Was it thanks to Victoria’s treatment? Fortunately, the worst-case scenario of Adonis actually dying did not come to pass.
“Whew… too much romance at my age is dangerous.”
“Don’t talk about romance like it’s some kind of drug. People are going to get the wrong idea.”
“But you heard it too, didn’t you? A friendship this magnificent! It was the kind of romance that could stop a man’s heart.”
“That blasted romance again… I hereby ban it for one week.”
“W-what are you saying? Ban romance? If I don’t have that, what joy is there left to live for in this world?!”
“If you want to head straight to the afterlife, I won’t stop you.”
Adonis immediately wilted.
A romance ban? That was such a bizarre order I had never even heard of anything like it.
“Well then, I’ll be off~”
Victoria hurried over to where Luna was.
It looked like she was taking advantage of Yuridia’s absence to further solidify her position as godmother.
“Sigh… it can’t be helped. I suppose I’ll have to settle for watching the fight between you two this time. I look forward to seeing a battle overflowing with romance.”
“Keke, things would be much easier if you helped us.”
“How could an adult interfere in a fight between children?”
So it was fine when an adult was trying to beat up a child?
Maybe he felt my stare. Adonis averted his gaze and pretended not to notice.
“Still, for your opponent to be that child… I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but it is regrettable.”
Since he had brought up Duke Zeppelin earlier, it seemed he knew about what happened that day—how we got beaten to dust by Duke Zeppelin.
And the fact that I would win against Teron as well.
That meant he was certain of it.
“Don’t even think about going easy on him. Misguided sympathy would only wound that child more deeply.”
“I have no intention of doing that. To begin with, he isn’t weak enough for me to hold back against him.”
“Is that so? Then that’s a relief.”
It seemed Adonis thought I was just being modest.
But what I said was true, at least to some extent.
‘Because Teron made a contract with a Demon.’
Adonis, who didn’t know that, could only sigh about how unfortunate it was that such a promising talent might be lost.
“No matter how much money one has, finding teachers as good as the ones at the academy is impossible. I wish he wouldn’t leave… but that man Zeppelin won’t let it go so easily…”
“If Lord Adonis were willing to help, you might be able to stop it.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I heard you have ties to Duke Zeppelin.”
That connection dated back to the days when Adonis had lived as the hero Douglas.
It was one of the many pieces of information I had learned from the game.
Perhaps the memory had resurfaced. Adonis’s gaze grew distant.
“He really was an adorable child. I can still picture him coming to greet me at parties, clinging to his father’s leg and watching me nervously.”
I see. So even the mighty Duke Zeppelin had once been just a child in front of this old man.
Considering his age, it wasn’t strange. Adonis might look like a child, but he was actually an elderly man.
“It still surprises me that that child grew up and came to lead House Vyuern, but for his own son to be attending the academy too… time truly does fly.”
“You seem to go back with him farther than I thought.”
“House Vyuern has always been a prestigious family. Well, he did learn under me for a short while, so I can’t exactly say we’re strangers. If I speak to him myself, I might be able to keep Teron here.”
The problem was—
“I’m not in Douglas’s form now. I look like this.”
At the moment, Adonis looked exactly like a child.
So if he walked up and said, ‘Hey, you brat who used to hide behind your father! Long time no see!’—
Duke Zeppelin would be justified in kicking him on sight.
“Of course, if I demonstrated my skill, he’d realize who I am. But that would place quite a burden on my side as well.”
Partly because he was currently carrying out the secret mission of protecting the princess—
‘And partly because, officially, Adonis is dead.’
As far as the Empire was concerned, they were hiding a secret trump card.
A ten-star golden card that could overturn the tide of war in an instant.
‘No matter how close they are, there’s no way he can reveal a secret like that.’
The moment a secret is exposed, it stops being a secret.
Of course, for me, with clearing the hidden piece still taking priority—
That wasn’t my problem.
“Keke, to think you still won’t step in even when a child’s life is on the line… I’m disappointed.”
“He’d only be leaving the academy, not dying. You’re being dramatic.”
Even after that, I kept pressuring Adonis with my dazzling(?) silver tongue, but it had no effect whatsoever.
And it wasn’t as though I could force the issue through strength, either.
While I was thinking over how to borrow his power—
Adonis quietly sidled up to me and rested his face on my shoulder, wearing the innocent smile unique to children.
Why was this old man suddenly acting like this?
“Well, if you were willing to join the Imperial Knight Order… I might be persuaded to lend a hand.”
Ah, I see. So if I joined the Imperial Knight Order, Teron could be saved.
Well then…
“I suppose my connection with Teron ends here.”
“Grrr! W-why would you refuse?! It’s a place people would kill to enter! I truly cannot understand you!”
Maybe he was frustrated, because Adonis immediately started smacking my back over and over.
Grandpa, please stop hitting me. That actually hurts.
My perfectly healthy full HP is going to turn into your kind of low HP!
“Anyway, that child must have his own circumstances, so try to understand. Nobles have their own hardships too. House Vyuern is a distinguished family, after all… and, well, they’ve been through some unfortunate things.”
My eyes lit up.
He had just brought up a topic I could use to take control of the conversation.
“You mean the eldest son, Ileon.”
“You knew about that? As expected… impressive.”
He was praising me for already knowing the information.
And also, perhaps, for still being willing to defeat Teron even knowing something like that.
“I heard he’s unconscious, barely clinging to life.”
“That’s right. Which is why I say it’s tragic. When a child is ill, the ones who suffer most are the parents.”
Adonis’s eyes turned distant again.
Even more so than before.
‘Because Adonis has lost children of his own.’
Not just children. He had lost grandchildren as well.
His children had died, and yet he, the old man, was still alive and breathing.
I couldn’t begin to imagine what that felt like.
After giving Adonis a moment, I continued.
“There’s a rumor going around that Duke Zeppelin beat him into that state. What do you think about that?”
Adonis hesitated for a brief moment, then looked me straight in the eye.
“That is one hundred percent nonsense.”
“And why do you think that?”
“Wouldn’t you know better than anyone, considering you copied House Vyuern’s secret art?”
People often say that House Vyuern’s secret art can only be used by someone with perfect control over their own body.
But that wasn’t quite right. House Vyuern’s secret art was—
“The ability to see through the opponent’s body is even more important.”
“Exactly. Zeppelin was already an eight-star knight back then. And at the time, he still hadn’t let go of his training, so his senses would have been even sharper.”
To put it simply, Duke Zeppelin was a master who could deliberately strike only the places that didn’t cause permanent damage.
There was no way someone like that would fail to notice something was wrong with his opponent’s condition.
Especially if that opponent was his own son.
“Couldn’t it have been an accident?”
“An accident? From that child, who was strict even with himself? The odds of that are close to zero.”
“So you’re saying it’s not impossible.”
“…You insolent brat.”
Adonis grumbled.
But in truth, I also thought Adonis was right.
‘I always felt something about it was strange… and Adonis is one of the absolute powers of this world.’
The chances of someone like him talking nonsense were low.
Even more so if it was information revealed along a route opened by a hidden piece.
That settled it. The theory many players had guessed at—that the eldest son Ileon became a vegetable because of Duke Zeppelin’s violence—
Was wrong.
Then how had the eldest son, Ileon, ended up in that state?
‘Figuring that out will be the key to this episode.’
Chapter 2’s climax, Teron’s darkening episode.
Since it happened early in the game, a lot of people played it even if they weren’t veteran players, and it was praised for having a clean ending.
The only thing that really stood out was that Teron and Daike weren’t truly heinous villains.
‘And looking back on the way I played this time… that point stands out even more clearly.’
Uncovering the secret surrounding the eldest son and saving Teron and Daike.
That was probably the true ending of this episode.
I had figured out what path I needed to take.
The problem was—
‘There’s nowhere near enough time.’
There were only about eight hours left until the exam ended. No matter how I looked at it, uncovering a hidden secret and saving both of them in that time was impossible.
In this exam site, the only two people who knew the truth of that day were Teron and Daike.
‘Caron was in a different area at the time, so the odds of him having any information are low. Or maybe not? He did rise to a position of responsibility, so he might at least know a fragment of the puzzle…’
Smack!
A sudden flash burst before my eyes.
What was that? Had Caron somehow peeked into my thoughts and gotten angry?
“You’re thinking too much.”
The one greeting me was Adonis’s face, smiling in golden delight.
Adonis was floating in the air, matching my eye level.
By the time I gave up on trying to flatten the bangs standing on end from the static, he opened his mouth.
“The winner is simply the one who wins the fight. Don’t waste your mind on trivial details beyond that.”
“Even though Teron could die?”
“I do not believe Zeppelin would do such a thing.”
That, too, was only possible because Adonis didn’t know Teron had made a contract with a Demon.
Well, what he said wasn’t exactly wrong.
‘Teron dies at the hands of the protagonists.’
And as a bonus, after earning Duke Zeppelin’s wrath, he ended up under constant pressure and interference from then on.
It was one of the biggest reasons the game’s difficulty spiked and drove beginners away.
Smack!
“I told you to stop thinking, didn’t I?”
“Didn’t you mean I should stop the useless thoughts?”
“With you, there are simply too many thoughts in general. That’s not a bad thing, but sometimes the right answer is to charge through boldly.”
Advice from an elder should always be taken seriously.
Even more so when that elder was Adonis, who had survived hundreds of crises.
‘Could this be a hint about this hidden piece?’
If so, then was the answer a vigorous morning charge? No, we were supposed to fight in the evening, so maybe just a moderately vigorous charge?
I was considering whether it might be related to one of the exam questions from the final when Adonis rose into the air, higher than I was tall.
“A charge made by youth without looking to the future. There is no romance greater than that!”
Kroooooar!!
Adonis’s romance frenzy started up again.
Hey, old man. Calm down. You’re going to collapse again at this rate!
Thud!
Right on cue, Adonis dropped back down and went limp.
“That old man again! At this rate, he won’t even live out his natural lifespan!”
Victoria came running over and immediately started healing him.
Watching that, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Not because it was advice from an elder—
But because there was a chance it had just been the thoughtless rambling of a romance-obsessed fool.
That kind of unease.
“U-ugh… youth never comes back. Do as you wish. I’ll help however I can, within my limits…”
“There you go again. Old man, just eat this.”
Adonis gave me a thumbs-up, then lost consciousness.
“We’ll be on our way first. We still need to hunt headbands.”
“Go right ahead. That works just fine for me. I can just steal the headbands Zero has collected. Oh~ Hohoho!”
Leaving Victoria’s laughter behind, I walked away.
Luna and Rezé immediately followed after me.
“What did you talk about for so long? I was getting tired of waiting.”
We had talked for quite a while.
Let’s see. If I had to summarize that long conversation in a single line…
“It was the rambling of a senile old man.”
Collecting headbands to start the quest wasn’t difficult.
We already had quite a lot to begin with, and the students who were still alive at this point were the ones who had been hunting other students and taking their headbands.
Even taking down a single team was enough to secure more than five headbands.
And then, the moment we collected the fiftieth headband—
[The ninth main quest is starting.]
A system window rose before my eyes.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt
I knew it! Duke Zeppelin was just a red herring! But what could it actually be? Teron accidently crippled his brother in a spar? Or Daike? May be big bro bullied Daike and Teron protect him? That why killing Daike would give Teron the approval of his family? Teron step in after Daike fight back against big bro?