Sell the Main Character’s Shares!

The carriage door swung open without a hitch. It wasn’t long before a black shadow suddenly popped inside. 

It was a man with curly brown hair.

“Help…!”

I instinctively squeezed my body against the wall that was opposite the door as much as possible and shouted.

However, the man didn’t care and slumped onto the seat opposite of me and snapped his fingers.

“Let’s go.”

Then something shocking happened. The carriage started to move on its own. 

Despite the coach’s seat still being vacant.

In an instant, goosebumps appeared on my arms and neck.

“Wh-What is this? Are you a ghost?!”

“Haha, a ghost?”

Even in such a frightening and surprising situation, this uninvited guest was simply just smiling as if he couldn’t help it due to the fun he had.

“…Who are you?” 

Although I was still scared, I shot a glare at him, not giving up.

“What did you do to everyone else?!”

Or to be more precise, it was actually closer to me attempting to shoot a glare at him.

“Who am I? Naturally I’m your guide.”

“What?”

“The Knights’ Commander and the coachman are just in another world for the moment. When we finish our conversation, they’ll return without remembering anything at all, so don’t worry.”

I suddenly heard the sound of a crack appear in the wall of reason I had been struggling to keep up.

Guide? Another world?

“Oh, my name is Winnard Veldrian. Just call me Winnard.”

Unlike me, who was just confused, a dazzling bright smile hung on the man’s lips.

“To think that you’d bake cookies as soon as you were selected as a main character candidate. What a good job you did, Lorella.”

It was only when I heard his voice which seemed to be excited, only then did I seem to come to my senses. I asked in a voice that seemed to be screeching.

“W-What are you talking about? No, rather than that, how did you know my name?!”

“Because I’m a guide.”

It was an apathetic voice, as if he were only talking about a natural occurrence. However, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, making his face expressionless.

“However, there’s no chance of that happening yet. 3 million, 5 million… no, you’ll have to sell countless shares before that. We’ll only be able to discuss the main character’s qualifications when we get to that point. Got it?”

As I listened to him quietly, I admitted frankly.

“…I still don’t understand.” 

Nevertheless, the man simply shrugged his shoulders in reply, unbothered. Though his attitude was still solemn without a trace of a smile.

“That doesn’t matter. Since you’ll find out soon enough.”

…No way, is there perhaps something wrong with this person’s mind? No, rather than that, are you really a human?!

My doubts and anxiety blended together and gradually grew bigger and bigger.

I glued my back to the corner of the carriage and looked over at the suspicious man who came from god knows where.

Legs that were long to the point they made the carriage feel narrow, a slim body with angular shoulders, and a handsome face that would capture your attention whenever they were seen.

If it hadn’t been for us meeting in this sort of situation, I might have even just watched him in silence.

Moreover, from the leather gloves to the spotless leather boots, everything that was worn on his body were all of expensive luxury.

Indeed, it was the perfect example of the appearance a noble of the highest status should have, but… 

I’M GOING FERAL FOR EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE MFS

 

‘A guide?’

I gulped dryly.

“Now, shall we get to the point then? Listen carefully to me from now on…”

“Wait a minute.”

I raised a hand to stop Winnard, who had already opened his mouth again.

“I need to know what this is all about first.”

“What?”

Although I was afraid of the unknown, it was my only chance to find out what sort of situation I was in. 

I squeezed out all the courage I had and didn’t have and tried to muster up a dignified appearance.

“If you really are a guide, explain all of this to me. Why did I suddenly become a candidate for the main character, and what is a share?”

At my words, Winnard fell silent for a moment. He nodded his head, deep in thought with his arms crossed.

“Alright.”

Then, he placed the luxurious-looking black cane he had been holding in his hand the whole time on his lap and spoke calmly.

“The first time you were noticed was because of your husband, Duke Periot, who had torn up your divorce papers. At that moment, one of ‘them’ was filled with excitement and bought a share. Thanks to that, you became a main character candidate.”

“Them…?”

“I’m talking about the people who are looking into this world. When you were dragged away and imprisoned against your will, you truly caught everyone’s attention. Some even baked cookies to find out what would happen to you.”

Just what sort of nonsense is this? So in short, he’s saying that thanks to someone buying a share, I became a candidate for the main character, and that people bake cookies… because they want to see more and find out what happens next…?

…But why cookies? 

However, I buried these trivial questions deep in my mind first and hurriedly asked once again.

“Then when a cookie is baked, it comes back to me as a reward?”

“It’s great that you’re quick to understand the situation. That’s right. The more you solidify your position by selling shares, the more there’ll be people who will be willing to bake cookies for you. In other words, you’ll be able to receive better rewards.”

“There are even better rewards?”

My ears perked up unconsciously for a moment.

“Of course. Just breaking down an iron door or burning marriage vows wasn’t even that big of a deal.”

“What…?!”

Thud!

I was so shocked that I sprang up abruptly and heard a dull sound, my vision turning white momentarily.

“Ouch!”

I had forgotten that I was still sitting in a carriage and had gotten up just to hit my head against the ceiling of the carriage. I sat down once again with a groan.

Winnard frowned and eyed the top of my head.

“There’s probably a bump there now.”

But that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Are you being serious? Did the marriage vows really catch on fire?!”

“Mmhm, it was completely burned to ashes. All the servants in the mansion were mobilised and poured water over it like crazy to try to extinguish it, but it was all in vain.”

“Then the smoke at that time was…!”

“It’s great that you didn’t have to get his signature for the divorce papers. It didn’t look like it’d be an easy task, considering who your opponent was.”

Winnard, who was snickering out loud, winked slightly and added.

“How is it, do you understand it now?”

However, instead of answering him, I slapped both of my cheeks as hard as I could.

Smack! Smack!

“Ack, ouch!”

I hit myself so hard that another shriek slipped out of my lips. Along with the tingling pain, an indescribably overwhelming emotion filled my heart.

It’s not a dream, it’s not a dream!

Here, in this world, the marriage vows were like shackles. As long as they existed, I pretty much belonged to the Periot household. Since it was a document which was notarized with the seals of both the Archbishop and the Emperor, it wasn’t something that could be easily destroyed either.

But they had now been destroyed in that fire. I can’t believe you were able to make that unlucky household eat such a fat shit!

Ah, if only I were able to see that scene with my own eyes. What a shame I wasn’t able to witness it!

“Finally, I’m finally truly free!”

I slapped the carriage wall and laughed loudly, but I suddenly felt his gaze on me. Winnard was looking at me with a complicated look on his face with his lips slightly parted.

“Why? What is it?!”

“…It’s nothing. Then, can I finish what I had to say now?” 

I nodded my head happily.

“Honestly, the most important thing is what I have to say now. Although it’s nice to enjoy a sweet reward like a cookie, your main goal should still be to become the main character by selling the most shares out of everyone

“Why?”

“I’ll let you know the reason why now.”

After he finished talking, Winnard snapped his fingers, and with the ding-dong sound of a bell, a window suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

“Huh? Why is this suddenly here by itself…?”

Despite being bewildered, my eyes still instinctively read the words on the window.

「Miss Lorella Mayred, it seems you’ve finally met the guide! Congratulations on meeting a reliable helper!

The full-scale survival competition has finally begun. The way to survive this competition is very simple.

The ‘Main Character’ is an honourable title which is only given to the person who has sold the most shares.

When it’s determined that the other candidates will be unable to win first place, no matter how many shares they sell, the ‘Main Character’ will finally be decided.

Following that, the <Main Character Protective Measures> will be activated immediately. All candidates except for the main character will be annihilated, and will be completely erased from everyone’s memory in order to prevent confusion.

Now, will you survive and ascend to the throne of glory, or will you perish?

Your fate lies in your hands.」 

…What the fuck. What sort of bullshit is this…? 

Maybe this is an illusion. With that belief in mind, I rubbed my eyes so much that it started to hurt, but the message on the screen did not change. 

“W-What the hell are you talking about now…?”

As I struggled to move my frozen lips, a hoarse voice that didn’t seem to belong to me flowed out.

“Annihilation…? Are you saying that if I don’t become the main character, everything will disappear?!”

“It’s to make sure candidates who are dissatisfied with their result don’t try to rebel against the main character.”

Contrary to me, who was on the brink of falling into a state of panic, Winnard was just as composed as he usually was.

“Well, it’s something that can’t be helped since it’s to protect the peace of this world.”

My head rang for a moment, as if someone had hit the top of my head with all their might. At the same time, I even had the faint illusion that my whole body was going to break apart.

“Don’t worry. Since the solution is extremely simple.”

He added calmly.

“You can just become the main character.”

No, but who doesn’t know that? 

However, my voice didn’t come out. My eyelids, lips, and shoulders, all seemed to have hardened like they were plaster and trembled one by one.

Everything in my head seemed to have turned into white smoke and disappeared. 

There was only one thing I could think of.

“…I won’t do it!”

I rubbed my sweaty hands randomly on my dress and shouted in a loud voice.

“What aren’t you doing?”

“I’m not interested in being a main character or anything, so please remove my name from the nominations. I don’t need the cookie reward either. I’ll just live quietly as an extra, so…!”

That’s right, it’ll be fine like that. It’s an issue that I don’t even need to think over about.

Why would I risk my life just to get wealth and glory?!

“You said you’re just going to be an extra?”

However, Winnard muttered with a displeased face and shook his head coldly.

“I’m sorry, but once you’ve been nominated, you can’t back out anyway.”

“No, but I myself don’t even want to do it…!”

“Once you’ve been selected, your opinion is irrelevant.”

My vision gradually got blurrier and an unknown high-pitched sound started to ring in my ear. 

“Even if that’s the case, as long as you look for one, I’m sure there will somehow be a way…”

Even though I clenched my jaw tightly and sent him a desperate look.

“There’s none.”

The reply that came back was firm and left no room for discussion.

…How strange. It had clearly been something good before, but now it wasn’t. 

“Urgh.”

A sound of distress escaped from within my throat.

Is this what it felt like to sink into water so deep there was no end to it in sight? Despite both eyes being wide open, my vision faded to a black, as if I were wandering into a distant darkness.

I protested so loudly that foam and spittle filled my mouth.

“I only somehow just earned myself a fresh start, but now you want me to die in vain like this?!”

Just that alone was so unfair it made me feel like going crazy, but what’s worse was that I’d even be erased from everyone’s memory!

“Well, there are always shitty situations like this! I won’t! No, I won’t, even if I die!”

I screamed and tore at my hair, but the system screen stayed silent. There was no change in my surroundings, only darkness.

“That’s it.”

It was at that moment that Winnard, who had been leisurely tapping the cane’s handle with his fingertips, opened his mouth casually.

“If you don’t, you’ll die anyway.”

“…What?” 

I stopped breathing involuntarily at the carefree and cheeky voice of the self-proclaimed guide.

“Even if you say you won’t do it, isn’t that just saying that you’re fine with dying in the end still?”

“N-No? Huh?”

“Then if that’s the case, you can do it. Since you’ve already determined that you’ll die in the end, what else can’t you do?” 

Winnard nodded his head as if what he had just said was plausible and smiled.

“That’s not what I meant…!”

“Sure enough, you’re the candidate that I chose. As expected, my judgement of you wasn’t wrong either.”

“Hey! I’m talking right now…”

Listen to me!

However, I was interrupted once again.

“With that sort of spirit, the main character title will be yours, even if you don’t want it.”

What’s worse was that he even patted me on the shoulder, as if he were proud of me.

No, it isn’t what you think, you crazy fucker… 

Various thoughts popped into my mind the moment I lost my rationality, but in the end, the only thing that came out of my mouth was this. 

“Haaa.”

I let out a long sigh. 

Was it because I had been through too much and had been overwhelmed in such a short time? All of a sudden, my body lost all of its strength and I became incredibly thirsty.

Those green eyes slowly slid over my face. Winnard looked at me like that for a while before opening his mouth.

“Even if you forget everything else, you must remember this one thing.”

Then he tapped the floor with the cane he had placed on his lap.

“In order for you to survive, you have to sell more shares than anyone else.”

When he finished speaking, I heard a sound in my ear once again.

Rustle. 

The moment his soft brown hair fluttered slightly in front of my eyes.

‘Then until we meet again, my main character.’

That low melodious voice seemed to shatter my dream-like state.

“Huh?”

With no more than a simple blink, I found myself alone in the carriage again.

The man who had been in front of me until just a moment ago had now suddenly disappeared in an instant, as if it were all just an illusion. Embarrassed, I rubbed my eyes until they hurt.

“What the— just where the hell did you go…?!”

He couldn’t have disappeared through the ceiling or been sucked under the seat… 

It was when I had been whipping my head left right and centre in that unbelievable situation.

“Did you have a good rest?”

An affectionate voice sounded from the other side. At the same time, a bright light suddenly poured out and filled my vision.

“Ugh”

I couldn’t stand the glare and shut my eyes tightly.

“You must’ve been very tired, since you never once woke up. It was right after we finished traversing the rough mountain road, so it wasn’t too unexpected.”

A gentle voice filled with concern. When I cracked open an eye cautiously, I saw the Knight Commander, Leonon, who was clad in a white uniform.

“C-Commander!”

After going through a situation where I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or not, I felt relieved once I saw him again.

Then came the anxiety. Since he did disappear all of a sudden, was he really alright?

I carefully parted my lips and asked.

“Um, Commander… is everything alright?”

He tilted his head for a moment and then replied gently.

“Of course it is. Sleeping all night isn’t a big deal at all. A little further and we’ll reach Aurea.”

“Pardon…?”

At that, my eyes quickly turned to look out the window. 

pls do not share this anywhere or the transmigration gods will transport u into boku no pico !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:

Oh my goodness.

Patches of the dark sky were already dyed with a pale indigo.

No matter how much I thought about it, the time I spent talking to Winnard only amounted to a few dozen minutes. But you’re telling me we’ve almost reached our destination? Did a guide’s abilities also include being able to time-skip?

My mouth was agape like a fish out of water at the incredulous situation… 

“Ack!”

All of a sudden, the coachman screamed as the carriage came to a screeching stop at the same time.

“Ah!”

Because of that, I almost fell to the floor since I was sitting on the edge of the seat. It was only thanks to Commander Leonon who quickly grabbed hold of me in time that I was able to avoid an  unfortunate situation.

Despite it being an almost instinctive action, his agility was still indescribable.

“Are you alright?”

I unknowingly clutched onto his large hand and cracked open my mouth.

“I-I’m fine, but by the way, just what is going on…”

It was then.

“Ahhh! H-Help!”

The terrified voice of the coachman could be heard from outside. Then, with no time to spare, the carriage door swung open abruptly.

At the same time, a freshly sharpened blade that gleamed hideously cut through the air.

“Come down quietly.”

The person whom the tip of the sword was pointing to was very clear.

It was me.

“Mmph…”

The moment a terrified moan escaped from my mouth.

“Alright.”

Unexpectedly, it was none other than Knight Commander Leonon who replied.

“I’ll do it.”

With a soft smile still on his lips, he stepped out of the carriage without any hesitation.

Just before the door closed, golden hair which gently fluttered through the cracks in the carriage door came into view, then disappeared.