I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 31

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

 
“Today……”

Tears flowed down Schlus’ cheeks.

“I miss you so much……”

At that ardent cry, Trie felt her heart being torn.

Even though she didn’t know who Julia was. Even though she didn’t know what kind of relationship Schlus and she had.

It felt like Schlus’ emotions were being conveyed directly.

‘I should go……’

She had seen something unexpected.

Maybe it was something Schlus didn’t want others to know.

So deciding to pretend she didn’t see anything today, Trie was about to turn around.

Snap-

It was the moment she stepped on a branch and broke it.

“Who’s there?”

“……!”

Trie sat down with a thud, covering her mouth.

Fortunately, she would be hidden from Schlus’ view by the tombstone.

She held her breath and waited for Schlus to dismiss his suspicion, but-

“Don’t hide your body and come out. Otherwise, I’ll consider you an enemy and attack.”

There was no sign of him letting it go.

In the end, Trie had no choice but to slowly stand up while shrinking back.

“……Trie.”

“Sorry. For peeking.”

I thought he would be angry.

But Schlus only sighed. He didn’t show much displeasure.

“Can you keep it a secret?”

“What……”

“Everything you saw here today.”

“Ah, yeah. Got it.”

Trie nodded vigorously in agreement.

If she could be forgiven just by keeping her mouth shut, she would gladly do so.

It was clearly her fault for secretly following and spying on someone.

“But hey.”

Still, she couldn’t help but be curious.

About who Julia was. What kind of relationship they had.

“If it’s not rude, may I ask what kind of relationship you had with that person?”

Trie was also the type who couldn’t rest until she found out when she became curious.

Schlus, who had been staring intently at the tombstone, smiled and parted his lips.

“I’m sorry, Trie.”

“Ah. Sorry……”

“A precious person.”

“Huh?”

“To me, she was a person more precious than anything else.”

“……”

At that bitter smile, Trie’s mouth closed.

It seemed like an old story that he could now talk about with a smile, but even so, the magnitude of his emotions didn’t seem to have diminished at all.

“Let’s head back.”

Following Schlus, who turned his footsteps, Trie walked in silence.

She wanted to pry more if she could, but seeing Schlus’ face, she didn’t have the nerve to do so.

“By the way, you don’t have any aftereffects or anything, right?”

“Aftereffects? What are you talking about?”

“The aftereffects of the stab wound.”

“……There’s nothing like that.”

Schlus looked down at Trie with an expression that seemed to say she was talking nonsense.

Realizing she had worried for nothing, Trie’s cheeks slightly reddened.

*

“Julia von Iceburg……”

Trie, who had returned to the mansion, repeated the name she had seen at the cemetery.

He had said she was a precious person.

Could she have been a lover…… Just as she was thinking that.

“Young lady. Where did that name come from?”

“Ah, head maid.”

The head maid approached with a puzzled expression and asked.

Come to think of it, I heard the head maid was from the northern region……

“Could it be that the head maid……”

“Yes. I’m from Iceburg. 10 years ago, I worked as a housekeeper for the Iceburg family.”

“Ah……”

It was a bingo.

The information she wanted was unexpectedly close by.

“Then you must know Julia von Iceburg as well, right?”

“Of course I do. I served Lady Julia.”

“Then head maid…… If it’s not unpleasant, could you tell me about Lady Julia?”

“Certainly, young lady.”

The head maid sat on the chair Trie pulled out for her with a kind smile.

It seemed the story would be quite long.

“Lady Julia was the daughter of Count Iceburg. She was a very beautiful person. As beautiful as you, young lady.”

“Don’t mix in flattery in the middle.”

“Yes, yes. Lady Julia became a hot topic for a while after Count Iceburg declared he would pass on his title to her. After she became unable to move due to an incurable disease, the succession was canceled, and the interest also faded.”

“……”

“After that, Lady Julia was confined to her room. As her body grew weaker by the day, I believe she didn’t want to show that appearance to others. Then the war broke out, and in the winter of the second year of the war, Lady Julia passed away.”

“Could it be because of the Kingdom’s army’s winter offensive?”

The second year of the war.

The Kingdom’s army’s unexpected counterattack occurred in the winter of that year.

I heard the Kingdom’s army had even reached Iceburg, but could it be at that time……

“No. Lady Julia passed away before the offensive. The Kingdom’s army arrived ten days after that.”

“Hmm…… I see. Then is Schlus Hainkel also from Iceburg?”

“Yes. That’s right. I remember he was the son of an Iceburg castle guard and was close with Lady Julia since childhood.”

“No way…… Then why didn’t you say anything until now?”

Trie let out a sigh in disbelief.

Schlus Hainkel had already become so famous in the capital that there was no one who didn’t know him.

Trie had also mentioned him a few times in front of the head maid.

But why did the head maid not say a word until now even though she knew him?

“Because you didn’t ask.”

“Pardon……?”

Trie was at a loss for words at the head maid’s smile.

“Everyone has a past they don’t particularly want to remember, young lady.”

“Is that so……”

“And until recently, I thought Schlus was dead.”

“……”

It seemed the head maid’s time in Iceburg wasn’t a very good memory for her.

***

“Julia.”

As soon as she entered the room, Madam Lichtenburg ran to her daughter.

Julia received the madam, who embraced her, with a smile.

It always felt like a sense of apology was being conveyed from that embrace.

“I have a favor to ask……”

“Yes, Mother. Please tell me.”

“I’m really sorry, but…… could you have dinner separately today?”

“……”

After a brief silence, Madam Lichtenburg hung her head deeply.

Even though Julia was suffering from an unknown illness, she had tried to give her love equally to Erica.

So leaving her alone like this at mealtime was something she would never do under normal circumstances.

“Is a guest coming?”

“……”

When hit right on the mark, Madam Lichtenburg silently nodded her head.

At a young age, she was strangely mature and quick-witted.

If it weren’t for the illness, she would have used that smart brain to achieve excellent grades at school by now……

“It’s someone from Iceburg, right?”

“……”

Madam Lichtenburg nodded her head again.

“And someone who knows Julia von Iceburg.”

“……Yes. That’s right.”

Julia had seen through everything.

Even so, Julia only smiled as if she had already accepted it.

That unwarranted maturity didn’t sit well with Madam, so she bit her lip.

“You know too. If someone like that meets you…… something unpleasant will happen.”

Julia of Iceburg and this child were completely different people. At least that’s what Madam believed.

But people who knew Julia of Iceburg would say strange things as soon as they saw this child.

That she looked exactly like Lady Julia. Seeing that even the name was the same, it must be Lady Julia’s reincarnation.

Those people kept superimposing the image of someone already dead onto her daughter.

Even though they just had the same name and looked similar.

At those times, Julia would also make a troubled expression.

Perhaps the reason Julia didn’t want to go outside much was also partly due to the fear of running into such people.

“I understand, Mother. I’ll have dinner with the maids in the staff cafeteria.”

“Yes…… I’m really sorry, my daughter. For putting you through this.”

“No. It’s not your fault, Mother.”

Madam Lichtenburg hugged Julia once more.

As Madam was about to shed tears of apology-

‘It’s actually my fault.’

Julia muttered inwardly.

***

Today, I was holed up in the training room as usual, spending my days no differently than any other.

Swinging the sword. Trying to read through the major textbooks……

It was when I realized I had forgotten something…… Right.

When my leg got scratched on the floor and got injured.

“Tch. It’s bleeding quite a bit.”

It was a simple abrasion.

The skin wasn’t even peeled off.

Just a little bit of the outer layer was scraped off.

So it wasn’t bleeding a lot, but the area of the wound was wide, making it quite troublesome to treat.

“Ah. Recovery potion.”

Come to think of it, there were recovery potions in the store.

It wasn’t a serious enough injury to spend coins on, but I thought it might be good to buy one to check the usage method and efficacy.

So when I opened the store window-

[Store]

[You can purchase items using Store Coins.]

[Coins owned: 11]

[Store Upgrade]

[Upgrading the store will add new items.]

“Right.”

I realized I had forgotten about the store upgrade.

I could upgrade the store for 10 coins.

I had plenty of coins since I had earned 10 coins from completing the quest on the Day of Magic.

“Should I do it? Or not?”

Honestly, the current items in the store weren’t anything special.

The Forbidden Elixir, which now cost 5 coins, was still worth buying, but it wasn’t as efficient as before.

As for recovery, if it was urgent, I could get it from Iris, so the recovery potions couldn’t provide much utility either.

So it seemed worth investing about 10 coins to see other items.

Events that required a rapid stat increase, like exploring the Whist Forest or the civil war, were still far away.

It seemed better to upgrade the store when I had some leeway.

“Alright. It’s decided.”

I immediately chanted the store upgrade inwardly.

[The store has been upgraded.]

[New items will be added to the list.]

“Tch.”

I had hoped for a bonus like when I opened the store last time, but there was none.

Then let’s check what was added.

[Item List]

[Forbidden Elixir]

[Low-grade Recovery Potion]

[High-grade Recovery Potion]

[The Day of Judgment]

[Elixir]

[Durandal]

The additions were the Elixir and Durandal.

Among them, what caught my attention was naturally-

“Ha. An Elixir?”

Elixir. It was the top-grade potion in the work, made from the extract of an extremely rare mushroom.

The Elixir boasted outstanding efficacy to the point where it could be called a panacea.

It nullifies any status abnormality and completely heals any injury.

Although it can’t regenerate lost body parts, if the cut surface is clean, pouring the Elixir can reattach the severed part.

In other words, it’s a cheat potion that can save someone from any situation that would lead to death, except for natural death from aging.

Because of its rarity, even the emperor of the Freya Empire, who had conquered the continent, would have to wait over a year to obtain an Elixir if he put out a search for it.

For reference, the effect of the Elixir doesn’t work on Julia’s illness.

Because it’s not an illness in the first place. It’s her fate itself, so it can’t be cured.

Just as she can’t escape the swamp of endless reincarnation, that incurable disease can’t be eliminated either.

“Let’s see, the price is……”

Going back to the topic of the Elixir, the price was important.

Of course, I didn’t expect such a cheat potion to be cheap, but-

[Elixir]

[Price: 50 Store Coins]

“Gah.”

The price exceeded my imagination.

It’s not like quests that give coins appear that often, and they want me to collect 50 of them.

It’s really flaunting the prestige of a panacea.

From now on, I’ll need to collect store coins quite intensively.

Because having an Elixir could come in handy anytime, anywhere.

The first thing that comes to mind is that it might be useful in many situations when the civil war breaks out.

But I don’t think I can collect 50 by then.

“Durandal……”

The item added along with the Elixir was Durandal.

It’s a sword modeled after the legendary holy sword.

In the work, the one who uses this is the Majin Tilpitz.

At this point, it would be before Tilpitz acquired Durandal.

But if I buy it in advance, what happens……?

I don’t think there will be two of them. Maybe Tilpitz won’t be able to obtain Durandal.

[Durandal]

[Price: 100 Store Coins]

“Ugh.”

All such worries were completely useless.

Because it was a price I couldn’t afford anyway.

Come to think of it, The Day of Judgment is the same. Why do the swords of major named characters keep entering the item list?

Are they telling me to become a sword merchant or something?

“Phew. That’s it for today.”

Thinking it was about time, I closed the store window and stood up.

When I opened the door of the training room, the sun had already set quite a bit without me realizing it.

“Miss Emilia. I’ll be having dinner out today.”

“Yes. You said you received a dinner invitation. From the Lichtenburg family……”

“That’s right.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Leaving behind Emilia, who bowed to see me off, I left the mansion.

Although it didn’t show on her face, I could tell as the author that she was very wary.

She was probably afraid that my stance would change as I interacted with the nobles.

After all, I had made it clear to the Intelligence Agency guys that I was for peace with the Kingdom.

She must be worried about what would happen if I became assimilated with the Empire’s vested interests and took the stance that the Kingdom must be erased from the continent.

I wanted to tell her that she could rest assured.

I was only going to test the waters with Madam Lichtenburg.

Of course, I knew Madam’s setting inside out, but I needed to check if there had been any changes to Madam while I was possessing this body and greatly altering the story.

They said they would send a carriage at 6 o’clock.

But it was only 4 o’clock, earlier than scheduled, so instead of waiting until 6, I decided to just walk.

I thought it might be rude to arrive earlier than the invited time, but I decided not to care too much.

It might not be bad to leave a strong impression even if I commit a bit of rudeness.

Whether it’s a good impression or a bad one.

“Is this the place?”

5 o’clock. I arrived earlier than expected.

This place, which could be reached by walking a bit from the bustling streets of the capital’s new town.

A mansion so huge that it made the single dormitory room look cute in comparison stood there.

As expected, the mansion of a prestigious family was on a completely different level.

Just as I approached the main gate to call a servant-

“Young lady! There are still some flowers that haven’t wilted over here!”

For a moment, it felt like my breath had stopped.

I hoped I had seen wrong.

That wheelchair. And the pure white dress.

I hoped what I was seeing was an illusion.

The moment she turned her head and our eyes met, my body froze as if struck by electricity.

We stayed like that for a long time, staring at each other as if enchanted. Without saying a word.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇