Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Reincarnated as the Plum Blossom Sword Master in a Count's Family
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"...Don't release your killing intent like that. Really... it's so suffocating I can barely breathe."
Bezel rubbed her forearms with both trembling hands. The goosebumps on her skin showed no sign of fading.
"Answer me."
Bezel glanced sideways at the hole leading underground. Her goal was to retrieve the forbidden grimoire hidden there.
If everything had gone according to plan, she would have successfully snatched the grimoire and escaped by now. That is, if she hadn't run into that silver-haired maid in the library.
Tele porting underground to grab the grimoire was proving difficult. Her opponent was highly sensitive to spatial movements, and finding the grimoire in that messy underground space would take some time.
'...I have to give up on the grimoire.'
It wasn't something so essential that she had to risk her life for it.
"If you won't answer... I'll make you."
Yuria gripped her dagger in a reverse hold. Black aura rose from the blade, and the shadow at her feet writhed like a living creature.
Sensing the danger, Bezel stretched out both hands toward Yuria and waved them frantically.
"W-Wait a second. Calm down! You're curious about where your master went, right? I'll tell you."
Yuria's movements halted. The writhing shadow stilled as well.
'Is that man so precious to her? He doesn't seem all that impressive, aside from his big dick.'
He even looked a bit dumb.
Setting aside his big dick, Yu-jin wasn't Bezel's type.
"The place your master and the dragon went is the Dream World."
"...The Dream World?"
"It's the power of Revs, the one I contracted with."
Revs, sitting at Bezel's feet, began to fade away slowly.
"Bring my master back."
"It's impossible with my power. I'm too weak to fully control Revs's abilities. Revs used too much power today as well..."
Yuria took a step forward. Bezel flinched and stumbled back at that alone.
"C-Calm down. Your master hasn't died yet."
"......"
"Right. Let's stay calm here. The Dream World has substance, but no physical form. It's like a mental world? Something like that."
"...So you're saying you sent his body into a mental world?"
"I know. It sounds contradictory. But Revs makes that contradiction possible. Revs is a top-tier demon, after all."
Bezel gauged her opponent's reaction while preparing to flee. She wasn't foolish enough to drag out a battle where victory wasn't assured.
"...So where is my master?"
"Your master is probably wandering the Dream World. Time flows differently there, so maybe a whole day has already passed in that world."
"Don't dodge the question. You know that's not the answer I want."
Bezel gave a wry smile.
"I don't know when your master will return... But since he went with the dragon, the chances of him coming back are pretty high. As long as the dragon doesn't kill him or abandon him."
"......"
Yuria saw no value in further conversation and moved. Bezel countered by activating one of Revs's abilities: spatial teleportation.
Yuria immediately pivoted to the right. With her sharp senses, she detected the faint distortion in space and pinpointed where Bezel would appear.
"Oh my, you're so scary."
Bezel waved her hand. A beam of purple magic shot toward Yuria. Yuria's body swayed like a willow tree. The beam grazed only her afterimage.
"How are you moving like that without being an Aura Master?"
Bezel muttered in disbelief but didn't stop her hand movements. The space around Yuria's left ankle warped and twisted. Her leg slipped free just before it fully distorted.
Bezel continued attempting attacks via spatial distortion. Yet Yuria evaded them completely, without even needing to see the invisible warps that ordinary people wouldn't notice. It was almost as if she had future sight.
"This isn't working."
Grimacing and muttering to herself, Bezel backpedaled. A warped space appeared behind her. She planned to escape the city from there.
"...I won't let you escape."
Dozens of shadow blades whipped out from all around Bezel. There was nowhere to dodge. However, the shadow blades were blocked by the spatial distortion field Bezel had deployed.
Yuria swung her dagger. A black aura blade infused with black lightning flew toward Bezel.
"Hah. With just that... Huh?"
Bezel, who had been smirking leisurely, panicked and quickened her retreat. The black lightning had torn through her spatial distortion field. The black aura blade sliced off Bezel's left arm as it vanished.
"Kya啊啊악! Y-You'll pay for this!"
Bezel left only her severed left arm behind and disappeared.
Yuria approached the side where the arm lay and scanned the surroundings. She suspected it might be a feint and that Bezel could be hiding nearby. But her senses detected nothing. It seemed she had truly fled.
"Cough. Cough."
Blood mixed with her coughs.
The aura blade Yuria had used last was forced out of her. Its power was immense, but it had twisted part of her meridians, causing internal injuries.
After vomiting blood a few times, she frowned at Bezel's severed left arm on the floor. Shadows writhed and enveloped it. With gruesome crunching sounds, Bezel's left arm vanished.
"......"
Yuria slowly walked to the spot where Yu-jin had disappeared. Amid the battle chaos, she hadn't recovered his items, so she carefully picked them up by hand and stored them in her shadow space. This included the Lucky Skebe charm on his wrist and the smartphone he always carried. She also gathered Priscilla's nearby items just in case.
Yuria opened her right palm and stared at it intently. Calluses were visible. She hid them with constant care, but the evidence of her training remained.
"...I'm too weak."
Crunch. Her right hand clenched into a fist as if crushing itself.
If she had been strong enough to dispatch Bezel quickly, Yu-jin wouldn't have gotten involved. A burning desire for power welled up within her.
Yuria's gaze shifted elsewhere. She couldn't afford to stand around dazed, waiting for Yu-jin to return. Time was too precious for that. Besides, she still had work to do.
Yuria descended underground.
Bookshelves lay toppled on the floor, surrounded by scattered books. Most were grimoires containing forbidden magical knowledge.
Yu-jin had said to recover only the forbidden grimoire underground, but Yuria decided to take all the useful books in the library while she was at it.
As Yuria stored the books in her shadow subspace, one grimoire caught her eye, narrowing it. It had a cover made from what seemed like animal hide. An odd power emanated from it.
Other grimoires gave off mana, but this one's aura felt slightly different.
'Is this the grimoire Master mentioned?'
Yuria cautiously reached out. Yu-jin had said it was fine as long as she didn't open it. But he was wrong. The moment her hand touched the cover, the grimoire floated into the air, emitted a brilliant light, and swallowed Yuria whole.
Thud.
The grimoire fell to the floor. Yuria had vanished without a trace.
"Kiek?!"
The arm-ape let out a bizarre screech as it collapsed.
Kyle, sword in hand beside it, scanned the surroundings. Arm-ape corpses littered the area. None were left alive or moving.
"Looks like we've finally cleaned it up."
Sharnel, standing a short distance away, straightened her rumpled clothes as she spoke.
"It wasn't as dangerous as I thought."
"That's because Master sealed that stone, preventing more magic beasts from spawning."
Kyle's gaze turned upward. A black stone sealed within ten magic circles was visible high in the sky. Lowering his eyes slightly, he saw the dean and professors handling the aftermath.
Kyle felt a twinge of doubt as he looked at the dean. Why had Priscilla sealed the stone instead of the dean? The dean hadn't done much to begin with.
"...Sharnel. Your master... she's a dragon, isn't she?"
He was quick on the uptake outside of romance.
He'd noticed the dean's odd deference to Priscilla and her privileges over the other professors. Above all, every encounter with Priscilla gave him an alien sensation—like facing not a human, but something vast and immense.
"Wh-What?! What are you talking about? There's no way she's a dragon!"
Sharnel panicked, nearly tripping forward before barely regaining her balance and shouting.
That confirmed it for Kyle.
"Professor Priscilla is a dragon. Judging by her hair color... a Blue Dragon, maybe?"
"...Kyle. You'd better keep quiet. Master doesn't like her identity being revealed."
Sharnel lowered her voice to a warning whisper.
Kyle nodded. Knowing Priscilla was a dragon changed nothing.
"The professors look busy, so let's check on Ruby and Yu-jin. The arena barrier should keep them safe, but just in case..."
They returned to the arena. Ruby was unharmed, but Yu-jin was missing.
"Ruby! Where's Yu-jin?!"
"He said he had important business and left. Didn't you run into him?"
"Important business...?"
"Kyle! Where are you going?!"
"To find Yu-jin! The dorm... no, probably the city!"
The important business Kyle recalled was his maids. After informing a professor, he dashed into the city searching for Yu-jin. Fortunately, the city was peaceful. The citizens were oblivious to the academy attack.
Kyle searched for Yu-jin's maids, Liesel and Kelly, in the city. But his expression darkened further instead of brightening.
Because neither Yu-jin nor Yuria were there.
He returned to the academy. Wondering if he'd missed something. Yu-jin's dorm was empty, as were the cafeteria and student council room.
The suspicious spot was the half-destroyed library. Traces of fierce combat remained, but the culprit and victim were unidentified. Only a few librarian corpses had been found.
"Where are you, Yu-jin, Yuria..."
"Aaaah!"
Bezel screamed as she appeared in the forest. She staunched the bleeding from her severed left arm with magic, her face twisted in agony.
"My precious left arm... Revs. Help me. With your power, regenerating one arm should be easy."
Meow.
A black cat with three eyes appeared at Bezel's feet.
Revs sat on the ground, silently watching Bezel.
"...How long are you going to pretend to be a cat? I'm asking for help."
Meow.
"...Can I hit you? Your obsession with being a cat is so frustrating sometimes. How long are you going to keep this up?"
Meow.
Instead of pain in her left arm, Bezel felt an itch. She looked down. Her left arm was slowly regenerating. It was a grotesque sight.
This wasn't Revs's dream power. It was simply demonic magic regenerating flesh.
"Revs. Thank you."
By the time Bezel expressed her gratitude, the cat had already vanished.
Bezel walked along the forest path. She had no lingering attachment to Goldway Academy. Once she lost interest, she never looked back.
What occupied her mind now was the silver-haired maid.
'I don't know her exact age, but... early twenties, probably. To reach that level already... She'll grow even more with time. Thinking ahead, I need to eliminate her as soon as possible.'
But she had no immediate means. The organization she belonged to, Pantheon, wasn't in a position of leisure.
'...The dragon too, and that maid—they're both persons of interest. For now, I need to proceed carefully without getting entangled.'
I noticed a warm, pleasant female body nestled against me. Instead of opening my eyes, I chose to move my hands.
The soft sensation of breasts filled my palms. Massive tits too big for one hand to fully grasp.
I nuzzled my head. A delightful body scent wafted from her shoulder and armpit area.
'Mmm. F-cup...!'
I gently rolled her still-unripe nipples with my fingers. Meanwhile, I subtly rocked my hips. A smooth, elastic sensation came from my dick. I didn't need to see—it was definitely a woman's thighs.
"Move before I crush your head."