“Is this a good thing?”
I peered closely at the box.
At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary gift box.
But the size was suspiciously large, enough to fit a person inside, and that had me worried.
Actually, there was a more certain way to find out than all this guesswork.
[Puzzle Box]
A box created by Erzebet.
There might be something terrifying inside.
It seemed better not to open it.
“Hmm.”
There was no harm in listening to the system.
I was curious about what was inside, but I still had plenty of days ahead to live and chat.
Head of the Gallery: Is it really a good thing? I don’t think so.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: It’s a good thing.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: So hurry up and open it.
Head of the Gallery: LOL, alright.
“I absolutely won’t open it.”
While the obsession of a cute girl was welcome, my priority was chatting.
“I could just return it.”
Just as my gaze dropped to the box to send it back to I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire without even needing to store it in the warehouse—
“Ugh, it’s not opening very easily…”
The drying machine was crouched down trying to open the box.
I had almost forgotten.
Since moving to the bunker, the drying machine had been helping around the house and took it upon itself to check packages that arrived from the Gallums and organize the warehouse…
“Stop!!!”
“Eek!”
I yelled urgently at the drying machine, but it was too late.
-Click
Pandora’s box was opened.
It was just a box, but the inside was invisible.
Only an unfathomable darkness filled it.
The moment I caught a glimpse inside, chills ran down my spine…
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: You opened it, didn’t you?
With that message from I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire, something began bursting out of the box.
“!”
Long and slippery, branching things…
“Tentacles?”
Red tentacles.
Whether they were made of blood or not, the bright red ones started pouring out of the box.
“Head, Head of the Gallery!”
Seeing the tentacles burst forth, I quickly pulled out my shotgun and squeezed the trigger.
– Bang!
The bullet hit the tentacle right on target!
“Did I get it?”
– Squirming
But the tentacle quickly healed from the hit and returned to its original state.
It seemed that being made from blood meant it healed quickly from physical attacks.
“Be careful of Malfight!”
Penny came out, her expression in shock as she shouted at me.
“…!”
But it was already too late.
The tentacle, returned to its round shape, swiftly lunged at me…
“Eh.”
Instead, it zipped right past me.
What was going on? Wasn’t it hostile towards me?
If anything, the tentacles seemed friendly.
– Squirming
Like a puppy, it rubbed against me before zipping off behind me.
The tentacles’ target wasn’t me; it was the drying machine.
“Ahhh!”
Thick and thin tentacles perfectly bound the drying machine’s body and lifted it into the air.
“Ugh, this feels good.”
“Stop saying weird things and save me!”
Having successfully ensnared the drying machine, the tentacles began an indiscriminate assault.
– Smack!
“Ow, ow!”
One tentacle whipped and flicked the drying machine’s pure forehead.
– Whack!
“Eeeek!”
Another tentacle soared and slapped the top of the drying machine’s head.
The drying machine was being tossed around and looked miserable from the sudden unexpected attack.
“What the hell is going on…?”
I had no clue what was happening.
Just then, a chat message from I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire arrived.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: Are you okay, Head of the Gallery?
Head of the Gallery: No, what the hell is going on?
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: Don’t panic, just listen.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: It seems like a succubus is after you.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: The blood magic I sent should detect the succubus, so don’t worry.
“Eh?”
It seemed I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire was misunderstanding the situation.
He suddenly claimed to be saving me.
Head of the Gallery: Yeah, I know?
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: Huh?
Head of the Gallery: She’s my roommate. I’m safe, so let her go.
To clarify things, I informed them that this was no dangerous succubus.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: …Roommate?
Head of the Gallery: Yeah.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: ＼ – /
But instead of getting better, the mood just got more dangerous.
Head of the Gallery: She’s not a weird succubus.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: Oh really?
Head of the Gallery: It’s the affectionate konik drying machine…
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: A pervert who pretends to be shy while flaunting a big chest?
“…!”
Did the drying machine see the chat or something? It thrashed around with a flushed face.
But the world is governed by power.
In the end, the drying machine became miserable and wilted.
I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: I got that it’s a misunderstanding.
@: I’ll let it go for now.
Fortunately, the tentacles soon released the drying machine and went back into the box.
“Surprisingly, they go back smoothly?”
I thought the kidnapping was starting, but I guess this time was different.
Though back then, I got to taste blood for the first time, and it was different than now.
Thanks to that, this incident was resolved successfully.
Apart from the drying machine, which got slapped around and called a pervert, there were no casualties.
“Shall I go back to chatting then?”
I returned to my room.
The concept posts on the Gallery were as fast-paced as their scale.
It didn’t take several weeks; even delaying by a single day could make several pages fly by.
“We can’t let it lose traction.”
As I began re-reading the concept post I had set aside, I stumbled upon something new.
[Title: Breaking News) Nobles Kidnap the Emperor as Hostage…jpg]
(A meme of nobles staging a protest with the young emperor captured)
(A meme of armed knights gathering around the audience chamber)
OMG
[Recommended 8421] [Not Recommended 102]
– What the hell is this?
– No way, is this real?
– Amazing Adrian.
– I thought there’d be naked orc pics instead; why is this real?
– Seriously, lol they’re escaping to Kellierhton.
“What’s this now?”
Then a live update post about the hostage situation involving the Adrian Emperor appeared on the meme board.
*
“Open this door and surrender now!”
“Damn it, break it down!”
Inside the audience chamber of the Adrian Emperor.
The noise from outside was deafening.
All kinds of curses, screams, and angry reprimands could be heard.
“Wow, this is quite something.”
Helian, the court magician of Adrian, awkwardly chuckled while stroking his beard.
All that negative noise was aimed at him.
It had been long since the authority of the once-respected court magician had faded away.
“I miss the previous emperor.”
Helian gazed blankly out the window.
A clear afternoon with not a cloud in sight.
It was a day he longed for the previous emperor, to be precise, Frederick, who once called himself the emperor.
“Back then, everything was at my feet…”
Helian was a top-grade magician, close to being a great magician.
In other words, he was not quite the caliber to be a court magician.
However, he had excellent connections.
Once a close aide to Frederick, or a longstanding power partner with the Pope.
“Who would have thought it would come to this?”
Back then, he had never even dreamed of holding the emperor hostage for a hostage situation.
“Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”
As he stroked his faded beard, Helian looked down.
At that moment, the boy emperor, now only eight years old, met his gaze.
A powerless puppet emperor, whose life had now become a bargaining chip for ransom.
“I never expected you to end up like this.”
“Neither did I.”
The boy emperor, Muffin, didn’t cry.
Instead, he looked at Helian, whom he had believed to be his loyal servant.
“…If you surrender now, I’ll help you avoid execution.”
“What good would that do? The lunatic knocking outside is the hero.”
Darian, no one didn’t know him.
The true hero of Adrian.
“The Gallery Hero…”
The very man chosen by the Head of the Gallery himself.
With passionate faith towards the Head of the Gallery, he was reforming Adrian.
Uncovering and burning all the sources of corruption, he had led many people to the guillotine.
And Helian, whom he thought he had hidden well, was to be the next target.
“Don’t worry.”
Helian spoke, whether to himself or to Muffin, he wasn’t sure.
“As soon as I save my own skin, I’ll set you free.”
“…Alright.”
Muffin, though merely eight years old, was also the sole emperor of the empire.
His little head was spinning.
The betrayal of Helian, whom he thought was an uncle, the crimes committed by the cathedral up until now.
The monsters from the ‘outside’ that kept invading with endless greed.
“If only everyone could just live happily eating desserts from the marketplace.”
The marketplace that the Head of the Gallery opened was overflowing with unbelievable desserts.
Just that alone felt like having the world, so why were they all so eager to kill each other?
Muffin stroked his small hand on his chin, pondering deeply.
Just then.
– Bang!
The heavy iron doors of the audience chamber, which couldn’t be opened even with many strong men pushing, burst open as if crumpled like paper.
“…Crazy monster.”
Beyond Helian’s mutterings, a man with a blank expression walked through the mist.
Darian, the Gallery Hero.
“It’s over, court magician. Release the emperor and atone before the Head of the Gallery…no, the nameless god.”
In other words, he ordered him to die.
Helian was a magician of a caliber beyond what ordinary people could reach.
With just a flick of his wrist, he could take the life of several low-ranked knights.
But not against the hero.
Even if he managed to land a strike, his body would regenerate in an instant.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Darian brought his hand close to the throat of the boy emperor, Muffin.
Darian then paused in place.
Then, with an impassive expression, he just folded his arms to gaze at the scene.
“You can’t die here. How is it that I survived…”
There were no old people in Adrian.
This was a figurative expression, but it was also true, to some degree.
With the Great War, famine, disease, and all sorts of ways, people were perishing.
And Helian had survived each time.
“I’m not thinking of dying yet.”
Though he was a man far beyond sixty, his attachment to life was stronger than anyone else’s.
Helian vowed to himself.
He would somehow survive once again.
But Darian shifted his gaze between the Gallery and the clock before suddenly speaking.
“Court magician.”
“What is it?”
“Do not try to confine his abilities within your shallow perceptions.”
The person Darian was referring to was none other than the Head of the Gallery, whom he implicitly revered.
Helian motioned with his eyes.
The audience chamber was located at the highest peak of the empire.
But with Darian’s skills, escape was not impossible.
‘He won’t shoot that strange fireball either. After all, I have the emperor with me.’
If he fled to the skies, there would be no way to catch him.
As Helian faced these thoughts, Darian stared blankly outside.
It was as if he couldn’t even see himself before him, wearing an expectant expression.
“What on earth are you looking at!”
Helian shouted in fear.
Even so, Darian remained silent, looking in that direction for a full minute before suddenly smiling.
“You didn’t heed my advice.”
“Is it the Head of the Gallery? I’ll admit those spells. But what can he do here?”
He fled to the sky, where no one could reach.
Moreover, he had taken the emperor hostage.
No matter how he thought about it, there was no way to stop his escape.
At that moment, Darian faced Helian with a spine-chilling grin.
“Anything.”
The moment he said that.
– Crash!
Suddenly, the audience chamber window shattered.
As soon as Darian’s words finished, something flew in quietly.
