Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: That Choice
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The next day, bidding farewell to Bianca, Krash returned to Raheln Academy.
It had been a short rest, but one loaded with all sorts of meanings.
Perhaps because of that, his heart felt much lighter on the way back than before.
It seemed thanks to finally acknowledging what needed to be acknowledged.
But there was one thing that worried him a little.
"In one year, before I enroll at Raheln Academy, I'll get stronger."
Bianca's show of firm resolve was good.
"I'll become a wonderful woman worthy of you, Krash, so I can stand by your side."
But somehow, her firm resolve had veered off in a different direction.
Krash read the emotions in those blue eyes that had met his own and let out a hollow chuckle.
Because he had noticed that the emotion in her eyes was jealousy and possessiveness.
Her expression was cute in one way, but also made him feel a bit sorry.
After all, it was Krash himself who had made her anxious.
[Isn't that what you get for your usual antics? Surrounding yourself with women left and right. Why not buy rings in every style while you're at it?]
Seizing the opening, Crimson Garden's scolding came pouring in.
Krash felt a little wronged, for his part.
On top of that, Evelask's corpse rat was unusually quiet today.
She must be tired from dealing with the Madness Festival.
It seemed fine to let her rest for a while.
'Raheln Academy is starting to feel familiar now.'
Stretching briefly as he walked down the corridor, Krash felt refreshed.
Having slept soundly for a day, his body felt great.
'Then it's time to get to work.'
There were mountains of things to do.
Having rested up and stocked energy, now it was time to put it to real use.
Just as Krash started walking with that thought—
"Did you hear? About the princess assassin?"
"They say Sigrin went to check on her because she hadn't come out of her room and was worried, but she started screaming and throwing a tantrum?"
"Unbelievable. To think she'd do that to Sigrin, who took her in out of old sentiment."
"It's in her nature. That story about being controlled by the Night Raven Captain was probably all lies too, right?"
The voices drifted into Krash's sharp ears.
Glancing out the second-floor window, he saw a group of students gathered there.
It was the perfect spot for them to gossip among themselves.
More than that, the wisps of smoke rising—cigarettes, huh.
Smoking was basically banned inside Raheln Academy.
Some professors might sneak a puff, but it was different for students.
And looking closer, they were the ones known as troublemakers even within Raheln Academy.
They must have come here full of dreams and hopes.
But after meeting real geniuses, they broke and ended up walking the path of delinquents.
Krash vaguely remembered them from his previous regression—they were guys he sometimes got tangled with.
'They were seniors back then.'
Now they were second-year students like him.
"Still, her tits are great, right? I've always wanted to cop a feel."
"Crazy. You want to hold a criminal who assassinated the princess? Your tastes are filthy."
"You gotta try a bad girl at least once to become a real man."
"Ugh, is that all guys ever talk about?"
And they were still blockheads.
Krash leaned his head out the window frame.
"Hey."
The group startled at his call and looked up.
Once they confirmed it was Krash's face, they all went pale.
The number one in the second-year martial arts track, direct lineage of the Valheim family.
Krash Valheim.
There wasn't a single person at Raheln Academy who didn't know his name.
Krash lightly vaulted over the window frame and landed in front of them.
They all froze with stiff expressions, not knowing what to do, and Krash snatched their cigarettes from their hands.
Sizzle!
Then, nonchalantly, he clenched his fist and crushed them.
Even though the embers should have been hot, his expression didn't change a bit, which cowed them even more.
Krash shook the cigarette ash from his hand and slowly looked at them.
"Should I put them out for you? Or will you do it yourselves?"
"W-We'll do it!"
The troublemakers hurriedly extinguished the cigarettes in their hands however they could.
Watching that, Krash dusted off his hands and stared them down.
"Who was it that said Mary Diana yelled at Sigrin Epania just now?"
"M-Me."
One of them shot his hand up in panic at Krash's words.
Krash looked at him, crossed his arms, and leaned back against the wall.
"Tell me the details."
Guys like these always knew the juiciest gossip.
The incident where Mary, staying in the dormitory, argued with Sigrin.
It seemed to have happened while Krash was away.
From what he gathered, Sigrin had been furious at Mary for defying her orders and gone to find her.
True to her personality, she must have unleashed all the pent-up insults and words on Mary without holding back.
'Mary was already at her mental breaking point by then.'
Naturally, Mary—having no mental fortitude left to endure Sigrin's tirade—must have exploded too.
She had been toyed with by Krash's words, convinced that all her misery was Sigrin's fault.
Sigrin must have been flustered when Mary, who had always obeyed her commands faithfully, screamed at her.
And soon after, she realized the commotion was getting too big.
In the end, to protect her image, Sigrin felt she had to withdraw first.
'After leaving Mary's room, Sigrin left with tears welling up.'
Then she must have subtly spread rumors through her underlings.
Sigrin, thinking of their old ties, had gone to comfort Mary, who failed the midterm evaluation.
But Mary screamed at Sigrin's kind heart and chased her away.
Sigrin already had a good reputation among the students.
Whereas Mary only had infamy.
Naturally, the rumors were interpreted to fit the students' preconceptions.
Mary holed up in her room without any response.
Thanks to that, the rumors solidified as fact, and she was completely isolated.
'Sigrin has fully cast Mary out.'
The situation had more downsides than upsides to begin with.
Given Sigrin's personality, she wouldn't keep Mary by her side anymore.
With that, Krash stopped in front of the women's dormitory.
'This is definitely an opportunity.'
With Sigrin fully rejecting her, now was the chance to fill Mary's final dial: 'submission'.
However, there was one problem.
Would Mary, in her current state, even come out of her room upon hearing Krash had come to see her?
Krash knew Mary's personality well.
'I succeeded in erasing Sigrin that day and somewhat established myself.'
But over time, leading to today, that effect would have faded quite a bit.
Now, just the act of going outside must terrify her.
Unless Krash himself went and called out to her, she'd probably run if some unknown guy showed up.
'What to do.'
Krash glanced at the women's dormitory.
Compared to the men's dorm, security here was much tighter.
And for good reason: female professors took turns guarding it directly.
Even Krash couldn't just barge in recklessly.
[Why agonize over it?]
At that moment, Crimson Garden's voice came from above, where she was flying in the sky.
[Doesn't the alchemy girl have a way?]
And then came the topic Krash had been ignoring until now.
Krash scowled deeply and looked up at the sky.
Eventually, with a short sigh, he turned around.
Annoying as it was, that seemed to be the only way.
Special Studies Building, Alchemy Lab.
Krash arrived there with annoyance etched all over his face, unlike usual.
Perhaps because of it, even fewer people dared approach him as he passed.
Some even averted their gazes.
Making his way to a classroom, Krash flung the door open.
"Eyahahaha!"
Laughter burst from inside immediately.
The woman holding a vial high to the sky, laughing, was steeped in madness over whatever she had made.
Today, that madness didn't sit well with Krash at all.
The future Lord of the Alchemy Castle.
Darling Danphelion.
Someone Krash knew well.
"Huh? Boyfriend, what brings you here?"
Spotting Krash, Darling greeted him with an eye smile.
She was someone he'd been seeing steadily over the enhanced potion refinement.
Having come once recently, her reaction was 'why are you here again when there's no reason?'
"I need a favor."
Krash's response was less than welcoming.
Darling tilted her head.
And for good reason: Krash's 'favors' were usually more like orders.
"You're acting weird, boyfriend. Did you hit your head? The memory restoration potions are all out."
She can even make those?
Feeling Darling's genius anew, Krash slammed the door shut.
Then he walked over with heavy steps and stood before her.
Their eyes met.
Krash hesitated to speak, staying silent; Darling waited for him, also silent.
Plop—
In the silence, a bubble popped from the boiling vial.
Moments later, Darling slowly twirled her golden side ponytail with her finger and flashed a mischievous smile.
"Being this cautious with your words. You finally decided to confess to me? I thought you only wanted my body, but you want to give me your heart too? Didn't see that coming."
Her voice dripped with playfulness.
"Where should we have the wedding? Since Charlotte has to be there too, somewhere spacious?"
"Darling."
Krash called her name seriously, and she flinched.
Normally, he'd scold her joking first.
But his reaction was completely different this time.
Krash's face was utterly serious.
Darling's playful expression slowly clouded with bewilderment.
And her ears began to flush with embarrassment.
"W-Wait, really? S-Serious?"
Her eyes darted around as she even started stuttering.
Always so composed, she panicked hard now that Krash was truly serious.
"I-I needed to p-prepare my heart for this."
As Darling froze, unsure what to do, Krash let out a long sigh.
"Give me a potion that turns someone into a woman."
Darling's flushed face, which had been waiting for his words, slowly returned to normal.
Then she gently wrapped her hand around Krash's wrist.
"Krash, you were serious. Let's book the wedding venue today."
In Darling's eyes, a wedding venue was seriously taking shape.
She had a unique sensibility.