I Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, But Before I Realized, I Became a Capture Target
Translator: Reo
Editor: PalenMisha
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 84 (Part 1)
Afterwards, things got a little bit crazy. Noel started sobbing, Bennett was bawling and the rest of the girls made a great fuss trying to calm them down. Thanks to them I managed to stop my own tears after only a few drops had spilled.
Father let go of me, perhaps because he was also crying, and took out some tissues for him and Noel. The identical image of the father and daughter pair blowing their noses brought an unexpected smile to my face. Luca, next to me, grabbed my hand.
After a while, having calmed down, Father turned towards me again. As he did, Luca fixed his posture and I too stood up straight.
“Sensei, I love Zagan… I love your son from the bottom of my heart. Please allow me to marry him.”
I don’t know what surprised Father more, the fact that a prince was bowing so deeply, or how much Luca had changed since he last saw him.
I quickly bowed my head as well, asking for his blessing, and though I couldn’t see him, I could tell he was flustered.
“Don’t bow your heads to me…” a weak voice spilled out after several seconds.
Following his request, Luca and I both lifted our heads.
“The two of you, are you happy?”
““Yes”” we both answered as one.
I must really love Luca if that was all it took to set my heart aflutter.
Luca squeezed my hand, perhaps having noticed my overflowing emotions.
Reflexively, I turned to look at him and he stared at me with his kind eyes. My positive emotion of love towards Luca must have been conveyed to him through our connected hands.
Father cleared his throat and I turned my gaze back to him. He stared at us intently and then nodded slowly.
“In that case, please be happy. Both of you.”
“…Thank you, Sensei,” Luca said, his relief clearly showing.
I followed suit.
“Thank you.”
I was a bit nervous about this, but clearly not as nervous as Luca had been.
Luca, head still bowed, let out an audible sigh of relief.
As soon as we finished greeting Father, Noel butted in saying that we should get some sleep for now and that we’d have a birthday party for Luca when we woke up. So, after Cindy had cleared away the rabble in the training area for us, we each took out our tents and fell asleep right away. We didn’t care that we were camping out inside the palace grounds.
In the evening, after clearing away our tents, a large table was set up with lots of luxurious food and Luca’s party finally started.
The participants were the eight of us, Soleil and Lune, and Father and Orobas too.
As we ate, the girls took turns handing Luca their presents and I sat by his side as he opened each one. All of us were enjoying our time together.
From Noel, he got a chibi doll of me, and from Miranda, a set of matching tableware for two. From Nina, he got a picture frame in which she told him he could put a picture of me. The frame was decorated with hearts and was clearly made for a pair of lovers. From Camilla, he got a bottle of lotion that she said to use only in the bath, and when I checked the label, I noticed that it was a lotion meant for sex.1
Bennett’s present was a bento. Luca laughed when she said, “You always say that Zagan likes meat but you like it as well, right?”
And lastly, Cindy gave him a book, an adventure novel. The cover looked cool and she mentioned that both of us would probably enjoy it. I was already looking forward to reading it.
Lune and Soleil were also very happy with the party, having gotten the chance to eat delicious human food for the first time in a thousand years.
Incidentally, under the two resurrected gods’ instructions, Orobas and the other demons who had helped us sent out word that nobody should come near the castle for a while. And, since the castle had become our private space, Father could freely call me Ciel and I could call him Father.
Of course, since I had already taken on the name Zagan, I asked him not to call me Ciel in front of others. Though he looked a bit sad about it, he, a commoner who had entered noble society, quickly agreed.
I wasn’t part of the Brady family anymore. Which was why from now on there would rarely be chances for me to call him Father.
Or so I thought.
Four months after the gods’ return, I came home from work to find Count Brady sitting in the living room.
“Father, you’re here. Luca will be home soon, would you like to have dinner with us?”
“Welcome home, Ciel. Orobas said that he’ll be preparing dinner so I’ll have to decline.”
He looked groggy and exhausted, so I signalled Bennett with my eyes for a cup of tea and she smiled.
“I’ve brought Lyle-sama a cup of tea with honey and a slice of banana bread. Both honey and bananas are good for relieving fatigue.”
As expected of Bennett, our outstanding head maid.
After glancing at the cup and plate set out in front of him, I sat down on the sofa opposite Father.
“I’ll listen if you want to complain.”
“Thanks, Ciel… I can’t deal with those magic beings anymore! We’re humans, you know! Unlike the commanders, we’ll die if we don’t rest, ok?! I’m almost fifty here!”
As expected, his government work was taking a toll on him.
Since the two gods had returned, Soleil Kingdom had gone through a huge change. No, perhaps it just went back to what it was before. Anyway, one of these changes was that the magic beings who’d been living in hiding weren’t concealing their identities anymore. And, as Father said, both the commander of the Imperial Knights and the head of the Imperial Mages were magic beings. The commander was a Valkyrie while the head was a type of spirit called an Undine.
I learned all this about a week after the resurrection when we were summoned by the king to receive a reward for gathering the star fragments.
I’d been staying in Luca’s room the whole week leading up to the award ceremony. The girls also received guest rooms inside the palace. So we easily met up and headed towards the audience chamber together.
I didn’t quite know what kind of structure we were in, but the glittering light shining down from the tall ceiling made me certain the chamber was somehow connected to the temple.
However, the yet undestroyed Lumieres radiated an ominous energy, distorting the beautiful place. They floated above a large, luxurious platform behind the royal throne. Perhaps that was why my eyes were drawn to the platform rather than the thrones themselves.
By the way, the king and queen were already seated on the throne. Other members of the royal family were lined up behind them. Among them was Luca, but when our guide urged us to approach the throne, he joined us. He took my hand, greeted the girls, and walked with us towards the king and queen.
On both sides of the carpet we were walking down, many people were gathered. Mages, including Father, wore the robes of the mage division, and imperial guards wore the uniform of their knight order. The people after them were probably the nobles. Towards the front of that group, I could see the lords of the major cities like Duke Charmant and Marquis Modeste. So they managed to make it to the capital in just a week, huh?
Slightly apart from the four grand dukes, stood a group of people, three to each side. From their solemn expressions, I would guess they were the ministers, but curiously for people who weren’t in combat positions, they exuded tremendous strength.
Having arrived before the throne, I imitated Luca and brought my right hand to my heart. It appeared that that was the way to act in front of the king. Peeking at the king once again now that I was closer, I noticed he was extremely nervous for some reason.
I thought it was strange at first, but seconds later, I could feel an overwhelming force coming from above and was able to understand.
It was Soleil and Lune. The two gods had come down from their temple. They got closer and closer and then – Boom!!!
Within seconds Soleil made lightning fall down on the Lumieres, breaking and dispersing them in a flashy way. As expected, Soleil was good at putting on a show.
Having made a cool entrance, Soleil landed on the platform and Lune, who descended right behind him, landed next to him.
The sudden appearance of the gods created a palpable tension in the air. Though they were supposed to kneel before them, most were petrified and could not move in front of such tremendous strength.
While the people were still frozen, something even more surprising happened. The ministers abruptly jumped into the air, each one of them transforming. A dragon, behemoth, hydra, Fenrir, unicorn and dryad. Whether it was because of their now large bodies, or because they were returning to their rightful place after a thousand years, the ministers landed on the platform beside the gods.
Were all the ministers magic beings? I’d even seen all of them before – they appeared in the gods’ memories.
No wonder the laws in Soleil had remained the same even though humans had discriminated against dark attribute users for hundreds of years. These beings must have continued to support this kingdom even after the gods disappeared. So that their beloved country would still be there once they returned.
That wasn’t the end of it though. Two more people came out from the crowd, walking towards the platform as they transformed. They were the commander of the imperial guards and the head of the mages. I’d always wondered why the heads of such physically intensive groups were elderly women, but it made sense if their true form was that of a magic being who’d lived for thousands of years.
They stationed themselves on either side of the king and queen and then Undine turned towards the crowd and spoke.
“Be silent. You stand before gods!”
The audience chamber immediately fell into silence.
Afterward, the two women gestured for the royal couple to stand and the king and queen stood up, stepping away from the thrones. They then kneeled in front of the gods and bowed their heads. The rest of the royal family followed suit. Then we, who had been watching, finally kneeled as well.
…And because of that, it was revealed that the commanders of the guards and mages were actually magic beings. Since then, it seemed that the two organisations had become very busy under the command of the two elderly women who were no longer hiding their strength.
Well, that’s not the only reason Father was tired. He was just grumbling about his bosses who were working him too hard. The real reason for his fatigue was something else. It was that, confused by such sudden changes, the people were in a state of fear and anxiety. After all, the fact that magic beings were no longer hiding meant that there were magic beings walking down the streets.
The change was especially notable in the capital where the two gods were residing. Their resurrection was published in the papers on January 2nd, and the gods paraded across the skies. As they did, magic beings that could fly appeared one after the other and joined them. Those that couldn’t fly, as if to also take part, transformed into their true forms and followed the gods by land. At that time Luca and I were on the goddess’s back and it felt like a scene straight from the Hyakki Yagyō.
