Sensing the pain, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Like a child about to get a shot, bracing for the agony to come.
But the pain of being stabbed by that weapon I’d seen before closing my eyes—nowhere to be felt.
"...?"
Confused, I fluttered my eyelids open just a crack—only for my pupils to fill with shock at the sight before me.
Yu Siwoo was bleeding in front of me.
He had shielded me, who had done nothing against the attack flying toward me.
He had taken the wound in my place.
"Why, why... No, how...?"
"Hngh... A-ah, this kinda hurts..."
Even with the attack piercing through his shoulder, he was smiling at me.
It had to hurt.
Far worse than the bruise on my side.
Yet he acted as if it didn’t bother him at all, as if he was only worried about me.
"Good thing I wasn’t too late, Arte. ...If only I’d come a little sooner. You look like you’re in a lot of pain."
"H-how are you even here...?"
"I told you, Arte. I’ll always be by your side."
As he said that with a smile, the bracelet on his wrist caught my eye.
"You shouldn’t go to dangerous places alone. Got it?"
"And what about you?! Stay out of my way. If you interfere—"
"W-watch out—!"
Just as I was about to warn him, the girl reshaped her hand to attack Yu Siwoo again—
PAK!
A sharp sound rang out as the girl went flying far away.
"Hey! You could at least say where you’re going before you leave!"
When had she appeared?
Amelia, who hadn’t been there a moment ago, had struck the girl with her spear in an instant.
Then she turned her anger on Yu Siwoo.
"What the hell are you doing running around like this without a word?!"
"Sorry. I had to come here."
"Had to come here? What kind of—"
She cut herself off as she looked at me, her voice deflating like air from a balloon.
"Uh... having a good time...? Your taste is *really* something."
"It’s not like that, Amelia. You know that."
"Fine, fine. Can’t even joke around anymore?"
"Now’s not the time for jokes."
Ah.
...Now that I thought about it, I was naked.
The pain had been so overwhelming that I’d completely forgotten.
"Here, Arte. At least put this on. Sorry it’s a little dirty from the blood."
"...T-thank you."
This was strange.
My heart showed no signs of stopping.
Was it the adrenaline from the battle?
Or was my body pumping out chemicals to suppress the pain?
When Yu Siwoo took off his own clothes and draped them over me, my heartbeat only grew louder.
Thump. Thump.
I could hear the author groaning about dizziness, but my heart showed no signs of slowing down.
Thump, thump.
"…Hey, Yu Siwoo. That thing over there—is that the target we were supposed to find? The one we were going to kill?"
"Yeah. Probably."
"Ugh, that’s horrifying. Is that even human? I swung at it with full intent to kill…"
The girl we’d sent flying far away began walking back toward us.
Not just her arms—her entire body was expanding and contracting irregularly.
It was as if she could no longer be called human.
"…So? Do we have a way to win?"
"No."
"What?! Then what do we do?!"
"What do you mean, what do we do?"
The girl crouched low, like a sprinter at the starting line.
The crouching start position.
The moment she locked eyes with us and pushed off, Siwoo yanked me into his arms and spun us around.
"We run."
-KWAAAANG!
Was she unable to control her own speed?
When Siwoo dodged, she crashed straight through the wall, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust.
"Running’s fine! It’s my specialty! …But what’s the plan?! Everyone’s busy holding off that swarm of spiders! Dorothy’s helping people too! There’s no one left to back us up!"
"Who said that?"
"…Huh?"
"No one to help? That can’t be right."
-KWANG, KWAAANG!
While Siwoo and Amelia argued, the girl kept lunging at us as we fled, but every attempt ended with her smashing through another wall.
…No one to help?
Just who was he talking about?
"Should be about time…"
"AOOOOOOOOOOW!"
"?!"
"Ah, there she is."
Was she frustrated by her repeated failures?
Or had she realized this approach wasn’t working?
Just as she contorted her massive body to swing at us, a gigantic wolf suddenly appeared and sank its fangs into the back of her neck.
But it had no effect.
With an annoyed flick of her wrist, the girl tried to swat the wolf away. The wolf barely escaped, darting toward us before transforming into human form.
"…Tch, why’s she so damn tough? Ugh, my teeth hurt."
"W-what the—? You—you’re not… dead? And what’s with *that* form?!"
"Long story, rich girl. This form… let’s just call it an Ability."
"…Ugh, I don’t care! You’re explaining *everything* from start to finish later! My head’s killing me right now!"
"Yeah, yeah. Later."
…Why was Laila here?
Did she notice me staring blankly at her?
She turned to me and smirked—though I knew from living with her that it wasn’t a real smirk.
Laila was just bad at smiling.
"You look like hell."
"…What are *you* doing here?"
"Well, I came to save you, obviously."
"Why would you?"
"Huh?"
It didn’t make sense.
Laira had no reason to help me.
Setting aside the fact that I’d forced her to become my subordinate, I had even tried to kill her.
And even if that wasn’t enough, I had ruined her life.
It was because of me that she, who had been living an ordinary life, had been consumed by inferiority and joined a villain organization.
So there was no way she would come to save me.
Maybe it was because the situation was changing by the second.
I didn’t even realize she wouldn’t understand as I blurted out,
"If it weren’t for me, Laira wouldn’t have had to turn to a villain organization out of inferiority."
"…What?"
"If it weren’t for me… If it weren’t for the Author, Laira could’ve just been a normal Hero and lived a happy life."
That’s right.
If it weren’t for me.
If it weren’t for the Author.
If she was even considered a heroine candidate, she must’ve had some potential.
She could’ve become a Hero, lived among people, been happy.
But I was the one who twisted all of that.
I was the one who suggested it to the Author.
What if we used Laira in a different way?
What if we made her a villain?
"I have no idea what you’re talking about."
"What do you mean—! Your life changed! You could’ve lived normally, but now it’s…!"
"So what’s the problem?"
My words died in my throat.
Because Laira had rejected my entire premise.
"W-what do you mean, what’s the problem?! It’s all…!"
"All what? Why? I know my life is a mess."
"But, but… you could’ve lived normally…"
"That wasn’t me."
She declared it to me as if it were obvious.
As if she had no idea what I was even saying.
"Honestly, I don’t get what you’re saying at all. I’m the one who joined the villains out of jealousy toward you guys."
"Hah, but that’s because the Author—! If the Author hadn’t interfered, Laira could’ve—"
"I never wanted to be normal in the first place."
That’s why she ended up like this.
She smirked bitterly, scratching the wolf ears on her head.
"Hey, have you even seen me before I entered the Academy? Why do you think I would’ve lived normally?"
"That’s—!"
"Like you got some prophecy or something."
I couldn’t say a word.
Even if I called it a prophecy, it wouldn’t have been wrong.
She had been destined to be a heroine, after all.
"…Seriously?"
"Pretty much."
"Tch. So I could’ve not become a villain, huh?"
Just as Laira was scratching her head in annoyance, a shrill voice rang out from behind her.
It was Amelia.
"Oi, how long are you gonna just stand there talking?! Didn’t you come here to help?!"
"There was a snake of a woman who went that way! Just wait a little!"
"This woman’s useless! You’re way better!"
"That’s not fair?!"
"Kill this one first, this one! Uwaaaaaah!"
"Hiiiiiiik! I-I almost died! What the hell are you doing?!"
"You’re alive, that’s all that matters!"
"You piece of trash! How dare you call yourself a hero!"
Laira scratched her head, pondering for a moment before turning to me.
"So, originally, I was fated to become the hero?"
"Yes."
"And you twisted that into making me the villain? Something like that?"
"…That’s right."
"…So what’s the problem?"
"Hah, but…"
"No, I never really *deeply* wanted to be a hero anyway."
Laira still seemed unsettled, so she started asking me more questions.
"One thing. Just one more. When did you twist that prophecy? Elementary school? Middle school?"
"Probably within a week of enrolling in the Academy. The exact timing… I’m not sure."
"Do you know me from before I entered the Academy?"
"No."
"We met for the first time after I enrolled, in the swordsmanship training hall?"
"…Yes."
"And by then, you already knew about that prophecy?"
"Exactly."
"This bitch was overthinking the dumbest shit…"
"?!"
I never expected this kind of reaction.
So all I could do was let her drag me along.
…I thought I’d have no excuses if I begged that monster to turn back time.
"The first guy I meet tells me my past and future were all decided for me… Tsk. Our captain’s dumber than I thought."
Laira tapped my head with her index finger.
"You shouldn’t judge people by first impressions. Got it?"
"What does that even have to do with—"
"It’s relevant. You saw me for the first time and assumed I’d be the hero, right? Well, I’ve been jealous since I was a kid."
"Hah, but that was because the author changed the setting—"
"Oh, here we go again."
Clearly annoyed, Laira jabbed her fingers into my side.
"Aaaauuugh—!"
"How do you even *prove* that’s true?"
"…You can’t."
"Listen up, you idiot captain. I’ve lived my whole life like this, and this *is* my life. I’ll say this one last time."
Maybe she realized I was reaching my limit.
After glancing back one last time, Laira finally said to me,
"I ended up like this because *I* chose to. Not because of your stupid prophecy. If you want to understand someone, you don’t just look at them once—you have to watch them for a long time."