Chapter 339: No, I Said Let’s Just Enjoy the Festival Normally! (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 339: No, I Said Let’s Just Enjoy the Festival Normally! (End)
Right now, they’re just useless rocks called corrupted mana stones, but they’ll eventually find their own purpose.
It will later be discovered that those with ‘Phantasmal Species’ talents, like Cheon Mu-jin or the War Demon, can absorb these stones to boost their abilities. However, they can only absorb the power of a mana stone if a monster of a similar lineage is sealed within it, and unless a truly powerful monster is slumbering inside, one shouldn’t expect to gain massive power.
Still, items that can directly strengthen a talent are rare to begin with, and since they provide a measurable increase in strength even in small amounts, they become quite popular in the future.
At the very least, they’re far more efficient than the growth elixirs found in the Academy Secret Shop.
…Anyway, judging by the transformation of that idiotic senior of mine, what’s inside that mana stone is a Lizardman—a reptilian humanoid.
While it wouldn’t be as efficient as a Lizardman absorbing it, a Lamia—Mia’s talent—or a Dragon—the War Demon’s talent—could also absorb the power of that stone.
…At this point, anyone quick-witted would have noticed something strange.
In truth, this incident should have ended without my intervention, simply because that moron of a senior was stupid enough to grab a Lamia.
If the Lizardman were a higher-grade entity than a Lamia, it might be a different story, but in terms of monster rankings, a Lizardman is a mid-tier species, while a Lamia is a high-tier species. It shouldn’t have even been a contest.
The reason it turned out like this was simple.
Mia was currently in a state of denying her own talent. When an unfamiliar power tried to force its way in, she couldn’t distinguish whether it was beneficial or harmful and instinctively pushed it away.
Then again, if Mia had just absorbed the remaining power of the mana stone and ended it there, she wouldn’t have been able to absorb the power fully, and that senior would have had to live the rest of his life looking like a half-baked lizard. So, in the end, this outcome might be for the best.
“Alright, I’m going to help you, so don’t worry.”
I haven’t mentioned it much lately, but my Reinforcement is an omnipotent power.
It means I can reinforce not just physical objects, but mental aspects as well without much trouble.
After reinforcing Mia’s self-esteem and confidence, I gave her a few encouraging words. With that, the first hurdle was cleared.
Indeed, once she gained confidence, Mia, using her talent, began to draw the energy of the mana stone toward herself with ease.
“Don’t be afraid of the power flowing in. It’s okay.”
“Ye-yes!”
Extracting the remaining power from the mana stone wasn’t an issue, but now it was time to deal with the real problem: the mana remaining in the body of that trashy senior.
Borrowing the power of the Will of the Saint, I began to strip the power away from the soul that had started to warp.
It was a delicate operation where even a slight mistake could be irreversible. Naturally, I didn’t have the skill to pull this off on my own, but I always had a reliable helper by my side.
— Helper, my foot. You mean a fixer you only call when you need something.
Ah, well. He seems a bit grumpy because I’ve been overworking him yesterday and today, but he’ll still do it if I ask…
— Hmm, I wonder why you think that? Why should I help you save someone who isn’t even your friend?
You’re just saying that because you’re annoyed, right…? You’re going to help, aren’t you?
— It seems your attitude toward me has become quite casual lately. Shall I take this chance to tighten up your discipline?
No way. How could I ever dare… to the Great Sun Wukong, who is like the very heavens to me…
— I’m joking, kid. I don’t have a hobby of playing with people’s lives, so don’t worry.
…For some reason, the image of Sun Wukong snickering in my head made me feel a bit strange, but regardless, this part was resolved as well.
As I stripped away the mana that hadn’t fully merged, the corrupted soul returned to its original form. The scales sprouting on the senior’s body fell away, and his appearance began to return to normal.
Now, all I had to do was smoothly transfer the mana to Mia, and the incident would be over.
I thought I’d be able to say, ‘Peace reigns over the Academy once again!’
Wait…?
A strange problem occurred during the final stage of handing the power over to Mia.
“Whew, good jo—”
The moment I tried to cut the connection after transferring all the mana from the stone.
The connection that was supposed to break was forcibly maintained.
— …Huh?
Not just me, but even Sun Wukong was surprised and tried to sever the link again, but the pathway between Mia and me grew even firmer, and it began to take something more than just mana from me.
What is this? Why is it doing this…?
Suddenly, the lore of the Lamia flashed through my mind.
In legend, a Lamia has the lower body of a snake and is a monster that devours children, but at the same time, there are legends of her being a succubus that drains the life essence of men.
Perhaps I had made a mistake?
Until now, she had never absorbed a man’s essence due to her timid personality and negative attitude toward her talent. But because of that, I might have carelessly offered food to a starving predator.
“I-I feel strange. I’ve never felt like this before…”
…We have a problem. Her eyes have gone completely blank.
Through the connected pathway, a significant amount of life force flowed toward Mia all at once.
Having lost her mind to the first taste of essence, Mia began to plunder my life force without a shred of restraint. It reached a level where, if the target hadn’t been me, they would have undoubtedly been in serious trouble.
No, at this rate, forget about me—Mia is in danger too.
If she ever falls for a similar temptation in the future and tries to drain life force based on the standard she’s setting with me, anyone else will surely die.
In the end, I used my power to forcibly sever the pathway, and the moment I pulled away from Mia—
“Ah…”
A regretful sound escaped Mia’s lips.
The eyes looking at me, as if she hadn’t had enough, were no longer those of a frightened girl. They had transformed into the eyes of a predator staring at its prey.
After staring at me longingly for a while, Mia nodded and smiled.
“Aha…”
But soon, as if satisfied for now, as if promising a next time despite the lingering regret.
She licked her lips briefly, and finally, giant wings unfurled from her back.
With that, her talent deactivated, and she drifted into a deep sleep, as if losing consciousness.
No, seriously. What was that?
Mia was a character who barely appeared in the original work or the Setting Book, and I had no memory of meeting her in the 1st Timeline.
I had simply assumed that since I never heard of her being active or becoming a hero while Lilac was struggling so much, she just had a rare talent but never got the chance to use it.
After all, not every superhuman becomes a hero or a villain.
But the display she just put on was absolutely not something a normal Phantasmal Species talent would show.
Even if I wasn’t going all out, the way she forcibly maintained a connection I tried to break.
The way she devoured a vast amount of life force that a normal succubus wouldn’t even be able to digest, and then looked at me with regret… but the strangest thing of all was…
“Why on earth did wings sprout from a Lamia…?”
The intuition I’d built up while causing and solving numerous incidents and accidents was telling me something.
That something had gone horribly wrong.
That a dangerous talent, which originally would have remained dormant, might have been awakened because of me.
“Huh…? Unnie? Is it all over?”
And as Mia slowly opened her eyes, she had returned to being a timid girl, seemingly unaware of the transformation that had occurred within her.
While I was hesitating, unsure of what to say, the professors and seniors arrived a beat late.
Finally, seeing Lilac running toward us with a worried face, I slowly lowered my head.
Lilac. I’m really sorry this time.
I mean, I didn’t intend for this to happen, but I think your sister awakened because of me…
* * *
“Thank you so much.”
However, my guilt was my own, and unfortunately, from an objective standpoint, I was in a position to receive gratitude rather than apologize to Lilac.
He might be concerned about his sister’s change, especially since she grew wings at the end, but he didn’t seem to think it was because of me.
After all, hadn’t I just healed his parents’ injuries and saved his sister from a crisis?
The current Lilac wasn’t the type of person to harbor suspicions after receiving such grace from a friend.
…No, that actually makes me feel even guiltier.
Even his parents were repeatedly bowing and thanking me. No matter how thick-skinned I am, I didn’t have the courage to say in this situation, ‘Ah, actually, it seems your daughter awakened a hidden power because of me. But I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing!’
“U-um, excuse me. Unnie, thank you so much for saving me.”
“…Wait, Unnie?”
Lilac looked at me as if wondering what she was talking about, but this was truly unfair—I never once said I was a girl.
I’m literally wearing a male academy uniform right now.
Right, it was probably because we first met while I was cross-dressing. Mia seemed to think I was a girl.
Knowing full well that it’s best to nip such misunderstandings in the bud, I subtly tried to clear things up.
“Hey, doesn’t anything come to mind when you look at the clothes I’m wearing right now?”
“Huh? Ah, you’re cross-dressing because of the festival, right!? You said you were doing a cosplay cafe! The princess dress was pretty, but you look really good and cool in men’s clothes too!”
…I didn’t expect her to think the exact opposite.
This won’t do.
If the misunderstanding deepens, some kind of accident is bound to happen.
Let’s just be honest.
“Listen, Mia. I’m…”
But unfortunately, Mia, like many timid people, didn’t seem to listen well when she was excited.
“Actually, I didn’t think being a hero suited me. I’m shy, I’m not strong, and I was always compared to my brother. But thanks to you, Unnie, my mind has changed a bit. I feel more courageous, and it might just be my imagination, but I feel like I’ve gotten stronger too.”
No, that’s probably not your imagination. I don’t know the details, but you definitely got stronger.
“And although I don’t remember well because I fainted in the middle, you were so cool when you saved me, Unnie. I want to be like that too!”
“Ah, um. Right. I’m glad to see a new seed of a hero growing, but I’m not a girl, I’m a ma—”
“Actually, I’m very uncomfortable around men.”
…Oh boy. Here comes the cliché.
“Hehe, it’s all thanks to you, Unnie. I’m taking the academy entrance exams this year, so I’ll definitely apply to Leilan Academy!”
She reached out her hand to me with a trembling gaze.
Was she asking for a handshake?
Except for the ‘Unnie’ part, everything she said wasn’t entirely wrong, so it was hard to deny.
Well, okay. The point is that a shy, innocent girl who is weak around men saw a cool ‘Unnie’ and came to admire her, and now she wants to apply to the academy, right?
Yeah, it’s a very classic development, but the problem is that the ‘Unnie’ is a guy.
When I looked at Lilac, the guy was shaking his head frantically.
…He wants me to keep it a secret?
This time, he started nodding and rubbing his palms together, practically begging.
My head hurt.
…Fine, let’s think positively. Maybe, given the nature of a teenage girl, this was an incident that could have developed into a romantic interest.
Of course, there’s no rule saying she has to fall for me just because of one incident, but based on my experience so far, rather than taking another unnecessary risk, it might be easier for my peace of mind to just remain a ‘cool Unnie.’
Yeah, once we part today, we probably won’t see each other until next year anyway.
I’ve been so exhausted yesterday and today, so I can probably push this one problem off onto ‘next year’s me,’ right…?
After finishing my rationalization and reaching a conclusion.
I gave her the brightest smile I could muster and took Mia’s outstretched hand.
“I hope I can see you as a junior next year, Mia.”
“Ye-yes! Unnie!”
…Ah, of course, it would also be fine if she went to a different academy or failed the exam.
* * *
If this world were a novel, the story would have moved on to the next arc immediately after the incident was resolved. But unfortunately, in this world that is no longer a novel, the festival continued even after the incident ended.
…In a way, I worked so hard to protect this scene, so I should be glad.
Cheon Mu-jin was excitedly announcing the stalls that recorded the highest sales for each grade, and my father was smiling as he greeted the representatives of each class.
For the record, the Holy Fire and Holy Sword classes had merged their booths and split the sales in half, but they were still overwhelmingly in first place.
And that’s despite barely being able to do business on the afternoon of the second day.
Everyone looks happy, thankfully.
While everyone was laughing and chatting, a truck from Chamsarang Agriculture came charging through the Academy’s main gate.
When the professors asked what was going on, the answer that came out of Ban Gi-san’s mouth was surprising.
“I’ve come to deliver wood for the campfire!”
…When told there was no such thing on the official schedule, he claimed that when he attended the academy, someone had helped out even though it wasn’t official.
“But what does wood have to do with vegetables? Why did you bring all this wood?”
At Ga-eul’s question, Ban Gi-san grinned, his teeth flashing, and answered as if it were obvious.
“Trees grow by absorbing the essence of the earth and are rich in fiber, so they are vegetables. Bamboo shoots are also trees, if you look at it broadly.”
It was still absolute nonsense.
But still.
“A campfire isn’t a bad reward for all the hard work,”
The kids all seemed to like it.
Deciding to make it grand since they were doing it anyway, fire-type talent users and mages gathered to set off sparks.
Watching the campfire, which had turned into something closer to a fireworks display, everyone laughed and chatted as the festival evening deepened.