episode_0462

Is it because of the alcohol, or is it because of the Chain of Obedience item that I encountered after a long time?

I woke up early in the morning having a strange dream, so I was a little tired today.

“Release, are you okay? You look a little tired.”

“… Yes. It’s okay, don’t worry, Master Ethan.”

… It was a little hard to make eye contact and talk to Ethan because of the dream I had last night. Why did I have to have such an impressive dream… .

Not long ago, I had a dream about Ethan wearing a butler’s uniform, and I couldn’t help but vaguely think that it might be a lack of sexual desire.

‘still….’

I truly believe that it is fortunate that not everything I saw in my dreams back then actually happened.

If my relationship with Ethan had really been twisted to such an irreversible degree, then the rest would have been ruin. At least in my dreams, I would never have been able to free myself from Ethan and would never have been able to escape the status of a bitch or a pet.

All the effort I put into rehabilitating Ethan and changing him from a villain to a good guy meant nothing if I ended up becoming a slave to the teaching assistant just like in the original.

Of course, compared to the original Ethan, the Ethan in the dream was a mild-tasting assistant with 99% of the poison removed, so it was fortunate.

At least they didn’t make me stick my butt in front of other men or animals or something like that, so that’s a relief.

‘But we still have to be careful. Maybe that desire still remains in Ethan’s heart, like the pet play from last time.’

It might be strange to judge Ethan now based on the appearance he had seen only in a dream, but it couldn’t hurt to be careful.

Or maybe it was because I was a saint and the power of prophecy I had back then was manifested. In fact, in the original game, Lilith succeeded in awakening as a saint again despite her body being defiled in all sorts of ways.

If it was something similar to the unique ability that Lilith possessed… there was a possibility that I, who had a relationship with Ethan, could become a saint again.

Even if I had given the power of the saint to Serista, she would have succeeded in awakening the power of the saint in her own way.

And if the power of the saint that remained in my body was really a precognitive dream… perhaps last night’s dream was not something I could easily ignore.

‘I think it might be worth checking briefly.’

It would be nice if there was a way to check whether or not the current Ethan could possibly become the Ethan in the dream.

Is there a way to confirm whether the Ethan in the dream and the Ethan now are the same person?

‘If Lilith really hates me enough to kill me, I don’t really mind dying.’

…Why is this line suddenly coming to mind?

Just thinking about it again sent a chill down my spine. Even just thinking about the situation right before that, I could have accidentally killed Ethan.

‘Oh, no. In my dream, Ethan told me that he didn’t mind dying, so maybe Ethan is thinking the same thing now.’

If similar answers come out, wouldn’t it be okay to assume that the two characters are related?

With that thought in mind, I cautiously asked Ethan, who was sitting across the table from me.

“Master Ethan.”

“Yeah, release.”

“Do you want to die?”

“… … Huh?”

Oh, no.

“Sorry, my words came out wrong.”

“Oh, right… .”

“Do you want to die for me, Master Ethan?”

“… … .”

“Master Ethan?”

Ethan remained silent for a moment in response to my question, then cautiously opened his mouth while watching me.

“Is that why you were like that yesterday?”

“Yes?”

“… Sorry, Lilith. I knew Lilith wouldn’t like it. At the time, that was the only way I could think of… .”

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh? Aren’t you mad because I forcibly tied you to the dorm table yesterday?”

“Didn’t I forgive you all for that at the after-party yesterday? And I’m not particularly upset.”

“Ugh… ?”

“I just asked for Ethan’s objective opinion. If something were to happen to me that would make me die, would you be willing to accept it? Ah.”

… No, wait. When I say it like that, I sound like an assassin who came to kill Ethan.

I realized too late that I had asked the question in the wrong way and took back what I had said in a hurry.

“Oh, no. Please pretend I didn’t hear that question, Master Ethan.”

“Let’s pretend I never heard that question… .”

“Sorry, I was originally going to ask a different question, but the meaning got distorted.”

“It’s a little hard to understand why the release would have to kill me… .”

“… … .”

“… If you’re asking about a situation where only one of me and Lilith can survive, then I think it would be better for Lilith to survive than for me.”

“… … Yes?”

… What is this out of the blue?

“Isn’t that a popular psychological problem among women? Like when you’re hanging from a cliff with a rope that can only support one person’s weight, and you have to decide whether to let go first or not?”

“… That’s roughly it.”

I thought I had misunderstood something, but I nodded anyway. I couldn’t think of any other suitable excuses.

In the first place, it might have been strange to seriously ask Ethan in the present about what Ethan had said in the dream.

“If that’s the case, I wish Lilith could live longer. After all, I don’t think I could survive in a world without Lilith.”

“… Is that so?”

“So, what about the release?”

“Yes?”

“If you were in the same situation, what would Lilith do? Would you rather I live, or would you rather Lilith live?”

I don’t know because I’ve never really thought about it.

“I don’t know.”

“I answered correctly, but why is it only the release that does this?”

“… But if by any chance a situation like that mentioned by Master Ethan were to occur… .”

“… … .”

“I think I’ll hang on to Master Ethan until the rope snaps and then fall down with him.”

“… You’re not saying you’ll fall first.”

“Didn’t Master Ethan already tell you? Since Master Ethan can’t live alone in a world without me anyway, I was just being considerate of him.”

“… Hmm.”

“… And I also find it hard to live when I think that Master Ethan sacrificed his life for me. If Master Ethan and I have the same thoughts, wouldn’t it be best to share as much time as possible before we fall apart? At least I won’t have to feel guilty or regretful when I see the person who fell first.”

“… This is a release-down answer in many ways.”

Objectively speaking, this is the most fair and beneficial.

It wasn’t the question I asked, but I was able to get a rough idea of Ethan’s inner thoughts with this. If Ethan and I become more affectionate than necessary here… then I might really end up having thoughts similar to Ethan’s in my dream.

Of course, even so, it would be frankly absurd to learn dismemberment and dagger fighting in just one year.

In my dreams, I somehow felt like it was natural, but it was just a dream, so it was an acceptable situation.

‘Still, I think it’s better to break up quickly before our affection gets too deep.’

That would be a good thing for both me and Ethan in so many ways.

In a sense, it was one more reason to get out of Blackwood Manor quickly.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

As with the first semester, most of the third-year second semester classes at the Academy, which were expected to focus on exploratory studies, were changed to classes held on campus.

The biggest reason was the kidnapping of Princess Mezlen that happened a while ago. Since the princess and her attendant were kidnapped and almost lost their lives, it was inevitable that discussions about security issues and safety within the Academy would come up.

Because of the need for improvement in the existing exploratory classes that left security and safety to a single professor while conducting outdoor activities, all exploratory classes that involved outdoor activities were replaced with classes that utilized the academy’s training grounds or nearby hunting grounds.

‘This situation is flowing similarly to the original.’

In the original work, due to the kidnapping of Seraphine, the exploratory class was replaced with an internal class at the academy.

If the princess kidnapping incident had not occurred, it was questionable whether the exploratory class would have been held as an outdoor activity as scheduled, but in the end, the suspicion in that regard could not be resolved.

Well, personally, I think it’s more comfortable to roll around in the academy than to go out and suffer all sorts of hardships. Above all, since this is closer to the original plot, there will be far fewer variables in the story.

After that, things went smoothly for a while without any special events or dangerous boss battles.

Princess Mezlen and Kate were safely discharged from the hospital, and Harold, who had been absent for about two weeks due to blood transfusion magic, resumed teaching the magic swordsmanship class.

“Eh, Ethan Doryun, Nihime…!! Je, Jebahal…!! Je, please put it in now… Huuup?!”

…and occasionally give Ethan the sparring victory rewards he got from Harold.

After spending the night with Ethan, I haven’t had any particularly strange dreams. Maybe I really had those dreams because of my frustration.

Other than that, I spent my time talking to Princess Mezlen, who had become noticeably more docile, perhaps because she had almost been kidnapped once, or occasionally greeting Princess Raini, whom I had been seeing a lot since the second semester, perhaps because of Ethan, or becoming friends with characters who were slightly off-topic in the main episodes, such as Lizzie and Lilia.

Because it was the job of the warrior and the warrior party, not me, to put an end to the evil plot of the demons that was unfolding under the surface.

Now that I’ve figured out that I have the ability to deal with variables without necessarily intervening, I don’t need to worry about the movements of the warrior party as much as I used to.

So, after spending a semester as an ordinary academy student, long and short.

The Academy’s winter break began just in time for the first snow to fall on the Island of Knowledge.