Chapter 133
Chapter 133
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Mysterious Gladiator (7)
Thud thud thud thud━!!
"C-Chase them━!!"
"We absolutely can't let them into the palace━!!"
"Hurry to the palace and report! The Red Mad Dog has breached the north gate!"
While the gladiators following me blocked the soldiers' path...
Rapne slipped through that brief opening and dashed inside the gate in an instant.
'Amazing...! I just blinked...!'
The bizarre phenomenon where the scenery changed after a momentary blackout.
Strapped to Rapne's waist, I got to experience her skill firsthand.
"Hey! I don't know the roads around here!"
"Huh? Th-Then what do we do?"
"First, just tell me somewhere to hide!"
A place to hide, huh.
Sorry as I was for Rapne, I might have high value as a hostage, but I was worthless as a guide.
Because this was the first time I'd left the Perlion arena since possessing this body.
But...
'From what I've seen of the terrace every time, the less populated areas are...'
I used the surrounding landmarks to figure out our position, then pointed in a direction.
"G-Go into that alley in Harlem Street over there! The alleys are a maze, so they won't find us easily!"
"Got it!"
And just like that, the scenery in my vision shifted again.
Flutter.
The sound of our clothes flapping in the fierce wind...
Before I knew it, we'd gone from the north gate into some alleyway.
"Haaah... I'm beat... Let's rest a bit..."
Rapne set me down on the ground and slumped against the worn wall of the alley.
Her shoulders and chest heaved with ragged breaths, her face clearly exhausted.
"Y-You're really worn out, huh? Nerve Acceleration must consume a lot of stamina..."
"Huh? You know my skill?"
"...Ah."
"And you knew my name too..."
Rapne, wiping sweat from her brow, narrowed her eyes and stared at me intently.
A suspicious gaze.
And understandably so.
Everyone else knew her only as the Red Mad Dog, clueless even about the principles behind her attacks.
Yet I knew it all.
If not for the helmet, my panic would have shown plainly.
'Still... even her suspicious face is pretty.'
In the midst of all this, I was utterly captivated by her beautiful face.
Luckily, after glaring at me for a moment, Rapne looked away and started fanning herself with her hand.
"Whatever. You helped me out, and you don't seem like a bad guy. That's not what's important right now anyway."
Something more important than a shady guy who knew her identity.
"Speaking of which, Rapne... what brings you here? You said you wanted someone handed over, right?"
"Oh, yeah. There's... someone I absolutely have to find."
"Is that person here?"
"I don't know."
"Huh?"
"It's... not certain. The prophet Adrian introduced me to specified too broad a region."
Adrian.
A name I remembered.
One of the main Strategy characters in Epiris Academy, for sure.
"So my friends... family? Anyway, my comrades are scattered across the nearby countries searching."
"So you came here from another country before this?"
"Yeah... At first it wasn't like that, but the more borders I cross, the more they block me at checkpoints. I'm dying here."
I had a pretty good idea why entry was getting blocked more and more.
Red Mad Dog.
She'd probably rampaged at gates like the north one in other countries, earning that nickname.
And the rumors had spread to neighboring nations.
'She was always hot-tempered by setting...'
But the Rapne in my memories wasn't this hot-tempered.
Sure, she'd beat the crap out of anyone who pissed her off.
But I'd never seen her in the game going berserk like she was about to bite someone to death.
'...That person must mean a lot to her.'
As Rapne caught her breath, she stared blankly into space even while resting, lost in thoughts of someone.
Her eyes held a desperate emotion.
...Squeeze.
A twinge of jealousy hit me.
Even though we'd just met.
I'd fallen for her at first sight.
Just being next to her now made my heart race, my gaze drifting sideways.
Simply being beside her filled me with happiness.
This feeling was new to me.
'...Not a guy, right?'
I just hoped so, but it wasn't impossible.
'Selfish as it is... I want her to see me as a man.'
Maybe because I'd noticed the one she was mad enough to go crazy over.
A greed I'd never felt before started welling up.
The possessiveness any man in love would feel.
The simple desire to make the woman I like my woman.
But... I was just a player possessing some unknown guy's body.
A completely ordinary guy even in real life, clueless about seducing a woman I'd known for less than a day.
'Wait... but this body I'm possessing right now...'
Wasn't it insanely handsome?
'In real life, it'd top the entertainment industry...'
Even in Perlion, no woman who'd seen my bare face could resist jumping me in excitement.
It was someone else's face, sure.
But it was this body's face right now.
Even if someone called it cheating...
With this face...
'...Hold on.'
I paused the hand I'd slyly brought under the helmet.
Come to think of it, why was I wearing this helmet?
I recalled the voice from the next room over on the day I'd first put it on.
"Huh? Obviously... you're a wanted man."
━I was a wanted criminal.
'No way...! If she sees my face, she'll be disappointed instead!'
She might not care at all, sure.
But who falls for a criminal?
Showing my bare face was absolutely out.
No, I couldn't take off the helmet at all costs.
...At least not until she realized I wasn't a bad guy.
'What the hell did this psycho do with this face.'
I suddenly resented the original owner who'd gotten himself wanted.
"Hey... aren't you hot?"
Then Rapne, fanning herself to cool off, suddenly asked me.
"Pardon?"
"You moved a lot fighting me earlier too. Take off the helmet and rest. Isn't it stuffy?"
"Ah, th-that's..."
Of all times, she had to point that out now.
'Actually, it's a good thing.'
If she asked when I hadn't realized I was wanted, I might've taken it off without thinking.
"I-In my hometown, there's a rule that you never! Never remove your armor in front of someone who hasn't bested you in combat..."
"...I see?"
"Y-Yeah..."
It sounded forced and ridiculous even to me.
But stubbornly refusing to take it off would make her think I was a criminal or had a ruined face.
I absolutely didn't want that misunderstanding.
Luckily, Rapne didn't ask about the helmet again.
"Still calling me an enemy, huh... We're friends now, right?"
"Huh...?"
"I don't know your hometown's customs, but... you helped me, so you're a friend. You don't have to think of me as an enemy."
And she gave me a gentle smile.
That smile...
Felt like an arrow piercing my heart.
'...I love you.'
The feeling of first love bloomed inside me.
What was I supposed to do? I couldn't stay calm under her noble gaze.
'Damn... I love you so much.'
I wanted to tell her the words welling up in my heart.
It was a male instinct, the bad kind.
Desperate to confess to the woman who'd stolen his heart.
Like a peacock dancing with flashy feathers.
Wanting to convey this burning passion.
But hold back.
Blabbing that out of nowhere would get me labeled a creep.
"Phew."
Rapne stood up, dusting off her calm face.
"A-Are you going already?"
"Yeah, I've rested enough. Can't dawdle too long or the soldiers will catch us. Time to start searching."
Rapne looked down at me with a perfectly fine expression now.
She waved and thanked me.
"Anyway, thanks to you, I got in. I'll repay the favor later."
"Uh... yeah? A-Are we parting here?"
"Huh? You have to go back too, right? You're the champion."
"W-Well, true."
"Don't worry about it. Head back quick. Oh, if it's okay, tell them I went back outside the castle? That'll buy me some search time."
Parting here? No way.
I'd thought I could stick with her for a while longer.
But no.
My role ended at being the key to her entry.
After that, what I could do was...
"...━Wait a second!"
"Huh?"
But I called out to Rapne as she turned to leave.
She turned back with wide, cute eyes, staring blankly at me.
'...I love you.'
Her innocent, sparkling gaze made my heart race again.
I opened my mouth.
"I'll... I'll help you."
"Help? With finding the person? Oh, no, you don't have to go that far..."
"No! I really want to help! I'll definitely be useful!"
My helmet hid it, but...
I gazed at her desperately.
"I'm the champion!"
No one in this country didn't know me.
Asking around with me would get more honest answers from locals than some unknown outsider.
I was definitely useful.
She still needed me.
"Still... you don't have to go out of your way to help me."
"...Th-That's."
Rapne looked troubled as she met my eyes.
Did I seem weird?
Probably.
A helmeted guy she'd just met volunteering to help out of nowhere.
But even that gaze of hers...
Was lovable.
'I love you.'
Hot emotions surged in my heart, about to overflow.
"Even if you're helping out of kindness, I have some pride. I can't ask that much of a stranger..."
"No, there's a reason..."
"Huh? A reason?"
Think.
Come up with a plausible excuse.
I'd done it so far.
Even if it was weird, clumsy, forced.
I'd always made it sound reasonable and moved on naturally.
I could do it this time too.
"I..."
Right, say I wanted to escape the arena too.
It wasn't a lie.
The day I first woke up here, I'd planned to flee the arena and leave the country.
"The reason I'll help you is..."
For some reason, my body instinctively told me I had to.
Leave this place and search for something.
Yes, so if I helped her, she could take me out with her.
A trade.
Yes, a trade condition.
Perfect reason.
I came up with it and declared confidently.
"It's because I like you━!!"
Of course, what burst out was something else entirely.
"...Huh?"
"Ah."
A helmeted stranger confessing love at first sight.
In short: pure thriller.
But Rapne, ever so kind, neither recoiled nor glared.
She blushed shyly for a moment...
Averted her eyes, and responded.
"Sorry... I have someone I'm going to marry."
"...Eh?"
Of course, to me...
It was a thriller.