I Was Reincarnated as the Villain Who Confines the Heroine in an Eroge World, But for Some Reason I'm the One Getting Confined by the Heroine Instead - Chapter 2.2: To Avoid the Ruin Flag, I’ll Confine the Heroine Ahead of Schedule

Chapter 2.2: To Avoid the Ruin Flag, I’ll Confine the Heroine Ahead of Schedule

She’s surprised but doesn’t scream.

Confusion floats in those blue eyes, but she doesn’t try to run.

Instead, she timidly pinches the sleeve of my clothes.

Is she asking to be confined?

Her complete lack of caution is so extreme I almost laugh bitterly.

I glance back toward the main street.

“…”

The guards still haven’t noticed she’s gone. Confirming that, I start running.

Thus, I successfully kidnapped Lady Safira Hartz of the ducal house.

※

From the alley, I take an even less-traveled path and head toward the nearby vineyard.

Standing alone there is an unused storage shed—that’s today’s confinement room.

It’s not harvest season, so no one comes here, and I can lock it from the outside.

Perfect for confinement.

When we arrive, I slowly open the door.

“Come on, inside.”

Safira stares at me for a while but says nothing and steps in.

The dim wooden shed. There are windows, but little light enters. It hasn’t been used in a while, so it smells dusty.

But the state of the room doesn’t matter.

Because with this, I’ve fulfilled my confinement quota.

—All right, time to flee the country.

Satisfied, I try to let go of Safira’s hand.

Yet for some reason…

“Eh?”

It won’t come loose.

No—Safira won’t let go of my hand.

“Um, it’s okay to let go now.”

“Where are you going?”

Safira grips my hand tightly and looks up at me with anxious eyes.

“Uh? Well… shopping?”

“I’m coming too.”

Instant answer.

“No, that’s a little…”

“I’m coming!”

“That’s the one thing…”

“I’m coming!”

Her will seems unbreakable.

Does she not realize she’s been confined?

If so, this is a huge problem. I’m not sure whether I actually cleared the quota.

Though what even is a “confinement quota” anyway…

“I’m coming!”

“Do you understand your position?”

The confined person shouldn’t be able to go outside so easily.

“Let me just say this: your life is in my hands right now. I kidnapped you and confined you.”

“Confined?”

“Yes, confined. Someone who’s confined isn’t allowed outside.”

“Then I’m confined♡”

“Right, right, you’re confined.”

She finally seems to understand her situation. And since she understands, I can consider my quota cleared.

—Time for overseas escape, overseas escape.

“Then who are you?”

I try to leave again, but Safira desperately clings to my arm with both hands.

This isn’t getting anywhere, so I decide to act a little.

“I’m the villain. I exist only to confine you.”

“A bad person?”

“That’s right, a bad guy.”

I say it with implication.

She opens her mouth blankly for a moment, then murmurs softly.

“Someone who exists only for me…”

“Hm? Did you say something?”

“…Fate.”

She keeps muttering after that, but her voice is too quiet to hear.

Thanks to that, her grip loosens.

Seizing the opening, I shake free of her arms and sprint to the door.

“Ah! Wait!”

But at the last second, she catches me again. Even outside, she refuses to leave my side.

In fact, she pulls hard on my hand, trying to drag me back into the shed.

“Back inside!”

“I’m not going back! I have things to do!”

“No! I want to talk more!”

“I said I’m not going back! I’m the one who confined you, remember? I’m the one in charge!”

She really doesn’t understand her position.

“Anyway, I’m leaving now.”

“No.”

“That’s not no.”

“No!”

And while we’re pulling on each other’s hands—

“—Young lady?”

A voice rings out behind me, making my spine freeze.

I turn around. The two guards from earlier are standing there, hurrying over with panicked faces.

—Crap. It’s over.

Of all people, the worst possible witnesses saw us. And they caught us literally holding hands.

This looks bad no matter how you slice it.

…Huh?

I brace for the bad ending, but their reaction is much smaller than expected.

“Jeez… this is why I hate babysitting kids. The second you look away, they wander off.”

“Hey, the kid next to her can hear you.”

“Who cares. Let’s just grab her and get back to the mansion.”

The guards approach lazily.

“Young lady, you mustn’t wander off on your own.”

One flashes a shady smile and roughly grabs Safira’s arm.

“No. I don’t want to go back.”

“Selfishness isn’t allowed, little lady. The master will scold us.”

Safira resists and keeps holding my hand, but she can’t win against adult strength.

“Ah…”

Finally our hands separate.

Her golden hair sways, and her blue eyes turn toward me.

She reaches out as if begging for help, but she is dragged away despite her struggles.

In no time, she is hauled toward the carriage.

“…Eh?”

I stand there stunned for a while, then mutter in the now-silent alley.

“I confined her… and didn’t get caught?”

Was that really okay?

I don’t know. I don’t know, but I managed to clear the confinement quota.

I wasn’t arrested. I wasn’t chased.

I ended it in the most peaceful way possible.

“I’m free.”

I leap into the vineyard.

“I’m finally free!”

I shout at the top of my lungs and throw both fists into the air in a huge victory pose.

—No matter what, I avoided the ruin flag.

But at that moment, I had no idea.

I had no idea that the careless act of confining the heroine early would later bring about an unimaginable disaster.

—Safira Hartz, daughter of the duke.

I had completely underestimated her obsession.