WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ Academy's Pure Love Dark Knight ◈

Chapter 110

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Episode 110. The Wolf's Love Is Surprisingly Heavy.

* * *

The academy's first semester had ended completely, and summer vacation had begun.

There was also the pretext that repairs were needed because of the Heroic Cult's attack, so the timing was fitting.

'Dragon Heart... I've completely adjusted to it now.'

My body had fully recovered. Now I felt like usual, no, better than before.

My whole body felt light as a feather, I supposed. Probably thanks to Phine doing such a good job with the Dragon Heart transplant.

Or maybe it was thanks to the saint I'd seen in my dream. Either way, she remained the one who'd saved my life.

"Ha-ha-ha! My disciple!"

"Good day, Master Drake."

In the end, I couldn't defy Emperor Rook's orders, so I'd arrived at the harbor dock to head north, and there before me stood my first teacher. I greeted him.

"So, you're heading north, are you?!"

"Yes. In the end it seems this can only be resolved by catching the Apostle. Are you feeling alright?"

In the end, I'd have to convince Asha before things with Nex could be resolved. Forcing the two of them together could only make things worse.

"Buahahat!! Now my disciple's even worrying about his teacher!"

"Honestly, you've helped me a lot with swordsmanship."

In a way, this man was no different from a savior to me too. A yellow-haired man with as many scars on his face as I had.

"Some rabble from the Heroic Cult could never scratch me!!"

Demon-King Slaying, Shadow Slash, Void Slash... without his techniques, I wouldn't have been able to protect Phine.

"My disciple, I heard you killed Ache. Won't you really learn perfect dragon-slaying?!"

"I'll have to decline."

Drake had taken me on as a disciple without prejudice, after all. Someone who couldn't even use basic magic, divine power, or spirit arts.

"How sad! This teacher is truly sad!"

"If Phine were here, I don't know, but as things stand now, I don't think she'd let it slide."

Under him, I'd trained until it felt like I was whittling away my own flesh and bone. Sometimes, feeling myself grow so quickly, I'd even wondered if I had some kind of talent.

"...The Princess?"

But every time, Drake had whipped me back into shape. To catch the Demon Kings, I'd needed to pursue the extreme, just as Dennis always said.

An ultimate technique that overwrote the very concept itself.

If I'd settled for less and given up partway, I never would have gotten the results I had now.

The salty scent of the sea tickled my nose, and gulls flew overhead. The waves reflected the sunlight, making me squint.

"Yes? Is something wrong? You've suddenly gone quiet...."

"..."

Against that backdrop stood two swordsmen. What on earth had happened with Phine to make him freeze up like that?

"I heard from His Majesty. You, you... what exactly is your relationship with the Princess? My disciple...?"

Drake asked, gripping my shoulder. Had Rook said something to my teacher? The Grand Sword Master's hand was trembling.

"We're just friends."

Calling us comrades felt off, it was more like how classmates at university get close, just about that level of relationship. Even though I did have feelings for Phine, unrequited as they were.

"That's right! There's no way you'd dare seduce the Empire's Princess!! Buahahat!!"

"Of course not. We're not even on the same level."

It was one-sided. Fifteen years of unrequited love. Honestly, from her position, it might even be frightening.

'"I was in love with a future version of you." The moment those words left my mouth, I'd be treated like a lunatic.'

Even if, by some one-in-ten-thousand chance, she believed me, she might gradually start worrying about her future self until her true nature got buried under it.

At the very least, I didn't want to do something like that. That would make me some obsessive stalker.

"His Majesty was worrying over nothing! Well then, I'll trust you on this, my disciple!"

I could love Phine in any form she took, so I just wanted her to live her own life. Even if that meant meeting someone else, marrying them, dating them, there was nothing to be done about it.

And for her sake, I'd gladly give up my life.

"Ah, there he is. Licht."

Just then, a familiar humming voice reached me.

"Found you..."

"Phine? How on earth did you get here..."

In the distance, a heavily armored glass knight came into view. She was wearing her Masterpiece, just like when we'd first met.

"I followed your scent here."

The moment she reached me, she closed the distance as if trying to sniff me out.

It made a mockery of what I'd just told Drake, how close we looked.

"The dragon slayer greets the Empire's Princess!!"

"Ah, Drake."

The man's mouth flapped open and shut before he finally dropped to one knee to greet her. No matter how close a Ten Great he was to her in private, I supposed he couldn't speak so casually to her in public.

"Go back to normal, you don't need to be so formal."

"Buahahat!! Polite speech really doesn't suit me!!"

Whether Drake liked it or not, Phine looked me over from every angle,

"Good, I made it in time..."

After confirming I was alright, she took off her glass helmet and armor. The frank curves of a woman's figure came into full view.

"Don't tell me you're doing all this because you're planning to come north with me, Phine."

"Yeah, I was worried about you, Licht."

"You know I've fully recovered."

Seeing her dressed in the same pure white academy uniform as me, like we were matching as a couple, made my head throb. It's only two percent, so why does it feel like this?

"Still, I want to be your strength, Licht."

"What's the reason, Phine?"

If this keeps up and it drops straight to zero percent, my heart's going to shatter. Please, stop.

"Because you're a lone wolf."

"...Huh? What does that mean, Phine?"

"A lonely person..."

I caught Phine's hand again as she reached to lift my visor out in the open.

"Fufu, Licht. You really are gentle."

Right away, she took the initiative and laced her fingers through mine. I'd only grabbed her wrist because I was worried it might hurt otherwise.

"Where exactly is that gentle? I'm just doing whatever I want."

"That's exactly why, if I leave you alone, I feel like you'll break. Get hurt."

Phine smiled faintly. She wiggled her fingers, her soft, warm touch brushing the back of my hand, and my heart tickled.

"Last time too, fighting the Demon King, you nearly died twice..."

"..."

"Am I wrong? Licht."

Her golden eyes bore into me sharply, like they could pierce right through. Was this how a husband being scolded felt?

I was a decent, upstanding person. I hadn't cheated behind her back or gone out enjoying myself somewhere, yet somehow it felt like I'd done something wrong.

"...Everything you say is right, Phine."

"Fufu, so listen to me for once."

She let out her signature laugh. When it was worry coming from someone I loved, I had no choice but to go along with whatever she said.

"And if you listen to what the Princess says... something good might just happen...."

For a moment, something faintly cold and damp touched my face. What was this?

'...Ointment for treating wounds?'

While I'd bowed my head for a moment, she'd lifted my visor and was applying something that looked like ointment to my face. Startled, I met her eyes.

"What is this, Phine?"

"It's a treatment for burn scars. I could use healing magic to fix it all at once, but..."

Even looking at the burn marks, her expression didn't change. If anything, she looked like she was worried for me.

"I thought it might be nice if we healed it slowly, together, with this instead."

"Why on earth... you don't need to go this far for me, Phine."

She even gave a small smile, trying in her own way to hide it. Her acting was really awkward. At least she wasn't disgusted or scared, which was a relief.

"No, now it's my scar too."

Phine applied the ointment one careful, meticulous stroke at a time, without a single gap.

"I went through some of what happened in your trauma too, didn't I."

Her touch was small and delicate as a fern shoot, but it carried the warmth of her heart.

"Honestly, I can't understand you completely, Licht."

Her white ears twitched, and once again her wolf tail coiled around my leg, keeping me from running from my own feelings.

"...Because I don't really know you."

My heartbeat drowned out every sound around us, and the scent of roses kept stirring through my mind,

"But, like you told me before..."

My body had frozen and wouldn't move. Watching her try so gently, so tenderly, to heal my wound, I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Even if I'm weak, I can still be your strength."

A current seemed to run through my entire body. It was, unmistakably, love. The instant felt like an eternity, and even the guilt that had tormented me all my life melted away like snow.

"There, all done now. Licht."

"...Thank you, always, Phine."

After coating my whole face in ointment, Phine Gransia straightened her shoulders as if proud of herself and carefully closed my visor back up.

"You did so well holding still... Licht..."

For her sake, since she was trying to pat my helmet, I bent my knees slightly to match her height. She'd been about to go up on her toes to reach, so I figured I should help her out.

"...At times like this, you really do seem like a cute little puppy."

A light weight tapped down on top of my head. Treating a person like a puppy really wasn't a good thing, you know.

'I'm going to lose my mind. Seriously.'

Looking at her, the woman who'd made me a prisoner of love both in reality and here, I could only laugh in disbelief.

"My disciple... is this really just a friendship?!"

My teacher was shouting something at Phine and me from beside us, but I couldn't hear a word of it.

I just thought that I wanted this moment to last forever.

* * *

After Ache's death, the place where the Heroic Cult's Demon Kings gathered hung heavy with silence.

Crash.

What shattered that silence was the sound of someone throwing a glass.

"...Damn it, that idiot bastard Ache!!"

"Fin, calm down..."

The red-haired man called Fin snapped in anger and shattered the glass, while beside him, the blue-haired woman, Intinium, tried to calm him.

"So overconfident in his own power. The very picture of arrogance."

"Heogun, you always have to run your mouth about everything, don't you? Huh?!"

Heogun, who bore deer antlers just like the Heavenly Demon, shot Fin a mocking sneer. At that moment, Fin moved to activate his power, but

"That's enough."

The woman in the magician's hat stepped in to break up the fight. Playing cards flew out like thrown knives and stopped right at the throats of all three.

The Demon Kings, who'd come within a hair of losing their heads, froze in place. Whatever else, it was undeniable that Magic Hat, once she brought out her true form, was the strongest of them all.

"The Ledger of Life and Death is still with us. Though the powers of Omniscience and Erasure of knowledge are gone now..."

She set a red revolver and a book down on the table and smiled.

"So, is that bastard's calculated 'prophecy' actually correct?!"

"Yes, the prophecy is still achievable, Demon King of Might."

Only after hearing that did Fin sit back down and cross his legs. The other Demon Kings followed suit and took their seats as well,

"The Hero of Truth guarantees it's true. All you have to do is use my ability."

They spoke once more about Ache's death.

"Hmph, if it weren't for our Intinium, I never would have gone along with Ache's plan in the first place."

"Fin..."

The blue-eyed woman looked at him with sad eyes, and at that, Heogun crossed their arms and asked a question.

"So you mean to go through with the plan after all, jester."

"My, calling me a jester... that's quite harsh, Heogun."

With one Demon King already dead, trusting her and pushing ahead with the plan as it stood seemed reckless, so the words had come from genuine concern, but

"According to the prophecy Ache left behind, from now on I'll be sending Fin and Intinium."

Magic Hat only traced a leisurely curve across her lips. She looked like a Demon King who'd already grasped, to some degree, the full measure of a man named Licht's strength.

"In the end, once we deal with my darling husband, no, Lee Suhyun, it'll all be over..."

With a snap of her fingers, white hair turned to black, like someone else's color entirely,

"He surely won't know that this time's Demon King is a pair of twin siblings, either."

When she snapped her fingers a second time, Magic Hat, now wearing a monocle, was reading the Ledger of Life and Death while doing an impression of Ache.

"I've already sent the Apostle, so monsters are coming down on the north already... Magic Hat..."

"Well done, Intinium."

She stroked the head of Intinium, who'd clasped her trembling hands together to barely get the report out, like a pet dog, all while trying to squeeze every last use out of the prophecy Ache had left behind.

"Hmm, so this is exactly how the prophecy goes?"

After some time, once her thoughts had settled, the magician closed the book with a bright expression, but

"...Someday, I really should attend the academy together with my darling husband!"

Seeing her face, the polar opposite of grief even though a comrade had died, the other Demon Kings felt a chill run through them.

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