I was Reincarnated as the Scum Older Brother of the Protagonist in a Romance Battle Game, But I don't want to Die, so I'll do my Best - Episode 19

While Mashiro was bathing in the open-air bath, I accidentally entered without realizing she was there. We ended up face-to-face in the tub, and in a panic, I fled. Now, back in the cottage, I’ve dried off, changed, and am reflecting on what happened.

“No, no, this is bad… Mashiro must be furious… But damn, Mashiro was so cute… The way the bath towel barely contained her— No, no, stop thinking like that! I came here to train!”

Yet, the stimulating sight I just witnessed lingers stubbornly behind my eyelids…

Knock knock.

As I writhe on the bed in frustration, I hear someone knocking on the door.

“Lord Kitano, dinner is ready. Please come to the main building.”

For a moment, I tense up, thinking it might be Mashiro, but it seems to be Kaizuka-san instead.

“Phew… Got it. I’ll be right there.”

If Kaizuka-san finds out about what happened earlier, it’ll be trouble… Given her attitude toward Mashiro and her hostility toward me, getting kicked out might be the least of my worries.

In the worst-case scenario, if the Amamiya family gets involved and lodges a formal complaint with the Kitano family, it’s over for me—a straight path to a death flag.

(I need to handle this quietly and apologize to Mashiro sincerely…)

After getting ready, I head to the main building.

Inside, there’s a large hall with three meal trays already set up. At the far end, Mashiro sits in a yukata, waiting.

“Hmm, Joji, sit next to me.”

She taps the cushion beside her. Still a little tense from earlier, I sit down next to her.

Then, Kaizuka-san—dressed in a yukata of the same pattern as Mashiro’s—brings over a tray with clear soup.

“Sorry for the wait. Here’s some wild vegetable soup.”

Both Mashiro and I take the soup from the tray and place it on our own meal trays.

“Well then, let’s eat.”

“Thank you for the meal!”

Following Kaizuka-san’s lead, the three of us clasp our hands together and begin eating. Tonight’s dinner consists of wild vegetable and fried tofu rice, tempura made from mountain greens, agedashi tofu, and the clear soup from earlier.

“Here, we only serve shojin ryori—meals free of any killing.”

“I see… But it’s really delicious.”

It’s hard to believe I was devouring hamburgers just yesterday. The natural ingredients in this shojin ryori seem to purify my body, as if flushing out all the impurities.

“Did you make this, Kaizuka-san?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

Her attitude remains as cold as ever—toward me, at least.

“No, it’s really good. Thank you.”

“…It’s just my job.”

Mashiro explains that the wild vegetables and mushrooms used in the dishes were gathered near the training grounds. The tempura, lightly seasoned with coarse salt, is crispy, and the aroma of the mushrooms is irresistible.

“…Lord Kitano, would you like seconds for your rice?”

Noticing my empty bowl, Kaizuka-san offers.

“Yes, please.”

As she takes my bowl and heads to the kitchen, I seize the moment.

“Mashiro… about earlier, I’m sorry!!”

I bow deeply toward her.

“Hmm? I don’t mind. You didn’t mean any harm, so there’s no need to apologize. I’m not angry.”

When I raise my head, Mashiro is happily munching on tempura, smiling.

“O-Oh… I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Mhm.”

Just as my apology concludes, Kaizuka-san returns with a second helping of rice.

“Thank you— Huh?”

As I take the bowl, I notice a note underneath it:

“I’d like to talk to you later. Please wait for me in the cottage.”

I glance up at Kaizuka-san, but her expression remains as cold as ever.

(Well, she’s already wary of me… Is she going to warn me? Or did she hear about the open-air bath incident?)

Either way, refusing isn’t an option, so I leave the note on the tray and only take the rice bowl.

“Thank you for the meal!”

“It was nothing.”

After finishing dinner, Kaizuka-san begins cleaning up. I offer to help, at least with clearing the trays.

Back in the cottage, as I wait for Kaizuka-san…

Knock knock.

“It’s Kaizuka. May I have a moment of your time?”

I open the door and let her in. She takes a seat on the chair while I sit on the bed.

“Thank you for taking the time, especially after all your hard work.”

“This is about my behavior… right?”

Kaizuka-san’s eyes widen briefly before she regains her composure.

“Forgive my bluntness, but… Lord Kitano, what are your true intentions in getting close to Mashiro?”

Her gaze is icy, dark, and unreadable—yet somewhere deep within, I sense a flicker of warmth.

“I just wanted to be friends with Mashiro… But given my past behavior, I understand why you’d be suspicious.”

Her guarded expression doesn’t waver.

“I’ve caused trouble for a lot of people, earning nothing but resentment. I’m sure you already know that.”

“…”

“But at some point, I got a chance to see myself objectively. And what I saw—the life of Kitano Joji—filled me with despair.”

“I realized that if I kept going like this, I’d be ruined sooner or later.”

Kaizuka-san listens silently until—

“I met you on the streets about a year ago.”

“?!”

“My impression of you back then was… far from favorable. For someone like you to change so drastically in just a year? It’s hard to believe.”

(Strange… Kaizuka Umeko wasn’t even a character in “Dark Metropolis Tokyo 1999.” Wasn’t she just a guide for the Genbu training grounds?)

“…If I behaved rudely when we met before, I apologize.”

“…An apology… So you can apologize for things you don’t even remember? How convenient.”

Her words are sharp and justified, but beneath them, I catch glimpses of disgust and disdain.

“Well, setting aside your apology to me… This is about Mashiro. She genuinely trusts you.”

“…”

“They say Mashiro’s Meteor Eyes can see through a person’s true intentions. If she trusts you…”

“In fact, she seems brighter now than when I last saw her.”

“I understand that’s because of her friendship with you. But—”

Kaizuka-san rises from her chair and fixes me with a frigid stare.

“I don’t trust you at all.”

Silence fills the cottage. The weight of her unspoken pressure—her loathing for me, her affection for Mashiro—presses down on me.

For the first time, I feel like she’s openly confronting me with raw emotion.

But in my mind, I see Mashiro’s radiant, starry-eyed smile, as if she’s saying, “Joji will be fine.”

With a wry smile, I pick up a manga volume from beside my pillow and run my fingers over the cover.

“Kaizuka-san… did you know? Mashiro actually loves to talk and adores comedy, especially parodies of this manga, Blade of Eternity.”

“…No… I didn’t know that.”

Her anger seems to soften slightly at my words.

“At first, I approached Mashiro—no, the Amamiya heir—for her power. I knew about her Meteor Eyes.”

Flipping through the manga, I reminisce about the days I’ve spent with Mashiro.

“I was desperate to protect myself. With my terrible reputation, my fiancée broke off our engagement, and my family was on the verge of disowning me.”

I close the manga with a snap.

“I’ve made peace with losing my fiancée. But if I’m kicked out of the family, I’ll have nowhere to go. I’ll die in the streets.”

“The only way to avoid that is to get good results in the upcoming Forbidden Zone Test.”

Kaizuka-san’s gaze grows even colder.

“So you’re using Mashiro for that?”

“I won’t deny it.”

She exhales sharply and mutters, “Disgusting…”

“But Mashiro’s smile… It’s so adorable. The reason I can work so hard now is because of her smile.”

“She’s important to me… Because she’s my favorite—”