I Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, But Before I Realized, I Became a Capture Target
Translator: Hushush
Editor: PalenMisha
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 72 (Part 1)
So far, I have faced the Dark Organisation twice. In June, I rejected their invitation to revive the Evil God and destroy the Soleil Kingdom together.
In September, they summoned five dark dragons in order to assuredly steal the star fragments from me. After we subjugated the dragons, I ended up having to hand over the star fragments because Noel and the others were taken hostage, but… even then, I was opposed to the opinion of the guy from the Dark Organisation that other attributes should be killed.
I had turned them down twice, so it could not be helped if they refused to meet if we tried to approach them now. That was what I thought.
“Huh!? Isn’t it obvious it’s not good!? There’s no way I can leave Zagan alone with that pervert!” (Luca)
Not expecting objections to come flying from behind me, my thoughts almost stopped. Moreover, the reasoning was terrible.
Well, it was not like I couldn’t understand Luca’s feelings of not wanting me to be alone with him. After all, he once said he would not mind humiliating me. Although he did immediately self-implode right after.1
While I was frozen by the unexpected turn of events, Luca was stopped by Miranda when he tried to come to me, and I even heard him being poked.
“Ow- Ouch─ Camilla, it hurts─” (Luca)
“Can you not read the air, you fool!?” (Camilla)
Although my friends were helping by warning Luca, the solemn and beautiful space, as well as the overall tension in the surrounding area had already been ruined. I would like to vehemently agree with Nina’s “Oh dear” remark.
Even the Dark Organisation’s side had a weird atmosphere, with the middle-aged man rubbing his brow like he was tired and the other seven looking either astonished or confused. Can I just ignore Luca’s objection and proceed with our talk? Or should I persuade Luca first?
While I silently considered my options, I suddenly heard the loud sound of hands clapping.
“If you’re going to have a talk anyway, why don’t we take a break?” (Cindy)
“Then, I’ll make tea for everyone.” (Bennett)
Bennett immediately agreed to Cindy’s suggestion. That’s right, we should first change this delicate atmosphere.
“Then I’ll set the table!” (Noel)
Noel’s follow-up completely led to the flow of taking a break so I decided to go back to Luca’s side for the moment. Before I could even turn around, tentacles wrapped around my hips and limbs and I was pulled backwards. Once I landed in Luca’s arms with a light thump, he hugged me and rubbed his cheek onto my head.
“Geez, why does Zagan have to decide things all on his own!? It’s cool, though!” (Luca)
It seemed that he had mixed feelings about it.
I felt bad for deciding things on my own as Luca said, but it could not be helped because the timing was off.
I mean, it’s not like I can tell him something as weird as “We’ll bump into the middle-aged man in the dungeon, so let me talk to him in private,” beforehand. On the other hand, in a situation where we were confronting a hostile person, it would also be impossible to make them wait just so I could consult my team members. Luca understood my actions, and that was why he said it was ‘cool’.
“Luca, I’m happy you were concerned about me. I appreciate it.”
When I expressed my thanks with all my heart, Luca groaned even more before further burying his face into my hair.
While being held by Luca who still had conflicted thoughts, my friends had finished preparing tea. The Dark Organisation members were made to sit down in their seats by the fearless Cindy and then they wondered whether or not to drink the tea Bennett made. I would recommend they drink it before Miranda used intimidation on them, though.
Luca sat down too, but as expected, with me still in his arms.
“He’s the main culprit who summoned five dragons to try and kill Zagan, you know? What’s more, he’s a pervert who says something as ridiculous as trying to ‘humiliate’ my Zagan. If you had a private conversation with a vermin like that, Zagan would be soiled.”
I do not have that soft of a spirit to be easily defiled by something of that degree, not to mention that the reason he spewed out words of humiliation was that he was unable to forgive me for not joining them despite being the same dark attribute, so he wanted to inflict as much—or just any—damage as he could to me. The fact that he was not serious was revealed by his self-implosion shortly afterwards.
Luca was worrying too much to the point of being overprotective so should I ask him if I was really that unreliable? Right as I thought that—
“Because of him, Zagan almost died. Because of… him…”
Luca’s low and heavy voice that dripped with anger made it impossible to say anything.
Right. That makes sense. Although it was partly my fault for being weak, if the Dark Organisation had not incited the dragons in the first place, I would not have run out of mana.
The culprit who tried to kill me. From Luca’s point of view, he would naturally not like the idea of me being alone with such a person. If I were in his position, I too would endlessly think about how to assassinate him. Though I would not do it.
I, by the way, held no grudge against the Dark Organisation. How could I, who had the same attribute as them, begrudge them for struggling to stand up against the unreasonable and cruel circumstances of discrimination in their own way?
“Luca, we won’t be speaking for long, and I don’t mind if you keep your tentacles wrapped around my waist. So could you be patient and wait?”
I would not tell him to calm his anger down, because, to Luca, the other side had committed a grave injustice. However, giving that guy the magic barrier was a necessary process to save the lives of 100 people. So that was why I wanted Luca to be patient for a while.
As I stared intently at him, Luca exhaled deeply to calm himself, although his expression was distorted in agony.
“I get it. But if I sense anything strange, I’m immediately pulling you back.”
He kissed me on the head. Then on my cheeks and lips. He set me down right after, so I also planted a kiss on Luca’s head. Luca, who held his emotions back and smiled, was very dear.
“I’ll be going then.”
“Yeah, take care.”
I nodded and quickly looked around as I turned my back to Luca.
The dark attribute fellows who were being forced to sit down without question were completely in a relaxed mood and were digging into the sweets Bennett made while being watched over by my friends. Some even approached Camilla, who was doing her alchemy work, and started talking to her. There may be no barriers in areas of interest.
As for the person of interest, he was sitting alone at a table set up at a distance, drinking tea. If it was over there, we would not be heard by the others.
On my way there, I met up with Noel, who held a teapot. While she was at it, she even pulled at Luca’s tentacle so that it would not get stuck anywhere. She was a good little sister, as always.
“Apologies, I made you wait.” (Zagan)
After I called out and sat down across from him, Noel served me a cup of tea. She bowed her head and immediately returned to where Luca and the others were.
This was tea poured by Noel, so I should drink it first and foremost. Thinking that way, I blew on my drink to cool it down first before bringing the cup to my lips when the man who had been silently watching let out a sigh.
“It’s stunningly jet black.”
Come to think of it, he said something like that when we first met. “Your hair must be darker than mine, after all”.2 I could not answer him then because I had no intention of revealing my hair at the time, but now that I was exposing it myself, it might seem unreasonable from his point of view.
“It’s the hair my mother feared to be that of the Evil God themselves, thus abandoning me as a child.” (Zagan)
“……Even to someone like me who has the same attribute, it’s a colour that feels dangerous to be kept on hand. Even if I had made you our comrade, I don’t think I could have kept you in control.”
The reason I showed hesitation in giving a response was probably because I unconsciously tried to offer words of comfort. He was basically a kind person to those with dark attributes. But I was his enemy, so I switched to sarcasm.
In fact, what this man said was correct. My original self who was once their comrade was uncontrollable because I had been too strong as well as arrogant, so they had no choice but to summon five dragons to kill me.
Also, if I had been in contact with the Dark Organisation from the beginning, I would have continually told them to not take the lives of other attributes or to stop trying to take revenge on the country. If they had tried to do those things anyway, I would have used force to get in their way. As for me, I regretted that I should have done so.
“Revealing my hair was the result of considering how to eliminate discrimination in my own way. It may seem like a foolhardy and reckless way to go about things on my own, but with Luca by my side, it’s definitely possible.”
“Well… Prince Luca is an amazing person.”
To think this man would give compliments to other attributes! I looked at the middle-aged man in surprise and he sighed again.
“He is someone who cut off the arm of a woman who discriminated against dark attributes and tried to execute her, after all. He even cursed the knights for being incompetent and unable to judge right from wrong. Not to mention, he is serious about loving Zagan-dono, who has the dark attribute and hair colour that even I hesitate to interact with, so of course I have no choice but to admit he is different from the other attributes around.”
“Even now he is glaring at me, full of bloodlust,” said the old man tiredly. He seemed to be exhausted from constantly receiving Luca’s killing intent. Should I turn around and reproach Luca? …No, the moment I turn my head, he would misunderstand and think there was a problem before making his bloodlust stronger or pulling me back using his tentacles, so I would not.
“Luca is indeed a great man. After all, he was able to love me—someone with the dark attribute that has been considered evil and discriminated against for hundreds of years, not to mention my jet-black hair—without prejudice. And because he is a prince, the issue of discrimination against dark attributes has been raised in national newspapers. A mother who gave birth to a baby with the dark attribute even thanked me.”
“I know. To make sure I don’t miss any information, I always read the newspapers whenever I visit a city. I received a report about a dark attribute child from one of our people who scouted the city. They also said they didn’t kidnap the child because their parents loved them and seemed like they would raise them.”
So that was how it was. In other words, in the game’s setting, the baby that the woman carried would have been taken under the Dark Organisation’s protection. It was unclear whether they took the baby after killing the mother or she transferred the baby to them after they talked and both parties agreed… but I hope it was the latter.
“Geez. First, there’s you saying that you will protect everyone regardless of their attributes, then there’s Eloi who said he proposed to the bespectacled lady, and now even Sophie said she became friends with that girl using the axe. Why do things that shake my resolve keep happening one after another?”
So that was the reason the man’s condescending attitude had disappeared. It was because he could no longer wholeheartedly hate the other attributes like before. What’s more, since it was their main force’s glasses guy and Sophie, who were saying they were getting married or had become friends with people from other attributes, he would definitely be at his wit’s end.
