Join us on Discord
Click Here

Chapter 136: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat

Chapter 136



Ding ding ding~ Good morning~ Ding ding ding~


As the morning sunlight streamed through the window, I couldn’t help but chuckle dryly at the thought that the long night had finally come to an end.


I hadn’t slept, so there was no need to wake up, yet the alarm seemed to echo incessantly in my head.


Well, there wasn’t much I could do to stop it, so I had no choice but to enjoy it.


I got up and did some light stretching.


Even though I hadn’t slept, I didn’t feel particularly tired, which meant I should be able to get through the day without much trouble.


Come to think of it, staying up all night was something I used to do often.


There were many times I had to work late-night shifts to cover living expenses.


Now that I’m much healthier than I was back then, I figured I could manage without sleep.


As I was lost in these thoughts, it was soon time to head to the academy.


Arriving a bit early, I saw that Mei was, as always, already there, cleaning up before anyone else.


"Good morning, Mei."


"Oh, Scarlet. Good morning. You must be tired since it’s morning. Would you like something to eat?"


When I greeted her, Mei returned the greeting and pulled out a few chocolates from her bag, offering them to me.


I hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take the chocolates she handed me.


After pocketing the chocolates, I unwrapped one and popped it into my mouth, the sweet and slightly bitter taste of the chocolate spreading across my tongue.


As the sugar seeped into my body, I could feel the fatigue from the sleepless night slightly dissipate.


...Mei had mentioned before that chocolate is the best when you’re tired.


Maybe I should stock up on chocolate along with bean sprouts at home.


As I chewed on the chocolate, lost in thought, Mei spoke up.


"You heard about the special class today, right?"


"Oh, yeah. They said Leonor-senpai’s uncle is coming as the instructor."


"...I wonder if I’ll be able to do well. I’ve had private lessons, so I should be able to keep up with the others, but I’m not confident..."


Mei muttered in a slightly hesitant tone.


I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.


I always thought that Mei, who worked harder than anyone else, would be full of confidence, but here she was, having these thoughts.


It turns out that everyone has their own worries and doubts.


With that in mind, I spoke to encourage her.


"You’ll do great. You’re Mei, after all."


Mei responded with a bitter smile.


"...Thanks. I’ll do my best. For you, Scarlet..."


"For me?"


"...No, it’s nothing. Let’s just do our best together."


*


"...To be honest, I was a bit worried until just now. I thought that after hearing about your encounter with the witch, a few of you might have been too scared to continue pursuing the path of a hero."


Leon Lionelle, a man with striking blonde hair and brown skin, muttered as he looked over at us, who had gathered in the gym for the class.


After saying that, he scanned the group and then smiled warmly as if he was proud.


"To think not even one of you decided to quit—that’s a pleasant surprise. That’s right, a hero should never succumb to fear. I guarantee it, in spirit, you’re already proper heroes."


I could feel the atmosphere among the students heat up.


An admired hero had recognized them.


It was only natural for everyone to be moved.


However, the excitement didn’t last long. As Leon’s expression turned serious, the students once again focused on his words.


"But no matter how strong your spirit is, as a hero, you must possess a certain level of strength. Especially in times like these, when the witch has reappeared. Of course, I’m not asking you to become strong enough to fight a witch or a high-level monster. What I’m going to teach you today is—"


Leon suddenly drew the spear he had been carrying on his back and aimed it at us.


"How to survive."


At that moment, it felt like his spear pierced through my neck.


The intense killing intent that filled the gym was so overwhelming that I almost believed I had just died.


I could see the students’ faces turning pale as they struggled to breathe.


After briefly observing the frightened students, Leon retracted his killing intent and continued.


"Since you’ve already encountered the witch, I’m sure you’ve experienced something similar. When a person faces a being stronger than themselves, their body instinctively freezes up. They get overwhelmed by killing intent or sheer presence. And when that happens, they usually die. Whether you plan to run or fight, you need to train yourself to move in such situations if you want to survive. Let’s start by getting each of you accustomed to that feeling."


In the blink of an eye, Leon appeared in front of us and drew a line on the ground with his spear.


It was a line.


Although he hadn’t physically drawn a line on the gym floor, the students could feel the imaginary line he had created with his spear.


They could sense that crossing that line wouldn’t end well.


"Let’s start with crossing the line I just drew. Who wants to go first?"


Leon asked calmly after returning to his spot, but no one volunteered.


And then, I felt a throbbing headache.


I noticed Leon subtly glancing at me.


It was obvious to anyone that he wanted me to go first and set an example.


I really didn’t want to stand out, but...


I had no choice but to stand up and face Leon.


"Oh, you’re going first?"


Leon spoke in a nonchalant tone, but I could sense that he felt a bit sorry for making me go first.


I responded with a slight nod, telling him not to worry, and then faced the imaginary line he had drawn.


I remembered what Leon had made me do at his house before.


He had told me to cross a line he had drawn back then too.


Having done it once already, it didn’t feel particularly difficult.


I took a few steps forward and crossed the line, noticing the bewildered expression on Leon’s face.


In a low voice, so that only I could hear, he asked.


"...I thought this before, but you’re really an unusual lady. Do you not feel any reluctance to cross that line?"


I tilted my head in confusion at his question.


Huh? Is there supposed to be a reason to feel reluctant?

When crossing that line, the sensations I felt weren’t much different from what I normally experience.


All of them were feelings I had grown so accustomed to that they had become dull.


There wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy to share.


However, I wondered if the problem was that I had completed the task too effortlessly in front of the other students.


Leon seemed to make a somewhat ambiguous expression before asking me, "Since you seem to be already accustomed to this, how about adding a bit more to your training? Let’s have a sparring match. Are you okay with that?"


I nodded since I had no reason to refuse.


Seeing my response, Leon turned his spear around so that the blade was facing away for safety. He then muttered to me in a low voice, "I’ll go at the same speed as last time, so do your best."


As soon as he finished speaking, Leon thrust his spear at me.


And my reaction to his attack was,


‘Huh? Isn’t this a bit slow?’


It was clearly not a slow attack, yet it felt oddly easy to see.


When I trained with Leon before, I had to rely on my instincts, flinging myself around to dodge.


But now, I felt like I could simply watch and avoid it, and that’s exactly what I did.


I dodged Leon’s attack with just a slight movement of my head. Seeing this, Leon looked a bit dumbfounded and asked in a quiet voice, "It hasn’t been that long since we trained together... Did something happen in the meantime?"


...I don’t know either.


Could it be the result of the special training I’ve been doing?


However, it felt like my physical capabilities had improved in a way that was hard to explain by training alone.


As I continued to dodge Leon’s attacks and reflect on this, Leon spoke with a surprised expression.


"...You must have been training really hard. At this rate, it won’t be much of a workout. Fine, I’ll get a bit more serious, so you go all out too."


The moment he said that, I found the spear swinging right in front of my face.


I quickly twisted my head to avoid the attack aimed at my head and threw a punch, but Leon was already out of reach.


He was keeping a precise distance, where my punch couldn’t reach him, and continued to swing his spear at me with a look that seemed to ask, ‘What are you going to do now?’


As I dodged his attacks with all my might, I thought to myself, *This is how it should be.*


I counterattacked as I dodged, but the distance was insufficient.


In a fight between a spear, the weapon with the longest reach, and bare hands, retreating only puts you at a disadvantage. So, I rushed forward to close the distance instead.


However, even with my charge, Leon maintained a perfect distance, skillfully keeping me at bay with his attacks.


If this were a game, his ability to control the distance would be praised as perfect gameplay.


What made it even more frustrating was how he maintained a speed that allowed me to dodge and counterattack but not actually land a hit.


I didn’t even feel confident that I could hit him with a blast from my prosthetic arm’s flamethrower.


As I continued to dodge and counter, failing to land a hit, my frustration grew.


I needed to find a way to create an opening and land a solid blow—


*Burn it.*


...Suddenly, a good idea came to mind.


I realized that this was just a sparring match.


If I deliberately let his attack hit me, Leon would likely come closer out of concern.


*Burn it.*


That’s when I could attack.


I could definitely kill—


Ah.


The moment I thought that, my body froze, and with a *thud* Leon's attack landed squarely on my stomach.


"-Kehuk, Kelok... Krrr..."


"Are you okay?! Why did you suddenly stop like that? You were dodging so well, and then you just froze during the sparring...!"


Through my tear-blurred vision, I could see Leon’s face full of concern.


...What was I thinking just now...?


This wasn’t something that should have happened.


It was something that must not happen.


As I coughed and struggled to breathe, I simultaneously spat out an apology to him.


"Hicc... Heuk... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."


"...Wait a minute, there’s cold sweat on your face..."


With each labored breath, it felt like the heat that had filled my head was now draining away.


As the heat dissipated, a chill settled into my body, causing it to tremble.


"...I’m sorry, I... I need to go to the infirmary..."


"...Oh, yeah. I believed you when you said you were fine, but I guess that wasn’t true... I’m sorry, I must have pushed you too hard. Go get some rest."


I didn’t even wait for Leon to finish speaking before I fled from the gym.


I hurried into one of the bathroom stalls inside the school building and buried my head against the wall, sobbing.


"...It’s... It’s because I didn’t sleep. It’s because I didn’t sleep..."


But even as I said it, I knew.


That disturbing thought that crossed my mind wasn’t just because of lack of sleep.


Terrified, I sat trembling in the bathroom for a long time before shoving all the chocolates in my pocket into my mouth.


But even the overwhelmingly sweet taste that made my head throb couldn’t stop my trembling.


Unfortunately, the only limit I could endure was my own death.


---------------------


TL Note: Rate/Review us on NOVEL UPDATES. (It Motivate me a Lot :)


"Join us on DISCORD". We All Are Waiting For You :)



PREVIOUS | TOC | NEXT

Comments

  1. Someone free this mc. This is hard to read

    ReplyDelete
  2. Don't give up, Scarlet. You can do it!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is so heartbreaking! Ahhhhhh.

    Please someone save her! Don't let this story end in tragedy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Man, i took the tragedy tag too lightly, holy fuck

      Delete
  4. Scarlet is so afraid of herself that she can't spar properly...man

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I started this novel tbh I actually hated the mc but watching this, it just hurts man. Every character is just becoming more and more human to me and I don’t think I’m ready for what happens next

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Join us on Discord
Click Here