Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]-Chapter 285: A Complicated Meeting

The others played along, nodding in agreement.

Laxus ruffled Rocco’s hair and praised him, making him puff out his chest proudly.

Yes, yes. He was a considerate and cool boy, so there was no way he could be shaken by something like this.

Nope. Not at all.

Swinging his legs back and forth, he suddenly stopped and cleared his throat with a small cough. novelbuddy.cσ๓

Just in case anyone caught onto his little cover-up and said, "Huh? That’s weird," he decided to swiftly steer the conversation back on track.

"So, um... basically, what you’re saying is that Ares isn’t human but actually a demon?"

He recalled the moment when Ares had pinned him down, and the image of those murky red eyes flashing in his mind.

At the time, he had brushed it off as his imagination, but apparently, they had really changed color.

Those were his true eyes.

Remembering what was said earlier about demons having red eyes, Rocco voiced his question, only to see the others exchange glances.

Huh? What? Did he get it wrong again? Was that not the right answer?

As he nervously awaited a response, Laxus finally answered after a few moments.

"Hmm, you’re half right. But it’s a little different."

"Mm...? Then, what is Ares? He’s not a demon?"

Half right meant he was technically not wrong, right?

Although he was slightly frustrated, he quickly deflated his puffed-up cheeks.

If half of his answer was incorrect, then what was the truth?

Tilting his head in confusion, Rocco waited for Laxus to explain.

"A demon has possessed the king’s brother. To be more specific, it’s a cursed ancestor who had fallen to darkness that now resides within him."

"Hmm... huh?"

"Ah, you didn’t get that, did you? Sorry, I made it too complicated again."

Seeing Rocco pout and lower his head in disappointment, Laxus chuckled and pulled him into a comforting hug.

"Hmph... It was too hard to understand."

Rocco grumbled, lightly thumping his fists against Laxus’s chest in protest.

Laxus, completely unfazed, simply smiled down at him and continued.

"Well, you’ll understand better once you see it for yourself. If you want, I can arrange for you to meet him. That way, you can speak with the king’s brother directly."

"...Huh?"

"Wha—! You...! What are you saying?!"

Rocco let out a dumbfounded sound, utterly caught off guard by Laxus’s unexpected suggestion.

He was absolutely shocked.

Laxus, of all people—the one who hated putting Rocco in danger more than anything—was encouraging him to interact with Ares, the very person who had harmed him?

And judging by Sylas’s reaction, he felt the same way.

Like Rocco, he glared at Laxus in disbelief.

Hmph... Something was definitely strange about this.

Ares was a villain.

He was the one who had hurt Rocco, the big bad of this whole situation.

That much should have been obvious, right?

Laxus must have noticed the blatant confusion on Rocco’s face because he let out a small, amused sigh.

"It seems like you’re misunderstanding something, but it’s not like I want to introduce Rocco to that perverted freak of a prince. If anything, I’d rather kill him right now to eliminate the risk entirely."

Rocco averted his gaze from Laxus’s disturbingly cheerful way of saying kill and decided to focus only on the issue with Ares for now.

"Th-Then why? This isn’t like you. Knowing you, I was sure you’d never let me meet him. I thought you’d lock me up, saying the outside world is too dangerous for me!"

"Rocco... What exactly do you think of me?"

"A disgusting, perverted creep. Get some self-awareness, trash."

"I wasn’t asking you, you perverted big-brother-obsessed freak. And for the record, I’m not a creep. I just love Rocco. It just so happens that right now, Rocco is small. You really don’t get it."

Rocco was fully aware of just how ridiculously obsessed Laxus was with him.

Rather than calling it love, fixation would probably be the more accurate term.

Even someone as dense as Rocco could recognize the heavy, all-consuming emotions directed at him.

More than anything, he knew about Laxus’s obsessive, borderline-deranged nature.

He had read about it many times in the original story.

Which was exactly why this didn’t make sense.

If Laxus were behaving like the possessive, yandere-type character he was in the original, there was no way he would just let Rocco go free after nearly being assaulted.

Laxus Del Fiore should’ve been the type to casually lock him away under the pretense of protection and surveillance.

In fact, in the original story, Laxus had done exactly that to Sylas without a shred of hesitation.

"Laxus, Laxus. Why? Why are you trying to make me meet Ares?"

"Hmm? Because it’s your choice, Rocco."

"Wrong! That’s not it! There has to be a reason! Even I can tell that much!"

Rocco tugged at the hem of Laxus’s clothes as he bickered playfully with Sylas.

Tell me already! he demanded with his actions, but all he got in return were evasive answers.

When he pouted in frustration, Laxus gave him a troubled smile.

"Hmm... But really, the best way to understand is to meet him in person."

There was something hidden in Laxus’s words, making Rocco tilt his head in confusion.

If Laxus was saying this much, then maybe the situation with Ares was more complicated than it seemed.

Seeing those murky red eyes again was a little scary, but...

"...Hmm."

Rocco squeezed Laxus’s hand, and as if sensing his feelings, Laxus tightened his grip in return.

"Alright! That wraps up the difficult talk. Now, let’s move on to discussing our engagement."

"That conversation isn’t over, you bastard. Die."

As Rocco wavered between nervousness and anticipation about meeting Ares again, Laxus abruptly took a sharp turn into a completely different topic.

The shift was so sudden that even Sylas, who usually had sharp comebacks, could only manage a half-hearted insult.

Normally, he’d at least throw in some solid logic—this was just straight-up verbal abuse.