Ch.42Chapter 42 – I’ve Never Met Anyone Like You

“I-I’m so sorry, Pathos. I must have caused you a lot of trouble with my emotional reaction. I sincerely apologize for that.”

After the minor incident behind the kitchen was somehow resolved thanks to the Chancellor, Reina was apologizing to me once again.

Before the Chancellor took her away, she had definitely seemed like someone with issues, but after returning with the Chancellor, she seemed like a completely different person.

How should I describe her previous self?

If before she was like a haughty cat—slightly irritable but still caring about her butler in her own way—after coming back from wherever she went with the Chancellor, she was more like a puppy caught doing something wrong, seeking only her master’s forgiveness.

The expression and vocabulary might seem a bit cheap, but dogs and cats are the only animals I’ve regularly seen in real life, so that’s why I used them as examples.

“Um, did I hurt you somewhere when I grabbed and shook you earlier? Are you really okay?”

Anyway, she was now looking at me with an extremely apologetic expression.

She kept touching my body to check if I was hurt anywhere, which made me feel somewhat strange.

“I’m not hurt anywhere, but are you okay, Miss Reina?”

“Pardon?”

I looked at Reina, whose behavior and tone had suddenly changed, and felt concerned for her.

I wondered if I had hit her head too hard. They say that when people suffer severe head trauma, they can change completely, and Reina seemed to be exactly that kind of case.

“Oh, no! I’m fine! There’s nothing wrong with me, so please don’t worry!”

As I looked at her with concerned eyes, she frantically waved her hands, insisting that she was fine.

No, seriously, what on earth happened? Chancellor, what exactly did you discuss with her?

“Did the Chancellor threaten you or something? Or what happened while you were gone?”

I was curious about what the Chancellor had said to Reina, so I asked her directly.

“W-well, about that…”

Reina looked around and only after confirming twice that no one else was around did she finally begin to speak.

I was able to hear from her what had happened during the time they had briefly disappeared.

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Upon arriving behind the kitchen, Regina heard the conversation between Reina and Pathos and felt she needed to intervene.

‘I have no choice.’

Though reluctant to get involved in what had happened between the two, she worried that if left alone, Pathos, who was clearly the victim, would suffer secondary harm.

So Regina teleported with Reina to a low hillside some distance from the academy.

While Glesius Academy was protected by powerful magical barriers and wards, for Regina, who had become even stronger after the curse of the Rejuvenation Elixir was lifted, breaking through them was no difficult task.

What would have taken a full day in the past now took her only seconds—creating a small passage through the defensive barriers and wards and successfully teleporting through with Reina.

“W-where is this?”

“Here, you and I can talk without anyone interrupting us. Don’t you think?”

While Reina was surprised by the sudden change in environment, Regina slowly walked toward her.

“Miss Reina. What did I ask of you?”

“Ch-Chancellor?”

Reina was terrified by the Chancellor who approached her with a slow but firm tone.

She had had many opportunities to meet so-called “important people” who made national decisions at banquets and other gatherings.

Also, having accompanied her father, Duke Eldinar, to various martial tournaments, Reina had thought she could handle the Chancellor’s aura.

But now, the intensity emanating from Regina as she slowly walked toward her was unlike anything she had ever seen from the countless powerful figures of the continent.

“I clearly told you. To help Pathos adjust well to academy life, and to help him make friends with other students at the academy. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-yes, that’s right!”

Standing before Regina, Reina was now at full attention, answering the questions directed at her.

“Yes. I definitely asked that of you. But what is this situation now? Is this what I asked you to do?”

Regina began by questioning Reina in a gentle voice, then suddenly changed her tone and began pressing her hard.

“N-no, it’s not!”

“If you thought I didn’t know anything just because I sit quietly in the Chancellor’s office, that was a very big miscalculation, student Reina Eldinar.”

Regina was looking at Reina with disapproving eyes.

This was a huge shock to Reina, who had always been treated well like a hothouse flower.

‘W-what? Why is the Chancellor looking at me like that?’

“Student Reina Eldinar. I don’t understand why you used physical force against Pathos ‘first.'”

“T-that’s…”

Reina couldn’t say anything in response to Chancellor Regina’s question.

As she said, wasn’t it she who had used physical force against Pathos first?

“Pathos ran to the kitchen out of concern for the academy, hoping the student cafeteria would be restored as quickly as possible, and he returned it to normal. But what did you do, student Reina? Didn’t you grab and shake him because you couldn’t believe the ability he demonstrated?”

“Y-yes. I was wrong…”

Reina admitted her mistake in response to Chancellor Regina’s words.

“Of course, I know that you have a secret that you can’t tell others.”

“What?”

“Student Reina. As the Chancellor of Glesius Academy, I know about the special circumstances of all students. How could I not know about the ‘curse’ that student Reina carries?”

Regina approached Reina and stroked her head.

She mentioned that Reina had a “curse.”

“The curse you had was the curse of ‘Disbelief.’ A curse that was activated only for ‘ability users.’ A particularly vicious curse that continued to deny an ability user’s power until they themselves denied using their ability.”

The curse that Reina had was one that made her unable to believe and trust when an ability user used their power.

This was a curse that her father, Duke Eldinar, had received while fighting a demon summoned by demon worshippers, which had then been passed on to his daughter, Reina.

A demon’s curse cannot be removed without a god’s blessing, and a priest’s blessing could only alleviate the symptoms at best.

Duke Eldinar, a genius swordsman who had reached the level of Sword Master, could endure the curse through mental strength, but the problem was his daughter, Reina.

When someone with a demon’s curse has children, the curse is passed on to one of their offspring, and it was Reina who inherited Duke Eldinar’s curse.

The only way to break the generational curse was for the cursed person to commit suicide.

When Duke Eldinar learned that his youngest daughter had taken on his curse, he sent her to Glesius Academy to protect her.

At least here, with priests always present, even if Reina’s curse activated, it could be calmed quickly.

For her, the demon’s curse was a stigma and burden she had to carry for life.

“W-wait a minute? You said the curse ‘was’? What does that mean?”

However, Reina noticed something strange in Regina’s words.

It was that the description of her curse was in the past tense, not the present.

“What did I explain Pathos’s ability to be?”

“Well, the ability to fix everything… N-no way?”

When Regina saw that Reina seemed to have realized something, she nodded.

“That’s right. Pathos swung his hammer at your head, and when his ability activated, the curse in your body completely disappeared.”

Reina couldn’t believe that the curse in her body had completely disappeared, even after hearing Regina’s words.

So Regina demonstrated her ability, “Domain Expansion,” right in front of Reina, and Reina finally realized that the curse in her body was gone.

“Miss Reina. Now that we’re going back, do you know what you need to do?”

“Tell Pathos about my mistake and ask for his forgiveness?”

Regina smiled at Reina’s words and simply nodded.

“Well then, shall we go back?”

“W-wait, Chancellor! I’m not mentally prepared yet!”

“Too late~”

Regina cast teleport again despite Reina not being ready, and so the two returned to Glesius Academy.

This was what had happened during the time Reina and Chancellor Regina were briefly away from Glesius Academy.

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“That’s really out of nowhere.”

This was the conclusion I reached after hearing Reina’s explanation.

Wait, the person the Chancellor assigned to me had a curse that made her distrust ability users’ powers?

If the Chancellor thought I would use my ability on Reina and that’s why she placed her by my side under the pretext of helping me adjust to the academy…

‘So this is how she resolves it? The Chancellor really is something else.’

Oh, of course, I intend to receive compensation for curing the curse.

If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s my motto that I must always be paid for what I do.

“Thank you so much. Thanks to you, Pathos, the curse that was tormenting me is gone. I don’t know how to repay this debt…”

“Obviously, you need to pay for it. So, what are you thinking of giving me as compensation for curing your curse?”

I boldly demanded compensation from Reina for curing her curse.

“I’ll have to ask my father about the details of the compensation when I return home, but if what my father offers isn’t satisfactory…”

What’s this? Reina suddenly stopped talking and began to look serious.

“T-then I’ll offer myself! Though I’m inadequate, I’ll give myself as compensation!”

Uh… what? Did I hear that correctly?

“What did you say?”

“If you don’t like the compensation my father offers, you can have me!”

Reina’s bombshell statement that she would offer herself as compensation.

And in response to her bombshell, there was only one thing I could say.

“Can’t you just pay me in money?”

“What?”

“I only accept payment for using my ability in the form of objects or money.”

I’m not some pervert or scumbag who demands a woman’s body as payment for using my ability.

“Um, wait a minute…”

“I’ll assume you’ll contact your family and prepare appropriate compensation. I’ll be taking my leave now. See you later.”

I told Reina I’d see her later and managed to run away quickly.

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Reina stared emptily at the spot where Pathos had left.

“Ha, haha…”

Reina was dumbfounded.

No one had ever treated her, the precious daughter of a ducal family, like this… he was the first.

“You’re the first to treat me like this.”

Something unidentifiable began to burn in her heart.

“I will definitely make you mine.”

In Reina’s eyes as she stared at the place where Pathos had left, a sticky obsession was gradually forming.