Chapter 111
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: The Way to Overcome Fear
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“Oh man, my poor back...”
As an examiner for the academy's monster response exam, I had been put through quite the ordeal over the past two days.
“...I should've just skipped it if I knew it'd be like this.”
The teachers could somehow manage the low- and mid-tier monsters, but high-tier ones were on a whole different level—impossible to control from the start.
That's why the exam wouldn't work without someone from the pinnacle of power like the Belverks overseeing it.
'But if it saves lives!'
Someone might ask why the Belverks don't just handle all the monsters themselves, but even they have limits when it comes to controlling every mindless beast scattered across the world.
After all, the Belverks had given up fully inheriting the Demon King's power as part of the founding war accords, so controlling every monster everywhere was a tall order.
That's why supervising this monster response exam was crucial to preventing innocent casualties.
'Speaking of which, this person in the photo...'
As I steeled myself with those thoughts, I took the opportunity during a brief lull to carefully pull out the photo I'd tucked away.
'Why does she feel so familiar...?'
Of course, the unidentified figure sitting between my mother and His Majesty the Emperor was someone I'd never seen before.
So why did I feel this nagging sense of familiarity?
'Asking Mom directly feels awkward... Maybe I should contact His Majesty?'
I was scratching my head and mumbling to myself when—
“Sector C-24! A monster's rampaging!”
“Again?!”
“The students failed to subdue it, so you handle it instead!”
Marquis Magnaris's voice suddenly rang in my ear.
“Sigh.”
Who else but the empire's top mage could transmit his voice freely without a communication crystal?
Though it begged the question why he didn't handle the monsters himself. He must have his reasons.
...He wasn't just being lazy, was he?
“S-Save us!”
“Eeeeek!”
“Th-This thing... it's a monster.”
Arriving at the sector, I found a team of female students from the C building in a panic, rendered combat-ineffective against the monster.
Their bodies seemed fine, but their minds were shattered?
“High-tier monster, Graubelra.”
“...Huh?”
“It has the ability to recreate the target's most terrifying memory.”
I frowned slightly, then spotted the monster in front of the girls and understood.
“Get behind me.”
“U-Ugh...”
“Graubelra targets the foremost opponent first.”
The next moment, the black humanoid figure holding what looked like a black parasol turned its head toward me, its mouth stretching into a grotesque grin as it wore an elegant expression.
'It hurts...'
A very familiar voice began whispering in my ear.
'Please stop...'
It was my own voice, of course.
'My whole body feels like it's tearing apart...'
More precisely, it was the voice from a familiar scene that had suddenly appeared before me: my ten-year-old self, covered in blood, enduring an experiment.
“Listen up, everyone.”
Frowning at the distasteful sight, I turned to the girls with a bright smile and began explaining.
“What Graubelra shows you is your most terrifying memory.”
“......”
“That means you can overcome it by steeling your mind.”
Honestly, encountering a monster like this inside an imperial territory was extremely rare, but it was still good to know the countermeasure.
“Got it?”
“......”
“Team 12, you're all disqualified.”
Of course, now that I'd intervened, disqualification was inevitable.
“Big Sis Graubelra, time to head home!”
After advising them on countermeasures, I approached the Graubelra still replaying that awkward scene and spoke up.
- Kweung?
It paused for a moment, then reverted to its black parasol-wielding form and tilted its head.
“Hurry up! You're high-tier, but with bad luck, you're practically top-tier.”
I stood right in front of the monster, frowning as I lectured it—
“...Hm?”
—when Graubelra, staring down at me, suddenly extended its slender hands toward my cheeks.
'It's okay...'
A soft voice I'd never heard before whispered in my ear.
'I'll protect you...'
But as I listened blankly to the gentle tone, Graubelra's ever-shifting mouth split open grotesquely.
...Remember this voice?
Its hands naturally slid down toward my heart.
“Nope.”
“Kweung!”
“Disappear before I hit you again.”
Two years ago, maybe, but illusions like this couldn't faze me now.
“Hyaak!”
“...Come to think of it, Fluffball hasn't eaten yet.”
Even after I glared with crimson eyes and flicked its forehead, Graubelra kept snarling viciously. I shot it a chilling smile and muttered.
“Grrrk...”
A ferocious growl echoed from the shadow behind me.
“Kyurrrr...”
“Should've listened sooner.”
Finally crestfallen, Graubelra tossed its parasol to the ground, opening a black portal, and slunk inside with a pout.
“Lecherous creeps, every one of them...”
Having faced Graubelra packs multiple times under Mother's special training, even that expression struck me as part of the seduction ploy.
...What was that just now, though?
The question crossed my mind, but there was no time to dwell.
“B Wing, Sector 17. Jolkayong is trying to escape!”
“Uwaaaah!”
In this hellish exam ground where one crisis barely ended before the next began, idle thoughts were a luxury.
Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and the last day at the academy arrived.
“Today's finally the last day at the academy...”
Feeling that the time promised with Marquis Magnaris had come, Kairen headed to his final class, a glum expression on his face as he sank into thought.
'I wanted to get closer to those big sis students...'
This was his first time interacting so much with non-Belverk people, so he'd hoped to befriend them all, but a week apparently wasn't enough.
Still, he'd grown somewhat intimate(?) with Crown Princess Alberion and built rapport with a few girls over desserts, so he walked on satisfied.
- Rattle...
Steeling himself as he entered the classroom, Kairen glanced around cautiously before speaking.
“H-Hello...”
But today, the atmosphere felt strangely off from usual.
“You know what?”
“......”
“Today's my last day!”
Sensing the mood, he forced a bright smile and raised his voice.
“So, you won't be coming back?”
“Ah, I'll come every year as a special instructor.”
A girl raised her hand with a question, and Kairen's eyes sparkled as he replied.
“But I'll mainly handle new students...”
“......”
“So we won't be together next year.”
But as he finished, the mood grew even more somber.
“I have a question.”
In that heavy atmosphere, the bun-haired lady raised her hand.
“How did you overcome your inner fears?”
“Pardon?”
“Graubelra isn't something you beat with mental fortitude alone.”
Her bold question chilled the room.
“I-I was trying not to bring it up...”
“...Seriously.”
“Wh-What do we do...”
The girls glared at the bun-haired lady, recalling the recent monster exam fiasco.
“Then, shall we make that our final lesson?”
Unlike their worry, Kairen grinned spiritedly.
“...But honestly, I didn't really overcome any fears.”
Yet he immediately contradicted himself.
“Sure, steeling your mind works, but that's just generic mental pep talk—not enough.”
“Then what was that you said back then?”
“Haha, well...”
Scratching his head sheepishly, Kairen brightened again.
“I just wanted to look cool in front of the big sisses.”
A brief silence fell.
“Even my mom has fears. So do my first, second, and third big sisters.”
“......”
“We're called monsters by the world, but we're beings with hearts—we can't escape fear.”
In the quiet, Kairen's serious expression made his words resonate through the classroom.
“So I... accepted and acknowledged my inner fears.”
The bun-haired lady, who had been staring blankly, bit her lip and shot her hand up again.
“Isn't that just succumbing to fear?”
“No, not at all.”
Her blunt, almost rude question only drew a smile and a headshake from Kairen.
“I accepted it while also resolving to overcome it.”
He addressed the class once more.
“We all buckle under fear at times in life.”
The entire class now hung on his every word.
“But if you hold the will to press forward anyway...”
“......”
“...Humans don't break easily.”
The girls who once feared him—the youngest son of the Belverks with crimson eyes—watched him quietly.
“That's all I wanted to say.”
Bowing slightly but stopping to wave both hands instead.
“You all worked hard this week!”
With a smile to the end, Kairen skipped out toward the hall, leaving a lingering silence.
“......”
Kairen, his crimson eyes deactivated, probably didn't hear the ensuing chatter.
“...I just decided my career path.”
“Me too.”
“Me...”
That year, over 70% of Class C's female students chose to join the Belverk 1st Knight Order.
“That's right...”
But something more important happened.
“Then...”
The bun-haired lady, who had been bowing her head alone, stood with a resolute expression.
“Ah!”
Stepping out the academy gates after a week, Kairen’s eyes lit up as he ran forward.
“Mom!”
“Just one week, Kairen.”
Duke Astridje spread her arms with a gentle smile.
“I've heard everything from Marquis Magnaris.”
“Hehe.”
“You did splendidly.”
Hugging her rushing son close, she stroked his hair with a now-familiar tenderness.
“...Marquis Magnaris. Keep your promise.”
But soon reverting to her usual emotionless chill toward the marquis beside her.
“No copies left? Completely erased?”
“O-Of course!”
The whistling marquis straightened hastily with an uneasy nod.
“Good, then...”
Astridje eyed him suspiciously but, business done, moved toward the carriage with Kairen in her arms—
“W-Wait a moment...!”
“...?”
“Hah, hah...”
—when a desperate cry rang from the gates.
“I have a report to make.”
“A report?”
Astridje's wary gaze fixed on the bun-haired lady clutching the gate, panting heavily.
“It's about the evil forces lurking in the academy.”
Astridje narrowed her eyes and stepped forward.
“...You don't mean us Belverks, do you?”
“N-No, of course not.”
The lady shook her head frantically, biting her lip as if hesitating—
“...Actually, they were targeting you!”
—before squeezing her eyes shut and blurting it out, sweating coldly.
“Hmm...”
Astridje stared at her for a long moment.
“We'll hear you out first.”
Turning, she gestured the carriage door open with a slightly softened chill.
“I'll judge the matter's importance after.”
“Hm...?”
Meanwhile, at the imperial palace in the capital's heart.
- Step, step...
In its most heavily guarded quiet chamber, footsteps from a hooded figure echoed.
“Oh?”
Emperor Yustina slowly looked up, a intrigued smile forming.
“Alberion, requesting a private audience? That's new.”
“......”
“You always bring someone along.”
Her cold gaze appraised the troublesome crown princess.
“Even when using a royal wish...”
Shaking her head with evident annoyance, she pressed.
“So, what brings you here so secretly, even using that dreaded power?”
Alberion lifted her head, eyes filled with uncharacteristic resolve.
“...I'll use a royal wish.”
The emperor's eyes gleamed momentarily, shedding her laziness as she straightened.
“It's been two years.”
“......”
“And unlike then, this one's personal.”
Her piercing words saw through everything, but Alberion showed no flinch.
“What's your wish?”
Intrigued further, the emperor permitted it softly.
“Strip me of my crown princess title.”
“...What?”
“And...”
Her expression froze cold.
“For this generation only, introduce the Belverk system to the crown title competition.”
A long silence began.
“......”
After staring at Alberion for what felt like ages, the emperor's lips curved upward.
“...Time to convene the house lord council.”
Rising, she appeared somewhat thinner than two years prior.