I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Episode 39 – Rapunzel (10)

Just hold on a little longer. I don’t know how many times I swung the scythe thinking that. My body is charred by Gothel’s magic, my shoulder is slightly cut by a Bogart’s sword. The king kicked me in the abdomen, and the soldiers constantly put blades to my neck.

Yeah, I’ll be honest. I’m soaked with sweat and blood, my vision is blurry, and I lost feeling in my arms and legs a long time ago. I’m not even sure if I’m breathing, or if I’ve forgotten how to breathe. I don’t even know where I am.

I’m not as strong or good at fighting as Alice. I can’t vanquish enemies in an instant with mysterious magic like Ariel. All I have is this massive scythe, which is even hard to wield. What’s the point of being called a grim reaper of legend? It doesn’t even feel like I have those abilities.

I don’t want to be the main character. I don’t like being in front of people, nor am I an extrovert who likes playing outside. The most comfortable space for me is home, and only at home can I put on a peaceful smile. Rather than getting caught up in all these incidents, it’s best to relax and laze around in the safety of my home.

But look at me now.

I followed a rabbit out of mere curiosity, and now I’m being revered as a strange grim reaper and I’m just struggling. All I want is to go back to my peaceful home, but instead I’m being assaulted here, committing murders, and desperately fighting to survive.

I’m exhausted and miserable. My whole body is crushed by fatigue. My eyelids are heavy, and my throat is parched.

“Haa, haa.”

I looked at the opponent in front of me. Gothel, wearing an arrogant expression. In his hands, balls of fire floated in the air.

Looking at his disgusting naked figure makes me feel like my eyeballs are rotting away. I just want to go home. I just want to get some damn sleep at home.

KWA-aaaNG!!!

In the blink of an eye, the fireball in Gothel’s hand reached me and caused a massive explosion. My ears are ringing, and the world is spinning. I feel excruciating pain all over my body. I tried to get up on my shaky legs but fell back down with a thud.

But I had to get up.

To go home? That’s right. I want to go home. But an even greater purpose had taken root within me.

I’ve seen Rapunzel’s entire life. I knew her pain. She’s not just some third party who has nothing to do with me. She’s special to me, even though we only met for a short moment.

I wanted to be someone special to her, someone who had lived an unwanted life. Unlike Ariel and Alice who only see me as the legendary black grim reaper, Rapunzel was an ordinary girl who saw me as I am.

That girl had allowed me to forget my difficult life, even for just a moment. It felt like I was the main character in a school youth drama. And then I realized it.

It wasn’t so bad being the main character. No, it was good. Her playful confession was more than enough to make my heart flutter.

I can’t just pass by Rapunzel, who gave me a memory like rain in a drought. Having seen her tormented life, I can’t back down.

“Ughhh!!!”

So, get up.

Get up and face my girl.

With trembling hands, I raised the scythe, aiming it at that repulsive Gothel.

“Hey, I heard you were messing with my girlfriend?”

Gothel grins a spine-chilling, disgusting smile. He showed his yellow teeth and hurled the remaining fireball. I didn’t dodge, but instead charged forward with clumsy, jerking movements.

KWAH-BOOM!!!

A fierce explosion erupted, engulfing the area in thick smoke. And I…

Burst out from the smoke. So fast that the eye couldn’t follow, I flew like a missile towards my target. Right before the explosion, I mustered all my strength, leaped over the fireball, and used the explosion’s recoil.

“Pay the price, you disgusting, perverted bald b*stard!!!”

*Thwack*.

The sensation of something being sliced through the scythe. Then, a dull thudding pain as I rolled and tumbled across the floor.

Gothel’s head, which had fallen to the ground, wore a meaningful smile as it reverted back to normal hair, having lost its golden shine. And then, dazzling light poured down, and a door appeared.

A door so old and battered, it looked like it would crumble to dust if you just touched it. I closed my eyes for a moment, clutching my pounding heart. Then, I opened them wide, using the scythe as a cane to drag my exhausted body towards the door.

Up close, the old door was even more wretched. I could feel it. She was here, on the other side. Rapunzel.

I placed my hand on the doorknob and made a vow.

I would absolutely get her out of this goddamn tower.

I turned the doorknob with all my strength. With a click, the entire door crumbled away like a sandcastle, transforming into a pile of dust. Startled, I hesitated for a moment. Then, a strange sensation of my body being sucked somewhere overcame me, and like a teleportation, the location changed.

It was like a palace of all sorts of luxurious gold. An elegant red carpet was laid on the floor, and extravagant works of art adorned every corner. I knew where this was. The position of the bed, the size of the room, even the number of pieces of furniture – everything matched.

It was the top room of the tower I’d seen in Rapunzel’s memories.

On the gold-trimmed bed sat my girlfriend, the one I had been searching for so desperately, bound and leaning against the edge of the mattress.

Rapunzel’s golden pupils widened. Her entire body was bound by her own hair, her mouth stuffed with it, preventing her from moving.

Rapunzel thrashed, as if trying to say something, her body convulsing violently. Then, the hair blocking her mouth came loose. She stared at me with disbelief and said,

“Why, why…!”

But it seemed her throat was choked, unable to easily produce a voice.

“Because I’m your boyfriend.”

I said with a wide smile.

Rapunzel’s jewel-like golden eyes trembled greatly. My image reflected in her eyes was utterly miserable. I could barely walk, supported by a sickle, struggling to stand. My eyes were bloodshot, and my body was covered in wounds. My hair was matted with sweat and blood, my lips were cracked. Even my skin had roughened in that short time.

Strangely, I could see my own reflection in her eyes as if they were my own, vividly clear.

Rapunzel’s lips quivered. Then, she gritted her teeth, glaring fiercely as she screamed,

“Now! Kill me! Come here right now and cut my throat!! Before I suffer anything worse!!”

“No.”

I limped forward.

“I’m not some psycho boyfriend who kills his girlfriend without a second thought. Instead…”

I said, watching the golden strands of hair slowly creeping closer.

“I’m the boyfriend who’s going to get you out of this hell.”

Rapunzel’s facial muscles twitched. Grief, despair, and even uncontrollable anger took turns flashing across her face.

“If you don’t kill me right now, you’re going to die!!! I’m going to kill you!!! You almost died getting here, didn’t you? I’ll push you so much harder than that! I’ll pierce your flesh with my hair, rip your limbs apart and butcher you brutally!”

“No, you can’t kill me.”

“What?”

I smiled softly, pointing to her hair.

“You can’t even control your hair right now. So how are you going to kill me? Besides, if you were going to kill me, you wouldn’t even have been able to come here. My neck would probably already be separated from my body, wouldn’t it?”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

Rapunzel lowered her head, then stared at me with a frustrated look.

“Right now, I can’t control my power. Yes, it’s like that damn legend. I was always going to be a monster who would destroy the world. Unable to take a single step outside of the tower, only using my hair to curse the world, a horrible demon! So if you don’t kill me, you don’t know what my out-of-control hair will do! Please, Siyu!”

“You’re not a demon.”

“…Huh?”

I forced my leaden legs to move, taking one step towards her at a time.

“It’s not your fault, either. You’re not a being who will lead the world to destruction, nor a horrible monster who instills fear in people. You’re Rapunzel. The girl who is my girlfriend. The amazing girlfriend who gives me a charming smile.”

“N-No, I’m a monster. I can’t handle it anymore. Even breathing here for a single minute, a single second, is unbearably painful. It feels like my insides are burning. No one is on my side. Everyone is afraid of me. I’m so sick of it. Living a life branded as a demon is like hell. And I can’t take it anymore.”

She trembled, speaking with unfocused eyes.

“The flames of anger that grow uncontrollably every day, the resentment and hatred toward the world! I can’t control my emotions! If I stay like this, I’ll destroy the world. Until I’ve killed everyone who’s living peacefully, laughing and joking, unlike me!!! I won’t stop!!! So, Siyu!”

A thin tear trickled down Rapunzel’s cheek.

“Before I become a real demon, kill m-“

“No.”