Home/The Male Lead, Whom I Thought Was the Villain, Is Acting Strange/ch 3

Chapter 3.

"Listen carefully, Brother. A woman is not just her face."

"....."

"Especially those women who act all innocent and coy with a cute face in front of men—they're the most untrustworthy sort."

I issued my warning like a female version of the old adage, "All men are wolves!"

In the original story, Muriel had actually pretended to be flustered when she first met Rainer and deliberately spilled wine on him.

Then she'd looked up at him with those puppy-dog eyes, flustered and teary, not knowing what to do.

Rainer, who had always been surrounded by rough-and-tumble knights, felt deeply moved by her pure, delicate appearance that stirred his protective instincts.

'...That's what the original story described, damn it.'

At this point, Muriel's appearance was practically a weapon of mass destruction.

---

Whether intentional or not, she had managed to bring down Rainer—a man utterly indifferent to the opposite sex—right along the original story's rails.

It wasn't surprising, really. Attracting every man in the world like a magnet was just a passive skill of any romance fantasy female lead.

That's why I needed to start drilling some wariness into my brother now.

‘If I flat-out told him to beware of the Diabell family's only daughter, it would only raise suspicion.’

For now, I had to at least awaken him enough not to get played by some flighty woman.

"Got it? If some woman starts crying for no reason in front of you, that's a red flag."

"Roo, you've been saying strange things since earlier…"

"Even if a woman with puppy-dog eyes wags her tail nine times, you must never fall for it!"

At that moment, Rainer's face twisted oddly.

He tossed aside his sword, strode over, and placed his large hand over my forehead.

"Doesn't seem like you have a fever."

Then, with a serious expression, he grabbed my cheeks and stretched them out like dough.

"Did you eat something bad and get an upset stomach?"

"No, I didn't!"

Ugh! Here I was giving him sincere advice!

I shot him an exasperated look, and he withdrew his hand with a sigh.

"Then what is it? Why are you suddenly going on about women?"

"Argh, I don't know! I just have this feeling that soon you're going to fall for some woman and end up suffering horribly."

“……If you have a problem with me, just say so.”

Rainer's dark green eyes clouded with a hint of bitterness.

No, that's not it!

I'm trying to save you because you're going to get tangled up with the female lead in three years and die a horrible death!

I was pounding my chest in frustration when suddenly, a blaring alarm rang out, and the magical alert orb on the training yard wall began to flash.

[Monster appearance confirmed in the southwestern Melta District of Espello territory. Available personnel capable of warping, mobilize immediately.]

Rainer grabbed his sword before the alarm even finished. It was almost a conditioned reflex.

As befits an apocalyptic world, monster attacks were a daily occurrence here. To counter them, several systems were in place.

One such system divided the entire nation and its territories into four zones—Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta—based on danger level and importance.

The Delta Zone was where low-level minions typically appeared.

Still, it was dangerous enough for civilians, so whenever a monster appearance was confirmed, stationed soldiers or knights would deploy immediately.

I watched Rainer hurriedly don his armor and spoke with a skeptical look.

"You're going yourself?"

"Whoever's available goes."

Having returned to his soldier's demeanor, Rainer nodded.

As an Aura Master, he was the deputy commander of the Empire's Central Army monster-combat unit.

Today was his day off, which was why he was at the estate—but that didn't mean the military would bother sending troops to deal with small fry in the Delta Zone.

Still, Rainer wasn't the type to pick and choose when it came to hunting monsters.

‘That's exactly why I'm more worried.’

His exceptional skill was actually a curse. He didn't know how to protect himself or play dirty.

In the original story, when the male lead invaded, Rainer surely protected the people of House Espello until his very last breath.

That thought made me reluctant to let him go alone. I dusted off my backside and stood up.

"I'll go with you."

Rainer, now fully armed, furrowed his brow sternly.

"Don't fool around. Stay home."

"Fool around? Who, me?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms confidently.

"There'll be plenty of people glad to have me along."

"....."

Unable to refute me, Rainer hesitated, then finally raised his hands in surrender. He seemed to realize that trying to talk me out of it would be a waste of time.

Besides, I'd helped him out several times before, so he wasn't in a position to complain.

With a deep sigh, he grabbed a jacket hanging in the corner and tossed it to me.

"......At least wear a barrier jacket. And stay in the rear—never come forward."

"Relax. It's not my first time."

After putting on the protective-enchanted jacket, I stepped onto the teleportation circle alongside Rainer.

---

---

The moment we arrived via the magic circle, we saw people facing off against a massive monster.

---

I stared at the writhing, rumbling monster and covered my mouth.

"Ugh, disgusting."

At a glance, it was easily the size of a three-story building.

Its long, slick body was a dark, bloody red, segmented like stacked blocks.

Hundreds of legs clustered along its sides clicked and clacked with an eerie sound.

In short, it was a monstrously giant centipede.

Most monsters were unpleasant, but this one was exceptionally revolting. And on top of that—

"Uwaaaah!"

"Damn! It's venom! Watch out—don't let it touch your skin!"

A thick, viscous green liquid spewed from the monster, reeking horribly wherever it landed.

Every time the centipede thrashed and swung its heavy tail, the ground caved in and clouds of dust rose.

The soldiers nearby tried to encircle it, but they couldn't get close, hesitating and scrambling.

Even the knights—more battle-hardened than the soldiers—seemed taken aback by the monster's size.

‘Damn, just thinking about it pisses me off. There wasn't a single scene like this in the original!’

Muriel was busy with romance in Part 1, and in Part 2, she was busy hunting and torturing the male lead.

In the original, monsters were nothing more than a backdrop to create romantic moments.

If Rainer got injured fighting a monster, Muriel would cry and tend to his wounds. If Muriel was in danger from a monster attack, Rainer would swoop in to save her.

‘So why the hell am I the one fighting monsters on the front lines?!’

Before I learned about my past life, I just thought it was business as usual. Now that I knew everything, I felt outrage reaching the heavens.

Just then, Rainer shouted in a booming, commanding voice.

"Form up! Stop it before it reaches the civilian homes!"

Only then did the knights, who had been floundering like a mob, straighten their swords.

They must have been rookies stationed in the Delta Zone with little real experience.

"Roo, tend to the wounded!"

Proving the importance of a skilled leader, Rainer charged forward with the knights.

I quickly approached the fallen knight, panting heavily.

His still-young face was drenched in sweat and twisted in pain.

Moreover, the area touched by the venom had turned blue, and his body had begun to convulse.

I pointed at a nearby knight who was fidgeting anxiously and said,

"You there, Sir Knight! Press this area firmly with a cloth!"

"Ah… Y-yes!"

The bewildered knight quickly tore his cloak and tightly bound his comrade's arm.

I immediately concentrated my aura. A small light formed at my fingertip, round like a match flame.

I pressed it in the shape of a cross around the wound.

Moments later, the area I touched glowed brightly, and the lines connected, forming a small barrier.

The knight, who had been groaning and sweating cold, quickly regained his normal complexion.

"What in the world…"

"It's a purification barrier. It'll stop the poison from spreading."

"Th-thank you!"

The watching knight bowed his head repeatedly in astonishment.

In this world, everyone was born with a unique aura affinity. My particular affinity was barriers.

I could set up barriers anywhere—on objects or living beings alike—and apply specific effects to whatever was inside them.

Restrain, defend, empower, or drain. I could even purify poison like I'd just done. I was essentially a support buffer.

It was a rare and highly useful ability, which made me quite welcome on monster-combat fields.

‘That should be enough for here.’

Having finished emergency treatment on the severely wounded, I turned my gaze toward Rainer.

He was calmly engaging the centipede monster. Every time his aura-enveloped sword traced arcs through the air, the monster's legs fell away like straw.

Still, without any knights to assist him, he seemed to be struggling somewhat.

No matter how skilled he was, fighting such a wide-ranging monster alone was tough.

I immediately knelt on one knee and took aim. I pointed the muzzle of my magical rifle at the monster's underbelly.

After infusing the bullet with aura, I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

The sphere shot through the air in a straight line and embedded itself in the centipede's body.

From the point of impact, thin golden threads spread outward in all directions.

Like warp and weft, the binding barrier wove tightly together, fully restraining the monster.

"Gwaaah!"

The centipede twisted its entire body in resistance.

The pincers near its mouth clacked like shears. It looked ready to tear through the barrier at any moment.

‘Shit, that damn centipede bastard...!’

Every time the barrier was strained, the impact transferred to me. I wouldn't be able to hold it much longer.

Fortunately, Rainer didn't miss the perfect opening. He swung his sword and severed the monster in one decisive blow.

Thud!

With a ground-shaking crash, the centipede collapsed lifelessly. At the same time, the barrier I'd barely maintained dissipated.

"Roo! Are you okay?"

At Rainer's shout, I nodded vigorously.

He looked down at the dead monster, now lying belly-up, and wiped the blood from his sword with a deeply furrowed brow.

"This is strange. A monster this powerful appearing in the Delta Zone..."

I agreed.

That centipede was clearly something you'd expect to see in the Beta Zone.

If Rainer hadn't responded so diligently, the junior knights here might have been wiped out.

"Anyway, we'll report this to headquarters once we've secured the area..."

Rainer was about to sheathe his sword with a weary expression when the severed monster's body twitched.

Holy shit. I definitely saw its head cut off just now!

"Brother! It's not over yet!"

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