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 14 – Loving You (Part 2)
“Gah!” With a cry of pain, Miranda flew over our heads, landing behind us with an audible thud.
Zagan slowly descended the stairs, as if following after her.
“Ah… Uh… Um.” Noel, who’d looked back in surprise, belatedly noticed Zagan approaching and tried to draw her sword. But she wasn’t fast enough. Black tentacles stretched towards her.
They wrapped around her body, preventing her from drawing her sword, restrained her ankles, and lifted her up when she seemed about to fall.
Zagan stretched the tentacles, placing Noel on the ground far from us and then detaching the tentacles from himself.
Those tentacles were made through mana manipulation, right? Since they kept their form even when detached, could you say that the dark attribute was similar to the water or earth attributes? It was plausible – the light attribute was similar to the fire attribute after all.
Zagan walked past me, who didn’t take an offensive stance, without doing anything.
Though he was close enough for me to grab his hand, I had the feeling that his tentacles would turn on me the second I tried, so I just followed his movements with my eyes.
Miranda was standing up, but her whole body was already scratched up, probably from hitting the ground. Despite that, she picked up her axe and turned to face Zagan.
“You! You…!!” As soon as Zagan reached her, she swung her axe forcefully.
That too was blocked by the dagger. Miranda, however, kept swinging her axe, changing the trajectory of the blade before each strike.
I was impressed by her arm strength—being able to swing the axe like that. But Zagan blocked all of her attacks with his dagger, or rather he was just so much faster than her. His dagger would already be waiting at the end of her axe’s expected path. It was as if he was playing around with her.
“Dammit, haa… HAAA!” Frustrated because he kept blocking her attacks, Miranda took a big swing.
Zagan simply stepped aside and the blade of her axe embedded itself into the ground.
Debris scattered in the air, but Zagan blocked all of it with his magic barrier and his dagger accurately stabbed Miranda’s right hand.
“Gh? Aah, gah!” Miranda let out a groan as the dagger pierced her hand, and she let go of her axe.
He then kicked her flank again, sending her flying all the way to the wall.
As always, kicking was Zagan’s strong point.
Miranda smashed into the wall, fell to the ground, and did not move. The only place she was bleeding from was her hand and I could still feel her presence, so she’d probably just fainted.
Zagan waited a few seconds to make sure Miranda wouldn’t get up again before turning his head my way.
Ah, Zagan will be next to me soon.
Being able to face him like this again made me happy. So, so happy I didn’t even know how to express it.
Just by seeing him, my heart felt full. But it was also unfortunate for that same exact reason.
This Zagan was not a killer so he still hid his black hair behind a hood. I couldn’t even see his eyes properly. I was amazed that he managed to block Miranda’s attacks with that thing on.
I want to see your face. And talk to you about a lot of things. I want to hear all of the things you want to talk about too. I want to know more about you.
So I drew my sword. Because there was a much faster way to learn about the current Zagan. After all, he was the one who said it – “There’s stuff you can tell when you fight. Stuff you can feel when two blades cross.”
As I strengthened my body and pointed my sword toward him, Zagan gripped his dagger tighter. And he grabbed his staff as well. Just his decision that he needed to use both against me made me happy.
“Let’s do this, Zagan.”
He nodded sincerely at my declaration. So I immediately kicked off the ground and leapt towards him, swinging my sword down.
With a klunk, my blade was blocked by his staff, and before I had time to think, the dagger was thrust toward me. As I blocked it with my shield, the recoil flung me backward and I narrowly avoided the kick that immediately followed the dagger.
“Lightning!” I shot out a spell, but it had no effect thanks to the magic barrier that Zagan had instantly conjured. He was also so fast that he had the time to counterattack and I had to block it with my shield again.
After that, the attacks kept coming, and all I could do was block them with my sword or shield. I couldn’t find an opening to fight back.
As always – Zagan was strong. His swordsmanship too was the same – sharp yet gentle… Him trying to gauge my skills like this brought back fond memories.
The fact that he hadn’t changed warmed my heart, but it wasn’t enough, because I still couldn’t see his face properly.
Since it was Zagan, if I asked him to take his hood off, he’d just taunt me saying that if I wanted to see what’s underneath so bad, I should take it off myself. And then he’d play with me, never letting me touch him.
Of course, it would be nice to see him have fun, but I still might end up not seeing his face.
Rather than that, it would be better not to ask him directly and find a different way to take it off. A way that would catch him by surprise and might even make him acknowledge me.
So I tried my best. To somehow take that hood off. To receive his recognition once more.
As I blocked the onslaught from his blade, I aimed for a moment in which I could turn this battle around. With such heavy blows coming one after the other, I couldn’t swing my own sword, but if I timed it just right, I could reinforce the strengthening on my body and… Now!
“Haa! Slash of Thunder!”
As I blocked the dagger with my shield, I poured mana into my right hand, using a sword skill and aiming at the opening near his shoulder. My sword, enveloped in crackling light, was, of course, blocked by his staff. However, this was a sword technique that let out a lightning bolt, causing damage on the point of impact.
Zagan’s body was strengthened, so it didn’t really do much, but the pain and the numbness in his arm must have hindered his movements because he’d slowed down considerably. I took that momentary gap to attack him from the left.
“Thunder Arrow!”
It was an attack aimed at his hood – just enough to take it off without injuring him.
Utilizing the speed of light at point-blank range and my accumulated experience in mana manipulation, the hood came flying off. The turban underneath it too came undone. It was definitely something he’d been wearing to hide his black hair.
And now, finally, I got to see them. I got to see his eyes…
Such a beautiful, vivid, and strong red.
They seemed to pierce through me. Both my body and my heart. A shock so strong I forgot to breathe.
I knew that feeling. That overwhelming sense that just by looking at me, having his gaze on me, made everything real. That sense that even if this world was fiction, he was still a part of reality.
Ah, the world that had lost its color so long ago was now so vibrant. With you at the center, everything changed back to reality.
You, could it be…?
By the time I came back to my senses, I was lying on my back. My whole body hurt.
He probably used a close-range magic attack. And then sent me flying with a kick?
Despite various body parts hurting and the fact that I couldn’t seem to move, I still felt hazy as if within a dream. The world seemed to sparkle. Even the unpolished ceiling of the boss room seemed to shine.
As I stared blankly at the dazzling view, Zagan’s face came into my line of sight. Because of that, it became even more blinding, and I almost stopped breathing for a moment when those beautiful red eyes looked at me.
“I was wondering how strong you’d be with that splendid golden hair of yours, but I guess I got my hopes up for nothing. Don’t you think you should train a bit more?”
“You’re this weak even with all that gold hair? Whatta disappointment. You’re so weak I don’t even feel like killing you anymore.” Those were the words that Zagan had said to me in the past… the same line I’d recall whenever I checked the game info. And now he was saying the same thing. Even though I was definitely stronger now than I usually was at the start of a loop. But from Zagan’s perspective, I was still weak.
I should have gone outside the capital more often and hunted more monsters. I should have gone on more expeditions with my teachers.
But my position made it difficult to do that, and when I did leave the capital with my family, I prioritized interacting with the various city lords. It was because I thought that rather than relying solely on my own strength, I would have a better chance of breaking the loop with more allies on my side.
It couldn’t be helped because I’d prioritized the whole over the self, but I still felt pathetic for not being able to meet Zagan’s expectations.
When I had no answer to give him, he lifted his head and walked away from me, making his way towards Noel. She still hadn’t managed to break free from the tentacles and was desperately wiggling in an attempt to get out of them.
“Don’t lay your hands on that child!” I was yelling before I knew it.
Perhaps, like the past Zagan, he would do something to her. I couldn’t stand the thought of him touching someone in that way.
Zagan ignored my cry, kneeled down in front of Noel, and laid his hand on top of her frightened head. Then he gently patted it.
She looked back at him in shock.
From my vantage point, I couldn’t tell what his expression was, but –
“If those around them hadn’t persecuted them, then those with the dark attribute too probably wouldn’t have hurt anyone…” he murmured, his voice almost imperceptible.
It was very different from the Zagan in my memories, but his words held the same emotion. I knew for certain that the past Zagan had those same thoughts even as he killed others.
Having apparently just wanted to stroke Noel’s head, Zagan stood up and picked his turban up off the ground. Even as we watched him, he silently wound the turban around his head and lifted his hood. When he finished doing that, he stepped onto the altar and transferred out of the dungeon without looking back once.
With Zagan gone, I let out the breath I’d been holding. I hadn’t wanted to break that quiet atmosphere that surrounded him, so I’d unconsciously been holding my breath.
I lifted my body and drank a potion, and when the pain subsided, I stood up. First thing, I went to check on Miranda.
Relieved that she was still breathing, I poured a potion over her still-bleeding right hand. And over her bruised back, shoulders, and stomach too. If she drank a potion once she woke up, she’d probably have a full recovery.
I laid her back down to rest and went to check on Noel.
She was still sitting on the ground, but the tentacles restraining her were starting to crumble away. It seemed that soon they would disappear altogether.
Noel, however, was no longer trying to break free.
“Luca, Luca! What should I do!? That person, he looked just like Mother. And he was a dark attribute user too! It was Nii-sama, wasn’t it?”
Indeed, I’d always thought that Zagan resembled the countess. If it weren’t for the gloomy look in his eyes and the sneer on his face, he might have been just as beautiful as her.
“You’re right… that person was very strong, cool, and beautiful. Truly so beautiful.”
It was, without a doubt, Zagan. That sharp, refined swordsmanship, that casual kindness – they matched my memories. But those eyes. Those lovely, strikingly bright, red eyes – they were nothing like the Zagan I knew.
What should I do? Just thinking of his gaze on me made my heart flutter.
“And he patted me on the head as well. That means Nii-sama remembered me, right? I’m so happy. You know, Luca, I really want to talk to him agai— …Luca? Your face is bright red. Huh? Is it that? Could the Luca I know be experiencing that!? I can’t believe that you, the huge misanthrope, would fall for someone!”
“I wish you wouldn’t say that out loud!”
If you put it into words, I’ll become even more conscious of it, you know.
Uuu, my face was so red and my heart was pounding so hard that it hurt.
While I crouched down, not knowing what to do with myself, Noel let out a hmm, and the sound of her voice brought me back to my senses.
When I looked at her, she’d already strengthened her body, ripped off the tentacles, and stood up with a spring in her step.
“I got it. I understand, Luca. That person truly was strong, cool, and charming. As expected of my brother. There may be a lot of obstacles in your way, but I’ll support you, so good luck!” She raised both hands to cheer me on, and then, being in a good mood, she went to check on Miranda and tried to wake her up.
I looked at her and let out a sigh.
Zagan, just thinking about you makes my whole world brighter. It fills my body with such incredible joy.
Say, Zagan? I… I’m in love with you.
