“Hmm, you’re doing well. I think you’ve got the hang of it… You just need to practice consistently.”
“Th-Thank you…”
Rezé, who had finished training under Lucia’s guidance, panted heavily.
At the same time, the idiot hair on top of her head drooped down. As if it had finished its job.
‘…What on earth is that?’
No matter how much this is in a game, it’s a really strange hair.
It seems like it needs to be studied.
If it can be detached and attached, I could wear it to avoid danger…
“What are you thinking right now?”
A chilling voice tickled my ear.
It’s Luna’s voice. When did she come to where I was from far away where she had been training?
Tsk-.
“Hmm? Hmm? What were you thinking to have such a sinister look in your eyes? Tell me too.”
Luna, who had rested her chin on my right shoulder, whispered softly.
It’s like a horror movie on its own.
“Keke, I wasn’t thinking of anything.”
“It seemed like you were having very perverted thoughts. And while looking at my friend at that.”
“It’s a misunderstanding. How could I do such a thing? Look at these innocent eyes!”
Even though I look like this, I was known as the epitome of purity in Korea.
Whenever women saw me, they let their guard down and relied on me with body and soul.
My nickname was even ‘Safe Man’.
That’s how pure and innocent I was.
What? That nickname doesn’t mean that?
‘…No way.’
There’s no way ‘Safe Man’ has a negative meaning to it. (TL Note: It means that he’s unadventurous and boring. Someone who only does what’s safe.)
Anyway, as I was shining my eyes full of innocence,
“…What can be seen to judge if it’s innocent or dirty.”
That’s right, I’m the slit-eyed character.
Anyway, these damn slit eyes are the problem.
If it weren’t for these slit eyes, I could have proven my innocence.
As I was expressing my regret,
Luna, who had been thinking for a moment, shone her eyes as if a good idea had come to her.
“I’ll bite you for now.”
“Pardon?”
“If not, that’s good, but if you were having perverted thoughts, I wouldn’t have punished an attempted criminal, right? I can’t let that happen.”
Aha, I see. You’re going to bite first regardless of whether there’s a crime or not.
A clear verdict that would make even Solomon cry.
Of course, I mean cry in a different sense. What a mindless verdict.
Whether Solomon cries or not, Luna was busy smacking her lips.
She had started the preparation to bite me.
I sometimes think, ‘Could it be that our Luna is using me as a teething toy?’
I thought she had been quiet lately, but it seems she has reached her limit.
‘Well, do as you please.’
I’m somewhat used to it now.
If I can keep the peace of the household(?), I can endure this level of pain as much as I want.
“Ahh.”
“…?”
But I couldn’t help but be surprised.
It wasn’t painful at all. It’s not because I got used to the pain.
Luna had bitten me gently. To the point where it felt ticklish.
That’s not the only reason I was surprised.
‘…Why are you biting my ear?’
A situation that cannot be understood at all with the thinking of a normal person.
I turned my head slightly and asked.
“Keke, Luna? What are you doing now?”
“Hmm? I’m biting you. Why? Does this much hurt too?”
“…That’s not it.”
“Then it’s fine. From now on, if you do something wrong, I’ll bite your ear like this. Of course, if you make a big mistake, my fist won’t stay still.”
I finally realized.
That it was a solution Luna had come up with in her own way.
‘After her family was exterminated, Luna had been alone all along.’
Is that why? She didn’t know how to treat a friend.
All she knew how to express affection was by hitting and cursing, but if she kept doing that between friends, she must have realized that problems would arise someday.
She doesn’t know how to treat a friend, but she doesn’t want to be hated.
So the solution she came up with was…
“Ahh.”
…A violence(?) of gently biting the ear, it seems.
On top of that, she was making an expression that said, ‘I did well, right? Praise me.’
To be honest, it’s an adorably helpless thought and action.
But if she shows this in front of others, it will cause problems in many ways.
‘Especially in front of Yuridia, she must never show this!’
Seeing how she spreads rumors, even absurd ones, is amazing.
You could replace the saying ‘A lie travels around the world while truth is putting its boots on’ with ‘Yuridia’.
I shook my head to get Luna off and lightly patted her head.
Although there’s a problem with the method, it’s praiseworthy that she thought about it in her own way.
By nature, children grow by being praised.
As I was patting Luna’s head and about to praise her for doing well,
Crunch-.
…She bit my finger. So painfully that tears welled up.
“Keke, why are you biting so hard this time?”
“You’re being arrogant. How dare you pat my head. I don’t like that somewhat proud smile either.”
“Don’t talk while biting. It hurts.”
“Of course it hurts, I bit you hard this time to make it hurt.”
I tried to pull out my finger, but Luna’s head came with it. There was no sign of it coming out.
If I raised it high in the sky, it seemed like she would dangle from it.
That won’t do. My finger will fall off.
As I was agonizing over whether I had to spend the whole day like this,
I caught sight of Lucia starting training at some point.
‘Impressive.’
Usually, Lucia would have seen us like this and teased us while giggling.
But not only is she not teasing, she’s seriously engaged in training.
‘Perhaps… it may have a bigger butterfly effect than I thought.’
I don’t know the reason for the change in Lucia’s state of mind, but it’s clearly a positive change.
If we’re lucky and take down one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Chapter 1, and the already strong Lucia keeps getting stronger and knocking down enemies one by one…
‘Clearing might not be a dream.’
It’s a situation where I don’t know what kind of butterfly effect will occur.
I need to get stronger. So I don’t get swept away by the butterfly effect.
But reality was miserable.
Crunch crunch-.
The crazy cat… no, Luna, who is using my finger as a teething toy.
I have to go all the way to the final boss battle with this child.
A sigh automatically escaped.
“Luna, please let go. I was wrong.”
“You don’t seem to think that way at all?”
“That’s because I really didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What do you mean you didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Keke, then what did I do wrong?”
“Well…”
Luna’s eyes rolled to the side.
It seems she realized I didn’t do anything wrong.
After hesitating for a moment, Luna opened her mouth as if a good thought had come to her.
“Because we’re friends.”
“Pardon?”
“Because we’re friends, I can bite your finger!”
…In what country does that kind of friendship exist?
Even friends would grow distant in a day!
Crunch!
Was she embarrassed after saying it herself?
Luna, whose face had turned bright red, put more force into it.
“Say you’re sorry!”
“Aah! I already said it earlier! It hurts! It really hurts!”
“You’re not being sincere!”
This is serious. At this rate, my finger will really fall off.
That’s when I spotted Rezé next to us, not knowing what to do.
‘Damn it, it’s a mess.’
I grabbed Rezé’s hand, lifted it up, and bit her index finger. With enough force that it wouldn’t come out of my mouth.
Rezé, with her low Strength stat, won’t be able to escape my teeth.
“Y-You pervert! What are you doing!”
“You said friends can bite each other’s fingers?”
“Rezé isn’t your friend! She’s my friend!”
“Keke, we just decided to become friends.”
“Y-You perverted bastard! Get your dirty mouth off her right now!”
It’s going according to plan. Luna will let go of my finger to protect Rezé, and then I can quickly run away.
Everything was going according to plan.
But then.
Chomp!
We couldn’t help but be surprised.
Because Rezé suddenly bit Luna’s index finger.
It was a situation beyond surprise, it was absurd.
Rezé herself cleared up the question.
“L-Luna is my friend!”
Only then could we understand the current situation.
Luna’s absurd claim that ‘Because we’re friends, we can bite each other’s fingers!’.
She took it seriously.
And so, an absurd situation unfolded where the three of us were biting each other’s fingers.
The problem is that one of them is me.
“Let go of my friend’s finger right now! Or I’ll cut this off!”
“Keke, you let go first.”
“B-Because we’re friends!”
As the three of us were spinning around in circles while biting each other’s fingers,
Creak-.
The door to the training ground opened and someone came in.
I really don’t know who it is.
‘How would I know when the whole world is spinning!’
The unidentified person stood next to us, but all we could do was spin around in circles.
They’re not trying to join in, are they?
I was having such absurd thoughts.
Bam!
“Kuak!”
My body was bent into a ᄀ shape. Because someone had kicked my body.
Thud clatter!
At the same time, we were scattered by centrifugal force.
Our fingers had regained freedom.
Even while dazed, I bowed deeply and expressed my gratitude.
“Keke, I don’t know who you are, but thank you. Thanks to you, my finger wasn’t taken by an evil spirit.”
“I’m not on that side, I’m on this side. And who are you calling an evil spirit? Surely not that child, right?”
I could immediately identify who he was.
Because it was a very familiar voice.
The Empire’s rat, Caron. He was standing in front of… no, behind me.
“Keke, what else would you call something that bites off fingers if not an evil spirit?”
“……”
Smack!
Caron immediately smashed my head.
It’s really unfair. I was just stating facts.
“Keke, to use violence against a student. And why are you only hitting me?”
“Tsk, isn’t it obvious that you’re the ringleader?”
This is clear discrimination. They’re the ones who did wrong.
I’m just an unfairly victimized innocent bystander.
“Huh? What are you doing here?”
Lucia, who had spotted Caron, approached us.
It was a simple question, but I could immediately tell that Lucia’s attitude had changed.
‘She’s become docile? Until recently, she was acting like she’d kill him right away.’
Something must have happened between the two.
At times like this, it’s a pity that it’s not a game.
If it were a game, I could have known what happened between the two.
“I have information to share.”
“Even so, you can’t just come here in broad daylight like this. Aren’t you being too obvious? Didn’t you say it was confidential?”
“I’ve erased the eyes. No one will know we met now.”
“Hmm~ For that, there are a lot of eyes watching. Well, one of them seems to have fainted.”
In a situation before the subjugation of the ‘Maestro of the Battlefield, Volkan’.
It seems he came to share information about the subjugation team with Lucia.
“There are only 2 weeks left? And the members of the subjugation team haven’t been confirmed yet?”
“It can’t be helped. Taking along a bunch of incompetents will only be a hindrance, and there aren’t many skilled people who can join right away.”
“Then a small elite force? Well, it doesn’t matter either way. But… is this the only information to share?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s this. It’s hardly even information. Why did you even come here? It’s annoying, so leave quickly. You’re disturbing my concentration.”
Lucia, who grumbled, started training again.
Lucia doesn’t seem to know, but I could tell the purpose of Caron coming all the way here.
Telling information that’s not even information, and by the way.
He probably came to see Luna.
“Teacher Caron, hello!”
Perhaps because Luna’s greeting was too bright, Caron fake coughed.
“Uh, ahem, ahem! Yes. You’re working hard today too.”
“Yes, there’s a pop quiz, you know? Well, it’s also because I want to learn at least one more thing before Miss Lucia leaves.”
“A pop quiz… As I said, it’s a 3-stage test. It even ends in a day.”
“Yes, I know. I’ll definitely get into the advanced class and continue to take your classes, so don’t worry.”
Caron, who had his hands behind his back.
Because I was standing behind him, I could see.
His figure clenching and unclenching his fists, not knowing what to do.
This guy, could it be…
“Ahem, a test divided into stages and ends in a day. Doesn’t it seem familiar?”
“Well, aren’t most tests like that?”
“W-Well, that’s true, but.”
I couldn’t help but be amazed.
As I said before, the pop quiz is an evolved version of the entrance exam.
But he’s revealing that.
What will become of Yuridia who got a hint and Teron who neatly led the kids?
‘…Is he a lolicon after all?’
I moved a little away from Caron.
Because even I, a pretty boy, will fall within his attack range(?).
Even after that, Caron tried hard, but Luna didn’t notice at all.
It can’t be helped. The word ‘tact’ doesn’t exist for our Luna.
In the end, Caron…
“T-Tests usually come from what you’ve studied! For example… t-the entrance exam or something?”
“The entrance exam…?”
He told her the answer, not a hint.
However.
“Ah! You mean it’ll be as hard as the entrance exam! I’ll have to prepare very thoroughly!”
“T-That’s not it!!”
Seeing Caron shouting loudly, I thought.
Perhaps our Luna.
Might be an even more amazing child than I thought.
–TL Notes–
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/MattReading
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt