A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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53.

As he approached, the flames devouring Tattooed Man 1’s hand grew increasingly fierce.
“Gaaahhh! Help me! Please, help meeeee!”
To make matters worse, the fire spread up to his arm.
Foaming at the mouth, he thrashed across the ground trying to extinguish the flames.
But a conflagration born from an ability would not be snuffed out so easily.
Sizzle, sizzzzzzle—
The sound of ragged breathing, the nauseating stench of burning flesh—it all felt unbearably vivid.
My stomach churned.
But what was truly maddening was something else entirely.

92%

Dylan’s meter hovering at that precarious threshold above my head.
“…Stop.”
I pressed my lips together.
Tattooed Man 1 no longer even screamed.
Unable to endure the merciless agony, he appeared to have lost consciousness.
The flames that had turned his hand and forearm into blackened charcoal crept hungrily upward across his shoulder, seeking fresh kindling.
Dylan gazed down at Tattooed Man 1’s convulsing form with cold indifference.
‘Why is he so angry?’
He wasn’t obliterating them in one swift stroke like those Erosion creatures before.
The way he methodically controlled his ability to inflict maximum suffering was no different from torture.

93%

In the meantime, my Rampage meter climbed once more.
I could no longer hold back and spoke.
“Stop.”
“….”
“Stop it, please.”
“….”
“I’m going to die at this rate!”
I cried out urgently, but he didn’t even look at me.
“Merely mocking the Nobility is grounds enough for death.”
“But punishment should be delivered by the one who was mocked, shouldn’t it? When did I ever ask for your help?”
As I spoke in a tone so exasperated that even I found it grating, Dylan finally lifted his head and met my gaze.
For an instant, his ashen eyes gleamed as though sparks had ignited within them.
But it was only fleeting.
Whoosh—!
The flames that had been slowly consuming Tattooed Man 1’s body vanished as if they had never existed.
Hisssss….
Pale smoke rose from the charred arm of the man.
It was far more than a simple burn; that arm would likely never be usable again.
Watching that massive hand that had been about to strike me transform into a lump of charcoal in an instant left me feeling oddly unsettled.
I shifted my gaze to Tattooed Man 3, the least injured of the three.
The man, whose lower half was thoroughly soaked, trembled like an aspen leaf with a sharp intake of breath.
“P-please! Spare us…!”
“Take them and get out. Now.”
I jerked my chin toward the other two sprawled on the ground, and the man scrambled to his feet.
He then rushed toward Tattooed Man 2, who was in better condition than Tattooed Man 1.
“Damn it… My, my eyes! I can’t see! What the hell is happening, Ken!”
“Shut up. If we don’t leave now, we’re all dead…! Get up, hurry!”
The man practically dragged Tattooed Man 2 to his feet, then hoisted the unconscious Tattooed Man 1 onto his back.
Soon after, they limped away from the Alley in panicked haste.
For men for whom harassment was as routine as breathing, it was a devastatingly harsh price to pay for a single transgression.
Harsh enough that I had no desire for further vengeance.
“….”
Once the presence of the Tattooed Men had completely vanished, silence descended.
I exhaled a short breath and reluctantly bowed my head to Dylan.
“…Thank you for your help.”
Though I hadn’t wanted to, the truth remained that I had escaped the crisis easily thanks to him.
Unlike last time, I offered my gratitude with proper courtesy.
“I won’t forget to send compensation to Count Frederick’s Estate. Forgive my intrusion. Then.”
And just as I was about to pass by him—
“I asked what you were doing here.”
A low voice halted my steps.
I paused, stopping in my tracks, and turned to face him.
For some reason, Dylan was watching me with eyes darkened by brooding shadows.
‘What good will it do you to know?’
I wanted to hurl those words at him.
But the number hovering above his head gave me pause.
“…I had some business to attend to.”
“An escort?”
“I brought self-defense items.”
“Ha.”
Suddenly, he let out a sharp, hollow laugh.
“Do you understand how dangerous Volner is?”
“….”
“This is a place where crimes occur multiple times a day. Whether noble or commoner, harassing passing women is routine for the scum that infests these streets. So what exactly are you relying on to venture into the Slum without a single escort?!”
As he spoke, his voice, which had grown increasingly heated, cut off abruptly.
Taking a moment to compose himself with a deep breath, he then fixed me with a cold stare.
“…Why are you always like this, young lady?”
‘What? He’s suddenly criticizing me?’
I was at a loss for words.
“Your words are rather excessive, sir.”
“Gratitude? Is that all you have to say to someone who helped you?”
Then what else should I do?
I truly couldn’t fathom it.
I’d already thanked him sufficiently, and besides, wasn’t he essentially following me in secret?
‘So he didn’t just happen to pass by earlier.’
As this realization dawned on me, I was about to click my tongue inwardly when he continued.
“Why you came here. What you were trying to do alone. How things came to this.”
“….”
“Is it really so difficult to tell me the whole story? Is that what the refined nobility you speak of consider proper etiquette?”
I was somewhat taken aback by the way he, who looked as rigid as someone incapable of uttering a curse, was now dripping with sarcasm.

― Your manners are still abysmal, sir.

I couldn’t believe he still held onto the words I’d spoken back in Tollen.
I stared at him for a moment, then drew a firm line between us.
“I’ll cooperate with the investigation.”
“….”
“But that’s all.”
“….”
“I’d prefer you didn’t ask about personal matters. Isn’t it too harsh to tell a victim that they brought this on themselves by wandering alone?”
At my words, his jaw clenched visibly.
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what? We’re hardly close enough to share intimate conversations.”
“You really do know how to wear on a person’s nerves.”
“The feeling’s mutual, so I think it’s best we part ways here.”
“That’s why you pretended not to know me!”
Dylan suddenly raised his voice.
I blinked in surprise, my eyes widening.
He glared at me with an aggrieved expression, his words tumbling out bitterly.
“Why do you always appear in front of me looking like that on the days I’m out on patrol? If our paths didn’t cross, we wouldn’t have to concern ourselves with each other!”
“….”
“You should’ve at least conducted yourself properly so I could ignore you. And now, after nearly being assaulted by those wretches, you say we’re not close enough to discuss such things?”
“….”
“Are you doing this deliberately? Finding out my schedule, engineering this situation just to get my attention?”
At his abusive words, my mouth fell open slightly.
I couldn’t fathom what kind of logic led to such nonsense.
Doing this deliberately.
‘That’s what I want to say to you, you bastard!’
Tollen, the Ballroom, and now Volner today.
Why does he keep appearing everywhere I go and making a scene?!
I had neither reason nor fault to endure such abuse from him.
Even the small gratitude I’d felt vanished in an instant.
“Why does whatever I do, whatever happens to me, become a matter of your concern?”
You’re the one who barges in arbitrarily, resolves things arbitrarily, and condemns people arbitrarily.
“If that’s all you have to say, there’s no reason for us to continue this conversation.”
I spoke coldly and moved to pass him.
Or rather, I was about to.
Whoosh―!
A strong grip seized my shoulder, pulling me back to where I stood.
“That infernal ‘you,’ ‘you,’ ‘you’!”
“Ugh….”
“Drop that ridiculous formality. Since when have you ever spoken to me with such courtesy?”
“What is this… Count Frederick.”
“Just do as you always have. You were quick enough to parade around claiming you knew me better than anyone—so why the sudden pretense of ignorance now? You’re confusing me.”
He snarled the words, his expression twisting into something savage.
The ashen eyes I’d thought utterly drained of moisture blazed with an inexplicable, searing light.

94%

The percentage climbed again.
Ah.
I finally understood.
His incomprehensible rage and passion.
They were all warning signs of a runaway state.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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