I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 9

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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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#09
I blinked, watching Leonas stare at me with eyes wide as saucers while Bilateia crossed her index fingers to make an X-mark in the air.
‘What’s gotten into them? It doesn’t seem like something they can’t say…’
I glanced between the two of them before fixing my gaze back on Perenustus.
“Why don’t you go yourself instead of sending these children who just whine about being covered in blood?”
“Hey, why are we children?”
Bilateia bristled slightly. Regardless, I kept my eyes fixed solely on Perenustus.
“If you’re someone who can conjure things in the blink of an eye like this, wouldn’t it be far better to conduct the investigation or exploration yourself rather than have us do it?”
Just as I was about to seek agreement from Bilateia and Leonas, I caught myself and closed my mouth with an internal groan.
Their expressions—jaws clenched, heads shaking—spoke volumes. This was the essence of a professor’s nature: treating students as personal possessions.
The two model students, unable to voice such thoughts aloud, simply sighed briefly and watched Perenustus for any sign of his mood.
“Ha…”
An oppressive silence fell. Perenustus looked down at me with furrowed brows as if questioning whether I was genuinely ignorant, then spoke in a tone one might use to scold a fool.
“I never expected questions at this level.”
“…”
“If I must answer, it’s because I am both the creator and the one responsible. If I intervene directly, objective and accurate observation becomes difficult.”
His reasonably sound explanation silenced me, and Perenustus checked his watch again.
“Now then, let us truly begin.”
Before I could ask another strange question, Perenustus quickly snapped his fingers.
***
I stood upon an endlessly sheer cliff face, gazing across at the opposite precipice.
A barren mountain peak surrounded on all sides by towering, steep cliffs. A sparse basin beneath the jagged cliff edge where dense groves of Erba trees grew wild—that was the Village where I lived.
Narrow patches of cleared earth barely carved between the densely packed Erba trees, and upon those narrow patches stood houses with walls, pillars, and roofs woven haphazardly from Erba wood.
“Good heavens. You actually lived in a place like this?”
Bilateia clicked her tongue in disbelief as she surveyed the surroundings.
Yes, it was true.
This was our Village. Or rather, this was what remained of the Village.
‘Were the houses burned? Melted…?’
My home and those of my neighbors had become something resembling sodden ash heaps, belching acrid smoke.
‘That’s strange. When the villagers and I carried Silpi’s severed head to the Castle, it wasn’t nearly this bad.’
“Look over there.”
As if answering my confusion, Silpi’s severed head tilted, pointing toward the middle of the opposite cliff face.
“That’s the cave where I was sleeping.”
The cave entrance carved into the cliff’s face appeared unusually dark. It seemed to be because of the silvery liquid cascading down like a thin waterfall from within, and the billowing white mist it released.
It was a strangely beautiful and mysterious sight. Bilateia, who had been mesmerized watching the falling silver liquid, suddenly realized what it was and pointed accusingly.
“Wait, isn’t that the liquid that caused the commotion at the Training Stage?”
“Yes. That’s the liquid. My blood.”
Silpi mimicked Bilateia’s tone and joked sarcastically. Then, with a melancholic voice, she added one more thing.
“Ever since my head was severed, my body keeps flowing out like that.”
“That can’t be right! Your blood is highly toxic!”
“So that’s why their village ended up like this.”
Silpi’s gaze drifted downward past the cliff, thick with pale smoke. Where the silver liquid cascaded down the cliff face poured into our village.
The village I remembered and longed for was dissolving, half-submerged in that silver liquid. Between the Erba trees, instead of familiar neighbors’ homes, only hazy smoke billowed.
Unable to approach or tear my eyes away, I let my shoulders slump.
Silpi, who had been rolling her eyes back and forth in displeasure at my pathetic state, suddenly burst out shouting.
“Seeing that nonsense makes me even angrier! Hey, you crazy former hero! What kind of hero cuts the throat of a sleeping dragon? How shameful! Heroes don’t do such cowardly things!”
“I looked like I was dying—when did I have time to worry about shame or appearances?”
“You’re talking nonsense. Legendary heroes are supposed to be strictest about such things. A true hero lives and dies for honor.”
Leonas nodded without hesitation, agreeing with Silpi’s words. Even Bilateia, who had been too disheartened by the village’s devastation to speak, shot me a look of reproach.
“….”
As I grew even more dejected, Silpi clicked her tongue in disapproval. This time, she pointed with her chin at empty space, tapping it repeatedly.
“Of course, in other worlds there might be one or two cowardly heroes who betray people. But not in this world. Just look at our world’s supreme administrator. You can tell at a glance there’s no room for tricks or leniency.”
Again, the moment Silpi finished speaking, Leonas and Bilateia gave the subtlest of nods.
Silpi continued her nagging with an expression that made it unclear whether she was comforting me or condemning me.
“I was created based on you, so I place tremendous importance on law, rules, order, and principles. That’s why I thought I absolutely had to curse you to feel satisfied. Do you understand now?”
I absorbed the dragon’s words, spoken as if coaxing a child, and quietly reflected on all the information that had been thrust upon me until now.
“So it really is… the afterlife….”
“No, you idiot. Wait, or is it? Is it a similar concept?”
Silpi tilted her head cutely back and forth for a long while. Then, after a long moment, her head that had been tilted askew nodded slowly up and down.
“I suppose. From your perspective, it’s not much different from the afterlife. Ren’s room is a space for double-checking before completely deleting isolated data. Quite perceptive, aren’t you?”
Silpi let out a laugh tinged with sarcasm and looked me over with fresh eyes. I stared at the silver liquid dripping from the neck I had severed, my expression tinged with a strange guilt.
Silpi seemed pleased with my hardened expression and suddenly leaned her face in closer with a somewhat kinder look.
“That gloomy one beyond that wall, decked out in all sorts of jewels, is the one who designs and arranges the world. I’m a kind of on-site supervisor created by him. You follow so far?”
“On-site supervisor….”
“Right. And you were never supposed to appear in this world in the first place. Not even extra-level—you’re a crazy variable that popped out, killed me, and disturbed the world’s flow. That’s why you were brought here as a serious criminal.”
I resisted the urge to squeeze my eyes shut and stared intently at the dragon’s gaze. The dragon met my eyes like targeting coordinates, her vertically elongated pupils filled only with curiosity.
“Ask if you’re curious about anything else.”
“Why?”
“The more you realize, the more interesting this becomes for me.”
Bilateia, who had been listening quietly, frowned sharply at the word “interesting” and pulled my arm.
“Let’s get closer.”
“Ah, why? She said it’s interesting, so let her talk more—why?”
“The dragon may not understand, but humans have a line they keep, even between mortal enemies.”
“A line?”
“Yes. It’s basic courtesy not to say unnecessary things in front of someone shocked by their lifelong neighborhood being destroyed. We call such basic decency a ‘line.'”
“Unnecessary things… Hey, even if I look like this, I’m a dragon-”
“I’ll take the lead. Even exploration mode can be harmful to your health, so everyone be careful.”
Leonas, who had been silent the entire time, cut off Silpi’s words and took the lead toward the village. We followed him cautiously.
The closer we got, the more horrific the situation became. The Erba trees, the houses—everything had melted and tangled together until it was impossible to tell which house belonged to whom.
“Where is your house? Go check if there are any books there and report back.”
Leonas urged me forward with polite, measured words befitting a model student. Confronted by a devastation I could never have imagined, I lost even the will to speak, managing only to point with a trembling finger toward the place where smoke billowed thickest.
“Where?”
“There. The inn with the sign that reads ‘Hunter’s House.'”
“An inn? There’s an inn in such a remote place?”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, who had somehow recognized the half-melted sign, asked with evident surprise. I gestured toward Silpi.
“It’s the Cliff Village mentioned in the prophecies. That’s why so many adventurers and scholars came to see Silverdragoon. These quests don’t end in a day or two, so an inn was necessary.”
The expressions on the faces of the three people watching me were peculiar.

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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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