Chapter 53
After cheering her on when she was on the verge of losing confidence,
and putting on my whole “You’re the one who’ll save the world!” and “You can do it too!” act, I infiltrated Hafen Village.
I took off my mask before entering the village.
My outfit stood out a little, but luckily it was nighttime and everyone was making a commotion, so I didn’t attract much attention.
And so, I entered the village.
...Or so I thought.
“Whoa...”
An unbelievable sight spread out before my eyes.
I couldn’t help asking why.
Why...
“Why are the kids wearing masks...?”
◆
Children played, smiling happily.
And on their heads were things that looked like wooden masks.
Gray masks.
They were unmistakably Genesis’s trademark (provisional).
What’s more,
“H-hey, where’d you get those?” I asked.
“Someone made them for us!” one of them answered cheerfully.
I see.
Apparently, a professional woodcarver in Hafen Village had made them.
Thanks to that, the children’s masks looked several times cooler than mine.
Furthermore, the closer I got to the village center, the more damage I took.
Because—
“Genesis-sama, of course. Seems like he was the only one who saw those bandits coming to Hafen in advance.”
“Yeah, the knights were slow to act, too! And the fact that he doesn’t show himself in public... That’s so cool!”
“Right! He saved our village, too! We have to drink the night away!!!”
...This was why.
No wonder the kids were wearing masks.
The villagers praised Genesis one after another.
I made my way down the road, enduring secondhand embarrassment.
And so, I arrived at the plaza in the center of the village.
A crowd had gathered.
Someone suddenly called out to me.
“Oh, do you want to hear the story too?”
“Huh?”
“Come on, I know. You want to hear the story of Genesis, the masked hero.”
“Ah, no, I—”
“Come along, come along,” said an intensely pushy middle-aged woman, dragging me behind the crowd in the plaza.
“It’s about to start, so look forward to it. This is the story of Genesis-sama’s number one subordinate—Enrique-sama.”
“........................ Huh?”
I was dumbfounded and waited in silence. Before long, the audience began to sit down.
Thanks to that, even at my height, I could see the man in the middle quite well.
“Enrique-san! P-please tell us in detail how you met Genesis...!”
“Oh... Very well. I shall tell you.”
The man speaking in a gruff, cool manner, a drink in one hand, was someone I knew very well.
In fact, it was Enrique.
“Well, my meeting with the young mas—... No, with Genesis, was surprisingly recent. I can’t say where, but one day, I met a certain man...”
Enrique began pompously telling a story with absolutely no specifics.
Hey, you almost called me young master just now.
“Honestly, at first I thought, ‘What the hell is this guy?’ A cheeky bastard, I thought. But then he took my kick head-on.”
I heard the audience go, “Whoa!” and “That’s incredible, no matter how many times I hear it!”
I see.
At last, I understood the true nature of this insane village.
Enrique must’ve helped the people of this village, then attended their party when they invited him, and gotten carried away telling them about me—Genesis.
And then the story spread through the whole village.
...I should’ve told him not just “Don’t take any money,” but also “Don’t go to parties” and “Don’t spread weird rumors.”
I watched the idiot telling his story as coolly as he could, my face twisted in a complicated expression.
“He had good eyes.”
As he said that, Enrique looked around.
Enrique’s gaze fell on me, unmasked.
“Right, like that cheeky brat over there, staring at me with those insolent eyes—hmm?”
“........................”
Enrique and I made eye contact.
Silence.
At last, Enrique seemed to notice me.
“........Ah, well, folks...”
Enrique’s tone suddenly turned awkward.
“I-I just remembered I have, uh, something to take care of!”
The villagers let out disappointed cries of “Aww...”
I smiled and waved at Enrique.
Then I pointed outside the village.
—Let’s have a little talk outside the village.
◆
“So?”
After meeting up in what looked like a forest outside the village, I demanded an explanation from Enrique.
“Look, Young Master. I’m sorry, all right? The villagers insisted on throwing a party, and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“You seemed to be enjoying your story, though.”
“Well, anyway, look. I took care of all the bandits, and this is making a pretty good delay, right?”
At Enrique’s urging—“See?”—I looked toward the village.
Then—
“No, as I was saying, we received word that there were bandits...”
“Bandits? They’re all down! More importantly, buy a mask of Genesis-sama! Good health and long life, peace and safety for your family, and prosperity in business!!!”
“Huh? No, I mean, we’re not interested in your village festival; we received a report...”
That was the exchange taking place.
A group of serious-looking knights was being thoroughly handled by a single old woman.
Also, what kind of effect had that pushy old woman just assigned to my mask?
“What should we do? This village is a little too cheerful. Rain-san and the others sensed some suspicious magic and went straight to search for the enemy’s base...” the knights said, looking bewildered.
“See? I’ve at least held up the knights who were supposed to head your way, Genesis.”
“Ah, I see.”
Watching from a distance as the knights were about to get shaken down, I understood.
After Enrique had swept the entire village up in the commotion, the knights who’d arrived in response to a report of bandits were getting held up by this incomprehensible frenzy.
Well, in the original story, the knights collapsed amid the corpses strewn throughout Hafen Village, saying, “We couldn’t protect them...” So maybe getting shaken down here was better, with a somewhat less unpleasant outcome.
Getting shaken down by living villagers shouldn’t be a big deal.
“W-well then, two masks each...”
Ah, they’d already been made to buy masks.
“See? It’s working out great, right?” Enrique grinned, and I sighed.
“Well, I guess it all worked out.”
But I had a bad feeling.
“I really don’t want this to turn into some traditional festival...”
That’s right.
The villagers were way too enthusiastic. They seemed to trust Genesis, the masked hero, completely. If this festival happened every year...
If that happened—as the heir to the ducal house, I would absolutely put a stop to this festival.
No matter what power I had to use.
I swore to myself.
—But at the time, I had no idea...
that, thanks to all the unnecessary things drunken Enrique had told them, the villagers had become completely devoted to Genesis, the masked hero who had secretly saved their village, and his subordinate Enrique, who had protected it as his blade.
Or that this festival would be held every year, eventually growing into a famous festival throughout the region.
Worse, I had no idea that I’d be invited every year as a guest to this “Mask Festival,” forced to celebrate the exploits of the embarrassing alter ego I’d created—Genesis—and made to suffer from embarrassment for years to come.
I had no way of knowing any of that then.
◆
—A little later, Enrique and I were racing across the plains to return to the city of Lyon.
Enrique pressed on while burning through huge amounts of magic, and I continued as quietly as ever.
“So all that’s left is the mayor?”
At that point, Enrique spoke up.
“Basically. But what does the guy even want? I just don’t get it. He ruins the nobles’ reputations, sets the Dark Guild in motion, and then goes so far as to pretend to be a good, capable mayor who’s cooperating with the knights, all to make a name for himself.”
Enrique said.
“Isn’t that kind of roundabout?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Enrique wasn’t wrong.
“Actually, he isn’t thinking about a single thing.”
“Huh? What do you mean—”
“To him, this is just a way to kill time.”
That’s right.
If it’s the Gregorio I know, that’s probably true.
A named villain in Last Academy.
Gregorio of the Moon was that kind of man.
――――――――――――――――――――
Protagonist
→ He’ll be summoned every year to a viewing of his own embarrassing past. He’s plotting to put a stop to the Mask Festival someday.
Enrique
→ He publicly revealed the protagonist’s embarrassing past. The fact that he means no harm makes him all the more troublesome. Though invited to the Mask Festival every year, he coolly declines, saying, “Heh, my role is over.”
Gregorio
→ A handsome, charming scumbag of a mayor.
Knights of the Order
→ They were among the weaker members of the order, so they were sent to the village instead of the hideout. They never fought Baldo, but were soundly defeated by an old woman.
Mask Festival
→ A festival honoring the hero who secretly saved Hafen Village. The festival culminates with a play honoring the masked hero, performed by numerous professional theater troupes (the real deal) from the city of Lyon. It seems to be a huge hit with everyone except one person.