I Got Reincarnated as the Villain and Saved the World, but After the Ending I Was Betrayed and Exiled. I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life in the Frontier, but for Some Reason My Former Companions Started Chasing Me with Yandere Eyes… - 33-34

Chapter 33: Phantom’s Return

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I figured it would be bad to show up at the lord’s manor with my face uncovered, so I decided to wrap bandages around my entire face.

This makes me feel like I’m Shishio Makoto. Futae no Kiwami, ahhh!!

I thought having Ceres in her priest’s robe next to me would make the story more convincing, but…

“Um… Aren’t you sticking a little too close?”

“No, that won’t do, Phantom-oniisama. Taking care of the injured is a priest’s job, so I need to stay close…”

Ceres was clamping down on my arm like she was determined not to let me escape. That would have been fine, except… Her breasts, which were bigger than Tia’s, were pressing firmly against me, and things were getting so dangerous in one way or another.

“Do priests normally go that far?”

Sniff sniff “…I smell a woman I don’t know… Is this the smell of that woman called Tia?”

“Hey, Ceres!! Are you listening to me?”

She didn’t react to my words and instead muttered to herself in a dead-eyed monotone, which was a little scary. She had always been a kind girl who smiled at everyone without any discrimination, so I couldn’t scold her too harshly about it. 

After all, she was probably sticking close to me like this because I had misunderstood and disappeared from her without any warning after my exile.  Besides…

“About that… I’m sorry about the rosary… I left it behind even though I had jumped to the wrong conclusion…”

“No, it’s fine. I’m also at fault for not realizing Cain and Josef’s plot… Besides, I’ll be with you from now on, so there’s no problem. I’ll protect you for the rest of my life, in place of the rosary.”

Ceres pressed her arm tightly against mine, and in her eyes was a faint trace of fear. Come to think of it… I remembered that even when we first met long ago, her eyes looked kinda lonely back then. When we were finally reunited, she immediately clung to me so happily while calling me ‘onii-sama’ with apparent joy painted on her face. 

“Mmm… Phantom-oniisama’s palms are big… They make people feel at ease. You might be more suited to being a priest than I am.”

When I patted her head out of nostalgia and happiness, Ceres smiled blissfully and looked up at me with pleading eyes that all but begged for more. Truly. That move was not fair at all.

“That’s not true. Ah, but… Elena looks happy too when I pat her…”

“Phantom-oniisama, I’m talking about you. Other women don’t matter, do they?”

“Uh, ah… Sorry?”

“You should only do things like this for a girl you truly trust. Someone like… Me.”

She was smiling, but her eyes weren’t. Feeling an instinctive shiver of fear, I quickened my pace toward the lord’s manor. Then I called out to one of the guards.

“Sorry… could you tell Ange and Stella-neesan that Gustav has come to see them?”

“Yes, sir!! The other guests have already arrived, Gustav-sama!! Right now, Ange-sama, Elena-sama, and Solomon-sama are discussing the matter at hand.”

The guard, his eyes faintly brimming with tears, welcomed us. It seemed the word had already gotten through. I spotted the carriage Tia and the others had been riding in parked in the garden, and I let out a sigh of relief. When I entered the room we’d been guided to, I found three girls gathered around a map, deep in discussion.

“I’m glad you’re safe… I was worried, you kno—oof!!”

“It’s been a while, Elena-san. But please don’t touch Phantom-oniisama right now. He’s injured.”

Ceres blocked Elena with a barrier just as she was about to throw herself at me in an emotional hug. She let out a scream, though she’d probably be fine.

I waved to Solomon, who was watching the exchange with interest, then addressed my real sister, Ange, who was now the lord of this domain. It wasn’t my imagination that she looked more dignified than she had a year ago. She had gone through many experiences as a ruler. No—I had made her go through them…

“Sorry for causing you so much trouble… But I really need your help.”

“…”

My little sister, whom I hadn’t seen in a year, didn’t answer my request right away, instead fixing me with a stern gaze. I thought she might be about to scold me for dragging her into more trouble, but the first words she spoke were completely beyond my expectations.

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Chapter 34: Phantom and Ange

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It had been a year since I last saw my younger sister, and she had matured a little. She looked good in her armor, ready for the front lines, and seeing the soldiers following her made me realize she was respected as a lord. That made me feel a little proud of her.

“Letter…”

“Huh?”

My sister, Ange, muttered this in a low voice with a stern look on her face, so I instinctively asked her to repeat herself. No, she wasn’t speaking Russian or anything like that.

“You told me that you would send me letters regularly once things settled down, remember, Onii-chan? Sure, you sent me one saying, ‘I became an adventurer,’ but nothing after that, right? I waited the whole time, you know? You didn’t even send me a reply…”

“Ah, well…Once you cross the border, postage gets expensive and it doesn’t arrive easily…”

That wasn’t a lie. This world obviously didn’t have a postal service, so letters had to be sent through the Adventurer’s Guild or merchants. Even then, it could take months, and they often didn’t arrive at all.

If you were a noble, you could communicate via magic tools, but I had been an ordinary adventurer… And of course, it was definitely not because I had forgotten to reply to her letter because I was in some bad mental state or anything. Nope. Definitely not.

“Hmph, but when it’s convenient for you, you come running to me. I guess I’m just your convenient little sister, huh?”

Ange stared at me with narrowed eyes, but after all these years, I knew this wasn’t out of anger. She was sulking.

“Alright, I’m sorry… How about I sleep with you tonight? Will you forgive me?”

“…Fine, I guess… Be grateful for having such a kind little sister. So, did you have a proper talk with Henrietta-oneesama?”

“Huh?”

A proper talk? We tried to kill each other, actually. Seeing my puzzled face, Ange’s expression quickly turned pale.

“Wait… Don’t tell me… You never read my first letter? I sent it via the Adventurer’s Guild…”

“Ah, it never arrived. Maybe it got lost along the way.”

“Then… Then when you stopped Henrietta-oneesama, it wasn’t to talk to her, it was… Actually to stop her?!”

Ange clutched her head, almost screaming, while I looked at her with a complicated expression. I knew that she had grown attached to Henrietta, but… Really. I didn’t think I had anything to talk about with Henrietta.

My chest throbbed painfully, and I didn’t know what to say to the Ange in front of me. At that moment, Ceres cut in.

“Now, now, calm down. Phantom-niisama has been through a lot, too.”

“…Phantom… Nii-sama? You know, I’ve been wondering about this for a while… I’m Onii-chan’s only little sister. Just what are you talking about?”

I felt Ange’s gaze turn cold. This time, she wasn’t sulking. She was downright angry. Thinking back, I realized that she had never met my party members besides Henrietta and Cain.  If I didn’t explain, she’d think I was the kind of creep who made other girls call me “big brother.”

“Well, this is…”

“I started calling him Onii-sama of my own accord. Please don’t worry. I’ll support Phantom-oniisama in your place.”

“Oh, really. Well, fake little sister, maybe don’t go calling other people’s brothers ‘Onii-sama.’ You call yourself his sister, but you’ve never even slept in the same bed as him, have you? My brother has this habit of hugging someone in his sleep. I bet you didn’t know that, right?”

Ange gave a provoking smile. Sure, we slept together, but that was when we were kids, and with Stella too. It was a childish provocation, but I figured the calm Ceres would just brush it off… Or so I thought.

“I see… However, I have slept in the same bed—and bathed—with him. Of course, after we become adults.”

Eh? Why was Ceres being competitive too?! And as for “same bed,” that was a sleeping bag while camping, when she got scared of animal noises and crawled in my sleeping bag! The bath was when she accidentally walked in on me while I was bathing.

“Oh? A bath, huh… Well, I used to wash Onii-chan’s back. And I bet you only walked in on him by accident. There’s no way someone who couldn’t even make a move on his fiancée, Henrietta-oneechan, would do anything like that.”

“Can we just drop the ‘which sister is more suitable’ thing and move on? This place isn’t safe forever, you know.”

Elena, pressing her injured nose, mediated between them. Ceres’s sudden competitiveness was a mystery, but we returned to the main topic.

“I heard most of the details from Elena-san. There’s a bad demon in the castle, and you’re going with the good demon you brought along to defeat it, right?”

“Yeah… But I’m surprised you believe me. Don’t you think I might just be trying to throw the world into chaos as revenge for being exiled—Ow!?”

Before I could finish, Ange puffed her cheeks and kicked my shin. With her armored boots, that kick hurt like hell.

“Listen, Onii-chan. We’re family. Of course I know exactly what kind of person you are. If you keep saying stupid things, I’ll tell Stella and you know how scary she is when she’s mad.”

“…Sorry. I was in the wrong.”

Maybe if I had trusted everyone as much as Ange did, things might have turned out differently…

If I’d checked with everyone after hearing Josef’s story, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so twisted. But… Cain and Henrietta did agree to my exile, didn’t they? I wondered if they had their reasons.

“Looks like the sibling spat is over. Let’s start the meeting. First, we’ll split into two teams. Our movements are already being tracked, so we’ll need decoys.”

“In that case, I’ll—”

I was going to volunteer, since I had almost died anyway and my combat ability was high, but Elena shook her head. 

“To the enemy, your status is still a mystery. They don’t know if you’re alive or dead. They won’t pass up the chance to confirm it. I’ll be the decoy, along with Solomon, who wields the Demon Lord’s power.”

“Yes, my shadow magic is suited for stealth, and Ose will react to my power since I’m the current Demon Lord. That’s why I’d like you, Phantom-san, to infiltrate the royal capital with Tia-san and Amon. Amon is a demon, so he will be able to sense Ose if he’s nearby.”

True. Solomon and Elena could hold their own weight. Against anyone weaker than Henrietta or Cain, they wouldn’t fall behind. Still… Neither of them struck me as front-line fighters.

“Don’t look so worried. I’ll send Stella with them! That way, you won’t have to worry about anything, right?”

“Stella?! Yeah. Even I can’t win against her in close combat if I don’t use my Evil Eyes. It’s truly reassuring to know Stella will join us. You really know me so well.”

“Of course I do. I’ve been your sister for sixteen years, unlike some impostor….”

“…”

With a bright smile, Ange threw in another jab at Ceres. When I glanced at Ceres, she was smiling softly… And yet, I felt a sudden chill down my spine.

“In that case, I’ll go with Phantom-oniisama. I’ll show you the combination born from the intense time we spent slaying the Demon Lord—unlike someone who just wasted time idling away….”

I could almost see a tiger and a dragon behind Ange and Ceres. Then, right on cue, a knock came, and Stella entered.

“Tonight, we’ve prepared a small feast for you all. Please enjoy.”

“Oh, I’m curious to see how human feasts compare to those in the demon realm.”

“Do you have that apple pie Phantom said was delicious? I’ve been wanting to try it.”

Solomon and Elena’s eyes sparkled at the mention of food.

“Phantom-niisama, let’s go quickly. You must still be tired, so I’ll feed you.”

“No, Ceres, I’m fine now. It’s all thanks to your healing.”

As Ceres tugged me along, I overheard Ange and Stella talking.

“This letter… I’ll write a reply right away, so please send it.”

“Yes, I’ll arrange express delivery… I just hope it can cheer her up…”

The two of them were staring at a single letter with complicated expressions. While wondering what it was about, I headed off to the dining room.

★★★★

“Henrietta-sama, at least have something to eat!!”

Rough knocking came from outside the room, but I didn’t feel like answering. My power was supposed to protect what I held dear… But I had killed someone precious to me…

“Was it because I tried to fight when I shouldn’t have? But I wanted to protect you… I wanted to be able to fight in your place…”

『Henrietta… If you don’t want to hurt anyone, then use that power to protect someone. I’ll do the attacking.』

He had said that to me with a smile and this incident was clearly my fault. I had wanted to help protect his territory. That was why I worked so hard. I wanted to be able to fight like him and this… This was the result.

The harder I tried, the worse things became. Tears wouldn’t stop flowing at my own foolishness.

“Henrietta-sama, a letter has arrived from Ange-sana. She says it’s urgent and wants you to read it immediately.”

A knock echoed at the door, but I still couldn’t bring myself to answer. When I had tried to go tell them that I had killed Phantom, my subordinates had stopped me, asking where I was going with that kind of expression on my face.

At the very least, I had them send a letter for me, so this must be the reply. Just thinking about how Ange and Stella must have felt when they heard that I had killed Phantom made my chest ache.

I’m sorry. I’ve truly done something unforgivable…

Apologizing in my heart, I drifted off to sleep.

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