Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight - Chapter 74

WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 74

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Episode 74. To Not Know Love.

Phine Gransia lamented in her room.

“He deliberately took second place. Licht.”

It was because she had no idea that the man named Licht wanted to obtain the Mana Rose.

The way he left the stadium like that, received the rose at the awards ceremony, and genuinely looked delighted.

“..I was outplayed.”

From the very beginning, what he had been aiming for was the Mana Rose. Her keen eyes could discern that immediately. As she thought about the man in the Black Knight helmet like that.

“Hehe.”

A laugh escaped her for no reason. The reaction he had shown when he first saw her body was cute. It was similar to a young puppy running away in fear of a person.

“..Pervert.”

Actually, he wasn't that much of a pervert. He had immediately taken off his coat and covered her, and it was amusing to see him struggling not to look at Phine's body any longer.

‘His nape was bright red, like an apple.’

In truth, she had been very flustered when her Masterpiece was taken off at first. She thought one of her strengths had crumbled, and that she could no longer protect the people close to her.

“..He was gentle. Licht.”

But Licht had deliberately cast shadows to block the view, so that her gender wouldn't be revealed to the audience or other academy students.

‘Come to think of it, according to Licht, Magic Hat would have the power of lies.’

If a precious person had been harmed by Magic Hat, that would be understandable. He must have been afraid of someone disguised as a fake, taking the form of someone he knew.

Confirming the truth was frightening, but something that had to be done someday.

She felt that if she had simply told him she was a woman when Licht asked about her gender, this wouldn't have happened.

‘It's my fault too..’

She had also asked the academy professors, Chartiness, and Nex beforehand to hide her identity as much as possible.

The fact that Nex, who was good at deceiving others, called her the Crown Prince must have also played a big part.

“..With Licht, is it okay to be weak?”

Licht was a person who was gradually touching her heart. He told her, Phine herself, that it was okay to be without armor.

She thought being weak meant nothing, yet he said to rely on people a little more.

In fact, what Phine truly needed might not have been a thick glass armor, but someone trustworthy and reliable, like Licht.

“..But still, he’ll hate this kind of hair.”

She took off her helmet and released her armor. Pure white hair fell down to her waist. Looking in the mirror, she touched her own hair.

“Because it’s unsightly.”

Extreme stress from a past incident.

This was the reason her hair and tail were a different color from the rest of her family.

A scar from her own inability to do anything on the day she thought Magic Hat had killed her mother, and an unerasable guilt.

If the people in the audience or Licht had seen it, they would surely have found it off-putting. It was also a situation where rumors could arise that she might not be of imperial blood.

She stopped touching her hair with sad eyes. Even with these flaws, she had to become strong. Licht said he had risen to his position because he was weak.

‘But why did he try to get the Mana Rose?’

As she kept thinking about Licht, a contradiction nagged at a corner of her mind.

If he was getting the Mana Rose to use magic, the Dragon Heart that Phine received for getting first place would have been more useful. Even though they were similar mediums, it was a dragon's heart.

‘Is it because of that person again?’

The Nameless Saintess. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed to be that person. It was rare for that man to show his emotions that much. Phine's golden wolf eyes narrowed.

“..I’m jealous.”

The person who made him become a Sword Master, and the person he talked about even when he was going to die fighting the Demon King. Surely, the current Saintess was Chartiness, an older sister figure she knew.

‘The next Saintess. The next Saintess….’

Who on earth was she, and where did she live, that even Laplace or the Sage couldn't find out? She might be under the protection of the God of Light.

Was he maintaining the meeting since before coming to the Academy? From what she heard, it seemed that was the case. Her keen eyes were synthesizing the situations she had seen.

‘She even made him get second place, and she didn't even come to watch the match.’

No matter how much she looked around the stands or asked the Imperial Guard, the person called the ‘Nameless Saintess’ never came. In the first place, there was no one among the audience who knew Licht.

‘..I still don't know much about you, Licht.’

That was one of the reasons Phine thought Licht was a hero. Among the Ten Greats, Dennis also had a blank past and was known to few people.

He seemed to have too many secrets. He was always clumsy at lying, so getting caught would have been quick.

“It doesn't matter now.”

She looked at the Dragon Heart stored in a small box. Even if he was a hero now,

Even if the Nameless Saintess was more important to him, it was none of Phine's concern.

“..I have to, give it to him.”

Unbeknownst to Phine herself, the man named Licht was gradually becoming a precious person to her.

She didn't want to think badly of him because of the heroes of the Heroic Cult.

“...”

She looked at herself in the mirror. Recalling the events of today, she thought again about the story the man named Licht had told her.

The story that it was okay to be weak.

The words that it was fine to be without armor.

The warm encouragement to rely on people a little more.

It was a day when all those things were precious. A day when so much had changed inside her that she wanted to circle today's date in red and make it an anniversary.

Phine, deep in thought, made a slightly sulky expression. The image of Licht being embarrassed kept lingering in her mind.

“..What's so good about a chest like this. Fool.”

At that, Phine put on the light armor that the dwarf who had been detained before had made specially for her. Unlike the glass armor, it accurately revealed a woman's figure.

“Pervert, Licht.”

She was a little angry about her still-developing chest. If it were smaller, it would have been easier to hide her identity, and Licht wouldn't have been startled by her body.

“..I won't take off the armor yet. In case perverts like Licht come crawling.”

Placing her hand on the center of her chest again, she equipped the Masterpiece. Her body, finally hidden by the layered heavy armor.

Where had the her from earlier gone? She was once again taking the form of the aloof Glass Knight, a tall, large-framed knight using the alias Mardol.

“So, wait just a little longer.”

But even wearing the same glass armor, it was a different Phine Gransia, who had lightened the burden in her heart a little.

Phine took his coat and the Dragon Heart and left the Imperial Palace.

***

The grade exam awards ceremony finished, and I returned to the men's dormitory alone.

“..Fortunately, I got some time to organize my thoughts.”

It was because Kainel had gone to a blacksmith in the Empire with Ariel to see if they could make a staff from the leaf of the World Tree.

I opened my notebook. No matter how much I thought about it, there were many parts that didn't match the information I knew.

“Is it because it's a prequel, set in the past..? Some important things have started to not add up.”

With that, I began to write information about Mardol Gransia on one side of the paper. The main protagonist of <Grand Hearts Academy>, who equips the Masterpiece.

“Glass Knight. It's a fitting nickname, indeed.”

She was a person who was sharp at times, and like a mirror that reflected and showed me myself as I was.

The protagonists of <Knight Heart Trilogy> each had nicknames, so this was probably right.

“I couldn't destroy the Masterpiece, but I confirmed the gender.”

At first, I tried to break her glass armor, but kept failing, so I had no choice but to try a different method.

The source of mana is the heart.

Therefore, temporarily severing the connection with the heart and deactivating the glass armor was the best I could do. The helmet was made separately, so it didn't come off.

“So that's why her voice was constantly modulated.”

A rumbling voice. It was good equipment, enough to make you mistake her for a man. It seemed to be equipment of the same grade as the Masterpiece.

In the end, a fake is a fake. A holy sword that isn't even real couldn't completely sever the connection, but it was quite disappointing.

“...”

The body of Mardol I saw today came to mind, and I shook my head vigorously. She has less concubine potential than our Saintess. I must not be seduced by shallow tricks.

‘Get a grip, Lee Suhyun.’

I know that even in the game, if you get involved with other female characters, you immediately deviate from the Saintess route. It will be the same here.

[Kainel♡Ariel 34% ‘NEW!’]

At that moment, a transparent status window appeared before my eyes.

So the incident at the bakery was finally being tallied now. This damn status window is almost useless. The fact that it doesn't calculate in real-time makes me even angrier.

Except for the time with Nex, it has never been helpful to me. It did indirectly tell me that Mardol is a new character in this work.

‘When I tried to deal with Magic Hat early, I also received a penalty.’

Come to think of it, the creator would want me to deviate from the Saintess route and connect with Mardol, the main protagonist of Grand Hearts Academy.

That must not happen. I will just stay strictly as comrades. In the end, I'm weak now, so I do need her help.

“I also obtained the Mana Rose.. well. There are no more problems.”

I pulled myself together and looked at the blue rose in the vase before me. Our Saintess would be truly delighted if she received it.

“I knew blue roses existed, but seeing one in person like this is amazing.”

A rose turned deep blue by absorbing mana. What was its flower language? I think it was 'Overcoming the Impossible' or something. I'm a layman in this area, so I'm not sure.

“Our Saintess.. is she really okay?”

Thinking of her, pure white, who seems to be entangled with the Demon King, worries keep arising.

In truth, it's not perfect power. Logically, there should be traces somewhere. Even if there are cases where Laplace and the Sage don't know, like with Baek-Mokryeon.

“..If I keep looking, I'll find a clue.”

Dennis even vaguely remembers the Heavenly Demon. And I know too.

The same goes for Magic Hat. I could find the victims by cross-referencing the names on the attendance sheet with the people who were in the lecture hall.

-Knock knock.

It was when I was pondering over several variables. A knock sounded, and a visitor came to the door.

“Licht, are you there?”

A rumbling voice. Anyone could tell it was Mardol. She comes to stop me whenever I just think about our real Saintess.

Even if she is the main heroine, isn't this a bit too much? This is the men's dormitory.

“Yes, I'm here.”

I sighed and turned the doorknob.

***

While a man and woman were about to meet in the academy dormitory, at a demon king's castle somewhere.

“It seems there is a hero at the academy that I don't know about.”

A man wearing a monocle finished moving his pen.

“An unexpected variable that neutralizes my power.”