Chapter 11
I was so startled that I didn’t even think to spread my wings when I caught the snake flying toward me.
The snake that landed on my palm quickly steadied itself and lifted its head. Its excited tail stood stiff.
Irix launched himself forward. Thud—his fist snapped one of the gang members’ heads back.
What followed happened in an instant.
Irix’s fist smashed into another man’s head. The man flew back as if struck by a hammer. Irix kicked the next one.
Wham—
With a refreshing sound, the man’s body slammed into the corner of the cabin. Chairs and tables shoved along with him toppled over in a clatter.
Thud, crash, ugh—
The intruders were all down in no time.
Such an overwhelming scene had unfolded so suddenly that I could only blink, while the snake trembled its tail and hissed.
“You fight well, Irix.”
As expected—he really was the future hidden villain.
“There’s no need to keep calling my name so carefully.”
Irix said this as he kicked the last man away.
“Then what should I call you?”
“…Rix.”
Did he just tell me to use a nickname?
“Call me Rix from now on.”
I got a little closer to the hidden villain.
Right—there’s no need to get close to a duke’s son, but the future hidden villain is a connection worth keeping.
“Got it. I’ll call you Rix. Then you can call me Ina.”
“How does that become a nickname in Elphine?”
“You don’t need to know. Everyone close to me calls me that.”
“I don’t like it. It feels like we’re getting too close.”
“….”
You’re the one who closed the distance first.
“Fine, I get it. Let’s keep our distance. Public distance is about this much, private distance is this much.”
I spread both my arms as wide as I could. Looking at that vast span, Irix said,
“Why do you give up so easily?”
“Because it’s not worth the effort?”
“That’s not how people should be.”
“….”
I was being scolded about human decency by the future world-destroying villain.
How did my life end up like this…?
Well, it all started when I entered another world—and when I learned that world was on the brink of destruction.
I looked around at the fallen men.
My life going downhill is my problem, but the fact that Irix beat them is still impressive. Very impressive.
Come to think of it, the hidden-villain Irix was pretty good at fighting, too. Knights had challenged him before, and he’d beaten them all.
I looked at Irix. His straight back wrapped in a shirt, his solid shoulders. His strong, straight arms.
I’d thought he was just lean, but he had substance. He must train hard.
Right. If you’re going to do something as exhausting as destroying the world, you need a strong body. Though it would’ve been better if he were just strong, period.
“Did you learn how to fight?”
“Of course. I have to be able to protect myself.”
“I heard you dealt with several kidnapping attempts on your own.”
“Don’t be sarcastic.”
Ouch. That stung.
Why is he so prickly?
“I wasn’t being sarcastic.”
“You’re saying my father abandoned me, so I had to handle it myself. I know that’s what all the legions think, and it’s true—but don’t say it like that.”
So even the legions supported by his father knew their relationship was bad—and made it obvious.
That’s not good. It means the dependents are acting way too bold toward the legitimate son.
What are they planning to do when the son inherits the house? No matter how bad the relationship is, a son is still a son.
Then again… later he becomes the hidden villain and destroys his father and the entire house, so it doesn’t matter. Irix erased both the world and his family.
“Then I won’t praise you anymore.”
“Why are you being sarcastic again?”
“….”
Isn’t it you who hears everything as sarcasm?
“I’m saying, if you’re going to praise me, just praise me.”
Ah. He wants praise clean and simple—no commentary attached. Even praise has to be delivered his way?
“Why are you sighing?”
“I just took a deep breath.”
“No, that was a sigh.”
“Sigh or inhale, it’s my business. Now be quiet. I have something to do.”
I struck the shoulder of the man who looked the least injured.
Relatively speaking.
“Uaaagh!”
He screamed.
Looks like his arm bone cracked.
Oof. That must hurt. What a shame.
Still, compared to being beaten by the world-ending villain, this is nothing. A few years from now, everyone who challenged him ended up dead.
“So, why did you come here?”
The man didn’t answer, and I knew exactly what to do in situations like this. I kicked him onto his back, then kicked him again.
He screamed even louder.
“Uaaaaaah!”
Irix said in shock,
“Why are you being so cruel? He’s injured.”
“….”
Being called cruel by a future world-destroyer really makes me feel like garbage. And you’re the one who injured him.
Sure, it’s their fault for coming here in the first place—but if you stick your fist into a crocodile’s mouth and get bitten, that’s on you.
I spoke to the trembling man.
“Hey, kid.”
Both Irix and the man looked dumbfounded.
I get it. To them, I’m just a nineteen-year-old girl.
“Talk before it hurts more. Why did you come here?”
I lifted my foot again, and the man hurriedly shouted,
“W-we were trying to kidnap the prime minister’s son!”
“I know that already. You said so earlier. Fine—since you don’t seem to understand, I’ll give you an example.”
I raised one finger.
“First, you planned to kidnap Irix and demand ransom from the prime minister.”
Before the man could answer, I continued.
“But that’s not it, right? If you did that, your own bounty would skyrocket faster than you could get Irix’s ransom.”
The man stared at me, mouth open. His expression said, Then why ask?
How ridiculous—criminals trying to be picky about questions.
“The prime minister is the kind of person who offers a reward to whoever captures the kidnappers, not someone who prepares ransom.”
Once, while traveling, Irix had been kidnapped by armed robbers. The duke placed a bounty on the criminals—about ten times the ransom they demanded. Dead or alive, even just parts of the body, as long as they could be identified.
Naturally, the criminals turned on each other. After a bloody fight, only one remained. He came carrying the heads and limbs of his comrades—and died on the way.
No one knows who killed him, but who cares? Everyone knows it was the duke behind it. Even if it wasn’t, if everyone believes it was, that’s the end of it.
That story must be well known among criminals, which means their target for ransom was someone else.
Someone less rich than the prime minister, but more likely to pay easily.
“If you don’t tell the truth—”
I pointed at the snake, which had somehow returned to my shoulder.
“It’ll bite you.”
Irix stepped back. Hey, you’re not the one getting bitten.
The men stared blankly at the snake, then suddenly started shouting.
“W-we’ll talk! But we don’t know!”
“Argh, talk! I said I don’t know!”
“I don’t really know either!”
“We were going to get paid by someone from the Raugina Order!”
Finally—something useful.
The man who said it hurried on,
“It’s true! We were just going to take the money and be done!”
“Yes! And then we’d cross over to the Mavellion Republic right away!”
Not very useful.
“There’s someone waiting for us in the Mavellion Republic!”
Even less useful.
“He told us the duke’s son was here and said to grab him quickly before the Order found out!”
Now that was useful.
“Who was it?”
“Uh, well… th-that is…”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the dead man. Ah. So he was the one with the information.
I looked at Irix. He said flatly,
“I don’t know how to revive the dead.”
“That’s disappointing.”
So you went around killing people without being able to save anyone.
“Do you know anyone in the Mavellion Republic, Rix?”
“I’ve seen diplomats a few times, but I’ve never met any civilians. And think about it logically—why would someone from Mavellion have business with me? It’d be with my father.”
Right. Irix was fully prepared to blame every bad thing that happened to him on his father.
“Let’s go to my room.”
Irix tilted his head back, let out a long sigh, and continued,
“A legion my father sent will come there.”
He looked at me.
“I hope they’re more useful than you, senior.”
I told you, I’m not a legion.
…Though I can’t be completely sure.
“And I hope there aren’t any venomous snakes.”
Since it really was a venomous snake, let’s just let that one slide.
