The Villainous Noble Tried His Hardest to Break the Original Storyline, and Now the Heroines Are Acting Weird - 22

Chapter 22

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…Maybe I was overthinking things a bit.

I let out a small breath and readjusted my grip on the wooden sword. Sasha also tightened her hold on her wooden sword, and then she kicked off the ground. In the blink of an eye, Sasha closed the distance between us.

…She’s fast.

At the very least, her speed was on a completely different level compared to the knights I had fought so far. I blocked her swung sword with my wooden one, but Sasha immediately vanished. She had circled to my side, swinging her wooden sword. I deflected it with my own.

I continued to parry every single attack she delivered, each one accompanied by a very real bloodlust. That bloodlust was entirely genuine and with my lack of real combat experience, I couldn’t tell which strikes were feints and which were real.

Even her feints carried full-blown killing intent, causing my body to instinctively react to all of them. When I tried to block a strike from above, it turned out to be a feint, and her sword came straight at my side instead.

Even so, I managed to evade every attack, no matter how many tricks she used. I figured I was able to keep up only because my status was higher. If they had been roughly the same, I would’ve taken a beating.

My lack of practical experience…

That had always been a personal weakness, but it seemed this sparring session would serve as an excellent training experience. Dodging Sasha’s powerful swing, I immediately countered with my wooden sword. Unable to react in time, Sasha was blown back.

She lifted herself up, looking at me with surprise. Despite the hint of frustration on her face, she also seemed genuinely happy. Seeing a slightly childish side of her made me feel oddly pleased.

“I’d heard the rumors, but you really are impressive…Rubest-sama.”

“No, I still have a long way to go. Are you all right?”

I rushed over and tried to offer her a hand, but Sasha stood up on her own using her wooden sword for support.

“Please, don’t worry about me.”

She rose gracefully and bowed her head slightly in gratitude. She seemed accustomed to living with one arm. Interacting with someone in that position was always difficult. I didn’t really like using words like ‘normal’ or ‘able-bodied,’ but honestly speaking? I couldn’t help but feel worried about them.  And yet, the person themselves might not want to be worried about at all.

It could come across as disrespectful if you helped them too quickly or too often.

“…I didn’t expect that you’d actually defeat Sasha.”

My father clapped his hands, visibly impressed. It seemed even the knights were familiar with Sasha’s strength, as they too clapped in astonishment. Sure, I had won—but it was really just a brute-force victory thanks to my higher status.

When it came to skill and combat instincts, I was overwhelmingly outmatched. Father then looked at me with a much more serious expression.

“…Rubest. Sorry to interrupt your training, but there’s something I need to talk to you about. Could you come to my room for a bit?”

“Understood.”

What could it be? When Father said that with an uncharacteristically grave look on his face, he glanced over at Sasha.

“Sasha, you come too.”

“…Understood.”

Sasha nodded firmly, and the two of us followed after Father. Along with Sasha, I was led to Father’s study. I sat on the sofa while Father took the seat across from me.

Sasha, perhaps mindful of her position, didn’t sit and instead stood quietly in the corner of the room. Neither Father nor I were the type to nitpick such things, but there was no need to force her to sit either.

Facing me, Father wore an even more serious expression than usual. I wondered what was going on, when—

“…Rubest, what do you think of this world?”

When he finally spoke, I knew it. So this was finally happening. Father had always avoided talking about demons or the Demon Lord. Whether that was because he wanted to protect me, or because he thought it wasn’t the right time, I couldn’t say.

But judging by how serious he looked,  he might be about to talk about the truth of this world—or rather, the current state humans were in.

“This world?”

“Yes. I want to hear what you think about it. Like… Is it fun, or not… Anything you’ve felt about it is fine. I just want to know.”

What kind of answer would be best here…? I mean, I already knew more about this world’s situation than anyone else in it. The original Rubest-kun must’ve been the same. He had secretly connected with demons behind his parents’ backs and even bought slaves.

Now then… Let’s see how much I can fake a surprised expression. 

I needed to give Father the kind of answer he was probably hoping to get.

“It’s fun. I train every day, and I’m able to do more and more with each passing day.”

“…I see.”

“……”

Father and Sasha exchanged glances with unreadable expressions. That look made it seem like they were trying to decide whether or not to tell me the truth. To reveal or not to reveal it. That was what they were hesitating over. In that case, I’d just have to give them a gentle push.

“…But, sometimes I find myself wondering.”

“…Oh?”

“Many people seem to wear sad expressions from time to time. I want to understand why that is.”

“……”

I thought that saying this would prompt Father to finally explain the situation of the world, but he still kept his mouth shut.

Ugh, I guess I’ll have to push harder.

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