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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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I had my share of incidents and a life that could be considered depressing, but I didn’t actually hate it.
To be precise, I used to hate it, but memories, whether good or bad, fade over time, and at some point, they become what I call “nostalgia.”
I think I started to feel that my life wasn’t so bad around the middle of middle school.
“You don’t even have parents!?”
“Yes, unfortunately, they abandoned me and ran away. I don’t have any. Do you, teacher?”
It was especially satisfying when I could fluster someone who insulted my parents in public.
I simply refuted a delinquent who was picking on me for being an orphan with perfect logic, saying “Oh, I didn’t receive proper home education because I don’t have parents, but you’re acting like this even though both of yours are alive and well, so I guess I’m better than you! You idiot.” But for some reason, a fight broke out, and the teacher tried to blame me for it.
So, I brought it to the school violence committee and made it a big deal, and then he insulted my parents, so I just retaliated.
Ah, of course, I recorded it. I would report him if he messed with me.
When I told my friend about it, she called me crazy and laughed for a long time.
Was it that strange?
“Of course, it’s strange, you crazy bastard! You’re seriously the biggest weirdo I’ve ever met!”
“Hey, if I were truly crazy, then that teacher who insulted my parents wouldn’t be teaching anymore. I’m just threatening him with the recording, not actually using it.”
Well, it was a shitty life, but I was used to it.
I made some friends, took care of my annoying but cute younger siblings, and I would start working after graduating middle school, which was compulsory education.
Right, it wasn’t that I didn’t hate it. Rather, I was just used to it.
To put it more bluntly, I missed the timing for suicide.
I was holding on well enough that it felt like a waste for me to die now.
Ah, and after that incident, my standing among the kids actually improved a bit, even though I thought it would plummet.
They liked that I stood up to the annoying delinquent and the teacher.
But I wasn’t being brave, I just had nothing to lose.
I was just living recklessly because I had nothing to lose and had no future that I wanted.
Having nothing to lose… That was a foolish delusion.
Anyway, this was probably the most enjoyable period of my life.
Because I was so weak, I even had to eat tomatoes, which I hated, because that bastard told me to eat vegetables. And when that delinquent came back for revenge, the student council president came to my rescue while saying that school violence was unacceptable.
And there was that time I ran an underground gambling ring with my friends during the school sports day and got caught by the teachers. It was a fun time.
“Ah, shit. We almost got away with it.”
“Are you the crazy bastard of this area?”
“Ah, I know you tried to manipulate the results and make some money too. I was just letting you off easy.”
“Oh, you knew? How loyal!”
“Bullshit. You’d be dead if you weren’t my friend.”
Ah, I remembered that this girl, who just looked like a long-haired dude when we were kids, started taking care of her appearance around this time.
It was probably because she had made friends outside of the orphanage, just like me.
…Ah, it wasn’t like I had a crush on her or anything.
We were just friends, like siblings.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“…Hey, we’re friends, right? Will you stay friends with me no matter what?”
“No, I’ll immediately cut ties with you and run away if you try to stab me with a knife or ask me to be your guarantor. So don’t try anything funny, crazy bitch.”
“Ah! It’s not like that! You’re such a mood killer.”
“Well, I’ll probably stay friends with you unless something serious happens, right? Why? We’ve lived together and have seen each other at our best and worst, so what’s the problem?”
“…No, I’ll tell you when I’m more certain.”
“Are you filming a horror movie? Just say it. People who say things like that die quickly.”
“…You really have a way with words, you crazy bastard.”
“I’m just saying~”
Well, like all survivors, we had a shitty life, but it had its enjoyable moments.
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“Ugh…!”
The Succubus Queen tried to fly away, but her wings were paralyzed by the pursuing lightning, and she crashed to the ground.
This was bad.
The matchup was terrible.
She thought she could at least avoid taking damage, even if she couldn’t go on the offensive, but that assumption crumbled after the boy with the holy light appeared.
The parts hit by the holy light still stung, and even the weapons wielded by the others started leaving proper wounds on her, perhaps due to the light’s influence.
It wasn’t even a fight. It was just a one-sided massacre where even the other children who came back after sensing that she was in danger were helpless.
She was more frustrated by the fact that her dream, which was so close to being realized, was crumbling so pathetically than by her approaching death.
Succubi were never viewed favorably.
In the demon world, except for the lucky few who succeeded, they were treated as low-class prostitutes, and humans viewed them with disgust and fear.
Even those who seemed amicable with them were either fetishists or were just looking for an easy lay.
Very rarely…
…Very rarely, there were good people who genuinely tried to understand and help succubi, but they were killed due to the race’s cursed fate.
They were a strange race with no distinction between love and appetite.
A race that loved obsessively, draining their partners to the limit and then laughing with satisfied appetites before even feeling sadness.
A lowly race of demons who couldn’t even suppress their instincts before reaching the intermediate level.
A race always consumed by lust which clouded their minds, and even after reaching the intermediate level, they simply became aware of their own depravity.
She wanted to change that.
She wanted to create a world where at least the children under her care could overcome their instincts.
If there was a dream world always filled with vital energy, a world where they could help each other by fulfilling the desires of those who powered it…
Wouldn’t even low-ranking children be able to live decent lives?
The vital energy of one or two people wasn’t enough. But with so many people, wouldn’t she be able to extract enough high-quality vital energy without killing them?
Was it a mistake to rely on this unknown Authority?
Was it a mistake to try and overcome the limitations of her race?
Or was it a mistake to want to see him again?
The Holy Sword’s light tore through her wounds.
A sharp blade touched her neck.
“…Release the dream world and surrender. I was taught that Queen-level succubi can control their desires. No one is dead or seriously injured yet, so if you release them, we can reduce your sentence.”
The brown-haired boy had matured quite a bit.
Judging by the strong scent of her daughter on him, were they lovers?
And judging by the scent of innocence, they must be enjoying a fresh, young love.
Hmm, not bad, but not satisfying either. He was still indecisive and hesitant.
He also didn’t seem to fully grasp the cruelty of what he was asking her to do.
To abandon her fellow succubi who followed her, to give up on the dream she was so close to achieving, and to bow her head just to survive.
To abandon the children who called her Queen and settle for mediocrity.
But the boy then spoke as if to prove her wrong.
“I know.”
“…What?”
The Holy Sword at her neck flashed ominously.
“I know what you’re thinking, why you did this, considering your race and circumstances, and what burden you carry. Even so, I’m still telling you this. Surrender. You’ve lost.”
Ah, I see. I thought he was still immature, but this was his final warning.
If she resisted any further, this boy would mercilessly cut her down.
What she thought was hesitation was actually mercy, and what she thought was indecisiveness was actually kindness.
It seemed like someone had guided this still-developing child closer to completion.
If he understood that sometimes you had to cut someone down to protect others, it wouldn’t be so bad to die by his hand.
“…Are you done talking?”
“…Do you have any last words?”
“No. When this world disappears, there won’t be any of my children left.”
Ah, if she couldn’t see him one last time, she at least wanted to see her daughter.
But she couldn’t burden her like that, even if she was her mother.
She would bury this secret in her heart, where no one would know.
The Holy Sword shone, purifying the surrounding demonic energy.
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Middle school graduation ceremony.
The last time I enjoyed school life ended, and I chose to enter society earlier than others.
Well, there wasn’t any particular reason.
I didn’t have anything I wanted to become, and I didn’t have the means to become anything either.
So, I needed money first.
I got introduced to the older kids from the orphanage who had decent jobs and started working while getting yelled at constantly.
It was common to have my wages stolen since I didn’t have a guardian, and I often took the blame for other people’s mistakes.
But it wasn’t as frustrating as I thought.
I had already experienced too much to be frustrated by this, and the people I thought were thugs didn’t give me as much of a hard time once I got used to the work.
Anyway, society was shitty, but it was a familiar environment.
“…Are you really not going to school?”
“…Huh?”
During the winter of my sixteenth year, when everyone else was playing around, the director, perhaps having lost his mind, spoke to me while I was working.
I stared at him blankly, wondering if he had gone crazy, and he coughed and said.
“I thought you wanted to become a teacher. Or at least a daycare teacher.”
“…I don’t know why you’re suddenly talking to me, but we weren’t that close.”
“You still haven’t forgotten? That’s why you’re…”
“Ah, shut the hell up. I was trying to be respectful since you’re the director. Just keep your mouth shut and don’t cause any trouble.”
I roughly cut him off as I knew what he was about to say.
We weren’t close anyway. An unpleasant housemate, that was our relationship.
“Is it too late?”
“Too late for what?”
“Too late for me to reflect and turn my life around?”
“Yes, it’s way too late. What are you going to do at your age? I’m just letting you be because I need a director for the orphanage, because I need your name.”
Honestly, even talking to him made me feel disgusted. I just wanted to hit him.
Respect for the elderly? I threw that away along with my faith in humanity a long time ago.
Assaulting the elderly? That was more my style.
“You’d be dead by my hand if it weren’t for that.”
“…Is that so?”
He just turned around with a resigned expression.
Yeah, since you haven’t done anything until now, then don’t do anything from now on either. You’re annoying.
…Well, there was that minor incident, but it was fine.
It was part-time work, and I only learned miscellaneous skills, but it felt good to earn money, to feel like I was building up to something.
Sometimes, when I worked at restaurants, my friends would come and buy food from me, and when I worked at factories or labor agencies, I was praised for being young and diligent.
I set a goal and started saving, and I occasionally bought snacks, imitating Ms. Cathy, with the leftover money.
Around that time, I finally learned to smile properly, not just frown.
As time passed and winter ended, as March approached, she came to me while wearing her school uniform proudly.
Surprisingly, the tomboy had become a pretty high school girl.
Just a year ago, high school students seemed like adults, but seeing her like that felt strange.
“Hey! Are you jealous!”
“Wow… this bitch is teabagging me? Where’s your conscience?”
“What are you talking about? You should have worn one too if you were jealous. It would have been nice if you attended high school with me. I wanted to see you in a uniform…”
“Who’s going to earn money if I go to school?”
There was a limit to our support funds.
The director pretended to have changed, but he was old and weak.
There were others who tried to earn money, but none of them were willing to invest it in the orphanage.
So, I was planning to instead.
“I’ll remodel the place when I hit it big as an author.”
“…Oh, you’re saying that like it’s a given?”
“Yeah, so help me with my new novel. I’ve already finished the basic setting!”
“What is it this time? The one with the Imugi going ‘Krwara krwara!’ wasn’t fun.”
“Ah, it’s not like that~ This time, it’s for real. I even have a title.”
“What is it?”
“The Holy Sword Hero of the Academy! How’s that? Sounds cool, right? Academy stories are trendy nowadays!”
“…I’ve read quite a few web novels thanks to you, but can I be honest?”
“Of course! Praise me, you ignorant fool.”
“…It sounds generic.”
“Hey…!!!! Read the setting first! My motto! Different from others! Huh!? Don’t you know!?”
…Why wouldn’t I know? You failed so many times because of that.
Work was exhausting, my meager savings weren’t growing, I had to buy snacks for the kids, and on top of that, I had to read her web novel settings in my free time.
But it was still okay.
I had a goal. So, I could endure it.
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T/N – Okay. The real author just up and confirmed the identity of the author friend. Though whether she is also the jackass Creator who keeps making the MC’s life miserable is still up in the air.
Also, the Succubus Queen got beaten as expected, but it didn’t feel satisfying. Her beatdown wasn’t described with enough detail. And no, no amount of sob stories will ever improve my impression of her.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
