Chapter 133

Chapter 133

The Heroine of the 1st Playthrough Remembers My Training.

Episode 133: The Brainless Saint’s Mating Season (1).

On a beautiful spring day, birds chirped, and flowers blossomed.

A new year at Carnea Academy had begun.

For some, it would be a time filled with dreams and hope, but for me, it wasn’t.

…This semester, the forces of the ‘final boss’ would start to make their appearance.

‘I already feel suffocated…’

If you asked why this was happening now, when things were tough even before, well, Garcia and Maisha were exceptions from the beginning—they were different.

Creatures like wolves or tentacles might have had indirect influence, but they didn’t belong to the ‘final boss’s’ forces.

However, starting with the boss of Chapter 4, “The Revived Corruption,” enemies on the level of disasters would appear, one by one.

‘…Someone save me.’

I had managed to clear most of the main events by using tricks.

In Chapter 1, I had Loreos’s help. For Chapter 2, I blackmailed the top and second-ranked students—now third-years. In Chapter 3, I used Tristia’s aphrodisiac.

…But in Chapter 4, there was no one to rely on.

Not even Lucia.

The boss of Chapter 4, “The Revived Corruption,” had a skill called “Corruption,” which lived up to its name.

This ability instantly corrupted the minds of allies, forcing them to attack their own companions. The more people involved in the fight, the harder it became to deal with it—a truly infuriating skill.

‘…In the end, it’ll just be the Saint and me who have to stop The Revived Corruption…’

The Saint’s unique ability, “Purification,” was almost the only power in this world that could resist corruption, so it was imperative that I took her along.

In fact, without the Saint, it was practically impossible to clear The Revived Corruption.

The mist shrouding the boss’s weakness could only be weakened by Purification before any damage could be dealt.

‘…The only silver lining is that we still have a bit of time.’

The Revived Corruption would reappear after midterms.

Since the semester had just begun, there were still a few months left.

In the meantime, I had to train the Saint, purify some tentacles to implant them within my body, and lay countless traps at the location where The Revived Corruption would emerge so we could skip the first phase upon its revival…

It was an absurdly simple plan, but if it worked, we had a chance.

…That was, if everything went according to plan.

Clatter—

Just as I was deep in thought about the plan failing, the person most likely to mess everything up appeared—Her Highness, the Princess.

“Helloo~! Did everyone miss me?♬”

It was far too casual a greeting for the Princess of an empire.

However, most of Class 1 seemed familiar with Liana’s demeanor, greeting her comfortably regardless of whether they were commoners or nobles.

“Liana! I missed you!”

“Yeah, yeah! How have you been, Liana?”

“Helina! Yufi! Me? I’ve just been bored stiff at the royal palace~.”

Liana ran over like an ordinary student and hugged the two.

Seeing her like that, one might think the Princess was exceptionally friendly with everyone, regardless of their status…

‘…Terrifying.’

Knowing the true nature hidden behind her mask, I couldn’t help but be afraid.

Then, Liana looked at me with a mischievous smile.

“Oh, it wasn’t all boring. Yujin came to the capital, and we had some fun times together.”

“Yu…Yujin? You mean Yujin Calliope?”

“Oh dear, I shouldn’t have said that. Please keep it a secret, okay?”

It was undoubtedly intentional—Liana making that slip to mess with me right from the first day of school.

“O-of course! I’ll keep it a secret.”

Judging by Helina’s expression, if left alone, she’d undoubtedly spread the word everywhere.

‘Sigh…’

If I looked at the bigger picture, it wasn’t a bad thing to appear close to the Princess. But this was way beyond acceptable.

Crossing more than just a line, Liana’s words compelled me to rise from my seat and approach her.

“Oh my, Yujin? What’s the matter?”

“…Your Highness, please refrain from saying things that could cause misunderstandings.”

“Huh? I don’t understand what you mean.”

Liana blinked innocently, feigning ignorance.

“I mean the part about us having fun.”

“Ohhh~ that? But we really did have fun, didn’t we?”

“…Nothing happened between us.”

When I spoke firmly, Liana gave me a wistful look, tracing her fingertip along her lips.

“So…you intend to dismiss it as a midsummer night’s dream, Yujin?”

“Kyaaah!”

Seeing this, Helina and a group of girls screamed, their faces flushed, clearly misunderstanding the situation.

Honestly, I wanted to yell, ‘What nonsense are you even talking about?’

‘But I must hold back….’

I closed my eyes, trying to collect myself.

Then, the Princess leaned forward slightly, tilting her head as she looked up at me.

“Hmmm, if you react so seriously to a joke like that, it kind of hurts my feelings, you know~.”

“…Your Highness.”

“Hahaha. Alright, alright! But still, this is amazing! I never imagined someone could jump from Class 5 straight to Class 1!… And not just one, but two of you.”

Following Liana’s gaze, I saw Vivian Beatrice, head lowered, fidgeting nervously by herself.

“…Her name was Vivian Beatrice, right?”

Before I could stop her, Liana approached Vivian and started talking to her.

“Hello, Vivian♪”

“H-H-H-H-H-Highness…!”

Vivian covered her mouth, trembling all over—she must have been so flustered that she bit her tongue.

‘Ah… poor thing.’

I should’ve warned her beforehand…

Being suddenly assigned to Class 1 was already overwhelming enough for her, but now the Princess was speaking to her. Given Vivian’s timid nature, this situation was too much.

“Hahaha♪ No need to be so nervous. We’re in the same class now, so let’s get along well this year, okay, Vivian?”

“Y-Yes! P-P-Please take care of me…”

The fact that the Princess addressed her by name left Vivian so honored she couldn’t even meet Liana’s gaze properly.

Seeing her reaction amused Liana, who continued chatting with her.

“Come to think of it, Vivian, you were in the same class as Yujin back in our first year, right? So, are you two close?”

“Y-Y-Yujin…”

Vivian glanced at me, trying to add a formal honorific to my name out of habit. I shot her a desperate look, silently telling her not to.

“…W-We’re just… classmates.”

Thankfully, she got the message.

“Hmmm… Is that so?”

Liana tucked her golden hair behind her ear, smiling like a child who had found a new toy.

“But, Vivian! I couldn’t tell from afar because your clothes were hiding it, but now that I’m closer… you’ve got quite the figure, don’t you?”

“Eep…! H-Highness!”

Without hesitation, Liana reached out and casually groped Vivian’s chest.

“Oh, sorry~. My hand just moved on its own.”

“I-I-It’s fine…”

“No, it’s not! Here, you touch mine too! It might not be as big as yours, but it’s still impressive, don’t you think?”

Liana lifted her own chest slightly, her playful grin widening as Vivian shook her head in a panic.

“N-No, I-I could never…”

“Come on, it’s fine! Just try!”

At that moment, just as Liana pulled Vivian’s hand toward her chest—

Clatter—

“….”

Lucia entered the room, and an instant silence fell over the class.

But the silence didn’t last long; one by one, the students began greeting her.

“Lady Lucia, have you been well?”

“Yes, Lady Helena. I hope you have been well, too.”

The students’ affection toward the Princess was warm, but their respect for Lucia felt like reverence.

It wasn’t that one was better than the other, but it felt like their positions had switched.

When Lucia finally noticed Liana, she bowed politely.

“Your Highness…”

“Lucia~ Hello! I told you there’s no need to greet me so formally♬”

“As a noble of the empire, I must show proper respect to the royal family.”

“But we’re at Carnea. If you act so stiff, it’ll make everyone else uncomfortable.”

Though it was just a polite exchange of greetings, sparks seemed to fly between them.

“With the sun and moon of the empire in the same room, it’s like a perfect painting.”

“I know, right? If only I could be half as elegant as the two of them.”

…Maybe it was just me, but it felt ridiculous.

It seemed like Class 1 students, having grown up with privilege, were living in a fantasy world.

After greeting the other students, Lucia glanced at me briefly, then passed by without a word.

“Looks like the rumors about Lucia and Yujin not getting along are true.”

“Yeah, it was well-known that they didn’t get along in their first year, but I didn’t expect things to be tense even now.”

The murmurs around the room were actually convenient for me.

The less people knew about my relationship with Lucia, the better.

“Hey! Everyone, quiet down…!”

A voice suddenly rang out—it was Professor Amy.

I looked around and noticed only her antenna-like hair poking above the podium.

“Professor Amy, we can’t see you behind the podium!”

“Be quiet…! I-I’m still growing, you know…!”

「Rise!」

Using an incantation, Professor Amy floated into the air, crossing her arms with a smug expression.

“Consider it an honor that this great Professor Amy is in charge of you…!”

If any other professor had said that, it would’ve sounded authoritarian. But coming from Amy, it just seemed endearing.

“Now, let’s take attendance…!”

With Professor Amy’s short-tongued voice, my second year had officially begun.