Chapter 115: Fateful
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 115: Fateful
A moment ago.
Yohan and Evangeline had walked along the beach, looking for a new spot.
Having just dumped Adelheid, he couldn't help but feel a little on edge.
"Why do you keep looking back?"
"It's nothing... Anyway, where's Hekaterina?"
"Who knows? She's around here somewhere, I guess?"
Yohan shot his teacher a dumbfounded look. She had insisted on bringing Hekaterina along, only to abandon her somewhere. Just then, he spotted a woman in the distance being hit on by a group of soldiers.
She was a good two heads shorter than everyone else, but it looked as if those two heads had migrated straight to her chest.
The overwhelming volume that captured every man's gaze was enough for him to immediately recognize her as Hekaterina. He could also understand just how shocking that chest must have been to those red-blooded soldiers.
"I told you to fuck off, didn't I?"
"Come on, you came here knowing what this place is about, right? The crew members are basically here to comfort us. Just hang out with us for a bit."
"I told you, I'm not a crew member. Are you deaf? Maybe you'll come to your senses if I put another hole in your head."
Hekaterina was arguing with the soldiers. Normally, she would have already broken one of their limbs or, as she said, put another hole in their head—but she was holding back with surprising patience.
As Yohan marveled at her growth, he casually approached and slung an arm around one of the soldiers' shoulders.
"Alright, alright, that's enough."
"Huh? Who the hell are you..."
"Hey, wait a minute—this guy is..."
While they hadn't recognized Hekaterina in her swimsuit with her face uncovered, they seemed to recognize Yohan. The soldiers' expressions instantly hardened.
The reason they knew his face was simple. Yohan often accompanied the witches to the Northern Defense Line to see if they were diligently guarding it.
The soldiers glanced back and forth between Yohan, Evangeline standing behind him, and Hekaterina. Only then did they realize that Hekaterina was one of the witches who protected them.
And a witch was, at the very least, on par with a Battalion Commander.
"A-atten-tion!"
"Salute!"
"It's fine, it's fine. You know I just saved your lives, right?"
"Yes, sir!! Thank you, sir!"
"We were out of line!"
As the soldiers said their piece and quickly vacated the area, Yohan turned to Hekaterina and spoke.
"Why were you struggling with them?"
Yohan looked down at Hekaterina. She looked up at him, her expression slightly annoyed.
Below her face, her exposed milk jugs made it easy to see why the soldiers had been pestering her.
"...What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I just get why those soldiers were hitting on you."
"What, you think I'll be happy if you compliment me now?"
Hekaterina replied in a gruff voice. But if she had truly disliked it, she would have kicked him just like she did when they first met.
This was proof that living with Evangeline and Yohan had mellowed her out. Realizing this, Yohan felt a small thrill at the fact that he had completely turned a person's personality around.
"Right, so now over there... Ah."
"What? What is it now?"
"I left the parasol. Teacher, I'll be right back, I'm just going to get our things."
Yohan headed back to the spot where he'd set up the parasol. To be honest, he was a little reluctant to go grab their stuff right in front of the person he'd just dumped, but he couldn't exactly ask his teacher to do it...
When he arrived at the bench, Yohan noticed that Adelheid was gone from the bench next to his. Wondering where she could have gone in such a short time, he scanned the area and saw the distant seashore freezing solid.
The water was so clear you could see straight to the bottom, which is how he realized Adelheid was submerged deep within it.
"That crazy bitch!"
Seeing this, Yohan dove into the sea without a second thought. That lunatic! Who the hell tries to kill themselves just because they got rejected?
He knew witches were unhinged, but he never thought it would be to this extent. Yohan quickly swam out and reached for Adelheid, who had sealed herself behind a barrier of ice.
His fingertips glowed faintly as his innate magic nullification activated. He shattered the solidly frozen ice wall and pulled Adelheid, who was on the other side, to the surface.
"Puhaaa—!"
The moment they were out of the water, Yohan unleashed a string of curses at Adelheid. Are you out of your mind? Are you insane? Does it make any sense to do this just because you got rejected?—and so on.
However, her reply made Yohan clamp his mouth shut.
"...I was just trying to swim."
"...What?"
It had looked for all the world like a suicide attempt, but he belatedly remembered she was a witch. It might just be unrecorded, but to date, no witch had ever died from drowning.
Naturally, the same applied to the woman before him. On second thought, the idea of an ice witch—whose element was water—drowning in the ocean was utterly absurd.
Yohan finally realized his mistake, and his face flushed red. He hadn't felt a thing when he made someone perform fellatio in front of others, but he had no tolerance for this kind of embarrassment.
"No, I mean... I'm sorry?"
"...You've completely ruined my mood. What are you going to do about it?"
"Pardon? What do you mean—"
"You will... take responsibility, won't you?"
Adelheid spoke as she approached Yohan. It was only then that he got a good look at her and realized her chest was completely exposed.
It looked as if someone had grabbed and ripped her suit. Since she wore the cumbersome full-body tights to contain her curse, she couldn't have ripped it herself.
The one who tore the tights was probably...
"...Did I, by any chance, tear that?"
"Hm? Ah—this. ...Yes, I believe so. I think that's what happened."
"You said that anything that touches it freezes solid."
"Yes, ah. But it's alright. If I'm careful on my way out—"
But Yohan pulled Adelheid into a tight embrace. Her ample breasts were crushed against his chest.
Startled, Adelheid stared up at him, too stunned to even scream. Yohan lifted her into his arms as if he had no other choice and said.
"You have a spare pair of tights, right? Let's go like this."
"No, wait—what is this..."
"My curse immunity works on you anyway, so this is better than having other people freeze to death."
That wasn't true. Her curse didn't spread easily through the air, which had high mana density and low conductivity.
She had explained it to him earlier, but either he had forgotten or he simply hadn't paid much attention in the first place—Yohan held Adelheid tightly and started walking.
In the distance, he could feel the gazes of her subordinates. They probably had no idea the woman in Yohan's arms was their Battalion Commander and were likely cursing him out for his public display of affection in broad daylight.
This is so embarrassing...
Her face grew hot. It was the first time Adelheid realized she had so much heat inside her body.
She peeked up at the man who had done this to her. He was either very used to this kind of situation, or he simply felt nothing for her—he walked on with an unconcerned expression.
That handsome face, that nonchalant expression, set her heart on fire.
I love you.
A fiery love settled into her cold heart.
The flame that had seemed on the verge of dying out now devoured her ice and blazed to life.
Carried out of the water in a man's arms in an awkward position, Adelheid was taken directly to her lodging, still held tightly by Yohan.
People's gazes shot toward them like daggers, but this was no time to worry about a few stares.
Finally arriving at her room, Adelheid took out the spare tights she had brought, changed, and reappeared before Yohan.
"I'm done changing."
"That was fast."
"...Thank you for bringing me here."
"Don't mention it."
Watching Yohan let out a smirk as if he'd accomplished something great, Adelheid knew this was her chance.
The unidentified witch who had interfered with them earlier was gone. If it was just the two of them, she could work up the courage.
"Um..."
"Yeah?"
"What are you planning to do now?"
"Go back and swim."
"And after that?"
"I don't know."
Yohan stroked his chin, lost in thought. It meant he had no plans. Thinking this was perfect, Adelheid recalled the bar in the hotel.
She remembered her subordinates chattering about it, calling it a great place to meet people.
"Then later, this evening, at the hotel bar here..."
"—Yohan, what are you doing?"
Just then, an interrupting voice cut in.
Adelheid turned her head at the familiar sound.
A witch with captivating white hair was approaching.
Evangeline quickly moved between them, turned a blank face to Adelheid, and opened her mouth.
"So you were talking with a filthy stray cat."
"...I don't understand why you act as if this man belongs to you."
"The disciple belongs to the teacher, and the teacher belongs to the disciple. Isn't that just common sense?"
The Adelheid from before would have stayed out of it, having already been rejected. But the woman she was now was different.
Her prince had run back to her right after she'd been heartbroken; it was a situation that felt pushed by fate itself. After experiencing that, she couldn't possibly give up on him.
"That's taking nonsense too far."
Conveniently, the ocean was right in front of them.
A vast, open sea.
A place where witches could fight without having to worry about the aftermath.
"Follow me."