Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Epilogue #02
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The villain was dead. After having its power stripped away, the monster's corpse had turned into a mummy that retained only the faintest trace of demonic energy.
But as is often the case with reality, simply dealing with the bad guy didn't mean everyone would live happily ever after.
"A summons from the Student Council attendance notice... and a subpoena from the Academy Committee."
The letters I'd received from the dorm supervisor, claiming they were official notices from the Student Council and the Academy, were calling me in as a witness to this incident from both sides.
Well, it was a development I could've seen coming. I'd already gotten a heads-up from Agnes about the Student Council side, and in the end, it was me who'd taken the life of the power thief.
"Murder..."
The Academy's notice referred to the incident as a regrettable event caused by the Demon King's Army and suggested a lenient resolution. But the Student Council's notice had a very different tone.
While it asked for cooperation regarding a murder that had occurred within the Academy, it was obvious they were treating me as a suspect.
"Well, I did pull a ton of aggro from the Student Council..."
From the first day of enrollment, I'd knocked Rexton Wise flat. I'd ignored their announcements and gone ahead with the duel anyway. And this time, I'd acted on my own inside the Academy and caused a huge mess.
Of course, the public announcement to regular students had been delayed, but in a tight-knit space like this noble society, I doubted the secret would hold for long. I'd heard the dead student's parents were furious.
"It'll work out somehow. It's not like I don't have any allies."
"Why do you keep muttering to yourself like that? You look creepy."
As I was poring over the documents and monologuing, Unicorn—who was lounging on the bed next to mine, flipping through a comic book—pouted and grumbled.
"Why are you lying on my bed instead of yours?"
"No way! What if you abandon me too while we're apart? Where would I even go?"
Ever since being forcibly evicted by the King of the Plains a while back, Unicorn had been in a pitiful state with dead eyes. Now that she'd realized I was her only lifeline, she hovered around me like this whenever she wasn't sleeping.
I'd tried to complain at first, but her skin was surprisingly cool and smooth, so having her nearby felt refreshing. I didn't mind. She'd called it some kind of power or other.
"Then be quiet. Otherwise, I'll tie you up on the top bunk."
"How insolent! A non-virgin like you should be thrilled that I'm resting so close!"
A few days ago, I would've smacked her for saying that. But the image of her teary-eyed with completely lifeless eyes on the day she'd been abandoned still lingered, so I was cutting her some slack.
"And I'm the one cleaning up all the hair you shed by my bedside every day!"
"...It's been falling out less lately. Shut up and get ready to head to the Student Council."
As I got up from the bed and dumped some ground black bean and sesame powder into my mouth, Unicorn—looking bored and excited—sprang up from her spot.
"Student Council? You going to see Agnes? Can I come along?"
"It's not that you can come— you have to. They want to question me about killing the villain."
"Eek... Sounds boring. I'll stay here and guard the room! Ow! It hurts! Stop yanking my ear!"
I grabbed Unicorn's ear as she spouted nonsense and tried to crawl back into bed, then forcibly dressed her in her outing clothes and dragged her out of the dorm toward the Student Council building.
*
"You're here too, Kaiyen?"
"...Ah, y-yeah, partner. Unicorn too."
"Nice to see you! You're the one we fought with using spirits last time!"
I ran into Kaiyen near the Student Council room.
When I waved and greeted him first, Kaiyen flinched at the sight of me for some reason and gave an awkward smile.
'...I have one guess as to why...'
That day, I hadn't realized it at the time, but later when I returned to my room and rested, I'd calmly replayed the events in my mind.
'Yep, that was definitely the feel of a woman's breast...'
That soft, squishy sensation—the addictively intoxicating feeling I'd gotten from Shaomei's chest.
But Kaiyen... a woman's breast? Was that even possible?
'I've seen the real thing with my own eyes, so it's hard to doubt it...'
I recalled the time we'd gone to the Republic Federation for training with Kaiyen and bathed together in the hot springs.
He'd covered his lower half with a towel, but his massive pectorals were definitely those of a man. Even I, who was in peak training condition, had inwardly conceded defeat to that perfect, almost fantastical shape, so I remembered it clearly.
'Plus, the way he blushed unnecessarily and kept glancing my way still bugs me.'
Yeah, that squishy feeling must've been a mistake. There's no way that BL incarnate could be a girl.
"...Why are you looking at me with such suspicious eyes, partner?"
"Huh? Oh, just thinking you look handsome today too. Let's head in!"
Maybe sensing my stare, Kaiyen looked displeased, so I hurriedly changed the subject and dragged him inside the Student Council room.
'Huh, wasn't that just like something Jorba does a lot?'
A sudden sense of déjà vu hit me. The action I was doing now felt just like how Jorba often acted toward me in this regression cycle.
'I should look after Jorba a bit more...'
I'd been avoiding him this cycle, so we hadn't hung out. It was about time to firm up my resolve.
As I made that vow and opened the Student Council door, I felt the buzzing room's attention snap to us in an instant.
"Hello. We're here in response to the Student Council's request for cooperation."
I gave a friendly greeting on behalf of the taciturn Kaiyen.
But the stares directed at me only grew colder. Probably not my imagination.
"...Are you Arthin Ludwig and Kaiyen Silversword? And the person next to you...?"
A short female student approached and asked. Unicorn gave me a look asking if she should reveal herself.
'...Hiding it would be pointless anyway, right?'
Passing her off as human would just make explanations tedious. And since we'd contracted, it'd come out eventually.
...But what if weird rumors spread? That fear gripped me. Overcoming it, I gave a small nod.
"This one's name is Unicorn! The divine beast unicorn, legitimate successor to the great one-horned beast Amducias!"
With my nod, Unicorn confidently placed her hands on her hips and introduced herself.
"Did you hear that? Is she crazy? She says she's a unicorn."
"They called him the Red Madman, and the girl with him is nuts too."
As expected, the reactions from behind were like those you'd give a lunatic.
Honestly, if some random girl claimed to be a four-legged beast like a unicorn, I'd think she was out of her mind first too.
"Those two who just spoke—should I take that as an insult to this one?"
Unicorn had heard them too. She wrapped her fist in holy power so intense everyone in the room could feel it, radiating a sharp presence.
Already prickly from being evicted, her aura was too much for students to handle. Everyone else froze, while the pure holy power made it hard to deny she was a unicorn.
"N-No, not at all! I had no idea you were a real unicorn, ma'am! My apologies!"
"We're truly sorry! Please forgive my rudeness!"
True to their Student Council status, the two quickly read the room and bowed repeatedly to Unicorn. But her pouted lips stayed stubbornly out. She was sulking.
"Um, Unicorn ma'am, what brings you here...?"
"My contractor's in trouble for slaying a minion of the Demon King. Of course this one must help!"
The girl glanced nervously at the boys and asked cautiously, but Unicorn replied in a suddenly gentle tone.
'Virgin detector, huh.'
True to form, her mood lifted at the pure maiden's words, her lips twitching upward.
"O-Our executives are in a meeting right now, so I'm sorry, but could you wait over there?"
"Ah, that's fine with me. You okay with that, Kaiyen?"
"...Yeah, no issue."
"This one objects! Waiting is... Hey, don't drag me!"
I grabbed the sulking Unicorn's hand and dragged her along as the girl led the way.
"Please wait in this room!"
The cold expression she'd had toward me was gone; minding Unicorn, the girl politely guided us and even took our drink orders before leaving.
"See that, Arthin? That's the respect and reverence a contractor should show this one!"
"Cut the crap and sit quietly. One more word, and you'll get a knuckle sandwich."
Unicorn clutched her head yelling "Oh no!" and Kaiyen suddenly burst out laughing.
"You two are always so entertaining. Glad to see you're still getting along."
"...In the 2nd cycle, you just watched me suffer and laughed."
"That wasn't laughing—it was me cheering you on from the sidelines, partner."
Kaiyen sat across from me and Unicorn with a mischievous grin. I could still picture him watching our contract like it was a show, and now this lie.
"This incident can't be swept under the rug! We must make an example with strict adherence to the school rules—expel them!"
Whoa.
A loud voice suddenly came from the next room, drawing our trio's gazes to the wall. With our superhuman senses focused, we could hear everything next door.
"Please lower your voice and maintain proper decorum for the meeting, Treasurer Wisens."
"But why are you, Vice President Agnes, constantly defending those two? They committed murder inside the Academy!"
"This was a terrorist act by the Demon King's Army. We should be rewarding those two for stopping it in advance."
"They acted unilaterally without informing the Student Council first! And Bronze Dorm nearly collapsed because of it!"
"...Isn't that Agnes's voice?"
"Sounds like it. And I think I know who's yelling from the other side."
If my memory was right, that was Ricardo Wisens. The villainous noble who'd opposed the protagonist Kaiyen multiple times and tried to get him expelled.
He was probably clashing with Agnes over our punishment. Marianne's teacher had warned me before the duel, but I'd forgotten since nothing happened. Guess he was pushing hard.
"Didn't expect to hear that voice again."
Recognizing it, Kaiyen's expression soured. Politics was his least favorite hassle, so Ricardo—who attacked that way—must irk him more than the villain.
"Next room's the meeting room, huh? Soundproofing's trash."
With little else to do, we sipped the drinks the girl brought while eavesdropping on the irritating voice—or topic.
For about 20 minutes, Ricardo and his cronies passionately argued to punish the baron's trash (me) and the commoner (Kaiyen), while Agnes responded with imperial princess poise.
"Lastly, let me say there will be no severe punishment for this. This has been agreed upon by myself, the Student Council President, and Princess Marianne."
"Even if it's you three, you can't arbitrarily decide on something like this, right? They're disrupting the kingdom's noble society and undermining the Student Council's authority!"
"...Didn't I say that was the last word? Unilaterally insisting on a settled matter makes this less a meeting and more a notification to us."
Even through the wall, Agnes's icy voice sent chills. I could feel the meeting room freeze without seeing it.
"Looks like it'll blow over without issue. Agnes handled it well."
"...Good. I didn't want to deal with Ricardo."
Kaiyen sighed in relief and leaned back. Hated him that much?
Still, if I could just see Agnes without hassle, that was a relief.
Bang.
"Sorry for the wait. Please follow me."
With their meeting apparently over, the girl who'd brought our drinks came to fetch us.
Following her to the next room, Agnes was sorting documents with a cold aura, not even glancing our way.
"You three, sit. Everyone else, leave."
"Y-Yes, understood!"
The door shut hastily before we even sat. Confirming the footsteps fade, Agnes turned to me.
"Arthin! You're here! Sorry you had to wait!"
...Where'd that icy demeanor go? Agnes beamed, jumping up to welcome me.