Shujinkou Janai! - CH 73

[————-In other words, you heard about the information I was “a man who had dedicated his whole life to act like the ideal woman, a heinous villain who enjoys deceiving many people for that sake”, and actually believed I’m a man?]

[T- That’s right!]

I desperately hung on to Lily, who looked as if she’s questioning what the heck I’m talking about.

No, objectively looking at the situation, I would also think I would question someone who spouts such things the same way, and I definitely wouldn’t believe me.

[……H- Hey. Lily, you’re, ummm, actually not a man?]

[Of course I’m not!]

Lily furrows her brows, looking quite vexed.

Such a Lily, no matter where you look at her, clearly only looks like a woman.

However, this is strange.

On the first day we met, I talked to Lily and was convinced that she was a man.

What the heck was that all about then?

[W- Wait! T- Then, the reason why you were surprised when I told you I knew your secret……]

[It was because of my Dark Magic and my voice.]

[Uuuu…….]

Indeed, Lily clearly looked shaken when I mentioned her <Dark Magic> and Unique Skill.

I assumed from the start that that was just an act, but it would make sense if she was actually frightened back then.

[H- However, what about your sibling? I heard about how your elder sister was miscarried……]

[Like I said from the start, I never had any siblings. Besides, I don’t think my mother would have miscarried a baby before me. She said she got pregnant with me at the end of their trip, and that’s why they settled in our current home.]

[T- Then, what about the reason why you lied to me about being old enough to drink when we first met?]

[I didn’t lie though? I turned 20 earlier in the 9th Month……]

[Eh?]

One by one, my escape routes are being crushed.

My mind went blank.

At that moment, I clung to the last bit of hope that came to mind.

[T- That’s right! Your name! I heard at that time that “you were bullied because of your name”, didn’t you? What about that?]

Even if I can’t explain my other reasons, this is something that can’t be explained unless Lily is a man!

As she received my expectant gaze, Lily tilted her head curiously.

[Bullying? I don’t remem…… Ahh!]

Lily nodded as if she had remembered something.

Thereupon, Lily took out an instrument that she had used many times during the dungeon exploration…… Her “harmonica”.

(Don’t tell me……)

As if to confirm my hunch, Lily shyly smiled……

[Rather than bullied, it’s more like I was teased back when I was a child. “Ahh, Harmonix is playing her harmonica!” However, that teasing became the reason why I got interested in music.]

At her words, I had almost forgotten I’m roleplaying Rex, stifling the urge to throw a tsukkomi back at her.

However, there were no more words of rebuttal I could present to her.

Everything makes sense.

It’s just, even so……

(However, that’s strange! That is just strange!!!)

At least, the Lily in the game was definitely a man.

There’s no doubt about that.

Lily’s story was explored in considerable depth from all angles by her…… his victims who sought help and the self-proclaimed men of culture.

However, there was nothing that suggests the possibility that “Lily was actually a woman”, and diverging from that event was virtually nonexistent.

In order to get Lily to join the party, the player would have to walk up to him after he had tricked us.

As a result, along with the extremely excessive words, “Haahhh…… You really are an irredeemable pervert. This honestly feels really disgusting, but if I just think of you as some sort of accessory, I guess it isn’t that bad. If you really want to devote yourself to me, do your best being my footrest.”, he would join the party.

His attitude would not change from that point on, and there was apparently no sign of a surprise twist, like when you thought he was a woman, but in fact, he was actually a man, is what you thought, but he’s actually a woman.

That’s why, if this world is just like how it was in the game, Lily is definitely……

[It doesn’t seem like you trust what I’m saying. In that case, would you mind if I tell you something?]

Seeing me still looking unconvinced, Lily brought her face close.

[What is it……?]

Lily didn’t look angry anymore.

Rather, looking at me as if she were looking at someone so pitiable, she spoke.

[—————You aren’t in some sort of fictional world. A person like that doesn’t exist in real life.]

My knees buckled at that.

It was like she violently struck me with an incredibly sound argument.

I understood everything the moment I heard those words.

(I see. That certainly was the case.)

Because I had thought this world was the same as that game, this was something I had never questioned.

However, if I don’t look at this world metaphysically, thinking of the situation this way would have been natural.

A man who looks like a woman, or a woman who looks like a man, those people exist in literary creations.

In reality, however, it’s unlikely you would encounter such people.

And that “In-Game Lily”, a man who has a body that is completely identical to a woman, from the skeletal structure to his voice……

—————There’s no way that such a person exists in “reality”.

“This world” is both the game and a reality at the same time.

For example, the Skeletons which should have been infinitely gushing out in the <Undead Labyrinth> back in the game, stopped spawning from the trap after it has been activated once.

Although this world is just like a game, things that are “too unrealistic” are corrected.

Therefore, in this world, unnatural things such as girls looking like boys or boys looking like girls are doomed to be removed.

As a result, <Lily Harmonix>, who was a man in the game, has become a woman.

No, with Lily’s age in “this world” and how she says she had no older sister, the Lily in “this world” might actually be the older sister of the in-game Lily, who had been miscarried.

In other words, the person I had always resented and wanted to get back at from my game days didn’t even exist in this world from the start.

[……Have you finally been convinced?]

At Lily’s words, I naturally nodded my head.

[……Yeah. I’m sorry. I was out of my mind.]

I apologized firmly once more……

But then, I suddenly realized something.

(……Arehh? Isn’t this situation really bad?)

If Lily was really a woman, my actions earlier were clearly me barking up the wrong tree.

It would mean that I was a pervert who ripped her clothes off because of some unintelligible tirade.

And now, Lily has a Video Recorder Crystal in her hand……

(Isn’t this situation just as bad…… no, even worse than what it was like in the event back in the game?)

I broke out in a cold sweat.

[Ummm, Rex-san. I have a favor to ask you.]

[Y- Yeah. W- What is it, Lily?]

As I somehow managed to respond to her in a shaky voice, Lily giggled……

[Won’t you hire me?]

[……Eh?]

She made a proposal that I had not expected at all.

What in the world is she thinking now?

When she saw my alarmed look, Lily told me it was alright, before holding my head in her embrace.

[Wait, L- Lily!?]

Feeling the soft things I had just seen earlier being pressed against my face, I panicked.

[You’re so pitiful. For you to actually believe such a ridiculous story, you must have been that cornered.]

[Eh? Eh? Ehh?]

[Don’t you remember? That day, back when you got drunk, Rex-san told me a lot of things. You got lifted up in a position that didn’t fit your stature, but you couldn’t rely on those around you, and unable to go back to this place called “Jyapan”, you had to work hard all this time alone.]

I turned pale upon hearing those words.

The me back then, what the heck and how much have you said!?

[However, it’s alright now. I will support you from now on.]

[N- No, Lily……]

However, I couldn’t express my rebuttal to her words.

[I’m not like that Resilia, who is always restricting your actions, or that Verteran, who is always pushing you to work, or that Mana, who only respects you and doesn’t see you for who you really are.]

While I was feeling confused with all that was happening, Lily looked at me with moist eyes.

[After all, I am, only I am the one who’s really on your side, right?]

As my head was getting messed up by her softness and her sweet scent, there was one thing I’m sure of.

(————Ah, she’s one of those types who will fall for absolutely hopeless men.)

And thus, on that day, the “best chess piece” has come to my possession.