Chapter 29
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Desperate Crisis (1)
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Roin's face hardened in an instant as he stared at the reddish pimple on his cheek.
'What the fuck, this bullshit!'
Even when fighting a dragon ten-to-one, and even when facing an army of undead monsters alone.
Roin had never once felt like he was in crisis.
Yet here he was, freaking out over a single pimple.
It was a perfectly natural reaction for him.
'I've put so much effort into taking care of my skin, and this shit shows up on my face!'
It was utterly ridiculous.
Why?
Question marks kept popping up in his head.
He hadn't done anything particularly wrong.
If anything, he'd been even more diligent with his skincare than usual.
And yet, this skin trouble had cropped up.
Roin quickly reviewed his recent activities.
Trying to pinpoint when the odd sensation had started on his left cheek.
He recalled the exact moment.
'It started itching after the kingdom territory mission.'
It had been fine on the way there.
The difference between going and coming back was...
'The Goddess's Lake!'
Something had felt off ever since he dipped into it.
And that bad feeling had manifested as a pimple.
'No way, it's holy water, right? How does dipping in cause skin trouble right away?'
Resentment toward the goddess Sindiaa figure he'd never even seen in his previous lifebubbled up.
'Fuck. What do I do?'
He was in full panic mode.
But he couldn't just leave it alone.
He lightly pressed the pimple on his left cheek with his finger.
A throbbing pain shot through it.
At the same time, a bit of pus formed.
'This one's no joke.'
If he ignored it, it could leave a scar on his face.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
Roin decided to pull out every bit of beauty knowledge he had.
In his past life, his ugliness had driven him to acquire more skincare know-how than anyone else.
All because he'd desperately wanted to become handsome.
And to make an effort, you first had to know a lot.
He knew exactly how to deal with pimples.
He pulled out a leftover small fire stone.
As he channeled a bit of mana into the fire stone, it began to glow red.
'Good.'
Roin wrapped the small fire stone tightly in a thick towel.
Then he pressed it against his pimpled cheek.
Pain hit him, along with a searing heat.
Hot compresses would make it fester.
That way, the pus inside could drain out without delay.
Antibiotics could calm it down too, but that was better for cases with secondary infections, massive pimples, or fever.
'Lucky I caught it early when it's still small.'
If it had been on his back or underarm instead of his face, he might not have noticed until too late.
Thinking of that close call made cold sweat bead on Roin's forehead.
'Alright. That should do it.'
Now came the biggest hurdle.
Squeezing out the pus.
First, Roin disinfected his handstwice.
Standing in front of the mirror, his expression was deadly serious.
'I can do this, Roin! Let's go!'
He started applying gentle pressure around the edges with his index fingers.
And,
'This is important. Gotta be precise.'
For perfection, he even coated his fingertips with thin mana barriers.
Slowly, ever so slowly.
Right as his fingertips nearly touched.
Pop! The pus burst out into the world.
To prevent recurrence, it was best to squeeze out every last bit inside.
To ward off potential skin infections afterward, Roin cut a small piece of bandage and applied it to the wound.
Now he just had to manage it carefully to avoid scarring.
He planned to do so for at least two weeks.
'Man, back in the day, I wouldn't have made such a fuss over a single pimple.'
No helping it.
Dropping ink on a black canvas doesn't show.
But drop it on a white one, and every eye goes straight to it.
Lord Rodri fell into the former category.
Roin was squarely in the latter.
What if he did all this and still ended up with a facial scar?
'I'll raze that Goddess's Lake and whatever else to the ground!'
He was even thinking of erasing the whole area from the map.
Remina, heading to the lecture hall for her morning theory class, witnessed a bizarre sight.
Roin had a bandage on his face.
Roin, injured?
It was an incredibly rare scene.
"What happened?"
Remina had known Roin for over a year, but this was the first time she'd seen anything like it.
Even during training or real combat, he'd never gotten so much as a drop of blood on his clothes.
Seeing him show up with a bandage was unbelievable.
"Did you get hurt fighting the kaibes?"
Roin replied in a subdued voice, curtly.
"No."
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him injured even then.
He'd returned completely fine.
She had no idea why he'd suddenly shown up with a bandage.
"A pimple broke out on my face. So I put this on."
"...."
She knew Roin was obsessed with beauty, but scenes like this still threw her every time.
Still, she realized one thing.
'Best not to mess with Roin right now.'
It was the first time she'd seen him this visibly pissed.
Unlike Roin, who was fuming, the female trainees who usually took the class with him didn't seem to mind.
"Oh my, look at Roin."
"With that bandage, he gives off a rugged guy vibe. Not bad at all."
"Yeah, it kinda suits him in a weird way."
They'd started reacting sensitively to whatever item Roin wore.
Or what clothes he put on.
Unbeknownst to him, he'd become a trendsetter.
Training proceeded as usual today.
Trainees swinging their swords in unison at Instructor Barton's command.
That's when some unexpected visitors arrived at the training grounds.
The principal of the Loud Swordsmanship Academy.
And...
'Why's Dian here?'
Roin stared holes into Dian, standing beside the principal.
Dian subtly winked at him alone, careful not to draw others' eyes.
But Roin's mood had been foul since yesterday.
Lingering aftereffects from the pimple.
'Cut the clowning, you idiot.'
He worried Dian might say something stupid and make it worse.
The principal showed Dian the trainees focused on their drills.
"Did you hear our academy trainees returned safely from the kingdom territory mission the other day?"
"Yes. I heard they even recovered a fragment of the Demon God. First real combat, and a tough mission at that. Honestly, I was surprised."
It had boosted the Loud Swordsmanship Academy's reputation.
Dian pretended ignorance and asked the principal on purpose.
"I heard one trainee really shone out there. Took down a giant kaib that swallowed the Demon God's fragment in one shot, right?"
He phrased it like he wanted an introduction to the hero.
The principal smiled broadly and pointed at Roin.
"That's the one. Youngest son of the Leyden family. Top of his junior knight exam classan outstanding graduate."
"Oh, really?"
Dian feigned surprise and played along.
"Roin, seeing that trainee reminds me of Rodri, who graduated with me. He topped out in his first year too."
"He's a legend at our school. Haha!"
Roin scowled at Dian.
'I should've sewn that bastard's mouth shut.'
That had been his one big mistake.
Dian pointed at Roin and said to the principal.
"He worked hard, so how about giving this Roin kid some kind of reward? I'll chip in if needed."
"Got it. I'll call the trainee aside later and talk it over."
After wrapping up with the principal.
Dian flashed Roin a cheeky grin.
As if to say, 'How'd I do?'
Roin raised his hand slightly toward Dian.
And...
Flipped him the middle finger.
Mard Hanger, a fourth-year trainee, had no choice but to overhear the principal and Dian praising only Roin during training.
He made no effort to hide his displeasure, muttering to himself.
"Jerka did way more work."
The Hanger family had served the Tayla family for generations.
So Mard followed Jerka Tayla devotedly.
Did he hear Mard's mutter?
Jerka warned him.
"Too loud, Mard. And if you have time to worry about others, focus on your training."
"S-Sorry, Jerka. But isn't it unfair? If Jerka hadn't driven off the kaibes, that Roin punk couldn't have shone. No one appreciating it's all thanks to Jerkait pisses me off!"
He wasn't exaggerating.
By raw monster kill count, Jerka outdid Roin.
Roin had just landed one big blow on a major target.
That's why his achievement felt bigger.
But Jerka didn't show much discontent.
"In the big picture, Roin did the right thing."
Fighting endless small and mid-sized kaibes was just pointless attrition.
Better to spot and take out the leader fast, like Roin did.
Jerka hadn't thought of that at the time.
Lack of real combat experience left no room for such strategy.
"I should've widened my view and planned like Roin. This is my shortcoming, so don't sweat it from now on."
Mard grudgingly replied.
"Yes, Jerka."
But Mard still couldn't accept it.
His resentment toward Roin grew with time.
'Can't let this slide.'
In the end, Mard hatched a plan.
All of it...
'For Jerka!'
That's how he justified it to himself.
Roin finished all training and even ate.
'Today's face massage day.'
His expression hardened again in front of the mirror.
Because of the bandage still on his left cheek.
'Damn pimple.'
A scar on this handsome facewhat a nightmare.
Roin couldn't even bear to imagine it.
He was taking his meds steadily.
All he could do was wait for the swelling to go down.
'And no massage because of this.'
Everything was pissing him off.
Just as he headed back to his room.
Something happened to double his irritation.
Suddenly, Mard and four other trainees surrounded him.
Mard stepped forward, openly hostile.
"Roin. Let's talk somewhere quiet."
Bluntly commanding him.
Roin's eyebrow twitched.