Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Mary Heidi
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Mary Heidi
And so a few days passed, and we were back at the academy.
Fortunately, the weather had stayed clear day after day lately, so Emily hadn't summoned me as often.
But the bullying just short of what Mary would notice continued unabated.
"Hey, Ken. I forgot my book. Mind if I sit next to you?"
She'd use her book as an excuse to sit beside me and harass me.
"D-don't... This is class time...!"
"You resisting right now? Can't you just sit still?"
Or she'd knead my belly fat from the seat next to me like dough. S-stop it! That's a sensitive spot!
"...You lump of desire. Aren't you embarrassed walking around with that? You're just a massive pig because of how huge it is, aren't you? Be honest. You stick it out like that so girls will whisper about it, right?"
"Urgh...!"
I endured the humiliating taunts from the girl that filled me with shame.
But Emily's bullying didn't end there.
"Ken, come here and give my shoulders a rub."
"Huh...? B-but..."
"What do you mean 'but'? Get over here now."
During breaks, she'd make me massage her shoulders so I couldn't rest.
"Ha-ut, hu-ut, ...Y-yeah, right there. ...Slower. ...Ahng!"
"L-like this?"
"Haa, hee hee, you're a useless guy who can't do anything but this, so you better be good at it. Aaang...! So big and such an idiot."
"Urgh...!"
Having big hands was one of Ken's insecurities...!
Even with my Mental Fortification skill, Ken's memories made the pain feel real.
But I couldn't stop.
If I stopped massaging her shoulders, it would surely lead to a beating.
Unjust as it was, I did my best to massage Emily's shoulders.
'Still, she's a girl after all.'
Even though she was tormenting me, the shoulders she offered up so defenselessly felt soft, reminding me she was a girl.
How could someone with no muscle hit so hard?
"Good, a bit... more! There... ."
"Here, ma'am? Is this the spot, ma'am?"
Thankfully, thanks to the Handicraft skill as a byproduct of Item Creation, my massage skills seemed to please her quite a bit.
Lately, she'd been making me do this more often than hitting me.
Even now, after classes ended, she stayed in the classroom and had me rubbing her shoulders.
However, there was one thing that puzzled me.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Emily Epiris's arousal level rises. 'Is the system glitching? Why does her arousal keep going up like this?'
Emily would sometimes show this status message outside of when she was hitting me.
No matter how sadistic she was, the protagonist couldn't possibly be such a pervert, getting aroused at random times like this.
My trust in the system messages dipped a little.
"...Huh? Um... you okay?"
For some reason, Emily's body heat felt high through my hands, and her breathing was ragged.
She placed her hands on her thighs and squeezed her legs together like someone desperate for the bathroom.
Her hands and legs trembled along with her rough breaths.
"Um..."
"Shut up and keep going. Don't stop your hands... ."
"O-okay."
'Tch, worried for nothing.'
Feeling annoyed, I put a bit more strength into my hands out of petty revenge.
After kneading Emily's shoulders quite a bit by now, I knew her weak spots.
"Haaat...! W-wait...! What, what are you...!"
"Pardon? Oh, this is an acupoint that aids sleep, ma'am. Have you been short on sleep lately? Heh heh. It's really knotted up."
Of course, it was nonsense.
I had no idea about sleep acupoints.
But I knew pressing here made her shoulders twitch and her back stiffen.
I targeted her weak points relentlessly.
"Aaah...! S-stop...! I said stop...! No...! Ha-ut, if you tease me there like that...!"
My deft handiwork didn't stop amid her cries.
It was revenge for tormenting me. I hoped she enjoyed it fully.
Fortunately, my assault seemed effective; she slipped her hands between her legs and clamped them tight.
She kept rubbing her legs together like someone uneasy.
'...Alright, finish with this!'
The moment I brought my thumb to the final point to end my revenge act.
"...What are you doing here at this hour?"
Someone opened the classroom door and entered.
"Uh, uh?"
I blurted out nonsense in shock at her sudden appearance.
It was the academy's Ice Queen, Mary Heidi.
Her light blue bob haircut sparkled in the sunset glow.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Ken Fine Stein's immersion level rises. "L-Lady Mary! What brings you here?!"
I felt Ken's willpower envelop my body, and my hands automatically left Emily's shoulders.
Emily turned and glared at me.
Her gaze mixed embarrassment and irritation.
And that gaze soon shifted from me to Mary.
"Yeah, what are you doing here? You're from another class."
Despite Emily's sharp tone, Mary kept her usual blank expression and replied indifferently.
"...I was waiting for Ken to stay behind so we could walk home together."
"...What? Together?"
What was with this atmosphere? Why had the air suddenly grown heavy?
And at the center of the swirling tension, Emily stood from her seat and approached Mary.
"Sorry, but Ken's walking home with me today. Mind heading back?"
No, I never made any such promise.
Mary seemed to realize that too, responding without the slightest flinch.
"......I've heard some rumors lately."
As Mary, who had maintained her blank face toward the confident Emily, finally spoke, her voice came out chillingly different from before.
Her expression hadn't changed, but her eyes had definitely sharpened.
Her blue eyes gleamed.
"Rumors that on rainy days, Emily Epiris bullies Ken Fine Stein."
And the air around us froze.
Mana gathered around Mary, forming her signature ice magic.
Thanks to her unique skill, the ice magic activated without even an incantation.
It soon created several sharp icicles, floating in the air.
All of them pointed at Emily.
"Is it true?"
"......"
Emily couldn't answer rashly.
After all, Mary was the academy's second strongest after Rafne.
At this point in the story, only Rafne and the two male capture targets could fight her evenly.
Adrian and Siegfried, that was it.
"......Tch."
Emily knew that too; her hands trembled with frustration.
Then, as if she'd made up her mind, she opened her mouth to speak to Mary.
'Still, better to stop this.'
I immediately stepped between them.
"N-no, Lady Mary! Bullying? Emily and I are just close friends!"
"...Close friends?"
"Is that so?"
Emily's flustered voice came from behind me, and Mary dispelled her mana from her eyes, vanishing the icicles.
Of course, I knew too.
If I left it all to Mary now, the bullying would stop immediately.
But Emily was the game's protagonist.
If a fight broke out and something happened to her, the losses would outweigh the gains.
Better to prevent unnecessary battles.
My intervention seemed to work; Emily showed no reaction. I turned to look at her.
Her eyes weren't on Mary—they were on me.
For some reason, her face was flushed as she glared at me. Her gaze held ambiguous emotions—anger? Guilt?
Tears welled up slightly, and Emily turned away.
"...I'm going."
She grabbed her things and left the class.
"......"
'Her actions are so unpredictable every time.'
In the end, only Mary and I remained in the classroom.
Mary watched Emily leave, then turned to me.
Her usual blank expression was tinged with worry and guilt.
And Mary cautiously spoke.
"...Ken, are you okay?"
She must have realized my claim of being close was a lie.
No point denying it.
"Yes, thanks to you, Lady Mary."
It was Ken's willpower speaking, but I really had been saved. Who knew how long I'd have had to keep massaging her shoulders otherwise.
But even at my words, Mary kept her troubled, sad expression.
"...I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going through that on rainy days."
"N-no, Lady Mary! I'm really fine!"
I flailed my hands frantically at Mary, who bowed her head with shadows on her face.
Of course, I wasn't fine.
But Ken apparently couldn't bear to see a girl he liked make such a despairing face.
Not fine, but I comforted her anyway.
Knowing it was a lie, Mary's expression didn't change.
"I... I should be protecting you. ...But when it rains, I become useless. I'm sorry."
"......"
I had no words for her endless apologies.
But one question popped into my head.
Come to think of it, why did Mary skip the academy on rainy days?
I knew from the game with its weather system that she couldn't be found on rainy days.
But the reason for that setting was never explained.
"Um, shall we head home for now?"
But I couldn't easily ask about such a sensitive topic.
And so we wrapped up the minor incident.
"...Huh?"
"......Ah."
But I learned the answer to that question very abruptly.
As we walked home, trying to cheer up the downcast Mary with idle chit-chat.
Something happened on the way to the dorms.
Plop, plop.
It was a sudden downpour.
"...N-no."
As thick raindrops hit our heads and began soaking our clothes bit by bit, Mary beside me muttered that.
Her face was filled with dismay and fear.