I Picked Up the Protagonist’s Heroine - Chapter 16

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Dionysus

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Picked Up the Protagonist’s Heroine ◈

Chapter 16: We're Going to Rob a Safe

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Slice!

Laward slashed diagonally through a Houndry member’s shoulder.

It was a strike without hesitation.

Blood spouted like a fountain and splashed across Laward’s face, but Laward did not even think of wiping away that red baptism.

The sword Laward held was a cheap longsword handed out by the Academy for general use.

Since Laward’s department and name were engraved on its hilt, Laward had wrapped it tightly in bandages to hide them.

A crude, unremarkable sword.

Even so, it was enough to cut flesh and sever bone.

Hummm.

Light soon gathered around Laward’s sword.

A vivid red glow settled along the edge of the blade.

The edge.

Only the sharpened part of the blade.

‘Can Laward still not draw out enough holy power to fill the entire blade?’

Watching from a rooftop, Daywin moved a hand to his chin.

‘Even so, coating only the edge in a thin layer is clever.’

Laward knew his limits clearly and made the best possible choice.

‘I’m beginning to like them.’

Whoosh!

Laward adjusted their grip and rushed toward a Houndry member.

Laward deflected the spearpoint flying at him as though letting it slide past, then accelerated.

Laward instantly identified the spear’s blind spot and slipped into the opening.

Lowering his body, Laward moved in.

Swish!

Laward slashed upward and struck the enemy’s neck.

The enemy’s head flew through the air in an arc.

‘...But the enemy is quick to react as well.’

While Laward dealt with the lead enemy, other Houndry members surrounded Laward.

The moment Laward noticed an enemy behind him, one of them swung a sword.

Crackle.

Light appeared in Laward’s hand.

Daywin knew what spell Laward was preparing from the instant the light began to form.

A low-level spell that knocked back nearby enemies.

It was an F-rank holy spell, learned as a basic technique for paladins.

Daywin had taught it to Laward before he entered the Academy.

It was considered a basic technique because it could affect enemies without touching them, but F-rank magic had obvious limits.

In short, it was weak.

‘Even against an ordinary person, all it can do is knock them unconscious.’

The enemy behind him was already too close to target directly, yet Laward aimed at the empty space to his right and activated the Stunning Spell.

His stance was even unstable.

If he fired it without balance, the recoil would shove him away.

Or...

‘Perhaps using the recoil was the point from the start.’

Thump!

Laward flew left, opposite the direction in which he had fired the Stunning Spell, and landed safely.

Judging that Laward could not block the sword swung at his back, Laward had turned the high-recoil spell to his advantage.

Laward used it like a booster.

“Huh.”

Daywin had not taught Laward that.

That was entirely Laward’s own instinct.

While the enemy who had made a large swing stiffened, Laward closed the distance in an instant and thrust in his sword.

“Guh!”

The remaining enemies filled Laward’s flanks.

Thump!

Once again, Laward used the Stunning Spell.

Forced by the spell fired opposite his direction of movement, Laward made a sharp turn.

That had been his intention from the start.

Laward added rotational force and slashed.

Slice!

Drawing a semicircle, he severed two men at the waist in one stroke.

A flash strengthened by rotation.

The blade, glowing as though heated in fire, split the enemies in half.

Laward regained his balance and looked at the last one.

The moment both his feet landed on the ground.

Thump! Thump!

Laward cast the Stunning Spell in succession, moving left and right. Dodging the enemy’s sword in a zigzag, Laward cut through the enemy’s waist.

Dark red blood ran down the blade and soaked the hilt.

Blink, blink.

Laward’s halo flickered again.

It was still faint and unstable.

Its light called to mind a dying bulb.

Whether Laward had failed to notice the ring above his head or not, Laward focused only on the enemies before him.

The Houndry members died helplessly under Laward’s purification.

It was becoming difficult to tell who the evil one was.

“Ah... a demon...”

“S-Someone do something about that!”

Not only Houndry’s members, but even the marquess’s soldiers were appalled by Laward’s movements.

Marquess Fred’s mouth hung open. He could not even make a sound.

‘Daywin Hasgard...’

Only moments ago, Marquess Fred had regarded Laward as nothing but a child, but immediately changed attitude.

‘Daywin Hasgard commands something like that as one of their limbs...’

The screams Laward elicited continued.

Meanwhile, I slipped into Houndry’s hideout.

As expected, the corridor was empty.

Carelessly enough, every Houndry member had gone out to catch Laward.

The screams and clashing metal from outside only emphasized the silence here.

It had been quite a while since I played the game, but once I entered the hideout, I vaguely remembered its layout.

The innermost room on the second floor.

Karma’s room.

Creak.

It did not suit the nickname, ruler of the pleasure district.

It was a room so plain that it was nearly crude.

An old desk with peeling paint.

A faded gray carpet.

There was not a single decoration on the walls, only a few lonely candlesticks.

Did Karma shove every bit of money they made into the safe?

“That works for me.”

Because from now on, I was going to rob that safe.

I approached the plain wall behind the desk, where nothing hung.

I knew there was a hidden mechanism in the wall, but honestly, I could not remember exactly where to press.

For times like this, there was only one thing to use.

Flash!

I summoned a spirit.

The first buff I gave it enhanced detection ability.

The same spell I had used against Karma.

Hummm.

After the spell took effect, the spirit circled one particular brick like a bee hovering over a flower.

Here.

When I pressed it, the bricks shifted with a clunk.

“Just as expected.”

A large safe appeared inside the hidden space.

Click.

I inserted the key I had brought in my pocket and turned it. With a heavy sound, the safe door slowly opened.

The inside of the safe was the complete opposite of the barren room.

It glittered brilliantly.

Gold bars, gathered by Karma while ruling the nights of District 6, were piled up in neat stacks.

That solved the funding problem for tracking down the Death God Cult.

Beside the gold bars was a large collection of organized documents.

Ledgers and lists.

A list of clients who had commissioned Houndry for dirty work, and weaknesses I could use as a leash after taking control of the organization.

I also caught sight of scraps of paper that looked as though they had been handled roughly, entirely unlike the neat documents, but I would investigate those later.

I was not finished here yet.

“There was definitely... a double mechanism in this safe.”

In the game, I lacked the stats to unlock it, but now it should be possible.

There was one condition.

The player, in other words Laward, needed an [Intelligence] stat above a certain level.

With high [Intelligence], Laward could sense the faint mana circuits running through the safe and find the hidden button.

High-Intelligence Laward.

An additional reward obtainable only by taking Laward down the mage route.

The problem was that I, too, was a paladin specialized entirely in [Divinity], far removed from the [Intelligence] stat.

“But that doesn’t mean there’s no way.”

Whoosh.

When I held out my hand and summoned a spirit, a light spirit circled around me.

I added a new spell to the spirit.

[Intelligence] Stat Increase.

Four stacks.

Stat-raising buffs were not primary buffs because they had a duration, but they were useful at times like this.

Click.

The bottom of the safe that the spirit touched rose with a cheerful sound.

“At last, I get to take this.”

I opened the velvet box hidden beneath the safe.

Inside was a ring set with a square-cut black gem.

Beside it lay an envelope as black as the gem.

I opened the black envelope first and immediately recognized the Death God Cult as the sender.

A request letter the Death God Cult had sent to Karma.

I had not even known they were active at this point in my previous life, but now I had caught their trail.

Rustle.

Next, I picked up the ring.

Ring of Disguise

The moment I picked it up, a message window appeared before me.

A ring that twists the user’s mana wavelength to transform their appearance. It is the unique item of Karma, who leads Houndry. Unlike illusion magic, it can deceive even detection spells.

An item that made disguises possible.

It certainly felt like the sort of thing a criminal guild’s boss would use.

With this, I could be an Academy sponsor during the day and Karma at night. I would be able to keep them perfectly separate.

...It was about time to head into the alley.

I wanted to examine everything in the safe carefully, but the time I had promised Laward was approaching.

For now, I took only the ring, the letter, and the ledger, then closed the safe.

I could not move the gold bars immediately, and I would be returning to this room anyway.

When I came back, I would not need to sneak in.

* * *

Lucia tightly held one younger sibling’s hand in each of hers.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

“Big sister, I’m scared...”

“Don’t look back. Just look ahead and run.”

District 6 was in chaos.

Houndry members ran screaming, while the marquess’s soldiers chased after them.

Acrid smoke and the stench of blood filled the streets.

‘As long as we get out of the pleasure district...’

Lucia rounded the corner of an alley, breathing hard.

That was when it happened.

“Ah...?”

A familiar silhouette entered her view, and she stopped.

Though Daywin wore a hood, the glimpse of red eyes seemed to have the name Daywin Hasgard written across them.

‘Why is Daywin here...?’

Then Lucia’s gaze shifted toward the alley where Laward was rampaging.

“Argh!”

“S-Save me!”

Laward, his sword hilt wrapped in bandages, was butchering Houndry members.

‘Laward, was it?’

She did not know why the junior from the Swordsmanship Department who had entered the Academy at the top of his class had become a murderer.

She did not know why he stood with the marquess and cut down her comrades, or who was in the right.

Only one thing was certain.

‘Daywin is in danger.’

Daywin, who was on Houndry’s side, might get caught up in this.

That murderer was approaching Daywin.

‘I have to stop him.’

Daywin appeared defenseless.

Meanwhile, Laward radiated a chilling presence that surpassed even Karma’s from before.

“Big sister?”

When Lucia’s younger sibling tugged at her clothes with a trembling voice, she bit her lip.

Daywin was strong.

Daywin would survive on his own.

Her priority now was getting her siblings somewhere safe.

‘Think calmly.’

“Lucia came too?”

That voice suddenly rang in her head.

The Subjugation Festival.

She remembered watching the duel between Karma and Daywin.

‘What was I doing then?’

She had only hidden and watched Daywin.

She had done nothing but hesitate, without even recognizing the kindness she had received.

Though Daywin was fighting Karma to free Lucia from the leash around her neck, she had done nothing.

“I’m sorry.”

Lucia pushed her siblings behind a nearby barrel.

“Big sister is going somewhere for just a moment. I’ll be right... back.”

“Big sister? Where are you going?”

“Stay here. Don’t come out, no matter what.”

The moment her siblings reluctantly nodded, Lucia immediately turned around.

Tap!

Through the alley.

She sprinted across the blood-soaked streets, toward Daywin.

Before Laward’s sword could reach the master to whom she had pledged loyalty.

To protect Daywin.

* * *

Laward recognized me and gave a small nod.

It was a signal that from now on, we would move as we had planned.

I pushed through Houndry’s people and faced him.

Laward shook the blood from his sword and adjusted his stance.

Then.

Bang!

Someone leaped in and attacked Laward.

It lasted only an instant, but the strike aimed precisely at his neck.

A small, nimble shadow.

The person standing in front of me held the same Academy-issued sword as Laward.

The person who snapped that sword in half and used it as a shortsword.

“...Lucia?”

It was Lucia.

An audience member had entered the stage.

Clang!

Caught off guard, Laward blocked Lucia’s sword and looked between her and me with a bewildered expression.

Laward looked as though he could not tell what was real and what was fake.

Even if Laward looked at me like that...

I didn’t know either...?

Grind, grind.

Lucia kept pressing her sword forward, struggling against Laward’s strength.

“...Senior Lucia?”

“I do not think I have been diligent enough at school to deserve being called Senior by a junior who entered at the top of the class.”

“What are you talking about? You entered at the top of your class when you enrolled too, Senior...!”

Clang!

Laward pushed Lucia away and caught his breath.

“Senior, why did you come from Houndry’s side?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Were you working under Karma?”

“I said it’s none of your business.”

“...Did your grades suddenly drop after enrolling because of Houndry?”

“...”

Ah.

I had a bad feeling about this.

“Were they threatening you? Please answer me! If that’s the case, I’ll...!”

A scenario where Laward learned Lucia’s identity and helped her.

This would make it no different from the harem route...

“You, what?”

Pfft.

Lucia sneered.

“Who do you think you are?”

──!

[Ending (6) Locked]

[Dog Bound to the Shadows]

『Lucia, a third-year Swordsmanship Department student who nodded off every day with a listless face, had been a genius who entered the Academy at the top of her class.

Laward chose to gather information about why Lucia had changed, and soon learned the truth.

District 6 of the marquess’s territory, the pleasure district.

“Hey, Teach. You’re an adult. What kind of teacher calls a student to a place like this, no matter how drunk they are?”

“Hey, brat! I’m the one who recommended you for the Academy! I pulled you out of the slums, and this is how you repay me without even knowing gratitude...”

“Gratitude? I don’t know that word. My [Intelligence] is low.”

“Yeah... I know that...”

The teacher shook their head as if they had given up.

“Ah, right, Laward. Say hello. This is Lucia, a third-year student. You know her face, right? Well, you couldn’t help it... If I were a man, a face like Lucia’s would immediately catch my eye.”

Lucia stood where the teacher pointed.

Her face looked as though she wanted to hide in shame at meeting Laward in a place like this.

“Teacher... you knew?”

“Huh? Of course I knew. I’m a regular. When I come at this hour, Lucia is always desperately waiting for me...”

“I have never waited for you.”

Laward left the drunk teacher behind and approached Lucia.

He needed to know why Lucia was in a place like this.

When Laward questioned her, Lucia reluctantly revealed her circumstances.

Was it because she had come to rely on Laward without realizing it?

On a junior.

On someone younger than her.

Had she shamefully leaned on him?