WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ Academy's Pure Love Dark Knight ◈

Chapter 84

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Episode 84. Even If I Reach My Hand Toward the Moon, It Won't Touch.

A sweltering summer night.

There are sights only visible once darkness truly falls. Soft lights spreading their glow, the raucous laughter of the crowd. At the festival's night market,

"Alright~!! To celebrate wrapping up today's festival successfully!!"

"Cheers!!"

"Cheers. Ariel, are you already drunk? I told you not to drink ahead of time..."

"Hehe~ Kai~ don't worry about that stuff!"

I sat across from the hero couple, drinking beer. I couldn't handle bitter things well, so I was more of a beer person than a soju person.

"Let's toast too."

"Cheers."

I clinked glasses with the Glass Knight beside me. I wanted to give her at least a little encouragement. After all, my curiosity had nearly ended up hurting her.

"Licht, already drunk."

"..No, I'm fine."

"Red. Cute."

Mardol laughed, pointing a finger at my neck. How did she even know I couldn't handle alcohol? Guess I really can't outdo a main character.

I'd only slowly had one glass and already this. Then again, I'd spent five years swinging nothing but a sword to protect our Saintess. My mind inside this body had already grown old, though.

'Here, I'm technically an adult this year.'

This was the first time I'd drunk alcohol in this world. Maybe I should have paced myself.

I looked around. Students sat at outdoor tables, drinking and chatting, eating food, savoring the night of the summer festival.

A few among them had brown wolf ears or tails, or were oni with horns, various other races' appearances.

'A werewolf over there too... but why is there no one with actual white hair? They're not albino either.'

No matter how I thought about it, aside from the midterms being replaced with group projects and the finals with the grade exam, Grand Hearts Academy looked a lot like a real-world university.

'I suppose that's only natural, since it's a game.'

Since the setting had some of the Ten Greats coming from other worlds, it wasn't strange that a few pieces of a real-world education system had been borrowed.

"Kai! Look over there! Grilled salamander skewers!"

"Right... a salamander."

The mage patted the hero's shoulder, pointing out a stall visible in the distance. She already looked tipsy, in high spirits.

"Kainel, could you go get some more food with Ariel? I'll give you the money."

I shot Kainel a look. Go on, hurry up and go together. If he was this oblivious, how was he going to manage once they got married?

"Licht. What should I get?"

"Something for me and Mardol. Mardol, what would you like to..."

Just as I tried to ask the Glass Knight, now out of her costume, what she wanted, a loud clunk sounded as the huge beer mug right beside me was emptied.

"Whatever, Licht likes."

Mardol wiped at the mouth area of her glass helmet, signaling that her tolerance was higher than mine.

"...Then I'll ask for grilled wyvern foreleg."

"I won, Licht."

The princess flashed a V sign at me again, this time propping it under her chin to rest her face on it. Yeah, she was drunk. Definitely drunk.

"Mardol, you shouldn't drink that fast."

I was starting to worry about her more and more. Maybe not knowing her face made it feel more comfortable, if anything.

A little while later, once Kainel and Ariel had stepped away,

"It's fine, Licht. I know what I'm doing, drinking like this."

"...What?"

"It's just... I'm a little sad today... funny, right?"

Mardol was speaking in a normal tone of voice. Had I had something spiked? No, that couldn't be it, it was dwarven beer, it should've been fine.

"Licht, I... I knew you were pushing me away on purpose."

"..."

"If I hadn't noticed even that... yeah, I'd be an idiot. An idiot."

She kept tracing circles on the table with one finger, her body making it clear just how drunk she was. Her particular competitive streak must have kicked in.

I looked at the many empty beer mugs beside her. Was I going to have to carry her back on my back?

"Was it that obvious? I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Licht... since I'm a bad person..."

"I told you not to blame yourself."

"...I still don't really know. I haven't changed a single thing."

With a soft thump, she dropped her head onto the table, turning it sideways to look up at me.

'Haven't changed, huh... well, her self-esteem must be at rock bottom. I suppose it makes sense she'd think that.'

She must have really been struggling. It was strange, seeing her go soft like this from the alcohol.

"Still, you've changed a lot since I first met you."

"...Where?"

"Hmm... your heart, I guess? You've gotten gentler, I'd say."

"Pervert. Licht."

Mardol let out another small giggling laugh, but then seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment.

"...Licht. Even if it was all Magic Hat's fault."

Soon her voice was choking with tears as she poured out her worries to me.

"I don't think I'm a good person."

Mardol resented and cursed herself for failing to protect people from the Demon King. Behind her helmet, her eyes were already visibly wet with tears.

"Why all of a sudden..."

"...Do you hate me too, Licht?"

"..."

I paused for a moment, thinking hard about what to say to her. Wounds left covered up, ignored, only fester in the end. Sad memories are best pulled out and released whenever you get the chance.

'...That's too heavy a guilt to carry. She must have kept this worry to herself all this time.'

Of course, it's fine to run from a problem you can't solve right away, but here she was, unburdening her heart to me right now.

"Don't say things like that. I..."

There always comes a time you need to face things head-on. I decided to give her a little courage. I opened my mouth toward Mardol. The bitter taste lingering in my mouth made me down some of the sweet beer.

"Out of all the women I know, I think you're the best one, Mardol."

Aside from our Saintess, it was true. The misunderstanding about her being the crown prince had been resolved, and as a companion, I thought she was more than trustworthy.

"...Liar."

"Ha ha, I mean it."

She'd taught me swordsmanship, and when I walked into mortal danger to fight the Demon King, she'd been ready to fight alongside me. A strong person. The transparent, noble Glass Knight.

"You're plenty a good person. The very fact that you're even worrying about this proves it."

That was the Mardol Gransia I knew. She had her occasional odd streak, and she was so unassuming you could almost forget she was a princess, but at heart she was simple and kind.

"...So please, value yourself a little more. It makes me sad otherwise."

If it weren't for her, I might not even be here right now, assuming I'd never learned Wolf Fang. The same went for Kainel and Ariel.

"You kind liar. Ugh."

"M-Mardol?!"

That was when it happened. She spread her arms and put her hands on my helmet. Then she pulled my face closer, until barely a hand's width separated us.

"...Licht."

"...What is it?"

"Can't you show me your face? Just lift the visor."

At a distance close enough to feel her hot breath, the golden wolf eyes behind the glass helmet curved like a crescent moon. She'd been aiming to get the two of us alone from the very start.

"...Later, later. I need to prepare myself too."

"Promise. For sure."

Maybe I'd been swept up in the flavor of the alcohol, if only for a moment. Or maybe I could just call it penance for dredging up a painful memory. Both of us were drunk, and this was just a brief farce that had happened along the way.

"Yes, today really was my fault..."

A strangely nostalgic feeling washed over me. What would this person say, I wondered, if she saw my scar.

"...I'll look forward to it, Licht."

And so, a wolf succeeded in sinking its teeth into its prey.

* * *

A hazy scent of alcohol drifted through her whole body. Phine Gransia, who went by the alias Mardol, felt something uncomfortable stir inside her.

'...That's a lie. Licht is such an idiot.'

She was dissatisfied with the man sitting right beside her. Her sharp eyes could tell when Licht was lying.

"Out of all the women I know, I think you're the best one, Mardol."

But the words that followed, that she was plenty a good person and should value herself more, those had been true.

The way he blurted out sincere words like that, she liked that she could feel the emotion in them without even needing to read his eyes for it. Something about it felt oddly familiar.

'I feel like I've heard something like that before... ah.'

It was probably the Nameless Saintess. That person was likely the reason. The man in the Black Knight helmet had probably said it without thinking much of it, though.

"...I'm mad, Licht."

"Stop drinking. You're too drunk."

"No. I don't wanna..."

Jealousy kept welling up in her. No matter what, it was her at Licht's side right now, after all. The kind person who'd carried her on his back the moment she'd twisted her ankle today.

'Licht's back... it was so firm. Broad... huh?'

Maybe it was because of today's physical contact with a man, the first she'd ever had in her life, or maybe it was from drinking too fast. Either way, Phine felt her face burning up behind her helmet.

'It's just my imagination. Yeah. I'm just drunk.'

She shook her head hard, several times, trying to regain her composure.

Maybe she was grateful that even knowing she was a princess, he didn't expect anything from her or treat her like a superior, but truly like a friend.

'I want to know him better. But that Saintess, or whatever she is, keeps getting in the way... that must be it.'

She thought as she poured herself another glass of beer. A man like a gentle passing rain, who listened carefully to her own worries and offered encouragement.

"Give me the glass."

"...Huh?"

"I'll be your black knight."[1]

No, to be precise, he was a man the Black Knight helmet suited perfectly. Through the visor he'd lifted just slightly, she could see the scar.

Licht took Phine's glass right away, gulping the beer down quickly so she wouldn't feel embarrassed. Because of that, he didn't turn his head away to drink like he usually did, and his mouth was visible for a moment.

'...A burn scar.'

Seeing it, she didn't think he looked handsome. How could anyone think that, looking at this? If anything, it made her heart ache with pity and sorrow.

'How much it must have hurt. Licht...'

Seeing the scar Licht had gotten as a child left her feeling weighed down and melancholy. As for herself, Phine could just hide her face with glass magic, but...

'I want to heal it for him.'

That man couldn't even hide his own wound. It felt exactly like looking at an injured puppy. Some of the alcohol's haze faded away.

"...What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just... I thought you must have had it hard too."

She'd been watching him blankly when he spoke up. Her staring must have been too obvious.

'...If I said I'd heal it without asking, that would only hurt him more.'

Phine shook her head, clearing away the stray thought. His tangled mana circuits meant healing wouldn't even work anyway,

'We're not that close yet, anyway...'

If she offered and then failed, there was no greater frustration than that. Irresponsible pity was worse than doing nothing at all.

"As friends, let's cheer each other on."

"Mm... Licht."

With a light tap, she rested her head on Licht's shoulder. Maybe because of the alcohol, the man in the Black Knight helmet didn't push her away.

He simply stayed still, quietly supporting the weight of her glass helmet. A wave of relief welled up in her, and without realizing it, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

"...The moon's bright tonight."

"It really is, Mardol."

A beautiful full moon hung low in the night sky. The feelings between the man and woman, once seeming destined to drift apart, gained a little weight, and the distance between them closed just a bit.

Footnotes

[1] In Korean drinking culture, 흑기사 ("black knight") is slang for someone who chivalrously drinks a shot in another person's place - doubling Licht's offer here with his own actual title.

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