Evade the Hero and Flee! 173 #20. This World Doesnt Want to Leave Me Alone (2)>

Partially Proofread

#1 Their circumstances: A certain heros circumstance

What did you say?

For a moment there, I thought my ears were malfunctioning.

But thats because what Mirua told me was utterly nonsensical.

Dress up like a woman.

Unfortunately for me, though, the words coming out of Miruas mouth remained the same as a few seconds ago.

But, why?

Only then will the instructor not notice you.

N-no, wait

Our instructor managed to slip through our fingers.

It was already very difficult to find his traces and go after him. However, openly making moves while chasing after him would only make it easier for this kingdoms princess to capture me.

Thats why I got the reason why we needed to be covert, yes, but still

Why do I need to dress like a woman?!

But, that was not reason enough for me to put on a dress, now was it!

Youre right. Im not a bad superior who one-sidedly demands stuff from my subordinates. So, if you have any objections to my order, then its fine to say no. Mirua replied as such, entered into deep thought at my continued refusal, and then asked me a question while nodding away. Why, you hate the idea?

Of course I hate the idea. A man dressing up as a woman?

Dressing up as a woman is not manly?

Sure, you could say that.

Dressing up as a woman

This was an act where a man disguised himself as a woman, and most of the time, the end result was so terrible that itd be seen as a dark period in the mans history.

Of course, looking good in drag would leave behind its own type of dark history, too!

If thats your only reason, then I cant accept it. Dressing up as a woman is the manliest thing to do, after all.

But what Mirua replied with completely rejected that very notion.

What are you even talking about?

Dressing up as a woman can only be done by a man, you see.

Ng?

If a woman dresses up as a woman, thats just a regular disguise, not being in drag.

Huh?!

Those words made me recall our instructor out of the blue. Definitely bullsh*t, but somehow also logical?

Wasnt that what our instructor used to say often to us?

Well, that might be true, but

What Mirua said was technically correct. A man in drag was dressing up as a woman, wasnt it? If a woman put on a dress, that couldnt technically be called in drag, after all.

But that wasnt the only reason why I refused to be in drag, you know?

There, you see? Lets be real, you dressing up as a woman is possibly the manliest thing a man can do, you know? You get it now, dont you? So, do it.

However, Mirua insisted that her opinion was the correct one and demanded that I put on a womans dress.

N-no, hold on! Arent you being unreasonable here?

Ive already listened to everything you have to say about this. Its enough already.

No, its not even close?!

Alright, fine. Explain why dressing up as a woman doesnt suit a man.

It just doesnt, okay!

I shouted at her, but Mirua simply extended her hand, stopped in mid-air, then began scanning me from top to bottom. Hmm~. But if its you, I think youll look good. Have more confidence in yourself, will you?

Wha?!

Miruas eyes landed back on my head, then she began to slowly lower her gaze while seemingly appreciating various parts of my body.

Eventually

Hnng~ Its gonna suit you even better than I expected. Guys~?

Snap!

Mirua lightly snapped her fingers, prompting ten people to instantly appear out of nowhere to encircle me.

H-hold on! I might look like this, but dont forget that Im a dragon slayer!

Although I shouted that out, every single one of these people emitted quite powerful air. It felt like I wouldnt have an easy time beating them in one-on-one combat, yet there were ten of them showing up Uh?

Hang on a second?! Why are you among these people?!

One of the ten newcomers happened to be a familiar face sporting brown bob-cut hair and blue eyes.

I also got captured, thats why.

Hehehe

No.17 cackled ominously while slightly raising her head. Around her throat was a rather similar collar as mine.

Give up. Giving up makes things easier.

Haha, a classmate of our team leader, is it? That means hell get used to it pretty quickly.

Dressing up as a girl. In drag, is it I mean, whats so wrong about something so measly like being in drag?

Leader is right. Only men can dress like a woman. The manliest hero will now be in the manliest drag ever!

Kyah~, look at that explosion of masculine beauty!

The people appearing alongside No.17 were all staring at me but their eyes were dead.

That look on their faces Ive seen that before.

J-just what kind of a life did you have

Hmm? You should know, right?

Right. I knew what No.17 meant by saying that. Probably better than anybody.

Thats because that look on their faces Ive seen that every single morning in the mirror during my hellish trainee days under the instructor ten years ago!

To be more specific, that was my face!

I know, and thats why Im asking you. The instructor is not around, so what could have possibly happened to you?!

Ng, well, its nothing much, really. Its just that, the imperial court No, Her Imperial Highnesss army functions like how our instructor used to train us.

Huh?!

Suddenly, I began hating my brain for oh-so quickly figuring it out. Thats because this damn brain of mine showed me the images of the future lying in wait for me.

N-no, it cant be Again?

Ah, hang on. What youre thinking about isnt happening there.

However, Mirua quickly denied my fears.

Well, we dont have the metal bat nor our instructors technique of torturing us but not up to the point of killing us, after all.

What a relief, then?

Except that we do have the wooden bat we all have experienced before and also, the constant fear we might really die at this rate.

Thats even worse!

The instructors training program might have been cheap and dirty, but it was also famous for producing zero casualties.

But now, the imperial courts No, more correctly, the imperial princesss army was in a training program where people might really die due to the lack of technique.

Its fine, though. We have various religious orders nearby and those infamously expensive recovery potions prepared by a bucket load, after all.

Ng. At the very least, no one has retired so far from grave bodily injuries.

The two of them No.17 and Mirua were yapping away while nodding sagely, but I was someone trained by the instructor. It was easy for me to discover something suspicious about what they were saying.

No one retired from physical injuries? In that case, what about injuries not to the body?

Uh

Mm

The two of them clamped their mouths shut, but I had already got my answer by then.

Not from physical injuries, but from psychological problems, is that it?!

Capture him.

Mirua neither confirmed nor denied my accusation and simply ordered her underlings.

Dammit!

I yanked my sword out and smacked away an incoming sword attack.

A sword light?!

The moment our blades collided, I activated my own sword light to chop the opponents weapon in half but, as it turned out, I was dealing with a swordmaster.

No, to be more precise!

What the hell is this?!

Three of the ten underlings were swordmasters.

What is up with this ratio?!

Three swordmasters should be the average number of swordmasters found in your regular small kingdoms.

But some nations out there didnt have a single swordmaster, so three of them all moving at the same time was on the level of posing a national threat!

Yet such a powerful combat force was right here?!

Ive only brought the ones that could be mobilised right away, you know. You have to be a swordmaster or something if you want to be my subordinate.

Unlike No.17, who would be considered a beauty by pretty much everyone, Mirua suited the description of adorable than beautiful a lot better. Even though her figure had grown up a lot compared to when she was still a little kid!

So, uh How should I describe this scene of her proudly boasting about herself while pushing forward her flat chest? Should I say, that sight didnt really suit a team leader answering directly to the imperial princess, the one who was really driving this empire forward?

The sense of incongruity was genuinely strong with this one.

Mm Aha, could it be that her old malicious self had become a lot softer now? If she was a super-sharp blade in the past, then she felt a bit softer-edged these days? Something like that?

You must be eating well these days, then.

Its not just on the level of eating well, though. No.17 sighed grandly while shaking her head. Shes gorging herself.

Right, she still finishes her food even at the face of Her Imperial Highnesss command, after all.

And when His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince came to visit, she ignored him because she was in the middle of her meal! Now that was incredible.

Heh, even His Imperial Highness was no pushover, either. After being told that shes having a meal, he said hed wait and sat directly in front of our leader, didnt he?

Well, he also has the same bloodline as Her Imperial Highness, after all. He should be able to do that much, at least.

No, thats not right. From what I know, Her Imperial Highness is a special case even among the imperial family, you know?

Well, our leader was really amazing back then when she dared to ignore His Imperial Highness, the future ruler of the empire, even though he was sitting right in front of her and finished her meal first.

Its not merely on the level of amazing, though. She even ordered three extra servings as if to rub it in on His Imperial Highnesss face, didnt she?

If it was me, Id have gotten indigestion and failed to finish the food.

But our team leader nonchalantly eats in front of Her Imperial Highness, no? So, I mean, a mere Crown Imperial Prince is

Its just having a meal, yet shes so scary

Even so, shes also still amazing. We cant help but respect that about her.

Youre so right

Something was quite off about that conversation just then, but it still managed to scare me.

Even though the worlds strongest empires successor was waiting for her, she actually ordered extra food? Not only that but when he was literally right in front of her face?! Also, she continued to eat even when the imperial princess showed up?!

I knew it, Mirua was someone far exceeding my imaginations. And it seemed that being herself earned her underlings quite badly misplaced respect!

Indeed, she deserves our respect.

Shes always like that but exposes no openings whatsoever.

And even though she displays such an attitude, her ability is so good that not even Her Imperial Highness expresses dissatisfaction.

And also

Shudder!

In that instant, this deathly chill crept all over my skin.

Its really impossible to figure out whats real and whats fake about her.

It looks like shes just being herself only for it to be nothing but an act, and sometimes, it looks like shes acting but it turns out to be her true self.

Even while being like that, she predicts everything and makes a move first, too.

Youre so right. She can be really scary, you know? It kinda feels like youre dancing on her palm or something?

After the initial round of attack, the underlings didnt show any intentions of attacking me again. They merely displayed their strength, then proceeded to yap among themselves.

At first, I thought they were like this because they believed in their abilities and superior numbers. But now, I came to realise something else. I realised that this was just a trap.

That they received an order to behave that way so that Id end up letting my guard down!

And the one who ordered them in the first place was

A dragon slayer isnt all that much, now is it?

Mirua was already holding my right hand wielding the holy sword, while her other hand was pressing a thin needle against my throat!

Since when?

Although my question sounded random, Mirua seemed to have predicted that Id ask it anyway, judging from how quickly she replied to me.

Mm Since when we just about captured you?

What? But how?

Think about it this way. Instead of doing something as annoying as this, I could have used your comrades as hostages.

She was right.

If Mirua used Hill or Selena as hostages and demanded that I dress up as a girl, then for sure, I would have put on the dress without much resistance.

But Mirua said some crazy nonsense to provoke me, then called out her underlings to force me into a dress.

No, wait a minute. The reason why I yanked my sword out wasnt some dang dress, but because I heard what kind of an army the imperial princesss army was!

Ng, youre right. I deliberately said some stuff that wouldve made you want to escape.

H-hey, I was still in the middle of thinking that, you know?! I havent even said anything yet!

Even before I could voice my thoughts, Mirua replied first as if she knew everything already.

Mm Its all written on your face, you know?

The sound of her faint little chuckle coming from near my ear sent shivers down my spine.

I dearly wanted to put some distance between her and me. But the needle pressing against my neck seemed like itd stab me if I moved a muscle, preventing me from acting rashly.

Then, why did you even provoke me?

She already had enough methods at her disposal to deal with me, yet still made me struggle pitifully by mentioning things like getting in drag or my life being in danger.

Why would she even do that?

Our instructor told us, didnt he? When trying to control people, its sometimes necessary to demonstrate the gap between the target and me. Mirua said that then went Mm! before clearing her throat to whisper the following in my ear. Kneel. This is the difference of greatness between you and me.

You You only wanted to repeat what the instructor used to say to us, didnt you?!

Mirua repeated the line weve all heard many times in the past under the instructors tutelage, then exploded in a peal of laughter as if she was just an ordinary girl.

Stab.

Uh?

Youre right, but me telling you to get into drag wasnt a lie.

Just before I could groan loudly at her laughter

When my guard went down again, her thin needle stabbed me in the neck. Mirua then muttered in a slightly excited voice. I really wanted to see No.1 dressed like a girl, you see?

You, yoooou

Just because of something that trivial, you actually stabbed another person in the neck with a deadly weapon?!

Thats what I wanted to shout out, but

Abababa?

I tried so hard to open my mouth, but I couldnt exert any strength on my chin.

Well, then Beautify him until he gets my approval.

Yes, team leader.

My whole body was so paralysed that I couldnt even close my eyes. All I could do was just stand there and watch them approach me one by one, then be subjected to the worst humiliation in my life.

I knew it, youre so pretty!

Euh-huk

When I heard Miruas impressed voice, I almost started crying.

This was so unfair. What did I do to deserve such treatment?!

I mean, Im supposed to be a hero, right?!

This is all because were trying to catch our instructor. Even someone like him will never guess that you now look like this.

You, you!

Give up, will you. Giving up will be better for your mental health. That girl has already become the completed villain, the one our instructor used to tell us about.

I was about to say whats in my mind to Mirua bursting out into a peal of carefree laughter, but No.17 grabbed my shoulder just then. I saw her expression and promptly clamped my mouth shut.

Because the despair in No.17s eyes was far deeper than mine.

Well, now. Where should I place the bait, then?

Mirua began humming to herself, but I couldnt even reply to her. All I could do from then on was do exactly as she told me to.