Chapter 73: Loneliness

Ｒｅ​ａｄ ｏｎ ＫａｔＲｅ​ａ​ｄｉ​ｎｇＣａｆ​ｅ

The dormitory felt lonely.

What felt like just yesterday, Sugar was bustling around in the annex she resided in with Riley back at the orphanage. However here at Steele, it’s a single room. You could choose between a single or double room, but the Holy Land applied for a single room on her behalf.

The facilities were so good that each room has its own shower and the bed is clean and fluffy. There’s even a large bathhouse in the basement; Sugar couldn’t shake the feeling that she was inside a hotel.

However, each room was equipped with a device that measures the flow of magical energy in real-time. If someone who isn’t the room’s owner enters, an alarm goes off immediately.

Same-gender visitors can enter with prior permission from the dorm supervisor. Opposite-gender visitors, of course, are strictly prohibited.

If someone of the opposite gender trespasses, it’s a 500-point penalty.

Accumulating just 100 points can get you summoned to the disciplinary committee, that’s how serious 500 points is.

Feeling lonely, Sugar pulled the blanket over her face.

Riley, of course, was in the male dormitory along with Ian.

‘It’s a huge blow that even Ian is far away, we were always together in the Holy Land. We would play all night and sleep together, we even bathed together. I could see her overwhelming chest just by looking.’

Even in the holy land for the brief time they were together, they had separate rooms, so it doesn’t matter much. Sugar had snuck into Riley’s room a few times and got caught, ending up getting kicked out, but still.

Being able to be with the people you love as soon as you wake up or right before you sleep was so warm. Not being able to do that now is disappointing.

Disappointing.

So disappointing.

Really…

“…”

‘But you know. The one I’ve been with for a long time is Ian. The one I always spent time with is Ian.’

So why does someone else keep popping up in her head instead of the crossdressing saint? Just because they spent a few days together?

Is it because they had been apart for so long that it felt more poignant?

And after what she saw earlier today, it’s was turning out to be a very unsettling night for Sugar.

*************************

“Ugh…”

The next day, Sugar recalled what she had seen in the exhibition hall yesterday.

No matter how she looked at it, Leon’s expression wasn’t just one of surprise. Although he quickly composed himself when people approached.

‘Why did he make that face?’

He should have looked more dumbfounded.

In the original prologue, there’s a cutscene where Leon grabs the staff and his expression is so weirdly funny and dumbfounded that people in the community photoshopped it everywhere to mock him.

This may be reality but even if it wasn’t exactly like that, she expected a similarly flustered expression.

‘Why did he look both angry and sad?’

First, Sugar tried to recall what she knew about Leon.

‘He’s the only son of a single-parent household with just his mother. Even though they were a bit poor, he was loved and grew up to be just and diligent. His upbringing was completely ordinary. That’s all that was mentioned.’

It’s a game that follows the traditional story of an ordinary person being chosen by the holy sword to become a hero.

Sugar looked at Riley, as she did, she recalled the original Riley from the game.

After hiding the magic book, Riley joined a famous mage in the Sky Island and rose to prominence.

The most outstanding among his disciples. A rising star of the Sky Island, a promising young mage who carried the expectations of many.

He was someone who was recognized by the world and steadily pursued his dream of placing everything beneath him, but unfortunately, he hit a wall in Steele.

To officially register his name in the Sky Island he needed a degree from a magic school, so he enrolled in Steele, the most prestigious one. There, he met Leon. More precisely, he saw Leon being chosen by the Saint’s Staff.

All the expectations and attention turned to Leon. At first, it was skeptical glances, but Leon soon proved his diligence and justice by solving various incidents. Eventually, even the students, professors, the headmaster and even Riley’s own mentor acknowledged him.

In the midst of that, Riley had no room to acknowledge Leon. Instead, his heart was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Why wasn’t I, the most outstanding, chosen?

Why do people like him always get things so effortlessly?

Riley, born to parents he couldn’t even call parents, struggled from the very bottom to rise up.

In contrast, Leon, who grew up loved by his mother and was chosen by the Saint’s Staff, received all sorts of expectations and admiration.

That’s where everything started to twist.

Riley genuinely wanted to kill Leon. At first, it was just out of curiosity, but at some point he couldn’t contain his murderous intent.

Let’s make him suffer as much as possible before ending it.

The direction of his killings, which were initially just to fill the magic book, changed.

Outwardly he acted as a kind young man, hiding the magic book’s power. Behind the scenes though he used the church, broke the minds of other students to manipulate them, took heroines hostage and committed all sorts of evil deeds…

‘…He’s a completely different person.’

Snapping back to reality Sugar sat on Riley’s lap as usual, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. In the annex, she could see his face even at night, but now that they’re in the dormitory. She was trying to ease this loneliness while also racking her brain.

“Riley. We saw something amazing yesterday. What are your thoughts?”

“You see all sorts of things in life.”

“Is that it? No thoughts like ‘I want to be chosen!’ or ‘How dare someone like him!’?”

“What are you talking about… I don’t need that.”

“Sugar. Riley. That’s a 15-point penalty for indecency.”

“Then, just asking. What kind of expression do people usually make when they’re chosen by the Saint’s Staff?”

“Surprised or flustered, I guess. But wait, we’re getting penalized—”

“Right. But if they didn’t make that expression and instead looked angry or sad, what could be the reason?”

“Maybe they didn’t want it or disliked it. But we’re getting penalized—”

“Why? Why would they dislike it?”

“Maybe they thought they weren’t worthy of being chosen, or they didn’t want the attention, or they’re not part of the Saint’s Church. There could be various reasons.”

“Then—”

“Wait. Stop with the questions.”

“Why?”

Why? Riley sighed and was about to pull Sugar up.

“Huh…? What’s this? Aren’t you freshmen?”

At that moment, a middle-aged male professor passing by stopped and looked at the two.

“What are you doing so early in the morning? What are your names? I won’t let this slide just because you’re freshmen.”

“…We already got penalized earlier.”

Earlier, Mel the headmaster’s secretary, had given them a penalty. When Riley answered, the professor clicked his tongue.

“What? You got penalized and still kept doing it? That’s even worse. Tell me your names.”

Then Sugar, with a pitiful expression, brushed her bangs back.

“Sigh… Professor. I didn’t want to say this, but we’re from the Holy Land. We’re friends of the Heavenly Child.”

“Hey! Don’t sell my name! Professor, penalize us as much as you want!”

They had been sitting on a bench in the open back corridor, blatantly showing affection. Ian, who had appeared out of nowhere, jumped up.

And so, the two of them each received a 30-point penalty on their first day of school.

What a celebration.

“Sigh…”

Once they got up from the bench.

Riley held his head. The emotions in that sigh were so intense that Sugar fidgeted her fingers, sweating nervously.

“Hey, Sugar.”

“Yes, yep.”

“We just got 30 penalty points in a matter of minutes. Not 3, not 10, but 30. What do you think I’m going to say in this situation?”

“…Let’s go somewhere secluded and cuddle?”

He immediately pinched her cheek.

“Are you crazy? The normal answer should be that we need to keep our distance, right? Are you really a pervert, Sugar? Are you going to live up to your nickname?”

“Ehehe– hahaha…”

When Riley let go, her cheek bounced back.

“But… we’ve been apart for so long… keeping our distance feels lonely…”

“I also—, sigh… think about it. You and I are both adults now so if we stick together so blatantly… the eyes of others. Our – your – reputation will suffer.”

Riley spoke seriously.

‘Even though Ian, who’s been close since the Holy Land, understands us to some extent, others don’t. We’d just be seen as a scandalous couple, earning all sorts of scorn. Plus, Sugar is a girl, so it could affect her reputation even more.’

Of course, the penalties are the biggest issue. They just got here, and the disciplinary committee might convene? Worst case, expulsion. Is it really necessary to cross such dangerous lines?

‘Actually, it’s for the best. Lately, she’s been clinging to me so much it’s been hard. Her chest, her thighs, they’re all so soft, damn it. If she keeps rubbing against me like that, what am I supposed to do? I, I, I can’t help but react. Thank goodness I learned a temporary blood flow manipulation technique using internal magic.’

Anyway. Whether she knows or not, it’s a problem. Riley can’t settle things before graduation, so he had been enduring.

With that in mind, when he spoke, Sugar’s pupils dilated.

She looked utterly shocked.

Then, she staggered and plopped down on the bench.

“Reputation… reputation…”

Sugar, who doesn’t care about others’ opinions, didn’t care about her own reputation.

Instead, she thought Riley was being considerate of other ‘girls’. Right. If he sticks with me. He won’t get a girlfriend.

‘You’ve grown up too. Of course. You want to meet girls, right? Outside, you couldn’t meet girls because of training, but now that you’re at school, you can enjoy a free campus life.’

Looking up at Riley, he’s really grown up. He’s grown up so well. Even from the perspective of her past life, she’d say, “Damn, he’s good-looking.”

But there’s no way he’d stay by her side forever, he’s going to go around making girls cry.

Since he’s a kind friend, he’ll keep his promises like “Let’s go to Steele together” and “I’ll protect you,” but that’s it, she can’t interfere with his life beyond that.

“Yeah… that’s right…”

“What’s with you… why are you so disappointed? I’m just saying we should avoid physical contact. We’ll still attend classes, eat together, and hang out. What’s the problem?”

But it seemed like Sugar wasn’t really hearing him.

“…I’ll do as you say… as you want… I’ll keep my distance…”

“Did you even hear me? Let’s just do that at Steele, and during breaks, we can—”

“I don’t even need a wish ticket… this much… ugh… but make sure you only have one girlfriend… cheating isn’t good…”

What? It’s like a nonsensical slap to the head. As Riley watched her in confusion, Sugar staggered away.

“Hey. Sugar. Wait. I told you before, what do you mean by girlfriend—”

“Yeah. It’s fine. I’ll cheer for you, Riley.”

“Listen to me. I’m not going to get one. I don’t need it.”

“Yeah, yeah… I understand…”

Watching Sugar’s figure disappear into the distance, Riley rubbed his eyes.

***************

Herbology classroom.

Ian wore a puzzled expression.

Well, one of her friends had her head buried in the desk, and the other was sighing with a grim expression. They were sitting side by side, but it didn’t look like they were on good terms.

Usually, she’d be clinging to him, sitting on his lap but today she’s like this. She was like this before the lecture started, and now it’s the same after it ended.

“…What’s wrong with you two? Is it because of the penalty points?”

Remembering what happened yesterday, Ian, feeling a bit guilty, cautiously asked, and Riley shook his head.

“No. Even if it wasn’t you, Ian, we would’ve had to do this eventually.”

“Uh…”

But looking at Sugar, it doesn’t seem like that at all. She’s absentmindedly crushing some herb she brought from who-knows-where. It’s unsettling.

Honestly, it gave Ian chills.

“S-Sugar. The lecture’s over. Let’s go.”

Grabbing her wrist, Sugar was pulled along without resistance. Is she even hearing the voices around her? At least it’s the first lecture, so there wasn’t any serious teaching yet.

“Hey… snap out of it. Should we go get something to eat?”

“Ah. Ian.”

Finally, Sugar reacts.

“It’s Ian. Wow. Ah. This isn’t the time. I need to go. I need to find out. The truth.”

But suddenly, she starts rambling nonsense and then dashes out of the classroom.

“Sugar!”

Ian chased after her. Riley also got up from his seat and tidied up. He should probably follow too.

“Where’s her mind at…”

As he packed his things, he noticed Sugar’s books and stationery still on her desk, so he collected them as well.

Just as he was about to leave the classroom.

Three female students blocked Riley’s path.

“Um… can we get your name?”

“…Why do you want my name?”

Frowning slightly, Riley asked, and the three giggled.

“Well, we’re interested, so we’re asking.”

“Are you close to His Holiness?”

“What about the girl sitting next to you? What’s your relationship?”

Their flirtatious voices, with clear intentions, were grating.

‘This isn’t the time’, Riley sighed and was about to say he was busy and leave.

At that moment, he locked eyes with Sugar, who was peeking her face out from the classroom door.

Did she come back because of her things? Her eyes were wide and clear.

Sugar, who always showed rich emotions, whether laughing or crying, was now expressionless. She stared intently without blinking, her lips not moving, and it was unclear if she was even breathing.

Like a monochrome painting.

After staring at Riley, surrounded by girls, Sugar quietly disappeared.

A cold sweat ran down Riley’s spine.