I Was Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, but I’ll Live Honestly ~Because the Protagonist Was Useless, I Ended Up Making the Heroines Smile and Somehow Built a Harem~ - 23

Chapter 23: Noah Fights the Protagonist

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“Hey. Don’t you lay a hand on her.”

The one who stepped in between Abel and Flora was Noah. To keep Abel from getting any closer to Flora, Noah gripped Abel’s wrist with enough strength to make it turn white.

“W–What!? Let go!”

It was the very moment Abel yanked his body back by force. As if he had timed it perfectly, Noah released his grip. Unable to support his own momentum, Abel was slammed onto the ground on his back with a dull thud. He hacked violently, coughing. His throat caught, and in a hoarse, raspy voice, Abel spoke painfully.

“N–What the hell are you doing…?”

“You told me to let go, so I did. How pathetic.”

“Y–You bastard…!”

Speaking in an even, calm manner, Noah ignored Abel and turned back toward Flora.

“I’m sorry, Flora. I took too long to come help you.”

“Noah-sama… I’m sorry. I… I thought maybe I could’ve handled it a little better…”

Flora twisted her mouth downward, tears spilling as she let out a choking sob.

“I was really happy you said you’d fight for me. Thank you.”

That said, being protected by the heroine doesn’t exactly leave room for dignity, even if I’m the villain.

“But more importantly, Flora, there’s something you should be saying to me, right? Did you forget? I think you said it first.”

“Huh? Noah-sama, what are you suddenly talking about…?”

Flora blinked in surprise. As Noah gently wiped away her tears, he spoke.

“You’re in real trouble right now, aren’t you? Rely on me.”

At Noah’s smiling words, Flora let out a small “Ah,” as if she had remembered something. Then, chuckling softly, she spoke to him.

“Noah-sama, please help me. I was planning to smooth things over better, but when my beloved little brother was insulted, this Onee-chan just couldn’t stand it.”

As Flora winked while saying that, Noah’s expression turned slightly exasperated.

“Uh, yeah… Okay, so that’s how it is. Well then.”

Cutting himself off, Noah turned back toward Abel.

“Leave the rest to me.”

The fact that Noah—who usually spoke in a gentle tone—had lowered his voice into something quiet and deep made Flora’s shoulders twitch. Noah stared straight at Abel.

“Hey, Abel. Why the hell did you make Flora cry!?”

At Noah’s roar, the air itself seemed to vibrate. Then Noah began to approach Abel.

“H–Hii! W–What’s your problem!? Y–You’re the villain, aren’t you!? Why are you getting close to the heroine!?”

At Abel’s words—“villain” and “heroine”—Noah almost stopped in his tracks.

There are a lot of things I should really be confirming right now…

Even so, he kept moving forward, step by step. His feet did not stop. He halted right in front of Abel.

“Abel, I get why you hate me. But…”

The sensation was like boiling water constantly bubbling inside his head. Driven straight forward by that emotion, Noah grabbed Abel by the collar and shouted.

“Try believing what Flora says for once! Don’t shove your one-sided ‘good intentions’ onto her and make her cry!”

“W–What the hell… What the hell, Noah! I won’t forgive you… I’ll never forgive you… Uwaaaah!”

Abel raised his fist and swung at Noah. But…

“You’re too slow.”

Without even twitching an eyebrow, Noah caught Abel’s fist with one hand. His fingers dug in, a crushing pressure that felt like it might shatter bone.

“Gaaaah! Let go!”

“When someone grips your hand this hard, it really hurts, doesn’t it? Just how scared do you think Flora was… How much pain do you think she was in…?”

Noah’s fingers tightened even more.

“Learn your lesson.”

He spat the words out in a low voice and released Abel’s hand. Losing his balance, Abel’s face tilted up defenselessly. Noah’s fist shot forward in a straight line.

“Ghuh!”

With a dull impact, Abel was sent flying.

“Y–You bastard… It hurts like hell!”

Still sitting on the ground, clutching his nose, Abel screamed.

“I won’t forgive you, I won’t forgive you… I’ll beat you a hundred times over… You’ll regret laying a hand on me, I swear—”

“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO’D BETTER NEVER COME NEAR FLORA AGAIN!”

The sheer force of Noah’s rage must have been terrifying. Abel shut his mouth. Still, perhaps as his last bit of resistance, he continued glaring at Noah in silence. Noah crouched down, matching Abel’s eye level, and spoke.

“For the sake of her family… For me and Layla… Flora’s kindness lets her work herself to the bone. You’ve got no right to trample that… You’re the last person who should be doing this…”

His voice squeezed out, soaked with anguish. It was tinged faintly with tears. He knew that forcing ideals onto others was wrong. Even so, he never wanted to know that the protagonist of his beloved game could be someone like this. Just for now, he desperately crushed those feelings down and spoke calmly.

“Listen carefully. From now on, never lay a hand on Flora or her family again. Got it?”

“I–I got it… I understand…”

Seeing the warmth drained from Noah’s eyes, Abel nodded frantically in fear. And just like that, Abel turned and ran away.

At the same time…

“Hey! Who’s causing a ruckus over there!?”

The sound of guards’ footsteps approached. Someone must have alerted them to the disturbance.

“Crap…”

Getting caught by the guards here would be bad…! No matter how you look at it, I’m obviously the one at fault for beating him up…!

“Flora, can you stand? Can you run? We’re getting out of here!”

Noah held out his hand to Flora. Flora clasped it back with a beaming smile.

“Yes! Of course, Noah-sama! I’ll follow you anywhere!”

He thought her response sounded a little strange, but now wasn’t the time to question it. Hand in hand, the two of them ran off in the opposite direction from Abel. Then…

“Pfft—ahahaha!”

While they were running, Flora suddenly burst out laughing.

“What’s going on? I mean, this really isn’t the time to be laughing!”

Ugh… I can’t believe I’m running from guards right now.

It felt like he was some delinquent fleeing from the police.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so funny! I’m really, truly happy that I met you, Noah-sama!”

Saying that, Flora laughed loudly again. Perhaps Noah was caught up in her laughter. Or maybe it was just absurd to see her laughing in a situation like this. Either way, Noah finally burst out laughing too.

“Ahahaha! Hey, we’re in the middle of running away, so don’t laugh like that! Let’s hurry back home!”

Wrapped in the pale glow of the setting sun, the two of them disappeared into the distance together.

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