Chapter 13: A Perfect Emperor and a Chaotic Dinner

After that, I spent a long time searching for evidence of Emperor Akio’s corruption and tyranny, but found absolutely nothing. Worse, the crazy NTR-loving bastard was actually good at politics, so his reputation was incredibly positive.

“Our Emperor? Oh, don’t even get me started. He said my wife was beautiful, gave me jewels, and just admired her!”

“He paid five times the market price for our useless artifact.”

“Last time, during negotiations with the emperor of the enemy nation, he openly rebuked him. Everything he said was true, it was so refreshing!”

Even teleporting to the empire to conduct surveys yielded the same results.

This f*cking…

Unable to contain my frustration, I punched the hallway wall.

I just wasted my time.

Just as I was about to snap my fingers again, an unfamiliar voice called out to me.

“…Hey, I know you’re there.”

I looked up, and their name came to mind.

Hair the color of not flames, but closer to dried blood, and burning red eyes devoid of light.

Erica Latin.

Daughter of Emperor Elliot Latin Julien.

A genius of large-scale fire magic.

And also, the heir to the Imperial swordsmanship style.

Emerging from the shadows, I cheerfully waved to Erica, who was on guard.

Of course, due to the behavioral modification, it changed into a slight wave.

“Greetings, Erica.”

Erica, seeing me, lowered her guard and looked bewildered.

Anyone would be flustered if they came to an enemy country and found their teacher punching a wall in a back alley.

“Teacher… in the Akio Empire?”

Her wavering red eyes were beautiful.

She’s probably thinking all sorts of things.

She’s said to have developed delusions of grandeur because she had no friends in the Imperial Palace.

So, in the novel, Erica was the source of all the trouble.

When Arthur coughed, she thought it was a serious illness and went missing trying to obtain a dragon’s heart.

When Arthur called another heroine at night, she thought he was doing something illegal behind her back and tried to drop out of the academy, things like that.

In this situation, she’s probably thinking…

Erica slightly drew her sword and said,

“A spy?”

Yes, she’s thinking that.

Erica’s characteristic deep crimson aura enveloped the scabbard and blade.

Her red eyes shone, as if piercing through me.

“I don’t know how just being here could lead to this…”

Bang!!!

As I quickly turned around, the blade struck where I had just been.

Crimson flames lingered where it landed.

As Erica raised her sword again to swing at me, I caught the blade and embedded it in the wall.

Erica’s eyes widened.

“Please, Erica? Listen before you attack.”

Since the blade was still shaking, as if she was trying to pull it out and attack again, I released the blade and sat down on the floor.

I released even the minimal magic power used to reinforce my body.

It was minimal magic power for me, but it was a deadly amount for others, so Erica would notice.

“…Why did you release your magic power?”

“It’s not good to corner someone based on assumptions. Especially if that person is your superior.”

Erica sheathed her sword and quickly bowed her head.

What an immature princess.

“I apologize!!!”

Did she finally realize what she was doing?

Erica continued to bow her head for a while without looking up.

At this rate, she’s going to prostrate herself.

“You may raise your head.”

I said to Erica without touching her at all.

If I touched the princess, I might be killed due to her delusions.

In the first place, I wonder if even the Demon King could kill me.

Erica said, awkwardly averting her gaze,

“This is also a coincidence… Would you like to have dinner with Arthur, who I came on a date with?”

I wanted to say that it’s not a coincidence, but a fated encounter, but I held back.

This princess is probably here for shopping, which she’s delusional about calling a date.

“If I’m not intruding, I would like to.”

“Erica, you said you were going to catch some thugs, why did it take so long…?”

Erica blushed and covered Arthur’s mouth as he ran towards her.

Mouth-to-mouth.

As I recall, Erica never received s*x education.

Since she’s a genius princess, she probably didn’t receive it because she hates political marriages and thought she had no chance of getting married.

So, a princess lacking in sexual knowledge and Arthur, who’s weak against women.

So this must be their first kiss.

I clapped lightly and whistled.

“Congratulations, Arthur. You’ve stolen the first kiss of a girl who didn’t even realize it.”

Arthur’s face turned incredibly red.

Almost as red as Erica’s hair next to him.

“It’s…not the first time…”

…What did I just hear?

If the heroines had heard what Arthur quietly muttered, it would have made them nervous. There was no such depiction in the original story. Did it happen when he was playing house with Cynthia?

“What was that, Arthur?”

Fortunately, our foolish princess seemed to not have heard and asked Arthur with an innocent expression.

Arthur, noticeably flustered, shook his hands.

“Ah…Ah! It’s nothing!”

I stopped Erica from questioning Arthur and started walking towards the restaurant I had researched beforehand.

I almost forgot about this and went back.

“Let’s fill our stomachs first.”

“Teacher…is it okay to enter a place like this?”

Arthur whispered to me, shrinking back.

I didn’t answer and just flipped through the menu, quietly waiting for the waiter.

This place is a restaurant.

In other words, a restaurant recognized by Emperor Akio De Quijote.

If it’s recognized by the emperor, who pursues beauty, what do you think it would be like?

Above us, a chandelier that wouldn’t be out of place in a duke’s house was shining.

And next to the table where we are sitting, wine was flowing like a long spring.

“Drink it when you’re thirsty later, Arthur.”

“Is that really okay, Teacher???”

While Arthur and I were bickering, Erica was already familiarly choosing from the menu.

“Arthur, decide whether you’ll have bread or not.”

Come to think of it, Erica used informal speech with everyone except the emperor.

Why does she only use honorifics with me?

At that moment, Arthur said something he shouldn’t say in front of a girl.

“…Didn’t you say you were on a diet…?”

The atmosphere in the spacious restaurant quieted.

Even nobles wouldn’t want to miss this scene.

The best things to watch are fights, and among fights, the best are physical fights and lovers’ quarrels.

In fact, some high-ranking noblewomen were looking this way and smiling.

Erica crumpled the menu and quietly said to Arthur,

It could be heard by everyone in the silent restaurant.

“Arthur, you wait in your room tonight.”

Pop!

The noblewomen popped champagne bottles.

Erica is probably planning to beat Arthur to death tonight.

…It’s just that her choice of words is very suggestive.

Arthur, perhaps misunderstanding her words, was blushing furiously.

After the brief commotion, the waiter I had been waiting for approached with a refreshing smile.

“What would you like to order? Although we don’t usually have it, today we have eel as a special…”

When I looked at the waiter, he trembled and closed his mouth.

I also sent a telepathic message telling him not to talk about that in front of the students.

Perhaps my mask had an effect.

“One Alfredo pasta, two Tomahawk steaks, and lots of bread.”

Erica, touched by my considerate order, had a moved expression.

With the most excited expression I’ve seen today, she said to me,

“Right! Bread is the truth!”

As a side note, regardless of my favorite character being the Saintess, I supported the Erica and Arthur pairing the most.

It was partly because Ethan’s jealous interruptions of Arthur were cute.

It was partly because Erica’s illustration was incredibly well-drawn.

But the biggest reason was that they looked good together.

Erica’s unintentional actions fluster Arthur.

Arthur explains the meaning of those actions to Erica, and they both become embarrassed.

Isn’t it perfect?

Isn’t it art?

“Teacher? The pasta will get cold.”

Arthur looked at me with a worried expression.

Yes, that nosiness and kindness also suit Erica well.

I carefully picked up the pasta.

At that moment, I heard something.

Ping-

Is it tinnitus? Or a terrorist attack at the restaurant?

I heard a strange sound in my ear, and my left eye felt like it was being cut.

I groaned softly from the sudden pain and covered the eye part of the mask with one hand.

My body had already stood up automatically in response to the pain.

Arthur, startled by my sudden rising, shouted,

“Teacher!”

Arthur was shouting something, and it was very noisy.

No, what am I thinking?

I hate myself.

Where is this pain coming from?

A chronic illness? No, there’s no way this body has something like that.

I hate myself.

Then phantom pain?

There’s no way I’ve ever been injured here…

I hate myself.

I don’t know.

It hurts.

I’m dying.

“Go away…”

A weak voice, unlike my usual one, seemed to come out.

The filtering isn’t working either? Is the mask malfunctioning? Why is this happening?

Ah,

It’s a panic.

-Nightmare and Trauma (EX) is activated…

I can guarantee that we were enjoying a pleasant meal.

The restaurant is one of the best in the continent.

Next to me was Erica, one of the most beautiful women in the empire.

And in front of me was the teacher I respected.

But then, the teacher suddenly showed a different side from what I had seen so far.

I couldn’t even imagine Teacher being in pain.

And although the teacher quickly covered it, I saw blood from the eye part of the mask.

“Teacher!”

I quickly got up and tried to support the teacher.

“Go away…”

It was the same voice as usual, but the tone was completely different.

When the teacher wiped the blood with a handkerchief, the blood moved and tore the handkerchief to shreds.

The blood seemed to be moving alive.

With very strong intensity.

I’ve read about this in a book.

Among the final exam material for the academy’s history book, there’s a story about a great mage who coughed up blood and the blood attacked the person the great mage hated the most.

Then,

Since there’s no target to be attacked now, there’s a high possibility of being randomly attacked…

Stab.

Startled by the stabbing sound, I checked, but Erica wasn’t hurt.

Even looking at myself, there were no traces of blood coming from my body.

Lastly, after looking around, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

Countless blood spears were piercing the teacher, or rather, himself.