which had been dotted with deep red.

He was the guy who looked at me with eyes filled with such determination, but he couldn't take action.

“Uratcha!”

Pelkor knocked down the last one with a vicious punch.

“Don't kill me.”

"yes?"

At the words “don’t kill me,” Pelkor looked at me with bewildered eyes.

You, a 'maniacal murderer', are saying something like that?

That kind of nuance in the eyes is really rude… … .

I guess I'll have to do some digging.

“Then shouldn’t we at least arrest him? If that happens, there’ll be a huge mess.”

'There's chaos.'

That's true too.

“If Kaldrak finds out about this, he’ll probably form a pursuit team and come after us?”

“Don’t worry. His Majesty won’t do that.”

"……yes?"

That's probably not possible.

“It seems I’m not late.”

Once again, the bushes rustled and a gentle voice was heard.

“Have you had a nice farewell party, Lord Zahat?”

Zahat smiled bitterly at my question.

I wanted to add a few words, but I felt now was not the time.

Right behind Zahat.

This was because the person he was aiming his sword at was glaring at him with sharp eyes.

“Even if you’re a witch, your life seems important.”

The one whose life was being threatened by Zahat's sword was none other than her.

Witch of the Snowstorm Forest.