How to Steal the Protagonist's Women

Chapter 13: How to Steal the Hero's Sister [11]

Ficker!

A small light flickered repeatedly from the ruby.

"..."

"..."

"XX:..."

[...]

Viola, Armonia, my dick, and I—everyone remained silent.

Except for one bastard.

[For lunch earlier, I had chicken soup...]

Fucking vlog...

I've been watching this guy for a while now, and he's got a personality shift that puts Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to shame.

He's a completely different person from what my intel suggested.

That cheerful smile—once that guy arrives, he'll pound me a thousand times into a cutlet and deep-fry me in the fires of hell.

I calculated my options as quickly as possible and arrived at one possible outcome.

'Armonia.'

[Yes.]

'Let's stick to the original plan. Any response from Zodiac regarding our plan yet?'

[I sent a transmission, but there's no definitive response yet. However, there is a faster way to resolve this.]

'What is it?'

[You could personally travel to Zodiac and explain the situation. Even with warp travel, it would take approximately two days. During that time, communication and Enel usage would be impossible.]

Advice and Enel—could I really overcome the handicap of losing both?@@@@

But there was no other way.

'Got it. Go quickly!'

[Understood. Just in case, I'll enable personality traits for all key individuals so you can monitor them. You'll also receive alerts for any changes. ...Please be careful.]

With those final words, Armonia's transmission ended.

As she had mentioned, a status window appeared above Viola's head, and another one above mine.

Confirming the transmission was cut off, I turned to Viola.

Her face had gone pale—so much so that she seemed like a completely different person from the Viola I knew.

Clutching onto me, she looked up with urgency and spoke.

"We have to leave now! I-If my brother finds out... I don't care what happens to me, but..."

Viola urged me to leave, tightly wrapping her arms around my waist.

She didn't want to let go.

I placed both hands on either side of her head and spoke.

"Viola, come with me."

"Huh?"

I finished what I hadn't been able to say earlier.

The original plan was to stay here with Viola (while also training her), get confirmation from Zodiac that the mission was successful, retrieve Enel first, and then take Viola back to Kivotos.

I had intended to gradually persuade her to come with me, but... there was no time for that anymore.

This plan only worked under the assumption that Viola would follow me.

If she refused, it would all be meaningless.

But I was certain she would.

Her longing for the outside world, her desire to be free from her brother, the rejection from those around her—

I had given her a way to escape all of it.

She would follow me.

"Yes! I'll go with you, Suho!"

"Thank you for trusting me."

"But... what about my brother...?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

To ease her concerns, I kissed her.

As I prepared to leave, Viola looked at me with fearful eyes, pleading for me to stay.

She seemed uneasy, likely overwhelmed by everything happening all at once.

I understood how she felt, but there was something important I had to do today.

I managed to leave after promising to return tomorrow.

Before I left, Viola made sure I had unrestricted access to the secret passage and urged me to come back.

***

Outside, the night had already turned into early dawn.

I made my way back to the village chief's house.

This time, instead of climbing through the window like before, I used the key I had received yesterday.

Click!

"For a guy who locks my door so securely, he sure doesn't mind leaving his own house wide open..."

I carefully stepped inside the chief's home.

According to the old woman, the chief knew something.

If that was the case, he might have left behind some records for himself.

"I know it's on the second floor..."

Upon reaching the second floor, I found three rooms.

But it was easy to tell which one belonged to the chief.

"Seriously, who the hell labels their own bedroom door with 'Chief'...?"

Was he really that proud of his title?

I hesitated for a moment before testing the doorknob.

It turned easily.

So, he locked my door but left his own completely open?

Did he think locking just my room was enough to keep everything safe?

And in those archives...

"...This lunatic... How many people did he kill?"

Names of people killed by the hero, along with descriptions of the incidents, were recorded in disturbing detail.

And it wasn't just here—there were records of incidents from the estate as well.

A quick skim was enough to see that the number wasn't just in the dozens... No, it had to be at least a hundred.

"I'm taking this."

I grabbed one of the chief's old robes and wrapped up the valuables and journals, tying them securely before leaving the room.

Except for the fake crystal pearls. Those could stay.

I stashed the stolen items inside the secret passage within the tree and went to sleep.

The next morning, as I walked out into the living room, the chief was already there, waiting for me with a blank expression.

"Make me breakfast."

...This bastard. He said that as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

But I couldn't use Enel right now.

"I'm sorry. I'm feeling unwell today, but I'll make sure to cook for you tomorrow."

"Ugh... Useless. Absolutely useless! Fine."

The chief stomped up the stairs and slammed his door shut.

"What a goddamn piece of trash...."

Luckily, the chief hadn't checked the state of the safe yet.

He probably didn't open it often—who constantly checks their own safe anyway?

I left the house, grabbed the chief's stolen bundle from where I had hidden it yesterday, and headed out of the village.

I was going to see the old woman.

The moment she saw me, she gave me a sharp glare, clearly unimpressed.

"What is it this time?"

"I have something to tell you."

***

"Why the hell would I—"

"You'll like it. Trust me."

"Ugh... Fine! Get going."

After parting ways with the old woman, I returned to the village.

30 minutes later—In the village.

I had to shake off a bunch of clingy women before I could finally track down the patrol guard I always met.

I discreetly pulled the excited She-Hulk into a secluded alley to talk.

"I think I'm free tonight. How about a drink—"

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!"

What the hell?!

She suddenly let out a lion's roar, making the surrounding treehouses tremble.

The animals lurking in the alleys scattered as if an earthquake had hit, and people ran out of their homes like they had just received an emergency war alert.

I barely managed to calm her down and told her to meet me outside the village later.

The meeting spot? The old woman's house.

"W-What? Why not just go to a tavern?"

"Lately, it's been hard to get any privacy... I figured we could... you know, just the two of us..."

...Goddammit.

This was excruciatingly embarrassing.

Why the hell did I have to flirt with She-Hulk just to get her to drink with me?

But hey, it worked.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!"

Her roar echoed like the dramatic voiceover from an arcade game when a cursed sword gets unsealed.

Honestly, given her sheer physicality, she could probably rip apart a hundred cursed swords with her bare hands.

"Oh, and one more thing—"

***

"YES! I'll definitely be there!! Hahaha~!!"

"See you later, then."

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE."

Satan's personal patrol guard...

If I actually ended up drinking with her until midnight, I doubted I'd survive as myself.

Not that I planned to drink in the first place.

With that settled, I immediately made my way to the secret passage leading to Viola's house.

***

The moment I arrived, Viola ran straight into my arms.

"I was worried you wouldn't come..."

"Come on, why would I do that?"

I kissed her and explained everything to her.

Viola and I held each other as I gently lifted her left hand.

"Viola..."

"Yes?"

"I truly love you."

"Hic... How can you say that...? I'm so happy."

"Thank you for trusting me."

"I... I love you too."

As we kissed, I cheered inwardly.

"Philia, my first love... thank you! I think I can finally let you go. From now on, my first woman is Viola!"