Chapter 302: Encountering a Cuckolding Scene
"Hm?"
On his way back, as Haruto passed by a small park, he faintly heard cries for help coming from within.
At the same time, he felt a fluctuation in his magical energy, and a strange sensation rose from the depths of his heart.
In the pitch-black night, within a secluded grove, a group of delinquents were covering the mouths of two lightly dressed women while a man in a suit lay nearby.
It appeared he had been knocked unconscious, with one lens of his glasses shattered on the ground.
Haruto didn't conceal his presence or footsteps. Noticing his arrival, the two women—whose made-up faces were quite attractive—showed a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
The delinquents were initially surprised but quickly turned impatient.
"I thought it was someone important, but it's just another pretty boy."
"Hey, we're busy right now. Scram if you don't want to die."
"Oh, and leave your wallet before you go."
Two of the delinquents split off from the group, laughing arrogantly while glaring maliciously at Haruto.
Haruto stopped walking, his brow furrowing deeply.
To be honest, after more than a year of growth, although Haruto appeared delicate and not particularly muscular, he shouldn't have been seen as an easy target by a group of delinquents.
It seemed his earlier perception was correct—Satan-Class strength wasn't enough to completely resolve the Cuckold Protagonist Template. To fully rid himself of this halo whose drawbacks far outweighed its benefits, he'd likely need god-tier power.
Seeing that Haruto remained silent and didn't take out his phone to call the police, the hope in the two women's eyes gradually turned to despair.
In contrast, the delinquents grew increasingly excited.
Running into a real-life "battlefield of love" in the middle of the night, they had already dealt with the bespectacled man and now could help him resolve his romantic entanglement.
Unexpectedly, before the main event even began, another pretty boy had delivered himself to their doorstep.
Though they couldn't see the two beauties anymore, judging by this pretty boy's appearance, he probably had no shortage of women around him. They could try to exploit that.
The longer they stared at Haruto, the more ideas sprouted in the delinquents' minds. The two women they had originally considered the main course suddenly seemed insignificant.
It was as if a voice in their hearts kept whispering that compared to those two women, this pretty boy before them could bring them incomparable rewards.
"Hey, you—"
A delinquent had approached close enough to touch Haruto, but just as he reached out to grab Haruto's shoulder, the man suddenly collapsed to the ground, instantly falling silent.
This scene frightened the other delinquents, but their fear quickly turned to rage.
"Bastard! What did you do? Stay put!"
Having just been mentally tormented by Yuuto Kiba and now subjected to the Cuckold Protagonist Template, Haruto had no patience to waste on these delinquents.
With a slight pulse of his Satan-Class magical power, the entire group of delinquents instantly turned to dust.
A cool night breeze swept through, carrying away their final traces.
Haruto wasn't one to kill indiscriminately—his attack precisely avoided the bespectacled man and the two women.
Under normal circumstances, he might not have been so ruthless as to eliminate everyone at the slightest provocation.
But who told these delinquents to play out the "other man" trope right in front of him, and in the most vulgar way possible?
It felt like they were insulting and disgustingly provoking him.
The two women, now disheveled but with meticulously applied makeup, were utterly stunned. Their wide eyes stared blankly at Haruto, completely unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Haruto had no intention of explaining. After confirming that all three were ordinary people, he used mental magic to erase the women's recent memories, replacing them with a scenario where passersby called the police, who then came to rescue them.
After altering their memories, the two women followed the bespectacled man's fate and fell unconscious.
Haruto placed the three together, took out his phone, and called the police. He couldn't just leave them there—who knew how many delinquents or gangsters might pass by at this hour?
In Japan, there were police patrolling the streets at night, so he wouldn't have to wait long.
With nothing else to do in the meantime, Haruto idly observed these three unlucky "kids."
The pitch-black night didn't hinder his vision in the slightest, especially with the faint white glow from a nearby streetlamp.
After a moment, Haruto thought the two women looked familiar—like characters from a memory called White Album... or was it White Album 2? Never mind, it wasn't important.
They seemed to be the heroines from that story, but their ages didn't match.
These women were at least in their early thirties; no matter how well they applied makeup, they couldn't escape Haruto's sharp eye, honed by observing countless women.
Haruto then glanced at the bespectacled man, who also resembled the male protagonist from his memory, though noticeably older.
He hadn't expected these three to continue their "White Album drama" into middle age. He hoped they wouldn't keep their love triangle going even in their dreams.
Just then, he heard the sound of a bicycle—likely the patrol police arriving.
Haruto shrugged, hid in the shadows, and after confirming it was the police, promptly made his exit.
As for whether these three were indeed the main characters from White Album, he couldn't care less.
This chaotic world was just like that, and Haruto had long grown accustomed to it.
…
…
After a night of cultivation, Haruto's mindset returned to normal.
The Cuckold Protagonist Template could only disgust him momentarily now, but just to be safe, he decided to focus on improving his strength as soon as possible.
His goal was to complete the second life metamorphosis early, ascend to god-class, and completely rid himself of this garbage fate halo.
But before that, he could first deal with the other thing—or person—that was messing with his head.
At 9:30 in the morning, Haruto wearing black shorts and a short-sleeved shirt stood with Yuuto Kiba dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and beige trousers at the entrance of the Hyoudou residence.
"Yu...Yuki," Haruto grinned awkwardly. "Can I discuss something with you?"
"Hmm?" Yuuto Kiba tilted his head with a gentle smile. "Haruto, you don't need to be so formal. Just say what's on your mind."
"Uh..."
Haruto turned away and muttered quietly, "It's nothing important. I just think we should keep using our usual forms of address when others are around."
Issei Hyoudou couldn't keep his mouth shut - if he overheard how Haruto and Yuuto addressed each other, the whole school would know before the semester even started.
Yuuto Kiba paused for a moment, but surprisingly didn't make a fuss. Instead, he understandingly agreed.
Issei Hyoudou truly was a loudmouth - otherwise, she wouldn't have learned about the Holy Sword Wielders so quickly.
Irina Shido, being Issei Hyoudou's childhood friend, had naturally come to visit now that she had returned.
The sudden appearance of two beautiful girls in his home thrilled Issei Hyoudou, especially when he discovered his childhood friend was actually a girl.
This led to him fantasizing wildly and then boasting everywhere.
His first audience was naturally the "Pervert Trio," followed by other single male students at Kuoh Academy.
Although Yuuto Kiba was very popular among female students, he had genuinely remained single all along.
With her physical condition, staying single was practically unavoidable.
That said, her gentle older sister personality combined with her sunny, handsome boy appearance created an overwhelmingly attractive combination for women.
By the time Yuuto Kiba learned the news, Irina Shido had only been at Issei Hyoudou's house for half a day.
"Alright, Kiba."
After changing the form of address, Haruto immediately felt much more comfortable.
"I'll handle the conversation from here. If those two Holy Sword-wielding girls appear, don't get agitated."
"Understood, Haruto-kun. I'll try my best to restrain myself."
"Not 'try' - you must restrain yourself."
Haruto stared at her intently. "The three factions have signed a peace agreement. Everything can be negotiated, including matters regarding the Holy Swords."
Yuuto Kiba lowered her head, feeling somewhat downhearted, but ultimately gave her assurance.
If she struck first, at minimum it would be breaking rules, at maximum it would show disrespect toward the leaders of the three factions.
Of course, the peace agreement didn't mean they couldn't take action - it just had to be justified.
As long as you had proper cause, the opposing faction could only pretend not to notice while hoping you wouldn't escalate the matter.
The peace agreement essentially replaced speaking with fists with speaking through reason.
Destroying the Holy Swords didn't necessarily require violent seizure. With proper handling, they might even receive thanks from the Church for destroying the Holy Swords.
Haruto trusted Yuuto Kiba's character - if she promised, she would deliver.
Still, he offered reassurance. "Kiba, don't worry. I'm here."
They were just Holy Swords after all. In the original timeline, despite all the chaos, Yuuto Kiba had eventually understood and accepted Xenovia and Irina Shido who wielded Holy Swords. Shouldn't it be even easier now?
Not to mention, if he helped restore her female body and rescue her supposedly dead friend... Yuuto Kiba would probably become Yuki Kiba by then.
After completing this series of operations, if Haruto then engaged in dual cultivation with the blonde, busty Yuki a few more times, how could she possibly not accept the Holy Sword?
Not only would she accept it, she might even awaken a Sacred Gear capable of creating Holy Swords, just like in the original timeline.