“It seems to be a laboratory.”
“Ugh… What’s that smell…”
Several of the rats began to retch.
They were trained to the extent of being able to sleep while smelling rotting corpses.
The fact that even they were vomiting indicated how severe the smell was.
“…”
“…”
The rats were at a loss for words.
The scene before their eyes was too horrific.
Too unreal.
They didn’t know what to say.
“…Is this a dream?”
They couldn’t help but think so.
A ceiling that must be at least 5 meters high.
A gigantic mountain reaching the top of it.
A mountain made of piles of corpses was greeting them.
And there were.
‘Three of them.’
There were as many as three.
One side was humans, another demons, and the last one failures.
“My God…”
Not just the number of humans, but those who saw the number of demons couldn’t help but be shocked.
There seemed to be at least fifty.
Sacrifices for the descent of a demon usually start from the hundreds.
To see so many demons piled up like that.
‘How many humans have been killed!’
The rats began to tremble.
Some collapsed in fear.
That’s when it happened.
“Please… save me.”
A faint voice came from the pile of failures.
A survivor. Everyone rushed there and soon saw it.
A small child, attached to a demon’s body, breathing laboriously.
“…”
The child looked to be no more than five years old.
The child looked at Caron.
Perhaps sensing something, the child closed its eyes and whispered.
“Please… kill me.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No… thank you.”
Shlick!
Was it a coincidence?
A single tear drop clung to Caron’s dagger.
It was a tear shed by the child.
“Where are the black mages?”
The black mage isn’t the only creator of madness.
In the midst of chasing him, they had caught several of his subordinates.
All of them had parts of their bodies damaged and were so insane that interrogation was difficult.
“We’ve caught five more. They’re detained and scheduled for interrogation.”
“I’ll interrogate them myself.”
“Master Caron personally?”
“Yes.”
Difficult to interrogate because they’re insane?
I’ll show them.
Who the real madman is.
‘Lucius, was it? You’d better be prepared.’
I will definitely.
Tear you apart with my own hands.
“Therefore, simply building muscle does not work. You have to develop muscles suited to your weapon and swordsmanship. This is the essence of swordsmanship and the way to develop sword skills.”
Teacher Lérang was passionately teaching today as well.
The basics of swordsmanship.
A class that’s perfect for me, who knows nothing about swordsmanship.
“Zero, what should you tailor your muscle development to?”
“Keke, to the weapon and swordsmanship that suits you best.”
“That’s correct. I’ll award you a merit point.”
Not a demerit, but a merit.
Even though it wasn’t a difficult question.
The children’s eyes sparkled.
They felt it was different from usual.
‘Teron has changed his strategy.’
From confrontation to enticement.
Or maybe he prefers to maintain a good relationship rather than a bad one.
That could be his strategy.
‘Teron knows that I don’t want to belong anywhere.’
I also prefer this level of relationship.
Teron really has exceptional empathetic skills.
The problem is.
“Zero, hello! Would you like to have lunch together today? We’ve invited a special chef. Oh, of course, Luna too.”
Yuridia, the typical ISTJ with no empathy.
She was the problem.
Well, who would fall for such an obvious trap as a special chef?
“Zero! What are you doing? She said there’s a special chef! Let’s hurry!”
“…”
Right, there’s our Luna.
Whether it’s a trap or not, she just dives in?
“Keke, let’s go to the cafeteria.”
“Why?”
“Eating such fancy food will cause trouble. The student cafeteria suits us best.”
“Are you stupid? Just eat and if it causes trouble, so be it.”
Right, that’s a method?
It’s not going to work.
I lifted Luna and put her on my side.
Then, Luna’s rear faced Yuridia.
“Sorry, Yuridia. I prefer to have a private meal with Zero.”
I raised my tone to mimic Luna’s voice.
I didn’t forget the detail of slightly shaking Luna’s body.
From Yuridia’s perspective, it must have seemed like Luna’s rear was talking.
Well, what does it matter?
“What! When did I say that! I don’t want this! Let me go!”
Our Luna sure knows how to talk with her rear.
I held onto Luna’s wriggling waist tightly.
“Keke, no, haha! Then, we’ll be going.”
“No! My special meal!”
I left the classroom with Luna still propped against my side, amidst her cries.
“Shoot, I wanted to eat the special meal. What is this?”
Luna poked at her omelette rice.
Puff.
Her cheeks were all puffed up.
Full of dissatisfaction. She was clearly signaling for me to appease her anger quickly.
‘She’s cute.’
But I couldn’t focus on Luna.
Something had been bothering me since earlier.
‘What is it? Why is Hyper Sense triggered?’
[Hyper Sense] had activated.
But no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t find anything unusual.
‘It’s near the trash can… But why do I feel something there?’
After some thought, I realized.
‘Rats.’
Yes. It was likely rats nearby.
Caron must have ordered them to keep an eye on me, and this was it.
‘Usually, they monitor from afar, so I couldn’t feel it.’
In the game, the range of [Hyper Sense] is about 10 tiles.
They must have come within that range.
‘Well, I do have something to discuss with Caron.’
I had to tell him about using [One Flash] in the dueling arena and setting a trap.
And there was something I had to receive.
‘This month’s contact code was annihilation.’
Just include the word ‘annihilation’ in the conversation.
Of course, once won’t do.
It’s a word that could be used enough in regular conversation.
‘At least three times.’
Then the rats nearby will report to Caron.
That the kid Zero knows the code.
Caron, who gave me the code, will come to me right away.
“Luna.”
“What. Just so you know, I’m still mad.”
“Keke, do you know the meaning of annihilation?”
“A quiz all of a sudden?”
“Keke, yes. And of course, there’s a prize for the quiz.”
Luna’s eyes sparkled.
With a smile that lifted one corner of her mouth.
“Hmm~ I see. I’ve understood it all now.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve booked a fancy restaurant for the weekend, right? That’s why you prevented me from eating the special meal. You were worried I wouldn’t enjoy it as much.”
Why did restaurants come into play when I just asked about annihilation?
How did she come to that conclusion?
“Well, it might not be as good as a special meal, but I’ll be generous. Be satisfied with that.”
“Luna?”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. It was a surprise, right? I should’ve pretended not to notice, I’m so clueless. Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I don’t know from now on.”
Is that what pretending not to know is?
And I never booked a restaurant!?
Why did annihilation turn into a restaurant!?
“Wait! First, I have to guess the quiz. Annihilation means to completely destroy something, right? To turn something into uninhabitable land.”
“Keke, correct. You know exactly what annihilation means.”
Now I’ve said it twice.
Just one more time, and I’ll be able to contact Caron.
But it seems the problem now isn’t that.
“And?”
“Yes?”
“You have to tell me what the prize is.”
Luna’s eyes were twinkling brightly.
She was clearly hinting for me to reveal the prize.
‘Think!’
You’re a man who even won a psychological battle with Caron!
You can definitely overcome a situation like this!
I organized my thoughts.
Luna missed the chance to eat a special meal.
The word ‘annihilation’ which I have to say one more time.
A restaurant.
And then, there’s Luna’s omelet rice in front of me.
Different puzzle pieces named information started to fit together one by one.
Soon, all the puzzle pieces found their places, and one puzzle was completed.
Yes, the best way to get out of this situation is.
Swoosh, clatter!
I rummaged through Luna’s omelet rice.
I turned it inside out, tearing the beautifully prepared egg garnish.
I also scattered ketchup here and there.
“Keke, the quiz prize. Annihilated omelet rice.”
“…”
Crack-.
Luna cracked her neck.
Seeing her do that, I quietly closed my eyes.
Right, as expected.
‘It didn’t work, did it?’
And so, I ended up being annihilated by Luna.
“Luna, I was wrong, okay?”
“Don’t follow me! I’m really mad!”
An hour had passed since the outbreak of the annihilated omelet rice incident, but Luna’s anger showed no signs of subsiding.
I’ve dealt with Luna enough to know that this level of anger is something time can resolve.
It means to leave her alone for now and meet up with her later.
But.
“What! Why aren’t you following?”
“…I was on my way.”
“Don’t follow me! I’m really mad!”
This crazy fickleness is the problem.
She gets angry if I’m out of sight for not following.
And if I get close, she gets angry for following.
‘She needs to express her anger, but doesn’t know how to reconcile. Is that the situation?’
I didn’t really mind.
That’s just how Luna is, and watching her keep glancing back at me thinking I was following her was just too cute.
Wait, isn’t it wrong to be not upset when I actually did something wrong?
Is it?
‘How should I handle this?’
I was following Luna when suddenly she turned her head sharply.
Her face was full of anger, but I knew.
That look meant she had come up with a good idea.
“The only way to soothe my anger is one. Make a restaurant reservation right now! I have to eat there this weekend!”
The restaurant in the square in front of the academy.
A mediocre restaurant with a rating of 3.5 stars, but always bustling due to the many academy students.
“You heard them say the reservations were full, didn’t you, Luna?”
“I don’t care! Find a way to get a reservation!”
Luna started rolling on the ground.
I knew from spending time with her. There’s no stopping Luna when she throws a tantrum like this.
I had no choice but to agree.
“Sigh, okay. I’ll try to find a way.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. So please calm down. You’ll ruin your pretty face.”
“Then, I guess…”
Luna dusted herself off and got up.
“Can I help you?”
“…Well, sure.”
Luna with a sulky expression.
I was removing some grass from her hair when.
Click-.
Luna took out a camera and snapped a photo.
That made me wonder. Why did she suddenly start taking pictures?
“I have to capture all these memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yeah, it’s natural to take pictures with friends. Like with the parrot… I should have taken more back then.”
Come to think of it, there was such an incident.
Most importantly, it’s Luna, who almost fought and drifted away from me.
Carrying a camera around might be a natural thing for her.
‘Well, I do need to moderate it a bit.’
The photo, quickly developed with the power of a mana stone.
Luna, smiling faintly, stored the photo carefully.
But Luna, don’t take pictures from below my face.
I look like a flat pancake.
–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