Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Encounter (1)
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Kidnapping is a crime.
Yet here, in this hallowed hall of learning, such a sin was running rampant.
“…”
I glared fiercely at the man in the black suit.
He just blinked, as if to say, *What's the problem? This is just another day at the office.*
Should I have just let myself be dragged back to my family?
Whatever I'd face there would be better than this.
Tch, what's the use of regrets now?
Resigned to my fate, I was helplessly dragged away.
A club room, used as a hideout by a certain faction.
Upon arriving, I identified the culprit.
Hero candidate Ilensia.
A girl with striking, neatly-kept blonde hair…
No, perhaps 'girl' isn't quite the right word.
“What is this? I’m sure I told you to escort him politely.”
“Our apologies!”
“Well, it’s fine.”
She chided her subordinates before promptly dismissing them.
*Politely,* my ass. She must have ordered the kidnapping from the start.
It seemed she intended for us to be alone, but unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
The man in the black suit remained.
As if to say I needn't mind him, he casually began trimming his nails.
So much for setting the mood, right?
I suppose he's meant to protect me in case something happens…
But his skill level is just enough to handle an A-rank.
Before an S-rank hero candidate, he's utterly powerless.
Still, his presence alone, like a decorative screen, is helpful in its own way.
No delinquent, no matter how audacious, would be able to silence a staff member.
“It’s been a while, Jace.”
“…”
I stared blankly at Ilensia.
First off, her appearance was flawless.
Who could deny that she was the most beautiful girl in the academy?
It was only natural.
Ilensia wasn't human; she was an elf.
The beauty of an elf was a work of art in itself.
Her specialties were swordsmanship and spirit arts.
To be precise, she wasn't an S-rank.
Her A+ swordsmanship and A+ spirit arts combined to put her on par with one.
She gazed at me with a profound look in her eyes.
Then, as if to sway my heart, she gracefully crossed her legs, showing off her figure.
Yeah. Not a chance.
I prefer inner beauty.
And this elf, true to her damn pointy-eared kind, had a rotten personality.
Besides, in my eyes, Ceria is far prettier.
If you're going to try, at least do it properly.
You think showing a little leg is enough to seduce me?
Now, if she were to gently tap my body with the tip of her toe…
Just saying, not that I actually want her to do it. Anyway, yeah!
“I’ll be direct. Be mine.”
“You want me to be your subordinate?”
“That would probably be off-putting. How about a lover instead of a subordinate?”
“…”
“I can treat you as an equal… well, not quite, but almost.”
A recruitment offer, so to speak…
There was no need to hear any more.
Jace never yielded, no matter the situation.
Setting aside my need to emulate that trait, I personally wasn't interested.
‘If I were some B-rank extra, I might have considered this a stroke of luck…’
But this body of mine is so exceptional, I have nothing to be desperate for.
The fact that she resorted to kidnapping already revealed her desperation.
“Are you out of your mind? I have a fiancée…”
“I heard a rumor you were breaking it off. Is that not true?”
“Just a baseless rumor. Nothing has been decided.”
“In that case, I’ll just give you the position of second-in-command.”
She said it with an air of generosity, as if doing me a great favor.
It might have worked on others, but this time, she'd met her match.
To this arrogant elf, this species supremacist, I opened my mouth and spoke gravely.
“I do not take orders from those weaker than me.”
“—!!”
The reaction was, to put it mildly, explosive.
Ilensia's shock, and the system window…
[Achievement Unlocked: A Quote for the Ages]
[Reward: +20,000 Achievement Points]
Of course.
This time, I'd timed it perfectly.
I would have been disappointed if it had been ignored.
As I was inwardly pleased,
the beautiful, 97-year-old elven girl cried out protestingly.
“You think I’m weaker?”
“Recall our head-to-head record.”
“…”
It was about 6 to 4, I think?
Even among hero candidates, Jace was a cut above.
“But now… that’s not the case now, is it?”
“It seems you’re afraid of me.”
“…”
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have made such a ridiculous offer.”
In truth, she was surprisingly a bit of a pushover.
She lives off her own arrogance, but lacks substance, you could say.
She was the type to get scared off if you pushed her hard.
So I could just go all out.
I'll show her the pinnacle of bluffing, without a single care.
“Hey. Do you know what position you’re in?”
“Yes, I know it well. And even if I didn’t, I certainly do now.”
“…”
She narrowed her eyes, glaring at me in silence.
Even her frown was beautiful.
But the obsession and greed rising in her eyes put me on guard.
“Things will never go your way.”
“So you won’t yield, no matter what I do?”
“I might have considered it if you’d asked nicely, but did you really expect me to stand for this kind of treatment?”
“Are you ignoring reality? You’re pathetically weak right now. If I decided to get serious…”
“Go ahead, do your worst. You can trample my body, but you will never break my spirit. If you’re going to do it, do it properly. That will only delay the day you have to face my wrath.”
“…”
Who does this wicked elf think she is, threatening me?
In response, I basically dared her to do her worst.
As expected, her face darkened, as if she'd lost her nerve.
“What if I were to apologize?”
“It’s too late.”
“Is there really not even the slightest chance?”
“Try putting yourself in another’s shoes for once. At your age, what are you…”
“No one knows my age…”
“You’re probably around a hundred.”
“Hey, it’s still in the double digits! The same as you!”
Well, by elven standards, she is a young maiden in the prime of her life.
The way she argued so vehemently was just like a girl her age.
The way she bit her lip, her pride clearly wounded, was also typical.
“If you won’t take my hand, then I have other plans.”
“You’ll regret it?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll return those words to you.”
“…”
“…”
She initiated a staring contest, and I gladly accepted.
The sight of the infuriated elven maiden was quite something to behold.
If only she had approached a little more cautiously.
We might have become allies, but she had already crossed the line.
“I apologize for the kidnapping. I’ll let you go this time, but I have no intention of giving up on you.”
“You’ll try again and again?”
“I’ll keep pestering you until you change your mind.”
She revealed her tenacious obsession.
It seemed I had gotten myself into some trouble.
Fine, let's see who wins. I have my own plans, you know.
I reinforced my body and broke the restraints.
Then, after shooting Ilensia one last glare, I turned to leave.
“…”
My eyes met with the man in the black suit.
He made a gesture of disappointment, as if for all to see.
He must have been hoping for some action.
How utterly detestable!
In any case, with things as they are, I'll have to move my plans forward.
* * *
Ilensia was lost in thought.
No, there was something she had to deal with first.
“Hey, how long are you going to stay here!”
“…”
The hero candidate's powerful shout.
Only then did the man in the black suit disappear.
Feeling like she was about to explode with frustration, Ilensia pressed a hand to her forehead.
‘This is all the black suit's fault!’
Being so conscious of him, things hadn't gone as planned.
She blamed him as much as she could, but the gloom remained.
How did it come to this?
Why did he reject my offer?
She had been keeping an eye on Jace's recent activities.
Despite having lost all his power, he had climbed his way up to the mid-ranks.
How he fixed his dantian was of little interest.
What mattered was that he was rapidly recovering his strength.
According to her subordinates' reports, he now had a venomous edge he lacked before.
Constant training and successive victories.
Given the circumstances, Jace's revival was only a matter of time.
Which meant now was the perfect time.
It's easier to recruit someone when they're weak.
She had to make her move before someone else snatched him up.
But the result was a disaster.
She knew she'd been a bit hasty, but she never expected to be rejected.
Why?
He was supposed to like me, wasn't he?
Even if it wasn't love,
he surely held some affection for me as a person.
Ilensia slowly recalled her past memories.
As rankers of the same level, she and Jace had met often.
They always fought with all their might,
but the atmosphere was more gentle than fierce.
It was because Jace's manners were impeccable.
He wasn't called the young noble for nothing.
After their fights, he always offered a kind smile.
He would offer a hand to help her up if she fell,
and would approach her with friendly concern for her injuries.
But.
The Jace of today was completely different.
Could it be that she had misunderstood something?
Ilensia searched her memories for a while.
A moment later, she gasped in shock.
“—!!”
He was simply kind to everyone.
Jace hadn't shown her any special favor.
Why on earth was she only realizing this now?
She had told him to be hers.
That was just something she'd said playfully because they were relatively close.
In truth, Ilensia's intentions were twofold.
It was true she coveted Jace and wanted to bring him into her faction,
but she also had a hidden motive: to protect him from the factions that disliked him.
“Ah… what do I do now?”
She had gotten swept up in the moment and made an enemy of him.
It was all because she'd been provoked by Jace's unexpected attitude.
She wanted to turn back time.
What if she just confessed everything honestly now?
“I don’t want to…”
It would be one thing if he believed her.
But somehow, she felt it would only make him hate her more.
Her intense desire for Jace only made her more depressed.
Ilensia took great pride in being an elf.
She secretly looked down on humans, but Jace was the sole exception.
If you asked why… it was because he was strong.
Among the S-rank hero candidates, he was the second most difficult to face.
‘The first one is just a bad matchup, so in reality, he's the best…’
Jace's strength was his balance.
He had less physical strength than A, was less agile than B, and had less stamina than C.
But when it came to overall ability,
no one surpassed Jace.
Simply put, he was incredibly stable.
No matter who he faced, he maintained at least a 50% win rate.
Even when she managed to eke out a victory against him, she felt as if he had intentionally let her win.
That stable strength was synonymous with reliability.
That's why she desperately wanted to bring him to her side.
It wasn't that she liked him romantically.
She just needed that unique reliability of his.
“Well, for a human, he’s quite handsome, so it’s not like I couldn’t date him…”
But that was now a pointless hypothetical.
In the worst-case scenario, she might have to face his wrath.
Should she get on her knees and beg for forgiveness right now?
The moment the thought occurred to her, Ilensia shook her head violently, as if she couldn't accept it.
Why should I? What did I do wrong?
Even if I did do something wrong, I'm pretty, right?
Ilensia had learned many things in human society.
That being pretty forgives all was one of them.
It was a bad lesson to learn,
but given how humans behaved, it wasn't entirely her fault.
“Argh, really! Nothing is going right!”
In the end, the beautiful elven maiden tore at her hair.
If she had known Jace's plans, it wouldn't have ended with just that.