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!
Luca POV – 10.2
Unlike the protagonist in the game, I was full of despair, and Zagan noticed that, which was why his movements were a lot different than in the game. This became obvious on the way to the 5th city.
After getting ready for bed, I put out the lights in the tent. A little while later, I could feel someone else’s presence inside with me. Not only that, but the moment I noticed them, their hands were around my neck. They didn’t say anything, but they weren’t strangling me either.
“…Zagan?” I asked since I felt like it would be him, and I heard a chuckle in return.
“Yo, Luca. I happened to see you so I came by.”
“Welcome, Zagan. Is it ok if I make a bit of light? I want to see your face.”
“I don’t really care, but… wanting to see my face? You sure are a weird bastard.”
Since he didn’t object, I created one light. As soon as I did, I could see Zagan sitting right next to me, staring down at my face. When our eyes met, he grinned.
“As weak as always, huh? It’s annoying so I’m not going to ask you how you got this way.”
“Good. I don’t want to talk about it either.”
This whole time loop situation wasn’t really something I could talk about anyway…
But thinking about how I would have to keep going through it alone was too painful and I ended up stretching my hands towards Zagan.
Contrary to expectations, he didn’t say anything when I pulled myself close to him, nor when I wrapped my arms around his waist. I pressed my face against his stomach and he started laughing.
“You’re the first bastard to take advantage of me like this.”
“Really…? That makes me somewhat happy. Fufu, you’re warm.”
I’d touched Zagan any number of times by this point, but it was always his corpse. Plus, since I started going to pick him up by myself, he was always stone cold by the time I got to him. So to not only be able to feel his warmth, but his movements too, made me overcome with emotion.
This was a story. That meant Zagan too was only a character inside of it. But he was alive – just like this. And he was so worried about me—he even came to check up on me. The kindness he had given me so far made me feel a bit shy but ultimately happy.
But I hated it. I didn’t want to be pitied and comforted like this by the person I admired.
“Zagan, next time we meet I’ll fight you for real. So put away that dagger for now.”
I touched his arm that had pulled out the dagger in preparation to kill me. The mana around his right arm that he had strengthened soon dispersed.
“Really? Something to look forward to then.” He squinted his eyes happily and let out a quiet chuckle.
He put away his dagger and then climbed onto the futon.
“Huh? What?” I was utterly surprised by the unexpected situation.
He pushed me until my head was on a pillow, covered me with the blanket, and then gently patted my stomach. He was under the blanket as well, covered up to his waist and leaning on his elbow.
“I’ll do you the honour of lying next to you until you fall asleep, as an apology for breaking in.”
“What? Ah, yeah… Thank you, Zagan.”
“Come on, go to sleep already. Even if you’re too anxious to sleep, I’ll cast a spell on you so don’t worry about it.”
Perhaps it was because sleeping next to Zagan was a nerve-wracking situation, or because he himself told me to go to sleep, but I was nervous and I didn’t want to sleep yet because it felt like it would be a waste. But he emanated warmth, and perhaps because of his steady patting, my eyelids grew gradually heavier.
I wanted to stay awake for longer. Wanted to feel more of Zagan’s warmth. But the next thing I knew it was morning and, of course, Zagan was no longer there.
Because of the promise I made to Zagan, I felt that training was fun for the first time in a while.
Training while depressed was painful and since it was basically an act to run away from having to interact with the girls, it made me feel somewhat guilty. However, now I had a goal – I didn’t want to show Zagan my pathetic side, so training wasn’t painful at all.
Rather, I even invited Noel and the others to train with me so I could become stronger and I took proper breaks because I knew that rest was important.
Doing so, it was inevitable that I had to interact with the girls, but my urge to vomit had lessened considerably.
I was a hundred percent sure that it was thanks to Zagan. Because Zagan, whose emotions were not quantified… Zagan, who was the antagonist according to the story, came to see me because he was worried about me. That made me incredibly happy and soothed my heart.
Then came the end of May, about a month since we had lain together in the same bed. As always, just as we defeated the boss of the 5th dungeon and got our hands on the star fragment, Zagan came in through the door.
I left the fragment with the others and told them to go ahead without me, so they all transferred out.
The only ones left were Zagan and I.
“Yo, Luca. You ready?”
“Of course. Shall we go ahead and start?”
Zagan, who had waited until it was just the two of us, took out his sword and his staff. I also unsheathed my sword and took a deep breath. Then I strengthened my body with all the mana I could muster and closed the gap between us.
Zagan didn’t move. It was as if he was testing me out.
As I swung my sword down, it met his blade with a loud metallic clang.
Despite all my strengthening, Zagan’s arm didn’t even twitch.
Once, twice, three times – I struck one after the other, but all my attacks were blocked by the dagger. In that case… I took advantage of the short amount of time it took to prepare a wide swing of the sword and launched a spell.
“Shining Ray!”
“Hah! Now you’re getting into it.”
It was a kind of magic that sliced with the power of light. It sliced as if it were a sword, but it was completely blocked by Zagan’s magic wall. However, it seemed as if my attack had gotten a passing grade and that Zagan was happy about it.
Also, he reciprocated with the same kind of attack.
“Shadow Edge!”
I put up my small shield and a magic wall to block against it, but, of course, both broke and blood spilled from my arm. I was lucky it hadn’t been sliced clean off.
Perhaps because of the adrenaline, I didn’t really feel much pain and just went back to attacking.
“Lightning! Lightning! Haaaaaah! Thunder Guillotine! …Lightwave Entropy!”
With light enveloping my sword, I shot out attack after attack.
Zagan blocked them all with his dagger and staff.
Ah, how frustrating. Thanks to this loop, I’ll never be able to be as strong as him.
Still, I forged on, and as my attacks continued, my body began to glow. It was a sign that the forced transfer was coming, so I started swinging my sword with all my might. However, rather than forcing him to retreat, the gap between Zagan and I grew smaller and he smiled—
“…….Ah.”
I was back. In that same corridor. The heavy air and my outfit were all familiar to me by this point.
I see, so he had killed me. Like he’d promised, there really was no pain. It was only when I found myself back here that I realised I had died. It happened that quickly.
I’d predicted that something like this would happen, so I didn’t feel scared of the fact that he’d killed me. Rather, I admired his excellent swordsmanship and overwhelming strength.
“He’s amazing, as expected.”
I ended up back where I started, but from Zagan’s perspective, he had freed me from my despair. I couldn’t thank him enough for his kindness and the painless death had dispelled my fear. Also, despite returning, I didn’t feel sick.
My heart had calmed because there was only one thing occupying my mind.
I wanted Zagan to approve of me, even if this was a story and everything was fake. No matter what happened, I didn’t want to become disillusioned with the hero I admired.
I took a deep breath to calm my excited heart. Then I turned and walked towards the audience chamber.
Oh, dang. Makes sense now why he seemed so fixated on Zagan after all. Though, I feel bad that the OG Zagan was far too consumed with hatred and the dark energy that a new ‘soul’ was brought in to change the story’s direction and stop the loop. I like how they made it so that he sorta merged into one person, though.