When I Was Reincarnated, All the Heroines Were Stolen by the Fake Hero ~ The Guy Who Dominated With Original Story Knowledge, and Me Who Dominated With Talent. It Seems the World After the Ending Is My One-Man Stage ~ - Episode 31

Episode 31

I quietly approached the figure while remaining on guard.

They wore a deep hood, hiding their face.

“Can I help you with something?”

I spoke as gently as I could.

I made sure to act as a kind and approachable lord. It was so as not to alarm them.

The figure let out a startled squeal—“Hya!”—and jumped in surprise.

Apparently, they hadn’t noticed me at all.

Then they mumbled something under their hood—“Um, uh…”—in a small, uncertain voice.

That voice sounded familiar.

In my mind, I saw the image of a graceful woman with a gentle smile.

No way… Could it be…?

Suspicious, I leaned in to look beneath the hood.

A breeze lifted the edge of the fabric. And I caught sight of a lock of hair glittering in the sunlight—

A vivid pink, like cherry blossom petals.

“…Forleen!? Why are you here!?”

I was so shocked that I blurted out her name.

There was no mistaking it.

I didn’t know any other woman with such beautiful hair.

She was none other than Forleen, the saint who should have been in the royal capital.

At the sound of her name, Forleen panicked and put her finger to her lips.

“Shhh!”

Her expression was desperate. And any trace of saintly dignity had vanished.

“Yutaka-sama… I faked being sick and snuck out of the church. Please, don’t say my name so loudly…”

A fake illness? The *saint* faking illness…?

Why would she take such a risk?

Several possibilities raced through my mind.

Had something terrible happened in the capital? A terrorist attack? A political coup?

Maybe the situation was urgent enough that the saint herself had come to deliver a secret message.

I lowered my voice and asked in a tense tone:

“Has something happened? Is it an emergency?”

“N-no, not exactly…”

She looked away awkwardly and dropped her gaze to the ground.

Not an emergency? Then what was it?

Her white cheeks were tinged faintly pink—was that just my imagination?

She must have a reason she really doesn’t want to say.

In any case, I couldn’t let the saint stand here talking on the street, even if she was in disguise.

“For now, let’s go inside. There are plenty of unused rooms—you can rest and explain things there.”

But Forleen shook her head and made a small gesture with her hands in front of her chest.

“No, I’ve already finished what I came to do… I’ll take my leave now!”

What? That didn’t make any sense.

She’s finished? What did she even come here for?

While I was frozen, confused and speechless—

*Clatter! Thud!*

A loud crashing sound came from the back of the carriage she had arrived in. It was as if a wooden crate had fallen.

“What was that?”

We looked at each other and ran toward the source of the sound.

What we found was beyond belief.

From behind the cargo, a small girl with golden hair had tumbled out.

She was wearing an oversized, loose robe with a hood and was now sitting flat on the ground.

“Fwaaaah…”

She let out a big, sleepy yawn and blinked her drowsy eyes.

Then she looked back and forth between us and the mansion with curiosity. She was tilting her head to the side like a puzzled animal lost in the forest.

“Do you know her?”

I asked in a low voice.

Forleen shook her head in confusion. She didn’t seem to recognize the girl either.

Then Forleen regained her composure and approached the girl. She kneeled to her level with a warm, saintly smile.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt? Can you tell me your name?”

The girl paused as if thinking. She then answered in a lazy, slightly silly voice:

“Name…? I’m Rururii~.”

“Rururii-chan, I see. Where did you come from?”

“A biiig town~.”

That wasn’t helpful at all. *A big town*—what kind of answer was that?

Still smiling patiently, Forleen asked again:

“Where are your mother and father?”

This time, Rururii frowned slightly. She was looking a bit offended.

“I’m not a kid, you know. I’m already working.”

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she clapped her hands and looked up at the carriage.

“I was hiding in here to skip work~. It felt so comfy, I fell asleep~.”

She… snuck into the back of a stopped carriage to skip work… and then just fell asleep?

That’s ridiculous.

And incredibly bold.

Forleen was clearly thrown off by this wild explanation. She tried asking one more thing:

“Rururii-chan, what kind of work do you do?”

Rururii answered without the slightest bit of guilt. It was in the same relaxed and innocent tone as before:

“Umm… It’s a place with lots of women, and rich old men come visit~.”

The moment those words left her mouth—

A chilling silence fell between me and Forleen.

We slowly turned to look at each other.

Our faces must have turned exactly the same shade—deathly pale.