SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 91

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 91: Falling (1)

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Last year.

Two ladies received aliases from His Majesty the Emperor…

......Lady Silvia Evanair, daughter of Baron Evanair......

......In the middle of a yellow garden, a strand of gold has bloomed......

……From now on, people will call you……

Lady Goldencup.

The female protagonist of this world.

......Lady Raviel Ivansia, daughter of Duke Ivansia......

……A flower coated in silver, refusing to bow its head……

.......Child, from now on, the citizens of the empire will call you……

Lady Silver Lily.

The villainess of this revelation.

Daughters of noble families usually get their aliases at debutante balls, where they make their social debut. Royals or high nobles hosting the ball gift them new names.

The grandeur of the alias depends on the nobility of the giver. An alias given by a baron differs in prestige from one given by a count.

The most colorful of all, naturally, is an alias bestowed by the emperor. Merely receiving a name from His Majesty is a glory to one's house and a personal honor.

With two such ladies at the same academy, a tempest was inevitable.

‘Even so.’

I looked at the Crown Prince. He was embracing my companion, the Heretic Inquisitor, who had been assigned the role of Lady Goldencup. He held the Inquisitor so tightly that the fabric gathered around his fingertips like ripples on water.

‘Isn't he far too frivolous for the crown prince of a nation?’

I found it somewhat disagreeable.

Our eyes met. As I was looking at him with a sense of disbelief, I had to quickly lower my gaze. But there was something odd about the Crown Prince's look.

Contempt. Anger. Scorn.

His eyes harbored negative emotions.

“……You survived as well.”

Uh.

Was that directed at me? Since I was the only one he was making eye contact with, it seemed so. But his voice sounded like someone chewing on spinach that was three days past its expiration date. It was irritating.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I mimicked the tone of a historical drama.

“I was fortunate enough to preserve my life.”

“Lucky indeed.”

“How could it be the luck of a humble servant like me? It is all due to Your Highness's blessing.”

"......."

The Crown Prince's elegant eyebrows twitched. I had just subtly hinted that he had orchestrated the attack. A guilty conscience needs no accuser, as they say. Even a casual greeting can sting if it hits home.

“Your words are too much. Are you implying that everything happening in the world is due to my blessing? Your survival, protecting Silvia from the assassins, all of it is your luck. I appreciate it.”

Wow.

He seemed to take a step back and compliment me, but a closer listen showed otherwise. He had belittled what I did by calling it “luck” rather than “skill.” Surely not. I wanted to believe it was not so, but was the Crown Prince actually wary of me?

“Lady Goldencup is my master.”

Suddenly.

“And I belong to her.”

Words slipped out of my mouth before I realized.

“Your Highness. How can a sword protecting its master be considered mere luck? A tool simply fulfilled its purpose. Please retract your generous praise.”

I was surprised. Honestly, I just intended to brush it off casually. What’s the point of a butler of a noble family arguing with the Crown Prince of the nation? But my tongue kept moving on its own.

‘Have I finally lost it?’

Just as I felt a bit dazed, a voice reached me.

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

What?

[Your immersion rate is currently 1%.]

Crazy?

“……Truly, I want to sew your eloquent mouth shut.”

While I repeated “crazy” inside my head, the Crown Prince's face twisted. Insult. Humiliation. He looked exactly like someone fighting to keep from swearing aloud. Given the chance, I wanted to pour out a whole bucket of curses too. The sight of his crumpled expression felt strangely refreshing. Before I could think that I needed to stop, I felt that he deserved it. Crazy. This is completely insane.

“These days, even baronial households seem to select servants based on their tongues, not their character. His Majesty would surely lament this trend.”

Hold on.

Wait. Noodle Hair, the so-called Crown Prince of this world. Don't provoke me any further. Please don’t stir up [my] emotions. This stage is….

“How could that be? How could His Majesty’s discernment ever be clouded? As Your Highness grows more virtuous day by day in the academy, His Majesty’s heart must be filled with joy.”

In other words, it was a veiled jab saying, ‘Your father would be thrilled to know you’re hiring assassins, right?’ But my hidden meaning wasn’t important at the moment.

I realized the trap of this stage.

And why the Paladin and the Countess, the keepers of our tower's economy and security, were so powerless in their efforts to conquer it.

‘Both of them seemed increasingly consumed by their roles as time went on!’

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

No.

[Your immersion rate is currently 2%.]

This is madness.

“Hmph. Arguing with you is beneath me. I will thoroughly investigate tonight’s incident.”

“Who else in this academy could be as trustworthy as Your Highness? I can only implore you with all earnestness. Please uncover who stands behind the attack and make an example of the culprit.”

“Of course.”

Ah.

‘So this was it!’

This was the twist of this stage!

The Crown Prince glared sidelong at me and said,

“Silvia seems quite shaken by tonight's events. There might still be assassins lurking around. Tonight, I will protect her, so just keep that in mind.”

“Your Highness.”

My tongue had evolved into an auto-responder.

“Please forgive my rudeness. At a time like this, one should rest where they feel most comfortable. My master would prefer to stay in her private room as usual.”

“……Are you saying that she would be uncomfortable in my presence?”

“I apologize. I am merely stating the truth to Your Highness.”

Save me.

Somebody, save me!

[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 3%.]

Help me! Help me!

-Hey. What are you doing?

Sword Emperor! Or rather, Sword Emperor, sir!

-Eh. Has this guy gone nuts?

I feel like I'm going insane, so please do something!

-Uh… What do you want me to do?

I don't know. Just snap me out of it!

-Ah, in that case.

The Guardian Spirit chuckled mischievously.

-Zombie. You seem to be annoyed by the Viper. But whenever you get the chance, you act more like a main character in his fantasies than anyone else....

Ah.

‘Enough. I'm back to my senses. Don’t even utter the rest.’

-Okay.

The Guardian Spirit's audacity in making a Viper joke snapped me wide awake. What a lecherous ghost. I may have said that anything was fine, but he had really been about to launch a festival of utter nonsense. Still, thanks to him, my wildly rising immersion rate stopped dead.

"......."

Meanwhile…

The Heretic Inquisitor, with his face buried in the Crown Prince's chest, was not doing normally either.

"......? Huh......?"

The Heretic Inquisitor repeatedly tilted and shook his head. For the first time, I caught an expression of “bewilderment” on his face. The universally acknowledged number-one lunatic, the pure natural-born psycho, could not understand the emotion he was experiencing.

Tap. Perhaps because of that, he pushed against the Crown Prince's chest and slipped free of his embrace. Startled, the Crown Prince broke off his staring contest with me and looked at Lady Goldencup, or rather, the Heretic Inquisitor.

"Silvia. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

“Uh? ……Um? Oh?”

The Heretic Inquisitor cocked her head again.

“This is fascinating.”

“What's fascinating, Silvia?”

“Right now, for the first time in my life, I'm feeling an unfamiliar emotion.”

The Heretic Inquisitor beamed.

“My heart is racing!”

"......."

“It's pounding fast. Oh, wow. Indeed! This is truly mysterious…"

He closed his eyes and placed both hands over his heart. The Heretic Inquisitor, or rather, Lady Goldencup, wore a small smile as though listening to beautiful classical music.

“It seems my body's owner genuinely likes you!”

“Si-Silvia….”

The Crown Prince choked up. His face looked as though someone had mixed rice called “being moved” into broth called “overwhelming emotion.”

If I had not hurriedly stopped the immersion, I might have felt jealous at that very moment. Fortunately, extremely fortunately, that did not happen. Belatedly, I had returned to my senses.

“Lady.”

I put force into the word “Lady.” The Heretic Inquisitor opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Let's return to the dormitory. His Highness has promised to uncover the mastermind behind the attack. The night has grown deep, and you should rest in your quarters. You need to continue with your life tomorrow, don't you?”

We have our 'roles' and a 'purpose.'

The purpose of clearing the stage.

We must not forget this.

“Ah. Right. That’s true.”

The Heretic Inquisitor blinked, immediately understanding what I meant. He took hold of the hem of his skirt and bowed to the Crown Prince.

“Thank you for your concern, but I will return to my quarters with my butler.”

“Ah?”

“Have a good night, Your Highness. I shall take my leave now!”

Leaving the dumbfounded Crown Prince behind, the Heretic Inquisitor turned his back without hesitation and walked lightly out of the warehouse.

Behind us, the Crown Prince shouted, “Silvia! Si-Silvia?!” but the Inquisitor merely walked down the corridor grinning, without once looking back.

“……Things have become complicated.”

I muttered, closely following the Heretic Inquisitor.

“This immersion trap was unexpected. Damn.”

Now I understood why the Count and the Paladin had failed.

“Ahaha.”

The Heretic Inquisitor smiled mysteriously. Our footsteps echoed in the corridor, bathed in moonlight. The sound of footsteps resembled heartbeats.

“It certainly is a situation we did not anticipate. King of Death, how high did your immersion rate just rise?”

“It skyrocketed to 3%. Barely managed to stop it.”

“Amazing. Mine shot up to 10 percentage!”

I was at a loss for words.

‘10 percentage? 10%?’

I was stunned. Had merely spending a little time with the Crown Prince already infected one-tenth of his sense of self?

The situation was more serious than I thought.

At this rate, even ordinary life would be no different from walking through poisonous fog. We would be poisoned little by little until, by the time we came to our senses, escape was already impossible. If we let go of our sanity, this world's [romance] would devour us in an instant.

“This will not do.” I spoke slowly. I was tense. Losing myself, or even the possibility that I might lose myself, had always been the thing I feared most. “We need to establish a safety mechanism between us.”

“A safety mechanism?”

“Yes."

I carefully fiddled with the hilt of my dagger. The familiar texture of the duct tape wrapped around it comforted me.

“Let’s set up a keyword. No matter the situation, no matter how severe, saying this keyword should snap us out of it. For example, if I say [Peach], you respond with [Carrot].”

“Aha. A secret code just for us!”

The Heretic Inquisitor laughed.

“I agree! I’ve seen something similar in a drama. Then, what shall our secret code be…”

Click-clack.

At that moment, the sound of heels echoed from the opposite end of the corridor. The sharp clatter of heels striking the floor was followed by a series of heavier footsteps. A person, followed by several attendants, approached us.

The moon shone.

The moonlight in the corridor was trampled by the sharp heels.

Hair as silver as the moonlight. Lady Silver Lily.

The daughter of the ducal family approached us, leading her retinue. Angered about something, the villainess lady furrowed her brow. Her eyes glared at us.

“Ah."

The Heretic Inquisitor let out a soft moan.

"King of Death."

He rose onto his toes and whispered into my ear.

“I think I dislike that woman.”

Whisper.

Her voice sounded as usual.

"......."

Slowly, I turned to look at the Heretic Inquisitor.

“Hmm.”

He spun around. The long hem of his dress swirled into a small whirlwind, and the warm breeze pressed against my chest.

“I am curious, King of Death.”