Who’s the Fool Here?

Out of the four demon ambassadors working for the queen, I just had to bump into the one I knew the least about. Hell, not even half the dev team knew much about Entrophys other than him being a total psycho. That was apparently what made him such an interesting character, but things were different when I had to face him in real life and up close.

“D’aww, what’s with that look, buddy?” my worst nightmares asked, abnormally tilting his masked face. “Don’t be so scared. I just wanted to stop by and say hi! Cool look by the way! There’s finally someone else with the same fashion sense as me, kyahaha!”

My thoughts were in such a disarray that I couldn’t say anything back.

“Hmm? Do you know me? That look says you do. That’s fantastic, because I can skip the introductions then!” Entrophys guffawed and pointed at me. “But that’s not fair. You know me, but I don’t know you.”

I swallowed.

If there was anything I’d learned about him, humoring him was my best, if not, the only way I could walk out of here in one piece.

“I-I’m Haruma...”

“Ooh, I see, I see! Haha! A pleasure to meet you, Harvie,” he said, moving a claw so that Lora performed a little bow in his stead.

I gritted my teeth and balled my fists.

“Hm? What got you so worked up all of a sudden? Is it this girl?” He raised Lora higher, making her wince. “Say, she’s a friend of yours?”

“Eh? No, she's... erm... th-that’s none of your business!”

“What do you mean? It is my business.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear those guards earlier? This girl is one of our escaped prisoners. I can’t let her run around, y’know?”

“What did she even do wrong?”

“Oh, just a little bit of abuse of divinity. She’s been using her healing magic for all the wrong reasons. It’s dangerous to let her roam around freely.”

Look who’s talking here! I wished I had the balls to say that out loud, but I’d rather keep my organs intact, thanks. Instead, I scowled back.

That “abuse of divinity” he talked about was nothing more than her using her blessed powers to heal the homeless. Apparently, there were actual fees for healing injuries regulated by the church, and healers were forbidden to use their powers on those who couldn’t afford them. Because of this, Lora started secretly healing those in need, but she was eventually caught by Entrophys, leading to her arrest.

“What’s so wrong about healing people for free?!” I asked. "She was just trying to help people!"

“Oh, you misunderstand me, Harvie,” said Entrophys, pressing a claw on his chest. “I totally get it. Helping humans is what I enjoy too. It’s part of my nature to spread the joy of laughter, after all!”

I shot him a doubtful look.

Not a single action he did throughout his background and the story ever helped the player or those around them. Sure, he did spread laughter, but through curses, mindbreak, and sheer insanity, which, if anything, definitely lived up to his title. He was also an incredibly annoying boss with his infamous debuffs that’d make players lose control of their party.

“You’re a funny guy, alright,” I murmured.

“Hehe, why thank you!” said Entrophys. “But back on topic—yes, I know how you feel, and yes, it does seem like I'm the bad guy here.”

You are a bad guy! “Then why arrest her?”

Entrophys shrugged. “I’m just following orders.”

“...That’s it?”

“Yep! Apparently, it’s for the greater good, says Mallie and the queen. They said I can protect more smiles and laughter with just a few sacrifices. Hehe, I can’t really pass up such a good deal.”

“How can you ‘protect more smiles and laughter’ by working with that queen?! She’s going to kill everyone in this city! Isn’t that against what you wanted?!”

Lora widened her eyes.

For a brief moment, Entrophys stared at me as if he was doing the same before breaking into chuckles. “Pfft, hahaha… Ahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!” He wheezed and slapped his knee, laughing so hard the shrubs nearby quivered. “Harvie, you’re so funny.”

“...Huh? What?”

“I don’t know where you learned that information, but you clearly don’t know a single thing. You really are as mysterious as my colleague says.”

I stiffened up.

What did he mean by that? I’d developed this world and worked with the game writers. I knew the three possible endings of the prologue, so of course there shouldn’t be anything I didn’t know!

…Unless, did the writers hide something? That shouldn’t be possible. I’d read their files with all the lore, scripts, and everything!

But… what if they really didn’t share everything? Looking back, they never shared their rough drafts with the rest of the team, nor did they explain those unanswered questions in certain parts of the storyline, including the prologue. All they’d say was, “We’ll explain it in later regions,” but that never happened. I’d been summoned here before even getting close to that promised meeting…

As that small seed of doubt started sprouting inside me, Entrophys kept laughing all the while. He gripped his fist and snapped the chains clean off his palm, dropping Lora with a soft thud. “Here you go then!”

Lora grimaced before glancing at him in disbelief. I also gawked at him and asked, “What? Just like that?”

“Oh, Harvie, I haven’t had such a good laugh in decades, so I’ll play with you next time we meet, pinky promise!”

I shuddered and scrunched my face, and Entrophys guffawed even louder. “Your expressions are hilarious too!” he said gleefully. “Oh, I just can’t wait until you find out! Kyahahahahahaha!”

Entrophys looked up and stretched his arms high into the air as if he wanted to embrace the sky before exploding into a cloud of confetti and balloons, his laughter and the sound of party whistles echoing through the alleyway before silence finally returned.

Lora clutched her chest and fell into a coughing fit.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked.

She weakly nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright, thanks. These side effects come and go. I’ll be fine…”

“Side effects?” Does she mean…?

“Ah…” She awkwardly looked away. “I-it’s just a small condition. It’s nothing to worry about.”

I frowned.

This “small condition” had to be the side effects of overhealing. In the original storyline, Lora had been spending her time healing tortured prisoners, and to repay her, they gave her intel on how to escape. Once the player arrived at the prison, Lora would show them the planned escape route and fight alongside them as their first party member.

The fact that she’d been healing so much probably meant she had help from others to escape instead of the player, but there wasn’t anyone with her back there. They’d probably gone their separate ways when they’d escaped, I guess.

I brushed away my thoughts and offered her a hand. “Can you stand?” I asked.

She blinked at my hand before shyly accepting it. “Yeah, thank you… Haruma, right?” She carefully got back on her feet and smiled. “You sure saved me twice. I can’t thank you enough.”

“It’s no problem.” Gosh, it feels weird being thanked. “But it was my fault that creep caught you, though.”

Lora shook her head. “I knew the risks when I tried to escape. If it weren’t for you, he would’ve sent me back to prison by now.” She shuddered and rubbed her arms. “I still can’t believe the queen would sign that peace treaty and work with those demons. I knew something was going on, but… is it true? Is she really planning to kill everyone in this city?”

“Oh, uh…”

Normally, no one should know Queen Verisette's plans, but storyline be damned. I already screwed it up, so why keep following it?

“Yes,” I said confidently. “I’ve been meaning to share the intel with your team.”

Lora let out a gasp of realization, her eyes glowing with hope. “Are you one of the anonymous informants secretly helping us out?”

“Erm, sort of?”

She scanned my outfit and rubbed her chin. “I see. No wonder you didn’t want to reveal your identity to us. You… certainly stand out.”

I sighed and nodded.

She smiled warmly. “But that’s okay! Your appearance is what makes you so unique, Haruma. Besides, you still look pretty cool! Don’t feel so ashamed about it, okay?”

“Huh? Oh, okay…”

She nodded. “I’m Lora, by the way. It’s so nice to meet a secret ally!”

“Yeah.” I timidly nodded back. “Nice to meet you too. Does knowing my identity make me… part of the team now?”

“Of course!” She motioned for me to follow her. “Come on, you should meet the others! I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you around too!”

"O-okay…!" She’s still the same as always. With a smile of relief, I followed her deeper into the alleyways.