I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 60

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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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#60
I couldn’t tear my gaze from the crescent-shaped groove carved into the neck rest.
‘This is happening too fast!’
The carpenters’ frantic hammering echoed crisply even into the alley, each blow striking down upon my mind like a physical force. The Palace Square, encircled by Knights and emptied of civilians who had been pushed back, resonated with nothing but the metallic clang of hammers.
‘Bilateia, is she really… without any deliberation or careful planning, just going to finish everything completely today?’
Regret crashed over me again, despite having died countless times before.
‘I thought death was nothing special, merely a button for restarting….’
The thought of Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis ascending that platform, his neck severed, stole my breath. My death and my friend’s death were not the same. Only now did I understand how devastatingly bleak it felt to watch death approach with no way to stop it.
As though mocking my recklessness, the hammering ceased abruptly. I clenched my teeth and pushed out of the alley into the crowd.
‘It’s Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis.’
Just then, the Knights dragged Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis onto the platform. The tall man with his hands bound by rope swept his emotionless gaze across the space below the scaffold, then found me instantly. His crimson eyes fixed upon me with an order that admitted no hesitation—come closer.
Entranced by those jewel-like eyes, I began pushing through the throng, weaving between bodies. The Palace Square was packed with even more people than when they had gathered to hear the proclamation of the new system. Yet all these countless souls neither spoke nor wept nor cried out—they merely gazed upward at the platform.
‘Truth speaks in silence.’
I tilted my head back to look at those upturned faces and the words inscribed across them. The more I repeated the sentence written on the handkerchief in my mind, the more my curiosity burned.
What did Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis wish to say through this silence? What were these people thinking? My thoughts chased their own tails, and their end converged upon the people of my Village.
‘When I incited the Village people to strike off the dragon’s neck, when the High Minister placed blades in their hands and commanded them to pierce me… what were they thinking?’
Simultaneously, I recalled the strange behavior the Maids in my chamber had displayed in situations beyond their authorization or comprehension. Had I caused them to malfunction? Had I corrupted even Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis and Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike? Now I questioned whether my actions had been right, yet how could Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis regard me with such unwavering eyes?
‘What should I do?’
As though reading my thoughts, he stretched his lips into a smile and closed his eyelids. The moment Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis shut his eyes, the Executor unfurled a scroll.
“Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, bastard of the Grand Duke, filthy and covetous. For the crime of treason in daring to usurp Imperial authority, I execute judgment in the name of Heaven.”
▶ [URGENT OBSERVATION ALERT] Execution of the Grand Duke commencing!
The Entities place their bets anew!
The Fourth Entity, the Sixth Entity, and the Twelfth Entity strengthen the divine authority they granted to the Grand Duke!
Betting Status: Escape 3 / Execution 7 / Counterattack 2
Observation intensity exceeds critical threshold!
The text in the status window turned crimson. The sentences thrummed with palpable excitement. I read them mechanically, again and again, until nausea rose unbidden in my throat.
‘To those Divine Beings, Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s death is just incredibly entertaining spectacle.’
Unable to shake off the rising revulsion, I turned my gaze back to the still-silent Palace Square.
The Executor carefully rolled up the scroll and presented it to Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike, who sat beside the platform. As the Knights positioned Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis before the Guillotine, silence persisted. Those whose faces were covered seemed to fear that opening their mouths would bring calamity—they merely let their eyes shine with stubborn light.
‘They know. They’ve realized that Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis became what he is because he tried to feed them, teach them, make them think.’
The moment the thought struck me, my eyes found Perenustus sitting beside Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike. If that cold man who gave me my name were to stand before the Guillotine, I would—
‘I would have drawn Basilect without hesitation.’
“Ah!”
Then someone extended their index finger, pointing at the platform.
From Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s bound hands, a pale luminescence began to emanate softly. The light spreading from his fingertips soon consumed the rope. The scattered fragments transformed into snowflake-like radiance, drifting down over the crowd’s heads.
“Stop him!”
“There is no need to stop him.”
Before Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike’s cry had finished, Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis slowly raised his liberated hands in response.
“There is no need to bind him, for he does not flee.”
The Knights who had rushed toward the platform froze awkwardly mid-stride, uncertain what to do.
“I will.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis stared at his own loosely raised hand for a moment, then cut himself short and approached the guillotine.
“I have resolved to die here.”
“….”
“I will pierce a hole in this colossal dam with my death.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis spoke calmly of the end he had chosen for himself.
“Therefore.”
His crimson eyes swept slowly across the Palace Square as though meeting the gaze of each person present.
“The one who guided me, the only one who truly understood my will, stands at the very front of your ranks.”
Having finished speaking, he wore an expression of profound relief as he brought his own neck beneath the blade.
“You must follow my friend through that breach and topple the dam. Flow like water itself.”
Before anyone could intervene, the light that had been flowing faintly from Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s hand erupted in a violent explosion, and the blade fell. It was a flash so blinding that even the masses gathered in the Palace Square, who had been gazing up at the platform as though entranced, instinctively squeezed their eyes shut.
But I gritted my teeth and bore witness to Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s final moment. Light and blood cascaded down the blade like a waterfall beneath the platform. Confronted with a beginning and end that could not be stopped, I cradled the severed head in my arms.
‘This insufferable bastard.’
As though waiting for someone to embrace his own severed head, the spilled light began seeping into the feet of the crowd. From the fingertips of those whose faces were covered with handkerchiefs, wisps of pale light began to leak out, one by one. Though the light was neither vivid nor powerful, it spread like waves, again and again.
▶ [Emergency Observation Alert] Divine Authority has been dispersed and transferred!
Divine Authority detected in all masses within the Palace Square!
Entities 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th are enraged!
Entities 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th are astounded!
Entities 2nd and 8th are enraged!
— Betting Status Completely Revised —
Betting Status: Masses Victory 7 / Imperial Princess Side Victory 3 / Undecided 2
Energy Harvest Reaching Record Highs
The moment I saw that flickering status window, the excitement and fervor became unbearably repugnant to me. To resist that repugnance, I straightened my back and lifted my chin firmly. As the gaze of the Gods, who had scarcely paid me attention until now, converged entirely upon me, I could not endure the pressure, and my feeble knees trembled.
‘Yes, look. See what I will do. Watch all you wish.’
Not only the Gods, but every person in the Palace Square was watching me. Those who held light in their fingertips and debt in their hearts stared in silence at Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s head cradled in my arms. I felt my throat tighten beneath a different kind of expectation and anticipation than what the Gods offered, and I opened my mouth.
“My friend did not covet the crown. He envisioned a world where the crown was unnecessary, a realm where a king need not exist.”
The moment the Knights moved to overwhelm me, I summoned the Holy Sword without hesitation. Thanks to the Divine Authority I had inherited as Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s legacy, Basilect blazed with a more ominous silver radiance than usual, threatening the Knights.
“Is it right that one seated upon the throne should rule thousands, or that thousands should become masters of themselves?”
“….”
“The path my friend wished to walk, I shall illuminate. Let all of you bear witness to the world he sought to create!”
▶ [Special Observation Alert] An Unexpected Revolution!
All Entities Observing!
Creator’s Forced Termination Attempt Detected!
Observation Termination Vote: 11 in Favor / 1 Opposed
Observation Intensity Exceeds Limits. Forced Termination of This World is Impossible!
The moment I faced that status window once more, my resolve crystallized.
I would dedicate myself to a world that defied the narrative they understood, that refused the excitement they anticipated, that rejected the spectacle they reveled in. A world indifferent to their curious observations and expectations.
In such a world, I would live long and happily, openly and defiantly.

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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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