Chapter 105
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Secret
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(5)
7.
Arsen Academy's student cafeteria.
In the private room famous for its exorbitant fees, a total of six young men and women had gathered closely together.
Ullan and Noa, Ivela.
Dilia and Ian, Laurea too.
Gazing at the students around them.
Ullan wore an expression brimming with fresh emotions.
That was only natural.
Excluding Noa, the other four were comrades who had fought alongside him in his previous life.
‘Of course, it's different from back then.’
Right now, only Ullan remembered they had been comrades. So there was no bond forged over a decade or more from that past life.
Even so, the simple fact that they could gather like this again filled Ullan with pure joy.
‘It would've been nice if Pertisha and Sven were here too.’
Wanting that much would be asking too far.
Meeting Ian and Laurea was a miracle in itself. As he sank into such solitary reminiscences.
The rest of the group was fully engrossed in browsing the menu.
"Dilia, what's good here?"
"This."
The moment Laurea's question ended.
Dilia pointed to one dish without hesitation.
A golden, thick stew. Laurea examined it closely and tilted her head.
"Hmm? What's this? Pumpkin porridge?"
"Honey, spider, stew."
"……."
With that reply.
Laurea's expression stiffened.
A moment later, she nodded as if recalling a long-forgotten memory.
"Ah, right. Now I remember. You liked dishes with bugs in them, didn't you?"
"Pretty tasty."
"Ugh, pass for me."
She shook her head in disgust.
A moment later, Laurea turned her gaze toward them. She wanted a recommendation for her order.
"Anyone else have a recommendation? No bugs, please."
No reply came.
Ivela avoided eye contact as if dodging the conversation altogether, and Noa seemed about to suggest something before stopping short.
She had probably been on the verge of recommending the silkworm pupae dish she'd enjoyed last time.
An awkward silence followed.
Just as Laurea opened her mouth again.
Ullan unfolded the menu.
"Then I recommend this."
"This is……."
"A stew made from pork backbone broth, with meat and green onions boiled in."
From the description alone, it was a proper dish on a whole different level from Dilia's spider stew.
As Laurea's face brightened.
Ullan added,
"Loaded with radish and scallions, so it's great for hangovers and sobering up."
Hangover relief and sobering up.
Those successive words made her flash a startled look for an instant.
Like a deeply hidden secret had been exposed.
"Drank about five bottles yesterday, right?"
"……No, I didn't."
Regaining her composure swiftly.
Laurea shot back with a pout.
That was when Ian whispered,
"Exactly six bot—urk!"
But he couldn't finish.
Laurea had preemptively slammed her elbow into his side, anticipating the useless chatter.
As Ian groaned in pain.
She flashed a bright smile and replied,
"I didn't drink any alcohol, but since it was recommended, I'll order this. Absolutely no alcohol!"
She repeated it emphatically.
Before long, the group's orders arrived on the table. Among them was the backbone stew Ullan had recommended.
Definitely better than spider stew.
It even smelled delicious. The only issue was its somewhat peculiar appearance.
"……."
Stew with whole pork backbones.
It looked like something straight out of a plains barbarian's meal, leaving Laurea momentarily torn on whether to eat it.
Had he noticed her hesitation?
Ullan spoke up again.
"Try it. Tastes good."
With that short remark.
He quietly began eating.
The same backbone stew as Laurea's. Though the portions differed vastly.
Meanwhile, Laurea looked tense.
Naturally so. It was the first time in her life seeing such a dish.
But her hesitation didn't last.
"Whew! Hoo!"
After cooling it with her breath.
She cautiously sipped the broth.
Not long after.
"……!"
Her yellow eyes went wide.
Far nuttier than expected.
Moreover, the light yet rich flavor soothed her queasy gut from last night's excess.
Did it suit her perfectly?
"Grrruuuh!"
An unwitting grunt escaped.
But it wasn't her usual clear voice—it was a raspy croak thick with hangover.
"……Ah."
The instant she realized.
It was already too late.
Every gaze except Ian's turned to Laurea. Flustered, she hacked out forceful coughs to cover.
"Ahem! Grrruum! Sorry. My throat's off this morning, so……."
"It's fine. Drinking's no sin."
"I said I didn't!"
Even with blatant proof, Laurea denied it to the end. She probably had her reasons, so they let it drop.
The meal resumed.
Unlike Laurea, who barely set down her spoon from liking the backbone stew, Noa's expression across the table was grim.
‘……Gonna get indigestion.’
The reason was simple.
Ivela and Dilia, with Ullan between them, had been locked in a staring contest since earlier.
Ivela was especially vicious.
She was wary of Laurea too.
‘I get it, but…….’
Noa recalled Laurea's antics in the classroom earlier. Pressing close to Ullan, whispering right in his ear, and such.
Each little act must have stoked Ivela's jealousy.
‘Even so…….’
At least hold back during meals.
Otherwise, indigestion was inevitable.
But right then.
An even worse gut-twister unfolded.
Ivela and Laurea's eyes met in midair.
"……!"
A powder-keg moment only Noa sensed.
As tension crackled.
Laurea spoke first.
"You don't need to be so guarded."
"What? What're you……."
"I'm not interested in that guy."
She smiled and whispered it.
A single line that cut straight to the heart.
She'd likely peered into Ivela's soul with her Projection Eyes.
Right after Laurea's reply.
Ivela narrowed her eyes.
"……Lie."
"It's true. I prefer older guys—uncles, not peers or younger."
Despite the explanation, Ivela stayed distrustful. Her answer probably sounded absurd.
But setting Ivela's reaction aside.
Laurea's words were fact.
Her ideal type tied directly to her penalty.
‘Middle-aged fetish.’
Saintess Laurea's penalty.
Exactly as named: a penalty forcing romantic attraction to middle-aged men. Sure, on the surface, one might wonder what's so bad.
‘The real problem's elsewhere.’
Namely, if a middle-aged man matching her tastes appeared nearby, her focus, judgment, and restraint all plummeted together.
‘The silver lining…….’
The penalty vanished upon her hitting middle age. In the original story, it was effectively nonexistent.
By the Abyss Gate's opening and full war with the lords, Laurea was already past forty.
‘Practically toothless even now.’
Laurea would soon become Saintess.
Until relinquishing the role, strict celibacy was enforced. No marriage, no dating—not even a thought.
No rivalry threat to Ivela.
‘And Ian probably…….’
Had a similar penalty.
Something sex-preference related, though details escaped her. Noa had never played as Ian Marcus.
‘But definitely not into men.’
Among countless events, one had Ian developing feelings for Dilia and confessing.
Instant rejection, sure.
Still, it suggested his tastes weren't men or same-sex.
‘So what then?’
As she puzzled with a clouded face. Laurea's voice suddenly shattered her reverie.
"No, really?!"
Continuation of the prior exchange.
Frustrated, Laurea thumped her chest and pressed on.
"If you can't believe me, I'll swear on the Star God's name. Happy now?"
The next Saintess invoking a god.
Swearing on its name no less?
No firmer proof existed.
Even steadfast Ivela finally eased her glare.
"Fine. I'll believe you then."
"Phew, thank goodness. Your stares were killing my appetite."
"……Sorry."
Ivela's demeanor softened noticeably.
The jealous fire in her eyes utterly extinguished.
Thanks to that, Noa ate on in a far more relaxed vibe.
"By the way, everyone."
Once all plates were cleared.
Laurea spoke up.
"What's the next schedule?"
"Off to lectures."
Lectures ran normally even during exchanges. Laurea and Ian nodded, prompting Noa.
"What about you all?"
"Joint classes? Signing up?"
Dilia chimed in.
Eloden students could audit any lecture under joint-class pretense.
Laurea and Ian feigned brief thought.
But not for long.
"Yeah, we'll join since it's a rare chance."
"Mind sharing your schedules?"
"Easy."
Noa nodded readily, followed by.
Ivela, Ullan, and Dilia listing their current lectures in turn.
How much time passed?
Ullan asked,
"Helpful?"
"Totally! Picked ours."
"Which ones?"
"Hehe, secret."
"……Secret?"
"Yeah, spoils the fun if I tell."
What fun, exactly.
Ullan looked baffled.
But he didn't press. Wasn't info he cared about.
With audit lectures set.
The talk shifted.
To the second exchange event.
The friendly mock battle. But Ivela and Dilia were lukewarm.
"Mock battles? Not my thing."
"Yeah. Too much hassle."
Rare consensus.
No gains worth the effort. Laurea blinked in surprise.
"Really? Unexpected. Prizes are solid—figured everyone'd be into it."
"Prizes?"
"Overnight passes."
"……!"
Their faces flipped instantly.
Not day passes—overnights. And 2 nights, 3 days, per the details.
"Eloden bans overnights freely, so these are gold. Arsen different?"
As she asked with envy.
Ivela suddenly backpedaled.
"Guess I should join after all."
"Huh? But you said no interest……."
"Changed my mind."
Dilia flipped too.
As if hellbent on snagging an overnight pass, come what may.
As the two girls fired up.
The topic reached the exchange's finale. Touring the Mana Spring.
Right after the mention.
Laurea and Ian traded glances.
This was their true errand—the intel they craved most.
"Always wanted to see the Mana Spring."
"Same here. Books only—never live."
They eased into it naturally.
"Oh, right. Heard something odd from the Empire last month."
"‘Abyss monsters’ sighted at the Mana Spring—true?"
Ian asked cautiously.
Ullan and Dilia answered.
"True."
"Perfect, all, here, now."
"Huh? All meaning what?"
"Literal."
"Me, Ullan, Dilia—we were there when the Abyss monsters hit."
"……!?"
Facing those widening yellow eyes.
The three explained coolly.
Abyss monsters emerging in Mana Spring's Zone 2. The brutal fight against them.
Then Dilia unleashing 7-star constellation magic, ‘Meteor Shower’, wiping out a thousand magic beasts.
"Hun—hundreds?"
"Monsters plural?! Not just one?!"
Laurea and Ian's eyes bulged.
They'd assumed a singleton till then.
"Maybe mistook regulars for……."
"No mistake. Never."
Dilia firm.
Ullan and Noa backed her.
"She's right."
"The Abyss monsters crawled straight from an Abyss rift."
As Noa wrapped up.
Laurea queried,
"Wait—rift what?"
"Right, skipped that."
Noa caught her slip and rephrased.
To explain Prof. Direk's monstering, his death cracking the Abyss rift.
Once fully briefed.
"……."
Laurea and Ian went quiet.
Grave faces.
Small wonder.
Mid-Noa's tale, the oracle's opening verse resurfaced.
「Abyss fragments leaked through crevices into the world—the gate's opening nears.」
Monsters for fragments, rift for crevice.
Perfect match for the Mana Spring incident.
Having pieced it together.
Laurea, onto a lead, licked her lips.
"……One more thing."
"Shoot."
"Heard Marquis Gorfant—one of the Empire's Five Swords—fought too."
"He did. Reinforcements when Dilia's mana tanked."
Ullan nodded steadily.
Recalling, he continued.
"Marquis shielded Noa and Dilia—let us finally take down the Frost Dragon."
"Huh? Frost Dragon?"
"What's that?"
"One Abyss lord."
Lord word dropped.
Crimson eyes sharpened.
"Freezes mana itself—mages' nightmare."
Brief rundown done, Ullan hammered it home.
Frost Dragon, definitively slain.
But then, listening Laurea's eyes flashed keen.
"How do you know that?"
"Know what?"
"Abyss has a boss. That it's the Frost Dragon."
Her sharp follow-up.
Noa inwardly cheered.
Laurea voiced the question she'd burned to ask.
‘Wonder how he'll dodge.’
Noa watched expectantly, curiosity piqued. His reply came quick.
"Simple."
Voice flat, no inflection.
Ullan stated it like dusty history.
"Fought it before."
"……Pardon?"
Noa echoed blankly.
Face screaming absurdity.
Impossible.
Frost Dragon's debut was now—when the hell had he fought it?
‘Total lie.’
Noa was dead certain.
But Ullan's blunder.
Projection Eyes pierced any fib. Exposed soon, truth unavoidable.
Yet then.
"Amazing. Who knew."
Laurea dead serious.
Noa's eyes widened in shock.
Sounded like she bought it wholesale.
Unforeseen twist.
As Noa's mind blanked, Laurea pressed,
"When exactly……."
"Can't say."
Ullan shook his head.
"You wouldn't believe anyway."
Truth again.
Had to be—Ullan was an open book.
Meanwhile, Laurea methodically sorted the intel in her head.
Then bells tolled.
Ding! Dong!
Morning lectures commencing.
"Time to head out."
Ullan's mutter cued them.
Ivela and Dilia rose too. Morning classes beckoned.
"Great meal, thanks."
"No, my treat."
Laurea beamed.
Hefty room tab, sure—but priceless intel outweighed it.
She stood as well.
To see Ullan off.
"Catch you this afternoon."
"Hm? Afternoon?"
Ullan puzzled.
No answer.
Later.
He got it post-morning lectures. Past noon sharp.
As practical hunting class kicked off.
"Nice to meet you all."
Familiar voice.
Teal-haired girl.
Locking eyes with Ullan and Dilia, mischievous smile.
"Laurea Ro Sharfell, Eloden Academy second-year."
Reunion far swifter than thought.
Joint class with the next Saintess underway.