Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain! - Chapter 51

TN: Thank Viiyen for the chapter……………

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“We’re doomed! Doomed, I tell you…”

Dorothy spewed all sorts of complaints, spreading a gloomy atmosphere.

“Dorothy, don’t worry too much. It’ll be fine.”

“Don’t say such nonsense. We barely practiced at all.”

“Urk…”

Siwoo couldn’t refute her words.

It was true that they hadn’t practiced properly, just as she said.

It’s not that they weren’t given time. They were given the same amount as everyone else.

…The problem was that Dorothy couldn’t focus properly.

“Does Arte not practice…? She’s always just watching.”

“Who knows? I’m not sure either.”

At a glance, it seemed Arte didn’t do much besides talk to Amelia occasionally.

“Still, don’t let your guard down. They’re both strong.”

“It’s not even certain we’ll face them in the tournament! Let alone letting our guard down…”

“No, it’ll work out if we meet. If we do, doesn’t that mean we won a bunch?”

“… Aren’t you overflowing with confidence?”

“Of course.”

Arte and Amelia are strong. Siwoo is certain of it since he saw it firsthand.

As long as those two are together, they won’t lose to any group.

‘But I don’t think I’ll lose either.’

Unlike other students, he’s experienced all sorts of incidents, so he’s confident he could fight well.
In the end, if they keep winning, they’ll meet eventually.

“I’m counting on you, Dorothy.”

“…Yeah. Well, sure.”

And he’s confirmed Dorothy’s ability, too.

She lost to Amelia in an instant at the start of the semester.

But he understood why that happened.

An ability that couldn’t be used alone.

No wonder she lost.

But in a case like this 2 vs 2 tournament, the story is different.

Because she can fully utilize her ability.

‘Maybe we can even beat Arte…!’

“Everyone, focus! The tournament is starting! Those waiting their turn can watch the matches and leave comments! Observing other students and learning from them is important too.”

“Ah, it’s starting.”

“I wonder what kind of fight Arte and Amelia will have.”

He didn’t think for a second that they would lose.

He was only curious about one thing.

Will the two of them cooperate?

No matter how much Siwoo thought about it, he couldn’t imagine it.

***

“…Hey Arte. Is this right?”

“Of course. Come on, you tie this and go.

The content of this exam isn’t difficult.

How well you utilize each other.

Using someone you just met is usually hard, but I already know Amelia’s ability.

It won’t be hard to subdue the students effortlessly.

“It feels kind of icky. This is, well, you know…”

“I know. It feels morally wrong. But this is the most efficient, right?”

“Hmm, I guess…?”

Thankfully, it seems Amelia is convinced.

It was funny how she would be instantly persuaded if I said it was efficient or the best method.

“Let’s stop the idle chatter there. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

I could see our tense opponents.

Hmm, but I feel bad about this.

I can’t lose to extras though.

Having teamed up with Amelia, I can’t lose to these guys for the sake of the story development.

“Begin!”

With the bang of a gunshot, the battle began as Amelia accelerated instantly.

“…!? F-fast! Block her!”

“No. Amelia gets weaker the faster she goes! She doesn’t hurt much, so we’ll aim for Arte first!”

Hmm…Who is that? A classmate?

It seems like it since they know Amelia and me, but I can’t remember the faces.

I don’t memorize the faces of each puppet after all.

I don’t know who it is, but that was a good judgment.

The faster Amelia goes, the harder she is to catch, but her attack power decreases in exchange. They know their stuff.

She’ll annoyingly buzz around like a fly, but if the impact isn’t big, they can take me down first and slowly catch her later.

They have a good grasp of Amelia’s ability.

They know to ignore her and aim for an easier target. How extra-like to mess things up because of that judgment.

If her attacks are weak, why would she even bother to attack?

They should have considered why she would’ve done this in the first place.

“Sorry. My attack power is weak, but this thread isn’t.”

“?! Oh no! It’s thread! Dodge!”

Amelia’s attacks were light.

…But my threads aren’t.

For what reason did Amelia go into speed mode from the start? She could have fought normally, like in her duel against Dorothy.

Not realizing that was their blunder.

My threads are thin and hard to see. Still, if I attack outright, they can see the mana manipulating them, allowing them to dodge easily.

They’re fast, but not to the point they can’t be dodged…But the more they dodge, the fewer chances I have to attack. My clothes decrease after all.

This is an arena with many students watching. I want to save my threads as much as possible. Then what should I do?

I usually lay it somewhere to save thread and use it by baiting foes towards myself, but that’s impossible here.

Then how can I do it so the opponent doesn’t notice?

The solution is quite simple. Tie barely visible threads to Amelia’s body and have her scatter them around the arena.

They didn’t notice the thin threads and rushed at me, but it was too late.

The arena was already under my control.

They panicked as the mana-infused threads Amelia scattered flew at them from all directions, but it was too late.

One student who knew us well escaped in time, but the other panicked.

He was bound head to toe by the threads flying from every direction.

“Hey, Arte. Did I have to tie it around my neck?… It’s too brutal. I mean, not as an insult. Couldn’t you have tied it to the hands?”

“It could slip off the wrists, so the biggest bottleneck is best.”

“…Really?”

Amelia touched her neck as she said that.

…Well, it’s not wrong. It’s more convenient than tying it to the hands.

I’ve gotten too used to tying it around the neck.

If I tie it to the hands or something, it’s a bit…how should I say it?

Like I might make a mistake? I preferred tying it to the neck.

“You’re the only one left. What will you do?”

“B-bring it on!”

“Oh, gutsy. I like it.”

Amelia cheerfully laughed as she canceled her acceleration and cut the thread on her neck with her spear.

And that was the end.

The lone student charged in with spirit but couldn’t withstand the attacks of Amelia as I hindered his movement with threads.
“… I’m glad it ended quickly. Good work.”

“Alright. Now that it’s over, return to your seats and rest. Feel free to watch the others’ matches.”

[Good work, Reader-nim! That was cool!]

I felt good ending the match without using a lot of thread.

To think the battle ended with one glove.

Sure, they were extras I could catch quickly, but I could easily end things going forward.

It felt like my biggest worry was resolved. After all, the longer the fight, the more disadvantageous it is for me.

It’s fine if I kill them since it doesn’t matter if I show skin then, but this is school. The opponents are students. I can’t kill them.

So, I have to fight while holding back, inevitably increasing thread consumption.

Ultimately, the threads I can pull from are limited to my gloves and stockings. Using the rest risks big trouble.

Of course, we’re given rest time after fights to replenish clothes.

…Still, I can’t change clothes in the middle of a fight, right?

Unlike villains, the puppets watching now are students.

It’s impossible to get rid of this many.

I absolutely can’t make the mistake of using too many clothes while fighting and ending up naked in front of this many people.

Thankfully, thanks to Amelia, there seems to be an easy solution, so I’m in a good mood.

***

“Wow, so that’s what they planned.”

“…Simple but guaranteed.”

That was Siwoo and Dorothy’s reaction to the match.

A simple but certain method. Install threads with Amelia’s incredible speed and attack from all sides.

A way to supplement Arte’s threads with Amelia’s lacking attack power.

A very efficient method.

“I’m envious. Seems like they can get a good evaluation like that.”

“…Who knows. I’m not sure.”

“Huh?”

“Couldn’t Arte have just attacked normally…?”

That was what Siwoo was curious about.

Having Amelia lay threads and Arte attack is a good method.

…But did they really have to do that?

Wouldn’t it have been enough for Arte and Amelia to attack separately?

Dorothy answered Siwoo’s question.

“There must be a reason they had to do that, right?”

“A reason?”

“Yes. If they did something unnecessary, there must be a reason.”

A reason, huh?

Siwoo pondered why Arte didn’t use thread.

…And after a moment of thought.

Siwoo finally realized it.

“N-no way.”

“…? Did you realize something?”

“No, it can’t be…”

Until now, Siwoo has thought Arte could create thread using mana.

The thread Amelia spread was also covered in mana.

But what if that wasn’t it?

…What if she’s not converting mana into thread, but the thread is just infused with and strengthened by mana?

Suddenly, Arte’s hand came into Siwoo’s view.

One of the gloves that should have been there was gone.

“Don’t tell me, back then too…?”

When he first fought Arte
.
He was too busy dodging to look at Arte properly.

…At that time, was she wearing stockings?

It felt like he saw her weakness.

No, but even if that’s true, is it okay to leverage it?

Siwoo’s feelings grew complicated.

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Author’s Notes

After thinking about it, I decided to ask for a cover from novelpia-chan? (I might be hallucinating with the chan.)

Arte winking with a night backdrop.

I’m excited to see how it turns out.

Hopefully it lines up with the 100th chapter.