Scum-lesse Oblige, I Have Been Reincarnated as a Scum Villain in an 18+ Game World, and I Absolutely Want to Grasp the Mob Life with the Power of My Knowledge of the Original Story - Chapter 26

It Looked Like You Need Help

“—His target is me!”

At this moment, I can’t help but to be grateful for wearing a mask.

Because under this mask, I’m making such a stupid face, completely dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the situation at all.

“If you go now, you can still make it! Run away, please!”

“…eh, ah.”

Iris seems concerned, urging me to escape quickly.

Wait a minute, I thought.

The main heroine, Iris, is quite strong.

In the game, she initially underestimates the main protagonist, but begins to develop feelings for Sieg, who reveals his true talents after defeating her.

This makes her a tsundere type heroine.

Thanks to her strong sense of justice, she has been relatively strong since a young age, and in battles, she is really reliable.

By the way, Carla is the strongest among the main heroines, she is much more powerful than Iris. She is considered too powerful as she can use extradimensional magic. Therefore, whenever she joins the party, she is usually given a medicine to weaken her powers so that she is not too overpowered.

Poor Carla-san.

However,

—something is not right.

Why is Iris so distraught?

She turns her gaze to the man.

On the end of her gaze is a man who casually stands there, wearing a Noh-mask on his face.

(TN: Noh masks (能面 nō-men or 面 omote) are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress (檜 “hinoki”), and painted with natural pigments on a neutral base of glue and crushed seashell.)

His eyes look empty and emotionless.

“Oh…”

The man mutters.

“…a peculiar intruder. I sense a nostalgic magic from the village, magic of a ‘Demon’—who are you?”

The man continued so.

Even his tone of voice sounds emotionless.

However…

A ‘Demon’?

What is he talking about?

Before I can respond to his question, Iris shouts,

“Run! Now!”

It’s almost Iris is screaming at me.

Just as I’m about to ask why, the man does something unbelievable.

“Well, anyways…”

The man says so, bringing his knife to the front of my face in a split second.

“Let’s see if you can entertain me.”

He continued.

I have a bad feeling about this.

“…!!”

I’m so shocked that a plea almost escaped my lips.

The man slowly brings his blades closer to my mouth.

Please stop! Please don’t do it!

Unable to hold myself back, I shout,

“…hey!”

—however, ignoring my warning, the man brings his knife closer to his face and licks it.

“……”

“Kukuku, I love the taste of blood. Are you going to be my next prey?”

“—you’ve got to kidding me.”

My dry voice echoes.

I’ve seen these type people before.

You know, those characters in manga or anime who are crazy about battles, licking their blades when facing their opponents.

“Kukuku, I can’t hold myself back any longer.”

—yeah, he must be one of those guys.

Is he seriously doing this?

In this day and age, there’s still someone that crazy about battles?

At the same time, I understand why this event is skipped in the game.

This is not good…

Even his laughs are terrifying.

“You can feel it too, right? That strength.”

Iris says so.

“…ah, yeah. I-I guess so.”

Strength?

I’m not sure about that, but one thing I know for sure is this person is really weird.

“Run! Now! You can’t win! You have no chance against that guy!”

Iris shouted so, urging me to escape.

“His name is [Shadow] Bard!!! A monster that once fought against that [Demon] Enrique!!!”

The man shows no reaction or expression, neither denying nor affirming, just looking at us in silence.

However, his silence spoke more than words.

“T-That [Eccentric] Enrique…?”

In an instant, I’m recalling the definition of ‘eccentric’ from the dictionary.

(TN:【奇人】(Kijin) which means ‘Eccentric Person’ and 【鬼人】(onijin) which means ‘Demon Man’ sounds quite similar. In this case, the protagonist misheard (onijin) as (kijin).)

‘Eccentric’

A person with a personality or behaviour that deviates from the ordinary. In short, a weirdo.

“……”

What a terrible nickname.

In ‘Last Arca’, strong individuals get nicknames for what they’re famous for. For example, Carla, the user of [ice] extradimensional magic is called, [Frost] or [Judicator].

And yet…the ‘Eccentric’ Enrique???

I’m at a loss for words.

Yet, despite all of that…

The next moment, I’m aware of an even more horrifying truth.

What did Iris just say?

A monster that once fought against that [Eccentric] Enrique.

A chill runs down my spine.

Everything starts to connect.

A nostalgic sense of magic in the village.

That unsanitary act of licking the blade with no regard for hygiene.

All the pieces are falling into place.

That’s right.

The only conclusion I can think of is—

This guy also has chuunibyou symdrome!!!

“I see, so he is as strong as Enrique.”

“Yeah, that’s right! So quickly—”

I understand now, that’s why Iris seems so exhausted.

In short, Iris who is kidnapped here, tried to fight this guy, but she is no match against him, and on top of that, she is worn out by his tremendous chuunibyou behaviour.

Even I, who is used with Enrique’s behaviour, got goosebumps when he licked his knife in front of me.

—what should be done has already been decided.

“Quickly, run away—”

“Well done.”

Saying so, I pat Iris’ shoulder and stand in front of her.

“Eh?”

Iris’ face looks stunned.

I figured she would be.

A strange guy with a mysterious mask suddenly appears and tells her ‘Well done’.

Nevertheless, without worrying about that, I continue.

“It’s okay.”

“…I don’t even know who you are…do you have a death wish or something?”

“No, I don’t have a death wish.”

Iris stands there dumbfounded.

“But, helping me here won’t bring you any benefit…I’m just a daughter of a concubine…”

“It’s not about gaining benefits or anything like that.”

“However, you see, that man…he is a user of extradimensional magic, a magic that surpasses human understanding…”

“Oh, is that so?”

Having a unique form of extradimensional magic is really rare.

Why would someone with such abilities be involved in kidnapping a minor in a place like this?

…well, never mind.

“That doesn’t matter at all.”

I said so cooly.

“Why?”

I can hear Iris murmuring behind me.

“—because, it looked like you need help.”

“……!!!”

Iris gasps.

…was that too cringe?

Am I too confident in my love psychology skills that I said something really disgusting?

But no, it’s fine.

I certainly feel a bit embarrassed by my own words, but if I think about it calmly, it wasn’t me who said that, but the mysterious masked man—Genesis.

That’s right.

So, even if Iris later says something like, ‘Ew, that guy called Genesis came and was so cringy ☆.’ it’s definitely not me.

Definitely not.

In the slightly awkward atmosphere, confirming that Iris falls silent, I shift my focus from Iris to the man.

“Well then, substitution. Are you okay with that?”

Saying so, I ready my sword.

“Hmph, you didn’t take your chance to escape. Interesting.”

With an evil smirk on his face, Bard readies his sword as well.

“May I ask why are you doing this? Do you not understand the difference in our strength, or are you driven by some strong sense of justice? Or perhaps, who are you working for?”

In an instant, the Bard’s magical power surges, and he charges forward.

“I’ll tell you, masked brat! On the battlefield, those who act for others end up dying—involving yourself in pointless battles with no benefits, what will that achieve!?”

He’s quick.

A slashing attack that uses body enhancement.

He’s certainly fast and powerful.

As a first strike, it would be a perfect score.

However—

“—I can see your attacks.”

I’m used to seeing attacks like this.

It’s all thanks to my training with that chuunibyou Enrique.

The high-pitched voice of swords colliding with each other echoes throughout the cave.

—the next moment, Bard and I are locked in a confrontation.

“Oh, you managed to block this strike.”

Bard says so, sounds impressed.

Facing him, I chuckle and say,

“You don’t have to worry about who I work for.”

“What!?”

“—I’m doing this completely and utterly for my own sake.”

Author’s Note:

Protagonist → Immune to chuunibyous, decides to fight Bard in place of Iris. Due to the mask, ends up saying somewhat embarrassing things.

Bard → has a nickname of【Shadow】. Famous in the underworld guild for challenging the 【Demon】 Enrique. A formidable figure with a craving for blood and likes to lick his blades.

Iris → Feeling a sense of despair towards Bald, but currently in utter confusion due to the sudden intrusion of the mysterious masked man.