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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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The eve of the festival, greeted by a bright full moon.
-Clip, clop.
Long, dark purple hair.
A woman dressed in a cadet uniform walked along the cloister bathed in moonlight.
She was a beauty of unparalleled splendor.
Her straight hair reached her waist, accentuating her slender figure,
And her features, as if touched by the hand of God, added the finishing touch to her enchanting aura.
Her presence was so overwhelming that wherever she passed, a hush fell over the crowd.
The only clues the cadets, who could only gaze at her from afar, could gather about her were from her attire.
The thin, long longbow and hand crossbow slung across her back, and the black finger guard, hinted at who she might be.
“Ah!”
Just then, someone spoke to the woman as she walked towards her destination.
It was Diena Ashkar, Claris’s archery professor.
“I heard you arrived, Violet.”
“Professor.”
“We agreed to drop the ‘Professor’ title, remember?”
Despite her words, Diena wore a broad smile.
Violet Decrescent.
Diena, who was called a master archer, was proud of her lovely and cherished pupil wherever she went.
No, she could no longer be called a pupil.
Even though she was a third-year student at the academy, she possessed skills exceeding those of the fourth-years, a level only a select few reached.
The Decrescent family was a prestigious lineage among human archers whose blessing in archery had not been broken,
And they were the only remaining hope when archers were replaced by elves during the long war.
Moreover, since Violet was an only daughter, she must have been treated like a princess in her family.
‘I’m just worried that she’s too cold…’
Having little emotional fluctuation was a good trait for an archer who needed to be calm,
But Diena’s only concern was that she might appear to lack human warmth.
“Are you going straight to the committee tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Oh dear, not even a day’s rest…”
Diena wanted to catch up with her student after a long time, but it was impossible.
Claris was busy preparing for the festival,
And after the festival, the student council would have to select the hero candidates.
With a hint of regret, Diena let her go.
.
.
.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Hall of Culture.
Shortly after the social dance practice ended.
-Can we team up for the treasure hunt tomorrow?
-I don’t see why not. But wouldn’t the reward distribution be awkward?
-That’s true…
-Still, if you want to get something big, a team is the way to go, right…?
Simple refreshments were prepared in the hall where the lively dancing had taken place.
It was probably a formality, a rehearsal for the parties that would follow the ball.
The cadets had already caught the mood and were gathered in small groups, chatting.
-It’s Senior Yeriel!
-I’ve never seen her in person before…
-Hello, Senior Yeriel!
“Ah, yes! Hello!”
Even while greeting the surrounding cadets, the image of the ring was still lingering in Yeriel’s mind.
Aria, and Lev.
-I left something behind. I need to go quickly.
-Ah, yes!
-Lady Yeriel, me too. I have an urgent call from the Hall of Restoration…
-It’s alright, go ahead!
Lev had disappeared, saying he had urgent business.
Aria also said she had to return to prepare for tomorrow’s schedule.
She couldn’t bring herself to ask Lev to go together.
The reason was…
‘I’m really so oblivious…’
There were actually quite a few instances.
During the dungeon investigation, the two were embracing each other,
-Lev, where did you leave your girlfriend while you’re hitting on my cute junior?
-Right, are you perhaps cheating on her? I’m sure you said you had a girl…friend… who could use healing magic… Huh?
Scarlet and Dustin’s key testimonies.
And decisively, the ring she had seen in the capital…
‘……’
Now that she thought all that was left was to truly accept it,
Yeriel’s heart ached.
It felt like she had lost something precious.
‘It’s okay! Lev can’t be a possession…!’
His choice to like someone was entirely his own.
Just like the affection Yeriel felt for Lev, it should naturally be respected.
Even just the relationship between a dorm supervisor and a resident was enjoyable.
‘It’ll be hard to see him in the second semester…’
But, if she continued to teach him magic, wouldn’t she be able to see him, even if only for a short while?
‘Lev’s growth rate is too fast…’
To do that, Yeriel resolved to dedicate herself even more to her studies.
As a colleague, as a fellow student.
He was a good person even with just that kind of relationship…
‘So… Yeriel, it’s okay. Yes.’
The problem was, it wasn’t just that her heart ached.
-Thump!
‘Huh…?’
Something… an emotion that should never be awakened, felt like it was about to surface.
It was completely against her true feelings… it was beyond her will.
‘Wait…’
Just then, as if on cue, Melissa approached Yeriel with a drink.
“Senior Yeriel!”
“Ah… Melissa…?”
“Try this!”
“Thank you! You can speak casually to me…!”
“Okay, I will!”
Edwin was next to Melissa, who smiled brightly.
“Yeriel, where are Lev and Aria?”
“They left earlier because they had something to do…!”
“It’s not training again, is it?!”
Melissa reacted with exasperation at those words.
“Edwin, I don’t think there’s anyone who trains more than you…”
“Is that so?”
.
.
.
‘What was that emotion earlier…?’
The impulsive emotion that had surged for a moment subsided as quickly as it had appeared.
Yeriel, having calmed down a bit, looked at Edwin calmly and tried to think of other things.
‘Were these two this close…?’
Originally, Edwin spent most of his time training alone.
He seemed to have become more popular after the duel with Kaelan.
“Hey, Edwin.”
This time, a brown-haired man with glasses approached.
It was Dylan, a Rank S vanguard lancer.
“I’m late in saying this… but I enjoyed watching your match in the ranking battles.”
“Huh?”
“I shared a waiting room with that Kaelan guy. Heh. When I told him his match with you was set, the look on his face was priceless.”
“Right, I knew that guy would end up like that!”
Raymond Rolleno, the knight who had been miserably defeated by Kaelan, also chimed in.
“I hear he’s been out of sight lately?”
“Probably ran away. Heh heh.”
-……
At the sudden mention of Kaelan, Melissa’s expression subtly crumpled,
And Yeriel stepped in to mediate.
“Everyone, stop. It’s not good to badmouth someone when they’re not here.”
“You’re right. My apologies.”
Dylan immediately apologized.
Even though they were the same age, Yeriel was the second-year magic department’s top student; there was nothing to gain from getting on her bad side.
And as if he had been waiting for this moment, he brought up the main point.
“The Royal Class, was it… That circle Kaelan created, I wonder what happened to it?”
“……”
Dylan’s gaze was blatantly directed at Melissa.
Perhaps it was mere venting.
Kaelan, to suit his taste, had tried to recruit only the most outstanding among the Rank S students.
Dylan was extremely annoyed that Kaelan had shown no interest in him. It fueled his inferiority complex.
-……
Conversely, Melissa had nothing to say, even if she had two mouths.
After entering the Royal Class circle, she had abandoned Edwin.
In the silence that followed, the one who spoke was Edwin.
“Melissa, the fact that you helped me remains unchanged. I’d rather not distance myself over something like that.”
“Edwin…”
“Ha, really.”
Impressed by Edwin’s gullibility, Dylan shook his head and moved to the next table.
“Um… Edwin, I’m sorry! I missed the timing to apologize…”
“It’s fine, what’s important is the future.”
Edwin smiled generously.
‘…Why is this person so foolishly kind?’
Melissa thought that her eyes weren’t wrong after all.
In her mind, her evaluation of Edwin had been completely revised.
Kind, considerate, and quite decent-looking.
‘That’s not what’s important right now.’
More importantly, since Abelin had yielded, she needed to make the most of this opportunity.
What Melissa needed to think about was the pure white woman standing right next to Edwin.
Yeriel.
‘They said they met during the dungeon investigation, right…?’
The female cadet Edwin had met while Melissa was doing the field training with Kaelan’s party.
She was as pretty as a doll,
And her personality was as nice as her gentle voice.
A multi-talented individual with the title of the second-year magic department’s top student…
She could understand why Edwin sometimes stared at her blankly.
‘This might be a bit dangerous…?’
Melissa felt it was time to be more proactive.
“Edwin…! We’re going together tomorrow, right?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Don’t tell me… you’re going to back out now after being my partner today…?”
“Ah, right. Two is better than one…”
“What? You should be honored that I’m being your partner!”
“Yeah. I understand.”
Edwin eventually agreed to accompany her, unable to resist Melissa’s advances.
And Melissa looked at Yeriel with a triumphant expression.
Edwin, who seemed uncomfortable with the situation, was a bonus.
“…?”
But Yeriel responded with a pure smile.
To her, it was merely someone else’s thoughts.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Behind the magic tool shop, the commercial district alley with a waterway.
The clear water flowing through the channel beautifully reflected the bluish moonlight.
And I… was looking for something.
“It should be around here.”
There was only one reason I left the Hall of Culture early.
I wondered if I could find any clues about the Gate of the Underworld if I went to the academy’s commercial district, the location where the demonic beasts were supposed to appear.
However, the location was vaguely described in the book, and the Claris Academy’s grounds were larger than expected, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact spot.
‘If only I could find it…’
Since a dimensional gate required a very complex and elaborate spell,
In [The Reincarnated Hero], it usually took one or two days to summon a dimensional gate without the aid of a magic tower.
Therefore, I thought I should be able to feel the flow of mana by now, and if possible, I planned to interfere with it, even if only slightly…
‘The author made up some ridiculous setting…’
Even though teleportation was definitely a high-level magic, it didn’t require any prior preparation or groundwork…
No matter how bad the author was… I didn’t think he would have made it that absurd…
‘Let’s check that alley one last time.’
Just as I was about to enter the outskirts of the commercial district,
I heard a languid voice from behind.
‘…What are you doing heeere…?’
A voice that was instantly etched in my mind the moment I first heard it.
The Great Demon, Yelody Ratasia.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Melissa……sigh, she is polarizing.
Yeriel should stay away from sharp objects now
Tf is wrong with Melissa? First she have crush on Karlan,now on Edwin. I bet Lev is next
Both her and aveline are hoes. The story made it blatantly clear they’re shallow af and will flock to the guy they think is more useful and stronger in a sec.