Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Violet's Unconscious
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Violet jolted upright as if she'd dozed off in class and suddenly woken up.
‘D-Did I fall asleep?! How long was I out? Where's Arthin...?!’
To think she'd fallen asleep even after hearing the enemy was a dream demon! Violet berated herself as she hurriedly scanned her surroundings and checked her condition.
‘...Huh?’
Something felt off. She wasn't in the basement of the Rose Pavilion. Instead, she was sitting on one of the outdoor terraces prepared for tea parties, sipping Republic Federation green tea across from her. Shaomei stared back with wide, startled eyes.
"...W-Why the sudden fuss, Lady Violet? You popped up so fast, you scared me too."
"Uh...? Shaomei? Where are we...? Where's Arthin? The Rose Pavilion? And why are you talking like that again?"
"...Did you have a dream or somethin'? You've been so busy preppin' for midterms lately, must be real tired."
Midterms? They were still about a month away, but lately she'd been focused solely on Al'Miraz and practicing magic. Plus, that speech pattern was Shaomei's usual friendly one, but these days she'd been holding back to study elegant noble speech because she thought Princess Agnes sounded cool.
"And didn't Big Brother Arthin say Young Master Jorba was bringin' him? It's the first time introducin' him today, you that nervous?"
"...Today's the first time I'm meeting Arthin?"
"You must've had one heck of a dream! Big Brother Arthin finally decided to come outta his room, so we set up the intro! Ah! Looks like they're comin' right now!"
What on earth was this? Violet, utterly baffled, turned her head in the direction Shaomei was waving happily. Only then did she realize what kind of situation she was in.
‘...Ah, this is a dream too. A dream of the past.’
The dazzlingly handsome man who stood out like a gem anywhere, Jorba Pelkas, strode confidently toward them. Violet had never forgotten this moment, not even once.
No, more precisely, she could never forget her first meeting with the gloomy, dark boy with red hair who contrasted so sharply with that Jorba. Back then, he'd seemed so pitiful at first glance.
"Hey! Did we keep you two beauties waiting too long? Arthin's outta practice comin' outside after so long, he was pretty wiped."
"That's why I keep tellin' him to work out with me! If Big Brother Arthin builds some muscle, even that Wise idiot couldn't touch him!"
Shaomei and Jorba chattered excitedly, but to Violet, it was as if they'd been muted—their voices didn't reach her ears.
"...Hi. I'm Arthin."
Yes, this was the look in Arthin's eyes when he first gazed at her. Wary like an injured stray cat, but laced with some inexplicable emotion toward her.
Unlike the creepy shut-in loner she'd imagined from Shaomei and Jorba's descriptions, it was something intensely emotional. She hadn't understood it back then, but now she thought she could grasp what that gaze meant.
It was joy. The look Arthin gave her, whom he was meeting for the first time, was unmistakably the delight of encountering someone he'd long admired.
Swipe. Arthin gave a small wave. Yes, that's how he'd greeted her. The old Arthin had been incredibly timid. So much so that from what she called the 3rd round onward, it was unimaginable—he'd only regained his vitality after contracting with the unicorn.
How had she greeted him back? Violet tried to recall, but it was foggy, like it was shrouded in mist.
Had she waved? Or shaken hands? What expression had she worn?
"...Violet? Arthin said hi? You're makin' him awkward."
"Right! What if Big Brother Arthin gets hurt 'cause of you, Sis Violet!"
As Violet pondered silently, Jorba and Shaomei standing nearby whispered nudges. Forgetting for a moment that this was a dream, Violet whipped her head toward Arthin in a fluster, waving frantically.
"Ah, sorry! N-Nice to meet you, Arthin. Let's get along...?"
—Crackle! Crackle!
The sound of burning firewood roared intensely in her ears. A foul oil stench, a nauseating sight—Violet clamped her mouth shut to stifle the vomit.
"What's wrong, Violet? Hurry and say hi. Gotta give him a proper goodbye before he burns to death, right?"
"Yeah. You gonna fail even at a farewell, like the idiot girl who did nothin' till Big Brother died?"
The shy, wary-faced Arthin was gone.
In his place was the lifelong trauma she'd never forget from the moment of her 3rd round death. The hellish nightmare landscape that still haunted her sleep sometimes.
"Ah...! Aaa...!! Arthin!!!"
Arthin, strung up on the church's symbolic cross, was a horrific sight. His skin was slashed everywhere with knife marks, burn scars vivid across it from whatever torture. Half his face had melted away from agony, turning that once-fine, beautiful face into a monstrous half-thing.
"Hi, Violet? I really hate you for doin' nothin' till I died. Hate you enough to kill you. If I'd known, I'd have left you as the worthless trash you are."
Arthin, smiling kindly as he spat heart-shredding venom while burning alive—Violet couldn't hold back and retched up whatever was in her stomach.
"Urk, uurrgh...!!"
"Look at her! The pig who just ate while my nails and teeth got yanked—now she's pukin' it up!"
Hahahahaha!
As Arthin vanished into flames after those words, unknown laughter erupted around her. Violet plugged her ears with her palms against the mocking jeers, but the laughs kept swirling relentlessly.
"I... I wanted to save Arthin...!! He said it'd be fine, told me to wait...!!!"
Violet screamed with blood-spewing anguish, eyes squeezed shut, but only she heard it. And she couldn't accept her own excuse.
She'd had the ability, the power, comrades who could rescue Arthin with her. Shaomei had insisted on saving him multiple times. Even the cautious Kaiyen and Jorba only urged calm, never stopping her.
What about her? What had she done? When that damned saintess said she'd handle it and convinced the Northern Church zealots, what had she been doing?
—Nothing. She hadn't done a damn thing. Or rather, she'd chosen not to.
"No...! I wanted to go save Arthin anytime...!!"
—But she hadn't. She'd heard Arthin say to trust him and done absolutely nothing, right?
"No! No!! I just trusted Arthin when he said not to worry and waited...!!"
The grating voice, like nails on chalkboard, relentlessly stabbed her guilt. Why wouldn't it stop even with her ears covered? It only grew louder, torturing her.
Of course. No matter how she plugged her ears, she couldn't block the voice from her own heart.
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"There, done. For now, you and I are bound by a contract like with the unicorn."
I'd formed a temporary pact with Al'Miraz. It was insurance against whatever might happen in the dream world.
"To think we'd bond so easily..."
"I paid with the demon bloodstone. Even as Mephisto's exec, you should manage a provisional contract."
"This Sovereign is displeased... For the unicorn's contractor to pact with such a demon... If only this Sovereign could follow and protect you..."
I showed her the rabbit-shaped tattoo on my hand, the mark of the provisional contract. The unicorn grabbed my hand tightly with an anxious look, eyes asking if I'd be okay.
"Don't get melodramatic, Unibacorn. To enter a half-baked witch's dream, you need intent to wake her. Your presence would shatter her delicate subconscious like glass."
"Melodramatic?! This Sovereign doubts that demon—who can't even cast proper spells—can protect Arthin!"
"I-It's not that I can't cast any magic! In Hell, I'm a formidable upper demon!"
I ignored the three starting their nonsense again. I drew out mana thin as thread and wrapped it around Violet-Mephisto's wrist, mine, and Al'Miraz's. Connecting it to the magic circle I'd drawn in blood on the floor, it began emitting a faint red glow.
"Alright, the ritual to interfere with the dream is ready. We just need to fall asleep, me and Al'Miraz."
"See? Even without my guidance, Arthin masters the ritual. Compared to you, freshly awakened to demonic power, Arthin's mana control is exemplary."
"...Th-That's 'cause my mate's exceptional, not that this demon's useful..."
I let out a small sigh and pulled the pouting unicorn into a hug, patting her. I understood her worry. Interfering with dreams was tricky enough; saving someone trapped by a dream demon's power was insanely risky.
Legends told of a desert kingdom where a witch's curse put all citizens to sleep—no mage or witch could break it, and it fell.
"Don't worry too much. After all the grief those dream demons gave me in rounds 3 and 4, their dream worlds are just my front yard."
"...R-Really? You can handle it without me? You won't come back hurt?"
"Yeah, just trust me, Unicorn."
As I soothed her tenderly, Violet-Mephisto clicked her tongue and tugged the mana threads binding me and Al'Miraz, pulling us to her side.
"Enough of that. Anyway, Unibacorn, you just wait 5 to 10 minutes, right? Dream time is relative to the subconscious—we don't know how long it'll take. My rabbit and Arthin are the ones challenging the unknown."
"I-I'm not sure I can do this. What if I have to guard Arthin-sama for ages...?"
Al'Miraz's words worried me a bit too. The demon had unfounded confidence but scant skills, battle experience, or anything else.
‘But I can't just leave Violet like this.’
One of my first friends in this world, my bestie I couldn't have in reality, my beloved lover. Tell her to endure for efficiency while she suffers? No clue how long 30 real minutes felt to her.
‘Fuck that. Even if it means beheading the high priest and killing Lilith in 5 minutes, I'm saving Violet.’
"Alright, positions then. Worst case, I'll support that mongrel pony with magic, so posture matters, Arthin."
"Ah... Yeah, sure."
Our biggest threat was Circa and Lilith attacking again. If they caught us sleeping, Unicorn, Mephisto, Violet, me, Al'Miraz—all at risk.
"Do we really have to lie like this?"
"Trust me, it's the optimal position for the spell."
The problem? Mephisto's "optimal" was indecent. Me lying down, arms around Al'Miraz and Violet-Mephisto, hugging them tight.
"L-Lord...! This pose is too indecent! Reconsider...!"
"Right! You tryin' to seduce my mate?! Cut the nonsense, outcast demon!"
"Shut it! Time's tight—gonna bicker over poses?! Watch the front, mongrel pony!"
Violet-Mephisto mentioned time, silencing the mumbling, embarrassed Al'Miraz and sulky Unicorn. Satisfied, she grinned mischievously at me.
"Now, kiss this Violet's body. Then you'll drift into the dream world!"
"That's too blatant, Mephisto."
I ignored her prank, flicking the pre-drawn circle. It blazed red, activating the ritual.
Ah, and the embedded sleep spell kicked in—heavy drowsiness hit.
"Hehe, stubborn to the end. Safe travels, my dear."
As sleep overtook me slowly, the last sensation was Violet's soft lips brushing mine.
No time to ponder it—I sank fully into slumber, drifting into the dream world.