Chapter 420: The Chaotic Daily Life of Leilan Academy (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 420: The Chaotic Daily Life of Leilan Academy (3)
South Korea was currently caught in the middle of a childish spat between two men, enduring a period of absolute upheaval.
First, the land prices in Jeju Island and Gyeongju—which were already insane to begin with—had skyrocketed. On top of that, foreign investment was pouring in, and various subsidiaries were launching all sorts of events, leading to a literal flood of inquiries.
Well, I suppose that much is fine.
Those things don’t cause me any direct harm. The real problem lay elsewhere…
“This isn’t much, but please accept it as a token of my sincerity.”
The man who said this held out a thick stack of cash, his smile practically oily with greed.
“Ha! What a pathetic display of affection. It lacks aesthetic. I am different! I know all too well that such scraps of paper cannot win your heart.”
Then, a bastard who looked like he’d slathered butter over both his tongue and his face simultaneously pushed his fringe back with five fingers. Striking a bizarre pose with his legs crossed, he handed me a bouquet.
Except, every single flower was made of solid gold.
“How is it? You came to mind, so I commissioned the finest master craftsmen to create this! This is what a true token of sincerity looks like!”
“Oh, please. Kids these days don’t like stuff like that.”
A man who looked like a typical corporate salesman in glasses also seemed to have a gift for me.
“…I happen to know a few establishments with plenty of beautiful ladies. If I just put in a word, I can get you the premium course.”
“Stop.”
…In short, the number of bastards trying to bribe us like this had increased.
I was a celebrity in my own right now, so I suppose they wanted to get on my good side while dipping their toes into the business.
The War Demon bastard, whom I’d stationed there for security, didn’t care whether they came in or not. His logic was that since they weren’t trying to cause harm but were giving gifts, I should just take them and keep my mouth shut.
If I tried to suppress them with force, they were the type who would undoubtedly get a medical certificate for the slightest scratch and try to blackmail me. So, I was currently in the process of sending them away one by one using the power of a succubus.
But doing this once or twice was one thing; the sheer volume of them was exhausting. It also annoyed me that they seemed to have a perfect grasp of my weaknesses.
If they were outright villains, I could just crush them, but these people who were just ‘moderately’ annoying were the worst kind.
Moreover, I don’t know where they dug up my schedule, but they never approached me when I was with the other girls or helping the Chairperson at the Student Council. They only targeted the moments when I was trying to rest or waiting for the girls alone after school. It made it awkward to just openly trample them.
If things are white, you can embrace them; if they’re black, you can crush them.
Regrettably, the world is filled with more people living in the gray than in clear black or white, which only seemed to make things more tiring.
“I’m really exhausted.”
Actually, it wasn’t exactly exhaustion. It was a slightly different feeling. Rather than tired, it was more…
“So-hyun, are you very tired?”
Something warm touched my cheek. When I turned my head, I saw Cathy holding a warm drink against my face.
She must have seen me from afar and come running. Strangely enough, just seeing her face made the dark thoughts I’d been having moments ago vanish.
“Mmh. A little. My head’s spinning from dealing with that all day.”
“Should I go tell them to stop coming for you?”
“I appreciate the thought, but I doubt they’d listen.”
“Oh, my poor So-hyun, what are we going to do? You’re already going through so much emotionally, and they won’t even let you rest. They’re so mean.”
“Well, thanks to them, I get to act like a spoiled brat to you, so it’s not all bad.”
“You can act like a spoiled brat to me whenever you want, you know?”
She naturally sat down beside me and kissed my cheek. Thanks to that, my fatigue seemed to melt away, if only for a moment.
Yes.
I certainly felt that way—at least until a minute refraction of light, so subtle a normal person wouldn’t have noticed, caught my eye.
A paparazzi?
Are they planning to switch to blackmail since the gifts didn’t work? Or are they just aiming for a scandal?
Well, there was no need to agonize over it.
I could just look directly into the guy’s head to see what he was thinking.
The fool was still under the delusion that he hadn’t been caught.
‘Haha, this won’t be enough, but if I gather a bit more material and mix it well, I can create a decent picture. I’m just doing what I’m told and getting paid, but if I play my cards right, I could break a massive scandal.’
Oh, it’s both. I didn’t know that.
What should I do with this cute little bastard?
“So-hyun, do you remember this place?”
“Huh?”
Just as I was about to decide how to handle him and see who was behind the order, Cathy suddenly spoke up.
Isn’t this just near the Academy cafeteria?
Yet, strangely, it did feel like I had a memory of this place.
Wait, I should probably catch that guy first so he can’t run away, but I suppose thinking about it a little later won’t hurt.
“Mmh, I guess you don’t remember? You collapsed right here, So-hyun.”
“…Ah?”
That’s right.
I wondered why it felt so familiar. This was where I had collapsed on the first day of early admission after the entrance ceremony because I didn’t know—or rather, I forgot—that the student cafeteria wasn’t open.
Since we were sitting on a bench now, technically it was just ‘near’ that spot.
Back then, my memories were all gone and my body was pathetic and weak; I thought it was just because of the ‘setting.’
In reality, it was a miracle I was even alive, what with the excessive use of talent, the side effects of regression, and the return of all the damage I’d healed with my Authority.
“Do you know how shocked I was? This boy suddenly falls to his knees with an expression like the world has ended. I ran over in a panic, only to find out he was just hungry.”
“That’s embarrassing. It feels like it hasn’t been that long, but a lot has changed.”
Back then, I had no memories and only vague emotions remained. I just thought she was someone who wanted to be kind to me, and I acted quite naively.
“You’re right, a lot has changed. But So-hyun, this might sound strange coming from me…”
“Cathy?”
“Sometimes, I feel like you looked happier back then.”
…I looked happier back then?
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer immediately.
“Mmh, it’s not like anything huge changed, but at some point, I started seeing guilt in your eyes when you looked at us. You started walking on eggshells, no matter what you did. It’s gotten a bit better now, though.”
True, it must have been bad right after my memories returned.
I felt like I didn’t deserve this, I was being chased by the sheer amount of work I had to do, and above all, I was too weak to protect them.
“The current So-hyun, who tries to be perfect, is cool too, but the So-hyun I first met was cute and wonderful. You made mistakes and got flustered, but you still tried your best for others.”
For a simple trip down memory lane, I felt like the buildup was getting a bit too long.
“Actually, I’ve liked you since the beginning, when you must have been scared but still came back to save me.”
“Oh, come on. I wasn’t scared. I did it because I thought I could, and I trusted the Professor.”
“No. You might not have realized it yourself, but I saw it clearly. Your hands were shaking slightly, and you were smiling with such an anxious face.”
…I couldn’t accurately recall what kind of expression I wore or how I felt back then.
Was it the difference between the ‘me’ who believed he was just a transmigrator and the ‘me’ who had found his memories from before the regression?
“I know I’m being greedy.”
What was she talking about all of a sudden?
“I know saying this might make things hard for you, but sometimes I get so scared.”
Cathy’s hands, which were tightly gripping mine, were trembling slightly.
“Could you… not kill that person? Could you just let them pay for their crimes and leave it at that?”
Her words felt like a hammer blow to my head.
What? How did she know?
She might have sensed the paparazzi through her mana sensing.
But realizing what I was planning to do to him was a completely different matter.
“Mmh, actually, I don’t know exactly what you’re planning to do. But even though you were with me, you kept focusing on that, and seeing your expression turn colder and colder… it was scary.”
…I did that? Ah, I see. I did. I was even feeling strangely pleased at the thought of making an example out of him, thinking I should at least tie him up so he couldn’t escape.
“I might not have the right to say this, but nothing has happened yet. Preventing it in advance is good, but it’s not something worth killing over, is it?”
If she were trembling because I was scaring her, I would have just disappeared.
‘If he says he wants to let go of everything again like last time, I might not be able to catch him this time.’
She was only afraid that I would lose my humanity and vanish from her side.
“Even if problems arise, even if we’re lacking, we’ll try to solve them together. So, let’s just stop at giving that person a proper scolding. Okay?”
For the first time, the power of a god felt terrifying.
Since when had it been?
Since when had I wanted to condemn someone for a crime they hadn’t even committed yet, simply because they thought about it?
Since when had I started looking for an angle to dispose of someone just because they happened to get caught while being annoying?
I wasn’t even like this when I was notorious as a villain.
Did I lose my sense of reality because I gained the power to dispose of people with a flick of my finger and could peer into the minds of others?
Suddenly, I got goosebumps.
It’s not that I’m a pacifist; I believe those who deserve to die should die. However, killing someone who was essentially a nobody just because they were ‘annoying’ was something I should never do—not if I wanted to stay by their side, and not if I wanted to live as a hero.
“I’m sorry. And thank you.”
“No, I might be making things complicated, and you might have had a reason for wanting to do that.”
No.
I was about to kill someone who wasn’t an irredeemable piece of trash, nor someone who had committed a grand crime, simply because they might cause an annoying incident.
I thought I had constantly vowed and stayed on guard not to let this happen, but had I become intoxicated by power without even realizing it?
If she hadn’t stopped me, I probably would have found things more and more ‘annoying’ as time went on.
“I won’t kill him. I promise. I’ll try my best not to even think like that. Unless it’s someone who absolutely must be dealt with, I’ll try to save them, or at least give them a chance.”
Right. Even a guy like that hasn’t killed anyone yet. It’s only right to give him a chance to reflect.
I slowly spread my demonic energy and toyed with the man’s mind, showing him a nightmare.
A nightmare where every deed he had committed until now became karma and returned to haunt his life.
He might have thought it was just a delusion for a moment, but he was so terrified that he threw his camera away and began to bolt.
“…Oh, uh, he suddenly ran away?”
“Yes. I didn’t think he was worth killing, so I used brainwashing to show him a vision and test if he was someone capable of reflection.”
For a split second, I wondered if that was something to say so cheerfully, but seeing Cathy hug me tightly as if I’d done a good job, I guess I did the right thing?
“Thank you for listening to my selfish request.”
“It wasn’t selfish.”
“Thank you for trying to stay by my side.”
…Don’t thank me. I’m the one who’s grateful.
She could have stopped me by force.
Since she held control over the Golden Hoop, if she wanted to stop me in a hurry, all she had to do was command me to stop with all her heart.
Yet she didn’t do that. She trusted me, and the fact that she honestly confessed the anxiety she felt was proof that she believed in me.
If anyone was grateful, it was me.
“…So-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think this is the right time to say this, but… holding you like this for so long…”
“Ah.”
Perhaps because she had been anxious until a moment ago, her body was trembling slightly, and the gaze she directed at me was strangely moist.
“I’m still a little anxious. Could you reassure me that you’ll stay by my side?”
‘I want to kiss him. I want to hug him now. I wonder if he’ll go along with my selfishness? What if he doesn’t…? I’m already a little wet…? My breasts…? Should I let him touch my breasts?’
I seem to be thinking this more often lately, but being able to see people’s thoughts and emotions isn’t always a good thing.
She was worrying about me so seriously, and the moment the problem is solved, she’s already looking for an opening.
Still, well.
“Of course.”
I want to feel some warmth too.