The Heroines All Want to Kill Me

"That, that..."

"...This isn't the time for chatting! We have to get out of here quickly!" I untied the whip around Irina's legs, grabbed her arm, and started running towards the cave entrance.

"W, wait a minute... Ugh..." Thus, Irina, who was forced to run with me, stumbled a few times and finally fell to the ground.

"G, get up quickly! If we don't leave here soon..." I helped her up while urgently urging her.

"F, first untie this blindfold and the ropes on my hands so that I can run properly!"

"...Ah." After listening to Irina's words, I had an epiphany and immediately untied the blindfold and the ropes around her wrists.

"...W, where is this?" Irina frowned, then showed a flustered expression and began to look around.

"...This is Frey's secret base. Magical beasts often appear here, so no one comes near."

"...." After briefly explaining to her, I was about to continue on our way when Irina suddenly stared at me with sharp eyes and demanded,

"...Who are you?"

"....." I stared at her silently for a moment and then replied in a low voice,

"...I'm a nameless maid in the shadow troops of the Starlight family." As I spoke, I carefully covered my appearance with a white mask and a black robe, and at the same time, adjusted my voice to be as delicate as possible with starlight magic power to cover up my male characteristics to the greatest extent. Even so, facing the experienced Irina, I was still at risk of being exposed, so I held my breath and dared not be careless. At this time, Irina tilted her head and threw another question.

"...Then why are you helping me?" Judging from her reaction, Irina didn't seem to recognize me. Indeed, it was the right choice to act when it was pitch - black all around. Although limited visibility made the situation a bit dangerous, in order to maximize the effect of this black robe on me, acting at night was the best way to deceive Irina.

"Well..." Thinking this way, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and began to tell Irina the pre - prepared script for this moment.

"...Actually, I'm also a victim."

"A victim...?"

"Yes... I'm a member of the shadow troops... and I serve that despicable Frey in this secret base every night..."

"You, you mean... Frey is here now...?" Seeing her ask in shock, I drooped my head feebly and said,

"Yes... Frey planned to kidnap you during a recent duel match and used the shadow troops to replace the restoration scroll that Ariana used to help you with a space - transfer scroll."

"W, what...?"

"Unaware of this, Ariana tore up the scroll to save you who had fallen... Thanks to her, Frey and you were able to reach here."

"Then Ariana...!"

"Yes... Miss Ariana, who fell into the trap, will probably be severely punished. Of course, Frey, who came here with you, should be safely hiding in his secret base now, waiting to take us both in before the search team locates the place through magical backtracking." Hearing these words, Irina trembled all over and muttered in a voice full of anger,

"How truly... disgusting... How could anyone do such a thing...?"

"Exactly... You're right... When I was first caught here, I felt the same..." As I was expressing my sympathy for her situation, my voice gradually weakened, and I lowered my head feebly. At this time, Irina carefully asked me,

"You... Then the reason you're helping me is...?"

"Well... When I saw that woman who tried to escape being killed today, I made up my mind... I must escape from here no matter what..."

"Ah..."

"So I wanted to escape, and when I saw you at the cave entrance, I brought you out. I originally wanted to take the others with us too, but they were all chained up..." I continued in a trembling voice. Irina gritted her teeth, slowly walked closer to me, and said,

"Thank you, truly. I will never forget this kindness until the day I die..."

"W, whoa..." Just as she was about to hug me, I hurriedly backed away and exclaimed.

"No, don't!"

"Ah..." Then, an awkward silence fell between us.

"S, sorry... I have some psychological trauma..."

"....." If Irina hugged me, my body shape might be exposed, so I immediately made up an excuse. After hearing my explanation, a guilty expression appeared on Irina's face, and she began to look at me.

"...Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Then let's slowly leave the forest now... Hmm?" I calmly accepted Irina's apology. Just as we were about to slowly leave the forest, I suddenly sensed a movement behind me and immediately turned around alertly.

"Gulp...! Gulp, gulp...!"

"Ugh..." Looking back, what came into view was a group of goblins eroded by demonic energy, licking their lips and slowly approaching us.

"B, be careful...!" Seeing this, Irina quickly stood in front of me, and a magical flame ignited in her hand, but the flame extinguished feebly in less than three seconds. I watched this scene quietly, tightening my grip on the relatively handy sword I found from the pile of skeletons in the cave. Irina then began to whisper to me in a low voice,

"Leave this to me... You go first..."

- Crack!

"...Huh?" But in an instant, I rushed forward and chopped off the head of the leader of the goblin group. She stared at me with her mouth wide open.

"Gah, ah, ah!!"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..." Looking at the goblin group that scattered in all directions after losing their leader, I glanced at Irina, who was still staring at me blankly behind me, and said,

"Let's go quickly. There are experts in the stronghold who are several times stronger than me lying in ambush."

"Ah... Okay..." Just like that, the arduous adventure of Irina and me began.

.....

"Huff, huff..."

"T, that... Are you okay...?" At first, the monsters we encountered were weak, and we could barely deal with them... But within a few hours, we ran into a group of rather powerful monsters - a herd of dragon beasts. As a result, I had to protect Irina while dealing with the dragon beasts attacking from all directions, and my body soon reached its limit. If it weren't for the punishment... Maybe I could have held on. What a pity.

"S, sorry... It seems I need to rest for a while before we can go..." The only fortunate thing was that in order to transfer a large amount of magic power to Irina, I had drunk a lot of top - grade magic potions in advance, so now my starlight magic power was very abundant. Therefore, even if I used starlight magic power to change my voice for a long time like now, it wouldn't be a burden.

"O, okay... Let's rest for a while before leaving... You're not in a good state right now..." Just as I was thinking this, Irina pointed at me with a trembling voice. I looked down at my body in confusion and realized that the situation was indeed not optimistic. The shoulder that was bitten by the Fenrir had become purple and swollen, my whole body was covered with cuts and scratches, and I had spat out so much blood that it oozed out from the cracks of my mask.

"...Don't worry too much. Compared to the terrifying experiences in the secret base, this is a hundred times better." I forced a smile to comfort her, but Irina looked at me, trembled all over, and muttered,

"If I can get out of here... I will definitely kill you... Frey... Definitely..."

'...Am I digging my own grave?' Although I felt a bit creepy, thinking that these wounds would soon become my weakness, I silently closed my mouth and slumped to the ground.

"Ugh..." However, as soon as I slumped to the ground, my whole body suddenly began to feel intense pain. Whether it was because the tension suddenly disappeared or because of the change in posture, the pain became more and more intense. I trembled all over for a long time. At this time, Irina suddenly walked in front of me.

"Um... If you don't mind... I can cast a healing spell on you... Although my magic power is not enough, if I directly touch your body, it might relieve some of the pain..."

"D, don't touch me!" I quickly dodged Irina, who was about to cast a spell on me. She was stunned for a moment and then lowered her head.

"Just what... kind of terrifying trauma did you go through... to make a strong child like you tremble like this...?"

"...."

"...If you hadn't saved me, I'm afraid I would have suffered that terrible thing too?" She muttered to herself for a while, then raised her head, showed me a sad smile, and said,

"Um... What's your name?"

"...My name is Leanne." After hesitating for a moment, a fake name popped into my mind, and I blurted it out. Irina looked at me with a firm gaze and began to say,

"Leanne... If we escape from here... Hide for a while first."

"...What?"

"Wait a little longer... There will be good news. So, by then, you can live in peace."

"Could it be... You're going to kill Frey?" I asked cautiously. She nodded gravely and replied,

"Yeah... No matter what, I'm going to kill that bastard. Even if I have to grovel at his feet, I will definitely do it."

"...Are you going back to the academy?"

"Yeah... To be honest, I want to drop out... But if I do, my childhood friend and her sister will be in danger."

"...I see."

"Exactly, so once I enter the academy... I have to obey Frey like a dog. If he tells me to crawl between his legs, I will; if he tells me to hurt myself, I will; if he tells me to serve him at night... I have to do it too."

"....""This incident has frightened me, so I pretended to completely submit to him... But as soon as the opportunity comes, I will personally kill that bastard. Until then, no matter what humiliation I suffer, I have to endure it." Looking at Irina in front of me, saying with a murderous voice that she was going to kill me, I didn't feel at ease. But knowing that her spirit wasn't completely broken, I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Um... I'm a bit curious..."

"...Hm?"

"Why do you always wear that mask?"

"....." However, when Irina started to feel strange about my mask, that smile quietly disappeared. In fact, apart from the little kid who gave me the lucky ring a long time ago - the succubus queen who is now suffering in purgatory, no one has seen this mask. Of course, Klana and Perosh saw me wearing a mask once, but it was pitch - black at that time, and the mask was just a masquerade mask distributed at an auction, so it should be safe.

"But if Irina finds it strange that I'm wearing a mask, it's a bit troublesome."

"Sorry, I don't want others to see my face..."

"...Why?"

"...Because I've been beaten so much that my face is swollen."

"..." Eventually, I had to bring up my bad reputation again. Only then did Irina show an understanding expression and tried hard to look away. To be honest, I thought she would be a bit suspicious. It seems my bad reputation is really well - known.

"Then, let's take a short rest here..."

- Gulp, gulp...

"...Ah." Just as I was thinking about lying down, a gurgling sound suddenly came from somewhere.

"...Ugh." I tilted my head and looked around in confusion. Then I noticed that Irina's face was red and she was covering her stomach with both hands.

"...Are you hungry?"

"Ah, no... It's nothing..."

- Gulp...

"....""Irina originally tried her best to deny the fact that her stomach was growling. But when her stomach growled again, she lowered her head deeply.

'...Well, it's natural to be hungry.' Irina was probably quite poor now. So, she probably ate three meals a day at the commoner cafeteria in the academy at a cheap price. Such her, because of being involved in this incident, had consumed a lot of magic power, and besides, she hadn't even eaten... It was only natural for her to be hungry...

- Gulp...

"S, sorry...!" When the growling sound came again, Irina hurriedly apologized to me. But this time, the sound didn't come from her stomach.

'...Come to think of it, I've been through a lot too, right?' It seems that after experiencing so much recently, I've become numb to this kind of situation. Anyway, since that's the case, it's better to fill our stomachs first. To recover depleted vitality, eating well and sleeping well are the best strategies.

"...I'll go find some food."

"I, I'll help too...! Don't look down on me. On the battlefield... No, anyway, I'm quite confident in survival...!"

"Then don't go too far... Just look around here. If anything happens, shout loudly."

"...Got it." Just like that, the late - night food - foraging operation began.

.....

"How, how did you catch that...?" Irina returned to the appointed place with a bunch of wild fruits. When she saw the giant wild boar I had captured, she showed a shocked expression.

"...With a knife."

"No, that... Well, never mind." Seeing me answer calmly, Irina was about to say something but shook her head. She put the wild fruits in her hand on the ground and asked,

"I've been thinking... You're really strong, aren't you?"

"...Yes."

"But... Why can't you do anything in front of Frey?"

"...Because there are experts in the stronghold who are several times stronger than me." Seeing Irina start to be suspicious again, I answered calmly. She seemed to remember the man I had pretended to be just now, frowned, and nodded.

"And... Not long ago, my younger brothers were taken hostage."

"...Hostage?"

"Yeah, isn't this one of Frey's common despicable means?"

"Exactly, that guy is a bastard who specializes in such underhanded tricks." After listening to my supplementary explanation, Irina nodded in deep agreement. Then she frowned and started talking to herself.

"However... What do you mean by 'not long ago'..." She muttered to herself for a while, gave me a gloomy look, then closed her eyes tightly and murmured,

"Why am I making so many mistakes today..." Of course, the one who made mistakes wasn't her, but me acting. So, Irina was not at fault at all.

"Come to think of it, am I becoming more and more like a scumbag? Is this really okay?" Leaving Irina, who was immerse in a sense of guilt, behind, I tightened my grip on the sword blade, stared at the giant wild boar, and suddenly began to worry whether I had become too despicable... But then I thought that this was no different from my already notorious status quo, so I cast aside my worries and started processing the wild boar.

- Crackle... Crackle... A moment later, the wild boar meat I had processed in the campfire was gradually cooked, and Irina started secretly glancing at me.

"...Miss Irina can eat too."

"R, really?"

"I hunted it to share anyway, it's nothing..."

"B, but... I only picked some wild fruits..."

"Ah, aren't these my favorite ice dragon fruits? I loved them when I was a kid..."

"...What?" To make Irina eat the meat without any scruples, I picked up the wild fruits she picked and took a bite. Suddenly, she frowned and started staring at me.

"What's wrong?"

"N, nothing..."

"Hmm... It's so delicious... Sure enough, this fresh taste is the best..."

"..." I showed a happy smile and stuffed the wild fruits under my mask. Irina also looked at me silently for a while, then picked up a piece of meat from the campfire and took a bite. Just like that, the sound of chewing echoed in the forest.

.....

After the meal, we decided to take turns sleeping for an hour each.

"Then... I'll sleep first...?"

"...Okay, got it." Finally, Leanne, who won the rock - paper - scissors game, fell asleep first, and Irina quietly watched over her for an hour.

"...." However, an hour passed as agreed, but Irina didn't wake up the woman who claimed to be 'Leanne'. She just quietly stared at her.

"Snooze... Snooze... Hmm... Hmm..."

"Fine..." After a long time, when Leanne started snoring, Irina carefully approached her.

"...Sure enough, I still have to confirm." Finally, Irina came in front of her and reached out to take off the mask she was wearing... Just as the face that had been hidden for so long was about to be revealed,

"...Yawn!!"

"...Ah!" Leanne yawned loudly, stretched, and suddenly stood up. Irina was pulled back and fell to the ground.

"...Hm? Miss Irina? What's wrong with you?"

"Ah, nothing... Nothing..."

"Speaking of which, it's time to change shifts. You've been working hard today... Take a little rest."

"...Okay." When Leanne suggested changing shifts, Irina replied, trying to stay calm. Then she gritted her teeth, lay down, and closed her eyes.

"...." Leanne... No, Frey quietly looked at her, patted her chest gently, and muttered,

"...That was a close call." Just like that, Frey secretly rejoiced that she hadn't closed her eyes for an hour and had been squint eyes all the time, and started keeping watch beside Irina.

"...Hmm." To avoid exposing her identity, she dozed off while saying this.

.....

In order to let Irina rest a bit longer, I kept watch beside her for a full one and a half hours throughout the night. Once she woke up naturally, we embarked on traversing the forest again. As we made our way deeper into the forest, the morning gradually arrived. However, just as its name suggests, this gloomy forest remained enshrouded in pitch - black darkness until noon. Fortunately, because of this, I was able to effectively conceal my identity from Irina until we reached the exit.

"Miss Irina, look over there! The end of the forest is already in sight!"

"...It's true. That's great."

Just like that, when the first rays of dawn appeared, we finally reached the forest's exit. For some unknown reason, the monsters in this area had suddenly vanished without a trace. Luckily, this allowed us to arrive at the exit several hours earlier than expected. We looked at each other and our faces were filled with joy.

"Then... Is it time to part ways?"

"Yeah... I have to go to Frey and grovel for mercy like a dog... You find a place to hide."

"...Okay, I understand."

"Ah, and... You saved my life today, and I will never forget it. So, if you ever face hardships in life, come and find the imperial mage 'Irina Filiad'." She paused for a moment and then continued with a smile,

"...If it's too troublesome to remember the name, just look for the strongest great mage in the empire."

"...Okay, got it." I waved at her, and her eyes sparkled with determination. I concentrated and gathered starlight magic power around my ears to eavesdrop on Irina's whispers behind me.

"...Should I make a surprise attack now and take off his mask to have a look?"

I quickly realized that she was still suspicious of me, so I swiftly moved towards the exit...

- Roar!!!

".....!" Suddenly, something huge burst out from the ground at the exit, and I froze in place instantly.

"W, what is that...!" Even Irina, who had experienced the previous timeline, was as shocked as I was at this moment. Because that thing was...

"...Damn it. No wonder all the monsters in this area have disappeared."

It was the final boss in the upcoming "Academy Monster Invasion Incident" in the future - the Dark Golem.

- Target identification... Target locked... In an instant, a huge gargoyle emerged from the ground. It stared at us silently and started making ear - piercing noises.

- Initiating elimination... As soon as the voice fell, a black beam of light shot towards us at high speed. It seemed that we were doomed this time.