When the Villain Joined the Knights to Avoid Doom Flags, but Somehow the Heroines Started Approaching Him - Chapter 43: The Twins and the Young Man

Chapter 43: The Twins and the Young Man

Haku first met the twins about five years ago.

“Hey, hey! What should we do? Do we just fight?”

“…Just tell me what needs to be done.”

In the underground world of the guild, rank was determined solely by skill.

It didn’t matter who joined first or who was older. The only thing that mattered was whether you could complete a task or not.

That said, throwing a clueless newcomer into the field and risking them being caught and spilling information was not an option.

Because of this, there was an established practice of having someone train new recruits to a certain degree.

Haku took on this role for the first time two months after joining the dark guild.

His trainees were twin girls, abandoned children raised within the guild.

(Seriously… I’m not cut out to babysit.)

At the time, Haku was just 13 years old, still young by the guild’s standards.
But the twin girls were only five—far younger than him and barely old enough to have formed a proper sense of self.
And yet, they were already preparing to dirty their hands as members of the guild.

When Haku first met them, even he was shocked.
But—

(…Well, my job is just to train them.)

He felt sorry for them, sure, but whether they lived or died didn’t matter to him.

In this world, wasting time worrying about others only meant putting yourself at risk of being weeded out.

So, he decided he’d do only what was necessary. Just enough to fulfill his responsibility.

“Hey, hey! What are we doing next? Hopefully something wild and exciting!”

“…I’d prefer the easier option, thanks.”

“You two… Could you at least agree before making completely opposite demands?”

Despite his complaints, Haku continued working alongside the twin girls.

Perhaps it was because they were carefully raised after being taken in as abandoned children, but even at the young age of five, they were remarkably skilled, on par with the other members of the guild.

Time after time, they completed missions successfully, surviving long enough to finally move out from under Haku’s direct supervision.

Yet, in an industry with such a high turnover, the three of them still kept running into each other, year after year, simply because they operated in the same area.

“Haku, you’re surprisingly hard to kill, huh!”

“That’s exactly what I’d say about you two brats.”

“Oh, congrats on your promotion to an officer. To celebrate, I’d like to try something called pancakes.”

“Me too, me too!”

“How did this smoothly turn into me treating you? I’m the one who just got congratulated!”

Before he realized it, the dynamic between them had shifted.

By the time Haku finally rose to the rank of officer, the twin girls weren’t far behind, catching up quickly and earning their own promotions.

Now that they stood in similar positions, they ended up spending even more time together than before.

“Haku, look at this! I found the perfect stuffed toy for my big sister! Do you think she’ll be happy?”

“…Haku, look. The other day, I found a stuffed toy in town that’s perfect for Ronye. Do you think she’d be surprised and happy if I gave it to her out of the blue?”

The younger sister was a little… unhinged.

Maybe because she was abandoned, she could only feel alive through pain and thrill-seeking.

The older sister seemed more composed but was cold and ruthless.

If necessary, she would carry out her tasks without hesitation.

Yet, both of them still had unmistakable traces of childlike innocence—

(…I must be losing it too.)

He had always put himself first.

Others were secondary, especially when it came to his own survival.

That part of him hadn’t changed and likely never would.

But spending time with those two… he couldn’t help but feel something.

“…Haku, you’re like a big brother.”

“Ah, totally! Haku, you’re like a big brother! That’s exactly the vibe!”

There was nothing he could do about it.

♦♦♦

(Ah… seriously.)

Thinking something like this was so unlike him.

And yet—

“Out of everyone, I guess I’m the big brother here…”

Once he’d developed feelings of attachment, there was no going back.

So, before Yulis could get any closer, Haku shifted his gaze to Fia.

(There’s still a chance I could escape.)

If he turned tail now, with no concern for appearances or pride, it might be possible.

The odds were slim, but as long as there was a chance, it made sense to gamble on running.

However, if by some miracle the twins survived this situation…

If he returned to the guild without completing the mission, the higher-ups would likely hold him accountable for his failure as an officer.

And failure like that could only end in death.

(So, at the very least…)

For once, he decided to follow the feelings he couldn’t suppress, no matter how irrational they were.

“One last desperate move… Let’s see if we can drag each other into hell together!”

With that, he raised his knife and aimed it at his own throat—

“If it’s a desperate move, then cut it out, you fool.”

Haku’s magic only worked on individuals he could directly see.

If he couldn’t identify a target, the magic would lose its focus, leaving the transferred damage with nowhere to go.

That’s why—

The ice wall Yulis created between Haku and Fia rendered the entire effort meaningless.

“…Damn you.”

Haku glanced at the towering ice wall before him, letting out a bitter laugh as he slowly lowered his knife.

“You know, I think I’ve just grown to really hate you.”

“Don’t worry.”

And in the very next moment—

THUD!

A heavy, dull sound echoed as Yulis’s war hammer struck Haku square on the head.

“I’ve hated you from the start.”

Haku’s body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

—The final showdown, involving the dark guild executives who had no connection to the game’s original storyline or its characters.

And so, this unscripted event came to an end, closed entirely by the hands of the villain.