The Terminally-Ill Rejects the Approach - Chapter 24

I stood in a corner with Anselot, picking at the finger food and watching the congratulatory procession greeting Mother.

It would be improper to leave before the emperor, so I planned to wait until the congratulatory procession ended and leave when Mother took her leave as well.

Before long, it was the turn of the envoys from the Taal Kingdom.

The envoys walked towards Mother, carrying the gifts they had brought all the way from their home country.

‘Huh? That woman is….’

I spotted a woman at the head of the procession, with blue hair and violet eyes.

I recognized her immediately.

She was the very woman who had been with Hezen on the day I discovered that I was possessing a game and was Hezen’s capture target!

‘She was called Clara, the saint of the Taal Kingdom.’

I was staring at the woman, recalling an unpleasant memory, when suddenly the saint stopped in her tracks.

Then she abruptly stretched out both arms into the air.

People were startled and murmured at her sudden strange behavior.

“Saint, why….”

Even the envoys from the Taal Kingdom who had come with her were flustered and muttering.

“Christine Joanna Azester, Emperor of Azester, receive the sacred command of the gods!”

The saint’s voice rang out loudly.

The deep, low-pitched voice was clearly different from the saint’s voice I had heard that day.

The saint’s expression was also strange, as if she was possessed by the gods.

“The Lord speaks, let the bloodline of Azester fulfill the and spread the holy and sacred name of Lord Lus, who has granted it, far and wide across this land!”

I froze.

The words that followed made me stiffen on the spot.

‘Proof of the Hero?’

Of course I knew what it was.

The reason why the protagonists of had to defeat the Mad Dragon.

That was the .

According to the original , long ago, Lus, the God of Light, became the sole ruler of this world by sealing away the Mad Dragon Helheim who was throwing the world into chaos.

Since then, the people of the continent believed in and revered Lus as their Lord, but as time passed, a problem arose.

Cracks appeared in the ancient seal, and the Mad Dragon Helheim awakened.

Sensing that the world would once again be plunged into chaos, Lus, the God of Light, delivered a prophecy related to the .

The content of the prophecy was simple.

‘The descendant who inherits the power of light shall take the heart of the Mad Dragon.

O thou who takes the heart of the Mad Dragon, that holy name shall be scattered across all the lands.’

In the original story, Hezen vowed to the emperor that he would vanquish the Mad Dragon for the Proof of the Hero, and the emperor, pleased, appointed him as the empire’s hero.

And he bestowed a sword upon Hezen. The very sword, the Azester Greatsword, that I had received from Mother just a moment ago.

Afterwards, on his journey to fulfill the prophecy, Hezen met other heroes who inherited the power of light and they became his companions.

They were Klaus, the Shield of Light; Illei, the Sage of Light; Maria, the Saint of Light; and Targo, the Hunter of Light, all mentioned in the original story.

With the addition of Hezen, the Warrior of Light, the five heroes of light vanquished the Mad Dragon Helheim and achieved the before returning.

The main story of the original was about the growth, friendship, and love shared by the five heroes throughout this long journey.

Even in this terrible game based on the original, the should clearly belong to the player.

But out of the blue, the bloodline of Azester was being told to fulfill the Proof of the Hero.

“That’s absurd!”

I took a step forward towards where Clara was standing, fuming with anger.

‘This wasn’t in the original story! In the first place, Hezen, the protagonist of the original, wasn’t even of the Azester bloodline…!’

If Anselot hadn’t grabbed my shoulder, I would have immediately pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.

“Princess. Look at her eyes.”

Following where Anselot was pointing, I looked into Clara’s eyes and saw that her pupils were tainted a murky gray color.

“What…?”

I had seen those eyes before.

‘I will eliminate the bug.’

Roana, who had attacked us that day, had the exact same eyes. Not only Roana, but the others around her as well, all of them.

“She’s a Cleaner. One of the system’s minions.”

“What?”

I blinked my eyes in surprise for a moment.

That woman was clearly Hezen’s capture target. But how did she suddenly become a Cleaner?

“I thought Cleaners were supposed to eliminate bugs?”

[Aaaargh!!! Looks like the System Administrator has finally made a move σ(ｏдｏlll)]

The system window trembled.

“System Administrator?”

When I tilted my head quizzically, Anselot immediately explained.

“The strongest among the minions.”

[Minions! Don’t call them that! (`Д´)ゞ

The System Administrator is a very important person who blocks malicious little bugs and upholds the order of the system! ★o(･д´･+)９]

The system window burst out in anger at Anselot’s nonchalant reply, then became serious on its own and started to be wary of Anselot.

[Wait, but how does this person know about the inventory and the system? Player, this person is suspicious! You need to be careful! ヾ( •́д•̀ ;)ﾉ]

Regardless, Anselot and I ignored the system window and continued our conversation with each other.

“To uphold the order of this world?”

“Ensuring the smooth progression of the scenario is also part of their role.”

“You know what, Princess? The System Administrator can turn certain people into Cleaners under specific conditions.”

“…!”

I turned to Anselot in surprise.

“Specific conditions meaning?”

“Faith.”

“….”

“People with faith above a certain level become Cleaners and act according to the Administrator’s orders.”

“So right now, the saint of the Taal Kingdom is moving not of her own will, but by the Administrator’s command?”

“Yes.”

Anselot nodded, keeping his gaze on Clara.

Come to think of it, Roana that day had been so different from the Roana I usually knew.

‘It was as if she was under hypnosis. Both Roana, and now this saint of the Taal Kingdom shouting about following the will of the gods.’

I mulled over the explanation in silence for a moment, then became outraged. If this was all the doing of the System Administrator….

‘This is basically threatening me right now, isn’t it? Telling me to hurry up and progress the scenario.’

There was no way anyone other than the player could harm the Mad Dragon.

Even for players who could use various privileges, the Proof of the Hero was not an easy difficulty level.

No matter who was sent from the Azester bloodline, it would be an arduous journey. Perhaps they might not even return intact.

But to ignore the prophecy…. The influence of Lord Lus’s power on the continent was too great.

Mother and the empire would suffer in some way or another.

‘Hah, this is really….’

[SYSTEM] You enter a state of anger.

‘I’m angry?’

I remembered the unpleasant feeling of my body and mind not doing as I wished whenever Hezen did a capture.

I was angry at the System Administrator for brainwashing and sacrificing innocent people for the sake of the system’s order.

“Usually the Administrator just orders them to find and eliminate bugs. But to manipulate someone so intricately like that.”

Anselot explained in a low whisper.

“Means the boss minion is here too.”

The banquet hall, which had become chaotic due to the sudden prophecy, was surveyed.

Thinking that the System Administrator might be in here somewhere, my eyes felt hot.

‘Who is it? Who the hell is it?’

Then I suddenly recalled the words Anselot had let slip to me a moment ago.

‘Maybe it was someone who wanted to help the player awaken that gave the horn flute. Like the system’s minions, for example.’

Since all the Cleaners acted on the Administrator’s orders, there was only one person who could do such a thing.

“Then the one who gave the horn flute to Hezen….”

“Is most likely the same guy who is controlling the saint of the Taal Kingdom from somewhere right now.”

“….”

I clenched my fists tightly and thought.

‘I have to stop the System Administrator from running amok.’

I can’t just stand by and watch them manipulate people like this.

[This is the timeline separator]

In the end, Mother’s birthday celebration banquet ended in a somewhat tumultuous atmosphere.

And the next day, Mother summoned her children to the banquet hall under the pretext of having lunch together.

But the real reason she called us was to discuss the prophecy the saint of the Taal Kingdom had received yesterday.

“I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

The Azester bloodline the prophecy referred to was one of the Emperor’s children.

Elizabeth, who had been far from wielding a sword her entire life, was naturally excluded.

Gloria also knew basic swordsmanship, but her skills were somewhat lacking compared to ordinary knights.

Therefore, Mother’s gaze naturally rested on me and Brother Orent.

Brother Orent’s complexion immediately turned pale upon receiving Mother’s gaze.

[SYSTEM] enters a state of fear.

‘How are his states changing so rapidly.’

It seems Brother Orent has a much weaker mentality than he appears on the outside.

, the Second Prince of the Azester Empire

§Fear State§

Favorability: -273

I stared intently at the blue window floating above Brother Orent’s head.

[The Second Prince of the Azester Empire. Receiving people’s adulation for his feat of vanquishing monsters in the border region. (Support Level: 8)]

After awakening, a new value called [Support Level] appeared in the detailed information windows of the characters around me.

Fitting for a character appearing in the very first scenario of the game, Brother Orent’s level was not particularly high.

‘Come to think of it, Brother Orent couldn’t win against Hezen either.’

The Hezen of the tutorial scenario that Brother Orent failed to defeat was a beginner with a level not exceeding 10.

In the first place, Brother Orent was not so strong as to be able to deal with monsters.

‘But then how did he vanquish the monsters at the border?’

The monsters that appeared at the border were not that strong. They were monsters that ordinary knights could easily defeat.

The problem was that even such weak monsters were a huge disaster to ordinary people, and no matter how many were periodically exterminated, their numbers were endless.

But after Brother Orent’s subjugation, the monsters that became scared of him no longer appeared at the border.

So the imperial citizens in the border region were praising Brother Orent.

‘For monsters to become scared, there needs to be a certain level difference.’

I remembered the bald kraken that entered a state of fear when I temporarily raised my level by drinking the S-class invincibility potion.

[SYSTEM] The level difference between you and is 20 or higher.

[SYSTEM] , sensing a great difference in strength from you, enters a state of fear.

According to the system notification window at that time, it seemed that monsters entered a state of fear when there was at least a level difference of 20 or more.

‘I don’t know what level the monsters that appeared at the border were, but it’s a bit strange that they became scared of Brother Orent and stopped appearing….’