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 5.2: The Duke’s Daughter Stands Way Too Close and Feels Way Too Heavy

Chapter 5.2: The Duke’s Daughter Stands Way Too Close and Feels Way Too Heavy

One by one the others tried, and not a single person managed to break a rock.

Every time the sword hit, there was only a dull metallic clank, and the students came back holding their aching hands.

Everything was exactly like the original story. Freshmen hadn’t learned to use magic power yet, so they were only a little stronger than ordinary people.

“Next, Luxol Grey.”

But he was different. The original protagonist possessed an amount of magic power on a completely different scale.

Even now, when he still couldn’t control it properly, he was already abnormal.

Luxol readied his sword, took a deep breath, poured magic power in, and swung down hard.

Crack—the boulder split with deep fissures.

“Ooh…!”

“That’s the scholarship student for you.”

The crowd murmured in admiration.

—Yes, yes, this is it. Exactly like the original flow.

If I remember right, next Safira fails to even crack the rock and starts burning with rivalry toward Luxol.

“I’ll never lose to him!” That feeling drives her to train even harder and grow by leaps and bounds.

“Safira Hartz.”

Yet for some reason…

Safira walked forward calmly. I couldn’t sense the slightest trace of impatience or excitement.

There was no emotion on her face. She simply gripped the sword like it was a chore and stared at the boulder.

She was supposed to look picturesque, so why did such a bad feeling crawl up my spine?

Trying to suppress the rising premonition, I waited for the moment.

She took a light breath and swung the sword down without any hesitation.

—SLASH!

The next instant, the boulder shattered into tiny pieces.

“…………Huh?”

Everyone froze.

It was only natural. She had lightly swung the sword with one hand and completely pulverized the rock.

—Wait, this is different from the original, right?

She wasn’t even supposed to crack it.

So why is she this strong?

She was supposed to awaken her power only after growing closer to the protagonist.

Even while those questions swirled in my head, Safira gave the teacher a small bow and slowly walked back toward me.

At first glance she looked expressionless, but if you looked closely her cheeks were relaxed, and she was clearly watching my reaction.

Since I didn’t say anything, she spoke first.

“I became strong so I could stand beside you, Ask-kun.”

“W-Well, congratulations.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Ask-kun.”

“Ahahaha, isn’t it because you worked hard, Safira?”

If she misunderstood even the reason she got strong, I’d be in serious trouble. I really have nothing to do with it.

“Last up, Ask.”

I managed a strained smile at her mysterious appeal just as my name was called.

—Oh no, here it comes.

The gazes from everyone around me burned.

From the outside, I probably looked like “the guy who captured the duke’s daughter’s heart right after enrollment.”

Objectively, my reputation was the worst, and unless I showed decent strength, no one would accept it.

—I’m just a mob character, though.

But there was no turning back now.

“………………………………”

The moment I readied the sword, a heavy pressure poured over me from behind.

Since Safira had turned her rock to dust, weird expectations were piling up.

My heart jumped from the tension.

—Well, putting a crack in it should be fine, right?

I’ve been training since I was little, so I think I can control magic power reasonably well.

I’ve never tried it before, but I should at least be able to crack the rock.

—All right, let’s get this over with.

Just as I was about to swing down,

“Achoo!”

I sneezed out of nowhere.

Because of that, the sword tip veered wildly and completely missed the rock.

Whoosh—the wind howled past, brushing my cheek.

“Ah…”

The surroundings started buzzing at my pathetic display.

“Wait, just now…”

“He missed?”

Probably no one had ever whiffed it completely until now.

Not only the students but even the teacher looked up at the sky with a sour face.

Right after that, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

“Class is over. Back to the classroom.”

The teacher gave the order without mentioning me at all.

Looks like I’m saved.

I escaped that hellish atmosphere, and now Safira should finally realize I’m not her prince on a white horse.

She’ll probably switch her recognition to Luxol being the one destined for her.

With that faint hope, I looked at Safira.

“………………… ”

Yet why?

She was staring into my eyes with an expression of pure bliss.

Her gaze sparkled as if she had found a priceless jewel.

“Ask-kun, that was amazing.”

For some reason my evaluation had skyrocketed.

—Isn’t her reaction a little off?

Are her eyes just for decoration? I’m starting to worry about the future of the duke’s house.

※

【Side Safira Hartz】

—Ask-kun.

I didn’t miss it.

There’s no way I would miss how incredible he is.

The sword he swung down never touched the rock.

It was a complete miss.

But…

—There are cracks in the rock.

Tiny fissures ran across the surface.

—How?

—He didn’t even touch it?

I’ve been training desperately for five years.

To stand beside him. To catch up to the back I saw that day.

I thought I had become strong. I was confident people around me acknowledged my strength.

But…

—I’m still nowhere close.

Cracking a rock without touching it is something normal people can’t do. Probably not even the teacher could do it.

—How much training would it take to reach that level?

My chest squeezed tight.

It hurt, it was frustrating, and yet joy won out.

I’m happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.

But that happiness came with pressure at the same time.

—I have to become even stronger.

—So I can stand beside Ask-kun.

No amount of effort will ever be enough.

Because he—is my entire world.