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 3 – Part 1
Zagan was an atrocious criminal. Meeting him, however, gave me the push that I needed.
His hair was black – evidence he had the most mana a dark attribute user was capable of having.
Though we were of different attributes, the same could be said of me.
In other words, if I worked even harder, I too could grow to be as strong as him.
I should do my best. I couldn’t let Zagan win. I couldn’t let a criminal like him do as he pleases.
I healed Miranda who’d been wounded by Zagan and we went back to the city’s lord’s manor where I reported the situation.
I gave a report on how the Dark Organization was after the star fragments, and how the first fragment had been taken away from us.
From then until January 30, several days before we had to leave, I borrowed the manor’s courtyard and threw myself into training. Noel and Miranda must have been frustrated by our defeat as well because they joined me. I was extremely grateful to have someone to spar with.
I felt restless, but still prepared myself for our journey to the next city.
Since the lord said he’d provide us with food to eat along the way, the first thing we did was go into town and sell the magic stones and other materials we’d gathered in the dungeon. Afterward, we went to an item shop and replenished our inventory. And thanks to Miranda leading the way, we managed to purchase all the needed items without a hitch.
I peeked into a weapons and armour store, but, as expected, the gear that Father had prepared for me was of much better quality.
On our way back, we visited some street stalls, eating as we walked. That was where we caught a young woman stealing.
I caught her arm and brought her to the ground and Miranda got on top of her to prevent her from running away. Noel then thrust the tip of her sword at the woman while I used intimidation, so she stopped struggling.
Since it was just petty theft, I told her she might get off with a misdemeanour if she answered our questions, so she answered them honestly.
Her name was Nina. She used to belong to a group of thieves, but because the second prince was going around the big cities under the king’s order, security had tightened. And, since they were committing crimes under such circumstances, most had already been arrested and the group had been taken out.
Nina said she’d had a falling out with one of the members of the group beforehand, so she wasn’t there at the time and avoided getting caught.
Since she was answering all of our questions honestly, Miranda got off her. As soon as she did, Nina sat up and bowed her head.
“I’ll be your servant, so please turn a blind eye just this once! I beg of you!”
“Do I look like the kind of man who would force a woman and would do such horrible things?”1
“Um, who… might you be, sir?”
Nina slowly looked up at me.
“This man is the second prince, His Highness Luca Soleil” Noel replied, sword still aimed at the girl.
“Really!? Doesn’t that mean you’re super rich!? Um, can I tag along with you? I’m pretty good in a fight and excellent at solving traps, so I’d be helpful in the star fragment dungeons, yeah? I’ll do whatever you say as long as you give me food and a place to sleep. Ah, even if you say no, I’ll just follow you. When it comes to speed I won’t lose to anyone!… unless my stomach is empty…”
Her stomach growled in protest and she got embarrassed midway.
I was taught that if I heard such sounds coming from a woman, I should be a gentleman and pretend I hadn’t heard.
I inconspicuously turned my gaze away from Nina and caught Miranda’s eye. Unable to ignore the growling stomach, Miranda went and bought several skewers from the stall Nina had been trying to steal from. She then handed Nina one of them.
“Here, take it.”
“Th-thank you!!” Nina happily grabbed it and immediately started eating.
She’d been so hungry, she finished it in no time. Miranda then gave her another. Nina thanked her again and dug into the food.
“For having been a part of a group of thieves, she doesn’t seem to be that bad at heart. She even properly thanked me. Luca, I think we should take her along with us. The more comrades we have the better for going into the upcoming dungeon. We can just make her do some work to atone for her crimes, right? Besides, it feels too cruel to take her to the lord’s mansion and make her feel ashamed about herself.”
“Ah… if you put it like that, I can’t really say no…”
I glanced at Noel and she too nodded in agreement and sheathed her sword.
And that was how Nina joined us.
The following day, February 1st, we left for the next city.
Since Miranda and Nina had joined us, we prepared a covered wagon to take us. Compared to the distance between the 1st city and the capital, the distance from city to city wasn’t that far, so we were in no rush.
When we encountered monsters along the way, we defeated them while testing how well we worked together, and I continued to train whenever we stopped for a break.
When night fell, after we set up our tents and had dinner, I’d practise my magic. If I wanted to win against Zagan, I had to do something about my poor handling of magic.
I was truly grateful for the girls’ help with everything, but I also wished they’d stop inviting me to have sex with them as soon as we extinguished the campfire.
Miranda seemed to get lonely whenever she drank and when I tried to comfort her even just a bit, she leaned against me coquettishly.
And Nina was Nina.
“With this kind of lifestyle, you must be pent up, should I help you with that?” she’d ask with a teasing smile.
I was a prince. Under imperial orders no less.
Also, I didn’t like it when people joked around about love affairs.
If someone showed even the smallest bit of interest in me, I made sure to clearly turn them down to avoid any misunderstandings. It was what I’d been taught to do as part of my royal education. And usually, if I told the noble ladies who tried to seduce me – “I can’t be with you because I feel nothing when I look at you” – and overwhelmed them with a smile, they would stop chasing after me.
So, I felt bad about it, but I had to turn those two down.
“Didn’t both of you just say it was time for bed? Are you aware of the fact that the person you’re messing around with is a prince? I might be mild-mannered, but I get angry too, you know?” I scolded them with a smile and they apologised immediately.
“S-sorry…”
“Sorry, I’m drunk. That’s right. You might be friendly, but you’re a prince.”
The two of them were commoners and also friends I’d just come to know, so I couldn’t use the same line that I used on the noble ladies on them.
Also, honestly, I was a bit tempted to take advantage of their advances.
As Nina mentioned, being a man, I couldn’t help but get pent up. But as long as I still had my right hand it shouldn’t be a problem.
To alleviate the awkward atmosphere, I told Nina and Miranda goodnight and went to my tent. I changed my clothes and was about to lie down when –
“Luca, do you have a minute?” I heard Noel calling from outside.
Though I thought it strange, I opened the tent flap for her. Noel, wearing only a bathrobe, came inside and kneeled down on top of the futon. Then she started undoing her robe.
When I tried to stop her in a panic, she shyly told me that it wasn’t cool for a prince to go around with blue balls and that it was also one of her duties as my escort.
You can’t say no to that, right?
I knew Noel wasn’t used to this kind of thing and I also knew she was truly worried about me, so I didn’t make light of my childhood friend’s courage.
Had I had a lover, I would have refused her invitation, but I didn’t.
So, apologising to Lyle-sensei in my head, I took out the contraception tool. Something that was only right for a gentleman to carry around.
On February 3rd we decided to visit a town that we saw along the way.
Noel, Miranda, and Nina couldn’t use any attack magic. Thus, naturally, I was the only person who used magic and I went through more MP potions than I thought I would, so I wanted to buy some more.
I asked the guard at the outer gate if they could recommend a good store and they told me about one with a great alchemist. However, when we stepped into the store, there was a girl who looked about ten behind the counter. When we got chatting though, the misunderstanding cleared itself. That girl was actually in her mid-thirties and a failed drug was the reason she looked younger.
At first Miranda and Nina didn’t believe her, but then she showed incredible intimidation followed by both fire and ice magic.
“Hmph. Which would you prefer? To get roasted by fire or frozen by ice?” the woman threatened, and the two could only wordlessly nod along.
Perhaps it was because they were an adventurer and a former thief that they couldn’t help but doubt her at first. Still, I didn’t think she should have provoked them or talked down to them like they were fools.
The reason I had believed her right away was, how should I put it… because I could determine the authenticity of her words? For some reason, I could just sense it. Like – ah, that person’s telling the truth. It was probably thanks to my attribute.
Besides, it was rare to find a person who held themselves with such dignity even among the royals and nobles. There was no way she could have actually been a child. Which was probably why Noel had easily believed her too.
The alchemist-turned-child was called Camilla. When she found out we were making our way around all the cities, she decided to join us. Both to find a way to get her former body back and to find some precious materials along the way.
With Camilla joining us our party’s fighting power increased dramatically.
Above all she was the perfect rearguard. She was also highly skilled at mana manipulation and the timing of her support spells was spot on. Thanks to her, no one got injured during our battles and we were all very grateful.
I was kind of surprised that a person with that much combat ability wasn’t a mage. However, I could probably say the same thing about the ministers back at the capital. Plus, a medical alchemist was an amazing occupation. They were the ones who cured the people’s wounds and illnesses and brought stability to their hearts.
I had so much respect for Camilla. I just wished she’d stop asking me for my semen because she wanted to try using the seed of a light attribute user in her alchemy. I was surprised she told me she wanted it because she didn’t have any from a light attribute user yet, and even more confused that she’d ask me, a prince, for something like that.
Was semen even something that could be used in alchemy?
Anyway, I automatically told her no and, in the background, I could see Noel smiling as her sword clicked back into place.
“I see. In that case, it’s a pity but I’ll give up on that. Here, take this senbei as an apology. It’s delicious.”
An older woman who knew not to push too far and gave me a delicious senbei. Sigh. Not only noble ladies, but there were many proactive women among the commoners as well.
