Chapter 78: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 78
Sylvia was lying on her bed with her eyes closed.
Despite being exhausted from training, she couldn’t fall asleep easily and kept tossing and turning.
Whenever she closed her eyes, the words she heard at school today kept coming back to her.
"I like you, Sylvia..."
“Ugh...”
Sylvia blushed deeply and hugged her pillow.
With a small twitch of her lips, she whispered softly.
“I’m so happy...”
Those were the happiest words she had ever heard.
She didn’t know hearing such sincere words filled with unadulterated affection from someone could make her this happy.
The fact that Scarlet had said it made it even more meaningful.
For Scarlet, Astra was like a mortal enemy.
So, when her request to become friends was rejected, she was honestly worried.
What if she, as Astra's successor, became an object of resentment for Scarlet?
What if they could never become friends again?
But it was just a needless worry.
She thought it would take a long time for Scarlet to open her heart to her again, but her pleasant prediction was off.
Sylvia, gently stroking the friendship ring she always wore, looked at the remaining ring placed beside her pillow.
She wasn’t worried anymore.
It seemed that the day when the ring would find its rightful place was not far off.
“Ehehe...”
Sylvia rolled around on her bed, hugging her pillow and giggling, then buried her face in the pillow and murmured in a small voice, as if afraid someone might hear.
“I like you too, Scarlet...”
Immediately after, she screamed into her pillow and wriggled around before the fatigue from training overwhelmed her, and she slumped down.
Today's classes were tough, so both Scarlet and she decided to rest early, but tomorrow, maybe she should suggest they have a pillow talk.
A pajama party sounded good too.
It would be nice to chat all night and fall asleep in the same bed.
That's why she had specifically placed a big bed in her room.
Smiling brightly as she imagined it, Sylvia's expression slowly hardened.
Thinking about sleeping in the same bed reminded her of Scarlet handing the macaron to Yoon Si-woo.
Judging by that, it was clear she had feelings for Yoon Si-woo.
But Yoon Si-woo was a bad guy.
She thought he liked Scarlet, but who would have guessed he was an irresponsible man who would do such things with her and then act like nothing happened?
She had even cheered for their relationship for Scarlet's happiness...
At this rate, Scarlet might end up as a tragic heroine who gives her body and heart to him only to be abandoned, just like in the books a classmate secretly brought back in middle school.
But if she recklessly told Scarlet to stay away from Yoon Si-woo, she would definitely refuse.
If she revealed the truth, saying, "That guy only wants your body!" it might hurt Scarlet, who liked him.
What should she do...
After pondering for a while, Sylvia eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.
---
"Good morning, Scarlet."
"Good morning, Scarlet! I feel like I'm going to die from muscle pain!"
As usual, when she arrived at school with Sylvia, Mei and Jessie greeted her.
Jessie had a strange expression, somewhere between a smile and a grimace, probably because of muscle pain from yesterday's training.
Sorry, I think that's my fault.
When we were training one-on-one, Eve suggested we increase the class intensity to see everyone's limits.
I heard about it when I returned the illusion magic-infused gem to Teacher Eve before going home yesterday, as I no longer needed it since I had my prosthetic arm attached.
Silently apologizing to Jessie, I took my seat and greeted Yoon Si-woo, who had greeted me first.
At that moment, as Sylvia was about to sit down, she hesitated and suddenly called out to me.
"...Scarlet, can I talk to you for a moment before the teacher comes in?"
I nodded and quietly followed her out.
Standing face to face in the quiet hallway, just before morning assembly started, made me strangely nervous. Swallowing hard, Sylvia leaned in closer and whispered.
“Scarlet, what do you think of Yoon Si-woo?”
Hearing that question, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
A moment later, I realized and was shocked.
Could this be one of those situations from novels where the character says, "Stay away from him, you thief!"?
I thought it was strange that Sylvia didn’t seem to like Yoon Si-woo, unlike in the original story, but I guess that wasn't the case.
Come to think of it, she did seem upset when I gave Yoon Si-woo the macaron yesterday.
Finding it amusing that I was suddenly the target of Sylvia's jealousy, I said,
“Do you like Yoon Si-woo?”
I thought, of course, the heroine and the protagonist should end up together.
So, I was always on Sylvia's side while reading the original work.
Even though I couldn't support the other heroines.
I was going to tell Sylvia not to worry because I had no such intentions.
But Sylvia's response was unexpected.
“...No, if I had to say, I don’t like him. I just want to know what Scarlet thinks of him.”
Thinking it was just a stage where she was too embarrassed to admit her feelings, I looked at Sylvia's face, but she seemed sincere.
Why on earth?
As someone who wished for the two of them to be together, I found this situation a bit troubling.
It would hurt, but I wanted to see them together...
If things continued like this, it seemed unlikely, so I hastily said to Sylvia.
“Well, Sylvia, Yoon Si-woo has many good qualities!”
Seeing Sylvia’s perplexed expression at my sudden statement, I quickly added whatever came to mind.
“Yoon Si-woo is... capable, for one.”
That damn overpowered guy had a lot of money and incredible combat abilities.
“And he's kind, has a good personality, and is responsible.”
In the original work, he was someone who sacrificed himself to take care of those around him.
“And he's handsome too.”
As I thought of his good points to cover for him, I felt a mix of self-reproach and embarrassment that made my face flush.
...Why am I doing this?
Be grateful, you damn Yoon Si-woo...
I'm doing this for your love life...
“Anyway, I hope you two don’t dislike each other and get along well...”
When I said that, Sylvia nodded, looking at me with pity.
After finishing our conversation and sitting down, I saw Yoon Si-woo with his head on his desk.
He seemed fine a moment ago, but even he must be exhausted from the training.
As I sat quietly and watched the heroine and protagonist sitting side by side in front of me, I thought.
I hope a world where the two of them can live happily comes soon.
---
“Yesterday was tough, so today’s class will end quickly!”
At the teacher's words, the children from classes A and B gathered in the gym cheered loudly.
Seeing the kids, Eve laughed heartily and shouted.
“Ahaha, don’t you all love this too much? Anyway, today we’ll divide you into four teams by drawing lots, regardless of class A or B, and you’ll compete! The task is to defeat 100 monsters in an urban warfare scenario. The teams that finish first will get to eat first, so give it your all!”
Everyone's eyes gleamed with determination.
Historically, students were known to do anything, even jump from the second or third floor, just to eat a bit earlier.
With such competitive kids, adding a meal as a reward was a surefire way to make them take it seriously.
But the world can be cruel, and things don’t always go your way, even when you give it your all.
“...I don’t think I can do this.”
Mei, who was next to me, murmured.
“Yeah, I don’t think I can either. I don’t think I can lose...”
I muttered along with Mei, who was next to her.
Ironically, Mei and I ended up on the same team as Yoon Si-woo and Sylvia.
A crazy bus whose speed I couldn’t even predict.
Even just wearing a seatbelt tightly would be enough to win.
"That's unfair!"
"This is too much, Teacher!"
I heard Daniel and Jessie shouting from somewhere, but I ignored it.
“Since today’s teams were decided by drawing lots, it can’t be helped! Things in the world don’t always go as you wish!”
Eve’s cheerful shout left the kids feeling dejected.
Sorry, but I agreed with her.
Things in the world don’t always go as you wish.
*
Thanks to the bus driver, we got to eat first.
I didn’t slack off, even though I knew we’d win.
“Scarlet! You were amazing!”
“Is that flamethrower from your prosthetic? Its power was incredible!”
On the way to the cafeteria, Sylvia and Mei shared their impressions of the new flamethrower technique I showed them.
Jessie had strongly insisted, "Let's call it the Scarlet Buster!" but I felt it would be embarrassing to shout the name of a technique, so I just called it a flamethrower for now.
Anyway, I felt pretty good after using the flamethrower to incinerate over ten monsters in one shot.
I owe all this to Jessie, who made the prosthetic arm.
Jessie, who was on the verge of tears because she had to eat last, would surely be happy.
After trying out something close to a special move in real combat, I felt an odd excitement.
If I could make it more dramatic, it would be even cooler.
For example, shooting it after taking off a glove.
Preferably a leather glove.
I felt like I was reliving the childhood fantasy of having a dark flame dragon in my left arm.
Heh, at this rate, I could shoot a Dark Flame Dragon Blast instead of just a flamethrower...
Lost in such silly thoughts, we arrived at the cafeteria.
To be honest, if the food was bad, I wouldn’t be eager to eat quickly.
In that sense, the academy’s meals were fantastic.
With such good food, there would never be any absentees like in the military.
I heard that the chef here has been in charge of meals for over 20 years.
While thanking the chef for always providing delicious food, I thought about how peacefully time was passing compared to the original story.
If things could just stay like this, how wonderful it would be.
As I continued eating with those thoughts in mind, Mei, who was sitting by the window, muttered while looking outside.
“Oh, come to think of it, they said it would rain today.”
Looking outside, it was indeed raining.
My good mood suddenly plummeted.
Maybe because of that, the murmuring voice grew louder.
[Burn.]
Shut up.
I didn’t like the being inside me.
If possible, I wish it could be replaced with a dark flame dragon.
As I grumbled and tried to compose myself, there was a thud.
A student who had been eating at a table nearby collapsed onto the table.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. They just suddenly collapsed.”
I heard the students murmuring.
Amidst the noise, I heard a cough nearby.
Mei, who was covering her mouth with her hand, coughed.
When she slowly removed her hand, drops of red liquid fell.
I saw the panic in Mei's eyes.
And with another thud, she collapsed onto the table.
“...What is this...”
Thud.
There was another sound.
Looking in that direction, another student had collapsed.
With a pained expression, Sylvia emitted a light from her hand and applied it to herself before shouting.
“It’s magic poisoning!!! Everyone, stop eating the food!!!”
Things in the world don’t always go as you wish.
It’s usually the opposite.
Thud.
Another student collapsed with the sound.
I heard the sound of rain falling outside.
The voice in my head constantly whispered to burn.
And the repeated thud, thud.
The sound of peace shattering echoed through the cafeteria.
Who ever poison them are cooked literally
ReplyDeleteWow can't have a good peace time, heh
ReplyDeletethe actual poisoning aside, can someone check if there's romance in the tags??
ReplyDeleteThere is
DeleteLes go
DeleteThx for the chapter
ReplyDeleteSi-woo had his arc of suffering from misunderstandings and now it's Sylvia's turn lol.
ReplyDeleteTo her Scarlett is the love sick friend who can't dump the obviously trashy guy she met at uni freshers lol.
The yuu yuu hakushou reference lol, Jaō Ensatsu Kokuryūha!!
ReplyDelete