Episode 179. Want some midnight snack?
The carriage rattles.
My head felt dizzy the whole way there.
It felt like a cold, chilly water ghost was grabbing my ankle.
It was so shocking that I lost consciousness once, and when I woke up again, I thought it was a dream and was relieved…
“Honey. Are you awake now?”
“….”
It wasn’t a dream. Damn it.
I couldn’t get used to Mary’s sudden change in address.
What? Honey?
No matter how much a woman likes someone, she doesn’t call him that in front of him.
I can’t help but think this is crazy. I wonder how much longer I can endure this.
“Sir! How long will it take to get there?”
“At least we won’t be able to get there until night.”
I wanted to escape from this mess even for a moment.
I wanted to step on the warp gate, but unfortunately there was none around, and the magic train was still being repaired after it capsized, so its use was restricted.
But where can I get to today? I tried to hold out and go.
“Honey. Why are you so pale? You didn’t even respond when I called you earlier. Is something wrong?”
“….”
This won’t work.
Once again, a strong sense of dread surged through me and I almost lost my mind. Once again, I thought I was standing on the borderline between life and death.
When there are people watching you, the feeling of being ignored is doubled.
Even a couple that makes you cringe would be watching what others think while being affectionate…
“Honey~”
He’s long since thrown that kind of attitude down the toilet.
Have you ever seen this girl feel ashamed? I don’t remember ever seeing her.
But Mary was human after all, so there was room for conversation.
“Mary, I have a favor to ask you.”
“Huh? What is it? What is it!”
“Can’t you just call me a friend like we used to?”
“omg…!”
Mary’s face turned as if she had been struck by lightning. She couldn’t understand why it was so shocking to hear such a small request.
“Why…? We weren’t an eternal couple?”
While saying that, she keeps trying to hug me.
Just seeing that earnest look was enough to stimulate my protective instinct.
but…
“No matter what, it’s like that. If you keep calling me that, it’ll only be embarrassing for me.”
“Huh? What are you embarrassed about?”
Mary opens her eyes wide and tilts her head.
I almost felt dizzy at the sight of Mary, who seemed to genuinely not know what the problem was, but I barely held it back.
Then he continued:
“That’s right… someone called you a brat. How would you feel?”
“Of course you should be angry! How dare you tell such lies without fear!”
Finally, he took the bait.
As I had hoped, Mary began to empathize, and it was easy to convince her of such simplicity.
“That goes for me too. I get the same way every time I hear that, honey.”
“what…?”
“I’m sorry, but can you just call me friend from now on? I feel most comfortable that way.”
“….”
Mary lowered her head with a sullen expression.
It seemed like they thought that they had to call each other like that in order for their relationship to work out.
But then he raised his head again with a bright expression and said.
“Okay! I’ll call you that from now on, my friend.”
“thank you so much.”
Great! It was a huge success!
Now you won’t have to worry about getting a headache while walking.
I flattered myself that I had succeeded in teaching without ever raising a fist.
“Hey, I wanted to see more.”
“It’s a shame, because I had some good art material in mind.”
But the two seniors sitting across from me look at me with pleased expressions.
What’s so disappointing? Are you saying you like this cringe-worthy scene?
“….”
Bayman still remained still.
Not only do they not get involved, they don’t even turn their heads this way.
They say that if you stay still, you’ll get halfway there, and the best of these was Bayman.
Just in case, I checked Mary’s current condition with ‘Ma-an’.
—————————
Race: Human
Occupation: Demon King
Magic Class: 6 Circles
Horsepower: 250/250
Disposition: Optimistic/Unknown
Feelings towards users: Favorable (large)
[Other]
-Danger of the Demon King’s ideology running wild
-Apply Shaikhar’s protection
—————————
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong.
As long as Shaikhar’s protection exists, he will never become the final boss of Chapter 5.
So the carriage raced towards a good place.
* * * * *
Finally, the carriage stopped at the Alighieri Academy.
The two seniors who had gone on the mission together said goodbye with a message to meet again next time, and Bayman also leisurely disappeared into his room.
“See you tomorrow, my friend!”
After seeing Mary brightly greeting me under the stars, I too returned to the dormitory of the three-star building.
As the coachman had said, we could not arrive until it was really night.
Normally I would report to the professor as soon as I get back, but I decided to do it tomorrow. It’s late now.
“It’s pretty empty around here. I guess everyone’s already gotten off work.”
“I guess so. It’s 10 o’clock at night.”
“At the same time, my stomach is also empty. Let’s eat something when we get back to the room.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
I ate it on my way here, what do you want me to eat again?
I opened the door, listening to Muto’s ignorant words with one ear and letting them go out the other.
Suddenly-
“I guess I can finally get some rest now.”
The room looked the same, and was still neat and tidy throughout.
It looks like Ruska has been cleaning it from time to time.
“….”
Currently, Ruska was sleeping quietly. Even though the lights were off, her sleeping figure was clearly visible thanks to the moonlight shining through the window.
‘So cute.’
Ssurukruk- I put up the blind and placed my hand on the warm stone.
It was the moment I took off my top because I was thinking of going to sleep after taking a bath.
“Crash!”
Ruska’s moans could be heard from beyond the curtain. Startled, I reflexively opened the curtain.
There he saw Ruska, who had been sleeping comfortably, waking up with a sudden jerk.
“Ugh… That was a bad dream.”
Ruska sits up and starts talking to herself.
Fortunately, nothing happened, but I was covered in cold sweat.
It was the moment when I woke up, as if I wanted to drink some water.
“Hey, when did you come back?”
“just now.”
She was surprised to find me like that, but then she suddenly looked at me with wide eyes.
Then, his face turned bright red and he covered his eyes with his hands.
“Cover…”
“what?”
“Cover your body.”
Oh right. I took off my top to take a bath.
But it was unexpected. That Ruska would be embarrassed by something like this.
“Are you embarrassed by this?”
“Don’t go quickly!”
Okay, I got it, I got it.
I gave in to Ruska’s urging and put up the blindfold again.
I was finally able to get into the bathtub and enjoy a peaceful bath.
But then she comes up to me at the door and says she has something urgent to say.
“You had a nightmare?”
“It was the most unpleasant dream. People around me were being murdered for some reason.”
“reason?”
I asked why, but I didn’t get the answer I wanted.
“At first I thought it was just a nightmare… but for some reason I couldn’t calm down.”
Ruska sat down, leaning against the bathroom door, shivering as she recalled her dream from earlier.
“I was knocked down, and Angela was falling from the sky. I was shaking even though I knew it was a dream.”
Now it finally explains why I woke up shivering a little while ago.
That part alone is shocking, but it’s not over yet.
“And you were in that dream too. You too died.”
“How do you get killed?”
“I wasn’t killed by anyone in particular. I just turned to dust and disappeared.”
It turns to dust and disappears on its own. I’ve seen this phenomenon before.
Because in the past, there was a guy from the Layert family who was cursed with the same curse as me and met the same death.
“I don’t know why I had that dream… but it didn’t feel like a simple dream. And I suddenly wondered why you were the only one who died like that.”
“….”
“It felt like I was going to die from a curse. So just in case… you’re not under something, are you?”
The dream’s overly realistic nature raised Ruska’s doubts.
A pure white full moon was shining in the sky outside the bathroom window. I looked up from inside the bathtub and said, “That’s right,” but…
“■Ah.”
“what?”
“…sorry.”
I guess what can’t be done can’t be done. It’s been a long time since I felt this frustration of not being able to convey something.
But the fact that Ruska had such a dream was not ordinary.
This is because some of the Yoho tribe’s naturally gifted people display special powers during the full moon.
“Is there any reason you can’t answer?”
“huh.”
“But Jenny seemed to know?”
My body flinched involuntarily at that question. At the same time, the water in the bathtub splashed slightly, and Ruska, who read the meaning of that sound, spoke.
“Jenny knew too?”
“….”
“Why can’t you tell me?”
He said there was a reason why he couldn’t do it.
But if you can’t even explain the reason, it just looks like evasion.
Ruska recalled. Jenny’s snickering as if she was the only one who didn’t know.
That question had been piling up without me even knowing it.
“curious?”
“Of course I’m curious!”
“Why?”
“Well, we… we…”
Ruska lowers her head again, her face turning red.
Ruska’s personality was still so dishonest that he couldn’t even say, “We’re friends.”
But was there really any reason to blush at such an expression of friendship?
Ruska was ashamed of her honesty.
“Are you afraid that we’re leaving you out?”
“You guys share secrets among yourselves, so don’t you think I’ll feel left out?”
“But you and I are sharing a room like this.”
“That’s separate from this.”
Ruska’s grumpy words can be heard through the door.
He seemed quite hurt, but he quickly calmed down and spoke to me again.
It was rather a worried tone.
“Are you really okay? Are you worried that if you keep hiding it until the end, it’ll end up like the nightmare I had?”
“That won’t happen. At least your body won’t turn to dust.”
It shouldn’t exist. It absolutely should not exist.
I have endured and held on to the fact that I know better than anyone else but cannot convey to others.
“Then don’t die.”
To me, Ruska said:
“Even if your body doesn’t turn to dust… don’t ever die.”
That vivid dream made Ruska very anxious.
It was shocking to dream of people around me dying, but if it had been the old Ruska, I wouldn’t have blinked an eye.
But now it is different. The heart that fell into the abyss has been rescued and is adapting to the present world.
Even though the environment of that world was unfamiliar, it wasn’t too bad. At that time, there weren’t even people I could call ‘people around me’.
“What if I die?”
What would happen if a friend you cared about disappeared from that world?
“I’ll go back to that time again.”
Therefore, he cannot die.
For myself, and for them.
I will definitely lift the curse.
“That won’t happen.”
I got out of the bathtub while looking up at the full moon. It had been quite some time since I had been in it, so this was enough for a bath.
After I washed myself and changed into my underwear, I came out and saw Ruska standing in front of the door.
“Then, will you be able to tell me someday?”
It’s unfair that only Jenny knows the secret.
I noticed that feeling and said with a smile.
“You will surely find out.”
“Then promise me.”
Ruska held out her little finger, holding her breath. I laughed to myself at the sight of her trying to hold back her embarrassment.
But the moment I put my finger on it, her expression brightened.
When I noticed that sight, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It’s just… there’s a big gap between you now and before.”
“Take what is obvious.”
Ruska and I, with warm expressions on our faces, walked into the living room.
It was already 11pm. I was about to go back to bed and fall into a comfortable sleep, but suddenly I heard a sound.
Dalgrak Dalgrak-
When Ruska and I heard that strange sound, we ran to the magic refrigerator in the center of the living room.
I was horrified to see a large snake and a crow there poking around for food.
“Oh, sorry. Did I accidentally spill it?”
『… .』
When on earth did it manifest?
While we were in the bathroom, Muto and Aisha were secretly stealing food from the fridge.
It looks like what I said earlier about being hungry wasn’t an empty promise.
Then I spilled food on the floor and heard a sound.
『Hahaha! Still, I ate well, you vomit!』
“I’m sorry for spilling it at the end.”
“These crazy things…!”
The guys quickly opened the window and ran outside.
Although Aisha spoke politely, her actions were no different from Muto’s.
As I was vowing that it would soon pour down the rain of Manyeong… I sensed a bad vibe from Ruska.
Because there were more than one or two pieces of food spilled on the floor.
“Are you their trainer?”
“No, not a trainer…”
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“Yes. That’s right, trainer.”
“Your animals made this mess of the floor I cleaned today.”
“….”
Ruska’s red gaze, rising eerily, was staring at the dirty floor.
When his gaze finally turned to me, a danger alarm sounded inside me.
I grabbed some cleaning supplies to try to defuse the situation.
“I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.”
“Ha… there’s no need to do that. It’s a waste, so I can’t throw it away.”
“what?”
“I put a lot of effort into making this today. Don’t you think it was a waste of time and effort?”
Ruska began to collect the food that had fallen on the floor into a bowl. It wasn’t really so mushy that it was completely inedible.
Looking at her like that, I could think of my past self when I was living alone.
“Would you like to try one while you’re at it?”
Ruska suddenly asked with a curious expression. I nodded without thinking and cautiously opened my mouth.
A piece of fried fish was placed in her hand and put into her mouth.
Soon, I spoke pleasantly to Ruska, who seemed to be waiting for a reaction.
“It’s delicious.”
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
