Chap 74-Trash

 

My once-quiet dormitory had become noisy all the time since that day.

Professor Emilia and Bella.

Under the bizarre pretext that a troublemaker left alone in this vast dormitory might cause an accident, those two simply unpacked their bags and settled down in my dormitory.

And…

“Hmm, as expected, thanks to you, Miss, breakfast is delicious. If you weren’t here, Miss, how could I have tasted this delicious bread and warm soup?”

“Wow, the weather is really nice today. To be able to sit by the window and peacefully read a book on such a sunny day… it’s all thanks to you, Miss.”

“Oh my, pretty flowers have bloomed in the hallway. If you weren’t here, Miss, I wouldn’t even have had the leisure to appreciate such beautiful scenery.”

That damn ‘If you weren’t here, Miss…!’

From the moment Professor Emilia opened her eyes in the morning until just before turning off the lights at night, she attributed even the most ordinary and trivial things to me, nonchalantly uttering such embarrassing words.

As if I were a hero who had saved the world.

Thanks to that, I’m having a hard time holding my head up straight these days.

Snuggle—

“…S-Senior?”

When Professor Emilia’s praise bombardment subsided for a moment, Bella stepped in this time.

Senior now hugged me tightly from behind, really all the time, without any warning.

“You endured well, Yeon. I’m so proud of you…”

Her voice, whispering in my ear, was deeply imbued with relief and affection.

“Haa… I’m telling you, it’s not really like that…”

I mumbled weakly, but she didn’t even try to listen to me.

“Yeah, I know. But I really wanted to say this.”

Bella smiled contentedly and hugged me even tighter.

Thanks to those two’s ironclad surveillance and excessive displays of affection, I’m really having a hard time these days.

The biggest problem was that I wasn’t able to train my Unique Ability, ‘Masochist,’ at all.

Since the time I had alone had almost disappeared, it was hard to even find a way to secretly injure myself or give myself stimulation.

Even if I somehow managed to escape the two’s surveillance and be alone…

“Nyaaaa!!!”

The very moment I took out a dagger and was about to start training.

Nabi, that girl, would appear like a ghost from somewhere, crying out so loudly that the whole room would shake, summoning Bella and Professor Emilia.

As if she were reporting me for committing some great wrongdoing.

Still, it was fortunate that I could consistently spar with Professor Emilia and Bella…

Perhaps because they thought they had to protect me, they didn’t go all out during sparring, afraid of hurting me.

Naturally, I couldn’t get the level of stimulation I wanted.

Academy life was no different.

Whether Camilla had really done something or not, no one openly bullied me anymore.

Of course, the whispering and contemptuous gazes behind my back were still there, but that level of weak stimulation was not enough to satisfy me.

In the end, I had no choice but to spend my days restless, with a growing thirst for training.

…

On the day we were supposed to meet for a group project.

Lina, Lea, and Clara had already arrived at the cafe and were talking.

When I entered, Lina waved her hand with a welcoming smile, but I lightly ignored her and quietly sat down in an empty seat.

But…

“…Yeon.”

A familiar voice.

When I turned my head, Camilla was standing there.

She was wearing more makeup than usual, and had fancy earrings with red jewels on her ears.

Honestly, she looked much prettier than usual.

‘If only her chest was a little bigger…’

Just as I was having such useless thoughts, Camilla strode up to me and opened her mouth with an unreadable expression.

“…Yeon, I’ll do as you want.”

“???”

I looked at her with a bewildered expression.

What was she suddenly talking about?

“As I want? What do you mean?”

Camilla’s face turned bright red in an instant.

She glared at me with eyes mixed with shame and anger, and suddenly shouted.

“Ha! D-Do I really have to… have to say it with my own mouth… here?!”

“???”

Seeing my face, which showed that I didn’t understand at all, Camilla bit her lip tightly and hesitated for a moment.

Then, she closed her eyes tightly and said in a trembling voice.

“…I’ll give it to you.”

“Give what? What?”

“…What you want.”

“……??”

When she saw that I still didn’t understand, she cried out in an almost sobbing voice.

“You…!”

She took a breath and paused to choose her words, then finally dropped her head as if resigned and muttered in a very small voice.

“…As… as you want… my body…”

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

“……”

“……”

“……”

For a moment, only suffocating silence filled the air among the group members.

Clara, Lea, and even Lina were staring back and forth between Camilla and me, their faces twisted in a mix of shock and disgust.

And then, their gazes all turned to me at once.

As if I were the most vile and disgusting human being in the world.

‘No, wait a minute. Something’s seriously wrong here…?’

I didn’t know how to handle this absurd situation, and I could only break out in a cold sweat.

Of course, I didn’t mean it seriously.

I was just trying to shake Camilla up a little and see how she would react to the contaminated ring she was wearing…

‘Repay with your body’ was a bit crazy even by my standards…

I didn’t expect her to take it so seriously!

Just as I was about to say something to defend myself.

“…Yeon…?”

A chillingly cold voice.

When I turned my head, Lina was looking at me with dead, empty eyes.

Her face seemed to be filled with deep disappointment, betrayal, and… even contempt.

Lea, who was next to her, shook her head without saying a word and sighed deeply.

Clara covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Camilla with pity.

My mind went blank, and no words came out of my mouth.

“To you… was my confession… just a joke?”

Lina’s voice, much lower and colder than before.

Her eyes were already brimming with tears.

Her trembling voice pierced my heart.

Next to me, Lea was watching us with sparkling eyes, as if she found this whole situation very interesting.

“No… that’s…”

I could only open and close my mouth, not knowing what to say.

What could I say in this situation?

I tried to probe Camilla, but instead, I ended up looking like the crazy bitch.

Lina smiled weakly at my appearance. Her smile looked so sad.

“…I see. You were always that kind of person.”

Her voice was filled with deep resignation and disappointment.

“I… I misjudged you.”

With those words, Lina quietly got up from her seat without looking at me anymore.

It was then.

Lea poked my side with her finger.

“?”

When I looked at her with a puzzled expression, Lea whispered softly.

“…Aren’t you going to stop her? Are you going to let her go like that?”

While thinking, ‘Why would I?’ my mouth moved without me even realizing it.

“L-Lina! Wait a minute!”

At my call, Lina stopped abruptly at the door.

She slowly turned her head and looked at me.

Still with that cold, disappointed look.

‘…What should I say?’

I desperately started racking my brain.

I have to somehow smooth over this situation.

I have to clear up the misunderstanding, but I couldn’t think of anything to say.

“That’s…”

When I faced Lina’s cold eyes head-on, my voice shrank and I cowered without even realizing it.

“…So…!”

Yeah! Let’s just say something, anything!

“I… I like big breasts!!!”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Silence.

With my shout, the cafe was instantly enveloped in perfect silence.

Even the other customers who had been glancing at us from nearby tables were all staring at me with dumbfounded expressions, as if they had lost their words.

‘What… what the hell did I just say?’

I belatedly realized the meaning of the words I had uttered and was horrified.

But the water had already been spilled.

And surprisingly, at my absurd shout, the corners of Lina’s lips lifted ever so slightly, really ever so slightly.

‘Success…?’

Slap-!

A sharp cracking sound and a burning pain on my left cheek.

A strong impact that made my head snap around.

I reflexively covered my cheek.

[SYSTEM]

Unique Ability ‘Masochist’ is activated.

Before my eyes stood Camilla, trembling all over and her face red with anger.

She was glaring at me with burning eyes, not even retracting the hand that had just slapped my cheek.

“……!”

I was too surprised to say anything.

No…

There was nothing to say.

The statement I had just made deserved even worse than this.

Camilla didn’t say anything more, just gave me one last contemptuous look before turning around and walking out of the cafe at a fast pace.

Her shoulders were trembling slightly with anger.

“Wow… this is a bit…”

Lea shook her head from side to side next to me and muttered.

Author’s Note

I think the writing wasn’t going well because I’ve been patting the protagonist on the head too much lately.

But it’s okay!

It will be normalized soon!