Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: 29-1. 1%
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Black Knight Licht. His real name was Lee Soo-hyun.
In truth, it had only been three months since Pine had come to know him.
"...Sharutineth, unnie."
The glass knight who had been colder and more emotionless than anyone.
Like an empty glass devoid of anything, the princess had long believed that one had to be strong to be of any use, due to the trauma she'd suffered in her childhood.
And so, even now, enrolled in the academy under the alias Mardol.
"Junior Licht, just like last time, healing magic isn't working."
"Shar, unnie...!! Please...!!"
In the infirmary of Grand Hearts Academy, she was earnestly pleading while clinging to the black-haired saintess.
Her face twisted in anguish, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"He can't die like this... Licht..."
"Nex is using the Phoenix Cradle outside, so we've barely managed to keep him clinging to life, but..."
The man's condition, having taken a bullet straight through his heart, was beyond salvation even with Sharutineth pouring her holy power into him at his side.
The injuries were severe. Not just his heart—his arms, legs, there wasn't a single intact part of his body. One arm was grotesquely twisted, and both legs were shattered.
"...Pine. You need to prepare yourself."
"No. I hate that...!!"
Even Professor Beatrice, who had just stepped out after attempting healing alongside her, had said it was best to give up.
"You already know, Pine. We even scoured the Library of Truth..."
Laplace had said that his dantian had already been used once to heal an injury, and even if the Heavenly Demon himself arrived, nothing would change.
"Demon Kings don't even go quietly when they die."
Who could have known he'd play dead right up until the brink of death and launch a final attack?
The Second Saintess let out a long sigh. She was continuously transfusing massive amounts of blood into Licht's body, but it was like pouring water into a leaky jar.
"...Shar, unnie. The problem is the tangled circuits, right?"
That was when Pine, after a long silence, removed her glass helmet herself.
Sharutineth was puzzled as to why she suddenly took off her helmet, but given the urgency, she answered the question first.
"Yes. But in Junior's case, it's extremely severe."
"If only the heart and blood vessels were intact, you could heal him, right...?"
Pine's beautiful white hair cascaded down to her waist, and her signature golden wolf eyes gleamed. Her gaze was fixed solely on Licht.
"Unless we completely rebuild the blood vessels from scratch... Wait, no way."
The girl in pure white drew a sword from behind her back. A transparent blade that mirrored her own heart.
"Then with my blood, and the Dragon Heart."
She gripped the blade lightly, slicing the inside of her palm. Blood flowed out. Drip. Drop. The crimson liquid fell straight into the hole in Licht's heart.
"...Maybe that could save Licht?"
"It's impossible, Pine."
Among the items Pine had brought while begging Sharutineth to save him was the Dragon Heart, the prize she'd won in the grade exam.
"Even if we replace the completely destroyed heart and fill it with new blood..."
The vampire race's distinctive red eyes glowed. The vampire saintess carefully examined the man in the Black Knight helmet from head to toe.
"How do you expect to implant a dead dragon's heart into a living person's body and make it beat?"
"There's a way."
Pine set the Dragon Heart down beside her and placed her hand over her own chest, as if she had something in mind. A magic circle unfolded in her palm.
"Link it to my heart and make it beat."
"...Pardon? Pine, I must have heard that wrong."
Sharutineth could only stare in horror, while determination filled Pine's face.
"That's too reckless!! Pine!! If it fails, both of you will die!!"
She was saying she'd link her own living heart to the dead dragon's heart to make it beat, then transplant it into the dying man's body.
It was utter madness to anyone who heard it.
The Second Saintess grabbed the shoulders of the girl clad only in glass armor, trying to dissuade her.
"...I don't care. I can use glass magic to reweave the blood vessels."
"No, that's not the issue...!"
Pine Granasia had already made up her mind. She'd infused her own blood into his body to better wield her magic.
"The success rate is at most 1%, Pine. Are you really going to do this...?!"
"..."
A Glass Knight with multiple arms emerged from behind her, like a surgeon wielding an array of tools.
"...Licht didn't calculate risks when he came to save me."
She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, scanning the man's body for what was wrong.
"Maybe my sharp eyes were meant for a time like this, Shar, unnie."
To Pine, her eyes were no longer a curse.
The last remaining means to save Licht.
The princess entrusted her senses fully to it, grasping at that slender thread of hope.
"Haa... Really..."
Sharutineth pinched the bridge of her nose, frowning. A princess of a nation risking her life for some academy student who wasn't even nobility?
It was gravely serious. He was a hero who'd slain the Demon King of the Hero Cult, which even the Ten Heroes couldn't capture, but still.
"How precious Junior Licht must be to our Pine..."
What good would it do if she died like this? The best hope was that the emperor wouldn't execute the entire family of those involved.
But she couldn't just stand by and watch her close little sister, who'd lost precious people to Demon Kings in the past, throw her life away.
The Platinum Wolf, who had only just begun to regain her brightness. She wouldn't let her sink back into the mud without doing anything.
Pine Granasia had already steeled her resolve. No words would sway her now, and she knew better than anyone the risks of staking her life.
"...I'll help from the side. You're really in for it later, Pine."
"Thank you, Shar, unnie."
The black-haired saintess, having made up her mind, lent her holy power while assisting with the surgery using her vampire instincts.
Even reflecting on it herself, she couldn't understand it.
'...Licht.'
Why did he occupy her thoughts so much?
Why did she feel pain herself when this man was hurt?
Her initial feeling toward the helmeted Black Knight had been curiosity.
'Why do you always risk your life? If it hurts, just say it hurts.'
His emotions showed too easily, and he seemed full of openings.
'You can't even use mana properly—why wield a sword?'
Her keen eyes examined his tangled blood vessels and gazed sadly at the scars everywhere.
'I can't watch you sacrifice yourself anymore... Licht...'
His past words about being weak carried even more weight now. A aching grip on her heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't disregard his own life like this.
He must have experienced much in battles flirting with life and death.
'...Or maybe he had experiences where he wanted to die.'
Pine had seen the fire scene in Licht—no, Lee Soo-hyun's trauma. She hadn't known he shared her dark past.
That was the first time she'd seen his bare face. A visage anyone would call hideous, but it didn't matter to her.
'I wish you'd be more confident, Licht.'
Upon closer inspection, there were many handsome features, and above all, it was the inner self that mattered, not the exterior.
'It's okay for you.'
He'd saved her mother, but more than that,
She had been saved by the Black Knight's warm heart, essentially.
He'd healed her various wounds and even shouldered the crushing guilt that felt like it would bury her.
Now, if anyone badmouthed him when he walked without his helmet, she'd want to use her authority to put them in their place.
'...I'm fine. Burn scars.'
Within Pine Granasia, he had become an endlessly precious person. Even if someone else helped her once or twice or slew a Demon King,
Lee Soo-hyun's priority in her heart wouldn't change. Nex and Sharutineth, her precious people.
Now Kainel and Ariel, whom she could truly call friends without reservation, and the academy students—all protected by him alone.
'You won't have to worry.'
He knew she was a princess yet never lusted for power or anything else, and even after learning her gender, he tolerated it—such people weren't common.
Handsome or not, it didn't matter.
'You don't have to be strong. Just stay alive.'
Black Knight Lee Soo-hyun. The anxiety that it had to be him sent a chill down Pine's neck.
At first, she hadn't thought him weak. She'd assumed he was strong from the start.
'Strong enough to defeat the Omniknowing Demon King. But at the same time...'
He was weak. Purer and more naive than anyone.
The man named Lee Soo-hyun, as Pine had observed by his side, always gave that impression. Like a puppy drenched in rain, impossible to leave alone.
'You really can't lie, huh... Licht...'
She glanced sidelong at the blue rose on the table beside her.
He'd won the grade exam fair and square, but settled for second due to time overrun because he wanted the Mana Rose.
'Sweet little liar.'
And he'd used it for her, injured by the Head's holy sword. How absurd. Wasn't it a precious item?
'The Nameless Saintess... where is she and what is she doing, really.'
It had seemed like a flower prepared for that person. To save her, he'd used holy power heedless of thorns piercing his palm.
Without him, she might have ended up a vegetable from the fog. The Head was dead now, but back then it was dangerous.
"...Licht."
She looked at the scars thick on his hands. Ugly wounds from plant thorns stabbing and slicing. He'd swung his sword and defeated the Demon King in this state.
'How much did it hurt?'
She'd watched his deathmatch with the Head Aike from afar with her keen eyes. When his body was mangled by the massive metal, she'd been truly shocked,
'But Professor Dennis blocked it...'
The blue-haired mage had stopped Pine from jumping in, saying they needed to strike an opening. Against the 'Omni', predictable moves wouldn't do.
The glass wings that helped the Black Knight escape the trap were Dennis's idea, but countering the Catastrophe with Demon King Slayer at that moment had been Pine's own judgment.
'Perverted Licht... you have to wake up...'
Gazing at the limp Lee Soo-hyun, she thought.
'I love how you get startled and do those cute things...'
That was why she sometimes teased him. Seeing the gloomy puppy startled into adorable reactions was delightful.
He didn't seem the type to chase women, either.
If he were, he'd have ogled other girls at the academy or given lecherous looks, but he didn't.
He hadn't drunk with other girls at the festival or anything, just quietly listened to their troubles.
'Above all... he has no ulterior motives toward Ariel.'
An elf, famed for her beauty. Even traveling with Ariel, he knew of her feelings for Kainel and didn't interfere.
Closer to cheering their romance, perhaps. Like at the bakery.
And even with Pine Granasia herself, once he knew she was female, he'd never asked her to remove her helmet or said he wanted to see her face.
'I don't know why he got so flustered seeing my body, though...'
Pine looked down. Normally, her curves would obscure the view, but the masterpiece covered her figure now.
'When you wake up, I'll tease you more.'
So focused, she didn't notice the sweat on her face.
The frozen air of the infirmary. Racing against time to save Lee Soo-hyun, from Pine's lips.
"...You're precious to me, Licht."
Her true feelings slipped out unbidden. Emotions that even her armor couldn't contain.
"Pine? What did you just say?"
The glass surrounding her now could no longer block anything.