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: Snail
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 038 – New Year’s Break [B]
Yururu had remained a twelfth-grade paladin for years, never earning a promotion or being offered one. Any normal paladin would be promoted one rank at time—that was standard procedure. However, sometimes talented people got to skip procedure and immediately get promoted several grades at once.
That was the case for Yururu’s older brother in the past. He was the eldest son of the Garethia family and overflowing with talent. He was only a paladin for a year, but was so active that he got promoted all the way to fifth-grade at once. She wanted to be like her older brother someday.
[“Nii-sama, amazing!”]
[“It’s only natural. I am strong after all.”]
[“…Nii-sama?”]
The memory of her younger self talking like a child to her eldest brother Gawain came back to her. At that time, she felt something wrong with her brother’s laughing face. She doubted her own goal. That was how much his crazy expression differed from her brother’s usual self. She had grabbed onto the hem of her brother’s clothes and wished for him to not go, but her wish wasn’t granted and he went ahead to the path of shura where she couldn’t chase after him.
[“Nii-sama… you won’t be going anywhere, right? You’re always is my nii-sama, right?”]
There was no reply. He merely said he would keep pushing forward.
“It seems your achievement of defeating a fourth-grade paladin while sparring the other day plays a huge role in it.”
“I see.”
“Please follow the procedure, okay? There’re tons of things to settle at the reception at the castle of the Round Table.”
“…”
Right now, Fay’s eyes weren’t looking at her. Yururu felt like she was getting left behind again. She didn’t know where he would leap to and if she would be able to follow. Perhaps she wouldn’t be allowed to continue teaching him.
A swordsman who was more capable than her… definitely existed. It was Yururu’s bad habit of being pessimistic about herself.
“What about her?”
“Yururu? No, I’m afraid she didn’t come up during discussions. Sorry, but can you please complete the procedure quickly? If you take too long, it is possible the promotion planned for you will be canceled.”
“I see…”
“…What’s wrong?”
“…I’m just thinking this is a weird story. Sure, I reached this point through the power of my own resolve, but I’m also aware I couldn’t have come this far on my own.”
“…”
“The reason I managed to come so far is partly from my own power, but mostly because of her help.”
Time stopped as Fay’s straightforward words hung in the air. He had voiced his thoughts so casually and without much emotion, but both Yururu and Mei were left feeling astonished.
“As for the evaluation given by the people who wouldn’t properly evaluate my master, I…”
“…?”
Fay cut himself off abruptly. Yururu was curious about what he had intended to say, but Fay changed the direction of his response.
“No, I’m not looking to be a paladin just to increase my ranking. Honestly, I’d rather practice swinging my sword than go through all that drama. That procedure sounds like a pain.”
“In other words, you’re refusing your promotion?”
“Yes, you can take it that way.”
“I see. You know, ever since we last met, I can’t help thinking about just how strange you are. You certainly carry a grudge that seems too strong… but it seems that’s not everything that made you as a person.”
Marumaru looked at Yururu behind Fay. Knowing it was useless for him to stay, he left.
“I’m going home for today.”
“Ah, that’s…”
“…”
“…Fay-kun?”
With his back turned on her, he slowly opened his mouth.
“I have no idea why you are acting like that… but I know you are crying because of me. I apologize if I make you uncomfortable.”
“Ngh…”
Yururu’s eyes opened wide. He was worried about her, who shed her tears faintly. He also refused to pursue power. He chose to stay next to her instead of forging ahead.
[“As for the evaluation given by the people who wouldn’t properly evaluate my master, I…”]
…The thing he is trying to say after that… don’t tell me it’s…
Moreover, to think Fay-kun actually apologized… He’s never done that before… just as I was thinking of him, he is also thinking of me…
“Me too, I’m sorry… I got a little upset…”
“I don’t mind.”
“I also won’t mind it at all. I’m sorry to make you think so much of it… is your eye really okay?”
“Aah.”
“I see… then let’s cross swords. After all, I am your master.”
That’s right. I am his master… since he believes in me and is willing to stay next to me a little longer, I shouldn’t be spoiled with just that… I also need to become stronger…
Fay-kun… if you can’t feel pain, I’ll do my best to share the pain. Just like how you are protecting and saving me… I also wanted to become strong to be able to save you someday.
I don’t wish for the person I love to end up dying.
Fay’s sword clashed with Yururu’s, just like usual. Her expression looked fresh. She also resolved to grow stronger with him, so that someday he would grab her hand and she could walk next to him…
—As they trained, she wished their time together would continue forever.
Mei did feel it was a tremendously moving scene, but…
Looking at the two people, Mei, who misunderstood herself as the protagonist of romance fiction, was experiencing irritation.
…Fay-sama really is a man that makes others addicted to him, but how do I say this… wasn’t it Fay-sama’s fault that he got injured in the first place? To be honest, Mei is also worried about Fay-sama’s injury.
But still… Fay-sama, you acted like you were pushing others down to the abyss just so you could raise them back up yourself… Ojou-sama’s favorability is rising considerably… it makes Mei feel like I’m watching the worst kind of rabble rouser at work here…
Moreover, he’s not one to apologize, yet he did so at a time like this… [“As for the evaluation given by the people who wouldn’t properly evaluate my master, I…”] well, it’s easy to guess what he meant to say beyond that. Rather, he practically said it right there. Since his master didn’t get evaluated properly, he didn’t see the value of being evaluated, right?
For the words that Ojou-sama really wanted to hear from the person she wanted the most… isn’t that practically cheating? Ojou-sama has been motivated even before this, and her face practically showed how she fell all over for him again.
He said he went to Free City, but… don’t tell Mei he is actually mass producing rival characters for Mei, the protagonist of the romance fiction? Mei thought the greatest rivals would be Ojou-sama and Maria-sama, but… Mei thinks he indeed made Mei some rivals there.
Well, Mei feels it’s okay to have many rival characters though. It would only make Mei’s deep story even deeper. The story will end with the protagonist winning, the Mei END, so to say.
However, Mei is feeling dissatisfied. Was there no event for Mei yet? Mei lacked a turn in the story recently, so much so that Mei began to think that Mei might actually not be the protagonist…
Why hasn’t Mei’s event come? Maybe… Mei really is not the protagonist?
After that, Fay also raised Maria & Lilia and Arthur’s favorability through causing trouble only to come to their rescue later.
■■
A few days passed since Fay returned to the kingdom of Britannia, and Fay and Yururu were training as usual. Their wooden swords crossed and the sound kept echoing. There was no doubt that these echoes were the familiar song of swordplay.
Mei the maid was watching over it.
She was impatient. It was because there was no event related to her recently. Even though she was supposed to be the protagonist of the romance fiction, there was no troublesome event that came to her, which was supposed to be the proof of her identity.
At first, she merely thought the time was not right yet but things never changed. Therefore, she decided to take action herself.
Usually, she would think that the story would end with her happy END, but since her beloved ojou-sama also loved Fay, she tried to not disturb Yururu’s event and just watch.
Since Mei is the protagonist, Mei believes it would be natural for Fay-sama to choose Mei in the end… such was Mei’s thought.
She usually acted with the mercy appropriate for a protagonist to have, so Mei didn’t interrupt Fay and Yururu’s practice time, but she had a difficult time maintaining her composure as she watched.
Yururu’s sharp swing sent Fay’s wooden sword flying. It spun like a boomerang and stabbed into the ground, deciding the match. Yururu grinned, proud of what she had done.
“Fay-kun, today is my total victory.”
“…So it seems.”
“Hey, don’t be timid like that. I am your master, so it won’t look good if I can’t keep claiming victory over you.”
Yururu won every sparring match against Fay today. Fay replied without much emotion in his voice, so Yururu smiled at him teasingly. Fay remained expressionless as he picked up the wooden sword that got blown away.
“Another match.”
“No can do. We already decided that this would be the last match of the day. You need to rest your body as well. You already promised your master, so you have to keep it properly.”
“…I see.”
Fay acted as though he’d made a tough decision, since his tone was heavy even though his expression stayed the same. That was how important training was for him.
“Well then, since we got the opportunity… how about sharing a meal with me at my place today, Fay-kun?”
“…No, I—”
Yururu invited him for dinner with a tense expression. Even though they wouldn’t be alone, inviting someone of the opposite sex to her room was still nerve-wracking. Mei understood the meaning of Yururu’s words. Yururu wanted to spend her time with Fay more intimately. It was her modest wish.
Her cheeks flushed due to her hidden intention behind her invitation. However, Fay began to turn her down in his usual mechanical tone of voice. After all, even if the invitation for a meal came from his beautiful, silver-haired, busty loli master, a cool character like him wouldn’t agree to such an invitation that easily.
He wouldn’t mingle that casually, and Yururu could tell he was ready to refuse. As his master, she knew him better than anyone, and he was also the person she loved and with whom she wished to spend her future.
“—Let’s talk about swordsmanship while we have our meal.”
“I see, then it’s not like I couldn’t accompany you then.”
Fay was a berserker, so he would obediently follow along like a child if he knew they would be talking about swordsmanship. Of course, he also respected the woman named Yururu Garethia, and he knew she was essential for him to become stronger, so he chose to accompany her to the meal.
Ojou-sama, you’ve become good at dealing with Fay-sama…
Mei was astonished as she witnessed their exchange, but Yururu bounced around as she rejoiced. Then, Fay, Yururu, and Mei left the training ground and proceeded to buy dinner before going back to Yururu’s room.
Want early access to Executed Sage, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!
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.
That was nice.
Mei, lol
Mei is being meiself
As expected of Fay-sama he just got back and already making out yururu affection point
more of match fixing, though
Fay weakness : easy to bait with battle
Thanks for update
also with anything that might make him grow stronger
Don’t forget the ham— no, I mean the lettuce.
the sandwich combo