Chapter 139

Chapter 139

The Heroine of the 1st Playthrough Remembers My Training.

Episode 139: Stop Playing Around And Just Take Me Already, You Bastard (2).

“Move quickly, quickly…!”

Following Professor Amy’s directions, we hurried with the students to the training ground.

Unlike the first year, most second-year classes focused more on practical training than theory.

“Don’t worry and just fight…! If it looks dangerous, this Professor Amy will stop it…!”

Upon arriving at the training ground, Professor Amy stood with her hands on her hips, exuding confidence.

‘…Well, she actually is pretty impressive.’

Her childish tone and behavior didn’t inspire much trust, but except for rare exceptions like Loreos, Professor Amy was considered one of the best at Carnea.

‘…Come to think of it, I wonder what Professor Loreos is up to.’

He had taken a long leave, saying he was searching for his master, but I had no idea what he was doing.

The latest information said he was seen in the Aslan Empire…

Please, I hoped he stopped searching for his master and returned to Carnea before the second semester started.

“Hmm… Forming teams is such a hassle…! Just pair up with someone you’re close to…!”

…Pair up with someone I was close to?

For a moment, Professor Amy’s words almost triggered my trauma, but luckily, I had Vivian.

When Vivian met my gaze, she smiled as if she’d seen a ray of light in the darkness, clearly thinking the same thing.

‘Glad I brought her along.’

I hadn’t brought Vivian for this exact reason, but since I’d just joined Class 1, I didn’t really have anyone I could call a friend yet.

…Of course, there was Lucia, but I had to make sure everyone around us thought Lucia and I despised each other, so she was obviously out of the question.

As I was about to approach Vivian, I heard a fresh, spring-like voice from behind.

“Yujin~♪ Let’s team up!”

Followed by the soft, warm sensation of a chest pressing against my arm.

But rather than feeling any arousal, all I felt was fear.

“…Your Highness.”

“Yep, of course, Yujin will team up with me, right? After all, Amy did say to pair up with someone you’re close to.”

“Stop calling me by my name…!”

Even as Professor Amy got angry, Liana acted as if she didn’t hear her.

“…Your Highness… wouldn’t it be better to take a step back for now…?”

“Hmm… No way♪”

I tried to pull my arm free, but it was tightly wedged between Liana’s chest, and it didn’t budge an inch.

‘What kind of stats does she have…?’

I thought I’d improved my strength quite a bit over the break, but I couldn’t even make her flinch. It made me question if this was really the strength of a mage.

“Your Highness… I also wish to team up with you, but I’m worried I might be a burden.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! You’ll do great, Yujin!”

…You might be fine, but I’m definitely not.

“Don’t worry. I won’t use bloodline magic today.”

Liana’s softly whispered words sent a chill down my spine.

‘Of course, you shouldn’t!’

This wasn’t an actual battle; just a training session. Was she seriously thinking of using that terrifying magic that could shatter bodies with a mere graze?

“…Now that I think about it, I’m not feeling well today, so I was planning to take a rest. How about we postpone our match to another time, Your Highness?”

“Hm… Really? If you’re not feeling well, I guess there’s no choice. Rest up.”

For some reason, she backed off easily.

“…Then I’ll team up with Vivian… For real this time.”

But then, leaving those ominous words behind, Liana headed toward Vivian.

For a brief moment, I thought Liana had come to her senses. I was a fool.

‘…Damn it.’

Was she actually going to take this seriously in training?

I realized this wasn’t someone I could afford to be careless around.

I reflexively grabbed Liana’s wrist.

“…Your Highness. Let’s team up.”

Seeing me grab Liana’s wrist, the other girls blushed and screamed, but I didn’t have the luxury to care about that. Vivian was far more important.

“Hm~? Yujin, didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well? You don’t need to push yourself.”

Liana, who had been waiting for this, replied with a sweetly innocent face.

“…The thought of being with Your Highness made the pain disappear.”

“Oh, if you’re going to plead that much, I guess I have no choice. Let’s do our best, Yujin♪”

Seeing Liana’s smile, as if hundreds of flower buds were blooming all at once, I sighed inwardly.

‘…Crazy girl.’

I walked away, dragging my feet and massaging my sore shoulders.

I was lucky to have all my limbs still attached.

Just like a frog slowly boiled in water, Liana had pushed me to the limit, stopping just before I could pass out throughout the entire class.

─Ha ha♬ Yujin, how about this?

─W-Wait…!

─Wow! You still have the energy to speak♪ Amazing!

At this point, I was more angry at Professor Amy than Liana.

‘Amy!! You said you’d stop things if they got dangerous!!’

No matter how desperate my struggle was, it must not have looked like much to Professor Amy.

“Sigh…”

The thought of being tormented by Liana like this in the future made me sigh heavily.

‘…Huh?’

As I trudged along and turned a corner, I spotted Bianca Beatrice at the end of the hallway.

“….”

She was leaning against the wall, casually kicking at the floor as if waiting for someone.

A breeze blew through an open window, causing her light purple hair to flutter.

Her small build contrasted with her strong, sharp features, drawing my gaze to her.

“…Tsk…!”

As if something had gotten into her eye, Bianca rubbed her eyes with her hands, resembling a cat.

Finding her actions cute, I watched for a moment. Then Bianca noticed me and, flustered, quickly pulled a book from her bag and pretended to read.

“…!…Hmm…uh…I see…”

If the book’s cover hadn’t been upside down, I might have at least pretended to be fooled.

There was no way I could play along with that.

‘Looks like she’s trying to make it seem like we just happened to run into each other… hmm…’

I needed an outlet for the stress I got from the princess, so this was perfect.

‘Maybe I’ll just ignore her for now.’

The thought of messing with Bianca was already making me feel better.

“Hmm… ahem, ahem…”

As I tried to pass by, Bianca reflexively started to call out but then awkwardly cleared her throat, as if realizing it would ruin her plan of a ‘coincidental’ encounter.

“…Ahem!! Cough, cough!! Ahem!!”

Even as I ignored her and kept walking, Bianca’s coughing grew louder, almost like someone with pneumonia.

After walking a bit further and turning around, I realized…

“…She’s gone.”

Bianca had disappeared somewhere.

…Did she sulk and leave because I ignored her?

The Bianca I knew would have run up to me rather than retreat.

‘…Maybe her mood has changed since her training improved?’

I had only meant to tease her, not make her upset, so I decided to be nicer when I saw her next time. But as I descended another flight of stairs, there she was again—Bianca.

“Haa… haa…”

Judging by how out of breath she was, she must have sprinted to the central staircase to get ahead of me.

I couldn’t help but grin.

Forget about being nice.

How could I resist when she’s giving me such entertaining reactions?

As I pretended not to see her and kept walking forward…

“Phew~”

Bianca folded her arms and pouted her lips, making strange noises all by herself.

“….”

I almost burst out laughing at the absurdity, but I managed to hold it in.

“…Hey!!”

Thud thud thud—!

Unable to take it anymore, Bianca ran toward me, her face flushed, kicking up dust in her wake.

“Hey!! Why do you keep ignoring me?!”

“Oh, were you there, senior? I must not have seen you because you’re so small.”

“Don’t give me that crap! I’m not that small! And you did see me! You ignored me on purpose!”

Bianca stomped her feet.

But even when she stomped, her head barely reached my chin.

I couldn’t resist the urge and pressed down on Bianca’s head.

“Don’t pat my head!”

“I wasn’t patting it; I was pressing it. What makes you think you’re cute enough to be patted?”

“You jerk! That’s even worse! You bastard!”

As Bianca slapped my hand away with a loud smack, I clutched my hand and groaned, crouching slightly.

“…Ugh…”

“…W-What? Did I hit you that hard?”

Watching Bianca’s flustered expression, I casually stood back up and said,

“No, I was just teasing you.”

“Die, seriously!”

As Bianca lunged at me, I dodged her by half a step, pinning her against the wall instead.

“Hmph… W-What are you doing…!”

“That’s my line. Didn’t you have something to say to me, senior?”

“…D-Don’t be ridiculous!.. Why would I… wait for…”

Mid-denial, Bianca suddenly hung her head low.

Then, with a face as red as if it would burst, she looked up and said,

“Y-Yes… I was… waiting for you. …I want to make a bet with you.”

“A bet?”

I was slightly taken aback by the sudden mention of a bet, but I smiled, thinking there was no way I could lose to Bianca.

“What kind of bet?”

“You… you remember what you did to me last time…”

“Oh, the duel? I won that, didn’t I?”

“You won because you cheated! And not that! The thing after that!”

“What did I do to you, senior?”

I shrugged my shoulders, acting as if I had no idea.

“You bastard! You’re pretending not to know on purpose!”

“No, I really don’t remember.”

Tears started welling up in Bianca’s eyes as she shouted.

“T-The training!”

“Oh, that.”

“‘Oh, that’? After you did something like that to me, you’re saying you forgot?!”

Seeing Bianca’s lips tremble in shock, I chuckled.

“I was just joking. How could I forget when you were so cute back then, senior? So, what about the training?”

“Ugh…! I… I didn’t like that it ended halfway! It felt like I was running away even though I would have won!”

Her tone was confident, but she couldn’t even meet my eyes.

‘…She wants to do the training again, huh…’

It seemed she was embarrassed to directly ask for more training, so she had thought of a roundabout way to say it…

But her awkwardness only made her seem cuter.

“S-So, over the weekend, let’s do the training again. If… if I submit to you, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“And if you don’t submit?”

Though it seemed unlikely, I asked out of courtesy.

Whip—

Suddenly, Bianca grabbed my tie, pulling me close as she bit her lower lip and declared,

“…I-I’ll make you mine.”