Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Pot Calling the Kettle Black
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“…Adel.”
“Why.”
-Sparkle!
-Fish! Fish!
-Hmm…? Fish?
The spirits’ chatter echoes around me from all directions.
…Shapeless lights floating in the air, circling me.
Where were they hiding until just now… Now they’re making a racket.
“……Are you secretly spraying pheromones or something?”
“…What are you talking about.”
I half-joked, but…
The problem was he said it completely seriously.
If something like that actually existed, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
“Sigh…….”
Is it the effect of the 【Fragment of Lust】?
It clearly said, ‘Infinitely loved by spirits.’
The issue is…
I can’t control it.
-Ehehe!
-Uwaaa! I got here first!
-No, I did!
The spirits tangle with each other in midair, spinning around…
-Hi!
-Huh? No mask!
-What!
When the glowing forms shove right up to my face and rub against it, I instinctively close my eyes.
…Translucent shapes of various colors sparkling right in front of me—I can’t keep them open.
-Ahh! She closed her eyes!
-Oh my, oh my, that stoic side is charming too…!
-Then even closer~
“…….”
This is driving me insane.
And from behind, Klaus snickers and chimes in.
“Is this a dating sim?”
“…Shut up.”
But what’s even more insane is that this won’t end as just an annoying mishap.
With Bellamir’s descent, corrupted spirits must have appeared anywhere moonlight touched…
The damage will be beyond imagination.
“Sigh….”
“…Why are you sighing so much?”
Klaus asks casually from beside me.
I just turn my head and don’t answer.
How could I not sigh?
We, mere students, took down a ‘calamity’ that had plunged the world into terror, even if briefly.
Doesn’t he grasp the meaning… the weight of that?
“…….”
The future stretches out clearly before my eyes.
All sorts of factions will try to make contact with us somehow.
At least inside Cradle’s walls, it’ll be less so…
But one step outside… and a shitstorm awaits.
“How did it come to this.”
Really… how did this happen?
It started as just an errand to bring back a runaway cat…
And ended with slaying a calamity.
“…Something’s definitely off.”
Definitely.
Something is absolutely wrong…
-Wrong?
-What! What!
-What’s wrong?
The spirits swarm my face again, crying out.
Their brilliant glow stabs at my eyes…
So I have to close them once more.
***
“Huh? Where are you going, Adel?”
“Got somewhere to stop by.”
Moonlight.
In other words… there was unfinished business with those who betrayed Moonlight.
I had to go back there.
“Go on ahead. I’ll let the Dean know.”
“Yeah… Got it. Thanks.”
“Nyaack….”
Klaus nods silently, and Neru nods too, looking hungry.
“Come to think of it….”
It hits me just now.
How the hell did Klaus get all the way to the gray zone?
All I glimpsed was some paper in his hand with an unfamiliar magic circle…
“Tch….”
But he’s already scampered off too far to ask.
I mutter “whatever” to myself and turn my steps.
- Crackle.
My body quietly crumbling.
I raise my arm to check the purple cracks spreading across it.
Already eroded from shoulder to collarbone.
At this rate… I can hold out until tomorrow morning.
“But….”
Still, showing my bare face to others feels off.
In the end, I pick up the ring on my finger.
The 【Mask of Phantasm】 in its true form.
[ Equipped 【Mask of Phantasm】. ]
Click.
The moment the mask covers my face, familiar silence wraps around me, but…
-Ah! The ugly mask is back!
-Nooo!!
-Kiiing….
…The spirits freak out and wail the instant I put it on.
Weren’t you gone?
Guess they were hiding, still watching me.
“…Feels weird.”
Even shapeless beings—having them cling like this makes it impossible to shake the stalked feeling.
And…
-Zzt…!
-Zzt zzt…!!
Mikurebi’s eyes flash.
The cold, scary purple fish eyes glare at the spirits…
-S-Scary….
-Hng….
-Kiiiing….
The spirits droop instantly.
Even without bodies, their voices convey utter defeat.
“Grrng.”
This time, Bahamut at my feet growls “grrng.”
Does some dignity of the former Spirit King remain?
-Hng… Okayyy….
-We’ll be careful….
-Kiiing….
The spirits go quiet in an instant.
And seizing the moment…
Plop.
Plop plop.
Mikurebi thwacks my head repeatedly with its tail.
“Why.”
I pick up the fish and hold it in front of my face.
Tiny fins twisted into crossed arms, glaring at me with aggrieved eyes.
The look says… “Why don’t you praise only me.”
“…Good job.”
Pat pat.
I tap its slimy head a few times in praise.
Only then does Mikurebi uncross its fins and obediently close its eyes.
“Hmm….”
I plop Mikurebi back on my head and start walking.
Honestly, managing that whole group myself is impossible.
I’m just a student, and leading any group is way too much for me.
And above all…
“Too annoying.”
Annoyance.
That’s the biggest problem in the end.
“Should I set up a pants deputy or something….”
I’ll go there first and think.
With that settled, I pick up the pace.
And…
“You’re here, Adel.”
Up ahead, Uncle Beru leans against the wall, catching my eye.
He waits silently in the empty alley, exhaustion etched around his eyes.
“……Is Neru okay?”
“…Yeah. She’ll be fine.”
I give a firm answer.
Neru’s villain route is completely gone.
From tomorrow, she can go to school normally again.
“…….”
Uncle Beru bows his head briefly at my words.
Then softly…
“…Thank you.”
“…….”
“Really… thank you…….”
That one phrase finally brings home the sense that it’s over.
The emptiness that lingered despite saving Neru and slaying the calamity…
Now it’s gone.
“……I should be the one thanking you.”
I swallow the rest in my mind.
Without him, I wouldn’t exist now.
Back when I first arrived in this world, without that small kindness of yours…
I’d never have gotten to say these thanks.
“Let’s go in first, Uncle. Your legs must hurt.”
“Yeah… They’re all waiting.”
Creeak…
The wall opens with an unpleasant groan.
Inside, about ten people including Caramel and Pergon huddle together, waiting for me.
“…You’re here.”
And…
Among them, Pergon speaks first as representative.
“I’ll get straight to the point.”
“…….”
“We’ve decided to follow your will.”
Their will.
And soon… mine.
No longer ‘Moonlight’… but under the name ‘Fallen Moon.’
They’re pledging their lives to me.
“…Whatever it is, we’ll stick with you to the end.”
They nod solemnly, eyes resolute.
But I look at those eyes and open my mouth casually.
“Let’s start by making a pants deputy.”
“……?”
Their solemnity flips to bewilderment in an instant.
And as expected, Pergon speaks up first.
“Pants deputy…? What does that mean?”
“Well, I’m a student, so I have to go to school.”
“…….”
Suddenly, everyone except Beru is dumbfounded.
Is there a problem?
Do they not believe I’m a student?
“Stu…dent…?”
“Yeah….”
Should I have worn the uniform?
But wrapping up in black was better than uncomfortable clothes.
“Yeah… Yeah… Got it for now.”
Pergon rubs his forehead and nods.
He looks pretty thrown off.
Thud.
I flop onto a random chair, cross my legs, and think.
Pants deputy.
A suitable person for it comes to mind easily.
“Let’s go with Uncle Beru.”
“……Huh?”
There’s a good reason here.
For one… Uncle Beru is one of the few adults I can trust.
His skills lag far behind Neru’s, but not to the point of dismissal.
And crucially…
“Yeah… If you say so.”
Uncle Beru… trusts me too.
Thud.
I grip the chair arm and stand.
“Then, that’s it for today.”
“…….”
“Next talk at Moonlight. Get things sorted by then.”
Fallen Moon’s establishment.
Mountains of things to organize… but that’s their job now.
***
A night sky returned to its clear moonlight.
Passing Cradle’s main gate, I look up at the sky.
“───?”
“───”
“────!?”
Still too early to sleep—the faculty bustle on from the morning commotion.
I slip carefully through them, heading straight for the Dean’s office.
“Oh.”
Come to think of it, I can take off the 【Mask of Phantasm】 now.
[ Unequipped 【Mask of Phantasm】. ]
Shrrk…
The mask scatters like a dream, reverting to ring form around my finger.
“…From tomorrow, I won’t even be able to talk again.”
The liberation fades, reality sinks in.
I’m doomed to wear that damn mask again.
“Ugh….”
Suddenly, I recall Caramel persistently asking how to contact me…
But it’s not a question I can answer, so I ignored her and headed to Cradle.
Thud.
There, in front of the Dean’s office where Veronica should be, as I raise my hand to knock…
Creeeak…
Before I touch it, the door opens on its own.
I pause briefly but step inside.
“Yeah… First off, the apology… What the hell?”
And…
Inside, Veronica is saying something to me in a bizarre pose…
But the moment she sees my face, she freezes.
“What.”
“Wow… Now you’re talking?”
‘Now you’re talking?’
As if I’m someone who should never speak for life.
Flick.
Veronica’s finger spins around and points at my face.
“What happened to the mask?”
“Here.”
I pull the 【Mask of Silence】 from my inventory,
And wave it side to side.
“You said you couldn’t take it off.”
“Yeah.”
“…What kind of bastard are you, really?”
As expected of the wicked dragon lady, curses from the first word.
Same as always.
Flick.
Her finger, aimed at my face, now points at my feet.
At the end of it: the dark red lizard trailing behind me.
Bahamut.
“What’s with that lizard?”
“My new pet.”
Awkward to say myself, but…
It’s an ultra SSS-grade lizard.
Probably no one else has a Spirit King as a pet.
“Dean.”
“…What.”
Anyway, setting that aside.
I look at Veronica… and smile brightly.
“Don’t you have something to say to me?”
Like…
A heartfelt ‘apology’…
Or a somewhat heavy ‘atonement’…
Something like that.
“Yeah….”
Unexpectedly, Veronica bows her head right away.
Guess she’s not just a wicked dragon.
However…
“Just take off your clothes first, right?”
“…No, what the f—shit—”
Way beyond expectations… no.
Light-years past, out of the galaxy.
Curses and coughs burst out together.
“What did you just say? ‘Fuck’?”
And…
The wicked dragon lady’s ears don’t miss it.
Her eyes sparkle, counterattack incoming.
“A student cursing at the Dean?”
The mood flips.
Just moments ago, she was clearly the one who owed an apology…
No apology—instead, she dumps it on me.
“You little shit… Apologize quick.”
Arms crossed, chin up, puffing her cheeks in a pout.
That face, that attitude… Peak shamelessness of ‘I did nothing wrong’…
As expected, the wicked dragon’s nature hasn’t left home.
This crazy dragon lady… is pot calling the kettle black.