Mistaken for a Masked Monster - Chapter 23

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 23: O Vulgar Slaughter, O Craven Survival. (1)

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Alice had been avoiding me all day.

For some reason, she freaked out whenever our eyes met.

She seemed to think she was hiding it as best she could, but...

[Viktor, did you perhaps do something wrong to that child?]

‘As expected... Her Highness noticed.’

[How could I not? She’s terrified.]

‘I don’t know either. Other than speaking to her once before, I haven’t even properly met her.’

It was plain as day to anyone watching.

Maybe she was just the type who couldn’t lie.

The girl avoided my gaze or quietly slipped away whenever she could.

‘There’s something I need to do.’

I couldn’t let her keep running away.

So I carefully herded her along and managed to lure her into a dead end.

A deserted alleyway.

She wouldn’t be able to run now.

I casually raised an arm, blocking off her escape.

“Miss Alice.”

Only then did she meet my eyes.

Her blue eyes brimmed with tears for some reason.

“I finally caught you. You’ve been running away from me all day...”

“Y-Yes, y-y-yep...”

No.

Seriously, what was going on?

This was only the second time she’d seen me.

Frustrated, I asked inwardly.

‘Your Highness.’

[What is it, my loyal retainer?]

‘In Your Highness’s opinion, is my face truly that ugly?’

[...Aren’t you wearing a mask? I’ve never seen you without it.]

‘Oh, right.’

It definitely wasn’t because I was ugly.

Besides, it felt strange saying it myself, but I was fairly handsome without the mask too.

I sank into thought, then quickly came to my senses and pushed aside the pointless worries.

Whatever the reason, taking care of my business came first.

‘My schedule’s packed today.’

I needed to move quickly.

I could talk to her about that baffling reaction later.

For now, I opened my mouth.

“How about a little date? Just the two of us.”

“Y-Yep... Y-Yes...?”

Her pupils shook wildly.

She looked as if she’d suffered some terrible shock.

“It’s nothing much. There’s just someone I’d like to introduce you to.”

“S-Someone you want to introduce me to...? To me, s-suddenly... why?”

“Didn’t we agree to be friends? You remember, right? The day I found your necklace.”

“Ah...”

“Since we’re getting along, I wanted to introduce you to another friend of mine. You’re not used to academy life yet, are you? It’s better to know at least one more person.”

“I-Is that so...?”

“You’ll come with me, right?”

“...”

“Miss Alice?”

“Y-Yes! Yes...! I-I’ll go! Please let me!”

After hesitating for a while, she eventually began following me.

Seeing her like that left me with mixed feelings.

I’d only called it a date as a joke. Had she hated the idea that much?

Even I felt hurt seeing my favorite character from the original act like that.

‘I’m dragging her along because I need to take care of something, but...’

I felt a little sad.

Had I gotten excited for a moment? Was romance simply not in the cards for me in this life either?

As I let out a quiet sigh, something wriggled in my front pocket.

Soon, Her Highness poked her head out.

[Viktor, you really are mischievous.]

‘Your Highness? What do you mean?’

[You called it a date, didn’t you? You could have simply said you had something to do, but you teased her for no reason and ended up getting nothing out of it...]

‘Well, in a broad sense, it wasn’t wrong, was it?’

[...?]

‘If a man and a woman are walking alone together, that’s a date. What else would it be?’

[I-Is that so?]

As if it was.

Why were you accepting that?

[T-Then... does that mean I’ve actually been going on dates with Viktor all this time...?]

Vampires really were something else.

Perhaps because they were a conservative race, they seemed utterly clueless about this sort of thing.

‘Then again.’

They were a race where people got pelted with stones in the street if they failed to remain chaste before marriage.

They were also a race that took Mind, Spirit, and Body Virginity Theory as a required liberal arts course.

On top of that, vampires supposedly devoted themselves to only one spouse for their entire lives.

They were a race of unquestionable purity.

‘Come to think of it... pureblood vampires lived around three hundred years, didn’t they?’

Ordinary vampires lived for roughly two hundred years, but purebloods were different.

Those who, like Carmilla, inherited a particularly concentrated royal bloodline were especially exceptional.

The nobler the bloodline, the stronger their power became.

‘How old are you, Your Highness?’

[Hm! I turned thirty this year!]

‘...’

[Viktor? What is it?]

I’d been treating her halfway like a little sister, but she was quite a bit older than me.

Though if converted to human years, we were probably about the same age...

‘I should continue treating her respectfully.’

As a Korean kid raised to respect his elders, I couldn’t help feeling strange about it.

While all sorts of thoughts went through my mind, I led Alice to our destination.

“Ah, we’re here.”

“This is... the A-class main building?”

The A-class main building.

It was the space used by the Class A students.

The building alone was as large as a decent university campus.

Alice could only look around in confusion.

“U-Um... what are we doing here...?”

“Someone I know is in Class A.”

“Is that the person you said you’d introduce me to...?”

“That’s right. That’s who we’re looking for.”

Their lecture should have ended by now.

I’d contacted her in advance, so she should show up if we waited.

How long had we stood there awkwardly?

Then, in the distance, I spotted a familiar head of blonde hair.

When the girl saw us, she smiled brightly and ran over.

“Ah... Sir Viktor! You were waiting here!”

“Miss Ranne. It’s been a while.”

Ranne Kihano.

The protagonist of the original work, [Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen].

She was also the second-ranked student in Class A.

I knew her from the entrance exam.

I greeted her warmly as I looked into her sparkling purple eyes.

“This is our first time meeting since the entrance ceremony, isn’t it?”

“Yes! It’s only been a week! I was disappointed because we only briefly made eye contact at the entrance ceremony!”

“Hehe, Miss Ranne is as spirited as ever. I was sad to be apart from you as well.”

“I was so surprised when I checked the class assignments. I thought you’d naturally enter Class A as the top student.”

“I’m undeserving, but I’m grateful you think so highly of me.”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean!”

No wonder she was the protagonist.

Ranne radiated positive energy from the moment we met.

The way she was so endlessly happy to see me made her seem like a retriever wagging its tail furiously.

“Come to think of it, have you been keeping the promise I asked of you before?”

“A promise... Ah, right! Of course, I’ve been keeping my mouth firmly shut!”

“That’s a relief. As I told you that day, I have personal circumstances.”

“Yes, I understand! Sir Viktor, you’re my savior! Of course I should grant a request like this!”

I had asked Ranne for one thing before.

To keep it secret that I had hunted Bookworm.

I had also asked her not to mention the strength and bizarre behavior I’d shown.

‘The Apostle of the Evil God... If people found out I dealt with The Reader, it would cause all kinds of trouble.’

I didn’t know how the faculty would react.

They might immediately connect it to the conquest of the seventieth floor of Purgatory and begin treating me as a threat.

Fortunately, Ranne was meticulous about keeping promises.

“It certainly was a strange request, but don’t worry!”

“That’s reassuring.”

“By the way, I heard the rumors about you! I heard your performance in the last exam was incredible!”

“I suppose I really am a hot topic. If even Miss Ranne knows about it.”

“It’s news about the first friend I made at the academy. How could I simply ignore it?”

We exchanged a little small talk.

Once our greetings were over, I got straight to the point.

“Shall we get to the main matter? The reason I asked to see you today.”

“Ah, right. You said there was someone you wanted to introduce me to, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. Please introduce yourselves. This is Miss Alice.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Alice! You’re Sir Viktor’s classmate.”

“Ah, u-um... Hello? N-Nice to meet you...”

Without hesitation, Ranne seized Alice’s hand and shook it.

Alice had no choice but to shrink back.

The reason I had deliberately brought these two together was...

‘Because Ranne’s presence will help Alice.’

Nightmare.

The original sin Alice bore.

Her ability was a madness triggered by dreams.

‘It’s powerful enough to become a disaster later, but the problem is that she can’t control that power...’

Alice was poor at controlling it.

She had been born with that constitution.

That was why she tried to hide her ability. It was why she never volunteered for events like sparring matches.

She was afraid someone would get hurt because of her mistake.

Afraid her cursed power would kill someone.

The pitiful girl always lived trapped by that obsession.

‘And... Alice’s power also wears away at her mind.’

Never-ending nightmares.

A state where it became difficult to distinguish reality from dreams.

Until she could completely control her ability, the madness would continue eating away at Alice’s mind.

‘That’s why Ranne is necessary.’

Ranne Kihano, the protagonist.

She radiated positive energy in every direction.

It wasn’t just a feeling. She actually gave off Divine Power.

She had been born with an enormous amount of divinity.

Simply keeping the two close together would significantly lessen Alice’s nightmares.

‘Well... that’s only part of it.’

I could help with the rest anyway.

There were still two years until Alice awakened as a disaster.

For now, easing her mental stress would be enough.

Since it involved the sensitive power of Nightmare, I needed to approach it carefully.

And while I was at it, I could give her a friend she could rely on.

‘She was even bullied in the original work.’

People had a way of dividing even filth into different levels of filth.

There had been descriptions of Alice failing to fit in with her class.

To prevent that too, I wanted to keep our protagonist close to her.

I smiled and spoke.

“Miss Ranne. You said you’d grant me any one request, didn’t you?”

“Of course! Sir Viktor, you’re my savior.”

“Then please take good care of Miss Alice.”

“If she’s your friend, then she’s my friend too.”

“I’m glad you answered so readily.”

“U-Um... Viktor? What is all this...?”

That was right.

Alice had just had a friend forced upon her.

Regardless of her own wishes.

“Alice, you’re fine with this too, right?”

Well.

It would be good for you anyway.

I was keeping you from becoming a disaster.

Look at Ranne. She was such a sweet, friendly girl.

“Y-Yes...”

“I trust the two of you will grow close.”

“I look forward to getting along with you, Miss Alice!”

“Yes...”

Unable to say anything else, Alice nodded.

The atmosphere was warm and friendly.

That was one task taken care of.

* * *

Friend Matchmaker.

A few hours had passed since the academy schedule ended.

The moon and stars hung in the sky, which had grown dark in the meantime.

Taking advantage of the night, I quietly slipped out of the dormitory building.

[Viktor? Where are you going at this hour?]

“I need to avoid being seen. Activities are best done at night.”

[Except for the fact that it’s tiring...]

“Take a short nap. We have quite a distance to cover today.”

After leaving the building, I found a suitable spot.

Then I used Wall Clipping to leave the academy grounds entirely.

We walked through a dark alley.

Carmilla had already undone her transformation and returned to her original form.

“You rubbed yourself against the floor in that strange posture again, and we changed locations without a trace. No matter how many times I see it, it remains fascinating.”

“Hehe, it’s a trade secret, so I can’t tell you the details.”

“I didn’t expect you to. More importantly, we’ve left the academy entirely today, haven’t we? It doesn’t even seem nearby...”

“That’s right. We’ve come quite far today.”

I looked around.

A city.

Perhaps because it was night, it felt somewhat gloomy.

We walked side by side through the dark streets.

At an unhurried pace, I spoke.

“This city is quite far from the academy. You remember where we first met, don’t you? It’s near those sewers.”

“The sewers... The district where I was almost executed.”

“That’s right. Fortunately, I arrived before it was too late.”

“It’s still a chilling memory. But why have we suddenly come to a city like this...?”