Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Closing Distance
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I took some distance from the delinquent girls for a while and started a hardcore regimen to kill off Moro's fat cells.
Whenever his appetite demanded excessive calories, I'd use the Hypnosis Ghost to crush it. Whenever he felt like slacking off and wanted to laze around with all his might, I'd tame it with the Hypnosis Ghost───
As expected of the protagonist, just one week after he started training with his life on the line, Rak's diet showed dramatic results.
He'd lost nearly 20kg.
Even so, he was still boasting a three-digit weight, but dropping 20kg changed him from a perfectly round ball that rolled around into something a bit more bumpy and irregular.
"Amazing! Rak, you did so well!"
The one happiest about the scale reading, more than anyone else, was Elysia.
"It's all thanks to Moro!"
"Moro, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay this kindness..."
"Don't let your guard down yet. It's not over until you're back to normal weight."
"Got it! If there's anything I can do to help, just say the word."
I'd been feeling a sense of discomfort with Elysia's attitude.
The main heroine in a setup where she couldn't possibly get close to another guy—a mega-dere heroine character.
But... lately, as she diligently helped Rak, I could feel her starting to trust me more and more.
Eating meals together every day and exercising together made getting close inevitable, maybe.
"Moro, wanna come to our room and hang out? Tonight!"
"You... not satisfied with the privilege of rooming with the saintess, now dragging another guy into it? Are you insane?"
"What's wrong with that? It's not just any guy, it's my friend Moro!"
Ah, this idiot...
Seeing Rak's empty-headed smile, perfect NTR bait with his 5cm shrimp dick and zero brain cells, I could tell Elysia was bound to explode someday.
The moment I felt that───
"Sure. If it's Moro."
"...Huh?"
"Come over tonight and hang out. How about a board game?"
Elysia smiled brightly as she said it was okay to come to the room.
............
..........
My head heated up.
It wasn't anger or discomfort. The moment she gave her permission, a strange flame flickered in my chest.
I want to make her my woman.
I shouldn't think like that, but every time Elysia showed an opening...
Ugh, damn it. It's because I haven't gotten any from Lienhua lately...
Was it building up from all that cheap delinquent pussy sex?
Don't think with your dick. Don't think with your dick.
I resolved myself.
"Still, it feels inappropriate for me to go to your room. Sorry."
"...Aw."
Elysia nodded calmly. She probably thought pushing further would be rude to me.
Ha, wouldn't this refusal just boost the saintess's trust even more...
But playing the thug half-heartedly felt even more awkward, so no.
"Moro. Have you... grown distant from those girls you used to hang out with?"
"Huh?"
I froze solid at that moment.
Does the saintess know─── about the delinquents?
She didn't seem to know the full details of my relationship with them. But───
She must have seen me hanging around with Lienhua somewhere.
It was possible. I forcibly calmed my mind.
"Girls I used to hang out with? What are you talking about, Elysia?"
"Oh. Maybe I'm overstepping... but... those girls have a bad reputation, so I thought it might be better if you stayed away from them."
....
Elysia's concern was valid.
Corelia aside, Diana and Lienhua were outright delinquents with records of school violence.
No way they'd have a good reputation.
Even if they got tangled with the protagonist's group in the light, they'd usually end up as villainous disposable side characters or trash.
But for Elysia to see me as one of her own and advise me to stay away from them... that hit me hard.
Stay away from the delinquents...
"Moro is kind, so he shouldn't hang out with bad people like that..."
Am I already Elysia's person?
Elysia was worried about me. Not just tagging along incidentally because of Rak-related topics like before.
Her attention directed at me felt like a pretty big deal.
"Um... sorry. I was being nosy, wasn't I?"
She must have misunderstood my expression and bowed her head in apology.
"...Lately, I've been having so much fun hanging out with you guys that I forgot about it."
"...Ah."
Suddenly, Elysia reached across the table and gently took my hand.
I glanced at Rak for a second, but he didn't think it was weird at all.
"If you need any help, just tell me."
Does she think I'm the one being bullied?
"...I'll help you no matter what."
Elysia...
Now, it wasn't that she'd caught me on her saintess radar and come looking. She wanted to help me as a friend.
She'd help me escape the delinquent group.
Hngh. Fuck, I can't say it no matter how much it tears me up inside.
That blonde delinquent I hang out with is my personal onahole!!!
How do I tell that to a saintess!!
I acted the part of the troubled guy Moro, casting my eyes down sadly. Method acting was key here.
"Thanks for the words. But I can handle it on my own. So... it's fine."
"...Moro..."
Kuh... Should I use the Hypnosis Ghost to wipe this episode from existence?
I didn't want to be remembered as the guy with emotional baggage, Moro.
Her misconception about the saintess was probably too far gone to fix.
"Anyway... now the real work begins. We're entering the phase where it's even harder to lose weight!"
"Yeah, Moro! I'll work hard! Even for Moro's sake!"
"Isn't that last bit unnecessary? Do it for Elysia, not for me."
"Whyy. I'm super grateful to Moro..."
Damn. As expected of the protagonist, planting affection flags even with an extra guy.
Anyway, the Laziness trait seemed killed off, and now some of the protagonist's hidden traits would emerge.
Fat burning would skyrocket once that happened.
I'll watch for the next four days.
"Rak and the saintess honestly don't match."
"One side's too good for it. I thought they were like son and mom."
"Or a volunteer?"
"She even packs him lunches."
"Makes me mad. Lunches from the saintess? Does she think she's somebody?"
In a Seraph Academy classroom, with the saintess absent, the students chattered away, and Rak heard it all from his seat.
The saintess and Rak don't match.
It was a rumor that had circulated since enrollment. Rak was fully aware.
So he could endure any criticism aimed at him.
What tormented Rak unbearably was that Elysia was getting dragged into the insults because of him.
He knew he should change if he realized it───
Be reborn and make everyone see him differently with effort... but that resolve lasted only a moment.
He'd chase immediate pleasures and crumble to urges and impulses over and over.
The reason he couldn't retort to the hate was that he hated himself even more than the other students did.
"Rak, something wrong?"
"Huh? No, nothing."
Elysia sensed something was up and glared at the female students over her bandages.
They scattered like they'd suddenly remembered urgent business.
...More people disapprove of Rak now.
Even in a hero-training academy, cram a bunch of kids that age into a tight space, and groups eager to nitpick others form.
Average students learn to look the other way from the academy's dark side. Getting involved is a hassle.
Here, students learn to win through competition before bothersome justice, so they were busy biting at anyone less qualified than them.
Confront them seriously, and it'd end with 'Just kidding. Did that hurt? Sorry'...
A shallow apology like that.
"Don't mind what others say."
"Elysia wouldn't get how I feel..."
I hate myself...
He knew all too well how he looked receiving her care.
That he wasn't even friend material for her, let alone a match.
That inferiority and self-loathing cowed Rak.
"Shall we go eat? Oh, I packed lunches. With the diet Moro recommended. I cooked them myself..."
The students snickered and mocked subtly as Elysia pulled out the lunches...
"S-Stop that. With this stuff. Who asked you to pack lunches? Is Elysia my mom? I can handle it myself."
Rak spat it out impulsively and regretted it instantly.
Making Elysia wear that expression.
─────.
"Ah, no. I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was."
"...Was my concern too much?"
"......"
They're... mocking you.
Volunteer, Rak's mom.
Doesn't that bother you at all? How can you take care of me like this?
His trembling lips couldn't form words.
"Sorry."
"No. Elysia did nothing wrong."
───The one who wanted to apologize was me.
And to say thanks.
"The pig's gotten picky with his food lately. Doesn't like his custom feed?"
"What did you say?"
Open hostility.
Far more vicious and sharp than the other students' gossip───
The playful tone grated on Elysia's nerves even more.
Everyone tensed. No student had ever insulted Rak, who was with the saintess, this harshly.
"Pigs are so picky with food. Gotta cater to this, cater to that."
"Don't talk about my friend like that. It bothers me."
"Ah♬"
The one openly showing hostility had long pink hair, pink eyes, and a bewitching, empty smile.
A girl who deliberately flashed her mint-green bra through a gap in her white uniform shirt for emphasis, showing her phone screen as she spoke.
"I'm talking about the pig I raise~~ Oink oink."
"You..."
Elysia remembered. Seraph Academy A-Rank #3.
Karina Flameer...
The pink-haired girl beamed.
"Wanna try it too, Elysia? Raising this pig? Or are you already?"
"Come outside."
Rak held back Elysia's murderous aura.
"H-Hey, Elysia! I'm fine. So hold back!"
"Oh? Shall we go outside then?"
Karina slyly stood, smirking.
"I'll teach you properly how to raise a pig♬"
As Elysia and Karina's eyes locked in rising tension,
A tall black-haired guy with ear piercings stood and intervened.
S-Rank #9, Duran.
The top ace of the current academy.
"No fighting in the classroom! Kids. Karina, apologize to Elysia and Rak. You went too far."
"Why should I?"
Karina tilted her head with a bubbly smile.
As if she genuinely didn't know why she should apologize────
"I'm fine. Apologize properly to Rak."
"Yeah. Karina, that was too much."
"...Was it? Did I go too far?"
Rak and Karina's eyes met.
Rak shrank like small prey before a predator. Karina's lips smiled,
but her pink eyes, shadowed faintly, were terrifying like a snake's.
"───That I went too far, does Rak think so too?"
Duran sensed he couldn't let it drag on and wedged himself between Elysia and Karina.
Karina kept smiling brightly.
"C'mon, enough! Everyone back to your seats. Elysia too."
"Okay~. No need to apologize then? Elysia~?"
Her teasing, flippant attitude grated.
But she couldn't just force her down.
Elysia breathed to calm herself.
Any more and it'd trouble Rak too. Besides.
She seemed like the type who didn't know sincere apologies.
"That's enough."
"Great♬ Wanna game together later?"
"......"
Elysia ignored her lightly and left the classroom with Rak.
"Haaa... Karina. Picking a fight with an S-Rank #3? What guts."
"Me? Picking a fight? I didn't."
"I give up. When the sky turns red and disaster strikes, you'll know it came."