Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Villainess
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Villainess.
"No, our Chloe has such a gentle heart!"
"As if. No matter how you look at it, she seems like a woman crazy about men."
"I!! Said!! Let!! It!! Go!!!!"
My friend would fly into a rage whenever Chloe came up in conversation.
No matter how many times I smacked him upside the head, it was no use.
Chloe's a bitch.
That's what I'd say as I tried to knock some sense into him.
'But the one who ended up breaking was me.'
He'd glare at me like some cultist from a new religious sect.
It was scary sometimes.
'But the kid was kind.'
For some reason, whenever the conversation touched on that game, the kid went a little nuts.
And if you messed with Chloe, he'd start acting just like one of those cult weirdos.
That's why his nickname among our friends was "Alcheonji."
The guy who's crazy about Arcadia Alphie.
We'd sometimes call him "Clocheonji" when talking about Chloe.
Normally, flaws like that would keep people from hanging out with him.
But the kid owned property.
And on top of that, he had a real talent for making money.
Yeah, you can probably guess where this is going by now.
The bastard... treated us to great food.
Back in our broke days, when we were scraping by on instant ramen from the convenience store.
Or when treating everyone meant all-you-can-eat pork belly.
That kid would drag us to omakase spots costing over 200,000 won a head or the Shilla Hotel buffet and foot the bill like it was nothing.
Even when one of our friends lost his parents and we had to pay respects, while everyone else was too busy, he'd say he had nothing going on and stand vigil for three straight days.
He'd hand over a generous wad of cash, saying the funeral looked tough.
Anyway, a guy like that naturally had decent relationships.
Well, they all fell apart later on, and I was the only one left.
"Seriously, you're all I've got."
"Yeah, so take good care of yourself."
Anyway.
I was the only one left for that guy.
Put another way, all the chit-chat with our other friends had become my job.
I found that pretty sad.
Thanks to that, I got to hear all sorts of things after coming to this world.
Anyway, getting to the point.
As for Chloe...
One word sums her up.
'Player.'
Her head's a flower garden, just like the protagonist of some reverse harem.
And guys fall for her in the weirdest ways.
Like some spunky heroine from a movie or drama.
"You're the first girl to slap me like that."
"I like your fiery personality too."
Something like that.
Totally incomprehensible direction.
Why fall for someone after getting slapped? I couldn't understand it, but that's how the story went.
So she steals Ractor, Lucia's fiancé.
And yet, she leaves him behind—claiming she saved him—to go rescue some other guy.
Couldn't be a worse woman.
She's the polar opposite of me.
That's why Chloe rubs me the wrong way.
'Most of all, as the protagonist, she's a magnet for trouble.'
To me, Chloe was nothing but things to avoid.
I eyed Chloe with a sullen expression.
"...D-Did I do something wrong?"
Not yet.
-No, seems like she's already done plenty.
'Then let's go with that.'
-...
I felt a look of utter disbelief.
Did the holy sword start reading emotions too after my [Thief's Extremity (S)] evolved?
Not a bad development.
Anyway, I turned to Ractor.
As I looked at him, Ractor flinched.
'He looks like the type girls would like.'
Some guys with peculiar tastes might call him cute.
Though those peculiar tastes would probably be into other guys.
Anyway, ignoring all that.
I stared at Ractor.
"When's the engagement getting called off?"
"Anytime you want. Just stay away from Chloe."
"Ractor!"
Chloe raised her voice at his words.
She glared at him with what looked like real anger.
Ractor flinched for a moment.
But he put on a firm expression and said to me,
"Breaking off that engagement? I never liked it anyway. I was just a family puppet... but thanks to Chloe, I learned what freedom is."
"Freedom? More like recklessness."
"What?"
Whoops, I snapped back sharper than intended.
Still, wasn't this good for me?
I could ditch the annoying Chloe.
And cleanly resolve things between Ractor and Lucia.
'Then someone needs to witness it officially.'
Volkan's here, and Black Nether Duke too, but they're busy.
Asking Veronica or Clara for help felt awkward.
'...Gene's busy helping save the citizens too.'
Felt bad asking those two to witness.
So who?
"You look troubled."
A familiar voice rang out.
A voice that shouldn't be here.
I turned toward the voice.
There stood Diago, looking sullen and averagely ugly.
And next to him...
"C-C-C-Crown Prince!"
Ractor bowed in a panic.
I bowed my head to the crown prince as well. No fancy clothes.
His outfit looked like workers' garb, splattered with grime.
"We meet the great one of the Empire!"
"Whoa there, not quite yet. Don't worry. My father's only 153, after all."
...Huh? 153?
That age felt off.
At 153, he couldn't be human.
-No, the imperial emperor is human. Just has talent in martial arts and magic, hit level 9 young, and focused on emperor duties.
'...'
-He ascended pretty early, huh? Emperors usually live at least 300 years.
'What.'
Is this the perk of being this world's emperor?
Tragic and bizarre.
The crown prince looked about my age, in his twenties.
So if the emperor lives to 300...
'Crown prince doesn't take the throne until at least 170.'
...Whoa.
No wonder the Labyrinth's lasted a thousand years and has ties to the Cradle.
"Hm, looks like you want a witness. Got a moment free, so I'll do it."
"Sorry, but..."
"Hey, building ties with one of the empire's future stars—what could be more urgent?"
The crown prince grinned at Ractor's words, then winked at me.
What the.
-Like he's fishing for praise for behaving well. The crown prince has some balls.
'Don't people say the opposite?'
-Whatever. You deserve it.
'...'
Caught off guard by the holy sword's sudden praise, I awkwardly handed the paper to the crown prince.
"Mm... mm... mm...?"
The crown prince looked at Lucia.
Then Ractor.
Then Chloe.
And finally me.
"Hm..."
He wore a thoughtful expression.
Diago stared at me in disbelief.
The crown prince's face grew complicated, then split into a hearty laugh.
"Kahahaha! This got interesting. Alright, Diago. As the shadow knight of the palace, you..."
"Crown Prince, sorry."
"Y-Yeah! You can't settle a tangled engagement between families like this!"
Chloe cut in.
The crown prince and Diago sighed in relief. Ractor shot me a deeply dissatisfied look.
"So, what then?"
"A duel."
"..."
I looked at Ractor.
He flinched. Jealous and blinded, sure, but me fighting him?
Really?
That's the look Chloe gave me.
"W-Well, one side would be at a huge disadvantage, so how about proxies?"
"Proxy sounds fine."
"I'm level 5... so if you pick someone around level 5, no problem."
"Level 5? That's all?"
The crown prince looked shocked at my words.
"Hiding it isn't illegal, is it?"
"But that strength..."
"If you're so worried, join in yourself."
I said to Ractor.
A chance to legally eliminate an enemy—too good to pass up.
Did he take it as a taunt?
Ractor glared murderously and nodded.
Sharp guy.
*
A duel over breaking off Lucia and Ractor's engagement.
The news spread like wildfire.
Maybe because the Cradle was in a slump.
It spread so fast, you could almost call it politically motivated.
"Yeah, something like that."
Volkan was piling into the pudding I'd made on the table.
Next to him, Cheongju was mixing a cocktail with two legs.
"Oho, what's this booze?"
A cocktail made by adapting orange, lime, and cranberry. Modeled after something the owner of Cheongju occasionally makes. "If it sucks, I can take it up with the boss."
Affirmative. Commencing preparation. Ice, ice, ice, ice, ice... "You seem awfully leisurely."
"Not my fight. Besides, it'd be ridiculous for me to rage over you taking on two level 5s."
Volkan sipped the cocktail Cheongju made, eyes widening, then nodded in approval.
"That's why you made such a big fuss to trap me with no escape."
"Well..."
I glanced around.
The crowd was huge.
Eyeballing it, at least 5,000 people.
"Events like this are good. The Labyrinth ban and sudden monster swarms had everyone down. Gotta liven things up a bit."
"When can we enter the Labyrinth again?"
"Once you're done and back."
Figured as much.
I sighed inwardly and looked ahead.
One knight from Ractor's family.
And Ractor.
"Looking at him, he hid his level."
"Still just level 6."
-Not even peak realm. Barely entered.
"That's no fun."
"..."
Volkan gave me a weird look.
Ignoring it, I fiddled with the gem hidden in my subspace.
[Soulstone of the Eternal Soldier] No helping it.
For Ractor, cheering to win back Chloe, I'd resolved to use this on him.
*
After the match.
I was stunned.
Had to be.
'What the hell.'
Because Ractor.
I'd tried using the Soulstone of the Eternal Soldier to help him, but I couldn't.
More precisely.
[Target is already an Eternal Soldier.] It was already in use.
No choice.
For the Cradle's peace.
I had to eliminate him.