Chương 5: Traitor...of Mankind?

"Alicia Allister…" said Alicia slowly.

"But I thought she was once called, 'Traitor of Hell?'""So did everyone else," said Moshan.

"But as it turned out, she was actually a traitor to the Virtuous Races, and before the Heroes could reach the castle, she fought and slew them, at the cost of her own life."

"I—She did?"

"Indeed, and in doing so, she cleared the way for Abraxas to conquer nearly half of the world before the second party of heroes rose to drive him back. We were this close to conquering the world. But, well…mankind proved a little too tough, driving us back eventually with their armies, and then the second party of heroes nearly a decade later killed Abraxas the Great in the Battle of Three Emperors."

"... Can you please tell me more about Alicia Allister? This is all… quite surprising to me."

"Of course, Your Grace. Is there anything particular that you want to know?"

"Just… Start from the beginning." Moshan launched into a lengthy biography of Alicia Allister's life according to the history books. Much of it, she knew already. Alicia's childhood in the Vaelrin territory was exactly as she wrote it in her character's backstory, and her exploits after leaving the Vaelrin territory and joining with the Virtuous Races were roughly in line with her experiences in-game. It only diverged right at the end, when she supposedly betrayed the other Heroes.

"The Vaelrin kingdom was on the verge of destruction," said Moshan.

"Abraxas and his final remaining general were preparing to make a valiant last stand when suddenly, the Heroes vanished. One day, they were gearing up for an assault on the castle, and the next, they were nowhere to be found. In the confusion, Abraxas mounted a counterattack on mankind's nations, dealing a crippling blow and turning the tides of the war. Afterward, he announced what had happened, sharing Alicia's heroic deeds and ordering a memorial be created for her in honor of her efforts.

The humans have since destroyed it, but you can still find traces of it in the south near the ruins of Abraxas the Great's castle." Alicia was silent for nearly a full minute after he finished. She had not thought too deeply about it until now, but her presence in this world raised a lot of questions. Was she the real Alicia Allister? Was she her game character, who happened to be similar to this world's Alicia Alister? Everything lined up too closely for it to be pure coincidence.

Was the game actually set in an alternate reality? Were all the players controlling people in this world? Did her disappearance before she and the other players could raid the Demon King's castle in-game lead mankind to believe she 'betrayed' them? Or had the Alicia Allister of this world actually betrayed the Heroes?

"Then…is Alicia hated by mankind?"

"Of course, Your Grace. Why wouldn't she be? I've heard that she's even used as a cautionary tale for children to teach them to hate the 'Sinful Races.'" Briefly, Alicia was silent. She was currently torn because of this information. So, she, who was once hated by the Sinful Races and a champion of the Virtuous Races, was now a hated enemy of mankind on the level of the first demon king and a hero to the Vaelrin people? It was certainly a massive twist. But did it really matter?

It had been centuries since, and everyone who had been alive at that time would be dead. Who would be left to recognize her? Why should she care? Sure, it might have been a tragedy what she did, but it wasn't her who did it. It was the other Alicia. It had nothing to do with her. Plus, it's not like it really affected her now. Whatever the other Alicia had done in the past, she was her own person. She was a super powerful vampire in the world of her favorite game.

She wasn't going to get bogged down with random history stuff. Still, I should at least figure out what the situation of the world is.

"I see," she said.

"Can you give me a quick rundown of what's happened since then as well?"

"Your Grace, the Vaelrin has suffered greatly since the true king's defeat. The black crown, which gave him immense powers and the ability to unite and inspire all of the Vaelrin, has been lost with him. Since then, we have only been ruled by incompetent pretender kings, corrupt regency councils, and cruel military officers. There has not been a single decade in which we were ruled by a stable government.

"It has been seven centuries of bitter defeats, expulsions, and lost lands. Our history has been nothing but a cycle of desperate rebuilding followed by painful humiliations over and over again, and now, Vael is reduced to barely an eighth of its already pitiful size back during the Age of Heroes.

The remaining sovereign lands we have are these—the nearly uninhabitable, cold regions of the north—and after a human invasion last year, even the remnants of Vael are ruled by no one, except by a bunch of feuding warlords.

"Loathe as I may say this, whatever's left of the Vaelrin are in dire straits, Your Grace. All that is left is us, who live in the remaining territory of Vael, which is in anarchy, or those scattered in many other countries, where they are powerless, disliked, and exploited by mankind." The chief, who seemed like he was about to tear up after saying all of that, lowered his head.

"It's why, Your Grace, I thank you deeply, from the bottom of my heart, that you saved us. We have nowhere to go. This is our home, our only home. It's rough out here, but it is home. It's why we didn't flee when we were attacked by wyverns that we couldn't defeat; this is all we have left. To lose it means our end. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"To tell you the truth, Your Grace, I was once a scribe in the royal capital, Vael, the only major city we had for a long while. That city is now gone. During the last war, it was destroyed and swallowed by the powerful dungeon beneath while the humans were attempting to capture it. Those books in front of you—I was lucky to have brought them here before the war. I fear that even just the books that detail our story are now about to be lost as well…just like us, the Vaelrin."

"... I see." Alicia, who was silently scanning the pages of the history book she opened, closed it. Her face was devoid of emotions now. She looked up at the chief, who seemed like he was barely holding it together as he looked down at the floor. Then, she glanced at Vittorio. The mercenary simply kept his back planted on the wall with crossed arms, head lowered as well.

"It's not all bad," Vittorio said suddenly.

"We may have lost the most recent war, but we did not go down without a fight. We may be few in number, but the nations bordering us also suffered immense casualties during the battle for the royal capital. Still, they believe us to be crushed beyond repair. They think they have time to rebuild to finish the job. But if a powerful leader were to emerge right now and unite the Vaelrin, it might be possible to turn the tides."

The draco paused and looked up at Alicia with an expression that Alicia recognized as hope, even as twisted as it was on his reptilian face.

"... I hope that a leader soon emerges to rule us to a brighter future, Your Grace."

"I'm sorry. But if you two were hoping for that, I'm afraid that I won't be that person." The chief's eyes widened. Even Vittorio uncrossed his arms and looked back at her. Immediately, the chief prostrated himself again on Alicia's feet.

"Your Grace, I beg you! Please save us from this fate! We will serve you, follow you, and work hard for you—!"

"Stand up, please. Didn't I say earlier that this is unnecessary?"

"I'll fight," Vittorio interrupted her, placing his fist on his chest as he lowered his head and gritted his teeth.

"I can still fight. I am unworthy to ask you this, but if you wish to start a new domain under your name, now that you returned from your slumber, I wish to serve a new, proper army—""I said stand up, please. And don't bow to me, Sir Vittorio." Alicia simply gave the two of them an apologetic smile.

"... I've just woken up. I know nothing concrete about this world. I assure you, this responsibility cannot rest on my shoulders yet. Thanks for offering your allegiance to me, but I am afraid I am not worthy of it yet." Hopefully that will keep them off my back… Truthfully, Alicia had no desire to become the leader of the demons. First of all, they were demons! Even if she was technically one of them, she was human once. She didn't want to lead an army against the humans!

Second, as much as she enjoyed the city-building aspects of Worldfall Online, she had only been here a couple hours. Even if she did want to become the demon ruler, she wasn't going to do it until she had at least spent some time exploring.

"I see…" Vittorio, who seemed unable to accept Alicia's words, simply sighed. He must have been hoping for something more. Even Moshan was barely able to stand up straight. They were quite dismayed. Earlier, when they looked at Alicia, after she had saved them, while they feared her considering she was a powerful vampire, she had seen the light of hope flickering in their eyes. Now, that light was extinguished fully. This must be what the Vaelrin are nowadays.

Just people who knew that there was no salvation coming for them. I'm so sorry. Moshan spoke up.

"Your Grace, is there anything else that you need from us, then? And are you leaving immediately?"

"I am." The imp looked so saddened that Alicia almost felt guilty about rejecting his request. Almost.

"... Understood."

"Do you have any maps available, Sir Moshan?" The village chief seemed to nearly tear up when Alicia referred to him that way. To his eyes, he wasn't just losing the opportunity to swear allegiance to a powerful, ancient vampire but also to someone who was willing to speak to him respectfully when he was just a pitiful village elder, which was a rarity amongst vampires, apparently. In any case, Moshan quickly answered Alicia's query, lowering his head.

"We do, Your Grace. I will fetch you the finest map we have available. After you saved our village, we are willing to part ways with anything as payment."

"Just the information and a decent map are enough."

"I will be back shortly," said Moshan with a deep bow before scurrying off. While he was gone, Alicia fell into deep thought. There were a lot of things she wanted to see. The game's graphics were good, but she doubted they could do the natural wonders justice, and she wanted to see them for herself. And she also wanted to see some of the great cities and how they might have changed over the years. There was a lot to do and a lot to see, and she wasn't sure where to start.

The map, at least, would help with that part.

"Your Grace, I have the map with me," Moshan called, presenting a rolled map to her.

"There are better maps in other towns, but this should serve you well until you find a new one."

"Wonderful. Thank you so much for the map and the information."

"It's been a great honor, Your Grace. And my pledge remains. Should you ever decide you wish to take this village, you will have our full support, and we would be happy to join your domain."

"And I will gladly serve as your sword, as lacking as I may be," said Vittorio.

"Right…" said Alicia.

"Well, stay safe. I'll be off now." She didn't want to listen to them ask her to lead them any more, so she activated [Fly] and left before they could respond. Then, she realized that she had forgotten to put a [Waypoint] down and did so, just in case she decided she wanted to return in the future. Then, she flew away again, unfurling the map as she went. She already saw many important landmarks on the map Moshan gave her.

Many places that she visited and spent a lot of time in back when she played Worldfall Online. She wanted to see them, see how much they changed, how the people there lived now, and what mankind's side of the story was. According to the map, the village she flew from was quite far from any other civilization. The demons had at least been telling the truth about being forced to flee. They were nowhere near any powerful nations, which was probably an important factor into why they survived.

But although they were far from any important cities, they were actually quite close to one of Alicia's favorite in-game POIs, Veligrod. And she couldn't wait to see what it looked like in real life. I guess I know where I'm starting now, she thought. Worldfall Online, here I come!