I’ll Live as a Villain Obsessed Over by a Magical Girl

Noah had been acting strange since that day.
“Welcome.”
“Ah… hello…”
If she had merely been gloomy before, these days she seemed to be constantly avoiding me.
Noah, pulling her hood down low as she passed by. Not even looking in my direction.
Why is she acting like this?
At least it doesn’t seem like she’s unwell, which is a relief…
But isn’t it a bit much to act like this for an entire week?
“Noah.”
“Eek…!?”
“Has something happened lately?”
“No… nothing…”
Noah now completely covered her face with her hood.
Without saying another word, she hurriedly went deep inside.

I could only see Noah clearly when she was at the checkout.

What Noah had in her hand was a drink.
It was unusual. Noah buying a drink. And an energy drink at that.

“Feeling tired these days?”
“No… not really.”
“Then why are you acting like this lately? It’s hurtful.”
“Hurtful…?”
“Yes. You barely show your face and keep avoiding me. We’ve hardly talked for a week.”

I’m constantly worried.
Plus, I did that to her at the end.

I pulled off her hood and made eye contact with Noah.
Her pupils were trembling, causing a small earthquake.

Her trembling gaze kept trying to escape my focus.

This confirmed it.

I firmly grasped Noah’s hand with both of mine.
I could feel the soft texture. But now isn’t the time to appreciate such things.

“Noah.”
“Y-yes…!”
“You…”

Thud.
I banged my head on the counter.

“You’re still concerned about that incident.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m sorry for hugging you then. I think something went wrong with my head momentarily.”

A sincere apology. I hope this eases Noah’s mind a bit.

But Noah just stared at me blankly without saying anything.
Like a broken toy, she just stuttered “Ah… ah…” without any real words.

After doing this for a while, she took a deep breath and spoke loudly.

“N-no! I’m not angry… or feeling bad… it’s not that at all! Just… just… um… anyway, it’s okay!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Really! I… I liked it even!”
“You liked it?”
“…Ah!?”

Noah covered her mouth as if she had made a slip of the tongue.
I see. So she didn’t dislike it.

“That’s a relief…”
“Why… why?”
“I thought Noah had come to dislike me.”
“That’s not it!”

Noah screamed.
It wasn’t scary at all.

“If I disliked you, I wouldn’t give you this!”
“This?”
“Yes! Please ring it up!”

Under Noah’s pressure, I quickly rang up the energy drink.

“Here. It’s for you, mister.”
“You’re giving this to me…?”
“It’s a buy-one-get-one-free, that’s why I’m giving it to you.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
I was grateful and touched. She must have a hard time making ends meet, yet she was still thinking of me.

I extended my hand toward Noah’s head.
Something I had learned over time was that Noah liked having her head patted.
It felt odd to me, like treating a person like a dog. But if she liked it, I could do it anytime.
Pat pat.

I stroked Noah’s head.
Noah flinched greatly, as if an electric current had passed through her body. When our eyes met, she lowered her gaze.
“Ugh…”
“Does it feel bad?”

As I was about to take my hand away.
Snatch, my hand was captured somewhere.
Noah had grabbed my hand. Then she brought it back to her head, making me pat her again.
What’s this, she does like it.
“Do you like it?”
“…Huh!?”
“Does our Noah like getting patted?”
“Don’t say ‘our Noah.’ Perverted mister…”
“Perverted?”
“Pervert, child protection law violator.”

Despite saying that, Noah didn’t let go of my hand, and I had to pat her head for quite a while.

“Phew…”
“Does it feel healing?”
“…A bit. I’ve been active even at dawn lately, so I’m tired.”
“Really?”
“Yes. There’s another strange villain out there. Be careful. I heard he does terrible things with tentacles when he catches you.”
“I… see.”
“I’ve been patrolling even at dawn these days. So don’t do anything suspicious, mister.”
“Of course. Naturally. Yes. Hahaha.”

I felt a bit guilty, but Noah, focused on the patting, didn’t seem to notice.

After Noah left, satisfied.
I drank the energy drink she gave me in one gulp.

“Ahh…”
I felt slightly less tired, but not refreshed. But what can I do?
Time is limited, and there’s much to do.

Looking at the clock as closing time approached, I made a resolution.

Today, I’ll root out the villain circle in this area.
+++++
Early dawn.
An eerie alley where the street lights hadn’t all gone out yet.
“Fck… fck…!”
A strange man was running down the street, cursing.
Part of his upper body had turned black, and his eyes had inverted whites and pupils. His appearance was notable for his one arm being broken and twisted.
This man, who had named himself “Black Plague,” was a C-class villain designated by the association.
And now, he was running for his life.
Wriggle wriggle.
“He… here too…!”
Wriggle wriggle.

“F*ck…!”

They were tentacles. Disgusting tentacles that wriggled.
They followed him wherever he went.

Into the alley, into abandoned buildings.
Then.

Grab!

His ankle was caught.
It was more forceful than any grip he had felt in his life.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll just take it quietly.

With his corrupted arm, he grabbed the tentacle, which fell off blackened. The man, free again, tried to run once more.

However.

“Huh…?”

His body wouldn’t move.
Looking down at his ankle with trembling eyes, he realized.

His ankle was completely crushed.

“Ugh… aaaaargh!!!”

Intense pain followed. The man let out a terrible scream.

He shouldn’t scream.
But the horrible pain made it impossible for him to suppress his scream.

Thud, thud.

“Maintain silence, evil one.”
“Hic… aaagh…!”
“The sweet sleep of a mother who has just put her baby to rest has just begun, yet how dare you disturb it?”

A deep, dark voice like the deep sea was heard.
A man in a black robe appeared from the corner.

His face was covered with a mask, his eyes flashed with red lenses, and all around him followed enormous tentacles.

“How evil you are. How immoral.”

Seeing this, the man recalled a story he had heard from another comrade.

‘Hey. Be careful. I heard there’s someone targeting us since last week. What was it… a tentacle guy in a black robe? Reason? How would I know that?’

The tentacle man.
People call him “Kraken.”

They say he got that name because he wields the tentacles of a legendary monster.
Not that I know all of that.

What’s important is that he’s about to execute him.

“Don’t do it, you bastard!!”

The man threatened.

“F*ck, do you think the others will stand by if I get hurt!? My brother-”
“Your brother…? Perhaps the one who swung a large axe…”
“That’s right. My brother is extremely strong! If you touch me-”
“Ah, you mean this.”

Swish.
A person was thrown in front of the man.

That person, with broken bones and a twisted body.
It was the brother the man had been praising so highly.

“Wh… what…?”
“Even if he’s a ‘brother,’ he’s still C-class. Just small fry licking each other’s wounds.”
“That’s… a lie…!”
“By the way, your comrades have long been my nourishment.”
“That’s…!”
“They tasted like garbage. Even licking vomit would taste better than them.”

His thoughts stopped.
His brother had been defeated. The one he thought was the strongest… at least in this area.

The one he thought could even beat that pink-haired girl who’s been active lately.

An alley with no one around. Himself, caught, and his brother, half-dead.
There’s no one to come to his rescue.

“Sa… save me…”

Terrified to the point of wetting himself, the man was crying.
Like a worm crawling on the ground, he laid flat and rubbed his hands like a fly.

“I’m sorry… save… please save me…!”

At those words, Kraken let out a slight sneering voice.

“How were you?”
“Huh…?”
“How were you to those innocent ones?”

Wriggle.
The tentacles begin to crawl.
They gradually gather around the man and climb up him.

“Don’t make excuses. I already know how vicious you all are.”
“Stop… stop it…!”
“So.”

Wriggle wriggle.
The tentacles attach their suckers to the man’s body.
They slowly suck out his magical energy and pass it to their master.

Realizing that his power is being drained, the man struggles, but that’s all he can do.

With his vision darkening, the man witnessed for the last time.

“Do not expect mercy.”

A terrible monster standing under the moonlight.

+++++
Noah was in the middle of her dawn patrol that day as well. Of course, in her transformed state as Iris.
This had been her recent routine.
She felt uneasy because execution incidents of villains were happening every dawn.
Of course, since the targets were villains, it could be seen as someone’s vendetta, but.
‘The range is too wide for that.’
There were few commonalities among the victimized villains. At most, they all were attacked and defeated at dawn.
She would catch that villain. Even if they are villains, they should receive proper punishment.
Not be attacked out of someone’s hatred.
With such thoughts, as Iris continued her patrol, she heard a scream as if something was being torn apart.
‘…It’s him!’
She could tell instinctively.
Following that sound would lead her to where that man was.
She arrived at a dark back alley.
There, Noah finally encountered it.
“Stop! That’s enough!”
The sight of a villain executing another villain.
+++++

‘Don’t kill him.’
‘I know.’
‘Just drain him to the brink of death.’
‘Yes.’

It slowly seeps in.
That villain’s magical energy. The nourishment that will make me stronger.

‘Kkomul-i, how is it?’
‘Honestly, not much. Not enough to be satisfying.’
‘Well, I expected that.’

Kkomul-i moved its tentacles, diligently absorbing magical energy.

This is what I’ve been doing lately.

‘Executing villains and getting stronger. How great is that.’
‘Shouldn’t that Noah person be doing this?’
‘Ah. She can’t get it from villains, that is, humans. She can only get magical energy from monsters.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yes. You’re the unusual one.’

I let Noah handle the monsters. I can’t interfere with her growth.
I only target villains. Kkomul-i has the ability to filter and absorb human magical energy.

It was a unique ability that Kkomul-i possessed. Most mascot life forms can’t do this.

Let’s finish quickly and go home.
With such thoughts, I was urging Kkomul-i when.

“Stop! That’s enough!”

I heard someone’s lively voice.
A familiar voice I recognized.

No way.

“I am Magical Girl Iris! In the name of justice, I won’t forgive you!”

Along with a clichéd line, a magical girl scattering stars appeared.

“Even if your opponent is a villain, you’ve crossed the line!”
“…Iris.”
“Yes! I am Magical Girl Iris. Remember the name of the one who will judge you!”

Why is she here now?
As I was thinking that, I recalled what she had said yesterday.

‘I’ve been patrolling even at dawn these days. So don’t do anything suspicious, mister.’

We just happened to meet. Was it because the last guy was too noisy?
I had anticipated that such a day would come…
“Tch.”

Can’t be helped. It’s earlier than planned, but.
Maybe I’ll fight a bit and then escape.

Neither she nor I are that strong yet. We probably hadn’t reached the level of fighting with our lives at stake.

“Do you think I’ll yield so easily?”
“Are you going to fight?”
“Of course. I’m not a fool who would meekly offer my neck.”
Slowly, I raised the tentacles.
“Then I have no choice! Let’s do this! If I catch you, you’ll go to prison obediently!”
“…I definitely can’t let that happen!”

Iris’s magic circle unfolds.
In response, I deployed tentacles to counter.

A situation just before the clash.
I wanted to shout at Noah.

‘You won’t grow taller if you don’t sleep early, kid!’
Why is she out till dawn like this?
The tentacles began to extend their claws toward Noah.