Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses
Chapter 47: An Unexpected Detour

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: An Unexpected Detour

Asher pushed the wheelchair toward the exit of the bar-restaurant when the same waitress from before approached with a payment device. [Insert pin] glowed at the top of the screen, with [100 Points] displayed prominently in the middle.

Natalia collected the device as the woman stepped back respectfully. After inserting her pin, the screen flashed [Transaction complete]. She handed it back to the waitress, who returned Natalia’s card with a professional smile.

The waitress then looked at Asher, bit her lip slightly, and walked away with what could only be described as a sensual sway to her hips.

"What was that about?" Asher asked, genuinely puzzled.

Natalia just frowned. "Let’s go."

He pushed the wheelchair as they left the building, emerging onto a modest but bustling street. The people here looked somewhat rough around the edges, and Asher couldn’t help but survey their surroundings with concern.

"Good food aside, I still don’t think it’s safe for a girl like you to come to such a place," he said, his protective instincts kicking in.

"Well, my friend is really strong, so I don’t really worry about that," Natalia replied with a small smile. "Um... can we go somewhere first, before I show you the places you ought to know?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of timidity.

"Sure. I mean, you treated me to a meal—it’s only right I return the favor. Use me as you please, princess," he said with mock solemnity and a theatrical salute.

"Eh?" Natalia blinked in surprise.

"What? Aren’t you a princess?" Asher asked, reaching down to pat her head affectionately.

"Hey, don’t do that!" she glared at him, though notably didn’t move away from his touch.

"Fine," he said, removing his hand. Somehow, her glare seemed to intensify.

What does she want then? Asher wondered. Even with his memories of Emilia, he still couldn’t understand women at all. Perhaps it was because she had such... unique ways of expressing herself. There were times she’d act like the sweetest little girl, wanting nothing more than to be pampered and loved, and other times she was a crazy obsessed manic

He could still remember it clearly: the day he had lost his free will entirely. Ironically, It was the very day he thought he had successfully escaped her.

But oh, how wrong he had been.

Something had happened to the bus he’d boarded that day. What were the odds of a mechanical failure on that exact route, at that exact time? He couldn’t clearly remember the details—trauma, the doctors had said—but he did remember waking up in the hospital, paralyzed. Everyone else on the bus had died; he and two children were the only survivors of that terrible tragedy.

Emilia had been there when he woke up, tears streaming down her beautiful face. She’d immediately cleared all his medical charges and insisted on taking him home to ’care’ for him properly. After all, she’d said with that radiant smile, who else would love him the way she did? Who else would stay by his side when he had become a vegetable?

That was when it all began.

"Asher?" Natalia’s voice broke through his memories, followed by a gentle tug on his sleeve.

He looked down to find her watching him with concern.

"Princess?" he said automatically, and she glared at him again.

"Stop calling me that. It sounds weird when you say it," she pinched his hand, though he only smiled, pretending it didn’t hurt.

"But you are a princess."

"No, I am not."

"But you are."

"Explain,"

"Until the day ends, you are my princess. Your orders are absolute," he declared with another salute.

"Stop saying stuff like that!" Her face flushed red, and her hair began to crackle with static electricity. Asher realized that teasing her further would probably end in a world of pain.

"Wait," he muttered, suddenly aware that they had gotten... lost?

"Where am I supposed to go again?" he asked, and Natalia looked around with a frown.

"Eh? Where is this?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.

Something isn’t right here, Asher realized with growing unease.

[You both walked right into an array,] came the familiar voice in his head.

When? How? he thought back frantically. He couldn’t remember anything suspicious or what could have possibly triggered such a trap.

[...] The entity remained unhelpfully silent.

Great. I have to figure it out myself, Asher sighed internally, realizing he wouldn’t be getting any spoon-feeding today.

"Asher?" Natalia’s voice carried a note of worry.

"What?"

"Maybe we should go back... I don’t know this alley," she said, looking genuinely disturbed.

"Okay," he responded, turning the wheelchair around. But when they looked ahead, there were two pathways where there had been only one before.

"Um... which way, princess?" he asked.

"Goddamn it, Asher! This is not the time for that!" she yelled, but his responding smile made her realize something important: he was an insufferable demon with a cute face. Who knew what atrocities he could commit while that face washed away all blame? "Stupid idiot with a stupidly handsome face and a—" she groaned, trailing off into muttered complaints as he pushed her wheelchair down the left path.

They kept walking and walking. The path was eerily quiet—there was literally no one else around.

They walked and walked, but for some reason, it felt as though they remained in exactly the same place.

An illusion? Natalia thought, her eyes squinting in annoyance.

"Wait," she said, stretching her hand forward. Her eyes began to glow with golden light, and in the next second—

ZZZZZZZT!

A massive bolt of lightning shot forward, illuminating the entire alley.

Okay, Asher thought. I’ve been teasing literal lightning for a while now.

"!" Asher’s eyes widened as his instincts screamed danger. He pushed the wheelchair to the side and dove down.

ZZZZZZZZZT!

Something crackled through the air where he’d been standing moments before.

He looked up quickly. "Fuck," he muttered. He would have been fried—literally—if he hadn’t sensed that attack coming.

"Stay down!" Natalia screamed, stretching her hand forward as power gathered around her.

BOOM!

The explosion of electrical energy lit up the entire space.

"Ugh," Asher felt a surge of residual current flow through him, making his hair stand on end.

When the light faded, he cautiously looked up.

"You can stand now," Natalia said, though she looked somewhat anxious.

"What’s happening, Natalia?" Asher asked, getting to his feet and brushing off his uniform.

"I think we just walked into a loop array," she explained grimly.

That’s definitely a problem, Asher thought, surveying their surroundings. The day had just gotten significantly more complicated.