Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Reunion
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“Hmm.”
Trisha let out a long breath through her nose as she looked at her best friend.
The time she had spent with Eliya wasn’t all that long, but there was one thing she knew for sure.
She was incredibly shy when it came to romance.
So what was with this attitude right now?
“What did you say, Eliya?”
“Hm? Oh, just that I need to help Riru.”
This is weird.
Was this really the same girl who, just a little while ago, had been trembling with anxiety at the thought that there were all these other attractive women around the teacher, so he’d never look her way?
Whenever she brought up Dawood before, her emotions had churned wildly in a terrifying way, but now they were remarkably calm. Like the surface of a still lake.
“Riru... you mean that woman? The rough one?”
Trisha stroked her chin and carefully opened her mouth.
At least, the last time Trisha had heard about her, it was clear she harbored feelings for Dawood.
But.
She was going to help her?
“...”
What wind blew in?
And what exactly was she planning to help with?
“Hm... It’s obvious Riru’s preparing something.”
Eliya rubbed her eyepatch-covered eye and grinned.
“Probably some super important confession to the teacher.”
“Did she tell you that?”
“No, but it’s obvious from how tense she is. She’s trying to hide something inside.”
“You can see it?”
It didn’t sound like she’d picked up on it from context.
And Trisha’s intuition was spot on with what came next.
“Yeah. I can kind of see emotions?”
“...”
“Like... they’re rippling or something.”
Trisha’s mouth fell open.
Her “emotion-seeing eyes” were a power she had awakened through interaction with her holy power.
To be precise, most priests gained special abilities upon reaching a certain level, but Trisha’s eyes were among the strongest.
Practically on par with mind-reading.
But.
Had Eliya suddenly acquired something like that too?
“Emotions... you can see them, Eliya?”
“No, not all emotions. Just people who have something ‘bad’ inside them. Only when it’s really intense.”
“Something bad?”
“They told me not to say what it is. It’d make enemies everywhere.”
“...”
Eliya waved her hand as Trisha tilted her head.
“Come on, how could I see everyone’s emotions? If I had something like that, it’d be hard to even meet people nearby—”
“...”
“People would hate having someone peering into their heads. I wouldn’t even tell anyone but you, Trisha.”
“Yeah... I bet.”
Trisha forced a smile onto her face in agreement.
Deep in her subconscious, she was kicking away the horrific memories that Eliya’s words had nearly dragged up.
Because of this power, she’d been ostracized a lot in the past.
She’d often been treated like a monster by those around her.
And even.
People she could never see again.
“...”
Trisha struggled to keep her expression in check.
She desperately changed the subject.
“But... is it really okay to just help her like that? It’s about Dawood, right?”
She was trying to shift the topic, but it was also something she absolutely had to ask.
What if helping her like that led to Riru actually ending up with Dawood?
That was the thought behind her words.
But.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter.”
The response was remarkably nonchalant.
“What?”
“The teacher’s just the type women flock to no matter what. No one in the world could stop it. So instead of trying to block the unavoidable, we should think about how to make it efficient.”
Eliya grinned at Trisha’s dumbfounded expression.
“I’m irreplaceable to the teacher right now anyway.”
No doubt about it.
Eliya was the only one who could efficiently “subdue” the crazy women charging at Dawood from all sides.
Even the Tristan Duchess couldn’t pull this off. She might win, but she’d destroy the opponent outright, and Dawood wouldn’t like that based on his usual tendencies.
So.
“Having a ton of other women swarm around the teacher might actually be better.”
And if they fought among themselves, even better.
“Huh? Why?”
“Then he’d rely on me even more, right?”
“...”
The more that happened.
Eliya’s value as the only one who could “sort out the traffic” of those people would skyrocket.
Dawood wouldn’t be able to live without her...!
“So you’re deliberately going to let women stick to Dawood and watch the fights break out?”
“Nah, not that. That’d put the teacher in danger. No need to escalate it on purpose.”
“...”
Eliya chuckled and continued.
“I’m just helping Riru as a friend. Even so, if she can’t get her feelings across properly, that’d be too much.”
“Um, Eliya.”
Trisha suppressed a chill and kept smiling as she spoke.
Helping a friend, huh.
The words felt a bit off.
“You’re talking about helping a friend, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Why was she even asking?
Eliya’s attitude up until now had been that she was the “top priority,” so no other women approaching mattered.
“Is this Riru really just a friend?”
It was a question Trisha forced out.
“She’s a friend.”
The response was flatly calm.
“So... second or third concubine might be possible?”
“...”
Normally, wouldn’t she say she’d step aside gracefully for her friend, or something like that?
What was with this attitude...?
“But the teacher’s mine.”
“...”
“Isn’t this already a huge concession?”
What a fleeting friendship.
The thought automatically flashed through Trisha’s mind.
●
[Can I ask one question?]
‘No.’
[...]
I knew exactly what she wanted to ask, so no questions allowed from the start.
With that in mind, I eased up slightly on the hand gripping Yuria’s collar.
I could hear her panting a bit as she was pulled along.
“Ah, sorry. Did that hurt?”
“N-No, this is perfect, so, k-keep going like this...”
“...”
Right.
As you wish.
I tried my best not to look back as I kept pulling Yuria’s collar.
If I turned around in this state and saw Yuria’s flushed face, my social shame would crush me for real.
[Fine. I can’t hold back from asking.]
“...”
[Hero selection starts tomorrow, and you’re out here doing WHAT exactly?]
“...”
What else?
Something necessary.
[ Performing ‘Activity – Collar Walk’! ]
[ Performing ‘Activity – Light Choking’! ]
[ Target ‘Yuria’s masochism meter is resetting to 0! ]
[ Target’s corruption level is dropping massively! ]
“...”
The text alone would get me socially buried as a total degenerate.
But that’s why I’m doing it.
Thinking that, I pulled up a window.
The one from yesterday.
[System Log]
[ Built-in skill ‘Guardian’s Soul’ added to ‘Soul Linker’! ]
[ Soul Linker ] [ Exclusive Equipment ]
[ Enchant: Epic ]
[ Fused: ‘Hero Fragment’ ] [ Fused: ‘Essence of Evil’ ]
◎ Built-in Skills ◎
■ [ Mental World ] [ Skill Rank: A+ ]
[ Summons a spirit to form a unique domain in the surrounding area. Within the domain, some of the spirit’s abilities can be used. As consciousness openness increases, the domain expands and more abilities become available. ]
{ Currently Usable Abilities }
[ Trait: Comradeship ]
[ To a knight, comrades are family. Can partially propagate buffs on self to surrounding allies. ]
■ [ Guardian’s Soul ] [ Skill Rank: S ]
[ Guardians have long been recognized by all as protectors of justice and morality. Gain special stacks each time an evil individual is subdued. Fill all stacks to summon the soul to the mortal plane for a limited time. ]
Current Stacks: 2%
■ [ Alchemy ] [ Rank: 4 Strokes ]
.
.
.
To me, he’s like a laid-back neighborhood big bro, but in life, he was the first one called the Guardian. Even Gideon avoided clashing with him directly.
Summoning Kallivan to the mortal plane would be an insanely huge advantage. Gotta fill those stacks no matter what.
With hero selection starting tomorrow, it’s even higher priority.
‘And definitely.’
In Sera’s world, “subduing” counts as long as you inflict harm on the target in some way.
Putting a collar on this girl and dragging her around also qualifies as... a form of “subdual.”
[System Message]
[ Subdued target ‘Yuria’! ‘Skill: Guardian’s Soul’ stack gained! ]
Indeed, these messages kept popping up.
However.
[ Failed to subdue target sufficiently. Stacks accumulate slowly! ]
Seeing this too meant this level wasn’t fully meeting the skill’s subdual requirements.
Need to research even more intense degenerate stuff—
[...Are you sure your brain isn’t starting to go bad?]
“...”
[Researching worse than this?]
No, but who else but masochistic Yuria would willingly go along with this?
Subdual requires harming the target somehow, and even if these devil’s vessels are head over heels for me, no one would just stand there and take violence from me.
Except this one begging for a collar walk.
“Ah, u-um, D-Dawood, s-slow down a bit...”
“Ah, sorry. Did that hurt?”
Lost in thought, I dragged her too roughly.
But even then, Yuria shyly smiled and said.
“N-No, it’s fine.”
A purely innocent smile. So fresh and pure.
Without the collar, it would’ve been quite the picture.
“It hurts a little, but it feels really good.”
“...”
“This is my first time, and I heard first times hurt a lot. But since it’s you, Dawood... it feels good...”
“...”
Hey.
Stop.
Don’t say such pure things.
It’s embarrassing me just hearing it...!
[...Is this girl okay?]
‘...As long as no one catches us, it should be fine.’
At least corruption isn’t rising, so the biggest risk is gone.
We’re in a deserted area with no one around, and it’s late at night.
As I turned the corner while answering Kallivan.
I ran into Eliya, her face lit up with a smile.
“...”
“...”
Wasn’t it?
Is the risk actually pretty high?
As I stared at Eliya.
She grinned and walked straight toward me.
“...”
“...”
I need to say something.
Sweating bullets, I opened my mouth for an excuse.
“I’m not the Student Council President, Teacher.”
Eliya spoke first.
“What?”
“Even if the teacher has some perverse, extreme tastes, I totally get it.”
“Huh?”
“More importantly, can I take over walking Yuria? I have something urgent right now.”
“...”
Not just me—even pale-faced Yuria’s expression went blank for a moment.
What the hell is she saying?
But.
“W-Wait, Eliya...! What is this...!”
“It’s fine! Friends help each other with stuff like this sometimes!”
“Huh? W-What? That kind of thing?!”
“...”
As if.
No matter how friendless she is, how could she believe that so easily?
“I made the opportunity for you.”
As Yuria was dragged away, Eliya mouthed those words.
Definitely.
It looked like she was saying it to the person “behind” me.
“Good luck, Riru!”
“...”
Huh.
What?
I turned around with stiff, rusty-robot movements, and there stood exactly the person Eliya mentioned.
Riru Garda.
Daughter of the great chieftain.
“...”
“...”
She held a large box in her arms.
Big enough to make the onlooker feel uneasy.
“...”
“...”
The silence dragged on heavily.
Normally, she’d snap something like “What’re you staring at?” but right now, Riru’s breathing was ragged, like she’d forgotten how to breathe.
Her face was red. A vivid flush piercing even her dark skin, spreading across her whole body.
“Long time no see, Riru. Doing well?”
Finally, I offered a dusty greeting.
“You should’ve contacted me if you came to Elpante. I could’ve come by for a meal.”
Trying to lighten the mood.
No, really.
This woman was now handling major duties in the tribal alliance alongside Kasa, unlike before. If she caused some “incident” with me here, with hero selection right around the corner, I’d be in real trouble.
“Your face looks a bit better, at least? Glad—”
“Dawood Campbell.”
My words cut off at Riru’s serious tone.
“...”
Pointless effort, I guess.
She definitely brought something “incident-worthy.” I could feel it.
“Do you remember the last thing we said before we parted?”
“...”
She was getting to it.
She’d said she’d come back to Elpante with a “gift.”
That box must be it.
The problem was, what kind of gift made her this... serious?
“...”
“...”
Riru fidgeted with her lips.
Seeing this usually brash woman unable to spit it out ramped up my anxiety.
No.
What the hell is it?
“Hey.”
After a long silence, Riru.
Finally opened her mouth with a resolved look.
“Take this.”
With those words, she thrust the box forward.
An ornate box adorned with engravings and jewels.
Definitely the type for big events. No cheap item.
“Is that your gift?”
Please let it be nothing major—I forced a light laugh to ease the atmosphere.
But.
“What is it? Looks expensive.”
“Dowry box.”
“...”
My reason shut down at those words.
“Pardon?”
Struggling.
Really struggling to respond.
“Dawood Campbell.”
Riru.
Her whole body flushed red, face included.
But her gaze burned with fierce flames.
“Marry me.”
She said it.
Firmly.
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