Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Dragon Wants a Cat
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“Expulsion, huh…”
“…….”
Kamarr turned his back and stayed silent for a long while.
And then…
“You expect me to believe that?”
He finally turned around.
Beneath the shadow of the throne, eyes as cool as moonlight gazed at the girl.
Even with the bright sun hanging in the sky, this was a place bathed not in warm sunlight, but in forlorn moonlight.
At its center stood the girl with cat ears… Neru.
[One Week Prior: Expulsion Verdict]
In Neru’s hand was an unfamiliar whiteboard.
Screech… screech…
Mimicking someone’s motions clumsily… she spun the pen awkwardly and scribbled words down.
[Cradle Access Denied]
“Yeah… I get it… I get it, I said.”
Kamarr muttered in a highly irritated tone before throwing himself onto the throne.
…A throne unnecessarily grandiose, decorated to the point of meaninglessness.
“Because of that stupid father and daughter… everything… everything, everything’s gone wrong.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He drummed his fingers on the armrest in frustration, then shifted his gaze to Neru.
“Feel honored, Neru.”
“…….”
“Because of you alone, our access to the Cradle has been ruined from the start.”
Kamarr looked down at Neru with icy eyes, twisting the corner of his mouth upward.
“That one access point alone costs hundreds of gold coins.”
Hundreds.
An amount Neru couldn’t obtain even if she poured her entire life into it.
“That much would’ve been enough for you and your father to never worry about money again.”
Kamarr’s eyes flashed.
A crimson hue slowly spread, and a strange glow bloomed.
At the same time…
The crescent moon pattern etched on the back of Neru’s hand began to shine.
“Eek…”
“What exactly is the problem?”
A small groan escaped.
Neru’s body trembled.
But… Kamarr merely opened his mouth expressionlessly.
“One internal Cradle document… a few sheets of paper are worth hundreds of gold coins.”
“…….”
“Killing one person brings in thousands of gold coins.”
Thousands.
An amount ordinary folk couldn’t touch even if they devoted their entire lives to it.
“That’s enough to end all those desperate worries about making ends meet that you two were so frantic about.”
Kamarr paused for a moment and leaned forward from the throne.
Chin.
He stepped down and looked down at Neru… one step.
Another step forward.
Kamarr’s footsteps were a spare, colorless advance, quietly tightening around Neru’s noose.
“Do you think that’s a sin?”
“...”
“It might be a sin to some… But to worthless things like you, it’s salvation.”
His breath drew closer.
Kamarr’s blood-red eyes pierced through Neru.
“You should’ve known that reality from the start… So why, what, what exactly was the problem?”
Kamarr spat out his genuine bewilderment.
He truly couldn’t comprehend.
Why was this child… rejecting the path that was all laid out for her.
“You just had to live there pretending to be an ordinary student, and we would’ve quietly extracted the information.”
“…….”
“But you… rejected everything.”
A brief silence.
Neru, standing before him, still kept her head bowed without a word.
Her cat ears were flattened tight, unable to hold any response.
“Why?”
He held no expectation in that question.
It was a question that had already reached its own conclusion.
“Why did you try to protect that place?”
There was no reason for an answer, no meaning, no expectation—long gone.
“Your father still calls your name.”
“……!”
“Whether it’s some pointless sense of justice, or whining about some… ‘hope’… he’s one tenacious bastard.”
Kamarr’s previously scattered gaze refocused straight ahead.
His eyes, meeting Neru’s pale face, were clearer than ever.
“This is your last chance, Neru.”
Her ears flattened tight, her tail stiff and rigid… Neru’s small shoulders trembled as she huddled.
“The target is the Cradle’s top student.”
“……!”
A single word.
“Top student.”
At that word, Neru’s pupils shook violently.
Her breath caught, her emotions spiraled out of control.
However… Kamarr continued without hesitation.
“Adel.”
“W-Wait—”
Resistance emerged for the first time.
But it was too late, too small.
“Why are you shaking so much?”
Chin.
One hand touched Neru’s head.
“Are you scared just hearing ‘top student’?”
“…….”
“No need to worry.”
His hand touched her fluffy hair.
Kamarr moved his hand slowly as he whispered.
“You just need to bring him here.”
A gentle stroking hand.
But what that hand held was not comfort.
“With that, your mission ends perfectly.”
Moonlight.
The second light that illuminates the world from beyond the shadows.
However… that moonlight was not warm.
“Our Moonlight… imprints terror upon the world by killing the Cradle’s top student.”
The cold, chill moon…
Finally begins to shine upon the world.
“The deadline is next month.”
The time was neither overly generous nor insufficient.
It squeezed reality bit by bit, leaving just enough room for choice… or not.
“Your father’s life… or your worthless sense of justice…”
“…….”
“The choice is yours.”
***
Before long, a week and one more day had passed.
During that time, I just sat there blankly…
‘Ah.’
With my head planted on the desk.
Doing absolutely nothing.
【Lev… Uncle’s acting weird…】
“…….”
Thinking back now…
I really should’ve just grabbed her then.
Why didn’t I realize back then that she couldn’t come back…
‘You idiot.’
I cursed myself…
No, the me who did nothing.
If I was going to regret it this much, I should’ve done something, anything, right there…
But I… just let it pass.
“…….”
And now…
I chewed on that choice over and over, trapped in that moment, listening only to the ticking of the clock.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick.
That rhythmic sound grated on me so much.
And…
Knock knock.
A knocking sound came from somewhere.
I didn’t lift my head.
I just dismissed it as another meaningless noise, like the second hand.
Knock knock knock knock knock.
…The sound grew louder.
I finally raised my head.
And there… stood an evil dragon.
“Oh.”
“…?”
“What are you doing?”
It was Veronica.
…I glanced at the clock at her words.
“…….”
Time well past the appointed hour.
In a word… late.
[Hello]
“You did that this morning too.”
…Did I?
I couldn’t remember well.
“What’s wrong with this guy? Why’s he so out of it?”
[Happy to see you, Dean]
“Fuck… why are you being so creepy?”
When was it that she was jumping for joy… and now she finds it creepy.
Truly an evil little dragon.
And… Veronica hesitated in front of me for a moment.
“Hey.”
[Yea]
“You know where the cat is, right?”
“…….”
I gave no reply.
We both knew what that meant without explanation.
“You do know, huh?”
Veronica pouted and glared at me sharply.
But…
Knowing that changes nothing.
Neru had already gone to Moonlight.
And I… couldn’t do anything.
“Go get the cat for me?”
“…….”
…What?
[Wh-?]
Like the whiteboard glitching, my reaction lagged a beat.
Sensing my fluster fully, Veronica scratched her head awkwardly.
“No… I mean it, really. Go bring the cat back.”
Veronica slipped behind me.
And…
Leaning her body slightly forward, she plopped her chin on top of my head.
“This guy, see…? He even submitted a withdrawal form.”
Tap. Tap.
Like she couldn’t hold back her irritation.
The sound of her teeth grinding echoed through my skull to both hemispheres of my brain.
“And the reason for withdrawal is ‘personal circumstances,’ but no matter how you look at it, it’s not personal circumstances.”
[It could really be personal circumstances]
I responded weakly, but… Veronica shot back immediately.
“‘Off to save the world’—does that sound like personal circumstances?”
“…….”
…No matter how I thought about it, personal circumstances… it wasn’t.
[You go yourself, Dean]
“If she were still in the Cradle, I’d have dragged her back already. But if she’s outside, I can’t go. You know that.”
[I don’t]
“Oh, really?”
I knew, actually.
That Veronica couldn’t leave the Cradle.
“So you go, okay? Just once.”
[You’re obsessed]
“Yeah. Once I bite down, I never let go.”
[Please let go of me]
How many times had this evil little dragon bitten me.
Wasn’t it time to let go?
“Just go once, I’m begging.”
[I could die]
“Oh, is it dangerous?”
Tsk.
The tongue-click traveled from the crown of my head to my toes.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, Veronica floated in the air in front of me… and sprawled out flat.
And…
“Whatever, just bring her!”
…She started throwing a tantrum.
“Aaaah…! Bring her baaaack…!!”
“…….”
How to describe this scene?
Awe-inspiring? Pitiful?
The strongest being in the world throwing a tantrum at the world’s weakest—me…
What word fits?
Awe-inspiring?
Confusing?
Absurd?
…No.
No word could describe it.
[I’ll-do-it]
“You will?”
As I quickly scribbled on the whiteboard, Veronica snapped back to normal in an instant.
So composed, it was hard to believe it was the same tantrum-throwing mad dragon.
I wondered if I’d dreamed it.
[Don’t expect much]
…Expectations? I had none.
I’d already…
Let go of that bond with my own hands once.
No matter what I did now, clinging to hope scared even me.
“Yeah yeah! Got it!”
Veronica nodded repeatedly with sparkling eyes.
Her expression was just… pure.
What exactly made her so happy.
Was it because Neru had talent…
Or simply because she was her student.
“Hee.”
Heh heh.
Maybe… both.
I raised the whiteboard toward such a Veronica once more.
[Going now?]
“Huh? Yeah. Now. I’ll pretend the tardiness didn’t happen.”
From her tone, she’d handle it as sick leave or early dismissal to erase my tardy.
…Not bad.
Creak.
The S-Class door opened, and I stepped beyond it.
And…
“Oh, handle the cat’s withdrawal form yourself?”
Veronica’s words.
I turned back to mull over their meaning, but…
Veronica had already vanished.
“…….”
What exactly did she mean by ‘handle yourself’…
I had no idea.
I stood there blankly for a while…
‘Haa…’
And started rummaging through my inventory.
Looking for strawberry-flavored nutritional supplements.
…Actually, not supplements.
Just strawberry milk I’d pocketed from the Delbar Ducal Estate because it was tasty there.
And…
Plop plop…
From my hand flailing in the inventory, dozens of churus fell to the floor.
‘…….’
All prepared for Neru.
For no one else, just that one cat.
I began picking up the scattered churus one by one.
…As if it could turn something back.
‘…Ah.’
…If it was going to be like this.
If I was going to regret it this much…
Why did I let go of that hand back then.
I could’ve held on.
One word, one step forward…
And things might be different now.
‘You idiot.’
I’d calculated rationally countless times, but back then, I brushed past it too easily.
And only now do I regret it belatedly.
As always.
‘I don’t know.’
The clock’s ticking sounded distant, my mind felt blank, my chest heavy.
…Right now, I can’t even make a proper judgment.
My left brain chants ‘reason’ endlessly, but my right brain ignores it all, driven by ‘emotion.’
‘I don’t know.’
So…
Just.
As Veronica said.
‘…Bring her back.’
No matter what result it brings.
Whether Neru cries or laughs.
Villain or not.
If needed, I’ll beat every last one of those ‘Moonlight’ villains to death.
I…
Will definitely bring that cat back.
‘…First.’
Before that…
I need to deal with this damn scrap of paper.
***
Click.
I opened the door to the student council room.
“Senior, where should I put this?”
“Hmm… over in that corner, junior.”
For some reason, Klaus was helping with student council work.
Carnel and Violet, perhaps because it was early in the semester, were busily sorting things with quick hands.
Then…
Their gazes all turned to me at once.
“…You?”
“…Junior?”
“…Adel?”
[Hello]
I hesitated slightly but soon raised the whiteboard casually.
“Ahem… what brings you here?”
Carnel cleared her throat a few times and jumped up to stand beside me.
Beside, not in front.
[President]
“What is it!”
[Where’s Neru’s withdrawal form?]
“Hmm…?”
Carnel tilted her head, then opened a desk drawer and pulled out a single sheet from inside.
“Such a shame, I tried to stop it… but it’s no good!”
She shook her head side to side as she said it.
In her hand… was Neru’s withdrawal form.
…Still unsigned by Veronica.
Whoosh.
I quietly reached out.
Carnel flinched in surprise and raised the paper high, shouting.
“What are you doing…!”
Before I could retort, Carnel scowled, ready to scold me.
But I…
Moved one step ahead, striding right up to her.
“……!”
A distance where our breaths could touch.
Carnel’s eyes trembled.
[Sis, don’t you trust me?]
Poomf…!
In that instant.
Carnel’s face flushed bright red in a flash.
Boom…! Like she’d explode, she’d crossed the limit of her emotions.
“S-Sis…?!”
Her mind blanked, eyes rolling back.
I didn’t miss the opening.
I tuned mana at my fingertips, focusing on the paper.
Then…
Whoosh!
The withdrawal form split in half.
“Wha… Huh…!”
Carnel snapped to belatedly, panicking and trying to shout something…
But the paper was already…
In two pieces, scattering in the wind.