WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 34

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Episode 34. There are things that don't help if you run away shamefully.

Episode 34. There are things that don't help if you run away shamefully.

What is the most important thing in a group project?

"Alright, everyone, now that we've arrived in the forest."

It's not the leader who charges ahead. It's the person behind who pushes everyone to do their part.

"Each group should select a leader and report it to me."

Yes, the leader is the most important.

Dennis, who had activated the three-dimensional magic circle and teleported all the freshmen, finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Laplace. How are you feeling?"

"A little better. Dennis."

Seeing him conversing with Laplace from afar, it seemed they had escaped the Demon King's calculations. Even an authority that covers the world has its limits, after all.

Had I finally let my guard down too? The tension left my body. I breathed again.

"So, our leader is Helmet Guy, right!"

"Ah, I suppose it has to be. I use tools... I mean, weapons the best."

I almost made a slip of the tongue again.

Was it because I was worried our Saintess might be involved? Even if I was an adult before transmigrating, I'm the same age now.

"Not tools, but weapons, right? You're good with a sword!"

The red-haired magician looked at me, sensing something odd. Ariel can be scary when she's like this. But why is she a tsundere with such keen perception?

"That's true. He's the guy who can contend with artifacts using just an iron sword."

"Licht, you're strong."

At that, the blonde Hero and the Glass Knight simultaneously nodded. Fortunately, their agreement helped me get past it.

"Thank you. Then I'll relay that to Professor Dennis."

<Endless Forest of Monsters>.

They said the professors would protect us at night, but it's still daytime. That means we might encounter monsters soon, so we need to prepare and devise countermeasures.

"There are two ways: either catch the highest-grade monster, or catch as many individual monsters as possible."

I racked my brain to get a high score. Kainel and Mardol are strong, and Ariel's magic will likely get a proper chance to shine this time.

"Which method is easier, Licht?"

"I'll tell you after gathering everyone's opinions first."

The most important first principle of a group project. If you volunteer to do something first, there's a high chance it will fail. At the very least, you need to listen to and incorporate everyone's opinions.

I looked at Kainel and Ariel, who were standing, and asked for their thoughts. Then, a murmuring voice came from beside me.

"..Strong ones."

"I want lots of them! The new magic I learned, like fireworks, is for that kind of monster, Helmet Guy!"

"I want strong ones like Mardol. To practice applying Shine Strike."

Opinions were split 2 to 1. This makes things a bit difficult. I was planning to go for the large number of individuals.

"My recommendation would be clustered monsters like Giant Ents, Armored Bees, or other insects, but..."

I rested my hand on my chin. Since we had The Mage of Flames, I thought it would be good to target these types of monsters and use area-of-effect spells.

'It could be dangerous here since unknown monsters might appear.'

In reality, the difficulty of monster (strategy/capture) dramatically changes depending on whether you have information or not. Knowing their elemental weakness makes it much easier. In the game, damage would either double or halve.

I briefly scanned my party members. Then my eyes met Mardol's. Why is this Crown Prince being so burdensome? I was momentarily startled and my breath hitched.

"Well... strong monsters are fine too, as you all said."

I finished my calculations and subtly told them. As long as it wasn't a Demon King or an Apostle, we had enough skill not to encounter danger anywhere.

"Still, our group's elemental compatibility is good."

Ariel is fire, Kainel is light, and the Glass Knight is probably earth-aligned, being a concept twisted from steel.

Theoretically, there's no element we can't defeat. Light and darkness can pierce each other, and Ariel and Mardol can compensate for each other's disadvantages.

"Is that so? But what's Helmet Guy's element?"

"..."

Ariel made a cat-like expression. She's trying to tease me. Indeed, it's rare to find someone like me who has little mana and a twisted circuit, so I don't know my element.

"Darkness... perhaps?"

I guess it might be darkness. Besides that, only water is left. I do like chuunibyou things, and I'm good at Dragon Shadow Slash.

"Ariel, Licht is obviously non-elemental...!"

"Licht, non-elemental...?"

Kainel brought it up playfully. The Glass Knight listened and stared at me as if it were true. That's not in the game, Mardol.

"..I should just keep my mouth shut."

I decided it would be fine to let them do what they wanted. Since things had come to this, I also needed to boost the Yellow Dog and Cat couple's romance affinity. Kainel had been a bit cheeky before, so this worked out well.

Memories of first going to the Academy came flooding back. It had been quite some time ago, now that I thought about it.

"..The problem is that we don't know what's high-grade here, since it's our first time."

"Right, Licht."

"Won't we just rack up points by catching whatever comes our way?"

"No, we can't do that. Let's at least identify the opponent before engaging."

No matter how freely we hunt, we shouldn't let our guard down against monsters. That's why I couldn't use Void Slash against the Shadow Wolf before.

'The moment the campfire went out, it would have become completely dark, which could have been dangerous.'

If Kainel had grown more and handled the Holy Sword of Light well, it might have been different, but considering the Shadow Wolf's habit of burrowing through shadows, he might not have been able to react.

"As I said before with the Shadow Wolf, we need to be careful as the monster grade increases, even though we are strong."

"Since Licht says so, I guess there's no choice..."

I sighed. He's too optimistic and indecisive. At times like this, being a Hero is almost annoying. This aspect is very 'Yellow Dog' of him.

"I think so too. There's no harm in being careful, right, Mardol?"

"Right, Ariel."

Ariel talking closely to the Glass Knight. Her red hair was fluttering in the wind.

he has a knack for attracting heroines. It was like that during group formation time earlier... and with Chartiness too. It feels like a contrived coincidence by the developer.

'I can't let our Saintess wait anxiously for a husband who's gone astray.'

That's what happened in <Black Heart>, where the harem route was first implemented. I happened to stumble upon a post in the game community, and just a glimpse of it made me cough up blood.

I should recall happier memories instead. Thinking about that part would only worsen my internal injuries. I reminisced for a moment.

[Welcome...! Sir Knight! I've been waiting for you!]

I remembered getting a severe cold during my school days and being bedridden for several days.

When I finally recovered and turned on the game, a white-haired woman with a happily wagging white tail greeted me.

[You've been away from the party for about three days, Sir Knight, but you should have said something!]

This is what would display if you didn't log in to the game. It was probably because I missed three days. I had been very sick.

Still, I shouldn't have worried our Saintess. I kept collapsing and getting up, and three days had passed. I had also taken a sick leave from school and rested.

[I was worried you might be feeling unwell...!]

This is why I liked Knight Heart. It felt like it was healing my aimless heart.

As I ate the delivery porridge and read the displayed dialogue, my appetite, which had disappeared due to the cold that day, returned.

Then, a return-commemoration reward notification popped up, and an event occurred.

[Here, the Nameless Saintess has something prepared for you, Sir Knight!]

The pure white Saintess confidently patted her chest with her hand and handed an item to my character.

[Ta-da~! Hehe, how is it? It's my masterpiece...!]

It was an item called "Beef Stew," a food that restored 10 HP.

It was actually the most common of junk items. It was famous in the game community for being an item that players constantly begged to have removed because it only took up inventory space.

"Thank you, Saintess."

But perhaps because I was eating beef and vegetable porridge at the time, the item she handed over with a bright smile felt incredibly precious to me.

That item, which seemed meaningless to others.

[How is it, am I not a good cook...?]

"Yes, it seems so. It has beef, and vegetables for health."

She was an NPC with low healing, used only in the early stages. There was no way she would have cooking skills.

Hence, the taste was described as "crude." It didn't matter to me. It was the thought that counted.

[Please try it now, Sir Knight! It'll give you strength...!]

I simply liked how she endlessly encouraged me with such brightness.

Though Western and Eastern food were different, the ingredients were similar. Tears welled up slightly each time I chewed rice grains while looking at the monitor.

[Hehe, I hope this makes you visit me more often, Sir Knight!]

I was used to no one knowing when I was sick, so I thought I'd be fine. But as her warm words made me face reality, my heart felt heavy and sad.

[A Saintess is like a wolf; if she gets lonely, she'll die... sniff.]

The Saintess expressed her emotions playfully, pretending to cry.

Her icy demeanor changed like this once you got close; how could I not feel affection for her?

It felt good to genuinely have someone with me in my lonely room. That's why, when I played <Black Heart> later, I used an auction house trick to transfer her directly.

The original said items below common grade couldn't be transferred? Then I just had to find a way.

[Hehe, I'm someone who gets things done when I need to, Sir Knight!]

When I used about half of the Beef Stew, she let out her uniquely cute voice, smiling brightly and gently.

..Even though she wasn't a main character, so her dialogue and voice acting were separate.

It was food given to me by the Saintess; how could I play the game without it? Sending it via mail was blocked, so I deliberated as much as I could.

The messages that appeared afterward also strongly resonated with my heart.

[So, are you feeling better now?]

[I don't know what happened... Sir Knight.]

[Honestly, I worried a lot. I thought you might have disappeared.]

Indeed, as soon as I launched the game, she was seen restlessly waiting for me, pacing around the room, unable to easily calm down.

[I am merely a Nameless Saintess, so it's fine if you do other things, Sir Knight. But...]

Or, even in the early hours of the morning, she was seen nodding off in front of a cold dinner, unable to sleep.

[..If you think of me, please visit <Knight Heart> anytime, Sir Knight.]

The original game implemented the drawback of long loading times in old games this way. To sublimate the time one had to wait before connecting.

[I am always waiting for you, Sir Knight.]

She said it convincingly, but her wolf ears and tail were lowered due to her gloomy heart.

After that, I probably never missed a login until I clocked 10,000 hours. Targeting someone who's sick like that is cheating. It's offside.

As I was lost in thought, the red-haired magician spoke to me.

"Helmet Guy!"

"..Miss Ariel. Are you done with your chitchat?"

"Yeah, but why were you staring at Mardol like that?"

It seemed her conversation with Mardol was over. I had been happy recalling good old memories for a change.

'Ariel will be fine, since she has Kainel.'

I had been watching them just now, and aside from their close, hushed conversations, I didn't sense any pink-hued romantic atmosphere. I took my hand off my chin.

"I was just curious because you seemed so close with Mardol."

"Mardol is kind! He likes cute things... and sweets too...!"

"Come to think of it, you're right, Miss Ariel."

Indeed, the current Lupus didn't seem to have gone astray. There were no bad rumors circulating in the Empire, and he wasn't a lecher targeting Ariel.

He even told me about the famous Wolf Fang in the Empire and held an umbrella over me when it was raining.

'At this rate... I just need to make sure he only sees our Saintess. Let's try to keep him off the harem route.'

Above all, he's quite perfect as a person. He's good at swordsmanship and rich. Aside from the part where he seems cold like glass, he's a prime marriage candidate.

'Honestly, I'm a little bit very envious.'

I sighed. It might be different if I had had a connection with the Saintess before, but it's already been five years since I transmigrated into the game.

If fate was going to connect us, it would have happened long ago...

"Licht, what are you doing?"

The Glass Knight tilted his head, looking at me. Being caught between a quick-witted red cat and a Crown Prince who seemed destined for a romance route with the Nameless Saintess, I felt my breath catch.

"..It's nothing. I was just lost in thought."

Even while acknowledging that the current Crown Prince wasn't a bad person, I showed a contradictory attitude in a corner of my heart.

I still need more time to forget our Saintess.

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