Story of a Cannon Fodder who Firmly Believed He was the Protagonist, Misunderstood the Actual Protagonist as the Cannon Fodder, and Ended up Victorious
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Derpy
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 007 – Oda Nobunaga [B]
“Fay-kun, you’re already at your limit. There are still lessons tomorrow… Although I happen to be responsible for them, it starts quite early. Let’s call it a day…”
“I can only ask you for this… please.”
“…I understand, but we can’t take up so much time for this. After all, people who worry for you will–”
“I already told them I’ll be returning late today.”
“…Very well. Let’s start by explaining Fay-kun’s shortcomings. Simply put, you have a lot of weird habits and exert too much strength in your swings.”
She bluntly said. Since somebody had requested for her tutelage, she wouldn’t refuse as an instructor.
“You can’t fix all of your bad habits in a short timespan, so we’ll start with power control. Rather than having me just say it, it would be faster to let you experience it yourself. First, show me your dominant arm and raise it to shoulder level.”
Fay raised his right arm as she instructed, putting it perpendicular to his shoulder.
“Are you ready? Then, I’ll hit your arm using mine from above. Fay-kun is to maintain its current height and exert enough strength to ensure it is not lowered.”
“Understood…”
Fay then exerted strength into his right arm. The blood vessels were slightly apparent as his muscles tightened.
“Then I’ll do it, okay?”
“…”
When Yururu hit his arm, it went down easily.
“Next, we start with your arm in a relaxed state. I will hit your arm just like last time, but instead you have to brace for it just before my arm hits yours.”
“Aah.”
Fay did as she told him to and relaxed his arm. Then, she raised her arm and lowered it in quick succession. Fay then stiffened his arm at the moment of impact.
This time, his arm didn’t go down. It had properly received the force from above.
“…See? It won’t go down, right? That’s how it works. It’s not that you exert strength all the time; you have to exert it only at the moment when your sword hits others’ and grip it tightly. The force it produces then will be much greater.”
“…That seems to be the case.”
“Well then, pay close attention to that. As for your weird habits… uh, we can only work them out gradually by finding your most optimal movements through actual combat experience, so we can’t fix them right away.”
“…How long will it take?”
“I think it’ll take a long time…”
“…Do you have time to spare in the mornings?”
“…You want to train in the morning as well? I think that’ll tire you to death though?”
“That’s what I want.”
“That’s what you want, is it…?”
She lowered her gaze and made a sad expression. But she soon raised her head and handed him the iron sword she had on her.
“…Well, I guess that’s alright. I have no reason to refuse anyway… I’ll be strict with you then, Fay-kun!”
“Yeah.”
Then the night went on.
And Fay, who returned very late, was greeted by a furious Maria.
■◆
The next day, a room for five was rented for the lecture. Yururu stood in front and the other four sat down in front of her. Desks were prepared for each of them, making it feel much like a classroom.
“Well then, everyone. Today I will be explaining about Abyss, which is considered the most dangerous enemy that a paladin has to face. They are mainly active during the evenings and at night.”
“Sensei–”
“Yes, Bouran-san?”
“Why are they not active in the morning?”
“Well, the ancient monster known as the Oumagadogi (Disaster of Ouma) was sealed by Arthur (The Origin Hero). It is said that Abyss monsters are a derivative existence of the Oumagadogi.”1
“Fu-hn.”
Bouran gave a short reply to the instructor. Then, as Tlue and Fay listened quietly, Arthur’s face darkened a little.
“It is said that this Oumagadogi was originally a human paladin. It was just that, due to various illegal experimentations and crimes said paladin did, their body was torched. As a result, they suffered a severe burn which made it painful for them to be exposed to the sun. That is why they are basically only active when the sun is down.”
“Heeh… I knew that anecdote about Arthur though.”
“It is theorized that they inherited the traits, habits, and memories of their time as a human, which affected what they became.”
“Fu-hn… speaking of which, Arthur happens to have the same name as the hero. Are you related somehow?”
“…I’m not.”
“But see, your parents sure gave you such a grand name.”
“…Shut up.”
“…What’s with that, I don’t think it’s something to be angry about?”
“Hey, Bouran-san, calm down. Arthur-san doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.”
Arthur was immediately in a sour mood. Her words sounded forceful despite usually lacking feelings behind them. Tlue, who sensed that something was wrong, proceeded to mediate between the two.
Yururu panicked and felt that the atmosphere in the room was getting heavier.
“I don’t care about that… just continue with the story.”
Among them, Fay was the only one who urged Yururu to continue the story. It was as if he didn’t give a damn about the current situation.
“Eh, ah- y-you’re right.”
“Also, Bouran.”
“Ah?”
“Don’t make such a fuss over a name. You’re not a kid after all. Even if you get tied up with something like that, you gain nothing. Perhaps you find it funny, but that’s just dull.”
“…gh.”
He silently looked back to the front, with Arthur staring at his figure. After the lecture, the five people left the room. Their next activity was swordsmanship training, which Yururu was also in-change of just like yesterday.
As Fay immediately headed over, Arthur walked next to him.
“Thank you, for earlier…”
“…I’m not sure what you are talking about.”
“That thing about names…”
“Aah, you mean that. Don’t get me wrong, I only did that for my own sake.”
“I see… Isn’t Fay curious about my name?”
“I don’t care. I’m not interested. I’ll just walk down my own path.”
Fay said that with his usual expressionless face. However, Arthur, who walked next to him, didn’t have her usual expressionless face but was instead a beautiful girl laughing lightly.
■◆
Well, I didn’t care about names. You see, I hated people who made a fuss just because a person’s name happened to be similar to a historical person’s. During my highschool years, Oda-kun, who sat next to me, was often teased for it.2
[“Today’s class is about Oda Nobunaga.”]
[“Huh? Speaking of which, isn’t your surname Oda too?! (Comes a male high school student trying to make a joke out of it to gather the girls’ attentions.)”]
[“Today’s class is about Imagawa Yoshimoto.”]
[“Huh? Speaking of which, isn’t your surname (Omitted) too?”]
It’s been my greatest pet peeve even in my previous life. I didn’t find anything interesting about it since it was a cold joke to me. I was always taking my classes seriously, but everyone had to stop for a moment just to respond to that lame joke, so I wished they didn’t do it.
Bouran, you aren’t a kid, right? Nah, you still feel like a kid in some ways, I guess. She felt like a person who was never taught about such a thing and lived unknowing all this time.
Well, I guess Arthur, whose name happened to be the same as the historical figure in this world, might be a hint of some sort, but I didn’t care about that. I hated this kind of thing. There was simply no meaning to it.
I guess Arthur also has it hard, having the same name as a historical figure. Perhaps she often suffered from the name jokes like the Oda Nobunaga stuff I had in my world.
“That thing about names…”
“Aah, you mean that.”
As expected, even Arthur was pissed about it. To think that Arthur, whose words were often filled with sarcasm, actually thanked me for that.
Well, a name was important, I wouldn’t deny that. Although I didn’t know who Arthur’s parents were, perhaps they had the consideration to name their child the same as the hero for a reason. However, I wasn’t bored enough to give a damn about it.
“I see… Isn’t Fay curious about my name?”
“I don’t care. I’m not interested. I’ll just walk down my own path.”
I didn’t know who the great person named Arthur was in this world to begin with. I didn’t read books, and only spent my time training after all.
Well then, I will switch my train of thought and head for swordsmanship training. I already felt tired since I had strict training in the morning though.
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So she might be the previous hero reincarnation
The disparity between Fay’s mind and actions lol. Can’t wait to see him as a badass later
well, maybe not as “badass” as you think (his base is still cannon fodder after all) but it can be considered badass
I’m really liking it.
then keep following the story. things will go for better later.
you know,this is the first time that instead of a chunni Fay,it is instead real Fay thought and action that defend arthur and show that even being delusion as the protaganist and wish to follow they footstep,
His real thought and action will reveal themselves if there situation that pissed him off and willing to forsake the protaganist title to defend or roar at whatever anger him
i really like real fay as it shine far brighter then being a chunni fay is but it would’t be a misunderstanding genre if it not the MC acting different then his real thought
for him, it’s not exactly being out of character since every of his actions is justified because he is the protagonist. heck, the standard for “protagonist” to him is not even clear to begin with, so he is free to do anything
well, despite how delusional he is, fay is still a good person in his core
true but often time,he believe what he doing is following the path of protaganist but for once in this moment, he choose to be himself and forsake the title of protaganist temporarily to defend arthur and remind bouran that she is not a child anymore to make such a big deal with name
more of out of spite due to the experience of past life, but he indeed end up protecting arthur as a result
Thank you for the chapter!!
thx for the comment too