episode_0020

I heard Lizley grinding her teeth. Amidst the commotion, others might not have heard it, but as an expert in her teeth-grinding sounds, I knew. It seemed Lizley was furious after seeing Rosalie Maman’s affectionate patting and the minion feeding me an apple.

Seeing that sight made me feel incredibly good. Hehe, you idiot~ With Leon here, you can’t openly show how mad you are, you can’t glare at me, aren’t you fuming? It’s truly hilarious to see her like this, that bitch who was cheating behind my back and even tried to drug me to send me to hell. You really live a tiring life, Lizley….. If a person has a strange personality, they tend to bring trouble upon themselves.

“Did you know Ras too, older sister? It seems Ras is more well-connected than I thought.”

“Don’t pretend to be close…”

“Haha… Don’t be like that, why don’t we have a little chat? It’s good to see you after so long…”

Meanwhile, as Leon shifted his gaze and attention to his older sister, Lizley immediately glared at me. She’s not even a dog trying to read its owner’s mood, yet she’s already so well-trained.

“Ras, could you step out with me for a moment to talk?”

Just as I was about to say ‘yes’ with the thought of provoking her a little, it happened.

“Oh my~ Lizley. Ras seems to be very ill right now, so he can’t. Look, his forehead is so hot, isn’t it? Poor thing…”

Ms. Rosalie quickly cut into our conversation. A gentle smile, and a touch three times softer, caressed my forehead. Her tone was gentle and affectionate as usual, but somehow it felt strongly thorny.

Lizley seemed to be biting her lip and choosing her words, but her logic seemed poor when trying to retort against the doctor’s refusal. But I couldn’t miss this good opportunity. Since Ms. Rosalie had successfully provoked Lizley, it seemed like a perfect time to tease her a bit.

“I’m also very hot, and since I’ve been lying down constantly, I’d like to get some fresh air. My body doesn’t feel uncomfortable anywhere, so it’s fine.”

I got up from the bed. Perhaps because I had been lying down with a high fever, the bed felt incredibly hot, like a heater.

Ms. Rosalie spoke to me with a worried look and voice. “If you feel tired, or even a little bit strange, you must come back down immediately, okay? Don’t needlessly endure it just because your girlfriend is there, alright, Ras?”

“Yes!”

To infuriate Lizley, I answered slightly more energetically and cutely than usual.

“Grind!”

Lizley’s teeth-grinding sound was heard again…

“Danger..! Rosalie Teacher-nim… Extreme threat…!!”

For some reason, Irha was fidgeting and flustered next to me.

*

Lizley was heading towards the rooftop with steps full of displeasure and malice. Jealousy? More than that, a somewhat stickier and unpleasant feeling was subtly creeping up. Lizley, who usually had the easy thought, ‘If you weren’t engaged to me for money, would you even get to talk to a beautiful woman like me?’ But as soon as Ras broke free from his stance of being a puppy wagging his tail for her, he was surrounded by women.

‘Well… even so, they’re just ordinary women. Compared to me, they’re far… inferior. Are you satisfied with such women?’ Well, let’s just note that this is purely Lizley’s personal opinion. Glancing at Ras beside me, his gait felt somewhat buoyant. Although he was walking with a slightly floating sensation due to the fever, as his body hadn’t fully stabilized, in Lizley’s eyes, it just looked like he was grinning foolishly at women. Seeing Ras walk as if in a dream, Lizley’s anger level rose as she thought of Rosalie, who had just affectionately caressed Ras.

‘Ha… this is truly ridiculous, isn’t it? A health professor? She doesn’t even seem like a proper professor, yet she calls herself one. Is she old and into young kids or something? She’s really trying hard. And… wasn’t she married?’ Of course, Lizley didn’t know that Rosalie was completely blameless, as Lizley herself had been enjoying her infidelity yesterday and today. It was understandable that Lizley wouldn’t know, as the ring Rosalie wore was an artifact used for healing, a secret not widely known externally.

“What do you want to talk about? Why did we have to come all the way to the rooftop?”

Hearing Ras’s voice, Lizley retorted as usual, no, even more sharply.

“Were you… very happy being surrounded by women? Did you like Professor Rosalie caressing you? You, is your taste for… just older women?”

Lizley immediately and openly called Rosalie old, but since Rosalie was an immense beauty, that was her only flaw. Even then, she pointedly left Irha out of the conversation, which was typical of Lizley’s disregard for others. No matter how desperate, she didn’t want to include Irha, whom she looked down upon as an impoverished commoner, in the conversation.

“It’s not like I called you here to fight… You really are something else.”

Of course, Ras showed no particular reaction to Lizley’s attitude, which he had already expected. Meanwhile, he didn’t forget to deliberately avoid denying or refuting Lizley’s questions, further infuriating her. In any case, from now on, Lizley was going to get verbally bashed by Ras. Ras thought that even setting aside physically beating her later, he first needed to thoroughly crush her with his tongue now.

“And women? You put that well. Why does someone who gets upset about such things drag her feet and only show up now? Irha was with me all day yesterday, so does that make Irha my girlfriend?”

“Ugh… that… that’s…!”

The exam that started on Wednesday morning ended before Wednesday night. Moreover, first-year students returned directly to the academy without any cleanup, so by Thursday afternoon, everyone had already returned to the academy. If Lizley had truly intended to visit, she should have at least made an appearance by Friday at the latest. Lizley, who had forgotten that although they had already broken up in her heart, there had been no agreement to split, was lacking in logic and couldn’t properly retort.

“You, who showed up late, and moreover, clinging to another ‘guy’, are now getting angry at me while looking at the people who treated and nursed me the entire time?”

Ras paused to catch his breath, giving Lizley no chance to make excuses, and continued his unending tirade. “Let’s be reasonable. It’s too shameless for you to neglect and treat me carelessly, yet expect me to constantly think only of you. I’m not your slave.”

If it had been the usual Ras, he probably would have blurted out something like, ‘Professor Rosalie? Her touch was so soft and nice~ A feeling I’d never received from you?’ And that would have been some forced reason to pin blame on Lizley, one way or another. But the current Ras was, coincidentally, in a ‘Humbled Man’ state. Instead of his masculine pride and combat power being nerfed due to a fatal injury, his stats in composure and wisdom had soared dramatically as a counter-effect. From ancient to modern times, commonly known as ‘The Sage’. Lizley could absolutely not defeat Ras in his current state, either logically or situationally…! Furthermore, even Lizley’s own appearance, which she put forth as her ultimate weapon, was honestly somewhat inferior compared to true devastating beauties like Semere or Rosalie.

‘Does she lack self-objectivity? No. This is all my karma. Ras, you’ve ruined a person since your past life…’ Nevertheless, exhibiting the utmost generosity in ‘Sage’ mode, Ras stood up.

“Lizley. Honestly, I don’t think you and I are a good match. So, if you want to break up, just say so anytime! If we were just dating, it would have been a clean breakup~”

The hidden meaning in his words was, of course, ‘Since it’s an engagement tied to a debtor-creditor relationship, a clean breakup will be difficult, won’t it?’

“……..You’ve really changed. You weren’t the kind of person to mock and exploit weaknesses like this. That’s why I was… feeling a little bit of affection for you…”

Lizley murmured with tears welling up, as if she had truly felt affection for Ras, like a betrayed heroine in a tragedy.

“Didn’t I tell you last time when I was with ‘Leon’? People always change. Changing isn’t always good, but… you might need to change a bit. Try changing from now on~”

After finishing his words, Ras stood up. Discarding any thoughts of Lizley, Ras decided he should indulge a little more with Professor Rosalie, who had suddenly become three times more affectionate. The help and favor he had received in his previous life. Ras’s nature was such that he never forgot kindness or grudges, so in this life, he intended to diligently repay the kindness he couldn’t fully return to Rosalie. And besides, getting along well with a beauty was always a good thing.

“You, far away~~ tell me we’re breaking up, ooh~~♪♬ I’m actually not a good person for youuuu~~♪♩”

Singing a popular song among academy students with flair, Ras descended from the rooftop. Lizley sat there for a long time with a vacant expression. Even without Leon’s instructions, it was time for her to figure out her next move, one way or another.

*

When I went back down to the infirmary, the bustling ward was, unbelievably, quiet. It seemed Ms. Rosalie had gone to talk briefly with Professor Isera, and the top three students were also gone. Leon had already dragged Skada out, insisting on having a cup of tea, and Emma had taken Irha away. Come to think of it… Is Emma going to harass Irha? That would be a fierce battle in its own right, wouldn’t it?

For reference, I had Irha neatly extracted money from Emma as an advance payment. And since I had, in any case, ruined the evaluation exam, Emma was in a situation where she had to keep her promise to Irha. Well… given Emma’s personality, she’ll probably try to wiggle out of it, or even get angry at Irha for daring to ask. Anyway, no matter what Emma does, she doesn’t have much time left at the academy. Whether I leave her be, or she receives orders from Lizley, who was furious from our recent conversation, she will soon approach me just like in my previous life. The thought of her pushing her truly worthless body onto me made me extremely uncomfortable.

She was a truly crazy bitch; before my regression, she came to me when I was poisoned and feverish, my eyes glazed over, and directly set up a false accusation of rape. She was truly a super-elite agent, throwing herself into dangerous and dirty missions with a self-sacrificing attitude. Honestly, a subordinate with Emma’s level of madness or loyalty is only truly manageable by someone like Semere. And unlike Semere’s direct subordinates, who were almost forcibly subjugated through magic, Emma voluntarily backed Lizley so much. What on earth is Lizley to her? I had often wondered if Emma actually liked Lizley as a genuine romantic interest, and that suspicion is still ongoing.

“Here and there… there are just too many strange people.”

I shook my head, lying down on the bed. I need to recuperate in the hospital until today, and from tomorrow, I must start building up for a new beginning. Emptying the rough, savage, hellish fire-like imagery that had consumed me, leaving only a small flame within. The immediate destructive power might be disappointing, but I have a deep understanding of the Nine Heavens Annihilation Flame Art, and based on that, I should be able to grow strong quickly. The time ahead will be spent filling the world of flames, which previously had nothing behind it, with other things. For now, it’s enough for the flame’s intensity to be just enough to melt Mirha’s ice flowers.

“Zzzzzz…”

As my body was still quite fatigued, I fell asleep just like that. And then.

“Waaah…! Professor..! Professor Rosalie-nim…!! My shoulder is so hot. It hurts so much, waaaah…!”

“Oh, damn it, you scared me!”

I was woken up by some guy bursting through the infirmary door, making a sound like a bellowing bull.

“Blaber?”

Blaber de Stipula was weeping profusely, shedding tears like chicken droppings, as he searched for Professor Rosalie. His eyes were filled with sadness, like a calf that had lost its mother.