Vaudevillain - Chapter 155: Showdown in the Sky

The Night Has Come, and kermesinus moon ascends in the sky.Hoarse whispers flow at the street corners, and brass steam machines spew out bloody mist.Your brain is singing a hymn, eyes are chanting a melody.Skin cracks, and flesh buds swell.Amidst the Mist, the wall of flesh that has devoured thousands of corpses wails endlessly—“Weep not, our players don't bite, they just want to play with you.”Annan, the lone strategist, the top player, the savior of the mist-covered continent, the leader of the Thirteen Saints, the friend of the Twelve True Gods, the king of pioneers, “the Just”, the Gatekeeper of the Fourth Calamity, the uncrowned deity, advised kindly.

As a corporate drone, Ashu was transported to another world, hoping to live a life free from societal pressures.However, he quickly found that even marrying a village girl would cost him half of his wealth!Fortunately, just when things were looking grim, his childhood sweetheart—who had trained for many years—arrived to fulfill their childhood marriage pact. Not only that, Ashu activated the Crit Refund System, which allowed him to earn rewards by binding with beings rated over 90 points![Binding with the Witch Childhood Sweetheart, 10x Refund on Magic Potion, Host Gains: Forbidden Water (S)][Binding with the Forest Elf, 10x Refund, Host Gains: Infinite Stamina and Infinite Recovery][Binding with the Demon Huntress Nun, 20x Refund, Host Gains: Demon Slayer Holy Crossbow (SS)][Binding with the Imperial Princess, 100x Refund, Host Gains: Sigh of the Heavenly Father Spear (SSS)]Ashu: “The refund multiplier increases as our relationship grows? I’ll definitely have to dive deeper into this!”

…but it seems pretty doable.

It was in the middle of the night that the woman who would be the Duchess came to see me.

She said my father and mother died, and my kind uncle became king.

She said it’s not worth it for me, the crown prince, to be living in hiding, too.

“A while ago, Your Highness had been hiding from me. With all due respect, is that for the sake of survival? Just because your parents died doesn’t mean you have no reason to survive. Actually, that fact alone made it all the more reason why you should live. If you die now…”

If I died now?

When I asked her while looking at her eyes, the woman eventually brought out the harsh truth with empathetic eyes.

“It’s like a dog’s death.”

“That’s rude….”

It’s been a long time since I said that. In a short while, he has been treated as a madman and beaten to death just by saying similar things. She loosened her arms that held me and I suddenly stiffened up due to it. Because I thought she might have loosened her arm to hit me. But she didn’t.

She knelt down with one knee in front of me, just like a knight.

“Hastred’s Sarian raised her salutations. May you accept it gladly.”

My first knight is beautiful and kind.

“Are you on my side?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

It was all a lie.