Chap 21-Elise Raphelasia

 

In the middle of walking to the classroom for the next class.

A sharp gaze pierced my back.

I instinctively turned my head.

Among the crowd, a female student was quietly looking in my direction.

Purple eyes, white hair.

She held a leather satchel in her hand, and a small bottle peeked out from her bosom.

‘Elise Rapelasia.’

The Rapelasia ducal family.

A prestigious family of Alchemy.

A wealthy family that runs the largest trading company in Terra.

Despite having such an incredible background…

Her social skills were a bit…

No, they were severely lacking.

But why?

She was staring intently at me.

It was an astonishingly persistent gaze.

As if… trying to figure something out.

Then, when our eyes met, she quickly averted her gaze with a startled expression.

But… could it be?

‘Damn it, why is she still like that!!!’

Even though she was clearly in the same Class A, I only noticed her now because of her devastatingly low presence.

It was mostly my fault.

I should have checked on her condition as soon as I returned to the academy.

When was first released, Elise Rapelasia was a character with extremely divided opinions due to her cold and reclusive personality, which made it difficult for people to approach her easily.

And…

The nightmare of the early game.

She bypassed Dorothy’s surveillance and caused Contamination, endangering the entire academy.

Dozens of students were seriously injured, and she appeared as the early final boss, transformed by the Contamination, leaving a strong impression.

Players had to fight her with insufficient levels and equipment, and they barely managed to win after using up most of the items and potions they had collected in the early stages.

Naturally, she was heavily criticized by gamers at the time as a traitor.

But it was later revealed as the story progressed.

That the Contamination Worshippers’ conspiracy was behind all those events.

Elise was cursed by them and her mind was controlled, and the truth about her revealed through the Akashic Records was shocking in itself.

A record of her clinging to herself to the very end amidst her fracturing consciousness, struggling to protect the students of the academy.

Her will to never be completely consumed by the curse, even in fear and pain.

And as a result.

The early boss, who originally could never have been defeated by students…

Could be defeated because she weakened herself.

The users who knew this shed tears and fell for her.

After that, all sorts of communities were flooded with posts demanding the addition of a route to save her, and eventually, they were able to achieve victory.

Elise officially joined as a playable character after the survival route was patched in.

But the problem was how she was treated in the game.

After surviving, many people defended her, so she was able to get away with a light punishment.

However, she was ostracized by the students for being involved in the Contamination.

And all those settings further warped her already lacking social skills.

As one user who shed tears after learning the truth about her, I couldn’t just stand by and watch Elise suffer.

I used the Evil God’s power to remove the curse that was brainwashing her.

I also collected the evil faith, and I took the resulting chaos and hatred upon myself.

That’s what I definitely did.

‘Where did she pick up such a curse this time!’

Elise Rapelasia.

The curse on her body was definitely caused by Contamination like before, but the feeling was different.

It must have been the work of those Contamination Worshippers bastards.

Recalling the shadow cast behind her, I moved on to the next class with a complicated mind.

…

Close Combat Subject.

In the first year, students learn all subjects shallowly and broadly without a set major.

So that students can find a direction that is helpful to them.

In my case, I had to make do with my body in the end, so the close combat subject was quite important.

When I arrived at the classroom, the students were buzzing.

“Wasn’t close combat supposed to be Professor Brandon?”

“No way, that person is coming as a professor?”

The moment I saw the list of professors, I immediately knew the reason.

[Professor: Bella Staren]

Bella, who had been hugging me and crying until just now, was listed as a professor.

I hadn’t been aware of it when I was being hugged, but now that I thought about it, my face felt a little hot.

From the Silver Fang of the Hero’s direct knight order.

A genius known to have reached the end of level 6 at the age of twenty-five.

Her every move was so famous that it was often featured in the media.

‘Honestly, she’s kind of… cool.’

It’s not just because her appearance is my type…

I almost fell for her when she saved me from the Magical Beast.

Perhaps not wanting to be targeted by the famous Bella, the kids who had been bothering me earlier ignored me and quietly waited for class to begin.

A moment later, the bell rang for the start of class, and the classroom door opened.

And a familiar silhouette entered.

“Woooaaaaah-!”

As soon as she stood in front of the podium, the students started clapping all at once as if they had made a promise.

A legendary graduate of the academy and a hero who had been active on the front lines.

Since she was even outstanding in appearance, her popularity among the students was soaring.

Bella looked around at the students with a stoic expression, without any particular change in expression even at the sound of applause.

Then, she opened her mouth in a low, calm voice.

“I am Bella Staren, and I will be in charge of the close combat subject this semester.”

She took a short breath and added.

“Nice to meet you.”

It was a stiff and businesslike greeting, but the students were still buzzing with excitement.

Bella waited for the students’ commotion to subside before speaking again.

This time it was a simple announcement.

“And there is one thing to convey. The professor who was teaching you the history of Terra this morning.”

‘Huh?’

Could it be?

“Due to personal reasons, it has become difficult to continue the class this semester. He will be replaced by someone else soon, so please keep that in mind.”

“…!”

I widened my eyes without realizing it.

Personal reasons? Suddenly?

‘Could it be… because of me?’

My mind became complicated.

It couldn’t be Bella… was it Master after all?

‘Ha… did I do something unnecessary?’

Behind the pleasure I felt when the professor hit me, a bitter sense of guilt washed over me.

I didn’t feel good.

It was as if I had caused trouble for someone because of my ‘hobby’.

‘I should talk to Master separately later.’

After a brief announcement, Bella began the lesson.

The theory-oriented first class was boring but quite informative.

In the meantime, Bella closed the blackboard and said.

“To change the atmosphere, I will take questions. Anything about actual combat is fine.”

With the book closed, Bella finished speaking in a neat posture.

Unlike her stiff tone, her eyes were soft.

Thanks to this, the slightly tense atmosphere gradually began to ease.

Soon, students’ hands went up here and there.

“When fighting Magical Beasts, how do you deal with a breakthrough in the front line?”

“When the front line collapses, the most important thing is reorganization. Rather than running away far, it is a priority to secure the flanks or blind spots to establish a temporary defensive line. The collapse of the front line is mostly caused by internal chaos rather than the rush of Magical Beasts. Maintaining mental strength is key.”

The students nodded and wrote diligently.

Immediately another hand was raised.

“What was the most dangerous actual combat situation? When you almost died!”

“There was a moment when I thought… I’m really going to die here.”

Bella looked at me and smiled slightly.

“The fact that I survived at that time was really… I can only say that I was lucky. The battlefield is originally such a place. A place where it is not strange for anyone to die, and that is repeated like everyday life. So you all have to train diligently.”

The atmosphere was slightly subdued, but questions still continued.

As expected of Class A, the questions were quite high-level for first-year students.

Not everyone, but students who entered here to fight to protect people.

It is natural that someone like me is ostracized by such children.

Bella answered all those questions diligently.

The tone was still mechanical and stiff,

But it contained raw practical experience that would be helpful to the students.

‘She’s kind as expected.’

I unconsciously crossed my arms and nodded.

In the meantime, a male student raised his hand.

“Professor, then… what is the most powerful Martial Arts? If you had to pick just one.”

Instantly, the classroom became slightly noisy.

‘Hmm… I’m a little curious about this too.’

There was little disagreement about who the most powerful magician was, but the Martial Arts side was different.

Bella paused for a moment and looked at the students again.

“That’s a meaningless question.”

The students’ eyes widened.

“The Six Heavens, among them there are three beings who use Martial Arts.”

“Dreamer, God of War, and God of Fighting.”

Those names.

It was a legend that was only indirectly mentioned in the game.

In the past, the game community had fought all day long with the little information that was available, arguing about who was stronger among them…

Dreamer, the being who is presumed to have brought me here.

God of War, the disciple of the first God of War who created Martial Arts.

And God of Fighting.

Other than the legend that the founder of the Bennett ducal family reached level 9 with swordsmanship created by following her movements, little was known.

Bella continued.

“Do you think you will become stronger by learning their Martial Arts?”

And added.

“What matters more than what you use is who uses it. So stop thinking uselessly and focus on raising your level right now.”

…

Black hair, a skirt that reached the floor, and long socks that covered her calves.

A familiar yet unfamiliar silhouette.

Elise fixed her gaze without realizing it.

It was her.

Yeon’s presence was so clear to Elise.

At that moment—

Yeon turned her head and looked this way.

Their eyes met.

Elise’s heart sank.

‘Was I caught?’

Flustered, she quickly turned her head.

Her fingertips trembled.

I still don’t know.

What is true and what is false.

Like a terrible nightmare, everything was vivid and tangled.

“Yeon Bennet has been imprisoned. On charges of spreading Contamination.”

The culprit who tried to spread Contamination in the academy that day was clearly herself, who was being controlled…