WeTried Translations
Translator: Nemui
Editor: Nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Reincarnated as the Villain's Heir
Chapter 24: You Guys Have Seriously Gone Too Far
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"Honestly. Do not make me go through all this trouble."
The people in front of me, Dale, were my older brother Deniro and the second-years in the Deniro faction.
This was the magic tool warehouse on the edge of the academy. Almost no one ever came here, so it had become my brother's group's hangout.
"I went and caught the lower-year brat who looked down on my cute little brother. Do you understand the trouble I went through?"
"Mmmph! Mmmmph!"
At my brother's feet, Esty was tied up and lying on the ground.
With her mouth sealed too, Esty was struggling desperately.
Deniro, the eldest son of House Brooks and the next head, was a second-year at the academy.
Yes. My brother was the kind of lunatic who would go this far.
"You could not deal with one commoner brat yourselves? Huh?"
"Sorry..."
I, Dale, and the other two, Keter and Biz, were sitting formally in front of my brother and trembling.
After all, the Deniro faction was called an extremist group inside the academy, and if they found someone they disliked, they immediately challenged them to a duel.
And their reasons always sounded convincing enough that the teachers almost never suspected them.
If you refused, something worse than the result of a duel would happen.
For example, they might investigate your background and show up at your house.
My brother Deniro did not show mercy even to me, his little brother.
When I went against him as a child, I seriously thought he would kill me.
Since Father respected that brother of mine, he did whatever he wanted.
"Hey, Dale. Where were you born again?"
"H-House Brooks..."
"Right. The family moto of House Brooks is, 'Turn those who come at you into corpses and make them your footholds.' In short, do not let things end with you taking a beating. That applies to the Deniro faction too."
"Y-yes... Gyaaaah!"
An electric current ran through my body. It was the lightning magic my brother specialized in.
As I writhed and rolled around, my brother stepped on my head.
"This lightning magic, passed down through House Brooks for generations, has long been used for torture. But I do not want to use it on my cute little brother. Hey, do you understand these feelings I have for my brother?"
"I am sorry, I am sorry, Brother..."
"This lightning magic is what made House Brooks, originally a commoner family, rise through the ranks at the fastest speed. Some people run their mouths about lightning being less adaptable than other attribute magic, but..."
"L-lightning... is released at the speed of light... In killing power, it is first among all attributes..."
When I muttered that, my brother grinned broadly.
"Thaaat's right, that's right, that's right! As expected of my brother, you understand! Maybe you are the one worthy of being the next head!"
My brother's mood improved immediately, and he patted my head.
Then, after making me sit formally again, he sat down on one of the magic tools nearby.
"Princess Leticia, huh? She is nice. I get why my brother is obsessed with her. Right, you guys?"
"Yes. My heart leapt when I heard she would be enrolling this year."
"Just looking at her is unbearable."
The seniors in the Deniro faction agreed.
The other two I brought along kept trembling the whole time and could not even speak.
"Can't be helped. All right, let's kidnap Princess Leticia."
"B-Brother! That is seriously bad!"
"What are you objecting for? This started because you came back after letting people look down on you. You understand these feelings I have for my brother, right?"
"But how would we..."
"That is easy. The whole Deniro faction will..."
Just as my brother was about to say that, I felt something off.
Was there something behind us?
"Hey, what are you?"
The one my brother called out to was standing there.
He stood in the corner of the magic tool warehouse and watched us with cold eyes.
"L-Lord Alphys?"
"Hey, Dale. You and your brother seem to get along well. I am jealous. Things are complicated with mine."
"Um, d-did you hear that?"
"No. I only heard from around, 'Let's kidnap Princess Leticia.'"
I felt my backside clench.
A chill ran down my spine, and I suddenly remembered the mock battle between Alphys and Lilisha.
Even then, this guy had completely shut Lilisha down without showing a single thing he had in hand.
"Lord Alphys! Please do not tell the student council about this!"
"Why would I tell the student council? This is not on the level of a school rule violation."
Alphys looked at my brother.
My brother twisted his mouth and filled one hand with mana.
"Alphys... You are the rumored House Balfont, then. They call you a pillar of the kingdom, but your true nature is a mystery... There are even rumors you were involved in the House Demaseka disappearance incident eight years ago."
"So what? Do you think I am going to say, 'Yes, we did it'?"
"If you will not say it, maybe making you say it would be fun. Right, you guys?"
At my brother's voice, the second-year seniors all readied their weapons at once.
"Hey, Dale. What are you spacing out for? You lot are doing this too."
"Huh? But... No, understood."
I had no choice but to do it too.
It was fine. We had numbers, and the seniors were here.
There was only one year between us and the second-years, but in terms of ability, they were far ahead.
Especially the Deniro faction. They had been dueling repeatedly since their first year.
Their win rate was high even compared to others in their year.
In particular, Roguid, the executive of the Deniro faction over there, was a monster with a win rate over eighty percent.
"Lord Deniro, leave this to me."
"Roguid, huh? With your skill, there should be no problem."
Roguid's weapon of choice was the knife.
At first glance, it was plain and had short reach, but he had countless knives hidden all over his body.
Almost no one was stupid enough to challenge Roguid, a body of blades good for throwing and good for cutting, in close combat.
"So you are the Deniro faction's number two."
"I do not care if you are House Balfont. If you can only fight by the book, you cannot beat me."
"You do not fight by the book? Heh..."
"I will make it so you cannot run that arrogant mouth in a moment!"
Roguid was the first to move.
Knife after knife appeared, one, two, three, and he slashed while juggling them in both hands.
The advantage of knives was that they were easy to maneuver.
Even without reach, their lack of weight made it easy to move the body freely.
Because he could switch attacks overwhelmingly quickly, with sheer number of strikes-
"Gah...!"
"Hey. If you want to perform tricks, go into that line of work."
"I-impossible... I did not see... it..."
"No matter how light your weapon is or how freely you can move, it means nothing if you are too free. You were wide open. Skill issue, basically."
After Roguid was cut deeply, something like black mist enveloped him.
Before blood could flow, Roguid's body vanished, leaving my brother and the others speechless.
More than anything, there was that sword Alphys held.
Its ominous design, its jet-black blade, and the anxiety it stirred just by being seen made it clearly abnormal.
"That sword of yours...?"
"The magic sword Disbaleid. You have at least heard the name, right?"
"There is no way it is real..."
"Real or fake, I am not letting a single one of you escape."
When Alphys readied the magic sword, we finally understood the situation.
The rumors about House Balfont were true.
And we had not understood that power at all.
Even if we regretted it now, everything was already too late.
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