I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 54

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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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#54
I had been anticipating some grand confession, but instead found myself staring at Leonas with a deflated expression.
“Why are you speaking something so obvious with such gravity?”
“…You thought the same thing?”
“Of course. And I doubt Perenustus, who created this world, intended it to make sense either. Usurping the throne just to monopolize an unrequited love—does that sound remotely plausible?”
We both nodded simultaneously. A brief silence fell between us. Within that quiet, I heightened my senses once more and swept my awareness across the surroundings. Still nothing. That oppressively sharp gaze—it truly had vanished.
‘If they’ve completely lost interest in us, whatever Perenustus and Bilateia are scheming must be quite stimulating.’
I offered a quiet, hopeful cough, praying this indifference would persist.
Leonas seemed to share my sentiment. Dying in agony dozens upon dozens of times. During those cycles of death and survival—relying on one another without Perenustus, the administrator, alongside Leonas and Bilateia—something akin to camaraderie had blossomed between us.
‘Being able to read thoughts and feelings through mere glances without needing words… I quite like this. This must be what friendship feels like, isn’t it?’
Friendship.
While I was privately rolling this strangely unfamiliar word around in my mouth, Leonas finally spoke after a long pause.
“If I were a Leonas who didn’t obsess over Aurelia based on affection…”
“Yes?”
“I probably would have seduced the Imperial Princess to establish a system, then infiltrated the Imperial Palace. After all, standing at the very top is the answer to completely dismantling the regime.”
“Huh, huh?”
Hearing an answer I hadn’t anticipated, foolish sounds tumbled from my lips. I stared at Leonas for a moment.
‘The one most faithful to the script, with the highest understanding of the world. The one who never lost first place until Bilateia appeared—he’s now revealing his true inner thoughts for the very first time, isn’t he?’
That was… an oddly peculiar sensation. It felt strange, like discovering an entirely unfamiliar side of someone I’d known for so long.
“The Professor values energy efficiency extracted from the world. Everything else is handled carelessly—he focuses solely on scenes of affection and animosity to harvest comedy and tragedy. You know the main scenes of this world unfold in this chamber where you are and wherever Bilateia is, right?”
“Yes, it seemed that way.”
“The problem is that this world is populated by an enormous number of people for the sake of realism…”
I said nothing, simply meeting Leonas’s gaze as he exhaled deeply. Leonas was the type who, regardless of which world he was assigned to, would traverse every corner of it on his own feet to understand it. That’s why discovering the Dark Space fell to him, and informing me and Bilateia about it was always his responsibility.
“Because the Professor doesn’t bother with trivial settings unnecessary for the main scenes, this nation lacks any semblance of system. So the people living in this world, existing merely as ‘vivid background,’ experience lives filled with overwhelming hardship.”
“….”
Leonas had clearly given considerable thought to the people living outside the Palace. Walking on his own two feet, he began carefully unfolding to me both what he’d witnessed and what he couldn’t comprehend.
“I understand that the comedy-tragedy energy extracted from the world becomes sustenance for the Ancient Gods. I also understand well the cyclical structure where the Ancient Gods gain divine power from that energy, which then helps younger gods like the Professor operate the world.”
“Ah, so that’s how it works. I didn’t know.”
He looked at me with an expression of disbelief for a moment before sighing.
“…Anyway. The more I explored the world, the more questions arose. Why is that comedy-tragedy energy extracted only from relationships written in the script? Outside the Castle, in the lives of background characters not written into the narrative, there are more than enough elements for comedy and tragedy to be extracted.”
I had been cracking jokes to avoid the atmosphere becoming too serious, but now I finally set aside my levity and faced him with genuine solemnity. I couldn’t possibly misunderstand what Leonas was saying.
He was confessing to me now. At last, he was acknowledging that nameless beings like me and the people of our Village had begun to weigh on his conscience.
“You’re saying that once you started recognizing background characters without names or substance as actual people, the world felt so absurd that you wanted to reorganize the world’s system to make things ‘right’ according to your own standards based on what you saw and felt?”
“Precisely.”
Leonas gazed upward into empty space and continued.
“Remember what you said to Aurelia before? That while your Village people lived that way, I indulged in every luxury yet failed to become a hero. You asked why I resented you for that…. Those words keep circling in my mind no matter which world I’m assigned to.”
“….”
“Why did I feel that way toward you? Why isn’t the comedy-tragedy energy harvested equally from everyone? The moment I saw the status window that appeared this time, that long-standing question was answered. Energy only becomes energy where the Ancient Gods’ gaze reaches, only in events that capture their interest.”
Leonas extended his long arm, pointing toward something beyond the curtained Balcony.
“We’ve been performing in an unfair arena where points only count when the judge is watching.”
I mulled over his words for a moment before shaking my head.
“No. It’s not an unfair playing field.”
“It’s not?”
“Right. For you and me, it’s actually an extremely favorable one. The referees are watching the two players over there in that Gazebo, aren’t they? We’re the kind of people who want to quietly scheme and act when the gods aren’t looking.”
Leonas, who had been gazing beyond the Terrace, turned his attention to me.
“My current desire is to create a system for those who cannot become energy sources. To realize that desire, it’s advantageous to move while evading the referee’s gaze….”
He murmured as if speaking to himself, beginning to tap his knee lightly with his fingers.
“What task did the Professor give Bilateia by dangling the bait of sole top rank?”
“How should I know? How am I supposed to know what Perenustus is scheming?”
He stared at me without expecting an answer, accelerating the rhythm of his knee-tapping.
“I suspect he’s trying to place Bilateia on the throne as the next Emperor. Since I’ve usurped the throne as Grand Duke right now, and I’m attempting to take the Professor’s life.”
“You… were you really trying to kill Perenustus?”
“Why ask the obvious? Obstacles must be cleanly removed to avoid complications later.”
“Wow….”
“By the same logic, the Professor—or rather, Duke Perenustus—must eliminate me. The easiest way to do that is to put forward a legitimate member of the Imperial Family.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Leonas was constructing a remarkably plausible hypothesis based solely on the personalities and circumstances of the two people he knew.
“Both the Professor and Bilateia will move as faithfully as possible to this World’s basic settings. They haven’t experienced the kind of error that would shake the foundations rooted in their minds like it has mine.”
“…You’re talking about me being that error?”
Leonas nodded as if it were obvious and declared it.
“Then I stand on the opposite end of the goal that those two are pursuing in this World.”
“…Could you explain it in a way that your business partner can understand too?”
“I’m going to reorganize the system and make this World into a country that doesn’t need a king.”
I fell silent for a moment.
“Wait, hold on—you usurped the throne and now you’re saying you want to create a country without a king?”
“Right. I’m the one who seized the throne precisely so I could properly destroy it.”
It was the most absurd nonsense, yet hearing it from Leonas somehow made it sound plausible. I stared at him blankly for a moment before confessing honestly.
“Uh… honestly, I thought your goal was to set off on an adventure to the World with Bilateia.”
“What? I just like her—I have no intention of doing anything with her.”
“Really…?”
“She has her preferences, and I have mine. You can’t force people, can you?”
Leonas furrowed his brow deeply. I blinked stupidly at him and murmured quietly.
“With that kind of personality, it must not have been easy implementing the three-piece set of abduction, confinement, and violation, truly.”
Leonas sighed, looking exhausted just at the thought of the walls of “Grand Duke Leonas.” I stared at his exasperatingly handsome face and nodded.
“Fine. I’m experienced at this, you know. I’ve blown up venues for royal marriage announcements, and last time I even demolished the Imperial Palace walls. You know that, right? You trust me?”
Leonas stared at me for a moment before laughing aloud like a young boy.

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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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