Chapter 45
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Shattered Vessel
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Radia rubbed her eyes as she woke up.
Stretching out comfortably as if it were her own room, she resembled a puppy rolling around belly-up with a relaxed growl before scrambling to its feet with a flurry of paws.
She stretched her arms back over her head, grinning dazedly.
Covering her mouth as she yawned, her limp expression was like sticky rice cake melting in the midsummer sun.
The whole sequence was so cozy that I found myself unwittingly captivated.
What to call it—like unconsciously clicking on a cute puppy photo and suddenly realizing you've been staring at it endlessly.
Femme fatale, you say. Less woman and more puppy, though.
'Cute... chitinous thing.'
Chitinous thing.
It seemed I'd grown accustomed to it now, as a reality-correction filter automatically applied itself.
'If the Hallucination of Disgust makes people look like... no, like chitinous insects, then I just need to reinterpret it in my mind with a different image.'
In other words, let the imagination unfold.
The bar teacher over there gradually transformed into a seductive beauty with cerulean hair, bringing a sense of contentment.
Pitiful, you say?
No way.
I'm happy...
Probably.
I let out a quiet sigh.
'I'll have to resolve it someday, though.'
I joked about getting used to it, but it was still just as repulsive.
'Even aside from that, I can't keep perceiving people that way forever.'
If I hadn't remembered the illustrations of Radia and Charlotte, everyone else would be a blank slate.
Not remembering a single face properly was beside the point.
I had to fix it.
'But it's true that I don't have a solution right now.'
The Hallucination of Disgust was inflicted by the Dream Demon Lord.
So the way to lift it would also lie with... the Dream Demon Lord.
Story-wise, I'd have to confront it soon enough, but neither I nor the protagonists were ready yet.
Above all, returning to the Pisvolt family as in the original plot and fighting the Dream Demon Lord would lead straight to Aiden's death flag, so I had no choice but to be cautious.
'In the end, there's nothing I can do about it at this point.'
I'd have to keep struggling along like this for a bit longer.
"Huh, hah!? P-Professor? This is my room......"
"This is my lab, Radia. And what you're wrapped in is my coat."
"Y-Yes...? Yes!?"
Her head tilted as Radia blinked in confusion, as if wondering what I was saying.
Her brain seemed to short-circuit, unable to process the information.
Instead, she clutched my coat tightly with both hands and froze.
Strands of hair stuck to her lips went unnoticed as she stared at me with unfocused eyes.
"You slept well."
At my words, Radia was struck down.
The future admiral of the seas sank... no, not sank.
She started sniffling, putting my social standing at risk, so I quickly corrected myself.
"I didn't want to wake you, so I was handling paperwork until you stirred. You okay?"
'If this gets out, the optics are terrible.'
A woman with her upper body loosely covered by my coat, and a man calmly working at his desk.
In the dim night.
Just the two of us in the quiet lab.
I'd sent Elin and Isel back to the dorms late at night.
No one to vouch for me.
Actually, even if those two were here, they might not help my case.
They'd be the types to turn misunderstanding into certainty, not prevent it.
'But that's beside the point......'
"Um, d-did I... snore or anything...?"
I was about to say no.
The purring snore had been quite cute, but people have the tool of white lies.
But the god of fate was always cruel to me.
"Hold on, I'm coming in."
Charlotte's intrusion turned everything chaotic.
She looked back and forth between me and Radia several times before dropping her head and steeling herself.
"The disgrace of the family is repaid by the family......"
"What misunderstanding are you even having?"
"A teary-eyed college girl, clutching your coat, red-rimmed eyes, disheveled appearance? Tell me what else I could possibly misunderstand here."
"...Calm down first. I'll explain everything."
"R-Right, yes! The professor and I... um, n-nothing......"
Sensing the weird vibe, Radia started denying it but trailed off awkwardly.
"Nothing... happened, right...?"
My heart nearly stopped.
Her flushed cheeks and shy stammer were cute, sure, but more than that.
My head creaked toward Charlotte like rusty machinery.
Chilling killing intent.
The main reason my heart nearly stopped.
Her face red and trembling, she looked dangerously unstable.
Her expression carried a feverish heat laced with ghostly malice.
Charlotte glared at me as if I were her sworn enemy.
Taking in the whole scene, I let out a deep sigh.
Explaining this would take a while.
* * *
"I'm innocent! You created the misunderstanding yourself."
"Quiet. What right do you have to argue? You troubled my student—apologize."
Charlotte shot me a sour look before bowing her head to Radia.
Radia waved it off and helped her up.
Deep down, I wanted to give Radia a piece of my mind too, but I let it go.
That was the general view, but compared to Isel or Elin, Radia was at an advantage.
Scolding Radia would require managing those two first, and they weren't even here, so it was pointless.
Naturally, there was no steam left to chew her out.
"So why'd you come to my lab, Charlotte."
"It was getting late, and I didn't want to walk back alone, so let's go together."
Charlotte had been staying at the Pisvolt family villa in the capital since her dispatch to the investigation team.
Precisely, the same mansion as me. She probably meant since we were heading home anyway, let's go together.
'For all the back-and-forth, she does take good care of me.'
She was the one who dragged the reclusive Aiden out, and got him a temporary professor spot at Ri Sete Academy.
Makes you think, blood ties. I nodded to myself before looking at Charlotte.
With her skills, late-night travel wasn't a worry, but a woman walking alone at night didn't look good.
"I was about to head home too, so I'll wrap up soon. But we'll take a detour—is that okay?"
"Hm? A detour?"
I glanced at Radia.
"There's one more person, so it's safer to walk back together."
"Y-Yes, um, no. I can just go alone......"
"Ah, if that's it, then sure."
Charlotte agreed, leaving Radia speechless like she'd swallowed honey.
"...You really don't have to worry about me like that."
"It's only natural to worry in situations like this."
I nodded silently as they prepared to leave, tidying up the lab in the meantime.
Late night. Dark blackness blanketing the roadside streets.
Even so, the campus lamps and lights kept it from feeling truly dark.
With no one else around, it might feel a bit eerie, but shift your mindset and it was pleasantly serene.
I followed a step behind, quietly listening as Charlotte and Radia chattered.
Topics like cosmetics or trendy bakeries were hard to jump into anyway, but I also wanted to savor this moment in silence.
Or perhaps I didn't want to shatter this simple scenery.
This kind of conversation was exactly the modest wish Aiden had longed for.
You might think it's small for a master, but Aiden's life had been too tumultuous so far.
Peripheral thrills couldn't erase that unique ennui.
For such an Aiden, all that remained was yearning for a comfortable life away from the endless frontlines where people died daily.
It resonated with my own former petty-bourgeois self.
'Even now, I couldn't relate to grand luxuries or indulgences.'
My life had lacked time despite the money.
Even with both money and time as Aiden, I still couldn't reach for them easily.
Finding peace of mind in this pastoral life was far more enjoyable.
"What're you doing."
Smiling contentedly from behind, Charlotte suddenly spoke up.
"We're going together—why're you lagging behind all isolated? Hm?"
"...You could stand to respect me a little more."
"You know how to fight back, huh."
"......"
That's siblings in reality for you... Don't chase fictional sibling love.
But Radia, in the same boat, shyly chimed in.
"Professor, don't you have anything to say? It feels like we're the only ones talking."
"...I'm happy just watching."
"Old man at heart."
I ignored Charlotte's jab.
But Radia didn't see it that way and shook her head.
"But still."
I stared at Radia, gave her a gentle smile with my eyes, and nodded.
"Radia."
"Y-Yes?"
Unaccustomed to my suddenly soft tone, she flinched.
"Would you draw your sword and form your aura once?"
"Suddenly?"
Charlotte stepped back and followed.
Meaning she'd watch whatever I was about to do.
Radia groaned a bit, drew her training sword, and formed her aura.
A vortex.
A swirling blade.
The wild, powerful force that would one day make her an admiral.
"Huh? Why is it... like this......"
But soon Radia let out a dazed sound, looking flustered.
It wasn't coming out as well as before.
And for good reason—her aura now wasn't swirling in a steady flow but tangled in chaotic disarray.
It seemed flowless yet followed some natural order—a vortex flowing that way. That was the essence of Radia's aura.
Not this current randomness.
"I-It used to be better before."
The pitiful display barely qualified as aura, and Radia deflated.
She said it preemptively to cushion her disappointment.
I turned my head and denied it.
"No. It looks good."
"...Pardon?"
Radia looked puzzled at the unexpected words.
Suspicion lingered in her eyes.
"Radia, do you know what it takes for a person to hold a larger vessel?"
"A larger vessel?"
"Yes."
Radia pretended to ponder before groaning.
"Isn't skill supposed to climb step by step?"
"That's true too. But eventually, trying to fix your flaws stops expanding the vessel's size. It becomes a pretty... small vessel instead. That's what I mean."
Radia slumped her shoulders with a groan.
Her sulky look was cute in its own way, but I hadn't told her this to make her sulk.
"I don't get it......"
"Then you shatter the vessel once."
"Shatter the vessel?"
"You remake it from the broken pieces. Bigger. There might be a momentary setback for that growth, but......"
I gave her a faint smile.
"Those who shatter their vessel once are destined to complete a larger one in the end."
"......"
"To me, your current imperfection looks like preening feathers for a greater flight."
Radia averted her head as if struck by an unexpected blow.
Her eyes seemed a bit red, but I pretended not to notice and added one more thing.
'Since I shook her up, it's only right I take responsibility.'
I'd pushed her to the edge so far; now it was my role to build her back up.
"You're doing well. You've done well, and you'll continue to do well. Have confidence. You're more than worthy of the Drake family name as a swordswoman. I, a master, vouch for you."
"...You have to spring this on me so suddenly?"
A hint of reproach, like a scolding.
But above all, her effort to compose her comforted heart felt somehow warm.
"Good night. If you're free tomorrow, see me in my lab."
"...You too, Professor."
After seeing Radia to her dorm, Charlotte and I strolled leisurely down the night path.
She gave me an inscrutable look before chuckling.
"You've changed a lot."
"Don't like it?"
"No, I like you better now."
Her giggling as if teasing me... for all that, Charlotte really was my little sister.