Chapter 650: I Still Have You
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 650: I Still Have You
"It’s fine. As long as you’re the one footing the bill."
Hathaway appeared remarkably open-minded about the destruction of her academy’s infirmary. In fact, she wore a faint expression of "I knew this would happen," showing no surprise at the outcome.
"...Dean Hathaway, you’re certainly taking this well."
"What else can I do? Go pick a fight with those three? I’d like to keep my position as Dean for a few more years, thank you very much."
Hathaway rolled her eyes.
If it had been anyone else who dared to tear her beloved academy apart like this, she would have personally dismantled them piece by piece to use as fuel for her experimental boilers.
But what could she do about those three? One was the Emperor of the Empire, one was the Sword Bearer of the Silence Bureau, and the last was the Saintess of the Life Church... If she went looking for trouble, she’d likely be the one getting dismantled first. Some people were simply untouchable.
"But fortunately, I’ve always had a high opinion of your character, kid..."
Hathaway suddenly leaned in, crossing her arms over her chest to accentuate a silhouette that rivaled even the Senior’s. She then suggestively rubbed her thumb and forefinger together at Muen.
"So, for the compensation—plus a little extra for my mental anguish—you’ll be adding a bit more to the total, right?"
"..."
What the hell is a mental anguish fee?
Muen didn't even know where to start. If anyone had suffered mental anguish, it was him. Facing that chaotic brawl last night had been a massive shock to his young, innocent soul. Even now, his kidneys were still throbbing with a dull ache.
"Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility for the actual damages," Muen said, his face hardening into a mask of business-like austerity, signaling that he wouldn't pay a copper more than the repair costs.
"Hmph."
Seeing Muen’s stingy, "impenetrable fortress" act of domestic thriftiness, Hathaway let out a dissatisfied huff.
"Stingy men aren't very popular, you know."
"Maybe, but men who know how to manage a household are quite charming. Anyway, Dean, I’ll be going now. My lower back is killing me; I need to go lie down..." To avoid being forced to sell another of his father’s manors, Muen wisely prepared to make his escape.
However, he hadn't taken more than a few steps before Hathaway called him back.
"Wait."
Hathaway pushed up her glasses. "Where are you running off to? You still have official business to attend to."
"Official business? What else do I have to do?"
Muen frowned, thinking hard... There really shouldn't be anything left for him to get involved in.
Surely she didn't expect him to go comfort the nurses who were traumatized by the infirmary's destruction?
"The competition."
Hathaway uttered two words Muen hadn't expected.
"You need to participate in the upcoming finals of the exchange competition."
"The finals?"
Muen was stunned. "Dean, you must be mistaken. I’ve already been eliminated. The finals should be between the Seventeenth Prince and Ariel..."
"I know Ariel was supposed to be the one competing."
Hathaway sighed, rubbing her temples in frustration. "But for some reason, Ariel came to me this morning and said she was withdrawing."
"Huh? Withdrawing?"
Muen was completely baffled.
Given Ariel’s current predicament—having completely cut ties with the Bugard family to the point where she was forced to eat black bread every day—would she really be willing to give up the massive prize money awarded to the winner of the exchange competition?
It seemed impossible.
Unless Ariel suddenly transformed from a flat-chest to a busty beauty, or from a pauper to a millionaire overnight, there was absolutely no way.
"Did she give a reason?"
"She said she’s going away to train. She feels she isn't strong enough yet, so she’s leaving the academy for a while... to temper herself in the Abyss," Hathaway explained.
She was equally speechless. Having an exceptionally talented student—and the heavy favorite to win the competition—suddenly drop out was hardly good news for her.
However, when she recalled Ariel’s face this morning—pale, grief-stricken, and filled with indignant sorrow... looking exactly like someone who had just watched the girl they’d been painstakingly wooing get NTR’d by a passing blonde bastard—Hathaway hadn't found it in her heart to stop her.
"The Abyss? Why is she going to the Abyss too?"
Muen was more confused than ever.
"Too?" Hathaway arched an eyebrow.
"Ah, nothing. It’s just that an acquaintance of mine should be in the Abyss right now..."
A dignified, beautiful face surfaced in Muen’s mind.
An had been in the Abyss for a while now. He wondered how she was doing.
But speaking of which... was the Abyss some kind of cliché landmark? Did everyone have to go there to grind levels?
But even if she wanted to level up, why was Ariel in such a hurry? Even if she felt she needed to get stronger, she should have at least waited until—
Wait. Hold on.
This morning?
Muen turned his head stiffly toward the ruins of the academy infirmary.
Ariel had been injured in yesterday’s match, so she should have been hospitalized here.
Which meant, if his guess was correct, the reason Ariel had suddenly fled... just like last time...
She had seen it again?
*
The wind whipped at her cloak as it howled past, sounding exceptionally grating.
The sunlight was blinding as it spilled across the earth, and though it was already early summer, it offered no warmth. It was still so cold.
Perhaps it wasn't the sun that was cold, but her heart...
Ariel tightened the straps of her cloak and let out a tragic, hollow laugh. She walked alone along the rugged mountain path, unsure if this road even led to her destination. After leaving the city early this morning, she had simply picked a general direction and started walking.
But it didn't matter. She would treat it as a journey, and journeys could always offer some small comfort to a wounded soul.
"...Are you really going straight to the Abyss like this?"
An ethereal figure drifted out from Ariel’s ring, looking at her with a mix of exasperation and pity. "Isn't this a bit sudden?"
"Heh, what’s sudden about it?"
Ariel wore the "Sage Time" expression of someone who had transcended worldly concerns. "Didn't you say it yourself, Teacher? The Abyss is an excellent place for training. I should be able to reach the next level there."
"But... there’s no need to be in such a rush. You could still..."
Ariel’s teacher wanted to offer a few more words of comfort, but the words died in her throat.
She knew exactly what kind of blow her disciple had suffered just a few hours ago. She also knew that this wasn't even the first time...
But reality was cruel. In matters of the heart, a loss was a loss. It was even harder to stage a comeback in love than it was in battle.
"Don't worry, Teacher. I’m not giving up. My heart just hurts a little, that’s all."
Beneath her cloak, Ariel’s fists clenched tight.
"On the contrary, I’m still full of fighting spirit. I haven't lost yet. Even if Liya and Celicia have temporarily left my side, I won't give up. I will never give up on my dream!"
Even if her heart ached unbearably, even if the grand "Crystal Palace" she had envisioned was now covered in cracks, Ariel had no intention of surrendering. If anything, her fighting spirit had been ignited.
Because that was who she was: resilient, decisive, never-say-die, and possessed of an indomitable will!
She would go to the Abyss to temper herself, to become stronger and more charming!
Sooner or later, she would return like a bolt of lightning. Thirty years East, thirty years West—do not mock a girl for being flat!
"And of course, I’m not completely alone."
Ariel tenderly caressed the Voice Transmission Stone in her hand and whispered:
"I still have you... don't I?"