I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 61

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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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#61
‘I need to succeed spectacularly and survive so annoyingly well that it stings.’
A thought that would have made anyone who knew me before widen their eyes in shock now filled my mind completely. As I steeled myself with quite admirable resolve and faced the world, eyes burning with their own determination met my gaze.
Only now did it truly sink into my skin—the fact that the words flowing from Leonas’s lips and mine had created wind. I watched with satisfaction as the breeze we’d conjured transformed into a fierce tempest.
“What are you doing! Seize that one as well and behead them at once! Hang the Grand Duke’s head on a pike!”
Bilateia, sensing the gravity of the situation, shrieked with cutting ferocity. The moment her voice rang out across the vast space, laughter burst from me. I could easily imagine how much Bilateia was screaming internally as she willingly took on the role of villain to end this wretched world.
‘Then I should do my part properly too.’
I lifted the corners of my mouth and met the eyes of those burning with their own intensity. Using the roaring cheers that spread like wildfire across a field as my anthem, I summoned Basilect. Almost simultaneously, the Knights who had been standing uncertainly began to move.
“Miss! Goodness, why are you standing there alone like that!”
A familiar voice called out to me as it cut through the approaching Knights.
“Mure…?”
“You said my role was to keep watch, so why are you doing this alone!”
The moment I saw her youthful face responding with such confidence, words failed me.
“No, keeping watch didn’t mean… squeezing through between all these armed men with swords like this…”
I shook my head with a long sigh, but Mure stood her ground before me without budging an inch. With my pathetic stamina—barely enough to push a single wall clock in a chamber—I couldn’t even shove away the young Maid who was selflessly acting as my shield.
“Mure, look at me.”
I held out Leonas’s head toward her, cradled in my arms. Then I shook my head again at Mure, whose eyes gazed up at me with such resolve.
“As you can see, my stamina is in terrible shape right now. Just holding him is already pushing me to my limit—I can’t protect you too.”
“What are you saying? I’m the one who should be protecting you!”
“Sigh…”
Having failed to peel Mure away, I had no choice but to appeal to the Knights instead.
“Hey, Knights. You’re not planning to do something to such a young child in front of all these people, are you? That would surely damage the honor of knighthood, wouldn’t it?”
The Knights, who had already been unable to hide their discomfort, seized upon my words as if it were a godsend and promptly lifted Mure up and shoved her far back. Then, with relieved expressions, they gripped their swords anew. Half of the blades rushing toward me were aimed at Leonas in my arms.
“Come on! It’s hardly humane to target a head that’s already been severed once!”
Seizing the moment the Knights hesitated, I stretched Basilect as far as I could, gritted my teeth, and spun my body in a half rotation. A silver-white radiance erupted from my center, pushing the Knights back. Startled by this unexpected defense, the Knights quickly increased their numbers and rushed forward with even more menacing force.
“Imperial Princess! Is this truly your best? Do you still not understand that even hundreds cannot place the Grand Duke’s head upon a pike!”
Seizing the moment, I even shouted until my voice grew hoarse. As my words rang across the Palace Square with considerable authority, Bilateia’s brow furrowed menacingly.
Now Leonas had become a martyr of incalculable worth to these enraged people. Bilateia surely understood this better than anyone.
‘Looking at this, it seems Bilateia plans to end this world by having me killed as spectacularly as possible, while she herself gets executed by these people… So where is Perenustus that he’s allowing this?’
As I pushed back the Knights with the light emanating from the holy sword and protected the people, I kept glancing about searching for Perenustus. That man who would be visible even buried among a million—I couldn’t find a trace of him anywhere.
▶ [Emergency Observation Alert] Causality has completely exceeded control parameters!
Creator’s forced termination attempt has been detected!
The Eleventh Being grows wrathful!
The Fourth Being is aghast!
The Ninth Being desperately appeals to the other enraged Beings!
Energy harvest exceeds measurable limits!
‘So that’s why Perenustus isn’t visible… Ugh.’
I clicked my tongue at the brilliant crimson letters flickering in the void and adjusted my grip on Leonas’s head.
‘Perenustus, are you listening? The child has become like this while doing what he wants—whose idea is it to force a shutdown?’
I scoffed and tightened my hold on Leonas’s head, pouring all my strength into the hand gripping Basilect. The gaze of the Divine Beings was so sharp it burned, but at this point, I couldn’t afford to care about their attention.
Since entering this world, the holy sword I’d never properly wielded before blazed with heat as if thrilled by this long-awaited chance to shine.
‘Three from the front, two from the side!’
The moment I swept away the Knights charging in a semicircular encirclement with Basilect, I twisted my body to guard my flank. But at that precise instant, a blade grazed deep across my ribs. With my already frail body now bearing both wound and blood loss, my vision spun.
‘What a shame. I wanted to live as long as possible to see how Leonas’s game would unfold.’
Genuinely lamenting this, I observed the atmosphere of the handkerchief-veiled figures and the Knights closing in like hunters pursuing prey, gauging the optimal moment.
‘If I endure as long as possible while fighting these people, dying would be most effective, wouldn’t it?’
Then, for a moment, I drew in a breath.
‘…Ah. If I endure long, if I live any longer, I shouldn’t.’
To complete the kingdom Leonas desired—a system that functions without a king—I too needed to be eliminated by Bilateia’s hand as quickly as possible, down to the very second. Only then would Bilateia, having accumulated karma so perfectly, be eliminated by those gathered here. To fulfill Leonas’s wish, the only answer was the swift extermination of anyone who would strut about as royalty.
‘Ugh. I’d only just thought I wanted to live properly, yet here I stood at a place where only death could move things forward.
It was a shame, but that regret was all there was. I’d grown far too accustomed to dying for death to frighten me. With my resolve settled, I subtly twisted the menacingly swinging Basilect and offered my body to the Knight’s blade.
That was the moment.
—Aurelia!!
The sharpest blade hurtling toward my nape shattered like ice struck dead-on, scattering into fragments. Tiny shards of metal scraped my cheek and arm, and blood trickled from the shallow cuts.
—Don’t do something so reckless! I’m creating an escape route, so don’t you dare think of dying on your own!
‘When I called out earlier, you didn’t even respond.’
—Stop spouting nonsense and step back right now!
Perenustus’s roar rang through my skull, urgency seeping into every word. The usually dignified and aloof tone I knew was nowhere to be found. He seemed like someone I’d never met before—neither the Perenustus I knew nor the Duke ‘Ren’ of this world.
—Lower that neck or head of yours and get to safety, I said!!
I watched as the blades aimed at me were caught in an invisible force and exploded, my expression troubled as I furrowed my brow.
‘Isn’t this kind of interference against the rules? I entered as a Duke of this world, not as a Creator.’
—I’ll handle the aftermath myself, so just get out of here!
‘If I survive any longer, the picture Leonas wants won’t come to pass.’
—Aurelia!
Perenustus shouted my name like a curse. I let out a soft laugh at the exasperation, anger, and regret compressed into my name, and offered a sincere farewell.
‘Thank you for worrying about me.’
The moment I finished, I unhesitatingly raised Basilect and turned my body. A young Knight, gripping a broken sword in both hands, was charging to pierce through both my torso and Leonas’s head at once. The instant our eyes met, I grinned and asked.
“Are you prepared?”
At the question posed as casually as asking a close friend how they were, the Knight flinched and stiffened. I extended my blood-stained hand and drew an X mark over the Imperial House’s crest emblazoned on his chest.
“If you kill me, you’ll probably be the first to claim credit among all these people gathered here. So you’d better steel yourself.”
The moment the Knight understood my meaning, his face contorted. I didn’t give him a chance to hesitate—I pushed my body onto his broken blade.
“Miss!”
Mure’s anguished cry pierced my ears. As that heart-rending scream transformed into wailing, a brief wave of regret washed over me.
‘Oh dear, I’m sorry. No matter how necessary this death is, it’s not a scene a child should witness.’
I met Mure’s eyes with apology in my gaze. In my flickering vision, white lights began to bloom like mist from the fingertips of those gathered in the Palace Square. The eyes of those who had only now awakened to how absurd the world they lived in truly was gleamed with clarity.
‘You won, Leonas.’
The unspoken declaration of victory filled me with satisfaction. It was a declaration no one heard, but it didn’t matter. The footsteps of thousands flooding the Palace Square were already shaking the earth in place of my voice.
▶ [Special Observation Alert] Worldview Identity Undergoes Radical Transformation!
All Entities Under Observation!
Creator’s Forced Termination—Second Attempt!
Observation Termination Vote — In Favor: 11 : Opposed: 1
Designated as a Forced Termination Restricted Zone!
The final wave of light erupting from the Holy Sword stretched across the entire Palace Square. Within the maelstrom of brilliance and sound, Perenustus’s voice filled my body in place of the blood draining away.
—Is this World truly worth such sacrifice…?
It was a reproach that bordered on a sigh.
‘Worth? No. I simply believe this is the best course, so I’m doing it.’
—Ah….
His sigh bid farewell to me as I closed my eyes beneath the gaze of tens of thousands.
‘We’ll meet again soon, Perenustus.’

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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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