WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel ◈

Chapter 17: Anyway, I'll Serve You Like a King (6)

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The academy had been attacked by terrorists.

And in an unexplained attack, even the Head Professor, the Former Magic Tower Master, had gone down.

In an emergency like this, where would I run?

Outside?

It wasn't a bad choice.

Normally, it would be, but this was an academy.

No matter how serious the attack was, unless the Empire's security was about as reliable as an automatic door, there couldn't be that many terrorists who had infiltrated the academy.

On top of that, the enemies had paralyzed everyone inside with some unknown attack. Staying in the building meant risking the same fate.

So avoiding the enemies and trying to join up with the other students wasn't a bad option.

But unlike me, every member of the romance-fantasy crew was important.

And despite paralyzing everyone inside, the enemies hadn't come rushing in.

Maybe whatever had incapacitated the people inside was dangerous to the enemies too. Or maybe they had set a trap and were waiting for people to emerge.

If the enemies weren't coming, hiding inside rather than needlessly drawing attention wasn't a bad choice either.

Then where should we hide?

Up high, obviously.

We could set traps and obstacles on every staircase leading up, so we'd know if anyone approached.

If things got bad, we could escape through a window.

Of course, enemies could fly in through the windows too, but if they made a move that flashy, we'd spot them.

Even if we ran into an enemy, we only needed to buy time and let others know where we were.

So anywhere but the basement, where encountering an enemy would leave us trapped.

Which was why I went to the basement.

“Just as expected of Adam!”

Why the hell were these bastards here?

“When you're hiding, you head underground.”

That was a lie.

If the enemy blew up the entire building as a last resort, we'd be buried alive in the basement with no way to escape.

Sure, this was a fantasy world, so people said you could survive with magic even if you were trapped underground.

But if you had enough mana for that, it would be more efficient to jump off the roof.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

They seemed pretty flustered and gave me a lot of unnecessary details, but the summary was simple.

They had suddenly been attacked, but the professors had overwhelmingly defeated the attackers and driven them away.

The professors had gone after the fleeing enemies, while the teaching assistants, including the Head Professor, protected the students.

Then the ground suddenly shook, and everyone, including the Head Professor, collapsed one after another.

The strange part was this.

“The Head Professor fell first?”

“Yeah. Professor McGregor was the first one to collapse.”

The Former Magic Tower Master had been the first to fall.

Was it something that affected stronger people more severely?

Someone who had earned the title of Grand Mage wouldn't go down easily. There had to be something especially deadly to mages involved.

“So what is it?”

And I didn't know magic.

It wasn't just me. Everyone from the Leon Kingdom was about the same.

Some people would work hard to solve a problem they didn't understand on their own.

I was the type to look up the answer sheet immediately.

So I discreetly approached Violet, the person who should know everything about this, and asked her.

“What? Why?”

Her response was cold.

Ah, right. I'd flipped her off earlier, hadn't I?

“It's an emergency. Share what you know.”

In a situation like this, shouldn't we at least be able to share information if we wanted to survive together?

“I know. It's fine. Nobody else gets hurt here anyway.”

What came back wasn't information, but a spoiler about the future.

Wait a second. Her expression didn't look good for someone saying that.

How should I put it?

It looked like the expression Lucia had whenever Princess Hestia came looking for her.

“Then what about you?”

She had said everyone else would be fine, but it didn't feel like she had included herself in that.

“I'm supposed to get a hole punched through my stomach.”

“Are you insane?”

If the future involved a hole in your gut, you should be trying to change it.

She was planning to get a hole punched through her stomach just because the original story said so.

“It's important.”

“My body is the most important thing to me.”

“Exactly. It's my body. It has nothing to do with you.”

That was true, but still.

At this point, I couldn't help wondering.

No matter how much she loved the original story, this was an unhealthy obsession.

Even the author would avoid getting a hole punched through their stomach if they were in danger.

She wasn't just an avid reader. She had cursed out the latest developments before getting Possessed, yet she was obsessed with the original story to an absurd degree.

As if something were chasing her.

“So what do you get in exchange for a hole in your gut?”

“The Saintess's awakening.”

“Oh, it's an awakening flag?”

“Yeah. And they patch me back up afterward. Just watch.”

As expected of the romance-fantasy heroine's friend.

For the heroine's awakening, she had to get a hole punched through her stomach!

“Does that make any sense?”

Even if it led to an awakening, even if she would be healed afterward, she was offering up her own stomach.

“I'm going to change things after this.”

“Why not start changing things now?”

“I can't.”

Her answer was so firm that I frowned.

“You think I'll let that happen?”

Unfortunately, I didn't care about the original story or anything else.

She might want a hole punched through her stomach, but I had no intention of watching it happen.

It wasn't because I felt any kinship from sharing the same previous-life world. I just didn't want to watch anyone get a hole punched through them right in front of me.

Prince Ellen and I were here, and so was the Little Sword Emperor, even if he was a little weak.

We also had mage lackeys to support us. With this much firepower, we could handle most enemies.

“It will, though.”

Even though Violet should have known that, her voice was filled with certainty.

“Really?”

“It's this part's boss. An unbeatable character who appears early on.”

“……”

That kind of pattern popped up sometimes.

A late-game boss appeared early to teach the protagonist's party about defeat.

They weren't quite the final boss, yet they showed up before the protagonists had grown and kept showing up at every critical moment.

Then, once they were finally defeated, the actual final boss went down far more easily than expected.

Looking at the story as a whole, they were an enemy even more troublesome than the final boss.

“The Mage Killer, Silence.”

“Just hearing the name makes him sound fucking strong.”

The moment Violet mentioned that name, a loud thud rang out and dust flew through the air.

“Ugh, look at all this dust. Why would you hide in a place like this?”

The instant a man who looked like a relative of the Flower Arrangement Club president emerged through the smoke, I lashed out with my sword without hesitation.

* * *

Clang! Clang!

My ears reacted before my eyes did.

The man who had been whispering beside me moments ago was already at the front line, swinging his sword.

Adam Smith.

He probably hadn't meant to, but his movements brought to mind his famous nickname, the invisible hand.

After all, the only people who had moved the instant the enemy appeared were Adam and Ellen.

“Young people these days are frightening. You see someone and start swinging swords right away.”

Their surprise attack was meaningless, though.

There was that much of a gap between them.

The Mage Killer, Silence.

A monster with an absolute advantage over mages, who could overwhelm knights in close combat as well.

The only person in this academy who could defeat him alone was the Sword Emperor.

But according to the story, he would be unable to move right now.

“I prepared so carefully, yet I was wondering if anyone would still be able to move. Well, isn't this something?”

A red eye gleamed through his narrow gaze.

The Mana-Sealing Evil Eye.

It suppressed not only its wielder's mana, but also their opponents', making it a counter to mages and knights who depended on mana alike.

“Urgh.”

“What is this?”

Ellen frowned, while Adam cursed.

In a fantasy world where mana was everything, knights were crippled when it was taken away from them.

Of course, they didn't become ordinary people like mages did.

Silence also lacked mana under these conditions, but there was an unavoidable difference between someone accustomed to using it freely and someone who had always fought under restrictions.

“Oh?”

Even under those circumstances, Ellen's talent was enough to surprise Silence.

“Young people these days really are frightening.”

Then what did that make Adam, who was keeping up with Ellen?

He had said he had worked incredibly hard, and now I could see a glimpse of it.

But then...

“Argh!”

“Asran!”

“Don't worry about me. Keep fighting.”

Even with the Little Sword Emperor joining the fight, making three of them, Silence wasn't being pushed back.

No, he was defeating people who would become the greatest swordsmen in the world.

Everyone here would need to rush him for there to be any chance, but the barrier Silence had prepared made those with more mana lose consciousness faster.

Prince Essid, blessed with immense innate mana through his imperial bloodline and raised on even more mana-enhancing elixirs, was already crawling across the floor.

Gerard was the same. He had received mana-enhancing elixirs to deal with all kinds of magical beasts and Demonkin, on top of his innate mana.

There was no need to mention Arwen, the prince of Dale.

I was no different.

My mind was slowly growing faint.

Still, there was something I had to do.

Going by mana alone, the three fighting in front of me should have already lost consciousness too.

The reason they could still move was likely Daisy, unconsciously suppressing Silence's barrier.

The power that had been protecting everyone was now focused on the strongest fighters.

That was why they could fight.

“Hmm.”

Silence noticed it too.

The reason he could give off an aura close to invincibility was the sorcery that imposed all kinds of restrictions.

He hid his expression behind a smile, but he had to be fairly flustered too.

That was why he blocked the three sword strikes flying at him, counterattacked, and waited for his chance to achieve his purpose.

“The existence known as the Saintess is more troublesome than I'd heard.”

Click.

His sword swung.

It was normally too far away to reach.

Yet the blade unfurled in rippling segments and stretched gracefully toward Daisy.

The Snake-Belly Sword.

With mana suppressed, it moved slowly enough for our eyes to follow.

But a sharp viper's fang shot toward its target, waiting for its one chance.

My role was to take that hit instead and collapse.

This was a fate I couldn't avoid.

Daisy awakening as the Saintess here and growing stronger was the true beginning of the novel.

I could avoid everything else, but I couldn't avoid this.

After graduation, the story became an endless descent into misery.

And the beginning of that misery was the death of Violet, Daisy's childhood friend.

If I couldn't get things started here, I was doomed to die anyway.

No matter how much Prince Ellen, one of the strongest people in this world, might grow because of Adam's presence, I knew they couldn't achieve a happy ending.

The core of the story was the Saintess, after all.

Since this was a romance fantasy, the heroine's power was what mattered most.

“Daisy!”

So I gritted my teeth and threw myself toward the Snake-Belly Sword flying at Daisy.

It would hurt, wouldn't it? It would hurt. If it struck the wrong place, I would die on the spot.

So I tried to avoid the more dangerous organs and make sure only my side was pierced, like in the original story.

As I hurled myself forward, I met Daisy's eyes.

Her already large eyes widened even further.

Honestly, I had told that bastard Adam it was because of the original story.

But at this moment, I also wanted to do this for Daisy.

I had resented her so much while reading the novel, but after spending time with her, she had become someone truly precious to me.

Those male lead bastards... She was far too good to end up with those worthless husks.

I wanted her to walk only on a flower-strewn path, but I knew this damned world had laid out a path of flames for her.

I had tried to put out those flames, even if only a little.

...But I think I tried a little too hard.

“?”

Whoosh.

The body I had thrown toward Daisy was sent flying back.

Using the self-defense techniques I had worked so hard to teach her, Daisy lightly pushed me aside.

“Huh?”

Startled, I looked over to see Daisy smiling with sad eyes.

“You can't do that.”

No, I could.

This was how it was supposed to happen.

Before I could shout that, blood burst from Daisy's body.

Author’s Note

There was an accident.

I'm using a program called Novela, and it saves through the web.

So I switch between my computer and laptop while working, but it seems that if both are open and I write on one, it doesn't automatically save to the other. It just keeps the old version.

This time, I had almost finished on my main computer and saved it, but I had left the laptop open with a version that had less than four hundred characters written...

Then I habitually pressed Ctrl+S there, and it overwrote everything.

It seems like it would make working outside easier if I use it well, so I'm practicing with it, but it still feels awkward.

Footnotes:

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