episode_0455

“Ah, Professor Harold!”

“Gyeomjyossegiggyeot student. As you said, I went up the hill and found a suspicious vampire. The location was a little bit away from where you said.”

“Sorry, I think there may have been some errors because I checked too many predictions at once.”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I found him and killed him. I cut him down with the sword that contained the blessing of the Serista students, so he probably won’t get up again.”

The owner of the completely unexpected voice is talking to the guy named Geumjeongjossegi about vampires.

In his arms was a familiar person, someone he had encountered several times while meeting Mezlen, held in a princess-like position.

“I brought this child here because I saw her once before. If I remember correctly, she was the escort maid for Mezlen student.”

“That’s right, Miss Kate! Lady Serista, please take Kate to the sickroom!”

“Yes, yes…! Quickly this way… .”

The four people enter the Academy Church while having a conversation like that.

From what I’ve heard, it seems that not only did they defeat the leader vampire, they also managed to rescue Mezlen’s escort maid. This was also done through Harold’s direct involvement in the story.

‘Well, Harold is a character whose strength is definitely trustworthy.’

In the original, he was on the same side as the corrupted Ethan, so he was considered an enemy, but in this world, he was closer to an ally, so it was quite possible to receive help like this when needed.

Considering that he was close enough to use blood transfusion magic on Mezlen in the first place, it seems that Harold didn’t think of Mezlen as just another student. Maybe they had developed some kind of affection for each other while exploring the highlands together during summer vacation.

“… I finally got back to the church, but there wasn’t much I could do to help.”

“There wasn’t much. But thanks to you, Ethan, Seraphine and the others joined quickly. We also safely secured the fake Princess Mezlen.”

“… I just did it because the release was so damn annoying.”

It looks like you went to Seraphine like I told you to and even secured a doppelganger.

It would be necessary to check later whether the troublesome monster had been properly locked up, but in any case, it seemed that the kidnapping of Princess Mezlen had been concluded somehow.

“By the way, what about Miss Rosewood?”

“… I left it at the dormitory.”

“Did you guys fight? Judging from your expressions, it looks like you fought.”

“… … Phew.”

After roughly dealing with the culprits of the kidnapping of Princess Mezlen, the two are having a leisurely conversation.

It was a friendly scene between the warrior and Ethan that could never be seen in the original. It was probably something that could only be seen if it weren’t for the changed Ethan of this world.

The strange scenery and the topic of conversation intrigued me a little, so I quietly hid behind a rock and eavesdropped on their conversation. I wondered how Ethan would talk about me when I wasn’t there.

“We didn’t fight. I guess she was angry because I was selfish.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“Do you remember what happened when you met the vampire guy in the underground hideout earlier this afternoon?”

“What was the situation at that time?”

“I’m talking about the situation where Release pushed forward relying only on the Saintess’s light bulb. It could have been dangerous if done wrong.”

“Ah, that. I think it was definitely dangerous. I think Miss Rosewood thought about it and acted accordingly. But somehow it worked out well and Princess Mezlen was saved safely.”

“… Haa, yeah. I’m glad it worked out somehow. It’s horrible to even imagine if it hadn’t.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Ethan sighs in a complicated voice as he recalls the events of the day.

The warrior, who had become quiet due to the atmosphere, tried to keep quiet as much as possible so that the two people would not hear his breathing, and listened to the conversation a little longer.

“Somehow I have a bad feeling. I feel like if I don’t stop her by force, it’ll be dangerous again.”

“… Well, I guess that could be the case if I were in your shoes.”

“So I used some forceful methods to tie her up in the dormitory. I’m already afraid of what she’ll say when I go back.”

“Well, I did it for Miss Rosewood, so wouldn’t you understand?”

“… Even if I was hated, I wanted to make sure she knew that even if she didn’t get into dangerous situations, things would still be resolved. And I didn’t want her to feel responsible for something she didn’t do.”

“Ah… .”

“You must know now that things worked out well without her help. You don’t have to put your neck out there and risk everything to get it done.”

… That’s what it meant.

I wondered what he had done when he suddenly tied me up in the dormitory with chains of obedience, but it seems like it wasn’t an impulsive action without any thought.

In reality, I witnessed things being resolved without me, so in the end, Ethan was right. I don’t know about the process of recapturing the kidnapped Princess Mezlen, but neither I nor Ethan were needed to finish the rest of the work.

The warrior guy had made full use of his memories from his previous life, the members of the warrior party were as strong as in the original, and Harold, who had been one of the most dangerous enemies in the original, was now their ally.

Knowing that everything would run smoothly without my intervention gave me a strange sense of relief.

‘I was too hasty.’

But after confirming this with my own two eyes and ears, I could tell for sure that even without my intervention, this world was heading towards a happy ending.

Even though what I’ve accomplished has changed the original story a little bit… I also don’t feel any responsibility because it has ultimately changed for the better.

“I’m not the one to interfere with your love life, but sometimes, when I have time, we have serious conversations.”

“… It’s already been enough.”

“It means that you should tell her not just love stories but also secret stories that you have been keeping inside. Because revealing such small secrets can affect trust.”

“… This is some relationship advice from a warrior who walks on three legs, so I can trust it.”

“… I said it’s not three legs.”

Judging by the fact that they’re even exchanging jokes like that, it seems like they often have conversations like this in their daily lives.

This aspect of Ethan and the warrior was certainly unexpected to me.

“Are you going to go now? Should I at least say hello to the professor before I go?”

“Okay. If I go to my father now, he’ll probably start talking for a long time. I have someone waiting for me at home, so I should hurry and go back.”

“… Oh, by the way, didn’t I say I tied it up and brought it? ”

“If you want to reduce the resentment even a little, you have to go back and release it as soon as possible.”

… … Oh, right.

Come to think of it, now isn’t the time to be listening to this.

A chill ran down my spine as I saw the legs of the dorm table hanging from my neck.

‘The dormitory is in a terrible state right now…?’

The table legs that were fixed to the floor are now in my hands, and I’ve even separated the upper board into two parts and roughly thrown it on the dormitory floor.

Even Isabel had been laid down on a wide bed after being put to sleep by a sleep spell. Considering the duration of the spell, she might have woken up again soon.

‘If you come back and do something weird again, I’ll really put you in jail.’

“… … !!!”

I hurried out and returned to Ethan’s dorm, thinking about what Ethan had said to me a few hours ago when he locked me up.

Even if I desperately go back now, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it on time.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

-Bam!

“Ugh, ugh, ugh… .”

I ran as fast as I could from the Academy Church, which was attached to the theology department dormitory, to the swordsmanship department dormitory.

As soon as I returned to my room, the first thing I saw was Isabel, still lying quietly asleep on the bed.

‘For now, Isabel’s side is safe.’

If I could just make sure she was sleeping soundly on the bed, it would be half the battle.

Fortunately, Isabel’s last memory was probably of her falling asleep in my arms, and she likely didn’t realize that I had left her in the dormitory and escaped.

Now that I was sure Isabelle was asleep, it was time to assemble the table. Even if I remained in the dormitory, if they saw that the table I was tied to was disassembled, they would surely suspect me of trying to escape.

‘Well, first from the bottom!’

-Kkirik, kirik, kirik.

The fallen board was reassembled later, and the table legs were fixed to the floor first. Just as when removing it, the screws were tightened using a precision dagger.

The silver sword I received from Lizzie was definitely convenient for this kind of work, perhaps because the blade was narrow. The ones I received from Ethan or Seraphine were too wide, making it a bit tricky to do this kind of work.

‘I just have to somehow make it so that it doesn’t show. At least to the point where I can pretend like it was like that from the beginning…’

There wasn’t enough time to tighten it as tightly as when it was originally fixed. After roughly tightening it enough so that it wouldn’t fall off, I immediately reassembled the top plate… .

-Kkirik, kirik, kirik.

“… Release? What are you doing…?”

“Eww, slip!”

“Eung… ? Phew… .”

As soon as he hurriedly casts a second sleep spell on her as she wakes up in bed with a blank expression, Isabel falls back to the bed like a doll with her strings cut off.

As I was repeatedly apologizing to her in my head, I raised the table top as high as I could and tried to reassemble it from below… .

-… Crash.

The dormitory door began to slowly open, accompanied by the sound of the lock being unlocked.