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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“As expected of Lewis! You’re amazing!”
“Haha… I was just lucky.”
The protagonist…huh.
Right?
The water magic specialist, Perinne, and the dog, no, the dog-beastkin mage, Shuri. And a pretty boy named Lewis.
The reason I assumed Lewis was the protagonist was simply because the heroines were clinging to him.
To be honest, that alone was enough to give me 80% certainty, even if it wasn’t 100%.
I don’t remember if the duel with Perinne was an event from the original story… but anyway, the fact that he had connections with two heroines seemed like pretty solid evidence to me.
“Johann? What’s wrong?”
Should I approach him?
If he really was the protagonist, it wouldn’t be bad to build a rapport.
After all, the trials I had to overcome to reach the ending were the ones the protagonist had to go through in the original story.
Ideally, I would let him do the heavy lifting while I reaped the benefits, but… there was one thing I had to confirm first.
Was he a transmigrator?
“Johann!”
“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
My head was a mess.
Whether he was a transmigrator or not would change the situation a lot.
If he was a 100% pure native of this world, it would be hard to trust him to reach the happy ending of this messed-up game world.
But if he was a 100% transmigrator, he would be a pain in the ass, as he would use his knowledge of the game to his advantage.
To confirm whether he was a transmigrator or not, I had to talk to that effeminate-looking guy.
I forced myself to come up with an excuse and spoke to that guy named Lou-something, who was being hugged by the furry, no, the beastkin heroine, whose tail was wagging madly.
“Hey. Isn’t dueling here illegal?”
Right?
I honestly didn’t know the rules.
But wouldn’t it usually be illegal to fight using magic in the middle of a market like this?
Whatever.
Anyway, it seemed my killer line worked, as Lewis and Shuri looked at me with a bewildered expression.
Yeah, they would make that face if a knight suddenly appeared like that.
Still, Lewis, being the protagonist, quickly composed himself and asked,
“Who are you?”
Who am I?
“Johann Quartz. I’m a knight working at the Academy.”
I took out the pendant that symbolized my knight status, and it was also true that I was a knight working at the Academy.
More precisely, I was working at Yeomyeong-gwan, which was inside the Academy.
Of course, I didn’t have the authority to grab students and bully them, but it shouldn’t be a problem to use my status as an excuse to contact them briefly.
I put on a dignified expression and started to pretend to scold the two.
“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to duel in a place where people are walking around?”
“Ah… That’s true, but if we hadn’t, Shuri would have…”
“Th-That’s right! Lewis was just trying to protect me…”
Hold on, why are both of you turning pale? You’re not scared of my face, are you?
I ignored the two’s excuses and glanced at Perinne.
She was still looking down, unable to get over the shock of her defeat.
Losing a duel in the middle of the market must have been quite shocking.
By the way, the protagonist (presumably) did a good job winning.
It was really hard to beat Perinne in the early stages of the game.
Especially as a swordsman.
They said she was a swordsman’s natural enemy.
I glanced down at the standard-issue iron sword hanging from Lewis’ waist, the kind Academy knight trainees used.
It was a good quality weapon, as expected of Kalon Academy, but it was ambiguous whether it could be considered a good weapon.
It didn’t seem like he was carrying any of the powerful early-game weapons that could be found in certain dungeons, so did he win with pure skill?
“I’ll let that slide. What I want to know is why you fought Lady Perinne…”
“Well, you see…”
Lewis’ explanation was this.
Shuri accidentally bumped into Perinne and got her clothes dirty.
That high and mighty noble lady, Perinne, couldn’t control her foul temper and hurled all kinds of insults at Shuri.
Lewis got pissed off and retorted, and that arrogant and haughty Perinne challenged him to a duel… and he somehow managed to beat Perinne and was now in a joyful embrace with Shuri.
Considering that Perinne in the original story, before her reformation, had a terrible personality and was a very divisive character, or to be more blunt, a bitch, it didn’t differ much from the fragmentary knowledge I had.
I didn’t remember there being an event where she was beaten like this.
In the first place, the stat difference was so huge in the early game that it was almost impossible to beat her…
“I understand the situation. But dueling in the market isn’t a good idea. I’ll let it slide this time, but don’t do it again.”
“Yes! We won’t do that again!”
I was putting too much force into his shoulders.
I patted Lewis’ shoulder a couple of times, who had given a model answer, and said,
“You can go now.”
I wanted to talk to him more, but there was no real reason to hold him back.
I was not a guard in charge of public order, I was just Karina’s escort knight.
I couldn’t force him to stay with a flimsy excuse and risk getting into trouble with the guards.
Still, it was a great harvest to know that the protagonist actually existed, so I should be satisfied with this for now.
If I tried to force it, it would only make things awkward between us.
At least for now.
…There would definitely be a chance to contact him again, whether it was during the final exams in a month or the second semester.
If he was a transmigrator, he would definitely try to approach Karina.
If not… well.
I’d think about it when the time came.
Right now, I was busy enough preparing for the plans I had already made.
I couldn’t talk to Perinne because she had already disappeared while I was talking to Lewis.
To be honest, I didn’t really want to get close to her anyway.
I blankly stared at the new worry that was walking away into the distance, until Milia pinched the back of my hand with all her might.
“Johann! I want to try that too!”
Milia seemed to have discovered a new stall and pulled me along by the hand.
I let myself be dragged along by Milia and scanned the snacks being sold at the stall.
Hmm, were those waffles?
They were delicious when they were well made.
“Apple cinnamon, please!”
“Um, well, actually… me too…”
Elisa, you have a bigger appetite than I thought.
I bought waffles from the stall owner for Elisa as well.
After a short while, both of them were holding warm waffles in their hands.
“Let’s sit on the bench by the fountain and eat.”
“Okay!”
We headed straight to the bench by the fountain and started eating our waffles.
Milia stuffed the waffle into her mouth like a squirrel and then skillfully chewed and swallowed it.
Our large appetite dullahan was a delight to watch.
…She should have been born in the 21st century.
With her cuteness, big appetite, and beauty, she would be a hit as a mukbang streamer.
…But since this was a game world, that would never happen.
“Johann! Ah~”
Milia’s voice filled my vision with a golden-brown waffle.
Was she telling me to take a bite?
I took a bite of Milia’s waffle.
It was sweet, insanely sweet.
It was so sweet that I felt like I had eaten a week’s worth of sugar in one bite.
As I savored the sweetness of the waffle, I naturally thought of Korea.
I think I used to eat 1000 won waffles a lot when I was younger.
Were the waffles I ate in Korea this sweet?
To be honest, I couldn’t remember very well.
Except for the game knowledge that I strangely remembered well, most of my memories were fragmented.
“It’s delicious.”
“Right?”
Did she like the waffle?
I turned my gaze away from Milia and tried to go back into thinking mode, immersing myself in my thoughts.
If it weren’t for the faint tug on my sleeve.
“Elisa. Do you have something to say?”
Instead of an answer, she held out a waffle that was about two-thirds gone.
Was she telling me to eat it?
When I looked at Elisa, she was blushing, but her eyes held a hint of expectation.
If I didn’t accept it, she would probably go back to being gloomy, so I had to accept it.
I took a bite of the waffle.
“It’s delicious.”
The socially awkward witch, who was representative of Kalon Academy, smiled gloomily and made a strange noise after I ate the waffle.
“Hehehehehe…”
That sounded like something you would hear in a haunted house at an amusement park.
Well, if she was happy that was good, I guess.
After our snack time, we left the fountain and went back into the market.
We still had a lot to see, and it would take a long time to completely drain Milia’s energy, which was even more boundless than a beagle’s.
Our exploration of the market ended only when the sun began to set.
We headed towards Yeomyeong-gwan with the stalls being closed down one by one as a backdrop.
“I can’t eat anymore…”
Was she dreaming about eating even in her sleep?
I adjusted Milia’s position on my back, feeling the back of my shirt getting damp from her drool.
It was like taking care of a child.
“J-Johann…”
“What is it?”
“W-well…”
Elisa hesitated, looking at me with a shy face, her eyes darting back and forth between me and something else.
It seemed like she had something to say.
I waited patiently for Elisa to gather her courage and speak to me.
Since Milia was fast asleep on my back, there was no need to worry about Elisa being interrupted.
I heard what Elisa had to say only after we passed the Academy gates and Yeomyeong-gwan was within sight.
“Um… Th-thank you…”
“Thank you?”
“Y-yes…”
“For what?”
“For…taking me to the market… I-it was fun.”
Her voice was shy.
For once, it wasn’t gloomy but a beautiful voice that would make any man turn his head.
“I’ll take you again next time.”
“…I-I’m looking forward to it…”
Those were the last words we exchanged before entering Yeomyeong-gwan.
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