444 – The Reason I Want To Be King -3-

Luin’s tightly clenched fist was cleaving through the air, aimed at the pervert’s face.

“Heh heh…”

Because he wanted to crush the visage of the man who was leering lasciviously at his own crotch.

“Don’t you dare smirk… I’m going to grind that face of yours to dust.”

If there was one thing that Luin and Ricardo, two people who could never mix, had in common, it was their hatred for perverts.

-Hey, Greenhorn.

-What.

-Don’t stand so close.

-…What’s your problem?

-I don’t like men getting close. And I like plants even less.

-…Why are you picking a fight about my hair? And I don’t like sitting next to guys either.

You couldn’t call not liking the opposite gender a crime. Strictly speaking, homos*xuality was a sin under Imperial law, but who could say anything about one person liking another?

Even so…

“Ugh…”

Losing his virtue to a man dressed as a bunny girl was worse than death, so Luin clenched his fist and began to chant magic softly.

“Wind Step.”

“Stone Skin.”

“Needle Impact.”

“Strength Enhancement.”

Luin, layering magic across his entire body, locked eyes with the man and began to rush forward.

‘Kill him in one blow.’

Conserving air for better uses, a will burning to erase him from existence.

Now, the magic coiled in Ruin’s fist held a power that could casually puncture the hide of a large monster.

“Heh heh heh.”

Even a glancing blow meant death.

“Kyahahaha!!!”

The ‘Indigo Fellow,’ a leering smile twisting his lips, stared directly at Ruin’s fist, offering his face.

‘What… what the…!’

Madness.

Offering one’s head to a fist brimming with magic.

“Kyahahahahaha!!!”

How feeble did he perceive his fist to be, to thrust his face forward like that? Ruin, stung by the man’s unconventional action and his own insulted pride, watched the confident visage and bit down hard on his lip, muttering a curse under his breath.

“Fine, try dying then.”

With a smile laced with manic glee, Ruin’s fist connected with the man’s head. Ruin was certain his punch had landed squarely on the man’s face.

‘Crazy b*stard.’

-Kwakakakakak!!!-

He felt the impact of his fist against the man’s face. Ruin was certain his face was ruined beyond recognition. Turning his back on the rising cloud of dust, Ruin spoke towards Shuen.

“Shuen, let’s go. Time is precious.”

He had won, so let’s go.

One step.

Two steps.

As he confidently walked away from him.

-Squelch.-

Ruin frowned, noticing a strange slime coating his hand.

“What is this.”

His hands had been clean when he had chanted the spell.

Finding his fist, which should only bear a light scratch, covered in a thick layer of slime, Ruin felt a chill of unease.

“Hee hee… that stung a little~”

Ruin felt a hot breath and a viscous chuckle near his right ear.

“Boy~ Thought you had a wet noodle for a fist, but you’re quite the man, eh?”

“What?!”

Clearly, I should have died.

I felt the fist, heavy with magic, slam into my face. Yet there he stood, whole and hale. Stunned by his sudden nearness, Ruin stumbled, clenching his own fist.

“Your imp…!”

“Mmm-hmm… it’s alright. I’ll make it all better.”

“Son of a b*tch.”

Ruin’s choked cry echoed as the man’s fist crashed into his abdomen, his arm then flailing towards the open air.

-Ghak…!

The moment Ruin’s mouth filled with bile from the direct hit.

“Lick.”

The man smacked his lips, then roughly grabbed Ruin’s face and hurled him against the sewer wall.

“Nice shot.”

“Khulhk…”

“Did it hurt?”

“…”

“I’ll give you a hug that won’t hurt.”

The man spread his arms wide towards the fallen Ruin.

As the man’s arms, seemingly trying to engulf Ruin in a brutal embrace, lunged to close around him, Ruin realized there was something sticky coating the parts of him that were about to make contact.

‘What is *this* now…’

A slime that seemed to churn the stomach simply by looking at it.

“Fireball!”

Having barely dodged the man’s hug, Ruin quickly spun and began firing magic at the man’s face.

He couldn’t fathom what might happen if that man embraced him.

-Fwoom!

“Ticklish.”

-Fwoom! Fwoom! Fwoom!

“Ahyut, Boy~ That tickles.”

The man, taking Ruin’s magic head-on, flashed a flirtatious smile as he spoke.

“Don’t bully me.”

“…Eee…”

“I prefer a gentle man over a violent one. If you keep acting so naughty, I’ll have no choice but to become a bad boy.”

“Son of a b*tch… for real.”

The enormous mass loomed before Ruin’s very nose.

It was as if it were gaining muscle in real-time; the pulsing veins and swelling bulk were so repulsive, it made him want to retch.

“Come here. Let me embrace you.”

The man’s hands, dripping with viscous fluid, spread wide, reaching out once more to envelop Ruin in a hug.

“You sick b*stard…”

Simultaneously, his lips were descending towards Ruin’s.

“So… son of a b*tch.”

As Ruin’s trembling pupils fixed on the man’s fish-like lips, he screamed, gripped by a terror he had never known before.

“SoooN OF A BIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!!!”

His first kiss, stolen by a man.

And not just any man, but a man in a bunny girl outfit. Overwhelmed by shame, Ruin felt his pupils dilate, his strength failing when:

“Shu-Angel’s special move…! Noble Beatdown!!!”

A colossal fireball struck the man’s temple, rescuing Ruin from the abyss of death.

“Heh heh…! Shu-Angel landed a good one!”

Ruin, opening his trembling eyes, exhaled a sigh of relief as he gazed at Shu-En, who wore an expression of triumph.

“Haa… haa… I owe you my life.”

Had Shu-En not been there, something truly horrific would have happened.

“Seriously… I’m going to kill him, no matter what.”

Shu-En, wearing a confident expression, gazed at Ruin’s lips and asked in a serious voice.

“Did he do it?”

“…Do what?”

“Kiss you?”

“No, he didn’t…”

“…”

“I swear, he really didn’t.”

Shu-En, nodding at Ruin’s heartfelt denial, began to speak about the plan, looking at the debris where the man had flown.

“Listen closely. Green Algae.”

“…What is it?”

“I was watching carefully when Green Algae fought the Mutant. I noticed something strange.”

“I know.”

-Kreeeeeee…

From the collapsed debris, a chilling dampness began to emanate.

-That b*tch.

The rage of the ‘one who enjoys the color blue,’ for being struck by a woman, poured forth towards Shuen.

“Dare… you interrupt my date?”

He loathed women, you see.

“Dare…”

His muscles began to twitch in a grotesque manner.

“A wench who only knows how to whine and whimper…”

Shuen, with a composed sigh, nudged Ruin forward. The more she thought about it, the more she felt baiting the man with Ruin would elicit the best reaction.

“Why are you pushing me?”

“…Green Slime was supposed to handle it, remember?”

“We need to fight together.”

Watching the man approach steadily, Shuen calmly began to relay the information she had gleaned to Ruin.

“It seems that slime has a resistance to magic.”

“…True.”

“Judging by the sheer power of the magic Green Slime used, it would have blown the head off a normal adventurer.”

“Right.”

Ruin, having landed a blow, nodded in agreement with Shuen’s words, adding his own reasoning.

“I distinctly remember landing a solid punch right on his face, but the fact that he’s unscathed is weird. At the very least he should be unconscious, but standing tall like that? He seems to have some resistance to physical force too.”

Ruin showed Shuen the slime adhering to his fist, seeking her opinion. Investigating the slime that had rubbed off while hitting the man’s face might offer a method to fight him.

Of course.

“Eeeeeeeek!!! I don’t want to!”

“…How will you know if you don’t look?”

“It’s too gross, I refuse!”

“…”

Shuen refused to look.

At Shuen’s vehement reaction, Ruin sighed deeply and began to unleash magic towards the approaching man. He needed to restrict his movement at the very least.

“Let’s create some distance for now.”

“I think the same, you know?”

As Shuen spoke, the magic she unleashed flowed like oil on water. She bit her lip and said,

“They’re like dogs, you know!”

Wizards were tricky opponents to deal with.

Of course.

“Still, I think we can win, you know.”

They weren’t invincible.

*

“…”

Around the time the number of corpses piled up in the sewers was growing, I looked at Shaltia, beads of sweat forming on her brow, and asked,

“Your Highness.”

“…Huh?”

“Why does Your Highness want to become king?”

“…”

Shaltia, silent and smiling, let out a dry chuckle and replied. Wasn’t the reason obvious?

“If a person is born, shouldn’t they climb to the highest point?”

“Is that so?”

“You should aim for the very best.”

I offered a small smile, swallowing the question I wanted to ask.

“A fine goal.”

Because the words she’d just spoken weren’t from the novel.

The second prince’s disregard.

The discrimination her mother faced.

Among the countless reasons, the biggest reason she wanted to be king stemmed from a certain ‘person’.

“Becoming the best is a good thing.”

Because I didn’t want to pry into her concealed heart, I offered a small smile and decided not to contradict her words.

After all, she would meet them eventually.

I erased the faint smile that lingered on my face and slowly moved forward.

Deeper into the underground.

Deeper into her bottomless heart.

And so it was,

To the nation’s former ‘Chief Minister.’