Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Loach Levi
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“Erwin, huh… It’s been a while.”
Violet lightly poked Carnel, who had somehow made her way up to the spectator seats.
“Huh? He was into you~ Heh heh.”
“Ugh… Don’t say such beggarly nonsense!”
Carnel couldn’t hide her displeasure.
She meant it sincerely.
Erwin was a fanatic.
A mad zealot obsessed with the god written as ‘magic’ but read as ‘Carnel.’
“Well, he is a weird guy, after all~”
A casual act of kindness became a blessing, and a passing word of praise turned into divine revelation.
“And he’s from the Orpheus family, no less?”
Just as Violet said.
The Orpheus Marquessate.
Known as a magical lineage, yet always playing second fiddle to the Delbar Dukedom, forever the runner-up.
And yet, that family dared to worship Carnel.
“Ugh… I really hate it.”
And then.
- Screeeeech….
Adel dragged his sword along as he walked.
“Whoa… But isn’t that sword an artifact?”
“…”
“Our little bro seems loaded the more I look at him… And yet you’re saying he’s really not from your family?”
“Eek… He’s not!”
Before they knew it, the sparring arena had turned into a scene too embarrassing to call a duel arena.
“Wah! Carnel, save me!”
Waves crashed everywhere.
―――!!
“Kyaa!!”
“Argh! What the hell?!”
“Eugh, my clothes are soaked….”
The sparring arena had become a total mess.
Amid the chaos…
《Time / Advanced Magic》
「Rewind」
“…Hmph.”
Carnel merely flicked his finger, and a magic circle formed.
The trajectory of time enveloped the splashing water, pulling it back.
“Um… Carnel?”
Standing beside her, completely drenched, was Violet.
“What about me…?”
“You’re supposed to dodge that much on your own.”
“…”
Violet wrung out her dripping clothes without a word.
“More importantly…”
Carnel turned her head to look down at the sparring arena.
The sea had vanished before they knew it, and the abyss had closed.
“Whoa… Our little bro… So that’s why he’s top of the class….”
Along with Violet’s mutter.
“…For real?”
“Did Erwin actually lose?”
“Look… I told you the top student is seriously strong.”
“Whoa….”
“Insane….”
Gasps of disbelief erupted from all around.
Adel had…
Crushed Erwin with overwhelming dominance.
And.
‘…What?’
At the same time, ripples formed in Carnel’s eyes.
‘That makes no sense… Such power….’
To be blunt, Adel was a commoner.
‘A commoner… with that level of power…?’
In this world, bloodline equaled talent.
Only those born into prestigious families possessed power befitting their lineage.
‘…No. Geniuses can come from anywhere….’
Carnel tried to rein herself in…
‘Why of all people….’
Did he have Carnel’s family trait—the Delbar Dukedom’s signature white hair and golden eyes?
“You sure there’s no half-sibling or hidden family stuff?”
“He’s really not from your family?”
Violet’s offhand remark suddenly came to mind.
She had brushed it off lightly back then, but not anymore.
‘…No way?’
Come to think of it, yes.
Whenever Carnel faced Adel, she always felt an inexplicable familiarity.
‘…Gasp.’
Her mouth clamped shut on its own.
‘…There’s no way that’s possible…!!’
Carnel tried to stop her thoughts.
It was forced, an absurd imagination—her mind denied it…
But her heart was already leaning toward a conclusion.
‘…Really?’
A genius.
Always popping up in the most unexpected places, existing beyond all common sense—a heavenly talent.
‘….’
An absurd suspicion quietly took root in Carnel’s heart.
***
‘Phew.’
I let out a soft sigh and slung 【Leviathan】 over my shoulder.
‘As expected.’
Erwin’s fighting style was purely judgment-based.
He analyzed situations, categorized possibilities, and layered calculated actions on top.
In a good light, a cool-headed tactician.
In a bad light, a judgment junkie whose reactions lagged a beat behind.
‘He is a severe overthinker.’
And I exploited that.
‘Even if I do next to nothing, he’ll doubt himself plenty.’
Even if I walked slowly, dragged my sword, and just created an unsettling vibe.
Erwin would doubt himself, interpret it himself, judge it himself.
And in the end, crumble on his own.
And…
“Adel, is victorious.”
Carnel, who had come down from the spectator seats, declared my victory.
‘But….’
What’s this.
Carnel’s gaze was weird.
Not joy, not surprise.
Something… awkward and strange.
‘Did I mess up again?’
I’d been trying to live nicely lately, feeling like stacks of something were building up in Carnel’s mind.
‘Did she lose her chick or something?’
Carnel’s eyes held confusion, irritation? Pity… a whole mix.
‘It's scary as hell.’
- Splash.
Violet, who had come down with her, poured a potion over Erwin’s face.
I shook off stray thoughts and looked down at Erwin.
Lying there so comfortably.
‘I went all out, huh.’
Our Leviathan… Should I shorten it to ‘Levi’?
‘Sounds good… Yeah.’
Right. Our Levi.
She had thrashed around spectacularly.
‘This arena’s done for today.’
Fine by me.
I gave Erwin one last glance before heading up to the upper level.
‘Heh.’
Plebeian tier cleared.
***
[Hey Lev]
Our saintess.
Were you waiting for me?
Lev was crouched at the foot of the stairs.
“…You won?”
…No way you waited here the whole time?
Without even watching the duel?
‘Sniff….’
Tears threatened to well up for no reason.
In this harsh world full of bad luck, Lev was a ray of light.
[Of course I won]
Truth be told, I wanted to ask if she’d been waiting.
How long had Lev been here?
Had she really skipped the duel and just waited here quietly for me?
“…snooping.”
‘Huh?’
But our saintess.
It wasn’t about my win or loss, who won or lost…
“…Snooping around the hall. Haven’t seen it all yet.”
The hall sightseeing was more important, apparently.
‘Consistent as ever.’
A laugh bubbled up unbidden.
Hidden by the mask, of course.
[Alright, let’s go]
And so, Lev and I wandered the hall once more.
“…What’s that?”
Lev pointed at a bizarre statue.
[Dunno, but it looks fancy, right?]
“…Kinda holy.”
[More than you?]
“…?”
Before long, the hall’s lights winked out one by one, leaving only a serene night ambiance.
“…Thanks.”
[No prob]
Lev turned her back to me and slowly departed.
Even in the darkened space, Lev’s presence lingered like light.
‘…Please.’
I quietly watched Lev’s retreating figure.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Lev de Lumière ]
Unique Traits
: 【Fragment of Jealousy】
: 【Twilight Hour】
: 【Holy One】
: 【…】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Stay that way.’
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Fragment of Jealousy】
Jealousy slumbers in the deepest darkness of the heart.
: The day 「Saintess」 Lev de Lumière’s mask comes off, 「False Saintess」 Lev de Lament will reveal herself.
On the day she awakens, the world will kneel before her jealousy.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
As if nothing had happened.
Just the curious ‘Lev de Lumière.’
***
‘996….’
My breath caught at my throat.
‘997….’
My body trembled with every bend and extension of my arms.
‘998….’
Seriously… Just a little left now.
Exactly two more. Just two.
‘999…!’
But.
Thud.
In the end, one short of the goal, I collapsed flat on the floor.
‘Ah… So tiring….’
My whole body melted like slime.
My breath hitched in my throat, refusing to come out.
But I gritted my teeth and hauled myself back up.
I loaded my shaky arms with strength once more.
‘1000….’
And finally.
[ ! ]
[ Push-ups 1000 completed! ]
[ Achievement ‘Tenacity’ unlocked. ]
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Tenacity】
Push-ups a thousand times… seriously?!
: Strength stat increased by 1.
Unwavering even when shaken, we send endless praise for your tenacity!
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Ha… Finally done.’
The system popped up, filling me with a sense of accomplishment.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Adel ]
Limit Break: ★☆☆☆☆
Attributes
: 「Abyss」
: 「Nothingness」
Achievements
: 【King of the Abyss】
: 【Slime Slayer】
: 【Class A】
: 【Tenacity】
: 【…】
Stats
: Stamina: 11 (D)
: Strength: 2 (F)
: Intelligence: 27 (B)
: Mentality: 30 (A)
: Mana: ■ ()
Talents
: 【All talents fixed at ‘Lowest’ due to 「Stigma」.】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
An entire week.
‘Urgh….’
I’d forced myself through it relentlessly for a whole week.
‘Agh….’
My body wasn’t just trembling; my bones were rattling.
All this suffering for just +1?
‘Gotta wash up… Shower….’
Still, gotta do what needs doing…
I doused myself in cold water.
The icy stream down my back sharpened my senses.
And…
‘Group project….’
Back in my room, I started organizing the upcoming episodes.
‘Teams of three.’
Investigate and hunt magic beasts—a simple(?) task.
But… the real key was what came after.
‘About time for the first disaster to stir.’
A disaster creeping in just days after enrollment?
Sounds ridiculous.
‘But this isn’t a game anymore.’
I’d overlooked the shoddy plot holes in the game, but this world was no longer fiction.
Even without reason, at illogical timings, absurd enemies would appear.
‘Damn it….’
I had to handle it myself.
Sure, there was Klaus, but…
‘He’s still weak….’
Unlike Klaus, the protagonist of ‘Aka Disaster,’ who was both physically and mentally complete, he was still unfinished.
‘Makes me wanna curse.’
Just a bit more.
Even a few extra days to prepare…
No, actually, I needed way more than a few days.
‘Sigh.’
Whatever.
I flung myself onto the soft bed.
And…
*Bubble bubble.*
‘…What?’
In my dorm room, on the desk.
There was something weird there.
Small… slimy… wriggling something.
‘…A loach?’
Inside a tank, no less—an elaborately decorated, fancy tank.
‘Oh… A pink loach.’
One pink loach.
Glowing fins, meticulously landscaped tank… even a conch shell, decorative or edible?
“…”
*Bubble bubble.*
Me and that loach—precisely, the pink loach.
We stared at each other for quite a while.
‘What… I never put anything like that here.’
*Gulp gulp.*
It mouthed away, refusing to look away.
And…
“What’re you staring at, human.”
…Huh?
‘Did that just talk?’
The pink loach in front of me—no, the loach-turned-Leviathan—mouthed at me… and spoke.