Dungeon Defense (WN)

“Ooh, I’m looking forward to it.”

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I found myself licking my lips.
I reacted to Jack’s words appropriately while being cautious to not let my emotions show.
He was completely drunk now.
He kept repeating the same words, so playing along wasn’t difficult.

“We’re here! The place where a fairy lies asleep.
It doesn’t feel appropriate to call her a slave.
Hey! You guys have been protecting the jewel well, right?”

Jack had taken me to a place where a considerably massive carriage was parked.
Two hired soldiers were playing card games in front of it.
They only gave Jack a curt nod.
They seemed annoyed by his presence since they were already staying up all night to keep watch.
They didn’t even raise their gazes from their cards.

“Yes, we have.
Damn it.
One pair.”

“Two pairs.
You lost, retard.
Pay up.”

I almost snickered out loud.
Damn it and pay up, these were terms they were saying indirectly towards Jack.
As expected of a drunkard, Jack didn’t realize he was being sworn at.

“She might be asleep.
Haha.
I’ll open it slowly.”

He opened the door to the carriage.

There was a girl sitting in the corner of the carriage.
It was dark, so I couldn’t see her face.
Darn it, Jack muttered as he quickly brought out a torch.
The torch illuminated the inside of the carriage with an amber glow.
The girl must have woken up by the sound of the door opening as she stared straight at us.

She had a slender jawline.
Was she around seventeen years old now? She examined Jack for a moment before looking past him and staring at me.
The term ‘stare at’ was very accurate.

There is usually an intent behind a person’s gaze.
Earlier today, when that merchant looked at me, it was for the sake of mocking me.
When Jack made eye contact with me, it was with the intent to garner affection.
All things considered, the number of times I’ve looked at something to know what has happened or to see what has entered my line of sight was unexpectedly small.
I wonder if the gazes of wildcats were like that.

It is only natural for people’s gazes to hold the desire to laugh at someone, to garner affection, and other similar desires.
There are only 2 occasions where you would purely stare at someone.
You’re either similar to a beast who has no desire to ridicule or garner affection, or you’re so perfect that you have no need to show your desires to others.
This girl’s gaze alone left a large impression on me.

“She is of noble lineage.
Laura De Farnese! The esteemed daughter of a duke.
To be exact, she used to be the esteemed daughter.
Do you know anything about the National Flower War? She’s the 2nd heir of the Farnese Duchery which led the Hydrangea Faction.
Haha.
An individual of truly high standing.
No, an individual who was once of high standing…….”

Jack continued to blabber on next to me.
The girl and I were looking at each other as he kept talking.
I strangely felt as if I’d lose if I averted my gaze here.
That’s right.
This girl, although I have no idea why she was doing this, was testing me.

‘How impudent.’

I had no reason to refuse her test.
I’m not sure how high your standards are, but go ahead and evaluate me.
I will also determine whether you’re a hero or not by my standards.

‘Status.’

Ding, a simple hologram appeared.
Her affection was low, so only the bare minimum information was displayed.

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Mm…….

It was honestly disappointing.
She was much stronger than an F rank adventurer, but that was it.
If I were to rank her, then she was probably between E and D rank adventurers.
Although it’s impressive for a girl in her teens to have such combat prowess, she’s a person of talent who was going to become an anti-hero in the future.
Would it be greedy to expect all of her combat-related stats to at least be in the double digits?

‘Was she perhaps an individual who grows after going through difficulties and trials and not someone who starts off superior……?’

Laura was an NPC famous for her unfortunate backstory.
Despite being born as the esteemed daughter of a high noble, she had fallen and become a sex slave.
After becoming stained by a decade of being raped, she managed to turn her life around through her demonic stratagems and backstabbing.
If she isn’t a genius and is the type of person to grow from experience, then the need to scout her will diminish greatly.
I felt the hope that had been flowing through my chest up to this point fade away quickly.

It was then that the girl opened her mouth.

“What is the meaning behind your gaze?”

I was still in deep thought, so I couldn’t answer her immediately.
It wasn’t until a couple of seconds had passed since she asked me that question did I realize she was staring at me quietly, waiting for my response.

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking you about your gaze.
It’s the first time I’ve received such a look.”

The girl twisted her bang with her right hand.
Ah, that was a habit which Laura would always do whenever she was thinking deeply about something.
She did this in the game as well.
As I was in awe of the degree of attention to detail of this world, I answered her.
It might have been because of how naturally she used informal speech, as I wound up using formal speech in return.

“Is there something wrong with my gaze?”

“You first looked at me with a gaze full of hope.
That isn’t particularly significant.
There have been plenty of people who had placed their hopes in me, after all.
However, your expression changed immediately after.
As if your expectations were betrayed, as if I didn’t meet your expectations.”

“Oh?”

A faint bit of hope bloomed within my voice.
It was as if the ember that I had thought to have died had somehow survived.
I asked Jack for permission to speak with her alone.

“As expected of Sir Jack, she is a prize worth boasting about.”

“Right? Haha.
Isn’t she really beautiful? Even I have never met a girl as pretty as her.”

“I agree.
May I ask to speak to your slave alone? Only for a brief moment.
I sincerely wish to evaluate how much value Sir Jack’s most prized possession has.
Would that be all right?”

Jack gladly accepted my request.
I entered the carriage and closed the door.
During this entire exchange, the girl kept staring straight at me.

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I sat opposite from her.

“Your Ladyship Farnese, it seems that your master only grades you by your appearance.”

“Refer to me by my name.
My house has already fallen.”

Oh, she also doesn’t obsess over her own family name.
Even though she should have lived her entire life as a proud, high-ranking noble.
Instead of dwelling upon the glory of the past, she looks at the present, huh? My hopes are gradually rising.

‘That’s right.
Even if she’s the growing type, they say that genius displays itself even in childhood.’

In the first place, if her mental attitude weren’t exceptional, then she would never have gained the title Iron Chancellor.

The girl continued.

“Additionally, the title ‘master’ is not appropriate for that man.”

“Why is that? You are a slave and he is a slave merchant.”

“His duty is to simply transport me somewhere.
I will most likely be sold to someone else.”

“That logic is odd.
Regardless of what happens in the future, you are Jack’s slave right now.
Even if you are sold to someone else, who knows whether you will be sold off again.”

“You’re right.
In the end, how long one possesses me for does not determine whether they are my master or not.”

I asked in a pleasant mood.

“Then what can one do to become your master?”

“You cannot.”

The girl spoke in a tone that sounded as if she were talking about how cold the weather was today.

“I was the esteemed daughter of the Farnese House for 15 years.
Does this mean my life is defined by the word Farnese? No.
I’ve been Jack’s slave for the past 6 months.
Does this mean my life is defined by the term Jack’s slave? No.
I will be someone else’s slave for many years to come.
This doesn’t mean that that person will become the master of my life.
Ultimately, no matter where I am affiliated with and whomever I become the slave of, these things are nothing more than coincidences.”

The corners of my mouth went up.

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“……Then what is not a coincidence?”

“Death!”

The girl smiled as well.

“To me, the fact that I will one day die is the only inevitable and absolute proposition.
Even if my life is determined by someone else, death, death alone is mine.
Is there someone that will die in my stead? Can I die for the sake of someone else? No.
Everyone will die.
Everyone will die on their own accord.”

“…….”

Laura De Farnese.
I recalled this girl’s death.
She snorted at the hero’s request to surrender and threw herself off of a rampart without any hesitation.
Was this principle going through her head at that time as well? That she could yield everything except for death.

I was silently moved.
This was an emotion that was felt when meeting a person who has actually proved their creed.
This girl most likely thinks that I came here to purchase her.
Even if you purchase me circuitously, I will not submit, she had just declared this to me.

As someone who has never lived according to his own principle, she was blinding to look at.

「Acting has been activated.」 「The die of luck has slipped from your hand! The chance that the other party doubts your statement has been ‘slightly’ lowered.」

Nonetheless, I ‘acted’.

“Laura, that is quite an impressive philosophy.
If you put it like that, then that means you are not the only one who does not have a master.
No one does.
All things considered, be it aristocrats, monarchs, or saints, they are all no different from peasants when it comes to being destined to perish, correct?”

“Correct.”

The girl nodded a matter-of-factly.
Agreeing to this was an incredibly dangerous thing to do.
Defamation, treason, and blasphemy, she had committed all three of these crimes at once when committing only one of them would already lead to having your limbs hacked off.
I understood how she could have fallen to the bottom despite having been the 2nd heir of a duchy.
She was probably an heir in name only and was actually outcasted in her household.
She held excessively dangerous ideas for this day and age.

“Nevertheless, you said that no one can become the master of their own life.
Whether it be a life where you strenuously overcome difficulties or impulsively commit suicide for no reason, you are saying that these things are ultimately no different.
Hm.”

I put on a genuinely curious face.

“I wonder, though.
I have a single question…….
Why have you not committed suicide right this moment?”

The girl’s face froze.

“…….”

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“…….”

Time flowed by quietly.
A dark carriage.
The two of us were relying on the moonlight leaking through the window to stare at one another.
I could hear Jack bothering the hired soldiers outside because of his drunkenness.
At that moment, Laura opened her mouth wide and inhaled deeply.

Oh dear, I can’t let her do that.

I hastily shoved my finger in the girl’s mouth.

“Ub! ……Uub!”

A sharp pain traveled up my finger.
Laura bit my finger with her teeth.
She had bitten down with the genuine intention to bite her tongue.
She had bitten down so hard that she drew blood from my finger.
If I hadn’t predicted this situation beforehand and protected her tongue with my index finger, this would have turned out badly.

“You pondered before biting down, did you not? You contemplated for several minutes.”

“…….”

The girl looked up at me with a wicked gaze.
The blood flowing out from my finger trickled down her lip and down her jaw before dripping down to the floor.

“Several minutes of contemplation, this is something that cannot be explained by your philosophy.
I personally call that one’s will towards life.
It’s a wretched thing that prevents me from quickly dying in this damned world and forces me to continue living.”

“…….”

“Laura.
I have taken a liking to you.
I request that you be sold to me.”

I grinned.

“Let me confirm one thing just in case.
Interviews are important, after all.
Mm, do you harbor any personal hatred towards demonkind?”

The viciousness behind Laura’s eyes became murkier and was replaced by confusion.

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter.
I’ve been able to translate somewhat freely between my classes recently because most of my midterm exams are over except for one.
If I feel like I’m going fast enough, I might just translate the next section after Human Hunting before going to Handholding again.
We’ll see.

See you guys in the next release.