Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain! - Chapter 63

 

“…What should I do?”

[You have to somehow stop them from meeting Siwoo! If you fail, you’ll have no choice but to use extreme measures!]

The Author started urging me.

It’s natural for her to do so, as the protagonist is about to face a dangerous situation.

But you’re the one who caused this…

It was absurd, but there was no helping it. What’s done is done. The priority is to handle the situation somehow.

“How strong are they?”

[Uh, well… Based on the output, about upper tier…? It’s already been observed, so modifications are… a bit…]

“Haa…”

[…Ugh, urk.]

When I didn’t hold back my sigh, the Author made a dejected sound.

But I didn’t pay it any mind.

Upper tier in the world…

You deserve to be scolded.

Given the characteristics of academy novels, I can understand experiencing a dense half-year instead of the usual three years before completion. Most novels are like that.

It’s inevitable to progress the story in the first place.

But if you ask if there’s a protagonist who fights an upper-tier villain in the worldview before the summer break of their first year, I can confidently say there isn’t. Siwoo is not a power fantasy munchkin protagonist but a growth-type one.

To encounter an enemy in the upper tiers of the power balance within the worldview when their growth isn’t even complete? It’s quite dangerous.

Will the protagonist really defeat that villain?

He can’t, or else the power balance would be ruined.

Suppose a supposedly immensely powerful enemy loses to a protagonist who hasn’t fully grown. In that case, the enemies that appear next will inevitably have to be stronger than that villain to put the protagonist in danger.

Then what if the protagonist can’t defeat the villain and loses?… This is an even bigger problem.

Losing to a villain = usually dying.

This is a fact everyone knows without having to say it.

To survive, you must provide a reason for it, but how?

Should I abruptly say the villain fell for Siwoo?

Ha, I’d be lucky not to be criticized for lacking plausibility.

“It’s not that there’s no way…”

[Oh, really?]

“Yes. The outcome of a fight isn’t always determined by strength.”

The most basic example is compatibility.

You could use Amelia and Siwoo as an example. No matter how fast Amelia is, she can’t subdue Siwoo, who can deny her attacks with Intuition.

Other than that, there’s cooperation, weakening, strengthening, etc.

“What if Dorothy strengthens Siwoo, and that villain is weakened for some reason?”

[…!]

“Or we could have another strong person handle the boss and assign one executive to him.”

[Re-Reader-nim!]

“If you get so excited over such a simple fix…”

[Ah, no. That’s not it! It’s, it’s a big problem!]

“What?”

At the Author’s urgent voice calling for me, I looked around.

Only then did I realize what the Author was talking about.

Did quite some time pass while I was pondering how Siwoo could defeat that villain?

The situation had changed considerably.

“Uh, huh…?”

[Wha, what, what should we do…?! H, he’s really much stronger than I thought! Aah, I, I kept putting off setting it up…! It, it’s over!]

I realized this when I saw the students who were in formation being pushed back.

It’s the doing of that woman with dragon horns. I’m sure of it.

It’s dangerous to leave it like this.

It’s not that it’s dangerous because students might die. Perhaps because of her fate as a mid-boss, the leader of Übermensch was moving in the direction where Siwoo was.

“There’s no choice. Even if the development gets a bit ruined, we must stop that…”

[R-Reader-nim! Be careful! Behind you!]

“?!”

Kwathump…!

When I hurriedly rolled my body to the side at the Author’s voice, the attack from behind me broke the rooftop floor with an eerie sound.

Wha, what…?!

I’ve ambushed others before, but it was my first time on the receiving end, so I was utterly flustered. Meanwhile, the one who attacked me while kicking up dirt irrately.

“What the… Do you have eyes on the back of your head?”

“… I’m a bit lucky.”

“Well, you have to be at this level to be Arachne. Right?”

[?!]

“…How do you know that?”

A man with a unique hairstyle that looks like it’s drawing a pattern with white and black hair.

A tail of the same color.

…I have a rough idea. The last executive of Übermensch whose location was unknown until now.

Tiger.

Why is this bastard here? Wasn’t he searching for the secret room?

No, how did he even know I’m Arachne in the first place…!

“So you are Arachne.”

“…Was it a wild guess?”

“No? Amid this chaos, the one leisurely observing the situation on the rooftop, if not Arachne, then what? Even if you aren’t, I can just kill you and be done with it.”

“…”

Unable to find any words to refute, I closed my mouth.

Well, what he said was true. The villains, students, and teachers were fiercely fighting.

Just the fact that I, in a school uniform, am not fighting the villains is enough to make the situation suspicious.

“Mir told me beforehand. The meddlesome bunch who keep interfering at every turn will definitely come to obstruct us somehow, so look for a place with no people.”

“…”

“Honestly, I was half in doubt, but… she is truly wise. How does it feel, Arachne?”

“My current feeling? I’d like you to step aside. I need to go quickly.”

I gently conveyed my wish.

And the response that came back was exactly as I expected, without an inch of deviation.

“That can’t happen. You’re going to interfere with us again, aren’t you?”

“…”

He didn’t seem to have any intention of stepping aside at all.

This is bad. If a fight breaks out…

I don’t think I’ll lose. The Author is behind me. She must be in a hurry too, so she’ll help me somehow.

But if I waste time here, the protagonist…!

“I know you hate us, but we feel the same way. We’ve been hit this much, so we can’t stand it if we don’t pay you back somehow.”

“Step aside. Right now.”

Anxiety enveloped my entire body.

There was no time for this. I had to join and help Siwoo. If, if the protagonist dies…!

“I don’t know what you want to do, but you seem anxious. I guess you’re in a big hurry?”

“I said, step aside!”

“This time, it’s our turn to interfere with you, Arachne.”

Tiger grinned cunningly.

“Even if it kills me, I’ll cling to you.”

All for the plan.

***

“…This is the founder’s tomb. The founder’s cradle.”

Mir gazed at the immensely vast academy grounds.

The wind enveloping her entire body was blowing refreshingly as if expressing her mood.

“We’re finally going to… confirm the true nature of the Crucible.”

“But Mir. You said the Crucible is in the Secret Room? How are you going to find it? Didn’t you say no one has been able to find it for hundreds of years?”

“That’s easy, Annie. No one has discovered it until now because their method of searching was too passive.”

“Passive?”

Mir started condensing the wind in her hand.

The more it condensed, the more the wind went wild inside.

“Yes. Everyone said they would search for it but just walked around.”

Mir laughed as she threw the wind condensed to its limit into the academy’s main building.

“I don’t care if the academy breaks or not. I just need to find the secret room. The flow of the wind will guide me to that location.”

“I see. But what if it’s blocked by something like mana, and we can’t enter?”

The suppressed wind was instantly released and ransacked various parts of the academy.

…Wow, it’s sturdy. The academy.

Shouldn’t it collapse if something like that rampages inside? It’s surprisingly intact.

“Then that’s even better. It means the secret room is where the wind doesn’t pass through.”

“Huh.”

“…And, I don’t think you need to worry. It seems I’ve found it.”

Is Mir’s long-cherished wish finally being fulfilled?

Annie looked at her, muttering to herself with a flushed face.

“…Finally, I finally found it. How long have I waited for this moment?”

“Good for you, Mir.”

“Thank you… Then, shall we go? To the beginning of a new world.”

“Yeah.”

Annie was simply delighted.

Because Mir finally achieved what she wanted. She knew how long she had been planning for this.

That’s why she naturally felt upset when she saw the ones interfering with Mir’s happiness.

“Haa, haa…”

“Si, Siwoo…! W, why did you suddenly change direction… Eek?!”

“…Who are you?”

“To, to… Haah, haah… stop, you…!”

Are they crazy?

Their entire bodies are covered in minor wounds. They probably got hit by the wind Mir scattered on the way here.

It’s admirable that they can still move like that after being hit, but they must have noticed whose attack it was.

And yet they followed. Have they lost their minds?

“Interfering in a pleasant situation.”

She’ll make them the first sacrifices for the new world Mir desires.

The moment she was about to attack them, consumed by anger, Mir stopped her, took out a piece of paper from her bosom, and scribbled something on it.

“What is this… a map? Don’t tell me this is…”

“Go ahead to the secret room, Annie.”

“What? But, but…”

“Don’t worry. I just felt like playing with them for a bit because their courage is admirable.”

Only then did she realize.

Mir was much more excited than she appeared. More than what was visible.

She seemed extremely angry at those guys who suddenly interfered with the object she had yearned for for a long time.

Like a child who had their candy stolen and eaten right before their eyes.

“…Take your time and enjoy, Mir.”

“Shame it’ll be over quickly.”