The Original Protagonist (1)
Walpurgis Night. When it came, most of the Academy students would die. That was the original story I knew, and on this point there was no room for doubt. The novel had a habit of describing Walpurgis Night in vague, murky strokes—it never even properly explained whose conspiracy it was. But one thing was written with absolute clarity: when that night arrived, everyone except the main cast would die.
Which meant I would die too, right?
So before Walpurgis Night could arrive, I had to leave the Academy.
The problem was… the Academy was not a place you could simply walk out of. If you left without being formally expelled, you were classified as a runaway student and became a target for pursuit.
That could hardly be called reclaiming your freedom.
I had to get expelled.
At first I considered the method of racking up absences until I earned an F, but last time a professor had caught me and forced me to sit through class, so that plan was already dead in the water.
In that case, I needed something more direct and faster.
“Guess… sexual harassment is the only way left.”
“Eeeek!!!”
Misha, who had overheard my muttering, went completely pale with genuine horror.
“Y-you… I knew you were a womanizer, but I never imagined you were the kind of garbage who would announce, with a straight face, that you were going to sexually harass someone!”
“Haah… there’s a reason for this.”
“What possible reason could there be?! That’s it! On behalf of every woman alive, I’m going to bury you in the ground!”
“That’s not it. I was saying that if I want to get expelled from the Academy, I have no choice but to deliberately cause an incident.”
“Huh? Why would you want to get expelled? Why would you walk out of this wonderful Academy of your own free will? You… are you stupid? You do look kind of dumb, but…”
“There are circumstances, okay? Circumstances.”
“Hmm…”
“I’m already stuck with a terrible reputation as a womanizer. In a situation like this, if I just pull off one big incident, getting expelled would be the natural next step.”
“So in conclusion, you’re saying you’re going to hit on another girl? Of course you are. A dog never stops eating shit. Ugh. You really are… hopeless. Completely hopeless. I think you should just live like that for the rest of your life and then die. End of essay.”
“Why did you suddenly switch to essay mode?! More importantly, did you hear what I said? You did hear me, right? I’m trying to avoid the coming disaster…!!”
“You don’t have to keep lying to yourself like that… Everyone already knows you’re a girl-crazy maniac.”
There was no getting through to her. Wait—why was I even trying to persuade this dense elf in the first place? Whatever she thought of me, as long as I handled my own business properly it didn’t matter. I decided to just ignore her.
“All right. Time to scout for a girl worth harassing.”
“Oh gods above. Please save this idiot.”
Terrifying.
“Isn’t there a decent girl around somewhere…”
“You’re seriously going to go through with this? I’m starting to think the best thing I could do for every woman in the world is just cut you down right here.”
I left the cabin and headed toward the Academy grounds. After all, if I caused an incident with an Academy student, the odds of immediate expulsion would skyrocket. Was there a suitable target? No… honestly, anyone would do. As long as she was a woman who would report me and get me kicked out, I didn’t care who it was.
“Well, any woman will do.”
“This guy’s insane. Should I just cut him down for real? Wait, now that I think about it, I’m a woman too—so why am I the only one he has zero interest in? That pisses me off even more.”
Ignoring Misha, I scanned the surroundings. Right on cue, I spotted the back of a woman strolling through the garden. Sacrificial lamb acquired. Sorry about this. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the small for the sake of the great.
“Ahem.”
Imitating the usual… well, the Jack from before I possessed him, I approached the unknown woman from behind.
“Ohhh! Beautiful mademoiselle~~ Accept my love~~~ I am now a prisoner of your affection! A single rose that gazes only upon you! Behold my courtship dance, yearning for your love!”
I strode up from behind and wrapped my arms around her. I even boldly groped her chest. Hmm… but her chest was small. Flat enough to remind me of a vast plain. Wait, is this even a woman? The thought had barely formed when a face more terrifying than any goblin spun around to glare at me.
“You… I’ll give you time to leave a last will.”
“Ah… well… wait? Are you…”
I had been about to apologize when it suddenly hit me how familiar that face looked. Of course, this was the first time I was seeing it in person, but… this girl… was Rose.
Rose.
The original protagonist.
Which meant… as far as I knew, this girl possessed a rather unique backstory. The tale stretched back twenty years. The current emperor, Carlos, had still been just one prince among many when a succubus slipped in through his window and they shared a night of passion. Only later did he learn that the succubus was Lilis Lirinet, queen of all succubi. It was a little ridiculous, but the two had genuinely loved each other, and Lilis became pregnant.
“What should we do, Carlos? I’m a demon… if I stay with you, you’ll be in danger too.”
“I don’t care. As long as I have you, I need nothing else.”
“Carlos! I don’t need anything either! Just you!”
“Ohh, I love you, Lilis!”
“And I love you!”
Had their love been true? Who could say. The human heart was a fickle thing. What was certain was that once Carlos began to rise politically, he completely severed every tie to the demon race. Originally he had ranked quite far down the line of succession, but after a certain incident he emerged as a strong candidate for the next emperor—and the moment that happened, Lilis became an obstacle. In the end, Carlos cast out Lilis, who had only just given birth, and banished her to the Demon Continent.
“Carlos! How could you do this to me?! What about our daughter?! What about our daughter… what about Rose?!”
“That’s not important right now. If things go well, I could become emperor. I’m sorry, but… disappear. For my sake.”
“How could you… I never knew you were this kind of person… This is… too cruel!!”
Lilis was driven to the Demon Continent, her daughter stolen from her. From that day she ground her teeth in bitter hatred, feeding on resentment until she rose to become one of the Four Heavenly Kings. She dreamed of one day reclaiming her daughter and taking revenge on Carlos, lying low on the Demon Continent as she waited.
And what of Rose? Betrayed and abandoned by her father, she was raised by a wet nurse. Carlos had provided a considerable sum for her upbringing, but the nurse embezzled every coin, and Rose grew up in poverty as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Sometimes she wondered why she had neither mother nor father. Whenever she asked the nurse, the answer was always the same.
“You never had any.”
But that was strange. Looking around, everyone else had parents. When Rose turned ten, she waited until the nurse was drunk and asked again.
“Who are my parents?”
“Why would you need to know that? Your father abandoned you and your mother was cast out.”
“Who are my father and mother?”
“Want me to tell you? Your father is the current crown prince, Lord Carlos, and your mother is Lilis, a demon of the Demon Continent. Heh… how’s that? Funny, right? You’re the child of the highest power in the land, yet you belong to neither side. Heh heh heh… destined to live your whole life in the shadows… when you think about it, you’re pretty pitiful.”
Hearing those words, Rose fled the house. The nurse was later eliminated by an assassin sent by Carlos, but that no longer mattered to Rose. She cursed her fate, lived in the sewers, mixed with beggars, even became a subordinate of priests, tasting every kind of life—until she finally realized she had to confront the core of it all.
“Father… and Mother. I have to meet both of them and settle this. I have to put an end to this wretched destiny.”
The emperor and one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Two absolute opposites who could never normally meet. Rose reached a single conclusion about how to bridge that gap.
She had to become a Hero.
“If I become a Hero, I can meet both the emperor and the Four Heavenly Kings. I have to ask them… why they abandoned me… whether there was really no other choice… I’m going to ask my parents.”
The best way to become a Hero was to enroll in the Academy. So she taught herself swordsmanship and magic, made a name for herself, and at last received permission to enter the Academy—her first visit, a hard-won triumph.
And then,
on her way to meet the Great Sage of the Magic Tower as a newly admitted student,
suddenly,
some lunatic
came running up from behind and firmly groped her chest.
Rose turned around and said,
“I’ll allow you a last will.”
The frivolous, filthy man answered with a tense face.
“Um… more than a last will, there’s something I’m curious about…”
“?”
“Why is your chest so small? You’re not a guy in drag, are you? If that’s the case… I never finished the novel—I only read up to Walpurgis Night. If you’ve got some other secret besides your birth, then I’m sorry. But if we’re both guys, you can understand this much, right? Tch…”
“I am a woman, you crazy bastard!!! My chest is just naturally small!!”
It would be fair to say there had never been a worse first meeting. Yes… Rose drove her fist into Jack’s face, and Jack went flying, tumbling across the ground.
Jack and Rose.
The two of them had finally met.