WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Picked Up the Protagonist’s Heroine ◈
Chapter 17: It's a Basic Buff Spell
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Endings Remaining Until Stage 1 Perk Unlock: 2
A notification appeared saying that an ending had been locked.
Number 6.
Lucia's first ending.
At least this time, I knew why the ending had been locked.
Since Lucia was hostile to Laward, it was only natural, in a way.
Still, why was Lucia trying to protect me?
Could she know that I killed Karma?
“...Is that so.”
Meanwhile, Laward's voice dropped coldly.
He half closed his eyes, which had lost their brightness.
“If you weren't being threatened, then Senior was in Houndry of your own free will.”
Swish.
Laward, who had lowered his sword, raised it again.
The tip pointed straight at Lucia.
“Then Senior is...”
There was no time to leisurely read the ending script.
That lunatic's attitude, presence, and even his eyes.
Everything had changed.
“A target for purification.”
...So this was how it would end after all.
“There is no mercy for targets of purification, Senior.”
“That would be best.”
Lucia spun her sword around and gripped it again.
“Only now... have I found a master I truly wish to serve. Lucia will protect him, no matter what.”
As the situation abruptly changed, I waved my hands and dismissed the message window.
At that moment.
Whoosh!
Lucia swung first.
Lucia, standing directly before him, must have sensed Laward's changed bearing more keenly than anyone.
Just before his heavy bloodlust could swallow her, she chose to strike first.
Clang!
But he knocked it aside.
A parry with perfect timing.
Having decided that even Lucia was a target for purification, Laward showed terrifying concentration. Lucia's stance twisted from his precise deflection, exposing an opening.
Swish!
Laward would never miss such a moment.
As the edge of his sword flew toward her neck.
I mouthed one word.
Wait.
Stop.
It was the perfect moment to sever her neck.
Laward halted his arm, looking troubled.
“...”
At the same time, a grim-faced man from Houndry pointed at Lucia.
“...Lucia?”
The other guild members also turned their heads, looking toward Lucia.
“Th-that really is... Lucia...”
“Lucia's stopping that demon-like bastard!”
“Lucia! Don't lose!”
Clang! Clatter!
While Laward hesitated, Lucia's sword danced.
Unaware that Laward had stopped because of me, she looked as though she had seized the rhythm for herself.
Laward, meanwhile, realized he could not kill her and moved defensively.
Their fight continued.
“Reform the lines! Tighten the encirclement!”
From the other side, Marquess Fred's command rang out.
His soldiers aimed their spearpoints again and closed in on Houndry.
“S-stay back!”
“So... are we all going to die?”
Despair once more appeared on the guild members' faces.
The reality they had briefly forgotten after Lucia's appearance pressed against their skin.
Their hands trembled as they raised their weapons.
But I could tell from their expressions.
The mood was such that if even one person accidentally dropped a weapon, they would all disarm like dominoes.
That kind of fear hung in the air.
The soldiers, gripping their spears tightly, advanced one careful step at a time.
Houndry's territory, which had once swallowed District 6 of the marquess's territory whole, had now shrunk to no more than the circumference of the soldiers' encirclement.
The dogs that once ran wild beneath the moonlight had been trapped in a cage.
And with every sound of the soldiers advancing, that cage grew smaller.
Twang.
At the same time, Lucia's sword was knocked away.
After several exchanges, Lucia was disarmed.
Disarmed, and defeated.
“Ah... ah...”
Houndry despaired.
Even Lucia, whom they had trusted, had ultimately been pushed back by Laward.
“Is this... the end?”
“If Lord Karma were here at a time like this...”
Hmm.
Was this enough to complete it?
A rise and a fall.
A crisis just before the climax.
I removed the hood I had pulled low and used the ring.
Shhh.
I caught a glimpse of my bangs turning black.
“Ah, ah.”
When I tested my throat, my voice was a little lower.
“You're dogs without teeth. Don't even have the strength to bark?”
I spoke in a new voice.
Perhaps because my words came so abruptly, the atmosphere shifted strangely.
I could feel the stares at my back.
“Karma asked me to take care of you, so I came all this way. What a waste. You're all nothing but trash.”
I turned my head slightly and met their eyes.
One by one, I looked around at them as if assessing them.
“I wouldn't have come if I'd known you were pathetic worms cowering before the likes of them.”
The moment I finished speaking, the atmosphere turned hostile.
“Who the hell is this bastard?”
“I never heard that Lord Karma chose a successor...”
“Why are you answering him? At a time like this, who has time to deal with a lunatic like...”
It was the reaction I expected.
It was so obvious I could have yawned.
“This is the problem. You tuck your tails between your legs before the marquess, yet bare your teeth at your master.”
Slowly, I took out the ledger I had stolen from Karma's safe.
Their expressions changed at once.
“Judging from your reactions, you all know what this is. This isn't the only thing Karma gave me. I know not only your pasts, but your family ties as well.”
I casually shook the ledger as I continued.
“To me, it's just useless paper. But I think the marquess would want it. The marquess seems like the sort who would believe that a criminal's family should naturally be buried alongside them.”
“S-so what do you want us to do?”
Thump.
I shut the ledger and put it back inside my clothes.
“Fight. Fight and prove your worth to me. If you can't win here, you'll die. If you run, your families will die. There is only one way.”
By then, the marquess's soldiers had formed a wall.
The encirclement felt as tight as a birdcage.
“But even if you tell us to fight... there do not seem to be even fifty of us left...”
“And that monster bastard is still completely unharmed!”
Houndry, once nearly three hundred strong, now numbered just over fifty.
Laward, that “monster bastard,” had not been wounded at all despite Lucia's assault.
Clicking my tongue, I raised a hand.
The Ring of Disguise on my middle finger came into view.
In the game, Laward probably used it to disguise himself as someone else to pry out the heroines' true feelings or spy on them.
An item for drawing out information and events.
At the same time, it was too valuable to use only that way.
The effect of “changing mana wavelengths” had no small impact in this world.
I drew out holy power and used the ring at the same time.
Originally, I had not intended to use holy magic.
Leaving aside the risk of revealing that I was a Paladin, it did not suit the shadows of the back alleys.
Whine.
The holy power gathered in my hand appeared not as warm light, but as a dark violet glow.
Light more suited to the opposite of a Paladin.
The color of those I had fought.
“If you want it, I will give you strength.”
The unsettling light spread.
The warm light of the Goddess Church passed through the ring's distortion effect and blossomed into a dark crimson aura.
Whoosh!
I extended my arm and burst the black light outward.
The light that exploded like fireworks in the air descended as sparks.
The sparks covering Houndry branded themselves onto their skin, and magic was cast.
Before I gained spirits, what kind of Paladin had I been?
What position had I held in the Paladin Order?
Having joined the Order late, I lacked both time and experience.
So I had desperately honed a single spell.
Holy magic, Enhancement type.
“Bless.”
A buff.
Hummm.
The magic circles branded onto the Houndry members' skin shone dark blue.
“Ugh, uaaaaah!”
Unable to contain the power rushing over them like waves, they began to scream.
The holy buff magic merely changed appearance, yet it now carried an aura like dark magic.
The fear vanished from their eyes.
There was only the will to survive here.
“With this... we can do it...!”
Those who had been cowering until now charged forward boldly.
Even when spears pierced them, they fought, trusting their strengthened muscles and sharpened senses.
The alley, which had sunk into a desolate atmosphere, once again filled with roars and clashing metal.
Caught off guard by the sudden resistance, the marquess's forces were gradually pushed back.
Then, I met the marquess's eyes.
His pupils shook as he gestured toward me.
If I read his expression correctly, it said something like, “This wasn't part of the plan.”
I gave him a slight smile and lightly shook my head.
A signal to end it here.
The marquess had no reason to accept any more losses.
As he wished, Houndry's numbers had been greatly reduced. If one were to judge victory and defeat, he had already won.
There was no need to send his soldiers to their deaths.
So, the conclusion.
“Retreat! Fall back!”
At the marquess's shout, the soldiers stepped backward as if they had been waiting for it.
I also withdrew the buff I had placed on Houndry.
Otherwise, they would surely have chased the soldiers down and buried swords in their backs.
Only this far.
This was the line where each side could achieve its goal with minimal losses.
Thud, thud, thud.
The hoofbeats of the warhorse carrying the marquess and the soldiers' footsteps gradually faded away.
Heavy silence returned to the alley.
Only the stench of blood and thick dust remained.
“Ugh...”
“Huff... haa...”
The blue haze enveloping the guild members' bodies scattered away as if it had been a lie.
Houndry merely stared blankly down at their own hands, now stripped of light.
They looked as though the lingering sensation had carved itself deep into their minds.
Thud.
Someone immediately fell to his knees.
It was the man who had called me a lunatic.
As though he had forgotten even his pain, he pressed his forehead against the ground and cried out in a trembling voice.
“Th-thank you...!”
That was the signal.
Thud. Thud.
The guild members who remained standing fell one after another.
This was not surrender.
It was a blind craving for that sweet strength they had just tasted, begging for it to descend upon them once more.
“Please... take us in!”
“Give us that power of darkness just one more time...!”
Dozens of heads bowed at my feet.
I looked down at the sight indifferently, swallowing a bitter smile.
The magic they had mistaken for dark magic was C-rank.
It was not even considered high-level Enhancement magic.
Rather, it was magic treated as a basic technique in the Paladin Order.
In other words.
...It was just a basic buff spell.
017
After the situation had been settled.
I headed to the marquess's estate with Lucia.
“...From here on, you need to be careful. Please stay close to Lucia.”
Lucia's right arm blocked the way before me.
Her eyes darted around as she surveyed our surroundings, as though she had already identified every danger.
“We are near the marquess's estate. We should take a detour here.”
“No, we came to the right place.”
“Pardon?”
“I came to see the marquess.”
“I see. You intend to negotiate with him directly.”
Lucia slowly nodded and took the lead.
“Then Lucia will guard you, so please watch your step.”
Click.
She rested a hand on her sword hilt and walked carefully.
“You're going to protect me?”
“Of course.”
“You lost earlier, though...”
“That was because I was tired.”
Ah, is that so.
Of course it was.
“H-hem, we don't know what kind of trap the marquess may have prepared.”
“No, you don't need to be so tense...”
“One must never let down one's guard. I'm sorry, but please stay closer. There could be a sniper.”
“Would that even matter? My head is completely exposed because of the height difference.”
“Th-that... is true... but...”
Lucia walked with her back straightened.
It was an attempt to lessen the difference in our heights, but it made little difference.
“Lucia, you can walk normally. This place isn't dangerous. I'll explain the details later. It would be better if you trusted me for now. Don't regret it later...”
“Lower your voice. They may be listening.”
With a serious expression, she gestured toward the servants at the estate.
As it happened, the marquess's servants were staring curiously at Lucia and me.
Something about this...
Being beside Lucia while she acted solemn without knowing anything was embarrassing....
She was serious.
So serious that I could not bring myself to tell her the truth.
Creak.
The estate gates opened.
Lucia flinched and stepped in front of me.
“The gate... is open. It's a trap.”
“No, they probably just opened it for us.”
“We don't know what they might be hiding.”
As she spoke, she checked that I was pressed right against her side.
“Ha...”
Sighing, I followed behind her.
“I can sense bloodlust beyond the door.”
At last, we reached the marquess's room.
What bloodlust?
There was only the warm scent of black tea.
“Lucia will open the door. Count to three and...”
Lucia whispered.
Click!
But before she could begin the countdown, the marquess's door swung wide open.
It had been opened from inside.
In a room filled with statues of the Goddess, Marquess Fred elegantly held a teacup on a sofa bathed in warm sunlight.
Beside him, Laward sat munching on cookies.
“You're here, Mentor! Have some of these!”
“Welcome. You're a little late.”
Then silence fell.
Lucia stood awkwardly with a shortsword in hand.
Between the two men calmly looking at her, there was not a sound.
A moment later.
“W-w-what is this... situation...?”
“I told you that you'd regret it.”
Lucia's face slowly, very slowly began to turn red.
The blush starting at the tips of her ears conquered even the back of her neck.
She had probably... figured out the situation now.
“Lucia, shall we... sit down first?”
When I readily took a seat on the sofa, Lucia stiffly sheathed her sword.
“Ah! Senior Lucia, seeing you come with Mentor, you really were on the same side as us! You must have heard about it in advance too!”
“...”
“Your acting was incredible! I was really surprised. You completely fooled me. Why don't you perform in a play during the Academy festival?”
“No, Lucia wasn't acting...”
“And Senior, you prepared your lines in advance, right? What was it again, ‘I've already been saved’?”
Lucia's face immediately froze.
“And... ah, ‘Only now have I found a master I truly wish to serve.’ That was it, right? That line was cool too.”
Whether Laward could not see Senior's bright red face or not, he praised Lucia's acting all on his own.
“Haha, it's hard to say things like that normally, isn't it? How should I put it? It feels a little... embarrassing. They're the kind of lines you'd never say in everyday life, right?”
Stop it....
You lunatic....
“Ahaha, who would say something that embarrassing in real life?”
Clench.
Lucia covered her face with both hands.
Her face had turned so red it seemed as though it would stain her fingers.
“Anyway, I admire your preparation, Senior. I never even thought to prepare lines. I've learned something from you!”
Through the gap between Lucia's fingers, the eyes barely visible there glared at Laward as if she wanted to kill him.
Bloodlust.
I could feel bloodlust.
Lucia was right. There really was bloodlust in this room.
Heh.
Laward, what a good boy.
Now he was lowering her affection on his own.
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