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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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The carriage heading to the academy occasionally shook as it left the Iserk Forest.
In the original story, the protagonist encountered the destruction-class magic beast Cluak in this forest.
However, such an incident didn’t occur.
At age 8, Cluak, who had been the first obstacle in 『The Hero of Salvation』, was defeated by my hands.
It happened while trying to save Nias.
Nias, sitting across from me, looked out the window while swinging her feet.
As we grew older, we had grown considerably taller.
To be precise, it was me.
I had become exceptionally tall, especially compared to others of the same age.
On the other hand, Nias still had a quite petite figure.
Under her glossy, long black hair reminiscent of a clear night sky and her neatly styled bangs were her large, charming black eyes.
Contrary to her cute face that still had some baby fat, the symbols of womanhood were already puffing up under her maid uniform.
Compared to the past, Nias had changed so much that she was now stunningly beautiful, but…
“Atchoo. Atchoo.”
She was still the same.
Except that she could now control her coughing to be slightly quieter.
And add the fact that she now coughed twice in a row occasionally.
“You idiot. Just close the window.”
“Uh… but if I close the window, I won’t be able to see outside.”
Since coming to Deinhart Castle, Nias had never left the territory.
Perhaps that was why her eyes were sparkling with anticipation to see the scenery outside.
Regardless, I couldn’t just watch Nias keep coughing.
Swoosh. Clank.
As I waved my hand, the window closed.
Nias turned her gaze away from the now-closed window with a disappointed look.
“About how much longer until we arrive at the academy, Young Master?”
I answered bluntly, pretending to have been reading a book.
“Since it’s a carriage with a speed-enhancing spell, it should take about two days if there are no accidents.”
After the attack by Cluak, there were no notable incidents until arriving at the academy.
Two days would be enough time to comfortably reach the academy and hold the entrance ceremony.
“Hehe. Then we’ll be together like this for the whole trip?”
Nias smiled happily and stretched her body towards me.
She was leaning her upper body like she would almost fall into my arms.
Thud.
However, just then, the carriage shook wildly.
Nias’ body slightly floated up.
It happened so quickly that I had no time to catch her, and Nias ended up falling on top of me.
“Eek!”
“Ugh…!”
Nias, who collided head-on with me, was in a posture as if she was being held in my arms.
Nias’ eyes were already moistened with tears due to the surprise.
“You idiot! Don’t suddenly stand up in the carriage!”
“I’m… I’m sorry…”
When I got angry, Nias hunched her shoulders as if frightened.
And as she tried to get up quickly, the carriage shook again.
“Eek!”
Nias fell into my arms again just as she had slightly gotten up.
“Hey! I told you not to get up!”
“I’m s-sorry!”
I held Nias for a moment.
It seemed we were passing through rough terrain.
The main road leading to the capital was relatively well-maintained, but many bumpy sections still existed.
A bumpy section would be created instantly if a natural disaster had swept through or a herd of magical beasts had passed by the road.
I thought it would be better to stay still until we had passed all the bumpy roads.
“Stay still for a bit.”
In the shaking carriage,
Nias, firmly held in my arms, buried her soft cheek that had turned red, perhaps from embarrassment, into my neck.
Nias’ body, which already had a high body temperature, felt even hotter when her temperature rose.
The sweet scent tickling my nose might have been because Nias’ body had started sweating slightly from being so close.
Each time the carriage shook, Nias trembled slightly.
The overlapping position changed slightly each time, so we had to wriggle around to adjust our position momentarily.
“Um, is this uncomfortable for you?”
Nias brought her mouth close to my ear and whispered softly.
Nias’ thin hair touched my cheek, tickling it.
“Well, it’s not like it’s been that long.”
“It’s been… about a minute?”
Has it already been that long? I was slightly surprised to hear that because it felt very short.
“Just stay still. Don’t fall over again.”
“Ehehe. I will.”
Nias nodded her head shyly as if smiling bashfully.
Seeing that smile, I felt like Nias’ unusually hot temperature was also warming up my body.
Hoping we would quickly pass the bumpy road, I stared at the dimly lit ceiling of the carriage for a moment.
And in less than 10 seconds, the carriage entered a well-maintained road again.
The shaking stopped, and the carriage became relatively calm.
I gently grabbed Nias’ soft body, which had started sweating, and pushed her away.
“Okay, go now.”
“Yes…”
But for some reason, Nias wouldn’t get off me and clung tightly.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, the road is still… not very good?”
“It’s not shaking. And you’re heavy.”
I put more strength into my arms and pushed Nias away.
But Nias forcibly clung to my body and wouldn’t get off.
What the, did she get… rebellious?!
“You’re heavy!”
“I’m not heavy!”
“I just said you are!”
“Atchoo.”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me!”
I flicked Nias’ forehead with a snap.
“Pig. If you don’t get off now, you’ll be sleeping in a separate room from me once we arrive at the academy.”
“I don’t want that!”
Nias shook her head quickly from side to side.
“Now tell me honestly what you did wrong and apologize deeply, then get off.”
At my command, Nias opened her mouth with a tearful face.
“I’m sorry. I… carelessly stood up in the carriage and fell.”
“And one more thing.”
“Uh, there’s nothing…”
“What?”
“…I clung to you and wouldn’t let go because I wanted to be close to you, Young Master. I will deeply reflect on my actions.”
Nias sniffled.
*Ding!*
After confirming that Nias’ masochistic tendency had increased, I sighed deeply.
This was a new way of tormenting her that I had recently developed.
If I made Nias apologize herself for what she did wrong, for some reason, it could satisfy her masochistic tendency.
I realized that if this went up, it meant Nias hadn’t reflected on her actions.
Given the chance, she would still try to cling to me anyway.
‘If I really start to like Nias as a member of the opposite sex, that would be even more dangerous.’
As long as Nias was the Demon King and was trying to enslave me at any time, I could never let my guard down.
What if I fell for Nias and was entirely swayed by her?
It would be a kind of suicidal act.
The defenseless me would surely end up eating the hypnotic drug Nias gave me without question.
‘Then it’s over.’
I would become a puppet controlled by Nias.
After confirming that Nias had obediently left me and returned to her seat, I turned my eyes back to the book.
But one thing…
If there was one strange point, as seen earlier, I was still in the worst state with a fragile body.
In the original story of 『The Hero of Salvation』, the protagonist recovers from his sickly state before going to the academy.
When going to the academy, the protagonist already had a healthy body.
But for me…
*Ding!*
‘Why am I still sickly?’
No matter what kind of harmony it was or what had changed, the Frail status ailment was still attached to me.
It had been quite some time since I was born into this world.
Of course, some parts flowed differently from the novel’s development, but most flowed almost the same.
No, if there were big parts that flowed differently, they were indeed significant.
But… killing Cluak early, saving Elena, and one magic sword disappearing,
What do these have to do with my physical condition?
‘If there’s one thing that’s different…’
I looked at the lunchbox basket Nias had brought again without getting tired.
‘It’s just that I didn’t eat the lunchbox Nias made.’
It can’t be.
Is it because the protagonist in the original work became healthy by eating the food Nias made?
I pressed my aching forehead and cooled my throbbing head.
“Come to think of it, will we meet Lady Elena and Lady Elin at the academy?”
I answered Nias’ question while still pressing my forehead.
“They should be there.”
Elena and Elin were summoned by the priests of Nephthys right after the incident, which ended when we were 10 years old.
After learning that the saintess of Nephthys had been born, they were overjoyed and cheered.
Still, it wasn’t a good situation for Elin.
The priests sensed strong sacred power from Elin as well and began to suspect her.
Elin’s identity as the saintess of Yuan was soon exposed.
If left as it was, Elena would have become a saintess and been revered.
At the same time, Elin would have been executed as the saintess of Yuan, facing such a terrible fate.
Fortunately, Elena, who had officially become a saintess, had the opportunity to offer a prayer to Nephthys.
Whatever miracle happened there, Elena declared that Nephthys had forgiven Elin.
At first, there was considerable controversy, but few people dared to go against the oracle given by the saintess who had appeared after 100 years.
Now, the two saintesses with identical appearances had become famous figures that heated up the entire empire.
However, Elin hardly acted as the saintess of Yuan, so the doctrine of the God of Poison had not yet spread widely again.
It was certain that the stars had also chosen the two of them.
So, this year, they would be on their way to enter the academy.
“…Then we’ll be seeing them again after a long time! I’m so happy!”
Nias smiled slightly as if she was looking forward to it.
As several years passed, Nias had become quite close with the two of them.
Occasionally, when the saintess sisters took time out of their busy schedules to visit Deinhart Castle, Nias and the two would gather for a tea party.
On the other hand, I could only envision a tiring and headache-inducing future.
It was then.
The carriage, which had been moving smoothly forward, suddenly stopped.
This time, I almost flew towards Nias.
“Ugh…!”
“Eek!”
If I hadn’t reflexively used magic, I would have collided violently with Nias this time.
I embraced Nias’ shoulders as she was blankly blinking her eyes at the sudden situation and opened the window leading to the coachman’s seat.
“What’s going on now?!”
When I got angry, the coachman opened his mouth.
“I apologize, Young Master. There are corpses of some magical beasts lying by the roadside ahead.”
“Magical beasts?”
I frowned.
It seemed to be an incident that was skipped in the original work. Well, it’s a common occurrence.
“Hurry up and clear them away, then start driving the carriage again.”
“The knights are already taking care of it.”
I could see the knights clearing away the magical beasts through the coachman’s shoulders.
Most were common low-level wolf-type magical beasts that could often be seen by the roadside.
I stared at the scene momentarily, then frowned as I noticed something strange.
“Is that a girl?”
Nias also peeked out her eyes at my question.
“It looks like a girl!”
It seemed my eyes weren’t particularly mistaken.
The knights clearing away the magical beast corpses were lifting a girl from underneath those corpses.
It was a girl wearing a blue robe with geometric patterns embroidered in silver thread and a short skirt.
Red blood was dripping from her slender body.
It was unclear whether it was the blood of the magical beasts or the girl’s own blood, as the dark red blood clumped together and soaked the ground through the girl’s fingertips.
The girl’s fate might have ended pitifully by the roadside like this.
It was common for those attacked by magical beasts to leave corpses behind.
In that case, it wouldn’t be strange for the girl to be buried under the corpses.
‘No, wait. Something’s strange.’
However, the girl had no signs of being bitten or torn apart. Moreover, almost all of the magical beasts were already dead, and there was no way they would leave the girl under their corpses.
The fact that the girl was buried under the corpses of the magical beasts was a mystery in itself, and as I realized this, an absurd feeling rushed over me.
It was the feeling of belatedly realizing an important situation that had already happened and couldn’t be undone.
For example, the feeling of waking up too refreshed in the morning.
Or the feeling of realizing you left an essential item at home after going far away.
“She seems to be alive.”
That feeling became a reality the moment Nias said that while holding her breath.
I frowned and checked the girl’s appearance once more.
And it was only then that I noticed the color of the girl’s hair, held in the knight’s arms.
Although it was momentarily unrecognizable as it was soaked in blood, it was light-colored hair.
The description in the novel briefly came to mind.
It was the description of when the protagonist first met her.
‘The girl was azure.’
Not only referring to the color of the girl’s hair but the atmosphere surrounding her entire body was like that.
She was beautiful and elegant, looked pure, and exuded a much more mature atmosphere than her age.
Her aura created a wall around her, as if no one could easily approach her.
That wall effectively defended against the ruthless attention of others directed at her, who stood out.
No one tried to approach her azure color.
That was when she opened her mouth.
Besides being covered in blood, the girl with azure eyes retained her mysterious atmosphere and purity.
Her eyes moved as if earnestly searching for something.
And the next moment, the girl’s eyes and mine met as if by fate.
As if she had been looking for me, the girl finally slightly opened her pretty-shaped mouth that had been anxiously closed.
“It looks like she’s trying to say something.”
Nias said curiously.
And right after Nias finished speaking,
“…Blargh.”
The girl vomited.
Well, it was natural since she had been buried under corpses for a long time.
However, I already knew the critical words from the girl’s mouth.
Because the author had posted an example of what the girl would have said in the announcement thread if he had been caught revealing his heart.
The girl was a fellow student, but she called the protagonist ‘senior’ because he had learned magic before her.
“I’m only saying this because I got caught. Senior, I really like you. I’ve liked you all along, but did you know? Don’t tell me, senior, did you really think I was just smiling at you like an idiot and coincidentally having free time whenever you came? There’s no way. It was all because I had feelings for you. It’s because I like you so much that I can’t help myself and feel like I’m going crazy. Do you know how much I like you, senior? Inside me, there’s a love for you that’s boiling up so much that you can’t even imagine. Do you know how desperate, hot, and painful this feeling is? It would be nice if you could feel this emotion too… But you’re only focused on those other foolish girls who are thoughtlessly smiling, right? Do you like those girls who seem to have empty heads so much? The maid who thinks she can just smile like a pure sheep, that saintess who only pretends to be kind, the girl who acts all arrogant and then clings to you like everything’s fine when she’s depressed, do you like them that much? I tried really hard not to lose to those people. So I put in a tremendous amount of effort and tried to make you only look at me. I learned more about you by secretly going on dates every day, secretly leaving gifts for you, and occasionally cleaning your room instead of that foolish maid. Especially your locker, did you know I cleaned it every single day? I know everything about you now. I really know everything. Do you know what I wished for while putting in all this effort for you? It was only your love. Your love that’s directed solely at me. That’s how it’s been all along. All along. But your love isn’t only directed at me. So I have no choice… This is all your fault. Because I’m trying to make your love only directed at me, and so that the two of us can face eternal happiness together. I’ll eliminate everything from this world that makes you look away from me so that you can only look at me. Then you’ll only love me, right? Your answer? Why aren’t you answering? I said I want to hear your voice! Ah, right. I covered your mouth. But it’s okay. Even if you don’t say it, I know you love me too. Yes. Yes. I know. Senior. I love you too. And don’t hate me too much. I have no choice but to do this so that you’ll only look at me. It’s because I love you. It’s true. I love you, Senior. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you! Why are you crying? Please don’t cry. Senior, I love you. I’ll make you stop crying. From now on, you and I will be truly happy forever!”
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Princess of the Assassins Guild and the protagonist’s rival, a genius magician named Livia.
Driven by obsessive love for the protagonist, she even resorted to kidnapping and murder to satisfy her one-sided affair.
Oh fuck, I thought I was going to meet this crazy chick at the Academy.
Why did she pop up so early?
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seems like yandere’s are common