WeTried Translations
Translator: Botanica
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Academy's Pure Love Dark Knight ◈
Chapter 127
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Episode 127. Back to the Academy. (End of Part 1.5)
* * *
We moved to the harbor to return to the Empire once more.
"Well then!! Take care!! Iron-Blooded Daughter!!"
"May peace be with you as well, Drake."
Drake and Sophitia exchanged farewells. Unlike when we'd arrived, this time it had been decided that Asha would return with us too.
With the Apostle of Wrath problem resolved, monsters shouldn't be coming down to the North anymore. And it looked like Sophitia Coldheart's heart condition would be cured soon, too.
'If it's Gi-seok, he's someone I can trust.'
He comes across cold most of the time, but in the end he's the type who takes good care of the people he cares about. If he really did fall into this game world like me, maybe I'd get to see him eventually.
"Phine, how was the hot spring yesterday?"
Phine had been quiet with me for a while now. Maybe the shock from the hot spring had been too much, because the habit she'd had of sticking close to me was gone.
"I, I can't say.."
The moment Sophitia brought up the hot spring, Phine's face turned red like a bomb going off with a bang. The Glass Knight covered her face with both hands, not knowing what to do.
"Phine. Are you all right?"
"..Hic. Hup."
On top of that, every time I got closer she'd start hiccuping and run. She backed away, her snow-white hair fluttering behind her.
'Though the status window looks fine, if anything.'
A pale pink status window appeared before my eyes. As if to tease me, little heart emojis kept popping out and falling to the ground.
[Lee Suhyun ♡ Phine Gransia 4% 'NEW!!']
Thankfully, it hadn't gone down. Before coming to the North, Phine had been fully determined to keep a firm hold on me, but her attitude had done a complete one-eighty.
"Ah.. Uh.."
Through the gaps between her covering fingers, I could see her golden wolf eyes trembling. She really was pretty enough that anyone would fall for her at a glance.
Enough that I found myself thinking the night sky, full of stars as seen from a pure white snowfield, might be exactly that color.
"..Licht, what on earth did you do to her?"
"Just a light greeting."
Sophitia gave me a strange look. What, why. All I did was a cheek kiss. And it wasn't even real contact, just the sound.
Physical affection like that is something you save for after you're dating someone you truly love. If you just give it away because someone wants it for no real reason, that isn't pure love.
I do love Phine, but as she is right now, anyone could see that..
"Phine, don't stay so far away, come here."
"No.. no.. you pervert.."
Wasn't she just a pure girl embarrassed at having picked up strange knowledge purely from books?
'She doesn't even seem to know how to kiss to begin with.'
If she'd actually known how, she should have already thrown her arms around my neck and pushed her lips against mine, and even that wouldn't have felt like enough.
Strangely enough, even just touching her lips with a finger had been enough to break her Wrath state before, and now, even with no real contact and only the sound of a kiss, she'd made some cute excuse and run off.
It was almost absurd, her believing that a kiss alone would make her fall in love. I'd played a little trick on that innocent wolf, and this was the result.
"You pervert mutt..!"
One step forward from me, one step back from her. Phine, who used to show barely any change in expression, was now even raising her voice the moment I tried to get close.
"My student, if my brother finds out about this…."
"I didn't engage in any indecent physical contact, Master."
Drake grabbed my shoulder and groaned. If Emperor Rook found out, the North would probably get split in half. I knew that too. But I couldn't help it.
"It was necessary."
I couldn't stand watching Phine get tangled up with some bad man and push him for a kiss. And now that she sometimes goes around the academy without her helmet on too, someone might even find out she's a woman.
Shouldn't I stay by her side and help Phine learn what real love actually is?
I'm only trying to give back what she gave me, back when she was the Nameless Saintess and taught me what love was.
My affection level with her is going up, sure. But considering harem routes existed even for Kainel and Nex, plenty of problems could still come up.
'From the game company's perspective, they might actually prefer giving hope and then yanking it away.'
That's what my own penalty is like, after all. It wouldn't make sense if changing Phine's past required me to defeat a Demon King.
If I'd stopped acting out of fear of the penalty, wouldn't I be standing right now beside a Phine who, caught in the Demon Kings' scheme, couldn't remember her friends, her family, or even her own name?
But Phine had her original life stolen from her too, so she deserves to be happy.
I'd worked hard for her sake, in so many ways. I was even trying to personally take care of the future where she becomes the saintess. But was any of this really for Phine's sake?
'..Honestly, I don't really know.'
That question kept circling in my chest. It really was a contradiction, feeling like a guy like me needed to stay away for Phine's happiness, while still doing all this.
"Phine, if you don't come quickly, I'll leave you behind."
"..."
The conflicting desire to actually date Phine kept clashing inside me. And honestly, I used to think poorly of the status window too.
Why did I suddenly want to trust the numbers so much.
Maybe our Phine was just too cute, cute enough to crush every negative feeling I had.
"Don't.. leave me behind.."
Look at her, scurrying over to my side the moment I threatened to leave without her.
If I had a wish, it'd be to get lovey-dovey with Phine back at Grand Hearts Academy, to go on dates, to grow close enough to open up about things we'd never told each other, and in the end….
"That was a lie."
"But it felt real.."
How wonderful would it be if she got to wear the wedding dress she'd always wanted to wear, too. If you're late, the ship leaves, so leaving you behind really is the only option, Phine.
"Ah, Phine. Would you put the burn ointment on for me again today?"
"..Here."
When we first came to the North, Phine had seemed anxious, like she couldn't have me the way she wanted. Now that I actually lift my visor and show her my bare face, this is the reaction I get.
"Weren't you going to put it on for me?"
"Do it.. yourself.."
She'd started turning her head aside, handing over the ointment without ever meeting my eyes. She kept a fixed minimum distance now, too.
"Then I'll gratefully take it."
"Hnn.. Licht.."
Even the slightest touch of a finger got a reaction this sensitive. What would have happened if we'd actually kissed for real? It was a miracle my reason had held out back at the hot spring.
"You have to.. put it on.. every single day.."
"I know, Phine."
I'd kept thinking about it at night and lost sleep over it, but forcing myself to hold back had been the right choice. If I'd crossed the line back then, I never would have gotten to see this cute side of Phine.
Part of me even wondered if the whole thing had been some honey trap set up to surround me.
I might well have woken up chained head to toe in the dungeons beneath the imperial palace.
"Grand Duchess Sophitia, we'll be taking our leave now."
"Just call me Sophie. If you're Phine's boyfriend, you're a close friend of mine too."
Right before boarding the ship, I said my goodbyes to the Northern Grand Duchess, a woman decked out head to toe in black, with the ears of a bear.
"I think.... you might have the wrong word there.."
"What's wrong with that? You are a friend who's a man, aren't you?"
This woman kept poking at my real intentions, just like that gigolo bastard. Still, I should count myself lucky she hadn't slipped poison into my dinner back at the hot spring.
"Take good care of our princess, Black Knight."
"Do you even need to say it? I'll treat her well regardless."
"And be careful not to make her jealous. Werewolves can be terrifying if you cross them wrong, you know?"
A cold sweat trickled down my neck. Was there some trait about her I didn't know? I'd never once heard the saintess-era Phine say anything about being a werewolf and what that meant.
Something felt seriously off, but since I wasn't planning on looking at any woman other than Phine anyway, I decided not to worry about it.
Even if her jealousy ran deep, her defense was weak enough that she'd crumble in one hit anyway.
"Ah, if a man named Flinz ever comes back, could you pass this message along to him?"
I decided to leave a message, just in case that gigolo bastard had also been possessed into this game somehow.
If the Grand Route and status window really were only visible to me, then it'd be practically because of me that he'd ended up in here in the first place.
"Tell him the Academy has its own pure-love Black Knight."
"..Got it. I don't know when he'll be back, but I'll make sure to tell him."
That much should get the point across. I didn't know if the cure for her heart condition would be finished anytime soon, but we'd meet again someday.
"Thank you, Sophie."
I boarded the ship with a lighter step than usual. Maybe it was thanks to having looked back at my own feelings while up in the North.
Wouldn't it be nice to be just a little more honest with Phine, I thought, as I faced into the sea breeze.
* * *
Beneath the blue sea lies the deep sea.
"No, seriously, why won't you sell me a sea rabbit's foot?!"
"Hmph. I don't sell to filthy landwalkers."
At a general goods shop down there, a man and a middle-aged man with octopus legs for feet were raising their voices at each other.
The man with striking red eyes and white hair had been struggling hard to buy something that wasn't for sale, and then,
"Even if I make you an offer you'll find tempting?"
"That is..?"
Then he eased off a step and thrust a silver talisman at the merchant.
It was an item impressive enough to make the merchant drop the bubble-pipe he'd been smoking, a token that looked similar to the one Licht had shown to get into the hot spring.
It looked like a lower grade than the gold one, but the reaction made clear it was still plenty valuable.
"A hot spring entry pass only nobles get to use..?! Where in the world did you get that!"
The moment he tried to snatch the glittering silver in front of him, the white-haired man quickly swatted his hand away.
"Ah-ah, don't touch."
"Fine, I'll sell you the sea rabbit's foot!! So hurry up!!"
The white-haired man watched the octopus merchant's face flush red and purple by turns.
"Good. Let's make the trade."
Having finally traded for the item he wanted, he left the shop at an unhurried pace. The man gazed at the jellyfish lighting up the dark sea beautifully and began muttering to himself.
"Already bought the Snow Marine Crystal.. a unicorn horn…. no, wait. I'd have to go to the Fire Country for that one."
He smiled, satisfied to see things going the way he'd planned, then pulled a long scroll of parchment from inside his coat and read down the list of items.
"Suhyun.. I was writing up notes on your Magic Hat attempts, and what even is this.."
The man going by the alias Flinz pulled a sour face at the sheer length of the list. He tousled his own white hair once, voicing his frustration.
"I couldn't take it anymore either, so I posted it on the community for anyone to come clear it…."
Flinz stretched out a hand, and a cluster of small bats gathered into a straight line, forming his favorite weapon, a red-hued magic spear.
"The game company isn't giving me a thing. Guess I'll just protect our grand duchess, then."
Having confirmed the spear summoned properly underwater, Flinz curved his lips into a faint smile.
"Once I've got this taken care of, monster raids won't even be a problem."
As more and more words got crossed off the parchment one by one, the player who used to go by the nickname Northern Grand Duchess's Husband moved on to somewhere else.
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