I Became the Terminally Ill Character in My Friend’s Academy Novel – Chapter 54

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Should I just kill them all?

I could just slaughter them all right now.

Thanks to those who had been bothering me all day, I had a brief moment of madness, but I soon shook my head to clear my mind.

Ah, shit.

Being around those who kept making exaggerated gestures, I started to become similar to them, and these kinds of actions have been increasing for me lately.

“Why are you staying silent after suddenly coming here, Cadet Kang So-hyun?”

“Well, what I’m about to say to you will be quite shocking, and I’ll need the Chairman’s help in the future as well. Also, from my experience, I end up getting caught and misunderstood when I try to hide these things anyway. So I came here to confess everything.”

That was right. I came here to confess to the Chairman that I had taken down the villain who was playing the role of the student council vice president.

Why? Because I was planning to tell her from the beginning.

In academy stories, the protagonists often try to cover these things up, and they end up going down a dark path.

I won’t do that.

Of course, I’ll embellish a little because I’m scared of how she might react, but I won’t lie or anything.

“…That’s quite an intimidating statement, coming from someone who knows the future, but I understand that you’re not saying nonsense. So what happened?”

“Do you remember the student council vice president?”

“Seo In-young? He’s been diligently filling in for the student council president who is currently dispatched outside. He has a good reputation among the professors.”

I’m about to tell you that I killed that person, so please don’t set it up like that.

It makes it harder for me to say it.

“But sometimes, he seems a bit empty.”

“Ah, um. Actually, he’s not empty, he’s not a person at all. Ah, I don’t mean that he’s a bad guy. What I mean is he’s literally not a human.”

“What?”

“I told you before that I have information about the future, right? It’s related to that, but please look at this first.”

I handed her the evidence I had collected.

Most of the villain’s artifacts, including the Puppeteer’s Tea Party, lost their function as relics when their contracted user died, but the artifacts themselves didn’t disappear.

There should be residual magic and traces of the user left within them, so they should be enough as evidence.

“The person named Seo In-young was an identity created by the villain using a relic. His appearance was fake, and his background was all fabricated. He kept attending the academy, and each time he graduated, he faked his death in some way and reenrolled as a new student, changing his face every time.”

The Chairman looked flustered by the sudden downpour of information, but fortunately, she was nodding along for now.

“I see. We were still investigating things because we thought there might still be traitors inside the academy, but I didn’t expect them to be disguised as a student. So where is he now?”

The time had finally come.

If I tried to lie or deceive her here, she would notice immediately.

“He’s dead.”

“…What did you say?”

“No, wait a minute. Me saying that he’s dead is a bit cowardly. Yes, it sounds like he had an accident or something. That’s not it. I killed him.”

The Chairman’s gaze towards me turned a little cold.

“You killed him?”

“Yes, I judged that he was a threat to the security of the academy and the world, and that he was dangerous if not dealt with immediately, so I took care of him myself.”

In principle, cadets were not allowed to execute villains summarily.

However, that was just in principle. In reality, it meant that they should be careful not to encounter villains, but if they did encounter one, they wouldn’t be penalized for killing them.

They might even get an award for doing so.

So the reason the Chairman was angry wasn’t that I killed the villain.

“…Couldn’t you have consulted someone else about it first?”

Instead, she was angry that I reached the conclusion of killing a dangerous villain alone without relying on anyone else even though I had this information.

This could be seen as an act of not trusting other heroes, and if interpreted extremely, it could be seen as arrogant.

“Yes, he was a villain who couldn’t be dealt with if there were more people.”

But there was no lie in my words.

If he had copied the Chairman’s cheat-like talent, I wouldn’t have had a chance to win.

And if a formal arrest team had been formed and other strong talents were added in, I didn’t even want to imagine what could happen then.

“The reason?”

“He had many relics, and his talent was dangerous. Ah, the Black Shadow that Seo In-young used to call his talent was a fake created using a relic, and his real talent is different. Please look at this for the details.”

It was time to reveal that the culprit was a guy she knew.

But it was a bit awkward for me to say it out loud, so I wrote it down on a piece of paper instead.

“This is…?”

She received the summary I had prepared in advance, and her expression darkened as she checked the contents before eventually letting out a sigh.

“If everything written here is true, how did you manage to deal with such a person?”

“I made him copy my talent.”

“Your talent…? Ah.”

“Yes, he exhausted his innate qi and self-destructed.”

“It’s impressive. It feels like you forced a non-existent strategy, but it’s certainly an effective one.”

“Yes, I dare say it was the best course of action.”

“…Cadet Kang So-hyun.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t doubt that what’s written here is a lie. You probably brought evidence, so it’s probably all true. I can see through simple lies, after all.”

“Yes, that’s why I didn’t even think about lying.”

“Then everything written here about the culprit’s details is also true?”

She looked distressed as if she hoped her senses were wrong this time, but everything written in the report was true.

“By the way, you don’t seem very surprised that I know about your identity?”

To explain the villain’s information, I had to write about her relationship with him, but she didn’t react much to that part.

Honestly, I worried about that part as much as I was worried about how to explain that I dealt with him on my own, but she let it go quite easily.

“When you told me honestly that you knew about the future, I had guessed that much. After all, it was a big secret to tell someone who just became the Chairman.”

Ah, that was true.

So you knew all along and let it slide.

“So? Is this information really true?”

“Yes, unfortunately. The culprit is the attendant who served you when you were one of the Forest Sages as a High Elf. His name is Latis Erbashun. Do you remember him?”

She would remember.

In the original story, even at the moment of her death, she remembered him.

“…Yes, he followed me well. He was also the one who was most saddened when I left the forest. I can’t believe he would do this because of the shock of being betrayed by me.”

…Huh? That wasn’t it though?

“…Why do you have that expression?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Wait, should I say here?

Hmm, being remembered as a psychopathic revenge seeker by someone he once respected, or being remembered as a crazy person with abnormal desires by someone he once respected.

Which path would protect his honor?

Obviously, a revenge seeker was better than a person with perverted fetishes.

“He didn’t act out of revenge towards you.”

But sometimes, I was a man who loved the truth. I had no obligation to protect a villain’s honor, and I had a reason to tell the Chairman the truth.

“Then why did he…?”

“Among the evidence I submitted, there is a relic that revives the dead as puppets who are not quite dead.”

“Yes…?”

Even after hearing this, she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about.

“So, he was going to use that relic to make you forever his.”

“…What?”

Ah, the light in the Chairman’s eyes disappeared.

Yes, the truth was sometimes cruel.

Honestly, I knew she would be upset.

Still, I had to tell her this, so I couldn’t just gloss over it.

“Honestly, if it’s true, I don’t feel very good.”

“Um, I understand that you’re shocked, but can I continue?”

“Yes…”

The Chairman seemed quite drained, but she seemed to think that she still needed to hear it.

“There are still elves who are targeting you for reasons similar to his. He was a bit extreme though.”

In the original story, he succeeded in monopolizing her until the moment of his death, but she didn’t enter eternal rest after he died.

There were other forces targeting her besides him.

“To some, you are a symbol, and to others, you are an object of desire. You’re a very attractive existence.”

“…This is the first time that I’ve found my ageless appearance unpleasant.”

“Well, what I wanted to tell you is to be careful, which is why I reported this to you.”

“If this is true, does that make Cadet Kang So-hyun my savior?”

I wonder? It’s true that I saved her from death, but can I be called a savior?

Based on the description in the original story that she didn’t resent him even as she died, she probably still had affection for the elves as much as she did for the humans.

Even though he was a villain, I killed one of her connections without permission, so it would be a bit bad to call myself a savior here.

“You still seem to have a lot of useless thoughts. Knowing about the future might not be such a good thing.”

“That’s true. I have a lot to do, so it’s a big problem for me.”

“I’ll take care of the reward. As for the announcement, I’m sorry but…”

“I’d rather you didn’t announce it, and I don’t need a reward either. To be honest, I took some of his relics for myself.”

“…I see?”

I couldn’t tell if her strangely bitter expression was because of me or the villain.

Anyway, the report was over, and I was able to warn her to be careful, so I could go back now.

As I was about to leave, the Chairman called out to me again.

“Cadet Kang So-hyun.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll consider that you didn’t ask for help this time because it was unavoidable.”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right?”

“Right, if it’s not a situation like this, make sure to get help. That’s all I have to say.”

“Yes…? Of course. I’m not the type of person who likes to solve everything on my own.”

The Chairman’s expression as she looked at me seemed to not believe my words at all.

…No, I’m being serious here though?

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I thought everything was already over after reporting to the Chairman, but unfortunately, I had one more thing to do today.

I should be starting to prepare for the exam soon, so why am I so busy?

But if I ignored this call, I would probably suffer more in many ways, so I decided to go to the meeting place.

It wasn’t much of a meeting place, actually.

I just told her that I had something to do first, so we decided to meet at a nearby cafe after I was done with my business.

When I opened the door of the cafe I often go to, I saw the familiar face of the person I was meeting in a corner seat.

“If you’re alone, come hang out with us.”

“Ah, do you want a drink? It’s on us.”

But she was accompanied by a blond tanned delinquent and a guy with squinty eyes. Damn it.

What the hell? Are these guys crazy…?

The pink chihuahua, who was sitting in her seat and drinking chamomile tea, was being hit on by otherworldly residents who had broken through the dimensional wall.

Ah, for reference, chamomile has calming and pain-relieving effects, but considering Yoo-na’s personality, there was a high probability that the calming effect wouldn’t be enough to stop her desire from tearing apart the guys in front of her.

“Hey…!”

I decided to extend a helping hand to the guys who were about to die a manly death just by talking to a girl.

“What are you doing…!?”

Why are these guys throwing away their lives so easily? You’re so young…! You can still start over!

If you don’t want to die, hit on another girl, not her!

“Huh? What’s this now?”

“Who are you, her boyfriend? You look like a loser.”

But these bastards dared to repay my kindness with insults and even tried to bury me while spouting such nonsense.

I quickly scanned Yoo-na’s expression and shouted loudly.

“You crazy bastards…! Who are you trying to kill…!?”

“W-what? Are you not?”

“What do you mean by are you not…? Don’t you know that once you say something, you can’t take it back…? I tried to help you because you seemed like you wanted to die, but you repay my kindness with insults instead…?”

When I looked at them with a truly desperate expression, they started exchanging glances.

“If you knew who you were hitting on, you’d be thanking me. Get lost while she’s still holding back, you lunatics…!”

“W-wha… what? This guy’s crazy!”

“Hey, let’s just go. Yeah.”

Phew, I saved two more foolish idiots today.

At this rate, I’ll get a free pass to heaven.

The problem was that I had to deal with Yoo-na alone now, but maybe she would forgive me if I bowed my head?

Chuckle.

But unexpectedly, Yoo-na was laughing.

“Yeah, you’re really quick-witted.”

It was a beautiful smile, but her words meant that if I had been a little late, there would have been two more young men in the world who were either impotent or had a disability equivalent to it.

“Order something and sit down. I have something to say.”

“Yes.”

After this, I really needed to rest.

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T/N – I didn’t expect the MC to come clean with the Chairman. But in hindsight, it was the best move he could make. Though he should really just take the rewards being offered to him.

Also, I wonder what Yoo-na wants to talk about with the MC. Hmmmm…

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.