Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Pitiful Man
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“…….”
“…….”
With midterms over, Robern Academy was on the verge of summer vacation.
The students were all buzzing with excitement, chattering idly and warmly as they made their summer plans.
Amidst it all, two people stared at each other.
They had coincidentally ended up at the same table due to empty seats, but after their eyes met, neither showed the slightest retreat.
Aria Rias and Elenoa Luden Griffin.
Ever since they had confirmed each other's feelings in Erica Bright's lab, the two often engaged in these kinds of staring contests.
Thanks to that, the students around them were unnecessarily on edge, barely noticing whether their food went into their mouths or their noses.
“Do you know?”
It was Aria who struck first.
“The Professor likes students who follow the rules well. Students who act like proper students, that is.”
“…….”
“He really hates it when they skip class or use informal speech for no reason?”
Crunch.
Elenoa's grip tightened on her fork with a twitch. She knew that already.
Because just yesterday, she had been summoned to Deus's lab, chewed out, and even docked points.
Her top midterm spot was now in jeopardy.
‘How does she know that?’
She had heard Deus hadn't been at the academy long.
Aria let out a smug hum and laughed arrogantly. But Elenoa didn't back down either.
“Deus knows a lot of unique things. Especially, he seems to like something called a ‘magical girl.’”
“Ma, what?”
Magical girl?
What was that?
Aria could only be confused for a moment. Could it be a story from Kim Shin-woo's past that he had never told even her?
Crack.
Cracks began to form on the plate in Aria's hand. Her emotions grew murky at the thought that Elenoa knew about a past era she herself had barely heard of.
‘Should I kill her?’
She could tolerate talk about the Professor. She wasn't that aggressive.
But she couldn't tolerate talk about Kim Shin-woo.
Especially when Elenoa knew an aspect of him she didn't, it properly struck Aria's reverse scale.
Did this woman even properly know who was inside Deus and say such things?
Did she know that the tastes of the Deus she spoke of actually belonged to another person named Kim Shin-woo?
Probably not.
She likely didn't.
‘Right now, maybe.’
In previous loops, she had been the one to stab a sword into Elenoa's heart anyway.
Back then, the grand princess had incited students to take over the academy and even plotted rebellion.
She thought the chances were extremely low now that she was close to Deus.
But what if someone schemed behind Elenoa's back? Wouldn't she revert to her old self?
Then, there would naturally be justification to kill her.
“Magical girl. You don't know what it is?”
“…….”
A little more prodding, and she seemed ready to explode. Hearing Elenoa talk about a Kim Shin-woo she didn't know felt like a knife digging into her skull.
“Want me to tell you?”
Elenoa said with a sly smile. Aria, who had instinctively been about to summon mana, took a deep breath and replied.
“Tell me.”
One step back for two steps forward.
Deus would never tell her no matter how much she asked.
Even if it was humiliating, she planned to extract as much information as possible from Princess Elenoa for now.
“Fine. But in exchange, tell me everything you know about Deus without holding back. Like why you fell for him?”
“……Can you say that?”
Though they were students, they weren't naive enough to share innocent love stories.
Elenoa hesitated for a moment too. Tell Aria about her memories with Deus?
No.
It felt like opening her treasure chest to someone else, so she shook her head.
“Yeah, that was a slip. Let's just cleanly share information.”
And so, the two female students shared various stories about Deus over their meal.
Talking together about what they liked turned out to be more enjoyable than expected, so they surprisingly spent the time with smiles blooming.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Hey, mind if we eat with you too?”
Bees are drawn to flowers, as they say.
Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, male students who had long wanted to get close to the two approached slyly.
“Scram.”
But at Aria's menacing word, they all backed off with whimpers. Elenoa, in her position as princess, couldn't use harsh language, so she appreciated Aria stepping in.
After finishing their meal, the two headed outside the cafeteria to continue their conversation.
In a corner alley beside the cafeteria, they spotted someone a bit unexpected.
The popular star who had burst onto Robern Academy like a comet.
A white-haired woman in a maid outfit embodying male students' fantasies.
Wasn't that Pindenai chatting intimately with some man?
Normally, they would have passed by, but Aria and Elenoa spotted Pindenai precisely.
Wondering if Deus was nearby, but he wasn't, so they felt a twinge of disappointment.
Aria's eyes fixed sharply on the man.
Then she nodded shortly after.
‘Resistance, huh?’
He seemed disguised as a staff member, talking about something related to Pindenai.
Robern had no separate Resistance, but she must have formed a cooperative relationship with the ones from Graypond during her stay there.
‘Hmm.’
The Pindenai in Aria's memories was a truly tricky woman to deal with.
She had naturally infiltrated the kingdom's Resistance and subjugated them to her side, boasting beast-like senses in combat.
It was fortunate she didn't have her weapons back then; if properly equipped and the fight dragged on, even current Aria might struggle.
The talk seemed over, as the man left without looking back, leaving Pindenai alone. She pulled out a cigarette, sensed their gazes, and looked their way.
“Hm? What?”
Smoking was only allowed on the rooftop inside the academy, yet Pindenai boldly put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it.
No one but Deus could rein in her rogue-like behavior, so they let it slide.
“Grumpy and Crazy, huh?”
“Grumpy?”
“Crazy?”
Elenoa and Aria simultaneously recognized the terms referring to them and asked back.
At their bristling reactions, Pindenai chuckled and exhaled deeply.
“The one who just grumbles to Master, and the one who spreads her legs for him right away—I call 'em Crazy, what else?”
Their faces flushed red with surging irritation, but they couldn't retort.
Honestly, it was spot on.
Elenoa would whine to Deus about old stories even if it meant docking points.
And Aria…… was ready even if Deus didn't want it.
“Phew, go easy on him. He's more tiring than you think.”
Pindenai's remark as she exhaled deeply was shocking.
Hearing such words from the one who seemed most likely to stress him out left them flustered, with a strange tension in the air.
“To be precise, he's a pitiful guy.”
“Pitiful?”
As Elenoa asked what that meant, Pindenai glanced at her slyly, tossed her fully smoked butt to the ground, and crushed it.
“You saying he's not? I have no idea what that guy's even after.”
“…….”
“…….”
“He wants nothing, but has all the responsibilities.”
Both women's words dried up at once. Elenoa couldn't quite grasp it, but for Aria, memories flashed by like a panorama, twisting her thoughts to the past.
It was true.
In the 1st loop.
In the 2nd loop.
Deus Verdi.
No, Kim Shin-woo always moved for others. There was certainly the grand goal of saving the continent.
But he was overly devoted to it.
His actions, as if he didn't exist in this world, even instilled a shred of unease.
That's why Pindenai couldn't understand him.
She thought she probably never would, even in death.
To Pindenai, who had been born without basic freedom and fought her way through.
Deus felt like he had voluntarily discarded his freedom to chain himself.
“Well, anyway, he'll be leaving the academy soon.”
“Huh?”
“It's been a week already?”
As Aria and Elenoa exclaimed in confusion, Pindenai grinned mischievously.
“The Saintess side contacted me. Said there's somewhere else I should go. Summer vacation's starting anyway, so off I go again.”
“……Sigh.”
Aria decided to accept it for now. She had places to visit this summer vacation anyway, regrettable as it was.
The Sword of Nibelungen she had now was convenient for the moment, but it didn't suit her hand, so she needed a new one.
Two steps back for three steps forward.
She couldn't be with Deus during summer vacation, but as a regressor, there were overflowing things she needed to secure in advance.
She could only let out a sigh of regret.
“I-I was planning to go to Graypond together this time!”
Elenoa had naturally planned to take Deus along. It was only natural for a necromancer like him to gain a place in the royal family.
She had intended to bring him along seamlessly, but since it was cooperating with the Saintess, even she as princess couldn't intervene.
Pindenai laughed in amusement at the two deflated girls.