—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The third day of the festival.
The blazing sun beat down on the golden sands, where children laughed as they strung together seashells to make necklaces. The beach stretched as far as the eye could see.
Vivian and Sepia, clad in swimsuits, were building a sandcastle. Sepia wore a bikini, while Vivian wore a one-piece.
They were already eye-catching, but now they were attracting the attention of everyone on the beach, young and old.
Ah, this was youth.
It was like a scene from a high school rom-com. The genre seemed to have changed abruptly.
I sat on the beach, staring out at the sea.
“Ethan! Come build a sandcastle with me!”
I was exhausted after playing beach volleyball. Vivian’s mana-infused serves were practically works of art.
Arthur and I had been running around like crazy trying to return them. Vivian, the all-around maid, was even good at beach volleyball.
She was currently playing the role of the innocent, clumsy girl. She kept making small, deliberate mistakes.
It was a classic tactic to capture a man’s attention.
Vivian often adopted different personas in the original story.
If I remembered correctly, she was currently playing the role of “Innocent Vivi.” This persona was designed to evoke a man’s protective instincts.
She had used the same persona during our lunch date.
It was also used to seduce men. “Innocent Vivi” my ass. More like “Scheming Vivi.”
Vivian had two other personas: “Battle Boy Vian” and “Tomboy Bobby.”
“Tomboy Bobby” was similar to Dania’s personality: a seemingly carefree girl who secretly dreamed of true love.
“Battle Boy Vian” was a girl disguised as a boy, seeking revenge for her parents’ death at the hands of a demon.
Of course, Vivian’s parents were alive and well.
At this point, I wondered if she had multiple personality disorder.
When Vivian’s personas were first revealed in the novel, her popularity had skyrocketed.
She had even won the “Best Girl” poll by a significant margin.
And as the true heroine, she had received four different illustrations: Vivian, Vian, Bobby, and Vivi.
Of course she was popular. She had four different illustrations.
“Ethan! Come build a sandcastle!”
Sepia’s voice made me stand up. I was enjoying my break, but I couldn’t forget my main objective: visiting the Dragon’s Nest.
I reviewed my to-do list.
Today was the most important day.
Arthur and Vivian seemed to be getting along. Good. I hoped things would continue as they had in the original story. Their relationship problems wouldn’t arise until the second semester.
“Vivian, Arthur! Let’s split into teams and have a sandcastle building competition!”
“Heehee, that’s a great idea, my lady! That sounds fun!”
Vivian, ever the supportive maid, chimed in.
“I’ll be on Arthur’s team. You can be with Ethan, my lady.”
“Okay! Let the competition begin! Ethan! Come on! I found the perfect spot!”
We moved to the spot Sepia had claimed and started building our sandcastle. Sepia smiled brightly as she decorated it with seashells.
Although momentary, I felt like I had returned to my childhood again.
“Arthur, I’m not very good at building sandcastles! What… what should we do?”
“Um… let’s just do our best.”
Vivian was lying, of course. She was pretending to be clumsy while building a five-story sandcastle with Arthur.
“Is… is this right? Yay! I did it!”
That wasn’t a castle. It was a tower.
Everyone stared at their sandcastle in amazement. It was a true spectacle.
A few children had gathered around Vivian, watching her build.
“Oops!”
Vivian “accidentally” destroyed a part of the sandcastle, then put on a sad face. It was clear that she had no intention of winning.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. We can just rebuild it.”
Arthur, oblivious to Vivian’s scheme, tried to comfort her. Sepia, on the other hand,
“Pft! Overambitious construction leads to disaster! Heehee! Ethan, we won!”
She laughed triumphantly.
“Thank you, Arthur. I feel much better now!”
Vivian glanced at me and gracefully tucked her hair behind her ear. She was definitely playing the “Innocent Vivi” card.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
At the Neydia Hero Academy training grounds.
‘This attack… will decide everything.’
Tesha pushed off the ground, blue mana surging through her body.
“Haaa—!”
She roared, unleashing a powerful thrust. A wave of blue mana erupted from her shortsword, sweeping across the training grounds.
It was a single thrust, originating from a single point.
But its power was enough to topple dozens of steel training dummies. They collapsed like dominoes.
Tesha landed gracefully, sheathing her sword.
In the brief moment between her leap and her landing,
Ninety-nine steel training dummies had fallen. Only one remained standing.
‘Ah… I failed again…?’
Tesha’s golden eyes wavered. She had been practicing this technique ever since summer break began. Her skills had improved significantly, but she hadn’t been able to make any progress for the past week.
‘Ethan would have succeeded…’
Arthur had wielded a strange, golden mana. And Ethan had unleashed an overwhelming amount of power.
The last training dummy, which had been swaying precariously, finally collapsed. Tesha blinked, then a wide smile spread across her face.
“Yes! I did it! I finally did it!”
She jumped up and down excitedly. Then she heard footsteps behind her.
“Tesha, your skills have improved tremendously.”
“Ah…”
Tesha blushed. Tia had provided all the training dummies.
She had asked Tia why she was helping her, but Tia had just smiled enigmatically.
‘Because we’re friends.’
That had been her answer. And Tia had been visiting the training grounds more frequently lately. She had been receiving private lessons from a spirit summoner at her family’s estate, but she claimed to have finished early.
“Thank you! I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
“Congratulations, Tesha.”
“I’m still… a little embarrassed.”
Tesha, Anya, and Arthur had stayed at the academy to train during summer break. And Tia had been supporting them all.
Click.
Tia snapped her fingers, and the fallen training dummies stood back up. They were enchanted training dummies, designed to be durable.
Tesha felt like she had gotten closer to Tia.
At the beginning of the semester, Tia had been cold and distant.
They had been on a school trip together, and had shared a room during the festival. They had even talked about their feelings for Ethan. Tesha had confessed her masochistic tendencies, and Tia had recommended some… interesting reading material.
They had shared secrets, and that had brought them closer.
They sat down on a bench to rest. Tesha wiped her forehead and took a long drink of water.
“How have you been?”
“I’m doing well. How about you, Tia?”
“I’m… okay.”
Tia was still confused about her feelings for Ethan. She thought she admired him, but she wasn’t sure. Reading those books had only made her feelings more complicated.
“Tia… do you know anyone who…”
Tesha hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should ask.
“Enjoys pain?”
“…What?”
It was the reaction she had expected. She felt a pang of guilt. She had asked Tia because she was the most knowledgeable person she knew.
“Um… n-never mind. It was a silly question.”
“…Are you talking about masochism?”
“Masochism? What’s that?”
“It’s when someone enjoys pain, submission, and humiliation.”
Ah.
Tesha’s eyes widened in understanding. How did Tia know about that?
“It’s… interesting. I don’t understand it, but… I know someone who’s like that.”
“Really?”
Of course, she was talking about herself. There was no one else in Tesha’s social circle who would be like that.
“Tia, where did you learn about that?”
It was from reading those… interesting novels. She couldn’t tell Tesha that.
“It’s a secret.”
Tia winked. But Tesha was persistent.
“I’m really curious. Tell me!”
Tesha’s curiosity was overwhelming. She needed to understand her own tendencies. Tia didn’t answer.
“Please?”
Tesha’s puppy-dog eyes were hard to resist. Tia sighed and stood up. She was about to leave.
“I’ll find some information and send it to you.”
“Really?!”
“No, I changed my mind. I can’t tell you.”
“Please! I won’t think it’s weird, I promise!”
It was a cruel tactic, offering something and then taking it away. Tesha followed her, pleading.
“I swear on my honor! I swear on my Hero Candidate mark! It’ll be our little secret! Please? Please?”
Tia rubbed her temples. Tesha was surprisingly good at acting cute.
“Okay… I’ll find some information and send you a list. But you can’t think it’s weird, no matter what I send you. You asked for this.”
“I promise! No, I swear!”
“I’ll contact you later today.”
“Yay! Thank you! You’re the best, Tia!”
Tia felt a surge of pride.
That evening.
Tesha heard a raven tapping on her window and opened it. The raven hopped over to her.
“Hello, Crow. Is this the list?”
“List? List? What list?”
“Ah, um… it’s nothing.”
Tesha untied the note attached to Crow’s leg. She thanked the raven and opened the note. Crow flapped its wings and flew away.
The titles on the list seemed a little strange, but she didn’t care. She was about to have her questions answered.
Tesha went to the library, found the books, and returned to her dormitory.
‘The Hero’s Assistant and the Fallen Bitches, The Hero’s Secret, We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Whip We Received That Summer…? These titles are so weird…’
Tesha lay down on her bed and started reading. It was a reward for her successful training session, a way to relax.
She picked up the first book that caught her eye.
She read a few pages, then her eyes widened. She sat up abruptly.
‘What… what is this?! This is so… erotic!’
Her face flushed, and she slammed the book shut. She glanced around nervously.
She gulped and cautiously opened the book again.
‘This is… for research… to understand myself…’
Tesha continued reading, completely engrossed. It felt like she was discovering a whole new world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
