episode_0019

In the late afternoon, I, who had been sleeping face down throughout the entire mobile class, only got up from my seat after everyone else had left.

It was while I was walking down the hallway to return to the classroom.

Just in case, I opened my status window and saw the “Declaration of Rape” skill slot shimmering.

After being followed by Endison, I tried to come up with a countermeasure. The method I devised was to use “Declaration of Rape.”

The “Declaration of Rape” skill slot shimmering meant there was a target nearby.

I looked around the hallway once.

But as expected, there wasn’t even the slightest sign of a presence anywhere nearby.

‘No way…’

Someone is following me again?

The fact that someone was trailing me inside the Academy, not even outside, was shocking.

Even if the Academy was constantly attacked by the Dark Cult and users called its security lax, that was only possible because the opposing side’s capabilities were formidable.

This meant there was a high possibility that the person following me now was an Academy staff member.

I didn’t even want to consider the assumption that the mysterious tailer had infiltrated through a hole made by the Yellow Magic Tower Lord.

I kept my eyes on the skill window so the tailer wouldn’t notice.

‘The range of Declaration of Rape is approximately 50m.’

It wasn’t that far a distance in an open outdoor area, but here, surrounded by buildings on all sides, it was too broad.

In fact, it was a situation where it could simply mean someone passing by on another floor was detected.

‘Still, it’s strange.’

Today, there were no classes in this building at this time, except for first-year Class 3. The fact that there was someone else besides me, with all the other students having left, didn’t make sense.

As I walked down the hallway, I fell into thought.

‘What should I do?’

Should I just pretend not to know and let it pass, or should I immediately uncover their identity?

The former would be safe for now, but had the disadvantage of not knowing what consequences might arise later. The latter, though risky, had the advantage of eliminating unforeseen variables in unexpected situations.

My choice leaned towards the latter.

After all, this was the Academy. Harming an Academy student inside the Academy? That was essentially committing suicide.

Solias Academy was a place that even the Imperial Family of the Empire paid considerable attention to, so such an incident could not be casually overlooked.

The tailer would probably be hunted down by the Imperial hounds for the rest of their life and brutally executed.

“Hoo…”

I took a deep breath.

Since I had made my decision, it was time to act. First, I needed to pinpoint the tailer’s direction.

‘Exclude both sides.’

The left side was the window, and the right side was the classroom.

I didn’t want to imagine someone clinging to the window to follow me, and it was logically impossible for someone to be hidden in a classroom.

How would they know what route I would take and wait in a classroom beforehand?

Then what remained was front and back.

‘Where are they?’

As I extended my senses as much as possible to observe, an idea suddenly came to mind.

“Ah! Damn it, I left that behind!”

Exhaling a sigh as if suddenly realizing something, I immediately turned around and ran quickly back to the classroom.

With this, no matter where they were, they would eventually have to make a move.

However, the opponent’s capabilities were incomparably higher than mine, as they didn’t make even the slightest sound in this situation.

But even such a person wouldn’t know this.

‘They were behind me.’

They had perfectly hidden their own presence, but they couldn’t hide the dust scattering on the floor as they moved.

I pretended to take out some items from my desk locker, then left the classroom again.

Now it was time to catch the tailer.

I turned back the way I came, rounded a large corner, and waited there.

3

2

1

‘Now!’

Using the Friuli-style Mana Cultivation method, I poured mana into my legs and kicked off the floor.

This technique was made possible thanks to the noticeable growth in my mana control within just a few weeks.

My body shot out rapidly from around the corner.

At that sudden movement, there was a commotion beyond the hallway.

Moving busily, as if trying to hide in a hurry.

“Eek!”

“Ah! S-sorry!”

A collision sound and a scream echoed, then someone apologized and disappeared.

I cocked my head and advanced towards the source.

“My lens. My lens…”

“What are you doing there?”

“Ack!”

What I found there was Deborah, with ash-grey hair, sitting down like a blind person who had lost their cane, fumbling on the floor.

She reflexively looked up at me, was startled, then quickly turned back towards the window.

And then, seeing something, she flinched, her body stiffened, and she began to whimper softly.

‘Dangerous.’

I understood the situation belatedly.

Seeing those brilliant purple eyes, sparkling as if holding starlight, there was no way not to know.

I picked up the transparent lens that had fallen on the floor and handed it to her.

“Here, take this. It’s a lens.”

“Ah, ah, th-thank you.”

Deborah, taking the lens with trembling hands, quickly cleaned it with magic and put it back on.

Silence fell for a moment.

‘She saw my future, after all.’

Deborah was originally a quiet type, but as I saw her overly awkward demeanor, my suspicion solidified.

“Uhm, uhm.”

“Yes?”

“I-I like being… raped!”

Deborah revealed her sexual fantasy.

‘What the hell is this nonsense?’

My mind was in chaos.

As I organized my thoughts for a moment, I realized this was as good as a confession.

I brought my face closer and whispered.

“You. You saw it, didn’t you?”

“Huh? W-what?”

“Whatever it was. I don’t know exactly what you saw, but it would be best to keep it a secret. Understand?”

“Y-yes, yes!”

The threat must have been truly terrifying, as Deborah answered, utterly terrified. To what extent? Enough to shed a few tears.

For a beauty with smoky makeup to show such a reaction, the contrast was certainly striking.

Fortunately, she seemed to have used waterproof makeup, as black streaks weren’t streaming down from under her eyes.

Now it was time to get to the point.

“So, why were you following me?”

“N-never followed you!”

“Ohh… you’re going to deny it? Do you want it to become like what you saw in the future?”

“N-no, really! I just looked around the class and you weren’t there, so I came looking for you! Really!”

“You cared about me that much? That’s even stranger.”

“Ugh… but it’s true.”

Deborah pouted, as if feeling wronged.

That sincere expression was impossible to fake unless she was an actress capable of winning Best Actress.

‘Really?’

Letting go of half my suspicion, I decided to change the question slightly.

“I’ll let that pass for now. Then, who was that person who was just with you?”

“Uhm, that was…”

“Don’t even think about denying it. I clearly heard it.”

“T-the Saintess-nim.”

“The Saintess-nim?”

“Yes. She was clinging to the window, and when you came back, she rushed out and bumped into me.”

“Huh…”

I never imagined someone would actually be clinging to a window, following me.

And that person was the Saintess?

I couldn’t imagine the Saintess, who knew how insanely I reacted to being followed last time, would do something like this.

I was starting to get a little angry.

Perhaps reflecting my emotion, Deborah, seeing my face gradually stiffen, slowly began to back away.

“S-so, I can go now, right?”

“Where are you going? Wait.”

“Huh?”

“You might be lying. I need to confirm.”

I looked down the wide hallway.

Because it was obvious that if it was the Saintess, she would still be nearby.

Taking a deep breath.

“[Saintess-niiiiiim!!!]”

The shout, amplified with mana, traveled along the hallway walls and through various parts of the building.

Deborah, who had been frozen, clamped her hands over her ears and hunched down at the deafening sound.

A moment later, as the echo faded, a pink head peeked out from around the corner.

“D-did you call?”

“Come here right now.”

“Ye-es…”

Knowing her own fault, the Saintess behaved obediently even when commanded.

I looked down at her pink head and asked.

“Why were you following me?”

“I wasn’t following…”

“Are you lying right now? I’ve already heard everything.”

When I pointed at Deborah, the Saintess glanced at her and pouted, as if feeling wronged.

“It’s really not. It was an accident.”

“An accident? What kind of accident makes you cling to a window and peek at me?”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m some bug! There was a real reason!”

The full story of the incident was this.

She had come to find me for some business, aiming for a moment to speak, when Deborah suddenly appeared, startling her and forcing her to hide outside the window.

And later, afraid of being caught, she rushed back inside and ended up colliding with Deborah, who was passing by that spot.

“So, what was your business?”

“I can’t say.”

“What is that? If you keep acting like this, I’ll get angry, you know?”

When I deliberately scowled fiercely and snarled, the Saintess’s eyes widened like large bowls.

She trembled all over.

“Y-you’re not going to slap me too, are you? Kick my shins, punch my stomach, and curse at me?”

“Huh? No, that’s not it. What do you take me for?”

“A ruffian.”

She was right, I was a ruffian.

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, then suddenly felt a gaze and turned my head.

There, Deborah was trembling.

Terrified by the Saintess’s frightening remark, she lowered her eyes like a pathetic loner meeting their tormentor the moment our eyes met, and couldn’t even breathe.

As I sighed, feeling my head getting complicated, the Saintess cautiously asked.

“Young Master Ruan. Are you very angry?”

“What if I am?”

“Th-then…”

The Saintess hesitated repeatedly, then cupped her large breasts with both hands and pushed them out towards me.

“T-touch my chest.”

“……Huh?”

“My chest. I heard that men calm down when they touch a chest. Isn’t that right?”

She wasn’t wrong.

This kind of talk was famous, and I also felt like all my anger would dissipate if I touched the Saintess-nim’s soft, seemingly supple large breasts right now.

However, accepting it outright would be a blow to my dignity as a human being…

‘No, right?’

Having already become a rapist, was there a need to care about such things?

A decision was made immediately.

“Then I will gladly touch them.”

Thus, just before my outstretched hand grasped the Saintess’s voluptuous large breasts, a whisper echoed in my mind.

‘Can someone like me touch them?’

That was the death rattle expelled by my last shred of conscience.

As soon as I realized that, my hand stopped right in front of the Saintess’s large breasts.

‘What have I done…’

I had decided to become a rapist.

I would do anything to see the ending.

Even if it led to any sacrifice.

So, no matter how painful the path, I resolved to endure and walk it.

But was touching the Saintess’s chest truly for revenge?

No. Absolutely not!

This was merely an impulsive desire to satisfy lust.

Could I touch the Saintess’s chest with such a trivial mindset? Was it even appropriate to defile this pure virgin goddess with the hands of a rapist?

I didn’t have the confidence.

Eventually, after a long period of no movement, the Saintess cautiously called my name.

“Young Master Ruan?”

That voice. A gentle, calming, beautiful voice that seemed to worry about others even when she herself was in a position to be molested—the moment I heard it, I couldn’t bring myself to touch the Saintess’s chest.

“I’m sorry. I won’t touch your chest.”

“Huh? Why? Is my ch-chest no good?”

“No. I’ll just forgive you. You don’t have to go that far.”

“But…”

“It’s really fine.”

The Saintess tilted her head.

It seemed strange to her that the guy who had been so excited the moment she offered her chest suddenly calmed down.

The moment she was about to open her mouth again.

Clang-clang-

The loud bell of the clock tower echoed throughout the entire Academy.

Deborah, whose face had been flushed crimson watching the scene of me about to touch the Saintess’s chest, suddenly snapped out of it and stood up.

“It’s the dismissal bell! We have to go quickly!”

By now, everyone in Class 3 was probably annoyed, waiting for their class president, who had recently been unanimously elected, and the ruffian.

The Saintess, who had been gazing at me worriedly, also remembered what she had to do and spoke.

“…It’s already this late. Young Master. I’ll take my leave now. It’s prayer time. Deborah, I’m sorry too. See you later.”

“Yes, Saintess-nim. See you next time.”

The Saintess looked back at me several times as she left the building.

Somehow, this space felt even lonelier and colder.

I clenched my fist tightly.

‘This is fine.’

I shook off any useless lingering attachments and turned towards Deborah.

“Let’s go back to the classroom.”

“Yes!”

We headed to the classroom side by side.

It was public knowledge that when we returned, we were thoroughly scolded by Sara.