Chapter 4
The day after the village festival.
I was utterly exhausted.
My stomach ached from being constantly under the gaze of Lisa, Serena, and Miria—the three of them.
All I wanted was to quietly till my fields, munch on bread, and live a peaceful life as a side character.
“…If this continues, I’m really going to end up like a harem protagonist.”
I let out a sigh and lay down on the grass at the edge of the village.
The scent of soft grass, the blue sky, the drifting clouds.
Lying here, I felt like I could reclaim a bit of my “side character self.”
—However.
“Gyaaaahh!”
“Help me!”
Screams erupted from the village.
I covered my face and cried out from the depths of my heart.
“…It finally happened, didn’t it?!”
When I rushed back to the village, I saw several bandits swinging their weapons and causing havoc.
Smoke was rising from the houses, and people were scattering in panic.
“Hand over anything valuable!”
“We’ll take the women!”
…Bandits straight out of a template.
No, I don’t need these cliché Isekai developments!
I hid behind something and desperately tried to think.
I can’t even handle a sword properly. I have no fighting strength.
All I can do is—at best—observe.
“Yuma!”
Lisa and Serena ran up to me. Both of them clung to me, trembling.
“Wh-what do we do?”
“It’ll take time for soldiers to arrive!”
“Calm down… Don’t expect anything from me…!”
My true feelings slipped out. But they looked up at me with teary eyes, saying, “It’s okay, Yuma can do it.”
Stop it. Don’t look at me like that. I’m just a side character.
One of the bandits noticed us and charged forward, raising his sword.
“Hii!” (Lisa & Serena)
Instinctively, I stepped back and kicked over a bucket at my feet.
Inside was ash collected by the villagers.
—Poof!
The ash hit the bandit directly in the face, and he screamed, “Gwaah, my eyes!” and rolled around.
“…Huh?”
My unintentional action had incapacitated one of the enemies.
As I retreated further, I knocked over a clothesline, which then hit the other bandits like dominoes, causing about three of them to fall simultaneously.
“W-what is this incredible luck…!”
The villagers all stared at me.
And they began to shout in unison.
“Yuma defeated the bandits!”
“He really is the village’s guardian deity!”
“I-it’s not like thattttt!”
My desperate shouts were in vain, as more than half the bandits lost the will to fight, and the rest were captured by the villagers working together.
After the fight.
The village chief patted my shoulder, a wide smile on his face.
“Yuma, you did well! Thanks to you, the village was saved!”
“…No, I just stumbled and kicked things…”
The village chief ignored my words and declared loudly.
“From today on, Yuma shall be called the ‘Guardian of the Village’!”
“Stop ittttttt!”
Cheers and applause erupted around me.
Within that circle, Lisa and Serena looked at me, and then Miria rushed over and said,
“As I thought… you are a special person.”
“…Please stop, I really am just a side character…”
But the girls’ eyes no longer registered my denials.
Night.
The village feast had turned into a celebration for the hero who vanquished the bandits.
Sitting at the edge of the bonfire, munching on bread alone, I thought.
“…This is totally protagonist’s luck.”
I looked up at the sky.
The stars twinkled beautifully.
—I’m just a side character.
Even as I told myself that, the gears of fate were undeniably pushing me towards the “center.”
