Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Epilogue #03
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‘I suddenly wanted to go back to my room.’
Ten minutes had passed since I entered the conference room and met Agnes.
I gazed at Agnes, who was sitting right next to me, interlocking her fingers with mine and grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm really sorry, Arthin. If I could, I'd love to have meals with you every day and sit beside you in class like Shaomei does..."
"Ah, no, it's fine. I get it—you're busy. I'll make an effort to come visit you more often."
I layered my other hand over the back of Agnes's, which was flushed pink with joy at being with me. She glanced at me slyly, then rested her head on my shoulder.
A secret date with the vice student council president, who also happened to be the empire's imperial princess—this was the romantic situation that Agnes and I both adored.
"...Grind."
"Sniff... Agnes... has been defiled..."
If only it weren't for the one guy across from us grinding his teeth and glaring murderously, and the other sobbing while staring at Agnes, it would have been perfect.
After Agnes snuggled into my arms and started getting all lovey-dovey with me in the seat next to her, even the usually stoic Kaiyen had begun subtly emanating hostility. Unicorn had started bawling midway through.
A guy staring at me with such intense eyes, looking like he was about to leap from his chair at any moment—shouldn't I just kill him right now? It sent chills down my spine.
Even scarier was that Agnes knew about Kaiyen's reaction and was egging him on by clinging to me even more. Was she secretly flashing a smug victorious smile behind my back...?
[No, but why are you crying? You already knew Agnes and I were dating a while ago!] [You don't understand my heart! Do you know how heartbreaking it is to watch my ultimate waifu get defiled by a harem protagonist right in front of me?! At least if it were pure love, I'd accept it!!] Unicorn's wail echoing in my head hit me like a hammer blow, leaving me dizzy.
"What's wrong, Arthin? Your face looks awful. Did you get hurt in that last fight...?"
"No, I'm not hurt, so don't worry too much. I'm just a bit stressed out..."
Sigh.
As I reached for my black tea to soothe Agnes, who was gazing up at me worriedly from my embrace, she suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"...Huh? Agnes?"
"I don't like black tea. I heard herbal tea is great for relaxing. Let me brew some for you."
Agnes stood up and, for some reason, hurriedly left the conference room to prepare the tea.
She was rushing like that—did I look that exhausted?
Still, it put me in a good mood. Who in their right mind wouldn't love having their lover care for them like this?
"...You're practically sparkling, partner."
Once Agnes left, Kaiyen glanced toward the door, then shot me a resentful look.
Why the hell are you looking at me like that? I'm straight, so dating a girl shouldn't be an issue.
"Can't I enjoy a little romance in my life? I can't live solely for slaying the Demon King forever."
"You can date even after we take down the Demon King."
Kaiyen's voice carried a depth of emotion I couldn't fully grasp, laced with his profound hatred for the Demon King. Unable to snap back curtly, I averted my gaze.
"...I have plans too, so don't worry."
This wasn't a lie. After seeing the new features added to my status window recently, I'd been thinking things over.
"Another plan that's hard to explain? Like before?"
Kaiyen, regaining some composure and returning to his usual blank expression, asked.
"...I'll tell you later. You get why I can't explain everything every time now, right?"
Across countless regressions, I'd put in tons of effort to convince this dense guy.
But after becoming partners, the main appeal I used was simply, "Trust me as your partner." It was the regressor's dilemma—being unable to explain every event.
The current memory-regressed Kaiyen should understand that I'd always twisted myself into knots to resolve incidents.
"...Fine, I'll trust you. You're my partner, after all."
Kaiyen pondered for a moment, then nodded with a faint smile.
Skipping the whole bonding process to convince this blockhead—another perk of memory regression, I suppose.
"Here! I brought the tea, Arthin!"
The door burst open as Agnes returned, tray laden with drinks.
"I didn't know what the other two like, so I brought everything we had. Pick what you want."
"Whoa! Carrot juice! The carrot juice is mine!"
After setting the tray in front of the two, Agnes handed me a teacup.
"This one's for you, Arthin. It's herbal tea brewed with herbs I ordered specially?"
"Thanks, Agnes. I'll enjoy it."
Savoring the soft herbal aroma, I took a sip.
A cool minty scent that cleared my nose, followed by a rich, refreshing sensation sliding down my throat.
"The taste and aroma are both great! It even feels familiar... What herb is this?"
"Huh? Oh, just some healthy herb! I don't really know the name either?"
"Really? This cool scent must come from a mana-infused medicinal herb—they're pretty expensive..."
What plant was it again? Why does the scent feel so familiar?
"Hm? Isn't this the smell of Frostwind Herb? We used it last time for the 'Polymorph Release Solution'!"
Twitch! Twitch!
Unicorn sniffed from his seat, identified it as Frostwind Herb, and shuddered dramatically. Agnes beside me and Kaiyen both flinched at the same time.
What? What's with these reactions?
"...Wait, is Frostwind Herb good for stress? It's definitely for stuffy noses, mana exhaustion, and..."
Hair loss. It's said to cool the scalp and prevent balding.
"Agnes? You don't mean..."
I turned to her, and Agnes avoided my eyes, staring at the ceiling while breaking out in a cold sweat.
"This is weird? They recommended it to me for stress relief too..."
"...So when I said I was stressed, you thought I'd go bald and fed me Frostwind Herb tea?"
Did my hair loss shock my heroines that much?
It hurt my heart with a pang of sorrow. I slowly turned away from Agnes.
"And why'd you flinch? You hunting anti-hair loss foods too?"
"N-No... I mean, yes! Yeah, you were super stressed about that, right? So."
He hurriedly changed the subject, then suddenly admitted it was about hair loss.
‘...So what he's worried about isn't the hair loss?’
What is it? I feel like I'm onto something, but my chest feels heavy and my mind won't turn properly.
"Oh, right! Don't worry about this incident—Princess Marianne and I will handle it."
"...Yeah, I heard. Even the crown prince agreed?"
Agnes muttered softly, "Oh, you heard?" then nodded and settled naturally into the seat beside me, continuing the story.
"I acted a bit cute with Big Brother Richard. He's weak to me, after all."
"...Didn't you hate acting cute, Agnes?"
She was known as the Ice Imperial Princess of the student council, keeping her soft heart guarded behind a lofty demeanor at this point in time.
"It was for you, Arthin? If it works that easily, of course I'd do it..."
"...Agnes, thank you."
Forgetting the sense of betrayal from the Frostwind Herb tea, I sent her a loving gaze and moved in for another hot embrace...
"Ahem!"
Thanks to Kaiyen and Unicorn's bullshit interruptions, I settled for holding hands instead. Trying to date and they're giving me endless grief.
"Oh, yeah—Teacher Senia applied for the alchemy club? And you're listed as club president."
"Ah... that. I thought it'd be nice to have a club where we're all together. That's okay, right?"
"Not bad at all. Alchemy involves long crafting sessions, so overnight stays are easy to justify, and we can head outside the academy for material gathering."
Just as she said, dealing with villains would require leaving the dorms often and venturing beyond the academy.
In that sense, an alchemy club was perfect. Easy to schedule, Agnes on the student council would smooth paperwork, and with Jorba, funding wouldn't be an issue.
"Honestly, the club approval should go through without me lifting a finger. The professors have been sucking up to you lately, you know?"
"Don't remind me—it's been exhausting getting hounded all class long."
We chatted about this and that afterward, then left the conference room with Agnes seeing us off.
"I want to go with you too, Arthin, but I have paperwork to handle..."
Like a bride sending her husband off to war, Agnes gazed at me longingly, gripping my hand tightly as if she didn't want to let go.
"...Don't worry. I'll come to you tonight."
"...Really? Should I prepare some wine for a romantic mood?"
Seeing her light up with a bright smile at my words about visiting tonight, she was so adorable I nearly hugged her— but held back in case student council folks saw.
I'll hug her plenty tonight until she's sick of it.
"Alright, let's go. Business here is done."
I ignored Kaiyen's sullen glare and tried to leave the student council annex with him and Unicorn in tow.
"Hey, you lowly noble scum."
If not for the nasty voice from behind, I would've headed back to meet Shaomei and discuss Violet.
"What is it, Senior Ricardo Wisens?"
I turned slowly, and there was Ricardo Wisens with seven students, pointing arrogantly while glaring at me.
"Why would I be your senior? I don't wanna be called that by a problem child about to get expelled."
"Doesn't mean I can just call you 'Ricardo Wisens' straight up."
"You insolent bastard!! How dare a lowly noble's son from the kingdom speak so boldly to the Wisens family heir!"
My curt retort made Ricardo grind his teeth, and one of his lackeys yelled at me.
"You called me lowly noble scum first, didn't you? Why pick on someone just standing here?"
"Ha, 'just standing'? Don't you think ignoring our warnings multiple times and rampaging like a thunderbolt is the issue?"
Ah, figures. Looking closely, these were kingdom noble faction students from my hazy memories.
And their leader, Ricardo Wisens himself, out to make an example of me after I wrecked Rexton.
"Whatever, I have nothing to say, so I'm leaving..."
"Think winning against one empire knight makes you some novel protagonist? What can a punk like you do against the student council and kingdom's next-gen nobles?"
"No, seriously, enough..."
"Rampaging around like that make you think you're hot shit? You're just trash worse than a discarded lowly noble. Know your place before you act up."
"Listen here, you son of a bi—"
"I don't even get why a worm like you has Agnes and Princess Marianne's protection. Your fancy commoner friend and you—we'll make sure you can't set foot in this academy, no matter what it takes. Got it?"
"What kind of fu—"
"More importantly, who the hell do you think you are? Why's Agnes acting like a whore, brewing tea for you herself? The imperial princess never did that for the crown prince. Oh, got dirt on her? Had your beastkin slave dig up her secret kinks?"
Slap!!!
Ricardo's cheek whipped around fiercely as he blabbered on, interrupting me arrogantly. His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the floor.
"Y-You bastard, what the hell?!"
Of course, I was the one who slapped him. Before anyone could step in like last time, I infused mana and clocked his jaw—he'd be eating through a tube for a while.
"Wisens accounting officer! Get a grip! Young Master Wisens!"
"This punk...!"
As Ricardo lay dazed, two lackeys drew swords but froze mid-draw.
"If you keep drawing, I won't hold back either."
"...You've pissed me off too, partner."
While Ricardo's goons hesitated at the hostility pouring from battle-ready Kaiyen and Unicorn, I shoved the female student shaking beside Ricardo and started slapping his face repeatedly.
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
"S-Stop! Enough! It hurts! It fucking hurts!"
After about ten mana-infused slaps, Ricardo snapped to from the pain, covering his face with his arms and wailing.
"Who am I? What kind of bastard am I?"
Honestly, his bullshit was unbearable. I didn't even care about the Kaiyen insults.
But calling Shaomei a beastkin slave? Agnes's secret tastes? Whore-like fawning?
Slap!!!
I knocked his arms away and smashed his cheek again, bursting blood in his mouth.
"Listen up. I'm Agnes's fiancé. Anyone badmouthing her in front of me gets half-killed."
Thud, thud.
I clenched my fist while pounding Wisens, feeling his spilled blood coat my hand.
"B-Block him! He's trying to kill Young Master Wisens!"
"Then you take on the unicorn! How do we beat a divine beast?!"
"That freshman's using an Aura Blade! You're good with swords— you do it!"
Other student council members gathered to stop me, but with Unicorn and Kaiyen guarding us, no one got close.
"Sp-Spare me... pleaase... my faaace... it's ruuined..."
I coldly looked down at Wisens, three front teeth gone, blood gushing as he begged tearfully for mercy.
"Remember this well. Show your face in front of me again, and I'll make it ten times worse than what Rexton got."
Fucking asshole. Ptooey.
I spat on his face, wiped the blood splatter from mine, and stood.
"Let's go, Kaiyen, Unicorn. No more business here."
I led Unicorn and Kaiyen out of the student council annex.
Shocked murmurs like screams rose behind us, but I ignored them.
"You okay, partner?"
"Yeah, fine. I beat the shit out of him."
"...Not that—now things are gonna get really annoying."
Fuck, if it's annoying, let it be annoying.
"I don't like these assholes touching my people. If they wanna make trouble, bring it."
"No, you did good! Jerks like that need to be shown their place like that!"
The biggest thing I've learned living in both reality and this world is that people see you as a pushover if you're too quiet.
That's why I said it at the start of this regression. No more holding back.
"I intentionally went hard so they'd spread the word: step to me, and count or duke's son alike get fucked up equally."
Today's mess would spread beyond the academy to every kingdom. And that's exactly what I wanted.
I caught my breath and slicked back my hair with my bloodied hand.
"No more putting up with retards like that. I do things my way."
I couldn't read Kaiyen's expression at my words, but he said nothing more and silently followed.