WeTried Translations

Translator: Goku

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◈ I Became a Villain Perfect for Leveling Up

Chapter 046

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46. Ill-Fitting Shoes (3)

After being resurrected while receiving Eirene’s lap pillow.

The signal was fired for a life filled with precarious power struggles.

Eirene, trying to cling to me and never let go. Altair, uncomfortable with her. And Sigrun, awkwardly caught in the middle.

The relationship, so prone to sparks that it seemed impossible to coexist in the same space, showed no signs of improving.

I wanted to arrange a place for them to build a bond, but the fierce atmosphere left no room for that.

“…Haa.”

Escaping from the three women trying to hold onto me by any means, the first thing I did upon going out for a walk for the first time in a while was lean against a tree and sigh.

Having many people meant gaining power, but I never realized it could also drain my power.

“…….”

Worried that the precarious balance might collapse and cause an accident one day, I thought about setting out on a journey soon, even if I had to pick a day.

Whether they liked it or not, if they had each other's backs, at least the power struggles would significantly decrease.

Staring blankly, I peeled off the outer bark of the tree with my fingers, revealing the pure white flesh. As the fallen bark settled on my shoes, thoughts of Carmen suddenly came to mind.

“…When will she come?”

It’s already been a month since I gave her the ill-fitting shoes… Now it’s been even longer.

The plan to tell her she wasn’t alone is gradually fading like steam on a window, but I’m still waiting for the moment of reunion.

“…I should look for her.”

Given that enough time had passed for Carmen to find me with Far Sight and her initiative, I started planning to go find her myself, even if it seemed unlikely.

“Where… is Carmen…?”

But just fastening the first button was a huge problem.

“…Resonance? No… I can’t enter there without me.”

The possibility of her returning to Resonance to meet her father couldn’t be ignored, but since she didn’t have the qualifications to enter, the probability was low.

“……I’ll have to make inquiries.”

Since I hadn’t been able to meet her after she escaped through the shortcut in the Abyss, I decided it would be best to start searching for her traces in Pesoniac, the city connected to the shortcut.

For some reason, it felt like she might be watching me with Far Sight, so I hurried back to the altar.

“…Pink hair and bright red eyes? Hmm…”

Since the Valkyrie Knights were stationed in Pesoniac, I asked Sigrun as soon as I returned if she had seen Carmen.

Because the time when Carmen escaped through the shortcut closely overlapped with the time when Sigrun was taken hostage by Dina.

“……Oh. Yeah, there was.”

“Do you remember where she went?”

“After I treated her broken arm, I don’t really know…”

Sigrun had treated Carmen, but unfortunately, she didn’t know her subsequent whereabouts.

“…That’s a relief.”

Still, knowing she had successfully escaped through the shortcut put my mind at ease.

Now that the first button was fastened, what remained was inferring where she had gone.

“The Bastille Prison…”

The location where I first met Carmen in the game came to mind.

The sight of her dying, bound in chains with all the ligaments in her limbs severed, flashed before my eyes.

“…………….”

Surely, the probability that she was trapped there was close to zero percent. Why was I so concerned about it?

“…Sigrun. Call everyone.”

“Huh? Okay.”

I gathered everyone at the altar for a meeting.

….

“There’s someone I need to save.”

“Who are you saving?”

“Carmen.”

As I revealed the purpose and started the meeting, Altair, a former knight commander, seemed to know something and rested her chin on her hand as she questioned me.

“Carmen…? Isn’t she the young lady of a family that insulted the Emperor?”

The fact that she had insulted the Emperor made my breath catch.

Was that why Fist King Theodore was imprisoned in the Abyss, and the captured Carmen ended up being treated that way?

“I don’t know why Dean is looking for Carmen… But if you’re planning to rescue her, it’s better to give up.”

“Yeah. I agree with that too.”

Sigrun agreed with Altair’s words.

“If Dean goes out to rescue Carmen, Dean will also become a criminal who insulted the Emperor.”

…The Emperor.

The boss I clearly remember due to the grotesque design of crawling in the posture of a deer with his own severed neck placed in a chalice.

Soon, Eirene, who held my hand low and clasped it in both of hers, directly opposed it.

“That bitch Carmen… Do you really have to go find her?”

The story that Carmen was imprisoned in the Bastille was closer to speculation than certainty.

All I could call evidence was just my memory from the 1st Playthrough.

“Haven’t you got enough women with the blue one and the yellow one…?”

Eirene couldn’t accept Sigrun and Altair, but she tried to oppose the journey even by appealing that she was making an effort to accept them somehow.

“I’m sorry. I can’t give up on Carmen.”

“…Fine.”

Hearing my firm answer, she couldn’t force it any further and backed down.

“Dean, this journey is truly insane.”

“I know.”

“…Are you really going?”

“Yes. I have something I need to get back from Carmen.”

Altair, who had tried to persuade me one last time, fell silent when she met my determined eyes.

“If you antagonize the Emperor… Dean, you’ll be a fugitive for life. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine. I’m used to being a fugitive.”

Sigrun, who had frankly told me the future to come, grabbed my shoulder.

Then, at my affirmative answer, she let out a small laugh, wearing both a playful and serious expression at the same time.

“The only way for Dean not to become a fugitive… is for Dean to become the Emperor.”

“…Wait?! Sigrun, what on earth are you saying!”

“Why? It’s not wrong, is it? Dynastic usurpation has happened naturally hundreds of times in history?”

At the words mixed with seriousness about me becoming the Emperor, the moment I encountered Fist King Theodore in the Abyss came to mind.

‘-King.’

He had referred to me with the word king.

At the ending point of the game, the player becomes king and god, so it was a very meaningful line to hear now, in the 2nd Playthrough where the world had reset.

“Since the Emperor can take as many wives as he wants, if Dean becomes Emperor, there’s no reason for us to fight either.”

At Sigrun’s voice breaking my thoughts, Altair’s expression grew extremely serious.

“…In the current situation, where the nobles and the Emperor’s blood relatives are at odds with each other… Dean becoming Emperor isn’t an impossible story.”

The absurd story, which started abruptly, built a core and became a plausible plan.

I wasn’t very interested in power and fame. I only wanted to cultivate the Altar of Lamentation into a livable place and live quietly.

But… if I lived quietly like this, destruction would eventually await.

I didn’t want everyone by my side to experience the same despair.

Because it was enough for me alone to suffer from it.

“I’ll rescue Carmen by myself, so please guard me after I join up.”

For the journey to rescue Carmen, I decided to move separately from them.

Taking them all the way to the prison was a huge risk.

Unlike me, who could resurrect even after dying thousands of times, their lives were not infinite.

Even if we moved together, it would be several times more stable to join up after rescuing Carmen.

“…Do you have a plan if you fail?”

Altair asked if there was a Plan B.

“No.”

But I had only prepared Plan A, based on the premise that I would absolutely succeed.

Altair replied with a firm voice, as if a reckless plan wouldn’t do.

“Even if you have the ability to resurrect, there are many ways to deal with it. Lying in wait at the resurrection point, or capturing you so you can’t resurrect.”

Sigrun seemed to agree with that statement, giving me a look that suggested it would be better to revise the current plan.

“It would be wise to set a reasonable Plan B for when you fail…”

“…If I fail, I’ll just smash everything.”

In the midst of Altair slowly pressuring me, Eirene, who had cut off the words, created an ice rose in her hand with a cold gaze.

“The ones blocking Dean’s path… I’ll turn them all into snowmen.”

The power they currently possessed was at a level unsuitable for the 2nd Playthrough. Knowing that well, Eirene planted an ice rose on the floor and turned it into a snowflower.

“You, blue one, you regressed too, so why are you like that? Weren’t you on the same boat as Dean?”

Eirene, creating sharp icicles and aiming them at Altair, her killing intent dominated the atmosphere.

“Don’t talk back to Dean like that. Or are you trying to block Dean’s path too?”

“I have no intention of doing that. I just don’t want Dean to fall into danger.”

Eirene blocked her, but Altair’s words were reasonable.

The risk of an enemy seeing through my resurrection and starting to counter it could never be ignored.

Now that my level was over 70, the risk from Addicted to Defeat had also grown greater.

I grabbed the icicle Eirene was extending with my hand, then broke the silence and opened my mouth.

“I don’t intend to die recklessly. I’ll make sure to escape as soon as it gets dangerous.”

Apart from being quite dull to the fear of death, my judgment wasn’t clouded enough to waste my life.

“If Dean fails, we’ll go rescue you.”

“I’ll trust that. However, if you don’t come out of the prison, know that I will go to rescue you, just as Eirene said.”

Through a convincing persuasion, I succeeded in getting permission from Altair.

The fact that Eirene had used the word ‘we’ for the first time was also noteworthy.

“Hey. Yellow one, aren’t you going to say anything?”

“Huh? I’m not good at this kind of strategy meeting thing.”

“…Tch.”

Eirene, who seemed uncomfortable with Sigrun filling the seat without any opinion at the meeting, didn’t pick a fight beyond that, apparently quite liking the idea of making me Emperor.

“When do you plan to execute the plan, Dean?”

“I’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Then stop by Aquilian before that.”

“…Yes?”

“Surely you’re not planning to enter the prison wearing only those clothes?”

Hearing Altair’s words, I looked down at my attire and saw the worn-out training uniform of the Aquila Knights.

Indeed, with my current outfit, even a light graze from a sharp sword could cause serious injury.

“The armor I entrusted to the blacksmith should be finished. Let’s go pick it up.”

Altair, who hadn’t forgotten that I had ordered armor after joining the knights, stirred warm feelings in me.

“…We’re going now?”

“If departure is tomorrow, there’s no time to waste.”

As I followed Altair, who stood up to return to Aquilian for the first time in a while, Sigrun and Eirene naturally joined the party.

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