WeTried Translations
Translator: Goku
Editor: Sty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The War Hero in the NTR Game Wants to Die ◈
Chapter 015
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Fading Flowers (3)
"Are you the first from the Gryan family to meet me?"
The woman squatted down in front of the bars, lowering herself to my eye level to meet my gaze.
My head throbbed with a hangover, but I didn't let my guard down.
Just moments ago, I was drinking with a hairy old man.
Somehow, these sudden events felt like they were becoming familiar, and a hollow laugh threatened to escape.
Now, it felt like I had met the person I was meant to meet, but...
"Hmph, don't hold too much resentment towards the Count. It was I who ordered you to be brought here."
Her red eyes gleamed strangely.
Even though not a single ray of light entered this room.
"Hero of the Northern Front, I heard you were called the Sword Demon among the soldiers. Close ones just called you Young Master. Looking at your record... you are no different from the one who brought victory."
"Who are you?"
"But when I hear about your academy grades, the knights you sparred with, and those who taught you, it's truly strange. You were the kind of person who wouldn't be surprising to see drop dead in a day."
The woman continued speaking alone, as if she didn't expect an answer.
As if it didn't matter what I said.
Her tone was as if there was no one listening.
"Have you ever heard the story of a useless, trashy thug from a noble family, who, after getting involved with people, reformed and saved the world?"
Somehow, I felt like I knew who the woman in front of me was.
Of course, a 2D pixel fragment and a living, breathing person couldn't be the same... but with that hair color, eye color, and that temper of acting however she pleased without giving any answers, I couldn't not know.
The pixelated blob I had merely stared at in the game was now squatting within striking distance, ready to sever my breath.
If I had entered the game with a cheat trainer activated, I might have lived quite happily.
Since I would have started by messing with everyone's affection levels... no one would have been living a life pointing fingers at me.
I might not have been dragged to the front lines.
"I'm asking you, Gryan."
"I have heard it, Your Holiness."
"......Huh. Why do you call me Your Holiness? Or do people like you have a way of knowing? I don't quite know, as the blessing I received is only this."
The woman drew a sword from her waist, all while wearing a satisfied smile.
"Still, I'll have to check."
Immediately after, the drawn sword, as if offering a greeting, shot straight through the bars.
Somehow, I had a feeling this would happen from the moment she drew the sword, so I twisted my head to dodge.
Clang!
The blade's tip grazed my ear and then made a long scraping sound as it dragged against the wall behind me.
The woman looked down at me with a subtle expression and said in a low voice.
"Is this level... something that can be dodged with skill or experience?"
"No, suddenly...!"
She lightly flicked the sword, then opened her mouth again.
"If I do this..."
"Wait...!"
Before I could even finish my sentence, the sword flew towards me.
At a speed as if it were clad in mana.
The thought of dodging couldn't even keep up.
Being pierced through the head by a sword doesn't kill you instantly.
I only felt a foreign sensation for a moment... then died just like that.
Pierced by the sword, the woman looking down at me with what seemed like disappointment caught my eye.
"Wasn't it?"
The center of my vision blurred white, and a faint sound stretched on.
『You said you'd always support me, but now you say becoming an adventurer in the capital is a futile dream? ...Adventuring might not be as free as I think... Yes, it probably isn't as free as you say. But... if I slowly grow and raise my rank, and earn a lot of money, wouldn't that be better than you, who always just cried by the riverside? Riehen, sometimes I even think this. I shouldn't have spoken to you when we were young. If I had known you would tie me down like this, I would never have met someone like you.』
[Synchronization Rate Increased! 0.2%↑]
I blinked.
The sword was still in her hand.
In the exact same posture as when she had just flicked it.
As if nothing had happened.
I thought I would eventually get used to dying and coming back, but it wasn't so.
Once my mind gets churned...
"If I do this..."
This time, too, the sword flew, and my heart was pierced.
Seeing no light around the sword just before it pierced, it was at least not mana.
The genre of '[Endlog]' is, first of all, fantasy.
There are guns and cannons, but... it's a world where swords and magic are important to an extent that those are meaningless.
And in such a place, there's no way there wouldn't be divine power.
Since there wasn't a single priest on the Northern Front, this was my first time seeing it in person.
The sensation of a bladed weapon digging into my chest sent a surge of heat to my head.
"Hey, you damn, cough, bitch, just say someth..."
"Still not it?"
『Or else, leave with me! You always said you were fed up, living in a place like this! You even said you liked it when you lived in the capital! ......Yes, just as I said before, you probably can't even follow me if you wanted to. You're always like that. You say you like me, but you don't do anything I like, and you've probably forgotten all the things you said since childhood by now. Riehen, aren't those just empty words you're spewing to keep me by your side?』
[Synchronization Rate Increased! 0.1%↑]
My chest ached.
I couldn't tell if it was because of the sword or something else... but that wasn't important.
Clearly, this was a situation where I could survive.
Because if I were to be driven into a death trap... I would return to the point before it.
But I didn't know how I could survive.
With my arms and legs all tied up, how in the hell am I supposed to dodge a sword thrust at a speed akin to being clad in mana?
I wracked my brain as much as I could.
Then, suddenly, a demi-human who used a bladed chain weapon on the battlefield came to mind.
The day when it entangled the sword I wielded with a chain, flew far away, then pulled it back to kill me...
Just then, there was indeed a chain on what was shackled to my wrist.
"If I do this..."
The woman thrust her sword again.
As the blade, imbued with magic, seemed to aim for my heart again, I brought the chain connecting my handcuffs to my chest and twisted it the moment I felt something flying towards me.
I pulled the sword with it, grabbed it in my hand, and thrust it back towards the woman.
"That's right. That's how it should be."
[Affection level has increased.]
The woman lightly dodged and then struck the side of the blade with her fist, shattering it instantly.
The bladed weapon fell limply to the floor.
Then, she looked at me and curled up the corners of her mouth as if satisfied.
"Indeed, you are one chosen by the heavens. Seeing as no profane energy is felt when you dodge the sword."
The woman opened the bars.
They weren't even locked from the beginning.
"To put it simply, I am a woman called Elseria Saint-Aurel Larochecroix. I have about fifteen more names to add, but they are not worth mentioning here."
It's not that there's a separate Saintess in this world.
There are people overflowing with divine power due to the heavens' blessing... but they are no longer called Saintesses.
Although I had heard that in the past, men were called Saints and women Saintesses, and there were separate positions to serve them.
"I've heard quite a lot about you from the Count. That you fight as if you've seen the future, and that you're the most trustworthy person who achieved victory on the front lines without a single scratch."
The one with the most divine power would be the most devout, so it's only natural for such a person to become the head of the church.
"To have blossomed such talent, blessed by the heavens in a holy war against disgusting infidels... it's a relief you didn't rely on insidious powers."
And the person in front of me... was the head of that church.
Pope Elseria.
If you pursued a non-human heroine even a little, meaning if you got even slightly closer without fully committing to her route, she was always a character who appeared as an enemy.
She had no mercy in her actions... and just as she had instantly pierced my heart, she was a character who wouldn't be outdone even compared to the head of the Gryan Ducal House, making her truly annoying to face as an enemy.
Even while on other heroine routes, if the protagonist's fame reached a certain level, she was always a character who came to the church to scout them... so I was probably in that case too.
First of all, because I was a war hero.
Only idiotic nobles and knights with nothing in their heads would disregard me; at least the worm-like comrades who were on the same front line as me could never disregard me.
Because everyone would owe me a life, one way or another.
Because it was as if I had ended the war.
Yet, such treatment even in the Gryan Ducal House, and at the banquet... what in the world was that?
No one, not a single person, among those who knew the previous 'Riehen' treats me appropriately.
So, I am not 'Riehen'.
Would this woman be different?
"Oh, right. I was so out of sorts even after committing such rudeness. About you. Join the church."
But... I never imagined I'd be kidnapped like this instead of being scouted.
"You won't really have a choice, but I'll treat you generously."
"...Can't you at least release me before you speak?"
"No."
"Pardon?"
"Because if I look into your eyes right now, it seems like you'll stab me."
"......."
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