Chapter 207
Chapter 207
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: 59-3. The Liar Wolf's True Identity Exposed
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of chasing rain. A fishy smell of water stung her nose.
Shooooaaaah—.
A gray world.
In this colorless realm, Pine stood alone.
"This is... inside Licht's emotions, huh."
The temple's trial where others' emotions turned into a maze.
She furrowed her brow at the inverted stairs and the endless doors stretching out.
Even looking up at the sky within his emotions, there were no stars—just pitch darkness.
Only a faintly hanging moon evoked a sinister atmosphere.
When had she started leaning on Licht? That vague thought brushed through her mind.
'The one who told me it's okay to be weak around him.'
At first, she'd entered the academy to grow stronger.
To avoid repeating the mistakes of her childhood, thinking that if she was weak, she couldn't protect people.
Was it pity? Or sympathy?
On a rainy day like this, she'd handed him an umbrella.
If not for that chance encounter, could these miracles have happened now?
Raindrops fell into her palm. The cold, frost-like sensation jolted her mind awake.
The two were similar, yet different.
Pine had possessed immense power from the start.
Licht was the opposite—not a body specialized for swordsmanship.
His twisted hands and the scars covering his entire body proved it.
Proof of swinging the sword without rest.
'The Hero of Conviction and the Hero of Affection.'
Though cruel fate gnawed at each other.
The Black Knight had seen hope. Even in a bleak future, he'd turned back time to come here.
Pine had lived regretting her selection as a hero.
Her heart, like an empty glass, was now filled to the brim with the black wine called Licht.
Even as rain soaked her cheeks, she could move forward now.
What did she need to find here to restore Licht's memories and awaken as the hero of the prophecy?
'He said I could shatter the future the Hero Cult desires.'
Reviving the dead.
A taboo even healing magic couldn't achieve.
What did they want so badly that the Hero Cult's demon kings would attempt it?
She'd thought they'd revive the Demon God to conquer the world.
Pine took a step forward. Winding paths and gray buildings.
Less a maze, more like the other world from Tarden's trial.
Makes sense, since he came from another world.
The puddle at her feet splashed.
As the Black Knight said, her future self would lose everything to the demon kings.
'...Nameless Saintess.'
No name, no memories of herself, not even the immense power inherited from Emperor Locke.
He'd loved such a blank slate.
Was that just like Licht?
He'd even revealed coming back ten years from now to prevent her death.
It felt too distant to grasp fully.
'Because I trusted Licht would always protect me.'
She placed a hand on her chest. The constricting sensation was uncomfortable. Why did thinking of him make her feel this way? Was it really not an illness?
"......"
The gap was huge.
It hurt like needles pricking her heart, sometimes floating lightly like a balloon.
Love in books was always beautiful and radiant.
But her feelings for the Black Knight were too heavy for such words.
Speaking them might make them feel unbearably light, so Pine sealed her lips.
She bit her lower lip and ran. An uncontrollable emotion drove her. Her pounding heart felt different from usual.
"...No. It can't be."
She wanted to deny it.
Her breath reached her jawline. Breathing was hard.
Her body, soaked from head to toe, felt like a lump of lead.
If this was love, when had she started liking the man named Licht?
She ran and ran until she reached the place.
As if something guided her, the spot she finally arrived at was familiar.
"...Licht?"
A boy with black hair walked past the hesitating Pine.
Head bowed low, taking all the rain, looking dejected.
Taller than last time she'd seen him.
Black clothes opposite the academy uniform.
No helmet, so his hair was clearly visible.
Ignoring Pine beside him, he opened the door and entered. She followed.
"I'm home."
"...Excuse me."
A boyish voice and a high-pitched one overlapped.
In the empty shoe rack and eerily quiet house, Pine sensed something off.
No human warmth. Last time, his parents had welcomed them...
"...Ah."
She recalled what Lee Soo-hyun had told her before.
His parents died in a fire. So this was after that.
She'd stepped into the charred remains of his schoolboy days.
Lee Soo-hyun, returning home, went straight to his room without eating.
The bright expression from before was gone; his empty eyes were ominous.
"[Knight Heart]…?"
She followed into the man's room right behind.
Posters of Kainel, Ariel, Dennis, and the Heavenly Demon.
"Saintess, I'm here."
The small room was filled with pure white merchandise.
Manipulating a character with the mouse on the monitor shocked her.
Another world.
This was what he meant by this world possibly being fake. Inside his monitor, a figure like Pine was smiling.
'That's... my future self?'
An inexplicable jealousy stabbed her gut.
The boy's face, gazing at the Nameless Saintess, was flushed unlike before.
Looking again, the room's items featured her in saintess robes.
Not the glass knight princess, but pure white Saintess Pine Granasia.
In the future, everything seemed better than her now.
Unlike her cold and curt self, a soft face brimming with charm.
Even plain white clothes couldn't hide the alluring body. Pine bit her lip.
Did all men like bodies like that?
Just lumps of fat. She still had potential.
"...Licht. Can you hear me?"
Calling the engrossed gamer yielded no response. Shaking his shoulder didn't help.
Was it that good? The boy's face, moments ago soul-lost, now beamed.
On the monitor, the armored Black Knight and saintess.
Traveling and chatting happily, even Lee Soo-hyun's dark-circled eyes looked relaxed.
"He can't hear me... I guess."
It was like the delusions she'd pondered.
A boy building unknown memories and happy times with another woman.
Clearly her future self, yet this melancholic feeling boiling inside—what was it?
Not betrayal, since there was no betrayal.
After all, that self had come to this world to save her.
Even if everything was fake, emotions between people weren't lies.
She thought it'd be fine.
She thought she'd win no matter who Licht liked.
Something beyond cherishing.
Too heavy for affection, too light for love—it crushed her heart.
'Jealousy.'
Her chest pain worsened. The suffocating tightness gripped her.
Pine placed her hand on her center again, feeling the throbbing heartbeat.
Now she understood why novel heroines fought over men.
It infuriated her to that extent.
She'd thought the Black Knight was hers alone. Seeing this sparked jealousy.
"Licht is... mine though…."
The moment her heart grasped what her mind hadn't.
She was starting to understand her feelings for Licht.
The identity of the pounding, painful ache in her chest.
As Pine pieced it together.
"Gotta write today's entry before bed. Saintess."
"....?"
She peeked at the naive boy writing in his notebook.
Records of everything about the Nameless Saintess.
Notes like those kept in the academy's male dorm.
—June 21, 2012.
Tried playing a game called Knight Heart for the first time.
Chose the Black Knight class 'cause it looked cool, but it's way too weak.
Should I restart tomorrow?
—July 1, 2012.
Met an NPC called Nameless Saintess.
A clumsy saintess who can't even use holy power well. Kinda pretty, but that's it.
But what she said while healing me after I fell to the Slime Demon King comforted me a bit.
..Gonna try a little harder.
—January 2, 2013.
New Year with Saintess.
Making me believe in love? Ridiculous.
But I learned the cross proposal is a pretty romantic confession.
'Even as a kid, Licht had terrible handwriting. So consistent.'
Pressed hard letters. Wavy but earnest on the worn notebook.
It was young Lee Soo-hyun's diary from playing [Knight Heart].
His changing self as he met the Nameless Saintess stood out.
Pages once filled with missing his parents shifted.
What they talked about in-game today, what events happened.
Filled with Nameless Saintess content. Pure affection like "Gotta get that item tomorrow to make Saintess happy."
"...Even when Licht was sick, my future self made him stew."
Just knowing it wasn't for her made her glare serpent-like.
Reading each entry, Pine learned why he used formal speech.
Why he was so sensitive about burn scars.
Ignorance had scared her. Now knowing all, it wasn't relief.
'Licht noticed me first. Some other vulture stole him.'
A strange rivalry stirred.
Redoing the diary, she checked what she and the saintess hadn't done.
And pondered the price Lee Soo-hyun would pay later.
He was wrong for two-timing against a princess.
Then, another door opened in his room, revealing a strange space.
A maze within a maze.
Questioning the new space.
Smelling a familiar rose scent, she dashed inside again.
"Hehe, welcome. Pine Granasia. This is the 「Library Where Time and Space Are Paused for a Moment」…."
"....."
"Kya啊啊啊啊!! Why are you suddenly pinching my cheeks?! You're my past self!"
