I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 97

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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A letter arrived from the Holy Knights.

Though I hadn’t specifically ordered them to report, it was certainly helpful.

It would inevitably be delayed if I were to hear news through the media.

Moreover, there was a high chance unfavorable news for the suppression forces wouldn’t make it to the press.

“So they’re doing well…” I muttered.

The news was that they had captured the 4th castle on the very first day of their attack.

The rebel army had apparently abandoned the castle and fled in fear while defending…

Well, it was good news.

Having seized one castle, their chronic supply issues should have been somewhat resolved.

If they left things as they were now, victory would eventually come…

“Tsk.”

To go or not to go.

It was quite a dilemma.

If I went, there was a high probability of ending the civil war early.

I could also build up Schlus’s reputation, but the problem was the tight timeframe.

If I were to go, it would have to be now during this break week after midterms.

The important question was how much havoc I could wreak and return in less than two weeks.

It would be certain if I could just take Lorraine Philip’s head and come back, but I hesitated because I wasn’t confident I could do that.

‘Let’s hold off for now.’

It seemed like a stupid choice to delay the decision in such a time-sensitive situation.

Still, it was better to move only when certain, if I were to move at all.

For example, if the suppression forces were suddenly annihilated and a savior was needed…

I couldn’t predict at all when that timing would be.

The timeline had already diverged significantly from the original work since my arrival…

“You’re not going, right?”

A voice asked came from behind me.

“…?”

Two arms suddenly emerged from behind and wrapped around my neck.

When I turned around, Emilia was leaning on me, embracing me from behind the sofa.

“To the battlefield,” she clarified.

“I have no plans to go yet.”

“Yet…?”

“Yeah. But could you let go of me?”

“No.”

“…”

Oh shit.

Something felt off.

She seemed to have changed, no, become a completely different person.

Where had the dutiful maid who always listened to me carefully gone?

It felt utterly strange, as if she had suddenly transformed into a little sister freeloading at home and just doing some chores.

“As your employer, I order you to move aside…”

“What kind of employer only pays 2,000 Tirions a month? If you want to interfere with my private life, you should pay at least 30,000 Tirions as my salary.”

“How is this your private life?”

“I want to hug the person I like. Isn’t it an invasion of privacy if you don’t let me?”

“…”

I was at a loss for how to respond.

To begin with, I couldn’t even tell if this was sincere or just a joke.

Just listening to her voice, it sounded 100% serious, so I almost fell for it.

I had to remember, that Emilia was skilled at acting.

“Are you angry?”

“Angry? No. Not at all. Why would I be angry?”

“I see. As expected…”

“Of course I’m not angry. Why would I have any reason to be angry just because I saw oppa lying down with his head on the thighs of two women?”

“…”

It seemed she was quite angry indeed.

No, she was just acting angry, in fact.

I felt I should play along with that concept.

“Those two were taking care of me because I was suffering from magical exhaustion. It wasn’t anything strange.”

“Anything strange?”

“…”

“I didn’t say anything. What do you mean by ‘anything strange’? Hm? Hmm?”

Ah.

This was more tiring than I expected.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stood up, overcoming Emilia’s restraining force.

“Let’s go out. I need to send a letter anyway.”

“A letter? What letter?”

“A letter to send to Her Highness the Crown Princess. It seems a scandal broke out without my knowledge.”

I had learned about it from Erica and Iris.

Apparently, since my visit to the Imperial Palace, many people had mistakenly assumed Aria and I were engaged because we were both wearing rings on our left ring fingers…

No, it wasn’t just many – among the nobles, it was regarded as if my marriage to the Crown Princess was already settled.

I needed to meet the Crown Princess to correct this misunderstanding.

By the way, with such rumors spreading, I wondered why there had been no response from the Imperial family to quash them.

The Imperial courtiers seemed utterly incompetent in handling matters.

“A scandal? Ha. What are you talking about, oppa?”

“Hmm…?”

“How can you be so oblivious? That was a confession. You still didn’t realize it until now?”

“From Her Highness the Crown Princess? To me? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You’re the one talking nonsense! Ah, I feel like I’m going to die of frustration. Even if you don’t think of it that way, other people have already decided it’s settled. So even if you go to the Imperial Palace now, it will only be seen as going to reconfirm the engagement, you know? No matter what you actually say.”

I hadn’t thought that far.

She meant that actively trying to explain things now, after the scandal had already spread, could be seen as a deception strategy.

Rather, people might ask why I hadn’t clarified things earlier.

There was no way the excuse that I didn’t know would fly.

“Then, then what should I do?”

“It’s simple. Just stop wearing the ring from now on. Then the nobles will naturally think either they were mistaken, or the engagement was broken off. Isn’t that what you want?”

“That’s true, but…”

I looked down at the ring, rubbing it absently.

The Ring of Miracles was currently the most valuable item I possessed.

Even if I locked it away in a safe, it would be pointless if someone just took the whole safe.

So I had been trying to keep the Ring of Miracles on me at all times, because that was the safest option.

The thought of taking it off and carrying it in my pocket or somewhere made me worry I might lose it, which seemed even riskier than keeping it in a safe.

In the end, wearing it seemed like the only option.

“No. I need to keep wearing it for now.”

“Then Her Highness the Crown Princess will continue to misunderstand. That you’ve accepted her confession.”

“There’s no way it was a confession. Even if it was, making such an indirect confession deserves to be rejected.”

If anyone should take off their ring, it should be Aria, not me.

Where on earth did she get a ring identical to the Ring of Miracles…

Surely there weren’t two Rings of Miracles?

No, that didn’t make sense.

I needed to meet her to ask about that ring, at least.

I returned to my room and changed into my school uniform.

Thinking about it, I realized it was fortunate I hadn’t worn my uniform when I went to rescue Emilia.

If I had, it would have been torn and bloodstained by now.

When I came out dressed, Emilia was already waiting for me in casual clothes.

She changed really fast.

“Do, do we need to report to the police station?” she asked hesitantly.

“Ah. Some police officers came to the school yesterday to take my statement. I probably won’t need to go in person.”

This was one of the conveniences of becoming somewhat famous.

Even though I had killed people, albeit in self-defense, there was no need for me to be summoned to the station.

Instead, the police officers came directly to me, politely asking questions according to my schedule before leaving.

Since I had only counterattacked after being attacked first, and hadn’t chased down anyone fleeing to kill them, the probability of a guilty verdict was close to zero.

“Um. Did the midterms go well… sir?”

“Why the sudden formality?”

“Well, I thought I should speak this way outside… sir.”

Emilia’s voice, which had been loud and angry with me at home, had suddenly become very small.

Cute kid.

“They went well. It looks like I’ll take the top spot in both majors,” I replied.

“Wow, really? That’s great. Then you don’t need to drop out, right?”

“That’s right.”

It was certain that I would take the top spot when the scores were tallied.

That meant I had half-completed the quest that had popped up at the beginning of the semester.

Now only the final exams remained.

“That’s true… but from now on is the problem,” I mused.

I had managed to scrape by as the top student until the midterms, but the problem was that it wasn’t because I was good at studying.

It was all thanks to me using tricks based on knowledge from the original work.

Fortunately, the midterms had come out exactly as in the original work, but from the second semester onwards, things were likely to change significantly from the original.

From then on, it would be considerably harder to compete against Erica and Trie.

“To the Imperial Palace.”

After sending a letter to Aria, we took a quick trip around the market to do the shopping we couldn’t finish yesterday.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I had gone shopping with Emilia.

I had always left it entirely to her before.

“There are leeks here. If we buy them here…”

“No, these are expensive. If we go further inside, there are fresher and cheaper ones.”

“…”

I tried to give advice a few times but quickly fell silent.

As expected of the frugal Emilia.

I thought she might spend recklessly since it wasn’t her own money, but she didn’t.

“This is fun today. When I come alone, it’s just boring,” Emilia said.

“Is that so? Let’s go out together occasionally then.”

“Hehe. I’d like that.”

“Emilia.”

“Yes?”

“You always work hard.”

“…”

As we were leaving the market, I placed my hand gently on Emilia’s head.

Then I slowly, softly patted her.

I realized I had never told Emilia I appreciated her work.

She silently did her job, and had already faced death twice.

I felt I needed to give Emilia a proper reward.

“There’s something I need to buy.”

“Hmm? Buy something? No, you don’t need to buy me anything…”

“I’m going to buy a scabbard and belt for my sword.”

“…”

Well, I decided to give her that reward later.

But Emilia’s expression seemed to stiffen slightly, and I wondered why she was acting like this again.

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[bro is a fucking troll lmaoooooooo]