WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 057

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Episode 57. The Thrill of the Final Exam Comes with Youth.

Phine Gransia.

Her keen eyes could discern human lies.

Thus, from a young age, she could easily detect flattery or insincere words from others, but,

"..."

She saw the expressions of people who saw her as a monster. Furthermore, if a liar firmly believed their lie to be the truth, these eyes would not work.

Many times a day, she hated her keen eyes.

To live among people, she should have remained silent even knowing these facts. It was a similar case with Nex Aureus.

Incomplete talent. It was like a curse.

But this time was different.

Someone who lied even after becoming a Demon King came to mind.

A strange man wearing a Black Knight helmet. An unusual person who had somehow drawn close to her.

"Thanks to you, it was enjoyable. Thank you."

From her perspective, these words were half lies and half truth.

Thinking about it now, he must have hated leaving them to die.

It was an act of walking directly into death's door. Because he seemed to know something about the Head,

He didn't try to subdue the opponent with Drake-style swordsmanship as usual.

The angle at which he launched Void Slash was to create an opening by pushing Magic Hat far away, It was to heal himself and others with the Holy Knight's skills.

As soon as that was over, he immediately borrowed the Holy Sword of Light and acted strangely.

Because of this, he seemed to have guessed, like her, that the Demon King of Truth was strong. The Holy Sword was an effective weapon against Demon Kings. It was a rational judgment.

"It's contradictory, Licht. Why bother putting on an act... If you hadn't, it would have been less sad."

However, that man, contradictorily, had a weak heart.

'Fight with me, actually, I'm scared. I might die.'

Instead of saying something like that, what came out was a sad farewell mixed with lies.

The truth clinging to the backside: 'Actually, I wanted to stay with you all.' Phine alone had sensed that emotion.

Therefore, Phine thought the man named Licht would soon reappear. Because his words were so deeply tinged with lingering attachment.

She expected him to say something cheeky like, 'Mardol, were you sad without me?' or 'Kainel, Ariel. What are you doing?'

A month passed like that. Using teleportation crystals daily to search the forest became her routine.

Even when Imperial Guards like Gold tried to discourage her, she didn't miss a single day searching for his traces.

She hated the thought that someone might die because of her again, like her mother, and that the same incident might repeat. She was terrified. Not only that, but she felt nauseated by her own weakness.

"..What the hell. Making people worry like that."

But he came back as if nothing happened, and all he said was, 'I'm sorry.' How naive could a person be?

This Black Knight, who reached the level of a Sword Master by training with a sword for someone he loved, and who asked her to take good care of the mysterious 'Nameless Saintess'.

He seemed like someone who liked fresh, young love.

Yesterday too, at the bakery, he called her aside and made her leave, so Kainel and Ariel could have time alone. Even without much perception, she understood that much.

..Though there was the unfortunate incident where she became a little emotional and cried while holding Licht. Anyway, that happened.

'I couldn't help it. I thought she had been dead for over ten years...'

The man named Licht merely comforted her kindly. Gentle words like, 'You could protect even if you were weak. It's not your fault.'

"..."

Had somewhat warmly healed her wounds.

Rather than being praised for saving her life or being strong, these aspects appealed to Phine. She had expected him to scold her and say something for sure.

'You could have blamed me more, Licht.'

There was none of that. He must have almost died fighting Magic Hat. She didn't know what method he used to recover.

It was rather suspicious that he reappeared without a scratch after facing the strongest Demon King she had ever seen. He might have healed at the cost of his life.

'A kind liar.'

A person who always piled up lies, put up walls with others, and tried to solve things alone. That was the type of person she truly disliked, but,

'..Licht is different.'

In Phine's heart, her evaluation of the Black Knight was different. Because now she knew that he had ultimately tried his best for her and the Hero's party.

Examining the Queen of Hearts he had handed her, her golden eyes slowly moved. A study where a small campfire burned.

'..If Magic Hat is caught, Mother will return to normal, he said.'

In that space was a white-haired girl. Recalling what she had asked Laplace and the Sage, she let out a sigh of relief.

'Now that I think about it... it wasn't the first time you lied, Licht.'

This time, Phine reminisced about Licht from their first encounter.

A person she hadn't even thought of at first.

It all started when she heard that someone called the Hero of Light had appeared in a rural village, and she asked her butler Dizur to find out if he could contend with her.

But Kainel's skill was below her expectations, and just as she was disappointed and trying to lose interest. She heard three syllables from Dizur.

'..Licht.'

She came to know a unique man wearing a Black Knight helmet. A 5-star monster, Shadow Wolf, often caught even skilled individuals off guard if they didn't know its habit of diving into shadows.

She knew from books that one had to be careful when the light went out, or that its eyes were a weakness.

'Even easily subduing the Shadow Wolf, Licht makes sense.'

Knowing the weakness of a difficult-to-handle monster implies a commensurate level of skill.

So she headed to the Academy. A place she had always wanted to attend.

She judged that she could become stronger there, and,

She attended school wearing even the Masterpiece-grade glass armor. She disliked the thought of any threat from Magic Hat or her identity as a princess being revealed.

Afterward, around the time she applied to join the Magic Club, Licht's lie became apparent.

Was it when he was explaining the theory of three-dimensional magic circles?

"Student Licht, where did you hear this theory?"

"I thought of it myself. I guess since I can't use magic, I came to admire it."

What a contradictory person. She wished he wouldn't tell such obvious lies.

'Even if it weren't me, it was too... obvious.'

The man wearing the Black Knight helmet was so naive that her keen eyes weren't even needed. When he lied, his words trembled and sped up, to the point where even the seemingly clueless Kainel could notice.

The sword exchange was the same. At first, it really seemed like he was teaching her Drake-style swordsmanship, but,

"I'm still thinking about it."

He was a person who changed his words as easily as flipping his palm.

But his lies were so clear, and he was so honest and clumsy that she didn't even need her keen eyes to see through them.

"Everyone has weak moments, Mardol."

"If you have such negative thoughts from the start, you'll only hurt yourself."

Or the concern he showed for her during the sword training.

"..It's okay, Mardol. It's not your fault."

"..Thank you for fighting to the very end."

The honest conversations they had yesterday at the Gransia Empire Bakery, the fact that they were all true, felt genuine, comfortable, and warm.

'So there really are good Demon Kings...'

Rather, she liked those aspects. She didn't need to discern lies, and even though he knew she was a princess from the start, he didn't treat her specially.

'..Do I really know that person properly?'

Phine suddenly had that thought. The man named Licht understood her well. Wearing glass armor, her body was close to that of a heavily armored knight.

Honestly, fear was legible in his eyes, but even when she made physical contact, he just awkwardly laughed it off.

Phine was slightly curious what his reaction would be if she took off her glass armor, but once again, her wolf ears and tail drooped.

'Not yet... but still, that can't happen.'

This time, in the Endless Forest of Monsters, the people around her almost fell victim to Magic Hat for the second time. As that past moment came to mind, she found herself unable to breathe.

"Ugh.."

Clutching her chest, she complained of pain. Because not only her mother but also all her close maids had died at the hands of the mad magician.

She didn't want to see such a sight again, so she resisted to the very end.

As Licht had said, 'You could protect even if you were weak,' she couldn't just stand by.

"..."

If that man hadn't said what he did before, would she have been able to bravely fight Magic Hat like that?

No. She put her hope in 'you can protect even if you're weak' and tried to protect the Hero's party.

Was it thanks to the encouragement she heard yesterday? Although she still couldn't accept the Black Knight's words that it wasn't her fault,

'It is my fault, Licht... because I'm still weak.'

Phine's grip tightened. Once again, her ears and tail regained their vitality. She barely regained her composure and sighed.

"..I wonder if Licht would want the Dragon Heart from the Year Exam."

She wanted to repay him somehow. She hadn't told her father yet, fearing he might collapse from shock.

'Since he had a constitution that couldn't use magic... that's probably right, isn't it?'

The desire to get something for the Black Knight who saved her mother began to fill her empty, glass-like heart.

'..Oh?'

What was the reason for these thoughts? She questioned herself for behaving differently than usual.

'It's not because he saved my life. It's closer to curiosity than that... Ah.'

Like someone else's habit, Phine too, at some point, rested her chin on her hand and fell deep into thought. How much time had passed?

"I... that person..."

Phine slowly opened her closed golden eyes.

"..I want to know him more, don't I?"

Startled by the single sentence that had popped out of her mouth without her realizing it, she covered her mouth with her hand.

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