Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Possessiveness
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“Hey, you idiot…! What the hell were you thinking, just plastering that up there?!”
“S-Sorry, President…!!”
The newspaper club room had turned into a complete madhouse.
The newspaper club president, Silvern von Harvester, was tearing at his disheveled hair, looking ready to charge headfirst into the wall.
And kneeling before him, the rookie Luden was sobbing uncontrollably, slamming his forehead against the floor.
“I’m sorryyy—!!”
This whole disaster had started a few days earlier, with Luden’s reckless solo act.
The night after the Lust Calamity incident wrapped up, when the entire academy was finally catching its breath in the aftermath of the chaos.
Luden had climbed up to the rooftop to snap some dreamy night sky shots, only to stumble upon that scene by chance.
‘B-But…! I couldn’t help it…!!’
The figure standing alone against the sky, white hair fluttering—that sheer presence was beyond “overwhelming.” Words failed.
It wasn’t mere “beauty.”
It was something whose existence itself became a painting.
Unable to resist, Luden reflexively hit the shutter.
His hands shook, blurring the focus… but the subject pierced right through it, etching itself indelibly.
“You could’ve just run it by me once?! Huh? Huhhh??”
“Urk….”
The real trouble came after.
Maybe it was rookie overenthusiasm.
Without even getting the president’s approval, he’d slapped that photo straight onto the bulletin board.
“But you moron…! How could you post it without even consulting anyone?!”
“I’m sorryyy…!!”
“And why the hell did you add ‘Seeking this person’ on top of it?!”
“Ugh… I wanted to find them and recruit them to the newspaper club…!”
“That’s the biggest problem, you lunatic!!”
Silvern clutched his head in furious gestures, imagining the newspaper club’s honor and reputation crumbling to dust.
“Argh…! Damn it!”
“…….”
“What the hell are we gonna do now…….”
The fact that no one could identify the person in the photo.
Some said it was a student, others a professor…
Someone even muttered it might be an outsider.
Students… even a few professors were curious about the mystery figure’s identity.
The newspaper club was ping-ponging between comedy and tragedy in real time.
“Still no luck finding them?!”
Silvern screamed, practically ripping his hair out as he clutched his head.
“N-Not yet, President….”
“Aaaargh…! Who the hell even is this guy…!!”
A true enigma.
The club had skyrocketed to attention in an instant, only to ignite a fire they couldn’t control.
At that moment…
Bang!
“!”
“…?!”
The newspaper club room door flew open, and one person…
No, one dragon strolled in lightly, candy in hand.
“Yo.”
She popped the candy into her mouth, waving casually with her other hand—Veronica.
Silvern, who’d been on edge, finally spoke.
“…D-Dean!?”
“…….”
“Outta my way, you punk!”
“Gahk…!”
Silvern shoved Luden aside and rushed toward Veronica on wobbly legs.
Veronica glanced down at the sprawled Luden with a pitying look…
But her eyes also gleamed with thinly veiled amusement.
“Uh, Dean… what brings you here….”
“That photo on your bulletin board?”
“…Yes.”
Silvern swallowed hard, his eyes screaming ‘It’s here…’ as he bowed his head.
Bracing for the death blow.
But…
“Want me to handle it?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll handle it for you.”
“But… how?”
Once something’s on the bulletin board—newspaper or whatever—there’s no taking it down, no matter the reason.
And that rule? Veronica herself had made it.
“Silvern, who am I?”
“Uh…… You’re the dean.”
“And?”
“Uh……… A dragon.”
“Also?”
“Uh…………”
Silvern racked his brain.
Was there something else?
“…No idea.”
“Yeah. There wasn’t anything else.”
“…….”
“Just take it down from the bulletin board.”
“…But.”
“What, I made the rule, I set the law. Can’t I break it if I want?”
…Veronica, who’d personally crafted the rules and norms, now tossed them aside as a shining example.
Truly, the wicked dragoness was torching common sense once again.
“And hand over the original photo.”
“Yes….”
Tap tap.
Silvern nudged Luden’s shoulder with his toe.
Luden bolted up like a zombie and frantically rummaged through his desk drawer.
Moments later, he knelt before Veronica, cradling an envelope reverently in both hands.
“Uh…… Dean.”
“Yeah? What.”
“Do you… know who this person in the photo is?”
“I do.”
“Could you just tell me a little…… even just the gender….”
Veronica glanced at the photo and thought.
Damn, what a dogshit shot.
How do you ruin a face that handsome…
Veronica tsked once and opened her mouth.
“Hmm… Half woman, half man.”
“…Pardon?”
Veronica turned her head away.
It wasn’t exactly wrong.
Female chromosomes are XX, male are XY…
So yeah, half woman, half man?
“Ooh… I’m kinda smart, huh?”
With that, Veronica grinned and pulled out another candy.
Proud as punch, oblivious to her own nonsense.
***
The next day.
I headed straight for Uncle Pergon’s room…
No, the forge—what I was more used to calling it.
Whoosh!
The moment I opened the door, scorching heat enveloped my body.
Uncle Pergon stood there with arms crossed in front of the furnace, and behind him, something faintly visible was heating in the roaring flames.
From the shape… it looked like Veronica’s petite series.
[Hello, Uncle.]
“…You’re here.”
Confirming my arrival, he picked up an item from the anvil and handed it to me.
“Here.”
[Oh.]
A chain earring.
A small, intricately carved arrow.
A heart pierced right through its center.
It was identical to the 【Cupid’s Arrow】 I’d seen in ‘Arcane Disaster.’
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Cupid’s Arrow】
Rank: Heroic (Epic)
You wanted to understand love.
You wanted to know what sincerity truly meant, and where that heart was directed.
And now…
All those pieces have come together.
Along with this arrow that pierces the heart.
: View the target’s favorability as a numerical value.
: View the target’s basic information.
: Read the target’s psyche.
The world’s most radiant, yet darkest emotion.
This arrow you’ve loosed will pierce through that person’s mask, reaching the deepest truth in their heart.
But remember.
Truth isn’t always beautiful.
Even so…
You’ve drawn the bowstring.
Toward love that may or may not hit its mark, to pierce the truth.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘……Why’s it so damn long.’
Maybe because it’s a combo of three pieces of gear, the description got bloated too.
‘Hmm….’
I dismissed the status window right after the first line.
‘You wanted to understand love.’
That single sentence overlapped weirdly with my current situation.
‘No, more than that….’
Was that half-assed ‘stomach churn’ setting from before flaring up again?
My gut twisted just thinking about the next line.
‘Ugh….’
Nah, it was just too long to bother.
And…
Stab.
Without hesitation, I jammed the 【Cupid’s Arrow】 right into my earlobe.
[Equipped 【Cupid’s Arrow】.]
The arrow at the chain’s end swayed, dangling below my ear under gravity’s pull.
A bit of blood trickled out… but it stopped soon enough.
“…You’re bleeding.”
[I’m fine.]
“…Doesn’t hurt?”
[Not really? I’m used to this kinda thing.]
“W-Well…… Getting used to pain isn’t exactly a good thing….”
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Pergon Anvil ]
Favorability: 【Boss】
Status: 【Positive (100%)】 , 【Negative (0%)】
■■■■■■□□□□ (65/100)
Alignment: 『Nakwol』
Info:
[Making weapons for Adel.]
Psyche:
「…Already feels draining.」
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
The favorability window looked mostly the same at a glance.
But closer inspection revealed new additions.
Favorability and alignment markers.
New stuff.
Favorability was now split into ‘Positive’ and ‘Negative,’ with levels refined from 10 to 100.
‘And it doesn’t stop there.’
Unmentioned in the description, but 【Cupid’s Arrow】’s power went further.
Hit 100% Positive, and no matter what you do, Negative won’t rise.
Levels won’t drop either.
‘More than that, he sees me as his boss?’
Seeing 【Boss】 there made my shoulders lift a bit.
I’d recruited a solid underling.
[How much longer for the dagger?]
“It’s been barely a day, and you’re already asking?”
[A whole day’s passed.]
“……Dragon scales and fangs. Reshaping that means at least a week of nonstop blasting.”
[Oh.]
Tsk…
That long, huh.
Disappointed, I smacked my lips and lifted the whiteboard.
[I’ll head out then.]
“……Come to think of it, you’re a student.”
[Yeah.]
“Not going to class?”
[Nope, snuck out.]
“…….”
Class was in lunch break now.
I’d slipped out using 【Red String】 for a bit.
[See ya.]
After scribbling a quick goodbye on the whiteboard…
I wrapped the 【Red String】 around my wrist again.
Slowly tugging it toward Neru back at the dorm.
***
For some reason, Neru was getting punished in the student council room.
I quietly activated 【Silent Stepper】 and slipped out of the student council room in a flash.
‘Hmm….’
The clubroom would be pretty boring today.
Rev got dragged to the infirmary thanks to some second-year seniors’ lab accident, and Neru was stuck standing punishment in the student council room.
Klaus was probably swamped helping out there, and Professor Delphine said she was buried in assignment prep.
Clunk.
“…….”
“Yo.”
Huh.
Scratch that.
It wouldn’t be boring.
No, might be exhausting instead.
[Why are you here?]
“I’m busy.”
[That’s why I’m asking, Dean. Why are you here?]
Busy people don’t sprawl on my personal sofa.
Dragons must define ‘busy’ differently from humans.
“Hey.”
[Yeah.]
“I’m bored.”
[Got it.]
“Tell me something fun.”
[Know the fairy tale ‘Adventures of the Wicked Dragoness’?]
“What’s that? Never heard of it….”
[Yeah, I just made it up.]
“……Fucking boring.”
Veronica pouted, her lips jutting out sulkily.
What a picky dragoness.
“No, seriously, got nothing fun?”
[Nope.]
“You don’t do dating or anything? Students should be doing that stuff.”
The dean pushing dating.
No… not human, so maybe.
Definitely on a different wavelength from human common sense.
[What about you, Dean?]
“What.”
[You’re plenty old. Go date someone.]
“……I don’t need that stuff?”
Ah.
Got it.
‘…Oh.’
Come to think of it…
Doesn’t Veronica have a kind of ‘obsession’ with me?
So, is that ‘love’ too?
Hmm…
If Uncle Veru was right, pretty likely.
[Dean.]
“What.”
[Do you feel ‘love’ for me?]
“?”
Veronica tilted her head from the sofa.
Then…
“It’s not love I feel for you.”
[Not?]
“It’s possessiveness.”
I see.
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[ Veronica ]
Favorability: 【Possessiveness】
Status: 【Positive (100%)】 , 【Negative (0%)】
■■■■■■■■■■□ (95/100)
Alignment: 『Yoram』
Info:
[Piles of work, but dumped it all on Klaus and now resting.]
Psyche:
「What’re you staring at, punk.」
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Shouldn’t have asked.