Episode 42
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 42
Chapter 4: Spring Event: ERROR_NULL
The sweltering air of the greenhouse was suffocating. The moisture seeping from the plant roots only amplified the stuffiness. Behind a stretch of green bushes, two tall figures stood.
Elysia undid the top button of her shirt with an annoyed sigh. Evan, who had been watching her blankly, suddenly made a strange face and buttoned it back up for her. The collarbone that had been briefly, refreshingly exposed was once again hidden beneath the white shirt.
He saw the look on Elysia’s face, twisted as if she’d just witnessed something utterly grotesque, and quickly explained himself.
“You must look proper.”
“Proper? Who gives a damn about proper, I’m dying of heat—”
“Shh.”
It was a good thing they had to keep their voices down, or she might have exploded. Elysia grumbled and irritably tugged at the button he had so carefully fastened. Then, hearing footsteps, she grabbed the hand of the man in front of her and ducked down.
Sunlight, filtered through the greenhouse’s transparent glass ceiling, shattered over their heads.
“Ah, finally over.”
“The top student was pretty much decided anyway. What a pain.”
The grumbling voices of a group of male students drifted over. Peeking her head over the bushes to confirm their faces, Elysia roughly wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She felt a gaze on her and looked up to see it was him.
“Is there something on my face?”
“...No.”
She wanted to ask what the hell he was staring at, but now wasn't the time. Her silver eyes, turning away from Evan to look back over the bushes, glinted.
Just like last time, the male students had settled in the middle of the greenhouse and were taking something out of their pockets. Elysia smirked and cracked her knuckles.
Alright, a bust. This is perfect. You bastards are so dead now. I’ll catch you red-handed so there’s no way out and finish you for good… She placed a hand firmly on the man’s shoulder to stand, about to step out from behind the bushes, when Evan grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.
Elysia tilted her head slightly, looking at him with a what now? expression. Evan glanced down at her wrist in his hand before speaking calmly.
“Let’s calm down and breathe.”
“I’m not a corpse. Of course I’m breathing.”
“Deep breaths.”
Her furrowed brow, which seemed to scream, What is this bullshit?, was brutally honest. Pouting, she followed his instructions and took a deep breath, whoo. Evan almost burst out laughing.
“Can I go now?”
She was fidgeting impatiently, like a puppy that had been told to ‘wait’ with a treat right in front of its nose. It was quite amusing. Evan managed to suppress the smile that was naturally tugging at his lips and placated her.
“We made a promise. Let’s go over it one more time before you go.”
“I’m not a kid, this is so embarrassing…”
“Hurry.”
With a light sigh, Elysia looked him straight in the eye and rattled off the sentence he had just repeatedly drilled into her, as if someone were chasing her from behind.
“I will not hit people. Elysia Hemming is a very, very good person. Therefore, I will never, ever, ever use violence. Well… only physical violence. I’m really going now, okay?”
When did I add the ‘only physical violence’ condition? Puzzled, he watched as Elysia used his shoulder to stand up again and walked out from behind the bushes. Evan let out an incredulous chuckle and quietly watched her go.
Meanwhile, Elysia stared with a cold expression at the young students in front of her, giggling as they puffed out smoke. Well, look at you all, having fun. One, two, three… more than ten this time? She was dumbfounded that their numbers had nearly tripled since last time. It was also a little strange how quickly this was spreading.
She didn’t know how long she’d been watching the pathetic scene when one of the students, a pipe clenched between his teeth, finally spotted her. Elysia watched with a pitiful gaze as he screamed and tumbled under the table he’d been sitting at.
“Aargh!”
Leaning on one leg, Elysia fiddled with the ends of her short brown hair. She casually greeted the others, who had frozen in surprise at the sudden appearance of an outsider.
“Hey, kids.”
“Isn’t… isn’t that the crazy woman who went nuts in the classroom last time?”
That? You little bastard, you’ve got a death wish. I’m a person, too.
A surge of anger almost made her clench her fists again. Seeing this, it seemed the phrase Evan had constantly whispered in her ear had some effect after all. I will not hit people. Elysia Hemming is a good person…
Though honestly, I’m not that good. She tilted her head with a complicated expression, then clapped her hands twice as if annoyed.
“Yeah, that’s right, you pathetic little junkies. I’m the one who went nuts in the classroom. By the way, you all seem pretty close, huh? Getting together to puff-puff on your drugs?”
Perhaps because they had witnessed Elysia thoroughly beat Lucian to a pulp last time, the students all kept their mouths shut, just glancing at each other. It was a clear display of their strong desire not to open their mouths and become the main attraction of a beatdown.
“I’ll give you two options. Open your ears and listen carefully. First, hand over all the drugs you’re holding and put your heads on the ground over there. Second, try to run, get your hair grabbed by me, and get dragged back here.”
“What the hell are you trying to—”
“What do you think I’m trying to do? I’m here to fuck you up.”
She snorted as if they were pathetic and strode towards them. The boys, unknowingly intimidated by her presence, scooted back on their asses and blinked at each other.
The veteran junkies, for whom this was their second encounter with Elysia, remembered the method they had used last time.
Run. That’s the only way to live. Besides, the woman’s attitude was much milder than before. The fools concluded that she had lost her nerve after her suspension.
They had no way of knowing that someone had been constantly whispering non-violent principles into her ear as if to brainwash her.
Elysia, oblivious to their thoughts, could only let out a frustrated sigh. Are these guys deaf? Did they lose their vocal cords? Why aren’t they answering?
“You don’t seem to realize how considerate I’m being right now—”
“Now!!!”
The boys shot to their feet and reached out to shove Elysia, who was blocking their path. Her eyebrows lifted as she saw the hands reaching roughly for her shoulders.
Their momentary hesitation was fueled by her relaxed demeanor, which seemed to say, Oh, look at these little shits. Just as her body tilted back, seemingly pushed off-balance and about to tumble to the floor, someone was there to naturally support her from behind.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
A black-haired man, who had appeared out of nowhere, straightened up the woman leaning against him.
Their vision was blurry from the drugs, their minds frozen by the sudden turn of events. Because of this, they didn't recognize the man at first. Besides, he was someone who always moved about the school quietly, as if he were aware of his own lack of presence.
His expressionless mouth had turned cold the moment she was pushed, and his green eyes blazed with a calm fury. One of the frozen students unconsciously uttered his name.
“Syl… Sylvester…”
“…”
“Why are you here…”
The man, the second son of the House of Sylvester who was said to have been kicked out for committing some incredibly insane act, quickly supported the woman as she pressed a hand to her forehead as if dizzy. Are you okay? Should I keep holding you? The man’s murmuring voice was so genuinely gentle that they were momentarily mesmerized.
But for them, this was a turn for the worse…
“Yeah, you bastard, you said it. Why am I here?”
Shrugging off Evan’s support, Elysia stepped in front of the student who had reached for her and, in one fluid motion, kicked him in the shin. With a cry of pain, the boy fell to the ground, only to get smacked on the back of the head the moment he looked up with a stupid expression.
CRACK! The interval between the impact sounds grew shorter and shorter. Panting for breath, she rolled up her shirt sleeves, her eyes wild.
“I came here to kill you, you fucking bastard!!!”
It didn’t take long for the non-violence Evan had so painstakingly taught her to melt away without a trace. The students, already limp as octopuses from the drugs, were beaten mercilessly by Elysia.
The chaos only ended after Evan practically hugged her to hold her back.
Elysia looked down with a blank face at the boys groaning and clutching their bruised bodies, then nudged one of them with the tip of her toe. Evan watched her growling, calling them this bastard, that bastard, and thought with a troubled smile:
Ah, what am I going to do with this person? Should we start studying ethics together?
*
Three days ago.
Rayner had left behind a surprisingly vast amount of information. From how he received the drugs to the primary locations and times the students used them, he had confessed everything. It was a massive haul.
Evan was waiting for Elysia, who had stormed out of the Prefect Office, vowing to create something that would be more helpful to the case.
It was then that Adrian sidled up to him.
“Senior?”
“What is it?”
Lifting his head from the book he was reading, Evan sensed something was off. Whenever Adrian smiled slyly like that, something troublesome was bound to happen.
“It’s not that I’m worried or anything. I mean, she has a bit of a temper, but she’s fundamentally a good person, right? So, Senior… by any chance.”
“No.”
“How do you know what I was going to ask!”
Ah, so it’s this kind of trouble. Evan shook his head and sighed.
“You were going to ask what’s going on between us.”
“Whoa, you figured it out from just the first few words! So there is something going on, right?!”
An exasperated face looked down at a thoroughly excited Adrian. The younger boy’s face, still boyish compared to Elysia and Evan’s, chattered on.
“But still, aren’t you scared? I’m scared to death she’ll snap and beat the crap out of me—”
“I told you, it’s not like that.”
“No? Then why were you fiddling with your lips?”
Adrian’s sudden, direct question made Evan’s perpetually calm face crumble.