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: ink
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 035 – Gambler [E]
“That guy… he really won.”
“Of course he did ~♪ he is Fay-sama after all ~♪”
“Hey, you said I got swindled earlier… What do you mean by that? Is it related to his victory?”
“Ah, I did say that ~♪ that monkey must have peeked at your card from behind and made a specific cry to tell that short bearded bastard what card you played. It is exactly a tactic that comes to an insect’s mind. Well, it is as expected of Fay-sama to defeat that tactic upfront ~♪ people who got defeated by that would be inferior to a monkey after all ~♪”
“I-inferior to a monkey… less than a monkey… y-you mean me? Inferior to a monkey… huh? But wait a minute. Even if Fay did see through his opponent’s trick, that doesn’t guarantee victory, right? After all, he just picks his hand randomly…”
“That’s what makes Fay-sama amazing ~♪ I guess he attracted luck to side with him or something, ah, as expected, such a noble person brings about great results ~♪”
“Even though he sees through his opponent’s cheating… he still chose to gamble to the end, won’t he be guaranteed victory if he just pointed out his opponent’s trick?”
“He is crazy ~♪ he bet all his money, in addition to his katana and sword that could be considered his soul as a warrior… what would he do if he ended up defeated♪ Well, I guess he would just explore the dungeon barehanded then… Aah, Fay-sama is really wonderful after all ~♪ a person who bets his life on the line is obviously different from a mere insect♪”
The two followed Fay to leave the gambling place. Well, Aliceia was creeped out while Mordred was excited on the way, though.
“Haah… I’m tired… don’t you think it’s about time for dinner? I’m getting hungry.”
“What are you talking about? The sun still hasn’t reached its peak yet, you know?”
“Eh…?”
Aliceia looked up and certainly a beautiful shining sun was there.
…There were so many things happening that I thought the day was over… so it’s actually just around the time for lunch.
Aliceia’s stomach growled at that moment. She quickly held onto her stomach and shyly looked downward. She timidly looked at Fay and Mordred while thinking they must have heard that.
“Fay-sama, if you don’t mind, let’s have lunch together.”
“…I refuse.”
“Fufuh, then I’ll just come along on my own and eat together with you.”
Huh? Don’t tell me, I really am air just now? That thing that Mordred said about my presence thinning because of Fay is actually true?
Even though her stomach just rang, neither of them reacted. They didn’t even glance at her. Aliceia felt as if she was gradually turning into air.
For the time being, Fay walked while looking around for a restaurant. As Aliceia followed them… they heard a voice from somewhere.
“You are… the person from yesterday.”
“…?”
“And Aliceia too…”
The one who appeared was Rhine. Although he was surprised when he saw Mordred, he was relieved to see that Aliceia was safe.
“Err… who are you?”
“It’s me… Rhine.”
“Rhine…”
Who is it again…? I guess I couldn’t complain about being forgotten… Wh-what should I do? I think I met him somewhere before.
“A-aah. So you’re Rhine. Long time no see…?”
“We just met yesterday though…”
“You’re right! We met yesterday!”
Ye-yesterday… where did I meet him again… ah! as Fay and Mordred are leaving!
“We-well then, see you!”
“A-aah.”
In the game, it was about the time for Rhine to look for Aliceia and proceed with the event at the gambling place. However, because Fay caught up quickly riding the bullet train, the event was gone, and they ended up meeting on the roadside instead.
Aliceia left Rhine.
After that, since Aliceia lost all her money from gambling, Fay ended up treating her to lunch.
◆◆
Mordred said she had to begin searching for the person, so she parted with Fay’s group. Fay and Aliceia were left alone and they went to the dungeon.
“Thank you… for treating me to lunch… I will repay you someday.”
“No need. It would be more troublesome to be paid back for every single thing I do.”
Fay muttered bluntly. Aliceia walked along while glancing at him. They approached the corner, after which, they would arrive at the dungeon by walking straight afterward.
When they were about to turn the corner, someone ran from the other side at the same time and crashed into Aliceia.
“That hurts!!”
“I-I’m sorry! A-are you okay!”
“You’re unscrupulous! Do you look at where you’re going?!”
She glared at the other person while holding her forehead. There was a person with red eyes and red hair and he seemed shorter than Fay. However, the boy with a somewhat cute and neutral look apologized and bowed his head deeply to Aliceia.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“…Well, you don’t have to apologize that much.”
“Thank you very much! I’m terribly sorry!”
“I said you don’t have to apologize so much, right? Rather than that, aren’t you in a hurry?”
“Ah, y-you’re right! I’m sorry, excuse me!”
The boy left in a hurry. Fay glanced at the boy for a moment, but he resumed walking toward the dungeon.
“Ah, wait a minute.”
“…”
That boy from earlier seems to be in a terrible rush.”
“…”
“Can’t you reply to me for a bit?”
“…You’re right.”
“He had a bow gun on his back, perhaps he is an adventurer?”
“I guess so.”
Upon entering the guild, Marinne greeted the two. They were the only two who were greeted by Marinne.
“Welcome, both of you! I’ve got a good quest for you!”
“…Quest, huh.”
“You’re doing it?”
“I’m a little interested.”
“Fu~hn.”
Fay approached Marinne. She offered him a piece of paper as if she was already waiting for him. There was a picture of a red-colored goblin, a demon species which commonly had a green color.
“This is a mutated goblin that recently appeared in the dungeon! There are quite a number of them, and various adventurers have been sent to subdue them! Moreover, the price of the magic stone this goblin drops is worth quite an amount, so I recommend it!”
“…I’ll take it.”
“Yes, I understand! Please defeat 50 of them and collect their magic stones! Those magic stones will be used to judge the quest result, so make sure you don’t lose them!”
“Aah…”
When Fay and Aliceia proceeded to receive the quest, someone rushed into the guild in a hurry.
“I-I’m sorry to keep you waiting!!!”
It was the red-haired boy from earlier. Marinne seemed to recognize the boy so Aliceia asked her a question.
“Ah-, that boy.”
“Do you know about that boy?”
“Yes, he is a person who got shunned just like me, and he is an adventurer. He is a poor boy that got known as the ‘ditch rat’.”
“…Why did he end up being called so?”
“That boy’s name is Tork. He’s so timid, clumsy, and cowardly. People say that he is a person whose behavior is way below the standard of an adventurer and that he is more suitable to be a mouse that lives underground instead. That is how he ended up known by that name.”
“…I see.”
“Yes, but that boy never quit being an adventurer. He didn’t try to search for another path, but he is a coward who couldn’t fight so all he did was become a non-combatant supporter with cheap pay.”
“…Is there no party who is willing to party with him?”
“There are… it just, about the party he is supposed to join as a supporter today… they left ahead of him when the boy found that he forgot the arrows for his bow gun and hurriedly returned to retrieve some.”
“Well, I guess that’s how it is. It’s hard to entrust their back to such a clumsy boy, regardless of how hard he tries…”
I guess it’s an obvious thing… but there’s no way a person like Fay is out there in large numbers. I’m really surprised to find myself feeling relieved when I found out there is actually such a clumsy fellow.
Before her eyes was Tork, who was left alone due to his clumsiness. Marinne seemed to feel sorry for Tork as well, so she made a suggestion to Fay and Aliceia.
“If you don’t mind, could you add him to your party? I think his knowledge could be useful… he is clumsy though.”
“So he’s a clumsy and cowardly boy, huh… to explore the dungeon with such a person… well, I’m so talented that I could form a party with anyone though! If Fay doesn’t mind, we can take him as our member.”
“Since when did you and I form a party?”
“Eh? W-well… let’s just say it’s a temporary party. Then what should we do about him?”
“…I’ve been a solo since the beginning. You’re just following me on your own. That’s why it doesn’t matter if another person follows me now.”
“So it’s decided. Oo–ii, that sloppy red hair over there, come over! We’ll put you in our party!”
When Aliceia said so, Tork’s eyes shone as he approached the two. He then bowed his head.
“T-thank you very much! My name is Tork! Nice to meet you! E-even if I’m lacking, I will do my best!”
“Ah, okay okay. Nice to meet you. You don’t have to be that humble. I’m Aliceia, the world’s most talented person, and this guy who has the look of a reincarnated oni is Fay.”
“Aliceia-san and Fay-san! I remembered it!”
“W-well, let’s go right away. I’ll explain things as we walk.”
“Y-yes!”
Fay merely glanced at Tork for a moment and didn’t reply to Tork’s greeting as they proceeded to go to the dungeon. In the end, Aliceia couldn’t escape from the events of the world. In the game version, after Rhine retrieved the money she lost from gambling, her mind was still in a bad state, but she still wanted to grow stronger once again, so she went to the dungeon alone.
Then she met another male lead named Tork at a corner. Afterward, she met with Tork again after he was left alone while retrieving the arrows he forgot to bring due to his clumsiness, and she empathized with how he ended up all alone, then came to a conclusion to have another person with her for the sake of mental stability, and she invited him to her party.
This event would lead to the birth of the dependent-yandere boy, Tork, which was quite popular in certain circles in Fay’s past life.
Ed: oh (insert profanity) fay’s the tsundere….. (insert all-caps profanity)!!!
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Also, Tsukii has picked up a new series called “A Story of a Cannon Fodder who Firmly Believed He was the Protagonist, Misunderstood the Actual Protagonist as the Cannon Fodder, and Ended up Victorious!” The title really says it all. Early access to more chapters for this story is available on Patreon.
gayyyyy.
Forgot to say this in the previous chapter so I’ll say it here, everyone’s presence is thin when compared to Fey, even Mordred’s presence is less then Fey’s.
“Since when did you and I form a party?”
Lmao!!
Hooh it’s interesting
Thx for the update
glad u enjoy it