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 2 – Part 1
Author’s Note:
Inevitably, due to the established setting, Luca has to have a relationship with a woman [in this timeline]. I apologise and ask for your understanding.
We prepared for our departure for two days, and, on the morning of the third, my family and teachers came to send me and Noel off.
The dungeons with the star fragments opened every month on the 11th, so we had to get to the 1st city by the 10th. Since it was January, it was troublesome because of the snow, but we had eight days to get there. Since it was just Noel and I, we could ride our horses instead of taking a carriage.
Though our path was snowy, we could travel smoothly thanks to our horses. Since it was winter, we didn’t encounter many monsters and even if we had, it wasn’t hard to defeat them.
It was the first time we’d ever camped overnight without Sensei and others there, but that too was no problem at all. Rather, thanks to there being no guards with us, Noel was in high spirits and seemed to be having fun every night. I’d always found this innocence of hers endearing.
Everything was going well until the afternoon of the seventh day. It was snowing and we were going up a mountain path surrounded by trees when an ivy monster stretched towards us from above. I immediately drew my sword and my horse thumped the ground with its front hooves. The monster’s movements paused slightly.
It was a plant-type monster called Ivy. It bound its prey, forced them to drink the aphrodisiac sap from its flower in order to weaken their resistance, and then sucked the life out of them. However, it wasn’t that fast, and as long as you could use some kind of weapon, it was easy to defeat – a D-rank monster.
“Haa!” I slashed the vines creeping towards me a number of times and when the shortened tendrils still tried to reach out to me, I took a step closer to the Ivy’s main body. I could see it, a large bulb between the snow-covered trees. It might look cute at first glance, but it was undoubtedly a man-eating monster, so I was going to take it down.
“Thunder Arrow!” I poured mana into my sword and shot my target with a spell.
The main body, now with a hole in it, fell to the ground with a thump.
My horse then trampled it and the Ivy scattered into dust.
“Good job as always.” I patted my horse and praised him, then dismounted to pick up the small mana stone that had dropped on the ground. And just as I did –
I heard a startled whinny from behind.
Speaking of – what happened with Noel?
“Noel, are you… Noel!?”
I was about to ask her if she was ok, but she clearly wasn’t. The ivy had caught her by the arms and legs and she was hanging in midair. Furthermore, the vines had made it to places they shouldn’t have and Noel’s face was red, her eyes blurry.
“A-apologies, Luca… it grabbed my right arm from behind before I could draw my sword… huu.”
“Lightning!”
My yelled-out spell hit the target. The vine holding her right arm fell and her hand was free. Hit by the attack, the ivy that was tangled around her loosened and Noel fell to the ground… No, on top of her horse.
The vines immediately tried to grab her again, but the horse stepped back and I jumped out in front of it, cutting the ivy before it could reach her. Then, like before, I shot the approaching vines with a spell and the defeated Ivy fell.
I quickly picked up the mana stone, did a rough check of our surroundings, and went back to Noel and the horses.
“Noel, are you ok? Are you hurt?”
“Uu, Luca… Ah… ngh…” Noel got off the horse and sat down on the ground sounding like she was in a lot of pain.
Her face was as red as if she was on fire and she was trembling.
Did I have some medicine to counteract the aphrodisiac in my magic bag?
I kneeled down next to her and looked around in my bag. As soon as I did, Noel clamped onto me.
“Luca, help me… Luca…”
“Noel…” I gulped at the bewitching sight of my childhood friend clinging to me with tears in her eyes. A sight that I’d never seen before.
Had two hours passed since then?
I tidied up the tent that we somehow managed to set up in the forest a little ways off from the road.
I managed to calm Noel down, but we kind of ended up doing it, which was bad.
Who would have thought I’d lay my hands on my childhood friend who was like a sister to me? I’d never looked at her that way before. And it was Noel’s first time too. Damn, I’d gone and done it now. I used contraception at least, so it should be fine in that regard…
Sighing under my breath, I finished tidying up and went back to where Noel was waiting with the horses.
Was Noel also feeling awkward? She was avoiding my eyes.
She looked irritated, her eyebrows furrowed. Even though mere moments ago she was clinging to me cutely.
I’d rather she be mad though, than act like nothing happened.
“If there are no problems, shall we go?” I asked and she just nodded back. Or so I thought, until she glared at me.
“Luca, please forget that happened. You promise, right? You, as a prince, don’t need to think things like you have to take responsibility because it was my first time.”
“Ok, I get it. Since we’re under imperial orders, we have to stay alert at all times, don’t we?”
“…Luca, you idiot.”
“What you told me to forget was that, right?” I replied immediately.
Noel pouted, then followed it up with a smile.
Ah, I was glad. It was the usual Noel.
I couldn’t just tell her to think nothing of it when such a thing happened, but I felt relieved that she was still willing to continue on this journey with me.
We got to the 1st city on the evening of the 9th. We were greeted by the city’s lord, who had been informed beforehand by the king, and since it was just Noel and I, we were taken care of at the lord’s manor.
That night we had dinner with the lord and his family, and I took a bath for the first time in a while, so I felt relaxed. And, since I was tired from the journey, I fell asleep immediately.
The following day, the lord asked me if I would like to go and see the adventurers guild. He said that a lot of adventurers went into the star fragment dungeons and that there were some rules specific to dungeon diving that it would be better for me to know.
So Noel and I went to the adventurers guild to hear about those rules, and since we were already there, I registered as an adventurer. Something I’d been wanting to do for quite a while now.
As a prince and a knight, it was only natural that I stood apart from the common man. Though, of course, it wasn’t like I’d never interacted with regular civilians.
There were a lot of civilians as well in the Royal Academy, where royals and nobles attended from the ages of fifteen to eighteen. But those outstanding civilians who passed the harsh entrance exams came to the academy with the sole purpose of studying. I couldn’t really get a feel for the common person’s everyday life from them.
So I thought I’d take this opportunity to become an adventurer, take on some jobs, and learn a bit more about their lives.
“Um… I’m afraid the guild doesn’t give special treatment based on social status. Therefore, though you are a prince, if the required materials are not provided, you start as a G-rank adventurer…”
“Of course. I’m actually thankful for that because I don’t like getting special treatment. And rather I’m a lot more interested in the lower-ranking requests.”
They were often things like watching a dog, delivering packages, working at a café or picking up litter in the park. Didn’t these all seem like tasks that would help me understand the everyday person’s life?
So I finished registering and decided to take on one request. An easy request, that could be finished in an hour, to deliver packages from the adventurers guild to the transportation guild – something that would allow me to take a look around the city while I worked.
Just signing my name on the request acceptance form was exciting.
After getting the parcels for delivery and the required documents, Noel and I left the guild building.
“Didn’t you want to register, Noel?”
“No, I’ve only just become a knight apprentice. It wouldn’t be right for me to register as an adventurer.”
How like the always-earnest Noel.
The next day, the 11th, the star fragment dungeon opened and we quickly headed there to clear it.
Perhaps because this was the first dungeon and only had monsters that were about C-rank, more than a hundred parties were gathered in front of the dungeon, despite the restriction that only allowed adventurers, mages, and knights who were A-rank and above to enter.
As we were told in advance, we chose one of the twelve routes that wouldn’t interfere with the parties already inside and went into the dungeon.
For several days things went well. Even though it was just the two of us, we had no problems defeating the monsters, and the traps weren’t that hard to solve either.
If you started to feel depressed about being in the dungeon, you could also leave it for a change of pace using the magic circles in the safe areas which transferred you back to the main hall.
After looking at the sky and taking a short break, you stepped on the magic circle in the main hall and it took you back to the safe area you came from.
The power of the world was truly amazing.
Noel and I continued through the dungeon like this.
On the 18th, we spotted a woman in the middle of the dungeon, surrounded by more than ten monsters.
So we were going to encounter people as well? I thought to myself, but for now, we went ahead and helped the woman.
Together we suppressed all the monsters.
That woman’s name was Miranda. She was an A-rank adventurer and seemed to have been by herself from the start.
Since a lot of monsters could appear in the dungeon, going solo was dangerous. So she ended up joining us.
I was worried about our different social standings, but even when Miranda heard who we were she remained friendly. She even asked us if it was ok not to use polite speech. Both Noel and I agreed.
“My father was originally a commoner, and he’s been Luca’s teacher since Luca was five, so we truly don’t mind.”
“Yeah. We’re friends now so let’s take things easy.”
“Yeah? I’m glad then. Please take care of me from now on, Noel, Luca.”
Was this what was called a big-sisterly disposition?
Miranda was a very reliable woman.
