Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Academy's Bratty Elementary Teacher (3)
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Kairen had been serving as a special instructor at the academy for three days now.
"Everyone, what's going on...?"
Leading his strangely refreshed body into the dormitory lobby, Kairen suddenly tilted his head in bewilderment.
'Did the girls get into a fight or something?'
Several students gathered in the lobby had bandages and gauze wrapped thickly around their necks.
"Um, I have a question."
"Yes?"
"Don't misunderstand."
As Kairen watched them with a puzzled expression, the young lady with the bun hairstyle suddenly shot her hand up from among them and threw out a question.
"There are rumors that the Belverk family are actually vampires. Is that true?"
And in the silence that followed, Kairen's mouth gradually fell open wider and wider.
"Ahhh, no, it's not."
"......"
"You shouldn't say discriminatory things like that!"
Glancing around, he realized with relief that only the girls were in the lobby and hurriedly stepped forward to plead with them.
"Hmm, I see..."
"Yeah, right."
"We shouldn't say it carelessly..."
But the girls eyed Kairen warily and slowly backed away.
"A-anyway, everyone. Class is about to start!"
"......"
"P-please get ready quickly!"
Sensing a strange air of danger from them, Kairen quickly finished speaking and darted out of the lobby.
"See? He's a vampire, I told you."
"M-maybe it's a misunderstanding...?"
"He sucked our blood last night, too. You serious?"
Watching his retreating back, the girls began whispering among themselves.
"B-but it felt just like a mosquito bite."
"......"
"My neck felt hot, but it didn't really hurt..."
Of course, some counterarguments started emerging, but the bun-haired young lady at the center of the victims from that dawn raised her voice with an arrogant expression.
"Anyway, he drank blood to replenish energy, right?"
"Yeah, that's true..."
"He's young now, but when he grows up, he might turn into a monster that sucks human blood until they die..."
The victim students began leaning in closer to her words.
"...And when that time comes, he might try to kill us because we know his true nature."
Having reached that conclusion, the girls' faces paled slightly.
"W-what do we do...?"
"At this point, we strike first."
Seizing the moment, the bun-haired young lady jumped to her feet and raised her voice again.
"We'll expose that little vampire's true identity to the world with our own power!"
"B-but what if he retaliates...?"
"Don't worry about that."
Everyone looked uneasy at her terrifying plan, but she finished with unwavering confidence.
"If we reveal it in front of everyone, even the Belverks won't be able to cover it up!"
"Eep!?"
Thus began the Kairen exposure operation led by the bun-haired young lady.
"W-what did you do?"
"We snuck garlic into the cafeteria food."
"Ten times the standard amount, no less."
"Gasp."
"A vampire won't be able to swallow it without spitting it out!"
It was the girls' trump card, striking at the most famous weakness from imperial vampire legends.
"...Nom nom nom."
But Kairen, who had widened his eyes for a moment, soon buried his nose in the food and devoured it.
"Such a nostalgic taste..."
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
The girls stared blankly at his mutterings, ultimately unable to eat the garlic-laden food themselves and left starving.
"T-this time, we'll definitely expose him."
"...Isn't that a cross?"
"Yes. The strongest symbol of the Sacred Church, said to have been carried on the bare back of Goddess Korhart, who bore all sins..."
Having failed with the garlic terror, they switched to cross terror.
"A vampire will surely freak out and run at the sight of it..."
Sure enough, as Kairen pulled a chair toward the lectern for class, his face suddenly paled.
"U-ugh..."
The girls exchanged glances, convinced the cross hung at a perfect angle visible to him had worked—
"Who made this hideous sculpture...?"
"It's a curse doll for sure!"
"What's this? Someone bullying him...?"
—until the other girls crowding around Kairen muttered the same thing with horrified expressions.
"It's Goddess Korhart..."
Dazed as she watched her handmade masterpiece get trashed and thrown into the trash bin, the bun-haired young lady mumbled sullenly with her head down.
"N-next, a mirror reflecting sunlight!"
But her exposure attempts didn't stop there.
"Vampires are weak to sunlight and hate mirrors, too..."
Now openly waiting in the hallway, she shone the mirror she held right in the face of Kairen, who approached with a puzzled look.
"B-blinding!"
"......"
"Stop it!"
But Kairen, eyes squeezed shut and arms crossed tightly over his face, showed no signs of bursting into flames or convulsing.
"Hey, you."
"Y-yes?!"
"What have you been doing all this time?"
Led by a noble young lady of similar standing to the bun-haired one, a group of girls suddenly swarmed from behind.
"You put garlic in today's cafeteria food and stuck that weird curse doll under the lectern, right?"
"T-that's..."
"It's a miracle you haven't gotten demerits yet. You know that?"
"If you have a problem, just say it directly. What childish crap is this?"
The bun-haired faction couldn't retort and soon dispersed one by one.
"At this rate, we'll have to stake his heart..."
"T-that's a crime!"
"Yeah, calm down!"
The remaining students startled and held back the lip-biting bun-haired young lady's mutterings.
"M-maybe we're misunderstanding..."
"Yeah, he might just have weird tastes."
"Or maybe it's some special Belverk ability..."
As even they muttered that and scattered, the bun-haired young lady, left alone with a blank expression, began trembling.
"Ugh..."
How much time passed like that?
"...Ah, right."
She suddenly lifted her head, her eyes reignited with determination.
"Why didn't I think of that sooner?"
She hurriedly turned her steps the other way, muttering to herself.
'...I need to go to the academy chapel for a bit.'
Imagining her friends coming to apologize profusely for doubting her exploits, she quietly curled her lips up.
'Sneaking out one holy water vial will be easy!'
- Rustle...
Skipping class entirely, the bun-haired young lady arrived at the chapel in the academy basement and pressed her back against the sturdy wooden door with nimble movements.
'...Where's the holy water?'
Though brimming with enthusiasm, the one problem was she had no idea where the holy water was kept.
'It has to be inside here somewhere...'
She was certain some remained, having seen Sacred Church initiates receive baptisms inside during orientation, so she waited for an opening to slip in.
"Hm?"
Her eyes suddenly widened.
'Isn't that the Second Prince?'
Through a crack in the weathered old door, she spotted the Second Prince, said to be a fourth-year student.
'And the person next to him...'
Beside him was a pale-faced first-year girl trembling violently.
Not someone she knew from Dormitory D, but she'd bumped into her a few times en route to classes, so recognition came easily.
'What are they doing here?'
Pondering why the two were skipping class like her to converse in the chapel, the bun-haired young lady's face suddenly flushed.
'Could it be some forbidden love...?'
But such idle thoughts were brief; the conversation turned grave.
"You want me to feed this to that child...?"
"I've told you countless times."
Her head tilted in confusion at the reddening faces, but she perked her ears at the voices from within.
"Don't you need to feed your sick mother and siblings?"
"Ugh..."
"I can swear it if you want. I'll take responsibility for them to the end."
Even she realized something was off about their talk by then.
"...If Kairen Nox Belverk dies from this, I'll pay you double."
The Second Prince's chilling words leaked out.
"Gasp."
She clamped her mouth shut as her face drained of color, but unfortunately, she couldn't fully stifle the gasp.
"Who's there?"
The Second Prince whipped his head around with a murderous glare.
- Squeak?
At that exquisitely timed coincidence, a plump rat scurried away from the door with lightning speed.
"What, just a rat."
He peered out with an exasperated look, then cautiously yanked the door open just in case.
"...Unbefitting for a chapel."
But the hallway was empty.
- Thump, thump, thump...
Having slipped into a nearby cabinet while he was distracted, the bun-haired young lady held her breath, hand over mouth.
"Anyway, remember this."
"......"
"Your family's fate is in your hands."
Fortunately, after glaring at the cabinet briefly, he turned back to the girl inside.
- Tremble tremble tremble...
Once he finished and quietly vanished down the hall, the trembling girl in the chapel stared blankly at the rippling holy water in the glass she held.
'What in the world is...'
As even she left the chapel with dead eyes, the bun-haired young lady finally exhaled held breath, breaking into cold sweat.
'What did I just witness...?'
Her eyes glazed over as she muttered inwardly, then she shook her head vigorously to snap out of it.
'No, I saw nothing...'
Calming her pounding heart as best she could, she headed to her room.
'Anyway, that guy's an evil vampire, so if he dies, it's actually go—'
But as she opened her door while steeling herself inwardly, her eyes went blank again.
"Huh?"
On her bed lay a cute lesser panda-shaped praise sticker and a single letter.
「That doll from earlier was actually a gift Big Sis made, right?」
Quietly reading the letter, the bun-haired young lady...
「It was super cute when I looked again!」
...hung her head, face ashen, biting her lip.
"......"
She set off again just as the bell signaling the end of class rang.
- Tremble...
As class ended and a drained Kairen exited the classroom, a pale-faced freshman quietly trailed behind him.
"U-um..."
Just as she nearly caught up to him, her cracked voice broke the silence.
"Hm?"
The moment Kairen turned at the sound and started toward her with a head tilt—
"Kyaa!?"
—another girl approaching Kairen while trembling lost her balance and fell.
"You clumsy commoner, can't even walk straight?"
It was the bun-haired young lady, who had deliberately tripped her while passing.
"...Serves you right."
Unlike her usual arrogance, her tense mutter rang out as she swept past the stunned freshman with a cold glare.
"Ahh..."
Right after, the freshman on the floor gathered the spilled water with her hands, face terrified.
"You okay?"
"That noble's always like that..."
"Seriously, she's the worst."
Girls swarmed around her, glaring daggers at the bun-haired young lady vanishing down the hall and badmouthing her.
"......"
As Kairen watched with mouth agape, a system message popped up before his eyes.
Sudden Quest Occurred!
Survive the Academy (3/7)
Discover the Secret Astridje Was Hiding (0/1)
Stunned by the quest starting so abruptly after two whole years, Kairen doubted his eyes with a bewildered expression.
"...Huh?"