Chapter 334: No, I Said Let’s Just Enjoy the Festival Normally! (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 334: No, I Said Let’s Just Enjoy the Festival Normally! (6)
“What in the…! Isn’t that the villain from the report the other day?! Has Leilan Academy gone mad?! Are you really in league with a villain?!”
“…I have no idea whose mouth that nonsense is coming from. Who knows? We have no way of knowing how or for what purpose that villain infiltrated our grounds. We will investigate and submit a report to the Association later.”
“Do you really think you can brush this off with such wordplay?!”
“Hmm, I don’t see why you’re so angry. Based on what that villain is saying, he seems to have more of a grievance with you than with us, doesn’t he?”
“Ha, so that’s how you’re going to play it?”
While Chairperson Leilan maintained a perfect poker face, letting Keras’s fury wash over her, she was screaming internally.
I’m screwed.
No, Cadet Kang So-hyun. This is too much. You’re always like this, but this is way too much…!
She had been uneasy ever since he looked strangely worried while mentioning he’d call an ally, but she never imagined it would be to this extent!
He brought someone far too dangerous! Right now, the Association simply hadn’t assigned him a rank because they couldn’t gauge his full power, but he was a villain already practically confirmed as S-rank—someone people whispered was a ‘Calamity’ and should be tracked accordingly. And So-hyun just dropped him right here!
Of course, the man didn’t truly seem like he intended to threaten the Academy.
Though his arrogant attitude didn’t allow anyone to approach him, none of the cadets who had lunged at him had suffered injuries severe enough to be retired.
It was overwhelming enough that he dealt with enemies using only his dragon wings without even moving his hands, but the fact that he was taking care not to inflict fatal wounds showed an insurmountable gap between him and the cadets.
It would be easier to just kill them, yet he refused to harm those who weren’t his targets.
Is he trying to maintain some sort of moral code despite being a villain?
…Actually, he’s kind of cool?
No, what am I thinking?
Bad boy? What bad boy?
Seriously, I still haven’t come to my senses even after getting caught by Cadet Kang So-hyun.
“This matter will absolutely, absolutely not be overlooked.”
Well, he hasn’t actually committed any major crimes yet, and compared to this guy in front of me who claims to be a hero, maybe the Ghost Mask isn’t even a villain…?
…No, wait, now is not the time for these thoughts.
“…I’ve noticed something particularly often this year. It’s always the ones who throw the first punch who get angry when things don’t go their way. Where do you get the nerve?”
“Fine, so you’re going to keep provoking me? This actually works out. To prove my justification, I’ll just capture that villain and force him to confess his collusion with the Academy.”
“Ho? Do you really think you can get past me to reach him?”
“Are you planning to protect a villain? The Chairperson of Leilan Academy?”
“Since his villain rank hasn’t been determined yet, he is technically still a citizen I must protect.”
“What kind of sophistry is that?!”
“Isn’t it clear which side poses a greater threat to the cadets I must protect and to the Academy?”
“Ha, it seems you’re looking down on me because I’m at the bottom of the S-rank rankings. I’m only ranked low because it’s difficult for me to fight without causing collateral damage, not because my combat power is low.”
“Is that so? I didn’t know that.”
“In terms of pure destructive power, I can match heroes in the top 50.”
“Then, unless your talent is just flapping your gums, why don’t you come at me?”
…Well, actually.
There might not be a reason for her to go this far.
To be honest, she didn’t think the man in the Ghost Mask would lose to a guy like this, but she just didn’t want him to have to worry about such a nuisance.
No, that wasn’t it.
It was just that it would be strange to let a villain handle someone who had harmed the Academy.
Yes, let’s go with that.
“…Who am I kidding? The moment I start making excuses like this, it’s already too late.”
If she were a fresh, young girl, she might have tried to deny her feelings, but she was far too mature for that.
She tried to fold her feelings away, but they wouldn’t stay folded. What was she supposed to do?
“I don’t know what you’re muttering about, but I’ll make you regret this.”
As Keras stood up, radiating a murderous aura, she gathered her energy to prepare for his attack.
Or rather, she tried to.
[I’m sorry, but I can’t let that happen, Chairperson Leilan.]
While she had been in a standoff with Keras, he had already approached the window of the Chairperson’s office.
[That guy is my prey. No matter who you are, I can’t let you snatch my prey away.]
“What makes you think I’ll listen to you?”
Leilan Claudia forced her racing heart to settle and maintained her poker face despite the voice suddenly sounding right beside her.
The man in the Ghost Mask stared at her for a moment without answering, but then spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
[Because opportunities to earn my favor by dealing with such small fry don’t come often.]
Ah, isn’t this line similar to one from the novel I wrote before…? Is it a coincidence?
If possible, just a little more…
[And you aren’t the kind of foolish woman who would kick away an opportunity to earn my favor with such a simple task, are you, Leilan Claudia?]
This is insane. It’s exactly the same. Huh? What is this? Is this real? Or am I dreaming?
* * *
…The Chairperson was staring at me with an expectant look, so I tried it just in case, and it seems that was the right answer.
She probably doesn’t realize what her face looks like right now, but she has the expression of a fan who just shook hands at a signing event.
Then, whenever she looked at Keras, her face would return to a cold, sharp mask. Personally, I found it amusing and quite liked it, but Keras seemed to take it as a mockery of himself.
“…You two are really something.”
Well, regardless of the Chairperson’s amusing reaction, my original target was him, so I had to focus.
This bastard’s ability is a bit tricky, so it’s better to suppress him before he causes an accident.
[Keras of Emptiness.]
“…You know me?”
He seemed surprised that I knew who he was.
Well, among the S-rank, he wasn’t particularly handsome, his ability wasn’t exceptionally outstanding, and he didn’t have any major achievements.
He was at the very bottom of the rankings, and because he was well aware of that, he was riddled with an inferiority complex.
But I knew him quite well. Or rather, I knew him all too well.
[Of course. Even a bottom-tier S-rank is still an S-rank. I remember all of the fewer than a hundred S-rank heroes in the world.]
“I’d like to say I’m honored, but it doesn’t mean much coming from a villain like you…”
[Especially you, since you’re at the very bottom, making you easy to remember. Much more so than those awkwardly placed around 46th or 60th. Please, stay in such an easy-to-remember position in the future.]
He seemed to be trying to provoke me, but well, that was none of my business.
If you’re going to provoke someone, do it quickly. He got burned because he was trying too hard to set the mood.
In the first place, I’ve hated this guy for a long time.
Keras of Emptiness was a hero affiliated with the Association, but if you contacted him through secret routes, he would take private commissions.
The requests he mainly took were things that were difficult to officially commission to a Hunter Guild or private heroes.
To put it bluntly, they were mostly related to revenge—dealing with villains who cleverly avoided being labeled as such, or venting personal grudges.
Well, that much might be understandable, but the problem was that he was a quintessential ‘Honor Faction’ bastard.
One of his main sources of income was creating victims himself by cleverly exploiting legal loopholes, then pretending to take their requests in a staged drama.
In the past, he was killed by the Sword Ghost… that is, Ha-ni. I think they said he mocked those he had deceived until the very end?
He was such a textbook piece of trash that I wouldn’t feel the least bit sorry even if I beat him to within an inch of his life right now.
“…Hey.”
Anyway, that aside. I knew a reaction would come since I poked his sorest spot.
“Do you think an S-rank hero is a joke?”
The reaction was much more violent than expected.
[Hardly. Why would I look down on S-rank heroes, who are called the pinnacle of superhumans?]
“Then why is your head held so high…”
[The one I’m looking down on isn’t the S-rank. It’s you, Keras of Emptiness.]
“Huh?”
[A piece of trash who doesn’t even deserve to be called a hero, a moronic hypocrite who doesn’t know his place. A gluttonous ghost filled with greed. A man who suits being a villain more than a hero. The S-rank rank is far too good for you.]
There was no way he would stay still after hearing such a blatant provocation.
“Die.”
Keras of Emptiness’s talent is very threatening.
Nihilist.
An S-rank mental-type talent that fires a kind of hypnotic wave.
Those hit by his hypnotic wave lose all motivation.
At its weakest, they might lose basic desires like appetite, lust, or the need for sleep. In severe cases, they might even stop performing basic actions necessary for survival, like breathing.
Even in less extreme cases, a nihilist who has lost all motivation and purpose loses the will to resist.
The problem was that he couldn’t control the intensity or the range, making it a talent closer to an act of terror—and I knew this bastard would use it without a moment’s hesitation.
[Therefore, I shall judge your hypocrisy.]
He had a history of just firing it off even when facing us in the past.
Well, to summarize the result, everyone except me—who was immune to brainwashing—struggled quite a bit at first, but eventually, they were able to overcome it.
His brainwashing can be broken using strong divine power, or neutralized with a stronger brainwashing wave.
And an even better method is…
“What the.”
[I’ve been waiting for a while now, thinking you might feel it’s unfair if you didn’t get to attack even once.]
“Wait, my mana…? What…?! It won’t stop!”
[For someone who told me to die, nothing is happening. Exactly how much longer do I have to wait?]
…to absorb all the mana that fuels his ability.
There was a reason I had strengthened the Black Shadow and come in my awakened form from the start.
The pitch-black sphere I created above my hand was flaunting its presence, devouring the enemy’s mana even more greedily than in the past.
Well, it wasn’t that the Black Shadow’s awakening skill was particularly strong against him; it was a common weakness for any talent that required the release of mana to exert power. However, if he had at least been able to control his own power, he could have stopped using mana and prevented further theft of his strength.
[Pathetic. Not only can you not handle your own power properly, you can’t even stop it?]
“Ugh…! This…! Argh…! Wait…! Stop…!”
[To think you can still act proud as an S-rank. It’s almost laughable.]
…Honestly, it was a bit strange.
I thought I didn’t have a hobby of bullying the weak, so why did this feel so good?
A guy who was the weakest among the S-rank yet had the strongest pride.
Well, he was still an S-rank, so he couldn’t exactly be called ‘weak,’ but I didn’t have a penchant for beating people up. Yet, seeing him scream felt strangely satisfying.
Did I have some kind of grudge?
No, if I did, there’s no way I would have let Ha-ni have the kill, right?
I remember him insulting me, but back then, there were fewer heroes who hadn’t insulted me than those who had.
It felt like it wasn’t that, but something much worse had happened between us.
— Did you forget? No way. You’re just pretending not to know.
Ah?
The moment I heard the voice, scenes from the past I had tried so hard not to recall began to flood my mind.
— You think your relationship with the Sword Ghost soured even more because of this, don’t you? Because the Sword Ghost snatched your prey. You didn’t realize the meaning behind her actions and just scolded her.
Had I forgotten? Or did I just not want to remember?
Right, I hadn’t ‘yielded’ the kill to Ha-ni.
At the time, I was so furious I was determined to kill him myself, but the accurate memory was that she went to great lengths to snatch my prey away.
Because of that, I had scolded her with harsh words.
— Don’t act on your own, you’re just a tool. Did I ever order you to kill him in my stead?
— Yes, I’m sorry.
— Hah, whatever, just get lost. I don’t even want to see your face.
I didn’t even ask her why, and even after a long time had passed, I never tried to find out what her intentions were.
Driven by a slight sense of betrayal, the best I could do was chase her away so I wouldn’t take out my redirected anger on her.
I had only tried to forget because I knew I would definitely get angry at her again if I remembered.
Yes, that’s right.
You were one of the ones I desperately wanted to kill with my own hands. There was something I needed to hear from you.
— Just giving birth to trash like you makes her a sinner. Don’t you agree?
That bastard had mocked my broken mother’s grave.
He wasn’t one of the ones who had actually desecrated the grave, but he was a clue to finding out who the culprit was. I had been angry because he died before I could hear anything.
Ah, right. This is why I tried not to remember.
I had originally planned to send him back alive as a warning, but I don’t want to do that anymore.
[…Come to think of it, I had something to pay you back for.]
When I stopped draining his mana, he hurriedly tried to fix his posture and draw his weapon instead of using his talent.
Of course.
My hand grabbing his throat was faster than him drawing his sword.
[Why don’t you try a little harder? What if I accidentally kill you at this rate?]
…Should I just kill him?