Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 156 - The Dangers of Five-Star

156: The Dangers of Five-Star

156: The Dangers of Five-Star

Five stars.

The Contract had a Difficulty rating of five stars.

“…”

Staring at the screen before me, I was only briefly struck speechless.

“Librarian, I can’t handle this…!”

Turning my head to her, the volume of my voice naturally raised, a complicated mix of emotions contained within.

Seeing her face, jaw-dropped and likewise paled, I could only imagine that she was feeling the same way.

“This is…

just crazy…”

My first Red Contract, Drakon-Rasa, was rated with a 3-star Difficulty, and took just over three whole months to clear.

If my previous, albeit off-hand thought about the Difficulty timers was correct, then the estimated completion time would increase exponentially for each star of Difficulty.

For 1-star Contracts, they only took from a few hours to a couple of days, and that was with little-to-no equipment or preparation.

For 2-star Contracts, now that I had experienced a couple of them for real, I would think it’s fair to say they generally take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to complete.

For 3-star Contracts, of course, I had very little sample size to go off, but it would be anywhere from weeks to months according to the pattern, and that timeframe certainly did fit my completion time.

Then, for 4-star Contracts, I obviously haven’t even seen any so far, so it was hard to say, but if I copied the trajectory the past three Difficulties were going in, then naturally, it would make the estimation take anywhere from months to years to complete.

Finally, for 5-star Contracts, all we had to do was follow the pattern.

‘Years to decades…’

At least based on my current strength, that’s how long it was estimated to take.

I didn’t even know if the world would survive that long.

After all, the plot wouldn’t go on forever, and if I didn’t stop the Protagonist in time, the world would end with it.

Besides that, even going along with the assumption that the plot and the world would last that long, I couldn’t be so sure that Earth would be the same.

If anyone cleared the Tower while I was gone on another Contract, Earth would collapse.

Of course, that would only happen if an Antagonist of Earth hadn’t emerged by then, but I couldn’t just assume that such a thing would happen when I needed it to.

Even then, what if they died before I made it back?

It was simply too risky.

Even if I’m strong enough, if it takes too long, or even if it doesn’t take an exceptionally long time like decades, if it takes just long enough, and the time distortion is just the wrong amount of fast, then even more time than that would pass on Earth without me here to protect it.

It would be more than being risky, it would be more even than being suicidal.

It would be just wrong.

“…Librarian.”

Quietly calling out, my voice lowered and surprisingly calm considering the situation, I raised my gaze to look at her.

“E-Enki…”

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I can’t accept this Contract right now.”

A moment of sheer silence passed before she nodded, beginning weakly but soon growing as enthusiastic as normal.

“C-Certainly!

It is good to postpone it for now, I think!

Actually, I would say that is the smart thing to do!

And fret not!

Red Contracts are not necessarily urgent, remember!”

“What?

Oh, because the Antagonist is asking for help?

Just because they want help, it doesn’t necessarily mean things are urgent right now…?”

“Certainly!”

“…It doesn’t make me confident, but I guess so…”

Honestly, the Librarian was correct even if I thought back to Drakon-Rasa.

Technically speaking, things wouldn’t have been over even if I only arrived there on Lucretia’s birthday and engagement ceremony.

It would’ve been difficult to sway the Protagonist’s mind at that point, of course, but certainly not impossible.

And even then, the option of force always remained.

I would have just needed to be careful about the Amulet…

Anyway, the point was that just because the Antagonist called for help, that didn’t mean it was urgently necessary right at this moment.

I felt bad leaving it intentionally, but really, there was nothing I could do even if I took it, so there was no point worrying.

With Tags like #Action, #OverpoweredProtagonist, #Magic, and #Dragons, I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to a fucking thing in my current state.

And, with #EvilProtagonist, what were the chances that I’d be able to befriend him and take him out like that?

Marginal at best, but most likely just nonexistent.

So, although I would have to postpone it for now, it didn’t mean I could take things easy.

I still needed to get stronger, both for other worlds and for Earth, and I already needed to go fast in order to catch up with Frontliners like John Pierce.

All this did was add another lump of pressure to the pile.

‘Maybe I should just take another Contract right now.

3-star Difficulty.

I can’t afford to waste time, and…

it’s unfortunate, but spending time idling around on Earth isn’t going to make any progress for me.”

“Librarian, find me a 3-star Contract.”

“Roger, right away!”

Like she had done once before, she hopped off her stool and rushed with her arms flailing behind her down one of the vast, empty aisles.

In the meantime, I opened all of the Assistance Menu screens simultaneously to see what I had and what I might need.

“1,440 Units…

It’s okay, but not loads.

Let’s see…”

Calculating prices and judging what I might need, pondering various potential circumstances and situations I might encounter, I eventually came to the decision that I should probably carry at least one health potion on me at all times.

“Preferably two.

One reserved for me, and one to use to gain rapport like last time…

Hm.

Actually, maybe three, two of them for building relationships, but I’ll just have them be Lesser Health Potions instead, leaving one Standard Health Potion for me.”

I had more or less witnessed the difference between the two in the last Contract―despite taking three of the low-quality potions back in the Dragon Tribe’s cave, it was still barely enough to see a visible difference in the regeneration of my wounds, whereas when I used the Standard Health Potion on the harpy girl at the very beginning, her wing healed back to normal in an instant.

The difference between their prices also reflected that performance.

“I recall them saying it was a high-quality potion, meaning they probably never saw a Superior Health Potion before, so I don’t think I need one of those, it seems a bit overkill…

I also have the armour to help speed up recovery for minor wounds, so the Standard one is probably a good middle ground.”

The price was steeper than I’d like at 250 Units, but it was better than being dead, or otherwise grievously wounded or maimed, so I’d say it was more than worth it.

Thus, spending a total of 350 Units, including the 100 spent on two Lesser Health Potions, I had them automatically deposited into the Storage before checking what else was in there.

“Some spare clothes, good; food that should last a while, good; water, nice; blankets…

oh, wait, I need to wash those…

Tsk…”

With the 1,090 World Stability Units that remained, there wasn’t a whole lot I could consider.

‘Hm…

I guess I can wait to see what else I need.’

Just a few seconds after I thought that, the Librarian returned.