I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up - Chapter 045

WeTried Translations

Translator: Goku

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up

Chapter 045

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45. Ill-Fitting Shoes (2)

A lazy morning fell even over the forest where light did not reach properly.

The chirping insects lowered their voices, and small animals bowed their heads to avoid predators.

With every breath, pleasantly moist oxygen ventilated the lungs.

“…Hmm.”

“…Mm.”

Sigrun, who had curled up like a cat to sleep, rose, and Altair, who had been sitting with her eyes closed like an Egyptian pharaoh statue, mechanically opened her eyes.

“Good morning.”

“You too, Commander.”

“…Yes.”

When I returned Altair’s morning greeting, she stroked the back of her hand as if the word ‘Commander’ bothered her.

I covered the dying campfire, which had left only bright red ash, with dirt to erase its traces, grabbed the Beast’s Hammer I had set on the ground, stood up, and lightly stretched.

“Huuuh….”

Following that action, Sigrun bent over to flexibly loosen her body, and Altair also clasped her hands together and stretched.

Perhaps because I had slept in an odd position, my left leg was subtly numb, and as I focused on stretching it-

“….”

“…….”

The two women’s persistent gazes seemed to focus on me, sending a chill down my spine.

“Did I talk in my sleep or something?”

Worried that I might have done something strange while asleep, I asked. Sigrun and Altair both vigorously shook their heads as if they had coordinated.

Ignoring the feeling that both of them had caused trouble and were hiding it, I figured out the path to the Altar of Lamentation.

If things went as planned, I could arrive at the altar around early evening today.

Thinking of reuniting with Eirene, whose wounds had healed, at the altar, I set off on the journey again, holding both worry and anticipation.

“Eat this while we walk.”

Sigrun brought a small fruit that looked like a kumquat to my lips. I accepted it obediently and chewed.

“……Pineapple flavor.”

“…? What’s that? Pine…? Apple? What’s an apple?”

“…Just talking to myself.”

At the scent, taste, and texture so similar to pineapple, I muttered without thinking, and Sigrun questioned me.

“A fruit from another continent? The name really rolls off the tongue…”

Just as my shoulders tensed, worried about being found out as from another world, I suddenly realized there was no real reason to hide my origin.

“Pineapple is-”

I explained what kind of fruit a pineapple was, using hand gestures to describe its shape in detail.

A tropical fruit about the size of a human head, with a hard shell divided into hexagonal segments.

“Isn’t that ananas?”

“Huh?”

“The flesh is yellow, right? Am I correct?”

Surprisingly, pineapples existed in this world too.

Only the name felt unfamiliar.

I raised my eyebrows slightly in realization, and Altair, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, naturally chimed in.

“I thought you were the quiet type. But it seems you’re not entirely that, are you?”

Perhaps because I had spoken at length to explain pineapples. She looked at me with an intrigued gaze, as if discovering a new side of me.

Originally, before facing death multiple times, I had a fairly sociable personality.

Until I grew older and naturally drifted apart from friends, I was even a focal point that brought everyone together.

Now, my personality had changed a lot. Instead of answering Altair, I slightly raised the corners of my mouth in an awkward smile.

“…S-sorry.”

Misinterpreting the smile, distorted by my villainous appearance, Altair hastily apologized, thinking she had made a mistake.

“Dean doesn’t like it when you say things like that, you know?”

Sigrun, who hadn’t missed the opening, stuck out her tongue and threw the words she had heard before back at Altair.

The intent of the two women to check each other was transparently felt.

If I had an eye that could see through wily creatures, I felt like fox ears would be twitching on top of Sigrun’s head.

“It was a smile… Was it strange?”

“Hmm? That was a smile?”

“…….”

When I let her know it was a pure smile with no ulterior motives, Altair’s reaction was so innocent that I was a little hurt.

I couldn’t quite remember how to smile, so I tried to approach it analytically.

Raise the corners of the mouth, slightly squint the eyes… Should I tense the cheek muscles?

“…Ugh. Dean, your face looks weird.”

When a bizarre expression formed, each facial muscle in dissonance, Sigrun grimaced and spat out a harsh remark.

“It’s fine! Just being handsome is enough!”

“…There are people who are awkward at showing emotions.”

Then, led by Sigrun, who laughed heartily while patting my back, Altair nodded and wrapped up the conversation on her own.

Thinking I should practice my expressions if I ever find a mirror, I enjoyed the lively atmosphere.

* * *

“He said to wait… But why isn’t he coming…?”

Eirene was in a bad mood.

In truth, she was more dominated by happiness.

Because she had confirmed inside the ice rose that Dean, whom she thought was dead, was alive.

As soon as she recovered, she ran to the Altar of Lamentation and had been waiting for two days straight. Now, with no fingernails left to bite, she was chewing on small pieces of ice.

No matter what the future held, she imagined she could be happy as long as she had Dean.

“…Who are those bitches.”

That is, until she saw the two vixens clinging to Dean in the distance.

Eirene’s once bright eyes were now shaded with cold darkness. At the thought of losing Dean, she immediately rose from her seat.

* * *

《 Checkpoint designated ▶ Altar of Lamentation 》

As I walked while eavesdropping on Sigrun and Altair’s conversation, I soon saw a tower rising above the forest.

Just as I was worrying whether Eirene would be waiting, I saw a snow woman slowly walking in the distance, emitting a faint killing intent.

“………”

Instinctively, I gripped the Beast’s Hammer tightly on my shoulder.

The snow woman in the distance was definitely Eirene, but her atmosphere was far from the Eirene I remembered.

At every step she took, ice roses bloomed with fiercely protruding thorns, creating a grotesque atmosphere.

Sigrun and Altair must have felt the killing intent as well, as they immediately placed their hands on their weapons.

“…Dean.”

At the moment of tense silence, the snow woman called my name.

“Who are those bitches?”

“…….”

“And the yellow one is the bitch who was with the black one, isn’t she?”

The reason Eirene was scattering killing intent was because of Sigrun and Altair.

Jealousy rooted in possessiveness crossed the line and made everyone tense.

“Blue one. You helped Dean, so get lost and I’ll let you live.”

“…Impolite address.”

Altair, whose title was determined by her blue hair, lightly retorted to the provocation.

Sigrun, having nothing particular to say, merely placed her hand on her scabbard.

“…Eirene.”

“Don’t talk back. Just come to my side, Dean. Stop playing around with those bitches.”

“Let’s resolve this through conversation, not fighting.”

“After sharing body heat with me, you’re doing this?”

At Eirene’s words mentioning the past when she shared warmth while naked, the two female knights’ gazes turned to me.

“…Did you?”

“So you did have a woman after all…?”

Eirene snorted at the straightforward Sigrun and the metaphorically roundabout Altair.

“To Dean, you bitches are just extras. I’ve even kissed Dean.”

The atmosphere, which had seemed like they would draw swords and fight at any moment, gradually grew strange.

“Dean. Is that true?”

“…….”

“Why aren’t you denying it?”

Sigrun shone her blue eyes and demanded the truth. Altair showed a hesitant gaze, then seemed disappointed in me.

“What?!”

“Kugh!?”

Just as everyone was demanding the truth from me, Eirene sneakily froze Sigrun and Altair’s feet.

“Stupid bitches. Dean is going to live with me, so get lost now.”

She passed by the struggling women whose feet were bound, took my hand, and walked into the Altar of Lamentation.

“Dean. Close the door.”

“…….”

“Right now.”

At Eirene’s demand for isolation from the world, I felt a constricting pain in my heart but complied with her request.

Kugugugu-

As the heavy sound of the altar door closing rang out and the sunlight gradually began to be blocked,

A hand suddenly thrust through the gap and forced the closing door open.

“Dean is…! No one’s property!!”

“You think I’ll let you do as you please?! Dean hates it!!”

Sigrun and Altair joined forces to open the door.

“Why won’t you just get out!!?”

The moment Eirene began to emit a fierce cold, as if to attack them, I immediately pulled her into my arms and blocked the attack.

“Eirene…. That’s enough….”

Except for the wicked, I didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.

Especially since I felt a special bond with the regressed women, I couldn’t tolerate a future where they were hostile enough to kill each other.

“…You said you had a lot you wanted to tell me, right?”

“…….”

“I’m back. And… I’m sorry.”

As I stroked Eirene’s head, who was still releasing cold due to uncontrollable emotions, my fingers gradually froze, and blood flowed through the broken skin.

“It’s still hard for me to define my own good and evil… But thanks to you, Eirene, I was able to face the existence that is me.”

My whole body gradually froze, and breathing became difficult due to the cold.

“Even when I myself couldn’t forgive myself…”

I forced a low voice to convey the truth I hadn’t been able to share.

“Because it was you, Eirene, who forgave my unforgivable sins before anyone else…”

The frozen skin turned bright red, cracked, and blood flowed down.

Whether most of the skin cells that had rapidly suffered frostbite were destroyed, my whole body stung as if on fire.

The intense cold, severe enough to cover my entire body in frost, stole my life and made my eyes close.

“Haa, haa….”

Breathing out cold breaths, my legs soon gave way.

“…You idiot.”

Ailing Eirene, who had withdrawn her ability and supported me in her arms, stroked my back and answered softly.