WeTried Translations
Translator: Botanica
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight
Chapter 69
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Episode 69. The Difference Between a Watchdog and a Wolf.
In her room at the imperial palace, Phine Gransia let out a sigh.
“How did he find out..?”
She tilted her head in question as she took off her helmet. How did Licht see through the Masterpiece?
“As expected, he must have good eyes like me.”
She placed her hand on her chest and deactivated the glass armor, causing her white long hair to fall to her waist, and her wolf ears and tail to emerge outward.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had shrunk in height, and her physique had become smaller. Only the sad golden eyes of a wolf remained.
“It’s a Masterpiece, so there’s no way he could have known my gender….”
After Magic Hat’s attack, she had been hiding the fact that she was a woman. Since she had her younger brother Lupus’s identity, she used it instead, doing her best to prevent the Demon King from getting involved.
“...”
In her childhood, she was powerless. She lost her mother, had to watch helplessly as the people close to her were killed, and couldn't do anything.
“..He looked scared.”
Whether he was afraid of women, or if something about her being a princess was a problem. The man named Licht just now was asking about her gender too hastily.
Her ears and tail drooped. He must have already known she was a member of the imperial family. She wondered if he had been treating her casually because he mistook her for Lupus.
‘Come to think of it, aside from that ‘Nameless Saintess’ or whatever, he didn’t seem to have any ties with women either.’
Whenever Ariel and Kainel had a budding romantic atmosphere, the man in the Black Knight helmet either took the lead or stepped back.
As if it wasn’t his place to intervene, even going so far as to call her away separately to leave the situation.
Perhaps he disliked getting entangled with other women.
“I truly believe that if you truly love someone, being able to even abandon your loving feelings for that person is true love.”
He had said before that he had someone he liked separately. If that was why he was sensitive, she could understand.
Phine had also caused trouble by forcing him to hold hands or hugging him. Even putting her ear to his heart to check if he was alive. She had her own reasons for that, actually.
‘That remark back then… it was true.’
The words he said when he asked her to look after the Saintess. Every single word carried a tone full of sincerity.
Anyone could tell he was entrusting her to someone else because he thought he couldn’t be by her side. Who in the world would be happy about that?
He was always someone who tried to do things alone. Even when he fell as a Demon King, he transformed into a knight clad in black armor. If you had to call it fitting, it was fitting for the Black Knight.
“..I’m a little jealous.”
I wonder who she is and where she lives. I can’t understand why she hasn’t appeared, even though she’s the reason Licht’s strength and skills are so focused.
She felt a jealousy unbefitting of her. He was a Sword Master-level swordsman who could create sword auras with just wind pressure, and he even defeated Magic Hat, whom she and Kainel together couldn't subdue.
“..I got my mother back, too. So the ‘fell into a trap’ part was true.”
Her gaze shifted to the Queen of Hearts contained in a frame. The fact that he brought that back was also proof that he had defeated the Demon King of Truth.
“Maybe he’s a hero from another world..?”
Phine recalled Licht from the previous grade exam. He had countered the blond-haired hero's attacks, and had also shown himself creating and using a new sword.
Overwhelming Kainel, the Hero of Light, didn't actually make sense. The gods of this world are divided into two ranks.
“He’s weak, but… Kainel is supposed to be the hero chosen by the God of Light, the highest of them.”
Phine inherited the bloodline of Emperor Rook, the 1st of the Ten Heroes, and her mother also possessed outstanding talent as a mage.
There was sufficient reason for her to be stronger than Kainel. She also had the help of a Masterpiece.
However, Licht was likely the only one who trained to the level of a Sword Master for the person he loved. Even if his master was Drake, one of the Ten Heroes.
“..So that’s what you can become, just through effort.”
It was true that he had achieved it with nothing but effort. From what she could see with her good eyes, the man named Licht truly seemed to have a constitution devoid of talent.
“Little mana, tangled circuits…. And he swings his sword recklessly, so there’s not a single unscathed spot on him.”
The rough hand she had held back then came to mind. The marks of training, covered in calluses without exception. The scars on his arms were definitely from a wolf.
“..When I hold it, I feel at ease.”
This was the reason she kept intertwining her fingers. When she held it, it was cold, but she felt at ease. It felt like she wasn’t the only one trembling with anxiety trying to become stronger; she felt like she had comrades.
“..Can I win against him in the grade exam?”
In the little over a month’s time. That man had returned even stronger. She also needed to get stronger. With that thought, she put strength into one hand, forming a fist.
“If I’m not first place, it’s meaningless….”
She had already been defeated once by Magic Hat, and once by the man named Licht. In her dictionary, there could be no two defeats.
Phine believed that no further weakness was acceptable. So she would fight him with all her might and win. There were also techniques she couldn’t use last time while fighting Magic Hat, for fear of harming the surroundings.
“..I’m looking forward to it.”
Just imagining being able to fight Licht made her heart race. He was probably someone who wouldn't hold back on power. Phine placed her hand on her chest to put on the glass armor again.
“I had an incredibly hard time making this in the beginning, too.”
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, herself clad in the large heavy armor, she murmured briefly. Just how did the man named Licht see through the armor to realize it was her?
“But is it possible to get caught..?”
She closed her eyes and began to reminisce. Phine needed to check if there was anything she had missed.
***
Phine Gransia’s glass armor is an item that receives slight modifications each year from the existing parts. The reason it became heavy armor, ill-fitting for her body type, was due to…
“We cannot make the armor Princess Phine desires!”
“Why..?”
It was because of the differing opinions among the dwarves who initially made her armor. The dwarves with beards of various colors had spoken to a young Phine.
“You want us to make a Masterpiece-grade piece of equipment that nullifies all magic and has strong durability?”
“That would be impossible if it wasn’t heavy armor! If it’s light armor, it’s impossible!”
“Then do it that way. Make it heavy armor.”
“Understood!”
This was because an armor strong enough to nullify the magic used by the Demon King Magic Hat couldn’t be made thin and perfectly fitted to her body.
So a full plate armor that covered her entire body was created. The dwarf who made the bizarre claim that armor’s defense increases the more skin it exposes was imprisoned for a few days.
And, as time passed, the reason her height and build noticeably increased whenever she wore the armor was…
“Your chest is too large! The proportions don’t match!”
“This is an act that defiles the name of the ‘Masterpiece’ we create!”
“...”
Because of Phine Gransia’s chest, which had grown larger than other parts, the dwarves said all the armor’s proportions were ruined, locked themselves in the furnace and made a demand.
“Please make the equipment size larger! His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Indeed! Indeed! This won’t do!”
“It’s too brutal! The proportions don’t match!”
Due to their eccentric and stubborn nature, Emperor Rook had no choice but to accept. In truth, he was also swayed by the argument that it would make the armor safer.
Because of this, the moment she puts on the armor, her height grows to be similar to Licht’s, and her build expands like a giant crystal.
“Your Highness. How would you like us to handle the helmet?”
“..As you wish.”
“Did you say the Demon King called Magic Hat did that before? That being a woman was a problem?”
“Uh, yeah.”
The words the Demon King of Truth had spoken while killing the maids. The face of Magic Hat, laughing creepily while saying incomprehensible things, was vivid in her eyes.
“Let’s conceal her identity! And her voice!”
“Let’s make it separate from the armor!”
“..Alright.”
“Everyone! That’s the order! Prepare!”
The reason the glass helmet’s voice was made to resonate and make it impossible to identify who it was, was because of the actions the Demon King of Truth had shown when she was attacked.
“With this alone, you will be safe! I swear in the name of the immovable mountain!!”
Once all the details to be considered were decided, the sounds of hammering and whetstones rang out, and the production of the armor she would wear began.
With these three elements combined, it should have been impossible for anyone, no matter how strong their detection ability or what kind of magic they used, to know Phine’s gender or face.
***
The armor, shining white like glass. Resembling a walking crystal, its current form, which could cause anyone who saw it to talk about the Glass Knight or the White Knight, was created in that way.
Phine slowly opened her eyes. There shouldn’t have been any problems with the dwarves’ design. Could it be that he figured out her identity through contact with Lupus?
Come to think of it, he already knew her mother was Bellin Gransia. That was the only remaining possibility, and if he had been mistaking her for her younger brother, such a reaction was only natural.
“Ugh.”
It was then. Phine stopped her breath slightly as she complained of discomfort. Having taken off the armor again, she looked at her body this way and that in the mirror.
“..My chest area has been too stuffy lately.”
She tried hard to ignore the tight pressure on her chest that was definitely felt when wearing the armor, but failed. It seemed to be getting bigger and bigger recently.
“I hope it doesn’t get in the way when I fight Licht..?”
It was a miscalculation to think she wouldn’t grow any more since her coming-of-age ceremony was last year. It was a moment she resented the clumps of fat that kept swelling up, like a bountiful fruit ripening.
A captivating streamlined curve. If the other men of the academy saw it, some would surely try to flirt with her. This was one of the reasons she hid her gender.
‘How big is it going to get..’
She bit her lip. It was because it was bigger than Ariel, an elf renowned for her beauty, and she hadn’t seen anyone larger than her even while attending the academy.
Worrying that someone might think her vulgar for this part, Phine sighed, then put on the glass helmet she had set aside next to her.
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