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 2
We made it to the 2nd city by the afternoon of February 5.
Since our party had increased to five people, I’d asked to rent a place for us to stay. Though it was a sudden request, the 2nd city’s Marquis responded positively, perhaps because I was there under imperial orders. The place that he guided us to was a splendid mansion that even had a courtyard where we could train.
The Marquis said he needed a bit more time so that he could make our stay as comfortable as possible, so we all headed out into the city. We sold the materials we’d collected at the adventurers’ guild and took a look around at the stores lining the main street. We also went down the side streets and back roads at Nina and Camilla’s insistence. They said it was fun to find treasure troves in such places.
On our way there we bumped into a girl. She was being chased by several men so we all hid her. The ones chasing after her took one look at us and ran away without saying anything, perhaps because Noel was dressed as a knight.
They ran a few metres away and disappeared around a corner. It appeared they wouldn’t be chasing the girl any longer.
She was trembling and extremely frightened. Noel and the others soothed her gently and the trembling seemed to stop, but for some reason, the fear was still there.
Who knows how many people were chasing her and why. It would have been dangerous to just leave her there, so we took her along with us back to the mansion. We went inside the now spotless home and listened to her story as Noel went to make some tea.
At first, she was intimidated by the glamour of the mansion, but when I let her know with a smile that I was a prince and that no one could touch her while she was under my protection, she finally spoke.
Apparently, her mother passed away not too long ago, which caused her father to change, borrowing a lot of money without her knowledge. Because of that she was almost sold and was being chased by the loan sharks.
Human trafficking was a crime, it was something I had to tell the city lord about later.
Having told us her story, and having drank the tea that Noel had brought, Bennett calmed down considerably.
“My name is Camilla. I am a healer. Excuse the rude questions, but should we treat you as a woman? Or is this just a hobby?” Camilla addressed the girl.
“Um. Eh… if you could treat me as a woman…sorry.”
“Don’t apologise. You’re not bothering anyone, and it looks like you have a great personality too. Anyway, you look very cute.”
“T-thank you very much.”
Was her body that of a man?
I cocked my head, confused, and looked at Noel. She was doing the same, but Nina nodded in confirmation.
Wow, I had no idea.
Anyway, we couldn’t let her go back to her father who tried to sell her, and the food she cooked to thank us for our help was delicious. Plus she could also use magic. It was rare to find someone who was good at casting buffs, which was why I invited her to come with us into the dungeon and she agreed.
So… who was this then? Was that same docile child from before really trying to seduce me right now?
She was standing in front of my door in a bathrobe, glancing at me shyly and saying she came because she wanted to have more confidence in her body. She was peeking up at me, looking like she was about to cry. It seemed she had quite a body complex. Ah man, maybe even the person she’d gone to for advice had told her to come to me.
Which was why I turned her down with all sincerity. I told her there was already someone else who I was interested in, so I wouldn’t be intimate with anyone else. She thankfully understood and then I walked her back to her room.
The person I was interested in was Noel. Since the last time she had invited me, we did it one more time. I didn’t really know if you could call it love though. Our situation was uncertain. Perhaps after this journey ended our relationship would revert back to what it was before.
Still, as of right now, I couldn’t even think of being with anyone else. So, apologies everyone.
Before we could get to the deepest room of the 2nd dungeon, we got transferred back to the main hall. That meant someone got to the star fragment before us, no?
Well, that was fine as long as that person wasn’t Zagan.
Bennett decided to join our party and by March we made it to the 3rd city. From the 11th onward, we went into the dungeon. At first, we were making good progress, but in the middle, we got stuck trying to solve the traps. So I decided to leave the dungeon for a moment. Since it was a riddle that had something to do with constellations, if I went to the library I’d probably find the answer.
And, in the library, I met a woman named Cindy. She worked at the library – a round-glasses-wearing librarian. When I asked her for a book about constellations, she quickly pointed me in the right direction and even handed me one book out of the many that she said she would recommend.
“Don’t tell me, did you memorise all of these books?”
“That’s right. I’ve read most of the books in this library. Is there anything else you would like to ask this onee-san?”
“Really, wouldn’t it be faster just to take this person with us?”
So, after explaining my situation to Cindy and negotiating with her supervisor at the library, I got an ok to take her with me. There weren’t a lot of people who could say no to a request from a prince on official duty.
In order to transfer Cindy back to the safe space with us, Nina and Bennett held onto her arms, and Camilla and Noel hugged her from the front and back. That way Cindy was safely transferred back into the dungeon with us. I was thankful to Miranda for telling us about this trick.
Cindy easily solved the trap. Also, she could use magic and had good fighting abilities as well. With her help, we quickly went through the dungeon. However, in the end, we still got transferred to the main hall midway. Which was a shame, but Cindy agreed to come along with us as long as her salary still got paid, thus becoming our seventh member.
She gave off a calm energy and had big breasts, so there were a lot of men who looked at Cindy sexually. But Cindy herself was a librarian who took her job seriously, so she wouldn’t make those kinds of advances… or so I thought.
“I heard that sex is good for your health. So, Luca-kun, shall we do something nice together?”
What a question to make a man’s heart waver. But after I thoughtlessly agreed, I started feeling bad, thinking of the disgusted look Noel would give me, and my erection wilted.
In the end, I turned Cindy down, citing the same reasons I told Bennett and she went back to her room looking none too concerned.
Haa… I’m tired. Let’s just go to sleep.
Perhaps because only women had joined our party so far, I’d get invitations like that from them in the beginning. After turning them down one time though, we got along well with each other.
When we were in a city, I mostly just trained. Sometimes I’d take a break, go to the adventurers guild and take on a request, or go buy something. When we moved from city to city, I also spent most of my free time training. And, when I was pent up, I’d secretly ask Noel to come to my room or my tent.
Then, in mid-April, as we were going through the 4th dungeon, we ran into someone unexpected. That’s right, it was Zagan.
“Zagan!” Miranda shouted, and he looked back at us annoyed.
“Oh, if it ain’t the weakling prince? Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Yeah… it’s been a while, Zagan.”
Noel and Miranda immediately went into battle mode and the rest, since I’d told them about Zagan beforehand, also got their weapons ready. Zagan glanced at them and smirked.
“Hmm, seems your party got bigger. Looks like this is gonna be fun. Still, even with that many people, you don’t stand a chance against me. Anyway, last time and the time before that too – I already got my hands on the star fragments. Today’s gonna be no different.”
“I… see. Then this time I’ll be the one who… steals the fragment from you!
The moment I pulled out my sword, the girls started moving. Nina dashed forward and rapidly slashed at him with her twin blades. As he blocked her, Zagan tried to fire a spell, but Camilla and Cindy countered it with their own magic.
At the same time, Bennett cast a buff on Noel, Miranda, and me.
As Noel and I approached, Nina took a step back. Bennett probably cast a buff on her as well.
The cooperation between us was perfect. It was 7-vs-1 in our favour. But those odds still didn’t help against Zagan.
We’d defeated a lot of monsters and trained every day, but we still couldn’t keep up with Zagan’s speed. His magic wall was still too strong for us to break.
After a few minutes, Bennett, at the rear, fell, bleeding. Cindy, who tried to heal her, was sent flying. She slammed into a wall and passed out.
Miranda and Noel were hit by a spell at point-blank range and fell as well.
Currently, Nina was desperately trying to protect Camilla while blocking the attacks from Zagan’s dagger. Both Camilla’s magic and my sword, supporting them from behind, were useless.
How is it possible? How can someone be this strong?
In the end, Nina fell with a cry of defeat. Numerous cut marks littered her arms and she’d been stabbed in the stomach as well. Blood spread from where she fell on the ground.
“Two left. I should probably get rid of that brat first. Her magic attacks are pretty strong for a brat though. If I don’t deal with it now, it might bite me in the ass later. What do you say… prince-sama?”
“I won’t let you do that! Slash of Thunder!” I used a sword technique in an attempt to get him away from Camilla.
It was truly aggravating and extremely frustrating that he easily avoided it with a smirk on his face. And at this rate, my friends might die of excessive bleeding, so I had no choice but to keep attacking.
Camilla also attacked with an ice spell, but Zagan avoided it and it stabbed the ground instead.
His body lurched slightly and I took that opportunity, stepping forward to use a sword technique, but at that very moment –
“Huh!?”
With a sudden shake, my body keeled over. It felt like the ground beneath my feet was collapsing. No, it was actually collapsing.
Zagan looked surprised as well, but he soon disappeared from my line of sight. The rattling sound of the floor caving in surrounded me.
“Luca! Noel!” I could hear Camilla’s cry from far away.
Did Noel fall too?
I somehow managed to move my head and found her. She was within arms reach, so I quickly pulled her close to me. A few seconds later, with a loud thud, my back made contact with the ground.
“Gh!”
I’d softened the fall with a magic wall, so I didn’t suffer any major injuries, but it still hurt. I was alive though.
I quickly picked up Noel and moved us somewhere where the debris wouldn’t fall on us.
I took a potion from my bag and drank it. The pain melted away.
Once the cave-in settled, I could hear a voice coming from above.
“Luca, are you alive!”
“Camilla! I’m ok! How are the rest? What about Zagan!?”
“He must have thought you guys were getting a head start on him since you fell, so he ran ahead! I’ll go heal everyone now. When they wake up we’ll come down to you. I don’t know how long that will take but I’ll be as quick about it as possible. I’m leaving Noel to you.”
“Got it! Yell if anything happens!”
I was glad that Zagan had let the girls go, but at the same time, I could feel my frustration rising. Even if the ground hadn’t collapsed, the reality was that we would have lost.
I couldn’t measure up to Zagan yet. And that fact frustrated me the most.
