Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Afterwards
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...
"What did you say?"
Aren echoed back to Adelia, completely thrown off.
'I never imagined I'd hear something like that.'
...So our romance-fantasy heroine turns out to be way more open-minded than I thought? That whole 'Want to come back to my dorm?' line was something Aren had been saving up for the right moment... Never dreamed it'd come out of someone else's mouth like this.
'Different genre, maybe.'
Even by this world's standards, inviting someone into your private room wasn't exactly common. Lovers, close friends, family—that was about the limit. No one invited a total stranger.
And no matter how grateful she was for the rescue, Aren still fell squarely into that "stranger" category for her.
'Is this some 19+ romance fantasy?'
I swear I'd seen something like it in a webtoon or two back on Earth. The heroine dragging all the male leads into her bedroom for some fun.
...Hmm.
...
Meanwhile, Adelia realized how her words must have sounded and jumped in surprise, waving her hands frantically.
Her face flushed a light pink as she shook her head vigorously in denial.
"Ah, th-that...! Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"...?"
"I just... I'm so grateful you saved me. I wanted to treat you to some tea or a meal sometime..."
...Aha.
Adelia fanned her face as if to cool it down, squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then looked back at Aren and Lydia.
Her blue eyes, reminiscent of sapphires, shone with pure sincerity.
And then.
"Thank you for saving me."
She bowed deeply.
"Uh...! P-Please, no need to bow...!"
"No. You all saved my life. This much isn't even enough."
Lydia flailed her hands in panic as the noble-born Adelia bowed to her. For a commoner like her, it felt burdensome—not just because it was awkward, but because it was the right thing to do, which only made it worse.
She figured anyone stuck in that situation would have done the same.
Especially since.
"I didn't do anything, really. Aren was the one fighting the demon cultist—I just grabbed Adelia and ran——"
"No."
Adelia shook her head.
"I don't know how you see it, but I'm grateful all the same. If you hadn't shown up, I'd still be sitting there frozen. So thank you—from the bottom of my heart."
"O-Okay..."
Adelia remembered it clearly: the moment Lydia had pulled her to her feet and dragged her back.
How could she not be thankful for that outstretched hand?
"Aren... thank you so much too. For saving me back there."
"No big deal."
It really wasn't.
Others might not know, but Lucilla was still trapped in Aren's subspace right this instant.
'Gonna have to pull her out and interrogate her later.'
But that meant getting out of here first. He could probably do it in the dorm... but the saying went that long tails get caught. They might figure out he'd snuck Lucilla out(?).
'Maybe I should buy a safe house.'
Master hadn't sent him off empty-handed, so money wasn't an issue. And he'd raked in plenty more just getting to the Academy.
Ahh.
Suddenly missing that drunken adventurer Pedric. The guy who'd head out stock trading every day and come back lighter in the wallet.
Aren had listened to Pedric's drunken ramblings over drinks, then bet the opposite of whatever the guy picked—and boom, money-multiplication magic. That haul was...
'Ahem.'
An astronomical sum. Better not jinx it by bragging.
It was the age of the short-selling hero with 100x leverage.
Man, I miss him... Pedric.
'Should've dragged Pedric to the Academy as my personal stock totem.'
Money was overflowing these days, but the old adage held: more money meant even more money.
...
Anyway.
"No injuries, then?"
"None. Aren stepped in just in time."
"Good to hear."
She looked perfectly fine at a glance.
...Ah.
"What about His Highness the Crown Prince? Is he okay?"
Almost slipped and just said "Crown Prince."
"...Ah. His Highness... took some serious wounds. Organ rupture—pretty bad."
"So he won't recover?"
"No, not that. I heard a high priest could heal him right up."
"I see."
Tsk.
"My condolences."
"Yeah..."
Adelia nodded, her expression neutral—no real emotion showing.
The Crown Prince clearly had a thing for her, but the feeling wasn't mutual?
True to romance-fantasy tradition, with all the guys fawning over the heroine.
'Poor bastard.'
Even so, severe injuries and barely a flicker of concern? Harsh. Sure, there was some guilt over dragging him into it... but the public story framed it as an attempt on the Crown Prince's life, which muddied things.
To outsiders, Adelia was just the unlucky one caught in the crossfire.
While he mulled it over, she asked about Veronica.
"Um, do you know where Miss Adel Adler is? I'd like to thank her too..."
"Hmm. No clue."
Come to think of it, yeah.
What was Veronica up to?
That's when Lydia piped up timidly.
"If it's Veronica, she's probably in questioning right now."
"Ah, then... how about I invite you all over later? We could meet up then?"
Invite.
"Works for me. Lydia?"
"Y-Yeah. Me too."
Lydia nodded shyly.
Adelia's face lit up.
"Ah! Perfect."
"I'll check with Veronica on your behalf, then."
"Thanks so much."
She beamed and nodded.
"I'll formally invite you to my room soon. Got some tasty treats lined up—look forward to it?"
"Sure."
"Yeah."
Creak—
"Senior."
"Ah, Junior."
Sarah-senior, nose in a book in the club room, greeted him warmly as he entered.
"You're here?"
"Missed you, Senior."
"Oh my."
Sarah covered her mouth and giggled softly.
"You missed me?"
"Yeah. A ton."
A lot had gone down.
Midterms, demon cultist brawl. Plus, he still had to sneak off for that private interrogation later—which meant buying a house or something.
This wasn't what he'd signed up for at the Academy.
Missing his wickedly enchanting Sarah-senior was basically a law of nature.
"Missed you too, Junior."
"For real?"
"Hmm... a little? Hehe."
Sarah, hand over her mouth, laughing.
Aren sidled up close and pulled her into a sudden hug.
"...Oh dear. You shouldn't go hugging random women like that..."
"......"
"Well... maybe just this once."
She slid her hand up and gently stroked the back of his head.
Lots and lots of indulgent headpats.
.
.
.
.
"Senior, how'd the exam go?"
"Pretty good. Second in the year, hehe."
"Ooh... who's top?"
She propped her chin on her hand.
"Hmm... you probably don't know her, but there's this powerhouse girl named Jenia in Spirit Studies. She took first."
"Huh. Spirit user, eh."
Spirits, huh.
He'd wanted one back in the day.
Most folks pictured the classic four elements—fire, water, earth, wind.
But this world's spirits were way more varied. Elemental ones, sure, but also neutral types that looked like cats. Or even conceptual spirits governing abstract ideas.
'If I'm gonna get one, make it a tiger.'
Pure romance.
...Now that he thought about it, Adelia had mentioned being a spirit user.
Hmm.
"And you, Junior? How'd you do?"
"Eh, not bad..."
He'd crushed it, actually.
This body was sharp—aced the written part no problem, nailed practical too.
The snag was—
"Not sure if my practical score counts. As you'd know, Senior, a demon cultist crashed the practical midway."
Midterms got canned on the spot.
Sarah propped her chin thoughtfully.
"Hmm... depends on how far along it was. Midway interruption? Redo from scratch. Near the end? They'd probably adjust and validate the scores."
Of course, end-of-term results could still flip everything—not exactly fair.
"How far was it?"
"Right on the verge of wrapping up."
"Ah. Should count as-is, then."
"Whew. Dodged a redo headache."
"Something go down?"
"Eh... sorta auto-farmed the points."
Auto-hunt had been sweet.
If they made him retake it, though, rules would tighten—no more auto. Manual grinding? Pass.
"Auto-hunt?"
She tilted her head quizzically.
Aren gave her the rundown on his midterm shenanigans.
And Sarah's reaction?
"...Oh my. Didn't know you had a naughty streak, Junior."
She eyed him like a mischievous kid.
A tad too playful for the man she was set to marry, but the headpats felt divine, so he just soaked it in.
Sarah-sorceress was the best.