Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings

Chaper 12: Distress

I feel terrible.

My whole body hurts, and I have a severe headache.

My left arm is missing, and to top it off, I can’t see out of my left eye.

The last time I felt this awful was since I started having dreams of being killed thousands or tens of thousands of times.

Even though I’m conscious again, I still have problems moving my body.

I can’t even sit up, so I move my eyes to look around to observe my surroundings.

In my field of vision, I see a burning campfire and the rocky wall illuminated by flickering lights.

I constantly hear the sound of waves nearby.

Is this some kind of cave near the beach?

Fortunately, it seems like I’ve survived, but according to the nautical chart that I’ve looked at before, there shouldn’t be any convenient islands near the Devil’s Sea.

So where is this?

Was I rescued by inhabitants of some island while I was drifting?

What happened to Fol, who was supposed to be with me?

Are we both stranded on this island?

Well, there are many questions, but let’s just be glad that I seem to have survived for now.

But Carlos, you promised to come to my aid right away, yet you’re not nearby when I woke up. What’s going on?

Next time we meet, I’ll definitely give you a piece of my mind.

Suddenly, I feel a chilly, unpleasant presence and look towards the edge of the cave.

“——!?”

There… a pale blue glow is floating softly.

I know this presence.

“Is that Lunamare!? Why are you here…!?”

Lunamare, the pale blue glowing figure, floats like a will-o’-the-wisp.

It resembles a tadpole, but it’s not a demon; it’s a being that contains vast magical power in its small form.

It’s a high-ranking spirit of water, ruling the sea.

And in the story, Lunamare always had a companion with it.

“If you’re here, then that means——guh!?”

I try to sit up forcibly, but my left side is in excruciating pain.

I thought I had some resistance to pain from being killed thousands and tens of thousands of times already, but it still hurts, and I can’t really move.

But I have to move.

If Lunamare is here, there’s a possibility that they are nearby.

“Gu, nnn”

As I groan in pain, the fur blanket that was covering me — more like a somewhat dirty animal skin — moves slightly.

And then as I continue to struggle, it falls away, revealing a gorgeous girl on top of me with clearly nothing worn.

She looks at me with a relieved expression on her somewhat haggard face.

“You’re awake…”

Seeing that, I recoil in shock.

I know this girl — no, this woman.

Though it’s been three years since the beginning of the story, and she looks younger than she did then, but her golden hair and emerald eyes are unmistakable even from a mile away.

Above all, with Lunamare, there’s no mistaking it.

She’s one of the heroines of the story.

A girl sailor with a spirit companion, Lunamare, who has shown the strongest and most persistent hostility towards me among the protagonists.

“Faratiana Rougvelt…!”

I reflexively sit up and try to form a Dark Ball in my hand, but instead, I cough up blood.

“——kaha”

Damn it.

Whether it’s due to magic depletion or not having enough magic to cast a spell, my body reacted violently.

I can’t even muster enough magic to cast a basic spell… Unusual, my magic recovery is too slow compared to normal.

Where did Fol go?

Being alone with such a dangerous woman is no joke.

I might really get killed.

“——Huh!? Are you okay!?”

She seems surprised that I coughed up blood and starts patting my back.

…What’s with that concerned voice?

You’re the crazy girl who only spews unreasonable abuse at me.

And why is Faratiana here in the first place?

Surely this isn’t a continuation of the dream where I was killed thousands and tens of thousands of times.

“Get away…! You’re planning to kill me, aren’t you…!?”

“H-huh!? …Oh, you mean the choking? Were you conscious? I’m sorry about that, I had a weird dream or… I guess I moved too much in my sleep…”

Faratiana makes excuses while not bothering to hide her chest or lower body from me.

Cover yourself up first, don’t you have any shame?!

Nevermind that, she attempted to kill me by strangulation while I was sleeping?!

This gracious behavior is probably just an act to catch me off guard.

But why didn’t she just kill me then?

It was a perfect opportunity.

Could it be that she knew I was depleted of magic and unable to resist, and she wanted to torture and kill me instead…?

It’s typical of the ruthless Faratiana; it’s entirely possible.

Concerned that something might have happened, I checked my body.

“Huh…?”

For some reason, there are signs of clumsy but makeshift treatment all over my body.

Bandages made of torn cloth wrapped around my body.

And the wound on my left arm — the elbow was bound with a familiar bandana.

There’s no mistaking it.

This worn-out bandana, showing the signs that it was of a commoner, belongs to Fol.

Upon closer inspection, the cloth wrapped around my body looks like it was torn from the clothes Fol was wearing.

What does this mean?

Did Fol perform the treatment, and then after treating me, did he disappear, and Faratania found me?

I mean, Faratiana wouldn’t use Fol’s clothes to perform treatment on me, right?

I don’t understand. How did this situation come about?

Without letting my guard down, I confront Faratiana, but she notices her nakedness and quickly snatches the fur blanket from me, covering herself and blushing slightly, glaring at me with sharp eyes.

“Don’t stare so much…”

I wasn’t staring.

What’s with that mix of embarrassment and shyness that the normally strong-willed heroine shows only to the protagonist?

Don’t get any ideas, you crazy girl.

After insulting and persistently trying to kill me, I won’t feel anything even if you suddenly show such an attitude at me.

“By the way, you… knew my real name?”

“Huh?”

“You just called me Faratiana, right? Did you hear it from my brother… no, my father? Speak up. If you knew, there was no need for me to continue pretending to be a man..”

“Your brother, your father? Pretending to be a man…? What are you talking about…”

I stare at Faratiana for a moment, not understanding what she’s saying.

Wait.

If I look closely at her face, it resembles Fol in some way…

“——Hah!?”

And then it dawns on me.

Until this moment, I hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Looking closely, those sharp, piercing eyes and this slender, petite figure.

Don’t they match Fol’s features?

“What the… what are you… you can’t be…!”

“What’s with the sudden change…”

“…But I don’t understand.”

“Why… did you go to such lengths to help me when you clearly hated nobles? What’s your motive? Were you expecting money in return?”

“No, what are you talking about? I just helped, that’s all. I mean, I want money, but I don’t think I’d do all this just to get it.”

She says it with a straight face.

It’s not for money?

“It’s not like I’m preaching ethics to a commoner like you, but still why?”

“What do you mean by ‘commoner’?”

“You helped me, didn’t you?”

“Are you talking about the heat ray I hit the magic whale with?”

It was actually my fault that I couldn’t defend against the magic whale’s attack.

As a noble and the eldest son of the Lightless family, I couldn’t bear to shift the blame onto others for my mistake.

“…I don’t know what you think, but I was saved by you, and by defeating that monster, you probably saved Rougvelt too. If it means being able to save a great benefactor like you, who has saved my family, who was in danger of dying, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing when you were clearly suffering.”

“…”

Straightforward, sincere feelings without any pretense.

This was the first time in my life that I had been told something like this.

I didn’t know how to take it, so I looked away.

“…Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t do it for the sake of you commoners.”

“I know you’d say that. So, I’m just expressing my gratitude on my own. Just stay silent and accept the help.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

It was unexpected.

With the fur covering her front, Faratiana approached me, peering into my face.

“Ro… Fus.”

“What?”

“Your name. Rofus, right?”

“…Of course.”

What’s she saying all of a sudden?

Could it be that she didn’t know until just now?

Well, I never introduced myself, so it’s understandable.

“Rofus, you’re getting cold. Geez, I even tried to warm you up.”

“It’s because you took away the fur.”

As I retorted, Fol spread out the fur and enveloped both of us.

“Don’t move.”

Fol pressed our shoulders together inside the fur.

“…What are you planning?”

“The nights by the sea are cold. If we don’t do this, we’ll freeze to death.”

“…How long are you planning to stay like this?”

“I used my clothes for your treatment.”

Ah, that’s right.

Fol’s clothes were torn and used as bandages for me.

“And for some reason, I can’t use healing magic…”

Healing magic is unavailable?

Is it due to insufficient magic power?

Or perhaps a lack of faith in the gods?

Hm, I don’t know.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

I’m not looking.

“What happened to my clothes?”

“Oh…”

Fol seemed hesitant and looked away.

“I took them off at the beach before bringing you here, but when I went back later, they were gone. Probably swept away by the waves… Sorry.”

“…I see.”

So the various potions I had in my coat pocket were probably washed away with the seaweeds.

If I had the potions, they would have helped with my recovery a bit, but well, there’s nothing to be done about it now.

We talked about various things after that.

Well, I say we talked, but it was mostly Fol talking non-stop while I just listened in silence.

Every time I showed no interest and dismissed the topic, Fol didn’t seem to mind and brought up the next topic as if nothing was wrong.

There was something ridiculous about her mental resilience, continuing to bring up new topics even though I showed no interest.

For example, she was named Faratiana after her mother, who died of illness when she was young, wishing her to become as beautiful as a princess.

Certainly, it seemed like an overly dramatic name for a commoner.

Her mother seemed to dote on Fol a lot, telling her stories about how a knight in shining armor would come to rescue her in the future.

Quite a romantic image for a woman who seemed so out of place as the wife of the rough and tough Greig.

“Oh, by the way, Rofus, when you fought that whale, you looked so brave, just like a knight in shining armor!”

Fol said teasingly.

Why should I, a senior noble of the kingdom, be seen as less than a knight of lower rank?

When I expressed my anger at being ridiculed, Fol just laughed for some reason.

What’s with this girl?

She also talked about her childhood memories of exploring the seaside with her older brother, Log, her younger brother, and Fol herself, cooperating to drive away a half-fishman merman that wandered in from the sea, and later getting a severe beating from Greig for their reckless behavior.

Memories with a childhood friend named Norn.

Really, it was all such irrelevant chatter.

Looking back, she was probably talking non-stop to keep me from falling asleep.

Just like in the mountains, where sleeping meant certain death.

Although it wasn’t as severe as in the snow, the inside of this cave was surprisingly cold.

Despite having a fire, occasional cold sea breezes blew through from somewhere, reminding us of the entrance to the cave.

In the cold cave, the two of us shared warmth as the night wore on.

“Bochaannn!” (T/N: Young Master, just thought it fits better here,)

“Rofus-sama!”

I woke up to a familiar voice calling out to me.

That voice was unmistakably Carlos’.

It was coming from outside the cave.

I had tried to stay awake, but it seemed that I had lost consciousness while listening to Fol’s irrelevant chatter.

I concentrated my magic and formed a small Dark Ball in my palm.

Hmm, it seems that my magic has recovered somewhat, although it’s far from being fully restored, I should be able to handle basic low-level spells without any problems.

However, fighting like we did against the magic whale is definitely out of the question.

Next to me, Fol leaned against my shoulder like a pillow, softly snoring.

“Hey, wake up. It’s time to go.”

“Mmm… huh!? Did I fall asleep!?”

When I called out to her, Fol looked at me dazedly for a moment, then jumped up in surprise.

“Seriously, did I fall asleep!?”

“Are you okay!?”

“Of course.”

Who does she think woke her up?

“Anyway, let’s get out of here. It seems like help has finally arrived.”

I handed the fur to Fol and got up, swaying a little.

Fol quickly picked up the fur I had handed her and wrapped it around herself to cover her skin.

Why did I even bother giving her the fur?

I channeled magic through my body and found that walking was no problem.

Fol supported my shoulder hurriedly as I got up.

“Don’t push yourself.”

“I’ve recovered some magic, so it’s no problem. You’re very considerate, but… are you planning to go out like that?”

“…Ah.”

With nothing covering her body, Fol hurriedly picked up the fur and wrapped it around herself.

Honestly, what did she think I gave her the fur for?

I channeled magic through my body and found that walking was no problem.

Fol clung to me, supporting me as we walked out of the cave.

Circulating magic throughout my body, walking was no problem.

When I walked out of the cave with Forl, I saw the main ship anchored in the nearby sea, as well as sailors exploring the beach and Carlos.

When Carlos noticed us, he came running towards us with incredible speed.

“Rofus-sama!”

He cried out as he clung to me in tears.

In his hand, he held my soaking wet coat, which he must have picked up floating around the nearby sea.

“You’re safe, you’re safe! Thank goodness!”

“Don’t touch me, Carlos, you’ll your get snot on me.”

As Carlos clung to me in tears, I found it irritating, and other sailors gathered around.

Seeing For and me safe and sound, the sailors cheered with joy.

Pushing through the sailors, the notably large figure of Log appeared.

“Are you both alright? And Fol?”

“Don’t touch me!”

“Huh?!”

Log, who tried to hug us, was dodged by Fol and kicked.

With momentum, Log fell over.

Then, with a groan, Log, with a face covered in sand, raised his eyes.

“Huh.”

It seems he noticed that Fol was naked under the fur.

Log stared at Fol and then shifted his gaze to me while turning his head with a creaking sound.

While glaring down at Log, Fol leaned closer to me as if to hide her body.

“Uh…”

Log’s idiotic voice echoed.

This guy is definitely suspecting something weird.

Despite that scene, we were rescued by the main ship and safely returned to Rogvelt.

On the way back to Rougvelt, Log asked about the relationship between me and Fol and what happened in that cave, but before I could answer anything, Fol kicked him in the side.

Carlos was also surprised to learn that Fol was a woman, but he didn’t react beyond that.

He didn’t bring up anything like Log did.

By the way, that island where Forl and I washed up seems to have been along the Devil’s Sea.

It’s an island that’s not on the map and hasn’t been discovered yet.

Demonic seas, with legends of demons devouring ships since ancient times, are rarely entered by ships, and there are many unknown parts.

It’s not surprising that there are undiscovered islands, but this time, we were saved by one.

Come to think of it, the high-level water spirit Lunamare disappeared without a trace.

I asked Fol, but she didn’t know either.

In the first place, this was the first time Fol had seen Lunamare, who apparently guided us to that uninhabited island in the middle of the storm caused by the “The Deeds of the First Generation.”

Hmm, in the story, Lunamare always accompanied Faratiana as her partner… I don’t know the circumstances of how they became partners, though.

However, it was unexpected that the “deeds of the first generation” would change the weather and cause a storm.

If Fol hadn’t been there, we would definitely have died.

Because of that storm, our search was difficult, and it took time to find us, as Carlos apologized while bowing.

Since the storm was largely due to my actions, I graciously forgave him without any further questions.

Well then, after all that, we finally returned to Rougvelt.

I never imagined that my first voyage would turn out to be such a disaster.

I lost my left arm and, as a result, lost the sight in my left eye.

I depleted my magic power and ended up stranded on an uninhabited island.

But I managed to come back alive.

That alone can be considered fortunate.

When we returned to Rougvelt, the residents, led by Greg, did not give us a warm welcome.