Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Dragon King (2)
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“How do you use this thing—kyaaah!”
Trisha, who had just finished showering, screamed as she accidentally sprayed herself with a jet of water while fiddling with an object on the vanity.
It happened the moment she pressed the button in the center.
Her face drenched, she immediately made a miserable expression.
At a glance, it looked like just a metal rod, but who would’ve thought it sprayed water from the end?
“Ugh, there are so many weird things, but I need to know how to use them. I can’t get my head straight. Eliya, you...”
As she said that and turned her head, Trisha promptly shut her mouth.
Over there was Eliya, casually drying her hair with a machine blowing out hot air as if it were nothing.
“...How are you using that so well?”
“I just knew.”
“You just knew?”
Trisha responded with a look of disbelief, and Eliya nodded expressionlessly.
“Yeah.”
“...”
This is weird.
The Eliya in Trisha’s memory was surprisingly clueless about the ways of the world.
She’d heard she grew up in a monastery since childhood, but sometimes it felt a bit extreme.
But what about Eliya now?
‘Normally, she’d be clinging to me saying, “Trisha, help me~”...’
Trisha tilted her head, thinking that.
Even she, known among her friends as the most self-sufficient, was struggling to adapt to these items, yet Eliya used them effortlessly.
Anyone would believe she’d grown up with them from the start, she seemed that natural.
‘...She has been a bit off lately, hasn’t she...?’
She’d always heard her friend was quick-witted and eager, but Eliya’s recent “learning ability” felt beyond that category.
Lately, it was like she could grasp anything at a glance. Her “comprehension” and “insight” had skyrocketed.
Especially considering how she used to slump over long sentences, claiming she couldn’t read them.
It was almost like she’d acquired some special ability.
“...”
But regardless of that.
Eliya’s current state was something Trisha couldn’t just ignore.
‘She seemed a bit better recently...’
Not long ago, she’d shared lunch with the teacher and bounced around happily, saying he seemed to like it too.
But right after the friendly sparring matches, she went off to receive some commendation and came back like this—blank-faced and lost in thought.
Even today, there was that important event for top-performing students called the Hunter’s Night or whatever, and she’d skipped it without a care.
“...Shouldn’t you care a little about your grades?”
“I did well in the friendly matches, so skipping Hunter’s Night for a day should be fine.”
“...Won’t you regret it next semester during the joint training with the Holy Kingdom? They cut based on grades, right?”
“We’ll think about that when the time comes.”
“...”
So irresponsible.
At least judging by her emotional color, she didn’t seem too depressed, which was a small mercy. Still, compared to her previous pink-washed bliss, this wasn’t great.
Eliya had always been prone to extreme ups and downs when it came to that guy, but this emotional swing felt a bit much.
Finally, Trisha sighed and spoke up.
“Is something not going well again?”
“...Huh? Oh? No, no no.”
“...”
Trisha let out a deep sigh.
“Eliya.”
“...Yeah?”
“If you keep refusing my help just because you feel burdened, I’ll get mad?”
“...”
“I’m doing this because I want to. Not because someone told me to. Got it?”
“...No, still.”
Eliya pouted her lips.
“I’m sorry. It feels like I’m being a nuisance, always consulting you about the teacher stuff.”
“It’s fine. Especially since it’s about him.”
“...Huh? What do you mean?”
“...He’s unpredictable too. Personally, I’m a bit interested.”
From the perspective of someone whose specialty was human observation, there weren’t many people as peculiar as him.
She figured studying him incidentally through Eliya wouldn’t be bad.
‘...His color is too faint to see clearly.’
Not as extreme as Feynol, who had no color at all, but Dawood never leaked emotions clear enough to read his thoughts.
Even surrounded by all those incredibly favorable women, the “liking” emanating directly from his heart was practically nonexistent.
It was as if.
“...He’s forcibly suppressing his own feelings.”
“Huh? What’d you say?”
“Oh, no. Nothing.”
When Eliya’s eyes widened at the slip, Trisha shook her head.
What was the point of explaining that guy’s state?
“No, tell me more. You’re saying the teacher is deliberately suppressing his feelings?”
But Eliya was already hooked on the topic, pausing her hair-brushing to drag her chair right up to Trisha.
“...Uh, um...”
Faced with that determination, Trisha’s cheeks trembled as she continued her explanation.
She didn’t want to reveal her ability outright. Announcing it would surely earn her dirty looks.
So, she kept it vague.
“No, just... from what I see, he thinks it’d be a big problem if he showed who he likes.”
“You think so too, Trisha?!”
“...”
What’s with this intense reaction?
It was like all her earlier suicidal brooding boiled down to this.
“It’s just... something like that happened.”
Eliya frowned deeply as she said that.
“Lately, everything around me feels... ‘sensitive,’ Trisha. I don’t know what triggered it. Just... that’s how it is.”
“...”
Exactly what Trisha had felt watching Eliya lately.
She knew it best herself.
“And there’s one thing I sense really strongly with this feeling.”
Eliya paused.
As if recalling something utterly horrific.
“The Tristan Duchess has something inside her. That’s for sure.”
“...Something? Like what?”
“Something tied to the teacher. Whenever he gets involved with another woman, something huge blows up.”
Definitely.
The sensation of something having “twisted” still lingered sharply.
Even now, sitting safely inside the academy chatting felt off—like a massive incident had occurred.
She didn’t remember it, but the feeling that it exploded when Dawood got involved with another woman was etched into her body.
“...Something like that?”
“Yeah. Definitely.”
That’s why.
“Then we’re in trouble.”
“Trouble? Why?”
“No, he’s with another woman right now. They looked pretty close, from what I heard.”
“Who? It’s not just one or two, is it?”
“...”
From her tone, Eliya was starting to realize that guy was trash.
Should she stop her friend from accepting it so casually, or just give up?
With that thought, Trisha sighed and continued.
“I heard from the others earlier. He went out to sea on a boat with Talion and that Liru person, in this weather.”
“For that Hunter’s Night thing? But that’s not a big deal, right?”
“No, I heard the Tristan Duchess was spotted nearby.”
Eliya gasped in horror.
Of course, Elnor probably wasn’t actually chasing them. If she were, it would’ve blown up already.
She was likely there for unrelated business with Dawood, which made sense.
‘Even just running into her won’t end well...!’
At the very least, warning him was the right thing to do.
“I-I’m going to ask for help!”
“Help? From who?”
“I have one reliable friend!”
With that, Eliya dashed out of the room.
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“...”
On the storm-lashed terrace, Yuria silently toyed with the Severer while gazing down at her own arm.
The white veins starting from her fingertips and slowly creeping downward—this indicator that the Severer was corroding her had now reached near her wrist.
She didn’t show it, knowing her ever-watchful sister would grieve if she found out it had progressed this far.
‘...Not much time left.’
As the long-time wielder of this sword, she could instinctively feel it.
Fingertips. Wrist. Forearm. The curse would race up her body to her heart.
When it did, she wouldn’t be Yuria Grayhauncher anymore.
She’d become some “thing” unfit for the name.
And thinking of that brought back what Feynol—the woman who’d just visited her—had said.
-Just leaving it alone won’t stop it, you know.
The woman who called herself and Yuria “kindred spirits” had said that clearly.
-You think it’s just a curse from that sword, but the Inquisition sees it differently.
The Inquisition.
The Empire’s special enforcement agency, operating outside even the Holy Kingdom’s system.
A group founded under the grand ideal of being the world’s sole opposition to “demons.”
An extralegal powerhouse even the Imperial Family rarely checked.
People with such authority that even Yuria, despite the woman’s insult to her sister, had no choice but to sit and listen.
-...Differently? What do you mean?
-It’s not just a curse. Even that woman—second only to the Pontiff in holy power—prays fervently every day, yet there’s no progress. That’s no coincidence.
Impassively.
As if it were natural that even a top-tier human in holy power couldn’t handle it.
-Your curse... it’s an ancient curse with “something” additionally embedded. One more thing is needed to combat it.
Feynol had continued like that.
-If you don’t monopolize that man, you’ll die, Yuria Grayhauncher.
-...Monopolize?
-That man... it’s hard to explain now, but he has an ability close to a panacea against the “entity” dormant in your sword. The Inquisition is very interested in that quality of his.
Feynol had smiled brightly as she said that.
To Yuria, it felt like the sweet bait of a mousetrap.
-In short, the Inquisition wants to push you toward him to “test” that ability. So you can monopolize him. You seem the most suitable among those nearby to observe it.
-...Push me?
Dawood had said she was his truest connection. He’d even left a token of promise.
As she clutched her nape, replaying that, Feynol’s words hit her.
They still echoed clearly in her mind.
-Do you really believe that?
-...
-With so many attractive women around him?
-...
To the rigidly stiffening Yuria.
Feynol’s words pressed on.
-If you’re certain, I won’t interfere. But if you need help, contact me anytime.
-...
-I’ll be waiting.
Yuria glumly caressed the pendant Feynol had left behind.
‘...No.’
Dawood wouldn’t deceive her.
No, he mustn’t.
She couldn’t endure otherwise.
“Yuria!”
Lost in those thoughts, the door suddenly burst open.
It was Eliya, panting.
“Oh, did my sister send you? It’s regular worship time now, so she should be at the cathedral...”
“Not the Saintess—I came to see you!”
“...”
Huh.
Me?
Not her sister?
Before acquiring the Severer, maybe back in her distant childhood, but every remembered moment had been solitary. This was almost unprecedented.
“Oh, uh, sorry, for you to come all this way looking for someone like me—”
“No time for that. We have something to do together!”
“...”
Something to do.
Normally, she’d refuse politely.
Even with the Star Iron Circlet, she bore one of humanity’s most potent curses. A single rampage could cause disaster.
Especially after hearing from Feynol that even her Saintess sister couldn’t control the powerful entity entwined within.
“What are you saying? We’re friends!”
“...”
If Eliya hadn’t phrased it that way, she probably still would’ve refused.
‘Tch, friends?’
Could she utter such a radiant word so easily?
Yuria stammered in fluster.
“W-we, have we had any decisive event to call it that...?”
Her human relations boiled down to roughly:
1. Family—Sister
2. Most precious person—Dawood
3. Grateful to—Lady Ophelia who lends facilities, Chancellor Atlante of Elpante who accepted her
...A minimalist pinnacle.
For someone whose bonds fit on one hand, “friends” was...
...Too... too...
“...Tch, friends. Yes. A-hem.”
Too sweet to refuse.
“W-what do we have to do together...?”
“Let’s go save the teacher!”
Yuria froze at those words.
Save him? What crisis was he in now?
“He’s with that Liru Garda person right now, and if the Student Council President nearby sees, it could be bad—”
She couldn’t blame Eliya for choosing her.
At least, the Yuria she knew was the strongest among her acquaintances, seemed tight-lipped (intentionally or not), and got along well with Dawood.
However.
What she hadn’t gauged.
“That Liru Garda person.”
Was just how well she got along with Dawood.
“Is she a woman?”
“...”
“A woman?”
“...”
“She is. From your reaction.”
“...”
“Yes. Let’s go. Where is he now?”
Huh.
The intent was clearly to warn Dawood so Elnor wouldn’t wreck everything.
What was with this icy response?
‘...Dodged an uncertain landmine only to step on a definite one?’
That was undoubtedly a more accurate monologue than Eliya herself realized.
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