WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 075

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Episode 75. An Emotion Like a Shot of Fireworks.

I led Mardol to the academy terrace. It was late afternoon, with the sun sinking low after the awards ceremony ended.

"It's dangerous for you to come to our dormitory, Mardol."

I chided the Glass Knight for recklessly entering the men's dormitory. Even if she did go around pretending to be the Crown Prince, still. What if someone else found out?

No matter how you look at it, I'm worried about unexpected events happening. Besides, you shouldn't get entangled with me.

"With you here, Licht, it's not dangerous."

"..."

She's definitely talking more than before. Why is she acting like this all of a sudden? I have our Saintess and only her. I hung my head and sighed.

"So, why did you come here?"

"To give you this."

Tap tap. Mardol tapped the box with her small hand. Could this be that thing? I pushed the latch and checked the contents.

"...A Dragon Heart."

"That's right. You take it, Licht."

The Glass Knight's golden eyes were gazing at me intently, waiting to see what action I would take.

Damn, did her affection level go up instead? If I accept this, the 'Mardol Route' might really become fixed. I shook my head.

"I must decline."

"...Huh?"

At that, the gleaming helmet rattled as the Glass Knight moved, as if she couldn't understand my actions.

"Why, Licht? I lost. I'm weaker than you..."

"Stop it."

There she goes again. Whether weak or strong, what does that matter here? We're still just groveling before the Demon Kings. I was so dumbfounded I covered my visor with my palm.

Actually, the 'weakness' complex might be the common point connecting me and Mardol. I had to block this.

"...Let's make a promise. Us."

"A promise?"

If I do this, she won't cling to me anymore using weakness as an excuse. Kainel, who was the protagonist of the sequel, was also quite good at keeping promises.

"From today, let's agree not to say we're weak anymore. How about it?"

"...No."

Rejected immediately. How can I get her to accept this proposal?

I already have a promise regarding our Saintess, so trying to push anything further with words seems like it would only have a negative effect.

"Then I'll accept the Dragon Heart later."

"...If I keep the promise? Until when?"

Oh, so this is tempting her, is it? She was leaning her body forward towards me. I need to reel her in like I'm fishing when she takes the bait.

"Well, how about until I'm satisfied?"

"...I understand. I'll try. Pervert."

First, I'll push with an absurd condition... Huh.

The Glass Knight was showing me her two clenched fists. I thought she'd hesitate at least once. But she accepted immediately without even looking like she was thinking.

I was caught off guard by her pure charge.

So she intended to transfer the Dragon Heart to me from the very beginning.

My plan to effectively refuse by setting a strange condition backfired. Here I am, a fool making a promise with no fixed end.

"I won't say I'm weak anymore, so you keep your promise too, Licht."

My strategy of not accepting the Dragon Heart and trying to set a different condition for the promise failed.

'No matter how I look at this...'

It's a flag. A definite flag of affection, even for someone inexperienced in love like me.

It's completely twisted. This has been happening ever since I exchanged kind words in the Shadow Fang. How can I make Mardol stop trying to get close to me?

"Why are you being so kind to me?"

"...Self-satisfaction."

This is harder than dealing with Nex Aureus. A dizzying feeling washed over me. This person really has no regard for others' feelings.

"To be honest, it's a burden. I feel like I have to do something for you in return."

Even if I did rescue Bellin Gransia, still. If you keep this up, it puts me in a difficult spot. I didn't do it on purpose in the first place; it just happened to work out thanks to luck.

I don't even have any justification to accept such blind favor. Family is precious. I just put things back where they rightfully belong.

"You don't have to do anything for me, Licht."

"...Huh?"

"It's just... I want to do this for you."

Therefore, I thought I had no reason to receive this kind of repayment. Could it be because of the Mana Rose? I was startled and waved my hands in denial.

"No matter what you say, I can't give you the Mana Ro..."

Fight fire with fire, flags with flags. I mentioned the blue rose I was going to give to our Saintess, trying to prevent our relationship from advancing further.

"It's okay."

But as if she had anticipated this, she spoke in a calm tone that calmed me down.

"...I already know you're going to give that to the 'Nameless Saintess'."

The golden wolf eyes shining from within the helmet were staring intently at me. Did she figure this out too? I didn't tell anyone. How on earth...

"I want to know you better, Licht."

"..."

I instinctively realized it. If things continued like this, we would grow closer.

As soon as I heard that, I stood up from my seat. A sensation that I shouldn't get entangled any further surged through my body like a rising tide.

Just as I was about to leave the terrace,

"Oh! Licht, Mardol. I was just looking for you."

"...Professor Dennis?"

Because of the blue-haired man staggering over, I had no choice but to sit back down. What on earth brought him here?

***

The academy terrace now had one more person. Dennis was drinking there too. Then his shining white eyes once again made their presence known.

"I saw the grade exam match well. You lost, Licht, but it's clear magic has its weaknesses too."

Dennis was rotating the three-dimensional magic circle, gradually increasing the number of rings. As expected of the protagonist of <Knight Heart>. I'm a bit jealous of that.

"...I was weak in unexpected situations."

"That's right, Mardol. It was good to twist the steel and make it into glass, but."

"I forgot about it."

"...As Drake said, if you rely only on mana, you can't move your body in unexpected situations."

He and the Glass Knight were talking, reminiscing about the past exam. Looking only at the results, Mardol won, but maybe magic users share something in common.

"Mana manipulation. I shouldn't have done that..."

"That's why our Licht was faster in the end."

Was that around the time I used Shadow Fang and everything went dark?

"At that moment, old man Drake was boasting like crazy."

"Is that so? My master did?"

I thought he'd say something about where I learned this new swordsmanship. Actually, knowing my master, I can totally imagine him laughing and saying, 'Finally, swordsmanship has defeated magic! Wahahaha!!'

"Well, in the end you lost, but you fought well, Licht. The magic students were pretty surprised, and the swordsman students saw hope."

"Entering the darkness was my own foolish move."

"That's true. You can't even use light magic, after all."

The blue-haired man drew a gentle curve on his lips and offered me words of encouragement.

"No, I'm wea... ah."

I saw the Glass Knight about to tell Dennis the truth, then cover her mouth with both hands. Thankfully, she's keeping the promise. Mardol.

She was staying silent, afraid I wouldn't accept the Dragon Heart if she said she was weak and that she actually lost.

'But why did this guy show up of all times?'

He suddenly appeared when I was trying to escape from the princess. I rested my chin on my hand and thought. Why did he come looking for not just me, but also Mardol?

'Could it be because he saw the Heavenly Demon's swordsmanship?'

I held onto a faint hope that maybe my swordsmanship had caused the Demon King's authority to be twisted and dispelled.

"Professor, did you remember anything when you saw my swordsmanship?"

"Hm? Nothing in particular."

Damn, I didn't know the power of Erasure was this strong. Can I even mention the name? It feels like Ache is tailing me.

'It might have been okay at the training ground with Baek-Mokryeon, though.'

It's too dangerous to mention the Heavenly Demon's name here within the academy. It's like running with a bomb. A time bomb that might go off at any moment.

Especially since it involves 'Omniscience.' A Demon King who knows all information, unlike any other. With a disadvantage in information warfare right now, I can't make a foolish move.

"...It's nothing."

Since I don't have a way to block the authority myself, it would be a big problem if I, too, fell to Erasure. Didn't I struggle quite a bit when dealing with Magic Hat too?

'I couldn't even fully deactivate the Masterpiece, so it's still too early.'

Even if the fake holy sword can cut through authority, it can't cut through a person, can it? If that had worked, I would have removed the bullets from the Heavenly Demon's body long ago.

"...So, why did you come looking for me and Mardol?"

"That's right."

"Ah, about that. You see."

As always, he uses honorifics with Dennis. Is this out of respect for the original protagonist? I sort of liked that about him.

"It's because our Magic Club has to participate in the 'Summer Festival'!"

With that, Dennis grinned and expressed his drunken excitement. Summer Festival? Actually, I skipped a month, so it's only natural that summer is coming soon.

"...The Summer Festival?"

"A festival. Now that I think about it, that's right, Licht."

I felt a sense of despair. I was trying to avoid the flag, but instead, it grabbed me tightly so I couldn't escape at all. This means I have to move together with Mardol after all.

If Kainel hadn't brought up the club when Mardol was around, she wouldn't have even joined. It was a moment I started to dislike that clueless Yellow Dog.

"Honestly, I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to do proper club activities."

"That's true..."

"That's right."

"So, this festival, I'm saying we should produce a proper result."

He wrote words in the air with the water in his glass. It read: <Grand Hearts Academy Summer Festival! Magic Club Booth!>

Actually, summer vacations or winter Christmases were important motifs often used in most games.

Commonly known as event characters or limited characters. There were also many characters who just got a costume change but with different stats, claiming 'Anyway, it's a different character!'

'Still, this place goes along with the seasons, so it's better, I guess.'

Fortunately, there were no unfortunate incidents like wearing swimsuits in the middle of winter or Santa suits in summer. I nodded slightly and asked Dennis.

"Then shouldn't you also tell Kainel and Ariel?"

"I've already met those students, Licht."

Did they come back from the empire's blacksmith? If they used teleportation magic, it would be quick. They must have found me and Mardol, who had just come out to the terrace.

"What exactly are you planning to do, Professor Dennis?"

"That's for you to decide. That's why I came to find you."

What? The grade exam just ended, so there should be enough time to prepare, but isn't that too irresponsible?

I thought you were a good person, Professor. At least you could have shown us an example from last year's festival before saying that.

"...So you're saying nothing has been decided yet?"

"That's right. My prospective teaching assistant."

Dennis patted my shoulder as he looked at me. He hasn't forgotten the promise about grad school yet. I've been too busy saving lives to be able to do anything about it.

"Hmm..."

I leaned back in my chair and started thinking. I'll have to do it eventually. If we produce good results at the festival, something might follow, just like with the grade exam.

'Magic club... Magic...'

I think it's best to use magic as befits the club's name. Kainel can use a little bit too, and I'm the only one who can't.

'Mardol is glass, Ariel is fireworks...'

Kainel is light. Is there anything we can do by combining these three elements? Let me think.

"Professor Dennis. By any chance."

Ah, I have one.

"Is a maze using mirrors possible with magic?"

The kind you often see in amusement parks. A memory I had with my father.

"...Of course it's possible? Are you going to do that?"

I thought for a moment that this method might work quite fresh.

"No. Let's twist it a bit more."

But in this world overflowing with magic, spirits, divine power, and swordsmanship, it might not be that impressive. We need something more novel.

"Want to mix it with something scary, Licht?"

"Ah, Mardol. That's a good idea."

There's also a haunted house in reality. I echoed the Glass Knight. I know I shouldn't keep doing this, but it was a reflexive reaction, so I couldn't help it.

"How about creating a 'makeshift afterlife'? By combining glass magic and light magic..."

"Are you trying to make them experience space distortion, Licht?"

"Plus, Ariel's flames."

A booth where people dress up as ghosts and let visitors experience the afterlife. I suggested making it scary using optical illusions with mirrors.

"Yes, that's right. Combining the magic of all three of you."

As expected of people who use magic. They knew this much better than I did. I nodded firmly in agreement.

"...Then what about Licht?"

"I have something else to do."

Maybe I'll just crack some dad jokes as if the King of Hell is asking questions. Not many people will get them.

It's a story our Saintess likes, so the more it spreads, the better.

'The Nameless Saintess might come to the Summer Festival after all.'

And so, I ended up helping prepare for the Summer Festival. In the game, it's always better to participate in events.

"Mardol. Could you look away for a moment?"

"Why? Licht."

"...It's nothing."

The princess, who has been staring only at me this whole time. Any more talking and I'll just be planting flags.

It bothers me that I have to be with her, but seriously, what could possibly go wrong.

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