Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Frame-up
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After the dean startled dramatically and rushed out saying she'd check the stored copy right away, we sat there blankly for a moment, with nothing to do.
"......"
Ares kept his mouth shut and glared at me steadily, while Rin hung her head between us, her expression sour.
Our trio's mood was foul, and Hayun—who was never much of a talker to begin with—had her eyes closed in meditation.
'This feels sticky.'
My body and mind both felt grimy.
I hadn't even washed before crashing last night, and it kept nagging at me. I sniffed myself, but I'd gotten used to it, so I couldn't really tell.
'Should've hopped in the bath the second we got back.'
I let out a sigh and deliberately kept my distance, just in case I stank, but Rin startled and scooted closer.
"What's wrong?"
She asked worriedly, probably thinking something was up since I'd moved, and I told her it was nothing.
'It's a bit better now.'
My chest stung like pins and needles, but the Rin right now had the kind eyes of the sweet country girl I remembered.
I could call it mostly adjusted.
'From her perspective, I must look like trash.'
She remembered the incident itself, so she knew how I'd caught the culprit. She could've demanded why I hadn't saved her sooner.
If anyone but Ares had said it, I might've even admitted it.
As Ares kept glaring—clearly uncomfortable with us even talking—I sighed and asked Rin,
"Doesn't it bother you at all?"
"Huh?"
"I just stood there watching you die."
"Oh, that. Because you knew I wouldn't actually die, right?"
"......Yeah, but."
I tried to brush off the rest, but Rin smiled and said,
"Remember way back when we raised that stray dog together?"
"The scrawny one with the bony ribs? You and Ares snuck meat from home and fed it."
I remembered it well. It wasn't some trivial memory.
Because.
"You said we had to kill it. We cried and tried to stop you."
That was the first time Ares ever hit me. Even so, I shoved them aside and jammed the knife in anyway, only to get bitten.
"Turns out it had rabies. Suffered for weeks because of it."
I really thought I was gonna die.
The kids cried and apologized, or so I heard later—I was too delirious in bed to remember properly.
"Yeah, I think that's when it started. When I realized you always had your reasons for what you did."
Rin chuckled softly and kept going.
"Like when we secretly played at the windmill, or the tavern owner's oak barrel incident. Your weird actions always had some logic behind them in the end."
"......"
"Same this time, right?"
Even after feeling fangs pierce her whole body and her arms shred to rags, this girl smiled at me without a trace of resentment.
"You can't tell us the reason, so you couldn't say anything, huh?"
I couldn't utter a word.
The infinite trust this 18-year-old girl placed in me sent electric tingles through my whole body.
"It's okay. I'm always on your side."
Rin slowly nestled into my chest, her face a little flushed. Her hand stroking my chest seemed to ease the pain from my pierced heart bit by bit.
Thud!
"Got 'em!"
The parlor door burst open suddenly—I thought it was the dean returning—but it was Haini Rosaless and her knights.
They stormed in and swiftly subdued the unarmed Ares and Hayun before heading for me and Rin.
I pulled Rin—who was still in my arms—back against the wall and stepped forward.
"What's this about? I heard detainment was on hold until tomorrow."
Haini sneered mockingly and shot back,
"We caught you red-handed at the scene. Isn't it weirder if we found evidence?"
This woman.
She was obviously bluffing because they hadn't found any solid evidence at the scene.
"Think about it calmly. We got nabbed mid-crime, so where's this treasure? It should've been with us. You're doing this because you can't find it."
"......"
"Someone's cast magic over the whole school right now, messing with people's memories. To lift it..."
"I say."
Haini cut me off sharply, tapping her rapier against her shoulder with an incredulous look.
"Your nonsense sounds less believable than you hiding the treasure with magic. What do you think?"
"Fuck, that's why I said call a mage to check it!"
Irritation boiled over, and I yelled. Haini's face hardened as she leveled her rapier at me.
"Watch your mouth, kid. You're a criminal right now."
"You watch yours. I can see you're forcing this to wrap up the case quick."
If they dragged us off in chains now, it was over. We'd be executed without a chance to defend ourselves. It wasn't just any royal treasure—it was the late king's.
We'd have no grounds to complain even if they threw the book at us.
'When the hell's the dean coming?'
I had to hold out until she arrived.
"Ow."
I clenched my fist, wondering how to break their encirclement, when pain shot from my back. I glanced over to see Rin had been gnawing my shirt and accidentally bit my flesh.
"......"
"......"
Rin, nose buried in me and chewing away, slowly met my eyes. Her face flushed in a hazy, drugged stupor.
"D-Does it taste good?"
"Huh?"
What do you even say in a situation like this?
As someone who'd lived ten years as a feral human in the Demon Realm Forest, I had no clue, so I just asked straight.
Rin snapped out of it and shook her head.
"No, not that! Your sweat smell just made me all dizzy and hazy like I was high on something..."
Hearing the answer, I regretted asking at all. Waves of horror crashed over me, overlapping with memories of nearly getting eaten by beasts. I shoved Rin away gently.
"Ah......"
A flicker of disappointment crossed her face, but I ignored it.
"I'll protect you, so back me up with magic. Just stall until the dean gets here, and we're golden. Got it?"
"Yeah! Got it."
With that, Rin and I faced off against the charging knights.
*
The corridor leading to the dean's office.
To the great misfortune of Daniel and Rin waiting back there, the dean was barely leaning against the corridor wall to stay upright.
The dean's office was on the fifth floor.
Nothing else up there but the office, so coming here meant heading to the office.
And that corridor had been dusted with some strange drug.
'What the hell?'
Her vision swam, but she tried to cast a spell anyway. Problem was, the dean was the bookish scholar type—great mage, sure, but her talents leaned academic, which landed her the title. She was more helpless in sudden crises than you'd think.
"Heh heh, hilarious."
A hazy male student's voice echoed from afar. Piecing together her memories of the path here, she realized it was Penil Leiros, that fourth-year delinquent.
"Why...... why?"
She stared at him, baffled why he'd spring this trap now, when his gang came thundering up the stairs.
"Whoa, check out the dean stumbling around."
"Like a bug."
"Pfft! Bug!"
"Should've known better than to strut. Hey, do whatever you want to this bitch."
At Penil Leiros's words, the students whooped excitedly, pulling out tools for their twisted fun: blunt clubs, pens for graffiti, even lit cigarettes.
Seemed the month-long suspension had left one hell of a grudge.
Footsteps echoed from the base of the stairs again.
This time, way more numerous. The dean despaired, but Penil's face darkened too.
"You fucking bastards!"
A head of reddish-brown wavy short hair, bat slung over her shoulder, lollipop in her mouth—the dean's cousin, May, stood at the center of the horde.
Flanking her were D Class's Vermunt and all the third-year's notorious troublemakers, holding their ground fiercely.
In just three days, May had whipped every third-year delinquent gang under her banner.
"Touching family? You have no shame, you fucks!"
May charged forward with a hearty laugh, her third-years hot on her heels.
Instantly, the fifth floor erupted into a brawl.
The third-years had the numbers, but the wildcard was the drug in the corridor.
Fourth-years had shielded with wind magic beforehand, but the third-years rushing in blind got taken out helplessly.
"Break the windows!"
May hurled her club to shatter a window, and nearby third-years smashed the rest.
Fresh air cleared the fumes, and the numerically superior third-years gained the upper hand.
'Going this far just to take down the dean? Are these guys insane?'
Where'd they even get a drug strong enough to neutralize a top mage like her? And what was their endgame?
May wondered, but had no choice but to fall back.
All the fourth-years were down, but Penil Leiros was pummeling the remaining third-years like a madman.
"Crazy fuck. He doped up too?"
His eyes bloodshot, veins bulging wildly, breathing ragged. This psycho had wrecked his body with drugs just to nab the dean.
The situation grew weirder.
A month's suspension didn't justify this level of cunning and boldness. Something felt off.
Crunch.
Penil lunged and grabbed May by the nape, slamming her down. He mounted her and throttled her neck—in his berserk state, he meant to kill.
"Guh, grrrk!"
She drooled, flailing punches and kicking wildly, but his grip was ironclad. Then—
Clang!
A satisfying metallic ring, and Penil flew sideways.
"Hah!"
Tana Christa, blonde hair whipping, hands trembling—and Eve holding a thick book like a shield, asking if May was okay.
"Y-You two?"
The girls who hung with Daniel.
Tana had even bullied May before, so why were they here?
"Daniel told us. If May took anyone somewhere, tail her, check it out, and let him know."
"......What?"
"Daniel got nabbed, so Tana and I came instead. Hope it helped a bit?"
May could only nod dumbly at Eve's awkward smile.
"Head! Head! Head!"
Tana, slamming the shaft of a shovel she'd found somewhere into Penil's downed head, now stomped his groin.
"Nutcracker! Nutcracker! Nutcracker!"
Looking at Penil foaming and out cold, Tana wiped her sweat and muttered satisfied.
"Good thing Daniel's Vital Strike: Male Edition worked."
"......"
"He taught me during early morning workouts lately."
Eve made excuses for her embarrassed friend.
"Th-Thanks......"
Flustered but grateful, just as May started to thank them—the drugged dean's mutter reached her.
"D-Daniel......"
"Dean?"
"Y-Yes, tell us!"
The three rushed to her side, ears pressed to her halting whispers.
"Bookshelf, behind...... the record he asked for. To Daniel......"
"Bring the record Daniel requested from behind the bookshelf? Got it!"
The trio dashed into the dean's office and checked the records.
Their faces twisted into cold disdain, like they'd seen trash.