Irium

"He"s the one responsible for the fire!" "Find him!" "Don"t let him get away!"

Running away from people that like Na"vi babies is definitely not what I needed for character growth, so why? What"s the point of something like this happening? I mean, I was going to leave this town, I was. If you read the previous chapter, you know already. If you didn"t read the previous chapters, why the h.e.l.l are you here?

Anyway, just when I decided to leave the town, I packed all my stuff up in a bag and started to leave. But, as soon as I got out of the inn, I saw the whole town looking at me angrily. I don"t even know why they think I caused the fire but apparently they think I am some kind of fiend send by "G.o.d" to test them and they are to "destroy" this fiend to prove themselves.

How the h.e.l.l did a rumor like this spread anyway?

Well, I"ll think about that after I successfully escape from these idiots. I am currently hiding in behind the inn and keeping sharp for anyone who might be coming this way in search for me. Trying to hide from these people in their own town is not going to be possible for long so I need to find a way to escape as soon as I can.

"Where is he?" "Didn"t anyone see him?" "I think I saw him heading to those forests."

What forests! I never headed to any forest! What the h.e.l.l is that background character talking about? Wait, forest!? I"m behind the inn, standing next to a side of the forest. If they head to the d.a.m.n bunch of trees, they might notice me from the corner of their eyes.

Need to get away from this place. Where should I go? I kinda locked away my escape routes when I waited for them to start heading to the forest. Maybe I should try to get in the forest. Yeah, maybe I should. I"m the protagonist after all. Nothing too bad can happen to the protagonist.

*****

Alright folks, I take that back.

"GRRR!!!"

I am standing in front of a freaking bear who is angrily growling at me because I disturbed its eating session and its growls are attracting the townsfolk to me. Basically, I"m surrounded by the townsfolk on all sides except the side that I am surrounded by this bear on.

"It"s a pity really." I say. "I actually really like bears."

I mean, after reading the epic bear essay by Hachiman in first volume of Oregairu, how could I not like bears? Wait! Did I just reveal how much of a geek I am about Oregairu?

"GRRR!!!"

Oh right, there are more important things to do right now – like running up to the bear and punching it in its gut.

I can achieve up to a force of 20,000 N if I give it my all. It"s not even enough to break a brick but, on living organisms, it can do quite a bit of damage, even if we are talking about a bear.

"G-gg-grr!!!" The bear backs away, still gritting its teeth and ready to attack. A single slap by this thing can absolutely destroy me so I get away and start running, using the small window of time my punch had bought me to my fullest.

The bear starts chasing me. And of course the townsfolk aren"t very far away either.

For times like these, I have reserved my skill – Plot Convenience. What, did you forget about it already? I just have to somehow stay alive and the author will do something that"ll help me fight these idiots are escape.

"Kill him as soon as you see him!" "Make sure your arrows are dipped in poison!" "Shoot as soon as you see that fiend!"

Right?

"GRRRR!!!!"

Alright, just keep running, Irium. Things will be fine. This novel still has ways to go and it can"t go on without you. I mean, it"s not like Danny can lead the novel or Roswaisa. Even Dues can"t ��� actually, people really like evil MC novels on this platform and she has the added bonus of being a Waifu too, so that might work. Wait! Why am I even thinking about this!?

I come into a clearing and can see an old Frost standing carefree with his gun. The bear growls from behind me.

"You seem to be in some trouble, lad!"

Great! Old guys always help. And they are really bada.s.s too most of the times. I am saved.

"Need some help?" He asks.

"Ye"

"Kill that fiend!" "Ready your arrows, we are closing in on him!"

… the geezer points him gun at me.

"What the h.e.l.l!"

"Are you a friend?"

"No, I am not."

"Then why are those people-"

"They are idiots."

"And just because of that, you think you can fool them and get away with it."

"What!? No!" Isn"t there anyone who will pay some mind to my side of the story? I mean, come on!

"Die, you fiend!" A guy chasing me enters the clearing and attacks me. At the same time, the bear enters from a different side too. The old guy has his guns pointed at me as well. There is no escape anymore. Death is closing in on me from all sides.

d.a.m.n! What the h.e.l.l! I didn"t know this was one of those novels where the MC dies or something … gunshot fires and, just like that, I"m … wait, nothing happened to me?

Nothing happened at all. I had involuntarily shut my eyes but now I open them to see why all the attacks on me stopped. And the reason seems to be that the geezer shot the bear and everyone was too shocked to attack then.

But why did he not shoot me? He seemed like he would.

"I"m sorry, my friends." A voice comes from behind and as I see who it belongs to, it is a short man with a birdlike face. With a smile, he says, "I can"t let you hurt him. So,"

He looks at the geezer and the geezer points his gun at the townsfolk chasing me.

"Unless you wanna burn, buzz off!"

*****