When I Realized I Was the Game’s Protagonist, I Decided to Dump Everything on the Dark Hero - V1 Chapter 05: Bandits Don’t Respawn Infinitely

Chapter 05: Bandits Don’t Respawn Infinitely

It had been almost eight months since I arrived in Ornell.

I was starting to think that it was about time to head to Yankur, the ducal capital—

And then, I overheard something interesting.

“Did you hear? Lady Ermine is visiting the mayor’s place!”

“Wait, seriously!?”

“Yeah, she’s on her way back to the capital.”

“She’s still as gorgeous as ever, right?”

“Man, I’d give anything to see her just once!”

I was grabbing lunch at a restaurant near the Adventurer’s Guild when I caught bits of conversation from a nearby table.

Lady Ermine…?

Turns out, they were talking about Duchess Wyack—

A.K.A. Noir’s mother.

According to the townsfolk, she was insanely beautiful.

Now that’s interesting.

She never actually appeared in the original game.

By the time the story started, she was already dead.

Originally, the story claimed she died in a monster attack while traveling. 

But midway through the game, it was revealed that the whole thing was a setup by demons—

Their goal was to trigger internal strife within the Wyack family.

When Noir found out, he completely lost it.

His mother’s death—and the conflict with the second wife, who became the new duchess—

Those were some of the biggest reasons why Noir turned into a problem child.

Not to mention, since Noir had a strong affinity for dark magic, losing his mother probably pushed his emotions into a downward spiral.

And the stronger his negative emotions, the better his compatibility with the Demon King’s soul.

…Wait a second. Could it be…?

Is this that moment in the timeline?

“Well, that’s convenient timing.”

See, business had been slow lately. Turns out, after hunting down all the bandits and kidnappers around Ornell, the place had become a lot safer.

Not long ago, stepping outside town meant running into shady-looking thugs every five minutes.

But now? 

The streets were practically clean.

Guess bandits in this world don’t respawn infinitely.

Damn.

They were a decent source of income, too.

Not that I was hurting for money, but still.

And then—

“Oh? Look at this—kid’s got himself some fancy food.”

“…Growth spurt and all that.”

“Heh. How about sharing some with me?”

“…”

Ornell was surrounded by nature, which meant it had a lot of adventurers using it as their base.

Adventurers had a strong network, so if you hung out in taverns or diners, you could pick up a ton of useful info.

That’s why I made a habit of eating here sometimes—even though the inn’s food was way better.

And of course, places like this were full of drunks, rough types, and troublemakers.

Not that adventurers were much better—

Most of them were hotheaded, and a good number were barely a step above bandits themselves.

Though lately, for some strange reason, their numbers had dropped significantly.

Weird how that works, huh?

Even so, there were still idiots like this guy every once in a while.

“Hey, you little brat! Listen he—mgh! Mmmph! Hey, let go—gghh!!”

“Shut up! You trying to get yourself killed?!”

“Blanc! I’m so sorry! We’ll make sure this idiot learns his lesson!”

“Mmmph! MMPH!!”

“Ah—uh, yeah. It’s fine. I’m not mad or anything.”

“Thank you!!”

“Mmmph! Mphh! Gghhh!!”

The adventurer who tried to pick a fight got tackled by his own party members and dragged away.

…For the record, I wasn’t planning to kill him or anything.

This was another reason why I figured it was time to leave this town.

At first, I tried to avoid trouble as much as possible.

I made sure to stay out of the way, steer clear of troublemakers, and if needed, just apologize and move on.

But that only encouraged some people to push their luck.

Eventually, a few really persistent idiots kept harassing me—so I lost my temper and beat them to a pulp.

After that?

Some adventurers started getting really scared of me.

That particular group… what was their name again?

Oh yeah—”Gale Wind” or something.

A ridiculously dumb name, but apparently, they were fairly well-known in this area.

“Wait, those guys?”

That was my reaction too.

But considering I’d been hunting monsters and bandits every single day, I’d probably gotten a lot stronger than I realized.

Maybe I even had some protagonist-style plot armor going on.

So yeah.

Somehow, I had accidentally gained a reputation as “that weirdly strong kid.”

“Yeah… that was a miscalculation.”

Now, the big question on my mind—the “Noir is a reincarnator” theory.

If Noir really was a reincarnator, he’d definitely have some kind of information network set up.

Especially with his mother’s situation coming up soon.

And if news of a kid named Blanc reached him?

Yeah, he’d probably connect the dots real fast.

That meant there was a good chance he’d make a move.

And if that was the case…

Might as well go meet him directly.

After all, he was the heir to a ducal family—if he decided to track me down, there was no real way to escape.

And right when I was thinking that—

I heard the rumor about his mother.

If I played my cards right, I might be able to earn some favor with the Wyack family.

And if Noir really was a reincarnator, he’d definitely be doing something to protect his mother.

I wanted to see for myself how he was handling things.

Besides—as comfortable as this town was, I couldn’t stay here forever.

“Well, thanks for everything.”

“Take care out there, kid.”

“Ahh, it’s gonna feel lonely without you, Blanc. Come visit anytime, alright?”

“I will. Thanks again.”

The next morning, I said my goodbyes to the old man and lady of Sunshine Pavilion.

They had helped me so much.

A random kid showed up out of nowhere, and they let me stay for eight months.

Not only that—when the new year came around, they even celebrated my 10th birthday.

I really owed them a lot.

It was a rushed departure, but someday—

I’d definitely come back to repay them.

“Man, without the kid around, dinner’s gonna be so plain…”

“Seriously.”

“Then how about you go hunt your own food for once?”

“Guess we don’t have a choice…”

“Yeah, no way we can go back to normal meals after getting used to this.”

The inn’s residents (a.k.a. the gluttons) were sort of seeing me off.

Though honestly, it seemed like they were more worried about the menu than actually saying goodbye to me.

Still, they had taught me a lot—

From monster habitats to butchering techniques.

“Well then, everyone, take care.”

“Yeah, see ya!”

“Stay safe, Blanc~!”

Thinking about it—

I’d really been lucky with the people I met.

(Bandits, thugs, and scummy adventurers don’t count.)

Next, I stopped by the town gates to say goodbye to the gate guards.

They had been a huge help—giving me intel on bandit sightings, monster movements, and even gossip around town.

“You’re leaving, huh? Gonna feel a little empty without you around.”

“I really appreciate everything you guys did for me.”

“Nah, think of it as repayment for all those great meals.”

I had occasionally brought them food from the old man’s cooking, as thanks.

Lately, some of them had started eating at Sunshine Pavilion every night.

“Well then—”

“Blanc, wait a second.”

“Captain Abel? What’s up?”

Just as I was about to leave, Captain Abel called out to me.

…Wait.

Did he figure something out?

“You’re the one who took care of the bandits around here, aren’t you? We owe you one.”

“Ahh… so you really figured it out, huh?”

“The timing matched too well. Bandit activity started dropping right around the time you arrived. At first, I wasn’t sure… but after that whole ‘Gale Wind’ incident—”

“Ah. Yeah, that makes sense.”

So he really knew. Not surprising—guy’s sharp.

Now that I think about it… There’s a chance someone saw me without me realizing. I tried to stay careful, but there’s no such thing as perfect stealth.

“This is just me thinking out loud, but…”

“Hmm?”

“The duchess’s carriage is fast, but it’ll need to make several stops. Keeping up with it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“—! …You sure you should be saying that?”

“I like to think I have a decent eye for people. Besides, those truly up to no good would go out of their way to stay unnoticed. Someone as blatantly conspicuous as you? They’re not the type to be scheming anything shady.”

“…Huh. Fair point.”

“If you’re moving now, that means you’ve made your decision. Please… keep the lady safe.”

Damn.

Who the hell stuck this guy on gate duty?

He’s way too competent—someone should promote him and put him to work properly.