Just Because I Have Narrow Eyes Doesn’t Make Me a Villain! - Chapter 77

 

“Ahahaha! Drink, drink more!”

“Ugh, I’m kind of struggling here…”

“Hey, you can handle more! You’re superhuman after all!”

“Even superhumans have their limits…”

“Don’t know, don’t care! Drink up! Chug it down!”

Amelia’s loud, boisterous voice rang out.

Does that girl never get tired?

Despite drinking the most, she kept pouring drinks and pestering Dorothy without rest.

“Hmm…”

As Siwoo sighed, pondering how to rein in Amelia’s ridiculous behavior, he heard mumbling from beside him.

Arte was nodding off, half asleep.

“…Arte? You sleeping?”

“…”

No response.

Based on her half-open red eyes, she didn’t seem to be fully asleep but was having trouble staying conscious.

He had been a bit worried from the moment she started readily downing every glass Amelia gave her without refusal.

…Still, he never imagined it would come to this.

This was the first time Arte showed such a defenseless side to them.

“Amelia.”

“Huh? What?”

“I’m going to take Arte back to her room. She looks tired.”

Asking Amelia was impossible as she was half-drunk herself.

A drunk person can’t escort another drunk person. Who knows what could happen?

…You might say he could ask Dorothy then.

He didn’t want to.

While Dorothy didn’t seem that drunk, the moment he asked her, it was obvious that drunkard would turn her attention to him.

He ignored Dorothy’s pleading gaze, and she looked at him with betrayal in her eyes.

Absolutely not doing that.

‘This is payback for earlier. I’ll forgive you for deceiving me and using me for entertainment just this once.’

“I’ll be back. It might take some time.”

“Okayyy. See ya! Now, Dorothy! There are fewer people, so let’s drink! Chug it!”

“Ah, since we’re out of snacks…maybe we shouldn’t?”

“Hmm…? Don’t worry! There’s more!”

Kwang!

Dorothy rejoiced, thinking she had found an escape route upon seeing the empty box, but it was short-lived.

She thought all the ingredients in the box were gone, but Amelia suddenly brought another basket from behind her.

There was no longer anywhere for Dorothy to run.

“Now, eat, eat! Today’s the day to eat, drink and die!”

“Siwoo, a man taking a woman is…”

“I’ll be back!”

“Ah, please! Please spare me!”

Leaving behind Dorothy’s groans and Amelia’s boundless joy, he set off.

“Arte, you okay?”

“Mm. I’m a foine…”

Flushed red face. Unsteady gait.

Slurred speech. And decisively, a dazed expression.

He was certain.

‘Okay my foot, if I let her walk alone, she’d collapse in no time.’

“…What do I do.”

“Whoops.”

“Arte?!”

He was pondering how to escort her properly.

Lost in thought for a moment, his concern came true as Arte stumbled and fell.

“You okay?!”

“…Hehe.”

“Phew…”

He let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. She’s fine.

…No, wait. Come to think of it, Arte is a superhuman.

She wouldn’t get hurt from just falling over.

As proof, there was no sign of injury where she fell, just soft, supple skin…

“Aaaaahhhh!”

“…?”

‘I tried not to pay it any mind…! I absolutely tried not to think about it…!’

With the fun atmosphere and delicious food, he had momentarily pushed it out of his mind, but it came rushing back.

The fact that Arte was currently in a fatal outfit no matter where you looked.

“What do I do, what do I do…!”

He looked at Arte, who was once again nodding off.

At this rate, forget taking her to her room. They’d be spending the night in the middle of the road.

… There’s no other choice? Right?

‘Steel your resolve, Siwoo. This can’t be helped, it can’t be helped…’

“Get on my back, Arte.”

“Hmm…?”

“At this rate, dawn will break before we get back. Hurry.”

No matter how he thought about it, this wasn’t going to work.

With Arte dead drunk, she might fall asleep walking alone.

In that case, he had no choice but to carry her.

“Okey…”

Arte mumbled as she took unsteady steps.
Step, step.

Perhaps because only the sound of insects could be heard.

It felt like the sound of Arte approaching was especially loud.

“Whew…”

Calm down, Siwoo
.
It’s no big deal.

Just the act of moving Arte. Nothing more.

His resolve, which he kept repeating to himself, shattered the instant Arte got on his back.

A few months ago, when Arte comforted him.

He had felt Arte’s touch.

The memory of being unable to sleep because of that soft sensation was still vivid.

Since he had experienced it once before, he thought he was somewhat prepared…

“Hmm, why ar we sitll ere…?”

“… I’m going.”

Nonsense.

He stood up unsteadily and started walking.

The sensation was completely different from that time.

The Arte who comforted me then was clothed.

He could blatantly feel the texture of her leotard, but at least she was wearing something.

He was clothed too.

…But now?

Forget a leotard, she’s in a bikini.

She even took off her pareo and top earlier, saying she was hot from drinking.

Having to carry Arte in this situation was torture.

Since he was only wearing shorts, there was virtually no barrier.

The thin, small piece of cloth was the only wall between him and the two soft mounds…

And her soft thighs that he was supporting with his hands…

Even her slender arms wrapped around his neck…

‘…Frankly, it’s agonizing. It’s hard to endure.’

Siwoo had also been drinking, albeit not as much as Amelia and Arte.

It would absolutely never happen, but it was hard to control his desire.

‘I need Amelia.’

But she isn’t here.

It’s just Arte and him, the two of them.

He slowly walked through an area with only the sound of insects and no sign of people.

“…Hey, protagonist.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah.”

He was puzzled by the sudden remark.

‘Why are you calling me that?’

It was the first time she referred to me that way.

Not only the strange way she addressed me, but the fact that Arte dropped the formal speech as well.

She seemed considerably drunk.

“I’m scared.”

“…Of what?”

“That the people I killed might have really been people.”

“…”

Siwoo stopped walking.

Right now, Arte was spilling her innermost thoughts that she had kept tightly locked away.

He instinctively realized it.

“You know. The people I killed, were they really just puppets? Could they have… actually been people?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“The puppets in this puppet show, do they really lack free will? I’ve always wondered… I mean, there was no way to know.”

Puppet show, puppets.

He suddenly recalled Arte getting extremely agitated inside the Ferris wheel.

She said something similar back then.

That she had no intention of getting involved with puppets that lacked free will.

He had absolutely no idea what she meant at the time.

…But now, he had a vague sense of understanding.

Arte wasn’t seeing people as people. She was only viewing them as puppets.

He could finally understand her cruelty towards villains, something even the twisted Amelia couldn’t comprehend.

“Even now, I still think they were puppets… But were they really puppets?”

Arte’s voice gradually faded.

She probably didn’t even know what she was saying herself.

“…”

Arte seemed to have drifted off into a light sleep again.

Confirming that she was breathing steadily with her head resting on my shoulder, he started walking again.

People and puppets.

Why is she so fixated on that?

In the first place, what do people and puppets signify?
‘And why did she call me the protagonist?’

Sorting through my jumbled thoughts as he walked, he soon arrived at the villa.

Siwoo laid Arte on the bed in the villa’s bedroom and became lost in thought.

This story that he unintentionally heard must be Arte’s true feelings.

Arte, who always seems composed, unintentionally revealed them.

It seemed she categorized humans into people and puppets.

…He didn’t know what criteria she used to distinguish between humans and puppets.

But Arte became endlessly cruel to those she considered puppets.

Like killing Lyla and brutally killing the Übermensch.

He stroked her head as she fell into a deep sleep.

He considers Arte a friend.

‘So if something is troubling her, I will help.’

Arte’s unfathomable actions frightened him at first, but not anymore.

‘Come to think of it, the more time I spent with Arte, the more my fear towards her faded.’

She wasn’t as scary as he thought, nor as inscrutable as they believed.

Today, realizing what Arte feared through this incident was fortunate.

She was judging people based on some criteria.

Whether they were puppets or people.

‘In that case, I can help.’

If he can find the reason why Arte started thinking that way and resolve it,

Then she won’t have to agonize over this anymore.

‘I may not be able to undo what Arte has already done, but I don’t want to see her suffering any longer.’

“I’ll help you, Arte.”

Because I’m your friend.

Author’s Notes

The correct answer is Daiquiri.