Chapter 09
Hamma turned around and shot me a glare with his eyes.
Why? Well… because I’m better than you.
Anyway, at my shout, the two of them released all the rabbit beast-tribe villagers and came over to the treasure chest.
Hamma tilted his head in confusion as he saw a single scrap of paper lying inside a large chest big enough for a person.
“Hmm… it’s in a treasure chest, so it feels important, but there’s nothing written on it?”
“What do you think, Kaizen?”
“Do I need to know?”
Thwack.
Without the obedient buff, Kaizen had returned to his usual uncooperative self.
Hamma examined the paper carefully, then spoke.
“But the edge of this paper is strange… It looks torn. And yet, there’s something oddly familiar about it…”
Snap!
The rabbit suddenly clapped his hands as if something just came to mind.
“Oh! Now that I think about it, the village chief once said that all four pieces of the Demon King Castle map must be gathered to complete it. Could this be a piece of the map?”
Hamma and I clicked surprisingly well. I quickly nodded to confirm.
“Looks like it. Then Kaizen, you should take it. You’ll need it to go to the Demon King Castle anyway. And you’re the one who defeated the Orc Camp.”
I’ve already given him the table and the spoon and even fed him rice… Haven’t I done everything?
I was checking Kaizen’s reaction with a proud smile when suddenly, the skull icon floating above his head shot up to three full bars.
And at that moment—
Flap-flap! Flap-flap!
Rustling. Fluttering.
“…?”
The yellowed map fragment split into smaller pieces and scattered into the air.
Even seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it. Time seemed to pause.
Hamma blinked in shock, staring at Kaizen with a dazed expression.
After a long silence, I asked:
“Kaizen.”
“Yes?”
“What did you just do?”
“I tore it.”
… Wait, what?
I should be tearing the Demon King, not the paper!
I clenched my eyes shut, then opened them to ask calmly.
“What’s the point of tearing it? How are we supposed to reach the Demon King’s castle now?”
“Why go to the Demon King Castle? I’m not going.”
“…?”
Oh, my blood pressure. What do I do with him?
Regardless of my frustration, Kaizen stood there indifferent.
“Why? You’re the hero. Are you going to ignore the king’s command?”
Kaizen didn’t answer. He just pressed his lips together.
This selective answering is infuriating.
I stared at him, waiting for a response. Then, he turned his back and strolled out of the Orc Camp at ease.
“What? Am I being ignored right now?”
I stared blankly at his retreating back. Hamma, equally dumbfounded, turned to meet my gaze.
Sigh… this isn’t going to work.
“Hamma. Shall we just start over?”
“Start over? Absolutely not! Romi, do you have seven years to wait again?”
“You get seven years. I only have thirty days.”
“Wha… what?”
Hamma’s ears twitched as he made a face full of injustice.
“Why? Why do I get seven years and Romi only thirty days?!”
“Exactly. I’m curious about that too.”
“Ha! It’s so unfair! I can’t live with this injustice!”
Hamma stomped his feet in frustration. It probably only hurt him.
I tore my eyes away from him and looked sadly at the badly torn map fragment.
Ha… it’s ruined.
I’d been too naive. He had no intention of going to the Demon King’s castle, not even a shred. And I had blindly entrusted him with the map fragment. What was I thinking?
As I crouched, thinking about what to do next, fluttering sounds came again—flap-flap, rustle-rustle.
“…?”
The fragmented map pieces began moving on their own.
Even without a breeze, as if they had their own will, the pieces slowly formed a shape.
“Hamma. Look at this.”
Hamma, who had been stomping in frustration, perked his ears.
Blinking in surprise, he raised his head as the pieces hovered, forming a large arrow shape.
“Uh… why is it moving on its own?”
“I don’t know. Doesn’t it look like an arrow?”
↗
The map pieces formed a diagonal arrow pointing to the right and stopped.
“…?”
“…?”
“What… what is this?”
Hamma and I could only stare in confusion.
This world is truly ridiculous.
The hero falls into lethargy, NPCs start thinking for themselves, and now even the map moves on its own.
Hamma, frozen until now, blinked and muttered:
“Romi… the arrow is moving…”
Indeed. The map fragment, which had stopped forming the arrow shape, now fluttered in the direction of the arrow as if leading the way.
“Could it be guiding us to the next map?”
“Oh… looks like it.”
An in-world GPS…
This function didn’t exist in the original game, making it truly fascinating.
Watching the map pieces, I helped Hamma to his feet.
“First, let’s return the rabbit villagers to the village and decide what to do next. I’ll keep the map fragment.”
“Yes! But, Romi…”
Hamma twiddled his fingers nervously and looked at me, lips moving as if debating something.
“What is it? Say it.”
“Could we… not give up this time? Even without the map, it’s still possible to reach the Demon King Castle, right? So… I hope you won’t give up just because it seems ruined.”
Hamma’s wish surprised me.
“You’re being serious…?”
“It’s only been two days since I finally got to live my own life, and I’ve been so happy. If you have thirty days, but I have to wait seven years until we meet again… that would be too cruel.”
So all that hesitation was just for this simple request.
I gently stroked Hamma’s drooping ears and replied,
“Okay, you don’t need that long face. It’s nothing serious. I just got a little frustrated earlier.”
“Really? Really?”
His face instantly brightened, and I couldn’t help but smile too.
I never expected to finish everything in one go anyway. If Kaizen dies again, I’ll think about it then.
After all, I have thirty days, but he has seven years until he meets me again. So I’ll do my best this round.
In just two days, after rescuing the rabbit villagers twice, the village chief came out personally to thank us.
“Thank you so much. Not once, but twice, helping our village—I don’t know how to repay you.”
Surprised by his words, I immediately looked toward Kaizen. Thankfully, he was standing alone like a wooden statue, far off.
I whispered so he wouldn’t hear:
“It was because of Hamma, so don’t bother thanking us. But, Grandpa… why did you use him?”
The chief twitched his ears absentmindedly. Must be a rabbit beast-tribe trait.
Hamma, crossing his arms arrogantly, urged the chief to speak.
“That… was an unavoidable choice to protect Hamma. I heard that forcibly removing the brainwashing might drive him insane.”
“From whom?”
“I cannot say.”
What? He’s not some secret agent—why can’t he talk?
The chief seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he withheld the answer.
After hesitating with a dark expression, he finally spoke again.
“Instead, I can tell you something else.”
He looked directly at me while watching the map fragment in Hamma’s hand.
“I heard you found a piece of the Demon King Castle map. I also heard that you tore it…”
“Is there a way to restore it?”
“No, there isn’t. But if you follow the direction the map points, you will discover an important truth.”
