I Got Reincarnated Into a Game I Was a Top-Ranker in and I Became the Leader of a Villain Group That Will Destroy This Shitty Country - 71

Chapter 71: Always Together

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The day after Alwyn left, I was still brooding in Rielle’s mansion.

“Something… Something wrong is happening here… Just… What is this uncomfortable feeling?”

The church had been thoroughly obliterated, leaving only the royal family to stand in our pathway. I would never pretend to be the hero of justice or anything, but I just couldn’t turn a blind eye to those people that experimented with people’s lives with black magic. Not to mention, the royal family had also allowed the church to exploit the citizens. The royal family was to be blamed for this too. Yet… I still couldn’t come to a decision. Why? Because the current situation had deviated too much from the original game’s storyline.

Right. Everything had gone off rail a bit too much. Until now, I had been acting based on the original storyline of the game. However, the usurper of the Pope and sparking a revolution were never part of the game’s storyline. 

Therefore, any decision I made from now on would be a gamble.

“Hmmm… I really don’t know what the royal family is planning in detail…”

Feeling my head starting to ache, I sighed heavily.

Adolf’s subordinate, Gebels, had told us that the empire’s goal was to infect everyone with black magic and use the citizens as an energy source. They wanted to become more powerful in black magic by absorbing the people’s life force. Just what was Adolf planning to do with all that energy though? What was his true purpose? The report from Resistance told us the royal family hadn’t made their move yet either.

“Am I just being too overly cautious? No, but….”

I was deep in my thoughts when suddenly, my door swung open with a thud. Standing there was my soul partner, Nia. A silver-haired, red-eyed devilish beauty. 

“Nia~~ I deserve to have basic human rights, you know?~ Why don’t you try this thing called ‘knocking’?~”

“Humph. Cheaters don’t have basic human rights.”

Seemingly sulking from not getting too much attention recently, Nia puffed her cheeks out as she approached me. Without even bothering to close the door, she nonchalantly sat on my lap and leaned her back against me. 

“Fufu~ But you’re still want to act spoiled with the said cheater, huh?~”

“….I can’t kill Kai, so I don’t have any other choice.”

“Just now, didn’t you just say something incredibly dangerous?!”

“Hurry up and hug me tight, or I will sulk even more.”

With a resigned sigh, I tightly embraced Nia with both of my arms. I wanted to convey how important she was with my gesture, so I held her in my arms tightly. 

Nia let out a happy laugh before she placed her hands on my arms, snuggling even closer to me. Thinking back, it really had been a while since I last had this kind of physical affection with Nia. 

“Hmm~ Fufu~ I’m so happy~”

“I’m sorry for not paying attention to you lately.”

“Kai, I know you can’t help but to struggle with your thoughts on your own, but sometimes… I want you to share your problem with me too.”

“…”

“Well, I know I’m not that smart, so I doubt I can be of any help to you, but still…”

“Nia, just by having you by my side is enough to give me the strength I need, you know?”

I said my true feelings out loud and I could see Nia’s shoulder twitched. She then looked up at me. Her usually pale cheeks were now adorned with a hint of blush.

“…Womanizer.”

“Why would you say that in this kind of situation?!”

“You didn’t even deny when I said I’m not that smart. You really are a cheater, Kai.”

“No, wait?! How does not denying it make me a cheater?! Nia?!”

“Ahhh~ I was confused why it was unusually noisy here and just as I thought….”

Chloe entered the room with an expression of exasperation. She must had overheard our conversation since Nia left the door open. Of course, Chloe also didn’t bother to close the door. 

Nia once again puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. As if anticipating this reaction, Choe sat on my desk and gently pinched Nia’s squishy cheeks. 

“Hey, don’t make that face. It ruins your cute face, you know?”

“Ugh-! Mumumu…! I’m not Chloe’s doll!”

“Fufu~ You’re so cute so I can’t help it~ Ah, right. Kai, have you decided what to do next?”

“Hm? You mean, about Resistance?”

“Yeah. You’re more or less their leader now. At least, in their eyes.”

Four days had passed since the church was destroyed. The members of Resistance were itching to strike against the royal family. All of them harbored grievances against the country. They argued that this was the perfect time to launch an attack against the royal family while the iron was still hot. Of course, I could understand their point, but I had asked them to wait. Despite their high morale, many of our people were non-combatants. They were just ordinary commoners who had never fought a battle before. On the other side, the royal family had over thousands of trained soldiers in their arsenal. Not to mention, we still didn’t know what kind of trump card the prince had. Hence why I asked them to wait while I gathered my thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m still struggling to know what to do… What about you, Chloe? What do you think?”

“Me? I think we need to fight now.”

“…I see. So that’s how you feel…”

“Well, I know it’s a bit too sudden and we haven’t prepared enough yet, but just pondering about this endlessly won’t get us anywhere. We don’t need to go all-out. It doesn’t have to be a full-scale war from the start. We can just launch some small, strategic attacks. That shouldn’t be a bad idea, right?”

“….I see. Well, I see your points there.”

“Are you scared?”

“…”

“Fufu~ So even the demons in the prophecy still feel scared.”

Chloe chuckled softly. I was a bit offended, wondering what was funny for her to laugh. I narrowed my eyes and glared at Chloe.

“Of course I’m scared. Several hundreds of lives depend on me and more importantly…”

“More importantly?”

“…I’m afraid of losing.”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I looked down a bit before continuing.

“Chloe, you already know, right? Back in my original world, I was always alone. The only deep relationships with people I ever had were with Nia, you and Rielle. Hence why… I don’t want to lose either of you. Never.”

“…”

“…”

“But you know, even though I have been reincarnated into this world, I still don’t know what their next strategies or plans are. I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I’m not confident I can keep everyone safe. I just… I just don’t want to be alone again.”

“…”

“…”

“Anyway, while I was mulling over all of these things, four days had passed by the time I realized it.”

It was pathetic of me if I might say so myself, but I couldn’t stop the words from flowing out of me. Even though I now wielded the power of a demon, but my soul was still that of a lonely child. I wished to be together with everyone. Hoping for an idealistic wish, just like the soul of a child. 

Chloe listened to all my words silently. She was about to say something in response, but then…

“I will always be with you.”

The voice I heard didn’t belong to Chloe or Nia. The voice came from beyond the open door. It belonged to Rielle.

“I won’t let you be alone. Of course, I know I don’t have the same monstrous powers like everyone else, so my words might not have any bite to it, but still…”

“…Rielle.”

“I will always be by your side, you know? Right next to you, Kai.”

Despite how tense her voice sounded, her feelings were pure and genuine. My eyes widened in surprise and then, as if she wanted to add another nail to the coffin, Chloe added.

“That’s right. Besides, so what if you’re afraid? You want to protect me from harm’s way? Are you underestimating me? I know I may look like this, but I’ve defeated Kaltz on my own, you know?~”

“….”

“No matter what happens, I won’t die. I also feel the same way as Rielle. You know… I will… Always… Always be by your side. That’s why, you should try to relax a little.”

“…”

“….Womanizer.”

“Why would you say something like that in this situation, Nia-san?!”

“…Kai doesn’t understand anything. There’s no way I would let you be alone.”

“Huh?”

“My love isn’t that shallow.”

“…Huh?”

Still nestled snugly in my arms, Nia leaned her cheeks against my chest as her cheeks slowly dyed in pink.

“If Kai isn’t by my side, I will die.”

“….”

“That’s why, I won’t let you be alone. I love you after all and… Because I love you, I-I would be troubled if we weren’t together forever.”

“….”

How did things turn out this way? I couldn’t endure this any longer. I mean, I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs. I felt like I had been confessed to in many different ways. My heart couldn’t stop beating wildly. 

“Aaaahhh!! Nia-chan!! Not fair! Even though I also wanted to say it too!”

“Tha-That’s right! Besides, what’s with that ‘I love you’?! How could you say that so casually, yo-you devil!”

“Pfft..! Hahaha!!”

Both Rielle and Chloe shouted, their faces were turning bright red. Seeing their reaction, I couldn’t stop myself from bursting out laughing. 

Ah, I knew it. I have to protect them. Even if I have to die, I need to protect them all. 

Looking at everyone’s faces, I was able to gather my resolve. 

After discussing with everyone, we came to a conclusion. We would attack the imperial family with just the three of us. We had to exclude Rielle for now, but I left her with the task of contacting Resistance in our place. 

However, that attack never took place.

“…Huh? Brien?”

On the day of our planned attack, Brien, the elf from the former hero party, appeared at the empire. She was severely injured.

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T/N: Okay, but the snuggle part is so adorable! ( ˶˘ ³˘(ˊᗜˋ*)!♡