Chapter 178: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 178
.
.
.
I burned trees.
I burned people.
Even as I advanced, burning everything before me, the flames clinging to my body never went out.
The flames that those who betrayed their trust and screamed for revenge set upon me never extinguished.
My flesh burned endlessly, yet regenerated constantly, so my pain never ceased.
I hated the world that caused me such suffering, and I wanted to return that pain to the world.
Aaaaah-!!!
As I set the world ablaze with vengeful fury, the sound of agonized screams filled the air.
Surely the burning world was in as much pain as I was.
So those screams should have been sweet music to my ears.
But for some reason, I felt nothing from them.
The flames continued to whisper to me, telling me to burn everything in sight, so I burned and burned again.
Burn it all.
Whenever the flames whispered, the screams echoed.
Set it aflame.
When the fire pushed me forward, the screams followed.
The once lush and beloved forest I cherished was now a wasteland of blackened soot.
When I had finally burned every place that held precious memories—
I glanced back at the path I had walked.
All I saw was a road covered in soot, everything reduced to ashes.
It was then that I realized.
In the end, revenge leaves nothing behind.
Revenge is truly a futile pursuit.
Perhaps, I had known it all along.
That I shouldn’t have done this.
Aah—
Upon realizing this, I found myself crying out in agony.
Aaaaah—
The sound from my throat was just like the screams I’d been hearing all along.
Aaaaaaaahhhh-!!!
No, perhaps it had always been my own screams from the very beginning.
I tried to stop myself.
But it was impossible.
The flames of vengeance that had been ignited would not be extinguished until that vengeance was fulfilled.
No matter how desperately I wished to stop, as long as the flames of revenge burned me, the voice inside me demanding that I burn everything would never cease.
Maybe that’s why—
The moment my life was finally snuffed out by another’s hand, it felt like such a blessing.
At the end of my life, I prayed fervently.
That in my next life, I wouldn’t be condemned to a path of endless regret.
I wished for it with all my heart.
But when I regained consciousness—
I could feel it.
The flames inside me still hadn’t gone out.
Not even death could extinguish them.
Once these flames consumed me and those innocent children, I would once again move to set the world ablaze.
Thus, all that remained for me was despair.
.
.
.
---
When I woke up, I found myself crying without realizing it.
Huh? Why am I... crying?
I didn’t remember the details, but it felt like I had experienced an incredibly sad dream.
Yet I couldn’t recall what it was about, so maybe I had saved the world in some way.
Muttering nonsense to myself in my groggy state, I pushed myself up.
To wake up fully, I decided to stretch and slowly turned my head to the side.
And then—
“...Eek?!”
Yoon Si-woo was sitting right next to the bed.
It was a bit embarrassing that I let out such a weird sound, but it couldn’t be helped.
Waking up to find someone sitting next to you with such a serious expression would startle anyone.
More than that, why the hell was he staring at me so seriously while I was sleeping?
For a moment, I felt like I’d seen a ghost or something...
As I calmed my startled heart, I thought I might understand why Yoon Si-woo was sitting here.
He was a worrier by nature, so he’d probably been taking care of me while I was sick.
I glanced over at the window, where beams of sunlight were peeking through the curtains.
It had been night when I fell asleep.
...Could it be that he’d been watching over me all night, worried about how I was doing?
If that were true, I’d feel pretty guilty...
Whatever the case, I felt much better than I had before I went to sleep.
I should probably thank him.
Just as I was thinking that, Yoon Si-woo, who had been staring at me, muttered something with a serious expression.
“...You’re Scarlet, right?”
“...?”
I must’ve made a dumb face at his question.
It was such an unexpected question that I wasn’t sure I’d heard it right.
It was as awkward as being asked on the internet, “Are you even human?”
But since he’d asked, I figured I should answer, so after some deep, existential contemplation, I responded cautiously.
“...I’m Scarlet.”
“...That’s a relief. You seem okay.”
Even I thought it was an incredibly stupid-sounding answer.
Seeing my response, Yoon Si-woo’s once-serious expression softened with a hint of relief.
Judging by his reaction, he must have been worried about my condition.
Maybe he was just exhausted from staying up all night to take care of me, and his words had come out a bit off.
Thinking about it that way made me feel even guiltier toward him.
As I was considering making breakfast to thank him for all his hard work, Yoon Si-woo’s phone buzzed, probably with a message.
Did he receive bad news?
His expression twisted slightly as he glanced between his phone and me.
After a brief moment, he grimaced and muttered.
“...Sorry, Scarlet. I should be by your side, but something’s come up that I need to attend to.”
He said this with an incredibly guilty and anxious look on his face.
It was as if he were a parent leaving their child by the water's edge—his concern was palpable.
How worried had he been about my condition for him to react like this, just because he had to leave for a bit?
Wanting to ease his anxiety, I made an exaggerated gesture to show that I was fine.
“Huh? No, it’s fine. If something came up, you have to go. Don’t worry about me. Look, thanks to your care, I’m completely fine now. So don’t stress and just go.”
“But...”
It was frustrating to see him worrying unnecessarily when I was telling him I was okay.
I appreciated his concern, but this was a bit much.
“Really, I’m fine. You know my body’s pretty tough. What’s there to worry about? Did something major happened that I don’t know about?”
I joked, but his reaction was anything but lighthearted—he flinched as if he’d been struck.
His odd response startled me.
...Wait, what? I was just joking. Was there really something wrong?
Did I maybe cough up blood while I was asleep or something?
If that were the case, his behavior would make sense.
I waited for him to answer, but after a moment of silence, he finally spoke.
“...No, nothing happened. It’s nothing you need to worry about. I think I might’ve just been overreacting.”
“...Really? I thought for a second there was something you were hiding from me. But I guess there’s no room for that between us, huh?”
After all, we’ve shared the huge secret that we’re both dealing with witches. What else could there possibly be to hide?
Laughing off my needless worries, I saw Yoon Si-woo force a smile and nod in agreement.
Somehow, his smile seemed strained.
I wondered if he was pushing himself too hard after looking after me without rest.
“...Hey, you didn’t get any rest while taking care of me, did you? Are you overdoing it?”
Concerned, I asked him directly, and he reassured me with a calm tone.
“Overdoing it? Not at all. I’m just doing what I can, as always.”
Standing up, Yoon Si-woo gave me a reassuring smile before leaving the room.
“So, Scarlet, you don’t need to worry about anything.”
Still, his expression looked like he was pushing himself too hard.
---
After Yoon Si-woo left, feeling much better, I contacted Ms. Eve to let her know I was fully recovered.
When I asked about classes, she said that due to recent events, normal classes were temporarily replaced with fieldwork and cleanup efforts.
Apparently, they were short on personnel, and everyone was pitching in to help where they could.
Since I was feeling better, I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing, so I volunteered to help out where needed.
The most urgent task at the moment was the disposal of monster corpses scattered throughout the city.
If left unattended, they could decompose and release miasma, posing a risk to the citizens. The job involved working with cleanup crews to safely transport the bodies to secure locations.
I was on my way to the designated work site when I passed by the hospital and noticed a familiar girl with blue hair crouched outside.
I diverted my path slightly and approached her, where she sat with her head buried in her knees.
“...Marin.”
“...Scarlet.”
When Marin weakly lifted her head, I gently pulled her into a comforting hug instead of offering a greeting.
She was one of the strongest girls I knew.
Even when her father was severely injured, she said that heroes must smile through hardship and got up to fight.
But no matter what titles she held, she was still just a young girl.
“...Sob, hic...”
And there wasn’t a single person who could blame her for quietly shedding tears, unable to even cry out loud.
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Thank once again translator san. Reading the chappies is one of the things that helps get me through the day
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