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For some reason, it felt like there was one more support character, but Lanpeach rewired himself to think that he only has one support character, and continued running through the underground with Libra.

And so, they arrived at the underground prison. Instead of rusty iron bars and chamber pots, the walls were made of glass, and it looked clean, like a zoo enclosure.

The reason became clear quickly. Everyone imprisoned was naked. The men lay down with faces of despair, while the women cried, unable to even cover themselves. They probably were not the only ones captured, their families were too.

“It seems they really think of these people as merchandise. Are they treating it like window shopping or something?” (Libra)

“Yeah, it’s enough to make you sick when it is in real life.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach bristled with anger in response to Libra’s question.

(Is this to make it easier to display the state of their slaves? What a sick joke. Whatever little guilt I might’ve had left is now completely gone.) (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach awakened to a sense of justice. Could this be the start of a protagonist arc?

“What about in the game?” (Libra)

“Oh, well, you know…” (Lanpeach)

Libra pointed to the women, but that kind of thing wasn’t needed right now. Let’s keep things serious for once, yeah?

Clearly, becoming a protagonist wasn’t in the cards. 

(In the game, I’d be messing with the camera angle in front of the women’s cells while going ‘uhehe’.) (Lanpeach) 

Lanpeach turned away as Libra tried to peer into his face, but he pushed her face away and pressed forward. 

Where’s Krishna? Anyway, gotta free these people.

“Me, guard here—sogeh!”

A muscular man in heavy armor came charging at them, but a single punch sent his head flying. The now-headless body staggered and collapsed, and Lanpeach walked right past. 

(That guy was supposed to be the boss here, but now a level 2 enemy is nothing to me. Sorry about that.) (Lanpeach)

This is a chain quest, and it’s only going to get harder. It is still in the early stages.

He knew how things work from the game, so he headed straight for the terminal on the desk at the far end.

“This is the control panel to unlock the cells.” (Lanpeach)

“It’s one of those types that need a card and password! Leave it to me. I’ll bring up the map of this place—” (Libra)

“It’s fine. I’ll just crack it… There, it’s open.” (Lanpeach)

[Psycho Cracking]

(Glad I leveled up my hacking skills. Libra, why are you looking at me like you’re about to cry?) (Lanpeach)

“You never leave me any chances to help! I want to shine here, just like at the casino!” (Libra)

“Can you tell me exactly where you ‘shone’ at the casino? Are you living in a different timeline than I am?” (Lanpeach)

Libra pouts in frustration, seemingly convinced she did something impressive back at the casino. He, on the other hand, was not convinced.

“Well… that takes care of freeing the prisoners.” (Lanpeach)

[Quest Complete: Evidence of Human Trafficking. Free the Prisoners. Earned 10,000 EXP.]

It’s a small bit of experience, but small coins pile up into mountains. Of course, if you tried depositing small coins into a bank, the fees would probably eat them up though.

“Are you really saving us?”

“Is it true? Can we really escape?”

“B-But we can’t leave without clothes!”

The prisoners began to stir as the glass doors of the cells opened, disbelief written all over their faces.

“Kyaa! Everyone’s naked! Soldier, you can’t stare at them like that!” (Libra)

Also, they are naked.

(Libra let out an exaggerated scream and smirked at me, but she chose the wrong person to tease. This isn’t the kind of thing that bothers me.) (Lanpeach)

“Gyaa! The doors are closing again!”

He calmly operated the terminal without a fuss and the doors shut once more. The people, who thought they were about to be freed, began to panic even more, but it was no big deal.

“Why did you close the doors?” (Libra)

“The quest’s marked as complete, so it’s fine now. I don’t need to actually free them. Ah, this isn’t me being heartless. Having them run around naked would cause chaos, and someone else will come to save them after this mess is sorted out.” (Lanpeach)

He already completed the quest and earned the EXP, so he didn’t need to free them anymore.

Honestly, they’d just get in the way. In the game, he would probably be joking about this being a nudist beach, but this is reality. Having a bunch of naked people around would only cause a huge mess. Some of them might even get killed by the guards, so staying in the cells is safer.

“Now, where’s Krishna… Ah, there he is. Looks like they’ve already got his name marked. I’ll just free him alone.” (Lanpeach)

The names of the prisoners were displayed on the terminal, and Krishna’s name was right there. His name probably got some recognition at the magic academy.

He seemed to be in the cell at the back, so he headed over there.

“Well, it’s not a bad idea to have Krishna of the Wind to owe me a favor… But shouldn’t the prince on a white horse be saving a heroine instead?” (Lanpeach)

“Isn’t it because you are the boss of minor villains? That’s why you end up saving a man.” (Libra)

“Was that supposed to be a clever remark? …Wait, what the heck?” (Lanpeach)

He was dumbstruck after reaching the cell of Krishna.

—Because Krishna had turned to stone, his body curled up like a statue decoration. Actually, it wasn’t ‘just like a statue decoration’, he is one.

[Krishna: Level 5]

“He’s in a petrified state. Judging by his posture, he must’ve known he was going to be petrified and braced himself for it.” (Libra)

Libra slipped into the cell and poked Krishna’s stone form. Lanpeach grimaced at the slightly unexpected situation.

“So that’s it. That bastard, Guy, planned for me to rescue Krishna from the start. Petrification magic is one of Guy’s specialties.. Most monsters don’t resist it unlike instant-death spells, so it’s really handy.” (Lanpeach)

“I see. He doesn’t get hurt while he’s petrified, even if he’s tortured.” (Libra)

“Yeah, your defense gets insanely high after all. The weaklings here would deal zero damage. Tch, I danced on the palm of his hand.” (Lanpeach)

“A crook dancing isn’t cute though. But you didn’t come here to rescue Krishna anyway, right? You even locked up the other cells again.” (Libra)

“That’s one thing, and this is another.” (Lanpeach)

(EXP is important, you know? Still, it annoys me that I danced to Guy’s tune. That guy’s got a face that hides how sly he really is. He probably thought it would be a waste to just abandon Krishna.) (Lanpeach)

“Well, fine. Undo the petrification. You must be here, Guy’s Spirit. I found it odd that he didn’t use Element Fusion during the tournament.”  (Lanpeach)

“Moguuu!”

A mole suddenly burst out of the concrete floor, sniffing around. It’s Guy’s contracted Earth Spirit, Dragon King.

Guy could’ve used Element Fusion to easily secure victory during the battle with Touka. There was no reason to hold back, considering his own position, which had made Lanpeach wonder. The answer was simple: he had his spirit hiding here with Krishna.

“Mogu?”

The mole looked up at Lanpeach with its round eyes, looking quite cute as it approached his feet. 

(My support character being a mole might have been fine as well.) (Lanpeach)

“Soldier, did you just have a weird thought?” (Libra)

“Must be your imagination. Anyway, Dragon King, turn this silly statue back into a person.” (Lanpeach)

“Mogu!”

Dragon King nodded and touched Krishna’s curled-up stone form with its nose. Krishna’s gray, stone body gradually returned to flesh as a magical light glowed.

“Police! Call the police! Someone, get the police. I’m innocent! Pay me, you bastards!”

Krishna started yelling the moment he turned back. 

Looks like, in this world, petrification doesn’t leave you conscious. Once you’re petrified, your consciousness freezes too.

“I’m committed to nonviolence! I follow Gandhi’s footsteps as a pacifist! And I will reclaim my 36 billion!” (Krishna)

“In Gandhi’s nonviolence policy, he still showed resistance when necessary. It wasn’t a policy of absolute acceptance.” (Lanpeach)

“Huh? Really? I thought it was about never fighting back no matter what. Wait, where am I? And who are you?” (Krishna)

Krishna lifted his head and looked around, finally realizing he was in a strange place.

“My name’s Michibiki, and this is Boing. We’re just some kind hunters who happened to pass by.” (Lanpeach)

“Michibiki…?” (Krishna)

“What a terrible name! And I’m not just about my chest, everything about me is soft!” (Libra)

Lanpeach crossed his arms and glared down at Krishna, who looked up at him with a puzzled expression. 

Appearing out of nowhere and disappearing just as suddenly, that’s Michibiki for you. Nice to meet you.

Also, that complaint was unexpected, but yeah, you’re definitely soft, Libra-san.

◇◇

Krishna looked like the protagonist from an old-school light novel with his messy hair and sharp eyes. 

Even though he doesn’t look particularly popular, he is a male protagonist that excelled at the academy, raised his reputation by giving expensive gifts, went on dates, and chatted every day to build his harem. If you put in that much effort, maybe a harem isn’t too far-fetched.

“So, you came here to stop the illegal experiments at this casino, huh? You’re here to take down that mad scientist, Yarita Masakatsu, right?” (Krishna)

Krishna, who was fully clothed unlike the others, stretched as he spoke casually. His body felt a bit stiff because he had been petrified.

“The mad scientist here is Masakatsu?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach raised an eyebrow at Krishna’s words.

That’s weird. In the game, the mad scientist wasn’t Masakatsu. Was it different in the beta?

“Uh, Michibiki-san, right? When we defeat him, a key will—oops. You saved me, so I will help you out. That’s fine, right? How about going to the vault before that? There are some great items there. Let’s split it fifty-fifty.” (Krishna)

Krishna smiled slyly as he checked the weapons he had on hand. He seemed to have already realized that Lanpeach was in the middle of a quest. 

Anyways, this guy is planning to steal the key hacker for himself  even after being rescued. Well, Lanpeach could understand how he felt. There’s only one of that item in this world after all.

“Sorry, but the vault’s a no-go. We need to deal with those conducting forbidden experiments first.” (Lanpeach)

Besides, Mira is probably heading for the vault right now. If he were to interfere, she might retaliate with some Hunter-style counterattack, and he was scared of that.

“I see, it takes some serious skill to get this far. You’re not a protagonist character though. So, in real life, the NPCs will clear the quest if you take too long, huh…” (Krishna)

“I didn’t encounter any enemies I thought were strong on my way here though. You’d be better off going home.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach’s cold words didn’t faze Krishna, who smirked and raised his hand.

“Come forth, Wind Dragon, Dragonfly!” (Krishna)

A wind dragon materialized in the air and perched on Krishna’s hand.

“Masakatsu’s nothing. Leave everything to me. It’ll be a breeze as long as my magic isn’t sealed.” (Krishna)

Krishna wore a confident grin. His level certainly does look high, but could he really handle it?

“Well, fine. I’ll accept your help.” (Lanpeach)

We need to find out who the real mad scientist is, and whether there’s a chimera involved.

Also, with both Guy and Krishna having Spirits named Dragon King and Dragonfly, they really are a great pair, aren’t they?

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