Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]-Chapter 97: The Empty Annex

Even though Rocco had tried to curry favor with the protagonists to survive, he still had his pride.

He wasn’t about to let himself be humiliated without fighting back.

So what if this tantrum made his survival odds worse?

So what if the looming sense of danger grew stronger?

He didn’t care anymore.

"W-wait! Wait, Master—Rocco! I was wrong, okay? Please?" Laxus pleaded, panicking.

"Shut up, shut uuuup! I don’t care about you anymore, Laxus! I don’t care about doggy Laxus, either! You’re nothing to me now!" Rocco wailed.

"Rocco... You’re right. Forget about that worthless scumbag. Let’s just—" Sylas began.

"You too, Brother! I don’t care about you either! Go ahead and smooch it up with Laxus all you want! Just because you’re a little cool and stylish doesn’t mean you can make a fool of me!"

Ignoring their flustered attempts to stop him, Rocco cut them both off with a dramatic hand gesture and stormed out of the room.

Even as their anxious voices called after him, Rocco paid them no mind.

With tears streaming down his face, he burst out of the room, crying, "Waaahhh!" in a messy, emotional exit.

After storming out of the room, Rocco eventually calmed down and found himself sitting on the edge of a stairway.

It was a quiet, dimly lit staircase, far from any foot traffic.

No one would be coming up or down this way.

Curled up in the stillness, Rocco sat down while pondering his situation, feeling utterly lost.

"No room to go back to..." he muttered.

That’s right.

Rocco had realized—far too late—that the room he had stormed out of earlier was his very own.

The place he’d dramatically fled from was, in fact, his bedroom.

Now, there was no "home" to retreat to after running away.

There was no way he could just march back in and nonchalantly say, "Oops, this was my room after all!"

He couldn’t face Laxus and Sylas again so soon, not until their presence had completely disappeared from the area.

What now?

The mansion’s main building was teeming with dangerous mafia and assassins, making his own room the only safe haven. freёwebnoѵel.com

Sleeping anywhere else in this house was out of the question.

"I really am unloved, aren’t I..."

Maybe it was the dim and gloomy surroundings, but a wave of negativity started swirling in Rocco’s mind.

This was supposed to be his home, including the main building of the estate.

Yet here he was, miserably curled up in a dark corner, trembling like a lost child.

It was pathetic—ridiculously so.

Even in his own house, he couldn’t relax.

It was proof, wasn’t it?

Proof that no one in this family truly loved him.

This house didn’t want him.

He felt it most acutely when he was alone like this.

"Ragar, Georgio... everyone..."

Tears welled up in Rocco’s eyes as his thoughts turned to the happier days in the annex.

Sure, someone might scold him for whining like this—"You’re a mafia kid; toughen up!" But Rocco didn’t care.

Those peaceful, sweet days had been the happiest of his life.

He knew it was only his second day living in the main house.

Maybe it was a little soon to be giving up hope.

But wasn’t the very fact that he felt hopeless after just two days revealing enough?

This place offered nothing but dread: his father and brother, who wanted him dead; his nemesis, Laxus; and even the two protagonists, who had already tried to use and ridicule him.

It was all too much.

If only he could go back.

Back to the annex—the blood-soaked realities of the mafia aside, it was still infinitely more peaceful than this.

That was his real home.

His sanctuary.

Go back?

"That’s it... That’s it!"

Rocco’s face lit up with sudden determination.

A sudden thought made Rocco tilt his head in confusion.

Why was he feeling so down?

He’d been wallowing in gloom, but when he really thought about it, nothing catastrophic had happened.

The annex hadn’t disappeared, and his family hadn’t vanished.

That’s right—the annex was still there.

His refuge, his true home, was still waiting for him!

"I’ll go back! I’ll just go home!"

His eyes lit up with determination as he leapt to his feet.

With a burst of energy, he skipped the remaining steps of the staircase and sprinted toward the back entrance of the main house.

Taking the front gate, where he might be spotted, was far too risky.

It was technically against the rules, but at this moment, Rocco was far too eager to see his family to care.

Normally, he might hesitate, but his longing gave him the courage to press forward.

He snuck to the back door, opened the small, shadowy exit with a creak, and slipped through.

This door, meant primarily for gardeners and staff, led him straight into the familiar, dense forest.

The forest, of course, was still part of the Di Malvento estate.

While yesterday’s aimless wandering had resulted in him being caught by Sylas and his father, this time was different.

This time, there was no searching involved—just a clear path to his destination.

"Wait for me, everyone...!"

Without a second thought, and with his heart full of hope, Rocco dashed through the forest, his eyes gleaming with purpose.

The critical question of whether anyone had even remained at the annex after its master had left didn’t occur to him at all.

...

"...No way."

Rocco’s shoulders slumped as he muttered in disbelief.

Before him stretched the familiar lobby of the annex—a place that had, until just yesterday, been filled with a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

Now, however, it was eerily empty.

The air was cold and lifeless, with no trace of the bustling energy it once held.

Large pieces of furniture were draped in white cloths, giving the space the sterile appearance of an abandoned, albeit well-kept, mansion.

There hadn’t been many staff assigned to the annex, but they had existed.

Yet now, not a single soul was in sight.