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 41.2: It's the Villain's Job to Save the Heroine

Chapter 41.2: It’s the Villain’s Job to Save the Heroine

The blade grazed Lord Masquerade’s arm. It didn’t sever it. Just a slight graze.

But I had succeeded in reaching him with my sword, and the next moment, fabric tore and red blood poured out.

“How about this, then!”

Despite the wound, Lord Masquerade grimaced and accelerated his attacks.

There was no longer any of the earlier composure; it felt deadly serious, with clear intent to kill me.

“Wh—!”

But to me, every attack still felt light.

This guy was probably the type who fought by parrying while evading. He avoided all attacks, unilaterally tormented his opponent, and gradually wore them down.

A fighting style perfectly suited to a villain like him.

I was more balanced, but leaned toward speed.

Because I had trained assuming I would face Luxol.

If I couldn’t at least match his speed, I wouldn’t even be able to escape, let alone do anything else.

So why did a speed-type like me find Lord Masquerade’s attacks light?

The reason was simple.

“—Ask-kun!”

It was Safira.

Having been overpowered and imprisoned by her, I had built up resistance to weight. To heaviness.

Whether it was physical or emotional.

Either way, it was heavy.

“Light! Way too light!”

“You’ve got a mouth on you.”

“Safira is a hundred times heavier!”

“Ask-kun⁉︎”

When I glanced at her, she was glaring at me with an incredibly heavy, sullen stare. This is bad.

“See? Safira is way heavier!”

As I spoke, I swung my sword.

“Ku—!”

The tip touched Lord Masquerade’s left shoulder, and the flowing blood shook the ground.

After that, it was almost one-sided.

Lord Masquerade couldn’t fully parry my attacks and gradually accumulated wounds. Blood flowed not only from his shoulder but also his arm, thigh, and abdomen; he could barely stand.

He breathed heavily from his shoulders, yet his fighting spirit hadn’t vanished.

His eyes stayed wide open, and he refused to lower his stance.

“How did you reach such heights?”

After we faced each other directly for a while, Lord Masquerade suddenly asked.

“Because I eat grapes.”

“I’m asking seriously. How?”

“Even if you ask me how…”

I recalled my childhood.

“If I had to say, it’s like this. I got strong to escape the country after imprisoning Safira?”

“That makes no sense.”

“I know, right?”

Honestly, I didn’t really understand it myself.

My original plan was to flee the country after imprisoning Safira.

To do that, I needed to escape from Luxol, so I started training to at least be able to fight him.

I trained desperately to avoid the original bad ending.

And now that training was helping me save Safira, so life really is unpredictable.

“But it’s probably thanks to grapes. Because they’re grapes.”

“Don’t joke around! You grape-obsessed maniac!”

For the first time, Lord Masquerade raised his voice.

He then charged at full speed.

He had abandoned defense; it wasn’t the evasive movement from before but a straight line.

A straight line aimed to pierce my heart.

“Now!”

“Oraaaaaaaa!”

Perhaps seeing an opening, the surrounding thieves rushed in all at once.

There was nowhere to escape. No space to dodge.

Enemies attacked from every direction—it was truly a desperate situation.

“Ask-kun, I’ve got your back!”

At that moment, Safira’s voice rang out from behind.

She should have had both hands bound, but she’d be fine. For a second I worried, but if it was Safira, even with both arms restrained she would manage.

“Got it!”

Deciding that, I faced forward.

“—!”

Lord Masquerade was already right in front of me.

The next time I blinked, the distance was close enough that my heart could be pierced.

But his movement was slow. —Slow.

The original Luxol was probably much faster. So fast the eye couldn’t follow.

“っ—!”

Compared to that, this attack was well within range to counter.

“Wh—!”

I met his sword head-on, forcefully knocked it away with power, slipped into the opening as Lord Masquerade staggered backward, and slashed his abdomen.

“Guhah…”

A huge spray of blood rose, and Lord Masquerade’s body slammed into the ground.

Dust flew up, and the next instant he had let go of his sword.

No, he could no longer even grip it.

“Geho geho geho—”

Lord Masquerade tried to stand while spitting blood from his mouth. But he had lost too much blood.

He couldn’t even sit up, let alone stand.

—This settled it.

When I looked behind me, Safira was finishing off the surrounding thieves.

Men groaning in pain lay on the ground, and standing in the area now were only me, Safira, and—

“………………”

Her.

Safira’s personal maid, yet a natural villain who had mistaken me for an ally. A small fry just like me.

To her, I asked my final question.

“Lavanda, do you like grapes?”

“No. I prefer beer over wine.”

“I see. That’s too bad.”

No more words were needed.

Lavanda leaped in with her knife raised.

I dodged her attack and lightly struck the back of her head as I turned.

“Ugu—”

Lavanda groaned and immediately collapsed on the spot.

She probably wouldn’t wake up for a while, but her life wasn’t in danger.

Even though she was a traitor, killing her would leave a bad taste. From her reaction, it seemed Safira didn’t want that either.

I looked around once more and muttered quietly.

“…Is it over?”

“Ask-kun!”

The moment I released my sword, Safira leaped toward me with force.

Somehow her restraints had been removed, and she wrapped both arms around my back in a diving hug.

“Whoa⁉︎”

I nearly lost my balance but caught her just in time.

If I had fallen on my butt, she would have gotten sulky asking, “Am I heavy?”

Well, she is heavy. Too heavy in all sorts of ways.

“I thought… it was over for me…”

“Yeah.”

“I had given up… thinking there was no future…”

“Yeah.”

“But you saved me, Ask-kun. Just like five years ago, when I was surrounded only by enemies, you—”

After stroking her head for a while, Safira suddenly looked up.

Her eyes were dreamy, and she gently placed her hand on my cheek.

Then she took my lips.

“Mh—”

Maybe I had cut the inside of my mouth; there was a slight taste of blood, but it was a deep, warm kiss.

And so, I, the villain, saved the main heroine from a villain.

—A villain who defeats villains.

It sounds contradictory at first, but no title fits better.

Because I’m not cut out to be the hero, and I’m just a lunatic who thinks only about grapes.

—It was truly fitting for a villain.