Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Rumored Man
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“You little shit. Apologize already.”
“Why should I?”
I wondered inwardly if this crazy dragon girl had truly lost her mind, but on the outside, I kept my expression as neutral as possible.
“You cussed at me.”
“The dean does it too.”
“I’m allowed to.”
Her words made my head spin for a moment.
She said it with such brazen confidence that I couldn’t even think of a retort.
A student cussing at the dean was off-limits, but the dean cussing at a student was fine?
It was an absurd situation where the difference in roles defined what was right.
“…Wow.”
A shameless woman who’d toss logic to the dogs.
No wonder the title of “vicious dragon girl” didn’t come out of nowhere.
“Grrr…”
“……”
At my feet, Bahamut was growling in some weird pose, as if guarding me.
Leviathan had turned around, facing the wall instead of the front.
…Looked like I had no allies.
“Dean… you’re really something.”
“I know.”
…What an unfathomable dragon girl.
I couldn’t tell if she was the dean or just a brat.
“How about we call it even?”
Veronica tossed out the words like she was being generous.
But I knew better.
It wasn’t a suggestion to end it—it was a demand that if we didn’t stop now, she’d keep going until I was on my knees.
“Um…”
I thought for a moment.
Was an apology always like this?
Even if one side was clearly wrong, in the end, the louder voice won…
And Veronica always had the loudest voice.
“Sigh… Fine.”
Surprisingly, Veronica backed down.
Of course, I couldn’t see her tail, but still.
“Since I’m the adult, I’ll apologize.”
“You haven’t sold off your last shred of conscience, huh.”
Adult.
She looked like a kid on the outside, but with centuries under her belt, Veronica stepped up to apologize first.
“Alright… how should I apologize?”
“…?”
“There’s the scary way, and the cute way.”
“…Pardon?”
“Or there’s this one I saw in a book? Naked dogeza—”
“No… hold on.”
“Why.”
My mind went blank for a second.
Was this the ‘apology’ I knew?
No, something was off… It felt like the ‘apology’ humans knew and the one this dragon girl knew were in completely different languages.
“Or just kneeling works too.”
…Nope.
This vicious dragon girl’s thought process was just twisted.
Out of those disastrous options, I picked the least risky one.
“…Let’s go with the cute one.”
“I’m cute too, you know.”
I tuned out Veronica’s words with one ear as I slyly pulled something from my inventory.
“I’m cute too, you know.”
“……”
“I’m super cute too.”
“……….”
Veronica looked ready to loop “I’m cute” infinitely until I responded.
…This dragon girl was definitely insane.
“I’m—”
“Yeah, yeah… You’re cute, Dean.”
“Right? You think so too?”
Veronica nodded in satisfaction.
I hid the ‘something’ in my hand behind my back and quietly bided my time.
“Alright… Let’s start?”
Veronica struck a dramatic pose.
Whoosh…
She raised her hand, grabbed her hair to make twin tails, lifted one leg, and tilted her head.
And then…
“Sorry?”
She uttered “sorry” in a cutesy yet horrifying way.
At the same time…
Click.
“…?”
Whoosh.
Veronica’s limbs returned to normal.
“Oh, great shot, Dean.”
In my hand was the camera-shaped magic tool I’d borrowed from them—Moonlight, no, now Falling Moon.
It couldn’t record video, but a photo would do.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.”
…Was an apology really necessary?
Honestly… no.
I’d gained more from going to find Neru.
If I weighed the losses against the gains, the gains overwhelmingly won out.
Bzzz…
The magic tool hummed oddly and spat out the film.
The photo captured Veronica perfectly in her cutesy, horrifying pose from moments ago.
“I’ll take this as my consolation prize.”
I waved it in front of Veronica’s face, proudly shaking it.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright… Cherish it well.”
“…?”
“To think you’d treasure a photo of the dean… What a respectful student.”
The conversation veered into weird territory.
I was clearly the one teasing her, but Veronica seemed subtly pleased instead.
“…Tch.”
I muttered inwardly that this wasn’t the reaction I wanted and stowed the photo and camera in my inventory.
And then…
“……”
Veronica’s gaze locked onto my hand.
A subtle silence fell.
Thud.
“…?”
“…What’s this?”
Veronica rushed over and yanked back the sleeve wrapped tightly around my arm.
Whoosh.
…A purple crack emerged.
It was the trace of erosion spreading through my body.
“…It’s magic power?”
With just a glance, Veronica saw right through the nature of the magic flowing in me.
“…Care to explain?”
Her tone mixed irritation, but the edge of that irritation was clear.
She was pissed that I was hurt.
I gave a bitter smile and pulled 【Mask of Silence】 from my inventory.
“What’s there to explain?”
Flutter.
I pinched the mask between my middle finger and thumb, dangling it in front of Veronica’s eyes.
“…So the mask was a suppressor?”
“……”
She even pierced right through the fact that the mask was my suppressor.
At times like this, I genuinely admired her.
How did she figure it out just by looking?
Sure, I called her ‘dragon girl’ and ‘brat’ usually…
But she was the real deal.
“…”
That was when it happened.
“Pfft…”
“……?”
Hot blood trickled from my mouth.
[ Equip 【Mask of Silence】 immediately! ]
“…Hey?”
“……”
Stagger—
The world warped, my vision twisting.
My body tilted forward as consciousness faded into the distance.
“…Hey? Hey?”
Veronica was calling me.
But… even her voice sounded distant.
[ Equip 【Mask of Silence】 immediately! ]
Clunk.
My body collapsed straight toward Veronica.
“Ow! You got blood on me!”
My chin landed on Veronica’s shoulder as I fell.
She panicked at the sight of me bleeding and collapsing.
“This brat’s body is way too light…!”
Ah.
There was so much I needed to say.
[ Equip 【Mask of Silence】 immediately! ]
If I’d known…
I shouldn’t have messed around and should’ve gotten straight to the point.
[ Equip 【Mask of Silence】 immediately! ]
I got too swept up in the freedom of taking off the mask.
“───?”
“……”
“───!?”
In the end…
[ Equip 【Mask of Silence】 immediately! ]
Freedom…
Wasn’t allowed to me.
[ Equipped 【Mask of Silence】! ]
[ 【Mask of Silence】’s unique skill 【Magic Power Suppression】 activates! ]
[ 【Mask of Silence】’s unique skill 【Stigma】 activates! ]
***
“……”
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the familiar dormitory ceiling.
The same pattern I always saw, even down to the number of motifs.
The one I’d blankly counted whenever I was bored.
“……”
Looks like Veronica carried me all the way here.
Sunlight poured brightly through the window outside.
‘Well… I pushed it too far, huh?’
The idea of going without the mask until morning…
Was greedy from the start.
Splash splash.
…Splish splash.
‘Should’ve just gotten to the point.’
I regretted the pointless teasing.
There was plenty to sort out after dealing with the Lust Calamity…
And I’d wasted that crucial chance myself.
‘Sigh…’
Another sigh escaped.
When would this endless sighing end?
Splash splash.
…Splish splash.
And…
The bickering sounds kept coming from over there.
I turned my head.
Splash splash!
…Splish splash.
‘…What’s that now.’
On the desk.
A twig nest I didn’t remember bringing sat there prominently…
And next to it, Mikurebi glared at Bahamut with pouty eyes from inside the tank.
“……”
Bahamut was curled up in the nest in his small lizard form.
But Mikurebi’s expression clearly said, “No entry here.”
Splish…
Bahamut finally drooped his tail dejectedly.
He nudged the nest away with a grunt, dropped it to the floor with a thud…
Splish splash.
Then moved under the desk to settle in.
Splash.
Mikurebi nodded from the tank.
Looking satisfied, like it had defended its territory.
I stared blankly at the absurd hierarchy showdown and tilted my head.
‘…Who’s the pet and who’s the owner?’
They were both supposed to be pets.
But a master-servant dynamic had split between them.
‘Whew…’
Spirit King and fish.
The fact that these two were subtly squabbling and power-testing in my dorm…
Somehow made my head hurt even more.
***
“Did you see it?”
“See what?”
“The one on the bulletin board!”
“Oh… that photo?”
“Yeah!”
“I saw it.”
Yoram’s morning commute was the same as always.
Hard to believe the chaos from yesterday, as students bustled about the campus like usual.
Was this possible because it was Yoram… or just general apathy to danger?
But the rumor that reached my ears was a bit unsettling.
“It’s blurry, but even so, total hottie confirmed.”
“Agreed.”
What kind of rumor was this?
What photo was on the bulletin board to spark this?
Thud.
I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and quickened my pace.
And then…
‘…No, fuck.’
At the bulletin board.
I poked my head through the cluster of students, and a paper in the corner caught my eye.
“Looking for this person.”
[Photo]
Along with those words was…
A photo of my face from last night, maskless and wandering around.
‘When was this even taken?’
The silver lining…
It was blurry enough that it wasn’t clearly identifiable.
Of course… that didn’t make it okay.
“Just the silhouette screams handsome…”
“Who could it be?”
“Was there someone like that at Yoram?”
“Maybe a third-year?”
“Yeah… seniors are always out on fieldwork, so we don’t see them much.”
Students spun wild guesses about the mysterious “rumored man.”
Oblivious that he was passing right by them.
I swallowed a curse and silently headed to the S-Class classroom.
Slide…
The door in the corner creaked open, and I dragged myself inside.
Then…
“Heyyy, top seat! You see that photo on the bulletin board?”
‘Fuck.’
This time, the curse didn’t stay inside at Seros’s arm-slinging approach.
Why was my photo the talk of the classroom too?
“Hey! Quit harassing top seat!”
“Gah…! What’re you on about, Third Place scrub girl.”
“What?! Third Place scrub?!”
Seros and Lapia bickering as usual.
I ignored them and flopped into the corner window seat.
Right next to Rev.
【It’s Mask Guy!】
“……”
Lamenta, who’d been pretty chatty lately, greeted me excitedly.
I faceplanted on the desk and glanced at Rev beside me.
【Rev…! Mask Guy looks down!】
“…You okay?”
Rev’s worried eyes.
And hyper-excited Lamenta.
Tears almost welled up for a moment.
At least these two wouldn’t gossip and trash me like the others…
But… that hope didn’t last.
【Mask Guy! See the photo on the board!? Total Rev’s type…!!】
“……”
Ah…
Please.