The Fallen Prince’s Pleasure Dungeon: I Won’t Let the Female Adventurers Leave ~ I Was Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, and Even Though I Just Want to Live a Quiet Slow Life, Beautiful Girls Keep Gathering Around Me!?~ - 22

Chapter 22: Humans Really Are the Worst

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“Alto-sama, did you call for me?”

“Yeah.”

Medi, who had been looking after the house, came running at full speed, seemingly delighted that I had called out to her. As she looked up at me with her sparkling golden eyes, I asked her.

“Your petrification ability works on both humans and monsters, right?”

“It does. They go stiff and crunchy.”

“Then, could you give it a try on this guy for a moment?”

“Wnyunyu-rururu—”

Beside me, the tentacle monster, a Roper, raised its limbs in a cheer.

“Turn him to stone? Poor thing…”

Medi’s expression slumped.

“It’s okay. This Roper can create a duplicate of itself.”

“A duplicate?”

“He splits himself, but the other one is like a dummy. Even though it has the same shape and form, it supposedly feels no pain or emotion.”

“Wnyu!”

The Roper’s body wiggled, trembled, and began to expand. And then…

Squish!

It split into another Roper.

“Wnyunyu!”

The original struck a proud pose with a thumbs-up.

…Since tentacles didn’t have fingers, I couldn’t tell if he was actually holding up a thumb, and since he didn’t have a face, I didn’t know if he was truly making a smug expression, but that’s how it felt to me.

“So this one is the duplicate?”

“Oh! This one isn’t alive?”

“Wnyunyu!”

“Then, I’ll do it!”

Medi got motivated. She stared intently at the Roper (duplicate), and then—

Glint!

Her golden eyes flashed. In an instant, the Roper began making a cracking sound as its body gradually turned to stone.

“So this is Medusa’s petrification ability. Incredible.”

“But what are you going to do with this, Alto-sama?”

“I wanted to try this. 《Character Creation》.”

I aligned the cursor floating in mid-air with the petrified Roper.

“Skin texture—it’s set to ‘Stone.’ Good, good. Now, I just do… this!”

“Wow!?”

“Wnyu!?”

The duplicate, which had been turned completely into a stone statue, returned to its original slimy surface as if time were rewinding, and its tentacles began to move vigorously again.

“It’s back!”

“Just as I thought. Since I can change monsters into humans, I figured I could probably cure petrification with 《Character Creation》 too.”

To be precise, it wasn’t ‘curing’ so much as ‘remaking’—it was creation rather than healing. But if I could create its original state exactly as it was, that was practically equivalent to healing.

“Wnyunyu!”

“Nyururu!”

The Ropers were rejoicing, high-fiving each other with their tentacles. It didn’t feel like the joy of being resurrected, but rather the excitement of ‘I just had a fun experience!’

“I’m jealous! Medi wants to become one too!”

“A stone statue?”

“A tentacle!”

“…Maybe next time.”

Actually, dealing with Imelda took priority right now. Now that I knew I could reverse the petrification, I could send Medi, a Mythical-class monster girl,  to face the intruder.

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A different figure appeared before Imelda as she advanced, tracing Kia’s presence.

“…Who are you?”

The girl wore adventurer-style clothing and was about the same height as Kia. Her pink short-cut hair was cute, but in the dim cave, her eyes glowed with an eerie golden light.

(My instincts as a thief are screaming at me that this one is dangerous.)

She wasn’t human. She wasn’t something so simple. 

(I mustn’t be deceived by her adorable appearance—it’s kill or be killed!)

“Medi is Medi.”

“Fine then—goodbye!”

Deciding that further talk was useless, Imelda attacked. She drew the knife at her waist, gripped it in a reverse hold, and swung for the girl’s throat, but—

“——!?”

“That is dangerous.”

As if it were the simplest thing in the world, the girl stopped Imelda’s slash just by gently placing her left palm against it. Those golden eyes flashed.

“This is bad!?”

Her legs stopped moving. They were turning to stone. From her knees to her thighs, and even up to her waist…!

“Ugh, damn it…!”

Was her life going to end in a place like this? Without even being given enough time to brood over her frustration, Imelda’s entire body was turned to stone.

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“That was overwhelming, Medi.”

Waiting until Imelda was completely petrified, I stepped out from the shadows.

“Is this okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll change her back later. But before that—oh, there it is.”

When I stared at the face of the statue-fied Imelda, the familiar [▼] mark floated up.

Peeking into someone else’s circumstances was in poor taste, but—this was for the sake of my peaceful life. Forgive me.

And there, in Imelda’s ‘hidden settings,’ after descriptions of her profile as a typical bandit leader and her strengths and weaknesses as a game character, the following was written:

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…She started a bandit group at the age of 18, but at its root were feelings of resentment and righteous indignation toward the nobility. When Imelda was young, she was a slave to a certain corrupt noble. That noble placed a magical crest on the chests of the slave boys and girls that could never be erased. Even if they were bought by another master, or even if they were freed from their slave status, he wanted them to remember they had been that man’s slaves as long as the crest remained. Furthermore, the crest constantly erodes the host. It emits a faint but never-ending pain.

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“Ugh, how sickening… Humans really are the worst.”

However, I now understood the reason why Imelda didn’t want to get naked. She didn’t want the slave crest on her chest to be seen.

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…After escaping from the noble on her own, Imelda began her life as a thief. She began working as a thief who targeted only nobles and royalty. Because of this past, Imelda couldn’t leave the orphaned Kia alone. She raised her like a real younger sister, but even to Kia, she couldn’t show her slave crest.

…By the way, in the game, she doesn’t show her chest even in the ■■ scenes. No matter what happens to her, Imelda desperately protects her chest! Only I know about this setting… I get so excited by the way Imelda resists! It’s what you’d call a poignant detail known only to me! It’s the best!!

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(…This creator was pretty much a piece of work too. Humans, seriously…)

“Alto-sama?”

“Regardless of the content, thanks to this, I’ve decided what to do. First… 《Create》.”

“? Not… Character…?”

“Yeah. Character Creation doesn’t work on ‘me,’ after all.”

I was about to undo Imelda’s petrification. But when I did, I intended to reveal myself. Therefore, I would make a mask to hide my face. Using Create, I fashioned an iron mask of just the right size that would hide the area around my eyes.

“How do I look, Medi? Don’t I look cool!?”

“You look… cool…”

Huh? Was she just being polite? That couldn’t be right. I should be radiating the coolness of a mysterious dark hero who hid his face!

“(Smi-Smile…!)”

(She’s… she’s forcing a smile out of politeness!?)

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