Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Cool President
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[Presidient]
“What, what is it?!”
No… I’d only called out once, so why the intense reaction?
[Time to put me down now.]
When I wrote that on the whiteboard, Carnel finally realized she was still holding me.
In a full-on princess carry, no less.
‘No, more like a prince carry.’
Carnel’s face turned bright red as she let out a sharp yelp.
“What, wha…!!”
And then she really just—
Thud.
‘Guh.’
I swallowed a scream inside. I’d asked her to put me down, but…
I hadn’t expected her to drop me straight onto the floor.
Before the ache from slamming my back into the ground even faded, Carnel’s face turned beet red.
“Why, why’d you jump into my arms like that…!!”
[The President caught me in a prince carry.]
The one who’d scooped up my falling self was definitely the President.
“That’s…! That’s…!!”
Carnel stammered, fumbling for a comeback, before she started stomping the ground with her toes.
Then she muttered under her breath.
“…It’s Adel’s fault.”
[What kind of logic is that?]
“Quiet, zero points!!”
[Why?]
“For talking back!! Zero points, zero!!!”
Ah, right.
And then.
“Huff… haa, Adel… you’re okay….”
Panting breaths accompanied Klaus as he came running over.
Klaus scanned me from head to toe and let out a sigh of relief.
But then he frowned, like something was off.
“But… what the hell happened here?”
The ground had been blasted away, the dirt scorched black, rocks melted into bizarre shapes, trees shattered to splinters.
And right smack in the middle stood our unflappable President.
I raised a hand to point at her, pressing my palms together in the most polite gesture I could muster.
*This* is the one responsible…
“What, what?!”
Carnel’s eyes went wide as she shouted.
“Ahem.”
She whipped her head away, straightened her clothes, and put on an air of composure.
“Then let’s head back… it’s getting late.”
Klaus shot me a look of utter disbelief… and I just shrugged, lifting my whiteboard.
[You’ll get used to it.]
“…No, get used to *what*?”
***
—Krarrrumble!!
A thunderbolt blazing with radiant light tore through the sky and struck down.
That single bolt pierced the beast’s skull clean through. Its massive body slumped like slime, then crumbled to ash and scattered.
“Wow… as expected of the Saintess!”
“Her combat prowess is incredible too…”
Lev stood amid the praise, her face expressionless. If anything, a flicker of discomfort crossed her features.
‘…I hate this.’
Working with others. Everyone raising their voices together. Even the camaraderie seeping in… she hated all of it.
Plop.
Lev’s gaze fell on the debris left by the beast.
On the scorched black earth lay a small, round orb. She picked it up and held it out to the second-year senior right beside her.
“Uh…”
But the moment their eyes met as the senior reached out…
His shoulders flinched.
“…”
Lev turned and headed to a nearby stream. There, amid the gentle ripple of water, she silently washed her hands.
As she scrubbed away blood and ash, her eyes met her reflection on the surface.
【Ahh… let’s just kill them.】
“…”
【How dare they meet our eyes and flinch in fear?】
Her reflection smirked, curling the corner of its mouth.
“…Who are you to say?”
Moonlight settled on the water.
【Kuhuhu…】
Her eyes, overlaid by that glow, gleamed red.
【Who? I’m you, Lev.】
—Splash.
The figure in the water reached out across the surface.
【The one who lives only for you…】
—Thud.
It seized Lev’s wrist and yanked her flat onto the ground.
【The one who sees only you…】
Slowly, her face drew closer, her lips brushing Lev’s ear as she whispered.
【Your true feelings.】
【Your real heart.】
【Your envy.】
Repeating it like a reminder not to forget.
【Lev de Lament.】
“…”
Lev gazed up at the night sky.
That deep, blue expanse.
【Lev, ‘Wrath’ has awakened.】
High above, the moon shone indifferently.
【He’s coming. To hate the world and burn it all.】
It grated on her.
【You envy like that too… your true feelings… your real heart…】
Those words, that expression, even the moonlight.
【Don’t forget our truth, Lev.】
The whispers ceased, and she vanished.
“…”
The moonlight no longer illuminated Lev. As if it had seen nothing at all. As if it had never cared.
…She wished no one would ever know.
The madness stirring inside her. Who she really was.
But… against all such prayers.
“Hey~ Saintess. What’re you doing lying on the ground?”
Serros strode over, parting the bushes.
“Whoa… it’s the Saintess.”
“Wow… first time seeing her in person.”
The team members trailing Serros lit up with excitement.
“Saintess, is your brooch working okay?”
“…?”
“See, none of ours are responding.”
Lev silently pressed her brooch.
She held it down for over ten seconds.
“…”
Nothing.
“Hmm… yeah, not working.”
“Serros… then it really is—”
“Yeah, Senior. Looks like some kinda anomaly.”
Serros scratched his head and muttered.
“Hmm… maybe we should head over to the top student…”
“Top student…? You know where he is?”
“Nah, he’s grouped with the student council president.”
“What… with Carnel?”
“Yeah.”
Serros glanced toward the direction Adel had been kidnapped.
“He was probably already rescued by now… anyway, Saintess, let’s link up with the others first.”
“…”
“We’ll check if their brooches work too, then go find the top student~”
***
The moon hung high overhead that night.
I’d volunteered for the night watch.
“…You sure you’re okay?”
“You good, Adel? After getting kidnapped by that beast…”
Of course, there were voices of concern… but I nodded.
‘Sleep’s not coming anyway.’
Truth was, the real firepower in this group was those two. I was just backup at best.
‘…Backup that looks kinda weak.’
Yeah.
Let’s call it a 'deus ex machina' instead.
‘Sounds good.’
Cool name too.
‘Hmm…’
In the meantime, I checked their favorability.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Klaus ]
Favorability: 【Friend】
Status: 【Positive】
■■■■■■■□□□ (7/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Pretty high.’
Do I just give off pheromones or something?
Everyone I run into likes me.
‘Come to think of it… I never checked Carnel’s.’
And then.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Carnelia von Delbar ]
Favorability: 【■?□】
Status: 【■Positive】
■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■ (?$#/!@#?)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Huh?’
Weird.
Did the 【Cupid’s Glasses】 break?
‘What’s going on?’
I checked Klaus again.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Klaus ]
Favorability: 【Friend】
Status: 【Positive】
■■■■■■■□□□ (7/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘…’
Normal.
So… the problem’s with me?
In the original ‘Aka Calamity,’ Klaus used the 【Cupid’s Glasses】 with no issues. But now that *I’m* checking, it glitches.
Which means… it’s not the glasses that broke.
‘It’s me?’
…Whatever.
Right now, favorability wasn’t what I needed to worry about.
‘The first disaster…’
The first one Klaus would face.
「The Mage of Space」.
The 「Mage of Space」 who vented fury on the world… would summon crimson beasts into this pocket dimension.
‘The problem is it’s random—when and where.’
That’s why I couldn’t relax for a second.
No peace of mind, so I couldn't really sleep at night.
‘But…’
Why *am* I worrying about this?
Why am I fretting over the dangers and fate meant for Klaus?
I’m not the protagonist.
I'm not trying to steal that role either.
‘…Scared?’
If Klaus crumbled? If the protagonist fell and left the spot empty?
Next up would be me.
That role would get forced on me, and I’d have to face those horrific disasters unwillingly.
Like an inescapable fate—someone had to fill the void.
‘I’m not that selfless.’
I’m not noble enough to act for others. Worrying about Klaus? It’s just so I don’t end up with the disasters.
‘Still… maybe a little.’
At least, couldn’t I lend a hand from the sidelines so Klaus could handle them?
Might be too much to fight head-on, but striking from the shadows? That I could do.
…Or so I thought.
‘Ah… but I don’t wanna.’
It's still scary.
Way too scary.
***
“Mmm…”
Carnel’s eyes fluttered open at the faint lingering trace of mana.
An ordinary person never would’ve sensed it, but…
Not her—with senses for magic and mana rivaling a dragon’s.
“What’s this…?”
Something shimmering caught her eye. She rubbed her eyes and cautiously approached.
“…”
Adel was swishing his finger through the air, weaving threads of mana into drawings.
The mana flowed like a melody, dazzlingly beautiful.
“Beautiful…”
A true rapture.
“I never knew shapes made of mana could be so vivid and colorful…”
Paintings in every hue.
A red lizard. A green frog. A blue turtle. Even a yellow mouse.
And above all… they were cute.
—Rustle.
Carnel made sure to announce her approach, and Adel turned. He dispersed the mana melody and casually lifted his whiteboard.
[You’re awake?]
“What… is this?”
Carnel poked the yellow mouse with a finger.
The mana scattered briefly, then reformed.
[It’s Pikkyu.]
“Pik…kyu?”
[Yeah.]
“…What’s that?”
[A monster I made.]
“Oh… right.”
This guy definitely has something wrong with his brain.
“And this?”
[That’s Lizamong.]
“This?”
[Weird Flower.]
“…And this?”
[Kkokbuki.]
Carnel sat beside Adel, quietly watching him draw with mana.
[President, you know what?]
“…What?”
[Pikkyu can fire a million volts.]
“…A mere mouse shoots a million volts?”
[Yep.]
Adel added crackling electric effects to Pikkyu’s cheeks with mana.
Carnel scoffed.
“Hmph… I could do that much too.”
[Really?]
“Of course.”
[Show me.]
At those words, Carnel raised her hand high.
—Thud thud. Thud thud.
Heavy footsteps.
—Kieeeee…
A shark-like beast with legs came lumbered into view, catching its breath as it scanned the area.
“…Tralreo.”
Tralreo.
A beast with a shark’s head but legs.
[Ooh.]
Adel’s eyes sparkled.
[President, check that golden scar.]
Up close, a glittering golden wound marred the Tralreo’s forehead.
A beast worth bonus points.
[Let’s hit it with a million volts, President.]
“Y-You’re really gonna?”
[Yeah. Show me your cool side.]
“My cool side…”
My cool side.
…Adel wanted to see her cool side.
The expectation and faith in those words tugged at Carnel’s heart.
She closed her eyes, drew a slow breath, then opened them again.
With a confident smile. Body held straight and tall.
“Hmph. Fine!”
She thrust out her arm triumphantly. Mana surged from her fingertips, forming precise circuits.
The structure clean, balance perfect. Mana flow impossibly smooth.
And then.
“Take this…! Million volts!”
[Wait, hold on, for real—]
Ignoring Adel’s frantic scribbles.
In an instant, the area flashed.
—Krarrrumble!!!
Dozens of lightning bolts converged on the Tralreo, lighting up the entire forest.
“…”
“…”
“Huff…! Haa?! What, what the—?!”
Klaus bolted upright in shock.
The Tralreo was charred beyond recognition.
[President…]
“…”
The surrounding trees had all turned to charcoal and rained down.
[What am I supposed to do when you fire ten million volts instead?]
“…B-But we still got the points.”
Carnel’s shoulders slumped a bit.
But she quickly puffed up with pride again, picking up the golden orb from the blackened Tralreo corpse.
“We g-got our bonus points, didn’t we!”
Adel thought to himself.
—Whoosh.
This President…
Apparently the temporary camp burning down was no big deal.
***
─────────────!!
Space warped, cracks spiderwebbing through reality.
Soon, a translucent cube enveloped the area.
The alien, geometric cube… quietly vanished.
And in its place.
—Plop.
A corpse.
…No, chunks of flesh.
Barely recognizable as anything but raw meat lumps…
—Tremble tremble…
It twitched.
In a pool of red blood, the flesh writhed. Bones sprouted from within, muscles grew.
Flesh multiplied, clumping together, forming the frame of a living thing once more.
—Grgrrr…
At last, it opened its eyes.
Neither beast nor human—in the form of a magic beast.
—Kyaaaaah!!
A roar.
Other beasts sensed it and charged in a frenzy.
Blue beasts.
But…
—Splatter!!
It was over in seconds.
Thorns erupted from the blood-soaked puddle, the viscous, blood-like tendrils piercing the incoming beasts in one go.
Flesh steeped in crimson, mana blazing red, the creature’s hue like blood itself.
Crimson.
Rending the pocket dimension… a red beast emerged.