When the Villain Joined the Knights to Avoid Doom Flags, but Somehow the Heroines Started Approaching Him - Chapter 06: Don’t Worry About It

Chapter 06: Don’t Worry About It

(Thank goodness…)

Yulis sighed with relief as he saw Lieselotte standing firmly, looking battered but without any major injuries.

(Yeah, if she had died here, it might have messed up the story… And who knows, I might’ve even gotten caught up in some murder mystery like, “You killed her, didn’t you!?” just because I was around.)

Normally, you can tell the difference between a death caused by a human and an accident involving a monster attack based on the type of injuries. 

But let’s be real… the one standing here is none other than Yulis, the infamous troublemaker.

He’s got a terrible reputation, known for being the type to hurt others without a second thought. So, people wouldn’t find it hard to believe that he might have pushed a monster on someone out of mere curiosity—that’s how he’s seen by everyone around him.

That’s why, having her survive meant avoiding unnecessary accusations.

Especially since Lieselotte is a girl with a strong sense of justice. Even if she dislikes someone, she wouldn’t go out of her way to frame them.

And besides—

(…Seeing someone die right in front of me would just be too much.)

Thinking that he was acting very unlike a villain, Yulis scratched his head.

It was then that he suddenly noticed something strange.

The girl in front of him—Lieselotte—was safe, but her cheeks were flushed red, and she was staring at him with a hazy, almost feverish look in her eyes. 

Curious, Yulis waved a hand in front of her face, leaning closer to check on her.

“Uh, you okay…?”

“Fuhe!? I-I’m fine!”

She said she was fine, but she was clearly flustered. Yulis couldn’t help but tilt his head, puzzled by her odd reaction.

“Ahem! Um, well… T-Thank you for… saving me.” 

Seeing Yulis’s confusion, Lieselotte cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Nah, I didn’t really do much, so don’t worry about it.”

“But—”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“…”

Yulis, who wanted to avoid getting involved with a heroine as much as possible, shut down Lieselotte’s attempt to thank him, looking very serious about it.

“By the way, what’s a girl like you doing out here all alone? Even if you were having a nice picnic, you’d have guards with you, right?”

“…That’s because—”

Lieselotte hesitated to answer.

Seeing her reaction, Yulis quickly pieced things together. 

Judging from the fact that she had been running, her guards had probably helped her escape.

And since the monster had chased her, it meant that those guards had sacrificed themselves to protect their master. 

Realizing his thoughtless comment, Yulis awkwardly muttered, “Sorry.”

But Lieselotte shook her head and replied,

“You have nothing to apologize for. I was the one you saved, so blaming you would be completely unreasonable.”

“That takes a load off my mind…”

Yulis let out a relieved sigh. 

Lieselotte, noticing his reaction, seemed a bit surprised as well.

“And with that, I’d like to properly thank you for what you did.”

“Wait, didn’t I already turn that down pretty firmly a moment ago?”

It seemed like Yulis’s refusal hadn’t quite sunk in for her.

“There’s no way I can just ignore the debt I owe to someone who saved my life. Maybe it doesn’t matter much to you, but it definitely matters to me.”

“Hmmm… is that really how it is?”

It was true—there might be people who’d consider it “a disgrace as a noble” to not repay a life-saving debt.

Yulis, having come from a country where the concept of nobility and commoners didn’t exist and having never participated in high society, wasn’t familiar with such customs. 

Maybe there were certain rules or a sense of pride that he simply didn’t know about. That thought crossed his mind, but—

“…Just the idea of a ‘thank you’ from a pretty girl is enough to make my heart race, but I’ll still pass.”

More than that, he wanted to avoid getting involved unnecessarily.

He had intervened precisely to keep the story from going off track, and if things deviated now, it would make his efforts pointless. 

So, Yulis raised both hands again, firmly refusing.

“…Why?”

“W-Why, you ask…”

But he couldn’t bring himself to say directly to a girl, “I don’t want to get involved with you.” 

Yulis anxiously averted his eyes, desperately searching for an excuse. And then—

“I-I’m planning to skip the academy and join the Knights! So, it’s not like I’ll have a chance to accept your gratitude or anything…!”

With a flustered look, Yulis made an X-sign with his hands, trying hard to convey his refusal. Just then, a voice suddenly echoed from somewhere nearby.

“Master~, where did you wander off to? You know we don’t offer a handy pick-up service for little boys who get excited, lose their way, and end up stranded!”

The voice was unmistakably Iris’s, the maid who had come with him. 

It seemed she was looking for Yulis, who had gone off on his quest for a punching bag.

“Oh, looks like my rude maid who’s calling me a lost kid is looking for me!”

Seeing this as his chance, Yulis turned his back to Lieselotte.

“Hey, wait a minute—”

“Listen up, be careful on your way back, okay!? I went through the trouble of saving you, and if I get news that you got hurt on your way home, even a prince on a white horse would shed a tear! If you really want to thank me, just get home safely, that’s all I ask!”

Before Lieselotte could respond, Yulis quickly made his escape from the scene.

♦️♦️♦️

“He’s gone…”

As his figure grew smaller in the distance, Lieselotte didn’t try to chase after him. 

She simply watched him leave.

(Is that really… Yulis Blanche?)

The Yulis she had heard about and the Yulis she saw today were completely different.

He said he didn’t need any thanks and even showed concern about her safety after the incident with her guards. 

Until the very end, he worried about her.

To call him a “scoundrel”… didn’t match the image she had seen today at all. If anything—

(…He’s like a prince.)

Lieselotte pressed her flushed cheeks with both hands and began walking in the opposite direction from where Yulis had run off.

(He did say he was planning to join the Knights, right?)

With skills like his, he would definitely make it into the Knights. 

The problem, though, was that if he joined the Knights, he wouldn’t be at the academy where she was about to study, meaning they wouldn’t see each other.

Lieselotte allowed a small smile to form on her lips and quickened her pace just a bit.

“Father would definitely want someone as talented as Yulis, even at his age, right? Maybe it’s not too late for me to try taking the Knights’ exam too…?”

Her muttering never reached Yulis’s ears. 

And soon, her figure vanished into the depths of the forest.