The Hero Stole My Lover, So I Decided to Steal the Hero's Lover Instead - Chapter 18-19

Chapter 18

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“Are you really all right?”

As we walked down the night road, Alicia asked me that question with a worried look on her face.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“At a glance, it doesn’t look like you’ve broken anything,”

Sharon said, arms crossed and in a good mood. She had clearly enjoyed the pro-wrestling-like scene earlier and how riled up the adventurers had gotten over it.

“Still, you’re pretty weak, huh.”

“Haha…”

All I could do was give her a wry smile.

“U-Um, I thought you looked really cool. When you were fighting, I mean.”

Alicia added, trying to smooth things over. Her eyes sparkled like stars. I wasn’t doing much ‘fighting’ to be honest. It was just me getting beat up one-sidedly. 

I had been thinking how pathetic I must’ve looked, but since she told me I looked cool, I couldn’t help but feel genuinely happy. The pain in my gut from getting punched even seemed to ease up a little.

“You didn’t dodge the attack because I was right behind you, right? I’m sorry…”

“No, Alicia-san, you don’t need to worry about that.”

I said. After all, I had done it entirely on my own accord. If possible, I would’ve liked to show off a cool move, like taking the guy down with style,but… With my skill level, that just wasn’t happening.

If Sharon hadn’t stepped in, I probably would’ve been left a crumpled heap on the floor. I glanced at Sharon to silently thank her.

“Lucky you. Alicia thinks more highly of you now.”

Sharon said, leaning in and whispering with a mischievous smirk.

Sharon and I walked Alicia home. She lived alone. Her house was small, but compared to mine, it was bigger, nicer, and cleaner.

“Well then—”

See you tomorrow.

That was what I started to say, but then I realized we weren’t in the kind of relationship where we saw each other every day. While I hesitated, unsure of what to say—

“Please feel free to stop by the shop anytime, okay?”

Her words weren’t just polite formality. They were heartfelt and sincere.

“Yeah, I’ll come by to buy flowers again.”

After watching Alicia go inside, Sharon and I began walking. This time, we headed toward my house. Though, calling it “my” house didn’t sound right either. Yt was actually something Sharon had given me.

Ugh.

As we walked, I started to feel nauseous.

“Keep showing off your cool side like this to Alicia. Then when the time is right, expose the Hero’s misdeeds and steal her away from him.”

“Y-Yeah…”

“I’ll record that bastard’s crimes as much as I can. I will get everything on video.”

“Yeah…”

“Make sure you can handle things on your own too.”

“Yeah…”

Sharon glared at me.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

“Fe…”

“‘Fe’?”

“Feel… Sick…”

As I doubled over, about to vomit, Sharon kicked me hard.

“Hey! Don’t you dare puke in front of me, you disrespectful little—!”

“S-Sorry… Blaarghhh!”

I threw up right there on the side of the road. At least I had the decency to move to the edge of the path and find a spot that wouldn’t stand out too much.

Sharon winced in disgust at the sight—and then, predictably, exploded with rage. If I had been just some random demon B, I might’ve been executed on the spot.

Feeling much better after puking, I cheerfully made my way back home. Sharon came in as well, then used the 〈Teleport Gate〉 to return to the inn where she was staying.

“If you ever puke in front of me again, I swear I’ll kill you.”

She said before disappearing.

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Chapter 19: The Hero’s POV

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Lately, he felt like he had been spending all his time with Sheryl. He spent his days in indulgence and laziness.

At times, Cain forgot that he was the Hero. It was only because he was the Hero that he could do as he pleased. Had he just been an ordinary strong citizen, he wouldn’t have been able to go this far. So, in that sense—whether it was his status or his role—he felt somewhat grateful for it.

But still…

He let out a sigh. Defeating the Demon King was the mission bestowed upon the Hero Cain. To take down his arch-enemy (or something like that), the Demon King, he needed to travel to the Demon King’s Kingdom, which bordered the Holy Kingdom.

If only the Demon King would just show up nearby…

But of course, something like that would never happen. He shook his head in exasperation. 

What a pain. 

He couldn’t care less about the Demon King. Still, he couldn’t laze around like this forever. Once again, he had spent the whole morning in bed. Next to him lay a woman he had stolen from a man named Luke—Sheryl. Her personality wasn’t the best, but he thought she was quite beautiful on the outside.

The two of them, completely naked, found that before they knew it, noon had passed, the sun had set. It was already night.

I’m getting kind of tired of this…

The thought came to him. Was he referring to “messing around with women”? Or was it this woman, Sheryl, that he was tired of?

When he held Sheryl tightly in his arms, flashes of his girlfriend Alicia’s face would sometimes flicker in his mind. But that wasn’t out of guilt toward Alicia. It wasn’t guilt—but rather, a more complicated feeling.

Alicia… Why? Why!?

He had never even kissed Alicia. He’d barely held her hand. Their relationship was purely platonic, innocent… No, that wasn’t exactly right.

Alicia doesn’t even like me..

He forcibly shut down that train of thought. He felt like if he let himself think that way, it would become true. Alicia was in love with him. She wasn’t with him just because people told her to be. She had chosen to date Cain of her own free will.

She was just conservative. Just pure and innocent. Compared to the woman currently in front of him, with the exact opposite traits, Alicia was much better. If he were to choose someone to marry, it would be someone like Alicia, not Sheryl.

I’m sure someday, she’ll accept me…

As he thought about Alicia, Sheryl spoke.

“What’s wrong, Cain? You look like you’re deep in thought.”

“No, it’s nothing…”

“Oh. Are you, maybe, thinking about our future?”

“Our future?”

Cain asked gently, doing his best to keep his expression neutral.

“Like, marriage and stuff.”

The way Sheryl said that so innocently made Cain want to punch her. Of course, he didn’t actually do it. Cain had no qualms about using violence against men, but he wanted to be as gentlemanly as possible with women.

That said, he only wanted to act gentlemanly. He wasn’t actually all that noble in practice. He rarely hit women, true, but he did dump them on a whim when he got bored. He couldn’t care less if they cried or screamed.

At his core, Cain was a scumbag. But even scumbags could become Heroes. In fact, maybe villains were better suited for the job than good people. A good person might hesitate when it came the time to kill the Demon King…

“Marriage, huh…”

Cain muttered. He wanted to click his tongue but managed to hold it in.

“That’s still a long way off, I think…”

“…So, does that mean you’re not planning to marry me?”

Of course I’m not! I’ve got a girlfriend, Alicia! She’s way more beautiful, inside and out, than someone like you!

He screamed in his heart. Even Sheryl had initially intended this to be just a fling—but maybe she had started to fall for him for real. At this point, even if she broke things off with Cain, there was no going back to that former lover of hers, that guy named Luke.

As he tried to calm himself and think about how to respond….

Bang bang!!

Someone knocked on the door really hard.

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